Ryan's return! - The glow of fire in the black eyes

3 days later,

20 km west of Lake Andranomena,

Island X

"Huff! Huff!"

Deep and dreadful sound of panting shook the dark forest, rivers of stars mocking the sight overhead.

"No!" the prey cried. "No! Don't kill me! Ahhh!"

At 23, Ryan McMillan was a tall and lean wizard, recently graduated from the academy. His hair was black and his eyes a touch blacker. He was, in no terms, handsome, but his face was plain and structured well enough to not call it ugly.

Something horrible had happened to him in the last 3 days. Something truly deplorable.

Ryan's entire body was covered in thick scars, his face lost to the humane color.

And as he ran through the forest, clutching his wand in his left hand, he kept mumbling, muttering, crying, and screaming. "No! Please! Save… Save me!"

The entire forest felt like had come alive to him. The wind was following him, hissing in his ears. Leaves were rustling, laughing at him, pointing their pointy tips toward him. The very earth abhorred him, his steps echoing loud and far.

Then there was this odd feeling, this nauseating feeling, that someone was chasing him, following him; a predator.

"Who's there?!" Ryan cried, trying to lift his left hand, but failing. "I… Please! Leave me alone!"

There was a hideous gash on his right hand's wrist, his wand hand. It stung every time he thought of it. His feet were aching, his bones were searing, and his heart was pounding in the greatest fear.

Fear… the likes of which he had only come to know in these few days; in that demon's presence.

Ryan's breathing quickened, thinking of that face and what that man had done to him. How that… demon had toyed with him.

Run! Run far away!

"Yes…" Ryan muttered, breaking out in a broken rush. "Far… I must go… far!"

Creak!

A vine, protruding like an arch from the dark earth, caught Ryan's foot, and he fell, his head banging on the dry, hard land.

Rustle!

Something had indeed moved. Ryan's thoughts stirred, feeling the taste of earth in his bleeding mouth. It wasn't him going mad. No; it wasn't. "Who's there?!" Ryan demanded, turning over with his back to the earth.

The nights were dark on Island X, and they were darker in the jungle terrain. Wild animals were scarce in the scrublands, to begin with. And Pokemon would belittle themselves by inhabiting these grounds. Not so far from their headquarters, at least.

Then who was here, eying him from the shadows? Who was still toying with him? Hadn't he left the demon far behind?

"Ahhh!" Ryan shouted, going mad with soul-creeping fear. He lifted his left hand as adrenaline found him, and shouted, "Avada…"

"Ryan!" a voice crawled like the sigh of wind from above. "It's me. Ming."

Ryan snapped his head up, his mouth hanging open. There, perched on a branch, was the Un-Blooded Trooper, turning off his invisibility. "Ming…"

Ryan hated these disgusted races since one of the Yautja had taken his crush as his girlfriend last summer. Still, at this moment, all that hate vanished from his eyes at the sight of a fellow trooper. "Ming…" he cried. "… Save me."

The Un-Blooded jumped off the tree and landed behind Ryan with a thump, the ground shaking from the weight of his and his armor. The hollows of his Bio-helmet flashed as he looked around, his wristblades already out. "How did you survive?" Ming asked, never looking at Ryan. "How did you escape?"

Ryan seemed lost, his pupils dilating as if he was remembering something truly horrid. "He tortured me, Ming…" he let out, shaking. "He wanted to know a lot. But I swear, Ming. I swear I didn't tell him anything.

"Then… Then, this afternoon, he went out for food, tying me up. He thought I couldn't use magic without the wand. Even I didn't know… but… I somehow did. I untied myself and then used the wand to cast a Disillusionment Charm on myself."

The Un-Blooded walked around, looking at the multi-function gauntlet on his right arm. He marked the place on the map in it and then looked down at Ryan. "He didn't take your wand?"

Ryan opened his mouth to say something but suddenly frowned. "No," he shook his head, his hands still trembling. "He always took the wand with him, but today he left it behind…"

Un-Blooded Ming nodded to himself. He crouched, lifted Ryan, and looked at his injuries. "Let's go," the Bio-helmet let out a mechanical voice. "Our camp is not far."

But it was.

The entire night melted away, and the dawn of the 4th day tore through the sky. It was only then the Un-Blooded, and the wizard reached the campsite.

A low fire was burning in the middle of the tents' encirclement. Horses reared at the sight of Un-Blooded and the smell of blood, making men dash out of the tents, holding swords and lances.

"Ming!" one Trooper cried, astonished. "That's… Ryan?!"

The men took Ryan near the fire, laid him down on a stretcher, and tore his clothes off.

All men stumbled back, horrified.

Ryan's entire body, from head to toe, was covered in long, bleeding scars. Not only that but there were severe burn marks. The nails of his toes were missing, and his wounds were secreting pus.

This wasn't mere torture. This was mutilation.

"Haaa!" Men roared, repulsed by the infuriating sight. "We'll kill him!"

Kill! Kill!

The shouts rang through the camp and their war horses neighed along with them.

"Calm down!" Un-Blooded Ming's robotic voice pierced through the chilly morning air. "That man killed the Captain all by himself, taking Ryan captive. It will not be easy to find him, much less kill him."

The Cavalry Trooper frowned but had to agree. Moreover, in the absence of Fearow, the Un-Blooded had become the acting-Captain of the Joint Task Force.

"Ryan, tell them what you told me?" the Yautja commanded.

After drinking water, Ryan repeated the matters of the last day for the men. Sure enough, all found the proceeding quite miraculous.

"Quite a luck!" one Trooper praised, kindling the fire. "We will get that bastard, Ryan. We will avenge the Captain. Haha!"

"Is that so?" Un-Blooded Ming mumbled, walking around, his head kept snapping here and there. "I, on the other hand, believe that Ryan is nothing but bait."

"What?!" the men looked at each other, and color was rising on Ryan's face. Now that the wizard was on safe grounds, his lost hate for the Yautja was finding him once again.

Un-Blooded nodded. "I think," he said, looking at his gauntlet, "the enemy has some means to mark a target, and then track its position from afar. He must have made plans to use Ryan to attack our camp. That's why I brought Ryan to the camp in a roundabout way, without healing him. You see, I was trying to use his bait against him. But he never showed up."

Gritting his teeth, Ryan sat, his entire body aching. "Ming…" he said, his voice icy. "… you fucking…"

The Un-Blooded cared naught for the bleeding wizard. "Of course, even if he is to follow us, it's useless now," he told them, sounding disappointed. "We have new orders."

"Orders?" the oldest Trooper stepped in and asked.

"The Alliance HQ sent an owl yesterday," Un-Blooded Ming told them. "We will not be returning to the Cloudbreak Spire."

Men began buzzing, sharing hurried talks. Meanwhile, the Yautja took out a tube filled with green liquid. With no warning, he rained its entire content on Ryan's body and right-hand wrist.

"Ahhh!" Ryan shrieked, his skin burning. "Ming, I will…"

The most hideous wounds healed soon enough, leaving behind scars that just didn't vanish. "You can use your wand again, now," Ming commented. "Not so useless anymore."

A vein pulsed on Ryan's forehead. "What are these new orders?"

Un-Blooded Ming paused near the fire, and men gathered around him. The gauntlet on his right arm flashed incomprehensible writing, and then a map of Island X appeared as a hologram over it.

"We are here," The Yautja pointed at the blue dot before pinching the map and scrolling it down. "86 km to our North-West is the Main Headquarters of The Original Ones, but with the terrain between us and them, the effective distance is over 100 km."

The men nodded, remembering their briefings.

Un-Blooded shifted the map again. "However," the robotic voice seeped into the fire, "directly above us, crossing the river where it's the thinnest, we have the 1st Headquarters of the Death Eaters, only 80 km away. If we start after breakfast, we will easily reach there before lunch. The 2nd headquarters of the Eternal Snow Army is also just 15 km north of the Death Eaters. Our objective is to report to Death Eaters' HQ and form 2 Companies of 1000 Troopers each to corner this region on two sides.

"Meanwhile, the Original Ones' main HQ will send a special unit to attack the target from the western coast. Even if he is as strong as a Captain, with so many soldiers, he would have nowhere to run."

Ryan looked at the map with an odd fascination. Then, he took a relieving breath, knowing he would be at home-away-from-home at least. The Death Eaters know how to take care of their own, unlike these hideous creatures.

"Break your fast quickly and be on guard," Un-Blooded Ming warned, looking at the men before eying Ryan. "The bait still lives."

Ryan looked scandalous. He clenched his fist and then eyed as the acting-Captain marched off, turning invisible.

"Don't take it to heart, young man," the oldest Trooper in the Cavalry Platoon laughed. "You know how they are. It's good that you are alive. Here, have some leftover meat. It should cheer you up."

Ryan snatched the piece of cold meat, covered himself with a blanket, and neared the fire to warm himself up.

The entire sky was glowing with a red sheen, and the embers of the fire were burning like molten lava.

As Ryan ate, looking into the fire, seemingly reliving his torture, his black eyes glowed like two hazel pearls.

And those eyes were smiling; a very disgusting, demonic grin.