Humayre: The Chronicles of Ronin Wilder
Chapter 36

Four hundred yards west of BrightWood standing in front of a frozen river was a man in jeans, brown boots and a puffy blue jacket. His head was bald and pale. As he turned around his mirrored sunglasses flashed in the sunlight. Ronin wondered who the man was and why Raven wanted him to meet him.

Raven and Ronin stopped at the Rivers edge. Raven stared off into the forest. The snow was deep and undisturbed. Little bits of slush melted at the top of Ronin’s boots. The water slid down and soaked his socks.

Nodding to his left, Raven said, “My friend here is an Ancient. Think of him as a Vein witch doctor.” Rubbing his chin and staring to the sky, he added, “Well. Maybe not a Vein, per say.” He wagged his finger in Ronin’s face. “Let’s not get caught up in semantics. The man wants to meet you. That’s all you need to know.”

The bald man approached Ronin. Ronin tried to take a step back but Raven grabbed around his bicep and squeezed. It felt like he was about to break his arm.

“Don’t be rude,” said Raven.

The Ancient took off his glasses. What looked like a plastic nose came off with the glasses. A gasp escaped Ronin’s mouth, it was quickly followed by an even harder squeeze. Ronin yelped out. The Ancient’s eyes were missing, empty sockets were all that remained. Deep scars spread across his cheeks and forehead. So badly deformed was his face, he no longer had a human appearance. Where his nose should have been were two gaping holes. Ronin could see right into his head. He wanted to turn away, but knew Raven would snap his arm if he did.

With two hands the Ancient grabbed Ronin’s face. Ronin closed his eyes and cringed.

“Is he not as magnificent as I said?” asked Raven. “I bet you never thought you’d see another Vlairbourne?”

“Yes,” said The Ancient, in a deep gargled voice. He released his grasp and put his sunglasses back on.

“Can you feel the rot? Does he have the Raqshen?” asked Raven.

“He does,” gargled the Ancient

With an almost compassionate expression, Raven stared at Ronin. Shaking his head he looked back to the Ancient. “Thank you, my old friend.”

The Ancient nodded. Following the edge of the stream, the Ancient walked north until he disappeared behind some pine trees. Ronin wondered how he could find his way without eyes.

Turning from the stream, Raven stared hard at Ronin’s hands. “I’ve come to give you another chance,” he said.

Ronin stuffed his hands into his pockets. Courage accidentally found him. Before he could stop himself, he blurted out. “You killed those people at CreeWood, you killed my friend, you killed my parents. I’ll never help you.” As the words left his mouth he regretted it. He hated the man before him, but he desperately wanted answers. The guilt of wanting Raven’s knowledge sickened his heart.

Raven turned to the river and stared into the ice. “Have you lost yourself yet?” he asked.

Ronin knew exactly what he was talking about, but wondered how Raven could possibly know.

“Your silence is a confirmation,” said Raven. His straight blonde hair danced in the wind. “It will only get worse. You think you can control it now, but it will eventually consume you and when it does there will be no stopping it.”

Remembering how he felt when he fought Ryan, Ronin knew that Raven was speaking the truth.

“In order to manage it you first have to know what it is. You first have to know what you are.”

“What am I?” asked Ronin desperately. “Am I a Vlairbourne?” As badly as he wanted to hold his tongue he couldn’t. He had to know.

Raven waved his finger in the air. “Patience. We will get to that,” he said. “But first. Let’s address your grievances.” He stepped out onto the ice and tested its strength with his foot. “Yes, I killed your parents, I killed Cyrus, I killed those men at CreeWood, but nothing I did was without justifiable reason. All of them were traitors. Well, all except Cyrus. He was simply a casualty of war. Those men I killed in CreeWood were agents of mine who decided they no longer needed to honor the terms of our agreement. So I dealt with them as I felt necessary.”

Ronin held silent, staring at Raven’s back. The thought of lunging into the air and giving Raven a dose of razor sharp justice crossed Ronin’s mind.

Stepping off the ice Raven approached Ronin. He leaned his Bloodblade on his shoulder. Up close, the sword was terrifying. The blade was serrated, any wound inflicted by it wouldn’t just cut, it would also tear. Raven lowered his sword stopping it inches from Ronin’s face. He tapped Ronin on the head with the flat part of the blade.

“Why don’t you start using that thing in between your ears,” said Raven. “I know you’re smarter than this.”

The condescending way in which Raven spoke enraged Ronin. He hated to be talked down to. It reminded him of how Dick would speak to him. Pain fired through the palms of his hands and up his arm. He let the anger get the better of him and his claws made him pay for it. He quickly unclenched his fists and pulled them out of his pockets. Blood trickled from his punctured hands.

Looking at Ronin’s bleeding hands, Raven chuckled. “You need my help far more than you realize.” He shook his head. “There is a name my people gave it.”

Ronin squinted in confusion.

“When you lose yourself,” said Raven. “I won’t bore you with our word for it. I’ll simply give you its translation. We called it the Empty Frenzy. Or the rot.” He pulled his right glove off and stuffed it in his pocket. “There are only a few left who remember the war. I fought in it you see. It was the first time in the history of my world where Vein and Rahvein fought side by side to destroy a common enemy.” He stared off into the snow burdened pine trees. “We killed them all. Every last one of them. They were too dangerous to leave alive. Too ruthless. Which brings me back to the Empty Frenzy. It’s what gave them their strength. It is also the reason we left no survivors.”

“What does this have to do with me?” snapped Ronin.

“Everything. It has everything to do with you. Like I said. I know what you are. So I know how they managed the Empty Frenzy. I also know what it will do to you if left un-managed. Make no mistake. Without my help you will end up destroying your enemies and your friends. The Frenzy takes no sides, it simply unleashes itself destroying whatever it can.”

The fear of becoming a monster strangled Ronin’s resolve. He knew Raven was speaking the truth. What if he hurt Grace? What if he hurt Mrs. Kinney? The last time he felt like he was losing himself, he almost couldn’t pull himself out of it. Turning his hands over, he stared at the tips of his claws. They were sharp and dangerous. He could barely keep from hurting himself, what would happen if he lost control? He needed to know more.

“How?” blurted out Ronin. “How can I control it?” Remembering Raven was a murderer, he regained his resolve. He shook his head and glared at Raven. “I can control it. I don’t need you.”

Raven smiled. “We will see.” He unbuttoned his coat and reached inside it. He pulled out a piece of paper folded in two. He held it out for Ronin. “Go ahead. Take it. Consider it a gift.”

At first Ronin didn’t want to take the paper, but curiosity got the better of him. He grabbed the document and unfolded it. It had been torn in two. The half Ronin held was the lower half. Four signatures were at the bottom. Dr. Storm’s, his parent’s, and Master Kita’s. Above the signatures were the words Project Resolve. Just below his parent’s signatures was a typed word. It said Surrogate. Just below Master Kita’s name, it said, Donor For Subject X. Just below that was another section for a signature. It also said, Donor For Subject X, but just below it was a whited out signature.

“What is this?’ asked Ronin.

“You are subject X,” said Raven, suppressing a smile.

“What’s this mean?” He pointed to his parent’s signature. “It says surrogate. Does that mean biologically I’m not their son?” He shook his head. “I don’t understand.” With pleading eyes, he added, “Please tell me. Were they my parents?”

“Well now,” said Raven. “Here we are again.” He balanced the flat part of his sword on his ungloved middle finger and spun it. “You help me and I’ll help you. Wasn’t that the deal I offered you before?”

“What do you want?” asked Ronin timidly.

“I think this little meeting was a success. What do you think?” asked Raven. The spinning sword started to wobble. He thrust his hand into the air, the sword cartwheeled. As it came down he shot his hand out and caught it by the handle. He sheathed the sword to his back with an arrogant smile.

“What do you want?” asked Ronin, his voice riddled with desperation. In that moment he had forgotten about Cyrus and those Raven had killed. All he wanted was answers.

“The next time we meet I will be expecting an answer,” said Raven. He pat Ronin on the head and began to follow the frozen river north.

“Wait.” Ronin glanced at the document and then back to Raven. “Where did you get this?”

Raven stopped. With his back to Ronin, he said, “Storm BioTech. Just got it today actually.” He waved his hand in the air and continued down river.

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