'Okay.... how to do this... let's start with a big one... though I have to make sure to not say to much about this'
"I know about the people who tried to kill you"
"And how much?"
"Some things. Who they are, where they come from. Nothing personal though."
"You said people. I only saw the one man. By the way, I appreciate the change in tone."
"We're in this together, more or less, might as well drop the formalities. And it were three people. The rest of them were backup for the one you saw. Quite competent people, at least for their standards."
"Quite competent at killing me, yes. So, who are they?"
"I'm afraid, I have some questions for you first."
"Then out with it. I trust you will answer mine, too."
"Of course.
'Now we're getting to it... but what to ask first... we should have some time until that thing goes off... can't really tell though... that kind of magic isn't really my strong suit... ah yes!'
"How much do you see?"
"Excuse me?"
"... Let me phrase it differently: What do you see, you weren't seeing before?"
"You, for a start. You mentioned something about being a soul, I still don't really understand that, but I certainly haven't been seeing that before..."
He looked around for a few seconds, probably trying to spot anything new.
"But nothing else, really. Your turn. Who were they?"
'Now, how much schould I keep from him... would it hurt to tell everything... still safer not to... the golden middle, just enough should be the best.'
"I don't have a lot of specifics, but they come from a sort of divine order, mainly situated in Withermore. I don't think it's that known out here. Their main thing was going after the undead and stopping, that meant most of the time killing, anyone trying to meddle with the dead. However, noone's been doing that for some time now, so they are a part-time sort of secret service for the king."
"Anything specific about the ones that were here?"
"No, but it's fair to assume they were quite high up the ladder of that order. Had some really nice equipment with them."
"And why were they here?"
"I believe it's my turn again. I have some really simple ones, so I hope you don't mind me asking a few at a time."
"Depends on the questions, but I'll allow it."
"What year do we have?"
"... Excuse me?"
"What year is it?"
"... I don't really know..."
"What? How do you not know that?"
"Well, how do you not know that?!"
"I've been in this form and thus without any human contact for longer than you have spent time living! What's your excuse for not knowing the year?"
"I've been living in the woods for the past... for a long time!"
"I suppose so... where did you get those books?"
"I inherited them from my mother, she was an alchemist in Highwater, a few days march to the north."
"Then, did you leave Highwater to settle on you own in the woods? Why would you do that? They actually have some things over there, the library is really nice and cozy, there are -"
'Oh. Not so much time after all... I should've said something about that... oh, not much time!'
"Nevermind, listen, get out of this hut and as far from it as possible, hurry!"
"Huh, what do you -"
"Less talking, more running, now!"
He was quick to act, faster than I expected. Both of us hurried out of the hut, he was in a full sprint as soon as we left the door, whereas I wasn't really able to 'sprint' in the usual way. Having no body and trying to hurry up is really weird, you feel awfully powerless, without any felt feedback that you're achieving something, but somehow you can still accelerate up to a certain point.
'Phuh, that was cl -'
We were a few meters away from the hut, as a deafening explosion went off behind us, sending out a shockwave that threw the guy about three meters further away.
He landed on the grass with a numb 'thumb', as bits and pieces of the hut and earth around it were raining down on us.
I'm sure his ears were ringing, I, however, lived through an interesting experience. Unfaced by the shockwave and the debris, I just... hovered there.
'That's interesting. Sticks and stones won't hurt me, but I'm sure, that explosion would have been bad, if it had hit me directly... maybe magic... or some interaction between this possibly unholy power and divine techiques... I may still be able to study...'
"What the -"
"Ah, my apologies. I should have stold you about that earlier. Divine magic is probably my weakest area of knowledge, so i missjudged that."
"...That were the last things I had of her..."
'Oh, that's bad... in case I need him, this could turn out unfortunate... now he really shouldn't find out about my involvement... I should rule that thought out, before it really comes to mind... not pleasant to do, but necessary'
"Hey, I'm sorry about that. Didn't want to get you caught in this, you know. They chased me for quite some time now, I ended up here, things led to one another..."
"It's fine, it's fine... Why were they chasing you in the first place?"
"That's a long story about some things that happened even longer ago. Not really important right now, anyways. We should see about you. Get you somewhere."
"Yeah... would take some time to build that up again, and even then... Anyways, are they coming back?"
I contemplated that for a few seconds.
"Possible, but very unlikely. We should still move on, just in case..."
'Where would be the best place to go to... The village is nice, some people to make some test, far away enough for noone to care about it... except if they come back... the chance really is almost zero, but still... would be a risking a lot... can't do something like that again... they would be making sure this time around anyway... can't be the village then...'
"... Maybe to Highwater. We could get some stuff at the village and go there."
"But that's a whole city, full of a lot of people..."
He seemed quite uncertain all of a sudden.
"... And how are we going to get something from the village? I have nothing on me and you certainly don't have anything either."
"I have an idea for that, which would also contain some tests as that new power of yours."
'The earlier the research begins, the better...'