Moments flew by or maybe they didn't, but Ragnar had lost count of how many times they had stopped on the way to wherever it was that they seem to be headed or the elder was headed since he was just being dragged along, deprived of sight or mobility he was just a death row captive waiting for the guillotine to descend.
"Ha, Ragnar look what I got for you" The cheerful voice that he had grown used to after what seemed like forever sounded again, he turned his now grey, dull eyes towards the direction of the sound but it was a futile effort because he still couldn't see.
"Oh, you can't see, I tend to forget..." The elder sounded almost joyful to the fact that he once again returned with something for his only 'companion'.
They had been travelling for a long time now and he had been dutifully paying attention to Ragnar's 'needs'.
He would go away at some point and return with the most disturbing of things to come feed Ragnar.
He had once said "my companion must have the best of the best".
The gall bladder of a mutated anaconda.
Intestines of a gnawing squirrel.
The heart of a dark panther....
And today he was once again on time with what seemed like the stomach of some creature.
"Ha, you must be curious as to what's for dinner? Lunch? Who cares, hehe, I brought you the womb of a Lark, what do you think?"
The elder tilted his head with a finger to his lips in contemplation while staring at Ragnar's face.
At first he had just wanted to get a reaction from Ragnar but after numerous failed attempts he settled with observing the changes his companion went through after ingesting what he was given.
It was a few weeks or what seemed like weeks back that he had the idea after watching a scuffle between what seemed like a giant spider and an armoured beetle.
After the beetle had defeated the spider, it ate it's whole body then it immediately went through a change.
It's size increased, what seemed like purple flames could be seen fuming around its armoured carapaces, with each step it took ,it left corrosion and corruption in it's wake. The elder was fascinated by the sight, He took a step and with one wave of his arm , a blade of icy mist flew and separated the head of the beetle from its body.
The blade flew in a straight line severing every building in it's path.
He wasn't even paying attention to that, he was now conflicted, his instincts told him that eating the beetle just like it had done to the spider would be a bad idea but he was torn with the idea of getting stronger and getting hurt.
His curiousity was pushing him to eat it, while he also knew that it wasn't something a human body could handle.
That was where his companion came in handy.
From that moment, Ragnar couldn't remember the feeling called hunger.
If he could even feel at this moment he would definitely pray for hunger.
His thoughts were vague, other than the burning desire to rip the elder's jaws when he heard the irritable laughter, he could also feel his body fighting against all the abuse it had gone through.
It was now clearer to Ragnar now than ever that the time on earth was a mess.
He had started counting the rotations since he came to after his capture but it wasn't easy.
The surroundings were monotone, it was neither dark not bright, the air totally still and heavy. Not that he could tell anyways.
At present, he just opened his mouth wide and shut his eyes, the taste of whatever he was about to eat was a terror to come in a few moments but the sight was something he could avoid.
"Mm there you go" the elder said with a smile while shoving the bloodied stomach into Ragnar's mouth, then with his other hand he held his mouth shut so he wouldn't throw it up.
Ragnar face scrunched up , his throat could be seen tightening as it refused to take down the stomach,but Ragnar endured and swallowed it.
The elder ,seeing that the process was done, he sat crossed legged a few paces away and with a curious light in his eyes he watched Ragnar.
Nothing happened for what seemed like forever and slowly disappointment descended on the elder's face.
The chill around him that Ragnar had gotten used to dropped to a terrifying level .
Ragnar's eyes narrowed with focus, he didn't quite know what was going on around him and honestly he wasn't interested to know but the sudden change wasn't expected.
"Fuuu...it's been how long?, weeks, days, or was it just a few minutes ago I met you ...."
The elder's voice sounded nostalgic for a moment but Ragnar noticed that the tinge of mischief, curiosity or playfulness was no longer there.
"I clearly saw it happen, I saw it, it grew stronger, more stronger, so what is wrong" the elder started muttering as his voice seemed to echo from right to left and then back, from that Ragnar could tell that he was pacing. His footsteps would usually echo along with his movements but there were occasions when it was either serious or up to mischief where his footsteps vanished completely.
"is human defective?, is human body wrong?..no no, was I doing it wrong? What did I do wrong" he bit his finger and looked at wound left on it but shook his head violently.
" No no, I can feel it, human body , the same....Ragnar .yes Ragnar" And with that he turned, his footsteps once again echoed.
He took unhurried steps towards Ragnar and picked him up . The bubble of mist around Ragnar burst apart and fell to the ground, crawling back and merging with the one around the elder.
For the first time in what seemed like years to Ragnar, he could once again see his surroundings, he squinted his eyes as the loads of images around him made him feel dizzy for a moment but he quickly turned his head towards the elder who was now walking round Ragnar trying to see if something was wrong physically.
"Hmm, you didn't run after I set you free" The elder stated with a frown as he scanned Ragnar from head to toe. Ragnar himself wasn't really feeling much, he wasn't relieved that he was free , he just accepted it that way and stood.
The elder returned to a debris by the side and sat on it.
"Run"
He said in a cold voice.
Ragnar looked at him for a moment and turned, with one swift movement he was already in the distance to the opposite direction.
The elder watched this with a cold eyes, the more Ragnar ran the more his eyes grew colder.
"I was right, you're indeed defective" Ragnar was forced into an abrupt stop by a huge palm that slammed into his face, lifting him from the ground. For the first time in a long time a reaction was finally displayed on his face, his eyes trembled.
' that speed!.....that's not human.....that's impossible '. He had seen super humans once, but he was sure what he just witnessed wasn't something even those people could do.
"I should have known when you won't react to anything but I just thought you were peculiar" The elder though, he had given up on Ragnar . He wasn't even paying any attention to him anymore, he raised Ragnar above his head effortlessly and with one swift move he brought his head down into the floor with great force that a great webbed crack spread out from the point of impact.
"...ha..all that effort wasted for nothing" he raised what was left of Ragnar's head, stared at it for a while then dropped him to the floor.
He released a long sigh.
"I should return..." His voice was soft this time, his eyes glassy and slowly a spiral of frosty mist appeared on his palm.
He shifted it slightly to the tip of his index and middle finger and placed it on Ragnar's forehead.
Ragnar's eyes that were wide as saucers before slowly lost their light and also frosted over and with that the elder stood up and vanished into a trail of fog.