Chapter 4: Darkness

Kale and Megan started their walk down the never-ending road north. They walked for miles, Megan complaining about her feet. Finally Icarus ended up carrying both of them on his broad back for an hour. Kale was tired, but he wanted to go as far as he could, eager to read and find out his history. They stopped as the sun sat, and just off the road in the woods they made camp.

Megan huddled as close to the fire as she could. Kale had his jacket hanging off a low branch. He could see the firelight through the holes.

"If it wasn't for that short ride, I'd be really ticked at you about my jacket, dragon." Kale said as Icarus continued to groom himself like a cat. He paused to look at Kale, tongue still hanging out.

Kale's stomach growled, but not vocally. He was already starving again. He had always had a huge appetite, and always felt hungry, especially growing up in an orphanage that could barely support the number of kids there. He never ate as much as he wanted so the smaller kids could eat their fill.

Megan scooted closer to the fire, holding her knees.

"You cold, kid?"

"No… I'm… I'm afraid of the dark."

"Oh, I get it. I use to be, too." Kale said, poking the fire.

"Really? How'd you get so brave?"

"Well, first I learned to do this." Kale put his hands out and concentrated. He formed a small ball of white/green light between his hands.

"Ooh, pretty. How'd you learn to do that?"

"I taught myself, it's a thing really strong fighters can learn to do."

"Can you teach me?"

"I don't think so, it took me a long time to figure it out."

"Oh... then what did you do?" Megan asked, referring back to the darkness.

"Whenever I got scared, I made one of these. I think it's called Ki. It would light up the room, and whatever scared me wasn't there."

"The light made it run away?" Megan asked.

"No, there was never anything there. There is nothing in the dark that isn't there in the daylight."

"But what about owls? Or bats?" Megan asked. Kale laughed.

"You're smart, kid... technically they are there, only sleeping and hiding." Megan yawned and crawled over to Kale's sleeping bag. Icarus went beside her, curling around her like a large cat guarding its kitten.

"Protect her, Icarus, okay?" Kale said once Megan was asleep. Icarus opened one eye to look at Kale, then went back to sleep.

XxX

Kale had fallen asleep, exhausted and dreaming about mountains of food. But that peace was shattered when he heard screaming. He shot up straight and immediately looked toward Megan; she wasn't there, only the ruffled and slashed sleeping bag.

Kale looked at Icarus, who had a nasty cut across his side, along with bruises and scrapes. He was licking the long gash and whimpering.

"What happened here? How did I sleep through it? Where's Megan?"

Icarus looked toward the west, and there in the sky Kale saw a billow of smoke.

"Icarus, can you fly?" Icarus stood up and limped to get to some room. He spread his wings and looked at Kale. Kale hopped on, "Take me to Megan."

XxX

The cold night air ripped through Kale torn jacket as Icarus flew toward the pillar of smoke.

"Faster, Icarus, faster!" Icarus did speed up, and the wind ripped through Kale like a double-edge sword.

Kale looked through the wind to see the smoke coming out of a tower. That tower connected to a castle that was bigger than the church Kale use to live in. The closer they got to it, the bigger it got.

Then Kale noticed something about the castle; it was not complete. It was only a small portion of what use to be a much larger castle. It looked like it had been dropped from the sky and that was where and how it landed.

Icarus landed, and Kale hopped off.

"Rest and wait here. I'll be back with Megan." Icarus sat down like an obedient dog and Kale went toward the castle.

The dirt near the castle's base seemed different from the surrounding land. It had a funny smell to it. Kale recognized it as blood, and he was slightly aroused, though appalled at the same time.

Blood... it has always fascinated me, the scent, the taste-

Kale shook his head. He walked on, ignoring the faint yet always present smell of blood. He got to what looked like a door, but he could find a handle.

"How do I open this thing?" Kale looked, but only found an inscription near the base of the door. He had never seen the language before, but he could read it. "Destiny? Is that a password?" Kale looked to the door, but it didn't open. Kale hit the door with his fist.

I know Megan is in there, I can smell her. Is this language my own? From the Saiyans? It has to be, but I can't speak it. How did I read it?

Kale ran his fingers over the symbols, breaking down the characters and syllables.

"A-ree-nah. Arina?" Kale spoke it as it was written, and the door opened. Kale looked at the door in shock, but walked through the threshold, a scowl spread across his face.