Another Person

"This is Two. We've found it. There's a Crimson."

Hearing the sound of another person's voice, Evan looked around, seeking the source of the voice. But he was quickly distracted by the fact that he was now crouched down on the ground, when just a second before he had been stood and had no recollection of moving down.

More confusing was the fact that the thing he had just killed was no longer on the floor, having vanished somehow.

{Rodent Class Devoured}

{+1 Souls}

{9 Souls until next Demon Evolution.}

"Of course I'll be careful. When am I never?" the voice said, following the words with a laugh. "And may God be with you, too."

"The Hammer of Alargryn," he said, steadily coming closer and closer to Evan. "Said to have been used by one of the Apostles that worked on the first Holy Site in the entire continent of Bahlresh."

Evan creased his eyebrows as he turned to look at the person who spoke to him. He had no idea what was meant by the names that he was hearing, nor did he understand why they might be significant in any way. He had never heard of a continent called Bahlresh, and given that it sounded like gibberish to him he doubted it was even real.

He was dressed in dark clothes that covered his entire body, with golden symbols stitched in to the lining. He looked to be around Evan's age, no younger than twenty in his opinion. What little bits of his body were visible, namely his face, gave the appearance of strength with sharp, defined features that were captured within an outline of thick, golden hair.

"No reaction?" he asked, taking Evan's confusion borne silence as a response. "I would have thought you would have had at least a little bit of a reaction to hearing the name of such an old artefact. Just what are you, exactly?"

"What am I? I'm… human, if that's what you mean?" he could only think that was the right answer for the circumstances that he found himself in, given the nature of the thing that he had just managed to beat.

"Human?" the person laughed, unclipping the hammer he mentioned from his belt and letting it slide through his grip until his hands clenched firmly around the edge of the handle. "Sure you are."

As Evan watched, the person lunged towards him, swinging the hammer in his direction from a position that began behind his body. Seeing the things being swung at him, he instinctively raised his hands in front of his face and braced for the impact to hit him. But it never came.

"He's telling the truth, to an extent."

Lowering his arms, Evan saw the person had stopped the swing, and his attention had been drawn to a bird that rested on his shoulder. It was beautiful. It was big enough to be a bird of prey, but no other feature that it had suggested that it was equipped to kill. Even still, Evan couldn't help but think of it in that way. Even though they were in a forest of some kind, the bird's feathers had no kind of dirt on it at all. If not for its size, then Evan could have mistaken it for one that was fresh out of the egg. And as he looked, he was amazed to see that the words had came from the bird.

"What do you mean?" asked the person, entirely unfazed by the fact that such a strange thing was happening. Evan shared the confusion, but opted to not vocalise it.

"He has traces of demonic energy, I can smell them on him," the bird responded. "But they're faint, not like any Crimson that I've ever heard of. For him, it is possible that he could believe himself to be 100% human. He was wrong, but he didn't lie."

"Are you saying he's some kind of Demonic Nephilim? Because anyone would know if they became a host to a Demon."

"Not quite… I don't know. Perhaps he is some kind of Crimson, but he's one that's too weak for the Demonic side to take true form, or to even have control in any way. Whatever reason for it, this person is a human, even if he does indeed have some kind of Demonic influence."

"Alright," the person said, after a long moment spend thinking about the situation that he found himself in. "So, this situation isn't a Demonic incursion. We've just got some sick person who tore apart an innocent girl in such a graphic way that it tricked us, or it was a wild animal. But I don't get how our rift sensors triggered in this area. Either way…" he grabbed his collar and pulled it tighter to his face. "I don't think there's anything here. Bringing the Crimson in, but I think we should leave."

The response was quiet from where he was standing, but Evan was able to pick up bits of what was said. Something about inexperienced people not knowing how to assess a situation, that the person in front of him should know his place rather than trying to take charge. By the time the sound ceased, a lot of the confidence that this person had in his body language had been drained.

"It's a good thing you've got me, then," the bird said, before turning its attention to Evan. "Why are you holding a branch?"

"Oh," Evan said, looking at the item he had used to beat the thing before. "I had to fight a… something, just here. I don't know where it's gone, I thought I'd killed it but I guess it must have ran off somewhere."

The person in front of him reached forward, taking Evan by surprise, and grabbed his chin before pulling it to him. He studied the lower part of his face, as if he was professionally a dentist, using his thumb to push and pull despite Evan's resistance to it.

"That explains it," the bird said, although the way it was said made Evan think that it already had some kind of understanding of the situation beforehand. "It didn't get away. You consumed it." As Evan's face contorted into an expression caught between disgust and confusion, it continued. "Come with us. It's an unorthodox pairing, but I think we might be able to help you. And I hope that you can help us."