Templar Base (2)

"So, complaints of cattle vanishing into thin air in America, rumoured hauntings in Sicily, and a 'shadowy magician' type of person roaming around the streets of Korea. Honestly, none of these things seem like they're a big threat to us, and that's assuming that it is even something demonic. Send one of the newer squads to all of them, they can treat it as a training exercise. I'll delegate the choice of which Wings are chosen. And, if there's nothing else, let's get on with the main reason for this meeting."

Once he awoke, Evan found himself surrounded by nothing but darkness. He sometimes saw small windows of light, only at the times when his captors deemed it justifiable to feed him. He remained this way for what felt like days, although he had no way of knowing that for certain. It had been maddening in the darkness, an environment that might have fractured Evan's mind if not for a single factor. The voice that he had heard back in the forest. At first it was merely fearful for its own safety, not unlike what it had been back when he last heard it. It didn't take long for this fear to become an annoyance for Evan, who swiftly silenced the voice.

For hours it was silent, until it decided to speak once again.

"You must be starting to hate me for having this happen to you."

"Not really," Evan answered, choosing to speak out loud. "But now that you mention it…"

"You can just communicate with me in my head, if you'd like. I would prefer it."

"Nobody's around to call me mad," he responded. "And I don't give a shit what you'd like."

As the conversation slowly dragged itself out, the pointlessness of it stretching it even further, Evan could feel something akin to anger growing inside himself. It wasn't his fault that he was in these circumstances, and yet he was still forced to sit through something as torturous as mindless conversation with the very thing that caused them, even when he could be getting answers.

"Then ask questions," the voice said, seemingly reading his feelings along with his thoughts. "He who never asks can't get mad when he receives nothing. I learned that long ago." After a brief pause, the voice continued sensing Evan's desire for answers. "I asked, and wound up here. I'm free, as strange as it seems."

"What's your name?" Evan asked. "Feels weird to talk to disembodied voice and not know something as simple as that."

"A creature like me has no name. A creature like me shouldn't even exist."

"What was that thing I saw, back after killing that abomination? It was like… I saw your words in real time."

"The souls? It's how Demons grow in power. You require ten to evolve in power, where even the weakest of Rodent's would only need a small few, I believe. Sorry about that, I guess I'm making it harder for you."

"Get me a way out of this situation and I'll be okay with it."

"I can't do that, not yet. We'll just have to take whatever they decide."

"Do you know anything about them? Their source of strength, if the little I've been told is correct?" As he asked, the thought crept in to Evan's head that he might not be able to trust anything that he had heard within the conversation that he was having. Then again, their fates were linked at this point, so why would it lie to him?

Following that conversation, nothing else meaningful happened. There were little snippets of talk, sure, but nothing that served a larger purpose than to anchor Evan to the realm of the sane.

Eventually, after what could have been days, a small crack opened up above Evan, breaking the darkness that had surrounded him ever since he had regained consciousness. As the crack expanded, bathing his surroundings in light, he began to feel the platform that he found himself on rise, until he was in the same room as the sources of the voices that he had intermittently heard during his time in the dark.

"During their recent mission to Britain, Elias and his Wing encountered a newly turned crimson. Instead of dispatching of it, Elias made the decision to bring the Crimson back to us, claiming that it fought alongside Elias and his wing. Now, the burden of deciding what to do with it lies upon the heads of the top five wings."

The voice came from one side of the large room that Evan found himself in. Looking towards it, he saw that there were five people sat behind a large desk. The other sides of the room were covered in benches, many of which were sparsely occupied with other people. Despite how much he tried, Evan couldn't make out much about anything around him, as though there was a fog separating him and everything else.

The air in front of Evan warped, before two large wolf-like creatures materialised from out of thin air. Their fur was dark, and something that looked like magma dripped from their mouths. From where he was, Evan could feel a searing heat coming off it, as though it was actually magma that had came from somewhere within the beasts before him.

They sniffed around him for a few seconds before turning away, the pair entirely disinterested in him. As soon as their attitude became clear, one of the five yanked on something invisible, causing the pair to completely disappear.

"He's nothing," declared the one who had taken the wolves. "Leave him with Elias if he's willing. Even that freak bitch could deal with him. I say we take the chance."

"If the Trapper's beasts aren't even threatened by it, then I guess we can afford to take the chance that he might be a boon to us," assessed another one, drawing murmurs of agreement from the others that sat alongside. "Elias, take him. You can have him in your band of runts."