42 Chapter 42

"Huh?" I asked, looking at her confused. How would I underestimate the twisted, those things were dangerous monsters.

Caly giggled. "Don't look at me like that. I heard it was pretty common for the stronger awakened to start underestimating the twisted. I saw how easy it was for you to burn that last one to ashes so…" she said then letting it trail off.

I considered that for a moment.. It had been easy for me to kill it, but only because it had been restrained beforehand. I knew that, but as I seriously considered what she said I had to agree with her, if I was able to take out a few more of them just as easily as I had the last one, it would start to feel easy. Once that happened I could easily see me beginning to underestimate them. I nodded, "I don't think I have yet, but if I killed a few more just as easily." I admitted to her.

"Exactly. What you and others who have gone through this before you, don't take into account is the twisted that you killed so easily are newborns. Just like when you first awakened they don't understand the changes in themselves. Add the fact that they have a instinctive desire to kill any human they see, and are dumb as rocks. It isn't a surprise that you can kill them easily, especially since you already have access to an advanced element. Once more gates open, twisted will appear in greater numbers and they won't all get killed off immediately. The ones that survive will adapt to the changes, and most importantly they will get smarter as they kill." she told us.

"They get smarter?" I asked worriedly.

Caly nodded. "They also grow stronger. Now the ones I know about take a while before they can start coming up with battle strategies, but even before that a twisted that has a few successful battles under its belt is a lot harder to handle than a newborn." she told us.

I considered that for a moment before nodding.

Caly stared at me seriously for a few moments as if waiting for something.

"What?" I asked.

"The ones I know of are the brutes, and they eventually get smart enough to cause trouble. Think about it Daryl." she told me.

My mind raced for a moment then it clicked, there was more than one type, and of the four types the gluttons Delilah had talked about were supposed to be smart, which meant they were very likely to get smarter faster than the other types.

"The gluttons?" I asked.

Caly nodded, giving me a smile. "If they are smarter than the other races, we should do all we can to kill them on sight, before they get even smarter." she told me.

"They are people! You can't tell him to go around killing them!" Megan shouted angrily and glared at Caly through the rear view mirror for a moment before shifting her gaze back to the road ahead of her.

"I can, and I will." Caly replied calmly. "I am not sure what your issue is, but while they were human, the moment they become a twisted they become monsters. There is nothing of their humanity left."

Megan didn't reply but it was obvious she was still pissed.

"Meg?" Karen asked from behind Megan. She pushed the cat off her lap causing it to yowl in complaint but she ignored it. Instead she unbuckled and scooted forward so she could reach around the seat and place her hands on Megan's shoulders. "Meg?" she called again.

Megan relaxed a bit." It isn't right." she grumbled while she kept driving.

"You're right." Caly agreed which seemed to shock Megan for a moment.

"My world has already been through this Megan. While it happened before I was born I heard a lot about it. No one wanted to kill the twisted after they discovered the fact that they were human. Some resisted so much that we lost hundreds of thousands of normal humans when they overran the defenses they had set up. They tried everything they could come up with, but they weren't able to save any of them. So we learned the hard way that once they change, there is no way to save them. It's kind of like those zombie movies this world has, once they turn, that's it." Caly explained.

Megan seemed to relax a bit as she listened. She seemed to understand that Caly wasn't being cold hearted. "What about the one Daryl saved?" Megan asked.

Caly looked over at me curiously.

I nodded. "I did save one, but as I just learned, I can only do it before they have completed the transformation." I replied. "I was able to save Mike because I was there when he began his transformation, and no one interrupted me in the middle."

"So you really couldn't save him?" Megan asked looking over at me for a moment.

I shook my head. "No I couldn't. When you awaken you will be able to see your own mana core. It is where our powers come from. Similarly with those who are changing, their mana core is infected and can be healed. The twisted who have completed their transformation don't have a mana core anymore. The infection has changed it into a crystal that I can't look into." I explained.

Megan nodded. I doubted she understood everything I said, but she got the point. I couldn't save him.

"Hold on, explain!" Caly said as she leaned forward and grabbed my ear then used it to force me to look at her.

"What?" I asked her as I winced from the pain.

"I wasn't lying when I said my world tried everything to save them, not even the ones who had just begun their transformation were able to be saved!" she told me. "How can you claim you did? That isn't possible Daryl and it isn't amusing!"

"He did too!" Enya yelled coming to my defense. "I saw him do it. Delilah too."

Caly frowned but loosened her hold on my ear so it didn't hurt so much. Unfortunately she didn't release it and I wasn't feeling brave enough to force it.

"Delilah?" she called out.

"It is true." Delilah's voice said from the shadows. "Do not ask him how he does it though."

"What? Why not?" Caly asked.

"You are only engaged to him, and I don't trust you." Delilah replied curtly.

Caly frowned then glared at me like it was my fault. Or she was expecting me to explain regardless of what Delilah had said.

While I was tempted too, especially as she had a death grip on my ear, I remembered Delilah's warning to me when I had explained how I did it to her. "Not right now." I told her.

"When?" she asked.

I winced again as she tugged at me ear a bit more as if to remind me that she still had a hold of it.

"Cut it out, I can grow it back, but I will be pissed if I have too." I told her.

Caly huffed unhappily but she did release my ear.

"When?" she asked again.

"After you are married." Delilah replied from the shadows.

"Married?" Megan asked worriedly.

Caly glared over at Megan for a moment but looked over at Karen who gave her a warning look. She crossed her arms and held her tongue.

Well now things were awkward. Though I had to admit I had no idea why I thought it wouldn't be.

"Daryl sweety." Karen said, giving me a suspiciously sweet smile.

"Yes?" I replied warily.

"Didn't you still need to check your gains from the last gate opening?" Karen asked me.

How did she know that? Not that I was prepared to ask her. Something was up, and it was far too obvious she didn't want me to listen in on their 'girl talk'. I could pretend to check my mana core, but I knew it was better to not even bother and just....

"Don't," Karen told me.

"Huh?" I asked.

"We have known each other long enough Daryl. You are thinking of, or were about to think you should put your own opinion into our issues. I am saying don't. Some things need to be handled by us girls. As the cause of this mess, your input will cause more problems then they will solve." she told me then softened the lecture with a brief kiss.

Caly chuckled. "Fine, I see your point." Caly said, though I had no idea what she was talking about.

Karen gave her a smile but didn't reply.

I looked back and forth between the girls, but it was clear that even Megan didn't want me involved.

I narrowed my eyes for a moment as I considered being stubborn but stopped myself. "Fine, but I am trusting you." I told Karen which made her sit up straight. We had history so she knew exactly what I meant. Easy going I might be, but once my trust was lost, it was hard to gain back. While I was a believer in second chances, they had to be earned.

Karen nodded. "Alright Daryl, you can trust me." she said then gave me another kiss.

I nodded then settled back into my seat and closed my eyes. I didn't hesitate and shifted my consciousness to my mana core. Trust went both ways, with as much had been said I couldn't try and listen in on their conversation.

Unfortunately I opened my eyes only seconds after taking a good look into my mana heart.

"Daryl?" Karen asked carefully.

I looked over at Caly. "My mana heart is acting funny." I told her seriously.

"How so?" Caly asked.

"Its…" I said then stopped as I tried to think of the best way to describe it. "It has more than one color." I told her.