Aiver knew he had been walking for long but he couldn't tell exactly how long he had been walking. It wasn't night nor day, it was dark but bright enough he couldn't see. There was no moon in sight, the sky was filled with stars and planets.
"Run!, run!!"
"It seems I'm hearing voices again."
He looked and saw a group of people standing in front of a cave.
He turned and saw the ground lift like something burrowed underneath. He ran as fast as he could towards the cave.
"He is not going to make it."
"Hanis no"
A girl with long dark said before Hanis picked up a stone. In a blink of an eye, Aiver was in the cave. As he tried to figure out how he got there, the people in the cave continued to scream.
He turned around and saw a boy running towards them.
Hanis threw the stone he picked up and swapped places with the stone. This placed mid-air, he fell right in front of the cave and the others pulled him in.
"What is going on, what was that thing?"
Aiver asked as they cheered.
"We call them rebit."
"Them, there are more of that out there?"
"Yes, I'm Hanis"
"I'm Aiver, thanks for saving me. It seems I am not the only one with powers."
"This is Senai and that's Saira. We've been here for a while."
"How long is awhile?"
"We don't know if time works like our world but I'll say about a month."
Senai and Saira nodded in agreement.
"By the way, what are you doing outside at night?"
"I was in the Urg entrance hall then suddenly I appeared here."
"Come with us."
Saira said to Aiver who accepted her invitation. She told them what they've been up to since they arrived.
They went deeper into the cave where they saw light in at distance. When they got there there was a campfire a boy stood in front of it holding a stick.
"Oh, it is you guys "
The boy said and dropped the stick.
"How is he doing?"
"Not very good, he just fell asleep not long ago. Did you guys find anything that can help?"
"We only found him, maybe his powers can help."
"Oh no, I'm not sure my power can help anyone."
They all sat around the campfire and told the story of how they met Aiver.
"I don't think I can keep him alive any longer."
"Isah, calm down Henry will get better, we will all be fine."
"You don't know that."
Isah got up and went to sit by Henry. Aiver followed him, how Henry lay there reminded him of his mother. He later realised Henry looked familiar, and immediately he remembered where they met.
He was the same obese boy who sat at a table but he was leaner now.
"What happened to him?"
Aiver asked and they all looked at each other.
After an awkward silence, Hanis answered.
"The creatures got to him."
Their campfire was dying and Senai volunteered to get fuel for it. Aiver offered to accompany him and he accepted. They picked up twigs and anything bigger they could find.
"Why was everyone quiet when I asked what happened to Henry?"
"Well, there is some scepticism about what happened. Henry remembers being pushed and others remember differently."
"So which side are you?"
"Honestly, I won't be surprised if he was pushed; but I will always be on the fall side. Even if I know for certain he was pushed, mistrust will be the death of all of us."
Aiver looked at him and knew he was serious. Aiver tripped over a stick and fell; dropping all he was carrying. He tried picking up what he tripped over and realized it was not a stick but a corpse.
"gods"
He yelled and dropped the leg. Senai quickly put his hands up in that direction.
"What, what's wrong? …Aiver?"
After a moment of silence, Aiver answered.
"It's a dead body."
He said dusting himself off. He then helps Senai pull the corpse into the light.
"Daye"
"You know him?"
Sendai ignored him and paid close attention to the corpse.
"He was one of us when we were a much larger group. I hoped they were alive some, but maybe I was just being optimistic."
After examining the corpse he carried it deeper into the cave with Aiver's help.
"We did not find other bodies, that might be a good sign."
Aiver said as they dropped the corpse. A gust of violent wind knocked Aiver back.
"What's the meaning of this?"
Aiver said to Senai who was walking towards him.
"If they find out about this we are all dead, there is already enough tension."
With a hand pointing at Aiver, Senai blasted him again; this sent Aiver flying into the cave wall.
Senai continued blasting Aiver keeping stuck to the wall. After about thirty seconds Aiver started bleeding from his ears. He screamed in pain but his scream was muffled.
Senai created other wind blasts with his other hand and Aiver's bones started to fracture. The wall behind him started to crack and continued to crack as Senai continued.
A rock fell and Senai looked up just in time for more to crush him. Aiver who was now free ran and started to remove small rocks of him. Aiver continued until his upper body was free.
Senai put out his hand and fired another wind-blast. Aiver closed his eyes when Senai put out his hand but opened it when nothing happened. He looked behind and saw the wall was broken.
"Why? you had me where you wanted me. We were trapped and your secret was safe."
"If we don't return they would come looking for us and will find the body. Go, tell them how I died and don't tell them about Daye."
Aiver got out through the new opening and minutes later, the cave collapsed sealing the opening.
When Aiver got back to the camp there were five more people.
"I guess it's over now."
Now one said a word for a while, and then one of the new people turned into one of the creatures. He charged at Hanis and in an instant they switched places making him run into a wall.
"See, that was Daye's ability, his ability is to steal others."
"What is going on?
Aiver asked and immediately he felt his body come apart.
"Vettel, stop."
Isah said and the creature turned back into a human.
"Aiver meet Vettel, Moani, Even, Sow and Hilbrim."
Hanis introduced them to Aiver.
"Hanis may have a reason, let him explain himself."
Hanis sat down by the fire and others joined him but the new five kept standing.
"I am part of the King's Army, I was sent to get the ability to take and regift abilities. I will be taking abilities from civilians and regifting them to soldiers. Of course, they would be rewarded for their gifts. A thousand gold coins for every gift."
"See, Daye may have attacked him or something."
"Unfortunately, I can not take it without killing you."
They all took a step back.
"Calm down, I am not a monster. I'll make sure your families get your rewards."
Hanis said as he got up, as soon as he was fully upright, he swapped places with a stone between Vettel and Even. Isah put up his hand in Hanis' direction, stopping him.
"What are you waiting for, kill him."
Even said looking at Isah. Vettel put his arms up and started to disassemble Hanis.
"Stop, I've placed a curse on everyone present here, he can't kill anyone he…"
Before Isah could finish his sentence his jaw fell on his chest. Immediately, Isah's jaw fell, and Hanis was free. He stabbed Even in the neck with bonelike trust that grew from his wrist. In less than a second, Even grew old and his body was mummified.
His hair which started turning white was completely white by the time Even dropped dead.
The rest charged at him immediately their shock wore off. Vettel who was the closest to him disassembled him before he could touch him. Body parts fell and the blood was absorbed by sand. In an instant, he fell sleepy, then nothing.
"Hilbrim!"
Sow shouted before her organs fell to the ground.
The ground began to shake.
"They might have smelt the blood."
Saira said and opened a portal back to their world. Hanis walked through, Aiver and the others ran towards the portal but Hanis froze them mid-way.
"What about them?"
"Let me see, gluttony and the others I don't even know. I say we leave the monsters something to play with."
The portal closed and they became mindful. Moani and Aiver tried carrying Henry but Moani disappeared.
"If you had watched your diet, I might have been able to carry you."
Aiver said and bolted
Henry dragged his ass into a small opening and looked for something to defend himself with.
Aiver woke up sitting in the hall, he wondered if it was all a dream. He went around looking for people he met. No one seemed to remember Daye or the others who died.
He was seen loitering and was asked to step aside. He was taken to a private room, where he was asked to demonstrate his ability.
"I can't."
"We know you can, people who have returned have a look."
One of three men said and Aiver remembered what Hanis said.
He did and a mist started to fill the room.
"Mist, we could have worked with fog but …c..an"
The men held his neck as he choked, Aiver walked out and a woman handed him a sack of coins. He took it and gracefully walked out.