Capítulo 41: Chapter 41
Enya appeared in front of my face before I could close my eyes. She stared at me seriously for a moment, something that was totally unlike her then she landed on my lap before turning to look at my feet. "Is she alright?" Enya asked worriedly.
"She seems fine." I replied. Though to be honest all I had to go on was what I was sensing through our bond, and that was something that was new to me. I could easily pick up strong feelings and emotions, but the more subtle things completely escaped me.
"She is fine Enya." Sil said from the back of the car.
"Are you sure?" Enya asked, she didn't seem willing to believe any of us.
"I am." Sil replied. "While I am not willing to explain it for her, I do know what she has done. She is fine."
Enya seemed to consider that for a few moments as I sent my thoughts to Delilah asking her to return.
I got a negative feeling back from her.
"Get back here." I said aloud rather sternly. "Even if you don't want to talk about what happened to you, I need to know more about that twisted!"
There was a moment of silence then Delilah's new wolf head appeared from the shadows. "I am sorry master, I didn't even consider that." she told me.
I nodded. "It's fine." I said feeling relieved that she was still reasonable enough to understand what was important. I had no idea what she had done, but I had the feeling that she hadn't adjusted to the changes yet herself. "What can you tell me about that reaper other than the fact that it was a completely new flavor of fugly?" I asked.
"Fugly?" Caly asked from the back seat.
"Fucking ugly." Karen explained to her.
"Ah, I hadn't heard that slang yet." Caly commented.
Delilah climbed up out of the shadow and shrank her size until she had become a Pomeranian sized black wolf. Then she sat on my lap looking up at me. "There are four kinds of twisted that I know of. The red brutes you already know. The green reapers are a second form. The most important thing to remember about them is that they are fast. Those claws of theirs are meant to take your life before you even realize they are there." she told us. "Their emotional trigger is hatred."
I nodded as I absorbed that. "And the other two?" I asked.
Delilah considered that for a moment. "It probably would be wise for you to know ahead of time." she seemed to say to herself. "The Gluttons are another, its emotional trigger is fear. Their skin will turn gray and their bodies shrink in size a bit, while their heads grow larger. They have huge mouths full of razor sharp teeth. What you need to note with them is the fact that anything that enters their mouth, doesn't come back out. They have no limit to how much they eat, and they want to eat every living thing they catch sight of. Worse, they are the most intelligent of the twisted types."
"They are intelligent?" I asked.
"More so than any of the others." Delilah replied.
I frowned, while it sounded weaker than the reaper and brutes, I didn't like the idea of fighting smart twisted. Intelligent creatures were capable of setting up traps. "What about the last one?" I asked.
"The blue skinned wraiths." Delilah replied. "Their emotional trigger is despair. They are as unintelligent as the brutes and reapers, but they have a natural camouflage that makes it hard to discern them. I consider them to be the assassins of the twisted. They don't change much physically, they are stronger, faster, tougher than a normal human, plus elongated claws for killing."
"So a weaker mix of brutes and reapers, but with additional camouflage?" I asked.
"That sounds about right." Delilah replied.
I considered that for a few moments. "And those are the only ones you know of? You haven't heard of any others?" I asked.
Delilah shook her head. "No, I haven't even heard of any others, and I doubt there are any others. Throughout my long life as an elemental I have been to many different worlds that fall into five distinct types." she told us.
"One for each mana spirit?" I asked.
Delilah nodded.
"Then what is the fifth?" I asked.
"No mana spirit?" Delilah replied.
"You mean an unawakened world?" I asked.
Delilah shook her head. "No, I mean an awakened world in which the mana doesn't cause anyone to awaken as twisted." she replied.
I frowned then looked around at the other girls. They seemed as confused as I was.
"It's best not to think about it." Delilah told us. "But it is also why I don't think there are any other twisted than those four."
"If mana doesn't have to cause twisted, why are there any?" Caly asked.
"That is one of the great mysteries." Delilah replied.
"Alright, I think I understand, is there anything else you think we need to know about?" I asked.
Delilah considered it for a few moments. "I haven't seen it for myself, but I have heard from others that the twisted do not like each other. They fight on sight, even to the point of ignoring humans." she informed us.
I nodded. "That could be a good thing to know." I said then thanked her.
"It's fine master. You need to know. I doubt it will be long before the other two types start to appear." Delilah told me.
"It was what I was worried about too." I admitted.
"If that is all, I still believe it would be best for me to scout around." Delilah told us then disappeared into the shadows around my feet.
"Feel better Enya?" I asked the fire elemental.
She nodded. "Yes master." she replied.
"Good." I said leaning my head back against the headrest. I contemplated taking a better look at the changes to my mana core, and learning more about all of my abilities. With everything that had happened recently I hadn't had the opportunity to. Now seemed like a great time to fix that. Megan was driving and seemed fairly lost in her own thoughts while Caly and Karen already had their heads close together as they spoke quietly together. Caly must have taken into account the fact that he had awakened the physical ability which slightly increased my senses as I couldn't make out what they were saying despite the fact they were only a few feet away from me. That or she was using magic. Probably magic.
"Shit!" Megan cursed drawing my attention to the outside of the car.
As soon as I did I cursed too. I was sure it hadn't even been an hour since the last gate opened, but this gate seemed to have changed things. I counted ten thick tendrils of smoke rising up into the sky from various directions, and those were only the ones I could see.
"Is it that surprising?" Caly asked. "While the restaurant seemed nice, we have run into a pack of mutated wolves and that cat since the gate opened. While we could manage it, I doubt others could. Plus the problems with the twisted will get worse with each gate opening."
I frowned at that, "What about the other awakened?" I asked.
"A lot of damage can be caused before anyone responds." Karen replied, seeming to agree with Caly.
That didn't bode well.
"While it is an awakening for your world, to the current inhabitants it has always been an apocalypse." Caly told us.
I nodded, that fit what I had been told so far.
"Probably should speed up a bit Meg, we really should get out of town before it gets worse." Karen suggested.
"Will it be any safer out of town?" she asked in response. "There are a lot more animals out there that can mutate."
"Mutated beasts can be troublesome, but at least some of them are intelligent and can be reasoned with. You can't reason with the twisted, so the more distance we put between us and the cities, the better." Caly replied.
"Damn right." the cat commented from Karen's lap.
I looked down at the cat but he just ignored me as he enjoyed the petting that Karen was doing while he relaxed on her lap. "What?" I asked him a bit surprised.
The cat opened its eyes and looked at me briefly. "She said that I was smart, I was just agreeing." he replied lazily.
I stared at him in shock as the girls all laughed. "That is the worst case of selective hearing I have ever come across." I commented.
"Daryl." Caly called to get my attention. I shifted my gaze to meet her bright green eyes. "That twisted, the reaper, is that what you have been facing up to now?" she asked.
I shook my head, "No, that one was the new one. The ones before were the huge red skinned brutes." I replied.
Caly nodded. "That sounds like the kind I have in my world." she told me, looking thoughtful.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Have you killed any before today?" she asked me, her tone turning serious.
I hesitated for a moment glancing over at Megan for a bit but she kept her eyes on the road. I nodded. "Yeah, three of those brutes, but that was before I realized they were, or used to be, humans." I told her.
"It's fine Daryl." Caly said, giving me a smile. "You did the right thing killing the them. Once they turn, they aren't human anymore, and they will kill any and every human they come across, it doesn't matter if they are men, women, children, or elders." she told me.
I nodded. "Yeah, we saw some of that on the first day they appeared." I said as I remembered some of the footage the news had shown."
Caly nodded. "Good that you know. My real concern is that you might underestimate them later." she told me.
REFLEXIONES DE LOS CREADORES 
Ashra
Ashra Sorry I missed a chapter last week, I intend to make it up this week. End of month really sucks if I don't have extra chapters ready in advance.
Thanks for reading. I really appreciate the support you are all showing. Please remember that comments, reviews, and corrections are welcome. I am doing my own editing so I'm sure some mistakes will get through.
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