Chapter Two : The Stranger

10 years ago

Chase sneaks through the dank lower levels of the Hardwynn complex. The giant pyramid structure built by his grandfather hundreds of years ago as a monument to the great Hardwynn family was located on a craggy island just off of the bolstering city. Most people think the only way in or out is the bridge linking the city to the complex but he grew up here. He explored every inch of this place, knew about the old escape tunnel that ran through the sewers and out into the refuge village on the opposite side of the walls.

He put his pack down next to a loose grate. He yanks it off the wall, the rusty metal scrapes the concrete, the screech makes the hair on his neck stand up as it bounces down the empty halls. He looks around,He knows there is no one down here but could never be too sure. After placing the grate down he checks his pack one more time.

"Shit!" He mutters softly as he realizes he forgot a pair of socks but there was no turning back. It was hard enough leaving this time, Hira…. She was his best friend, the one person who truly knew him, the real Chase Hardwynn. His father never came home from that war, he died with his brother.

His mother Mina tried her best but she had to carry the weight of the city, Stephen just didn't care anymore his last decree was to close off the city. It was like he was waiting for something or someone to siege the city.

Chase couldn't stand for it, there were people in the Harshlands that needed help, help Hardwynn city could offer. They could literally change the world but instead they sit in their bubble and watch it rot away. He would beg his father to let the people in and restart expansion, but it would fall on deaf ears.

Chase obsessed over it and had it all planned out. Head to the Harshlands and make a difference, establish a safe place for the people barred from the safety of a city's walls. Show his father that it wasn't a waste of time, that the people out there weren't lost causes.

He takes a nervous breath as he slings his pack over his shoulders.

" Now or never." He says shakily. Ducking down into the dark tunnel.

A hand the size of a bear claw grabs him by the shoulder and yanks the unsuspecting Chase back into the hallway. Before he could react he was slammed against the opposing wall, the impact knocking the wind out of him and cracking the wall.

"Where do you think you're going, Sobrino?"

The giant hand loosened its grip and Chase slid down the wall. He looked up at his uncle, his teacher Sebastian Valiente, but couldn't meet his eyes.

"I'm leaving! I can't sit here and collect rust anymore, what was all your training for? It's not like mom and dad would even notice I was gone. I'll go make a difference out there and if I fail at least I can say I tried." He says through clenched teeth, fighting back tears of frustration.

His uncle's grizzled scowl softens into a smirk.

"Fine…. I will make a deal with you. If you can land one blow to my face… I won't stop you. If you can't, it's extra training every night."

Sebastian steps back and enters his defensive pose, something Chase knows all too well. Fifteen years training with his uncle and he may have landed a few punches,he wasn't too sure if he had let him just to boost his confidence .

The fabled Toro, hero of the resistance, master of martial arts and strength only rivaled by his father was the only thing standing in his way…

Chase picked himself up from the ground tossing his pack to the side. He runs through scenarios in his mind. He slid into a stance and Sebastian lets out a chuckle.

"Powers or no powers?" Chase asks, as crystals start forming around his hands.

Sebastian lets out a grunt as energy bursts out from around him. Sparks of light pop and surround him and his muscles swell with power.

"Powers, I have to make sure you are truly ready for what's out there."

Chase stares into his uncle's eyes. The man was more of a father to him than Stephen ever was, if this was his final test he would take it with pride.

Sebastian couldn't contain his smile. He was proud of the man his nephew had become. He waved his fingers at his nephew.

"Come Hijo… one final lesson.."

Present Day

Chase runs his fingers over the scar gouged into his lips. A price well paid for his freedom, courtesy of his uncle. A daily reminder of what it took to be where he is now.

The search wasn't going as planned, it was perpetual darkness on the forest floor except for the stray beam of light that found its way through the dense canopy. He did see some signs of movement and followed them the best he could.

It wasn't until night fell that Tilly was able to spot lights emanating from a massive structure. She met with Chase on the ground and the two of them approached the building.

The area was surrounded by figures wearing ivory cloaks.

"Fucking Sourcers? Out here? I thought these weirdos were extinct?" Tilly whispers. She looks at Chase, even with his face covered she could see the look of rage carved on it.

"What's the play? Shock and awe? Stealth?"

Chase studies the encampment, there were at least one hundred Sourcers scattered around the entrance. Although it appeared that some were on watch, most were sitting around fires and other light sources, eating meals and conversing. None of them really expected anyone to venture out this far. Even pre war this place was unmolested. The building was in remarkable shape for something hundreds if not a thousand years old.Luckily for them there were plenty of openings for them to infiltrate the Sourcer base.

"We can enter there." Chase points towards an opening that had a mammoth tree growing up and past it.

"Get in, find us some cloaks so we don't stick out like sore thumbs, get our people if they are still alive and get the fuck out of here and back home. Any intel on what the hell they are doing out here is a bonus." He says as he starts scaling a nearby tree.

The pair reach the tree from the lower canopy, sneaking over the unsuspecting Sourcers, careful not to make a sound. They watched as a lone sourcer walked past their entry point, Chase signals Tilly. She bursts towards him, wrapping herself around his body, before he could even react she places her hand over his mouth and shoots a jet of white hot flame down his esophagus. The flame incinerates his insides, he was dead before he could even think. She helps him fall quietly to the floor, removing his cloak.

Chase hops into the building, making sure to breath through his mouth, he and Tilly have been fighting together for a decade and the smell of burnt flesh always made him uneasy.

She held up the white cloak towards Chase but he waved it off.

"You take it.." he whispered "I won't be able to eat if that smell gets stuck in my nose."

Tilly shrugs and puts it on, she removes the other sourcer trademark. A purple crystal necklace, made to honor the legendary stone and the god said to have lived inside it. She inspects it, twirling it infront of her face.

"Kinda looks like your arms." She says holding it up for chase to see.

"Too bad I can't infinitely power multiple cities." Chase says, looking at his jagged crystal covered hands and arms. He could see the energy shimmer and flow through them, sometimes it was like staring into the cosmos. His uncle always focused on his abilitie's defensive capabilities. His crystals could absorb any form of energy that hit them. He could expel some of that energy but nowhere near what he absorbed. So he learned cqc, using his crystalline hands as claws and his arms as shields. He was the "runt" of his family but his uncle made sure he was a force to be reckoned with.

Chase dragged the body out of the hallway and into an empty room. With Tillys help they covered it with branches and any loose debris they could scrounge up.

"Let's split up, you go scout ahead, take the odd floors, I'll try to find a cloak while taking the evens. The second one of us finds our people, we regroup and take it from there."

Tilly nods "Ok but you know shit always goes wrong with your plans. Remember the raid on the slavers' fortress?"

Chase shakes his head, "We're still alive aren't we?"

Tilly lets out a chuckle "Yeah. Just make sure you follow your plan this time." She gives him a sassy wink and makes her way into the building. Chase darts off in the opposite direction, dipping in and out of shadows, searching for an easy target to get his hands on a cloak.

He makes his way up every other floor, avoiding the multiple groups of sourcers he came across, listening and looking for signs of his missing people. He eventually found a lone sourcer taking a leak and quickly dispatched him, donning his newly acquired apparel and continued his search.

Tilly had reached a new floor, nodding and grumbling a greeting to a sourcer passing her. She was carrying a large box of fresh meat, blood dripping from the bottom. Tilly peered into the box of viscera and her stomach turned, a human foot sitting right on top of the pile of flesh. She followed the trail of blood towards a large room in the center of the floor. The closer she got the stronger the smell became, the floor was tacky with old blood. Nothing could have prepared her for what she saw next.

The torso of a man was chained to the wall. Beneath him a pile of limbs in different states of decay, tiny tendrils reaching for the body from the cuts. There were two sourcers in the room with the body, one sharpening a blade caked in blood, the other lifting the head up off the torso. The man's face was covered in long dark hair and a long beard, caked with dry blood. It's mouth split open and shaped a twisted, bloody smile.

Then it spoke"When I get out of here I'm going to cut you up just like this!" The sourcers let out a hearty laugh and chopped at his face with his rusty, dull blade.

Tilly's jaw dropped, the horrid gash on the man's face began to seal itself up.

" You sick fucks!" Tilly yelled, drawing the attention of everyone in the room.

"What's the matter girly? If ya don't like it, get out!"

"Yeah what's the matter? We gotta feed the troops somehow, and you know the chosen like their meat fresh! Bless the Source for this gift!" The two butchers start laughing.

Tilly's rage takes over, she has witnessed some truly horrible things out in the harshlands, had some awful things happen to her but nothing like this. She knew it was off plan, but she also knew exactly what Chase would do in this situation. She pointed at the closest butcher and let out a stream of flame, lighting him on fire. Before he could scream she launched towards him, a flaming punch slamming into his mouth and nose. His jaw shatters, his lips melt together and he chokes on the blood leaking from the trauma to his face.

His compatriot lets out a surprised yell, he flexes as boney spikes burst through his skin, tearing his clothes to shreds.

"YOU LITTLE BITCH!!!" He screams, lunging at Tilly. He swipes at her with the rusty blade barely missing, throwing his moving body towards her.

"Nice try, porcupine!" She says as she dodges his attack. With her out of the way his spikes run into the burning sourcer, impaling him and sticking the two together.

"Let me turn the heat up for you." She snaps her fingers and the flames erupt, incinerating the two sourcers. She turns towards the man chained to the wall, he had a forlorn look on his face.

"I really wanted to kill that piece of shit…. Help me get down.. I will regenerate quickly." He croaks.

Tilly finds the keys on the smoldering bodies and gets him off the wall.

"Do me a favor, torch those body parts down there. It will speed things up."

Tilly burns the pile of limbs, the man's arms and legs instantly start reconstructing. He gets to his feet and tests out his newly grown body parts. He walks over to a pile of clothes discarded on the floor and dresses himself. Leaning against the wall was an odd blade, it reminded Tilly of a giant meat cleaver but something about it seemed off, it seemed ancient yet advanced.

"We must leave here quickly… something terrible is in motion …. I have to get to Hardwynn City!"