I awoke on a rather uncomfortable surface.
Mmm, I must have fallen asleep on my apartment floor.
That thought quickly died as soon as I opened my rather refreshed eyes.
I looked into an empty chamber and I could see a rather familiar-looking door.
I stood up to find that I was sitting where Kenos once sat.
Speaking of Kenos, I looked up to find a gigantic golden sword sticking out of the throne.
It looked as though whoever built the throne knew that Kenos had been stabbed and so they built it with that in consideration as the sword really wasn't stuck in the throne.
"Kenos?" I called out into the darkness, but no one replied.
I…
I don't know why, but being alone in that chamber by myself made me a little sad and so, with a hop, I got off the throne, but as I moved through the air, I could almost see the density and purity of the darkness.
It was as though I drew power from the lack of light.
Mmm… ah well, I'm probably just hungry and I'm seeing things. I thought as I made my way towards the door, but before I left I turned and faced the throne one last time.
My new outlook on life made me want to miss Kenos, even though we'd only know each other for a few minutes, but no matter how sad I tried making myself, I felt nothing.
I looked around and for some reason, my vision was beyond clear.
It's almost as though the darkness parted as I walked through it.
I playfully wondered what would happen if the darkness were to somehow condense and gather before me and just as the thought entered my head, the dark seemingly materialized before me like a cloud of thick black smoke.
My heart rate increased slightly, but I took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm myself.
There was still the possibility that I was so hungry that I was hallucinating.
Also-
I looked at my rear to find that it had completely healed.
Was this thanks to Kenos?
I wanted to thank him.
The life of a goat is fraught with painful perils and he offered me comfort after I fell.
Mmm… maybe he has something to do with whatever I'm seeing right now. I thought as I made my way up the cave system.
How did I know where I was going?
I didn't.
I just kept going up. My small body and hooves allowed for rather easy travel.
My stomach growled fiercely, but luckily for me, I felt a gust of fresh air coming from above.
I could also hear the sounds of water splashing about.
I increased my pace and the further I walked, the louder and clearer the sounds became.
I then saw flickers of light and the humidity in the air increased drastically.
My walk turned into a dash as I ran towards what looked like a wall of water.
My eyes absorbed the beautiful sight, but something in my bones told me to jump straight into it and so I did.
My body flew into the cascading wall of water and I emerged on the other side to find a vast and lush forest.
I fell into a gentle stream and I let my body flow along with it.
Well, until my stomach growled again.
I eyed the beautiful green grass that surrounded me before swimming to the riverbank to my right.
I took a deep breath before greedily eating as much grass as my little mouth could allow.
The sounds of cascading water could still be heard and they had a strangely calming effect on my mind-
"Ouch!" I cried.
Something had stabbed my hind leg and I looked to find an arrow lodged in my leg.
I looked around in an attempt to find whoever had shot me.
"Please don't kill me! I'm not as tasty as I probably look!" I cried without thinking.
An extremely tall figure then emerged from the forest deep.
It was a woman.
She wasn't as tall as Kenos, but she was around three and a half metres tall.
She wore dark leather clothes and wielded only a bow.
"You're a strange one, aren't you?" The woman nonchalantly said as she stepped into the light, revealing her beautiful, but scarred face.
Strange and feint golden markings lined her skin.
She also had a head of messy white hair, which was strange considering that she didn't look very old-
Wait a minute!
"Please don't hurt me," I said with a whimper as the woman knelt to face me.
She then stared at me with her big golden eyes that seemingly glowed.
"Mmm… I want to eat though." She muttered.
"Look for someone else!"
"Why do that when I've got a perfectly healthy-looking goat in front of me?" She asked as she reached out towards the arrow.
I closed my eyes as she violently ripped out the arrow.
I let out a cry befitting a goat before pitifully attempting to flee.
"Aww… I promise I'll make your death a painless one." The woman offered as she followed me.
"Leave me alone, you bloodthirsty maniac!" I cried.
I then recalled my strange ability to manipulate darkness, but I was in the forest in what looked like the middle of the day.
I needed to find someplace dark.
I looked into the forest and found a shady spot and so I painfully stumbled my way there before trying to gather enough darkness to attack the giantess or something, but as I willed the darkness to gather, only a few specks of smoke gathered.
The woman crossed her arms in amusement as she watched me.
"Oh? You're definitely not an ordinary goat."
"Congratulations on figuring that out. Can you leave me alone now?" I asked as I backed up towards a large tree.
The woman placed a calloused hand on her chin before letting out a low hum.
I took this as an opportunity to run away, but the woman grabbed me with her large hands and brought my face to hers.
"I've made my decision."
Oh no!
"You're coming home with me!" The woman said before casually carrying me into the forest deep.
I tried crying, but goats can't cry, so I let out as many annoying maa noises as possible.
"Shut it! I've decided not to eat you."
"Really? Then let me go!"
"Not happening. I've stumbled upon a goat that can not only talk but manipulate darkness. There's no way I'm letting you run off so easily and besides. I wanna apologize for hurting you." The woman said.
"It's fine, really. Just drop me and we'll be even." I cried as I tried recording the path we took, but we were surrounded by tall trees and thick bushes, I quickly lost track.
We eventually arrived at a cosy looking little wooden cabin.
The woman opened the door and my senses were immediately filled with a feeling of homeliness.
The cabin interior had the basics, a bed, what looked like an iron stove and several other pieces of furniture.
What surprised me was how tidy everything was.
I'd expected the woman to be more barbaric, so seeing her home was a pleasant surprise.
The woman dropped me beside her bed before carefully pulling out a wooden box from beneath her bed.
She then nursed my wound and sat beside me before staring at me.
This went on for some time.
"Umm… can I go now?" I asked.
"Maybe. First, I want to know all about you. I know you're not an ordinary goat, so tell me what you are exactly." The woman said.
"Sure, but let's start with basic introductions. What's your name?" I asked while looking for a means of escape, but the cabin had only one door.
"Yna."
"Nice to meet you. My name is R…"
Mmm… Riley was my old name.
What did Kenos call me again?
"Katsíki."
"That's… an interesting name. Anyway, tell me more about yourself!"
I nodded before recounting my time on earth and how I died and ended up here in this bizarre world.
Or maybe it really was a dream…
I omitted the part about Kenos.
I'm not sure why, but I felt like his story was awfully tragic and I didn't 't want to speak until I knew more.
"Amazing!" Yna exclaimed, her eyes wide.
I looked around and found a rather peculiar item hidden under an old rag. It sat idly next to the bed, but I brushed my curiosity aside.
"Anyway, can I go now?"
"Where will you go? I was kind enough not to shoot you in the face. Other hunters or even beasts may not be so kind." Yna said as the sun slowly sank into the horizon. Casting the room in a deep orange light.
"What do you suppose I do?"
"Well, I'm a bit bored out here by myself and I could use the company," Yna said while fiddling with her hands.
"Oh? What do I get if I decide to stay?"
"I won't eat you. Instead, I'll protect your adorable little self."
"Mmm…." I droned.
I really didn't know Yna and who knew if she was going to keep her promise to not eat me.
"Fine. I'll stay, but if you even think about eating me, a foul curse will befall you and your kin!" I threatened.
"Great! Now, tell me more about earth." Yna said, but my stomach growled loudly and at that moment, my desire to speak disappeared.
All I could think of was the beautiful grass just outside of Yna's house.
"Can I step outside for a moment?"
"Why? I can cook something for the both of us." Yna said as she stood up.
"Although that does sound like a nice offer…" I started to say as I looked around Yna's house.
"Doesn't look like there's much to eat."
"That's because I don't need to eat that often."
"How "not often" are we talking about?"
"Mmm… six to eight months," Yna said with a big smile.
"Are you even human?" I asked, but to my surprise, Yna lowered her head and gently rubbed her arms together.
"Just barely." She whispered.
Silence befell the cabin as Yna looked at nothing in particular.
I stood up and walked toward the door.
"Are you leaving?" Yna whispered.
"No. Not yet, anyway. I'm just going to munch on some grass." I said before futilely tapping on the door.
Yna opened the door for me and accompanied me to a patch of grass.
I then ate away at the fresh and moist grass as Yna watched.
The darkness of the evening gave the lush forest an eerie atmosphere.
"Some privacy would be nice," I said with a full mouth.
"Not happening. Anyway, you used dark magic earlier. How?"
"No idea. I just can." I said as I moved forward and with each step, I ate a new patch of grass.
My goodness, who knew grass was this tasty?
"Could you show me?" Yna asked.
I swallowed loudly before looking around.
The forest had gotten rather dark.
It was rather inconvenient that I could only use this power of mine with certain amounts of darkness.
I just wish I had a gage or something to show me the minimum darkness required to cast a strong enough effect.
I took a deep breath before imagining a ball of darkness in front of me and just like that, the darkness around me manifested as a thick black smoke which came together in front of me in the form of a ball.
"Oh!" I exclaimed as a solid black ball floated in front of me.
I used my thoughts to move it left and right.
It was fun, but I wondered if I could mould the ball into different shapes.
I imagined a rectangular block and just as the thought entered my mind, the ball turned into a block.
"Wow." Yna gasped.
I nodded to myself before destroying the block.
I watched as the block slowly disintegrated and faded back into the darkness of the night.
I looked up and watched as the moon hung above.
It almost felt as though the moon was watching the world with a cold, bright gaze.
I took a few more bites of grass before turning to Yna, who stood patiently next to me, her arms crossed.
"How does magic work?" I asked as I followed Yna back into her cabin.
"You can cast magic, but you don't know how it works?"
"Yep," I said.
All thoughts of escape had taken a backseat position.
My focus had shifted to magic and how I could use it.
Yna sat on her bed before raising eight of her fingers.
"In the universe, there are foundational concepts called aspects. An aspect is basically a literal part of the universe. Heat, cold, light and dark are just four of the eight aspects and each of these aspects is governed by the Logic of the Cosmos."
Ah… sweet exposition. I thought.
"When an organism gains control over any given aspect, we can call them a magician. You can use dark magic and I can use light magic." Yna said as she raised her right hand.
Particles of light then gathered in her hand before forming a perfect orb.
"Now, having control over an aspect only means that you manipulate it. You cannot create or destroy its inherent energy, only transfer and change it."
"How do you know all this? You seem pretty smart. Does everyone else in this world know as much as you or are you an outlier?" I asked.
"Let's just say I once had access to a lot of knowledge. Anyway, you're probably wondering where the light in my hand is coming from. Well, I actually have control over two aspects, light and space, but that's rare in itself. I can draw light in from other places." Yna said as the night hung.
"Anyway, the way I see it, you can only manipulate darkness. Which is impressive enough, I suppose." Yna said.
"It is, isn't it," I said with a raised nose.
My eyelids then fell a little.
I needed to sleep.
Yna must have noticed this because she stood up and grabbed a blanket, which she used to cover my tired self.
"Goodnight." I sleepily said.
"Goodnight," Yna said as she crawled onto her bed.
I then slowly fell into a deep sleep and if Yna was going to eat me, I hoped that she'd make it as painless as possible.
.
..
I opened my eyes to find myself in a rather familiar chamber.
A gigantic black throne sat in front of me with a big golden sword sticking in it, but something was different this time.
I looked around and I couldn't find Kenos.
"Hey!" Kenos yelled as he suddenly appeared in front of me.
I scurried backwards to a safe distance before pointing my hoof at him.
"What in the world is wrong with you? I thought you died or something." I said.
"Didn't I say that we'd be combining our life forces? You and I were on the brink of death and it was our union that saved us!" Kenos said while dramatically pointing at me.
His dirty white robes barely covered his body and I could see a large hole in his chest.
"Enough of that. Are you ok? You've still got a hole in your chest."
Kenos looked down and poked at the scabby hole.
"Mmm… it would seem as though our union only managed to save us from death. I'll have to heal this on my own." Kenos said with a sign.
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Why, yes! You need to absorb all the darkness in the world!"
"What?"