A Chapter 4 The Spark(4)

  "... You asked whether we humans could surpass the beasts... Have you found a way?"

  A silence had been going on for about five minutes before that question entered my ears. She was curious. I couldn't blame her. That was how all of us, burdened with the ability to make connections, acted. But I couldn't reveal anything. Why? Because there hadn't been results. Maybe she could look at the problem from another angle, but for now, I had no intention of involving another state. Yes, we were peers, and there wouldn't be any harm. But should a truly groundbreaking discovery be made, I was certain politics would rear it's ugly head.

  "No-!" Before I could answer though, a creak by the door made my attention snap towards the entrance. My eyes narrowed at the figure with the crimson band wrapped around his forehead, one that served to cover up his unsightly scar. I had never met the man, yet my lips thinned at his arrogance. It was in the way he walked, the faint curve of his lips, and the sharpness of his gaze. As someone who had spent a long time on the battlefield, I also managed to capture his bloodlust. And that, brought a frown on my face. Couldn't he have hidden his fangs? Though, it has always puzzled me, the bloodlust. What kind of magnetic field was that? Or could it have some relation with the soul?

  "Are you stalking me, Mr. David?"

  The question from Ril jolted me from my thoughts, my eyes traveling to the back of Ravena's daughter. One of her hands was still holding onto the railing, and for the obvious reason, her body language revealed tenseness.

  "Why would I waste my time on such an idiotic endeavor? I am a straightforward guy. I don't lie. Besides, surely you don't believe that your appearance is attractive enough, right?"

  "Getting a girlfriend will be very hard for you, Mr. David." she gritted out.

  "I-"

  "What brought you here? If it's for some air, surely the balcony is wide enough." I decided to interject. I was certain this might spark something unpleasant if it went on any longer.

  "Could we perhaps, have the floor to ourselves, man to man, my dear lady?" David made a mock bow, though his face stayed upon us, with something I could only term as a feral grin.

  I frowned. This man was someone I had always found distasteful. He was a rabid dog who would do anything to get his bone.

  "We can discuss important matters later. For now, let's just enjoy the party." I didn't want to get into political stuff at this moment in time. Too troublesome.

  "Luthor Dugavu..." he drawled, his steps shifting to the balcony's railing.

  "Is should be Mr, to you!" hissed Ril.

  "Don't sweat the small stuff!" he dismissed with a wave of a hand. "You and I should be similar. Two peas in a pod. We have both lost something important to those things..."

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  Ah! I already knew where this was going. Judging by his state's inclinations, they wanted another war!

  "I already know what you want. But I won't agree! Dugavu state needs to recuperate, to grow. Right now, those are the better ways. We won the war, but we have lost much. The popu-"

  "Just say NO! Man! What's with the long windedness? And here I was, thinking that we were the same. How could we rest when the entire planet hasn't yet been cleansed of the things? An entire continent away has them thriving, not to mention the oceans and the lake!"

  I took a deep breath at his outburst. Negative emotions were starting to rise from beneath the surface and I had to get a handle in them, so, I dunked my hands into my pockets.

  "All you people ever think about is war! Do you have the means to battle the ocean beasts? Or the means to wage a war an entire continent away without crippling your economy?" asked Ril, clearly worked up, earning a raised eyebrow from me. Though, she couldn't see it as her back was to me.

  "You have a point. But I do believe that by working together as we always have, everything is possible. The power of friendship and unity truimphs all!" he fist pumped into the air. And I took another breath.

  "Your state hasn't developed anything in the fields of science. Basically, every single weapon you have, has been a provision from our states. In other words, Mr. David, you and your state are beggars. Your little maneuverings won't get anywhere! If you want the war to continue, wage it yourselves!" completed Ril, breathing heavily.

  "W-Why are you looking at me like that?" after a few seconds of silence, I felt a spike in the bloodlust, with Ril's voice trembling out the question while she took a step back.

  "I am considering whether you have offended me enough to be killed." said David, his hand under his chin, while his crimson pupils drank in the girl.

  "It would be better for all of us if you don't give into your impulses." I stepped before the girl, squaring off with him.

  "I could push her off the railing... It could be framed as an accident..."

  "David!" a growl escaped my lips as I prepared myself to act. There was a tension in my bones. I didn't have any gear, and though we were both proficient in unarmed combat, the chances of beating him were at most 50%. Those weren't great odds if you added the fact that I had to protect Ril.

  Before anything of note could happen though, as if summoned by a supernatural entity, all our heads tilted back, and our eyes converged towards the sky, where a faint yellow? dot was enlarging.

  Something from outer space was entering that atmosphere?! Was it an asteroid?

  "Well well well... The heavens seem to be burning! What could it be? A beast perhaps...? Mmmmm!?"

  "..."

  I wished this idiot would simply vanish from the world!

  As we watched, I started to notice a peculiar thing...

  "The sky... It's getting brighter... A mere asteroid shouldn't be that luminous!" exclaimed Ril, who at some point had opted to stand by my side.

  The stars, as if being subsumed by the sun itself, started snuffing out as the darkness started to gain a yellowish golden tint, one which became glaringly obvious by second, until, night, turned into day?

  Something so small, yet releasing such luminosity...! I started wondering what the object could be. Could it be because of spiritual energy, some sort of frequency affecting it?

  "It looks like it won't be touching down anywhere on Bantu." Ril stated the obvious even as the yellow turned to golden and the asteroid, or whatever it was vanished into the horizon, with the darkness finally reclaiming it's right to exist.

  I hurriedly dug out my phone even as I kept my eye upon David. "Maxwell?! Is there any preliminary data on its trajectory, and landing place? Also, how could an asteroid have appeared within the atmosphere when there had been no prior sightings?"

  My foot shifted. I really really wanted to pace right now. I had to get my mind straight, yet this idiot... An eye had to be kept upon him.

  "I have a feeling something extraordinary just increased my chances of getting what I want." David chuckled before heading back into the hall, a skip in his step.

  "Are you there, Maxwell?" I asked, finally starting my pacing. Through a sliver of my attention on the girl, I noticed that she too, appeared to be conversing with someone.

  The Milenas have the most advanced observatory, yet the hadn't warned us about the asteroid... Was there an anomaly somewhere?

  (According to its trajectory, it touched down within Kisolo continent, but...)

  "But what?"

  Though I couldn't ascertain anything, I could feel it in my gut, that something good was going to come from that asteroid. I couldn't explain the feeling, yet I was somewhat certain David had felt the same. The implications of that were both exciting and worrying.

  (There was no heat signature released in the immediate atmosphere. It's... As if it landed light as a feather! But that should be impossible unless...)

  "It's a beast or an alien craft. Though, my money would be on the latter. How come we never picked it up on our scans of the system?"

  (That's the thing. Prior to it's appearance within the planet's atmosphere, we hadn't detected it! We should probably ask our friends from the other state. They should have more concrete data.)

  And with that, I ended the call while continuing my pacing, waiting for Ril to conclude hers. People were starting to appear on the balcony, having been attracted by the anomaly. But I wanted to get away from it all before we were bombarded with questions.

  "T-The information... Is shocking." Ril said the moment she ended her call, her face expressively emoting how shaken she was.