Rise Of Pandora

Rise Of Pandora: XX. Land of Devils

"I believe we Rare Men do not have a will of our own."

-Atlas

VI. Foreigner

"What about that man over there?"

I fear it is already too late for him, Gaijin. Tend to this man before us somewhere it is safe. This is finally our chance.

Gazing upwards, Maddard peered at Gaijin who was seemingly speaking to himself. Startled, he slightly shivered at this unworldly man's bright violet eyes which befell him curiously. Staring at Maddard, Gaijin groaned at the thought of having to touch him. Staring at Maddard, Gaijin remarked all of his grueling features. His skin was dry and was peeling, his hair was a bundle of coals, his eyes two molten rocks, and his mouth an open pit of agony. Gaijin watched as he tried to utter a sound past his wounded lips helplessly.

"What do you think happened to him?" Gaijin asked.

I can only assume it was from that awful beasts. Prometheus sighed. This world...I do not even recognize it anymore. Prometheus expressed wistfully.

Catching a much-undesired whiff of Maddard, he clenched his noise tight with his fingers.

We need to work quickly, Gaijin! 

This is not what I was expecting, but I suppose he will have to do, Gaijin thought to Prometheus. Grunting his face, he knelt down and hoisted Maddard with little ease in the folds of his arms, his charred skin flaking away as he lifted him.

Gaijin grunted. "The smell..." Gaijin muttered under his breath. He pinched his noise tight together.

It will be worth it, I promise. Prometheus encouraged. 

Carrying him in his arms, Gaijin scoured the area for a safe place. Prometheus encouraged him to travel down a lining of trees not too far out in the distance. Gaijin hasted down to the trees. He swept across the forest, watching out for any danger. He found a small open space near a cluster of lush bushes. He settled Maddard on the ground carefully and stood over him. 

Are you ready?

He nodded. "It has been a long time since I had to perform Iatro but I ready."

Do you remember the risks? Remember not to over exert yourself, there is still a small chance you may not return if you are not focused, Prometheus warned.

Gaijin nodded and pulled in a swell of frosty air into his lungs and breathed out slowly. 

With one steady movement, Gaijin dropped to his knees and hovered just above Maddard with his arms pushing him up and his dangling down from the scalp. He closed his eyes, preferring not to look at him. He held his breath and concentrated. The brown texture of his skin began drying and withering onto Maddard like snowflakes drifting the sky. His face meshed and wizened, his arms shriveled and weakened, his hair was thinning, and his feathers fell from his wings like leaves in autumn. Particles in the form of small black spheres rose from his body as his body began to crumble like sand. All that was left of his body crumbled and withered into dark dust which absorbed into Maddard's body.

The scabs that were once jumbled and smeared his body were suddenly fading into clear patches of skin, like a forest recovered from a wildfire. The charred flesh, the crispy hair, the singed nails, the dull redness of the eyes, all began rejuvenating steadily into a wholesome form. He felt himself no longer burdened by burns which ran deep and scars that festered and hardened. 

He unintentionally waved his arm. He was gripped by the sudden realization that he was again in control of his own body, freed from the long enduring paralysis. He looked upon his body and almost squealed. Flabbergasted, he sat upright and turned and looked all around curious as to where that strange winged man had disappeared to. If it were not for his wounds disappearing, he would have thought he imagined him but he knew he had not. He felt around his body, touching the parts of his skin where his clothes had been burned through. He had wanted to express a smile, but where the physical pain had subsided, the emotional pain wedged deep within his mind had not. Thoughts of his wife whirled into his mind like a storm of apoplectic proportion. Tears shot from his eyes in the forms of rushing waterfalls. 

He did not even bother to stand. He felt like he had no control. He just wanted to submit to this world. He reluctantly let out a miserable shout that had been swelling within him, ready to burst like water from a plugged dam. He wept quietly to himself, wiping the tears from his face with the back of his hands. He sat like a lost child upon the snow. He still could not believe he had been relieved of wounds so egregious.

The tame rain gently fell over him. He was afraid and alone in the large and chaotic forest, this land of devils. His heart pounded unyieldingly. Alone and profoundly unhappy, Maddard wept in the drizzling rain.

After several minutes of crying, Maddard heard trudging sounds from a distance.