The Wild Child

By Alexander Cogar

In a war-torn world, the brightest beacon of hope comes from a child of blood, with his closest companions following him into the chaos. However, this story follows Kyle, the quick-witted, smart-mouthed hunter with a knack for surviving the most difficult situations. He is torn from the others, cast into solitude, and pit against an enemy far beyond his own means. His only chance to survive would mean taking away his humanity and binding him to a living force of nature.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9781984548207

Alexander Cogar

Alexander Cogar is the author of fantasy/mystery novels. He is a native of USA and England. He was a medic in the US Army for 8 years. Now he is spending time saving our furry friends as a Certified Veterinary Technician in a small day practice. He lives in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin.

Book preview

The Wild Child

Alexander Cogar

Copyright © 2018 by Alexander Cogar.

Library of Congress Control Number:       2018909817

ISBN:                  Hardcover                          978-1-9845-4819-1

                            Softcover                             978-1-9845-4818-4

                            eBook                                   978-1-9845-4820-7

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 08/16/2018

Xlibris

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Contents

Prologue

A Little Lost

Making Friends

Life Sentence

Pitfall

Rising Star

A New Perspective

Chains of Paradise

A Haunted Past

Hoshizora Oji

To Be Human

The Pits of Chaos

A New Path

Miu and Mau

The Titan’s Rising

Titanic Clash

Lost in War

Wraith

Ancient Dragon

Peace within Chaos

Waking Chaos

Dawn

Shattered Mountain

A Sight to See

Reunion

Summary

Prologue

As he stood at the bow of the ship, his memories were flowing through him as the water started churning beneath. He’d spent many days—no, months, six months—since they’d left the isle of man, spent sifting through his memories. He was almost amazed at how his sense of self was differed from his own conscious thoughts. Since he’d first become Cornel, he was a new existence within the life of the blood demon. But the demon had lived since there was blood for it to feed on. His soul had burned in existence since the dawn of time immemorial. He was an existence, a concept, a soul that claimed its own mortal form. He was life, he was death, he was a thousand lives of bloodshed and rage burned into a single entity.

Cornel shook his head and broke the spell of his own memories. He was the blood child now, Core Anel. But he learned from those memories and watched the patterns in his own fighting, where it went wrong and how it went right. He watched all the people he hunted, how they’d acted with others, and learned the patterns, the fit. He grew mentally with every lesson, matured. Kara had seen it in him and mentioned it only once as though the shock of it was too much to keep silent.

There’s something in your eyes lately, something … really old … ancient … At that point, her face went beet red. She mumbled an apology about his age and practically sprinted away. He could only chuckle at the truth of it though. He was really old. Cornel had since made sure to review his memories when he was alone.

Since leaving port, he’d trained the men the king had sent on Cornel’s expedition first as squads and then improved them individually. Each one fought a little bit differently than the other, but each was well on their way to earning their own blade master rank; in fact, ten or so already were. Still, they claimed weakness because they couldn’t beat Cornel. He’d dared not tell them he couldn’t fight them off more than one at once without using his demon blood. Among the rangers, only eight had been granted the title of blade masters, but their true skill lay with stealth and speed. They tended to avoid full confrontation. Their training he’d even done in the rafters and netting above the deck. There wasn’t a single one now who moved uneasily among the rigging and across the beams. They were ghosts, whispering through the air as they went. Still, they too claimed weakness by comparing themselves with Cornel, who left no trace of his presence at all, not even a whisper.

Many of their training regimes had even been formatted into games as Cornel felt like enjoying his teaching time. He would play tag or hide-and-seek with the rangers for the most part and sporting games with the soldiers. Each game he let them pick, let them think up, and then he would revise it; add to it, making it more challenging; or join in himself. The deck and rigging were alive with the men, most laughing as they trained to be the most lethal fighting force the world over on most days.

Today a dark cloud hung eerily silent above them, taunting them as they simply bobbed in the waves. For two weeks now, the sun was hidden from them, the stars blocked by shadows. They had continued on for a week, not knowing which way to go but hoping they could keep it straight. They were lost to put it simply, two weeks moving on the water’s surface with nothing but water in any direction. The only way they had to know which way to sail was with the sky. As Cornel looked up at the overhang of clouds, he felt the same dark laughter rumbling from within him whenever he met an obstacle as though the challenge was almost insulting. Still, they were lost. Cornel grimaced instead of laughed. This was going to be a bad night, or was it day? No one was sure anymore, and his sense of time relied on candle marks and sleep cycles, sleep something else new to him and apparently unnecessary. A day to him was only a breath of time. Shaking his head again, he ran a hand through his hair, the mist of the ocean spraying him in the face once more, a caressing hand as if to tempt him into the cold embrace below, another chuckle-worthy challenge for another day.

Cornel! Kara was flagging him down from the guardrail outside the barracks. It was on the second floor of the deck, and she was clutching it as though she was going to be thrown off the ship without it. As if to remind him, an ocean spray blasted above the sails and slammed down on the ship. Oh right, the storm, he thought. Cornel stepped down from the heaving and tossing bow of the ship. He walked as though the ship was coasting along without a single shift beneath his feet. Cornel stopped on his way to Kara to tie a safety belt around one of the soldiers who was having trouble with the knot.

Calmly, he then walked along the line of soldiers, each one bound by a rope to their waists along every knot, port, bannister, and post, even the masts. The ship heaved in a great wave that brought the bow of the ship almost directly upright. Cornel’s boots lost their grip on the deck, and he fell toward Kara. With a grin cutting his face, he continued checking the men as they whipped by. All the men who saw his smile burst into laughter. By the time they crested the wave and came completely upright again, all the men were laughing through the roar of the ocean and boom of the thunder. For his part, Cornel used the slide until he was coming to a stop. A sharp jab of his ankle caught a board in the deck, his rigid muscles using the momentum to launch him upright where he simply continued to walk as if nothing had happened. The only proof left in his walk was a grin that only a child could make.

Cornel walked up the stairs and over to the bannister where Kara was bound around the waist in the same fashion as the men. To either side of her were Generals Reinke and Kyle. Each had one hand on the rail and one on Kara’s shoulders, holding on to her in case the rope wasn’t enough to keep her from flying away. Cornel stepped up behind Kara and simply stood with his hands on the railing. The men pulled their hands from her and set them onto Cornel’s shoulders. Even though they still held the bannister, both looked relieved. He smiled at the idea of people being relieved to touch him, the blood demon. Then as Kara realized he was there, he felt her relax into him, even letting go of the bannister. She was lifted by the waves, and his chest cradled her back, keeping her feet just on the ground. She knew without any doubt or fear that he would keep her safe. Between the talks they’d had since leaving the isle, and the bond they felt from his healing her, they had become closer than he had been with Samiana.

Samiana had been a treasured jewel, something to covet, something he adored, someone who took a piece of him and restrained him to be something worth loving. Kara was the light. He smelled her hair. Even freshly coated by the salt spray, he could still smell the subtle rose oil she used on sparing occasions. She had granted him the life he now claimed as Cornel. She had never once thought of him as evil. Even when he was transformed into his demon shape, she had sprung up to hold him. Even the demon could not harm something that was beyond its recognition, someone who loved it. Cornel felt the ship plummet as they broke the crest of the wave and began the descent on the far side. The bow of the ship caught in the updrafts left them to fall almost straight down.

Some of the men laughed even louder as their feet left the ground. Some of the soldiers began playing a game of upside-down chicken, kicking at one another and trying to make the others let go. The rangers began posing and striking different stances, holding on to the railing with a hand or a foot interchangeably. One even hooked in both feet and stood with a grumpy frown on his face, his arms crossed as he mumbled incoherent angry words at his squad, an obvious imitation of Kyle during their training. The lead ranger burst out laughing and caught himself almost right away, pretending instead not to see it, Okay, that one’s pretty good.

Reinke huffed as he nodded toward the men, his own normal grumpy mood locked in tight on his frown. Why don’t you tell them tha’? The general hated the ocean, and storms even more, often getting seasick in the middle of them.

Kyle looked at the general and then looked at the ranger, imitating him before looking back at the general. All right, I think I will. With deft hands, the knot dropped loose and sprang free of Kyle’s waist, his feet lifting off the ground as he yanked himself toward the bannister. Before he was out of arm’s reach, Cornel grabbed ahold of his soaked tunic, yanking him back onto the balcony beside him, his feet hitting the ground just as they slammed into the ocean surface. The men who were still showing off slammed down onto the deck to the stereo laughter of the other men who had remembered what goes up comes down. Kyle was turned to Cornel as they rebounded from the impact. Damn, okay, yeah, thank you. Kyle grabbed the balcony again. I was planning to land on the deck though … With another quick yank, he was away over the railing, the drop from the swell increasing his distance to land almost on top of the man who had imitated him.

With swift hands, he quickly bound a new safety knot around the same guidepost as his imitator. Smiling brightly, he whispered into the ranger’s ear as the next swell pushed them all to their knees, tossing them into the air for another burst. Kyle didn’t even try to hold on as he took off, his feet catching the rail. He stood in midair and sucked in his stomach, hunching over as he made himself as big as possible. The man who had imitated him took his position with the same act as before, beside the real Kyle. All the men were watching now as they laughed. Kyle began yelling angrily and getting red in the face before pretending to throw up. The Kyle imitator shook his head as he watched, pretending to pity the fake Reinke as he made a few sarcastic jokes into the roar of the storm.

You shit monkey! Get over here an’ I’ll— The general was cut off as a bout of seasickness threatened to make him hurl. The men all laughed through the boom of the storm. Most of the crew were inside, safely strapped to whatever was fixed in place. They had complained about being inside if the ship went under, but the ship’s sailors and captain had explained there was more danger from the swells throwing someone off or the spray washing them off the deck than the ship actually going under. Cano and Gar, Cornel knew, would be in the stable with Trayon and Seretin, keeping them safe and secure. Besides, he knew Gar liked to nap in there with, if not on, Trayon.

You know, Kara yelled over the crash of the storm and the laughter of the men, I’ve been told horror stories of training camps and storms at sea! Kara smiled as she turned around to look Cornel in the eye.I don’t think I’ll have any.

Cornel chuckled as he looked back out to the men. He’d been training Kara to fight as well. With a simple knife, she was as deft as most of the soldiers. She had a long way to go to reach their combat ability, but none were more finely accurate. She claimed it came from her medical training. With that in mind, she was able to join in most of the games when she wasn’t tending to the wounded or sickly.

She excelled quickly. The men had even taken to calling her the berserk shaman, though she had never let her anger take control of her. When she snapped, none of the men would stand in her way, so much as a glance chiming them to perfect obedience. Cornel suspected his blood in her may have some of an influence on it, but mostly, she was simply Kara, an unstoppable presence. Speaking of which, she never was very good at hide-and-seek. Cornel chuckled again as he looked down. Between the thrill of the storm, the feel of Kara against him, the warmth of her heart in his, the laughter of his pack that matched his own challenging chuckle, he lost the will to hold it back, laughing at the heavens, joining his men as they continued their merry mood into each swell. Even Kara’s sweet, musical laughter began to mix into the sound, and just then, it was almost enough to make him forget that they were lost—almost.

The only thing he knew about their location was the feel of it in relation to the life around them. So that ability was basically useless. All it told him was that there were fish around them and the men on board; a pod of whales was coming close. They were rising toward the surface for air. If even one came close enough, he would have enough blood to protect the ship from the storm. He felt a pang of sorrow at the idea of killing one of them. It was a new feeling, new to the demon as it was born from Cornel, from Kara’s revelry for life. She would forgive him, he knew, because it was to protect life, their lives, his own dark need to kill being channeled by her wish to justify it. The old him would have slaughtered the whole pod and rode the bodies across the water, only after he’d finished with the entire ship. No, he would’ve finished with the island and never made it to the ship.

Cornel looked around again as the men were tossed into the air once more by a large wave. Kyle had been using a spare rope he’d found to move along the line, tying one off farther down before untying the first. He’d made it about halfway around the ship while Cornel had been focusing on the whales. As they dropped into the next swell, Cornel spotted a shadow in the water of the wave. Reaching out his senses again, he almost jumped to realize it was one of the whales. The pod was closer to the surface than he’d thought because of the size of the waves. A plan quickly took place in his head as his demonic grin cut into his face. Before he could move, he spotted Kyle moving around the ship in his little game. The foolhardy ranger had run out of places to bind to and looked to be planning a jump to the next section. He hadn’t seen the whale, and if they collided …

Cornel switched his plan quickly and grabbed Reinke’s hand from his shoulder, gently placing it on Kara as he used his other hand to place hers on the railing. She immediately grabbed on. The last time she had hesitated, and he’d only just managed to catch her after the three men he’d gone after. Reinke, ever the soldier, didn’t need to ask or require an explanation. His position shifted, and he was securing Kara with an arm across her shoulders. Cornel jumped upward as they reached the bottom of the swell, floating above their heads as the boat outpaced him. As the boat came back up, he landed on the deck. Sliding his feet back against the wall, he coiled himself to a ready spring. Just as he’d expected, the whale burst from the surface, just in front of their ship. Nose to nose, they dragged against each other’s sides. Kyle, having leaped for his goal just before the whale broke the surface, suddenly found himself over open waters with a whale bearing down on him.

Cornel felt the pulse as he released his power, felt it ripple through the space around him as it all slowed to a single moment in time. He was life. He was death. He was timeless. Cornel looked with his own eyes at the world he alone could see, that space between time where life became death, where blood stood still. The sheets of down pouring rain suddenly still, he reached out with a slow hand and felt the droplets push against his skin, glancing aside as the ripple of force took ahold but failed to begin, the droplets unbroken by his timeless touch. He looked up to where Kara waited for him. She was looking at him, her eyes locked on where she had known him to be. She had the same ease in her eyes she always did, that confidence, that trust. He smiled in a way only Kara had ever made him, with his heart. It was a new feeling still, to smile without bloodlust.

Cornel looked back to Kyle, still in midair over the side of the ship, reaching out his hands, the ropes he had been using flying from them toward the ship. He could only smile at the ranger’s tenacity. In the split moment when he’d gone overboard, he’d analyzed what he could do and acted. The ropes wouldn’t reach, neither was long enough, but the other soldiers and rangers were also reaching for him. Some were close. None could reach, and he was only flying farther away. My turn. Cornel let loose the spring. He launched himself through the rain, blasting apart the sheets of droplets as they scattered out of his way. As he reached Kyle, he grabbed one of the ropes and pulled, the timeless force spinning him around, swapping their positions so that Kyle was now flying back onto the ship as Cornel continued out into the wave and for the whale.

Death, dance with me.

A Little Lost

Kyle swore as he realized his mistake. Midair, the ship had shifted toward him, casting him overboard before he’d noticed. Still, he’d coiled the ropes before he leaped, so now he threw them toward his men almost as a reflex. He knew they were too short. He saw Cornel locking eyes with him from his ready position on the deck. Don’t blink. You need to see this.

Next that he knew, Kyle was suddenly looking the other way, Cornel flying out to sea with a massive whale bearing down on him as Kyle felt the grip of his men’s hand latching onto him. Well, that was useful. Kyle grimaced as he felt one of the ropes being taken by his men and tied off, binding him to the ship again. He hadn’t taken his eyes from Cornel, hadn’t even blinked. Yet still, he’d seen nothing in between. I gotta learn that trick.

Kyle watched as the whale bore down on top of Cornel, forcing him under the water. He felt more than heard the men gasp, some of them suddenly afraid of the storm as it churned the ocean to a fury around them. A moment ago, it had seemed just another day to get through, the risks all curbed with the demon guarding their backs. Now it was a true threat. Their lives bound by nothing but a thin rope to a ship literally getting thrown around in angry waves. Kyle simply watched the water. When he focused, his eyes had no equal. He could see the shadows in the depths, even the most subtle changes and flow, but as they were dragged out of the next swell, he saw nothing. He couldn’t see the whale from where he stood. It had to be below them.

In an explosion of red, Cornel leaped from the ocean to land at the bow of the ship. He was transformed, his demonic form changing his skin to match the half mask he wore into combat—the bloodthirsty grin, the hollow, chiseled eyes. He was the embodiment of death incarnate, and he radiated an aura that said he knew it. Normally, when he transformed, Kyle could pick out the blood coating his body, the armor or a second skin, taking to him. Now he saw only the blood red of his flesh and the midnight black of his tattoos that normally hid among his scars, where his skin could be seen beneath his soaking clothes and armor. He always draws in blood when he transforms … So where … ? Oh. Kyle looked around as he realized the salt spray he’d believed was about to crash down simply hadn’t. As he looked up and looked closer, he realized there was a red spray blasting up to surround the entire ship.

The massive sea spray reached up and closed above the ship, encasing them inside an egg like dome of blood red. It was only when the ocean seemed to calm that Kyle realized the bottom of the ship was included in the egg, the cocoon of blood. He killed the whale to protect the ship, and here I thought he just wanted to save me. Kyle chuckled as he stood upright, looking at Cornel as he tried to read their charismatic leader. Something wasn’t right. Cornel wasn’t smiling. What he’d originally believed to be a grin to match his mask was the actual mask. Turning more toward Kyle, Cornel revealed his own expression was much more focused, almost sad.

Kyle’s mind raced as his eyes whipped around. His finger slipping lose the knot his men had bound him to the ship with. He ran across the deck in the near darkness left within the cocoon. The sounds of the storm muffled out beyond the shell. It was eerie, going from the angry tossing of the seas to such a calm crimson moment protected within a bubble of blood. Kyle spotted it with a wave of sickness. A rope was broken. Two of his men were yelling at the top of their lungs toward the edge of the ship. Someone had gone over. Their lifeline snapped while Cornel was under water. The cocoon seemed to be taking all his focus, and blood, or he would have coated himself with the extra. This much Kyle knew without a doubt. It was almost mandatory that he absorbed it in that form. Without slowing, he turned toward the broken line, his eyes locking with Cornel. The sad look in the demon’s hollow eyes turned to a fierce confidence. It nodded and spun to the front of the ship.

Kyle chuckled. Cornel was trapped, protecting the entire ship, that one man was outside his ability to protect if he was to protect them all. He had just as well shouted, I’m counting on you! to Kyle with that look. Great. Now if I fuck up, I look like a chump. Refusing himself time to think, he rushed headlong toward the edge. Dropping one safety knot from his waist, he scooped up a main line hanging in a coil from the mast as he rushed past, the rope unraveling as he ran. He knotted the safety rope and the main line together as quickly as he could, yanking it tight just before he hit the edge. Looking to one of his men, he smiled and said, Catch. And with that, he pushed off, leaping out through calm air toward the blood shell. Just as he made contact, the shell recoiled at his contact, slipping around him as though he were diving into a pool from above.

The serene ship within was suddenly gone. Once more, the chaos of the outside world, the mayhem, and the storm raged as the massive waves churned and threw the egg into the air again. Kyle let his sense of self go, even as he fell through the chaotic air toward the churning ocean surface. He let his senses reach out across the water, feeling for life. It was something he’d taught himself when hunting, a sense of life around him, but Cornel had shown him how to refine it. Before, he had been able to tell if a living thing was nearby. Now he could tell both where they were and got a feel for what they should be.

His senses almost recoiled at the gigantic mass of whales below them, it was an entire pod. They must have come up for air. He gasped unintentionally at the sheer size of the life force below him. The gasp was a bad idea as he hit the water at the same time. He sputtered for air as he came back above the surface. Focus! he lashed out with his senses again and felt across the surface of the water. There. Kyle could almost see the soldier. It was one of Reinke’s men. He was swimming toward the ship. He was a machine, bent on survival. He wasn’t waiting for rescue; he was planning to save himself. Too bad. Kyle smiled as he swam to meet the man. When they nearly collided between the lightning flashes, Kyle threw an arm around him, yanking three times on the rope.

If his men had taken the hint, they should have been holding the rope, feeling the steady pull as he swam away from the ship, feeling the three tugs would be the signal to start pulling in. They would be dragged to safety in a mere moment. All they had to do was stay afloat. Focus. Kyle’s eyes whipped back around toward the blood shell that housed the ship. They were a good distance away; in fact, any farther and they would have run out of line. Kyle had gotten there just in time. Now there was only one more problem roaring at him, the waves. Thinking quickly, he unbound the rope from the one at his waist beneath the waves, his fingers raw from the cold, chafed against the rough ropes. He made a note to check for injuries as he blocked the pain.

That was when the wave crested, throwing the entire egg into the air again, to drop a second later into the swell, the same pattern it had been following since the storm had broken across their bow. The only problem was that they were at the end of the rope, which meant they were going to be dragged along or thrown free. Kyle bound the soldier around the waist, leaving a length on the end to bind back to his own line. Sure enough, they were ripped from the water by the force of the ship’s drop. The soldier kept an arm clamped around Kyle as he knew just as well as Kyle that the rope was no guarantee for either of them. Kyle felt the iron muscles hold and was glad he’d tied the soldier in. He was strong, and Kyle was exhausted. He wasn’t sure he could have held the brute’s weight as well if it were reversed.

The water’s surface greeted them with the grace of stone. Kyle felt the blow as the world went dark. The last thing he remembered was the soldier’s arms going limp. Well … this sucks. Kyle winced as he lost consciousness, the icy embrace of the ocean wrapping around his whole body. As an odd sense of nostalgia washed him away from the angry storm, a frayed rope whipped in front of him as though to bid him farewell. Oh shit.

*

Wake up, moron! Kyle coughed and sputtered. Breathe … Come on, it’s not your first time. Kyle felt his chest constrict as the water bailed from his lung in a violent retch. With a desperate gasp, he felt a certain amount of clarity slip in around the edges of his awareness. More than once, asshole. He felt the air blast from his lungs before he took another gasping breath. Well done. A few more sputtering coughs and he started to feel the rhythm of breathing once again, his vision starting to clear as he pushed himself up from whatever he lay on.

Blinking away the water as it ran from his hair and face, he tried to get his bearings, his feet finding their way underneath himself just as something pushed him from behind to knock him once more on his face. Water washing up over his head fueled adrenaline and filled his system, and he found new strength in his panic-driven arms, finding his feet much faster the second time. He was on a beach, on land. He’d been carried in from the ocean to an island. There was no one and nothing else in sight—no debris, no ropes, no bodies. Looks like you’re the only idiot who got lost. Kyle took a few more breaths to steady himself as he pushed his way through the shallows to dry ground. Though the beach he’d been carried to was relatively long, the whole thing was backed by a sheer bluff. The wild vines and trees that seemed to reach over the top of the bluffs whispered of uncivilized terrain.

Wonderful. Lost and alone. Wanna go for the hat trick? Kyle made his way to the bluff and leaned his back against it, sliding down to a sitting position, his strength waning after the adrenaline-fueled rush. Only then did he spot the blood running from his inner thigh. The slow dark ooze would normally not be life-threatening, but the salt water wasn’t allowing the wound to close. Nailed it. Kyle took a slow, deep breath and leaned his head back against the wall. The leather knot holding his hair into a ponytail bunched, prodding him uncomfortably. With a jump, Kyle sat upright, his consciousness suddenly spurring awake through a haze of sleep. He’d passed out, if only briefly.

I won’t die here. He reached up and unbound his hair as he looked at his sleeves. His left was torn; almost half of it simply hung limp. The right was simply gone. Dress to match? Kyle smiled as things started working with him again. He ripped the rest of his sleeve off and wrapped it tightly around the bleeding wound, using the leather strap to secure it in place with some pressure. As he looked around, he knew if he didn’t climb this cliff, nothing was going to change. But if he tried to climb it in his current state, he would most definitely bleed out. With a grimace, he realized there was one other problem. He’d lost too much blood already. That surge of adrenaline that pushed him from the water had cost him even more, but now it was wearing off, and he was feeling the darkness press in again.

Well, good night … Don’t go anywhere … please. Kyle chuckled as he felt his body going slack. I wonder if anyone else talks to their own body …

*

Something pushed against his chest. It wasn’t hard, but it was strong, and he felt weightless. Kyle felt the hard surface of the rock against his back as the force eased, almost pulling him back away from the wall. His head seemed to lift almost casually from the rocks as the force almost gently lifted his weight. Kyle’s eyes snapped open as he remembered where he was, the ocean, the bluff. The returning tide slammed him back against the rock wall, bringing him the rest of the way awake. He staggered to his feet, using the wall to support himself. Moron.

Apparently, where Kyle had thought earlier to be a beach had only been the ground uncovered during low tide. As it came back in, it was all the way up to his thighs even as he stood, touching the wall. Scanning the sky, he guessed he was only out for a couple of hours. It would have to do. He’d simply have to support most of the climb with his arms, or he’d risk reopening the wound on his thigh, which at least seemed to have stopped bleeding. For the moment.

Kyle turned to the wall and looked up. No time like the present. Kyle grabbed ahold of a pair of vines. They didn’t go the whole way up, but by the looks of them, there were more where these ran out. Using his arms alternately to pull himself up, he hauled himself from the water, his good leg finding footholds to push his way up a little further. He climbed slowly, but with steady progress, he made his way up the bluff. As he neared the top, his arms began to shake from bearing his body weight. He was already weak, already broken, but he knew without a doubt this place would not be his end. Sure, as that he made it to the top, clutching at rocks, he hauled himself up over the final lip of the bluff, rolling onto his back as he huffed in exhaustion.

Kyle looked back inland. A dark laugh rolling past his lips turned softly to a groan of pain. Out of the ocean and into the jungle, from the looks of the place, he was going to have an interesting time here. The massive trees were thickly undercut by brush and plants as though they had only ever existed, undisturbed. As he looked the other way, he saw only the great ocean, no sign of life or allies. No use giving up, dying. Let’s get started. Kyle pushed at the ground once more as he attempted to get up. The world spun at his efforts. As his arms gave way, he felt the dark of his unconscious mind closing in. Maybe one more nap first.

*

Kyle felt the presence of something looming over him. His eyes flickered half open. He was too weak to move. The blood loss, the swimming, the climbing—it all kept hammering him down as he tried to push through. The pain was bittersweet. At least he knew one thing: he was still alive. Just as his weak eyes pushed open, just enough that he could see what stood over him, he felt them snap open all the way as his breath caught in his throat. He froze in place, his muscles rigid, crying out even as he stared unblinking at the beast he could only describe as a nightmare. What he thought was standing over him was standing on the shore below the bluff. It was humanoid in shape, arms, hands, and, as far as he could tell, legs, though the bluffs hid him from the waist down. But without a doubt or a question, it was a reptile with copper scales rippling in the waning light, featherless wings bent to its back, midnight black eyes in a lizard’s head. Kyle had lived a long time as a hunter at war, at peace. He had traveled to many of the lesser islands, seen, and killed things that most people would laugh it off as just a story or an exaggeration. As he tried to comprehend the sheer size of it, he felt the gaze draw to him.

The massive head leaned in close to better see him, though from the way the eyes moved, Kyle knew two things. First and most fearsome was the intelligence that burned there. It recognized him, knew what he was. Second was that Kyle’s entire body could stand in the beast’s pupil alone. It was, in a word, colossal. The beast saw his eyes, understood what Kyle was seeing. It knew that he was afraid, weak, vulnerable. A rumble of thunder vibrated through Kyle’s chest, even as he felt more than saw the flames licking the sides of its reptilian maw. When the flames illuminated the jaw, Kyle’s tired eyes saw clearly for the first time, and he realized that not only did he know what it was, but he also knew how to kill it. He felt a feral smile cut his bloodied face on reflex. The dragon stopped.

The thunder halted, and the flames puffed out. With a swift motion, it threw its head up to the sky and roared deafeningly. Everything on the island would have heard that cry. With a huffed blast of hot air, it looked back down at Kyle. It stood to its full height now. Kyle felt the challenge, knew the dragon was calling him out. It wanted to know if he could keep smiling. It was testing him. Kyle responded by grinning openly and lifting one hand, bending his fingers as if to draw an arrow back on his bow. In his mind’s eye, he drew back and released, his hand mimicking the motion of pulling back on the arrow and releasing. If nothing else, he knew immediately that the dragon was amused.

It spread its wings and planted a massive clawed hand down on the stone beside him. It was hard not to feel like an ant challenging a man. He could be strong, but he was still an ant. The beast growled at him as it leaned down, acidic saliva dripping on the grass beside him. Kyle felt his strength failing. There was little more he could do. If the beast wanted to eat him, he was going to get eaten. Simple. So … why not? Kyle forced himself to draw his knife and pointed the blade directly at the leering eye. His grin flickered across his face when he held it into place, staring it down until sleep kept him from holding it up as he once again lost his grip on consciousness.

*

Kyle felt the cold spray of the ocean winds batter him from one side, but the chill it cast swiftly dissipated as an unexpected heat warmed him back up. His eyes flickered open in his semiconscious state to see the source. He could only chuckle before sleep took him back. The unexpected heat was from the smoldering ground, still burning from the saliva the dragon had left behind. Apparently, it had decided not to eat him after all. That’s nice.

*

Kyle woke up finally feeling a little more aware of himself. Opening his eyes, he took stock of himself groggily. He was covered in dew from both the sea spray and the cool touch of morning. He could feel his toes and hands were starting to go numb. That may have been what woke him up, so he really couldn’t complain. Looking over, he saw the smoldering remains of the brush that the dragon had drooled on. From the looks of it, the heat had held out until an hour or so past. Ironically, meaning that the thing he thought was going to kill him had unintentionally saved his life. If the cold had gotten to him in his weakened state, he no doubt wouldn’t have woken up.

Testing his muscles carefully, he pushed himself up to a sitting position. He was still sore all over, but it was the soreness that always followed overexertion as opposed to the life-threatening kind. He felt his leg. The wound wasn’t nearly as bad as he’d thought at first. But from the sting behind his eyes, he had to of taken a blow to the head at some point. The memory of hitting the water came back to him, and he grimaced openly. Whoever thought of the cannonball is a moron. A smile burned away the grimace as he shook his head. Shit, I’m just glad I survived … Ah! The stinging burn of his left hand flared to life as he finally realized it was injured. Lifting it to see, he found a teardrop-shaped burn on the ball of his wrist. A drop of the saliva must have landed there. Between the cold and the fatigue, he hadn’t noticed until he had tried to bear his weight on the injured hand.

It covered the outside head of the bone and up his forearm almost halfway. It was overall about the size of his hand. Nothing serious, but it was annoying. His torn sleeve bandage around his leg was relatively useless, so he took it off and wrapped it around his left hand, if only to remind him it was wounded. He ignored the pain and pushed the rest of the way onto his feet. He was a little unsteady at first, but it wasn’t difficult to stand. Flexing his muscles again, he smiled. Luck must have been on his side. The salt water and slamming against the rocks had opened the small wound on his thigh and stopped it from clotting, the result being a much more significant-looking amount of blood. He was weak, but some rest and food would fix that. Stretching with a yawn, Kyle planted his hands on his hips and looked inland toward the jungle waiting for him.

All right, hunter, there’s an ancient dragon hunting this jungle, and you are completely alone and unarmed. A sudden memory of pulling his knife made him look down for it hopefully. The smoldering, melting hilt seemed to stick out of the ground, a silver puddle already mixing into the black tarry remains. Yup … unarmed. A smirk of humor cut his pout short. That bastard had to have done that on purpose. Dick. Okay, there is a—he raised his voice to shout angrily at the trees—fucking asshole lizard! With a smile of contentment, he heard the rustle of animals running from the unknown sound. He returned to his normal voice. And gods know what else … A wicked smile made him feel suddenly energetic, a false hope he couldn’t help but put to voice as he started in. Please let there be at least one looker. Haven’t got laid in months.

Making Friends

Kyle made his way through the brush as best as he could, considering the sheer size of it. He passed through the natural pathway, trying to avoid disturbing the plant life. He’d seen a few islands with carnivorous plants, a lesson he didn’t want to repeat. A tree was felled, leaning against another in a way that bothered Kyle. At first, he couldn’t tell why until he spotted the hole in the ground where the roots had been ripped out. It was significantly further than any storm would do. With any luck, it was the ancient dragon, and he didn’t just end up in some monster nest.

Getting closer to the tree, he found a few sturdy branches broken off from its impact. As massive as the trees truly were, it would be comparable to kindling. Kyle hefted a relatively straight one and tested the length of it, spinning it like a makeshift bō, the substitute staff blurring for a brief instant as he whipped it around. Functional … not gonna stop whatever tore up the tree … but at least now I can give them a stubbed toe. A shiver ran down his spine as he remembered lying helpless beneath the gaze of the massive dragon. The burn on his wrist stung anew and stopped his testing abruptly. It only took him a few seconds to rip the bark off, his deft hands pulling it all away to reveal the smooth, almost slick core beneath. He knelt and took a scoop of dirt, rubbing down the center of the staff as he held it upright before him.

A quick coat of dirt absorbed the slick wetness that had hidden beneath the bark. With a similarly deft wipe down with the sleeve he still had wrapped around his hand, the smooth surface beneath released the dirt. In a matter of minutes, he now had a weapon. Plus, walking sticks are cool. Kyle grinned as he started walking again, using the staff to bear some of the weight on his wounded leg. It wasn’t bad, but it was still wounded.

Kyle made his way slowly through the overgrown brush, carefully examining each of the different plant life he came across. Most everything he could see bore the telltale signs of being toxic, some form of poison, or another. Aside from that, he saw a few carnivorous plants waiting in ambush for unsuspecting prey. The most concerning factor was the sheer size of them. If he hadn’t been looking out for them and accidentally walked into one of those ambushes, he wouldn’t have even had a chance to fight back. He would have to be at least the size of a bear to survive the first strike, let alone get away. Kyle adjusted his grip on his new bō staff. Like hell I’m gonna get eaten by a flower.

It wasn’t for almost half of the day, marching steadily through the brush, that he came across his first sign of life that wasn’t vegetation. The slick black panther was nearly invisible in the shadows of the canopy. Kyle felt its eyes before he heard the low rumble it emitted from his chest. Once his eyes found it, he took a ready stance, sweat beading his forehead as he saw the beast. It was three, maybe four times bigger than the normal panthers he’d fought before, its massive body in proportion to the jungle around them. Carefully, it used its claws as anchors, walking almost straight down the tree toward Kyle. Careful, fluff. I already forfeited round one. I ain’t gonna do the same for round two. Kyle aimed the tip of his staff at the beast, setting his stance. He knew when it jumped, it would be fast. Accounting for gravity, it would drop even faster, but once it was in the air, he would have one clean shot. If he missed, he was lunch.

With that, the massive feline sprang from the tree with full lethal intent. Its massive claws splayed out to either side of him to grab ahold of him, the massive maw as wide as it would go. Apparently, it intended to end this in one bite. Kyle grinned wickedly as his hunter roared back at the challenge. With reflexes born of his long life on death’s teetering edge, Kyle stepped back and planted the butt of his staff into the ground. Dropping to one knee, he held it steady and aimed to give the panther a mouthful it wasn’t expecting.

The massive cat’s body weight worked against it, the well-aimed staff disappearing into its mouth. The driving force of its own weight slamming down from above turned against it as it impaled itself on his staff. The soft palate gave way. Kyle felt the momentary release of the struggling pressure as it broke through and into the base of its skull. From the way its lumbering form went limp as he felt the impact of the staff striking bone, he knew he’d shattered its spine. The fierce glow of life burning in its eyes suddenly changed to fear and panic as it fell bodily to the jungle floor just beyond Kyle. He’d done all he could to keep the staff upright, but the animal’s weight had been too much, the branch snapping clean through as it doubled over.

The sudden release of weight threw Kyle forward, in the opposite direction of the panther. Kyle used the sudden momentum to roll on one shoulder and come back up, facing his opponent. A sudden chill ran down his spine as he saw two more stalking down the trees behind him. If he’d tried to dodge back or to a side, one of them would have had him. He hadn’t even known they were there. He felt the lightened weight of the branch in his hand. It wasn’t a clean break, and the fringes were still green wood, so it wouldn’t be much good for a spear, and without the full length, it was little more than a stick again. Kyle grimaced and let it go as he looked for an out, letting his senses race outward, making sure there were no more surprises. Well, fuck me. He was surrounded. There were six of them in total. Kyle paused as he kept track of them all but realized the sense of life he’d gained was telling him that the one he’d run through was still alive as well.

As the realization struck him, the long hairs on the panther’s ears, tail, and around its paws lit with an eerie green flame. Weak at first, it burned brighter. By the time the others made their way to the ground, now weary of pouncing on the unexpected prey, the first had climbed back onto its feet, the fire licking from its feral eyes, the eerie glow even coming from deep within its mouth. A hacking cough from the beast and some hair ball-like wad was spat out. Kyle’s keen eyes saw blood and bone fragments. The flames started going out just as quickly as it came.

Kyle cursed his luck. He wasn’t entirely sure how it worked, but the damn things could heal, oversized, bloodthirsty panthers that could heal instantly from a paralyzing, fatal blow. Wonderful. The one that had leaped at him had left an opening in the circle now directly at his back. He would have to make a run for it and improvise a way to slow them down. He just didn’t have enough information to take them down, not to mention a weapon. Kyle didn’t waste time hesitating. They were closing in. He spun and jumped into the brush at the same time, the plants he brushed past lashing out to try and catch him and snare their meal. The attack was expected, so Kyle was able to spin and catch the tree, pushing off to launch himself clear. The snare instead wrapped viciously around one of the panthers that nearly landed on top of him.

The beast cried out as the powerful vines squeezed, dragging it into the massive snapper maw. Bones and organs visibly and audibly ruptured as blood splattered the tree. Kyle didn’t wait to see who won as the beast’s flames roared to life, teeth tearing into its captor’s vines. A second was already racing through the opening the plant left in the brush. Kyle ran as fast as he could, the branches that whipped past him scratching his face even as he dodged them at the last second. He leaped over a massive tree root, the mistake only being obvious when he hit the ground. The massive flytrap reacted instantly. Kyle’s feet were planted firmly on the top and bottom of its vegetative jaws.

Lucky! Kyle grinned as he recoiled from his landing using the snapping jaws to launch himself into the air. A quick spin cleared him from the would-be teeth and brought him unexpectedly face-to-face with another panther. Using the momentum of the jump, he brought his knee up into its jaw. He felt the impact shatter its mandible as it was redirected to go flying over his head. It hit the root limply and landed on another flytrap as its flames burst to life. The teeth of the trap slammed shut, almost severing the massive panther in half. The explosive amount of blood guaranteed the heart was destroyed in Kyle’s mind. The flames went out, and the limp upper half dropped to the forest floor with a wet thud, only one arm remaining attached to the neck and head, the rest already being swallowed by the plant.

Instant kills work. Kyle smiled. So the fuckers can die. All I need to know. Kyle landed on the ground as he saw it happen, grinning as he took off again. There were still four more closing in rapidly, but now he knew something interesting. A shock of pain took him by surprise as a vine lashed out, thick thorns biting deep into his calf. On top of that, Kyle felt the next panther already leaping to take him down from behind. Can’t a guy get a break in this place? Kyle leaped into the air and kicked away from the panther, yanking the vine taunt as the big fur ball flew right into it.

The thorns bit into its face as the vine stretched across its open mouth. The ones biting into his leg bit deeper as the tension caused him to get yanked by the vines. The panther had missed, and its own weight carried it into the vine, wrapping through its mouth like a bit. Kyle was swung by the biting vine to slam bodily against the panther as it rushed past. He heard the vine get ripped from the ground as the big cat lurched forward, batting at its face, at the thorns biting it back. Kyle kicked with his free leg and spun, using his hands on the ground to push himself into the air and onto the panther’s back. The flailing end of the vine had bitten into the panther even in its dying throes, the thorns buried deep into its flank.

The flames that marked their healing burst up. Kyle felt the searing heat on his face, but oddly, a chill ran down his spine instead of warmth. As if the random appearance of it wasn’t enough, the obvious unnatural nature of the flames was confirmed. Kyle grabbed ahold of the vine and ripped it free of the beast’s side. When it reared back, he was deft as ever in wrapping the vine around its mouth and yanking it tightly shut, the biting thorns pinning it shut even as it tried to roll on the ground and dislodge him. Kyle grabbed the vine, wrapping his own leg, and pulled both sides toward the ground. The beast had no choice but to follow as its head bounced off a rock. Kyle felt the incredible weight on his leg, but a moment later, it was lifted as the now disoriented and still-healing panther dove into the brush.

It started running in anger, trying to escape the hunter now straddling his back and using the vine as a makeshift rein. It was fast, incredibly fast. Kyle could feel the other three still racing along behind. At least for a moment, he seemed to have a breath. He tried to reassess the situation and find a way out, a safe zone, anything. Just then, the trees stopped. The massive cat ran straight into an opening where the massive trees gave way to an open bluff. In its blind fury, it didn’t even slow down. Kyle put the heel of a boot on his neck and yanked with his whole body. In midair, he snapped its neck and rode its body to the ground. At least that was the plan. To his surprise, just before striking the ground, the panther was torn free of the vine, a heavy impact hurtling it into a tree. Kyle was whipped around as the vine yanked free of his leg, shredding the skin and spraying blood.

Kyle rushed to understand the newest shift in events and was shocked anew as he came eye to eye with another man. He was tall and slim, a clear sapphire blue glowing from his eyes as they met with Kyle’s. The sudden surprise of seeing Kyle there was genuine. The unafraid posture and his extended arm told Kyle two things: he wasn’t new to the island, and he’d sent the panther flying with that arm. From his stance, it couldn’t have been more than a simple swat for him. A titan? How?

As the two spotted each other, Kyle realized his spinning was stopping him from reacting. He was coming down on top of the stranger, and he could do nothing to change that. The man realized it as well and lifted his hands in reflex. The shock and surprise was knee jerk, so Kyle made a note to not hold a grudge for what he knew was coming. Wrong place, wrong time. Story of my life.

The titan tried to duck and lifted his arms. It looked like he was trying to ward off the collision. Kyle swore as he watched the arm come up. He’d seen a titan bump into a building once when they were clear-eyed, free of the strength-restraining herbs they normally maintained outside their own island. The building had crumbled as though it was struck by a catapult, the explosive impact sending debris to destroy the rest of the walls within. In seconds, the entire building was a pile of rubble. Kyle braced himself to become rubble.

Even anticipating it, the impact was beyond his imagination. Kyle felt the brush of the titan’s knuckle against his chest, the simple gesture recoiling throughout his whole body. Even before the rest of his weight could come to bear, the impact cast him off. Kyle felt ribs splitting. Four of them were broken in at least two places on the left. He’d be surprised if any on his right side were still intact. The trees whipped past his head, branches exploding across his back from the impact before he cleared the trees once more, hurtling backward at incredible speed.

Kyle used the helpless opportunity to