The pair did not follow any road or path. The Kai’den led Barry straight into the dense woods. The forest was a mix of tall pines, thick oaks, and brushy red cedars. The Kai’den held the lantern over her head, and the shadows danced as the light flooded through the overgrowth. They walked right toward the bristly branches of a large cedar tree. Barry lifted his free arm to push the flimsy limb out of the way, but the branch curled upward and rolled out of their path.

  “How in the world? Is this Kai’den magic?” Barry asked her.

  “Not magic, child…understanding.” Came her vague reply.

  “Well, to my understanding, tree branches don’t just get out of your way,” he quipped back.

  “Tell me, is this the first thing you’ve witnessed these last few days that contradicted your understanding?”

  Barry chuckled and shook his head. “Absolutely, not!”

  “We aren’t that much different. The Den’Etta are no more evolved than you. We are born the same as any human on this planet. We have the same DNA, the same brains, comparable sizes and weights. We feed from a breast and soil ourselves. It is our understanding of the universe that sets us apart,” She explained.

  “So you’re smarter than us.”

  “I told you our brains are the same. Go back five hundred years. Mankind is just leaving the Middle Ages. Would you say you are smarter than those people?” She asked.

  Barry thought for a moment. “Well, of course. They weren’t called the Dark Ages because everybody was so bright.”

  “So, you could go back then, sit next to Da Vinci, and point out the flaws in the designs for his aerial screw? You could explain Bernoulli’s Law, and point out the efficiency of a horizontal rotating propeller versus his screw design?”

  Um…nope…but Leonardo Da Vinci was a genius. He wasn’t the average peasant.” Barry argued.

  “Your brain is no more evolved than Jamal’s was when I picked him up out of the mud. My brain is no more powerful than yours. Millions of Earth humans have a greater mental capacity than I do. They don’t have the fortune of millions of years of collective knowledge. To quote a famous Earthling, ‘If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.’ Barry, there are millions of giants stacked beneath me.”

  “So, I could be a Kai’den, if I learned enough?” Barry asked.

  “Well, you could be a Kai’den, if you understood enough.” She chuckled. “Do you know the Pythagorean Theorem?”

  “A squared, plus B squared, equals C squared. I learned that in the seventh grade.” Barry answered.

  “But, why is A squared, plus B squared, equal to C squared?”

  “I don’t know,” he admitted.

  “Learning is not the same as understanding. The great limiter of understanding is time. Humans can only understand so much before they die. Millions of years ago, mankind climbed atop enough giants to prevent death. Given enough time, anybody can become like me. An eternity is enough time to understand anything.”

  Barry stopped, and the Kai’den released his arm.

  “Did you ever figure out if there is a God?” Barry asked.

  “No, but we figured out enough to accept that there could be. We also figured out enough to know there didn’t need to be either. Just because everything could have come from God does not mean that it did. The highest form of enlightenment is accepting that there will always be knowledge you will not obtain.”

  “It seems like the smarter you get, the less likely you are to believe in gods.” Barry replied.

  “There’s a point where you’re smart enough to realize that you can’t rule it out. If you continue to grow your mind, you’ll reach a point where you realize His existence doesn’t matter. If there is a being so far removed from man, man has no hope of proving or disproving his existence. So, why waste time trying? Why not set your mind to solving obtainable problems? If he is there, he will have to choose to show himself. Until then, figure out hunger, poverty, sickness, murder, and greed.”

  “Well, I won’t argue with that,” Barry agreed.

  She took his arm, again. The lantern went off, and she led Barry through the blackness. They walked in silence, except for Barry’s thumping heart. He found it difficult to ignore the anxiety of not seeing where they walked. He knew they were surrounded by trees, deadfall, rocks, loose leaves, drop offs, and any number of unseen obstacles. The longer they walked, the less anxious he was. At some point, he began to trust that she would not let harm come to him. His heart slowed to normal, and his breathing slowed.

  “Where are we?” She asked him.

  Barry looked around, but only saw complete darkness.

  “Do you not know?” She asked.

  “Um…in the Kiamichi Mountains?”

  “Do you hunt, Barry?”

  “I grew up hunting. But, I haven’t in years.” He explained.

  “Understanding is like walking in the forest. If you walk amongst the trees long enough, you could do it with your eyes closed.”

  “How does understanding something let you know there is a tree you can’t see?”

  “I am augmented, too. However, the augments are useless without knowing how to use them. My predecessors learned the workings of the universe. They passed the knowledge to the next generation. The following generations added new layers to our collective understanding. Eventually, man learned how all the energies and machinations affected one another. The next step was to learn how to control those interactions. That step took millennia. Once those secrets were revealed, we invented machines and devices that could manipulate and control physics, chemistry, and biology. Fast forward to now. My body has thousands of biochemical enhancements that allow me to sense, push, pull, twist, coerce, alter, negate, amplify, and catalyze the energies that hold our reality together.” the Kai’den explained.

  “Doesn’t that make you a god?” Barry asked.

  “To some, we have been. We cannot create. We can only interact. If you showed up five thousand years ago, wielding a flame thrower, throwing grenades around, wearing modern armor, using flashlights, and blasting AC/DC on a Bluetooth speaker…would those around you not think you a god?” she asked him.

  “Can you do that?” Barry questioned. “Could you go back in time, or into the future?”

  “That is an ability we have not unlocked. The more we learn, the less we believe it is possible. Perhaps it has been figured out, and I have not proved I am worthy of the knowledge. That is how the Den’Etta operate. A person must prove they’re worthy of power...and knowledge is power. That is why we are here, now. I must believe you are worthy of the augments Jamal gave you.”

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  “How do I prove that to you? What does a stroll in the dark reveal about me? Do you want me to tell you that I’m a good person? I think I am, but who doesn’t? I’ve never murdered, but that doesn’t prove I deserve power; it just proves I don’t deserve condemnation. Do I deserve these augments because I took pity on a deaf boy and decided to look out for him? I don’t think it does. I think it just establishes that I’m not a piece of shit. Would I run into danger to save a life? Absolutely! But why? Because I’m selfless…courageous…brave? I don’t know. I’m not convinced I’d do it because I’ve been tired of this life for a long time and I simply don’t give a shit if I die or not. I’ve always cared about people. Life is hard. It’s a never-ending struggle, and we all go through it. We all suffer through it. I’m just better at suffering than others, and that makes me a little more willing to forgo my own comfort to give others a little more of it. I know I’m capable of shrugging off the blows, but some people aren’t. Some people just need a little help to keep going, and this world seems to suffer from a severe lack of people that give a shit.

  I’m only human. But you are more than that. Why do you need the Hol’den? I’ve heard you could take care of the drol’ka by yourselves. So why don’t you? You go through so much trouble finding a few people worthy of the power. Why? You don’t need the Hol’den. Why do I need to audition? You stand here, when we are out there terrified and alone. We’re being loaded into trailers, like cattle, and you are here waiting for the cows to come home! Why?”

  “Barry, you lack the understanding—”

  “NO! I LACK NOTHING! TAKE IT ALL AWAY. GIVE ME BACK THE PAIN, THE RINGING IN MY EARS, MY SHITTY EYESIGHT, MY STIFF SHOULDER, AND MY BUSTED KNEES! I’LL STILL KEEP GOING THROUGH THIS FUCKING WORLD. DAY AFTER DAY, MISERABLE AND TIRED. I’LL WALK DOWN THIS MOUNTAIN AND I’LL RUN UP TO THE FIRST PERSON WHO NEEDS HELP AND I’LL DO WHAT I CAN. AS A BROKEN MAN, WITHOUT ALL YOUR GODLIKE ABILITIES!” Barry screamed at the Kai’den. “...and I’ll die at the hands of the very first drol’ka I meet…I’ll still try, because I understand the only thing that matters. I understand that every life is precious, and everybody deserves to live. I guess you stop appreciating the value of a life when yours is eternal.”

  Barry yanked his arm free and began crashing blindly through the forest. He didn’t know where his anger came from, but he didn’t regret his outburst. The more he thought about their conversation, the angrier he became. He pushed through a cedar branch. It whipped free and lashed his face. The pain caused his temper to erupt, and he turned back in the direction he thought the Kai’den was standing.

  “I’ll tell you this much. If I had the power to save even one of those poor souls out there, I sure the fuck wouldn’t be hiding out here.”

  Barry’s heart skipped a beat as the Kai’den’s hands clamped onto his head. His instinctual reaction was to punch out at the unseen woman, but his body would not move. His awareness began to numb as a static tingle engulfed his mind. He tried to protest, but his mouth would not move. Moments went by, and his anger at the uninvited intrusion morphed into terror. He didn’t know what the Kai’den was doing to him, but thoughts of having his brains liquified or his asshole being fused shut flooded into his thoughts. On the inside, he was yanking and kicking at the Kai’den, but his mind no longer controlled his body. He felt helpless, and that feeling filled him with despair.

  Slowly, the darkness began to fade, and Barry could make out the contours of the Kai’den’s arms, torso, and face. He could see through the darkness, but his eyes were interpreting the colors of reflected light. He saw only shades of greys and whites contrasting against the darker hues of black.

  The mind static intensified. He felt his muscles contract, and his stomach began to knot. Barry felt an electric tickle run down his spine and into his scrotum. The sensation pulsed, over and over. Each time, the tickle became more severe, until he couldn’t stand it any longer. He wanted to break free and run away, but his body was still paralyzed. The hoot of a distant owl broke over the deafening ringing in his ears. He heard a cricket chirping, and then the subtle snap of an unseen twig exploded against his eardrums. His ears pricked and jerked as his auditory nerves were assaulted by a cacophony of nocturnal sounds. His nostrils flared as they were inundated by a thousand smells at once. He smelled the moisture all around him, as well as the scat of a dozen different animals. Each one was distinct to his olfactory senses. He knew the trees around him by the severity of various chemicals and resins they each contained. Some small critter rustled behind him, and the scent told him it was different than the one he heard scurry beside him.

  Barry inhaled, and he could taste the Kai’den’s breath. The carbon dioxide was sour on his tongue, and the sharp note of acetone was hard to ignore. His own breath carried the strong aroma of the beefy noodle MRE he ate hours ago.

  After an eternity, Barry felt her hands release their grip, and her intrusions dissipated. His legs wobbled and he dropped to his knees. His muscles twitched and jerked as the last remnants of her mental assault fell away. Slowly, Barry found control of his body returning to him. He strained to lift his head as he looked up at the Kai’den woman.

  “Wh…wha-aat…d…d…dih..hu..hu..d…yoo…yooohoo…do…t..t..t.hoo…me?”

  “I’m sorry. There is no time to ease you into this. Over time, you will learn to control your new body and senses. But, for now, you will have to live with the creatures of the dark. You have night vision keener than any beast, but you also see in the daylight, better than Cassandra, even. However, shifting back and forth takes time to perfect. So does learning to decipher the various smells and sounds you can now detect.”

  Barry looked around him. He could make out every detail for dozens of yards around him. He inhaled deeply, and his nose crinkled at all the confusing scents. He meant to stand up, but the simple action propelled him onto the tips of his toes. Barry felt weightless. It was a very intriguing sensation for a man used to carrying the burden of a four-hundred-pound frame. He clenched his fist and felt the overwhelming power within his hands. He took hold of a low-hanging oak branch and clamped his hand around it. The branch was as large as Barry’s arm, but his hand crushed through the dense fibers, and the end of the branch snapped off.

  “Mother fucker!” Barry exclaimed. “What augments did you give me?”

  “All of them,” she answered.

  Barry swung his gaze toward her and stared in disbelief.

  “You have every augment I have.” Her tone was flat and direct.

  “What do you mean? All of them? What augments do you have?”

  “Thousands. More than I have time to list…but…most of them are useless. There are many that are purely physical and reflexive. Such as your strength and senses. Those you will master with practice. Most, however, you can’t utilize because you don’t know they are even there. Those will take understanding to master. As long as you aren’t killed, you will have an eternity for me to teach you,” she explained.

  “You can’t be serious!”

  “I am always serious, but I admit…it is a first for the Kai’den. I am nearly certain that I can trust you with this power. Nearly. I have installed a fail-safe, however. There is a certain biological kill switch inside you. For the time being, I will need to reset it weekly.”

  “What happens if you don’t?” Barry asked.

  “You’ll suffer a catastrophic hemorrhage in your brainstem.”

  “What happens if you can’t?” Barry added.

  “You’ll suffer a catastrophic hemorrhage in your brainstem.”

  “How the fuck is that fair? What if something happens to you?”

  “It won’t. Don’t worry. As long as you continue to prove worthy, it will never be an issue.” She assured him.

  “That’s easy for you to say,” Barry grumbled.

  “Go. Play. The night is yours. Run and jump. Look and Listen. Take it all in and learn the new you. You won’t need to worry about food for weeks. I want you to learn the limits of your body. Roam these mountains and meet me back here in six days. I would advise you to avoid the daylight, for now. Focus on being active at night. That is when I’ll have you doing most of your missions,” the Kai’den told him.

  “Missions?” Barry questioned.

  “Yes. You are the first of your kind. You are the Kru’ka. The hunter. You are the strongest, fastest, and most lethal Hol’den to date. For comparison, once you master your abilities, you will be as formidable as the ancient Drol’ka Choth’den.”

  “Holy fuck!” Barry reacted, not believing what he was hearing.

  “In a few million years, you will be as formidable as the Kai’den.” she added.

  Barry laughed at the absurdity of what he was hearing.

  “Go,” she ordered.

  “Go, where?” he asked.

  “Just go. Roam. Learn. Understand what you have become.” The Kai’den turned and departed into the trees.

  Barry stood in disbelief. He did not move, as his mind tried to fathom what had just happened. He began to stumble through the trees, mindlessly. He twirled back to the direction she left in.

  “WAIT,” Barry yelled. “I DON’T EVEN KNOW YOUR NAME!”

  He felt the familiar intrusion of trans-mental communication. The Kai’den projected her answer into his mind.

  “I am Druz’ka Lanth…The Maker of Weapons.”