An entire part of the cave wall was filled with tally marks; with some lines drawn perfectly straight and others with rigid lines and writings.
"Approximately thirty days in a month... Around one hundred and eighty days in six months."
"Five, ten..." Kenan counted the tally marks
under his breath.
Kenan traced his fingers across the lines on the cave walls, some of which were deeper than others. Some grazed lightly over the wall, some were carved deep. In a nutshell, all of them looked different. It might have been something as simple as the writer's state of mind when he drew them, or it might have been the 'other people' he talked about earlier. The other people whose whereabouts he claimed not to know.
In the midst of this rally marks, a large diagram of a dove was carved carefully—its wings were spread out vertically, stretching past the circle that it was drawn within.
"Ah, shit!" Kenan mumbled underneath his breath, "It could be a simple coincidence."
Only one kind of people in the world used that symbol, and Kenan hoped sincerely with all his heart that he was wrong.
By the time Jesse and the savior had yet to return, Kenan moved to the other side of the wall, which was also filled with weird writings and similar bird drawings. However, they were not just tally marks, but poorly written notes.
Kenan strained his eyes in an attempt to read what was written, but it was to no avail.
Hence, he moved to the parts of the cave where
the light didn't reach; various things lay around, including a broken mirror shard.
Kenan casually picked up each item, scanning their contents thoroughly. He turned open the lid of a handmade clay pot, and a repugnant smell wafted into his nose.
A dark-coloured paste that smelled like rotting corpse.
He hurriedly closed the pot before moving to the bigger one. His face contorted when he saw the clear liquid the other pot contained. The clay wasn't melting, which meant that... Kenan slowly touched the surface of the content with the tip of his finger before dipping his entire hand into what appeared to be cold water.
Did the young man forget that he still had water in the cave?
Panic slowly settled in his heart. He jerked up, picking the mirror shard, and walked to the weird writings on the wall.
A trick he was thought during his childhood.
He raised the mirror to the letters. And just as he had guessed, what appeared on the mirror was an inverted reflection of the writings.
"I'VE BEEN HERE FOR TWO WEEKS"
The letters were small and rough, hence they were hard to decipher.
"HE SAID HIS NAME... BUT, THE BIOSYNC
TAG SAID OTHERWISE..."
The rest of the letters were scraped off, as
if someone had intentionally scratched
them off the wall.
"I THINK I FOU...D A WAY OUT. HE…"
"SHIT! THE ASSHOLE IS A FUCKING DESERTER!"
Kenan's heart sank as he saw the last words, written with jagged letters as if the writer was in a hurry but large and clear. Even though some of the letters were scratched off, Kenan could still understand it.
Deserters were the worst type of beast a person could come across in the Dark Lands—Either transcendents or normal humans who had lost all their human morals, they left the Sun Continent, detesting the laws that protect the common people, and lived their entire lives in the Dark Lands. Being no different from beasts, they kill humans just the same—Psychopaths who didn't want to live by the rules anymore.
Hopefully, this Deserter was not a transcendent because if he was, Kenan would stand no chance against him.
"Hey." The familiar voice echoed in the cave, permeating the sound of his own heartbeat in his ears.
Kenan felt a chill run down his spine as he turned his gaze away from the writings on the wall.
He stood up and subconsciously hid the
mirror shard behind his back, "You're back…so quickly."
"Hmm. You didn't get bored waiting, did you?"
Kenan glanced at the entrance of the cave,
ignoring the man's question, "Jesse?"
"Ran off with your weapon; he claims to have found a path." The young man shrugged calmly.
"And the water?" Kenan asked calmly.
"I let him have it; he'd need it for the long journey, anyway."
"How very nice of you," Kenan said in-between gritted teeth. "What would you drink now, since you're out of water?"
The young man glanced behind Kenan, at the darker part of the cave. He tilted his head slightly as he walked towards Kenan, "I wonder."
"I did bring you a bottle of water, though." He suddenly said and a small bottle materialized in his hand, and he handed it over to Kenan, who glanced at the blue ring on the young man's finger.
As soon as Kenan took the bottle from him, the young man walked towards the darker part of the room.
"Urgh!" He groaned loudly as he felt something sharp dig into his shoulder blade.
"Where is Jesse?" Kenan had aimed for his
neck, but a slight movement changed his trajectory, causing him to stab somewhere non-lethal instead. The young man's face contorted from confusion to anger as he pushed back against Kenan, pushing the broken mirror shard further into his shoulder but also successfully pushing Kenan away.
His hand darted to his side, reaching for what seemed like a small blade strapped to his hip, but Kenan was quicker, grabbing the man's wrist and slamming it against the wall.
"You're... stronger than you look," The man hissed through clenched teeth, his eyes narrowing as maintained a sickening smile, "But this shouldn't take too long."
Kenan didn't answer, pressing harder to keep him pinned.
However, he soon broke free from Kenan's weak grip, lunging forward with renewed aggression, his fists swung wildly as he tried to pummel Kenan.
His punches were fast but sloppy, fueled by frustration and brutal strength, but Kenan managed to scuffle backwards, dodging by a hair's breadth as his opponent's fists struck the air beside him.
"Stay still, you little vermin—!" He growled, his voice seething with irritation.
'And die by your hands?' Kenan thought as he ducked, slipping around him and pushing his shoulder into the man's back, throwing him slightly off balance. But the man recovered quickly, his foot lashing out to catch Kenan's ankle, sending him stumbling backward and crashing against the cave wall.
The impact left Kenan dazed, his vision swimming for a moment as his opponent loomed over him, a smirk of satisfaction crossing his face.
"Take a look at yourself, pathetic fool. Should have just taken the easier route and died silently. But I sure will enjoy this."
The young man reached down, grabbing Kenan by the collar, lifting him enough to pull his arm back for a punch.
"I did think you had something in you, though. What a waste."
Just before the punch landed, Kenan turned to the entrance and muttered weakly, "Hey, Jesse."
The young man faltered for a split second, his head instinctively turning. Kenan seized the chance, raising his knee hard into the man's gut. His grip loosened as he gasped in pain, and Kenan squirmed free, stumbling back as the man doubled over.
"You bastard—" He swung again, this time catching Kenan across the jaw. The force sent Kenan sprawling, but he quickly scrambled back, wiping a trickle of blood from his lip, eyes sharp as he sized his fingers opponent up.
The young man smirked, "That's all you got?"
He moved in to finish Kenan off, throwing another punch, but Kenan dodged to the side just enough and brought his elbow down on the back of his opponent's arm with as much force as he could muster.
The young man yelped in pain, his fist dropping, giving Kenan a sliver of an opening.
Kenan didn't waste time; he kicked out low, catching the man's shin and sending him stumbling. But the man retaliated almost immediately with a wild shove, pushing Kenan back into the wall. Kenan's back slammed against the stone, and he slumped, his breathing ragged as the young man moved towards him with rage brimming in his eyes.
He didn't wait for Kenan to regain his standing. He reached for his weapon, his fingers brushing against the hilt, but Kenan shot his hand out, gripping the man's wrist and twisting it back with all the strength he had. The man winced, his face contorting in pain as he tried to wrench his arm free.
Kenan held on with sheer desperation, shoving him off balance and slipping around him again. The man spun around, fury flaring in his eyes, fury flaring in his eyes, as he charged. But Kenan dropped low, driving his shoulder into the man's stomach and slamming him against the wall with a grunt.
Both grappled clumsily, but with insane will to lord over the other, hands scrabbling to overpower each other.
Panting heavily, Kenan finally managed to straddle his opponent, pinning his arms down as he fought to catch his breath. His knuckles were bruised, his cheeks were swelling, but he wasn't about to let the danger of a man get up again.
He picked up the slight piece of wood he had seen during the fight, with the sharper edge, he stabbed the man in the abdomen.
"Argh!!!" The young man yelled in pain. His voice, echoing in the now-dark cave. Kenan pulled out the wood and pointed it to the man's neck, "Where is Jesse?"
"Ha! You bastard, what nonsense are you spewing? I saved your goddamn life, don't you think you owe it to me?!" The man snapped, wincing between each statement.
"Is that how you redeem yourself? Save a life and it becomes yours? We might have made it even without your help." Kenan pressed the wood into his neck, staining it with a drop of red.
"You bastard." The man winced with a low voice, "What do you want from me?"
"The paste in your fancy clay pot." Kenan glanced at the leaves, "The blood bloom's entire body is filled with acid, no matter where you cut, it would burn that leaf up as soon as it comes in contact. And that repugnant smell... can only be from a corpse...not body parts of a plant-type monster"
He paused and moved the wood closer to the man's neck, "Blood blooms don't detect smell, you sick bastard, they detect motion—how stupid do you think I am? And the writings on the wall took you a while to scratch them off, no?"
That familiar stench of death was something Kenan would never mistake for anything else.
"You have a blue spatial ring, Mr. Savior, it barely has enough space to store two months' worth of food, you fucking monster."
"…"
"You're a Deserter." Kenan added in a calm voice.
"Ha! Hahahaha!" The young man burst into
maniacal laughter.
"Is that the conclusion you came to? I did what I had to do to survive, you brat. Anybody would have done the same if they were in my shoes." The young man gritted his teeth to steel the pain as he spoke. The calm smile on his face was long gone, and all that was left were the eyes of a madman.
"Where is the boy?" Kenan asked yet again, ignoring the man's defensive words.
"Getting ready to be my next meal, you should've seen how he struggled so hard!" The young man burst into another fit of laughter, "You should sit quietly and wait for your turn, hmm? Hahaha!"
Kenan angrily slammed his head against the hard ground. The fear that he felt earlier was long gone and all that was left was disgust and rage.
"Fucking bastard." Kenan cursed underneath his breath.
The Dark Lands had corrupted the already corrupted man to the bones, so much so that he had not the tiniest bit of humanity left in him. And Kenan had no intention of spending a long time here with him.
He stabbed both of the Deserter's legs with the wood before hurriedly leaving the cave.