《Twin Dragons》 Prologue In the beginning, before the creation of the Heavens and Earth, a being wondered an empty plain, a world indescribable. This being, known to the common man as God, was alone, and took action to change that. But the being realized that it could not create something without being something, it realized that it could not give what it had not experienced, life, so it began to forge itself a soul, and it became the Soul-Maker. It shaped itself to this soul and felt life. As warmth spread to its fingers and toes it felt great happiness, in its glee it began to create all that we know, the Heavens and Earth, the wind, water, light, dark, it created life. It created man in the shape of itself, and looked into his future and saw we know not what. Whatever it saw gave birth to us, what it saw inspired the creation of more souls, 9 souls, The Thief, The Soldier, The Thinker, The Leader, The Messenger, The Wanderer, The Serpent, The Hero, and The Dragon. The Soul-Maker set these souls upon the Earth and gave rise to the first humans, from which all are descended. Our souls are simply fragments of theirs. Carriers of the soul of the Thief are silent by nature, they hide well and vanish easily, those that have their respect are well looked after as the Thief forges strong ties. The Soldier is strong by nature, they are great warriors, stubborn as a mule with an iron will and golden heart, they do what is right and encourage others to do the same. The Thinkers are natural geniuses, minds of the other decedents pale in comparison to the Thinker, Thinkers love knowledge beyond all else and tend to be shunned by others because of it, they examine every detail, hate being wrong, and seem to have a personal score to settle when someone is smarter than they are. The Leader is not easy to recognize, and they are a rare soul indeed, they normally emerge in times of crisis, they are fearless, they do not turn away from challenges, and they have good eyes for people, Leaders are able to look upon those that follow them and use them to their fullest, they are true to their word, and like the Thief, they easily forge strong bonds. The Messenger is fast by nature and has a long memory, they are punctual and dread even the word "late", Messengers are hard workers, not liking to quit before they absolutely have to, they are durable, and can recognize a face better than anyone. The Wanderer is charismatic, people seem to trust them wherever they go. They hate to be stuck in one place for to long and are not overly fond of bonds. Wanderers are strong in their convictions and believe others should be as well. They hate to have debts, and will fulfill any promise they make. Now we come to the Serpent, holders of this soul are self-centered, they tend to lie, cheat, and use any means necessary to accomplish their goals, the presence of a Serpent is a bad omen, and good luck rarely follows. Out of all 9 souls the Serpents are the best survivors, they do what they need to to keep themselves alive. It''s the fact that bad luck follows the Serpent that most of them turn out evil, they are normally orphaned, for they bring bad luck to their families, they are shunned because trouble strikes those around them. The Hero, it is a rare soul and one not easily recognized, many of the people born as a Hero are legends, men of such extraordinary caliber that many believe that they never even existed. Heroes don''t live long lives, not by nature, but because they are reckless and put things you or I may see as minor above themselves. The personalities of Heroes very greatly, they can be anything from pure-evil and selfish to Angel-like in heart. They are strong defenders of everyone, not just friends and family. Heroes are capable of amazing feats, and contrary to what you may believe, they have fear. It is fear that drives a Hero to strength, for when they find their near infinite pool of courage they can overcome their fears and push themselves onward. Finally we have the soul of the Dragon, a soul no one understands, we know nothing of it but what the prophecies and legends tell us, since the first 9 souls were set upon the Earth only one Dragon has ever existed, so far he has no descendants. Legend tells us the The Dragon soul was pulled from Soul-maker itself. The Dragon was somewhat of a Demigod, it possessed traits of the other 8 souls but was stronger in them. The Dragon was said to be quieter than the Thief, stronger than the Soldier, smarter than the Thinker, able gather followers easier than the Leader, faster than the Messenger, more charismatic than the Wanderer, more sly than the Serpent, and can accomplish more than the Hero. Of the 9 souls the Dragon is the strongest, yet the coming of the next Dragon is feared by many. Prophecies of the ancients tell of the coming of the next Dragon, or let''s say... Dragons, two Dragons, born at the exact same moment... with very different destinies. One will use his immense power to bring death and devastation to the inhabitants of this Earth, the other Dragon is supposed to stop this, and lead the remains of humanity into a new era. From the smoke and ash man will burst forth like a reborn Phoenix, led by the Dragon so that they may reclaim what they lost. The Soul-maker saw this in the future of its children, and in order to protect them, it took one of each of the 8 souls of man and granted them the ability to see the souls of others, along with super human levels of each of their souls traits. These men came to be known as "Soul-seers" of which 8 exist at all times, the moment when one passes a new one is born to take his place. If you do not see his abilities you would not be able to tell a Soul-seer from a normal man, except for his eyes, the eyes of a Soul-seer change when he peers into the soul of another. Their pupil turns white, their iris black, and their sclera, or the whites of the eye, will take on the original color of the iris. This change allows them to look through barriers and obstacles to see the souls of those around them, to see which of the 8 souls they carry, and the purity of their hearts and intentions.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Chapter 1 Spoiler: Spoiler The skies blackened as a violent thunderstorm broke out as if it was a physical manifestation of the hate and rage that collided below, for at the base of a shattered stone tower, amidst burning high-grass Ken Rook, Soul-seer of the Hero, fought Jacob Kergin, Soul-seer of the Serpent. Their powerful blows chipped away at the landscape, ripping huge chunks from the Earth as their souls collided, lightning struck at the ground around them and rain drenched everything. The fight was dead even, speed, strength, ability, they matched every blow yet they fought without pause, tired, bloodied, and bruised. The fight was far past it''s climax, the warriors no longer able to fight at their peak. They slowed down steadily eventually reaching the point were they could no longer continue. They sat across from each other as the fires that surrounded them in the high-grass sputtered out. They sat, their clothes torn to shreds, Jacob Kergin, a tall, frail looking man with brown eyes, short golden hair, and a long head with a scar running from his chin, up the right side of his face all the way to his scalp. He wore blue jeans and a black t-shirt under a long deep green trench coat he never bothered to button. And Ken Rook, a strong looking man, he was shorter than Jacob by about 4 inches. He had a square jaw and piercing stare. His eyes were a deep blue, his hair was spiky and blacker than night. He wore trail boots, khaki pants, a long sleeve gray shirt, and Kevlar vest. As Ken rose his destroyed vest fell from his chest, his pants were holy and his shirt was missing its right sleeve. Jacob stood and removed his shredded coat revealing a shirt turned to rags and a bleeding chest. Kens exhausted but still demanding voice pieced the cold air "That''s enough Jacob! What point is there in this?" Jacob called back "Oh come now "my friend" I thought we were past all this talking." His eyes shifted into the Soul-sight. "I''m not talking anymore, there''s a city at your back that I would like to pay a visit, and you are in my way." Kens eyes shifted as well "So he''s calling upon all he has." Ken thought to himself "Then I shall do no less." Jacob launched himself forward leaving a dent in the Earth were he once stood, Ken braced himself and when Jacob hit it created a shockwave that expanded out, and the sheer force in the air blocked the rain for a moment. Ken grabbed Jacobs arm and hurled him through one of the walls of the destroyed tower, before Jacob could get his balance Ken was on him again connecting a punch that sent him skipping across the ground like a stone on a pond. A moment passed and Ken was above Jacob hands above his head he planned to drive Jacob into the Earth, but Jacob put his hands in the dirt and launched himself upward feet first right into Kens gut. The blow sent Ken into the air, and Jacob appeared almost out of thin air behind him firing off a palm strike into the center of Kens spine, launching him back down to earth. Ken recovered and hit the ground hands first springing back to his feet. He looked up into the air but Jacob was not there, so he spun on his heel throwing a kick that caught Jacob in the temple, he dropped to the dirt with Kens boot on his head, he struck at Kens knee but Ken leapt away. Jacob slowly got to his feet, he smirked as he wiped blood from his chin and reached down for the combat knife on his belt. Ken smiled and pulled out a steel rod about a foot long from a holster on his back. They charged each other again and their weapons clashed, sparks flew as steel collided. Ken pushed forward in a flurry of attacks before bring his rod down in a heavy cross strike, Jacob ducked under it and came up with a slicing motion, Ken spun his rod around and stepped into the swing, he grabbed Jacobs arm, dug one foot into the ground, spun and dropped Jacob into the ground. He stuck at Jacobs head, Jacob turned and tried to block but the rod busted through his knife and caught him in the face, carrying him back and launching him through the air. He skidded across the ground about 40 feet away from were he started. Ken walked towards him preparing himself to put an end to life of his old friend. Jacob got to his knees and he looked Ken in the eyes as he retracted his Soul-sight. "I see you intend to kill meh. You''re soul is set on this, I guess you doh have the guts after all." This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.Ken stepped up to the front of Jacob and silently rose his weapon high but just before he struck, he saw Jacob begin to fade, his eyes grew wide as he realized what he missed, Meh Doh, a basic cast in the illusionary art, but before he could react he felt a sharp pain in his back, Jacob had stabbed him with his shattered blade. "Your emotions always seem to clog your ears "friend". But you should be proud, you did what you intended, I''m too weak to destroy the city now, and the others will be looking for me. I''ll just bide my time then. Even the Soul-seers can''t watch forever." Chapter 2 "Another lead gone cold." Jason Holub said to himself, Jason is the Soul-seer of the Thief, standing at about 5 foot 9 he is an ex detective from Seattle. He has green eyes and well kept short hair. He wears a suit and tie, but he has a bullet proof vest in place of the blazer. "Jacob has been gone for two months now." He put a cigarette between his lips. "Why can''t we find anything?" It''s a dark and cold night in Chicago, Jason leaned against the wall of a diner and lit his cigarette. He was the only one of the seers with any investigating ability, the Thinker had passed of old age about eight years ago, so the new one wouldn''t be old enough. "I knew that snake was rotten, I could see it in his eyes, I didn''t need the Soul-sight to tell that... Ken, you convinced me to give him a chance, and then you threw your life away to slow him down." Jason looked up at the starless Chicago night sky. "We need you Ken." He pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and removed two one-hundred dollar bills. He walked across the street and handed it to a homeless man "Merry Christmas." Jason said with a smile before he wondered off down the street. Things were quiet in Chicago, but the out in the snow-blanketed woods of Montana the Soul-Seer of the Soldier had his hands full. Marcus Fields, a 6 foot 6 African-American built like a brick house, he has a horrifying stare, and his presence alone is demanding. He wore black work jeans, a muscle shirt and denim jacket. Marcus was standing in a patch of red snow, he was hunting a terrorist group in the area and found one of their patrols. He had a silenced M4A1 assault rifle hanging off his side, its magazine had been emptied into the 4 men lying in the snow around him. "Their base can''t be to far from here" Marcus muttered "I need to find it, I''m tired of standing out here in the cold." His brown eyes shifted as he went into the Soul-sight. He could see about 40 souls all clumped together about a half a mile ahead of him, not one had pure intentions of any kind. A huge smile crossed Marcus''s face "Found you!" He hit the magazine release on his rifle and slammed a fresh clip home. He started trudging forward again, it wasn''t long before Marcus got close enough to see the compound the terrorists had built. There was a white dome at the center surrounded on three sides with guard towers, Marcus could see that most of the people were underground "So that must be where all the important stuff is." he thought to himself he looked back towards the part of the compound in front of him, there was only one guard in each tower and two standing at the garage door that served as an entrance to the main building. Nothing was standardized, one guy was armed with an AK-47 another man had an AR-15, and one of them only had a revolver! Marcus laid down in the snow and took aim at the man in the left tower, he squeezed his trigger and a 5.56 ballistic tip round silently leaped from the barrel, the bullet found its mark, and the terrorist crumpled. Marcus did the same to the men in the other towers before he made his way to the left side of the entrance, he lined up his rifle and loosed two bullets knocking down the terrorists at the door. "5 down 35 to go." Marcus whispered as he approached the door. He reached down, grabbed the handle on the door and gave it a solid tug, but it didn''t budge. "Great, it''s locked." Marcus sighed. He checked the bodies of the guards looking for some kind of key or remote for the door but he couldn''t find anything. He carefully made his way around the building looking for another entrance, but there was nothing to be found. "Well, I could use the constructive art to make a tunnel... I guess this will be more fun then I thought." Marcus''s eyes rippled into the Soul-sight, he looked down "35." He checked his watch "I''ve only got an hour before dawn, looks like they''re trading shifts." All but 5 where together in a large area, some were lying down, others were standing, but they were all moving sluggishly. The other 5 were huddled around in a circle, two of the group were Serpents. "Looks like I''m the bad luck for these guys." Marcus laughed. He stood over the larger group and knelt down placing his hands in the snow. "Gaia Semita." The ground gave way as if he was riding an elevator. Marcus tunneled down about 30 feet before he stopped and pushed the tunnel out until it was above the souls he could see below. "I wish the Soul-sight showed me more then just people, detail on how this room looked would be nice." Marcus thought. He made his way to the far right side of the platform and stomped down hard, the floor gave way under Marcus''s immense strength and fell into the room below. Marcus rolled off and brought his M4 to bear, there were 11 men in front of him, all with a shocked look on their face, they took two rounds each. "16 down..." The weight on the right side caused the left to snap and it fell on top of the men behind him. A smile crossed Marcus''s face "35 down 5 to go." He activated his Soul-sight and saw four men in a panic, and one calm, about 200 feet from where he was. Marcus stormed down the hallway until he saw were it turned. His Soul-sight came to life and he saw the four men running around the room, their souls in complete panic, except one. One of the Serpents sat calmly, as if nothing was going on at all. When Marcus rounded the corner he saw one man standing outside the room, pistol in hand, shaking like a leaf. Marcus sent a round down the hallway and it caught the man right between his eyes. As Marcus slid in front of the door as a storm of lead came out of the room, Marcus leapt off his foot and slid behind the wall, his eyes never left the souls in the room. Marcus reached behind him and retrieved a clip of full metal jacket rounds, he hit the release on his M4 and slid in the new clip. Lining up his rifle with the souls behind the wall he let loose his counter-attack, as his bullets sliced through the wall he watched each soul fade away as it''s host died, all but one, the Serpent at the table, he never flinched, and Marcus had questions he wanted answered. Marcus slowly made his way back to the door, as he entered the room he looked around for traps but saw nothing, nothing but a single man, head hung low at the table, it was hard to tell how tall he was with him sitting and his eyes were veiled in shadow. Marcus walked around the table and sat across from the strange man, the man was calm, unbothered by what had just transpired around him, his soul was empty of any sort of emotion, but, it was his intentions that sent a chill through Marcus. His intentions were the blackest of any Marcus had seen before, Marcus could almost feel the evil that exuded from this guy, the air felt thick, it felt like it was writhing in agony. Marcus''s eyes changed back to normal. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it."Who... What are you?" Marcus said through gritted teeth as his grip tightened on his M4, He wanted nothing more than to kill this... thing that sat across from him. The silence broke as the man laughed lightly under his breath, his voice was deep, but scratchy. "As far as what I am Seer," His gaze slowly rose from the table. "I am simply one of many," His face was covered in scars, but what caught Marcus''s attention was his eyes, one was a deep emerald green, but the other, it was dark gray, it looked... dead. "and we," Marcus''s eyes grew wide as the mans grey eye rippled out into the Soul-sight. "are death." Chapter 3 Marcus bolted up and his chair went clattering across the room. He put his M4 in the mans face, about an inch from his nose. "Where did you get that eye!?" Marcus shouted, his eyes changing into the Soul-sight. The man stood up slowly and silently, his soul as calm as ever, and stared at Marcus. Marcus felt as if he could barely breathe, the air was thick with the mans black intentions, and as he rose his intentions grew darker, Marcus realized that it was all directed at him now, he realized that only one of them was going to leave alive. He pulled his trigger and bullets exploded from the end of the barrel. The man leapt onto the end of Marcus''s rifle, Marcus let go and slid back, kicking the stock into the mans chin, the man tumbled away. Marcus reached into his jacket and removed brass knuckles for both hands and slid them on. The man slid to a stop, pulled a KA-Bar from his boot, and launched himself at Marcus as the M4 thumped against the dirt floor. He stabbed at Marcus, but Marcus stepped in with his right foot spun his left foot, raised his arm over the knife and used the mans momentum against him by slamming a right hook into the mans temple. The man fell down and Marcus dropped his knee into the mans neck, shattering it. Marcus watched as the mans soul began to fade before he turned and walked towards his rifle, sliding his brass knuckles back into his pockets. He was reaching down for the gun when he heard a shifting sound behind him, he spun around in disbelief to see the mans fading soul come blazing back like a rekindled fire. The man rose from the ground without using his arms and laughed. "Really Mr. Fields, is that the best you can do?" Marcus was shocked "Who is this guy?" Marcus thought "How does he know my name? How is he even moving!?" The man stood strait, his soul as calm as the ocean on a clear day, and ran at Marcus, laughing hysterically. Marcus slammed his fist into the ground and shouted "Gaia Hasta!" With a thundering roar a sharpened log shot form the ground, rammed through the mans chest, and lodged itself in the ceiling. Marcus watched the mans soul vanish, and when he could no longer feel the weight of the mans intent he knew that it was over. Marcus retracted the log and threw the mans body over his shoulder. "You''re coming with me." He mumbled under his breath as he turned to make his way out of the encampment. Times Square, New York City, New York; 5 days later. Jesse Treiv, a girl standing 6''2" her skin bore a light tan, her hair was a shinny black, and her eyes where a soft blue. Jesse is the Soul-seer of the wanderer, she sat atop one of the buildings on the edge of time square, looking down at the mass of people partying at ground level. She laughed lightly to herself "Looks like fun." She said with her smooth tone. Jesse closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them her Soul-sight was active. It was hard to read the intentions of all the people, quite a few of them were, less than pure, most were drunk, but none were evil. Jesse flinched and pulled back her Soul-sight when she heard the sudden loud resounding chant rise from the ground, counting down from 10. A large grin crossed her face and she chanted along. "5, 4, 3, 2, 1, HAPPY NEW YEAR!" She crossed her legs, leaned back and laughed hard. She loved New Year''s Day, there was always so much hope in people''s souls around that time, and when she spotted despair or sadness in someone she would do something to brighten their day. It was 2018 now, she ran the past year through her mind, she thought about the good and the bad, 2017 was the year of of her 20th birthday, she was running though the Mohave desert to celebrate, when she came upon a man resting on a boulder, when he sat up he sat up she flinched because his eyes were discolored, they reminded he of her own eyes when she used what she had taken to calling "truth-vision." The man stood, approached her and stuck out his hand, he shut his eyes, and when he opened them they were normal again. Jesse was infatuated with the stranger, it was more than his appearance, his soul was pure and full of joy, and there wasn''t a hint of negative in his intentions. The man introduced himself as Ken Rook, The Soul-seer of the Hero, Jesse almost laughed at him, Soul-seers were legends, story book characters, they weren''t real. She giggled "Ok, "Hero"." Ken smiled "You think you''re laughing at me, when, in fact you''re laughing at yourself, for of all the people within 100 miles of us, in all directions, only two are Seers." This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.That''s when she started taking Ken seriously, she went with him and met the other Soul-seers, they accepted her and became her friends, which was odd, she was never too good at making friends. She worked with them and got stronger, she learned the Hidden art, and tried to get closer to her new friends, but only about four mouths after she arrived, Jacob vanished, and cities the world over came under attack. Jason always called Jacob a "true serpent" even though Ken scolded him for it, he never did trust Jacob. Ken left a week after the attacks started, believing that he knew the next target, and he never came back. Everyone knew it was Jacob, especially after they found piles of notes in Kens office at HQ. Jesse''s train of thought came to a screeching halt when a bad feeling draped over her, she pulled herself back to reality and looked around, she couldn''t see anyone so she switched to her Soul-sight, a couple of miles to the east, at the very edge of what she could see, through the crowded streets of New York City, three lone souls stood out clearly. These three serpents were impossible to ignore, it was hard for her to make out details at this distance, but these people where giving her a serious case of the creeps. She began leaping from rooftop to rooftop making her way closer and closer to the Serpents. She slid to a stop about a half a mile away from her destination the air around her had grown heavy, after she stopped she noticed the space in front of her begin to distort and with a flash of light a six foot man was standing in front of her, he had shoulder length black hair, he wore a long sleeve black shirt and blue jeans. No mistake, the man was Scott Turner, the Soul-seer of the Messenger. Scott was out of South Georgia, and his voice reflected that. "Happy New Year Ms. Treiv, how is your night?" Scott always confused her, he was way too nice, to everybody. "It''s been good Scott, I was just on my way to check something out." She knew she sounded surprised, and she hated it, she still wasn''t used to his Transportation art, it never failed to catch her off guard. "Really?" Scott sounded intrigued. He turned around and flinched. "Well would you like a hand with that ma''am?" Jesse rolled her eyes, she hated when he called her "ma''am" but she definitely thought she could use the help. "Yea Scott, I would." She said. "Good." Scott placed his hand on her shoulder and mumbled, "Vade." In an instant they where standing on top of a building directly above the Serpents. Jesse backed up and whispered "Defluo." She faded from sight, invisibility was always a handy trick. Scott stepped off the side of the tower and floated down, landing softly behind the strangers. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end and he felt goosebumps run up his arms. These... things, they had intentions darker than anything he had ever felt. In front of him stood three men, all around 6 foot 6, wearing black hooded cloaks. "Excuse me fellas'', ya''ll mind if I ask you a quick question?" The one on the left turned to face him, the face was heavily scared, his left eye was a deep emerald green but his right eye was grey, it was empty. Scott couldn''t believe it, he recognized this guy, behind the scars was the face of Jacob Kergin. Jacob replied in a deep scratchy voice "Sure Scotty, anything for you man." Chapter 4 Scott took a step back and held out his open palm, with a small flash of light he was holding a Smith & Wesson M500. It was jet black minus the word "Fear" engraved in it in gold. The other Serpents turned to face him and Scott wanted to faint, he was looking at three Jacob Kergins. The first of the three began laughing maniacally, Scott gritted his teeth as his eyes changed but when the soul-sight took over Scott froze, there was so much evil in the air he felt as if he had fallen into the deepest, blackest crevasse in the ocean. The combined power of the dark intentions of the men in front of him was driving him mad, he felt as if a giant black hand was closing around him. Scott snatched himself back into reality, the soul-sight fled from his eyes, and he squeezed Fear''s trigger. With a mighty roar a .50 caliber bullet rocketed from the barrel and the head laughing monster in front of him exploded launching the body through the air. Before the body hit the ground Scott was 15 feet away from the other two, and he was holding a second gun, Fear had a sister, "Pain." The other Serpents braced themselves but they didn''t appear shaken. They both had eyes like the first one, one green, the other grey. Their gray eyes discolored as the Soul-sight filled them, Scott felt aflame with rage, he had no idea how so many could have that ability at once. Scott burst forward and stopped right in front of the Serpent in the center leaving a trail of dust hanging in the air, Scott placed Fear and Pain against the monsters chest and squeezed both triggers, but the bullets flew off into the night sky, the Serpent was standing 10 feet away, smiling a crooked smile, transportation. Scott pointed Fear at the Serpent in front of him and pointed Pain to the right, but when he looked that Serpent was gone, he had vanished without a trace, hidden. Scott tossed Fear and Pain away, and the guns vanished before they hit the ground. Scott charged the Serpent at full speed, just as he reached the monster he disappeared and reappeared in the air behind his opponent, not from transportation but from his speed, Scott launched a kick at the Serpents head but it vanished before he made contact, the Serpent appeared about 10 feet in front of Scott. Scott smiled and whispered "Vade" in an instant Scott stood in front of the Serpent, Scott used the momentum from the transportation to land a devastating uppercut into the Serpents gut. The force from the blow sent the Serpent sliding back, his feet churning up asphalt along the way. Before the Serpent came to a stop Scott was on top of him again firing off a series of powerful punches into the monsters chest and head, Scott''s attack pushed the Serpent further and further until it''s back hit a building, but Scott never slowed down. Earthshaking blows kept coming in one after another until the beast was set in the concrete of the building. Scott stopped and took a few steps back, his breathing was labored and sweat poured off of him. Scott held up his right hand and Fear blinked into existence, Scott fired once and a .50 caliber round slammed into the Serpent''s stomach Scott aimed again, but when he squeezed the trigger something grabbed him from behind and the bullet flew off into the night sky. Scott was shocked, something had him in a full-nelson, even more surprising, Scott was too weakened to break free. Scott fought to free himself but he made no progress, this thing had a grip like a clamp. In his struggle Scott heard something hit the ground, and when he looked up he froze, the Serpent was climbing out of the wall. At that moment Scott didn''t need the Soul-sight, that thing was angry. It walked over, seemingly unfazed by the gapping hole in its gut, and launched a strait right into Scott''s ribs. Scott felt one of his ribs snap like a twig, the Serpent reared back and hit him again, in the exact same spot, Scott spat blood and Fear clattered to the ground. The Serpent slammed Scott 4 more times, his aim was constant and Scott felt as if he was going to die. When the Serpent leaned back for another punch Scott summoned what strength he had and back-flipped into the air the monsters punch hit its buddy and the full-nelson broke. Scott stopped the flip half way and hung upside down for an instant, he grabbed his grabber and flipped into his original position as fast as he could and flung his captor at his torturer. They collided and fell Scott rolled and swiped Fear off the ground he spun and aimed at a Serpent with a hole in the stomach and a Serpent without a head. The adrenaline fled from Scott''s veins, he felt a crippling pain in his side, he fell to one knee and coughed up blood he saw the headless Serpent step towards him so he shot at its chest and took out its right knee, the Serpent collapsed, immediately stood up again and started dragging it''s now useless leg as it made its way to Scott. Scott took a deep breath, one of the most painful things he had ever done, and held it he held Fear up waited for his arm to steady and loosed a round straight and true into the monsters heart. This time the headless Serpent crumpled, lifeless. Scott''s Soul-sight flooded his eyes and he saw what he wanted, for the first time since the battle started, a husk without a soul. He saw the other Serpent step forward, so he pointed Fear at it and pulled the trigger. "Click." It was the loudest, most unsettling sound Scott had ever heard, there he sat, on one knee and defenseless. The Serpent smiled and took another step forward, suddenly a line of blood shot out from its chest. The Serpents grin vanished and it''s eyes grew wide, it looked down to discover the point of a sword protruding from its chest. The blade retracted and the beast fell over, Jesse stood behind it, her rapier in hand. The hilt was gold, the handle was ivory, the hand-guard looked like a honey comb, and the blade was forged of a solid titanium alloy. Scott laughed under his breath and flinched in pain "Look at that, I got me a guardian angel." Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.Jesse shifted into her soul-sight, there was still one more. She couldn''t see him, but she could feel him, with two dead the evil in the air had greatly diminished, however, there was still way more than she was comfortable with. "Dang it! This isn''t fair!" Jesse thought "I''m still new at the whole seer thing. I''m not used to feeling someone out." Seconds ticked by, it was infuriating. It felt like he was everywhere. She heard sirens getting closer, the NYPD would show up in the next couple of minutes, and they would be in grave danger. She heard Scott cough a few times so she looked over at him. Scott was starring at a small pool of blood in his hand, he looked to Jesse''s left and tossed the blood straight out, some spattered the the ground but the rest hung in the air, clinging to what seemed like nothing. The air began to move, and it revealed a man with a grimace on his face and a saber in his hand. Jesse charged the man and he charged to meet her. Their blades clashed in a brilliant show of sparks, they swung, stabbed, guarded, and dodged at high speed. The sword-fighters stood their ground, matching each other blow for blow, both refusing to give the other any ground. Their blades collided and the ring of the metal echoed out into the empty streets, the blur of silver was hard to follow as they fought to gain control over the other. Their showdown came to a halt when Jesse blocked a side strike from the Serpent, they pushed against each other hoping that the other would lose strength. The Serpent began to give way, his blade pushed closer and closer to him until he threw a left uppercut into Jesse''s gut. Jesse coughed and stumbled back but the Serpent gave her no reprieve, he was immediately on top of her swinging ferociously, Jesse tried to defend but the attack was too fast, she managed to block only two or three blows before one slashed her side. The pain shocked Jesse, she stepped back only to have the Serpent follow her. He swung high and she blocked it, but his sword slid from hers and deeply cut into her sword arm, Jesse held tight to her rapier as her arm fell from its guarding position. The Serpent raised his blade to end the fight when a shout pierced the air. "HEY SCARFACE!" The Serpent turned in time to see Scott hurl Fear at his head, the Serpent raised his arms to block just as Fear vanished in a huge, blinding flash of light. The Monster stumbled and shouted, and Pain responded, two thunderous blasts shook the cold night, and two .50 caliber rounds slammed into the Serpents chest. As the monster crumbled, his soul vanished, Scott stood up, holstered Pain and limped toward Jesse, Scott grabbed the headless Serpent and the swordsman on his way. When he reached Jesse he smiled and helped her stand. "Would you like me to take you home miss?" Jesse couldn''t help but laugh a little. "If you would be so kind." She replied in a bad southern accent. Scott put his hand on her shoulder, he had just enough energy for one more jump, back to base. The pair vanished, two of the Serpents in tow just as four NYPD cars and a S.W.A.T van pulled onto the street. Chapter 5 It was all over the news, isolated tremors in New York City powerful enough to leave asphalt shredded and buildings missing huge chunks of concrete. It sounded like a cover up, but the couple of witness reports mentioning combatants sounded even less likely, considering the police didn''t find anything. Anna always questioned everything but it wasn''t very often she questioned herself, what could be going on? It reminded her of a case a few months back when something similar happened in some farmland outside of Houston, Texas, but the damage there was significantly greater. Anna was welded to her seat, she had totally tuned out the news at this point, in fact she was so absorbed in her thoughts she almost missed the ovens beeper. Anna leapt from her seat and ran to the kitchen, where she found her lasagna unscathed. She sighed as she slid the lasagna out and replaced it in the oven with a tray of honey rolls, she turned the dial and shut the door. "I need a hobby." Anna muttered to herself. She always got stressed out if she spent a great deal of time thinking and didn''t talk to anyone. She stepped away from the oven and heard a car pull into the driveway. Anna''s face lit up, she got excited and bounced on her toes a couple of times, she knew who it was, William Pallas, one of the most successful District Attorneys in Atlanta history, the most caring, fun, and intelligent man she knew, even better, he was her husband of six years, and their little boy Timothy where back from visiting Will''s parents down in Warner Robins. Anna skipped to the door to meet them, the lock slid open as she slid to a halt and Tim bursted through the door, Anna could swear the room lit up as her 5 year old slammed into her legs and hugged tight shouting "Mommy!" In an electrified tone. His uncontrollable golden blonde hair shifted backwards as he looked up at her, his eyes where a bright sapphire blue with unique vertical pupils like a cat. "Anna!" She looked up at Will as he dropped his bag just inside the door and scooped her up "Something smells delicious!" He boomed and shook her lightly "Where are you hiding it?" Tim busted out laughing. Will set Anna down and she turned from him, trying to hold back her joy, she said as seriously as she could manage "I''m not hiding anything." But before Will could respond a shaky voice rung out behind him "DA Pallas?" Will turned around, his body blocked Anna''s vision, and she heard a gun shot ring out. Will fell out flat on his back and a lanky young man stood over him and fired two more .357 rounds into his chest before he looked up at Anna, her joy fled, and nothing replaced it, she stood still, unable to produce any kind of reaction, unable to show any kind of emotion. The stranger walked up to her and grabbed her arm. She pulled away and he punched her, she fell and when she sat up she saw Tim kneeling over his father, starring at the invader, tears streaming down his face, and he was shaking, initially she thought it was from fear but his eyes spelled anger, they shouted hate, an emotion she had never seen in him before. The stranger stepped toward her, and Tim stood up "stop" Tim muttered quietly. The stranger spun around "What was that brat?" Tim gritted his teeth and screamed "I said... STOP!" The attacker turned the pistol on Tim and fired but the bullet stopped a foot from him and lifted away as Tim sobbed heavily. Tim''s hair lifted and his eyes changed, his pupils turned white, his iris black and the whites of his eyes took on the blue of his iris. The dam broke and Tim let loose a shattering screech. The earth shook, the house around him gave way to the massive output of energy as the floor, walls, and ceiling receded into dents in the energies wake. Tim was surrounded by a bubble of golden essence, the stranger fired his last two rounds but they disintegrated as they left the barrel. As Tim continued to scream lightbulbs and the TV exploded, the stranger fell to his back and where he once stood a tall man appeared. Out of nowhere this man with long black hair was standing in Anna''s living room with a shocked expression on his face, he turned and looked at Anna, his eyes, they looked just like Tim''s and with the inverted colors she felt like he was starring through her. The new guy looked down at her husbands killer she saw his shock turn to anger, he drew a large revolver and shot out the attackers knee, he promptly passed out from pain and when his body loosened, Tim stopped screaming. The amazing energy vanished and Tim floated back down to the ground and sobbed quietly, Anna picked herself up to all fours and started crawling toward her son, but the strangers hand blocked her path, she grasped it and begged him not to hurt her son, he looked down at her, bent down to lift her to her feet, his eyes looked normal now. He put his finger to his lips "Shhhh, I''m sorry ma''am, but listen." His deep accent caught her off guard but she listened, after a second she heard Tim whispering through his sobs "Save my daddy, save my daddy..." He said it over and over again six more times before he stopped Anna felt silent tears roll down her face, she hated to watch her son in such agony, but after what she just witnessed she was unsure if she could help him. Her thoughts were cut off when Timothy slammed his fists into the ground and screamed as loud as he could "PLEASE SAVE MY DADDY!" The aura came back but now it looked like a golden fire. It launched from his body and attached itself to his father, three mushroomed hollow-points rose from Will''s body, the holes sealed, the blood dried and the aura faded. Tim fainted but the stranger caught him before he hit the ground. Will groaned, and his eyes opened.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Chapter 6 Anna sat on a white leather couch in a concrete room clutching Tim tightly while leaning on Will, which she kind of thought was unfair, but he insisted he was fine. His face however, had a hollow look to it, as if he''d seen something he wished he hadn''t. "What happened?" She asked him quietly. "You know more about than me," he responded with a slight smile "I don''t remember much after the first round." "I mean what happened to you." Anna demanded "After that." Will''s smile vanished, and he looked away. "He wouldn''t let me in." Anna was confused "Who?" "My grandfather, I walked up to the gate and he was waiting for me. I was a kid again, I ran up to him and he stopped me." Anna sat up. "Will," he told me "There''s something far more important than me right now." "I felt my heart pulling downward behind me, I turned and when I looked I saw our living room, I saw my body but I only paid attention to you, Tim, and that monster who shot me. I was a man again, I desperately beat at the invisible barrier between us, tears where pouring down my face. I spun back around and a man was standing next to my granddad, he was tall and slender, he had short white hair and gentle cream colored eyes. He was wearing a blue two piece suit with a red necktie. I knew who... what he was immediately. I was starring at God, and I didn''t care. I ran into him, grabbed him by his blazer and shook him like a maniac. "Help them!" I demanded and pleaded, I growled and sobbed "Help them god damnit!" He gently pushed me away to arms length and smiled, his lips moved but I didn''t hear him through my ears, he spoke directly into my mind. "Your son will bring great change to the world." He said "I promise, I will always help him..." I looked down and saw the second man blink into the room, glowing a soothing blue, when he shot the first man I was relieved, I turned and buried my head into God''s chest crying like a baby, and he wrapped his arms around me, hugged me tightly, and I heard his voice again "...but for now, he needs you far more than he needs me." I looked up at God''s smiling face then at my beaming Grandpa Pallas, I felt like I was... evaporating, and all I could hear was something akin to the hollow steel wind chimes on grand dad''s front porch. As I lifted away I read his lips, he said "I''m proud of all of you, take care of my grandson Will." After that I woke up back in the living room, feeling like I had slipped and hit my head. You know the rest." Will smiled, obviously holding back tears. "I''m sorry that I scared you." This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.Before Anna could eek out a response through her own tears a steel door at the end of the room slid open and the man who''d introduced himself as Scott Turner walked in. Chapter 7 Anna thought the room Scott led them to was actually rather nice, much better than the bare concrete walls in the last room. They had taken an elevator out of what she guessed was the basement into a grand hallway; from there Scott took them to what appeared to be a grand dining room, a large oval table was in the center of the room with five people seated around it. Scott walked over, pulled out chairs on either side of Tim and motioned for Anna and Will to take them. An old man stood up at the end of the table and spoke "My name is Jorge Thompson, seated in front of you starting from your left is Jason Holub, Jesse Treiv, Marcus Fields, and -" In a brilliant flash of white light Scott appeared in the next seat with a pleased smile on his face that made Tim laugh. "I believe you''ve met mister Scott Turner." It was what Jorge went on to say that threw Anna for a loop, everyone sitting at the table, minus Will and herself was a soul-seer. She was sitting at a table with legends, and had it not been for what had happened back at home she would never have believed it. Jorge introduced himself as the seer of the Leader, everything about this baffled Anna. When she thought of seers she imagined tall powerful looking warriors not an old man, a country boy, a pretty young girl, and a particularly exhausted looked detective. The Marcus guy was the only one that made since aesthetically, she became distracted, Until the one introduced as Jason stood up, the bags under his eyes looked like they were going to drag the table. "The reason you were brought here is obviously your son."His voiced dragged for a moment "Timothy Pallas is a soul-seer..." Will cut him off "Which one?" "The Dragon." Anna''s heart sank and she trembled over her next question she looked at the man and stumbled. "Which one?" Jason gave Anna a surprised look before he pulled a cigarette pack from his pocket and shook it in disappointment. He plopped back down in his seat and replied "We... we don''t know. I''m impressed though, you must have spent a fair amount of time in the fiction section of your local library." Will looked around confused "Which one? What does that mean?" Jason started digging in his pockets like he was looking for something and Jesse glared at him, he paused and looked back bewildered "What''s wrong?" Jesse sighed and looked at Will "Do you know anything about seers Mr. Pallas?" "Just the legends, 8 immortal heroes, Warriors of Justice..." "Well we definitely aren''t immortal, and I can''t say all of us fight for the right reasons, but there are almost always 8 of us, this is kind of a special occasion." "I only count 6." "That''s true, there are only 6 in this room, you see when a soul-seer dies another is immediately born with that soul. The other 3 that would normally be here are too young." "3? But wouldn''t that make 9 seers?" "The dragon isn''t a normal seer Mr. Pallas." Will leaned back in his seat and put on a poker face. "What does that mean for Tim?" "Tim is a special case, because there is more than one dragon in the world right now. A hero and a villain their destinies will converge and it will be the end of the world as we know it, one dragon will try to destroy the world and the other will try to stop him." "Well if you came to us that means that Tim is the good one right?" Jorge cut into the discussion. "We would like to see both Dragons work for the good of the world." Will sat up to the table and rubbed his chin. "But destiny is working against you." "Yes." "Would it help if I told you I died at my house earlier? That I met God?" Everyone at the table stared at him in shock, Jason stopped fishing around when he reached a pocket on his chest and pulled out a cigarette, he withdrew a worn looking lighter from his pants and lit it. "Did he say anything? Or did he just stare you?" The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there."Both?" Marcus chuckled "Sounds about right. What did he tell you? Might be some kind of clue." "He said he would always help Tim. That''s about it." Scott chimed in. "Well that would be real reassuring, but seeing as he is God he probably wants to help everybody, so I ain''t too sure." Jorge looked around before returning his gaze to Will "Scott is right, however we may be able to find a clue in what happened to you at your home. You say that you died, Scott tells us that young Timothy pleaded with some invisible power before he used energy that appeared to be his own to resuscitate you. That isn''t something any of the rest of us are capable of, as powerful as we are we have no control over the great gate to the afterlife." "But Tim does." "The soul of the dragon was said to be pulled from the Soul-Maker himself, so I guess that power would... come with the territory." Jorge grabbed a cane and slowly made his way around the table to Tim. "Can I ask you to stand up young man?" Tim jumped out of his seat and looked up at the old man. Jorge reached out and placed his index finger on the boys forehead. "Mens Porta." Tim was suddenly standing in a room full of toys, the windows told of a beautiful clear and sunny day and a white door was closed. As he stared at the door the air began to shift and the old man slowly came into view. Jorge opened his eyes he saw Tim standing at the center of what appeared to be a playroom, more or less normal for a young boy but the room was small the mind of a child is normally huge, filled to its every corner by their imagination. He wandered over to the window and saw Will and Anna standing on the porch of a home, must be Tim''s home. When he turned around he was shocked, he only ever found closed doors in the minds of adults, even stranger was that Tim had shut himself inside the smallest part of his mind. Jorge walked to the door and tried to open it but it was locked tighter than a bank vault. He got a tug on his pant leg and turned to see Tim holding a large cartoonish looking key. "You can go out if you want, but be careful, we don''t get along very well." Jorge took the key and thanked Tim, but he was more confused than ever. He slid the key into the lock and with a soft click the walls around him shook violently and made noises that sounded like a factory coming to life. When everything settled the door clicked again and he pushed it open. He stepped outside and wished he hadn''t. It was night where he now stood a full moon illuminated a battle scarred field in front of him, in the distance stood a stone city, it looked like ancient ruins but it was burning. Flames licked at the city''s ancient architecture. Jorge stepped back and hit the door, he spun around to see that it was closed tight, but unlike the soft white painted wood inside the room this side was made of iron with deep cuts and dents, he backed away from the door and his breath left him, the door was built into the side of a 100-foot wall that was equally scared. He looked down and saw a man that, despite his prison uniform, looked like the man that he had seen shoot Will through Scott''s memory. The man slowly looked up at him and his uniform began to fill with blood, his eyes went pale and his head slumped. "That is fate he will meet in prison, it''s the price he shall pay for the mob wars he got so involved in." The voice was slow, grim, and educated. Jorge turned and saw a man sitting on a small boulder, he was wearing a black suit with white stripes, but his eyes were as red flame. "Don''t panic old seer. I''m not the monster I may appear to be to the boy but he fears me regardless." "What are you?" "Me? I am the spirit bound to this dragon, to you I guess I would be the, oh how should I put this... the Grim Reaper." Chapter 8 Jessica Bridges forced a smile onto her face as she walked up to the only occupied table in her section, a man that had been there, tapping away at a laptop for the past three hours. He''d started off with a pretty hefty dinner order, but coffee had been his poison of choice for the past two and a half hours. He took a refill with a smile on his face, and Jessica walked back behind the counter and checked her phone, 2:07 AM January 2nd, her shift ended at two, and she wished the man would finish his business and leave. "This is the second time in the past week and a half that I''ve had to deal with this." She thought. The last guy had dropped a fifty on the table as he walked out. This was a different guy though, the last one looked agitated and tired, he was nice to her, but looked really rough, this guy was charming but he''d outstayed his welcome regardless. Jessica started to text her boyfriend that she would be home soon when she heard a laptop close, "Finally", she thought as she sat up with excitement. Her happiness rapidly descended into dread, then even faster, to ash as a wall of flame rivaling the heat of the underworld itself incinerated the diner and everything else within 2 city blocks. Jacob Kergin reached under his booth pulled out a case and packed his laptop inside of it. He flipped his table into the fire beside him and rose with a smile on his face. "The age of the Dragons is upon us" Jacob laughed. It had taken a while, but he was finally able to trace an echo from the energy spike in Atlanta to a small village in southern Italy. He was just about to get started on what he figured would be a long journey when he heard a shuffling noise behind him. Jacob turned and saw a homeless man standing in fear behind a half melted metal barrel. Jacob frowned, the chance of someone being immune to magic was low, very low, somewhere in the range of one in a billion or more. Then he laughed and called to the man "You may no know it you poor sod, but you have got to be in the top 10 luckiest men alive." Jacob turned away as the hobo struggled to eek out a response and set off on his way, the remainder of his now sputtering flames splitting in his wake. Jacob walked out a smoldering back alley into the blaring noise of the local emergency response vehicles. He watched as fire trucks battled the intense flames that clung to the buildings at the edge of his ground zero in a desperate attempt to keep the fire from spreading. No one paid him any attention as he climbed into an old car parked on the side of the street, hot wired it and drove away. He wondered how long it would be before some terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack, not that it mattered. "They will know the truth soon enough" He mumbled through a scowl.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Chapter 9 Buried in the trees on the hills north of San Rufo a small child sat on a stump outside of a small cabin. His hair was flat and black, his eyes an emerald green, he seemed to be talking to himself and he was quite deep in his conversation when a hand touched his shoulder. He turned to see his mother, her black hair dangling to her chest, her bangs resting softly just above her eyes. Her smile was soft and she spoke with a voice reminiscent of a beautiful melody. "Oliver," It almost sounded like she was singing, but there was no joy in her voice, there hadn''t been for a while ever since they left home. "Come get something to eat, your meal will get cold if you wait too long." "Mama, Michael says it''s dangerous here, someone is coming." Oliver stated quietly Olivia stared into her sons eyes and thought of the name he mentioned, Michael. Oliver had been gabbing at something invisible since he was able to talk. Originally, she believed it was nothing, just an imaginary friend, but it seemed to know things, things a child wouldn''t, and Oliver advanced intellectually faster than any child she''d ever heard of. Even now as her five year old stared up at her, his eyes looked like they hid the knowledge of a man more advanced in age than herself, a deep emerald divided by a strange cat-like pupil seemed to stare through her, almost demanding she listen to him. "Ollie," Olivia''s voice was sterner now, although not entirely on purpose, "No one is coming, no one knows where we are. We will be safe here." She took him by the hand and guided him into the cabin. The building was old, older than her grandfather, who told her that her great grandfather built it together with his father when they were young. The Clarke family hunting cabin, built strong and completely disconnected from the outside world, maintained by Clarke men come and gone. She was the only child of her father before he passed, it was her turn and she would pass it on to Oliver one day. Dinner was a venison stew, not to separated from what they usually had, but Olivia''s abilities in the kitchen, even one so primitive, kept complaints to a minimum. Oliver sat over his stew eating quietly, and Olivia watched him. He was worried, she could see it on his face. They had been in the cabin for coming up on a month, even though Olivia didn''t want Oliver''s first experience here to be so stressful, it was unavoidable. Olivia wanted to return to Dover, but she feared what she might face when she got there. Oliver''s father was let go from his job and drove their family into financial hardship via a newly acquired drinking habit. He was a violent drunk, and he always drank until he had lost all sense of himself. It came to a head the night he turned his fists on Olivia, she had no idea what she''d done, but he came down on her harder than ever dreamed he would, it didn''t last very long. He stood over her beating her, demanding she scream, but she didn''t make a peep her eyes closed tight as she kicked her, she hadn''t cried since Oliver was born, and before that since her father died, she was determined not to give him the satisfaction. A warm wet substance ran down her face, and the beating stopped. She opened her eyes to see a hole in her husbands chest, she touched her face and looked at her hand, blood, his blood. He crumpled to the floor in front of her and when she looked over him, the only other person in the room was Oliver. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon."Are you ok mama?" Oliver''s words reached her both in memory and from across the table. "Mama?" Olivia snapped out of her memory and found herself staring through Oliver. She smiled "I''m fine dear." "Your stew is getting cold." Olivia looked down, Oliver''s bowl was empty, hers was barely touched, the steam was gone. She tried to laugh off her worry, but Oliver''s eyes didn''t change, he looked on with pain in his eyes. They stared at each other for a moment in silence, suddenly his his changed colors, Olivia watched in awe. Oliver''s now white pupils seemed to look into her very soul. He finally spoke, "Why are you sad mama?" "I''m..." "Is it because of what I did to papa?" Olivia felt tears well up in her eyes "No." She thought, her mind beginning to race, "How could you blame yourself? No. It''s my fault, I wasn''t strong enough, I should have acted before it got to that point." She choked up, she couldn''t speak and she fought a silent battle to hold back tears. "It''s..." Oliver''s gaze became aggressive and he glared at the door. Olivia tried to speak again but was cut off by a soft thud. She turned toward the door and heard it again, a little louder this time. It came a third time loud and clear, shave and a haircut... Oliver walked over and stood between her and the door, his body seemed to glow, and he whispered in a voice not entirely his own. "He''s here."