Encounter

Three

Three

“Does anyone want to tell me what that was?” Kyan hissed at Rysen, who had been holding the same wild expression since the beginning of the fight. Every inch of him ached, his back felt badly bruised and his arms were covered in glass pieces. “Where were you?” Kyan started towards him after wobbling to stand, hands balled into tight fists. The broken bones in his ribs felt healed with every step. Rysen’s expression transformed into a broad smile, only ticking Kyan off even more. As he walked, the shards fell to the floor, his body healed itself rapidly.

“Whatever do you mean?” He spat sarcastically. “Think of that as a sort of test to see if you’d pass. Good news! You got a D.” The rage in Kyan was beginning to boil over; he was inches from Rysen when Emmix chimed in.

“You two need to stop being so childish.” She said, summoning a glass jar and lid, slowly scooping up the dust and sealing it tightly. “But if you pull that again Rysen, you’re going to wake up in your death bed at Mercy Hospital.” At her last remark, Rysen coughed a harsh laugh.

“I’d honestly like to see you try… I think you did pretty decently my friend.” He said, turning to Kyan who still felt enraged. All of the bruises and cuts were sealing up and vanishing. Not a mark was left on him, only his untouched skin remained.

“I could’ve died and you stood there doing nothing.” He spat, not even noticing his fast healing.

“You can’t die, for one.” Rysen pointed to Kyan’s arms, “For two, I wouldn’t have actually let that happen if you could.” He held out his hand and stole the jar from Emmix using his pushing. She glared at him; he whispered back, “This is my win.”

“Wait, what, I can’t die?” Kyan’s mind reeled with the possibility of immortality, staring at his unscathed arms and back. The possibility alone freaked him out. He walked over to the steps and sat down, head in his hands. So much information boiled up in his mind’s stew, daring to spill over.

“You should be happy about that.” Rysen joined him, sitting on the adjacent step. “We’re indestructible, and after age thirty we can’t grow older physically. Except, when you look at Dailen, he’s had grey hair since he was fourteen.” Kyan knew Rysen was trying to comfort him, but he couldn’t understand why the guy was so flip-floppy with rudeness and kindness. There wasn’t true comfort in unreliability.

“We should get back to Abscan.” Emmix walked over to the boys, fists at her hips. Her yellow eyes glanced between the two of them, growing impatient. “Melan will want to know what happened.”

“Aw man don’t get Melan into this, she’ll be pissed we didn’t go get her first. Then she’ll yell at me for not stopping by to get protective crap I don’t need.” Rysen shook his head and looked at Kyan.

“Who’s Melan?” Kyan looked up at Rysen quizzically. His confusion was beyond past any normal bar, the day had been filled with information he didn’t think he could fit into his head. Everything was hitting him like a flock of geese, taking it in was a whole other job. He honestly couldn’t imagine filling his brain up with anything more, he would overload.

“She’s just this girl that fancies me way too much.” Rysen stood up and outstretched his hand towards Kyan. He took it, and they headed back to the car. The night had covered the sky with blackness. The light guiding them came from the moon, and the flashlight Emmix summoned. They climbed back into the car in their old spots, and Emmix sped off in the direction they came.

“So, why do you need the jar?” Kyan asked after a few silent minutes, glancing at the glass container sitting on the dashboard. The dust had turned an ugly red color, resembling more brown tones. “And was that Latin you were speaking?”