Day 53


    ''Light!?Grass!?'' Damien thought, ''How? How is this possible?'' As he stared at the impossibly warm and vibrant cavern, his mind slowly processed what was before him.The grass wasn''t actually that strange, it was simply able to grow in the environment that it was provided. But the crystals, they were something far beyond his comprehension.


    ''Are we truly the same?'' he wondered, ''Are we all unique? Do we have different abilities and powers? What are the rules?''He racked his mind, searching for answers he didn''t have. It was important. If he was to survive, he had to know what his limits were, and that of his enemies. He just didn''t have enough information. Without meeting more of his own kind, he couldn''t tell the difference between a lack of abilities and a lack of talent or knowledge. ''Where there is one there should be more, right?'' Is this whole world covered in lairs like me?''


    ''Would they be stronger or weaker then us?''. It was another impossible question to answer. ''Would they all be human?'' he wondered as he stared into the new threshold at the opening of a tunnel diving deeper into the enemy lair. ''Was it human once too?'' Damien''s vengeful fury was touched by doubt, but it was nowhere near enough to stop him. Damien remembered that first, fateful day he had explored too far hunting for ants. He remembered the hunger his foe had felt as it saw a weaker lair wander into its path, that the enemy had come for his life, and that it had killed his beloved Sheila. Damien remembered the excitement it had felt as he panicked and mourned, enjoying every minute of his suffering before it was turned to fury. It had been so long ago, but that was only the beginning of this war, and that wound still festered in Damien''s heart.


    ''Why?''


    ''But why? Why am I doing this?This isn''t me.''


    ''I used to be different.'' Damien sighed, ''Before this, I''d never killed anything before except the occasional mouse that got caught in a trap. I got angry occasionally, maybe drank a little more than I should, but it never got violent. Not like this. I was painfully average. I had a blue collar job, and a decent life. I worked hard, hung out at the bar with my friends, and loved my wife. I did the best I-''


    ''What?'' Damien''s introspection suddenly came to a screeching halt.


    My wife? I had a wife!'' He hadn''t had time to think, or he had been focused on other things. Ever since he had awoken he had been fighting, growing, planing or panicking. Damien''s thoughts were sluggish, and his memories distant, but it was all there. ''I forgot. I forgot her...'' She had been there every day for the last thirteen years of his life. She had inspired him and driven him onwards. It was absurd that he had simply forgotten about her.


    ''Is she still out there? Is she still alive? Is this really earth?'' Damien was torn, between his old life and what lay before him. He missed the people, his friends and his family, but not the life itself. It was a dull, purposeless existence. Compared to the power and potential he had now, it was truly pitiful. Here his hard work was rewarded. Every small action he took made him stronger, and everything he built was entirely his own. There were seemingly endlesspossibilitiesas his creatures mutated and evolved, and his menagerie continued to grow. He had only one big regret, and that was losing his wife.


    ''I''m not human anymore.''He had been, but despite having a "body" his heart was a glittering gem. There was nothing he could do. He couldn''t go back, and he couldn''t stop or waste time trying to be something else.


    ''What choice do I have?'' Damien carefully examined his dying foe. The grief, depression, fear, and despair were in an endless, wild cycle. Each emotion flared out or crushed inwards as each swelled up and took control before being exhausted and overtaken by a more powerful emotion. Damien could tell it was trying to be satisfied, content with its end. It tried to accept its death and find peace, but life is not so fickle a thing that it would allow itself to go quietly, especially not if its new instincts were anything like his own.


    ''I can''t end up like that. I won''t.'' Even as he reflected on the changes that allowed this to happen, the wild emotions of his cornered foe rippling across the threshold confirmed the results of his arduous deliberation. ''This is the cost of failure, the cost of losing.''


    ''This is my reality now.'' he sighed, and returned his focus to gathering his mana while he brooded on things lost, and things that would never be.


    ''He was human.'' Damien pondered once more about the morality of what he was doing, but he had made his decision. His rage was no longer something that could be held back by reason and compassion.


    ''Something is wrong. Very, very wrong.'' Damien thought as he felt his enemy shifting. It had been only an hour since Damien''s last assault, he had not yet gathered enough energy for a fight. The foe''s emotions had run wild circles, but he hadn''t moved. It hadn''t taken tried to fight back. But now, as Damien watched, sensing all he could through the threshold, it had started to writhe. The barrier between them convulsed, as if the being on the other side was in unbearable agony. The energy was directed in towards Damien, scratching against the surface. It wasn''t a coordinated attack, but his foe seemed to be reaching for something. Damien froze, trying to understand what was unfolding before him, and he sensed something through the barrier.