Delvin ignored him, but his words reminded him of Combroidan City, his original birthplace, he believes. It was raining heavily in a dense thick forest, four spears flew in the air, aiming to stub his back. He was about to be hit when he slipped over a cliff. The falling was trailing at the speed of light. He could not scream, a sudden death was better than a sharp spear penetrating your back, then to the heart, bleeding slowly, it was kind of excruciating and more painful.
Fifty four Assassins were after him, and wanted to get something from him which he didn't know. Delvin chose to close his eyes, he had to let go, the wind blew in his face, its sound clearly whistled in his ears, peace filled his heart. He had finally come across death. In seconds, he could have gone to an unknown place, were people who die go to, the good thing was there was nothing left behind, no regret and no family to worry about. He had been running all his entire life.
Perhaps death could grant him the freedom he had sought from age nine, this brutal rough world where every one wanted his life, a bounty of two billion U S dollars was on his head, dead or alive.
Who had ordered this hit? What's important about me? Why did they want me dead or alive? These questions were still on replay in his mind.
Combroidan city was not an easy one to live in. Two things ruled: Dare to get rich, or become a fighter, you had a chance to extend your miserable, pathetic poor life, which no one cared for. If you are as weak as Delvin, running was the third option to survive on.
The latter was what he could afford. It cost him nothing except a strong will to breathe. As bad as it was, two billion U S dollars lay over his head.
The portal closed and on sandy in a dry desert lay a breathless body. Was it really dead? A man in his seventy's found the body. He moved closer to the body, it looked lifeless, the old man knelt down, put his two fingers on the nose of the young man, there was a very small breath coming out. The old man gave a deep sigh, calmed his nerves, started dragging the body to his house. The place where Delvin had landed is called Pragatoscal city. It is the land of the living.
The planet could be called Earth. However, it was a new Earth. Things had turned upside down, living things were getting extinct, this had been going on for two hundred years, at least they were not as bad as they were in Cambroidan city.
Here the rich, knowledgeable and most powerful ruled the city but were quite civilized.
The old man sat next to the young lad, waiting for when the lad would become conscious.
He muttered to himself, 'Rascal, when shall you awake? It has been five days now, though your breathing has improved, it seems death does not like you that much, so come on? Open your eyes and keep this old fool company. Maybe I could redeem myself of the evil I have done on Earth and God could be merciful and grant me peace at last as I die.'
The old man's name is Fabrice Targan. He is an ex-military officer. To his fellow ex-men, today's generation, he is a war hero. Well, his biggest failure was not saving his lovely wife from lung cancer.
He was a veteran. To him, that was not enough to compensate for his wife's life. He dreamed of living a legacy, an identity of his blood, but God was not very considerate, he cannot argue with him, it was his responsibility after all, so he had been carrying that burden for the past forty years.
There was a loud cough, as Delvin's body jacked, forcing him to rise and sit. At the same instant, blood gushed out of his mouth like a hot spring. This aroused Fabrice Targan from his reveries
. He gazed at Delvin with curious eyes, 'Relax young lad, you are safe with me.'
He did not touc him, for he looked quite startled, scared, confused and touching him would elongate his state.
'Take your time to breath in then out.'
Delvin became calm, as he did what he was instructed, the old man kept observing the young lad, he was a veteran, therefore, he knew exactly how to deal with any disturbing, situation and know when a person was under trauma.
'Yes go on and take your time.'
Delvin was back to his normal self. Fabrice offered him a cup of water. He took it and drank it all at one go. And breathed heavily thereafter.
The old man served him some food. As he started eating, Fabrice Targan kept a graceful observation.
The lad looked like he had not eaten for such a long time, and was also pretty strange at the same time. He predicted that the lad might not be of the same city as him.
Delvin was quietly eating. You could just hear the teeth grinding the food, the sound of food breaking and that of food passing through his throat.
Fabrice began, 'My name is Fabrice Targan and what is yours?'
Delvin waited to swallow the food first in the mouth before he could speak, however, Fabrice Targan voiced again, 'Take your time, it's not like I am going somewhere any time soon.'
Delvin had swallowed the food, patiently he waited to for Fabrice to finish his speech, 'Delvin Dred.'
The old man was pleased to see that he could speak perfectly well, though with a different accent, which made it difficult to tell his where about. But it's fine now, because they have a long way to get to know each other. 'What is this place called?'
Delvin wanted to know. He was already geared up to run. That was his lifestyle from the time he was nine years old. Now he was fifteen and on guard. He had an automatic instinct, his life was like a chess game, he had to read the other person's moves carefully, and today it was this unusual unique person, he could not easily perceive his thoughts, on the other hand, he was grateful for the hospitality and kindness he had shown him. He cannot take things for granted; humans are complex beings.
The old man smiled in an honest way, Delvin could see the aunthentist on Fabrice Targan's face as he brightened whenever he spoke, 'So you are not from around here, right?'
He waited to see the lad's face and body expression. Delvin nodded his head twice, Fabrice Targan gave a short grin, 'welcome to Pragatoscal, you can stay with me while you find your way into this city.'