D took slow steps down the path Slade had taken, to the river. The wind blew gently, sending a sound like thousands of soft whispers to the hunter’s ears. D spotted him, standing at the edge of the river and turning when he heard the dunpeal approaching. The moon cast down dim, but pale light that shimmered on the surface water and accented their long, flowing hair.
“Slade...” D said as Slade began to cautiously back away, as if afraid of the hunter. D stopped, then Slade stopped. He wondered... no, it was impossible. Or was it? Perhaps it was worth a try.
“Hara une emue yuman kue hahn, uhn eahru.” He spoke uneasily. Such words he hadn’t said in so very long, yet the language was still fresh in the dunpeal’s mind.
Slade’s face lit up like a band of fireflies at dusk and approached him. “Eahru?” He said looking straight at the hunter. “Eahru! Cyrun! Cyrun!” Slade yelped happily.
“Shh!” D placed a hand over the dunpeals mouth, who immediately quieted, then slowly pulled it away.
Slade grabbed the hunter’s wrist and smiled. “Caru ana ume kerume aneh?”
“Do you understand English?” The hunter asked.
Slade’s smile faded and he looked at the ground, confused. The hunter blinked. Very curious...
“Janeta runa ana leoma neor amuoh.”
He looked back up at D. “Cei.”
“Horu enu isa? Horu enu anar amuoh, Sladeah?” He asked, curious as to what the dunpeal’s ‘gift’ was.
Slade smiled again, then reached up a hand and touched the hunter on the forehead between his eyes, then touched his own forehead in the same spot. “Beilan.”
Bridge? D tilted his head slightly before he understood the gesture. Telepathy...
He turned and touched a near by tree, then looked back at D. “Neor uman akero elume wana ulen orah sevu.”
The hunter narrowed his eyes. Slade had yet another gift, though D didn’t know the correct word for it. It was sort of the opposite of what an oracle sees. A type of clairvoyance that lets him see things that have already happened simply by touching an object near the event.
D had never even heard of someone who had such ‘gifts’, let alone being autistic at the same time.
“Hehro ana uleh uhn eano weom?” The hunter asked.
Slade shook his head. “Brocka... emous... keru...” He looked up at D. “Une... ana emau urahzeng.”
The hunter blinked, relieved, but disappointed at the same time. He opened his mouth to say something else, but was interrupted by Brock.
“Slade!” Brock’s voice echoed through the trees as he called out for his brother. D watched as he emerged from the trees, saw Slade, then glared at the hunter. “What are you doing?” He said in an accusing tone. “Get the hell back to camp. I need to talk to him.”
D looked at Slade, who looked back with a pleading look in his eyes.
“Go!” Brock shouted.
The hunter didn’t protest. He turned back the way he came and let the two be alone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Light. Blinding light suddenly surrounded the dunpealess, piercing her eyes like needles. After a moment, they adjusted and the ever watchful emeralds peered at their surroundings. She couldn’t tell where the light was coming from; it was like it was created by some form of magic. But that didn’t confuse her as much as her surroundings did. She stood up. All she saw was nothing except her self. Everywhere was just her. Every wall, even the floor and ceiling, were like solid mirrors and wherever these walls ended, she couldn’t find. The dunpealess walked over to one of the walls and pressed her hand against it. She turned her head as she heard the sound of some machinery turn on and then jerked her hand away from the glass. In a split second, the mirror had turned from cool, to burning hot.
She gave a weak yelp as the walls around her began to glow red and the temperature of the room began to quickly rise. Was she meant to die of heat syndrome in here? Not today. The dunpealess crouched and threw her hands over her ears and from her lips, emitted a piercing scream, followed by the equally intense sound of the glass around her as it began to crack and shatter. Shards of hot mirror showered on her, mutilating her soft, pearl skin with burns and cuts. As soon as the noise ceased, she got up and ran.
Now, she was somehow outside, running between a pair of dark brick walls. Her pale skin was now reddened as blood streamed from the wounds that the drugs she was given refused to let heal. The soil under her feet was damp and muddy, now being tinted by the crimson that dripped from her aching body and splattered into the murky puddles. The dirty old walls shined with the dew of a recent rain and the pale, white sky was quickly turning into a shade of gray as it flashed and roared like an angry beast.
It hadn’t been long before she collapsed, falling against the wall. She tried to keep herself up by gripping it, but the soggy moss growing on the stone forbid it, and she fell on her side into the mud. The sky flashed and crackled again, then, like a giant beast, the ground beneath her opened and she was swallowed into the mouth of darkness.