The Operator lay strapped to the table surrounded by the Shepherds. He looked at their worn and tired faces. As his eyes passed over him he felt their fear grow. "This monk you speak of, I believe he is the one we call The Blind One, did he have wraps around his eyes?" Probed The Elder. The Operator nodded slowly and looked over at his arm. To his surprise the creature had fragmented the gem into small pieces in his arm, yet the damage had healed around it. "After I was attacked in my reality, and ended up here, he was the first person I met." He said. He continued after looking down at his ribs, the indention from crushing the bones had vanished, and he found breathing wasn't so difficult. "Whatever he did to me..it keeps healing me. He called me a vessel." The Operator mentioned, trying to read the faces of the men in hopes they knew anything. Dismay built inside him as all the men looked at him and each other as if they knew nothing of it or The Monks goals. "I'm sorry," started The Elder "We know he is the reason the beasts exist, the reason for our never ending nightmare." The man looked down with regret.
"I would hope to introduce you, but we are unsure if you will turn. Once you have black blood in you, it's only a matter of time till it consumes your being." The Elder said with a sound of pity, like talking to someone who was terminally ill. "In a few hours, you will either die, or we will have a new ally in this fight against darkness." The man who had attempted to kill The Operator chimed in, "If he is an ally at all! He himself claimed to have met The Blind One. He could be the death of us all!" The Elder turned to the man. "I understand your fears Ruger, but we did not find him there. We shall hear his story, and if he chooses to work with us we shall trust him. In exchange for saving his life I'm sure he wouldn't mind explaining what this is?" The Elder said reaching into the sack and pulling out The Operators gun.
The Operator figured that if he didn't die in a few hours from some disease the creature had infected him with, that he would likely die from the men surrounding him if they didn't like his answers. "Ahem..,"he cleared his throat and started from the beginning. He told them what he could remember, which only made him realize how little he could remember," I...was looking for a statue in a church..a huge monster attacked me and dragged me down.." He told them about the flash and waking up with broken legs, they all looked amazed, yet their gazes full of pity. "I woke up being dragged and thrown onto a cart of some kind, but got thrown off in the woods by roots.. I ran out of fear. " he continued. He told them about the ruts, prompting gasps and talk between the men. They seemed to have encountered the beast before and were horrified by its very mention. "The beast you speak of has swallowed many of our people whole, it does not attack, just roam around consuming any life it contacts..."The Elder said with pain in his voice. "Please continue.." he said waving to silence the men in the room. "Sure.." The Operator continued with his story, telling of encountering the creature and fleeing. He told them about his injury and how it lead to the creature eventually catching up. "That, is where that little thing in your hand comes in." He said pointing to his gun in The Elders hand.
"That's called a pistol, it's a type of gun." The Operator started, but quickly realized they didn't understand. "Well, you have bows yes?" He waited for a response and when the men nodded he continued. "It's like a bow, how you are meant to use it at a distance, but it launches metal." The Elder raises his hand to stop The Operators explanation. "Rainer claims it hurt beasts, can you show us?" The Operator shook his head. " I used all of my bullets...like arrows to a bow." He explained.
While he'd been explaining things one of the men had been awkwardly close to him. The man was staring at where his broken ribs had been and prodding at his arm. Two hours had passed since The Operator had woken up, and yet he showed only signs of healing. The man prodded at him the whole time and continued to stare at the fragments embedded in his flesh. "They are growing!" The man yelled out, looking at everyone as he halted the conversation abruptly. "Ahem..these stones are growing from your arm?" He said. "Oh what the fuck!" Exclaimed The Operator. "Ashin, are you sure?" Asked The Elder. "Ashin is our healer.." he explained to The Operator. The Elder turned and looked at Ashin, who was still studying the gem fragments. "What do you mean?" He asked. Ashin looked at The Operator with a grim expression. "It feeds off his blood, his blood runs through it like it were part of his body, but not everything escapes. It even swallowed black blood from his body!" He exclaimed.
"Well shit" The Operator thought to himself. "Please don't kill me, I'll help you, I know how to make better weapons!" He bargained with them. He didn't know much, but he had a basic understanding of how guns worked and hoped it would be enough to make a primitive one. All the men went silent, though the thought of killing him hadn't passed most of their minds, he had caught their attention. "You can make more of these..guns?"The Elder said holding it out in representation. "Well, no, but I can help you make something like it..and back where I come from we have dragons breath rounds! They light things on fire!" He could feel the excitement growing in the crowd, the men felt as though they might have a chance. The Elder hadn't bought it, and silenced everyone with an angry shout."Enough!" He yelled, and as they quieted he continued, "We have a blacksmith. He keeps us safe, you will speak to him. If he believes it can be done only then will we agree to this!" The Elder hadn't planned on harming The Operator, but he knew some of the men didn't hold faith in hopes anymore. "None of your claims will matter if you turn, so we will wait. Even the healthy can be consumed in minutes!" He shouted.
The rest of the time spent waiting was done in silence. The Elder examined the pistol over and over, yet found no understanding In it's design. The men had been but shepherds, living far from castles and trading mostly in livestock. They had stumbled across this village while fleeing from hordes of beasts that appeared in castles before flooding out all over the lands. The Elder felt pain in remembering the losses they suffered before finding the blacksmiths village. It was he who used fire to protect them, and hold the monsters at bay. The Elder explained all this after putting the gun away. After another grueling span of time passed The Elder was satisfied that The Operator had not turned and decided to command his release. "When you are ready, we will go see the blacksmith."