Ori-thion

By Bryan Isham

Jonathan Geared was like no other. He was smart and polite and came out of nowhere. His constant moving and fighting left him aggressive and calculated. That was until he met someone that stole his heart.

Lacie was in love, and so was John. She was everything that John had dreamed of, someone he could not get out of his head. Even with an overly protective and aggravated ex, she was quickly becoming his whole world.

Everything was slowly coming together for John. However, a demon from his past has brought destruction and something worse: the truth. Chris saw him as he truly was. John was blue, and his blood was filled with a frozen element from another world.

Even since the death of his mother, John has been hiding from others, praying for a simple life. Plans change. Now another from his land is working on starting a war that should never plague Earth. How is John supposed to stop a monster that wants to make his kind extinct?

With his new love by his side, and so many more to protect, John must fight.

His secrets are slowly coming out. There’s no more hiding or running. A never-ending war is slowly rising from its ashes. John will stop at nothing to keep the peace in the world. But once the peace is gone, war hell must be brought.

He knows he will never make it back to Ori-Thion.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Aug 30, 2021
• ISBN: 9781662449000

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Ori-thion

Bryan Isham

Copyright © 2021 Bryan Isham

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING, INC.

Conneaut Lake, PA

First originally published by Page Publishing 2021

ISBN 978-1-6624-4899-7 (pbk)

ISBN 978-1-6624-4900-0 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

This book is dedicated to Ryan Isham, my twin brother.

You will forever live in my heart and soul, just as you will live forever in these pages.

1

Everything burned. The only sound he could hear was the sound of his own scream. The bright flashes of fire blinded him in the middle of the night. His arms scorched with everything he touched. Smoke and ash grinded his throat every time he coughed.

He felt his body start to shut down. In the twenty years of his life, he had never seen so much fire. He pushed his weakening body through more smoke and flames. His empty stomach churned inside of him. He wanted to vomit, but he had nothing left.

Another scream leaked through the crackling hell fire that burned everything in front of him. Jonathan! The scream was pure fear and pain. It scared Jonathan more than the fire all around him. He tried to scream back, but nothing came from his throat but a hoarse gag.

He had to get to her. He had to save her. Jonathan had to get her out of the fire. She was all he had left. A loud cough and scream echoed through the smoke-filled room. Jonathan could feel the tears burning into his cheeks. He screamed and cried to get to her but couldn’t get to her in time.

Momma! Jonathan screamed as he woke up frantically from another bad dream. He sat up and covered his face with his hands. The tears from his face broke up the dirt and grime of his hands, smearing it across his face.

He held back more of his tears, knowing it was only a dream. More like a nightmare. His breath was short and frantic. Jonathan had to force himself to take in slow, long breaths to calm his thumping heart. Closing his eyes, he just focused on the sounds of nature around him.

The smell of old smoke hovered around him. His eyes jolted open once the smell seeped in his brain. A thin trail of gray smoke danced out of a small hole he had dug the day before. Ashes fluttered around in the soft wind. A small red-orange ember shined under the soot and ash.

Jonathan pulled his feet out from the sleeping bag and rested on top of it. The air was already cooling his sweating feet. He sighed and reached out for his socks and boots. The socks were stretched over the opening of the boots to block anything from trying to sneak inside.

After quietly pulling on his sock and boots, he sat on the sleeping bag and listened to the world around him. The wind whispered with the top of the trees, swaying them awake. The once-black sky had a clean soft tint of gray yellow. The sun’s about to come up, Jonathan realized as he focused on the ever-changing skies.

Avoiding the emptiness in his stomach, he began to roll up the only thing he had to sleep on. The morning dew had just started to form on the outer layer. A few creases had a shine of the moisture.

Snap!

Jonathan froze with the sound. He once again closed his eyes, letting his ears take full control of his mind. A slight rustling sound fidgeted behind him. Holding his breath, Jonathan slowly squatted down. As his knees bent further, one of them popped. He froze once again.

Keeping his whole body quiet, he reached over to the large rucksack that he had used as his pillow. More movement scurried all around him. Animal, he thought almost happily. Low to the ground, but large enough. He studied the sounds around him before he unhooked a long sheath. He held the handle as tight as he could, pulling the machete from its leather casing.

The more Jonathan listened to whatever was around him, the more he questioned exactly what it was. The sound came in low outbursts that seemed more like jumping than running. The smirk on his face turned into a real smile when he figured out what it was.

Come on, Peter Cottontail, he whispered to himself, remembering the old nursery rhyme. He crept quietly away from the smoking pit, holding the machete above his shoulder. The sky began to brighten just enough for him to see inside the dense woods.

The small rabbit hopped out from behind a thin tree, unaware of the danger that it was now exposed to. Jonathan waited patiently for the animal to wander closer to him. God, don’t let this animal suffer. His death is part of the great circle of life, giving me the strength to live, Jonathan prayed as his grip on the metal handle tightened.

With a silent grunt, he flung out the large blade with all his might. Within a blink of his eyes, the sharp metal slammed into the back of the rabbit, stopping it in its tracks. Blood leaked out on to its gray fur, staining it to a dark brown.

Jonathan pulled the animal from the blade, holding it with his bare hand. You will give me the strength to get through another day, and I thank you for this, he whispered to the rabbit as he pulled back the loose skin, revealing the meat that clung tightly to the bones.

More blood poured out from the small beast. He straddled it on a large branch to drain the rest of the fluid that kept the life in the small body. Past the smell of death, he could still smell the faint musk of the smoke.

I guess I have to get that going again, he mumbled to himself. There was something about the element that could take life but was also a part of it. I have food, he told himself and forced a smile on his face as he swept up the top layer of dry straw from the ground. It had been days since he had a good kill like that. He laid the pile of straw off to the side and started collecting twigs and small sticks.

The longer the animal drained, the less blood it had but also the more bugs. Jonathan had no intention on sharing his meat with the parasites. He hurried with his gathering of both kindle and wood. Laying a thin layer of the straw on top of the still-hot ember, he blew directly on the pit. More embers started to glow under the dead straw.

After a few good breaths into the hole, a small flame unburied itself and attacked. The fire grew bright and waved with the slight wind. After he piled more sticks and twigs on to his little fire, he dropped a large section of limbs on top. It grew quickly, devouring everything that Jonathan set in its path.

He yanked off the branch with the rabbit, causing a loud snap to echo through the empty woods. He dropped the long, healthy branch to side and begin pulling out the innards, tossing them deeper in the woods for whatever wanted them.

After he had the small mammal skinned and ready to be cooked, he held his breath and forced the branch through the mouth of it and out the other side. Jamming the other end of the stick in the ground, he dangled the meat over the fire. Instantly, he heard the pop and sizzle of the still-wet meat.

Waiting for the meat to blacken, his eyes met the large rucksack that had saved his life more than he could count. It was a gift, if he could call it that, from a soldier who was on his way home from being overseas. Jonathan remembered the soldier well. The man’s name on his uniform still showed itself in Jonathan’s dreams occasionally. Lawhorn. It sounded more like an animal name than that of a soldier.

The young soldier stopped one day while Jonathan was hiking near the main highway. He picked him up and asked Jonathan a few questions. Jonathan couldn’t determine if the man was impressed with him or felt sorry. Either way, by the end of that day, Jonathan had gotten a free meal and a small supply of gear that the soldier didn’t want. It was all a huge blessing for him.

Jonathan smiled thinking about how much easier it was with the gear, even if it was just a few pairs of socks, a couple of shirts, a canteen, and a sleeping bag. He had the gear for several months now. The weight of it felt like nothing to him. He almost felt naked without the pack weighing down on his back.

He began turning the meat over the fire, feeling much better than he had earlier that night. His hunger was about to be settled, and he still had water in the canteen. He let the meat sizzle as he took out the green canteen. He shook it. The half-empty sound almost broke his spirit.

You can make it last. Be thankful you have food. Nature has a way of supplying all you need, he told himself the same thing his mother had told him when he was a mere child. He took a small swig of water and placed it back in its pouch. He just sat there for several minutes, waiting for the meat to blacken. As the sizzling slowed to a steady pace, he gripped the end out of the dirt.

So much for lucky rabbit’s feet, he joked as he took a large bite out of the side of the meat. It was tough as he chewed, but it was a taste that he had grown to love. To him, it tasted like nothing else. The meat had a natural marinade to it. He guessed to keep the muscles from locking up.

He finished all the meat off the bones. He even suffered through eating the joints and tendons. He wanted as much in his stomach as he could. He had no idea when he would be able to eat that much again.

He tossed the bones back into the woods, to be consumed back in the world. Most of the wood had been burned through, and now the fire just flickered in the morning wind. Jonathan started kicking the dirt back in the fire hole. He almost felt a pleasure to suffocate the element that destroyed his world. He could almost hear his mother’s screams over his own thoughts.

As the smoke poured form the hole, a couple of flames pushed though the earth, almost mocking him. He felt the anger building back up in his stomach. He kicked the sides of the hole as if it started to attack him. With each grunt and slam of his boot, he imagined the fire was attacking.

He wanted it to. He wanted the thing that took his mother to show a form that Jonathan could destroy for good. He stomped the ashes and embers in a rage he had not expected. His stomach churned with the frantic movements. The only meal he had in a long time felt like it was going to eject itself, almost telling him that he didn’t deserve what nature had given him.

Jonathan dropped to his knees and focused on his breathing. His mouth already felt dry and dehydrated. More wind picked up, pushing through the trees as a warning. He looked above the treetops and saw another thing that was both a curse and a blessing. Rain clouds.

There’s a storm coming, he told himself. He studied the clouds and watched their slightest movement. I’ll say around nightfall when it comes. The rain did supply fresh water, but it also drenched all his gear. The compressed sack was a breeding ground for mildew and bacteria. Sickness was something that he couldn’t run from.

Let’s move, he ordered to his body. He finished rolling up his sleeping bag and stuffed it at the bottom of the ruck. He pulled the extra clothes to the top of pile of goodies he had found over the past few months.

Once he had everything back in the pack, he slung it on his shoulders and started his daily hike. He had no idea where he was going, but for some reason he never wanted to truly leave the civilization around him. A burden for the people always burned in his heart. He wanted to be useful, but it was hard to be known without people finding out who he truly was.

As the sun finally made its way out of the horizon and into the morning sky, he felt the heat rain down on him once again. I hate the summer, he growled to himself as he marched through the thick woods. The watch on his wrist read 6:19, but he wasn’t sure on how accurate it was anymore.

The long hike gave him more time to think about his life. With each step, he could feel his mind shutting down. Am I just an animal? Will I be just food for another beast? His mind summoned up question he didn’t want to answer. With every day that passed, he felt closer to giving up. What’s the point? I can’t do the society any good. His thoughts slowed his march to a sluggish stride.

The quickest way out was the worst outcome. Suicide is the ultimate sin, he kept telling himself with each step. He almost felt sick with the sun blaring down at him. It wasn’t the weight of the pack but the weight of his world that held him down. The sound of the wooded area had gone completely quiet with his grief. God, help me, he begged.

A familiar sound whispered in the silence. He ignored it, believing that it was just his overactive mind. The further he walked, the louder the sound had become. No way, he whispered back, listening to the sound of what he had prayed for. He real smile stretched on his dirty face.

You got to be kidding me, he laughed. His feet started to pound on the soft ground under him. He was running before he knew it, chasing the sound like it was running away from him.

He cheered happily once he saw it. A large crack in the rocky earth had left a path for the essence of life. A stream pushed water over the rocks that jutted out from all directions. Water! he celebrated again.

With no fear of what could be in it, Jonathan shoved his face in the cool water. He drank while he held his breath. The water chilled his throat and coated his insides with a layer of moisture that he had missed. He drank until he felt like he was going to spew. He yanked his face out and rubbed the coolness into his skin. God works in mysterious ways, he said with a smile.

With a quick sweep of the side pocket, he pulled out the canteen out of the rucksack. He traced the stream to another drop of rock.