《The Ascending Angel》


 Quiet Night Shift

    Reno Schneeberg''s life was packed to the brim, so much so that it didn''t seem impossible to overflow soon, taking with it his ability to keep his mind from experiencing burn out.


    Going straight from being a regular 18-year-old high school graduate to a full-time medical school student was an immense hurdle and brought stress he had never imagined before. Even his finals hadn''t been as stressful as his first semester studying human medicine. Learning the basics seemed to be the hardest thing in the world, but he also knew that the beginning of a journey always turned out to be the most difficult part - so he had to stick with it and trust the process.


    Fortunately, he always managed to balance out his high stress levels with his job as a night guard at the local museum of history and archeology. The quiet and lonely night shifts made his mind quiet down and helped him bring his thoughts into order.


    Today marked another one of those relaxing shifts.


    Reno''s body was leaning against the backrest of an office chair, while the heels of his boots rested on a metal table holding a keyboard and mouse. In front of him, multiple screens were mounted to the wall, flickering slightly from time to time in shades of black and white.


    His gaze was transfixed on one of the never-changing screens, almost as if staring through it. Indeed, at that moment, his head was empty, using every second of silence to relax his tired mind. But when his thoughts weren''t blank, they always revolved around his studies, fully consuming his focus and causing him to ignore the screens altogether, just like now.


    Nothing ever happened here that required his attention, so he used the time however he wanted.


    The museum was small compared to others, housing few valuable items - most were replicas. Adding to that, it was located in an area with an almost zero crime rate. The chances of thieves or a group of reckless teenagers breaking in seemed extremely low, and as if to confirm this, nothing like that had occurred since Reno had started working here almost two months ago.


    The pay was also quite good for a university student working part-time. Everything about the job was to his liking.


    With his tired eyes, Reno continued to stare into the nothingness. Only the quiet hum of the monitors and PC, as well as his breathing, broke the silence in the dimly lit control room.


    An unknown amount of time passed during which his eyes threatened to close multiple times. If he wasn''t careful, he knew he would fall asleep in an instant. This week''s workload had left him even more exhausted than usual.


    Fortunately - or unfortunately, depending on how one viewed it - something interrupted his struggle. A sudden, high-pitched beeping sound shattered the room''s silence, making him sit up straight with wide-open eyes.


    For a moment, Reno was confused. What was going on?


    It couldn''t have been the motion sensors at the entrance, right? Was there actually a break-in attempt after all these weeks of tranquility and relaxation?


    His eyes scanned the screen showing the entrance hall. To his surprise, it was completely devoid of any motion or foreign objects. His gaze wandered over the other screens in quick succession, but none of them showed any sign of movement or change either.


    ''What the hell?'', Reno thought, now wide awake. Where had the sound come from, then?


    After another moment of confusion, his gaze landed on his digital watch sitting next to the keyboard. A small alarm clock symbol glowed on its screen, and the persistent beeping emanated from its position.


    "Oh, that''s why."


    With a somewhat annoyed expression, he turned off the alarm and looked at the time displayed on the watch: 1:05 a.m.


    Reno remembered setting the alarm so he wouldn''t forget to make his 1 a.m. control run through the museum. Usually, he wouldn''t have forgotten and would have turned off the alarm beforehand.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    His face still slightly contorted by annoyance, Reno slowly stood up and grabbed his flashlight. There was no way around it. Protocol required him to make a control run through the halls every three hours during his shift, even if it didn''t make much sense when he could overlook everything with the cameras.


    Of course, he could have just skipped it and said nothing to his supervisor in the morning. But he had at least this much work ethic and honesty.


    His figure stepped out of the control room and into the dark hallways of the museum. Only the important parts of the building where cameras were located - like the entrance hall, back entries, or bigger galleries - were lit during the night.


    That''s why, most of the time, he walked using his flashlight, its beam creating long shadows along the floors and walls. Surely, some people might have been spooked in this atmosphere, especially when coupled with the lonely silence of the hallways. Reno, however, wasn''t one bit scared. After all, he was used to it, and his sour mood from being surprised by his alarm hadn''t worn off yet. There was no space for other feelings except resignation and tiredness.


    His flashlight illuminated the many glass panels behind which different ancient artifacts were stored - most of them replicas, of course.


    At some point, he reached the entrance hall and turned off the flashlight again.


    After a moment of consideration, he walked closer to the entrance doors, just to be sure. Even though the alarm had turned out to be his watch, he wanted to be on the safe side. As expected, they were in their normal state, with no signs of a break-in.


    With that done, he made his way out of the hall and back into the dark tunnels to finish his patrol.


    Time passed slowly as he walked in the dark. His thoughts finally moved on from the rude surprise of the alarm and focused instead on his soon-to-come anatomy exams. As he got lost in his thoughts the time seemed to finally flow faster and after a while of walking from one room to another he was almost finished. The museum wasn''t that big after all.


    By now, he had checked all the back entries and main galleries. All that was left was the newest gallery, still under construction and not yet opened to the public. For this gallery, the museum had financed an entirely new building block that had been added to the main structure.


    Soon, Reno came to a stop. He looked at the heavy curtains sealing the entrance to the new gallery.


    The last time Reno had been there, it was almost completely empty, except for a few weird-looking statues and several wooden boxes covered by sheets. From his supervisor he had heard that the theme of this new gallery would be centered around medieval Europe. He couldn''t have guessed that in a thousand years from only inspecting the statues though.


    Other than that he knew that cameras weren''t installed yet, as he hadn''t had access to any views of this space in the control room.


    He let out a quiet sigh.


    ''Last room for tonight, and then I can relax.''


    Without wasting more time, he pulled the curtains aside and stepped into the hall beyond them.


    Immediately, Reno was met by utter darkness, just as he had expected. He turned on his flashlight, its beam illuminating the space around him.


    With a bored expression, he stepped forward, the soles of his boots echoing through the desolate hall.


    But then, not even a few seconds after entering, Reno came to a stop.


    "Desolate¡­ not so much anymore," he muttered.


    His gaze landed on a bunch of rectangular shapes veiled under grey sheets.


    ''They''ve already stocked up on even more stuff.''


    A little curious, he continued walking, revealing more and more boxes in the beam of his flashlight. These were definitely new, as the statues and boxes from last week had been located farther toward the end of the hall.


    After a few moments, Reno stopped again, his eyes fixed on an unexpected sight before him.


    ''What the¡­?''


    One of the boxes had toppled over, its contents spilled across the floor. The grey sheet that had veiled it before was torn, with a long, irregular cut running along its surface.


    ''Ugh. I really don''t want to clean that up¡­ and how does something like that even happen?''


    With his eyebrows raised, he studied the scattered metal cases of varying sizes that had spilled from the box. Suddenly, another concern crept into his mind.


    Were these original archeological findings or just replicas like most of the exhibits? If these were real and damaged, it could spell trouble for him. Would his supervisor scold him - or worse, make him pay for part of the damages? Surely, he couldn''t do that¡­ right?


    A migraine felt imminent, but even so, Reno had to do something. He needed to clean everything up and file a report on any damages. Also, if one box had toppled over, there could be more.


    He let out a mental sigh.


    His mood soured further as he resigned himself to the task at hand.


    Kneeling down, Reno grabbed the first metal case when he noticed something odd.


    Was the case scratched?


    He ran his hand over the deep scars marking the frame, his brow furrowing. His gaze wandered to the other cases nearby, each bearing similar marks.


    For some reason, Reno felt uneasy. These scratches should have been caused by the fall, but they looked far too misshapen. The cases assumingly hit a flat ground, the museum floor - not a rocky surface - which should have resulted in more symmetrical marks, if any at all. The cases were extremely sturdy, after all.


    He slowly looked up from the boxes and pointed his flashlight into the darkness in front of him.


    Something wasn''t right.

 The Creature

    Truly, something was off.


    He stared into the darkness, his body tense. The flashlight''s beam flickered across the crates, casting shifting shadows in his peripheral vision.


    What was happening? Had thieves somehow managed to sneak in without him noticing? There were no cameras in this section - no way he could have seen anyone breaking in. And if someone actually was here, they had likely sensed his presence by now. After all, his flashlight wasn''t really low-key in the absolutely dark environment.


    ... whoever was here could be watching him right now, too.


    The silence of the vast hall suddenly pressed down on him, oppressive and suffocating. He swallowed hard. What was he supposed to do? Run? Call out and demand whoever was there to reveal themselves?


    ''Dammit. I didn''t actually get trained for such a situation.''


    Before making any further moves and while still pondering, Reno allowed his gaze to drop onto the metal crate he held in one hand while his other gripped the flashlight tightly.


    The scratch marks scarring the crate''s smooth surface stood out under the light, jagged and deliberate, like a warning etched into its surface.


    A troubling question ran through his mind.


    What robber scratched up their bounty like this, not taking the insides and abandoning it here?


    "This is so weird," he muttered, more to himself than anyone else.


    Just then, a sound shattered the silence, sharp and jarring.


    "Boom!"


    The metallic clang echoed through the vast hall, freezing Reno in place. His body reacted on instinct, spinning toward the source of the noise and whipping the flashlight''s beam across the space. The light landed on a veiled box about 15 feet away from his current position.


    The grey fabric covering had been ripped open far above the ground level, and metallic crates lay scattered on the floor beneath it. But it wasn''t the disarray that made Reno''s pulse spike.


    His breath stagnated as his gaze locked onto something perched atop the box.


    There, illuminated by the unsteady beam of his flashlight, was a creature unlike anything he had ever seen.


    The thing was very vaguely humanoid, standing between four and five feet tall, its burly body covered in dark, scaly skin that shimmered faintly under the flashlight''s glare. Its legs were bent at unnatural angles, supporting a grotesque frame, while its weird-shaped arms ended in long, razor-sharp claws.


    But what held Reno''s attention the most were its eyes - cold, dark, and eerie, each only containing a single tiny red dot that seemed to glow faintly, like embers in the dark.


    Atop its reptilian head were two slightly curved dark horns, giving it an almost demonic appearance.


    Well maybe it actually was a demon, he couldn''t be sure. Ironically, this gallery was supposed to be centered around medieval things, after all, so it would be pretty fitting. Sadly, Reno was really not in any mood for jokes.


    Instead, his chest tightened even more; his breathing had already stopped. He felt as though his heart might give out, its relentless pounding a deafening drumbeat in his ears.


    His mind raced, and panic and confusion tangled his thoughts. He was confused not because the dark monstrosity was unfamiliar to him but because he recognized it almost immediately. Its frame and appearance matched those of one of the statues he''d seen just a week ago in this hall.


    What the hell did that indicate?


    Reno had no time to ponder that question or any other questions about the situation. Even though the creature seemed momentarily stunned by the sudden light, its hairless eyelids narrowing against the glare, he was sure it wouldn''t take long to refocus.


    It hadn''t taken Reno long to understand that something weird was happening that he couldn''t explain. As he had already recognized, this was clearly no damn normal robber. It wasn''t even a human.


    His common logic couldn''t explain it, but the moment he laid eyes on that dark monstrosity, he felt as if it was about to devour his entire being in one gulp, even though it was smaller than him in body size.


    He knew that he wasn''t imagining things either, as his anxiety felt way too real. He also knew that he had to either run away or fight.


    The exit was roughly 45 feet away. Reno''s mind churned with frantic calculations. Could he make it? Would it catch him before he reached the veil? He didn''t wait to find out as the creature now had almost recovered from the flashlight''s glare.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    His survival instincts kicked in, and he willed all his strength into his legs. Then, without wasting any more time, he bolted away in the direction of the exit.


    He sprinted through the rows of crates, the flashlight bouncing wildly in his grip and throwing erratic beams of light across the dark room. Behind him, he heard the unmistakable sound of the creature landing heavily on the floor, followed by the rapid "clack, clack, clack" of claws striking the floor as it gave chase.


    He had had a faint hope that the thing might just let him run away, but no.


    His anxiety went through the roof, knowing that he was now actually being hunted down, and he willed his legs to run even faster.


    Reno knew that he had a head start of about a second and the initial 15-foot distance between them, but that wasn''t a lot, really.


    Even so, he kept sprinting, not letting himself succumb to his worries or fears.


    After a few harrowing moments, he reached the exit and bolted through the dark veil blocking the view into the hallway behind.


    During this maneuver, his head was spinning while he was trying to find a solution to his predicament. He wasn''t sure he would be able to outrun that thing as his stamina wasn''t the best. He wasn''t really fit, as most of his time until now had been dedicated to studying and sleeping.


    But even if he could keep up the pace, all the exit doors were closed during the night, so he would have to manually open them with a key, which would take way too long.


    No, even if he had the time for it, he couldn''t let that monster escape into the outside world.


    So Reno kept running. Now, in the hallway, he felt toward the entrance hall, which was the closest lit room in the immediate vicinity. His feet seemed to guide him there automatically as he didn''t have much time to consider any other options.


    Behind him, he heard something bolt through the dark blankets of the veil and slide into the dark hallway. His anxiety spiked once more, and the adrenaline pushed the muscles in his body further, making his legs carry him at amazing speeds down the corridor and around a sharp corner.


    As he turned, his eyes already spotted the shimmer of lights from the entrance hall in front of him. The museum was rather small, after all, so he knew he would get there pretty quickly.


    Behind him, once again, he heard the scraping noise of claws along the museum''s metal floor. Luckily, the creature wasn''t quicker than him while supported by his adrenaline rush, but it seemed to keep up with his pace just fine.


    A few seconds later, he reached the entrance hall, the bright lights momentarily disorienting him after the gloom of the corridor. But that didn''t stop him from keeping running on.


    He only skidded to a stop in front of the locked entrance doors of the room, his chest heaving as he gulped for air.


    Turning, he gripped the flashlight and crate tightly, his mind a chaotic blur of fear and desperation. He knew he couldn''t keep running. He was stuck.


    Not even a moment after this realization, the thing, demon creator or whatever the hell it was burst into the hall, its claws gouging the carpet as it charged. Its glowing red eyes locked onto Reno with terrifying intensity, and its scaled body rippled with movement as it ran.


    Under the bright lights, the creature was less obscured but no less horrifying. Watching the monster charging at him was a menacing sight.


    Reno''s anxiety surged to unprecedented heights as he realized he had no plan, no weapon, no idea what to do. He was, in the sense of the phrase, like a cornered animal with no way out.


    In this short moment, his mind suddenly changed gears as it finally completely realized his situation. He couldn''t run away, so there was only one option left.


    Suddenly, Reno was hyper-aware of everything around him. He noticed the flashlight in one hand and the metal case, which he was still gripping tightly in his other. Then his body reacted.


    The creature was now almost upon him and pounced at him with its clawed arms stretched out.


    Without thinking and only a rough estimation of where to aim the crate, Reno swung the heavy metal box with all his strength. The motion carried every ounce of fear and desperation he felt as it collided directly with the side of the creature''s head in a bone-jarring "crack".


    The impact sent the creature reeling, but its momentum carried it forward. It crashed into Reno with a force that knocked the air from his lungs. It was heavier than he had expected, weighing him down with ease.


    The two of them hit the ground in a tangled heap, claws ripping into Reno''s arms and legs as they tumbled. He felt sharp pain slicing through his skin, but adrenaline numbed the worst of it in the immediate moment.


    On the floor, with the creature thrashing against him, Reno''s survival instincts still having the best of him led his every action. He had tightened his grip on the flashlight even more during the impact.


    So again, without much thinking at all and relying on his raw instincts, he used the flashlight''s blunt end to hit as hard as he could at the wild, moving creature who was still entangled with him. His aim was the place where he had hit the monster with the crate.


    "Thud, thud, thud, ¡­"


    It continued to thrash around, trying to claw at him, but was obviously in a state of utter disorientation caused by Reno''s direct hit to its head. Still, it managed to create a bunch more wounds on his body during their brutal brawl.


    ''Die! Die!''


    "¡­ thud, thud, thud, thud!"


    It continued on.


    ''Damn it!''


    Then, finally, its limps became slower in their movement until they finally stopped altogether.


    Reno gave it a last shaky hit before letting the flashlight fall onto the now-blooded carpet.


    His breathing was haggard and shallow.


    For a few moments, he just lay there unmoving and gasping for air.


    Then, finally, with a loud groan, he tried to push the corpse off of him. When he did, though, his whole body was filled with pain. The worst pain he had experienced so far.


    His arms, his legs, even his abdomen hurt like hell while his lungs burnt as if he had run a 1000-mile marathon.


    ''Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!''


    His mind and body screamed as the adrenalin seemed to wear off, and he felt the effects of his desperate fight for survival.


    ''Why is this happening to me?!''


    He gnashed his teeth while his face contorted in pain. He needed to get up. Reno needed to assess his wounds and get that corpse as far away from him as possible.


    The sight and feeling of the now dead demonic-looking creature with one side of its head bashed in lying partly on top of him made him want to puke his stomach out. Disgust and repulsion were feelings that mixed with his disbelief and pain.


    Despite his emotions, he had to act. Grinding his teeth even harder than before, he tried to block out the pain, closed his eyes, and rolled himself to the side. His hand still held the metal case, now colored in an unnatural reddish black from the blood, and he pulled it with him.


    His body seemed to spasm from the roll, and a new wave of pain washed over him.

 The Stone and Resolve

    ''Damn it!''


    He hissed as his body shuddered and his muscles burned from rolling over.


    Again, he had to lie still for a while until he could regain some semblance of focus. There was also the aftershock of almost dying to some weird supernatural demonic statue and his somehow successful kill of said statue.


    Reno had really no idea what to make of all this at the current moment.


    The only thing he was sure of was that he had to find out if his wounds were fatal. His already quite extensive basic knowledge in medicine should at least help him to some degree.


    He took in a slow breath, even though it still burned, and then opened his eyes. His hand finally let go of the metal case and dropped it to the ground behind his back, out of his sight.


    Then, he slowly moved his neck and looked his body up and down. He was lying on his side while gazing at his abdomen, legs, and arms.


    ''That''s not looking too good or is it?''


    His dry mental remark didn''t manage to uplift his mood at the harrowing sight. He didn''t even need to have medical knowledge to tell that the monster had wounded him to a critical state.


    The night guard uniform of the museum was shredded from his sternum downward and turned bloody red. Many differently sized scratches, but all deeply imprinted into his flesh, ran along his naked skin.


    Where the creature had collided with him, a huge dark area was visible, indicating internal bleeding right under his skin.


    Somehow, none of his vital spots seemed to be hit, though. It was really close, though. Reno spotted a scratch running along his left thigh, only a few inches away from his artery.


    ''Oh god ...''


    His face seemed to turn paler than it already was.


    If its claws had hit any of those, he would have bled out right where he had been lying. But even though he had been lucky in a truly unlucky situation, his situation was now far from well. Reno had still lost a lot of blood caused by the sheer amount of cuts.


    He, without a doubt, understood the severity of his current bodily condition.


    Reno needed to close the wounds and get a blood infusion as quickly as possible.


    He slowly tried to sit up. The pain came immediately, and he ground his teeth together like every time he experienced intense bodily suffering.


    ''The pain is only caused by my nerves trying to hinder me! Come on now!''


    With a lot of effort, he managed to sit up straight and take a look around him, his eyes shaped into tiny slits.


    His gaze fell on the dark creature''s odd-looking corpse. Its maw was agape, revealing two rows of sharp fangs with black blood dripping from it onto the carpet.


    Reno shuddered at the sight. He hadn''t even noticed them before.


    ''If that thing managed to bite me ... no. I can''t think about that.''


    He stared at it for a while, almost as if hypnotized by it, but he was actually just repulsed and shocked by its appearance. The reality of something like this existing shook the fundamentals of his worldview. Yet again, he began to feel sick when looking directly at it for too long and quickly averted his gaze.


    ''What the hell are you?'' he asked himself as he started to lift himself up with shaky arms.


    When he finally managed to find an unsteady balance and moved forward, his left foot hit something hard. He looked down, identifying the metal case.


    The crate was dented in, and its lock had popped open, creating a small slit revealing parts of what was stored inside of it. The dark red, almost black color of the creature''s blood covering most surfaces contrasted starkly with the faint golden glow coming from inside the crate.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    As Reno wondered about the creature''s weird blood color, he also noticed the faint glow in the box and raised an eyebrow.


    A little reluctant but driven by his curiosity, he picked the crate up from the floor while his back screamed in pain. That didn''t bother him much, though. His whole body already hurt with every move he made.


    The smell of iron and something weird he couldn''t quite identify reached his nose. The closest comparison he found was the stench of a months-old rotten egg, which might best describe it.


    ''That monster''s blood smells exactly how it looks like. What a surprise.''


    His face contorted at the unsurprising revelation.


    Trying to ignore the genuinely unearthly smell, he opened the already severely damaged lit. The glowing became more intense as Reno''s gaze landed on the object inside.


    Was that ... a stone? A golden glowing stone?


    It was roughly the size of an adult''s fist, marred by an uncountable number of small, intricate engravings running along its perfectly smooth-looking surface. For some reason, the many lines, despite their manmade look ... seemed organic. He wasn''t sure.


    ''What the hell ...''


    He stared at the stone, momentarily stunned at the sight.


    Was he maybe really dreaming or hallucinating?


    No, he wasn''t. The pain he constantly felt and the disgusting smell of the creature''s blood were his reminders he wasn''t.


    He got so lost in the web of engravings that it seemed as if they were drawing him or even inviting him to come closer.


    A sudden, distant, quiet noise echoed through the hushed hall, waking him from his stupor.


    His head jerked up, his mind tense again after cooling down as best as it could from its first terrible encounter.


    ''What was that?''


    If he wasn''t mistaken, it had come from the hallway leading to the new gallery.


    A few heartbeats of speculation passed when a bad premonition overcame him.


    ''Statues. There were three statues, not only one. Damn it!''


    His heart was racing, his hands clamming onto the metal crate until they turned white.


    What should he do? In his mind, he went through all the possible options to survive this nightmare.


    He couldn''t fight without any weapons. The crate was already too badly damaged, and his strength was gone, so breaking off one of the monster''s claws as a dagger was out of the question. Picking up the flashlight was an option, but it had rolled somewhere under the corpse of the ugly monster, which would also require him to lift it up.


    Adding to that came him slowly losing blood with every second that passed. If it continued to trickle, he would eventually faint and die. There was no way around the encounter and no time left ...


    Because he already heard it. The sound of something hard scraping on the floor in the darkness beyond the bright hall. It had gotten closer quickly.


    Reno stared into the distance, his face frozen still, as his thoughts swirled inside his mind like a tornado.


    From this whirlwind, two stuck out the most.


    First, he was going to die here. That fact was undebatable and made his mind go dark. The prospect of being killed by a bunch of supernatural monsters made his stomach twist, but he knew there was no way around it after what he had experienced.


    Second, would he really go without a fight?


    Would he let the other monsters kill him without putting up any resistance? He was now weak and could barely keep his focus, but that seemed trivial in the present moment because Reno was thinking about his mentality, not his physical strength.


    Anxiety was welling deep within his mind, occupying most of the space, but there was also defiance. A feeling he had experienced a lot of times before. This time, though, it was way different - it was incredibly intense and pure.


    It mixed with hatred for the one who had brought him to the brink of death without any rational reason or explanation. The bizarreness and his lack of understanding of all that had transpired and would transpire in this museum of insanity added desperate fuel to his mind.


    Reno embraced these feelings and rejected the darkness caused by his anxiety¡ªat least, he tried. Of course, his body had a natural instinct to warn him from dangerous scenarios, which meant he couldn''t really control his shaking, but he could at least influence his mind to some degree.


    In his last moments, he didn''t want to be controlled by the pathetic side of his personality. He wouldn''t start crying and drown in despair. Reno didn''t want to give the monsters a feeling of superiority, even in the face of death. That was his wish.


    This strong resolve of him surprised him a little but wasn''t something he would try to tame.


    His gaze slowly wandered down to the metal case once more. The stone seemed to shimmer even brighter than before as if charging up or maybe urging him to do something.


    Obviously, he was imagining that, after all, a stone couldn''t possibly have a will of its own.


    Suddenly, a small smile appeared on his lips that shouldn''t have been there.


    What if he used the stone as an instrument for battle? It seemed robust and the closest thing to a weapon he could use in the remaining time. Didn''t people in the Stone Age also fight with stone stools?


    Had the glow of the stone just become a little dimmer?


    Reno shook his head and refocused.


    He had decided. This was going to be his last stand, and he was going to give the grotesque demonic monsters a goodbye gift before dying.


    As he made that internal decision, his mind suddenly became clear again, as if freed from its many worries. Reno had one distinct goal and knew the ultimate outcome, which led him to a level of mental clarity he hadn''t experienced in a long time.


    With dark resolve written all over his contorted face, he grabbed the stone with one singular motion of his right hand.


    For some reason, it felt warm to the touch, and if he wasn''t hallucinating, his mind became even sharper than before and filled with a weird sensation he couldn''t quite put into words. It didn''t feel bad; it was the exact opposite, comforting. This only envigorated him even further.


    Without wasting any thought on the weird circumstance, he looked up again, his eyes still formed into tiny slits, staring into the darkness beyond, waiting for his enemies.