Chapter Two - Power Unleashed

The world around me was new before my eyes. I felt the blazing sun burn down upon my ragged body, and the soaking ground lay beneath my head. I heard voices, male voices definitely, but they were far from me and not within my earshot. Then I realised I was outside, not stuck in the confinement of that disgusting prison cell anymore! Was I free? This I didn't know. I felt good, my tiredness had lifted now, and so I got up to examine what type of situation I was in. The landscape around me was dark despite the sun glaring down upon it, and a heavy humidity filled the air around me. There were no people, buildings, trees or animals around. It was completely barren. I was alone. Had I heard voices before, or was it a result of an overactive imagination? No. I had heard something, I was sure of it. I looked down to where I had lain before, and I spotted what looked like a small knife, inside a beautifully engraved sheath. I picked it up and examined it closely, looking at the markings upon the covering for the dagger itself. It seem to suit the size of my hand, it felt comfortable, almost as if it had found a new home in my clenched palm. I wasn't going to let go of it anytime soon. It was secure; it made me feel safe as I looked upon the desolate world that stood before me. I could see lights glistening ever so slightly in the distance, but I guessed that they were between five to ten miles away. I wasn't sure of the distance, after all I had always been told where I was going and how far up to this point. I was in a place where my only ally was myself, and I didn't like the change one bit.

I heard a rustling in the brush not far from where I stood, to my left and around ten meters away. I gripped the handle of the dagger in my hand and waited to see if anything would come of the sound. However nothing happened in this place. Instead it happened behind me, and the action was so swift that I wasn't even able to acknowledge the blow to the head I received. I lifted off the ground and landed around twenty meters from my original position. The person suddenly appeared beside my aching body, and I was lifted into the air by the neck as if I was some sort of animal.

"Who are you kid?! Answer me!"

The voice was female, and the girl sounded young, younger even than myself.

"Who.are you.?" I stuttered as she lifted me higher into the air. I strained my neck as I tried to stay conscious, although my senses were drifting ever further from my shattered self.

"Never mind who I am! It's nothing to you! Now tell me, do you support Kilbane or do you support Kefka?!"

I looked down at the girl, and for the first time I saw her face. She was marked all over with what looked like paint, and her true features were disguised from view. She wore ragged worn clothing, and in her right hand she held a staff, which at one end had a strange glowing orb that shone and pulsated, a guiding light in a world of darkness. Her hair was autumn personified and she had it tied up, restricted from freely moving over her shoulders. She looked battle-worn from the past few hours or so. I didn't have any idea what she was talking about, so I didn't reply to her question, but she shook me and bullied me and finally I was forced to say something.

".What.are you talking about.?"

The girl looked surprised at my response, and she dropped me onto the damp ground below, which I hit with severe force. I groaned as she walked around my broken body, and I noticed that she seemed to be muttering to herself. As I tried to get to my feet she kneeled down beside me, holding my head. I wasn't sure if she was holding me down or simply trying to give me comfort; my head was extremely heavy anyway, but she sat down on the trustworthy ground below her and started to speak to me.

".What's your name, kid?"

This surprised me, for after all I was presumably older than this girl, but it didn't faze me.

"Rylian."

"Rylian. strange name. so what are you doing out here if you're not fighting?"

".I was left here by someone, I'm not sure who. but what do you mean fighting?"

The girl stood up and helped to lift my worn body. I felt like staying there considering my state, but I doubt if it would have been such a good idea! I looked at the girl who was now looking to the horizon eastwards. She looked deflated, and I made a guess that she must have lost whatever battle she had been fighting.

"What's your name?" I asked her.

"Me?" she asked

"Well, there's no one else around." I said as I looked over my shoulder at the vast emptiness of the plains that stretched out mile after mile all around me.

"Yeah. there isn't, is there?" she sighed softly. Her face had the expression of fear as she looked over the desolate landscape around us both.

"Well, my name is Karon, pleased to meet you anyway. you're the first person I've met in around 3 hours who doesn't want to kill me. I'm very relived."

I grinned at her, for I knew that she was on my terms now.

"I know that feeling alright. I've just been dumped out here, I've no idea where I even am."

"What happened to you?" Karon asked with a genuine look of concern on her young naïve face.

"I've been kidnapped. at least it seems like it. I don't really know how to explain it to be honest."

She turned away and started walking to the north.

"Come with me. You can explain everything to me when we reach the others."