《Unaffiliated》 Prologue In a dimly lit room surrounded by computer screensstood a man in a white overcoat. The man looked to be around 50 years of age and had a beard which reached all the way down to his chest, he was incessantly mumbling and typing away at the keyboard in front of him "enhance the senses.....remove the weaknesses.....strengthen the effects of the sun" as he continued rambling his fingers sped across the keyboards but all movement stopped as his hand hovered over the enter key. "Behold" he said to no one in particular with a crazed look in his eyes as his finger hovered over the button "The birth of God" and with that his finger descended like a meteorite from space, for a while nothing happened, all movement and sounds ceased as if time itself had stopped and stayed that way for a while, thinking his project had failed the man sighed but suddenly his lab was flooded with a white light.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. He closed his eyes in an effort to block the light from invading but that attempt proved fruitless as the light easily pierced his eyelids.As suddenly as the light appeared it disappeared, feeling the room return to its previous ambiance the man opened his eyes, what entered his sight was a giant hole in front of him. His eyes widened in horror and a gasp escaped his lips "no" he whispered softly "NO NO NO NO NO NO" his voice rose in volume as he furiously began typing away at the keyboard "my life''s work" the man said as tears formed in his eyes, in a fit of rage he unleashed a flurry of blows upon the keyboard causing it to bend in ways it was not designed to. Calming down from his rage the man slowly fell to his knees, like a puppet who''s strings had been cut he knelt lifelessly, "Fuck" he quietlycried as he fell forward and began sobbing "dammit" Chapter 1 The bright stars twinkled silently in their barren abode watching over the green and blue planet below them slowly spinning in place. The silence of their surroundings added to the tranquility of the scene as all seemed perfect, suddenly the beautiful scene was shattered, out of nowhere an extremely bright light flashed briefly and disappeared and in its place was a coffin like container made of metal with a transparent material similar to glass. Inside the coffin was a man, the man had an angular face as well as light brown hair which stopped just under the base of his neck and a handsome face. The man had well defined muscles which were clearly visible as he was stark naked, the coffin was filled with a liquid which freely flowed causing the man''s hair to move around in all directions. As the construct floated through the otherwise empty space it slowly began to pick up speed as it drew closer to the planet below. --------------------------------------------------- "My queen!" shouted an elderly man as he threw open the massive golden doors and ran into what appeared to be a throne room, sitting upon the throne was a woman with a serious expression on her face. Her features were partially obscured by her long snow white hair which ran all the way to her thighs, she lifted her eyes from a silver sword resting in her lap as she heard the voice of the old man, she silently stared at the man with one eye peeking out from behind her hair as he knelt in front of her. A long silence ran between the two of them as the throne room shook and pieces of the roof fell to the floor but that did not disturb the two as the woman kept her eyes on the elderly fellow as he kept his eyes on the ground. "Speak" her voice was void of any emotion, the man with his head still bowed began to rapidly explain the situation "your majesty, the enemy has entered the castle. Commander Varga has tasked me with escorting you safely through the catacombs but we must hurry" seemingly unbothered by the information the queen got up slowly and leisurely walked down the steps with her sword in hand. Walking right past the confused elder she stood almost directly in front of the heavy golden doors and thrusted her sword into the ground in front of her and rested her hands on the sword''s hilt. Seeing the queen''s actions the old man hurriedly stood up and with a worried look on his face addressed the resolute queen "Your majesty, I implore you, please reconsider your actions" but his words fell on deaf ears as the queen showed she had no intention of changing her mind. "I will not abandon my people in their time of need, as queen it is my duty to take care of my subjects, a Mallik does not shirk her responsibilities" the old man grew panicked as the shaking grew closer and closer to the throne room, he ran to the queen and was about to drag her to the secret entrance to the catacombs located behind the throne but was blown back by a fierce kick to his sternum. He tumbled to the ground and skated for a few meters before finally stopping but before he could begin to stand he felt cold steel against his throat, looking up the old man was met with a single grey eye looking down on him, the other blocked by a mess of white "If you wish to leave I will not stop you" the queen said still lacking emotion in her voice "but the next time you try to touch me Iwill remove your hands" she took her sword from his neck and went back to her previous position. The old man sighed and chuckled"the GrandMagus Vulcan caught off guard by a little girl", shaking his head Vulcan slowly rose to his feet and began walking towards the queen. Stopping beside her vulcan summoned a completely black staff made of a metallic materialwith a black diamond which radiated with power on top. The queen glanced at him out the corner of her eye, answering the silent question vulcan said "My job is to ensure your safety" he shrugged. The shaking which resounded throughout the castle suddenly stopped causing both the queen and vulcan to frown in confusion "did they abandon the siege?" Vulcan wondered aloud "Demons don''t give up so easily" the queen responded as she withdrew her sword from the ground and adopted a fighting stance.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Vulcan''s grip on his staff tightened as he prepared for what was to come next "never did like the calm before the storm" he nervously chuckled, a few long moments of silence passed and just as he was about to drop his guard the doors of the throne room flew off their hinges, he quickly put up a shield around himself and the queen just before the door collided with thempushing them back several feet before colliding into a wall. Several figures came running into the throne room wearing black armor and filled the entire room, they all stood silently in an orderly fashion with two rows leading from the doorway to the throne and the rest were standing in disarray around the room. The room descended into silence which was broken by a loud bang, the golden door which collided intovulcan and the queen flew up into the air right through the roof which allowed sunlight to seep in. A hand emerged out of the rubble where the door was previously located followed by a head of white hair and golden armor, the queen pulled herself out of the rubble and quickly retrieved her sword beforegetting back into fighting stance. Her eyes scanned the room and the unmoving armored soldiers who seemed to be patiently waiting for something, the queen''s body tensed as she waited in anticipation for whatever or whoever was coming her way. Behind her dragging himselfout of the rubble was vulcan who aside from his disheveled clothes came out relatively unharmed, a string of curses left his mouth as he dusted himself off before re-summoninghis staff "Fucking hate wars" he grumbled under his breath as he stretched his back which released a loud pop. "Someone''s coming" the queen said as her eyes gleamed dangerously, vulcan immediately froze in place andslowly turned his head towards the doorless doorway (AN: dare you to say that 5 times fast) his eyes widened as he saw a familiar face enter the room, an almost identical yet younger face in fact "Duncan?" Vulcan''s voice was barely audible as he called a name he thought he would not call again in his lifetime. Hearing his name the man glanced in vulcan''s direction, a look of surprise made its way to his face before quickly being replaced with a blank expression. The man ignored everyone in the room as he made his way to the throne, as he passed, the soldiers in black fell to their knees as commoners wouldin the presence of their king or queen, the man called Duncan leisurely climbed the stairs to the throne under the gaze of Vulcan and the Queen before casually flipping his cape and sitting down. With a disinterested toneDuncan said "The castle is ours" immediately throwing the soldiers into a frenzy as they whooped and hollered and cheered, Duncanlifted his hand causing the room to once again descend into silence "My brothers and sisters, for years you have yearned for the warmth of the sun,of a lover, FOR YEARS YOU HAVE PLEADED, BEGGED FOR THE SURFACE DWELLERS TO ALLOW YOU JUST....ONE.....CHANCE TO PROVE YOURSELVES WORTHY TO STAND BESIDE THE OTHER RACES. But were you given that chance?" """"NO!!!"""" the soldiers shouted in unison "NO!" Duncan repeated "they forever labelled you ''monsters'' solely because of your appearances, you have been HUNTED, SLAUGHTERED.......and for what? your individuality and uniqueness?" Duncan chuckled "it is time forman to knowHE....IS NOT....KING" "YOU CANNOT BLAME AN ENTIRE SPECIES FOR THE MISTAKES OF A FEW OF THEIR KIND!" The queen shouted, all eyes turned to her as she made her way cautiously towards the throne, HER throne. She walked straight up to the throne before being barred from going any further, she lifted her sword and pointed it at Duncan "what you are doing is not righteous" she spat "you self serving, arrogant prick" her nose wrinkling up in disgust "I will cut your head off where you stand" Duncan chuckled at her comment " as you can see" he said as he spread his arms "I''m sitting" before the queen could respond Duncan continued "Kill her where she stands" with a smirk on his face As the men moved in to surround the queen a loud crash came from above, everyone''s attention snapped to the sound and they saw descending to the floor at blinding speeds, a metallic object in the shape of a coffin which landed with a heavy bang, cracking the earth underneath it from the force of the impact. Duncan''s eyebrows rose slightly in surprise while emily''s mouth was agape, vulcan stood behind the soldiers but caught a glimpse of the strange object as it descended. Everyone stared in confusion at the mysterious object in their midst and began whispering among themselves, one brave soul cautiously made his way towards the object with an outstretched arm, slowly his hand got closer to the object but just before it made contact the object began making a whirring noise. The soldier jumped back in fright as the whirring noise gradually increased in volume "GET BACK NOW!" Duncan shouted as the shoulders scrambled to get away from the contraption. Suddenly the noises stopped and with the sound of pressurized air being released the object opened. chapter 2 As the lid swung open, dense smoke began to seep out of the machine, the fog crawled along the floor slowly swallowing the feet of everyone present. "You truly amuse me Mira" Duncan said with his indifferent expression still on his face as he stared intently at the mysterious object in the middle of the room. Despite his calm demeanor Duncan was panicking on the inside, this unknown factor could prove detrimental to his plans and he could not be stopped now, not when he could practically taste his victory; so with this in mind he gave an order: "Secure the object" The soldiers hesitated for a moment but soon began to move in on the container with their swords pointed cautiously at it, as they got closer the sound of breathing could be heard from within the container making them halt in their tracks. One soldier turned his head back to look at Duncan and said something to him in an unfamiliar language, Duncan simply nodded, receiving confirmation the soldier stepped closer to the container''s dark interior which concealed its contents, lifting his sword the soldier prepared to thrust into the darkness when suddenly a hand shot out and grabbed his throat with an iron grip. A second hand came out slowly from the darkness and grabbed the side of the container, slowly like a demon rising out of the abyss the figure of a man emerged. The man stared intently at the struggling soldier in his grasp like a scientist would a test subject, having finished with his observations the man tightened his grip around the soldier''s throat and with a snap the soldier''s body ceased all movement. "What are you standing around for?! KILL HIM!!" Having realized the situation was no longer within his control Duncan ordered his soldiers to attack while he also prepared to defend himself. --------------------- ''It''s warm'' I thought to myself, for a few moments I stood still simply relishing in the warm feeling. I was soon interrupted as I felt something collide against my flesh, opening my eyes the first thing I saw was a small man no taller than my chest backing away in fear, finally noticing my surroundings I looked around and saw a room filled with individuals dressed in all black attire circling me. As I was taking in my surroundings I heard the sound of wind whistling coming from behind me, I spun around just in time to catch an arrow between my thumb and index finger just before it struck my head. Crushing the arrowhead and dropping it to the floor I saw a soldier with a bow in his.......her handsif the lumps of flesh on her chest were any indication. I walked towards her, seeing me walking in their direction the other soldiers charged at me and furiously hacked away at me. Annoyance washed over me like a tidal wave and heat began building up in my eyes, I noticed that although there was nothing barring the build up of energy in my eyes from escaping it would not discharge unless I willed it, with that piece of information I allowed the energy to escape my eyes as it disintegrated all soldiers attacking me leaving just a handful alive but they weremissing limbs. The lady who shot at me was wailing on the ground with her hands clutching what used to be her legs, ''Aim needs work'' I thought to myself as I turnedaround to catch an incoming sword from one of the luckier soldiers who were still capable of movement.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. I flung the soldier up into the air and delivered a punch to his stomach as he came back down reducing him to a mess of flesh, blood and bones. After that display of strength I was not surprised to see the others slowly retreat, as I was about to walk away the crowd of soldiers parted to reveal a man in a black trenchcoat coming towards me with a black sword which seemed to suck the color out of the surroundingsin hand "Lamesh takar umf paru" I tilted my head in confusion as I could not understand what he was saying, seeing my confusion the man shook his head and got into a battle stance. I was confused, don''t these people do anything other thanfighting? I remained standing upright as I did not know any stances, for a moment we stood facing each other waiting for the other to make a move but neither of us wanted to make the first move. The standoff was broken whenthefigure of a woman in golden armor with snow white hair appeared out of nowhere and began attacking the man in black. The man raised his sword to block the incoming attack which produced a loud clanging sound which resounded throughout the room, I watched as the two did their deadly dance but after a while I got bored so I turned around to leave. As I approached what appeared to be what used to be a door I felt someone''s hand grab my forearm, turning around I saw an elderly man with graying hair and a well trimmed beard. "Domo zan cara linteh umufaro samas" not knowing what the man was saying I could only stare blankly at his pleading expression, of course I was not dense enough to not notice he was trying to ask me to help the woman defeat the wannabe villain. Seeing my blank expression the man started rummaging around his blue robes before finally pulling out a black ring with a red gem, I took the ring from him and placed it on my index finger and admired it for a moment. The man spoke again but this time I understood what he was saying "please sir" the man began"lend her majesty your strength". I turned to look at the ongoing fight just in time to see the woman who was apparently royalty receive a kick to the stomach which launched her right at me, I sighed to myself and caught the woman with relative ease and dropped her on the floor. The man in black looked at me cautiously as I debated whether or not to help the queen and the elderly man, seeing me hesitating the elderly man hurriedly added "we can pay you for your trouble, just please help us" seeing the old man so desperate I took pity on him and simply nodded. Turning around to face the man in black, I see him shaking his head, whether in contempt or pity I do not know nor do I care. As I folded and unfolded my fists I felt an itching between my knuckles, glancing down at my hands I see slits between each of my knuckles but I had no time for further investigation so all I could do was ignore the itching and once again focus on my opponent. As I turned to face my opponent I was surprised to see I was face to face with a sword as black as the void. Before I could react I was slashed across my face and the sword cut into my flesh but was stopped when it connected with bone, the force of the impact however forced me to take several steps back. I could already feel my injury healing at a fast rate but nonetheless I opted to end the fight quickly and that last attack sort of ticked me off. He looked cocky for a moment but shock soon replaced his cocky grin as he saw my injury healing and for the first time, I spoke "My turn" my voice was husky and deep. I pushed off the ground causing the ground beneath me to crack as I rocketed toward my enemy who raised his sword to block the blow, bad choice, as my fist made contact with his word it shattered but that did not slow down my momentum as my fist made contact with his chest afterwards launching him backwards and into the wall. I skidded to a halt and walked towards the unconscious body on the floor,picking him up and tossing the man over my shoulder I walked up to the two stunned faces of the old man and the white haired lady staring at me. I droppedthe man to the ground which snapped the two out of their stupor, I stretched my hand forward, the queen thinking I was trying to help her up reached for my hand but stopped when she saw me shaking my head, seeing her frowning in confusion I enlightened her "Compensation" I plainly stated The dumbstruck looks on their faces made me smile inside chapter 3 Helios, hearing he was going to be paid for his service grinned savagely and without saying a word he leaped off the floor and shot out the hole in the ceiling which his container entered through, the queen''s eyes remained fixated on the hole he exited before she herself dashed out of the throne room through what remained of the doorway. -----Helios''s POV----- I felt anger coursing through my entire being as I recalled the feeling of the needles forcing their way further into my body, soaring through the air I circled around to the front of the building I just came out of which from this altitude looked like a castle. Its exterior was just like its interior, a smooth material with white as the base color and at the foot of the snow colored.......snow? I can''t help but feel like I should know what that is. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.As I was pondering on why the word seemed so familiar, I felt something collide against the back of my head, caressing the spot where I felt the collision I turned around in time to see a torrent of arrows shooting towards me. Chapter 4 Helios spent a week helping the citizens of the kingdom rebuild their houses and businesses. As he was speaking to a feline beast woman, Vulcan approached him and told him the Queen had requested his presence. Chapter 5 Helios'' arm shot forward like a bullet to meet the incoming blade, a loud clang resounded throughout the area as his hand and Veronica''s blade made contact. Chapter 6 Helios''s cloak flapped behind him loudly, the necklace around his neck jingled as the wind tossed it and his hair all around. Currently, he was flying faster than the speed of sound, the wind whistled in his ear acting as a calming agent which gradually got his heart rate stabilized. Helios suddenly arched upward and tore through the clouds; the sky gradually lost its luster as he got higher. He stopped just as the sky reached its zenith; his eyes reflected the light as they focused on the stars just beyond his reach as he observed them silently. They faded and reappeared almost instantaneously but Helios'' eyes caught each one as they were snuffed out and replaced all in the same moment. Helios lost himself in thought, he had just severely injured and possibly killed a lot of innocent people, anger flared within him directed at no one but himself. The memory of him losing control replayed itself over and over in his mind; he was weak, not physically but mentally. Helios glanced down at the distant ground, his eyes easily pierced through the clouds which would be a hindrance to any normal person but to him, they were no obstruction at all. With a mighty sigh his shoulders relaxed and he allowed himself to fall backward. His fall started off slow but he gradually picked up speed as he freefell through the air, tearing holes through the clouds as he fell through them. Helios however seemed not to care whether he fell to his death as he showed no indication of halting or even slowing his descent,his eyes suddenly snapped open and his body quickly turned just as his back was about to touch the treetops. A vacant look was on his face as he stared at the sea of green in front of him yet not registering their existence, he spent several hours just hovering in place when the sound of footsteps suddenly entered his ears. Turning his head slowly in the direction of the sound, Helios''s eyes strained to see through the thick blanket of leaves he only now seemed to notice. Irritation flashed across his face at his inability to even get a glimpse of the one causing the entire ruckus through the gaps of the leaves. As he was about to descend, however, a familiar itching sensation could be felt coming from behind his eyes, a sense of trepidation filled Helios as recalled the instance where he melted innocent citizens with uncontrolled eye blasts. Helios prepared to ascend into the sky before he could cause any damage to the surrounding area but paused as his color spectrum was suddenly plunged into a sea of blue. Helios glanced around the surroundings and noticed that he could see not only the oval outlines of the leaves but through them, he could see a variety of insects scurrying about but what truly made him confused was the fact that just moments before, he was unable to gaze past the leaves but now he could see through them as if they weren''t even there. "How curious" he murmured as he brought his hand before his face and into view, the same blue color was there as well as the outline of his hand but he could see the shiny white almost silver bones beneath his skin despite his singular color schemed vision. Helios was interrupted from his musing by the sound of a surprised shout, his head snapped in the direction of the voice and thanks to his new sight he saw the cause of the noise. A blue woman, or maybe she wasn''t blue but he knew it was a woman by the two mounds on her chest and the long hair cascading down her shoulders to her lower back though all of it seemed to meld into the woman, torn clothing wrapped her body in the form of a makeshift dress which stopped just as it reached the middle of her thighs but that might be because she was currently in a kneeling position. Helios examined the woman closely but otherwise made no move to approach her; she wasn''t his concern after all. The woman got to her feet with some effort and wobbled as she took a step forward before falling face first in the dirt, Helios couldn''t help but to chuckle at the woman''s clumsiness but the laughter died in his throat when the woman looked up angrily in his general direction and shouted "Stop laughing and help me you pansy!"? while shaking her fist furiously. Needless to say, Helios was more than a little surprised at being discovered so easily, even though he wasn''t trying to hide in the first place. Helios continued to silently observe the woman who in turn continued to glare angrily at where he was currently floating idly, a few minutes of silent staring transpired between the two in that manner. The woman quickly lost her patience however and sprang up before swiping at the air in front of her, the temperature in the area fell several degrees and blue wisps began forming in the air in front of the woman before quickly flowing together and solidifying into three one-meter ice spikes which shot off in Helios''s direction. Seeing the incoming projectiles, Helios quickly flew backwards, the sudden attack surprising him "A bit of an overreaction, no?"? he asked the young lady "No!"? she replied immediately sending several more ice shards at him. Helios easily dodged them while wondering why she was even running around in the forest, after all, he had not seen anyone else around. A particularly large shard of ice knocked him out of his musing as it slammed into his left shoulder before shattering into pieces and dispersing into mist. Helios hissed as he felt a stinging pain where the ice spike hit him and dropped below the leaves and heavily landed on the floor, sending mud flying in all directions. The young woman smiled triumphantly "Finally decided to show your face have you?" she asked, Helios simply grinned savagely and prepared to attack the woman when suddenly, the necklace around his neck began shining before transforming into an ancient looking gray hammer with cracks in the stone head which was attached to a wooden handle, the hammer had no distinguishing marks and nothing that made it look special but Helios couldn''t help but feel that wasn''t the case. Both Helios and the woman stared at the floating hammer in shock, the sudden emergence of the weapon surprised him even more than the woman given the speed at which she regained her bearings and summoned a weapon of her own from thin air. What the woman now held in her hands was a long silver spear with a purple streak which spiraled along the shaft till it reached the black spear head. Helios snapped out of his confusion as the woman summoned her weapon, not wanting to be caught off guard again; he snatched the hammer out of the air and immediately felt the impressive weight of the weapon which was enough to make even him grimace. The woman opened her mouth to speak but she never got the chance to, she hurriedly dodged to the left out of the way of the incoming hammer which Helios threw directly at her head which heavily impacted a tree behind her causing it to topple to the floor and break into several million pieces. "Are you crazy!?!?"? the woman asked, exasperated "That could have killed me you dolt!!"? Helios looked at her indifferently "So?"? he asked almost innocently "When you attack, you must be prepared to kill" he replied before shooting off toward her with his fist raised above his head in an overhead swing.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Seeing the incoming attack, she raised her spear above her head in defense but just before Helios reached her, he spun to the right in mid-air and kicked her in the ribs, not enough to kill her but just enough for her to know the difference in power between her and him. A loud cracking sound could be heard as his foot came into contact with her side and blew her away into a tree which caused her to drop her spear. ''Should I kill her?'' he asked himself inwardly, the woman coughed up a bit of blood as she slid down the tree slowly before falling to her hands and knees. Helios frowned and a look of genuine confusion showed on his face "Why pick a fight when you''re this weak?"? he asked the woman who was too busy coughing up blood to answer his question. His new vision easily saw through her flesh and he noted six of the twelve bones in her left rib were broken; the woman clutched her side in pain while grimacing as she gasped for breath. The pained expression on her face killed all the battle lust Helios was feeling causing him to stare at her in disappointment "I suggest you take a deep breath and calm yourself before making a decision the next tie you''re.....riled up"? Helios advised before turning his back to her and walking away in the direction the girl had come from. "Wait"? a soft voice came from behind him, so soft was it that he would not have heard her if not for his enhanced hearing. Helios turned his head to look over his shoulder at the woman who was now on bended knee, her shoulders rose and fell slowly and one of her eyes were closed as she stared at him through the other "My name.....is Mariah Wintercrest"? she managed to gasp out while grimacing. "I don''t care who you are" Helios replied calmly before walking off, he lifted his hand with his palms open where the hammer was and it flew into his awaiting hand. He looked at the weapon in curiosity while wondering where he would place it when it suddenly disappeared in a white flash; Helios frowned but continued on his way. "I apologize....for attacking you"? said Mariah through gritted teeth, clearly, apologizing was not her area of expertise. Helios however, kept walking and showed no indication whatsoever of responding or even hearing her apology. Mariah clenched her fists in frustration "No need to be a dick"? she hissed, Helios''s brows raised as he slowly turned around, an empty chuckle escaped him "Come again?"? he said as he cupped a hand around his ear "I apologized" Mariah repeated. Helios paused at he stared at her in disbelief, suddenly he burst into a fit of laughter, the air vibrated as he lost himself to the ridiculousness of what came out of Mariah''s mouth "Yes, that makes everything that happened a few minutes ago inconsequential" he responded sarcastically "Would you like to go for tea and crumpets now?" he asked as he placed a hand behind his back and the other across his stomach and did a small but awkward bow with a smirk on his face. Mariah didn''t understand half of the phrases that came out of his mouth but she could tell from the expression on his face that he was not taking her seriously, she snorted and winced with the action, completely forgetting about her injury though the constant throb in her rib should have been a reminder. She was about to retort when Helios spoke again "The real world doesn''t work that way, girl" Helios purposely chose to not say her name, he was not sure of the reason but her thinking everything would be okay once she apologized irked him "It was within my right to end your life, however, I did not"? Helios replied seriously, no trace of his joking manner to be seen, the look on his face was as if he expected Mariah to catch his meaning. He was met however, by a blank stare and a pale face, whether her face was pale because of fear or the blood loss he did not know but neither did he care. With a feeling of disappointment, Helios turned away from the injured woman and once again continued his journey into the forest "it''s not safe in this forest!" Mariah shouted after his retreating figure, Helios raised his hand slightly and did a flippant two-finger salute showing his acknowledgement. With difficulty, Mariah bent down and picked up her spear. With resolve in her eyes, she limped after Helios. *** Helios silently and slowly strolled through the forest, although his new vision allowed him to easily scout his environment and minimize the risk of an ambush, he still chose to proceed cautiously though it was hard to tell due to the calm and relaxed way in which he walked. Behind him was Mariah who was growing increasingly paler by the minute, Helios noted her broken ribs punctured her lungs and to his knowledge, she should have collapsed or died by now. He was not too surprised by his knowledge being wrong however, after all, the sky in his memory was blue not purple, though how he knew what color the sky was supposed to be and not what he did for a living or his birthday left him with a lot to ponder on. "You should get someone to look at that"? He commented in an attempt to take his mind off of that train of thought, Mariah scoffed weakly in reply "I''ll....be fine"? she managed to rasp out between clenched teeth "So I''m not wrong then'' Helios thought to himself as he heard her shallow breaths now that he paid attention. Helios shrugged and turned his attention back to surveying the area, for some reason he found no traces of any animals anywhere, it was almost as if the forest was deserted. He paused, something wasn''t right; aside from the smell of blood from Mariah the forest smelled strangely clean, like if a group of janitors came and mopped it down. Helios''s eyes narrowed as he carefully scrutinized his surroundings and focused his hearing, faulty memory or not, a forest was not supposed to be this quiet and devoid of scents. His carefree attitude fell away as a sense of danger fell on him like a blacksmith''s hammer. His eyes rapidly scanned the area, his new vision however revealed nothing out of the ordinary in the vicinity, yet he could not escape the feeling that something was wrong. "What-"? Mariah was cut off by Helios as he thrust his open palm in front of her face, she however, did not have the energy to feel insulted by the rude gesture as it was a struggle to even keep her eyes open at this point. Helios squatted and placed his hands on the grassy floor, the blue blades of grass flattened under the weight. His face came close to the floor as he inhaled deeply, the action similar to that of a lanag in Mariah''s eyes, She chuckled as the image of a four legged canine creature sniffing the ground overlapped with Helios, she summoned her energy and gave a weak chuckle before her vision went dark and she collapsed like a puppet whose strings were cut causing her to let go of her spear which hit the ground with a dull clang. Helios spun around at the noise like a cat whose tail had just been stepped on and glared at Mariah''s prone form; his shoulders fell slightly in relief and he got up from his crouching position slowly while eyeing his surroundings. He began making his way over to Mariah''s unconscious body when all of a sudden a sense of foreboding came over him, Helios''s muscles tensed as he prepared his body for an attack. "Huuuuuumaaaaaaansssssss"? a hoarse, venomous voice drawled in his mind. Helios spun around, eyes frantically searching for anything other than the color blue, his heartbeat elevated slightly as he was unable to locate the origin of the voice but the sense of foreboding only got stronger the more frantically he searched. Suddenly, Helios found himself cartwheeling through the air and barreling into several trees, demolishing them as his body slammed into and through them. With a force of will, Helios halted his tumble and stopped midair before he began spinning in all directions searching for his attacker. However, his search proved fruitless. Helios flew back to the area where he stopped previously, following the trail of demolished trees he left in his wake. Helios froze as he arrived at the scene, there stood, hunched over Mariah''s body was a formless creature shrouded in shadow, its blood red eyes examining the unconscious girl before it with mild curiosity. Suddenly, as if now sensing Helios''s presence, it lifted its two sanguine orbs at him and a flash of surprise shone in its eyes, almost as if Helios surviving was surprising "Deeeeaaaatttthh" the voice sounded in Helios''s mind once more who was now sure the voice was coming from the creature before him, Helios gritted his teeth and bent his knees slightly, the familiar flash of light from his necklace made itself known and In front of his face floated the hammer from before. Helios snatched the hammer out the air and allowed the hand which grabbed it hang loosely at his side while the other was held in front of his chest with a clenched fist. a€?Fuck you bitcha€? Helios spat and with a push from his muscular legs he shot off, causing a series of webbed cracks to form in the area where he was previously standing, his hammer raised above his head ready to crash down. Chapter 7 Helios shot toward the creature with his hammer held high, despite how it seemed he was not going to fight the creature because the female was going to be killed by it or anything of the sort, he wasn¡¯t that heroic; no, the reason was far simpler, The creature before him, this vile abomination of darkness made him feel fear and he associated that feeling to that of weakness. Something deep within him abhorred the thought of being weak, it caused him to want to demolish whatever caused him to feel fearful and right now the cause of his fear was before him, silently taunting him with its menacing stare. Cold anger coursed through his veins as he twisted his body mid-air and lightly kicked the unconscious body of the woman out of the way before bringing his hammer down heavily. The hammer passed through the aberration¡¯s body and landed on the ground with a loud bang. The area which had been hit caved slightly and pieces of dirt and grass shot up into the air and collided against Helios¡¯ skin. Undeterred by his inability to hit the creature, Helios brought his hammer back up and tossed his hand to the side before bringing it back in a horizontal swing. Like the last time, the hammer passed through the creature¡¯s body but luckily he did not put all his strength into the swing so he quickly pulled his hand back and leapt backward. The creature remained fixed in place as it continued to silently stare at him with its emotionless eyes, Helios scoffed and tossed his hammer into the air with his right hand before catching it with his left; a small grin crawled onto his face. ¡°You just gonna float there all day?¡± He asked the shadowy creature to which replied with a low hissing that caused Helios to smile ¡°Bring it on then smoky¡± he taunted. The hissing increased and darkness began to congregate around the creature and condensing on its form causing it to become more defined; a vague humanoid shape could be made out if one looked closely enough. The creature moved, dashing towards Helios on all fours. The sound of muffled footsteps entered Helios¡¯ sensitive ears as it advanced toward him. Helios winced as a familiar pain assaulted his mind but unlike the other times, it wasn¡¯t mind numbing to the point of wanting to scream; just a pang and it was gone the next minute. Helios leapt back as the shadowy being got closer, he inhaled deeply causing his chest to rise slowly. He held his breath until the creature got within range before expelling the air from his lungs; a torrent of wind assaulted the creature, causing it to stop in its tracks and the trees behind it to bend. The creature was being pushed back; it screeched and hissed as it clawed and swiped at the air in front of it as if the attacks would reach Helios. A brief pause where Helios had to inhale again allowed the creature to catch its breath, metaphorically speaking, before it was assaulted again by the whipping winds. Its feet slid back inch by inch, feet by feet until it could no longer keep itself centred. The shadows making up the creature¡¯s body was being stripped piece by piece as the winds lashed at it. A hiss escaped the creature as its deep red eyes glared hatefully at Helios, the hiss turned into a long and loud screech as more and more mist was stripped from its form before it completely dispersed into the air and drifted off in the wind. The winds died down slowly as Helios stopped exhaling and scanned the forest; his vision was no longer bathed in a blue tinge, it had receded during the battle which gave him back his previous spectrum of colours. Helios¡¯ arms fell at his sides as he exhaled carefully, now thoroughly conscious of his apparent super breath. His moment of relaxation was broken by a groan coming from Mariah; a light hop brought him closer to her as he slowly strode forward before crouching beside her. Mariah¡¯s eyes squeezed together tightly before fluttering open, a look of confusion spread across her face as her eyes remained locked onto a blade of grass swaying in the wind before realization hit her. She struggled to sit up, seemingly unaware of Helios¡¯s presence, he didn¡¯t seem to mind however as he just continued to observe her. Mariah managed to sit up with some difficulty; her eyes were closed as she inhaled through clenched teeth. ¡°Having trouble there, princess?¡± Helios asked with a grin, Mariah¡¯s eyes opened in shock at the sound of his voice. She stared at Helios confusedly for a second before his face finally registered in her memory ¡°You still alive, old man?¡± she asked with a grimace as she clutched her side ¡°Aren¡¯t I breathing, young corpse?¡± he replied.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Mariah looked down at herself and chuckled before wincing in pain, she did indeed look like a corpse what with her pale skin and cuts that littered her body, she sighed before attempting to stand up, for some reason her body was hurting more than she remembered. Her legs wobbled as she struggled to stay standing, her chest rose and fell with each breath she took. A determined glint appeared in her eyes as she took a tentative step forward only to fall face first in the dirt, Helios looked on with an amused grin as she pushed herself back up with shaking arms. ¡°Need help, princess?¡± he asked with a playful grin spread across his face, Mariah turned her head to look at him and frowned when she saw his expression ¡°No¡­thank you¡± she said through gritted teeth, Helios shrugged and rested his head on his hand as he watched her struggle to get up. ¡°This is just sad¡± he said with a sigh as Mariah fell for what seemed like the millionth time, he got to his feet and twisted his body from side to side causing a series of pops to resound from his body. With a thought, he willed his hammer to revert into the form of a necklace and fastened it around his neck ¡°See ya around, kid¡± he said as he gave a two finger wave to Mariah and began walking away into the forest. ¡°W-wait¡± he heard a quiet voice from behind him, barely above a whisper. He paused and replied without turning around ¡°Yes?¡± he asked in an even tone, Mariah bit her lip in hesitation but replied as soon as she saw Helios prepare to leave ¡°I¡­.I need your help¡± she managed to say. Helios turned to face her ¡®Well that much is obvious¡¯ ¡°I¡¯m listening¡± he crossed his arms across his chest as his body rose slightly and began floating in place; a soft breeze caused his long coat and hair to rustle slightly. Mariah inhaled shakily before she began speaking ¡°I........need your help. There¡¯s a town not too far from here, it¡¯s owned by a bastard of a Lord who abuses the people by working them to the bone daily and takes away their food, leaving them with the bare minimum to survive¡­¡­¡± she stopped speaking as her body began to tremble ¡°He¡­¡­.my father¡¯s too old to work anymore........lord Centix said he had to be paid in some way......my father didn¡¯t have a choice but to-¡± tears fell from her eyes as she lowered her head to the floor. A moment of silence fell upon the two before Helios spoke ¡°I expect fair compensation for the task¡± he stated plainly, his face and voice devoid of emotion. Mariah looked up with a tearful smile on her face; she wiped her tears away with the back of her hands and shakily stood up. Helios hovered over to her and held out a hand; Mariah gratefully accepted it with a smile which quickly turned into a surprised yelp when he pulled her against his chest before they ascended into the air and above the treetops. They continued to ascend before coming to a stop when they were able to see far into the distance; Mariah¡¯s body was shaking as the cold wind whipped against her skin causing her to press her body closer to Helios¡¯. ¡°Which direction is your town?¡± He asked in a level tone, drawing Mariah¡¯s attention, she gazed upward and saw him looking down at her which caused her to blush in embarrassment. She cleared her throat and looked around, her hand raised as she pointed to the south ¡°Over there¡± she said shakily, Helios nodded ¡°Hold on tight¡± he instructed before taking off in the direction Mariah pointed all the while she screamed in his arms. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mariah got accustomed to flying after several minutes, meaning she stopped screaming but she refused to look down, it was almost as if it was physically impossible for her. A sly smirk lay on Helios¡¯ lips; he found her actions amusing for someone who displayed so much bravado. She had some skill in the spear she could boast about but not enough to be arrogant, then again who was he to judge? The only reason he had such confidence was because of his strength, take that away and what would he have left? Laser vision, apparent X-ray vision and incredible lung power, ok so maybe he could brag . Helios didn¡¯t let that get to his head though, without the knowledge on how to apply his gifts properly, they would be useless. He shook those thoughts from his mind, right now he had a job to do and it looked like it was about to begin. He descended gradually as the town came into sight, landing on the road leading to the town gates, opting to walk the rest of the way. Mariah quickly leapt out of his arms and collapsed to the floor, her eyes were wide and were glued to the ground while she whispered ¡°I¡¯m never doing that again¡± over and over again. Were she not aware of how dirty the road was she would be kissing it repeatedly. Helios began walking toward the gate; leaving Mariah to weep in joy by her lonesome. It wasn¡¯t until Helios walked a few steps away did she notice he had already gone ahead. She limped after him as fast as she could; when she finally caught up to him she asked ¡°How do you plan to get in?¡± Helios answered without looking at her ¡°By asking¡± he replied followed by a shrug ¡°Manners maketh man¡± he added. Mariah felt her brain short-circuit at Helios¡¯ unexpected answer, she stopped walking as her eye twitched ¡°What the hell do you mean ¡®By Asking¡¯?!?! It doesn¡¯t work like that!¡± she shouted loudly and grimaced as she felt a pang of pain in her rib. ¡°Who knows? Maybe it¡¯ll work¡± Helios carried on walking, unperturbed by Mariah¡¯s protests ¡°I know, that¡¯s who!! And it won¡¯t work!¡± she yelled and grimaced, she was about to protest again but was halted as Helios turned to face her with an easy-going smile on his face ¡°Just relax, It¡¯ll work out¡± he assured her with a laugh before continuing his trek to the gate with his hands behind his back. Mariah sighed and hobbled after him ¡®Looks like I¡¯ll be seeing you in the afterlife, Mom¡¯ she wailed internally as she followed Helios while a series of scenarios of how this could go wrong played out in her head.