27 Arash - Survival

Arash laid motionless on the bed as red-hot blood oozed out of his empty eye socket. His left leg throbbed with pain and his left hand was bent at an awkward angle. The pain was still raw, clawing at his consciousness. The scraping sound of sword against bone still rang in his mind, like a mole that had dug a tunnel through his eye. He closed his left eye as the silence engulfed him and left his scared and terrified. Even though he dreaded his right eye, he had become dependent on it within a short period of time. The right eye had granted him protection against the wind, against the Giants.

In the silence of the room, for the first time, he felt alone, truly alone. He laid on the bed like a piece of broken porcelain. The words of the Blessed rang in his mind.

'A man is known by three things... Father, Sword, and God.' His clawed at the soft bed beneath him. 'I don't have a father. I have no God. Sword...I have nothing.' Arash reached for his empty eye, the blood had stopped by now. 'My eye... I can turn my left eye into stone.' Arash thought, but he once again heard the scrapping of the sword against the stone and the thought drowned under the horror of the event that had just occurred. He had been wrong. He broke into a sobbing mess, heaving. 'They will take it away...'

Suddenly the scene around him shifted, he found himself in a dark room, and a familiar smell assaulted his consciousness. He jolted awake as his eyes furtively glanced at his surroundings. "What is happening?" His left arm and leg had been miraculously healed. He reached for his right eye and there it was. Nothing like the emptiness that he just felt, nothing like the terrifying crystal eye. He could see from his right eye. It all felt like a dream, tears pooled in his eye as he cried in relief.

Suddenly the door flung open and a short squat man appeared before him.

"What are you doing here?" Arash glowered in anger, but deep beneath his raging fury laid a bottomless pit of shame. He had sworn to wash away the shame of that day. He had been waiting, silently waiting. Sharpening his fury with each passing day.

"You know why I am here? Lass. I can't get that night out of my mind. I can still smell..." Babak smelled his fingers as he pervertedly smiled. "But it seems that fate wants us to unite. It has brought you to me once again"

Arash howled in anger as he lunged towards the short squat man. But just as he got on his feet, his legs buckled as he slammed against the ground, he tasted blood in his mouth as his head rang as a wave of weakness washed over his body.

"You have grown so big. I had to make some preparation for our fateful reunion." Babak squatted before him, a women's dress suddenly appeared in hands. He tenderly lifted Arash's head by his chin with his left hand. "You would look lovely in this dress, I got it just for you. Cost me a fortune, but it will be worth it." He brought the dress close to Arash's face. "See, it matches you. I knew blue was always your color." Babak gently caressed Arash's face with his right hand.

Arash weakly stared at the man before him. 'No!' He howled out in pain as the cruelty of his past once again happened. He became a prisoner of his own body as Babak exhausted his lust. Every single moment etched into his memory as fate played a cruel joke on him. He tried to shut it out, descend into the state of perpetual detachment, but something always pulled him back, back to the pain and shame. His desire for vengeance had always kept him together, but he couldn't bear the shame, not again. He descended into the deep recess of his consciousness as he felt his humanity slip away.

He sat alone in his consciousness, his mind broken. Silver runes buzzed around him, dancing to a nervous rhythm. As if trying to warn him, but Arash had given up. It was too hard and the reality was too painful, in here he was safe, safe from the world and from its cruelties. He only wanted to rest, but with each passing moment, the runes around got restless.

"Go Away!" Arash shouted at the runes. They became quiet for a moment, still as if afraid of Arash's chastisement. They let out weak helpless whines as they gently nudged against him. Arash could feel his humanity slip, his emotions and memories slipping out of his consciousness. One moment he knew the face of his mother; the next she became a stranger, and within few moments she turned to nothingness as if the woman who gave birth to him never really existed. One by one he started to forget everything, his eyes slowly lost their brilliance.

Suddenly the runes hummed to a strange rhythm. They formed a net around Arash and dragged him out of the deep recess. "What are you doing?" Arash asked, but this time the previous anger couldn't be felt even the sadness and fear he felt had melted away to some distant place. For the first time in a long time, he appeared calm. "Stop it...Why do I want you to stop?" he asked with a baffled face. "What are you?" He curiously looked at the silver net around him, cautiously touching it with his fingers.

The runes brought him out of his body as he floated over his body that was dressed in a female dress. Babak stared at Arash with fear in his eyes. "How can this be possible?" he uttered as he tried to scramble to his feet. He scrambled to his feet as he ran towards the wall, his figure turning into a white shadow as it lunged towards the wall. But before he could leave, the runes were upon him, they formed a net around him, trapping him in the process.

"Let me go!" The black shadow screamed in horror, but it didn't dare to touch the silver net around him.

Arash stared in confusion at the scene around him, which slowly turned. The boy on the floor with a women's dress disappeared and Arash's body appeared on the bed before him, his right eye still bleeding as his left arm was twisted

at an awkward angle.

"Who is he? He looks familiar." Arash's soul moved towards his body, staring at his body with a perplexed expression on his face. "Why do I feel like I know him?"

Seeing the strange behavior of their owner, the runes hummed in anger as they closed in on the black shadow. "Stop! Stop! If you harm me your master will stay like this forever." But the runes refused to listen to the pleadings of the black shadow. The silver net slowly closed in on him, burning his body as it touched him. "Argh! Dammit!" The black shadow spat out tiny white globes shimmering with iridescent lights. Each globe represented a different memory. His body shrunk at a visible rate as he vomited out the memory globes. He reluctantly sighed as the tiny globes floated towards Arash. "Damn! If I knew he was spirit wielder. I would have never come here. How could I have been so stupid? Damn!" The shadow screamed in agony as the silver net enclosed in on him. "I have returned his memories. What else do you want?" The shadow asked miserably. But the silver runes still had yet to form a complete consciousness. They couldn't understand his words. They only knew that their master had been reduced to this state by the black shadow and they would kill it.

The black shadow howled in misery, cursing at his own misfortune. He glanced at the globes moving slowly floating towards Arash, who was still looking perplexed as he hovered over his own body. The shadow knew that his only chance at survival was if Arash regained his intelligence.

"Hurry up! Hurry up!" The shadow cursed at the languorous pace of the memory globes.

Just as his body was about to disappear, Arash regained his intelligence. He stared wide-eyed as his memories came flooding back to him. He remembered Babak, remembered his helplessness.

"Make them stop!!" The black shadow screamed at Arash.

Arash looked up bewildered, but nonetheless, he willed the runes to stop. He floated over near the edge and noticed the tiny little shadow trapped inside the silver net. The shadow heaved a sigh of relief as he saw the net finally stop. Anger flashed within him, but he knew it wasn't the time or the place to show it. The silver runes were the bane of his kind and he didn't have any card to play. His mind raced with a plan.

"What are you?" Arash asked. He had no memory of this little black shadow.

"I am a Ruh! My name is Najwah!" Najwah said with all the courage he could muster, the buzzing net still unnerved him, made it hard to form a single good excuse. "Can you ask them to let me go?" The runes buzzed with anger as they

threatened to close in on him. Najwah flinched back in fear as he cursed under his breath.

Arash frowned at the strange behavior of the runes, suddenly he remembered floating above his body and he remembered seeing Babak. His memories were still hazy, he groaned in pain the memories of the past merged back into him.

Najwah face filled with dread as he saw Arash gaining back his memories. 'He will never let me live if he remembers. What should I do? What should I do?' His mind frantically raced for an answer. Suddenly it hit him. "Friend, I came here to inform you of your brother!"

"Firuz? he is alive?" Arash eye widened in shock as he quickly asked.

"Yes! Yes! Firuz, He is gravely injured, we need to hurry if you want to save him." Najwah was overjoyed by the reaction shown by Arash, he knew that he had him. "...but you see these little guys are hostile towards me. I only came here to help, but they attacked me as soon as I got near you." Najwah said with all the sadness he could muster, but deep inside fear gripped him. He was on a short leash and as soon as Arash got back his memories would mean his death. "We have to get to him, he was barely alive when I saw him. We have to hurry!"

"Where is he? Tell me quickly" Arash urged the runes to release Najwah, but they refused to listen to him. The runes hummed back at him as if trying to warn him of something. Arash groaned in pain as once again another part of his memory

came rushing to him. "What am I you doing? He will die I don't go." Arash frowned at the behavior of the runes, they had always listened to him but suddenly they have started to rebel. He stared at the strange little shadow trapped inside the net. Something about it felt off, but he dismissed it as the image of injured Firuz flashed before his eyes. He commanded the runes to open a path for Najwah. They resisted at first, but in the end, they reluctantly gave up. They let out a few urging whines as they opened up a path.

Najwah was immediately overjoyed as he saw the chance to survive, he lunged towards the direction where the runes had started to open up, but just as the net opened, one of the runes vibrated with fury. Suddenly all of the runes brimmed with killing intent and instead of opening, they went for the kill.

As the runes were connected to Arash by the vague connection, he could feel their hatred as they rushed towards Najwah. Suddenly, he remembered the sight of Babak grunting over his body and the moment as the turned into a black shadow. Overcome with great fury he ordered the runes to kill the black shadow.

Seeing the maws of death, Najwah lost all faculties of reason and in fear, he shifted into a complex rune. Arash immediately stopped the runes as he saw Najwah turning into a black rune, his years and years of yearning got the better of him and Najwah's last gamble at life finally played in his favor.

"What is this?" Arash asked, his voice strained.

"It's what I used on you. It enables me to put whispers and thoughts in your head. Making you see what I want." Najwah said as he turned back to his original form.

"Turn back!" Arash threatened. He had barely studied it when Najwah had shifted back to the shadow form.

"I can't do that. You will kill me as soon as you have the rune."

"What's keeping me from killing you at the moment?"

"Arash, I know everything about you, everything single thing. Even things which you have forgotten. I have seen them. So, I know it's my only shot at survival." Najwah said timidly. It was true that he knew everything about Arash, but knowing the memories of the past is quite different than predicting their actions in the future. "You want power? I can give it to you."

"What kind of power?"

"You know better than anyone, you have tasted it yourself. I can give the power over the minds of people. All I want is a chance to live. Form a soul bond with me and we can benefit each other or you can kill me and die a dog's death in a few moments later. If you had my power, no one would have been able to pluck out your eyes. They wouldn't even be able to see you if you didn't want them to."

Arash was faced with a dilemma, even though anger and fury still reigned over his heart, but the words of the little shadow still rang true to his heart. He knew first hand how terrifying the power Najwah promised can be. It wasn't the kind that shattered cities but it was the kind that governed hearts. But understanding the power of that Najwah possessed, he felt naked against the little thing and couldn't help but put his guard against him.

"How do I know if this isn't one of your tricks," Arash asked with a frown.

"Fair enough, you have no reason to trust me," Najwah said bitterly, he sharply convulsed as he vomited out a tiny black globe of memory. Najwah size exponentially shrunk as he formed the tiny globe. "This is part of what I know," Najwah said weakly as his existence flickered in and out of existence. "You will know what to do?" He gently pushed the globe towards Arash.

The silver net slowly opened as the black globe passed through it. Arash hesitantly stared at the black globe as it stopped in front of him. His eyes shifted from the pint-size Najwah to the small globe before him. Determination flashed in his eyes as he decided to take the risk, he grabbed hold of the black globe and it slowly melted inside his body. A complex rune appeared in his mind. It was made up of millions upon millions of lines. Arash was overwhelmed with awe as he saw the rune appear in his mind. But, at first glance, he knew that it wasn't complete. The rune before him was only half of the true rune. He wanted to know more as he looked back to Najwah.

"It's only half, where is the rest."

"I am the other half and you will only get it if you form a soul pact with me..." Najwah's body turned transparent with each passing moment. "We have to hurry. I have split myself in half and won't live for long If you don't form a soul pact with me. I need to be complete to live."

"How?" Arash became anxious at the thought of losing the other half of the rune. But just as he asked, he knew the answer. The memory globe contained the information about soul bond, he used the runes to create the soul-bonding rune from his memory. Even though he knew rune like the back of his mind. It still was hard for him to form it. Because the rune was to be made of the green mist that floated around him. Najwah called it "Mother" It was made up of tiny green globes that danced in a predefined way. The rune was to be made up of these little globes.

He needed 9 of them to form the rune, but it proved to be a colossal task for him. These little globes could only be touched by the silver ribbons and they weighed like mountains. Arash gritted his teeth as he squeezed out the last bit of his soul strength to create new silver ribbons, his head ached with a blinding pain, but madness was upon him. He had tasted the knowledge of the divine and he would do anything to get it. Under his persistence, the green nodes slowly started to fall into place, and when finally the rune was formed, Najwah rushed towards it.

The rune burst open in a blinding light as everything around them turned white.

Arash felt a strange connection to the world around him as a new set of memories appear in his mind. Arash remembered being born from the green mist, he remembered the life that Najwah had lived and the memories of the people he had fed upon. At the moment Arash lived a thousand different life, each and every single moment of their lives played before his eyes. He felt their sadness, felt their fear, their anger, and their desire.

He noticed a black rune flashing in front of him. It appeared in front of him in the shape of a little snake. At first glance, Arash knew it was Najwah. but suddenly he felt anxiousness wash over him as he noticed that the sixteen little runes were nowhere to be seen. "Where are they?"

"They have become the bond that binds you and me." Najwah noticed Arash's thought through their soul bond and shut his mouth before saying anything else. But he was happy to be free of those hateful bastards.

Arash felt a sense of loss at the thought of never seeing those little runes. He stared at the strange new world around him and noticed the patterns in everything around him.

"Beautiful isn't it--" Najwah's word stuck in his throat as he received a deathly glare from Arash. "You still hung up on that? I did, what I did to live. It was nothing personal. You kill countless things to survive. Like that Kharas that you killed on the Fields. It's all for survival."

"Survival!" Arash snorted, he still felt anger at the reliving that horrifying memory and the thought of someone else knowing the truth unnerved him. "You promised me great powers, but I don't feel different at all."

"My powers are powerful if you know how to use it. I know the secrets deep within the heart of men--"

"and hide like a coward and play on their fears and don't forget that I am fucking useless at everything else," Arash said with a hint of sarcasm.

"I know you are angry. To be honest, something like this never happened to me. So it's a first for me too." Najwah shrugged with nonchalance. "Knowing the secrets of the world around you can be pretty powerful. I know it's not as effective as a sharp sword or the ability to command winds. But, it's more subtle. Everything works for a reason. We all have something we want, imagine manipulating the very essence of the people. You were lucky as I was caught off guard by your runes. Or, I would have told you that I am your dearest friends and slit your throat and you would still be thanking me. When you are me, you have no enemies. Everyone is your friend, dancing at your whims."

Arash silently listened as he heard the little snake prattle on. He couldn't help but shake his head as he noticed the difference between what the snake said and what the reality was. Najwah was connected to him by soul-bond. So Arash knew the truth about the little snake's words. It was true that he had the power to peer into the minds of another and suggest thoughts. But, it was not as grand as he had described it. Firstly, his powers didn't work on blessed as they were protected by the mana stones. Secondly, he could only suggest thoughts into the mind of another and it was completely up to another person if he decided to act on it or not. But, the ability to peer into the mind of another and feed on their emotion was the truth.

"What use is trying to lie to me?" Arash finally spoke. "Your powers can't work on the blessed."

"That would have been true, but now it is not," Najwah said with a mysterious smile on his face.

"What do you mean?" Arash frowned, but the moment Najwah thought of the answer he knew it too. The Ruh were weak against the Blessed, but to Arash that wasn't the problem, but to form Najwah's rune, Arash needed thousands upon thousands of those green nodes. 'Controlling nine nodes was close to impossible, how will I control thousands of them?'

"For that, you need to strengthen your soul and as much as I hate to say it you need thousands of those little bastards."

"How can I strengthen my soul?" Arash asked curiously.

"I don't know," Najwah said with a shrug. "...but you should stop that bleeding if you want to live." he pointed Arash's body.

Arash soul disappeared into his body and soon he regained control of his body. The pain came rushing back to him as soon as he regained consciousness. He groaned as he propped himself against the bed's headrest, blood still oozed out of his body. He ripped a tiny cloth from the bed sheet and used it to staunch the bleeding.

"What are you doing?" Najwah asked sarcastically as he brought back the memory of Saroh's healing rune. "Use this."

"I can't..." Suddenly he felt a connection to a tiny wisp of will that he had formed before. He called for it and it came running towards him. 'Mana stones?' He remembered the mana stone bag, that Deo had thrown at him. Arash forced himself off his back and searched for the leather bag, he felt a tiredness in him with each passing moments. Finally, he found the bad at near his leg. He took out a tiny fragment of stone and used the tiny little wisp of will to give the form a healing rune from his memory.

Even though he remembered how the rune looked like; it was still hard for him to form it for the first time. He failed the first few times as the stone refused to take the form of healing rune, but at his 11th try, he managed to form the complete rune. It shone with deep sapphire light as it hovered in front of him. Arash heaved a sigh of relief as he saw the glowing rune before him. He called out to the rune and it came rushing towards his right and disappeared into his flesh. He felt a coolness in his right eye as the scrapped flesh squirmed to life and healed at an incredible pace. The blood stopped as soon as the rune disappeared into his right eye. Arash gingerly felt the empty socket of his right eye as his thoughts wandered to a distant place.