Path Of The Broken

3. The Broken One-3

Alex shook off his introspection. Time for him to move, he'd spent too long here. Most of his thoughts were unsettling anyhow, and right now he didn’t want to think about them. He suspected his blackouts were getting shorter, although with no real measure to judge that by it was hard to tell. If he ran around asking strangers what day it was, it would prompt concern and result in someone calling a healer. He'd rather avoid that for now.

He walked back towards the dead thief and finished wiping the blood off his blade on the man’s clothes. Power still flared and flickered the length of the blade, and Alex absently extinguished the elemental fire, then sheathed the blade. It had perhaps been overkill, since he doubted the thief had any ability to control the power of the veil. If he had, Alex doubted that he would be dead in the alley right now after picking the wrong person to divest of his purse.

Dismissing his victim, Alex wrapped the veil around himself and walked down the darkened street. The guttering lamps flared, gaining new life as he approached, flickering merrily as he walked past, their flare throwing wide the pool of light. Not that there was anyone to notice their odd behaviour. If any had walked past or looked out of their windows, they would have seen the lamps flaring but they would not have seen him. Alex acknowledged that his powers had increased, and he’d learned to hide his presence not just in shadows, but in light. He moved through this world unnoticed when he wanted to, except by those others sensitive to the veil. Or others like him, with power.

That was another thing he was learning. He wasn’t walking this world as alone as he’d thought. There were others out there that flared brightly at times before their glowing presence disappeared again. As a result, he spent considerable time trying to improve his own barriers. If he could spot their psychic flares out in the world across and throughout the veil, then they could likely see his. That they managed to shield themselves so thoroughly meant he could too.

Still, he sensed both Kyle and Jess on occasion before they too were shielded, although Alex had the distinct feeling it was others doing the shielding. That might have caused him some concern, except when he sensed them they seemed content enough with their current lives. That afforded him a little relief, knowing his friends were alive and had not come to any harm. He felt sure he would know it if they needed help, regardless of the presence of others and the shields they threw around his friends. They had both obviously sought out others like their own kind, other Kin, to help them get through and understand their transition.

Alex couldn’t bring himself to do that. He knew he was being stubborn, yet a part of him needed to learn for himself. If he was being honest, he still had the irrational belief of being betrayed by the world. The thought made him snort. It wasn’t as if the world particularly owed him anything. He’d grown up with every kind of advantage it was possible to have, unlike most others. Still, sense and feelings didn’t always agree.

Yet another difference giving him reason to suspect he was not one of the Sundered was the pattern of his kills. Oh, he killed readily enough. The memories that burst and broke like bubbles in his mind told him that. Yet from what he gathered, each person he’d killed while out of his mind had been individuals that had sought to harm him first. Like the thief. Or other Sundered. He seemed to seek them out even while he was crazed. They were everything he’d thought they would be. Their minds were a scattered mess, the power seeming to stutter, turning off and on; they didn’t even have the control that a child seemed to learn automatically. When the power turned on and raced through them, it caused them pain, driving them further into madness. When he killed them, it put them out of the misery their lives had become.

As much as he hated to admit it, perhaps he was correct. The Sundered were something else, even if he didn’t quite know what. The best description he had for what he was going though, this transition, was Broken. He finally understood what the reference in his uncle’s diary meant. The moments he was driven out of his own mind followed jumps in his own power. Until the growth in his own power levels had stabilised, he wouldn’t risk going back to those he loved.

Alex closed his eyes and shuddered. Those moments where the power weaved around, intensified and charged into him were branded into his mind. The power levels became overwhelming, ending in him losing control, and his awareness sinking into darkness. Inevitably he would come back to himself in places like this.

Alex turned the corner and walked down what obviously passed for the main street in whatever town this was. A vague memory tugged at the edge of his consciousness, which irritatingly wouldn't be teased loose. A smile played across his lips, his eyes flaring with an inner light of their own. The power came as he summoned it, the dead lamps popping and flaring to sudden life down the street, racing ahead of him as he walked.

“Ah, big scary broken one I am. So scared of the dark I have to turn all the lights on.” Alex chuckled. It occurred to him he was walking down the street talking to himself; he'd parted company with sanity some time ago.

He grinned and hummed to himself as he walked down the now well-lit street. At least he hadn’t blown up the town with this pyromanic display.

The residents of this village were likely to be a little shocked when they woke. The lamps usually guttered and died an hour before dawn. He wasn’t sure when these would die since they glowed blue, fuelled by the veil.

Alex’s progress down the street halted, his eyes narrowed as he heard the unmistakable cry of the Sundered. Time for a little hunting. He shifted fully into the veiled world, speeding towards the mad presence of the others, using their mental howls as a beacon to guide him to them. He knew they weren’t far away, still within the boundaries of this town.