《Demise of the Gods》


 Prologue

    The city ofMephisto holds no mercy, not even for a young boy. Gasping for breath pushing through the people in the streets to escape the pursuit of his pursuers knowing that if he was caught it would mean the loss of an arm or even his life. He ran and ran eventually outpacing his pursuers but only temporarily, he was lucky before. A guard had subdued him before but due to the unforeseen circumstance of a drunkard bracing the guard to the ground, it had prevented a "mark" being placed upon the boy. A mark was a magical symbol which acted as a tracking device and the soldiers in pursuit would possess a perfect knowledge of his location.

    He ran into an alley with the thought he had evaded the pursuers. Every day the boy would go into the city to steal food for his family to eat. At this point, it had become a regular chore in his daily life. The people of the city regarded him with scorn and disgust but could do nothing about it as he lived at an unknown location even to the city guards.Although he would risk his life every day for the sake of his family, he was regarded as filth by his parents and siblings.

    Hyperventilating from the run and taking a moment to catch his breath in the alley, he made a mistake, he took a moment too long for the pursuers had found him. It was a dead endand the thought occurred that he had nowhere to go. Frantically he looked around to the sides for an exit, it was pure luck that there was a small tunnel like hole running through a building. Forcing his body into the small hole whilst at the same time keeping the food was difficult but it had to be done, his arm had been dislocated trying to force himself into the hole and he dropped the food at the entrance of the hole. The food was quickly recovered by the soldiers and they gave up the pursuit.

    As he exited the hole through the other side of the building, in the belief that he was being pursued he jumped into a merchant''scarriage. It was pure coincidence but he overheard a conversation amongst merchants about him.

    "Did you hear, it''s the demon''s child again, stealing our merchandise, I hope he knows that someday he will meet his end at either the hands of the soldiers of at the hands of us merchants," merchant 1 stated.

    "If I were to find him I''d put an end to his miserable existence myself after all he isn''t wanted anywhere, it''s just a waste of a life after all," merchant 2 said

    "I couldn''t help but hear you refer to him as the demon''s child, do you care to elaborate I''mnot from around here so I''ve never heard of it," a stranger interjected.

    "8 years later and it''s still a big talk around here, so here''s how the rumor goes, there once was a woman who got pregnant, at first the couple was overjoyed but at 8 months into the pregnancy the couple decided that they did not need another mouth to feed as the times were hard at that point. So they decided to have her have a miscarriage, the husband took a piece of wood and stuck her womb forcing the miscarriage. As she pushed out the fetus which was supposed to be dead, covered in blood and screaming as any other newborn was that boy, they say that the boy possessed a birthmark of a demon but it was never confirmed the couple was scared and disgusted and they tried to-," a female merchant told the stranger.

    The boy had heard enough, as the tears rolled from his eyes, he laid there in the carriage pondering his existence. It wasn''t the first time he had heard the story of his supposed birth. Exiting the carriage in tears he walked up to a wall and pushed his shoulder back into place and gave a loud scream as his joint moved back into place. It drew the attention of the merchants who were in a discussion about him and it suddenly went quiet as they stared at him. He began to run back home.

    As he exited Mephisto he began to walk, the distance to and from Mephisto was roughly 10 miles. He lived on the far outskirts of Mephisto which had still fallen within the protective barrier placed by the magic users to stop monsters from entering the city.

    As he stood outside of his home he heard his family laughing, he knocked on the door and entered. The laughter immediately stopped. He stood there staring at the ground and began to speak.

    "I''m sorry mother and father I was unable to bring back food tod-,"

    His sentence was quickly interrupted. His father was a large man, he was roughly 6 foot, had an athletic build, black eyes with black wavy long hair, a fairly decent looking man. Before the boy had realized it his face was searing in pain and he had the urge to puke, his knees trembled and he fell to the ground. His father had slapped him followed with a quick punch to the child''s gut.

    "How many times have I told you, fucking filth shall not address us as father and mother you are not our child, do not ever fucking address us by that or I will end your sorry existence," the man said

    "Joshua, how many times do I have to keep telling you, losing your temper and killing that thing is not worth it," his mother said whilst looking at the boy with a look of scorn and disgust.

    "You''re right Marianne, I should have better self-control," Joshua said.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    Marianne was considered to be a beauty among all people within the city of Mephisto, she was a short woman roughly 5 foot 4 inches, possessed a great body, had blue eyes, juicy lips, and long straight blonde hair. Over the years she had been given the nickname of "Angel Marianne", it came from the belief that her smile was that of a true angel. It was something the boy had never experienced.

    The boy still in pain from the blows he received from his father, still holding his stomach made a terrible mistake, the words flew out of his mouth.

    "I''m sorry for whatever I''ve done fa-,"

    Joshua who''s back was facing the child at that point in time turned around with a face full of enmity.

    "What did I just tell you, take off your tunic!" Joshua ordered the boy.

    The only form of clothing the child possessed was a tunic, which was given to him at the age of 4, it was severely undersized and tattered from all the years.

    As the boy took off his tunic, wounds could be seen from whipping and some of them were still raw and had not finishedhealing. Joshua walked outside into the pig pen and returned with a thick leather whip. An excruciating pain surged through the boy''s body, blow after blow he endured, the boy could not hold it in, he pissed himself, this caused Joshua to snap in the heat of the moment and he did not stop. Marianne intervened and calmed him down, then she turned around and picked up the whip telling the boy to turn around.

    "See what you made Joshua do you fucking piece of shit!" she shouted in a hysterical way as she whipped him.

    After she was finished, the boy laid there on the ground, enduring, as he felt his blood trickling down his back, he heard a giggling sound. It was his siblings, his brother Lucian and his sister Luciana.

    Lucian was the splitting image of the father and Luciana inherited her mother''s eyes, good looks, and her father''s long wavy black hair. They were both the age of 12, 4 years older than the boy.

    They derived some sought of sick pleasure from watching their younger brother suffer. Often they would make the boy go on all four''s to mimic a dog and give him food. It was clear that they didn''t see him as a human being but as an animal.

    As the boy crawled out of the house towards the pig pen he collapsed. He was not allowed inside the house and often slept with the animals. He heard loud laughter and cheers of joy emanating from the house. Knowing he was unwelcome he crept up to the window to overhear and see what was occurring. It was a congratulatory feast for Lucian, there was so much food and he could see that there were gifts for Lucian such as clothes on top the table. Then he heard the parents say that the teachers in the school of magic deemed Lucian to have a great affinity for magic and he would become a great magician one day, one great enough to head the magic school in the late future.

    Seeing this filled the boy with sadness, he limped back to the pig pen and thought about his existence. He had deeply wished that he would have been able to get the privilege to go to school and to be treated equally as Lucian and Luciana. He thought about it deeply, every day he would be sent to the city risking his life to steal food and bring it back for his family to eat their fill and he would be given the scraps. His parents were not poor people, they sold livestock and didn''t require the boy to steal at all yet they made him do it on a daily basis. He cried himself to sleep that night.

    At midnight there was a loud banging on the door of the house, everyone in the household awoke. The boy rushed to the house to see what was happening, only to be met with his parents having a discussion with an unknown man. Joshua told the boy to get out of the house as they were having an important discussion. As the boy patiently stood outside he saw a mysterious caravan with people in it shackled up with 4 guards around it. It was a slave trader.

    As the door opened the stranger emerged pointing at the boy.

    "Take him," the man said.

    The boy did not understand, as he watched through the door he saw his father with a grin on his face. The boy shouted

    "FATHER, WHATS GOING -"

    The boy fell unconscious. One of the guards had struck him on the back of the neck with the hilt of their sword''s.

    "150"

    "200"

    "I''ll give you 300 for him"

    This is what the boy heard causing him to awake. He was in shackles on top of an altar in Mephisto being sold with other slaves. Then a random stranger approached.

    "I''ll give you 600 drachmas for the boy!" the mysterious man said

    The other bidders for the boy went quiet. A slave was worth at most 300 drachmas, yet here was this man willing to spend 600 with no knowledge of the child''s capabilities. It wasn''t worth it for the other bidders.

    "Sold to Cornelius for 600 drachmas, come collect your merchandise," said the auctioneer

    The boy could identify the auctioneer as the strange man who had appeared at his house before.

    Cornelius approached the boy

    Cornelius was a short muscular man, who wore a muscular cuirass made of bronze, gauntlets andlong black pants. He had short scruffy hair, brown eyes and a rigid jawline with thin lips.

    "What is your name and age boy?" he asked

    "I d-d-do not have a name and I am 8 years of age, p-p-please return me back to my family I am sure they can testify to me not being a slave" the boy whimpered

    "A boy with no name, I like that, it''s my strong belief that tools should not have names," Cornelius responded

    "P-P-Please" the boy muttered

    Cornelius choked the boy and lifted him into the air

    "Now listen here boy, as you can see I''ve spent quite a lot of money on you and I have no intention of letting you go. Your life now belongs to me and I can do anything I want with it, however, I see fit, just remember that, I was thinking about what I was planning to do with you, I have decided, you will fight in the pits in all due time to pay your dues!" the man shouted to the boy in an aggressive tone.

    The boy would not see the city of Mephisto for another 11 years.

 Chapter 1: The Pit Of K贸lasi

    11 Years Later.........

    It was the day of his first fight within the pit. A feeling of anxiety ran within his body as he sat in the waiting cell tightening the gauntlets on his arms, he knew this was life and death, in the pit, only one rule existed, kill or be killed. Cornelius approached him with a smile on his face telling him to remember that not only humans are limited to fight in the pit and that if the boy was pitted against a monster that he should keep his composure and think carefully within the fight as it meant life and death. The man''s words calmed the boy down and little by little the feeling of anxiety began to leave his body.

    "Your fight will start soon, just remember Jason and I will be rooting for you," Cornelius told the boy as he left his cell.

    His turn had come and it was time to fight, quickly he put on his cuirass, strapped his sword to his waist and finally put on his helmet. It was a helmet he had received from Cornelius as a gift for his first fight, the helmet resembled that of a Corinthian helmet except the only parts exposed were the eyes and nothing else could be seen. As the gate opens he makes his way into the pit and the gates shut right after. The pit was a relatively big area around 60 meters in diameter enclosed by steel fencing around 40 meters tall with magic imbued into the steel fencing and a dome like barrier covering the top of the pit to prevent monsters and the fighters from escaping.

    There were 3 areas located above the pit made of marble being suspended in the air by magic were rows filled with benches for seating, 2 of these areas were for the general audience, they were located to the left and the right and finally, one area was located in the center, this was for the people of high class and status and they were given the best possible view of the fights being closer to the pit yet still outside the range of the pit''s barrier allowing them to witness the bloodshed up close within safety. There was, however, an alternate purpose to the positioning of these areas, it was specifically designed to make the viewers look down upon the men to give them the feeling that they were better than those fighting within the pit.

    All 3 areas were filled to the max and the cheering and loud screams were almost to the point of being deafening.

    An old man came to the front of the center area facing the crowd and began to shout.

    "Today is a special day as we introduce a new fighter in the Pit, he goes by the nickname ofThe Demons Childand today in his debut match he will be fighting an ogre, so sit back and enjoy the fight!"

    Fighters of the pit were often asked to choose a name to give the announcer before entering the pit but as the boy possessed no name this was the onlything that he could consider to be a name.

    It was the worst possible outcome for his first fight, he was up against a beast which he knew nothing about.

    Emerging from the other end of the pit was a woman in robes and a beast around 4 meters tall, it possessed dark gray skin, an overly sized jaw with 2 huge canine teeth emerging from each end of the mouth, it possessed a big body but the stomach stood out the most it was big and was covered in what looked to be animal fur. So this was an ogre, it was intimidating as it possessed a club in it''s right arm but right now it was docile.The woman had put it under a spell to make it docile and follow her instructions, as she exited through the gate she released the spell. The boy immediately took up a defensive stance with his sword looking at the ogre.

    After a few seconds, the ogre retained its consciousness. The ogre had a confused look on it''s face but the sight of the boy''s sword in his arm just off instinct already told it what was about to happen.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!

    Taking a deep breath, the boy ran towards the ogre, he was fast but not as fast he should have been, the armor added alot of weight, it was a decent tradeoff, speed for defense, all the years of physical training and manual labor he endured came to pass, he was in peak physical prowess.

    The first thing to do was to bring the ogre down was to go for the knees as it stood towering over him with more than twice his height, it should be a simple task, running in a straight line, he immediately changed directions towards the left side of the ogre thus avoiding arm with the club and ran behind. At a blinding speed, he sliced at the back of the kneecap of the ogre..........................it didn''t cut through the thick skin of the ogre, that would cost him.

    It was fast, his eyes couldn''t follow it, the ogre had already turned around and swatted him like a fly, he couldn''t see the arm of the ogre as it made contact. For something of that size to have that kind of speed was impressive but it was no time to be impressed. He rolled about 10 meters on the ground. Attempting to get back up he felt a sharp pain by his ribcage, around 3 of his ribs were broken on the right side of his body. On his knees a feeling of nausea accommodated this pain, and before he knew it he was coughing blood. That kind of power should not have been taken lightly. If he had not been wearing a cuirass the fight would have already been over.

    It was painful just to move but he wasn''t in a position to lie around. The beast charged with it''s club swinging, the arc of the swing would be too great, it would be impossible to dodge at a point blank range. Thinking about it the only logical decision would be to charge at the beast and in the time taken for the beast''s arm to swing the club was to dive in between the beast''s legs thus emerging at its back.

    With the adrenaline pumping throughout his body. He ran toward the beast, as the arm of the ogre fell back to gain momentum for the swing he did a combat roll between the legs emerging facing the back side of the beast. The swing had completely missed, and now the behinds of the kneecaps were exposed. If slicing couldn''t penetrate the skin then how about a piercing attack. Focusing his strength like an archer pulling back a bow, the striations in his muscles began to show, thrusting forward with all the power he could muster, it penetrated the skin but the boy wasn''t finished, with the sword already in place behind the joint of the knee he launched a powerful kick at the hilt of the sword driving the sword through the kneecap emerging from the other side. The ogre gave a loud scream and fell to it''s knees with blood spewing hitting the boy''s helmet. Pulling out the sword quickly, he ran back about 15 meters to put distance between himself and the ogre. It was clearly enraged, it tried to get up but that kneecap was done for and it fell back to it''s knees.

    He had done it, it had brought the ogre to it''s knees. However, it was difficult now to even approach the ogre, it began swinging it''s club like a wild beast in it''s stationary position as a form of defense. He could''ve waited for the opportunity that would present itself when the beast got tired, but it was hard to predict how long it would take for that to occur.

    The previous combat roll, thrust, and kick had taken a lot out of his body and he was borderline on the verge of collapsing. This was it, all or nothing, while the adrenaline was pumping keeping him awake. He quickly loosened the gauntlet on his left arm and placed his sword into his right arm. The speed of the beast''s swings was gradually getting slower. He walked up within 4 meters outside the beast''s range and assumed a standing runners start. Throwing the gauntlet at the beast''s face at a great speed the beast blocked with both arms out of pure instinct. During that time the boy had begun sprinting, as the beast lowered it''s arms to see the position of the enemy, as it caught sight, there he was midair coming straight at it. Using the momentum from the sprint the boy had leapt at the ogre.

    The ogre''s mouth opened wide and made a loud growl in an effort to make the boy lose his composure but it could not deter him. The boy could not miss this chance originally he had planned to go for the eyes but with an opportunity like this.............taking every last ounce of force he could generate and the momentum from the leap he thrusted the sword into it''s mouth. The sword emerged through the back of the beast''s head with blood gushing. It was dead. As the beast''s body fell to the ground, he dismounted himself off the beast and stood there looking at the crowd with the blood dripping from his blade.

    The crowd went wild, they couldn''t contain their excitement.

    "Wowwwwwwwwwwwwwww, what a debut match, I''m sure the crowd is extremely pleased, can we give him an extra round of applause, the Demon''s Child everyone!" said the announcer.

    People began to chant his name. He began to limp towards the exit but the feeling of exhaustion overcame his body. The words being chanted could not reach him.

    His eyes were slowly closing and his vision was becoming blurred, his body hit the floor. He had collapsed on the ground.

 Chapter 2: Calm before the storm

    "Cornelius, Jason, come come, look he''s waking up!" a woman shouted running out of the room.

    Eyes opening slowly and the sound of a woman shouting he thought to himself.

    Where am I and what the fuck is all the noise about?

    He closed his eyes and took a minute then realized it was his room and the woman shouting must have been Susan. Susan was Cornelius''s wife. A relatively tall woman roughly 5 foot 10 inches, busty, hadjet black curly hair, brown eyes, snubbed nose and a great pair of lips.

    He thought about the fight, how he fell unconscious after it was over and how he had managed to reach back here.

    Ah, Cornelius must have taken him after the fight back to his place. After about 10 minutes the family of 3 entered his room. A young boy ran and jumped on top of the bed and began hugging him and crying. He couldn''t help but embrace the young child back. This was Jason. Jason was Cornelius''s and Susan''s child. He was 5 years of age and looked almost exactly like Cornelius with the exception of his lips which he had inherited from his mother''s side.

    "Jason are you okay, I''ve always told you, a man hides his tears you know," he told the child.

    "But I thought you would never wake up and had left me," Jason told him with the tears running out his eyes.

    "It''s okay buddy, I won''t leave you," he told Jason hugging him tighter than before.

    Jason made the boy swear on his life that he''d never leave him.

    "Susan, do you mind if I speak to Cornelius alone?" he asked the woman.

    "Jason,come honey, you should let him have a word with your father," she said nodding at him.

    The little boy ran to his mother and they headed downstairs.

    "Cornelius...........how long was I asleep?" he asked.

    " 4 days, you had 3 broken ribs and a concussion, I had called a healer immediately after I brought you home and she fixed your ribs but you hadn''t woken up, she said it was something mental that''s why you hadn''t woken up and we should just wait," Cornelius stated.

    The room went quiet for around 3 minutes as the boy stared out the window into the pitch black sky.

    "I''ve told you before but you don''t have to live this kind of life, you''re a free man and you''re always welcome here, you don''t have to worry about anything, it''s the least I can do for you after everything and I wouldn''t even want to think about what would happen to Jason if anything ever happened to you," Cornelius said with an extremely serious facial expression.

    The boy began to remember the days when he was Cornelius''s slave 11 years ago. Cornelius was a cruel bastard. He would put the boy through rigorous training with the other slaves and if he faltered in any way he would have been subjected to severe beatings. Although he had suffered harsh treatment from Cornelius, it was one of the happiest periods in his life, it was the first time he had experienced a form of equality. All of Cornelius''s slaves were treated the same way, there was no bias and punishment was always the same no matter the slave. Cornelius had been grooming all of the slaves to fight in the pit at some point in their life. However, around 6 years into the boy''s slavery, everything changed when Cornelius met his wife Susan. Susan wasn''t a big fan of slavery as she hated the thought of being subjugated and gradually Cornelius changed his ways but with the birth of his son that marked the turning point of his life. On that day he freed all the slaves he had in captivity and gave them a sum of money to help them get back on their feet and go back to their homes. He had not wanted Jason to become the type of man that he was and strived to make a difference and become a better man.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    However, the boy had no home to return to and Cornelius offered to allow the boy to live with his new family which he accepted. As the years went by Jason grew extremely fond of the boy, looking up to him as an older brother and would spend as much time possible with the boy as possible forming an attachment to him. Cornelius''s family had become the boy''s own and the boy reciprocated Jason''s feelings by considering Jason as a younger brother.

    Every time Cornelius would look at the boy he would get memories of the past back when he was a cruel man, and he would always offer to take care of the boy for his life as a way of atonement. Cornelius had discovered gold on a piece of his land and opened a mining company as gold was always in demand by various countries and had grown wealthy off this.

    The boy, however, did not wish to be taken cared of. Every day he would wake at the break of dawn and train. He beat the ways of the sword Cornelius had forced upon them back in the day into his head and it was at this point in his life a daily habit. When he would not train, he would head over to assist employees with manual labor in the gold mines.

    It came as a shock when the boy had requested that Cornelius register him in the pit to fight. He told Cornelius that the reason he wanted to fight in the pit was because it would be a waste for all the years of training to go to waste and he believed he could make it and become the best. Although this was the reason he had given Cornelius, the truth was he had been looking for a purpose for his life, at the end of the day he had nothing he could say was his own and knew not what to do with his life, and entered the pit in hopes of finding a meaning for his existence.

    He heard a voice talking to him, ah it was Cornelius asking him a question. He quickly snapped out of the daydream.

    "So you gonna leave the pit?" Cornelius asked

    He took a minute before answering the question.

    "Ah, no, I haven''t found a reason to leave," he responded

    "You know that by living a life like this you can die at any day right!" Cornelius exclaimed.

    "Yes, but my life has no value in this world so it wouldn''t matter in the end," he muttered.

    Cornelius''s face showed great sadness by the boy''s words. There wasn''t really anything he could say that would change his mind.

    The boy got out of his bed and began to stretch.

    "Cornelius..................organize another fight, please, as quickly as possible" the boy said

    Cornelius was shocked, not even a week had passed and he was already prepared to fight again. This was the making of a madman, he thought to himself but the boy''s face showed resolution and that was more than enough to convince him.

    "I understand, I''ll see what I can do but for now let''s go have dinner," Cornelius said as he stared the boy in his eyes.

    Both men headed downstairs, to see what looked like a feast. All sorts of food were arranged on the table in the dining hall. The 4 people seated around the table, it was picturesque just like any other family dinner would be. They talked on and on about the boy''s first fight and how happy they were at the fact that he made it out alive and how thankful everyone should be, this had gone on until about midnight before everyone finally turned in and headed to bed.

    At the break of dawn, the boy woke up and carried out his daily training as he would normally do. His body was working fine with no signs of the injuries he had suffered from the previous fight and Cornelius headed out to business as he would normally.

    Later that evening Cornelius returned bearing news. He had successfully scheduled a fight for the boy for tomorrow. However, the announcer believed that the boy should have been given a heads up as to who he would be fighting. Not all details could be told but all the boy had to know was he was to fight a magician and take the needed measures to prepare. After he told the boy the news he headed to his horse and took a chainmail, a new standard broadsword and a new pair of black leather jeans from his bag and presented it to the boy. After the fight with the ogre, the cuirass he had worn was severe damaged and it would nothave been repaired in time for the fight, so the chainmail would act as a replacement for the time being and the sword and pants were considered as gifts for winning his first fight.

    The boy graciously accepted the gifts and headed to bed early to get a good night''s sleep for the fight as he would need to be in his best shape for the fight against a magician.

 Chapter 3: The Robed Magician

    The ritual which has become embedded into his mind.Waking up at the break of dawn to perform his daily training wearing the newchainmail and wielding the new broadsword he received to get a feel for it and understanding how it would limit his body''s functions regardless of the fact that he has a fight in the next 4 hours.

    He had considered the possibility of the morning training hindering his performance but it made no sense entering a fight with equipment he had no idea of how it would limit his body against a type of opponent he never fought. That thought left an unsettling feeling within his mind throughout the night and it became uneasy to sleep. The restlessness persisted until he began to train and it soon slowly faded away soon after. He performed routine breakfast with Cornelius, Jason, and Susan soon after training was finished with everyone wishing him good luck in the fight today.

    3 hours passed in no time and before he knew it, it was already that time of the day, he had to leave, he quickly took a shower and changed into a long sleevedgrey tunic, with some black pants made of cotton fabric and black leather boots, he placed all his gear into a bag and strapping both swords to his waist, he prepared to descend down the hill.

    Cornelius''s home was a mansion which stood atop a hill giving a beautiful view overseeing the city. K��lasi was a beautiful city, the building styles of this city greatly differed from that of Mephisto. The buildings of Mephisto, were generally made of gleaming marble surfaces which were smooth, curved, furrowed, or opulently sculpted to reflect the sun, cast graded shadows and change in color with the changing light of day and night whilst the buildings here were made of blocks of stone, had a sleek yet elegant design and possessed multiple levels where different people lived within the same building, although it was different from that of Mephisto it was still aesthetically pleasing in his eyes.

    The pit was located in the center of the city ofK��lasi as it was the main attraction of the city bringing people from various lands to come witness the spectacle. As he walked down the hill, he heard Cornelius shouting from behind on his horse

    "I''m heading to the city right now, I''llgive you a drop to the pit!"

    "Thanks, much appreciated" he responded

    The descent down the hill took less than a minute on horseback there was a road at the bottom of the hill, all roads in K��lasi were connected leading to the center of the city and they soon entered the city, making their way through the hustling and bustling of the market street they arrived at the pit.

    "You know now that I think about it, my business isn''t all that important so if you want I can come watch the fight," Cornelius told the boy

    "Thanks but your business still has a higher priority than my fight, no matter what you say," he responded

    "I guess you just don''t want me to watch your fight, huh, well I''ll be with you in spirits, GOOD LUCK," Cornelius said patting him on the back.

    The boy quickly dismounted himself from the horse and began to walk towards the entrance of the pit. People were already lined up by the cashiers to pay to witness the fight.

    As soon as the transaction was completed they were transferred to one of the 3 areas using teleportation magic.

    The fighters were given separate entrances to the pit. There were 2 stairwells descending down into a cell, one on each side of the pit. The waiting cell smelled of piss and shit but it was the area that the fighter had to stay until it was their turn to fight.

    He took off all his clothing, put on a tattered gray shirt, the black leather jeans he had received, black boots, and the chainmail. He thought about putting on the gauntlets he wore from the last match, but they had a decent amount of weight and would slow the speed of his strikes so he chose not to wear them.

    He stared at his helmet for around 30 minutes looking into the eye holes seeing only darkness within. A feeling of unease came upon him whilst waiting for the cell gate to open leading him into the pit. The gate slowly began to open and he quickly put the helmet over his head. Standing behind the gate, the screams of the crowd took away all feelings of unease he had before. He entered the circular ring standing within the steel fencing and soon after his opponent entered from the opposite gate.

    <hr>

    A mysterious figure cloaked in black robes covering the entire body. Not even the hands were exposed as the person wore gloves, the only distinguishable feature was the height of the individual, about 5 foot 9 inches in height.

    "Ladiiieeeeeeessssss and gentlemen, today we have a special fight, we have a new member entering the pit, so a battle of the newbies, The Demon''s Child against the Robed Mage, also today we have some very special guests, KingDwenof Omorfi��and the founder of the pit Ikko, let the fight begin!" the announcer shouted

    From what the boy had heard from Cornelius, it was a common occurrence in the pit, the king and the founder of the pit were good friends and often they would view the fights occurring. As much as he wanted to look up at the center crowd to get a glimpse of the king and the founder, the boy could not take his eyes off the opponent before him. The mysterious figure walked to the center of the ring and raising both arms forward facing his direction and began chanting. He couldn''t understand the words being chanted. He quickly pulled out the new broadsword from the side of his waist.

    Well since you''re putting it out there for me I might as well take you up on the offer

    Holding the sword like that of a spear, he began to perform a short run up and placing his feet firmly in the sand on the ground his body bent slightly and the arm holding the sword falling back he quickly straightened up, swinging his arm releasing the sword. He had aimed for the chest of the individual, but his aim was off falling to the right, it pierced through the individual''s left hand.

    "AHHHHHHHH" the robed mage screamed, whilst pulling the sword out of the left hand and dropped it to the ground and regained composure almost immediately after, continuing to chant.

    The boy was confused, that wasn''t the scream of a man, that voice was feminine. He understood now that it was a woman he was up against. It didn''t matter though, the fact that she came to the pit means she understood what was about to happen, one of them was going to die. He had no intentions of going easy on her.

    He immediately pulled out his other sword quickly grasping it in his left arm. The xiphos had a shorter range than the broadsword so he would need to be in point blank range to land strikes. He began to run towards her in a zig zag motion as a precaution in case she had planned to use any offensive magic. He was directly in front of her and the chanting stopped. He took a big step thrusting the sword when suddenly a ring of flames emerged from around her burning the arm grasping the sword forcing him back.

    He attempted to sprint in the opposite direction away from her trying to cause a gap between them, but before he knew it something had made its way into the right side of his upper back.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    The wound wasn''t deep, he took his arm and felt something cold protruding from his back. It was an ice spike, the chainmail had stopped the shard from causing a severe wound. He quickly pulled the shard out and threw it on the floor.

    Turning around, he clenched his sword even harder than before. Then he felt something slowly run down his back, it was a feeling he hadn''t felt in years. The blood trickling down his back. He began to feel a strange sensation tingling throughout his body.

    It felt fuckin great, it was the first time he experienced a feeling like this, the pain he was experiencing was turning into pleasure. The pain from the burn wounds left his body and an immense feeling of pleasure ran throughout his body, although no one could see it, he was smiling on the inside of his helmet. His arms began fidgeting with excitement as he stared down the woman.

    Then to the shock of the crowd, he took off the chainmail casting it aside to savor the fight even more.

    He had lost track and dazed off from the feeling he was experiencing and didn''t notice that the mage had raised her arm into the air and was conjuring a fireball of massive size. She swung her arm and with that, the fireball came at him at a great speed. Although it was fast, the massive size dragged down the speed, he no longer had any extra weight tying his body down, the chainmail was gone and he was at full speed. Running to the right he narrowly dodged the spell and it collided with the steel fencing seemingly disappearing into nothing, the heat could still be felt within the ring.

    The woman began gasping for breath and he could hear it, a spell of that magnitude must have taken a toll on her, this was his chance. He began running at her but his body suddenly became exhausted, he felt as if he was on the verge of falling asleep mid run.

    He knew now what she had been chanting, it was a sleeping spell. She had probably planned to put him to sleep and finish him quickly.

    This was a tricky situation he was on the verge of collapsing and the woman stood there looking at him, she had regained her breath and was waiting for him to collapse.

    I can''t keep this up, this sleepiness is unbearable, I know now what I gotta do.

    He ran back causing about a 20-meter gap between them. The sound of something cracking could be heard even from the audience. They were puzzled but then they noticed what he had done, he had grabbed his pinkie finger and broken it using his right arm.

    This isn''t enough, this amount of pain isn''t enough to keep me awake.

    Quickly he took off his boots and cast them aside.He placed the sword in his right arm andusing the hilt of his sword he quickly crushed the big toe in his left foot and threw the sword at the woman to buy some time, but it fell short. It was about 5 meters from where she was.

    The pain was unbearable but it kept him awake. The crowd was shocked, and the woman was done playing around, she understood that he would not just sit there quietly and fall unconscious. 5 firebolts encircled her and launched at him one after the other, he dodged them by running to the left in a linear line.He had successfully dodged 2 of the fire bolts but the sleepiness was overtaking him again, that would cost him another finger, he quickly broke his middle finger to maintain the pain level and dodged the other 3. Although it hurt a lot, the adrenaline flowing throughout his body paired with the pain felt great, although it could not be seen, he was trembling with excitement.

    The temperature in the pit was getting higher and higher. The reason for this was the fact that there was a barrier and steel fencing imbued with magical seals stopping the magic from escaping to protect the viewers, thus causing the temperature to rise. from all the fire magic she was using.

    Black leather pants, a gray shirt and a helmet, this was all he was wearing and he was sweating like a pig, his shirt had become drenched in sweat and the heat was slowly but surely getting him more exhausted as the time went by. This time he broke the ring finger in his left arm to keep going.

    If this is happening to me and this is all I''m wearing, I can imagine how bad she must be feeling the effects of this heat.

    Then suddenly, the woman took off the robe, it was a beautiful young woman, fair skinned, green eyes and long wavy red hair with a barrette pulling her hair back reaching around shoulder length. She was covered in silver armor with floral patterning protecting her entire body with only her hands and face being vulnerable to attack and from how her face looked he deduced that she was probably around the same age as him.

    Pointing both arms with palms facing forward in his direction she cast 3 small successive fireballs in a row at a great speed. Diving to the ground he managed to successfully dodge 2 of the fireballsbut one had managed to hit his right leg near the thigh, burning through the pants, the leather had managed to cushion the blow so the burns he suffered were not severe but it was still enough to slow him down. He was in the state where he could no longer run however she had not noticed this.

    The temperature reached to the point where it was unbearable, he could see that she was clearly out of breath and was sweating like crazy, to wear silver armor like that and stay in the heat for that period of time would take a toll on anyone''s body and she was now suffering the repercussions of casting all that fire magic, her armor was heating up and the heat within the armor had no way of escaping causing her to get exhausted quicker than him, her best bet would''ve been to take off the armor to let her body cool off but she could tell that this man had no intention of giving her a chance to do so and she began to chant.

    The helmet he wore was getting heated and began to burn his face, he had no choice, he took off the helmet and tossed it to the ground.

    <hr>

    Although she was chanting, she began to feel bewildered at the sight of his face. What stood before her was a young man with black bushy, messy hair reaching around eye level, dark brown eyes, light brown skin and an oval shaped jawline. It was not what she had expected, she thought that it would have been some older man with a facial deformity however it was a handsome young man who seemed to be around her age. The audience were amazed as they had the same thoughts as her.

    She was chanting and could not stop at this point, she was already halfway through the spell and had no choice but to continue. The boy took off his shirt drenched in sweat and placed it on top of his head and soon after began wiping his body to reduce the temperature, his skin felt as if it was on fire and he could feel the heat emanating from his skin but soon after the burning sensation stopped. It signaled that his body had returned to an acceptable temperature.

    The girl''s face became flustered, the young man was muscular and his veins had begun to show on his muscles due to the heat. He had a certain aesthetic appeal to him. His body was perfectly shaped and had great proportions.

    However, the audience had a look of shock on their face at the sight they saw, his back heavily covered in scars from the whipping he had received in the earlier years of his life. A young man with scars like this, some people began to wonder the kind of torture he had been through prior to this.

    All of the time he had taken wiping his body, he regained his breath and realized he could force his body to run.

    He realized that while the girl had been chanting the first time she was unable to move, it was his chance to seize the opportunity presented before him. He quickly put the shirt back on his body and forced his body to endure the pain being emitted from his leg and began to run towards his xiphos on the ground. As soon as he reached for the hilt of the sword, he felt a chilling air being emitted from the girl and he could see small ice shards being formed in the air.

    Ice magic this time!? Fuck, I don''t have enough time to get that sword, I got no choice but to go for her directly.

    The spell had been cast, and the area immediately got colder, but the ice shards took too long to mature at that point, he was already up in her face, he launched a dropkick forcing her to the ground, he landed on his back and the shards began to fly towards him and he rolled side to side narrowly dodging a few, however he could not roll out of the way of the remaining two coming at him, he blocked one with his left forearm by placing it in front of his chest, it ran straight through the forearm stopping in front of his chest, and the final shard impaled his right shoulder to the ground. He could no longer move.

    It was her win.

    <hr>

    That''s what everyone thought, but then suddenly she began screaming in pain whilst on the floor. She began having muscle spasms occurring throughout her body due to the sudden change of temperatures from extremely hot to cold in her body.

    It was extremely painful and it hurt like hell, the adrenaline pumping in his body had stopped the moment he hit the ground and all the pain he had overridden from the pleasure hit him all at once, he wished to scream so bad but in his eyes if he screamed it would be seen as a sign of weakness, it was just his belief, he had no particular reason for feeling this way, he held it all in and he wondered if this is what being on the verge of death felt like but he knew it wasn''t his time yet to die, he had been through worse.

    Move, move, move, I can''t die from something like this, this is a fuckin dumb way to die.

    He began to slowly shake his shoulder, wiggling his body upwards to leave the iceshard in the ground and get his body out and then he pulled the remaining shard in his forearm out and tossed it aside. The blood was gushing from the wounds. He had to end this as quickly as possible before he would lose too much blood and faint as she laid there on the ground. She was about 3 meters from where he stood, and his broadsword lay there on the ground in front of him. Limping he reached for it with his right arm and slowly made his way in front of her.

    It''s a shame, if she had better combat knowledge she could''ve ended this fight the moment I charged at her when this fight began.

    What she saw was a tall figure towering over her, she knew this was the end of her life, for the first time in her life she felt true fear, the fear of death but there was nothing she could do, her body refused to move.

    "P-Please, I beg of you, I ha-" her sentence was interrupted

    "I''ll make it painless, I promise," he told her with a soft voice staring her in the eyes looking down at her.

    It was the least he could do for her, she made him experience a feeling like no other and it was his form of gratitude.

    <h2 class="font-white"></h2>

 Chapter 4: The Well

    Ahhhhh, it''s over, all that''sleft to do is to end this fight.

    As he stood there looking at her, he began to hear voices coming from the audience.

    "Wait, isn''t that King Dwen''sgranddaughter"

    "Come to think of it, it is her isn''t it"

    "Is he just gonna watch his granddaughter get slaughtered"

    The king''s granddaughter, you''ve got to be fuckin kiddin me.......

    He slowly walked behind of her and put the blade on her throat, so he could get a good view of the king and Ikko without her attempting to interrupt. It was the first time he had seen the king, he was an older gentleman with refined features, he had a long face, with blue eyes, a thin pointed nose, short red hair and he was wearing a robe silver in color, black stockings, and a white shirt beneath the robe and a silver crown with the shape of a triangular prism. He could see that the king was fat from the way his belly rolled while he was sitting. Ikko looked like a true gentleman, he wore a black beretaccompanied by a long-sleeved white shirt and a pair of black pants made of cotton. He was a man of short stature with gray eyes, a square shaped face, and a hooked nose.

    Judging by the king''s facial expressions there was no doubt in his mind that this girl was related to the king, this was no look that a king would give to a mere fighter. The king stood up looking at him with a distressed expression on his face, it seems he had no idea that the robed mage was his granddaughter and was shocked at the event''s occurring.

    It''s my right to kill her, but with the king here.............this could be turning an entire nation against me and this could lead to the death of Cornelius''s family

    The boy had to come up with a way to resolve this matter quickly, he was bleeding out and if he had fainted it would mean a guaranteed death, the girl had something he did not, time. Her spasms could stop any minute and she would be the victor of this fight.

    "IKKO, AS YOU CAN SEE, THIS IS MY VICTORY AND I BELIEVE I HAVE A RIGHT TO DECIDE WHAT HAPPENS TO THIS GIRL''S LIFE AND I WISH FOR HER TO BE SPARED AT MY MERCY" he shouted at the man

    The minute a fighter entered the pit, they were no longer bound by the rules of society, they were bound by Ikko''s sole rule which was, kill or be killed and the boy was taking a big chance by asking for mercy, breaking this rule.

    "I HEAR YOU BOY, BUT YOU MUST UNDERSTAND, THIS IS THE PIT AND ITS KILL OR BE KILLED, THERE WILL BE SEVERE IMPLICATIONS IF YOU INSIST ON MAKING THAT CHOICE" Ikko responded

    Although he was surprised that Ikko was considering breaking the rule for him, he was still hoping that Ikko would''ve seen the situation for what it was and would''ve let him off the hook scratch free for sparing the king''s granddaughter.

    This was the biggest pain in the ass there could be, there was no way he was getting out of this matter unscathed, if he was to kill her it would be going against an entire nation but if he chose not to he would have to face a punishment. The punishment was better than putting Cornelius''s family at risk, he couldn''t afford to lose Jason at this point. This was the least he could do to repay them for their kindness throughout the past years.

    "AND WHAT IS THE PUNISHMENT?" he asked

    "I''VE THOUGHT ABOUT IT, YOU WILL BE SENTENCED TO LIFE INSIDE THE WELL FOR LET''S SAY 1 YEAR" Ikko shouted back.

    He had no idea what the fuck the "well" Ikko was talking about was, but this sounded like the better of 2 bad options. This was a good deal, living one year inside what was called the well was nothing, this was child''s play in the boy''s eyes.

    He was getting dizzy and light headed, it was time to finalize this deal before he fell unconscious.

    "I LEAVE THE GIRL IN YOUR HANDS AND ACCEPT THE PUNISHMENT," he said finalizing the deal.

    "THE DEAL IS DONE WITH EVERYONE HERE IN THE PIT ASMY WITNESSES" Ikko shouted at the crowd with a smile on his face.

    The king''s distressed face soon turned into a calm demeanor. He was relieved, his granddaughter made it out of this ordeal alive.

    "You have had the ultimate luck today girl, you better thank the heavens," the boy whispered to the girl.

    He dropped his sword to the ground, the last thing he could see was men in black robes coming for him through the gates before he fainted.

    <hr>

    The gleaming moonlight with the sound of crickets chirping gave a signal to his body to wake up.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    Ahhh, where am I

    He tried to move his arms but heard the sound of something clanking, it was shackles.Taking a second to observe his body, all of his wounds had healed up, his assumption was that it was done by a healer, his clothes he wore in the fight had been taken from him and he was wearing a long tattered brown tunic with both his arms and legs were shackled with chains running from a wall.

    He stood up and observed his surroundings, it was dark with the moon being his only source of light and from what he could estimate, he was around 30 meters underground. He quickly walked to check the range of the chains binding him, they extended roughly 2 meters in length. It was too dark for him to make any other deductions, he decided that it would be best for him to go to sleep and make a better assessment of the situation in the morning.

    He laid down on the moist sand, it was strangely pleasant and felt cool, he fell asleep soon after.

    Throughout the night he was restless, it was extremely cold later on in the night and he had no source of heat to keep himself warm and kept twisting and turning all night on the ground.

    Is it raining?

    He felt droplets hitting his face accompanied by heat and light. The dripping had stopped. Opening his eyes and looking up, it wasn''t rain, some fuckin guard was taking a piss on top of him from atop the well. He could hear the guard laughing and it was infuriating, but he wasn''t in a position to do anything and the guard walked away as if nothing had happened.

    Who would''ve thought, the "well" was an actual well, to his surprise. The well was around 10 meters in diameter and was dried up with no traces of water. The walls were made of a stone lining ascending to his estimate of 30 meters.

    He had no idea of what time it was, all he could tell was that it was day, it was the first time in years that he had not trained in the morning due to the circumstances. It made him feel on edge, the morning training was not just for sharpening his skills, it was a form of keeping his emotions in check and slowly but surely he was getting angrier as the day went by.

    A couple hours passed and then 2 guards came with a leather bucket, they tied it to a rope and slowly lowered the bucket, in the bucket had a small cup filled with water, a small piece of bread and some dried fish.

    "This is your meal for the day!" one of the guards shouted into the well.

    There was no need to shout inside the well as the sound echoed but the guards were doing it for the fun of it as it would be borderline deafening for the boy.

    He quickly ate his meal, placed the empty cup in the bucket and the guards took back the bucket.Soon after a figure made its way near the guards. It was Ikko.

    "Kid, you got balls calling me out like that in the pit you know, if it had not been in that event, I would''ve taken your head regardless of the outcome of the fight, but thanks to you a crisis has been averted," Ikko said with a condescending tone.

    "So what''s the plan, I just have to stay here for a year right" the boy responded

    "It sounds simple, but you''ll understand soon enough, this well is like hell, but listen, I want to thank you, if you had killed that girl, there was no doubt in my mind that Dwen would''ve called his troops and destroyedK��lasi, he''s an irrational man, you made the right choice and saved us all" Ikko said

    "Well since I made the right choice, how about you let me outta here?" the boy responded with a smirk on his face

    "You''re a funny one but I''m sorry, I can''t do that, you see I have to set an example for the people and the fighters, you were given special leeway by only being put in here for 1 year, if it was anyone else it would have been for life or even death, also, don''t bother screaming for help or anything like that, this well is located in a position where only I and a few people know of, no one''s gonna free you till your times up" Ikko replied.

    "I understand, and the girl?" he asked

    "She''s with her grandfather, they''re scheduled to leave tomorrow," Ikko replied

    "Ah, ok" he responded after a delay

    "Well, that''s it, its time for me to take my leave, see you in a year," Ikko said with a smile on his face.

    Ikko walked off after that without even batting an eye.

    <hr>

    More time passed and the sun had reached its peak for the day. The well was so heated it was unbearable and there was nothing he could do. He sat against the wall and closed his eyes and began to think about random things to distract himself.

    All of a sudden, he felt a shadow over him. When he looked up, he couldn''t believe it. It was the fuckin girl from the pit, she was the last person he wished to see and there she stood at the top of the well looking down at him.

    He couldn''t help but stare at her and before he knew it she had begun to speak to him.

    "I''m sorry for the way thing''s turned ou-"

    "Shut the fuck up and get out of my sight I don''t want your pity"

    Her sentence was quickly abrupted by the boy.

    However, despite what he said, she felt as if she had an obligation to the boy and owed him some form of apology.

    "It''s all my fault and I''m truly sorry, I had no intention for this to happen and if I can I would like to make it up to you"

    She stood there staring at him.She could sense his anger, he had a right to be mad, he had won the fight and he was the one suffering. His mind became filled with anger at the thought of her pitying him.

    A spoiled little brat who thinks other people''s lives are a fuckin gamehuh,you can do whatever the fuck you wanna do and have no consequences to pay for your actions, if you wanna make it up to me how about we switch places Little Ms. Princess, but your grandpa won''t be happy if you do that so don''t talk about making it up to me, go back to your little castle and stay there

    He was borderline on the verge of speaking his mind, but he refrained from doing so.

    "Please, shut the fuck up your royal pain in the ass, you''d better thank god for your blood, it''s the only reason you''re alive," he said with a condescending tone.

    She began to cry at his words and her tears began to fall down into the well hitting him on the face. It struck a nerve, he couldn''t hold it in anymore.

    "Are you fuckin kiddin me, you''re crying? What reason do you have to cry? Can''t handle the truth?I''m sure you''ve had an easy life up to now, but spoon fed children should keep themselves out of this kind of world. I beg of you, get out of my sight, you''re taking away my wall staring time" he said with a sarcastic tone.

    She had no say in the matter anymore, she could tell he had no intention of carrying out this conversation anymore and any further words would further infuriate him. She walked off crying.

    After around an hour later he began to rethink the conversation between the girl and him. The sheer thought of her pitying him and then having the audacity to cry for no reason pissed him off. He had to release his anger in some way, he got up and faced the wall and began punching it with all his might regardless of the pain.

    "You know if you keep punching the wall like that I''ll have to heal you again which is a rather big pain in my ass you know," a man said sarcastically looking into the well.

    "And you are?" the boy stared at the man with eyes filled with rage.

    "I''m the one who healed you obviously, My name is Rex"

 Chapter 5: Rex

    Rex was a tall man borderline 6 foot 3 inches, he had brown hair, with light brown eyes accentuating his face and he was rather fair skinned and off a base assumption, he looked as if he was in his mid 20''s. He was wearing a gray jacket, with a white shirt under, black jeans and some black boots.

    Judging the man from the way he spoke before and staring at him assessing his looks, one thought came to his mind

    Rex..............he looks and sounds like an asshole

    He was still angry at the thought of the girl and needed a way to vent his anger and there this man was.

    "So enlighten me, Mr. Rex, to what do I owe the pleasure of your unwanted visit?" he said with a half-smile on his face.

    "Ohhhhh, seems we got a smartass over here huh, at leastshow some gratitude to the man that saved your life," Rex said with a serious demeanor

    He was right, he shouldn''t have addressed the man who saved his life in that manner and his sarcastic grin faded away and his face became serious.

    "I''m sorr-"

    "Don''t get so serious all of a sudden, I was just fuckin with ya"

    He was just fuckin with me?Fuckin with me............I really don''t like him, but for now I''ll have to hear him out.

    "So I''ll ask again, why areyou here?

    "I just wished to see how my patient was doing, your fight was really a spectacle, for someone who isn''t able to use magic, you can''t use magic whatsoever can you?"

    This isn''t any of his business but I''ll humor him.

    "To be honest, I''ve never tried to use magic so I''m unsure if I can"

    "Makes sense, maybe that''sone of the reasons why you lost the fight...."

    "But I didn''t lose the fig-"

    "You''re wrong kiddo, the minute you chose not to kill her you lost the fight, and this is your punishment for that"

    The boy lost his composure at those words and began to grin.

    "You intentionally trying to piss me off cunt?"

    "I see you know some big words there boy"

    "You''ll learn some more if you keep talking like that"

    "Well then..................."

    "I''ll ask again, what''s your real reason for being here"

    "Can''t fool you huh, I''ve been assigned to watch over you for the year"

    He really didn''t like Rex.

    "Ahhhhhh, so you''re Ikko''s bitch huh" the boy stated.

    "I''ll have you know, I''m not a guard or Ikko''s "bitch", I was inK��lasi on business, and thought I would watch a fight in the pit, but then you made that dumbass deal with your pathetic ass and Ikko hired me that moment, I''m a mercenary who hails from the Thir��o association" Rex stated with a calm demeanor

    "Still a bitch in my opinion"

    "You little motherf-"

    "Oooooo sorry, did I hit a nerve?"

    "I''ll let it slide, but how about we get along for the year before I kill you before you get free"

    "Do whatever you want"

    Rex soon walked away after that, and did not return until the next day.

    The boy understood what Ikko meant when he said this place was hell, the extreme temperatures in the well accompanied by the lack of food and water and being bound with no significant range of movement. With all of those things combined, this place was hell on earth.

    Time felt as it was moving slower and slower each day and a week in the well felt like that of a month. Rex would come each day and deliver the food and just sit atop the well without muttering a single word, staring at the boy until the day would end. It was slightly creepy, but the boy understood that he was doing his job and in the end, he was a prisoner after all.

    <hr>

    It was the afternoon of the last day of the second week in the well and he couldn''t stand it anymore, but it was his decision and he had to live by the choice he made.

    He needed to find some way to pass the time and since Rex was always there, he decided it would be best to talk his way into passing the time.

    "Yo man, I''m sorry about before"

    Rex stared at him for a delayed period of time and then began to speak.

    "Damn, was it so hard to apologize, first time I''ve given the silent treatment to someone that long, everything''s water under the bridge now man" with a big ass smile on his face.

    Silent treatment?Is he for real?

    "So can I ask you a question?"

    "Sure"

    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    "You said that you were a mercenary right, so that means you travel around the world right?"

    "Yea, I do as the job dictates"

    "How is the world outsideK��lasi and Mephisto?"

    "You''ve never been outside those 2 places?"

    "No"

    "Forgive me, but I''ve forgotten to ask an important question. what''s your name boy?"

    "I never received one"

    "What do you mean you never received one, I''m sure your parents gave you one?"

    "No, they didn''t, I was an outcast even to them and they sold me to a slave trader and here I am"

    "I''m sorry to hear that, forgive me for asking this too, but those scars on your ba-"

    "They''re from my parents"

    The atmosphere around them became tense and an air of sadness could be felt from the boy.

    From his parents he says, he probably never even had a childhood to begin with.

    Rex stared up at the sun and the birds flying and then returned to the conversation. The thought of a child''s own parent''s doing something like that made him sad.

    "Well back to the question you asked me before, the world is huge, filled with monsters of all sorts and huge beautiful kingdoms and people. If you''ve only been to Mephisto and K��lasi the world will shock you, places like this are but a speck in the world"

    "Ah ok................ thank you but I hope I''m not bothering you or anything by asking you things"

    "Nah, it really isn''t a problem, it''s better than staring at you all day anyways"

    Before he knew it, it was time for Rex to go.

    "I have to go now, but I''ve decided, starting from tomorrow I''ll teach you about things of the world," Rex stated whilst walking away.

    <hr>

    Before he knew it, 2 months had passed since that day, Rex came every single day and informed him about various things happening in the world and told him stories of monsters, kings, the rise and fall of various empires and of adventures he had been on.

    He was slightly elated, outside of Jason''s family, he had acquaintances, but not any friends. Rex wasn''t obligated to speak to him yet he still chose to. When he spoke to Rex he felt oddly calm and they developed a special bond over time similar to that of brothers.

    They would bicker and fight on a daily basis like any other siblings.

    Rex even offered to free the boy and let him escape, but he refused the offer as he said he was a man who stood by his word, it was something that was to be respected.

    The boy told Rex everything that had happened in his life until this point and Rex was genuinely shocked but was also glad at the way event''s transpired leading to the boy having a home to return to, although he wished to show the boy sympathy, he could tell the boy wasn''t the kind to take it as any normal person would and would most likely get angry over it.

    <hr>

    One day Rex sat at the top of the well with the boy sitting at the bottom, both men staring into the clear blue sky with clouds moving, it was serene and although they didn''t speak, the day passed by quickly and evening soon approached. Maybe the boy hadn''t noticed it, but Rex was staying longer and longer each day at the well.

    Then Rex broke the silence.

    "You know you remind me alot of myself in my earlier years, we both experienced great tragedies, I''ve never told anyone this but when I was younger, my family was slaughtered and I witnessed it all hiding behind a tree in the woods, then a stranger saved me and took me in, he thought that I should''ve been given a fresh start and with that he gave me this name, my original name was Gudrun Hilde but I stopped using it so many years ago, when I became a new man"

    "Thanks for telling me, I had no idea you had been through something like that"

    "I just feel comfortable around you, I believe you should be given a fresh start and explore the world just like how I was given a chance "

    "I would like to do that, but I have a place to return to after I''m done serving my time in here"

    "You''re right about that, but that place isn''t going anywhere, so it would be a good idea to take a journey, you never know, you might find a purpose and something you love doing"

    Cornelius often told me that he would support me in anything I wished, it may not be a bad idea to take a journey.

    "You''re right Rex, I feel I might just do that"

    Rex went dead silent for a moment.

    "Just as how I have been given this name to signal the birth of a new man, when your time in this shithole is over, I''ll pass it to you as my legacy"

    "What are you saying Rex"

    "I think it was about time I retired from this kind of life"

    "You''re only in your 20''s though, well from what I assume"

    "20''s.....................if only...................HAHAHAHA" he said with a laughter with a subtle hint of sadness which could be seen in his eyes.

    What did he mean by "if only"

    "Come to think of it, how old are you boy?"

    "19"

    "Wow you''re 19, you''re an old man, it would explain why you''re so salty all the time," Rex said joking

    "Shut the fuck up you bastard" the boy responded laughing.

    "You know in the tribe I was from in my village, when we turned 18, we were given tattoos to signal our ascension from boy to man"

    "Tattoo?"

    "You don''t know what a tattoo is huh, well in the world you rarely see them, majority of people who have them come from a tribe, it''s basically a symbol or words embedded into the skin"

    "Ah, that''s pretty cool"

    "Since you''ve made that ascension, if you want, I can do some for you, they might not be tribal though"

    "Really? well if it''s not a problem for you, I don''t have a problem"

    What Rex failed to mention, was that tattoos hurt like a bitch.

    "I''ll be back in a little," he said as he walked away

    <hr>

    After around an hour, he returned. He took a piece of rope, tied it to a tree and descended down the well.

    He pulled out a small sachet and water bottle he had tied around his waist and took out a small little bowl, a piece of charcoal, a pomelo thorn, a bamboo stick, a knife and a small piece of wood from the sachet.

    "Ok, so now that I think about it, I can''t do any tribal symbols all that well, but I can do wording pretty well"

    "Ah ok I guess it isn''t really a problem, so what do I have to do now?"

    "Show me the right side of your chest and the inner part of your right arm"

    Rex began to crush the charcoal and mixed it with some water into the bowl.

    After he was done mixing, he took a piece of cloth and wet it with some water and wiped the areas thoroughly to ensure they were clean.

    Using the knife, he bore a hole into the bamboo stick and placed the pomelo thorn into the groove.

    "I forgot to tell you, it''ll pain a bit but just endure it" Rex stated with a slight grin on his face.

    "Ok" the boy responded

    He carefully positioned himself by the boy and began to work starting from the right side of the chest to the left. He hit the bamboo stick using the wooden stick with enough force for the pomelo thorn to penetrate the dermis of the skin and repeated the action.

    "The pain is similar to that of a wasp''s sting," the boy said.

    "Ah yea" Rex responded

    After around 20 minutes, he was finished with the first tattoo on the boy''s chest, it extended around 4 inches on the upper part of the right side of his chest and it read the words "Deum Interficientis".

    The tattoo was a consistent source of pain and could be seen on his face a little bit.

    He soon began to work on the second tattoo on the inner part of the boy''s right arm.

    This time he took around 40 minutes and he was done. This one, however, was not readable to the boy.

    Thank god we''re done now, but I don''t understand this one.

    On his arm was marked " �̦Ŧæ��˦�?�� �Ҧ� ?�˦� �Ӧ�? �Ӧ� �̦Ŧæ��˦�?��".

    "What is this one?" the boy asked

    "It''s from a language long forgotten, it''s pronounced "megale��o se ��lo tis to megale��o", these 2 tattoos are one of my gifts to you and they will be with you forever" Rex replied

    The boy did not even question what these words meant, it was a gift from a friend and that was all he needed to know.

    "Thanks alot Rex" the boy said with a look of gratitude on his face

    "It''s no problem, but I gotta get going" Rex responded smiling big.

    After he was finished packing up his utensils, he climbed back up the rope and just stared at the boy upon his ascension to the top of the well.

    "I''ll be gone for the next 2 weeks, I have some matters to attend to, sorry for leaving you hanging like this"

    "You know you don''t have to tell me if you don''t want to, you''re not obligated to tell me everything you''re gonna do you know"

    "Yea but I don''t wanna be an asshole right now, so I just thought I would give you a heads up, after all you are my bitch and all" Rex said laughingly

    "Dumbass"

    "Moron"

    "Fucktard"

    "That''s enough, I gotta get going, see you in 2 weeks"

 Chapter 6: New Prisoner

    2 weeks felt like that of 2 years, at the end of that 2 week period waiting for Rex the boy felt as if he had significantly aged.

    Now that he thought about it, his once body looked nothing like it was before he entered the well, his once gleaming physique was slowly drifting away and his muscles were atrophying.

    His body was a shadow of its former self, it was due to the lack of food and the minusculeamount of water he was receiving.

    He never really complained about the amount of food he had received to Rex because at one point in his life he endured days without food, so this never really affected his state of mind that much.

    With Rex gone, he began to think about the food he would eat when he came out of the well and being able to see his family again. It took him awhile to see it, but Cornelius''s family was his own, he had always felt like an outsider amongst them, but when he thought about it deeply, he realized that they were his family and the thought of that kept him going.

    Damn, I really am dumb, If only I had noticed it earlier hahahaha

    Deep down in his mind, he was desperately searching for the family he never had but to his amusement, it was always there right in front of him. Aside from Cornelius''s family, Rex was the closest thing he could consider to be family and the thought of him gone made the boy sad.

    He laid there on the ground staring at the sky midday and before he even realized it, Rex was there standing above, towering over him like that of a mountain.

    "Ahhh, I see you''re back," the boy said, deep down he was happy, but his face gave no hints of it as he put on a serious demeanor.

    "Wayyy, I thought you would''ve been happier to see me but I guess I was wrong" Rex responded laughing.

    "So how was business?" the boy asked

    "I got through with what I had to do, so everything will be okay now" Rex responded with a calm demeanor averting his eyes from the boy.

    "Ah, that''sgood to hear" the boy responded.

    "So what did you do, whilst I was gone?" Rex asked

    "Are you kidding me, what can I do hahahaha" the boy said laughing whilst shaking his arms with the shackles.

    "Hahahaha, I don''t even know why I asked that question" Rex responded chuckling.

    Things went silent after Rex said those words and the man could be seen pondering something deep in thought.

    "I''m sorry, but I gotta leave now, sorry now that I think about it, there''s something I need to do, tomorrow we''ll talk," Rex said running off.

    "Wh-" Rex was gone and it made no sense for the boy to even finish speaking.

    The boy spent the remainder of his day looking up at the sky, it was dead silent but the sound of birds chirping could be heard from a distance, it was oddly soothing and the day passed by and before he knew it he was staring at the starry sky in the night. It was time to sleep and another day was over.

    <hr>

    *Clank Clank

    He could hear something like chains being knocked into the wall, but he thought he was just hearing things and paid no heed and didn''t bother to even open his eyes to see what was happening.

    "Yo man, you good?" a mysterious voice asked

    I could''ve sworn I just heard someone speak.

    He kept his eyes shut thinking he was just hearing things, he was the only person in the well.

    "Are you ignoring me dumbass?" the mysterious voice asked

    What the fuck?

    "Who the fuck just called me a dumbass?" the boy got up with his fists readied prepared to fight.

    "It''s good to see you were taking a beauty nap and all," the voice said mockingly

    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    "Rex?" the boy asked

    There he was, shackled on the opposite wall in the well just like the boy.

    "It took you awhile to realize" Rex responded

    "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE?" the boy asked shouting at the man, losing his composure

    "Calm down, I''m right in front of you, you know, no need to shout, seems we''re roommates now buddy," the man said laughing

    The boy took a second to get his thoughts in order and slapped himself in the face to ensure he wasn''t dreaming.

    "Explain," the boy said, regaining his composure

    "I ain''t really in the mood, I''ll explain it in the morning, lets just go to sleep" the man said as he began to lay on the ground and sleep

    "So you woke me up, to basically tell me to go back to sleep, you stupid motherfucker" the boy was angry at the man for waking him up.

    Rex didn''t respond and it seemed as if he had fallen asleep. That was impressive, in less than a minute this man had fallen asleep.

    It''s not as if he''s going anywhere, I''ll hear him out in the morning.

    The boy went to sleep that night with a feeling of unease.

    <hr>

    That night passed in the blink of an eye.

    When the boy awoke he saw Rex across the room, with his back against the wall staring at the sky.

    "Time to talk Rex" the boy said

    "Ah, you''re awake, yea, guess it''s that time" the man responded.

    "So what happened?" the boy asked.

    "To summarize what happened yesterday, basically, I got drunk, went into the pit in the middle of a fight, broke all the barriers and threatened to kill Ikko and then I begged for mercy after I realized what I had done" the man responded laughing

    "You''re kidding right?" the boy asked with a serious look on his face.

    "If only......hahaha" Rex responded

    "You broke the barrier? I thought you could only was healing magic" the boy inquired

    "The fuck, you thought wrong bitch, that''s slightly insulting to yours truly, it''s my fault, after all, I didn''t tell you before but still, to assume that''s all I could do........but I''ll forgive you for it, after all, I am anangelik��s tier mage" the man responded

    "Angelik��s tier mage?" the boy asked

    "Oh yea, I never taught you about magic tiers, depending on your capacity as a mage, you''re placed into different tiers which determine your strength as a mage, simply to put, it goes like this in order of rankingvasik��s, thnit��s, kt��nos, t��ras, angelik��s and finallythe��s tier being the highest" Rex stated

    "And you''reangelik��s?" the boy inquired with a look of disbelief on his face

    "Yea" Rex stated

    "Hahahaha, who''re you trying to fool" the boy said grinning

    "I''m not kidding" Rex responded with a serious expression

    "So that means you can leave here anytime you want right?" the boy inquired

    "No, you''ve never noticed it since you can''t use magic, but these shackles are made of a metal calledapokroustikoswhich stops magic from entering the body and being stored as mana, so right now I''m incapable of using any form of magic" Rex responded calmly

    "Seems we really are roommates then"

    "Looks so"

    "So how long are you supposed to stay here?"

    "I don''t know, I fell asleep at the most important part of the conversation with Ikko hahaha"

    "I thought I was dumb, but you''re in a whole other class"

    "Maybe.....hahaha"

    The atmosphere went silent soon after and they both just stared at the sky until two new guards came and provided them with food.

    It was the same food as usual, a small piece of bread, a piece of dried fish and some water.

    Rex finished his food in an instant while the boy was still eating his piece of bread when he heard Rex''s stomach growling.

    "You still hungry?" the boy asked

    "Yea, this is the first time I''ve eaten this little amount of food before" Rex responded

    "You can have my piece of fish, I can make do with the bread alone," the boy said throwing the piece of fish at Rex.

    "Ah, thanks," Rex said with a look of gratitude on his face.

    They finished eating shortly after and put the empty bowls which were filled with water into a leather basket which the guards pulled up shortly after.

    As the day went by, Rex began to experience the temperatures of the well and he wasn''t able to cope properly, up until now, the life he had lived was one where he had gotten everything he wanted and had never dealt with a situation life this.

    It didn''t stop Rex though, he still kept telling tales of his adventures to the boy as a way to pass time and began describing monsters to inform him if he ever went traveling.

    The day passed by quickly as both men spoke to each other.

    Rex spent the night miserably, the boy could hear him twisting and turning and his stomach growling from across the room.

    <hr>

    Days and months passed by andRex grew a newfound respect for the boy for living through these conditions for months, if it was him, he would''ve taken up the offer to escape the well and leave.

    Every day the boy would only eat a piece of bread and drink the water he was given, he would give Rex the piece of fish so that the man would not suffer as much from starvation although the boy was suffering from starvation himself.

    In the months that passed by, the boy gained great theoretical knowledge about magic and the world from Rex.

    The bond they had before deepened and they became best friends and they considered each other to be brothers.

    It was a new day and there was something new to be learned from Rex as usual.

    "Today, I''ll teach you about the types and levels of magic," Rex said

    "Types and levels of magic?" the boy asked

    "Yea, there are different levels of magic that can be used depending on your mana pool and capacity they follow the same ranking system as that of the mage tiers and require various criteria to be met along with a deep understanding of how it is to be cast, als-"

    *BOOM a loud explosion could be heard happening outside of the well interrupting his speech.

    More explosions followed shortly after

    *BOOM

    *BOOM

    "What''s going on?!" the boy exclaimed

    "This wasn''t supposed to happen until another 3 months.........." Rex muttered to himself

 Chapter 7: Restitution

    "I HAVE TO LEAVE HERE NOW REX, I HAVE TO GO TO MY FAMILY" the boy shouted at Rex

    "Calm down, it could be nothing, let''s just wait a moment before you jump to conclusions" Rex responded

    The earth began to tremble beneath their feet. The vibrations were getting stronger and stronger and the sand at their feet could be seen shaking. A sound could be heard as if something was trampling the earth, like that of an army running on a plain of land.

    "Ok, maybe I was wrong maybe it isn''t nothing," Rex said

    "Let''s find a way to get out of here now" the boy said with a look ofdetermination on his face.

    "As I said before, these shackles are made of -"

    "I know, but still, we have to get out" the boy interjected

    "You really are stubborn, even if we do get out, we''re still 4 miles off the eastern border ofK��lasi, we won''t make it anytime soon, we should just wait here until someone comes to help" Rex said

    "Wait for help? Who knows if help will even come and even if it does, it might be too late" the boy said angrily

    "You''re being really persistent on leaving right now when you know the situation we''re in, we''re in no position to leave, we have to wait" Rex implored

    " You''re right, we have to hope the cavalry comes in" the boy said depressingly

    The boy was getting impatient as he sat on the ground and more explosions could be heard getting louder and louder.

    "Yo, even if you leave here now, what can you do?" Rex asked

    "I''ll -"

    "Let me answer that question for you, the answer is nothing, in the state you''re in, you wouldn''t even be able to fight an unarmed man, you''ve grown weak in your time in the well" Rex said seriously.

    "It doesn''t matter, I still have to try to reach them no matter what" the boy responded

    The boy had a look about him, his decision was unwavering, no matter what Rex was going to say it wasn''t going to change the boy''s mind.

    "Listen, I need to have a serious talk with you right now"

    "Now of all times Rex?"

    "You aren''t going anywhere for awhile, you might as well listen, to be frank, I don''t give a fuck about your family, all I care about is you being safe right now"

    "Rex.......I understand what it is you''re trying to say, but no matter what I have to reach them, regardless of my life"

    "You seem to be resolute in this.............I had no intention of doing this at this point time as I wished to spend more time with you but because you''re so insistent on it, you leave me no choice"Stolen novel; please report.

    "What are you saying Rex...."

    "My initial plan was to pass on all of my knowledge to you and then leave but the way things are going, chances are when you leave here, you''re going to go to the city and probably die like a dog even with people supporting you as they won''t be able to protect you all the time and if I follow, I may also die without the restitution of what''s yours and I can''t allow that to happen, whilst I could just put you to sleep and take you away, you''d hate me for the rest of your life and I wouldn''t be able to bear that"

    The room went dead silent and Rex''s eyes could be seen getting red and teary.

    "In our mind''s, we always think and plan things out, and it always seems easy, but when the time comes for us to carry out those thoughts, it sometimes is the most difficult thing in the world," Rex said as he began to cry

    "What are you talking about?" the boy inquired

    "I''m sorry for everything that has happened and for what''s about to happen, forgive me......."

    "What do you mean?"

    "You don''t need to know now, but I hope when the time comes you''ll forgive me for putting this burden on you"

    Rex lifted his arms and without a single effort, the shackles on his arms broke and he then stood up and broke off the remaining shackles on his legs.

    The boy stood up staring at Rex.

    "Rex, what''s the meaning of this?" the boy implored

    He gave no response and slowly walked towards the boy crying.

    The tears stopped as he stood in front of the boy face to face.

    "You gave me a life, which I could only dream of and I won''t lie, when I heard that you had come back it was one of the happiest moments in my life but when I heard about the state you were in and what you had been through, I cried for days at the thought of what you had been through" Rex said and an air of melancholy could be felt surrounding Rex by the boy.

    Rex hugged the boy tightly and whispered into the boy''s ear "Forgive me"

    Using one of his nails, Rex dug into the boy''s left arm and took some of the blood and placed some unto his lips and then he ingested some and then stepped away from the boy.

    "Hoc est de sanguine originis et successori" Rex chanted over and over

    A dark red aura could be seen forming around Rex''s body.

    "The first part of the ritual is complete" Rex said

    "WHAT''S GOING ON!?" the boy yelled at the top of his lungs

    Rex reapproached the boy and tore off the shackles binding him.

    "This is the part I was begging you for forgiveness for, do you forgive me?" Rex asked and began crying again.

    "Forgive you for what Rex?", the boy asked

    Rex gave no response and just stared at the boy

    "ANSWER ME" the boy shouted at Rex

    The man''s tear''s stopped again.

    "Everything, I wished that you would''ve been able to live a happy life with me, but thats not possible, that was just my selfishness, you have to settle matters this time, I wish I could explain the situation to you but we don''t have the time, the cavalry will be here soon. With this, I''ve given you everything that should''ve been yours to begin with, Rex" the man said with a depressing tone.

    The man began chanting.

    "Libertas non est tua. Flectere ad mea omnis voluntas et actio. Obedire, et flexis ad subjugator (Freedom is not your own. Bend to my every will and action. Obey, and kneel to the subjugator.) I command you to devour my heart, without stopping at any point in time, now come" Rex said in a soft tone.

    The boy had no control over his body. His legs were moving on their own, walking towards Rex.

    I can''t stop moving

    He was trying his best to stop his feet from moving, but it was to no avail.

    "STOP THIS REX" the boy shouted repeatedly

    "I''m sorry but you''ll understand in time, I want you to know, that no matter what happens after this, I will always be at your side," Rex said with a look of sadness

    The scent of the man''s body could be smelt from the boy, it was that of fish. His body reeked of that odor, but before he knew it he had already torn the man''s tunic exposing the chest and was biting into him. Tears couldn''t stop themselves from falling from the boy''s eyes as he took the first bite and Rex began hugging him and patting him on the head as the boy began to devour his body.

    "Don''t be sad,f........."

    The words could not make its way to the boy.

    It was like good, fully developed veal, not young, but not yet beef. It was very definitely like that, and it was not like any other meat he had ever tasted... It was mild, good meat with no other sharply defined or highly characteristic taste such as for instance, goat, high game, and pork have.

    Before he knew it, he had already consumed Rex''s heart and the man laid there dead on the ground and the aura that surrounded him was gone.

 Chapter 8: Aftermath of an Invasion

    The metallic taste of blood in his mouth, his face covered in blood and his tunic blood soaked. He finally came to his senses and the spell which bound him was broken.

    "What have I done................" he said with his voice trembling.

    A surge of emotions began to run through the boy, his heart felt as if it had been shattered, and a deep feeling in his gut emerged with no intention of going away..........it was guilt.

    His mind felt as if it was slowly falling apart, it was like a teacup as if it had fallen and hit the ground and one of the broken pieces was lost. A piece of his mind was gone and even if it was put back together it would never be the same again.

    He began to cover his face with both arms and began pulling his hair, and then he looked down at the body.

    Tears fell from his eyes and he began to embrace the man''s dead body with his tears hitting the lifeless body.

    Soon after he began to cradle the body like that of a father holding his newborn child, he had no idea why he was doing it, but it felt right.

    Thinking about what Rex had done, he had no idea why Rex did what he did, but all he knew was that the man had no intention of harming him, and felt no sense of hatred towards the man for his actions, just a deep sense of sadness.

    It was the first time he had killed a human being and the worst part about it was the fact that he considered this man to be his best friend and brother.

    No matter what he could do, Rex wasn''t coming back, he was gone and the boy was the cause of that.

    He sat there with the dead body staring at it for around 20 minutes and his eyes which were filled with grief turned lifeless, he was in a trance.

    <hr>

    "REX...................REX..............REX WHERE ARE YOU, SHOUT SO WE CAN FIND YOU" a woman shouted over and over, it could be heard by the boy.

    He gave no response to the call and remained there embracing the body.

    Tears began hitting the boy''s head from above. Breaking his trance he looked up, he saw a woman standing there crying at the top of the well.

    She had hazel hair tied in a ponytail reaching around shoulder length, eyes blue like the sky and a round face.Her body was covered partially with black leather and a dagger and sword could be seen strapped to her waist.

    She noticed the boy''s mouth drenched in blood and him embracing the man. and she had a look of shock on her face.

    "YOU FUCKING BASTARD, WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM" she shouted at the boy crying.

    His mind was blank and even if he wished to respond he couldn''t. His voice felt as if it was gone.

    It took her awhile and then she gradually stopped crying.

    "Wait you''re........" she said but she couldn''t bring herself to finish what she was attempting to say.

    She began crying again.

    After a bit, she regained her composure quicker than before and threw a rope down the well.

    The boy just stared at the rope and then the woman began shouting.

    "WHAT ARE YOU DOING, K��LASI WILL BE GONE SOON AND IT''S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE THEY REACH HERE, WE HAVE TO GO NOW" she shouted

    K��lasi will be gone soon?................I deserve to die here, it doesn''t matter.

    "AS MUCH AS I HATE YOU FOR TAKING HIM AWAY ME, REX TOLD ME ABOUT YOU AND HOW YOU WERE TO BE HIS SUCCESSOR AND HOW HE REGARDED YOU AS FAMILY, WE HAVE TO LEAVE NOW AND ESCAPE TO SAFETY, YOU ARE HIS LEGACY" she shoutedStolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    Family........................Ah, that''sright, Jason.........I should go to him.

    There was no say in the matter, he had to force himself to a degree of composure, slowly putting everything in his mind back together to reach his family. He had lost one member of his family, there was no way he was losing the rest of them.

    He grasped the rope and tied it to Rex''s body and grasped it.

    "HE''S READY, COME PULL HIM OUT" she shouted at some men.

    Two men looking to bemercenaries came and hauled the rope up pulling both men out the well.

    They were out of the well.

    <hr>

    He unfastened the rope around Rex''s body and looked at his surroundings. The woman was there with around 20 men all sitting on top black horses.

    The sun was scorching hot and the city could be seen to the west with black smoke arising from it, the land around them was parched, multiple wells could be seen near the one he emerged from, no signs of life could be seen could be seen near them upon first glance, but looking further into the distance, tall trees could be seen, there were forests surrounding them in the far distance.

    "It''s time to leave, we have to get away now," she said to the boy.

    There was no time to ask her name and he showed no signs of gratitude towards her.

    "Take his body away and get it to safety....................I''m heading to the city.................it isn''t my place to say this but I''m sorry....... but I have to get to my family right now, I can''t lose anymore," he said staring at the ground.

    He couldn''t bring himself to look her in the eyes.

    "ARE YOU RETARDED, HE GAVE HIS LIFE TO YOU AND NOW YOU WANT TO THROW IT AWAY?" she shouted into his ears, it was deafening but he was unfazed by it.

    "Just get the body away from here safely please............" he muttered under his breath as he began to attempt walking towards the city.

    It was his first time walking properly in months, his body felt weak, it was like that of a newborn trying to walk.

    Due to consuming flesh from Rex he had regained some energy and he wasn''t as exhausted as he should''ve been.

    He collapsed in his first attempt at walking but he was slowly getting reaccustomed to using his muscles and walking was becoming easier.

    She stood there looking at him watching him with a look of disbelief.

    "I swear to god people can be so fuckin dumb, take Rex''s body to the Thir��o association in the great city of Dikaiosyni, I''m going with dumbass over there to the city," she said angrily looking at her men.

    "Also, you," she said pointing to a random man.

    "Give me some of your blood so we can meet you after we''re done using teleportation" she ordered the man

    The man quickly pulled out a dagger from his waist and slit the palm of his right hand filling the blood into a small vial then giving her whilst nodding his head up and down.

    "Madam, we can''t allow you to go to the city alone, 10 of us will come with you and the other 10 will deliver Sir Rex''s body to the association," a man said bowing before her like that of a peasant to a king.

    "If you insist, come, we head to the city of Kolasi now!" she shouted at them mounting her horse.

    "YOU, I WILL ESCORT YOU TO YOUR FAMILY, LET''S GO, GET ONTOP OF MY HORSE" she shouted to the boy who was walking in the distance.

    He stopped in his tracks and didn''t budge and inch, he waited for her to come to him.

    The steeds were running towards him and before he knew it they were already in front of him.

    He quickly mounted her horse and held on to her tightly.

    The horses were fast, the feeling of the cool breeze hitting him was something he had not felt in a long time. If he were in a normal state, there was no doubt that he would have felt good, but for the time being, he was still sorting his emotions out.

    <hr>

    As they entered the city, a scent permeated the air.

    It was unique, like nothing he had ever smelt before. It was hard to describe the smell but if he were to attempt to describe it, the scent was nauseating and sweet, putrid and steaky, or something like leather being tanned over a flame accompanied by a coppery, metallic component and a sulfurous odor.

    The smell was so thick and rich that it was almost a taste. It was the first time he had smelt something like this, it was the scent of burning people. This smell would never be forgotten by the boy.

    "Where is your family located?!" she shouted asking the boy.

    "Head through the market street and at the end there should be a steep hill, they''re at the top of it," he said to her.

    "MEN, PREPARE FOR A FIGHT" she shouted notifying them.

    They were now entering the city from the eastern entrance and the once tall buildings lay in ruins, dead women could be seen on the ground with their clothes torn off exposing their breasts and genitals showing signs of that they had been defiled, men could be seen in piles on the ground being burnt and there were no signs of children whatsoever.

    It was the first time he had seen a sight so horrific, this was the aftermath of an invasion.

    Shocking to everyone, there was no sign of the army which invaded the city, there was no trace of life in the city, the only sound which could be heard was the sound of fire, structures crumbling and the stallions as they moved through the city.

    The once blue sky over K��lasiwas slowly turning into a blood red color leaving a red glare upon the city.

    Although the city was burning somewhat, no heat could be felt, the air was getting chilly around them.

    The pathway to the market street was a linear one around 2 miles in length with the pit standing near the center.

    They moved with haste passing the Pit, the white marble stands which were made for seating were covered with blood from dead people who were slaughtered in the middle of watching a fight, with the blood giving a dripping sound as it fell from that height to the ground.

    Entering the market street, it was around a half of a mile stretch.

    The boy began to remember how lively it was, always hustling and bustling filled with life, but that was no more, it was like a ghost town now. The stands which would normally be filled with fruits and vegetableslay there broken on the ground with produce scattered on the ground, houses on the street were charred showing they had been burnt.

    They were at the end of the stretch and the hill could be seen.

 Chapter 9: Broken

    "There''s the hill, hurry woman........" the boy told the woman.

    *YAH.....YAH

    She grunted whilst hitting the horse to speed up and the men following copied her actions.

    The hill was steep, but they were already on the move, it was only a matter of time before they arrived at the top of the hill where the house was.

    In the ascension of the hill, the boy had zoned off to the sound of the horses galloping and they had arrived.

    "We''re -" a sound penetrating the boy''s mind

    A voice?

    "We''re here boy" she repeated realizing he had zoned off.

    "A-Ah yes" he responded softly

    There the mansion stood, 2 storeys tall, around 30 meters in length, painted white and the windows in both storey''s of the mansion were shut.

    Everything seemed intact, it was a good sign.

    "Okay men i-"

    *Whoosh

    She hadn''t even realized it, but the boy had already let go of her and gotten off the horse and was running towards the door of the house.

    He got in front of me without me knowing? She thought to herself

    "Wait for us," she said to him as he ran towards the door.

    He paid no heed to her words and went on by himself.

    <hr>

    As his hand reached for the door, he could tell something was off, the door handle was broken showing that someone had entered the premises.

    The gut feeling he had was slowly coming back along with a feeling of dismay and he felt uncomfortable.

    He opened the door slowly to ensure that no unnecessarynoise was made to alert people if they were inside to his presence.

    Oddly, the house was normal with no signs of disturbance, the kitchen and living room separated by the corridor was untouched with no signs of disturbance.

    Slowly making his way down the long corridor passing the stairs leading upstairs to the rooms. With the guest room to the right side of the corridor and the door leading to the backyard straight ahead, a sound could be heard coming from the guest room.

    *Uh........ uh...... uh.... uh.... uh

    It was a male''s grunting.

    Slowly opening the door to not alert the person.The boy stood there at the sight in frontof him on the far left of the room drawing his attention.

    Susan''s dress was torn up, her throat had been slashed, her body covered in semen and a man raping her dead body on top the blood covered bed making sounds of pleasure.

    The man was wearing a black cloth bag over his face and a black tunic and pants and a knife in his hand could be seen dripping blood onto the bed.

    The boy felt the vibrations of the footsteps behind him through the corridor, it was the woman and her men. They had the knowledge to move quietly as they were unaware of the situation.

    The boy watched them and simply put his finger to his lips to signal them not to speak.

    They slowly approached him and then they witnessed what was occurring.

    She had seen things like this happen in wars and it was truly disgusting, but for her, there was something even more unsettling.................and it was coming from the boy.

    Although he stood there quietly, his bloodlust could be felt and it was no joking matter.

    It had been years since she had felt something like this and she began to tremble.

    He simply looked at her and she already got the message. His look was screaming "Do not interfere" and judging from that, she could tell the woman that laid there on the bed was a member of the boy''s family.

    He snatched the dagger from her waist and slowly crept up to the man on the bed, to avoid a face to face confrontation as he knew he could not beat the man in a one on one fight.

    It took the woman a second to realize that her dagger was gone and so was the boy.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    "WAIT, WE COULD-" she shouted at him.

    The man became alerted to their presence but it was too late.

    The dagger was already making it''s way up from the bottom of the man''s jaw to the top of his skull.

    He quickly pulled out the dagger from the dead man and plunged it into the man''s heart and began repeatedly stabbing the dead body.

    "STOP!" she shouted at him

    Her words could not reach him and he kept going.

    She ran towards him and pulled him off the body, took the dagger from his hand and tossed it aside.

    She couldn''t even look the boy in his eyes and directed her gaze away. She had no idea of what to say to him.

    *Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.........mmmmmmmmmmmmmm

    A sound could be heard coming from the far right corner of the room.The sound of something muffled.

    The boy slowly turned to look and there he was next to the Chester drawer.

    It was Cornelius with his arms and legs tied with a rope in his mouth laying on the ground with tears leaking down his face.

    If Cornelius is alive then Jason should be too.

    The boy darted across the room towards and untied the man and removed the rope in his mouth.

    "CORNELIUS, WHERE''S JA-"

    Cornelius rushed past the boy and pushed the men at the doorway aside running into the corridor.

    The boy turned and looked at the door which the man exited from for around 30 seconds.

    He slowly got up from his crouching position and walked towards the door.

    "Where did he go?" he asked one of the men.

    "To the door right there," the man said pointing at the door leading to the backyard.

    <hr>

    "Don''t go, let us go first then we''ll tell you to come after if it''s clear" the woman told the boy hoping it would stop him from exiting the room.

    "No........" the boy responded turning back and looking at her before exiting the guest room.

    Those eyes of his...............

    What she was feeling right now was pure intimidation, his body language said it all "Try to stop me and I will kill every single one of you" although she knew in a fight there was no way she and her men would lose, it was disturbing and made no sense to her how this weak man could give off such an aura.

    The boy entered the corridor and made his way to the door leading to the backyard.

    It was shut and the moment he opened it he could see Cornelius''s back facing him on his knees on the grassy plain, holding something in his hands crying.

    Judging from the way the hands were positioned, the object was small and there was no way it could be Jason.

    He slowly made his way to the front of Cornelius and glanced to the sides, a small trail of blood could be seen leading up to Cornelius and the sight he saw made him go numb as he stood in front of the man looking down at him.

    His emotions felt as if they had left his body and all he felt was nothingness.

    It was Jason''s head Cornelius was grasping.

    Cornelius slowly raised his head looking at the boy with his mouth opened, his eyes red and tears falling hitting the child''s head.

    *Sob Sob

    "Ja-ja-ja-jas-JASO"

    "I understand Cornelius" the boy interjected with his eyes going lifeless.

    The woman and her men stood there looking at the sight, it wasn''t their place to interfere.

    The boy slowly walked away from Cornelius making his way to the woman and his legs could be seen trembling.

    "I''m sor-"

    *Shing

    It was the sound of a sword being pulled from its sheath.

    The boy pulled her sword from her waist and slowly turned away and was making his way to Cornelius.

    "What are you doing?!" she yelled at the boy with her words failing to reach the boy''s mind.

    With each step towards the man, he felt as if he was going to collapse, his knees kept getting weaker and weaker and before he was aware of it, he was standing in front of Cornelius with the sword in his hand.

    "Cornelius.......................you understand right? I won''t allow you to live bearing the burden of this guilt, it''s better this way" the boy said softly with his voice sounding as if it was going to break and he would erupt in tears.

    Cornelius simply stared at him sobbing.

    "NO, I CAN''T PUT THIS ON YOU" he shouted at the boy crying.

    "I can''t stand to see you in this state, to carry on life living bearing what has happened, I can bear it all Cornelius........... you should be with your family, if not in this world then in the afterlife....." he said with his voice slowly fading away

    Cornelius understood what he was saying, his life had no meaning anymore and the boy was willing to take all the pain away.

    He did not wish to carry on living in this world anymore and wanted to be reunited with his family.

    He began weeping even louder than before.

    "T-T-Thank you, these are my last words to you, this was in no way your f-f-fault, my s-s-son live on no matter w-w-what" Cornelius murmured stuttering in betweenwith his voice weak and with only the boy being able to hear it and then he placed Jason''s head on the ground.

    It was the first time in his life that someone had referred to him as a son. Tears began to run from the boy''s eyes and the sword was shaking in his hand uncontrollably.

    "Close your eyes, I''ll make it painless" the boy said with his voice trembling.

    Cornelius closed his eyes.

    Mustering up his resolve and firmly grasping the sword and stopping his tears, he drove the sword through the man''s chest.

    As the body hit the ground, so did the boy, his knees hit the ground staring at the body and he began to think about what he had done.

    Did I do the right thing?

    It was the hardest choice he had made in his life, but he chose the right thing. This was the ultimate form of compassion he showed.

    The woman walked behind of the boy and began hugging him and she placed her head on his own. All of this was done to try to ease his pain.

    "Cornelius, you were always trying your best to atone for what you had done years ago but what you failed to realize was that I had forgiven you so long ago" he whispered to the body.

    "Why didn''t you tell him before you-"

    "He was mourning the death of his son, it wasn''t my place to interfere with my selfishness," the boy said under his breath interjecting the woman.

    Then he stared at Jason''s head, he couldn''t keep it in anymore.

    *AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

    He screamed staring at the blood red sky, then closing his eyes and tears running down his face.

    Something broke inside of him.

    A sensation could be felt. As if something was hitting his face like that of rain.

    Slowly opening his eyes staring forward, blood could be seen falling from the sky in the form of rain.

    It was the first time the woman had experienced it, it was shocking to her and the mercenaries she came with could be seen scared at the sight.

    A bad feeling ran through her body, this was a premonition of things to come and she grasped the boy even tighter than before.

    He removed her hands from around his waist and slowly got up closing his eyes lifting his head towards the sky basking in the blood.

    As his eyes opened slowly, the blood rain slowly eased up and by the time his eyes had fully opened the blood rain had stopped with the bloody clouds gone and the sky was blue once more and the sun shined just as it normally would.

 Chapter 10: The Journey Begins

    "Wait at the front of the house, I have some things I have to.........." the boy said looking down at the woman.

    "Ok, we''ll be waiting for you," she said getting up from the bloodied grass directing her men to head outside.

    They were gone and it was time to find the rest of Jason''s body.

    He began to look around the general vicinity within his range of sight but it was nowhere to be found.

    Walking towards the left side of the house, there it was.

    His small and fragile headless body laying there on the ground.

    Just looking down at it made him feel dead inside.

    Lifting the body into his two arms, he carried it into the house and placed it onto the ground in the center of the living room. Then he walked outside and pulled the sword out of Cornelius''s chest and threw it on the ground.

    He put Cornelius''s body over his shoulder and Jason''s head in his arms and began to carry them.

    Cornelius was heavy and in all honesty, it was extremely difficult with his legs feeling as if they were going to shatter but he did not wish to drag the man''s body on the ground, as it seemed extremely disrespectful.

    He placed Cornelius''s body to the left of Jason''s and put Jason''s head back at the top of the body.

    Then he headed to the guestroom, the sight of Susan caused his chest to hurt so bad, it felt like if a dagger was being driven into his heart.

    "Susan.........I''m sorry I was too late and allowed this to happen...............I will ensure in my life that this never happens to any woman within my reach again" he said with his voice collapsing.

    He lifted her into his arms and carried her to the rest of the family and placed her on the right side of Jason''s body.

    Then he proceeded upstairs to the narrow corridor. The corridor was long with 3 doors to the left, a room for him, Jason and Cornelius and Susan shared the same room.

    His room was the first in the line of 3.

    He opened the door and calmly looked at it. To the far left were his chester drawer and wardrobe, straight ahead was his bed directly next to a window giving him a view of the sky and to the far right was a wooden tub filled with water where he would bathe accompanied by 2 small bowls on the ground, one for showering and the other for brushing his teeth and a mirror.

    He took off all his clothes, threw some lavender scented oil into the water and showered quickly. Drying off his skin he put on a white long sleeved shirt which had become slightly baggy due to him losing weight, some underwear, a pair of black leather pants and black leather boots.

    The metallic taste of blood was still lingering in his mouth and something could be felt betweenhis teeth.

    Staring into the mirror he opened his mouth and looked at his teeth, in between the grooves he could see there was still flesh stuck between.

    He felt to vomit yet his body refused him to.

    Taking a paste made from ground sage mixed with salt crystals. He put it on his toothbrush and brushed his teeth quickly, getting the flesh out and removing the taste of blood.

    Then he took the sheets off his bed and headed downstairs where the bodies were.

    He dropped the sheets to the ground and folded the arms of each member of the family.

    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    Then he put the sheet over their bodies reaching neck height, mirroring a father, son, and mother sleeping in the same bed together.

    He bowed down to Jason''s body and kissed the boy on his forehead and began to cry with his tears falling on the child''s face.

    "This won''t happen again," he said with his voice stuttering and crying.

    After around 5 minutes he was done and had regained what little composure he had remaining.

    "Goodbye, my family," he said with his voice slowly fading away.

    He gave the child one last kiss on his forehead and left the house.

    <hr>

    "Are you ready now?" the woman asked.

    "No....... I need one last favor from you, cremate their bodies along with the house" he said softly.

    "I understand," she said as she walked into the house.

    After around a minute, she emerged and black smoke could be seen emerging from the door with fire being visible.

    "Thank you," he said to her as he looked on watching the house burn along with the bodies trying to keep his tears in.

    "Come now, it''s time to head to the association, they''re waiting for us," she said directed at the boy.

    "I''m not heading to the association"

    "What did you just say?" she said with a slight hint of anger being detectable.

    "I need some time to come to terms with what has happened on this day, so I''ll take a little time off before coming to the association," he said averting his gaze.

    In the span of one day he had lost everything precious to him, she understood that it wasn''t her place to force him to come with her.

    "Where will you go then?" she asked.

    "I don''t know....... I just need some time alone" he muttered under his breath feeling as if he was being choked looking at the house.

    "I understand, I will wait for you, we won''t cremate Rex''s body until you come, you were his successor so you have the right to be there, you know in the time that he returned to us, he only spoke of you," she said sadly.

    Her eyes could be seen getting red as she spoke of Rex, she was holding in the urge to cry.

    "I will be back for him............." he said sadly on the verge of tears thinking about Rex.

    She walked towards her horse and pulled a small money bag out of the satchel mounted on her horse.

    "There''s around 2000 drachma in here, it''s all I have at the moment, but it should last you until you get to the next city, Rex put measures in place for you, head to the World Bank in the next city, speak to the manager and say Rex from theThir��o association, they''ll handle the rest after" she said, giving him the bag filled with money.

    "You, give him your horse and sword, ride with one of the other men for our journey back" she commanded one of the men.

    The man followed her orders with no hesitation and gave the boy the horse and sword. The sword was a standard longsword with a black leather sheath with leather strapping.

    The boy mounted the horse and took the sword and hung it over his left shoulder using the leather strapping.

    "Thank you for everything.......... I think I''ll head south," the boy told her.

    "South? That''s for Mephisto right?" she asked.

    "Yea.............theres something I need to check" he responded

    "We have to go to the intersection at the Pit and then we''ll split up, also the association is in the city ofOrphasus, when you''re ready, come find us," she said pointing at the Pit.

    Looking down at the city from above the hill, he could see that the fires throughout the city had subsided and the city was painted red with blood being in ruins. Although it was slightly abhorring, it had a beautiful look to it which the boy felt deep within, refusing to acknowledge it.

    "Lets go" he said, taking one final look at the burning house.

    <hr>

    They descended down the hill and made haste to the intersection by the pit in silence with the only audible thing being the stomping and splashing made from the horses as they moved through the blood soaked streets.

    As they arrived at the intersection they all stopped.

    "Follow the southern road over there, its protected by magical wards to keep monsters and wild beasts from appearing from the forests,so you should be safe,it will take around 2-3 days to arrive at Mephisto, these are some of the fastest horses in all of the kingdoms, also I have some dried food here in my bag, some fish and bread, you''ll need food for th-"

    "No, I don''t think I''ll be eating anything for a while........." he interrupted her with a feeling of nausea creeping up on him as he heard the word fish.

    It was the scent Rex''s dead body reeked off before he had devoured him.

    "Fine by me, by the way, my name is Elle Mitan, remember it," she told the boy

    "I will" he responded

    "I''ve been meaning to ask you this since on top of the hill, you don''t plan on pursuing revenge do you?" she asked.

    "I''ve been thinking about it, but I can''t throw away this life that Rex and Cornelius gave me" he replied hesitantly, thinking about it.

    "That''s good to know, don''t walk down tha-"

    "Don''t get me wrong, if it''s within my reach, I will give the people that did this a fate worse than death," he said interjecting, giving her the same threatening look as he did back in the house.

    She simply stared at him giving no response.

    "I don''t wish to be in this city any longer, this is where we part ways, I''ll see you soon," he said, breaking the silence, riding off towards the southern border of the city leaving them behind.

    When the time comes, I will fuckin destroy every single person that had a hand in this..............

 Chapter 11: Encounter

    As he exited the city, he didn''t turn back, the more he thought about the city the more he choked on his own conscience, it was borderline suffocating and hejust had to get away.

    The dry parched land surrounded him left and right, and the dirt road mixed with gravel laid as his tracks to reach his destination.

    With each gallop the horse made, a trail of dust was left behind, rising as if it were smoke.

    The sun was shining brightly scorching the earth leaving an intense heat behind, but the steed moved so fast, the breeze continuously hit him, canceling out the heat, leaving him feeling slightly cool.

    The forest seemed close yet so far, he had been riding his horse at least20 minutes and had covered at least 2 miles yet it felt as if he was nowhere close to his destination.

    He began to think about it, he left Elle without taking at least water, he could make without the food and water as he had no appetite and thirst and the thought of starvation and thirst did not bother him, however the horse was a different case, although the steed could probably go around 3-4 days without water and food, it''s health would seriously deteriorate and wouldn''t be able to carry out its duty effectively.

    It was cruel to do the poor animal that he thought to himself, but he wasn''t turning back at that point.

    The forest was getting closer and closer, and the roadway was no longer surrounded by the dry land, small shrubs could be seen slowly increasing in numbers with each passing minute they moved.

    Everything around him was changing, down to the road, the dirt mixed with gravel which laid the foundation for the road now consisted of just hard dirt.

    The dry area was getting more populated with life and before he could realize it he was surrounded by bushes, cedar, cypress, pine, spruce, redwood some deciduous trees such as maple, and mosses and ferns. All towering over 30 metersin height and fully grown with the trees leaves and branchesstanding above him extending and connecting forming a roof like structure with only small pockets of light seeping down lighting the roadway.

    A dead silent ambiance withbirds chirping and frogs ribbiting being slightly audible in the far distance.

    The heat could no longer be felt and the roof like structure provided shade making the climate cool.

    The horse''s galloping helped him take his mind off all the things that had happened and he dazed off at the sight of the trees leaves shaking by the wind, it was oddly soothing.

    The light was slowly getting dimmer and dimmer..........the sun was setting.

    "Easy, easy boy," he told the horse slowing it down, slowly coming to a stop.

    We''ll rest here for the night........

    If it was possible, he would''ve like to move through the night as well, continuing nonstop but at the end of the day the horse was an animal just like him and needed sleep, it would just be plain cruel to force it to do work nonstop.

    Small little posts could be seen on both sides of the roadway stuck into the ground with small symbols embedded into the wood.

    This must be the charms which that woman mentioned..........the wards

    He sat on the moist dirt holding the reign of the horse to ensure that it wouldn''t attempt to leave during the nighttime.

    <hr>

    It was cold but he endured the cold climate, refusing the need to shiver. The black sky could be seen partially through the gaps in the joint branches and leaves above him, and the cold moonlight leaked through giving a dim light which gave a degree of illumination upon the roadway.

    The forest was pitch black and down to the gaps between the trees were not clearly visible.

    He was completely surrounded by darkness.

    *Scryyyyyyy

    A noise could be heard.

    What the...............

    The boy put his hand on the hilt of his sword prepared to draw it and positioned himself to the center of the roadway away from the sides close to the forests.

    *Scryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

    It kept repeating itself over and over slowly growing louder and louder as if it was moving slowly towards him.

    The creatures of the night were acting up.

    The horse had fallen asleep standing and he wished not to disturb it.

    He had no intention of sleeping through the night in fear of nightmares that would haunt him, but now another fear was slowly creeping up on him.

    *Scryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

    He pulled the sword out of the sheath and stuck it into the dirt in front him for convenience.

    Although beasts and monsters could not enter the path, the feeling he was getting was unsettling.

    In the end, if something were to attack, his only way of survival was to run..................... wake the horse up and run the fuck away.

    The sword in the ground was meant to act as a means of intimidation if anything made it past the wards, even a beast would see a threat and avoid it.

    Holding the reigns of the horse in one arm and placing the other hand on the hilt of the sword, he closed his eyes and focused on the sounds of the forest, owls could be heard in the distance.

    Owls?...........................only owls?..........................What happened to th-

    He felt something.

    Like eyes piercing through the back of his head. It made chills run down his spine.

    He opened his eyes immediately with the sense of danger imminent.

    Looking around frantically to find the source of it, nothing could be seen.

    He got up and pulled the sword out the dirt.

    *Neighhhhh

    The horse was unsettled and began to kick up and down.

    "Calm down boy, Calm down" he said stroking the horse''s mane slowly calming down the horse.

    Two small gleaming red lights could be seen coming from the right in the distance of the pitch black forest.Slowly getting closer and closer.

    It stood at a distance, hiding in the shadows, judging from the position of the eyes it was around 3-4 meters tall.

    What the fuck

    The eyes were the only thing visible and it just stood there staring at him.

    The pure intimidation being emanated from this thing................he could tell, this was not something to fuck with.

    Then it''s behavior changed from just staring at the boy.

    *Scrape

    *Slow Tapping

    It was scraping the body of a tree with what he presumed to be an arm and was tapping slowly on another tree with the other.

    A cold cross breeze blew, making the situation even more uncomfortable.

    The tapping and scraping stopped and the eyes crew closer and closer with its crimson color becoming more distinguishable.

    From the darkness, a hand emerged reaching towards the roadway with the rest of the body being hidden in the shadows.

    The hand had 4 long sharp talons with dried blood on the nails and it''s forearms could be seen to be scaly.

    As the hand extended drawing closer to the road.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    It was like that of a person reaching for something..........and what it was reaching for was the boy.

    The ward began to glow a bright light blue color pushing back the hand.

    A dripping noise could be heard similar to that of water hitting grass.

    It''s arm was bleeding and the blood was dripping on the grass, although it could not be seen by the boy, he could tell.........the ward had probably damaged its arm.

    But the most unsettling thing was, this thing was forcibly pushed back and injured yet its main body did not budge an inch and it made no sound.

    If anything, it''s stare was getting more intense.

    The atmosphere became extremely tense and in those moments it felt as if time had stopped, everything that was on the boy''s mind was gone, his mind was clear with nothing on it except that which stood in front of him.

    The breeze blew even stronger than before, rattling the leaves above shifting the positioning temporarily and in those few seconds, he could see it''s mouth.

    2 rows of sharp teeth with so many he was unable to count, a biggray, scaly V-shaped jaw with thin black lips with a black tongue on the inside of the mouth but what was most uncomfortable was that it could be seen dribbling with its clear saliva leaking from its mouth reaching its chin dripping.

    It looked as if it was smiling.

    Although he was unaware of it...............................he was smiling back at it.

    Under that spine-chilling fear was a deep sense of excitement hidden beneath.

    What is this feeling in my stomach.........

    He began to feel something he had never felt before, it was different to the gut feeling he had due to his guilty conscience.

    This was more like butterflies in his stomach.

    The creature seemed to be infatuated with him and he was infatuated with it.

    All sense of logic and reasoning was leaving his body and he clenched the sword tightly with his legs getting weak from excitement.

    There was no way on earth he was gonna be able to kill this thing, not in the state he was but he wished to try anyway..................

    *Caw Caw

    The sound of crows in the distance with their wings fluttering could be heard.

    The creature slowly backed away into the distance with those red gleaming eyes growing ever so distant.

    Just like that, it was gone as if it was never there to begin with.

    *Phew

    It''s gone................what was that thing?............ Doesn''t matter.

    "Sorry boy, but we''re moving as soon as the dawn of light strikes, non-stop until we reach Mephisto, this forest is too................" the boy told the horse stroking it''s back, failing to complete his sentence.

    The threat was gone, and dawn soon approached.

    He woke all night on guard in case the threat re-emerged, but it never did.

    It was time to get a move-on dawn was breaking.

    <hr>

    He quickly mounted the stallion and began to ride once more.

    The forest seemed to have no end and it was midday already.

    Something could be seen in the far distance.

    A caravan?

    As he got closer, it could be seen it was a steel caravan with the backdoor shut.

    It was stationary and wasn''t moving.

    He made his way past the metal caravan and saw an old man, around early to mid 60''s wearing a long brown overcoat reaching around knee height, a black shirt beneath, some black boots and brown pants. The man was fattish with his belly rolling over and had gray slicked back hair, holding the reigns of the 2 horses which moved the caravan.

    The boy slowed down.

    "Hey there," he called out to the man.

    The man looked at the boy.............he was assessing the boy to see whether he was a bandit or not.

    "Hey there stranger" the man replied smiling.

    "By chance, can I get some water for my horse?" the boy asked.

    The man was still suspicious of the boy, it could be seen in his eyes, but it was gradually leaving.

    "Ah yes," the man said pouring some water from a wooden bottle into a small metal bowl passing it to the boy.

    The boy unmounted his horse and placed the bowl on the ground and the horse began to drink the water.

    There was an uncomfortable silence between the boy and the older man.

    As the horse was finished drinking the water, the boy quickly took the bowl and passed it back to the man.

    "Thank you......." he told the man, slowly mounting himself back onto the horse.

    "Not a problem good sir" the man responded.

    The boy began to move again leaving the stationary caravan behind.

    <hr>

    After around 5 minutes he heard something.

    *AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

    A woman''s scream?.....Where''s it coming from?

    He stopped the horse in its tracks and began to listen for the direction of the sound.

    It was coming from the back.

    He turned the horse around and immediately began to backtrack.

    The caravan was in sight but the man was nowhere to be seen.

    *AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

    The woman shouted.

    It was coming from the caravan.

    The boy stopped his horse around 20 meters in front of the horses of the caravan, picking up his sword and began walking fastly towards the back door of the caravan being careful to not make any loud noises.

    As he approached from the side, smacking could be heard.

    The door was open.

    He walked through the opened door and the sight before him pissed him off.

    *SMACK

    "TELL ME, WHY WON''T IT GET UP BITCH" the old man shouted at a woman with his back facing the boy slapping the woman.

    The only visible thing of the woman was her legs which were spread and shackled to the walls of the caravan.

    The man was obscuring his full view of the woman.

    He was grabbing something and his hand was moving in a rigorous movement back and forth. The man was jacking himself off trying to get an erection to rape her.

    Susan...........

    The boy took the sword and hit it on the steel of the caravan using the hilt, making a loud noise alerting the man.

    The man slowly turned around and watched the boy in shock.

    "IT-IT-IT-ITS NOT WHA-"

    "Zip your pants up" the boy said calmly interrupting the man, trying his best not to lose composure.

    The man zipped his pants up and turned around. He was relatively short and the boy looked like a giant to his eyes.

    The man shifted to the side and the boy could see the woman.

    A girl with short brown hair with fair skin, her face was black and blue from the beating she had received, her hazel eyes looked lifeless, her skin was dirty, her plump lips bled from being busted and she had short sharp pointed ears. Her brown dress was torn exposing her genitals and she laid there on the ground with her legs spread wide open. Her arms and legs were shackled with the chains leading to the metal walls.

    She looked to be around 20.

    "I-I-IF YOU WANT, I''LL LET YOU FUCK HER IF YOU LET ME GO" the man shouted at the boy with his voice trembling in fear.

    The boy turned his head and stared at the man with cold heartless eyes.

    "You aren''t in a position to negotiate, move one inch from that spot or speak another word and I''ll drive this sword through your piece of shit head" he told the man almost breaking his composure.

    The man went quiet and followed the boy''s instructions.

    The boy slowly approached the girl and raised her head.

    "NO-NO-NO P-P-Please don''t r-r-rape me" she said with her voice sounding low and tears falling.

    "It''ll be ok n-"

    The man began to run and exited the caravan

    The boy sprinted after him and the man fell to the ground tripping on air from fear.

    Taking the sword the boy impaled the man''s leg to the ground, plunging his sword deep into the earth ensuring the man could not move.

    *AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

    The man screamed

    "I beg of you, please have mercy," the man said crying, begging for his life.

    A rattling sound could be heard.

    Keys?

    On the inside of the man''s overcoat was the keys for the shackles.

    The boy took the keys and entered the caravan where the girl laid, leaving the man impaled to the ground unable to move.

    He slowly approached her, looking at her in the eyes.He unshackled her legs and arms.

    "T-T-Thank you," she said with her voice trembling from fear.

    "Can you move?" he asked the girl.

    She gave no response.

    "I''m not going to do anything to you," he told her lifting her into his arms.

    She was light and he carried her outside and placed her by the reigns of the horses of the caravan.

    Then he turned around and headed back to the man.

    "PLEASE LET ME GO" the man begged.

    The boy pulled the sword out from the man''s leg.

    "Thank-"

    "I don''t remember me saying that I was done with you.............." he whispered into the man''s ear bending over.

    He pulled off the man''s overcoat and threw it to the side then tore a piece of the cloth from the man''s shirt and stuffed it into the man''s mouth and began dragging him.

    Dragging the man, the man chose to attempt to resist by trying to shake the boy off.

    "Stop or else I will definitely kill you" the boy said staring down at the man coldly.

    The man had no choice to listen.

    He stopped all forms of resistance and the boy dragged him away around 15 meters away from the back of the caravan.

    "For the kindness you showed me before, I won''t kill you.........but for what you attempted to do to that girl, I don''t feel like letting you off easily," the boy told the man.

    He put the front half of the man''s body out the roadway and into the forests reach, leaving the boundary of the wards. Then he placed the man''s 2 hands on top each other and impaled them into the ground using his sword. Kicking the hilt until it made contact with the arms, sinking the blade deep into the ground ensuring it wouldn''t budge.

    *MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

    The man''s muffled screams could be heard by the boy but he paid no heed.

    "As you can see, you''re half in half out..........quite literally," the boy said staring into the forest.

    "Your chances of survival are extremely low, I''ve left the lower half of your body on the roadway under protection and well........this half is within the forest, if someone sees you on the road during daylight today they can probably pull this sword out and save your life..............however once night time reaches you''re at the mercy of the creatures of the forest" the boy said slowly walking away.

    <hr>

    He picked up the man''s overcoat and made his way to the carriage.

    As he approached the carriage, the girl could be seen in the spot he left her, he was gone for at least 20 minutes.

    She hasn''t taken off?

    He thought that she would''ve taken a horse and ridden off by now, but the girl just sat there at the reigns off the caravan.

    "That man won''t do anything to you anymore........." he told her trying to comfort her, whilst putting the coat over her shoulders.

    She gave no response.

    Should I leave her ass here?

    "I''m heading to Mephisto, do you want to come with me?" he asked her, raising his voice a little.

    She began to cry.

    "I-I-I have nowhere to go" she said to herself sobbing.

    Did she just not hear me.........

    "If you want, I can take you to safety in Mephisto and you can find your family from there," he told her, averting his gaze.

    "My family''s dead............." she replied, crying even more than before.

    You''re just like me.....................I shouldn''t ask her about this, seems like a delicate matter.

    "Come with me, we''ll figure things out when we reach Mephisto"

    She gave no response, deep down she was afraid of the boy, after all, he was just a random stranger and there was no sense of trust between them. There was no telling what he could do to her.

    After a long delay, she decided that he seemed to have good intentions and right now he seemed to be the safest option.

    "I-I-I''ll come with you, I hope I''m not a burden" she responded after a train of thought at her current options.

 Chapter 12: Degree of Familiarity

    "Can you ride a horse?" the boy asked the girl pointing at one of the horses tied to the caravan.

    She took around 10 seconds thinking of an answer to respond.

    Is she slow or something?

    "No, I don''t know how to......" she responded sadly.

    She was still shaken up by the events which had transpired and he could tell shewasn''t in the mood to speak.

    " Alright.......seems you''ll be riding with me" the boy said staring at the caravan.

    I wish I could''ve taken this caravan and the horses but they''ll slow me down too much and delay arriving at Mephisto.

    A strange feeling ran through his body, something was off. He was confident it was still pre-lunch time, but wouldn''t that make the climate of the forest moderately hot?

    The boy stared up into the trees.

    The gaps between the trees stopped a degree of light from entering, but light was entering nonethelesswhich meant it should''ve still been hot.

    Why does it feel like noon..........the heat from the sun should still be relatively hot around now, isn''t it still the morning period? Wait..................is it still morning?

    "Girl, what time do you think it is right now?" he asked her with a worried look on his face.

    She gave no response, she had dazed off thinking about something.

    "Lady, what fuckin time do you think it is? It''s important" he asked again raising the tone of his voice.

    "Ummmmmmmm, I''d say it''s near the evening time.......I could be wrong so don''t expect my opinion on it tobe right.......why did you ask?" she responded

    What the fuck........Did I really lose track of time? No, that''s not possible, I haven''t slept in awhile, I started back riding since dawn today................did I start riding at dawn?

    I had planned to take a small rest in the evening and ride through the night to avoid that thing.

    Fear was slowly making its way into the boy''s heart. Although last night his body and mind showed no sign of it because he was lost in the heat of the moment. Now that he thought about it, he was basically roadkill if it found him.

    Although he knew there were wards for protection, it couldn''t shake the fear of that thing breaking through and killing him.

    He turned and looked at the girl.

    This complicates things.

    That thing last night, it had a bit of intelligence.......it knew how to intimidate me........Chances are it probably marked me since I''m in the forest...........FUCK

    Taking a satchel from the helm of the caravan which contained food and water in a rush, he tied it to the side of the horse.

    "We leave now, we''re riding through the night, getonthe horse" he said quickly and slightly on edge.

    She immediately got up from the helm and climbed upon the horse.

    He followed getting up on the horse behind her and put his arms around her holding the reigns.

    *YAH YAH

    He shouted hitting it gently on the side getting it to move.

    She turned back to look at the other horses.

    "Are we leaving them behind?" she asked him.

    "Yes, they would slow us down drastically in the night" he replied.

    They were on the move again.

    <hr>

    The sun was setting and the sky was getting dark.

    "Excuse me......but do you think we can stop for tonight and rest?" the girl asked the boy.

    Oh for fuck''s sake..............

    "How come?" he replied hoping she would just drop it and say to keep moving.

    "I haven''t slept in 2 days out of fear of that man and I don''t think my body can keep up anymore" she responded.

    He began to think about it.

    Maybe I was being paranoid, there''s no way it would''ve followed us this far........I shouldn''t let my paranoia affect her.........she should rest.

    "Ah okay, we''ll stop here for the night" he told her.

    "Woah, woah boy slow down," he told the stallion slowly bringing him to a stop in the center of the road.

    They unmounted the horse and she took a seat on the cold dirt.

    He untied the satchel from the horse and sat facing the girl.

    Opening the satchel, a small wooden water bottle could be seen along with some dried bread.

    He took it all out and passed it to the girl, however she hadn''t accepted it.

    "Eat, I''m sure you''re hungry right?" he asked her.

    She seemed as if she was in deep thought and gave no response.

    *Growl

    Her stomach began to grumble.

    "Eat............. your body''s screaming for food" passing her the food.

    "Ah.....yes, thank you, I was just thinking about my family," she told him with a look of grief on her face, taking the bread and beginning to eat.

    He stared up at the sky with some stars being visible through the leaves whilst she ate.

    It wasn''t uncomfortable for him but for her it was different, the silence was awkward in her mind.

    "The stars are pretty aren''t they?, I haven''t seen them in awhile," she asked the boy, stopping eating and looking up at them.

    "The stars make my chest hurt, they should jus-" he said depressingly stopping halfway through what he was about to say, he was speaking what he was thinking accidentally.

    The stars reminded him of Rex, it was a normal day for Rex and him to stare at the stars in the sky before going to sleep in the well.

    "Are you okay?" she asked

    "Yea, sorry, continue eating" he replied changing his view to staring at the ground.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    She realized that they had been sitting there for awhile yet the boy hadn''t eaten anything yet.

    She broke the piece of bread she was eating into 2 and extended her hand towards the boy.

    "You have to eat too," she told him.

    "Ah, no thanks, I don''t need it" he responded.

    The awkward silence began again.

    He had no intention of asking about her life but he wanted to know her story out of curiosity.

    "So girl, what happened to you?" he inquired bluntly.

    She paused before responding.

    "My name isn''t "girl", it''s Miranda, I''ll summarize it for you, most people think that only monsters and wild beasts live in the forests but that''s wrong, the forest is home to other races such as elves and stuff, I''m a mixed breed, my father was a human and my mother was an elf, we lived as outcasts of an elf tribe because my mother fell in love with a human and had me, contaminating the bloodline, we were victims of discrimination for majority of my life for that reason and my father decided we could have a better life outside of the forest"

    "And then what happened?"

    "My dad left us for awhile and when he came back he said he met an old friend who was willing to help us make a life on the outside but that man betrayed us and came to the tribe with people and tried to enslave them but they fought back and they were slaughtered, my parents fought with the tribesmen but they passed along with them, I hid in the house and they found me after and put me in that caravan, that old man tried to rape me twice but he couldn''t and the other men left him in charge, I don''t know where they went" she said, beginning to cry looking down at the ground.

    She''s had it rough.........

    "I''m sorry to hear that, I wasn''t there then, but I guarantee you nothing will happen to you while you''re with me," he said trying to comfort her.

    She felt the urge to hug him, but he wasn''t the approachable type.

    "So if everything had gone the way it was supposed to, what would you have liked to do?" he asked her out of curiosity.

    "W-Well I would''ve liked to live with my family and go to school, my dad always told me that he wished to send me to school but because of the tribe he was unable to" she responded gloomily.

    Ah........school.........there was a time when I wanted t-........................that time''s long gone

    "School isn''t a bad idea you know, when you reach Mephisto maybe you can-"

    "To go to a school is expensive, I won''t be able to, I have no money so I''ll probably look for work when we reach there"

    "Things will work out, don''t think about it too much" he told her trying to cheer her up.

    "So how old are you? 23-24?" he asked.

    She had a look of confusion on her face.

    "23-24? I''m 17..........." she replied giving him an angry look.

    "Oh..............I''m sorry I didn''t know" he said nonchalantly

    They were talking for awhile and they didn''t even notice it was already nightfall, and the beautiful moonlight shined down below upon them with a cold breeze blowing.

    She began to tremble from the coldness.

    He walked around of her and took the overcoat off her shoulders.

    "You should actually put it on instead of just throwing it over your shoulders" he said lifting it into the air opening it for her to put her arms through the sleeves.

    "Thank you" she responded putting on the coat.

    "You should get some sleep now Miranda," he told her.

    "You''re right, but will you be fine, with all you''re wearing for the coldness?" she asked.

    "I''ve been through worse, goodnight Miranda," he said prompting her to sleep.

    He''s been through worse?

    <hr>

    She laid on the ground and before he knew it she had fallen asleep, down to the horse was sleeping.

    It was quiet and peaceful with only the crickets chirping being audible.

    Talking with her had taken his mind off his own problems and for the first time in a long while he felt as if he wasn''t choking on his own breath.

    Hours passed as he looked up at the sky and it was already midnight, although staring at the sky made his chest hurt, it was a form in which he was coming to terms with acceptance of all which had happened and the sky reminded him of his family. The pain and happiness went hand in hand, good memories would come reminding him of his family and painful ones would follow soon after.

    He had no wish to forget them and the tears began to run from his eyes hitting the ground.

    *Shake Shake

    Leaves began to shake.

    The sound was coming from the left.

    Rubbing the tears off his face he got up and looked to the left.

    Don''t tell me...........

    The road was the only thing illuminated by the moonlight, nothing else could be seen but the vague outline of the trees.

    The trees were closer to the road than they were the previous night.

    There were no red eyes and he felt a sense of relief.

    Must''ve been a bird

    He sat on the ground and began to look at the horse and Miranda.

    As he was watching them, something touched him on the back, like fingers poking him.

    Shivers ran down his spine.

    Immediately he got up turning around putting his hand on his waist and moving it in a drawing motion out of instinct. He thought that he still had his sword, but he left it in the man way back.

    Fuck

    There was nothing there as he turned.

    I must be going crazy

    Then fingers began to emerge from the shadows around chest height, a pale white hand painted red in blood, slowly making its way to him.

    The fact that the hand went through the barrier meant it had to be someone, perhaps they were injured.

    The boy rushed over to person and grabbed the hand.

    "ARE YOU OKA-"

    There were talons which could be seen holding the forearm, pushing the hand through the barrier.

    What the-

    The boy pulled the fingers off reflex trying to bring the hand closer to see the person.

    A finger detached itself and the boy fell to the ground.

    The hand retracted quickly back into the shadows.

    Staring down at the finger in his hand it could be seen to have a clear liquid covering it where it broke off from the hand.

    "MIRANDA" he shouted.

    "What is it?" she said with a droopy look on her face, rubbing her eyes.

    "GET TO THE FUCKIN SIDE OF THE HORSE RIGHT NOW" he shouted pointing at the horse.

    She looked at him wondering what was going on and why he was screaming, but the moment she saw the finger, her face became filled with fear and she ran to the horse''s side.

    "WHATS GOING ON" she shouted at him.

    *Thump

    Something hit the ground around a meter away to the right.

    He took a quick glance to the right then immediately turned back to the front.

    In that glance, what he saw was the arm.

    Can''t lose focus now

    *Thump

    *Thump

    *Thump

    *Thump

    *Thump

    Human body parts began to fall from above scattering over the roadway with blood spreading in the air falling onto the roadway.

    A head, the midsection of the body, an arm, and two legs. The mutilated body was fully naked with no signs of clothing.

    Suddenly the parts began breaking up into multiple parts. The fingers separated from the hands and the toes separated from the feet.

    He looked at the finger in his hand.

    This clear liquid is

    "Saliva......." he said

    Turning quickly he ran over to Miranda. She was staring at something and her face looked as if she had seen a ghost.

    It was the older man the boy had left impaled to the ground. It was his body parts which were thrown at them.

    She was afraid.

    He quickly glanced in all directions but the darkness was cruel, it hid everything in the forest from his line of sight.

    Then, it slowly emerged from behind the outline of a tree................red eyes.

    The red eyes, slowly began getting closer to the edge of the road where it was still masked by the darkness and it stood there directly onto the roadway''s edge falling directly outside the barrier hidden by the shadows.

    "WHAT IS THAT" Miranda shouted holding onto the boy''s arm.

    Then the sword the boy used to impale the man slowly made its way through the barrier falling onto the ground............................half in, half out.

    The position of the red eyes could be seen shifting from them to the sword.

    It glanced up at the boy then looked at the sword again.

    He should''ve been feeling fear, but it was no longer there in his heart.

    The creature was signaling him to pick up the sword.

    Calling me?

    Miranda understood what the creature meant andshe grabbed his hand tighter than before signaling him not to go, she wished to tell him "Please don''t go"but the fear stifled her.

    He grabbed Miranda''s arm and moved it off his, leaving her side and made his way to the sword, his body moved on its own.

    Standing there face to face with it. He bent over and grabbed the sword by the blade.

    The creature pulled the sword back into the shadows, slicing the palm of the boy''s right hand with some blood falling onto the blade.

    Toying with me?

    The boy stood up straight, looking up at the eyes with the eyes looking down at him and licked the blood in the palm of his hand grinning at it with it only being visible to the creature.

    *Slurp

    It could be heard sucking something and then the hilt of the sword emerged from the shadows.

    It was giving him the sword now.

    The boy grabbed the hilt of the sword with his bleeding hand and pulled it from the shadows.

    Looking down at the blade, he could see it was licked clean with saliva dripping from the tip of the blade.

    Had your fill?

    Pure excitement ran throughout his body and he took the first step towards exiting the roadway and entering the forest.

    The bloodlust he felt right now was like that of a hurricane, he wanted to fight it so badly.

    What''s he thinking, no no no, don''t do that, don''t leave me..................... I have to move and stop him from going any further.........

    Breaking the hold her fear had on her.

    Miranda ran away from the horse and grabbed him pulling him out of the shadows and back into the roadway.

    "We''ll continue this later" the boy moved his lips, grinning.

    Miranda didn''t see it, only the creature and after, it slowly faded away into the darkness.

 Chapter 13: Return to Mephisto

    Everything flashed through his mind as Miranda began to pull him towards the horse, the thought of the creature having the balls to taunt him, it was infuriating.

    "WE''RE LEAVING NOW" Miranda shouted into the boy''s ears, trying desperately to break the trance he was in, with every two steps she pulled him back, he moved one step forward.

    He was like that of a wild beast in the jungle, although the creature was gone, he felt a need to assert his dominance over it, in his mind, this was survival of the fittest and he was going to chase it in the forest.

    There was no way on earth he could kill this thing, his body was in no condition and he had been making his way all this time off pure willpower alone, but primal instinct is something entirely different, it doesn''t matter what state the body is in, it invokes a state into the mind where all that matters is to kill or be killed.

    It taunted him and that was enough to make him lose his sense of reasoning.

    She could notice how hard he was gripping the sword, his blood from the wound on his hand was leaking down the entire sword dripping at the tip.

    He was forcefully making his way to the forest.

    What should I do?

    She had to decide quickly, he was almost at the edge and he was pulling her along with him, she could''ve let go at any time but she had no desire for him to throw away his life like this.

    In the short time she had met him, he always seemed calm and laidback but this was a different side.

    *SMACK

    She punched him in the face.

    What the fuck..........

    He regained his senses.

    "DO YOU REALLY WANT TO THROW AWAY YOUR LIFE THAT BADLY?" she shouted, beginning to cry.

    "Man, I really am fucked up" he told her, stopping in his tracks and wiping the tears off her face.

    He began to think about what he was doing.

    "Lets go" he said, staring into her eyes walking towards the horse.

    Just like that?..............

    He strapped the sword on the horse and they both got on and began to ride again.

    The night was still young but the creature was gone and they were safe but she was still afraid.

    They rode until the break of dawn and the forest seemed to be reaching an end, the amount of trees were thinning.

    "Let''s stop here Miranda, I have to wrap my hand, it''s still bleeding," he told her.

    Holding the reigns of the horse continuously had caused the wound to remain open and his body was given no chance to attempt to close it.

    "You''re right" she replied grabbing his body tight before slowly letting go.

    They stopped in the middle of the road and he grabbed her hand and helped her get off the horse.

    They sat in the middle of the road and he took his shirt off.

    Although his body had lost weight, he was still in decent shape, it was nothing food and water couldn''t fix in a short period of time.

    Wow..............

    He took the sword and cut off one of the sleeves and shredded it into some pieces and began the palm of his hand.

    "So what do you think that thing was?" she asked him.

    He thought about it for a second.

    "I don''t know, but it was sending me a message" he replied.

    "Sending you a message?" she inquired.

    "Yea, it was telling me that wards don''t mean shit and that it could''ve killed me since the first time it saw me and at any pointin the 2 days I was here in the forest" he replied keeping his anger hidden.

    "W-W-W-WAIT, YOU MET THAT THING BEFORE?" she shouted asking him.

    "Calm down............. yea, in my first night here it approached me, I travelled miles and it seems to have kept following me, I had a hunch in that first meeting it wasn''t gonna leave me alone" he replied coldly.

    "Is that why you wanted to travel through the night before?" she asked

    "Yea" he replied

    "I''m so sorry, if it wasn''t for me this wou-"

    "Don''t blame yourself, I''m rather happy that this happened" he interrupted her with a poker face.

    This is him happy......................

    "Wait.........why are you happy..........did you not understand the severity of the situation?" she responded asking him seriously.

    "It issued a challenge and I wanted to take it up......." he told her

    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

    A challenge.................

    "TAKE IT UP? ARE YOU DUMB?.........................Anyways, thank god this is over, hopefully, we should be near Mephisto soon and we won''t have to deal with that anymore" she told him with an angry look slowly turning into a look of relief on her face.

    "I''ll stay in Mephisto for a while and when I regain my strength I''m coming back in here for it" he told her with a resolute look on his face.

    Unknown to the both of them, the creature was watching them from far away in the forest and at hearing those words coming from the boy it began to smile.

    "YOU AREN''T COMING BACK HERE FOR THAT REASON, YOU''RE SO....SOOOOOOOO.......YOU''RE NOT FUCKIN COMING BACK HERE" she shouted like a command, with her face getting red like a tomato.

    Who the fuck does she think she is...........

    "Woah, woah, calm down there buddy, shout any louder and your head''ll blow up" he told her, waving his arms back and forth.

    She began taking deep breaths and the red color her face had slowly returned to normal and the awkward silence began.

    She wanted to know more about him.

    "So where are you from?" she asked.

    He gave no response.

    "Okayyyyyyyy, so how old are you?" she followed up asking another question.

    "19" he responded hesitantly.

    He never knew when his birthday was and checked his age by the start of new years and not by his date of birth.

    He''s pretty young...........

    "I''ve been meaning to ask you this since last night when we were talking, but what''s your name?" as she asked, her serious demeanor turned to shyness.

    She was embarrassed, it should''ve been the first thing she should''ve asked when she had met him.

    My name?..............

    "Lets go Miranda" he told her with a cold look on his face.

    He avoided the question?......

    He put on his torn shirt quickly and clenched his hand to make sure the cloth was wrapped tightly before mounting the horse.

    Both of them got on and they began to move again

    <hr>

    The forest was meeting its end, they were almost there.

    Looking into the far distance like a hawk, men could be seen waiting on the edges of the roadway.

    Judging by the way they were dressed, they were bandits he assumed.

    He stopped the horse in its tracks quickly.

    "Why are you stopping?" Miranda asked.

    "Ok, so chances are the men in the far distance are bandits" he replied

    "W-W-W-WH"

    "Don''t worry about it, get off the horse right now" he told her.

    They both got off the horse and he unwrapped the bandages on his hand.

    "What are you doing?" she asked.

    Chances are if they rob me they''ll let me live........but her on the other hand......who knows what they might do to her and I can''t defend her in this state............

    He looked at her body and made a quick assessment. The coat she was wearing reached a little above her feet and it hid her dress perfectly and it was baggy. She was around 5 foot 4 inches.Then the idea popped into his head, he could make her look like a little brother.

    "Miranda, this is gonna be nasty, but I need to make you look like a boy right about now," he said with a stern look on his face

    "What do you me-"

    Taking his other hand, he reopened the wound by pulling the flesh apart and blood began to gush.

    FUCK..............

    It hurt like hell but his face showed no expression of it.

    "WHAT ARE YOU-"

    He put his finger on his lips signaling her to be quiet, he was unsure if there could be more bandits nearby and her shouting could alert them.

    "This is gonna be nasty for you" he whispered.

    He took his blood and put it in her hair and shook it up, making it look messy and then he took more of his blood and put it on her face and some on the palm of her hands making it look as if she was in an altercation prior to this.

    "I think I''m gonna puke," she told him, looking aghast and with her body shaking.

    Her face still looks feminine........

    Then he began to walk to the forest.

    "And where are you going?" she asked him with her arms folded, watching him like she was going to beat his ass.

    "Calm down" he bent at the side of the roadway and picked up a handful of dirt.

    Then walked back over to her and smeared it on her face and feet making her look as if she was dragged through the dirt.

    "You''re enjoying this aren''t you?" she said angrily.

    "Maybe............ but on the bright side, you look like a boy now, so should I say congratulations on becoming my little brother?" he responded sarcastically.

    "Fuck you" she replied.

    He threw the sword into the woods and they got back on the horse and began to move.

    There was no say in throwing away the sword, he had to make sure that they looked the part.

    <hr>

    The people were within her line of sight and she began to feel fear.

    "Just keep your head down and don''t say anything, I''ll handle it" he whispered to her.

    As they drew near the men on the road, 3 men could be seen and then suddenly, 4 men jumped out from the roadway behind them, blocking their exit.

    "Hey there traveller........whatcha got there," one of the bandits said while approaching them.

    "P-P-P-Please let us leave here, you can have it all, just let us get to s-s-s-safety" the boy said digging his thumb into the wound, forcing a tear and making his voice trembling.

    The man watched the both of them and calmly assessed them, they looked as if they had been in a struggle.

    "What happened to y''all?" the man asked.

    "K-K-K-K��lasi was destroyed and we fled" he responded with his face growing ever so sad and his heart beginning to throb.

    "KOLASI WAS DESTROYED?!" the man shouted losing his composure.

    K��lasi? Destroyed? Is that where he came from...........

    All the bandits could be seen to have a shocked look on their faces.

    "S-S-S-Some army invaded and plundered the city, everyone is dead except for us, our family gave their lives for us to escape" the boy responded with his voice fading, feeling as if he was choking.

    The atmosphere went quiet, it was awkward.

    "P-P-P-Please just let us reach the city, my little brother has been through alot and I''m bleeding, you can have the horse and ther-ther-theres money in the satchel," the boy said begging,looking as if he was on the verge of breaking down and crying.

    The man began to stare at them and could be seen to be in deep thought.

    "I understand the situation, you''ve been through a lot, we''re merciful bandits, we''ll take the money and the horse and let you leave here safely, no-one here will harm you," the man said with a compassionate look on his face.

    He had done it, he managed to draw out sympathy from the bandit.

    "T-T-Thank you," the boy said with his voice trembling and a grateful look on his face.

    "M-Miran, l-l-lets g-g-go" he said with a look of sorrow on his face, grabbing Miranda by the arm and leading her off the horse with the men staring at them with a look of sadness on their faces.

    He put his arm around her and began to slowly walk away.

    "M-M-Miran, e-everything i-is gonna be a-a-alright" he said, making sure it was audible to the bandits to get maximum sympathy out of them, walking off into the distance leaving the horse and the money Elle had given him behind.

    After they reached a good distance away from the bandits, the forests end could be seen.

    He turned and looked back to make sure the coast was clear and then let go of Miranda.

    "Where did you learn to act like that?" she asked out of genuine curiosity.

    "The begging came naturally to me, I''m used to it" he responded without thinking about what he said.

    What does he mean by that?

    She could tell this was a delicate matter and chose not to ask about it.

    However, her mind was itching at what he said aboutK��lasi being destroyed.

    "Is what you said about Kol-"

    "It doesn''t concern you Miranda" he interjected, walking ahead of her.

    What happened to him................

    <hr>

    They finally exited the forest and small fields could be seen on both sides with people farming.

    As they passed the fields, a small settlement could be seen with multiple flat houses.

    They made their way through the settlement without speaking to anyone, at the end a wide gate could be seen with large buildings made of marble being visible through it.

    It was Mephisto.

 Chapter 14: Decision

    "Is this Mephisto?" Miranda asked

    "More or less, let''s go" the boy replied as they began to walk towards the gate to enter the city.

    A tall stone wall could be seen extending almost 20 meters into the air encircling Mephisto with an opening about 15 meters wide and 10 meters tall, it couldn''t be described as a gate as well to simply put, there was no gate, it was just a big opening.

    When the boy had lived in Mephisto, there was no wall encircling the city, there was just a magical barrier enclosing the city which extended to the far outskirts of the city.

    He turned around and looked into the far distance back at the settlement where they had passed through and upon further inspection, it could be seen, steel posts with magical symbols dug deep into the earth protecting the city and the settlement from harm.

    Upon entry into the city, guards could be seen posted by the walls, they stared at them but did not approach.

    Ahhhhhhhhhhh memories

    He hadn''t noticed it but Miranda had stopped by the entrance to the city.

    Turning around and watching her, he could see she was worried.

    He walked back to her side.

    "What''s wrong?" he asked her with a look of curiosity.

    "I finally reached the city my parents and Iwere supposed to reach, except they''re all gone" she mumbled as she began to cry.

    He just stared at her, hoping she would just stop, but she showed no signs of letting up.

    How am I gonna deal with this one?................Ugh might as well

    "There there Miranda, it''s gonnabealright," he said as he began to hug her and gave her two pats on the back then letting go.

    He gave her the most generic way of comforting someone, she was hurting from the loss of her family but so was he.

    Every since she had said "they''re all gone" he felt as if he was going to break down at any moment.

    She had no idea of what he had been through and he had no intention of showing it, she was an emotional wreck and he knew she didn''t have the need for another one.

    She grabbed him tightly and began to cry in his arms.

    *Sob Sob

    "Don''t let me go for a little" she told him as she cried hugging him tightly.

    I''m not even the one holding you, I don''t even think I can force her off me right now........she''s pretty strong surprisingly..........little bear

    The life in his body was running out, she was squeezing the air out of his lungs.

    People in the streets began to look at them in a funny way.

    "M-M-Miranda............I can''t breathe properly" he said gasping for air.

    "Sorry," she said letting go and wiping the tears from her face.

    Her face could still be seen to be on the verge of tears.

    Women..........geez................how should I cheer her up?

    "You know Miranda, when you hugged me just now, I could''ve sworn you were a little bear, you kinda look like one now that I think about it.........." he said with a poker face.

    Did he just try to cheer me up?

    She juststared at him and began to giggle.

    "Tell me that again and I will kill you," she said laughing.

    "I can respect that.............you feeling a little better now?" he asked

    "Yea, I feel a little better now" she responded.

    He could be seen to be in deep thought.

    "Don''t, I now realized I have no money whatsoever.......... we can''t do shit" he told her bluntly.

    She went silent. Then he remembered how Elle had told him to go to the World Bank.

    "Actually, maybe I was wrong, just follow me" he told her trying to lighten the atmosphere.

    Turning around, tall structures could be seen being two storeys in height, rectangular in shape with shed like rooves at the top of each with galleries at the top giving what he would presume was a decent view of the city, made of marble, with stairs leading up to the second floor on the side of the structure.

    It took him a little while to realize this but this was the structure of a house, all buildings within his line of sight followed this generic structure and multiple stone-paved roadways could be seen in betweenhouses running through the city.

    He took a look to the left and the right and it seemed as if the city had no end, the stone wall encircling the city went so far into the distance that it began to become vague.

    The city had drastically changed in the 11 years he had been gone. He had no idea where to go.

    The streets were crowded, so he had no choice but to ask for directions.

    He approached a merchant with his caravan filled to the brim with fruits and vegetables and asked for directions to the World Bank.

    "Just follow this road here and head straight down, and the second left into the far distance is the World Bank, brown roof you can''t miss it" the man told him.

    Now that he looked carefully, 7 roads could be seen and the man was pointing to the 4th one in the center.

    Wowwwwwwwww...................

    Turning back and looking at Miranda, her eyes could be seen lurking all over the place, she was curious, it was the first time she had been in a city and all these structures were extremely different from what she was used to.

    She''s gonna get lost, I can see it coming

    "Miranda, stick close to me, there''s a lot of people," he told her notifying her.

    She ran up and stuck to his side and pulled a part of his shirt so she wouldn''t get lost at any point in time.

    They made their way through the crowded streets, they were like ants in a nest, people were always next to them.

    It was hustling and bustling and extremely, strange men could be seen approaching women and men, trying to make a hustle by selling all sorts of products, merchants lined the streets with their carts selling various products such as food, pottery, art and handcraft jewelry of all kinds and people shouting all over trying to make a bargain and trying to advertise their products.

    Watching closely, he could see people getting pickpocketed, food being stolen and people arguing looking for a fight.

    Some things never change, it reminded him of the days when he would run through the streets stealing food.

    He was extremely uncomfortable in this environment, people were watching the way he and Miranda were dressed.

    They weren''t even trying to hide the fact that they were staring, they did it bluntly.

    They both looked as if they had been through a tough fight and parts of Miranda''s face was still blue-black from what the older man earlier had done to her and her short pointed ears seemed to be an attraction to some of the people with them beginning to talk about it, being slightly audible. Men could also be seen staring at Miranda, she was extremely beautiful even with her face blue-black.

    However, some people watched her with eyes of disgust and she noticed it and began to feel bad on the inside.

    He noticed it on her face.

    "They don''t know what you''ve been through, pay them no heed Miranda, you''ve been through alot, don''t feel bad for it, you''re a pretty strong girl, keep your composure," he told her trying to boost her confidence.

    The road felt as if it extended almost 2 miles before they found the second street to the left and he hadn''t even noticed it but Miranda was holding his arm the entire time like a koala hugging an arm.

    As they began to walk down the second street, a large structure could be seen in the far distance with large spiral marble posts leading into the air meeting a pyramid hip roof made of brown stone which he presumed to be sandstone and a wide black door could be seen through the spiral columns meeting the rest of the building which was made from gleaming marble.

    This was the only structure that stood out and he assumed that this was the world bank.

    "Miranda, over there, let''s go quickly," he told her pointing at the place.

    The sun was hot and the place was extremely heated and he was sweating like a pig, she was too, she hadn''t taken off the coat since he made her wear it as her dress was tattered and torn up.

    Leading her by the arm he pushed his way through the people of the street, moving with haste to reach the destination.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    After walking for awhile they finally reached the World Bank at the end of the street.

    <hr>

    It was huge and towered over them, reaching around 15 meters into the air and extremely wide.

    He looked at his clothes and wondered if it would be appropriate to enter a place like this the way he was currently. His shirt torn, hands covered in blood, hair messy and drenched in sweat but then he realized.................he didn''t give a fuck.

    Opening the wooden black door.

    *Creak

    The inside of the building, everything was lined with terrazzo, all the walls were made of marble and were pure white in color with small holes at the top allowing air to enter keeping the inside cool, the hallway seemed to have no end and wooden chairs with cotton furnishing dyed red could be seen lined against the wall near the door where people were seated.

    8 long lines could be seen, with people going to tellers behind a fenced counter with 2 metal doors on the far ends of the fence leading to where they were, and a corridor could be seen in the center behind the tellers leading to an unknown place.

    Everyone began staring at Miranda and him, all the people could be seen properly dressed and wearing formal attire, he and Miranda felt extremely out of place.

    There were alot of guards posted throughout the hall, roughly around 20 of them.

    A guard posted at the door walked and approached him, dressed mirroring a Corinthian soldier.

    The man began to look at the way they were dressed.

    "This isn''t a place for beggars," the man said.

    Beggar? Wait, it''s me he''s talking to.........

    He''s talking to us?

    "Shut the fuck up before I knock your teeth out" the boy responded, the words just flew out his mouth.

    Miranda walked up to him by his side.

    Two guards suddenly approached him from the sides with their hands on the hilts of their swords.

    "Woah, woah calm down there, I''m just here to speak to the manager of this place," the boy said calmly trying to avoid a fight.

    One of the guards walked away down the hall approaching a teller on the far left and he began to speak to her.

    She walked off into the corridor and around 10 minutes later she re-emerged with a man walking next to her.

    A relatively tall man, around 5 foot 11 inches, his hair curly and black, black skin, his nose slightly plumped and a round face.

    The man was dressed wearing a white shirt, a black blazer, black soft pants and a leather dress shoes. However it could be seen that he was slightly muscular, the clothes couldn''t hide it. It was the first time the boy had seen someone dressed this way.

    Damn....

    The man stood face to face in front of him, and around 8 guards came close in case of a threat to protect the manager.

    The man watched them both, looking down then up staring at them both.

    "So what can I do for you today?" he asked.

    I should have some manners

    "Hello good day, Elle Mitan told me to tell you, Rex from theThir��o association, " he told the man.

    "Ah yes Mister Gudrun Anderson, he transferred everything to a sole beneficiary, he left behind a blood sample for us to match it to the heir" the man responded.

    Anderson? I thought it was Hilde............. and a blood sample?

    "I think I was the person he left it to," the boy said depressingly.

    Gudrun Anderson? Who is that?

    "Oh is that so, well if you would please follow me to the back," the man said as he began to walk off.

    The boy followed with Miranda tagging along, then the man stopped.

    "Excuse me miss, this is a private matter, if you would be so kind and take a seat in the waiting area," he said turning and looking at Miranda.

    "A-Ah yes, alright," she said sadly

    I hope he''ll be alright

    "I''ll be right back Miranda," the boy told her as he began to walk again with the man.

    She turned around and headed to the area and took a seat.

    They approached the door and a female teller immediately came and opened it letting the boy and the man through and shutting it immediately after that.

    They began to walk through the corridor, it was relatively narrow only being able to hold around 3 people in a line and extended extremely far around 30 meters with a solid metal gate being visible at the end of the corridor and a door on the right side.

    The man walked to the door on the right and they both entered the room.

    The room was pretty medium size, the insides painted brown and it just possessed a large wooden desk and 2 chairs, one facing the desk and one behind it.

    "Wait right here good sir," the man said pointing the boy at the chair and then walked to the opposite end of the room by the wall.

    He pulled out a pin stuck to the cuffs of the blazer and pricked his hand.

    What the............

    Using the blood he drew a cross with a half of a circle on the bottom of the cross on the wall.

    "The blood of the chosen shall open the door where the records are held, my name is Zerbia Holdsten, I command thee to open for thy master" the man chanted with his eyes closed speaking to the symbol.

    A black rift opened within the wall, with nothing but the abyss being visible to the boy and the man calmly walked into it as if it was nothing.

    A weird feeling ran through his body as he stared into the abyss. He was getting the urge to get up from the chair and walk towards it.

    As his feet raised to the balls of his feet to get up from the chair, the man exited the rift and with a snap of his fingers, it closed immediately.

    In his right hand was a small black bowl made of stone fitting in the palm of his hand and in the other was a small brown bag made of cloth.

    The man took a seat behind the desk, then opened the brown bag, in the brown bag was a small vial made of glass holding blood and a long piece of paper rolled up tied by a thin piece of white cloth.

    Taking the lid of the vial the man put one drop of the blood into the black bowl and began to chant once again.

    "Blood binds us all, for blood is the truth, the blood is absolute, let this blood show me the truth, match theeto your rightful owner" the man chanted and the blood in the bowl began to glow blue in color.

    "Please stick your finger out, so I can get a drop of blood" the man told the boy.

    "Okay" the boy said sticking his left index finger forward.

    The man took out a new needle from the drawer of the desk and pricked the boy''s finger and squeezed a drop of blood into the bowl.

    As the boy''s blood made contact with the blood in the bowl, it turned blue in color and merged with the other blood giving off a slightly visible blue steam and then returned to its original red color.

    "Ah the blood matches what Mister Gudrun left in the blood records, you are his successor," the man said.

    "What happened just now if you don''t mind me asking," the boy asked the man.

    "Ah, well if you didn''t know already, blood is the only true form of identification in this world, you can lie about your name and origins to attempt to steal, but blood does not lie, Mister Gudrun left this blood sample and stated that the owner of this blood was to be his successor and inherit all of his assets, if the blood had not turned blue and remained red in color, that would mean you were not the one he meant to be his successor" the man explained.

    Even after you''re gone, you''re still looking out for me..................

    The man opened the rolled up piece of paper. On the document, the words were written in a foreign language which he could not understand, however at the bottom there was a fingerprint made of blood.

    "If you would please be so kind as to put your fingerprint next to the one at the bottom, that is Mister Gudrun''s fingerprint and this is the original document which issues the transfer of the assets to you." the man instructed the boy.

    The boy used the finger which the man had pricked and put the fingerprint at the bottom.

    "Currently, we''re still gathering the documents for the remaining assets he left to you, however, the money he saved is currently available," the man told him.

    "Remaining assets?" the boy asked.

    "Ah yes, money was not the only thing he left for you. We believe he left some property too but currently we''re searching the records for it, so please be patient, when we find them all we''ll notify you" the man replied.

    "Ah ok, I understand" the boy responded.

    The man rolled up the document with the fingerprint and tied it then he emptied the blood in the bowl back into the vial and placed both into the bag.

    "We''ll store the original documents near the blood records, that way it''ll be safe however if you wish to have it, it isn''t a problem" the man informed the boy.

    "No, I think it''ll be better if you keep it" the boy said without hesitation.

    "So Mr........sorry, I didn''t catch your name" the man said.

    "Don''t worry about my name" the boy told the man.

    "Ah ok then, I''ll address you by Sir then, so would you like to make a withdrawal since you''re here right now?" the man asked.

    "How much did Gudrun leave for me?" the boy asked, he felt ashamed at even using this money, but he had no choice.

    "Roughly 4,000,000 drachma, that was how much the document had stated on it" the man responded.

    4,000,000...............the fuck

    "Is that alot?" the boy asked

    "Well the average worker in the city works for about 6-8 drachmas per day, it is quite alot, some people live their entire lives without even being able to make 1/16th of what you have, and this is only money and not the entirety of the assets" the man responded.

    He began to think about how much money he would need for the stay here tonight.

    "I need enough money to get some clothes for me and the girl and a place to stay the night, I don''t know how much I need for that," the boy said.

    The man could be seen thinking about something, he was doing an estimation in his head for the boy.

    "I''d estimate around 200-400 drachma sir" the man said.

    I should probably take out some extra for Miranda for her to get by when I leave her..........

    "Thanks for the estimation, but I think I''d like to take out about 1600drachma," the boy said.

    "Ok if you would follow me outside sir" the man told him with a smile on his face.

    If I have to give her any money, I''ll have to open a separate account for her, I can''t give her that much money in physical form, she''d get robbed in this city before she knew it..........

    Before we go our separate ways I''ll ask her for some blood and explain it to her.........that sounds like a plan

    They exited the room and headed to the metal gate, the man took out keys from his pocket and pricked his finger again with a pin and he covered the tip of the key with blood and stuck it into a groove in the wall and turned.

    The huge metal gate slowly opened and piles of money could be seen, drachma and other things. There were different currencies but the boy had no idea.

    The man picked up a money bag from the side of the room and filled it with 1600 drachma and handed it to the boy.

    "We''ll be sure to update the records to account for this withdrawal sir" the man said as the boy accepted the bag

    "I have one last question, is it possible for me to make transactions like buying products without having to always come to the bank to get money before I make a transaction?" the boy asked.

    The man could be seen thinking about something.

    "Yes, it is possible, but only for things which require a significant amount of money such as real estate which require large transactions, for the purchasing/ renting of real estate you can tell the realtor you wish to use a blood seal, by using a blood fingerprint on a contract they can come to the bank and use it to complete the transaction. It''ll take around a day or two for the transaction to be processed though, we''ll have to match the fingerprint to the document I made you sign before to ensure it is authentic and valid and check the blood to see if it matches too" the man said informing the boy.

    "Ah, I understand, thank you very much" the boy said as he began to walk with the man to exit the corridor and emerge by the tellers.

    As the door by the tellers opened the man stopped him from exiting.

    "Wait, sir, I would like to tell you on behalf of the bank, thank you and if there is anything you need help with at all, please let me know, I always helped Mister Gudrun and as you are his successor now I feel the need to help you also, so feel free to come to me with anything, my name is Zerbia" the man said giving the boy a hug on the back then sending him through the gate.

    "Thank you for everything Zerbia," the boy told him as he began to walk off .

    The man stood there by the door and smiled at the boy waving him goodbye.

    <hr>

    Walking back towards Miranda, he could see her staring at the ground looking droopy.

    "Miranda, I''m back, let''s leave" he told her.

    "You''re back, okay, lets go" she replied elated.

    "I gotta talk to you about something, when we leave here I''ll ask you," he said staring at the people in the bank.

    He wants to talk to me about something?

    They exited the building and the sun shined brightly into his eyes and he put his hands over his eyes to block it out.

    "Ok, so Miranda, if money wasn''t an issue, what would you like to do right now?" he asked her.

    She began to think about it.

    "I-I don''t know" she responded

    "So what are you gonna do from here on out? If you want, I can give you enough money for you to make it on your own and make sure you''re alright you know" he said.

    "W-W-Well I thought that I would''ve stayed with you where ever you were going" she responded averting her eyes away from his.

    The truth is she felt extremely safe around him and although they were only together for a short while, she wouldn''t have minded spending more with him.

    Stay with me?..................She doesn''t even know me

    He began to watch her, his original plan was to split the money with her today, and make an account for her the next day so she could be well off and then go their separate ways.

    But looking at her now, with her face bruised up and remembering how people were looking at her when they walked through the streets, it wouldn''t have been safe for her. He felt a need to protect her for the time being.

    "I don''t know how long I''ll be here in Mephisto Miranda, but if you want to stay with me until you feel better about everything that happened and then leave................I guess I wouldn''t mind" he responded nonchalantly.

    He doesn''t mind me staying with him?

    She put her hands behind her back and began to smile.

    "Thank you so much, I hope I''m not a burden for you," she told him.

    "You''re not a problem Miranda, let''s go get you some clothes and something to eat, I was thinking about it for awhile" he responded.

    I''m a big problem........

    "A-Ah yes" she said happily.

    Was he thinking about me all this time?

    "Wait, hide this in your coat........ its money, it''d most likely get stolen if I held it and walked through the street............" he told her giving her it to put in the coat.

    She hid the money and they began to walk through the streets again.

 Chapter 15: To kill or not to kill

    "Let''s head back to the main street where the merchants are," he told Miranda.

    As they walked through the street, the sky could be seen getting cloudy and dark clouds soon followed after, with a strong cross breeze blowing, it was going to rain soon.

    They quickly made their way back to the main street and approached an elder female merchant who could be seen to have 2 carts on the road, one with her dresses on display and the other a huge pile of clothing all mixed up.

    "Hi, good day, can you set her up with some clothes?" he asked the woman pointing at Miranda.

    "Yes of course, so what would she like?" the woman asked.

    "Miranda tell her whatever you want," the boy told her.

    Miranda could be seen staring at the sun dresses and the A-line dresses the woman had to offer.

    "Uhhh, can I see the colors you have to offer in those?" Miranda asked.

    "Sure," the woman said as she began to dig into a pile of clothes she had mounted onto a cart and began pulling out different colors of both dresses, blue, red, white,green, yellow and orange.

    Sooo pretty........but I should limit myself to not waste any money

    "You like them Miranda?" he asked her as he could see her staring at them all.

    "They''re all very pretty but I''ll just limit myself to 3," she told him.

    "I''ll take them all," the boy told the merchant.

    "A-All, do we really have that kind of money to waste?" she asked.

    "Money is money, it comes and goes, don''t worry about it," he told her.

    The female merchant could be seen to be extremely happy at hearing the boy''s words.

    "How much is it?" he asked the woman.

    "For those 12 dresses, the total will be 120 drachma but since you''re buying it in bulk I''ll give you a discount to 100 drachma" the woman responded.

    "Not a problem, just get her size," he told the woman.

    "Excuse miss, would you mind taking off the coat so I could make an estimate of which size would fit you best?" the woman asked Miranda smiling.

    Miranda was embarrassed to take off the coat, the dress she was wearing beneath it was torn up and in tatters and it could be seen on her face.

    "Don''t worry about it Miranda, no-one''s gonna do you anything" he told her reassuring her.

    She took off the coat and passed it to the boy hiding the money bag inside and the woman was unfazed by the dress Miranda was wearing despite the state it was in and walked up to her with a measuring tape and began to take some measurements, after which she began to dig into the clothes pile once again and pulled out the clothes which met her requirements.

    "These clothes should fit fine, but if you should have a problem with it, come find me and I''llchange them," the woman told Miranda.

    The boy quickly took out 100 drachma from the money bag and passed it to the woman then he quickly hid the bag back inside of the coat and passed it back to Miranda which she quickly put back on.

    The woman understood why the boy hid the money bag quickly, this was Mephisto after all and she quickly checked the money making sure all was there and placed the all the dresses into 2 bags made of cloth and passed it to him.

    "Thank you very much," she told the boy with a look of gratitude on her face.

    "No thank you" he responded slightly nodding his head.

    "Miranda, you hold one of the bags, I can''t hold both with my left hand like this" he told her passing a bag to her.

    "Thanks alot" she told him slightly blushing taking a bag.

    He began to look at the clouds in the sky and noticed rain should begin to fall soon.

    "Is your hand okay, we have to clean it so it won''t get infected" she told him showing a look of concern on her face.

    "It''s not that bad, I''ll deal with it soon," he told her

    It pains a bit, I''ll clean it and wrap it up when we get to a place to stay..........

    Not that bad, your hand has been shaking nonstop since you reopened that wound............

    "We should go find a place to stay and drop these things off and get some food," he told Miranda.

    "Wait, you aren''t going to buy any clothes for yourself?" she asked him.

    "Maybe I should............ eh it doesn''t really matter to me that much, I can just wash it over and reuse it" he told her, in all honesty, he couldn''t care less about how he looked at the moment.

    "But that shirt is torn up," she told him.

    "And?" he asked

    "But it''s torn...............we''re definitely getting you some new clothes," she told him trying to assert some dominance.

    "Ok I guess" he responded not caring.

    Miranda walked back over to the female merchant.

    "Where can I get clothes for him?" she asked

    "If its clothes like what he''s wearing right now, you''ll have to check in a clothing store a little further down the road by the city square, most you''ll get selling on this street is tunics for men" she responded pointing down the street.

    "Let''s go" Miranda commanded the boy leading him down the street.

    After around 10 minutes of walking down the road in a straight line, they came upon a town square with a road on the 3 sides of the square being visible going through to unknown places. Multiple buildings for various things could be seen present, these buildings did not follow the typical Mephisto building design.

    Directly to the right side of them was a one storey building made of bricks with a window with shirts, pants, and shoes on display. The sign at the top of the building said: "Samael''s Clothing Shop" with a black boot drawn at the side.

    "Let''s go in there," Miranda told him.

    "Ah okay" he told her as he opened the door leading inside.

    *Ring

    A bell was located at the top of the door which rang as it was opened.

    Multiple racks could be seen in 5 rows made of wood holding different kinds of clothes and on the wall shelves could be seen holding shoes of different kinds male and female.

    A counter could be seen with a wooden door leading to somewhere across the opposite end of the room.

    No one could be seen on the inside of the place.

    "EXCUSEEEEEE" Miranda shouted.

    *Creakkkk

    The down slowly opened and a short old man with long white hair tied in a ponytail wearing glasses entered behind the counter and walked fastly towards them.

    "Ah, customers," the man said.

    "Hello good day, I need some clothes similar to what I''m wearing," the boy told the man.

    The man looked at the boy assessing what he was wearing.

    "I have clothes similar to this, come with me," the man said.

    They both followed the man and he took them to the 3rd row with shirts and pants on the racks.

    "As you can see, I have different colors in the shirts but I only have brown leather pants" the man informed the boy.

    "Doesn''t really matter to me, white shirts are okay and the pants aren''t an issue" the boy responded.

    "Rest the bags on the counter and let me take a measurement" the man instructed them.

    They both placed the bags on the counter and the man took out a white long sleeved shirt from the wooden rack and pushed it against the boys back to check the shoulder width and length.

    "This should fit nicely, go try on the pants in the back room, I think these should fit you," the man said pulling out a pair of pants passing it to the boy.

    "Wait, is your hand bleeding?" the man asked, now noticing it.

    "Sorry, but I can''t give you the merchandise to wear until you clean that up, if you want I have some water in a basin and some cloth behind the counter, clean it and wrap it up then we''ll continue" the man instructed the boy.

    "Alright," the boy saidwalking towards the counter.

    "You want me to clean it and wrap it for you?" Miranda asked looking at his hand.

    "No thanks.......I can handle it myself" he muttered walking away from her.

    He quickly submerged his hand into the basin of water and began to wipe it with one-half of the piece of cloth.

    It hurts..........

    As he was finished wiping it, Miranda walked up to him.

    "I''ll wrap it," she told him reaching her hand for the piece of cloth.

    "No thanks, I got this" he responded

    "I told you, I''m wrapping it," she told him seriously.

    Is it just me or has she gotten more assertive since I met her

    She tore off the clean half of the piece of cloth and began to wrap his hand quickly and she did it pretty neatly.

    Then the man walked over with the pair of pants and passed it to the boy and pointed at the door behind the counter.

    As he went inside, the room was relatively small like that of a box with just a mirror being on the wall.

    He quickly changed into the pants and they fit awfully well and then he took them off and carried them back outside.

    "They fit well, I''ll take them, also do you think that she can try on the clothes she bought earlier to see if they fit well so we''ll know if we have to change them?" he asked the man staring at Miranda.

    He''s right.......

    "Sure, it doesn''t really affect me, of course, that''s once you''re purchasing something" the man responded smiling.

    Miranda took the 2 bags of clothes and went into the change room.

    "So Mr. Samael I presume, but chance do you have any long sleeved tunics?" the boy asked the man.

    "Ah yes, I am Samael and yes I do have tunics in stock, any particular color?" Samael asked the boy.

    "Gray, black or white preferably" the boy responded

    "You''ll get gray and white, sorry but I don''t have black in stock" the man replied.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!

    "It doesn''t matter too much, I''ll take 3 in each," the boy told the man.

    Samael quickly picked out the tunics and measure them against the boy.

    "Is that all then sir?" Samael asked.

    He began to think about it.

    Miranda''s shoes were torn up, she should probably get something new.......

    "I''m unsure, I think the girl will need some shoes" he responded.

    After around 20 minutes Miranda emerged from the change room.

    "They fit perfectly," she told the boy smiling.

    "That''s good to know, Miranda get some shoes whilst you''re here one time" he told her looking down at her feet.

    Samael directed Miranda to the shelves where the shoes were lined up, and Miranda could be seen looking around.

    Then she finally decided on a pair, a pair of flat black leather slip on shoes.

    She quickly tried them on and they seemed to fit well.

    "And you sir?" Samael asked the boy pointing at shoes and boots.

    "No thanks, I got these, they''ll be enough" he responded.

    Samael directed them to the counter and began to calculate the cost of all the goods.

    "That''ll be 85 drachma," the man said putting the goods into a bag he had lying on the ground.

    Miranda quickly took out the money and paid the man.

    "Thank you very much," the man said with a smile on his face passing the bag to the boy.

    "I''ll hold it for you, leave that hand alone," Miranda told the boy taking the bag from him.

    "Thanks, I guess" the boy replied.

    "Mr. Samael, is there anywhere we can stay for the night nearby and also is there a place that sells food to eat nearby too?" the boy asked Samael.

    "Well...........there should be a tavern and guesthouse across from here, its the big 2 storey wooden building, they have some good food and decent rates for the night" Samael responded pointing through the window.

    "Thank you" the boy replied shaking his head towards the door signaling to Miranda it was time to leave.

    As they left the building, only two buildings on the opposite end caught the boy''s attention, one was the tavern and guesthouse and the other was a painted red, long 1 storey building made of what looked to be rock cladding, with 3 hung windows to the front with a brown wooden door and a flat roof. Black smoke could be seen coming from the chimney in the far back of the roof.

    As he carefully looked at the building, a small white sign could be seen posted on the far right of the building, it stated "Weapons and Magic Items Shop" with a sword and a staff side by side as its logo.

    I''ll have to come here after we go in after we get some rooms.........

    They walked straight across the road and headed to the guesthouse and tavern.

    There was no sign at the top, it was just a building made of wood, which extended about 2 storeys high with 2 casement windows on each side of the building and a mansard roof at the top.

    <hr>

    As he opened the door, a nasty scent permeated the room........it was that of ale.

    The scent may not have affected Miranda as she seemed unfazed but that stench made him a bit nauseous.

    He stood there for around 10 seconds looking down at the wooden floor getting accustomed to the scent.

    As he raised his head, the room could be seen divided into 3 areas, to the left were tables and chair with cotton furnishing and people could be seen eating food, to the right were plain wooden table and chairs and men in large groups could be seen being seated drinking ale and beer and finally straight ahead was the owner behind the large wood counter with barrels filled with the products he sold and 2 wooden doors on each end were seen leading to unknown areas in the back.

    As he they walked through the corridor leading to the counter where the man sat behind on a wooden stool. Men to the sides began to watch Miranda and began shouting at her.

    "Come her girl"

    "Daddy''s got a big cock waiting for ya"

    "I wanna fuck you tonight"

    She began to feel extremely insecure.

    "Miranda go to the counter, don''t get frightened, I''ll be there in one sec, " he told her pointing at the counter.

    "Ah okay," she replied and began to walk with haste worried about those men.

    The men who were watching her turned their eyes to the boy.

    "You lookin for a fight boy"

    "I dare you"

    "You wouldn''t last a second"

    He turned and looked at Miranda ensuring she wasn''t looking at him and then he began to watch the men.

    Beginning to grin and staring them dead in the eyes, his bloodlust could be felt, although he was not as big as they were in terms of muscular size and he had no weapon in his hands, what he reeked off was confidence.

    This was the look of someone who knew he wasn''t going to lose to these people and he began to watch the jars and mugs filled with ale which they were drinking from grinning at it.

    They understood what he was saying, "It doesn''t matter to me, I''ll kill you with that if push comes to shove".

    They immediately got quiet, the one thing that shatters confidence is someone that''s even more confident than you in a particular situation such as a fight where a victor and loser is determined.

    Doubt began to rise in their mind as if they could take him in a fight and then they asked themselves the question "Is it really worth it to die in a place like this?".

    The boy could see that they shut up and he lost his smile immediately.

    "It''s a shame" he told them, taunting them with a condescending look on his face.

    They got up and walked out of the tavern and the other men and women began to look at him, the room went quiet for a second before everything resumed as normal.

    They fell for the bluff.......that should keep them shut though

    In a fight right now, there was no doubt in the boy''s mind that he would lose. His body was already malnourished, he hadn''t trained in months and his technique most likely dropped in quality and he had been fighting off the fatigue and exhaustion from the sleepless nights paired with the blood loss from his hand.

    Intimidation is a frightful thing, even if you are unable to fight, your sheer presence in the room can stop almost anyone from approaching you if you know how to exert that aura directed in the form of bloodlust.

    The feeling he got inK��lasi never left him, it always remained there in the back of his head slowly festering.

    <hr>

    As he turned, he could see Miranda talking to the man at the counter and he approached them.

    "You done doing whatever it is you were doing?" she asked him.

    "Ah yes, you found out about the rooms?" he asked her.

    "Yes, this man here is named Jaime, he owns the inn here and said he''ll accommodate us for however long it be, I already paid for the night, sorry I didn''t tell you before I paid, it is your money afterall," Miranda told the boy sadly.

    "It isn''t a problem Miranda," he told her trying to cheer her up

    Jaime seemed relatively young, probably mid 30''s, a little bit on the chubby side and was dressed formally in a brown waistcoat, pants, and a white shirt with a mug of ale next to him.

    "Good day, I don''t know how long we''ll be staying here but thanks for having us" the boy greeted the man.

    "Oh, he has manners, that''s a good trait, you don''t see that kind of thing around here" the man responded

    Now that I notice it........huh

    She began to look at him.

    "Well I''ll escort both of you to your rooms," the man told them both as he walked to the door on the left opening it waving his hands at it signaling them to go in.

    As they entered, the room was a long narrow wooden corridor with a dead end but there was a staircase at the side leading upstairs.

    As they walked up the staircase multiple rooms could be seen in a linear fashion.

    Jaime pointed at the 1st and 2nd room directly infront of the staircase they had ascended.

    "You guys sort yourself out, doesn''t matter who goes in which afterall you''re both here together" the man said pointing at the rooms.

    "Are there wooden tubs in there filled with water?" the boy asked

    "Ah yes and there''s also a tap located directly above to provide you with water if you need any more" the man informed the boy.

    "A tap?" the boy asked

    "You don''t know what a tap is? Where did you come from?" the man said laughing.

    "K��lasi" the boy responded

    "Ahhhhh you came from that backwatered city, I should inform you now so I guess it won''t be a surprise to you, there are large water sources running beneath the earth in hollow places and some people ran pipes leading down there and added a pumping mechanism to supply the entire city with water in their homes, also we don''t use things like candles in the nighttime for a supply of light, there are bulbs and lights located throughout the city at nighttime which run on magic illuminating everything so nightlife is quite active, majority of the world follows this trend now" the man apprised the boy.

    Things are so different here.....................

    "Thank you for telling me" the boy responded with a confused look on his face.

    "So pretty lady, handle yourself well, I''ll be downstairs if you need anything," Jaime told Miranda as he walked down the stairs.

    "So Miranda, what room you wanna go in?" the boy asked.

    "I''ll go in the first one if you don''t mind" she responded

    "Okay," the boy responded as he swapped bags with Miranda, acquiring his clothes and opened the room going into room 2 and shutting the door.

    The room was large in size with black curtains over windows showing the town square and had a large mattress mounted on a large wooden frame, a chester drawer could be seen on the far left and the wooden tub with the shower could be seen on the far right with a mirror on the wall. Scented oils could be seen next to the tub along with salt and peppermint ground up mixed into a paste next to a new wooden toothbrush.

    He didn''t even tell me goodbye..

    *Thump

    A loud noise could be heard, as if something fell.

    <hr>

    Darkness?.............................................Where am I?

    It felt cold, oh so cold to the point where he was borderline on the verge of trembling.

    He moved his arms but as he looked down his body could not be seen.

    The darkness covered it all.

    His body slowly began to manifest and looking at the positioning of his legs, he was sitting.

    Something wet and mushy could be felt below his feet.

    As he looked down...........................

    *HUFF HUFF

    He got up from the bed gasping for breath hyperventilating and cold sweating.

    Grabbing half of his face with his left arm with a distraught expression on his face.

    What was that.........

    A hand could be felt touching his hand.

    "You''re awake...........I thought something bad had happened to you but Jaime said that you were famished and lacked rest" Miranda said as she began to hug him and cry.

    Miranda?

    "How long was I asleep?" he asked her calmly

    "I don''t know.............. around 6 hours, it''s nighttime, when I was finished bathing and changing I came to look for you but you weren''t answering when I called for you and when I opened the door I found you there lying on the ground" she replied.

    My body pains...........................it feels as if I''ve been stabbed repeatedly

    "Ah okay, thanks Miranda" he said putting on a facade, hiding the pain he was experiencing.

    "When was the last time you ate and slept?" she asked him worried for his health.

    "I don''t know, 2 days........probably" he responded hesitantly.

    "2 DAYS" she shouted in his ear.

    He was with me all this time and I hadn''t even realized.......

    "Wait for me outside, I''ll bathe and get ready and we can get something to eat" he told her.

    She stopped hugging him and smiled at him wiping the tears off her face and exited the room.

    As he slowly got up the bed and took off his clothes and approached the wooden tub.

    He couldn''t hold it in anymore, his insides felt as if they were being destroyed and his lungs began to hurt.

    He ran over and picked up the shirt he had just taken off.

    *COUGH COUGH COUGH

    He began to cough into the shirt to muffle the sound to not alert Miranda. After he was done coughing the pain soon subsided and he threw the shirt aside and he entered the wooden tub.

    The tub was directly connected to the floor, with a plug being seen at the bottom to drain the water outside.

    He stared at the tap not knowing what to do.

    It had handles so he made a guess and turned it.

    Water began to pour out landing into the tub with him in it.

    The water was cold but it was soothing.

    He quickly threw in some rose scented oil and washed his body thoroughly using a piece of soap made from mutton fat he saw near the scented oils.

    He pulled the plug and drained the water then changed into the new pair of pants he bought and a long sleeved gray tunic and his black boots.

    Brushing his teeth quickly using the peppermint and salt paste and spitting the water into a bowl, he left the room.

    As he exited the room, Miranda could be seen waiting outside, wearing a white A-line dress. She looked pretty.

    He wasn''t one to read the mood but he had common sense.

    "You look nice Miranda," he said throwing a compliment at her.

    "T-Thank you" she responded blushing.

    He looks so different........

    "Let''s head downstairs and get something to eat," he told her as he began to walk in front of her.

    "Yes, I haven''t eaten for the day" she responded.

    "You didn''t eat anything while I was asleep?" he asked.

    "N-No, I stayed with you the entire time to make sure you were alright" she said looking up at him then looking away.

    Huh........

    Hes pretty tall now that I notice it....

    "Thanks, Miranda, let''s go," he said turning and looking at her.

    <hr>

    As they headed downstairs, Jaime could be seen at the counter and it was extremely lively with people dancing and loud music being played by some people. People shouting and laughing could be heard.

    "Goodnight Jaime, we''re here to get some food," the boy told Jaime.

    "AHHH you''re awake, I thought you would''ve slept longer...........come with me," Jaime said as he escorted them to a table on the left-hand side of the room where people could be seen eating.

    "Sit here, my wife will be with you shortly," he told the boy.

    "You''re married?" the boy asked.

    "Ah yes, my wife and I both run this place but she doesn''t like some of the people that come to drink here so she tends to do the cooking and stays in the kitchen or our room to avoid them" he responded.

    They began to sit at a round table covered with white cloth face to face on cotton padded chairs.

    "So how did you let your body get this way?" she asked out of curiosity.

    "...................One thing led to another" he responded hesitantly choosing his words carefully.

    "You know you can''t let something like this happen again right," she told him out of concern.

    "Ah...yes" he responded with a delay.

    A woman approached them dressed in a white dress with long wavy light brown hair, she seemed to be in hermid 30s.

    "Hi goodnight, I''m Jaime''s wife Margaret, so what would you like to have?" she asked smiling.

    "Goodnight, nice to meet you, I don''t know, what does it have?" the boy asked.

    "We have a chicken stew with rice and soup tonight" she responded.

    "Miranda, what do you want?" the boy asked.

    "I''ll take the soup," she told the woman.

    "I''ll have the stew with rice, thanks" he responded.

    "And to drink?" the woman asked.

    "Anything but alcohol" the boy responded.

    "I have some oranges in the back, so you can get some orange juice" she replied.

    "That''ll be fine," he told her.

    "And you?" he asked Miranda.

    "I don''t know" she responded.

    She could be seen getting confused.

    "You should try the mead, it''s a type of wine we make over here" the woman responded.

    "I''ll try it then," Miranda told the woman.

    "I''ll be back in a little," the woman said as she began to walk away.

    A strange feeling began to run through his body.

    What the fuck is this..................nausea..........I shouldn''t eat...........

    "You look a little pale, you alright?" she asked

    "A-Ah yes" he responded.

    The woman returned with 2 plates in her hand and Jaime followed with the two drinks.

    "Enjoy the meal," they said simultaneously and began to giggle at it happening and they walked off.

    Looking down at the stew, it looked appetizing but the nausea made it uncomfortable.

    This was the first time he was eating something since the incident.

    "You''re not eating?" Miranda asked as she swallowed a spoonful of soup.

    Might as well try...............

    He took a spoonful of rice and stew and put it into his mouth.

    A gag reflex was about to happen but he suppressed it.

    Forcing the food down his throat and drinking the juice quickly to wash it down, making it look as if he was eating naturally to Miranda.

    "How is it?" she asked.

    "Its........good and yours?" he replied looking away from her.

    "It''s pretty good and your stew looks good too" she replied smiling.

    She took a sip of the mead.

    "This thing is pretty sweet and it has a slight taste of alcohol, it tastes good," she told him.

    "Glad to hear that," he told her.

    After a while, they were finished eating and the urge to vomit was so strong but he kept it in.

    The music began to intensify and the people dancing grew louder and louder,

    Miranda and the boy couldn''t help but look and she began to laugh and giggle at the sight.

    Then someone entered the bar and as Miranda looked at the person her face went cold.

    She immediately turned around and began to look at the boy.

    "Whats wrong Miranda?" he asked

    "The man that just came in...........he''s one of the guards that came with the man and killed the people of the tribe along with my parents," she said with her voice getting faint.

    "Oh...........is that so," the boy told Miranda with a hint of aggression staring at the man.

 Chapter 16: Conscience

    "That one over there?" the boy asked twitching his head in the direction of the man.

    She quickly glanced behind and turned back around immediately and nodded her head.

    The man seemed to be in his early 20''s and had a tattered brown shirt on with some torn up black pants, judging by how he as walking, the boy could tell that the man had been drinking before, upon further inspection he could see that the man was armed, there was a dagger strapped to the man''s waist.

    The man staggered, making his way to the counter where Jaime was and took a seat and began to drink.

    I wonder if he''ll recognize her...................who am I kidding........of course he''ll recognize her..........this is a bad situation if she stays here

    Looking at Miranda, he could see that she was clearly panic-stricken.

    "Miranda.........I think we should head upstairs and go to sleep" he told her.

    "I-I think you''re right" she responded with fear in her voice.

    "Alright, we''ll walk towards the door and when we reach near him, walk faster and I''ll shield you from his view," he told her as he got up.

    She followed the plan and when they reached within close proximity of the man she began to walk faster and he blocked the man''s line of sight obstructing his view of her and then he followed her soon after.

    They both walked upstairs in silence and sheentered her room and slammed the door shut behind her.

    The boy walked up to his door and opened it and closed it whilst standing in frontof it to give her the impression that he had gone to bed too.

    He slowly made his way downstairs where the man was seated and took a seat next to him.

    Jaime and the man could be seen having a discussion and were laughing.

    The boy overheard them and quickly began to laugh and speak to them joining the conversation.

    After around 5 hours of fake laughing and a meaningless conversation with them, it was time for Jaime to rack up shop and everyone to leave.

    Everyone quickly left and only the 3 of them remained in the bar.

    The man got up and began to stagger towards the door looking as if he would stumble and fall down from his drunkenness and Jaimetook the wares on the counter and took it to the kitchen to wash them.

    The boy quickly got up and began to walk behind the man, he quickly grabbed a dinner knife which was left on a table where someone had left their meal to be cleaned up.

    They both exited the building and the man staggered across the illuminated city square heading into a street directly opposite to the inn which was like that of a ghost town with the boy tailing him.

    The boy quickly looked up at the buildings and the houses to ensure no-one was looking down at them and began to walk faster to approach the man.

    Should I slit his throat or run it through the jaw........................I''ll slit it

    As he extended his hand with the knife towards the drunk man''s neck, in that split second where he was about to slice it open..............a bloodied Cornelius appeared before his eyes. His conscience wouldn''t allow him to take another life so soon.

    *BLAARGH

    He dropped on his knees and began to vomit on the ground, tossing the knife far behind.

    I can''t do it.........................not right now...........

    "Er mate you alright?" the man asked as he slowly turned around seeing the boy vomiting on the ground.

    "I think I had too much to drink......hahaha" the boy responded laughing.

    "Hahahaha, ye should know your limits boyo" the man said as he laughed and continued to stagger down the street soon disappearing from the boy''s sights.

    <hr>

    After around 10 minutes on his knees vomiting, he finally regained his composure and made his way back to the inn.

    As he grabbed the door to open it and head inside................it was locked.

    Jaime must have closed up huh.......

    The boy slowly made his way to the illuminated city square in front the inn and sat on the ground with the cool night time breeze hitting him in the face.

    Looking to the sides he could see what Jaime was talking about, the lights.

    There were silver steel posts mounted on the ground about 1 meter in length and glowing blue magical runes could be seen engraved into the metal. A small blue stream of light could be seen flowing into a bulb which lit a bright white light illuminating everything in front of him.

    It really is amazing......................

    "It''s been awhile," he said as he began to look up at the starry sky with the half moon looking down at him.

    As he looked at the sky he didn''t feel the urge to cry as he previously did, he was coming to terms of acceptance with what had happened.

    "I think I''m finally coming to terms with accepting what has happened or maybe somethings wrong with me with accepting this so soon," he told himself whilst looking at the moon with a sad smile.

    As he began to look at the stars in the sky and an image of Rex began to manifest in his mind imprinting itself upon the stars.

    "Rex........................I know you would want me to live without guilt of what happened to Jason, Susan and Cornelius.........................but I can''t do that...............you were like a brother to me and I have no idea why you did what you did...........but I just want you to know that I don''t hate you for it, I''m sure you had your reasons and in the end you gave your life to me.........................so I''ll live for all of you that died that day my family................I won''t let your death and Cornelius''s death be in vain............you both wanted me to live, my life which was worth nothing you gave a degree of value and I want you to know that I won''t throw it away and make everything that''s happened be in vain" he told the stars of the night extending his hand towards the stars reaching for that which he could not have with his voice trembling and slowly fading to the point where he could no longer speak.

    He began to reminisce all the good memories he had of them all.

    Although he had a great amount of affection for Cornelius''s family, he considered Rex to be a brother, he was the man he trusted with everything, the man who showed him respect and kindness although he was a stranger and most importantly he was the man he felt at most ease around, the man who made his problems go away by just being around him.

    His heart began to throb at the thought of them all no longer being with him.

    A door could be heard opening behind him coming from the inn.

    "What are you doing outside?" Miranda asked yawning as she slowly walked towards him rubbing her eyes.

    "Looking at the sky............" he responded sadly not looking at her.

    Somethings wrong

    She could hear the sadness in his voice and looking at him and the way he was looking at the stars she could tell this was something important to him. In the end, she told him everything about herself but she knew nothing about him.

    "Do you...................want me.................. to stay with you?" she asked him desperately wanting to be at his side at this time.

    "Up to you" he responded staring up.

    She quickly walked over and took a seat next to him on the ground and began to look at the sky.

    "The night sky is pretty isn''t it" she told him smiling.

    "It...........really is," he said as he stared at the sky with his hair masking his eyes.

    Then two teardrops fell from his eyes, running down his face, leaking to his chin and hitting the ground.

    His face was expressionless as always although tears fell but in that moment she could feel it, the pain he was experiencing on the inside which he never spoke about could be felt emanating in the air around him.

    Is he crying? Did I say something wrong?

    "Are you alright? Is something wrong?" she asked as she reached for his hand.

    ".............I''m fine, let''s head inside," he said as he got up and grabbed her hand pulling her up then letting go.

    They both headed inside to their respective rooms and shewent to sleep.

    <hr>

    "Did you get any sl-" she barged into his room only to meet him in the wooden tub taking a shower with his back facing her.

    What the hell.......

    All the scars on his back were visible for her to see.

    "What happe-"This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    "You gonna leave or just stand there staring? Doesn''t affect me anyhow" he told her as he turned around.

    She slammed the door shut and left the room.

    After around 20 minutes he emerged from the room wearing a white shirt and brown pants, Miranda could be seen waiting in front the door.

    It was none of her business but she was curious.

    "So what happened to you?" she asked out of concern and curiosity.

    He gave no response and just stared at her.

    "Pack your stuff up, we''re leaving"

    "Why?"

    "It''s too dangerous for you to stay here"

    "But where will we go?"

    "I''ll talk to Zerbia and find a place, he should know"

    "Give me about a half hour, I have to shower and pack up"

    "Can I get the money bag, I gotta pay Jaime for the food last night"

    She took the bag out the coat and threw it at him.

    He headed downstairs and saw Jaime at the counter talking to his wife.

    "Morning, how much do I owe you for the meal last night?" he asked.

    "Morning, 20 drachma will be fine, give it to Margaret" Jaime replied.

    The boy quickly took out the money and paid her and exited the inn.

    <hr>

    He looked to the left where the black smoke was coming from, it was the weapons shop.

    Now''s a better time than ever

    He walked over to the shop and opened the door.

    As he looked upon the white walls, various completed armor sets could be seen mounted on the walls made of different materials, there were large rows of weapons in front of him:katanas, longswords, greatswords, gauntlets, rapiers and so many more could be seen with different prices and on the walls as he looked closer, weapons could be seen mounted next to the armor sets with runic engravings on them, of course, the price was high too for those.

    I don''t like any of these.......

    A granite counter with a bell on top of it could be seen at the end of the room with multiple wooden rows behind with shelves holding items of different kinds.

    He made his way across the room and rang the bell.

    A man emerged from a black door behind the rows holding the items and smoke emerged with him.

    He was drenched in sweat and his face was covered in dust.

    As the man walked closer his figure kept getting larger and larger, he was around 6 foot 4 inches, slightly taller than the boy but taller none the less, highly muscular with long wavy black hair, his skin olive in color and he was wearing a black tunic with brown pants.

    "So what can I do ya for?" the man asked with a horsed voice looking down at him.

    "I need a sword with high maneuverability" the boy answered looking at the swords in the racks.

    "Maneuverability you say..................what do you normally use in the first place?" the man asked him from curiosity.

    "A Xiphos" the boy replied.

    "A XIPHOS HAHAHA..........FACE TO FACE I SEE..........SO DO YOU WIELD A SPEAR AND SHIELD WITH IT TOO" the man shouted laughing.

    "Spear? Shield? No, just the sword" the boy muttered.

    ".........Just the sword.........you know how to use defensive magic then?" the man asked.

    "No"

    "Offensive magic?"

    "No"

    "So you just get up close and take them head on?"

    "Well that''s what I''ve been doing so far"

    "I don''t know what you''ve been fighting up to now but even the lowest tier mage knows how to focus and exert their innate mana in the form of an aura for protection, the only way to pierce that is to channel more mana into your weapon than what the person is using and exert more force into the blow to pierce that or else the sword will be stopped dead in its tracks" the man told the boy without him asking.

    "Is that so"

    "I don''t know where you''ve been living prior to this but the way you fight is only applicable to people who don''t know how to use magic, weak monsters, and beasts........if you were to fight a mage you''d definitely lose......you don''t even know how to channel your mana into your weapon to reinforce the steel so the sword won''t break do you?"

    I beat the shit outta that mage before though

    "No, I don''t"

    "That''s a problem because the higher tier monsters know how to use magic too and have intelligence"

    "Well shit.............."

    "You don''t have to worry about this though, these are things you should only know if you plan on becoming a merc or working for a kingdom as a soldier or somethin.........................so what do you need the sword for?"

    I have a date

    "For self-defense in case something happens" the boy responded grinning.

    "You don''t look like the type of man that would use a sword for self-defense................I should have a xiphos in the back but remember what I said, be careful or else you''ll die quickly" the man said as he walked to the back.

    The man quickly returned with a xiphos in his hand, the sword had a pitch black hilt and a clean silver double edged blade.

    "I got the sword but I can''t find the sheath for it and I don''t have any leather for you to strap it on, I don''t know if you still want it"

    "How much?"

    "Give me 35 drachma and it''s yours"

    "Wrap it with some cloth so I can hide it and we have a deal"

    "Deal"

    The man walked to the back and wrapped the sword with some white cloth and came back and passed it to the boy and the boy quickly paid the man.

    "You know you should get something for range too" the man told the boy.

    Maybe I should

    "What do you have that I can use with this?" the boy asked

    "See those weapons on the wall, they''re called runic weapons, they work by draining the mana in your body and outputting it in different elemental forms such as fire lightning etc.........wait I now remembered you don''t know how to use magic, those would be useless, how about a long sword or a katana?The katana specializes for fast & powerful slashing and the longsword is versatile with many angles of attack & defense, so which one you think is good?"

    "A katana is nice but at the end of the day I don''t have the technique needed to use one and in the end both require me to use both hands for me to properly use them and that can limit me quite a bit, so no thanks, this''ll work just fine"

    "Whatever floats your boat............goodluck in whatever it is you plan to do" the man told the boy as he walked away leaving the store.

    <hr>

    As he re-entered the inn and walked upstairs, Miranda could be seen waiting at the top of the staircase wearing a green sundress with her bags in her hand waiting on him.

    "What ya got there?" she asked him looking item wrapped in cloth in his hand.

    "Nothing, give me 5 minutes and we''ll move out and head to the bank to talk to Zerbia" the boy said as he walked into the room and shut the door.

    He quickly packed his clothes into the cloth bag and put the sword in there with everything else and exited the room.

    They walked downstairs and gave their goodbyes to Jaime and Margaret and exited the building.

    They made their way through the crowded streets and entered the bank.

    Upon entering, Zerbia could be seen talking to a client in the line, as he turned he saw the boy standing there with Miranda and made his way to them.

    " Sir, I see you''re looking better, what can I help you with today?" Zerbia asked as he looked at the boy''s outfit.

    "Can I talk to you in private? It''s important"

    "Sure, come with me"

    "Miranda, wait here, I''ll be back" the boy implored her as he walked away with Zerbia to the room behind the fenced counter.

    "So what is it you would like to ask me sir?"

    "I have a problem, the girl who''s with me, Miranda, her tribe was destroyed and she was the last survivor and some men took her as a slave"

    "Sorry to hear that"

    "The thing is, last night she saw one of the men who had dealt with her tribe, and I don''t know if they''ll recognize her, so I don''t think the city is safe"

    "If they did take her as a slave prior to this, chances are they took her blood and registered her as a slave, do you want me to find the slave traders in the city?"

    "Yes, but more importantly I need a place for her to stay for awhile that''ll be safe"

    "It''ll take me awhile to help you find the slave traders in Mephisto as chances are they''re a hidden organization. However, I can help you with the place to stay, I have a house located along the walls surrounding Mephisto near the northern exit of the city"

    "Thank you, how much will it cost for me to use there?"

    "It''ll be no cost, Mr. Gudrun always helped me out with everything I needed so this is nothing in comparison, I''m happy to help you"

    "Thank you so much Zerbia, I can''t describe how thankful I am"

    "No, I''m thankful that you came to me and trusted me with this, I''ll find the traders for you and tell you who they are when next you come to the bank"

    "Zerbia, I owe you, if you ever need me for anything, just say the word and I''ll be there in a heartbeat"

    Both men made their way out the room and headed back to the waiting room where Miranda was sitting.

    "Miranda, Zerbia says he has a house you can stay in for the while that should be safe until I decide what I''m gonna do"

    "Thank you Mr. Zerbia," she said as her face lit up and she bowed to show her gratitude.

    "Please don''t lower your head for me Madam, the house is located directly as you exit from the northern border, follow the walls to the left and about a half a mile away it should be there, it''s a wooden house you can''t miss, use it for however long you like" Zerbia responded smiling looking at her as he passed the keys for the house to her.

    "Okay Miranda, I''ll escort you there and drop food for you and stuff on a daily basis"

    "Escort me?" she asked confused

    "Well yes, I won''t be living with you" the boy informed her

    "WHAT!" she exclaimed

    "You do understand that if I come to stay there it''ll just be the two of us living there alone right, don''t worry about me, I''ll find a place to stay for the while" the boy said enlightening her.

    "I''m not going to live there alone............."

    "You have to understand, it''ll just be for a short while"

    "No, I''m not staying there alone..........I don''t mind if you live there too...............I''ll feel safer if you''re there"

    "Miranda..............."

    "I''m not taking no for an answer"

    "Zerbia, help me out here" the boy begged.

    "I''ve helped you out enough already, this is your problem hahaha" Zerbia responded laughing

    "Motherf-...........................okay Miranda, I''ll stay with you for the time being"

    I''ll leave her once she builds back up herself and feels secure and confident when I''m no longer needed.

    "Sir, in your stay there, you don''t have to come in the city and take a chance, the people of the settlement located directly outside the northern gate tend to sell vegetables, meats, and cooked food during the day, so you''ll be in a good position"

    "I understand.......Zerbia, I''ll be back to find out about the other thing soon"

    "Yes sir, goodbye and I do hope you enjoy your stay in the house"

    "Goodbye Zerbia and once again, thanks for everything," the boy said as he exited the building

    "Goodbye Mr. Zerbia and thank you" Miranda thanked the man as she followed the boy.

    <hr>

    Northern border, that should be where we entered the city from.......

    "Let''s head there quickly and get settled in, I don''t want the chances of you being found out getting higher" he beseeched her.

    They walked through the city fast and reached the gate of the northern border.

    As they stood outside the gate, there were no tracks or roadways that could be seen leading to the left and right, they would have to make their way through the muddied grassland.

    After walking for around 15 minutes along the wall following Zerbia''s directions, a 2 storeydark brown log house facing the forest could be seen with a pitched roof, there were two bay windows on the first storey of the house and multiple double-hung windows on the second floor and a wooden door in the front.

    It looked extremely elegant and aesthetically pleasing to the eyes.

    "Wowwwwwwww, I can''t believe we''re going to be staying here" she said as she ran towards the house like if she didn''t have a problem in the world.

    How can she be so carefree........

    As he walked towards the house looking up at the light blue sky he could hear the door open, she had already opened it and had gone inside.

    The interior of the house made him speechless, it was just as beautiful as it looked on the exterior, there was the living room to the right, there were 3 extremely beautiful red velvet couches with a bearskin rug beneath, a small little fireplace made of some bricks and a small little rectangular glass table in the center of the couches.

    To the left was a wooden kitchen counter with a circular stove made of bricks where wood and other fuel sources were put to be burned for heat for cooking with a netted piece of metal on the top the bricks for resting down pots etc.

    A wooden cabinet with glass, on the inside teacups, pots, wooden spoons, glasses, and silverware could be seen to the side of the counter and on the ground next to it were plenty of pieces of dried wood which could be used for fuel along with a metal tinderbox which contained tinder and firestrikers.

    On the wooden walls were small little glass boxes with only the tops exposed mounted with candles inside for light.

    Directly in front of him was a wooden staircase with wooden railings leading upstairs and the washroom behind the staircase.

    He walked up the stairs and emerged in the center of 4 rooms parallel to each other.

    Randomly opening the door to the left in front of him he could see Miranda lying on the bed rolling around on it.

    Okayyyyyyyyyyy thennnn........

    He quickly closed her door and walked down to the first room on the right, the one furthest away from her.

    The room was smaller than the others and was not as fancy, there was no wardrobe or chester drawer, no rugs on the floor to prevent the coldness of the wood from hitting his feet but it had a small bed pushed against the left side of the wall and a wooden tub with a tap for showering along with soap and scented oils to the right alongside a mirror and a window giving a view of the forest.

    How convenient that this house is directly in front of the forest

    The room would do just fine.

 Chapter 17: A Home

    I feel so cold, why won''t the breeze stop blowing, why can''t I see anything?.............. my feet''s gettin wet, what is this?Water.......................no.........this is too thin to be water and why does it smell metallic.................blood?

    "--------------" he attempted to speak but his body refused to allow the words to even be formed.

    My voice won''t come out.... WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS

    The strange cold liquid could be felt rising along his body and within the surroundings slowly making it''s way up to his face.

    STOP........ STOP............... ANY FURTHER AND I''LL DROWN

    The liquid entered his mouth and began to fill his lungs, it had no distinctive taste and kept pouring into his body without any resistance, he couldn''t breathe anymore at this point.

    *HUFF HUFF

    He woke up with the sun blistering through his window hitting him on the forehead and he began taking deep breaths gasping for breath as if he was almost suffocated.

    "AHHHHHHHHHH" he screamed as a gut wrenching pain overcame his body forcing him to curl in a ball and scream in agony, the pain was sudden and unexpected which caused him to lose the composure he normally had.

    "WHATS WRONG, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" she shouted twisting the doorknob trying to enter his room desperately to see what was happening.

    *COUGH *COUGH *COUGH

    He began to cough his lungs out with each cough draining every bit of air he had in his lungs.

    "TELL ME WHATS GOING ON" she shouted with her voice being panic-stricken.

    Quickly pulling off every piece of clothing he was wearing on, he jumped into the wooden tub filled with water and submerged his head under the ice cold water, closing his eyes letting the coldness take the pain away, numbing his body.

    It was the second time this had happened.

    After around 2 minutes in basking in the cold water, regaining his composure and ignoring Miranda''s shouting, he got up and threw a long-sleeved white tunic and black pants along with his boots, picked up the money bag and opened the door.

    Miranda was standing in front of the door with a look of distraught on her face.

    "What''s wrong?" he asked as if nothing was happening.

    Is he serious?

    "...................Don''t fuck with me, what was happening in that room?" she asked him seriously with a slight look of agitation on her face due to him acting the way he was.

    "Doesn''t matter, don''t study it" he said as he began to walk off heading towards the staircase.

    He thinks I''m a fool or something

    "FI-"

    "Let''s head to the settlement and get some stuff Miranda, by the way, you look nice" he told her as he turned around noticing the yellow A-line dress she was wearing.

    "You really think that paying me a compliment will stop me from getting angrier?" she asked him with her arms folded.

    "What if I pay you two?" he said sarcastically.

    "I''m in a bad mood now, go by yourse-"

    *GROWLLLLL

    "You''re hungry?" he asked upon hearing her stomach growling.

    "Doesn''t matter, don''t study it" she replied angrily.

    It wasn''t even their first day alone together and they were already arguing over shit that was pointless to him.

    This doesn''t even concern her, why the fuck is she so angry.................I should apologize I guess

    "Miranda, I''m sorry for being the way I was before but there''s nothing wrong, here''s what, if you come with me to the settlement to get some stuff I''ll cook for you when we get back, or you can just stay here, up to you, I already apologized there, do what you want" he responded, telling her with a straight face.

    She began to ponder and realized she may have been overreacting and she might have gotten a little overemotional.

    "Sorry............I''ll come with you" she said with a depressing tone.

    She''s calmed down it seems

    "Cheer up, let''s go" he told her grabbing her hand spontaneously, leading her down the stairs and she followed without hesitation.

    They quickly exited the house and locked the doors and he stood outside for a second taking in the air before moving out to reach the settlement.

    They began to make their way through the grassy plains to reach the settlement.

    As they walked in silence the boy could hear something.

    *KNOCK.........................*KNOCK

    It was faint but something was knocking in the distance.

    Where''s it coming from?

    He stopped in his tracks and began to look in all directions for the source of the sound.

    "What''s wrong?" Miranda asked him as she saw him standing looking all over the place.

    "..........You don''t hear that?" he asked her.

    "Hear what?" she asked getting confused as to what he was talking about.

    There was nothing that could be heard besides the breeze blowing through the trees of the forest and both of their feet pattering throughout the grass.

    *KNOCK.........................*KNOCK.......................*KNOCK.....................*KNOCK

    "Do you really not hear that knocking sound?" he asked her, getting worried.

    "It must be your imagination" she replied.

    The sound was similar to that of knocking a hand on a piece of hardwood.

    He was able to pinpoint the sound, although Miranda could not hear it, he could and it was as clear as day.

    It''s coming from the forest..........................yea I can hear it coming from there

    He turned and faced the forest and the knocking sound he was hearing immediately stopped, although it was daylight and the trees of the forest could be seen clearly, there was nothing which was knocking on the trees.

    "It must be my imagination for real Miranda," he told her with a look of paranoia on his face.

    "Everythings fine, let''s go," she told him as she grabbed his hand and led him through the plain.

    <hr>

    *SOBBING

    As they were directly outside of the settlement entering the main road, a woman could be heard crying loudly and she began to scream.

    "WHYYYYYYYY MUST YOU TAKE HIM GODS, WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY" she bawled.

    Walking into the main road to enter the settlement, a crowd of the villagers of the settlement could be seen gathered around the woman who was the source of the crying and screaming.

    Miranda and the boy stood there looking at the sight for around 20 minutes before the crowd began to dissipate and everyone returned to normal as if nothing had ever happened.

    Next to the screaming woman on the ground was a wooden cart with 2 horses and a man at the helm. At the back of the cart was something covered in black cloth.

    "Stay here Miranda," the boy told Miranda as he walked off towards the woman.

    Miranda paid no heed and followed him nonetheless.

    As he made his way in front of the woman, he could see the that the dirt where the woman was, was moist from her tears as compared to the rest.

    The boy took a knee and looked at the woman face to face, she looked lifeless as if her soul was ripped out.

    "What happened here?" he asked the woman.

    She began to cry upon him asking the question.

    "M-M-My b-b-brother" she said crying.

    The boy glanced to the cart and everything fell into place, what was covered in black cloth was the woman on the ground''s brother.

    Her brother?

    He grabbed her and started hugging her and stroking her hair. The woman had no idea who he was but she understood what he was trying to do.

    What''s he doing?

    "Tell me what happened" he said in a soft tone.

    "H-He w-e-ent in the forest o-o-n a jo-b-b and they found his body t-t-this m-m-morning" she stuttered crying in his arms.

    He was a merc probably

    The boy took his hands and wiped the tears of the grieving sister''s face.

    "I won''t hit you some bullshit and tell you everything''ll be fine, that would be an insult, what you must do now............is persevere, your brother wouldn''t have liked to see you in this state, you must pick up the pieces and live on, if not for yourself then for him" he told her sadly stroking her hair.

    She began to look at him and as she looked into his eyes, she could see the pain he was experiencing at the same time, although she was mourning the loss of her brother, looking into those eyes of his made her feel as if the problem she was suffering from right now paled nothing in comparison to him.

    "I understand w-what you-u are saying" she told him wiping the tears off her face as she got up and moved to the back of the cart.

    "Tha-a-ank you" she told him.

    The cart began to move as she entered and that was the end of it, she soon disappeared with the cart that was heading into Mephisto from their sights.

    "Why did you go to her, it doesn''t concern you," Miranda told him as she looked at him sitting on the ground.

    "If you saw someone suffering and it was within your power to ease their suffering, would you stand there and let them suffer alone or at least try to be at their side and help ease them of their suffering, everyone in that crowd stood there looking at her as a spectacle, not one of them thought of the fact that she was someone who lost an important person in their life" he replied.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    He''s so kindhearted

    "I understand what you''re saying but if that''s your mentality, in the end, you''ll become the one that''s suffering" she responded putting her hand on his shoulder.

    He thought about what she had said as he got up from the ground but he couldn''t think of anything to tell her.

    They made their way deeper into the settlement following the main road and came upon a small square area with a lot of people separated from the housing where merchants were present selling merchandise of various nature. A mixed scent permeated the air, fresh fish on salt, boiling chickens being plucked and raw beef all in one.

    The scent of the fish made him so nauseous, they had to buy everything soon and get out of there quickly.

    Forcing their way in between people to reach different merchants, they purchased various spices, peppers, potatoes, carrots, cassava, sugarcane molasses in a bottle, cows milk, sugar, salt, herbs and fruits etc all of which were put into a cloth bag.

    When it was time to buy meats, he could see that Miranda was eyeing the fish but she could notice that it was making him upset and they chose to buy a fresh chicken instead which was plucked, cleaned and wrapped in paper.

    <hr>

    At the end of purchasing goods, they quickly headed back to the house and put the goods on the table.

    The day was hectic navigating through that maze which was called a market and the boy took a seat on the couch.

    "So what''re you gonna cook for me for lunch, I remember you clearly said you were gonna cook for me" Miranda notified the boy whilst laughing.

    "A deal''s a deal, I need water" the boy told Miranda.

    "Behind the stairs has a tap next to the washroom" she responded pointing at it.

    The boy made his way across the room to the cabinet and took out a large metal bowl and he made his way to the tap and filled it with water and headed back.

    Opening the tinder box, he put some tinder into some wood within the circular brick stove and caught the tinder using the firestrikers.

    As the fire caught itself he put the netted piece of metal over it and then placed a black metal pot on it.

    He took a butcher knife and parted the chicken, separating it into two batches, he pressed dry salt into pieces of meat from the first batch then he reused the paper and wrapped it for preservation. He then coated the other batch with molasses and finely chopped culantro and put it into the pot.

    As the meat began to sizzle he filled the pot with water and then he added some sugar, a pinch of salt and a whole pepper into the stew and then he put the lid over the pot and left it to simmer.

    He realized that the stove could hold two pots and he put a rice pot next to the other pot and filled it with water and began to boil the rice.

    After around 30 minutes he was finished with all the cooking.

    Within that time he had taken out plates and silverware and he made freshly squeezed orange juice into two glasses, it was time to eat.

    "Miranda, I''m done," he said as he walked to the couch and saw her lying down.

    She got up immediately and walked to the kitchen.

    "What is this?" she asked looking at the chicken.

    "It''s a stew" he responded.

    "It smells different from the stew I''m used to and there are no vegetables," she told him with a look of confusion on her face.

    "Just eat the food, I''m sure you''ll be surprised," he told her, getting angry at her comments.

    They took out some food into two plates and headed to the living room where the couches were and took a seat.

    He began to force himself to eat however she still seemed to be skeptical of the food, then she took a spoonful of the chicken and rice.

    Her face lit up like a bulb.

    "What is this taste in the chicken?" she queried out of amazement as she kept eating.

    "Molasses, it sweetens the meat and I added pepper and some salt for spiciness and a tad bit of saltiness" he replied.

    She stared at him as he made that comment.

    "What?" he asked upon seeing the look on her face.

    "Nothing, just surprised, I thought you were gonna make some bad tasting food" she proclaimed.

    "Nah, I picked it up from Su-" he said as he choked upon trying to say her name.

    Su?

    What the......

    *Faint tapping in the distance

    Miranda didn''t seem to hear it.

    "Do you not hear that?" he asked as he got up and looked through the window into the forest.

    "What do you keep hearing so, I don''t hear a thing" she responded confused.

    I''m getting paranoid

    "It''s nothing, I made a mistake there," he said as he took a seat and continued eating.

    They ate in silence after that, the day passed by in a fly and Miranda washed the wares and clothes and put them to dry on the grass outside and he helped her out and night soon fell.

    <hr>

    "What do you want to eat?" Miranda asked him asked him as he began lighting the candles to illuminate the house.

    "You''re gonna cook?" he asked.

    "Well yes," she replied as she walked into the kitchen.

    "Roast chicken and vegetables fine?" she asked him.

    I really don''t wanna fuckin eat again for the day

    "Yea, sure," he told her.

    After around 40 minutes she was done and she prepared two plates of food with cooked, seasoned, chopped up potatoes and roasted chicken on a stick. It smelled good and would make any normal person''s mouth water.

    She finished pretty quick

    She sat there staring at him waiting for him to take the first bite and tell her how it tasted.

    He took a forkful of potatoes and put it into his mouth.

    "It tastes good Miranda" he complimented her.

    "Thank you, this is my first time coo-"

    *COUGH *COUGH

    He began coughing as he took his first bite into the chicken.

    The fuck is this saltiness

    "WHAT''S WRONG?" she shouted handing him a glass of water.

    "You didn''t get rid of the saltiness in the meat" he told her as he gulped down water to wash the taste out of his mouth.

    "I washed the meat to get rid of the salt though" she said as she took a bite of the meat.

    *COUGH *COUGH *COUGH

    "I see what you were talking about, I''m so sorry" she said apologizing.

    "You want me to show you how to remove the saltiness from the meat?" he asked.

    "Yes please, I don''t know what went wrong," she told him with a bewildered look on her face.

    "Let''s go to the kitchen," he told her as he got up and began to walk.

    She followed him into the kitchen where he could see the wares were washed and lying on the kitchen counter.

    "How many times did you wash the chicken?" he enquired

    "Once, to get the salt off" she replied.

    "Ah, that''s your problem there," he said as he unwrapped the paper filled with chicken and placed some within a bowl.

    Then he grabbed a huge metal bowl and walked over to the tap and filled it with water and then he came back.

    He poured the majority of the water into 5 bowls and threw the chicken he separated into the first bowl.

    "See, washing doesn''t get it out, you gotta soak it to get it out because the salt penetrates deep into the meat" he informed her.

    "I understand" she replied.

    They waited 10 minutes then he removed the chicken from the first bowl and moved it to the second and kept repeating this action taking almost an hour.

    "You have to repeatedly soak it within different bowls of clean water to ensure the salt comes out, if you leave it within one bowl too long, the water will become concentrated with salt and the saltiness will remain, but if you do it like this, most of the salt will come out" he told her pointing at the bowls.

    Then he walked over to the stove, lit it and placed a pot on it and filled it with milk.

    "What are you doing?" she asked.

    "Soaking gets out most of the saltiness, but in the end, the meat will always have a highly salty taste which is bearable..........that''s what most people think........... but if you boil the meat in milk for a short period of time it completely gets rid of that taste and you can do so much more with the meat. The salt used for preserving meat limits cooking in so many ways but with this, the meat becomes as it was previous to adding the salt giving you so many possibilities, the only thing this doesn''t work for is fish I think" he replied, educating her.

    After around 5 minutes of boiling the meat in the milk, he removed it from the pot and placed it into a bowl and rinsed it free of the milk.

    He then reached for some of the spices within the bag such as ginger, turmeric, dried hot peppers, and garlic within the bag. He then finely chopped them up, added some water with a pinch of salt for some flavor and made a paste and began to rub it into the meat.

    Picking up a piece of wood on the ground he quickly split it into long pieces and skewered the meat and removed the netted metal over the stove and began to roast the meat.

    She couldn''t help but stare at him in amazement, all of his actions were efficient and he looked elegant whilst preparing the meat and chopping up the spices for the seasoning.

    After around 5 minutes he took the skewers off the stove, put it on a plate and outed the stove.

    "Try it" he instructed her, passing a skewer to her.

    She took it from him and began to bite the meat of the stick.

    "This is soooo good and there''s no saltiness what so ever," she told him praising him as she stuffed her face full of meat.

    "Thanks" he replied.

    "Aren''t you going to eat it too?" she told him with her mouth filled with food.

    "No, I made this for you, the potatoes are good enough for me, they were satisfying, thank you" he told her, thanking her for the meal as he walked over to the couch where the plate filled with the potatoes were.

    She returned with the plate filled with the skewers and sat next to him eating.

    As he turned and looked at her, he could see she was gloomy.

    "What''s wrong?" he asked.

    "I feel so bad for serving you that, in all honesty it wa-"

    "Was your first time cooking? You told me that already, don''t feel bad, after all, it was your first time trying this and your potatoes came out great" he told her trying to comfort her.

    "Do you think that I dunno.....you could probably...........teach me? It''s just you''re so good at this" she asked with a look of embarrassment on her face.

    I feel so bad for asking him this, these are things I should know how to do at this point

    He looked at her and could see that she was ashamed to ask him that.

    "It isn''t a problem, you can tag along with me in the kitchen when I''m cooking then," he told her without hesitation.

    "Thank you so much," she told him with gratitude.

    After they were finished eating, they disposed of the bones by throwing it outside and they washed the wares together, outed the candles and they both headed upstairs to their rooms.

    He sat on his bed for around an hour looking at the moon through his window, then he exited the room with his xiphos in his hand and headed downstairs without making a sound.

    Walking out into the field in front of him with the forest directly ahead of him and the strong cold breeze blowing making his body getting chills along with the moonlight illuminating all in front of him, he began to train.

    It had been months since he had done this, he began to practice strikes of different angles repeatedly working at a rhythm and setting a pace, intensifying the speed and strength of his strikes and as the time went by, the fatigue began to take its toll and he took a break.

    He began to do pushups, squats, and situps to develop the strength of his body and he set two marks of about 50 meters apart in line and began to run shuttles to build his endurance and speed. He fought through the pain and kept going on and on.

    At the end of training, he was drenched in sweat and every fiber of his being was in pain and he headed upstairs and soaked his body in the cold water of the tub.

    Surprisingly, although he was extremely tired, he didn''t feel the urge to sleep and he just stared at the moon until the sun rose.

    <hr>

    A month passed by with both of their lives following that typical day.

    In the time that passed, he came to get an understanding of who Miranda was as a person, she was impulsive, brash at times,overly emotional and she stuck to him like glue.

    While she was awake, she would go by him and spend it all with him, all day, every day except for that once in a blue moon when he would head to the city for about 2 hours to talk to Zerbia about the whereabouts of the slave traders and in that time she felt as if she would die without his company.

    It wasn''t that they did anything special, it was just that his presence and being with him made time seem to fly and she wished to be with him at all times, on the days when she would be even all emotional thinking about the things that happened before, he would always be at her side and try to comfort her.

    He wasn''t very vocal but he would always try in many different ways to comfort her, cooking, taking her out to the settlement, a hug once in a while etc but at this point, it seemed as if she had come to terms of accepting what had happened and was alright.

    She had tried to talk to him about where he came from on numerous occasions but he never responded and the atmosphere would get silent. He was an enigma to her, she never had any idea of what was going through his head and had no idea of who he was although he basically knew everything about her.

    Within that month, there were things that had changed which she knew nothing of, he realized that every time he would sleep, he would have nightmares and wake up in an unbearable amount of pain, feeling as if he was being stabbed repeatedly along with a feeling of being burned and as a result he slept once every 2-3 days, only out of necessity and not for the pleasure of it.

    Although this was happening, the pain was slowly leeching into his body throughout the day, it wasn''t limited to just the minutes after waking up, it would hit him suddenly at any point throughout the day.

    One day as he and Miranda were on their way to the market to stock up on food, a couple of city guards could be seen around 200 meters away from the house near the forest by the path to reach the main road to enter the settlement with blood being visible on the grass.

    "Miranda, head to the settlement, I''ll be with you soon" he ordered her.

    She could tell he was extremely serious and didn''t wish to make him feel uncomfortable with her presence at this time.

    He waited until she walked off and approached the guards.

    "Sorry to disturb you, but what happened here?" he asked looking at the blood smeared on the grass.

    One of the guards who was crouched staring at the stain got up and looked at him.

    "Earlier today was like something you would see in a nightmare, bodies were found in a trail, ripped to pieces and scattered from the village leading to here, it''s been happening more frequently with each passing day" the man responded

    "More frequently?" the boy asked confused.

    "Before this would only happen maybe once a day but now its become multiple times throughout the day, and we have no idea if the culprit is a someone from the human race or a monster but a monster wouldn''t have been able to breach the barrier so we think it''s a human" the man answered the boy.

    The boy began to think about it.

    "It started from the village and it''s reached this far? How long ago did this start happening?" he enquired

    "In the beginning, mutilated bodies were found directly outside of the settlement on the road leading to where K��lasi was, then they began to appear near the settlement and they slowly moved along this path leading to here also if we assume that the killings that were found before were done by the same person, then that would mean it started around a month ago" the man informed the boy.

    The path of the bodies has been getting closer and closer to the house with each passing day................A month, a whole fuckin month, how the fuck have I not noticed this

    "Here''s gotten pretty dangerous huh, thanks for telling me," he said as he thanked the man and headed to the settlement thinking about what the man had said.

    How can I have been so fuckin dumb, the man said "bodies" so that means there must be more, I gotta hurry to the settlement and see for myself.

    He began to run towards the settlement to see the bodies, hoping he was in time and there Miranda could be seen directly outside waiting for him along the main road.

    "What''s the matter?" she asked as she saw him running towards her.

    He ran past her and gave no response, sprinting into the village.

    Where''s he going?

    He had made it in time, a cart filled with bodies covered was now exiting the settlement and heading to Mephisto.

    "STOP" the boy shouted signaling the man at the helm commanding the horse to stop moving.

    Running to the back of the cart he pulled the white covering sheet stained with blood off.

    There laid around 5 bodies torn up and mutilated, men and women, all parts bare naked covered in blood with a foul smell emanating from it as the bodies showed signs of rotting, it would make anyone gag.

    Sorry for this........

    He picked up what he presumed to be a female''s arm with the fingers missing and began to inspect it.

    There was a clear liquid coating the knuckle region where they were ripped off and chills began to run down his spine, he put the hand back on the cart and placed the covers back and signaled the man to go, he had found what he was looking for.

    Seems it didn''t forget about me

    Miranda approached him, as he stood there watching the cart filled with bodies enter Mephisto, the air around him was tense and his face looked extremely serious.

    "What happened?" she asked upon looking at the state he was in.

    "We need to have a talk when we get back home," he told her as his face returned to his expressionless self with the tension disappearing and him clenching his fists.

 Chapter 18: Reasoning

    They headed to the market and shopped for everything they would normally buy, the only exception was that they started purchasing meats of different kinds such as lamb, goat, and beef. He wouldn''t eat it but he knew how to cook it nonetheless and would make different dishes for her and show her how to prepare it.

    The texture of those meats reminded him of the texture of human flesh and fish made him remember the scent of Rex''s body and chicken was the only thing that seemed to be within his comfort zone at this point.

    Although he was there with her, he wasn''t truly "there" in the sense,he was even more distant than usual and throughout the entire time shopping he was tense, he just kept staring at the villagers with the sole thought "Who''s gonna be the next one?", it was playing on his conscience,the thought of so many people dead due to him living a life in peace.

    All of the deaths were on his hands.

    Miranda could see it, something was itching his mind and when he said that they needed to talk,she felt uneasy.

    For some reason she tried her best to prolong their time shopping but he was gloomy and she had no reason why.

    In light of this, she decided it was best for them to go home to which he quickly agreed.

    On their way back home,he couldn''t help but glance at the forest frequently and as they arrived at the house and Miranda headed inside, he stood outside of the house looking at it.

    This is my last day here

    After collecting his composure,he entered the house and as he saw Miranda near the kitchen counter, he took a seat on the couch.

    "Miranda, as I said be-"

    "I know, you said you wanted to talk but lets talk after we eat" she interjected.

    He gave no response and just sat there.

    Spacing out at the thought of leaving the house to pursue whatever laid in store for him in the forest left two feelings running rampant, fear and excitement.

    Although he was living here with her, he believed he would feel no remorse if he had to leave her.

    The fear which stemmed itself into him was the fear that the opponent would be too much for himself to handle and he would be most likely be throwing his life away but the excitement came hand in hand with that fear, the thought of something like that awaiting him.

    It struck him in that single moment when he thought about that excitement, he believed he had come to terms with everything in the past as he wished to make this decision, they wished for him to live his own life and although in this case it would mean a 50/50 chance of him throwing it away, it would mean he had lived his life the way it was meant to be in his belief.

    It disgusted him that he was this way and uncertainty ran through his entire being.

    He had dazed off thinking about it and he hadn''t even realized that Miranda was sitting next to him and had brought food.

    Seeing him a trance, she had no desire to break it and just left him there to come to his own.

    "Sorry about that, was just thinking about something,thank you" he told her as he accepted a plate filled with roasted chicken,with a gravy and rice.

    She could be seen eating something entirely separate from what he was eating, the strong scent indicated it was beef.

    Garlic and pepper roasted beef and potatoes huh

    He took the first bite of the food she provided and it tasted great.

    "Miranda, you''ve improved alot" he complimented her.

    "Thank you, it''s because you taught me" she responded smiling.

    They quickly ate their meals and washed the plates and both of them took a seat on the couch.

    "Miranda"

    "Yes?"

    "How do you feel about me living here?"

    What''s he asking?..............I can''t sound too desperate here

    "It''s nice" she answered happily.

    "You think you''ve gotten over what happened before?.....................the thing with your family, I don''t mean to sound bad" he enquired.

    "At first,it haunted me everynight but I really think the past month has teached and helped me alot and I''ve accepted things for what they are and I feel better like I can finally start moving on with my life, it''s what my parents would have wanted me to do" she replied sadly.

    "Thanks for telling me, it makes me happy to hear that, also Miranda..............what if I leave?" he responded as he got off the couch and began to walk towards the stairs.

    She stared at him at the thought of him leaving.

    I''ve never really thought of him leaving before........... I don''t want him to

    "If you were to leave, I''ll pull by somehow" she responded hesitantly.

    "I understand" he said as he arrived at the bottom of the staircase to head up.

    Me leaving shouldn''t have much of an impact then I guess

    There was a deep underlying cause for the conversation, it wasn''t just because of that creature within the forest and the deaths, but it served as a factor for him getting a purpose and reason to live,if she had at anypoint expressed a desire for him to stay he might''ve given it a second thought but that was all gone now.

    <hr>

    Upon that conversation and the thoughts of it,she began to think about him,he must have suffered through alot in the past and although she knew not what he had been through, she wished to ask.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    "Also, what about you? Have you gotten over whatever it is that happened to you in the past?" she asked him impulsively.

    I shouldn''t have asked him that

    "It''s mixed, I don''t know what to think, I''ll find out soon enough" he responded as he continued to walk upstairs.

    He actually answered me this time

    As he entered his room,he shut the door and locked it, the pain was unbearable,it was as if his entire body was being burned, although he was slowly learning to cope with it,the sensation never grew old,the only thing he was able to stop was the feeling to scream.

    He took his clothes off and entered the tub to cool himself off from the pain. After around 20 minutes of that sensation, it finally came to a pass.

    He got up and looked at his body in the mirror and began to inspect it,he was in peak shape and would be able to challenge whatever waited for him.

    The pain he suffered through and was continuing to suffer through always gave him the thought that he was going to die at anypoint in time but he wouldn''t have minded dying like this as a form of punishment.

    He had made his mind up.

    If I don''t die after tonight, I''ll find a way to make it to the association after for your funeral Rex, I have no intention of returning here

    Hours passed with him staring out his window at the forest and night soon fell.

    He had no idea of it but for the entire day when he was inside of his room,Miranda was directly outside of his.

    She knocked on his door and asked if he wanted to eat but he replied by saying no and urged her to eat by herself today.

    It was an odd scene, not once did Miranda shout at him for him to come out of the room but that was the last thought on his mind.

    A period of time passed and as he heard Miranda''s door close,he waited around 2 hours until it was midnight when he was confident she was asleep and exited his room with his Xiphos in his hand,closing the door ensuring the door was closed silently not to awake her.

    Upon reaching the stairs to descend,he looked at Miranda''s door.

    "Goodbye" he whispered to himself as he began to descend.

    <hr>

    Arriving downstairs,he could see the candles were still lit.

    She must''ve forgotten to out them

    *TAP TAP TAP

    "Where are you going?" Miranda asked walking down the staircase behind him.

    "I''m leaving" he replied as he continued walking towards the door to leave.

    He''s leaving....................leaving.....................wait he''s leaving?

    "LEAVING TO GO WHERE?" she shouted as she ran grabbing his arm stopping him.

    "To the forest and other places" he replied shaking her arm loose.

    To the forest?

    "And why are you going to the forest?" she asked confused.

    I owe her atleast this much

    "The mutilated bodies that have been turning up near the village were all done by that thing in the forest" he stated

    That thing in the forest?............................

    She finally noticed the sword he was holding in his left arm.

    Don''t tell me...........

    "AND WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH YOU" she shouted frightened

    "It''s a call............... the body trail has slowly been leading up to the house,as long as I remain here with you, it''ll continue, you understand right? It''s my responsibility............ Zerbia will pass by the house when he has information, tell him I''m gone and he''ll organize everything for you, there should be enough money for you to live good until that time comes, you''ll pull through" he answered

    She had grown dependent on him in their time together and her world basically revolved around him at this point in her life,without him there,it would crumble.

    "NO, PLEASE DON''T LEAVE ME" she begged

    "You''ll be fine without me Miranda" he told her.

    "NO, I WON''T, I NEED YOU" she cried

    "Miranda............I owe the families of the people who''ve died this" he said with his guilt playing on his conscience.

    "YOU DON''T OWE THEM ANYTHING, YOU ARE THE ONLY THING THAT MAKES ME HAPPY RIGHT NOW, PLEASE DON''T LEAVE ME" she shouted crying as she extended her arm out towards him.

    Should I knock her out and leave........

    He stared at her thinking about the logical way to get out of here.

    "For all you know, the bodies had nothing to do with you, if it really wanted you it could''ve put bodies directly infront of the house, it could be coincidental" she told him trying to appeal to his logic whilst crying.

    "You''re wrong, this is what you would call killing for fun with impatience,back in the forest I told it I would''ve been back for it and with each passing day I spent in the city and living here it began to kill people due to impatience, it didn''t kill infront of the house because it would''ve been obvious, the killings were a buildup to this point signifying I''ve spent enough time here, it didn''t help that I wasn''t in the village or outside when the bodies were found because if I would have found out sooner I would''ve left much earlier" he stated, trying to justify him leaving.

    "It doesn''t fucking matter, leave it to the authorities, you don''t owe these people shit" she responded panic-stricken

    But I owe you somethin so I have to stay here huh

    "Goodbye Miranda" he told her as he continued to walk towards the door.

    "YOU''RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE" she shouted as she ran and put her arms around his waist.

    "What''re you doin Miranda?" he asked confused.

    "Stopping you from leaving me, if you want to leave you''ll have to take me to the forest with you" she stated

    "WILL YOU LISTEN TO FUCKIN REASON, HAVE YOU NOT FUCKIN HEARD WHAT I JUST SAID" he shouted confused

    "I DON''T CARE, YOU SHOULDN''T HAVE TO PUT YOUR LIFE ON THE LINE FOR OTHER PEOPLES PROBLEMS, ITS YOUR LIFE,LIVE IT HOW YOU WANT,NOT OUT OF SOME RESPONSIBILITY TO OTHERS,THOSE DEATHS THAT HAPPENED ARE NOT ON YOU," she shouted crying.

    He put his hand on his face and began rubbing it back and forth. The words she just spoke made him think of everyone thus far.

    He understood it now, he hadn''t put the pieces of his broken mind back together, he sought the easy way out, although he had no idea of the opponent in the forest and although there was a chance of him winning, he had no desire to win or the confidence to win, he was just seeking his own death for a cowards way out to life, it was a suicidal fight he was aiming for deep down inside and he now realized it, this isn''t what anyone would''ve wanted and what would it have changed.

    *Clank

    "I don know what the fuck to do anymore Miranda" he muttered as he dropped his sword.

    I finally got through to him

    "Its gonna be alright, I''m here with you" she said as she hugged him tightly

    "What do you think I should do Miranda?" he asked in a state of bewilderment towards life.

    "Stay with me,it''s better than going out there isn''t it" she stated as she let go of him and walked infront of him looking him in the eyes.

    He turned around and began to walk towards the stairs, he would only make a decision like this again when he had put everything back together, she needed him but at this time he also needed her,everything else could wait until he saw himself to be fit, free off self hatred.

    "Wait" Miranda told the boy.

    "What is it?" he enquired as he turned around.

    She ran over and began to hug him.

    "Please don''t do something like this to me again" she cried.

    ".......................I''ll leave when you want me to Miranda" he said as he gave her a kiss on the forehead then a hug to calm her down.

    After about 5 minutes of a deep embrace from her,she finally let go and he began to walk towards the door again.

    "Where are you going?" she asked worriedly upon him walking past her.

    "For my sword............ don''t worry I''m not leavin" he replied.

    "No, let me keep it, it''ll put me at ease if I have it" she told him as she began to walk briskly,outpacing him and walking past him.

    "Okay...................give me it back whenever you''re ready" he replied as he stopped walking for the sword.

    After she picked it up, she ran back to his side and they both headed upstairs together.

    "Can you wait with me in my room until I fall asleep?, I just need to know you''ll be here with me" she asked him as she entered her room.

    "Ok" he replied as he entered her room.

    It was neat,the room was relatively big,had a bathtub to the far left, a brown wooden wardrobe and chesterdrawer directly infront of him jammed up against the wall and to the right pushed against the wall was a medium sized bed with a small square wooden table next to it.

    She put the sword next to the bathtub and climbed into bed.

    He walked and outed the candles mounted on the walls and walked to the left of the door and took a seat on the ground with his back against the wall.

    After around an hour,when she had finally fallen asleep, he headed to his room.

    Looking out of the window,he could see red eyes within the forest looking up at him illuminated by the moonlight.

    "I''m sorry, I just don''t know anymore, I have to pick myself up truly before I make a choice like this" he whispered to himself making eye contact.

    He grabbed both curtains at the end of the windows and pulled them,as the curtains slowly closed in,the eyes slowly faded away.

 Chapter 19: Location Of The Slave Traders

    It''s been 3 months since the day when Miranda stopped him from going into the forest.

    In the 3 months that passed, certain things changed, Miranda began monitoring his actions like that of a hawk and followed him whereverhe went, if anything the incident made her grow even more attached to him and he was slowly getting more attached to her.

    To everyone''sbewilderment, the killings and the body trail all stopped after that day and although it was all over, it never truly left both their minds, she began to develop a feeling of insecurity that he would leave her at any point in time if the chance presented itself.

    He stopped going into the city to ease her insecurities about him leaving her and it seemed to help quite a bit, she wanted him within arm''s length and she had it.

    She believed that he would''ve opened up to her more within that time but he never did, shestill knew nothing about him, down to his name and the thought of it to her made her a little angry on the inside but still, she was extremely happy with the way her life was moving and he seemed to be a good man, calm and laid back,he helped her with whatever she wanted and if she wanted to talk about things he would hear her out and give her some feedback, of course, this was providing the conversation wasn''t about him and she began to experience new emotions towards him.

    For him however, in the 3 months that had passed he had finally begun to cope with his self-hatred and although they were living a happy life together, the joy and happiness never fully reached him to the extent it did to Miranda,the pain he was experiencing escalated to a daily basis for prolonged periods of time and he had no idea of the cause.

    It was bad, on certain days he couldn''t even bring himself to get out of bed as any form of movement increased the pain. It was the worst pain he had ever felt and the main problem was his body wasn''t coping with it.

    Every day the intensity of the pain would vary and he would experience it in many different ways, some days he would feel as if he was being impaled, some days being cut to pieces and on various days he would feel as if his skin was being burned and being peeled off.

    His body hurt in ways he had never even experienced before and his mind was slowly crumbling from it.

    The thought of seeking a doctor or healer and getting a consultation ran across his mind but he would have to go to the city for that and leaving Miranda alone wasn''t an option. It was the excuse he came up with in the fear of finding out what could be wrong.

    He began to put on facades masking the pain whenever it would occur while she was with him to ensure it never showed to worry her.

    The prospect of living a peaceful life with her being carefree was something he never truly thought about but deep down he wouldn''t have minded it, living a life he never got a chance to live.

    The slave traders were still an issue but within the time that passed, Zerbia hadn''t once passed by the house and the boy eventually forgot about the slave traders as he began to grow content with the life he had with her.

    <hr>

    It was a new day and theycarried out their daily routines of heading to the settlement then returning home and cooking. and he was washing the wares whilst she washed the clothes.

    They had finished eaten and he was washing the wares whilst she washed the clothes.

    Although their daily lives only consisted of those things, forsome reason it was never boring.

    "Miranda, I''m done with the wares, you need help over there?" the boy asked as he turned to see Miranda scrubbing the clothes.

    She took the clothes and rinsed them in water then twisted them, freeing them of the majority of water then she placed them into a wooden bucket.

    "No, I just finished up, let''s head outside and put them to dry," she said smiling as she passed the bucket to him.

    They headed outside then put the clothes on the grassy plain with the rays of the scorching sun hitting them, slowly drying them.

    "It''s a beautiful day today isn''t it?" Miranda asked him looking up at the sky.

    "It''s fuckin hot, I dunno how that''s beautiful" he responded.

    "You''re always so blunt heh heh heh" she responded giggling.

    The breeze began to blow strongly, pushing the clouds over the sun making the place slightly cooling the environment.

    "Maybe I was wrong," the boy said as he took a seat on the grass and looked up at the clouds.

    If it was one thing she had realized in the past couple months, it was that he was like a completely different person whenever he stared at the sky.

    His usual expressionless face softened up and his calm and serious demeanor would break down and he would become more serene.

    "You mind if I sit next to you?" she asked.

    "No, feel free" he responded and she took a seat next to him.

    A few minutes passed in silence with both of them looking at the sky with a strong breeze blowing.

    The forest was within sight, around500 meters in frontof them and Miranda began to look at it.

    "What''s wrong?" the boy asked, seeing something was off.

    "I was now thinking about my life back with the tribe" she replied.

    "Wanna talk about it? You don''t have to if you don''t want to" he asked as he placed his hand on her back.

    "We always lived on the outskirts of the village as outcasts but it wasn''t all bad, some members of the tribe didn''t shun us and helped us out now and then, even the village elder would provide us with some degree of help, even allowing us into the village to stay sometimes.................my parents really did love me and they tried their best to make sure I grew up well *Sobbing* I really miss them" she said as she began to cry.

    Parents huh.................

    "Let it out" he told her as he pulled her in and began to hug her.

    From what she had told him just now, however short it was, he understood something about her people which maybe she hadn''t noticed. Although her parents were of different races and broke a law of the tribe, some of the tribesmen and women still helped them out whenever they could, down to the head of the tribe, if they were truly outcasts they would''ve been kicked out of the village yet they were still allowed to live on the outskirts most likely for protection if needed, although some of the people had shunned them,some still decided to help and in the end, they still looked out for each other despite breaking one of the laws of their tribe.

    In the time he had spent thinking about it, he hadn''t even realized that Miranda had fallen asleep on his lap and he was stroking her hair, he chose not to wake her as he just stared at the clouds moving for hours passing by until it was afternoon.

    *YAWNS

    What am I lying ontop of.....................is someone stroking my hair

    "What happened to me?" she said softly as her eyes slowly opened.

    "You fell asleep onme," he said shaking his head left and right.

    She quickly raised her head and began to look at him but he made no eye contact and continued staring at the sky.

    "''I''M SORRY" she shouted as she quickly got off his lap.

    "You fell asleep, what''s there to be sorry for" he replied as he pat her on the head as he got up.

    He picked up the clothes and put it in the bucket and began to walk towards the house.

    Why is he so unfazed by everything

    "You coming inside or not, I don''t know about you but I think I got too much sunlight for a day," he said turned and faced her, standing in front of the door.

    "I-I''m coming" she said as she quickly got up and began to run towards him.

    <hr>

    They spent the remainder of the day sitting on the couch with an awkward silence, she felt embarrassed at what had happened and as a result thought that was the cause for the silence but in reality he sat there in pain, holding back the urge to scream out loud, it felt as if the bones in his body were being broken one by one and if he attempted to speak he would lose his composure. The pain lasted for a couple hours until nightfall and he sat on the couch like a log.

    They quickly ate dinner and each of them headed to their respective rooms.

    With that time that had passed, the nightmares he used to have slowly faded away and they became a thing of the past, now all he dreamed of was a pitch black darkness, well it was all he could remember when he woke up.

    He took a quick bath, brushed his teeth, changed his clothes and jumped in bed.

    As he closed his eyes, the sensation of continuously falling took over his body, most people would find that feeling to be uncomfortable but for him, it was oddly pleasant.

    After it was over the feeling had subsided he had fallen asleep with the abyss surrounding him within his dreams.

    In the dream, there was nothing, just pure darkness, no feelings associated with the surroundings, he had no physical body and just existed in a state of consciousness looking into the darkness.

    After a couple hours passed, something was off, he could feel something on his arm, it was soft.

    The feeling caused the dream to end abruptly and he sat up immediately with his fists ready and opened his eyes looking around the room directly infront of him.

    As he turned and looked to the side of him, there she was.

    It was Miranda lying on the bed next to him.

    Miranda huh

    He quickly dropped back on the bed and closed his eyes again.

    .

    ..

    ....

    .........

    ..........................

    Wait, the fuck

    It took him a second to catch on.

    He turned his head slowly and made sure he wasn''t seeing things and poked her on the back to make sure he was right.

    It was her alright.

    He had been through a lot in life but this was the first time he was in this kind of situation, it was the most confused he''d ever been, it felt as if his brain had started to lag.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    He closed his eyes and hoped it would go away but then she turned and began to hug him.

    How the hell do I deal with this situation............

    He turned and glanced to the left again and looked at her face whilst she was asleep.

    I guess it isn''t so bad

    Closing his eyes he went back to sleep as if it was nothing.

    <hr>

    As she woke up in the morning she immediately realized his hand was around her waist and he was basically cuddling with her.

    She got up slowly ensuring she didn''t wake him up and headed downstairs.

    A few minutes later he woke up.

    Groggy he looked to the side and saw she wasn''t there.

    It really was a dream, thank the gods

    He got up stretched, brushed his teeth and exited his room and began to walk down the stairs.

    "What should I do?"

    "How do I explain it?"

    He could hear Miranda talking to herself and but he couldn''t make out the words she was saying due to her speaking in a low tone.

    Upon descending the stairs, he could see she was sitting on the couch in deep thought.

    "Miranda you good?" he asked as he began to walk towards her.

    She gave no response and he took a seat on other couch directly next to the one she was sitting on.

    It was like she was in a trance.

    After a few minutes, she snapped out of it to see him sitting on the other couch.

    "So about last night....." she said, averting her gaze from him.

    "What do you mean last night?" he responded confused.

    Is he pretending he doesn''t know what happened?

    She ducked her head and began to stare down at the ground.

    Looking at her, it took a little while for his brain to process what was going on.

    Oh...................last night she really was in my room.

    He began to think about it deeply, the life he was living with her so far and everything that led up to this point.

    "Y-You kn-"

    "I''m heading to the city today, okay" he interjected

    I don''t know what''s going on anymore but I don''t want to be the one that''s holding back a life she could have, I''ll find the traders and get her freedom then let her decide what she wants, I need to start getting a move on for Rex''s funeral anyways

    "Why, is it because of last night? If so, I''m sorry, I know it wasn''t my place" she said worriedly

    "Ah no, it''s not that............... I didn''t really mind it.....................I just have some stuff I need to take care off" he said as he got up and shaked her hair and walked off heading upstairs.

    God, what have I done

    After about 20 minutes he returned downstairs after showering, wearing a clean long-sleeved white shirt, brown leather pants, and his boots. He could be seen carrying something in a brown cloth bag.

    He could be seen carrying something in a brown cloth bag.

    She stood at the door waiting for him.

    "Miranda, I''ll need your blood," he told her as he pulled a blood vial out of the brown bag.

    "Why?" she asked.

    "The business I''m going to deal with involves you obviously," he said.

    "Oh" she replied surprised.

    "You wanna draw the blood or you want me to?" he asked.

    She walked over to the kitchen space and picked up a kitchen knife and brought it to him.

    "It''ll hurt a little," he said as he took the knife from her.

    He took the knife and made a small slit near the bicep region.

    "Ouch," she said in pain.

    "Sorry about that but that''s it" he said as he jammed the opened vial against her arm and let the blood flow into it.

    He put the lid on and placed it back into the bag and began to walk towards the door to exit.

    "You''re coming back right?" she asked worriedly.

    "Hmmmmm, 50/50 I''ll think about it" he responded with a poker face, he was joking but his face showed no sign of it.

    Her face went cold as if the blood in her body was drained out.

    Did she really not get that one?

    "It''s obvious I''ll be coming back.............well most likely," he said as he walked over to her and hugged her and gave her a kiss on the forehead and left the house.

    He kissed me

    "W-Well I''ll be waiting for you" she shouted

    I kissed her on the forehead, I''m getting dumber with each passing day

    <hr>

    He slowly made his way to the city and forcefully pushed his way through the crowds to arrive at the street where the bank was further down.

    However, he stopped in his tracks, he had forgotten the reason why he had come to Mephisto in the first place, this was something he had to get out of his mind before anything else. It was the one thing that itched his mind since he was a child, it was his parents, although they were the source of all his problems he needed closure.He wanted to know why they did what they did to him when he was younger.

    He wanted to know why they did what they did to him when he was younger.

    "Excuse me," he said as he stopped a woman who was looking in his direction.

    "Yes?" the woman responded.

    "How do I reach the southern border of the city?" he asked.

    "Follow this path you''re on and you won''t reach anywhere [Points at bank] however if keep going in this direction down the road and you''ll reach what you''re looking for" the woman replied pointing down the main road and then she walked off into the crowd.

    He didn''t even get the chance to thank the woman as she had already vanished.

    He walked past the road leading to the bank and followed the woman''s vague instructions.

    As he kept walking, he ended up at the town square where he and Miranda resided for a night and kept walking straight past the square into the road directly in front of him.

    After around 20 minutes of continuous walking through the lively city, he ended up at the southern gate and looking at it, it mirrored that of the northern gate.

    His mind was blank and he kept walking, exiting the city at a fast pace.

    2 hours of continuous walking through the isolated, quiet, dirt road, he was nearby his old "home".

    I''ll leave the moment I find out why, its the only thing I want from them

    The cold breeze blowing gave him no comfort along with an intensifying gut feeling.

    He had arrived.

    Looking at the house, it could be seen in ruins, the sheds which held livestock next to the house were all gone.

    It was a small boxed flat house, the stone which laid the foundation for the house laid there withered and in ruins, the panel windows on each side of the house were shattered and the door ripped open.

    Deep down, he was happy, they were gone and he hoped they had died.

    He began to walk towards the house and entered it soon after.

    The room was relatively small and as he looked to the left, he could see a circular wooden table on the floor covered in dust, the kitchen counter was broken, the walls of the corridor in the center of the room leading to the bedrooms were covered in dirt but looking to the far right made him feel sick.

    It was the whip his parents used to beat him with, covered in dust.

    "You fucking monster, get away from me"

    "Don''t waste your time on a piece of shit like that, it isn''t worth it"

    "Hahaha, Luciana look, he looks just like a dog"

    "You''re lucky to even be alive filth, if we could''ve killed you we would''ve"

    The memories began to flood through him and he began to recall everything.

    He had walked into the house calm and composed but with each passing minute, the composure he had was slowly going away and although he knew it wasn''t good for him he stood there and took it all in, bathing his mind with all the memories of the past and the wounds on his back began to pain as they once did long ago.

    He managed to keep his composure but at this point, anything would''ve made him snap like a twig, he left the house emotionally unstable and began to make his way back to the city.

    <hr>

    As he walked through the dirt road, the pain was slowly creeping up on him but for some reason, it didn''t hurt as bad as it usually did, it was sharp like a knife being driven through his organs but his brain wasn''t registering the pain for what it was.

    He forced through it and staggered back to the city and by the time he had arrived it was already afternoon.

    Making his way through the crowds to arrive at the bank, the pain had begun to disappear and as he entered the bank it was fully gone but that was just the pain, he was still unstable from visiting the house.

    Looking at the long lines and the tellers frantically trying to meet the demand, it was louder than usual.

    Zerbia could be seen talking to a teller and the boy made his way to the front, cutting past the lines.

    "Hey, Zerbia," he said as he waved at Zerbia.

    It took a second for Zerbia to notice the boy was waving at him and he exited the door near the tellers and came to greet the boy.

    "Hello Sir" Zerbia said as he shaked the boy''s hand.

    "Can we talk in private?" the boy asked.

    "Sure" Zerbia replied as he opened the door and led him to his office where they both took a seat at the table.

    "I can see you''re busy and all, sorry bout that" the boy said as he apologized for taking him away from his work.

    "It''s no problem sir, if you''re here I assume you want to find out about the slave traders right?" Zerbia enquired.

    "Ah yes" the boy replied

    "I feel bad for saying this, but I found out about the location around a month ago but because the way work''s been I didn''t get the chance to pass by the house" Zerbia said sadly.

    "It doesn''t matter, I don''t really mind, so where is it?" the boy asked.

    "I''ll have to show you" Zerbia responded.

    "I know you''re swamped but I''m looking to leave this city tomorrow," the boy said.

    "Why Sir? Did something happen?" Zerbia asked.

    "I''ve got to head to Gudrun''s funeral, they''ve held it off long enough because of me" the boy replied.

    "If that''s the case, I''ll come with you now, it was getting boring anyways, also the girl, is she going with you?" Zerbia enquired.

    "That brings up another matter I wanted to speak to you about, is it possible for her to get into a school here?" the boy asked.

    Zerbia could be seen in thought.

    "You said she was from a tribe right?"

    "Yea"

    "What kind of tribe?"

    "Elven tribe, she''s mixed between elf and human"

    "She''s a crucis semino then"

    "Crucis semino?"

    "It''s a term for cross breed, any place would love to have her, crucis semino''s are always wanted because of their potential,they tend to become better mages than others, as a result society is always in a demand for them as they can serve to the betterment of the kingdoms, they are rare so as a result any school would want her"

    "That''s good, if possible can you get her into a school today?"

    "It''s only afternoon, I can go talk to the members of the board for the Institute of Magic, they''d definitely want her, are you leaving her behind?"

    "Dunno, she said she wanted to go to school when I first met her, I don''t want her to stay with me because she feels she has no choice, she should have options, when I''m done here today and I get her freedom, I''ll ask her if she wants to come with me or go to school here,then we''ll part ways if need be"

    "I understand sir"

    "I brought her blood with me too"

    "Smart move, you''ll need it for the traders and I''ll need it for the school"

    "Also, can you open an account for her and I need some money"

    "Sure"

    Zerbia pricked his thumb finger using a needle he pulled out from the drawer and approached the wall and drewa half of a circle on the bottom of the cross on the wall as he had done before and began to chant.

    "The blood of the chosen shall open the door where the records are held, my name is Zerbia Holdsten, I command thee to open for thy master" he chanted as the wall began to break apart and a rift began to show.

    He entered the rift whilst the boy patiently waited and he returned around 4 minutes later and as he emerged the rift closed itself.

    In his hands were a brown cloth bag which had the document with the amount of funds the boy had and there was another document rolled up and tied by red string.

    As he took a back a seat, Zerbia untied the string and unrolled the paper onto the desk.

    It was in a foreign language which the boy couldn''t even begin to comprehend and at the end of the document were two square boxes side by side.

    "This document is similar to yours, I''ll be needing your blood and the girl''s blood in those boxes, yours in the form of a blood fingerprint to the left and a drop of her blood to the right"

    "Can you deal with her blood? I keep thinking I''m gonna break this vial" the boy said as he passed the vial from his pocket to Zerbia.

    Zerbia took one drop from the vial then dropped it onto the document.

    From the brown bag, Zerbia pulled out 2 empty glass blood vials and split Miranda''s blood into thirds in each vial.

    "One vial for identification which will stay in the blood records, one for the school and one for you to deal with the traders" Zerbia informed the boy as he passed a vial back to him.

    The boy picked up the needle on the table and pricked his finger.

    "Wait sir, before you stamp it, how much money will you be putting in her account?" Zerbiaenquired.

    "Um, 20 000 drachma?" the boy asked.

    "...................I wish I was that girl haha" Zerbia chuckled.

    "Hahaha, I don''t know, is that too much?" the boy laughed.

    "I understand you''re looking out for her and with the funds you have, it shouldn''t be a problem, 20 000 drachma should be more than enough to last her years on" Zerbia informed the boy.

    "Ah, ok cool, well I''ll put 20 000 then," the boy said.

    Zerbia pulled out a fountain pen and a jar of ink from the desk drawer and began to write on Miranda''s new account in a different language and then he opened the boy''s account and wrote the same thing then the boy placed his fingerprint on her contract, finishing the deal. Then he stamped his document with blood issuing the transfer of money.

    "You said you needed some money too right?" Zerbia asked.

    "Ah yes, how much does a slave go for?" the boy responded with a question.

    "A slave hmmmmmmmmm I''d say around 400 drachma for a normal slave but that girl isn''t normal, her value could be even triple that, if you plan on paying for her freedom carry around 2000 drachma" Zerbia answered the boy.

    "I would carry 2000 but I don''t know the kind of people I''ll be dealing with so I think I should carry about 3000 for good measure" the boy responded.

    "That should be sufficient," Zerbia said as he began to write on the boy''s document again, updating it.

    "Don''t I have to put my fingerprint again?" the boy inquired.

    "No sir, I can update it without the blood because you just stamped it" Zerbia responded.

    "Ah ok, you ready to leave?" the boy asked upon seeing Zerbia stop writing.

    "One minute sir," Zerbia said as he tied both documents with string and opened the rift again, he entered then quickly exited soon after and closed the rift.

    "Let''s go," Zerbia said as he picked up his overcoat from the rack as they exited the room.

    They headed to the vault where Zerbia took out the 3000 drachma and put it into a money bag and passed it to the boy.

    Then they made their way to the teller''s counter where Zerbia informed them he would be out for awhile and then they began to move towards exiting the building.

    "Ok Zerbia, show me where the traders are and I''ll deal with them while you deal with the school thing," the boy told Zerbiaas they both exited the building.

 Chapter 20: Monster

    At the same time at home, Miranda was sitting on the couch thinking about what she had done, it was all she had done all day and it was playing on her conscience.

    *Knock *Knock

    Who is it? Is he back already?

    She got up and walked towards the door.

    As she opened, she was met by a stranger in black robes obscuring the view of her face and body parts.

    "Don''t close the door on me" the stranger said.

    It was a woman.

    "I''m sorry, but who are you?" Miranda enquired.

    "Who I am doesn''t matter right now, what does matter is your safety, do you even know who it is you are staying with?" the woman asked

    "What do you mean?" Miranda asked with a confused look on her face.

    "You don''t know............. it is imperative that I tell you, everything so far that''s happened since you met that boy is a lie" the woman responded.

    <hr>

    "So where are we going Zerbia?" the boy asked as they walked through the street, exiting it and arriving at the main road.

    "We have to head to the town square and then I''ll lead you to them "Zerbia responded.

    They made their way to the town square and Zerbiastopped walking and he could be seen thinking.

    "We''re going left if I recall correctly," Zerbiasaid upon making up his mind.

    It was the street which was located near the inn.

    They entered the street and kept walking continuously for around 20 minutes, passing multiple streets on both sides of the roadway and as they navigated further, heading deeper and deeper towards the western border, women could be seen on the sides of the street approaching men on the roadway.

    Looking to the far right of the roadway, one building stood out more than others it was a one storey brown building made of brick with an open gable roof composed of metal sheeting, windows to the building''s side and not the front and a black door to the front of the building facing the roadway.

    Zerbia began to point at the building.

    "That''sthe place, it''s a "clothes" store, that''s the front they use,head inside and talk to the man at the counter and say "S�� qu�� per un schiavu" he''ll take you downstairs to the traders.................when you pay for the girl, ensure the contract gets transferred to you and you''ll become her owner"

    "Her owner? I don''t wanna be her owner"

    "See the problem with tribal people is that they aren''t citizens of any city so as a result if they get taken and are sold into slavery, no city records can prove them being a citizen and as a result they''re up for grabs"

    "What kind of bullshit is that"

    "It''s how the world is Sir, as sad as it is, it is what it is"

    "I see"

    The thought of that made the boy''s blood boil a bit.

    "Do you want me to come with you?"

    "No, I''ll be fine"

    "What if they get violent and decide to rob you instead of carrying out the transaction?"

    "I''ll deal with them"

    "You don''t even have a weapon on you sir"

    "Doesn''t really matter to me, go deal with the school, we''ll meet up in the inn by the square"

    The boy made his way over to the building and entered.

    As he looked inside, all he could see was female clothing, ranging from dresses of various kinds to skirts and tops on multiple racks mounted on wooden rows. Multiple women were located around the room looking at the various assortment of garments and gossiping, for a store it was pretty loud.

    Looking directly ahead of all the clothing, a large wooden table could be seen, made of what looked to be teakwith a short fat man, dressed in a brown short sleeved tunic with a pair of black pants made from what seemed to be cloth sitting behind it on a large wooden padded chair reading something on a piece of paper. He was the shopkeeper.

    The boy approached the man in the chair, "So qui per un schiavu".

    I think I said it wrong but he gets the drift

    The man raised his head and observed the boy, he could see that the boy was carrying a money bag. He looked at a woman to the far right of the room.

    *Clap *Clap

    With two claps, all women to the right of the room exited the store and the remainder of women to the left spread out across the room staring at the boy.

    "Come with me" the man growled as he got up from the chair. He seemed to be displeased as he had to get up from sitting.

    Making his way to the center of the room, the man pushed a wooden row to the side as if it were nothing and a trapdoor could be seen beneath it.

    It was perfectly camouflaged into the wooden floor and to the average eye, people would not have noticed it but the boy could see it clear as day, it was due to the extremely fine lining in the wooden floor. It was linear spreading throughout all the boards but then they just randomly stopped at that specific square area.

    A small dent could be seen on the floor and the man stooped down and using a long nail on his index finger, he stuck it into the dent and raised it.

    A small thin piece of wood, rectangular shaped was removed and a black metal handle could be seen behind it.

    The man grabbed the handle and pulled it upwards, lifting the door with a staircase being visible, spiraling downwards.

    Entering, the man descended, in the time that he was down there, he was under surveillance from the women in the shop.

    He began to assess the room using subtle glances, there was only one entrance and that was also the exit, the windows were barred with metal on the inside so there was no possibility of exiting through there.

    He casually smiled and began looking at the women. He began to do a headcount and he casually checked for weapons. 10.....no 15 the number was far too great for him to take on alone at least without a weapon.They were unarmed from what he saw, but that was based on mere speculation.

    The man ascended from the staircase andbegan to look at the boy, "Down you go".

    The boy began to make his descent.

    <hr>

    It was a spiral staircase made of what was presumed to be stone, illuminated by candles attached to the walls, the temperature in the staircase was so hot that it made the boy break a sweat.

    As he reached the bottom of the room, it was fully illuminated by candles, the room was relatively big and clean with the walls painted fully white, it was an oddity,there were no air pockets for air to enter the room and it made no sense to the boy as to how people could stay down there for extended periods of time.

    There were 3 brown couches, presumably made of what looked to be cloth, two 3 seaters along the left wall and one two-seater along the right wall.

    Straight ahead of the room was a man sitting behind a large wooden executive desk with a large black leather padded chair and a wooden chair to the front of the desk.

    I feel sick already

    There were 5 men total, 3 sitting on a couch to the left and 2 on the couch to the right. They were of varying statures, all of them dressed in tunics of different colors, different pants, and boots.

    Three of them looked to be skinny, one looked to be fat and one looked to be highly muscular.

    The only thing they had in common was the fact that they were all armed, they made no effort to hide this, 3 long swords total on the muscular man, the fat man and one on one of the skinny men. The remainder had daggers strapped to their waists.

    All eyes were on the boy.

    Straight ahead of him was a man seated behind the desk, he looked different from the rest of the thugs.

    The man was wearing a brown shirt, black dress pants, and a black leather dress shoes. There was no proper way of assessing the man''s stature as he was sitting and the boy couldn''t tell the man''s physique either as the clothes he wore were baggy. He seemed to be the slave dealer.

    The boy walked over to the desk, pulled the chair, took a seat and looked the man in the eyes with a glare.

    The air became tense and the man began to stare at the boy.

    "Have you no manners?" the man asked.

    A slave trader speaking about manners to me?

    Slave traders pissed him off as he was sold off as a child and the thought of selling and purchasing people made him sick to the bone.

    "You''re a slave trader, I don''t need manners to speak to you" the boy responded in a condescending tone.

    Staring at the boy, the man made a quick glance to the left side of the room.

    "Fair enough, so what are you, a noble?" the man enquired.

    "Do I look like a noble?" the boy responded.

    The man began to inspect the boy.

    "No..........you come here alone?" the man asked.

    "Yes" the boy replied casually.

    "You do know where you are right?"

    "Yes"

    "You know what we do?"

    "Yes"

    "Are you not afraid of being here alone?"

    "Do I look fuckin afraid?"

    "You''re a pretty disrespectful son of a bitch aren''t you for someone who ain''t even of high class" the man told the boy, bending his head downwards.

    *Tap *Tap *Tap

    "Is that so" the boy said with a smirk on his face as he could hear footsteps behind him.

    Immediately the boy got up and turned around to see the muscular man behind him.

    "Typio, deal with this piece of shit" the man instructed.

    Piece of shit huh

    As Typio went for the sword on his waist, the boy quickly punched the man in the throat, grabbing the hilt of the sword he let forward a kick, pushing the man to the ground and effectively pulling the sword from the sheath.

    It was instantaneous, the boy quickly jumped on top of the man and took the hilt of the sword and bashed it into the man''s skull, leaving him unconscious.

    As he got up, he could hear the sounds of the rest of men drawing their weapons whilst on their feets surrounding him.

    *Squish

    Taking the sword the boy drove it into the unconscious man''s throat, impaling it to the ground and killing the man.

    A slight sensation ran across the boy''s throat as if he was being slightly choked.

    Should I start on the rest of them...........

    The men in the room could be seen frightened.

    Could be more that I don''t know about, if I kill all these men maybe I won''t even get her contract, I don''t know what I have to do to transfer it to me

    Walking over to the desk, he saw the man on his feet in a look of shock and the boy took a seat on the chair as he once did before and crossed his legs.

    "I apologize, can we do business now, I really don''t want to have to start on all of you in this room......... let''s just do business," he said with an intimidating look on his face.

    The man at the desk took a second to compose himself and then he waved his hand downwards and the rest of the men took a seat.

    "S-So sir, w-w-what can I h-help you with?" the man said in fear.

    "I''m here to buy the slave associated with this blood, acrucis semino, of course, I''ll pay for the slave," the boy said as he took the blood vial out of his pocket and placed it on the desk.

    "A-Acrucis semino?"

    "Yes, how much? I''d like to leave here on good terms, I''ll compensate you for the slave and the man''s life I just took. Since you people treat others as livestock just add it to the bill" the boy said with a hint of aggression.

    "A-Ah okay sir," the man said as he opened one of the drawers in the desk.

    There were 7 contracts rolled up and tied within the drawer.

    The man removed all contracts and placed them on top on the desk and unrolled them.

    As he unrolled them, there was a blood vial associated with each contract rolled up with it.

    Looking at the contracts, it was all in a foreign language, he couldn''t even tell which one was Miranda''s.

    Opening another drawer the man took out a small steel bowl and grabbed the blood vial the boy had put on the table.

    He opened the vial and emptied all of the blood into the steel bowl and began to chant in a foreign tongue.

    The blood in the bowl began to sizzle and boil.

    The man opened one of the blood vials and put a drop of the foreign blood into Miranda''s sizzling blood.

    A red steam evolved as it made contact signifying the blood had evaporated.

    The man closed the vial and moved on to another.

    After 4 more attempts, the man was on the 6th vial.

    As he opened the vial and put a drop of blood into the bowl, the boiling blood immediately cooled and all sizzling stopped, there was no red steam from this attempt.

    "T-This is the one" the man told the boy.

    As the man looked at the contract, for a second the man''s eyes opened widely.

    "How much for the transfer?"

    "W-Well sir for y-you it''ll be let''s say 1400 drachma"

    "I''ll give you 2000 and that''ll be for the man too"

    "You''re a very gracious man, thank you"

    "Stop suckin my cock and let''s move on"

    The boy tossed the bag filled with drachma on the table.

    "Take 2000 out of there then gimme back the bag, take even one more than the 2000 out and I''ll take your head," the boy said with a grin on his face.

    The man''s face turned cold as he checked the money and around 15 minutes later he was done and passed the bag back to the boy.

    Turning the contract to face the boy, it could be seen that there were 3 boxes positioned into the form of a pyramid, with the box at the right having a bloodied fingerprint which presumably was Miranda''s.

    The man looked at him, then pricked his finger and placed a fingerprint at the bottom of the contract in the left box within one of the boxes and then instructed the boy to do the same in the box tothe top of the pyramid.

    Putting his finger in his mouth the boy bit off part of the skin on his thumb and made a fingerprint in the box at the top.

    "That''s it, i-it''s in your name," the man said as he rolled the contract up and passed it to the boy.

    "You sure that''s all? Don''t fuck with me right now"

    "That''s it, I swear"

    "Thank you very much, it better be it or else I''ll be back for every single one of your heads," the boy said with a smile on his face as he gratefully accepted the contract.

    The boy got up and turned around and began to walk towards the staircase.

    He could see the men were on their feet and on edge.

    "Sit the fuck down, you people are an eyesore," he told the men aggressively as he continued walking past all of them.

    As he stood directly in front of the staircase he turned around.

    "Hopefully this is the first and last time we''ll meet, pray you don''t meet me a second time," the boy said as he threatened the men then proceeded to walk up the stairs.

    The man on the outside could hear the sound of the footsteps and he opened the door to let the boy out.

    As he exited the staircase and emerged into the shop, all eyes were on him again.

    He paid no attention to them and walked out the front door as if nothing had ever happened.

    <hr>

    Making his way through the streets the boy made his way to the town square and entered the inn.

    It was crowded and loud with people shouting and laughing.

    He walked over to the bar counter and took a seat on one of the stools and looked around the room for Jaime.

    Jaime and his wife were nowhere to be seen.

    Just sitting there, the boy stared at the wall for around 20 minutes thinking about what had happened and how he killed the man.

    It didn''t play on his conscience one bit.

    "Sir, I got through with the school," Zerbia said as he placed his hand on the boy''s shoulder and then took a seat next to him.

    "Ah, that''s good, what''d they say?"

    "They''re excited at the prospect of her joining and they said that she can start going to the institute from tomorrow if she wants, they placed a lot of emphasis on how much they wanted her"

    "That''s nice to hear, I got through on my end, this is the thing right?" the boy said as he passed the contract to Zerbia.

    Zerbia opened the document and began to inspect it.

    "Yes sir this is it, did you have any troubles getting it?"

    "No...............not really...............you told me that as long as she isn''t a citizen of a city she''ll basically always be vulnerable to becoming a slave right?

    "That''s true, but this contract here makes you her owner so as long as you permit it, she''s free"

    "I don''t want to own her, can you make her a citizen?"

    "You said she was a mixed between a human right, if that''s the case we can make her a citizen through her father''s side, he must have been a resident of a city, we''ll have to burn this contract directly before we go to register her"

    "When can we do it?"Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

    "Whenever you want, if you want we can do it early tomorrow morning I''ll pass for you and the girl before you depart"

    "That works for me, whatever she decides, I''ll atleast decide to do this last thing for her"

    "Here''s the contract, keep it until I pass for you two in the morning" Zerbia said as he passed the contract back to the boy.

    "Keep it, it makes me sick to think I own a person" the boy told Zerbia as he refused to take the contract.

    "Are you alright sir?"

    "I''m fine"

    "Well tomorrow it is, I''ll be there for you both at the break of dawn"

    "One last thing Zerbia, how do I reach Orphasus?"

    "Orphasus.......to reach there you''ll have to pass through the fallen city ofK��lasi and go through the eastern border and head through that pathing and in about 4 days time you should reach"

    In the end seems I have to go back..........

    "Thank you Zerbia, I''ll find a way to message you as to when the funeral is for you to come"

    "The members of the association won''t allow an outsider like me to the funeral sir"

    "I''ll make them let you in, I am his successor, after all, it''s my right to decide who''s present at the funeral"

    "Thank you so much, sir"

    "That''s that, goodbye Zerbia, until tomorrow" the boy said as he got up and exited the inn.

    <hr>

    Upon exiting the inn, coldness permeated the air and the sky could be seen getting dark as if night was about to fall.

    Time to head back

    He made his way through the darkened city and exited through the northern gate heading back to the house.

    Since he had entered his old home an underlying gut feeling ran throughout his body and it never left through the day.

    As he walked through the grassy plains with the moon slowly rising, the memories of the past kept resurfacing no matter how many times he tried to ignore it.

    They refused to go away.

    As he approached the house he could see that the inside was illuminated from the candles.

    He knocked on the door and Miranda came and opened it quickly.

    As he entered he threw the bag of money on the couch.

    "I have to talk to you about something," he said as he walked past her and went upstairs.

    She could tell something was off, the air was tense and she felt slightly scared from the aura he was emitting.

    As he entered his room he shut the door and jumped on his bed.

    Should I really ask her to come with me, I think she''d be better off without me.............I don''t even know anymore

    The memories hit him again and again, in a vicious loop ranging from his childhood to the events ofK��lasi.

    After around 10 minutes he got up from the bed and changed into brown leather pants with a long sleeved gray tunic and tossed his shoes aside and headed downstairs.

    I should calm down, the past is the past

    Upon descending the stairs, he could see Miranda sitting on the couch.

    He walked down and took a seat on the couch adjacent to her''s.

    "If I told you that tomorrow you wouldn''t be staying with me anymore what w-"

    "YOU KNOW YOU''RE A FUCKIN PIECE OF SHIT, I TRUSTED YOU BUT IN THE END IT LOOKS LIKE SHE WAS RIGHT, YOU''RE JUST LIKE THE REST OF THEM, NO WORSE" Miranda shouted angrily interrupting him.

    "What the fuck are you tal-"

    "GET OUT HERE BOY"

    "DON''T MAKE US HAVE TO COME IN THERE FOR YOU"

    Men could be heard shouting from the outside.

    He quickly walked over to the window and pulled the curtain a slight bit and took a peek outside, there were a bunch of men outside, 11 of them total and within the crowd was the shopkeeper and the dealer who transferred the contract to his name, all of them armed with daggers and longswords.

    Observing all the men, they all had different statures and sizes and he could see that they had no sort of body armor on and they were wearing casual clothes such as tunics,shirts and different colored pants etc.

    One of the men looked familiar but his brain couldn''t recollect where he was from.

    For fuck''s sake

    "Go upstairs in your room and lock the door Miranda" he told Miranda

    "WHO ARE THEY, YOUR ASSOCIATES?" she asked shouting angrily

    I don''t have time to deal with this bullshit right now, this''ll have to wait

    "Please just shut the fuck up and go upstairs and lock the door Miranda" he said angrily.

    She got up and ran upstairs crying.

    He walked over to the kitchen and picked up a small butcher knife and put it into his left pocket then he opened the door and headed outside.

    "What do you want?" the boy asked calmly.

    "You think you can come into our place of business and disrespect us like tha-"

    "I don''t think I can do that, I did do that "the boy interjected.

    "See what I was talking about from before" the slave dealer told the men.

    "We can see you don''t value your life much, but what about the girl on the inside hehehe" one of the men said as he walked up to the boy.

    "I suggest you shut the fuck up right about now, I''m in a bad mood already, don''t piss me off any further" the boy said as he warned the men.

    "Learn to count boy, you really think your threats can work on us?"

    "I think we''ll take turns fuckin her and make you watch before we kill you" the man said as he grabbed the boy by the collar.

    *Splurk

    "Over my cold dead hands"

    The boy quickly pulled the kitchen knife from his pocket and rammed it up the man''s jaw, driving it straight into the skull.

    As the man fell to the ground, the boy picked up his dagger and began to walk towards them.

    "Let''s get started"

    He had lost it.

    <hr>

    As he slowly walked towards the men.

    The men assumed a formation, five to the front, four to the middle and one to the back and began to charge at him with their weapons drawn.

    The front five comprised of 4 men and the shopkeeper to the right.

    The middle part was composed of 4 men side by side and the last layer was the dealer alone.

    Picking up the pace the boy began to run towards the men with the dagger in his hand.

    Looking at their formation, he could see that the shopkeeper was lagging a little bit behind the rest of the people.

    Running in a linear motion making it seem as if he was going to attack the middle man, he quickly shifted to the right, digging into the dirt with his left foot he pushed off.

    Grabbing the shopkeepers head midair, he bashed the man''s face into his right knee, knocking the man unconscious and as the body fell to the ground, he rolled off to the far right, evading the downward slashes directed at him.

    As he rolled on the grass, he immediately got up.

    On a quick glance, he could see that their formation had been broken.

    Sprinting forward, one of the muscular men began to charge at him, as the man swung his sword to perform a horizontal strike at the boy, the boy quickly ducked and made it to the back of him, and in turning motion with a backwards thrust he shoved the dagger straight into the back of the man''s skull and kicked him to the ground, effectively removing the dagger.

    He continued running towards the pack of men, he could see that one of the skinny men was not as close together as the rest of men and he leapt into the air, striking in a downwards motion with his dagger.

    The man blocked the attack with his dagger but the daggers strike was meant to have been a bluff in the first place, the true intent was the right arm which was now coming at the man''s face.

    In the dagger strike that the boy performed before, he had put in a great amount of force, forcing the man to reinforce his arm with the other to take the magnitude of the blow, he had no way of blocking the right fist that was coming to his face.

    As the boy''s fist made contact with the man''s face, he could feel something break, it was the man''s nose.

    As they both fell to the ground with the boy mounted on the man, he quickly took the dagger and drove it into the man''s chest, he could hear the pitter patter of the grass moving behind him as a man charged towards him and he launched his right leg backwards, performing a back kick and causing a gap.

    As the man coughed up blood and his life drained from his body, the boy tried to pull the dagger from the man''s chest but it refused to come out, there was no time for him to reach for the man''s dagger, which fell to the side of the body, the men were already breaching the gap he had caused and the boy quickly performed an evasive roll in a backwards manner to evade the men behind him, ripping some of the grass from the soil with one hand and some of the dirt into the other.

    He rolled a short distance of about one meter towards the forest''s direction and upon feeling his foot make contact with the ground he pushed up, pushing him into a standing position and ran to the forest''s direction, causing a gap of about 20 meters.

    *Huff *Huff

    I''m making too much unnecessary movement

    He took a second whilst the horde ran towards him to catch his breath.

    7 more

    All 7 of the men ran towards him at a high speed in a horizontal line.

    Targeting one of the muscular men to the far left, the boy ran towards the man.

    As he drew closer to the man, the others got the drift of what was about to occur and 2 of the men shifted to the side to protect the man and provide an opportunity to take the boy down.

    It was three to the left and four to the right.

    The three men charged faster than the other four causing them to lag behind.

    As he ran towards the pack of three, he squeezed the dirt in his hand forming a solid ball and threw it at the thin man to the right and threw the grass at the man to the left hoping to blind him.

    As the dirt made contact with the man''s face, the man backed away slightly trying to dodge the boy whilst swinging his sword frantically, however in the manner in which he attempted to back caused his right leg to fully lock.

    Noticing that the man''s leg had locked out, the boy launched a powerful thrust to the man''s kneecap shattering it to pieces.

    As the man screamed in pain, the dagger dropped from his hand.

    Catching the dagger, he shoved it straight into the man''s stomach, but then he realized he had made a grave mistake, he had put one second too long into the kick before, messing with his movement efficiency and the man to the side of him was unfazed by the grass.

    He could feel it running down his left abdomen, his blood.

    The man to the left had thrust his dagger deep into the boy''s left abdomen.

    Kicking the man on the left to the ground, he couldn''t avoid the next strike either, as the muscular man swung his longsword in a downwards motion aimed directly at his head.

    He shifted his body slightly to the left and kicked off the dirt propelling him forward, causing the part of the blade closer to the hilt to make contact with his clavicle.

    This reduced the power of the incoming strike and prevented it from cleaving through bone and the sword only cut through the tunic and skin.

    As the man''s mouth opened wide upon seeing this, the boy stabbed him in the eyes with his fingers, blinding the man.

    The man screamed in agony as he dropped his sword and the boy quickly shoved both hands into the man''s mouth, grabbing the jaw and the teeth on the roof of the mouth, he pulled downwards snapping the man''s jaw out of place.

    Then in the speed of light he quickly went over the man who he kicked down previously before and punched him in the throat shattering his windpipe.

    4 more

    The four men had stopped their charge and watched in fear as to what the boy did to the men.

    Seeing that they had stopped to look at him, he quickly bent over and picked up the man''s longsword and continued the charge. The dagger was still in place in his abdomen and if he took out the dagger from his abdomen he would gush out and the fight would be over.

    He was damned if he pulled it out and he was damned if he didn''t, it hurt a lotbut he had no choice but to fight through the pain.

    One of the men upon seeing this decided to take the initiative and fight the boy head-on, as both men ran into each other the boy jumped into the air and mustering his might he performed a strong thrust at the man.

    Oddly, the man didn''t defend instead he seemed to have given up his defense for offense, he was confident and he aimed to swing at the boy.

    As the blade grew closer to the man''s body a light blue aura manifested itself around the man, pushing the boy back, rag dolling him backwardsand causing the sword to fly out of the boy''s hand and within that split second before he was rag dolled the man had managed to land a strike horizontal on the boy''s quadriceps of his right leg.

    It pushed him back around 10 meters and the boy fell flat on his back.

    There was no time to rest and he got up immediately.

    This was the aura thing the blacksmith had told him about and he had no idea of what to do to deal with this man.

    The man watched the boy and smiled at him whilst the three men to the back of him laughed.

    Dagger''s behind him..........

    Feeling some blood leaking from his nose and running down his face and dripping from his chin, he collected some of the blood into the palm of his hand and then put it into his mouth and ran towards the man.

    The man seeing that the boy was unarmed, mounted a charge and ran at the boy with the 3 men following from the back.

    Running in a stooped position lowering his center of gravity, the boy ran at the man.

    As the man smiled and swung at the boy with a cross slash, the boy jumped forward doing an evasive roll and rolled past the man completely evading the strike and he moved on to the other three.

    As he quickly rebounded from the roll, he ran towards the three men, he quickly picked up the dagger which fell to the ground from one of the men he killed before with a reverse grip and ran to the other three.

    Directly in front of them, he could see that one of them was attempting to do a vertical slash whilst the other attempted to do a horizontal slash to cover all angles to prevent him from dodging.

    As the man''s sword hit the peak and began to descend in a downwards motion, the boy took his spit mixed with blood and spat it into the man''s eyes and kicked the sword out of the other man''s hand.

    The man''s eyes began to burn as the blood entered and the boy quickly took the dagger and slit the man''s throat and then drop kicked the unarmed man to the ground.

    Upon seeing the seller alone, he chose to ignore the man who had just fallen to the ground.

    He rolled forward then rose up and went straight at the man.

    *Whoosh

    Something went past him but he failed to notice it.

    With a backward stab, he thrust the dagger at the man only to be met with a blue aura manifesting itself which pushed him back.

    "He''s not the only one who can use magic you know" the man said with confidence.

    As he was pushed back, he landed directly next to the man who was unarmed on the ground which he had dropkicked and took the dagger and rammed it straight up the man''s jaw and he quickly pulled it out and stuck it into the man''s heart, busting through the chest cavity with blood gushing covering his hands.

    Slowly getting up with his back faced to the man, as he turned to face the man, all the man could see was the boy smiling at him.

    He was enjoying it.

    Wait........something''s off

    Looking quickly at the back, the other man with the aura couldn''t be seen.

    However, the door to the house was opened.

    "AHHHHHHHHHHHH" he could hearMiranda scream

    FUCK

    It was just him and the seller now.

    How the fuck do I beat this one..................................Maybe.......................it''s worth a try......................better fuckin work

    He pulled his left cheek between his teeth and bit down on it subtlely causing the inside of his mouth to slowly fill with blood and kept his mouth closed.

    Picking up the dagger, he ran at the man and as he was directly in front of him, he threw the dagger at the man, as the dagger bounced off, he pushed off with his left foot and entered the air at an angle and launched a downwards punch with his left arm.

    As the aura bounced the boy off, the man took his sword and drove it into the right side of the boy''s chest.

    He fell to the ground and as he lay there, blood began to leak out of his mouth and he began to cough.

    He was immobilized and laid there on the ground with his eyes getting droopy and his hand''s trembling.

    "All of my men are FUCKING DEAD...................I want to make you suffer, all that''s left is to rape the girl before we kill you.....................no, I''m going to kill you now, but rest assured I''ll deal with the girl hahaha," the man said as he laughed and walked over to the boy''s body.

    Upon closing in and standing over him, the man looked at the boy''s body and as he went to pull the sword out of his chest and finish the job, he could see something was off.

    The sword wound hadn''t been fatal, the sword was stuck into the bone, at the last minute, he had shifted his body slightly to ensure that the wound wouldn''t have been all that fatal and would stick in between the ribcage of his upper chest.

    The man''s face went cold with fear as the boy dropped the possum act and used his foot to hook the man''s foot and bring him to the ground.

    As the man fell to the ground the boy quickly pulled the sword out of his chest, quickly got up and jumped on the man, launching the sword at the man''s gut at a blinding speed.

    It penetrated the man''s body and he gave a loud scream.

    What was different that caused it to go through this time?......................................I understand now..............he lost his composure

    "Thank you, you''ve taught me something new today," the boy said as he looked at the man''s body as the life drained out and the man coughed up blood in his last moments.

    He got up and walked over to a man''s body and picked up a dagger and looked at the moon in the sky with his mouth covered in blood.

    I''m done living in the past

    His body had forgotten that there were even wounds and he had forgotten that there was a dagger plunged into his abdomen, his chest was bleeding along with his shoulder and leg.

    All the pain washed away as his mind refused to acknowledge it and looking at the bodies only one feeling ran throughout his body, it was the pleasure he got as he recalled when he heard them shriek and scream before they died.

    For the first time in a long time he felt as if all of his problems were gone.

    It lifted his mood from earlier on in the day. Then he recalled that one had made it out.

    He could feel something building up inside of his chest and he let out a fierce scream which could be heard even within the forest.

    "Just one more huh, he''ll use the girl as a hostage most likely, how do I deal with him" the boy said to himself as he turned and looked at the house.

    *Cough *Cough

    He could hear the sound of someone coughing but who was it.

    Looking around for the source of the coughing he could see it was the shopkeeper he had knocked out earlier.

    As he walked over to the man laying on the ground he began to think about the ways in which he could definitely break someone''s composure and by the time he had arrived standing over the man, he had finally thought of a way.

    "Gonna be needing some things from you people," the boy said as he thrust the dagger towards the man.

    <hr>

    "PLEASE, DON''T DO THIS" Miranda cried with the man''s sword against her neck.

    "Shut the fuck up bitch, we wait here until one of them come''s up, if your man comes up then you''re my leverage, if not.......................we''ll see what happens," the man said as he sniffed her hair and began groping her breast.

    *Thud.............*Thud........................*Thud

    They could hear something being dropped outside the door.

    "WHAT IS THAT" the man shouted upon hearing those sounds.

    *Creak

    The door slowly opened halfway and the boy made his entrance with a brown tunic in his hands carrying something within it like a bag.

    "Still alive huh" the man said upon seeing the boy.

    "I''ll leave you with a choice, walk out of here right now and I won''t harm you or choose to remain touching that girl and I''ll take your head" the boy said as he glared at the man grinning.

    "You aren''t in a position to be making demands, we go with what I say" the man said.

    "Funny, your friends said the something similar to me before if I remember right, I took some stuff from them to give you as a present," the boy said as he tossed the tunic "bag" to the ground.

    As the bag hit the ground, it spread open and the hearts of all the men within it fell to the ground leaving blood all over the floor.

    "I did this in a couple minutes, you really want to hurt the girl? Then do it but remember this, I have all night and trust me you don''t want to see what I can do with that much time on my hands if anything happens to her" the boy said with a sadistic grin on his face.

    *Blurrgggghhhhhhh

    The man began to vomit on the side and his sword shifted a little causing a small knick on Miranda''s neck.

    What the fuck did I just tell him about hurting her...........

    Fear consumed the man upon seeing the hearts of all his comrades on the floor.

    "I-If I let the girl go, what reassurance do I have that you''ll let me out here alive"

    "You have my word, I promise you''ll make it out of the room alive"

    "Alright then, as you can see, I''m putting my sword on the ground," the man said as he dropped his sword to the ground.

    The man slowly walked out towards the door to exit the room whilst maintaining eye contact with the boy to ensure he didn''t try anything.

    "As I said before, I won''t harm you" the boy said smiling.

    As he grabbed the door and opened it and slowly backed out whilst looking at the boy, he tripped on something.

    Upon falling to the ground, the man could see that it was the heads of all the men were cut off and some looked as if they had been ripped straight out the body and were laying on the ground in a pool of blood.

    As he looked up at the boy inside the room, all he could see was the dagger flying from the boy''s hand.

    It went straight through the man''s eyesocket killing him.

    "I said I wouldn''t have killed you in this room, I didn''t say anything about the rest of the house" the boy said smiling as he turned and began to walk towards Miranda.

    She looked shocked to the point where she looked like a corpse whilst standing.

    As he looked at her his smile vanished and his body filled itself with concern.

    "Miranda, you okay?" he asked as he walked closer to her.

    She gave no response.

    "Miranda, are you okay?" he said as he extended his bloodied hand towards her.

    "GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME" she shouted upon looking at him whilst launching a kick to his gut pushing him back.

    The fuck...

    She walked backward until she met the wall then she sat against the wall whilst holding her knees.

    In all her time with him, this was the first time she had seen him smile and he seemed to be unfazed by what he had done to the men.

    "I see you for what you are now............you''re a fiend.............no a monster, how could I have even thought in my mind that I could have possibly begun to love something like you" she winced at him with disgust and a traumatized look on her face.

    He could see his mother as he looked at Miranda they had both looked at him the same way.

    His chest felt heavy.

    Huh..........even her, If this is what people see me as then that''s that

    "I thank you Miranda..........I needed a reminder......................I''ve gotten your freedom, you should be safe now, do what you please..............." he said with a sad smile.

    As he turned around he could see to the far right was the xiphos he had bought awhile back, on the ground up against the wall.

    He walked over and picked up the sword and looked at it.

    In the end you are the only thing I can say will always be at my side..................Let''s go

    Exiting the room, the wounds were finally starting to pain.

    If I remember right, there should be some coals on the stove right now

    Limping downstairs he made his way to the stove.

    He pushed the pot to the side and upon seeing smoldering coals, he dropped his sword to the ground.

    Taking off his tunic, he wrapped his right hand with it and looked at the wounds on his chest and shoulder and the dagger plunged into his abdomen.

    Quickly he pulled the dagger out of his abdomen and blood began to gush out, he was right, if he had taken it out in the middle of the fight he would''ve definitely died.

    Using his hand which was wrapped with the jersey, he shoved his hand into the smoldering coals and put it on the wound.

    "AHHHH, FOR FUCK''S SAKE" he shrieked as the coals burned his flesh.

    It worked though, it cauterized the wound, then he repeated the process for his shoulder and chest.

    Unwrapping the burnt jersey around his hand, he put it back on over his body and then picked up his sword.

    The wound on the leg wasn''t that bad that it would need to be treated like this, he could manage with it, it was shallow.

    Limping over to the couches he picked up the bag filled with money on the couch and exited the house.

    Upon exiting the house, he slammed the door shut and looked up the moon.

    Guess even this kind of life isn''t meant for someone like me...............................I''ll spend the night in Mephisto then leave at the break of dawn............................I''m coming for your funeral, Gudrun..........................

    <hr>

    At the same time, prior to him leaving the house, Miranda was caught up in her own problems.

    As soon as the boy had left the room, Miranda sat on the ground traumatized as to what she had just seen.

    She could hear his footsteps as he slowly descended the staircase.

    Looking straight ahead through the door, she looked at the man''s corpse with the dagger impaled through the skull, the longer she stared at him, the more a sense of familiarity came over her.

    She finally realized who the man was, it was the man who had a part to play a part in her tribe''s demise, the same man they had previously seen in the inn prior to living here.

    The more that she thunk about it, the more the boy''s words echoed in her head "I''ve gotten your freedom, you''re safe now". She glanced at the man''s body once more and her common sense was finally coming into play.

    If this man was a member of the slave traders then that would mean............he didn''t sell me and he did all of this for................me

    Things weren''t what they seemed.

    She began to remember how the boy entered the room and how he left, and one thing stood out to her the most, she could remember him being injured and all the things she told him and the way she reacted to the situation.

    What the fuck did I just do

    Getting up she ran towards the door to head to him, realizing the mistakes she had made.

    *Snap of fingers

    "Damn, he really went off didn''t he, like woah............... also, where do you think you''re going?" the woman in black robes said as she walked through the door looking at the hearts on the floor.

    "YOU" Miranda shouted looking at the woman.

    "Yes, it''s me.............Bravo, I heard everything from the other room and I must say, you don''t disappoint................... don''t bother screaming by the way, I put up a barrier in this room the second I entered, he can''t hear you no matter how much you scream and shout ,you''re not leaving this room" the woman informed Miranda

    "WHAT?" Miranda shouted in confusion.

    "I knew he was gonna be fucked up after he left Mephisto and came back here but damn girl the way you reacted to the situation despite him saving your life, I was just like...............wow" the woman said in a mocking tone.

    "I HAVE TO GO TO HIM" Miranda shouted

    "Do words just pass through one ear and exit through the other?" the woman asked.

    Miranda began to run towards the woman to run past her and exit the room.

    "One step past me and I''ll kill you, it''s as simple as that" the woman said seriously in an intimidating tone.

    She''ll kill me?

    She stopped in her tracks in the center of the room as fear overtook her body.

    "Haha, I find it so funny, if I had told him the same thing he would''ve run past me in a heartbeat without hesitation just to help someone out"

    "W-W-What d-does that mean?"

    "Just because I said I would kill you doesn''t mean I actually would, you could''ve run past me and taken a chance if you valued him, you''re the polar opposite of him, selfish, arrogant, brash and you think your life means something, that it has some kind of worth but I''m sorry to disappoint you honey, you are legit shit in this world..........he on the other hand although he doesn''t value his life, we all value it"

    .................

    Miranda ran up to the woman and tried to run past her only to be slapped down to the ground.

    "Unfortunately, the chance for that is gone now, I really will kill you now if you decide to try anything now"

    As Miranda fell to the ground she began to think about what the woman had told her earlier in the day.

    "Just tell me, was anything you told me before true?"

    "Not a single thing........................ I played on your insecurities and the fact that you knew nothing of his past and fed you so much bullshit about how he was a slave trader baiting you and how he killed people for fun and played a part in what happened to Kolasi......................... I wanted to crack up in the middle of the whole conversation earlier watching how gullible you are.......................... in the time you spent with him I like how all your trust and faith in him was shattered by just a stranger like me..........................in fact, what he''s been through makes your problems seem non-existent,he''s had it so rough and I feel both happy and sad for what I did to him today"

    "Why.............did you do it?" Miranda asked as she began to cry.

    "That boy....................we need him................I need him..................can''t watch as he wastes his life away living passively with some bitch like you, when he heads to town to stay the night, we''ll be the hands that help lift him up, see right now he''s like a newborn baby up for grabs, he doesn''t know the world for what it truly is, he can be molded into anything right about now.................this world is gonna be in for a shitstorm soon depending on who gets him first"

    On who get''s him first?

    *AHHHH

    They could hear him scream downstairs as he cauterized his wounds.

    "PLEASE, LET ME GO TO HIM, HE''S INJURED" Miranda begged as she grabbed the woman''s robe.

    "You didn''t care about that before, sit the fuck down bitch, if it was life threatening I would''ve stepped in, he''ll be fine" the woman said with certainty as she shook Miranda off.

    Miranda sat on the ground in silence.

    "What are you going to do to me?" she asked.

    "I''ve been thinking about it, I won''t do anything to you, he''s finally gotten over his self-pity and hatred killing you would just make him hate himself again for leaving you and you dying as a result of that, I''ll just wait here and make sure you don''t do anything for the night and at the break of dawn I''ll be gone and you can carry on living your meaningless existence once more" the woman informed her.

    *Slam

    They heard the door shut downstairs as the boy exited the house.

    The woman waved her hands and the door in the room sealed shut and she ran over to the window and looked down watching the boy as he stood in front of the house.

    "And there he goes, he should be heading to the city for the night now" the woman said happily.

    Miranda rushed over to the window and began to bang on it trying to signal him.

    "Yeaaaaaaa, that isn''t gonna work, all he can see right now from the outside is just an empty room with candles lit and he sure as fuck ain''t gonna hear you," the woman said in a condescending tone.

    As they both looked down at the boy and he turned right and began to limp towards the city.

    *AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

    The voice associated with the loudscream was deep and deafening..........................primal and fierce and both women fell to the ground grabbing their ears trying to muffle the sound.

    "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT" Miranda shouted as she got up and looked through the window.

    "NO" Miranda screamed as she frantically began to beat on the window upon looking through the window.

    Looking straight into the forest she could see the red eyes which haunted them from before.

    Upon hearing Miranda scream with a look of shock on her face the woman got up from the ground and peered through the window.

    "No no no no no, w-w-what the fuck is he doing here.................what does he even want with him [the red eyes looked up at both women as if it could see through the barrier then went back to making eye contact with the boy] calm down, calm down in the state he''s in he won''t go for him, with those injuries he has he should know he can''t take another fight right now, he should just ignore it and go to Mephisto of his own choice" the woman said fearfully as she began to tremble.

    She was wrong.

    Looking at the boy they could see him looking directly ahead, making eye contact with the creature in the forest.

    They made eye contact for about 30 seconds before the boy dropped the money bag in his hand and walked over to one of the dead bodies and picked up a longsword with his right arm and his xiphos in the other and began to limp towards the forest with a grin on his face.

    "DON''T DO IT" the woman shouted in an outburst.

    "DO SOMETHING, YOU CAUSED THIS, TAKE DOWN THE BARRIER" Miranda shouted at the woman as she banged on the woman.

    "I-I-I can''t, if I-I take it down the boy will know what''s happening here. I-if a-anyone steps i-in right now and s-stops the boy from going off his free will, he''ll rip t-t-through the city barrier and slaughter everyone in this city starting with both of us first for what we did to his prey, chances are he heard everything s-since the boy h-h-had entered the house" the woman said frightened.

    "WHAT, IS IT REALLY THAT STRONG?" Miranda shouted as she cried.

    "Strong doesn''t describe that, I think the word strong originated from that thing..............we have no choice but to watch, it seems calm right now and only wants the boy and chose to ignore us,I don''t know why but if it''s to fight, start praying, only a God can stop that thing from killing the boy once he enters the forest"

    They both looked on helplessly in fear for their own lives.

    The boy stopped limping and both his back and legs straightened up and began to walk straight as if he was fine, ignoring the pain and holding both swords even tighter than before.

    Before they knew it, he had entered the forest.

 Chapter 21: Glutton

    Where the fuck am I?

    Opening his eyes, all he could see was the darkness that surrounded him, along with a coldness, he could feel the handles of two swords in his hands but he had no idea how the second one came to be.

    He couldn''t tell the direction to leave where he was, much less to navigate through it.

    All he could remember was a voice speaking in his head and then he had completely zoned out.

    Extending his right arm in front of him, he made a wide arc swing only for the sword to be met with something sturdy, stopping the blade in its tracks.

    As the blade was brought to a halt in that one spot, he walked towards it. The ground was mushy and his boots felt as if they were about to stick within the substance.

    Upon reaching where his blade stopped, he placed his knuckle on the surface of the object.

    Getting a feel for it, he could feel that it was rough and the spot where his sword had made contact, something sticky was coming out along with a funny scent.

    As he began to smell the scent more and more, the more he began to recognize it.

    Wood?.................this is a tree?

    Again he did a wide arc only for his sword to be stopped again and then he immediately walked over to it only to be met by the scent from before along with the rustling of leaves above him.

    He was slowly coming to the realization that he was within the forest.

    Trees everywhere..............I''m in the forest? How the fuck did I reach here, all I can remember is leaving the house after that shit

    Taking a second, he tried his best to remember what had happened to make him reach here in the first place.

    The last thing he could remember going through some shit with Miranda, exiting the house and before he knew it he was looking at red eyes in the forest and then everything went blank.

    Guess I took it up on the offer.......

    He was getting light headed and a dizziness was taking over, he could feel himself about to faint from the pain and blood loss he suffered earlier.

    Dropping his sword on top of his right foot, he bashed his right hand into a tree and began to pummel into it until the pain overtook his right arm and then he began to think about what happened earlier and how it angered him to get his adrenaline pumping.

    As the adrenaline began to pump throughout his body, the dizziness slowly left and his body was overcome with pleasure.

    Leaning forward, he reached down to pick back up the sword with his body in a mess.

    *Flap *Flap *Flap

    Something was in front of him.

    He swung his sword in a great arc and immediately picked up the other.

    Looking ahead, he could see headless ravens with their bodies glowing bright red like lights, hovering in a stationary position in the air, illuminating a pathway for him.

    Am I supposed to follow this?

    He turned around to see if any other pathway was illuminated but there were no more.

    He thunk about it for a second and then he realized it was better to take his chances like this, for he was in an environment he knew nothing about, this was his best bet.

    Taking a deep breath, he quickly exhaled after.

    Let''s go

    <hr>

    Following the path laid for him, he could see the trees which surrounded him, they all seemed to be extremely old with large trunks and what he walked on was soaked grass and dirt.

    He could hear the crickets chirp and the frogs croak along with the leaves of the trees constantly rustling with a cold breeze which blew, even making him shiver.

    Oddly enough it was peaceful and although he was in this place for the first time, this was a place which felt oddly familiar.

    It reminded him of the only place he had ever felt at home in, the house in Kolasi.

    It was a feeling he hadn''t felt in a long time and he felt comfortable here.

    The gap between each headless raven was shortening as the pathway became more curved and twisted and then they finally seemed to be coming to a stop.

    Looking forward into the distance he could see the moonlight illuminating what looked to be a small field with grass and some flowers.

    I need to push now to take it on before my body fails me....................

    He began to run towards the light to get his blood flowing and his muscles warmed up for what awaited him.

    As he drew closer and closer towards the light, a pungent odor kept getting stronger and stronger.

    It was sweet........sickly sweet with a rank smell, imagine rotting meat with some drops of perfume and that was halfway into understanding the scent. It was heavy and it felt as if it was entering every pore of his body and attaching itself to the hairs on his body. It was bad, but not the worst he had experienced.

    He began to breathe through his mouth and sprinted towards the light.

    Directly in front of the light, he accidentally stubbed his boot into the ground and forgot to breathe through his mouth............ the scent had changed.

    It was like decaying meat mixed with infant shit, the slight metallic and musty scent of blood along with the smell of rotten eggs. It was rotten and vile. A dense, cloying scent that coated the back of his throat, which burned and immediately prompted the gag reflex.

    He took a second and stood there refusing the urge to vomit and then he raised his right hand to his mouth which he had bashed in and squeezed it forcing blood to come out and then he drank it and the metallic yet sweet taste of his blood slowly washed away the scent which had managed to linger into his throat to the point where he was tasting it and then he wiped his blood under his nostrils to mask the other smell.

    He ran straight out into the light for what awaited him and his eyes couldn''t believe what they saw.

    It was at this moment he knew.........he fucked up.

    <hr>

    The sight he saw was something he had never seen much less imagined at any point in his life.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

    The field was circular in shape and was extremely large yet with no trees and the field was fully exposed from the top to let the moonlight fall upon it.

    Although the space was huge, it seemed extremely small from where he stood.

    There were bodies scattered across the field to all edges except where he came from.

    All bodies ripped to pieces by the limbs and spread out and stacked about 3 meters high, forming large heaps like a barricade to stop anything from escaping.

    Some of the bodies were a slight pale blue in color showing that they were there for awhile as they had already reached that point of decomposition.

    A decent amount of the bodies seemed to be fresh as what he assumed to be the original skin colors were intact and the fact that their flesh was still pink in color. There were people of different ethnicities all there within the pile.

    Bodies were covered in shit and maggots and flies could be seen on them feeding.

    Women and men, it made no difference they were all there naked with no clothes as genitals could be seen on the ground along with different organs.

    If he had to do a head count it had to be at least 75 people minimum.

    As he looked down at his feet, he could tell something was different down to the dirt, it wasn''t moisture from water which made the dirt all mushy, it was the blood which came from the bodies.

    It was the first time he had seen something this fucked up but deep down he saw a beauty within it.

    The smells coming from the bodies were so strong it made his body lockdown to the point where he could no longer move.

    As he looked up into the outline of the trees around him, he could see yellow eyes in all directions observing him...............looking at his every move, so much he couldn''t count it.

    His hands and body began to tremble and he couldn''t explain the feeling he was experiencing.

    It was fear, sadness, happiness, and excitement all mixed into one.

    He closed his eyes andshook his head left and right repeatedly then reopened his eyes and took it in all again.

    His body and mind processed things differently, in his mind he was scared to the point where his knees were weak and he could shit himself, it was true fear but his body saw it in a different way and although he was unaware of it, he was smiling big like a child who got some candy.

    He took a big gulp and swallowed his saliva and took a step forward.

    *Boom

    Something leapt straight out from the forest over the body barricade on the opposite side of the field and landed in the center with the dirt being ripped from the ground and flying up into the air showering him.

    Oh..................shit

    <hr>

    As the dust slowly cleared, a figure could be slowly seen getting more and more visible.

    Upon fully clearing, he could finally see what had been following him for the past few months.

    It stood at around 3 meters in height, highly muscular yet not overly bulky with a seemingly low amount of body fat to the point where striations could be seen on the majority of its muscles and its body extremely well proportioned.

    Gray skin covered its entire body with scales on the arms alone with fingers with long black nails.

    It''s body covered with scars on all regions showing it had been in countless fights before.

    Its legs hind like in nature and extremely muscular. Its feet had long nails which dug into the ground along with black fur around its wrists and ankles.

    Two sharp black bones protruding from each shoulder in an upwards manner, its nether regions covered by a piece of brown cloth wrapped around its waist along with a necklace with what was seemingly a black crystal pendant with a silver chain connected around its neck.

    Its face V-shaped with razor sharp teeth, with black lips, crimson red irises which mirrored that of blood, sharp pointed ears and long jet black hair falling all the way back to the waist region, bushy and similar to the mane of a lion.

    It looked down at the boy and gave a big smile.

    Well, that''s..............special

    What was even more fucked up was the fact that the creature had a man who was fully covered in a silver knight''s armor in one of his hands and was holding the man like a toy with blood leaking through the armor and dripping to the ground.

    "I thought I was fucked up but you''re pretty fucked up too huh" the boy muttered to himself softly as he turned and looked at the bodies then looked back at the creature.

    Its ears twitched a little indicating it heard what the boy said.

    The longer the boy stared up into its red eyes the more it seemed to pierce into his soul.

    It opened its mouth and seemed to be trying to formulate words............and then it spoke.

    "Glutton....................my........name" it said.

    The voice was deep and hoarse and he assumed it was a male.

    "Glutton [turns and looks at the bodies]..............I think you fit the name there bud" the boy said.

    The creature immediately lost it''s smile and took on a look of confusion as it stared down at him.

    *Boom

    His body moved of instinct and he immediately dived to the side as something made it''s way past him at a blinding speed and exploding on contact giving a loud deafening sound.

    Done with the chit chat huh

    On the ground he immediately turned his head quickly and looked to the back to see the knight''s body splattered behind him on a tree.

    *Whoosh

    In the second he had turned to glance behind the creature had already covered the distance between them of about 60 meters in the blink of an eye and was standing above him looking down.

    He rolled back and kicked off his feet and came back to a standing position and did a great swing at the creature using the long sword in his right arm.

    It smiled at him and it simply raised its arm as if it didn''t give a fuck, it shattered his sword to pieces.

    His eyes couldn''t process it, in the time it took whilst he was distracted with the sword being broken to fuckin pieces the creature had already made its way directly in front of the boy and grabbed him by the right arm.

    "Fly" Glutton muttered to himself.

    Glutton swung his hand in an upwards motion and flung the boy straight into the sky at an unimaginable speed about 400 meters high.

    What the fuck is this.....

    Frantically, he swung his hands in the air trying to put his body into straight position as he began to fall.

    "Fuck me, guess I''m gonna die like an ass huh" the boy said as he came to a realization that it made no difference as the height he was falling from would mean death.

    "THE FUCK" the boy shouted out of confusion as he felt something grab him by the waist.

    Glutton grabbed the boy midair and took him to the ground at a blinding speed.

    Upon reaching the ground he immediately threw the boy into the pile of bodies, cushioning the throw.

    He could feel it, something mushy on top of his arms.

    As he opened his eyes he could see the intestines, some livers, hearts, and heads on top of his body.

    Fully covered in blood he immediately got up and threw the parts off himself.

    What was surprising to him was not only the fact that the creature was toying with him but the fact that he still had his xiphos in his left hand tightly clenched.

    Walking through the bodies he re-entered the field only to see the creature looking at him with what seemed to be a look of disappointment.

    The creature began to slowly walk towards the boy and he began to run towards it.

    All he could hear was the sound of dirt being dug up before it appeared in front of him and launched a right swing at him aiming at his left arm.

    "Stop me" it muttered to itself.

    Off instinct, his body had immediately put the sword in his right arm and pressed it up against his left hand along the shoulder to soften the blow.

    The impact of the blow sent him flying through the bodies straight into a tree across the field.

    He could feel the pain as he hit the tree and fell to the ground.

    The humerus in his left arm was broken and he could feel the sword''s blade that was pressed up against his arm break into two and he couldn''t hold onto it anymore and as a result, it fell to the ground.

    As he laid there on the ground with his back against the tree, he could no longer move. Looking down at his ribs finding the source of the pain in his abdomen region ensuring he wasn''t impaled with anything, he could feel some of his ribs were broken from the impact against the tree and he could feel blood running from his nose and leaking out from his mouth.

    "What.........has.............happened.........to.......................you," the creature said as it began to walk towards him.

    The words failed to reach the boy as his ears were still ringing from the shock.

    He.........still.........held.............back...................this wasn''t even a fight to begin with............ this was an execution...............did I even have a chance from the beginning?................A fuckin fool, that''s what I am

    Slowly as he raised his head to look up he could see the creature was already standing over him.

    I don''t really mind..........going out like this...........

    The boy simply stared at it and gave it a grin as he came to acceptance with what was going to happen.

    As he stared at it, his body was overrun with hunger as if he hadn''t eaten in days and was extremely starved.

    "Show...............me...................what....................happened," the creature muttered as it leapt down at the boy and sunk its teeth into his left shoulder.

    He could feel the pressure of the teeth pressed straight against his bones, it was holding back enough to not crush the bones to dust and he could feel its tongue on the wound drinking his blood.

    A black aura began to manifest, surrounding the creature.

    He couldn''t hold it in anymore.

    Seeing the creature stationary, he drove his teeth straight into the creature''s right shoulder and bit part of the meat off and swallowed it.

    It was similar to the taste he experienced when he had eaten Rex except the meat was more robust with a strong taste similar to game.

    The creature was unfazed and the aura seemed to be getting stronger.

    What the fuck is this feeling.......

    He could feel his insides slowly heating up and before he knew it he felt as if he was being burned alive.

    "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" he screamed in pain and began to cry, it was unbearable and everything around him was starting to spin.

    "I see...........................so............it......was.....like...that" Glutton said as he let go of the boy and stood up and looked at him screaming in pain.

    "Go........to......sleep.............for........now" Glutton said as he extended his hand to the boy''s forehead and placed it against his head and knocked him outcold.

 Chapter 22: Alive

    What is this....................

    In his deep subconscious, as he slept, a darkness shrouded himself in his dream with a spine-chilling coldness but something was different.

    He felt calm.......too calm almost as if he could sense his personality had changed a little.

    A burning sensation began to envelop the formless state he was in and soon he could feel his eyes.

    As he looked down he could see his bare naked body slowly begin to manifest itself and he had full control of his body as it slowly formed.

    Its manifestation was painful with a scorching sensation but the pain felt oddly pleasant, on one hand it was agonizing yet on the other it felt like that of a warm embrace as if his entire body was being hugged.

    Slowly as it all came into place the darkness which surrounded him slowly backed away from him leaving him in a small circular area with what looked to be moonlight shining down on him.

    His feet felt wet and as he looked down he could see a dark red liquid beneath his feet.

    Blood...........................

    It was like a flame and he was a moth to it, he felt himself being drawn towards it.

    He bent over slowly and took his index finger and attempted to touch the blood.

    As his finger made contact with the blood, he pushed down on the ground only for his finger and forearm to sink down into the blood.

    He kept pushing until it had enveloped his entire arm and then he pulled it out and stood upright looking down at his bloodied arm.

    What he stood on was blood which had manifested itself as a floor to him and it was sturdy similar to that of concrete and although it was a liquid when he used his arm to penetrate into it, he still showed no sign of falling through it.

    The shadows slowly continued to back away from him until the small circular area free of it which surrounded him was now that the size of a medium-sized field.

    As he looked forward at the receding darkness he could feel the blood beneath his feet begin to vibrate and began to look down once more, he could see ripples beginning to form.

    *SHAAA

    Something had emerged from behind him spontaneously, imitating that of something bursting forth from water.

    He tried to turn his head to look behind to see what it was but he had lost control of his body.

    What''s happening now?

    His body began to move on its own.

    He bent his head down and raised his right hand up and looked into the palm of his hand then he took his right thumb and slowly rubbed it across his right palm in a horizontal manner.

    Upon his thumb completing the stroke he opened his palm then clenched it into a fist.

    He raised his head and looked straight on and took a step back only for the back of his calf to be met with something soft and slightly jiggly.

    As he pulled back his other leg he could feel it meet with something of a different texture, it was hard..........

    His knees slowly bent with a falling sensation overcoming his body and then the darkness which was slowly but continuously receding away from him rushed forth at a blinding speed enclosing him at all angles.

    <hr>

    *Beating of drums along with flutes and singing in a foreign language

    "[Yawns] Ugh.......[shifts arm]why the fuck am I so sore..............music?[opens eyes quickly] what happened.............." the boy said out loud as he awoke from his sleep.

    He could feel heat coming from the side of him along with loud music being played.

    As he rubbed his eyes, he looked up where he could see the moonlight shining through the leaves and then as he slowly turned his head to the side he could see something looking down and staring at him.

    It was huge, had to be at least2 meters in height, with an athletic physique. It possessed 2 goat legs with what looked to be a brown color, a fully erect penis, a slightlyhumanoid upper body with only the chest area, abdominals and parts of the face not covered in brown fur along with 2 great black ram horns protruding from the forehead,dark brown eyes, a small nose and thin lips along with a thick long brown beard.

    Huh.........

    The boy simply glared back at the thing like it was nothing.

    It could see that the boy was unafraid and wasn''t even surprised at its appearance, instead, he had a look of sadness on his face.

    The creature simply turned around and headed back to the campfire where more of its kind could be seen.

    The music immediately stopped and all eyes were on the boy.

    Although they stared at him upon seeing him awake, they were the last thing on his mind.

    In his mind, he was constantly playing over the events of the fight that had transpired to attempt to remember as much as he could so he could find the reason why he was alive.

    Looking down he could see that he was shirtless and there was a huge bite mark on his shoulder.

    As he passed his right hand over the bite mark over his shoulder he could feel the depth of the teeth which had sunken in.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

    Slowly everything was coming back to him and it was confusing, he should''ve been dead yet here he was.

    It wasn''t a dream, the wound showed him that along with the pain of where his once broken bones were.

    He tried sitting up but he could feel it, his ribs hadn''t fully healed yet they still weren''t in the condition they were prior to him falling unconscious.

    If they were he wouldn''t have even been able to shift his body an inch and he just laid back down and ran his right arm along his left arm gently and felt the humerus................it wasn''t broken into 2 as it was before.

    Instead, all he felt was a sharp pain as if the bone had only been cracked and not broken.

    He could feel a shadow over him, something was different or maybe it was the paranoia kicking in.

    After about 5 minutes one of the creatures of the group looking almost exactly the same as the one before which was observing the boy''s actions broke off from the group and approached the boy with a hollowed out horn filled with a liquid with a sweet scent and began to look down at him.

    The boy simply looked up at it then lowered his head and stared forward into the darkness of the trees.

    "Are you not afraid of me child?" the creature asked the boy with a deep voice.

    "No...............If you wanted to kill me I''d be dead, if anything...................I''m confused more than anything..............how did I end up here?" the boy replied softly.

    The creature simply looked at the boy''s facial expression, he wasn''t lying, it was the look of a man who didn''t know what the hell happened.

    "You are not the only one that''s confused....................we looked at both of you from the trees above when you fought...............well when you attempted to fight..................he brought your body over to us and told us to heal you.................you are the only human we haven''t seen him kill since he came here" the creature said slowly as it took a seat next to the boy on the ground.

    Attempted to fight.....................huh reminds me of someone.............

    The other creatures upon seeing this left matters to that one in specific and went back to normal as if anything hadn''t happened, playing music and dancing.

    "Only human he hasn''t killed?" the boy asked out of confusion.

    ".....................Yes, we do not know his motives but for some reason, he did not kill you, if anything he treated you similar to what he did to some of the other beings in this forest"

    "What do you mean?"

    "When it came to this forest, it became quickly known to all of us and with that the urge to challenge this new being which no-one had ever seen arose within some of the other creatures.................he beat them all yet never killed a single one of them...............however anything related to a human he killed them with you being the sole exception"

    "He have a name?"

    "We do not know..........it stuck to itself, never muttered a single word in any language until you both met face to face"

    "You know where he is?"

    "Are you planning on visiting it?"

    "When I can move properly, yea.........I want answers"

    "Can you just not be happy with the fact that you are alive by him showing mercy?"

    "There is no such thing as mercy in this world..........."

    "...........Unfortunately, we do not know where he is, he left the forest immediately after his encounter with you"

    "I see..................how long............have I........... been out?"

    ".....................Over a month in human terms"

    "A month................"

    "It was extremely troublesome healing you"

    "What do you mean?"

    "We carried you to the nymphai for them to heal you of your wounds, but your body rejected their magic in large amounts, we had to slowly heal you day by day in slow amounts.............your bones have still not fully healed up to now also.............the wound on your shoulder, we had to treat it with herbs...........healing magic would not work on it"

    "Huh.......my body never had a problem with magic being used on it in the past"

    "..................I must ask you, child, how are you so calm in an environment like this, around what your people call my "kind".......monsters............, you speak casually with me without hesitation or fear in your voice"

    "..........Don''t know, you look different but that''s just about it, I just see you as another individual I guess"

    "Interesting, some people would have defecated themselves upon the sight of one of us upon awakening"

    This guy''s pretty funny with the way he speaks........

    "So what race are you?"

    "Humans call us satyrs I believe if my age hasn''t caught up with me"

    "Satyr huh.......that''s cool I guess"

    "Can you sit up?"

    "Hurts a bit but I think I can" the boy responded as he forced his body up.

    The satyr passed the hollowed out horn to the boy.

    "Drink, I''m sure you must be thirsty"

    He would''ve asked what it was but ever since he had woken up he had begun to feel extremely thirsty and graciously accepted the horn and took a big gulp.

    *COUGH *COUGH *COUGH

    "What is this?" the boy asked as he wiped his mouth of some of the liquid.

    "Wine hahaha" the satyr said laughing.

    "Absolutely disgusting if I must say so, what the fuck is that after taste"

    "............Do not insult wine, it is the elixir of the soul, we will have a problem if you continue................just kidding, it is strong though...........I thought humans loved this stuff, seems I might have been wrong"

    "Oh they love this shit but I hate it cuz it fucks with my senses"

    "Live a little, you are young"

    "Never know when I might have to fight, can''t be having too many fuckups that could slow me down"

    "Fight huh, I''ll take a gulp for that [Gulps down wine], so this is a question which has been plaguing all of our minds, how did you end up in that situation in the first place?" the satyr asked out of genuine curiosity which could be seen on his face.

    The satyr asking this question seemed to reach even by the campfire.

    <hr>

    One of those at the fire came to them and spoke to the satyr which was currently speaking to the boy in a different language and then proceeded back to the campfire.

    "They are all interested and wish to hear your story child"

    "I guess I don''t really mind I guess but as you can see...........I can''t really move all that properly, my legs still feel weak, by the way, do you have a name?"

    "Quo''ah is my name young one and you?"

    "Don''t have one"

    "You have my interest more than ever now and I am sure the others have heard everything up until now and they must be dying of curiosity, let us go to them, I will carry you"

    The satyr got up then bent over and picked up the boy in his arms.

    "Now now, don''t let that [looks down at satyr''s penis then up again] "thing" touch me" the boy said in a joking tone.

    "I see you are trying to be funny but we are not into humans much less the men of your species hahaha" Quo''ah responded

    "I hope so buddy"

    The satyr carried the boy in his hands and placed him on the ground by the campfire with the other satyrs.

    As he sat there another satyr walked up to him and passed him what seemed to be a piece of boar meat which was roasted over the fire and then he took a seat with the rest of the satyrs.

    "Thanks," the boy said solemnly as he took a bite and the satyr responded in a different language.

    "He says you are welcome" Quo''ah translated.

    There were around 15 more of them all around the campfire all seated on the grass.

    "They can''t speak....well like this?" the boy enquired.

    "It has been a while since we have spoken to someone who uses this language, they can understand it but they cannot pronounce the words yet due to how long it has been but give it a day or two and they''ll be able to speak like we do" Quo''ah responded.

    "Ahhh, I understand"

    "So tell us what happened, we have all the time in the world"

    The boy went quiet and he seemed to be a little worried about telling them all that happened and it could be seen on his face by everyone.

    "We will not judge you child, there is no need to be afraid"

    They saved me so I owe them.................live a little huh.............even if something pops up I can''t fight anyways

    "So.......all what do you wanna know?"

    "Everything child"

    Everything huh..............

    "I''ll tell you everything but first.............pass me the wine Quo''ah"

    "THAT''S THE SPIRIT" Quo''ah shouted as he passed the wine to the boy and all the other satyrs began to drink as well.

 Chapter 23: Forest

    All of the satyrs sat there quietly taking in the story that the boy told about his life without leaving out a single detail. Their facial expressions could be seen changing at each minute: happiness, sadness, and frustration seemed to become the cycle of emotions they felt listening to it.

    It passed by in the blink of an eye and before they knew it, he was done talking.

    An awkward silence filled the air and most of the satyrs avoided eye contact with the boy, staring into the fire and those that did looked at him weirdly.

    Around an hour passed with silence as the boy sipped his wine and majority of the satyrs fell asleep on the grass.

    Suddenly the remaining satyr whowas still awake aside from Quo''ah and seated got up and threw his horn containing wine at a tree.

    The power at which he threw it made it sound like that of a miniature explosion as it hit the tree, shattering it to pieces.

    Then he took back a seat on the ground.

    Looking at this satyr he could see that he was slightly different with a patch on his beard not being brown but black, distinguishing him from the other satyrs which were seemingly clones of each other, with Quo''ah being another exception due to his physique.

    "Filthy humans," he said as he looked at Quo''ah with a look of disgust in his eyes, breaking the silence.

    "I agree" Quo''ah responded.

    "This one can speak like me toohuh" the boy said in amusement.

    "I could have always spokentoyou but I wanted to know the type of man you were before I decided to speak to you or not.............my name isJa''ehchild" the satyr said as he looked at the boy.

    "I take it you decided to speak to me........Ja''eh" the boy said as he drank wine.

    "Do you know why the rest of them looked at you the way they did? It''s because you are the living embodiment of someone who has experienced everything wrong with the humans...........from what you just told us, theirnastiness knows no bounds, they looked at you not with condescending eyes but the opposite of that"Ja''ehtold the boy as he got up and walked over and took a seat next to him and Quo''ah.

    "Does this not infuriate you Quo''ah, the humans and their nature" Ja''eh said angrily.

    "Ja''eh, ofcourseit infuriates me, if they do things like this to their own kind, things like peace with humans will never be a thing............but the way it looks it might be a good thing not to associate with them" Quo''ah said.

    "You have seen the outside world Quo''ah, humans are taking on the same mentality of the dwarves and it seems its been so long that they have forgotten what happened to the dwarves because of that mentality, there will be repercussions," Ja''eh said.

    "That is just a folktaleJa''eh,if something like that really existed then where it is" Quo''ah said as he rolled his eyes.

    "I''m sorry but what are you talking about?" the boy asked as he had no idea of what the conversation was about.

    "Just an ancientfolkt-"

    "It isn''t an ancient folktale if it was there would be pureblooded dwarves up till this day..........not to mention the statue..........." Ja''eh said softly, interjecting Quo''ah.

    "What do you meanJa''eh?" the boy enquired.

    "Long ago the dwarven race was the most prominent within the lands and with that they developed a sense of superiority and looked down upon everything else...........with that they worked to the genocide of other species which they deemed unfit, they decided to take on the role of the gods.......making decisions about life, who lives and who dies" Ja''eh said with the atmosphere becoming serious and tense.

    "You know what they say, short people are closer to hell..........." the boy said in an attempt to lighten the mood.

    "............"

    "..............."

    "Seriously, that was funny" he said upon seeing them look at him with poker faces.

    "But if thats the case, you''re shorter than most of us in the forest so does that make you closer to hell?" Ja''eh asked whilst smiling.

    "Fuck you" the boy responded.

    "You are not reading into the mood are you child" Quo''ah said.

    "Sorry, carry on with the story" the boy said, apologizing.

    "...............then "It" descended from the sky, no-one knows where it came from, The Great Beast, stomping them like the ants they were, ripping them to shreds in a rage...........what it taught every species in this continent that day was "Know your place".......... for hundreds of years to pass peace rained after that due to the fear of a higher power in the form of an executioner" Ja''eh said as he continued on.

    "And the dwarves?"

    "It was the near genocide of theirrace, ithunted them like wild animals leaving a trail of death and destruction..........blood everywhere.............all of them butchered to pieces.........and what was more amusing about the story was that it actually took the time to hunt them down one by one until I guess it got fed up, in this day and age you can never find a pure blooded dwarf, only mixed bloods in which their main bloodline has been diluted for the sake of survival"

    Sounds cool to me...........

    "What happened to the beast?"

    "....................it fought in a great battle, then after that, no-one knows, it vanished into thin air after that, some believe it must have died at one point whilst others believe it is asleep somewhere waiting for a major balance shift as it was in the past..............."

    "Ja''eh that is enough, it is just a story our elders invented hundreds of years ago to teach us that no-one should be above the other" Quo''ah said.

    "If it was a story, then explain the statue Quo''ah, the statue the remaining dwarves made of the beast to the east, depicting the great battle"

    "..................You do not understand do you Ja''eh, we have no choice but to believe that it is a myth, statues can be made by anyone depicting their imagination, coming into the acceptance that something like that exists breeds fear and with fear violence will be born, there is a reason why it is now a myth which is has been forgotten through the passage of time"

    "You believe it exists don''t you Quo''ah, just as I do"

    "..................It does not matter anymore in this day and age"

    "You are wrong, the humans are just like that of the dwarves, have you seen how their world is right now, war is on the horizon though they do not see it yet, their urge for supremacy in everything will be their downfall and what I fear is, something will come for them..............what disgusting creatures"

    "You understand that I am a human too right"

    "You are no human boy" Ja''eh said without hesitation.

    "JA''EH" Quo''ah shouted.

    "Listen to me boy, you have potential to be so much more than live a life by human standards, where there is rejection there is acceptance elsewhere, always remember that, humans may be wrong for you but you may find comfort elsewhere, mentally you are already superior to those filthy humans, they would''ve lost it since they were children if they went through what you went through, you are something else entirely at this point" Ja''eh rambled on.

    *Thud

    "......................He is right about that, the longer you live with the humans the more your soul will get tainted by their corruption...............I know this is the.......................oh it seems he fell asleep Ja''eh" Quo''ah said upon noticing the boy had fallen asleep on the grass.

    "He probably had too much to drink, it was his first time after all" Ja''eh said.

    "True, let us rack up for the night, it seems the others went to sleep awhile ago as well" Quo''ah informed Ja''eh upon noticing the others sleeping.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    <hr>

    What the fuck is shining so bright, it''s burning through my eyelids......

    "WAKE UP" a voice shouted.

    "WHAT THE FUCK" the boy said aggressively upon being woken up.

    He slowly opened his eyes to see Quo''ah looking down at him from the side accompanied by Ja''ehalong with the sun''s bright rays of light shining through the leaves above.

    The two satyrs could be seen armed with a massive longbow strapped to across their arm along with a quiver filled with arrows tied to their backs.

    "It is already daylight, can you move or not, we should get a move on to the nymphai, the others have already got a move on us" Quo''ah said to the boy.

    "Ah ok, I think I can probably wa *Blerghhhh*"

    He couldn''t contain it, he just felt a spontaneous need to throw up.

    "Hahaha, already throwing up so early?" Ja''eh said laughing at the boy.

    "You motherf- *Blerghhhh* [wipes mouth].............I''m never drinking again" the boy said solemnly as he grabbed his stomach in pain accompanied by nausea.

    "They all say that" Quo''ah said and Ja''eh could be seen walking into the forest.

    After about 5 minutes of the gut wrenching pain, Ja''eh emerged with what looked to be a brown grass with a reddish tint along the sides.

    "Chew this, it should keep your urge to vomit and the stomach aches down until we reach them" Ja''eh instructed the boy, extending his hand to him.

    He didn''t even question it and he grabbed the grass from Ja''eh''s hands and began to chew it like a cow.

    It took about 5 seconds for the taste of the grass to register to his brain...............absolute shit, that''s what it tasted like.

    In the moments whilst he chewed it the taste made him feel to vomit even more than before but upon swallowing it, the nausea immediately faded away and the stomach ache took about a minute to pass away.

    "Ah much better, what is this?" the boy enquired as he let go of his stomach.

    "The Plir grass, it helps with nausea, we use it alot" Ja''eh informed the boy.

    He slowly sat up on the grass and looked at his legs and then proceeded to shakes his arms and legs.

    "My body feels better[tenses leg muscles] I think I can walk" the boy said to the two of them.

    He got up quickly and dug his bare feet into the grass until it reached the dirt, tensed his calves and then he swung it upwards and stretched it like nothing and then proceeded to start stretching his back, he felt no pain from his wounds.

    "Huh......." Quo''ah said with a look of bewilderment on his face.

    "Something wrong Quo''ah?" Ja''eh asked upon seeing his facial expression.

    "No, it is nothing..............let us go" Quo''ah instructed as he returned to his original calm state.

    "So where we headin to?" the boy asked.

    "East, it should take us a while to reach" Ja''eh responded.

    "Cool, let''s move out" the boy responded.

    Quo''ah took the lead and walked into the thick trees with the boy and Ja''eh following behind.

    Looking at it, he could see that this region of the forest was comprised of so many trees of different kinds with humongous oak and cypress trees which were old to the point where they could be categorized as ancient, towering over 30 meters in the air with large branches extending, outwards providing shade in some areas but heavy sunlight in others and were spaced out decently to allow atleast 4 people to walk in a row.

    <hr>

    They walked for what was seemingly hours in silence, just following the lead and taking in natures air.

    Along the way they could see various wildlife hiding in the bushes, grass and trees.

    Snakes and spiders seemed to be abundant with numerous different species with regards to each.

    As they walked, they entered what could be considered a "hot-zone", there were no branches extending over them to shelter them from the harsh rays of the sun.

    Looking up at the sky, it was a nice sight, when he had entered the forest to fight the Glutton it was something he had never expected to see again upon meeting the creature.

    It was fresh and vibrant and cheered him up a bit.

    The more he looked at the sky whilst walking the more he could see something was off.

    He stopped in his tracks for a second and began to look carefully at it like that of a hawk.

    Large numbers of black things moving in the air in a circular motion above something in the far distance to the right could be seen but the sun''s bright light was obstructing his vision even when he used his hands to attempt to block out some of the light.

    One of the things seemed to have gotten closer and he finally got a clearer look at it. They were vultures. So many he couldn''t even begin to process the amount but averaging it had to be over a hundred.

    The sheer magnitude of vultures meant that there had to be a lot of dead things and the thought of the field filled with bodies popped into his mind.

    He ignored it and moved forward re-entering the shaded area of the forest shortly after.

    At least another hour had passed of continuous walking and it was nearing the afternoon and his body showed no signs of running out of energy but that wasn''t the only surprising thing he felt.

    This is odd, no pain as usual?.........my body feels different..........lighter?............no...............its stronger than it was before, what''s happening here.............

    "You okay boy?" Ja''eh asked upon seeing the boy with a worried face.

    "Yea, question, how come we''re so far away from the nymphai?" the boy enquired.

    "We could not have left you there, who knows what they would have done to you whilst you were asleep, much less when you woke up, so we carried you on a wine run" Quo''ah responded.

    "Wine run?" the boy asked.

    "We robbed some merchants of their wine obviously hahaha" Ja''eh responded laughing.

    "You''re joking right?"

    "Unfortunately no, no humans were hurt though, we just needed the wine" Quo''ah said.

    "Ha, that''s fucked up, but still, I was hopin we would''ve been close to reaching"

    "We would have already reached if we ran but we are walking for your sake" Ja''eh informed the boy.

    "For my sake? You can run you know" the boy said.

    "No, our perceptions of speed are different, you would get left behind in the blink of an eye" Quo''ah informed the boy.

    "He''s right, you would get lost easily not to mention you still haven''t eaten properly so you''d get exhausted quickly and you still haven''t fully recovered from your injuries" Ja''eh added.

    I need to find something out........

    "Then move at a slow pace like jogging so I can keep up, I don''t feel tired at all, I can keep up once you don''t go bird speed on my ass" the boy begged.

    "You serious?" Ja''eh asked.

    "Yea, let''s try a thing" the boy said.

    Quo''ah looked at the boy''s face and he could see for some reason he had a look of strong determination and then he looked at Ja''eh.

    "Okay" Quo''ah and Ja''eh said in unison.

    <hr>

    They both pushed their feet into the dirt and with one push, all his eyes could process in the second after was both of them at least 15 meters ahead and the dirt flying up into the air.

    If this was them moving at a slow pace he had no desire to see what they could''ve done if they chose to run.

    I told them to jog..............motherfuckers

    There was no time to waste, he was already left in the dust.

    The minute he took his first step as he dug into the dirt he felt it for the first time.

    It was the first time he had felt contractions like this, his bones trembled from the force as he took on a sprinter''s form and chased after.

    They had a large gap but theywere within sight and he was keeping up with a seemingly limitless supply of energy.

    All he could hear was the sound of twigs being broken to pieces, grass being trampled and seemingly miniature explosions from both satyrs to the front as they ripped large chunks of dirt out the ground with each powerful stride.

    As he slowly closed the gap to about 6 meters behind them, he could hear them speaking in their native language and then Ja''eh turned his head around and simply stared at him for about 5 seconds before turning face forward again.

    They took a sharp turn to the right, jumping over some bushes which were roughly a meter high.

    As he arrived at the bush he pushed off into the grass, digging both grass and dirt out and he leapt for the sky.

    He had no expectations of making a meter high jump and simply expected to get caught within the bush but he made it over at least 8 inches over the meter and landed safely on the ground and kept on moving to his surprise.

    <hr>

    It was thrilling, running at such a pace and moving through all sorts of different trees ignoring all old branches protruding through the sides scraping him with every passing second.

    They kept running on and on and before he knew it he could see both Ja''eh and Quo''ah slowing down and then they suddenly emerged through the trees into an area with blinding light bursting forth as he followed.

    As his eyes registered the light and slowly acclimatized he could see them standing over what seemed to be a large stone cliff above him and Quo''ah slowly walking ahead on the cliff with Ja''eh looking down at him.

    Ja''eh jumped down and immediately picked the boy up and then with a powerful leap he carried the boy to the top of the cliff.

    He was seemingly unfazed.

    "We''re here" Ja''eh said.

    As the boy looked forward he could see Quo''ah directly ahead at least 30 meters ahead at the edge of the cliff looking down.

    There were no trees within sight, just the cliff which now extended into the air.

    "So what now?" the boy asked.

    "We go down now child, they all wait for us at the bottom, come over here both of you" Quo''ah instructed.

    Go down?

    As they slowly walked forward the boy looked to the sides of the cliffs and it was then he could see the huge forest beneath them with seemingly no end.

    They finally came side by side with Quo''ah and the boy looked down.

    At least1500 meters down he could see clear blue water in a seemingly large lake like area directly below with the forest continuing directly ahead of it.

    His stomach and throat tightened at the height and then h

    Quo''ah walked to the side and picked up three stones in his hand and walked to the boy and Ja''eh and passed them a stone each.

    "This is to break the fall" Quo''ah said.

    "Wait, I can''t swim....." the boy said fearfully.

    "You are going to learn now" Quo''ah informed the boy.

    "Sorry what?" the boy asked bewildered with a dumbass look on his face.

    "Trust me, you''ll learn to swim, this is how we learned to swim, well not this exact scenario but being thrown into the water so it''s similar I guess" Ja''eh said.

    "Similar my ass" the boy said in disbelief.

    "We are pretty high up so we will be falling at an extremely fast pace, when you are about 20 meters before hitting the water, throw the rock at the water to soften the blow" Quo''ah instructed the boy.

    Can I even survive this drop in the first place?

    "I know you''re thinking about if you can survive the drop alone and the answer is yes, don''t be worried,also, we won''t let you drown providing you don''t learn to swim in the moment" Ja''eh said as he patted the boy on the back.

    "I am going first" Quo''ah said.

    Immediately after saying that he jumped off the cliff without hesitation and the boy quickly ran over to the edge and looked down at him falling.

    Quo''ah''s figure slowly disappeared from sight as he fell downwards due to the distance from cliff to water.

    As he turned his head to look behind at Ja''eh, all he could hear is the wind break and see the satyr''s legs as Ja''eh leapt off the cliff to join Quo''ah.

    He waited till Ja''eh''s figure disappeared and then he took a minute looking down.

    Slowly he mustered his resolve and ignored the choking, tensed up feeling he had gotten upon reaching the cliff due to the height.

    As his fear slowly faded he looked up at the birds flying high in the sky.

    Fly......

    He grabbed the rock tightly and jumped off the cliff.

 Chapter 24: Seals

    He jumped off the cliff headfirst in a nosedive position.

    His body felt light as it moved through the air, cutting through it like a rock being thrown, moving at a high speed.

    It was perhaps the best feeling he had ever felt in his life, the air caressing his body and wiping his mind clean of all thoughts he had before.

    A moment he wished would last forever, exhilaratinghim with each passing second falling, something he wished for, a bottomless pit which he could never reach the end, an endless fall with no worries in the world, just that sole sensation.

    He kept his eyes peeled at the water below with kept getting closer and closer with each moment, knowing that the moment would pass by soon.

    The water which was looked once bright blue from high up above was slowly turning into a light blue-green color to his surprise.

    A slight burning sensation began to run rampant over the middle of his back, hotter and hotter it got with each second.

    He had time, he was about a couple hundred of meters away from hitting the water and closed his eyes for a split second.

    Within that second he could hear something cracking similar to glass and immediately after his back felt ablaze, a new form of excruciating pain.

    As he opened his eyes, he immediately turned his head and looked to the back only for his eyes to meet nothing.

    He turned his head quickly back to the front, ignoring the pain and looked back at the water below.

    His focus was stronger than ever and as he continued falling, the environment was slowly changing and the pace at which he fell kept increasing.

    The once beautiful lake which was below him, white stone erupted from it in the center forming a small circular platform directly in place for him to fall upon.

    The sun disappeared with all traces of its light shining upon the world with the moon suddenly emerging and darkness ensuing shortly after.

    Enveloping, the darkness consumed everything to the sides, the once bright light blue-green lake, a small red spot could be seen.

    Bubbles could be seen rising to the surface and the pale red fully took over the lake forming a lake of blood directly below.

    He was no longer in control of his body.

    Immediately, his body shifted position mid air, inverting his position from face down to feet down.

    *Boom

    It was like that of an explosion when he landed on the platform from the speed at which he was falling.

    He hit the stone with great force and suffered not even a single scratch.

    As he looked down from his stooped position with his knuckles pressed into the stone, he could see there was a major crack within the stone as if the only thing saving it from being shattered to pieces was the sheer width of it.

    Slowly he stood up and looked upon the vast blood lake with seemingly no end.

    It was different as to how it had been in the past, it wasn''t the same as in the other situations, a strong sense of familiarity took over his body. This place was in no way related to the ones he were in before, he could feel it in his bones.

    Have I been here before?

    His body began to walk towards the end of the circular platform.

    With each step his back burned more than the last, the urge to scream completely suppressed by lack of control of his body.

    Upon reaching the edge of the platform and looking into what seemed to be the endless sea, he could see 3 things slowly emerging from the pool of blood directly infront of him.

    Slowly it rose, 3 stones: red, white and black respectively.

    They kept rising higher and higher until they completely towered over him about 30 meters into the air, large cylindrical pillars covered in runic symbols from base to peak with cracks of various magnitudes being visible throughout each pillar.

    The one which caught his attention the most was the black pillar, it was completely covered in cracks and the runic symbols gave a bright white light.

    It looked fragile as if it was on the verge of breaking as if even if a gentle breeze would blow it would be shattered to pieces.

    The red and white pillars had cracks but not to the degree where they seemed to be on the verge of being destroyed like that of the black one, but they weren''t far off from it.

    As he looked up at them he could hear the cracking sound intensifying and along with the sound more cracks could be seen forming on the red and white pillars, however, both pillars gave no light as that of the black one.

    His mind couldn''t help but analyze this place, a place he could have sworn he had been before yet he had no recollection of it within his memory.

    His head felt as if it was on the verge of exploding from him trying to remember this place.

    He understood why he wasn''t in control of his body, his mind couldn''t remember the place his body surely did and was trying the best it could to make him remember.

    The way in which he stood and his overall posture was different from normal, it was more of a fighting stance which he had never seen before.

    As his head bent down and looked down upon the blood, he could see his reflection.

    His facial expression twisted, he could never remember looking this way before or could he and the more he thought about the past, the more he thought there was a gap within the time he was with Cornelius.

    Voices began echoing within the space, his and a woman......... conversing.

    "Are you sure you wish to do this?"

    "I have no choice Susan"

    "You understand that this is tampering with your overall psyche and body right, other things may be locked away in the process."

    "It''s better this way, it''s about time I was put to a stop anyways, let''s get it over with before I go for that "thing", I''m getting impatient"

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    "Don''t worry about it, Cornelius took it far away and cleared up the vault, are you alright?"

    "..........It feels like a piece of me was ripped out, you have no idea how badly I want to fuckin kill you and your family right now Susan"

    "But you were the one who came to me Ch-"

    "I told you not to fuckin call me that......... you left me no choice, people are starting to catch on"

    "..............Sorry for this, it''s going to be extremely painful, I''ll link two of them to strengthen it and the last one will stand alone, are you alright with this?"

    "Sounds good, get rid of these memories too, I''ll just snap if I think about it, this is for your safety too......."

    "My magic won''t be broken so easily once I''m around, I don''t hav-"

    "You fuckin know magic doesn''t mean shit to me, get rid of these memories........before I get rid of you.............I''m sorry but I''m trying my best right now "

    "It''s progressed to the point where it''s this bad, why didn''t you come to me earlier, you know I consider you to be family........................."

    "I know, that''s why I atleast came now, better late than ever and one more thing Susan........."

    "What is it?"

    "Thank you, for giving me a chance at a happy life despite what I''ve done"

    "This is all our fault, it should have never come to this in the first place, we all contributed to this. Your mental instability is because of everyone and we pushed you to the point where you found an escape from this cruel reality with that "thing", you should have never become like this, I''m so sorry"

    "...............you can''t say you don''t have atleast one chance for redemption now Susan"

    "I promise you when you wake up, no-one will treat you the way they did before, I swear it on my life"

    Suddenly he could feel control of his body once more and upon regaining control both pillars which gave no light began to glow in a deep red with a rumbling sound and more cracks slowly appearing all over.

    "I see, these pillars ar-"

    <hr>

    *Rustling

    An immediate transition occurred in his perception of reality, he could hear the wind rustling as he cut through it with his eyes closed, he opened it immediately only to see the water a couple meters away from him.

    What was that......no time to think about it, what do I do?............the rock? yea the rock

    Instantly he threw the rock from his hand into the water, causing a miniature eruption from the water.

    With his hand still directly infront of him, he left it within that position off instinct, if he had jumped from the cliff feet down his body would''ve been able to withstand the impact of the blow from hitting the water, but he was heading in head first and the small eruption caused by the stone wouldn''t be enough to reduce the impact of the fall, his body adapted defensively to ensure there would be no damage to the head.

    Instantaneously he plummeted into the water going deep below, water began to fill into his lungs due to him forgetting to hold his breath and the panic began to take over underwater as he began to beat the water desperately trying to get out.

    As he looked on helplessly, with his body locking up to the deep darkness below within his sight he could hear something.

    *Cracking

    The sound could be heard even underwater, something was breaking, something he hoped he would have never let loose again.

    He calmed down and regained his composure locking off all emotions and returning into his original emotionless self from the past.

    His mind was clearer than before and he thought about it, the way in which he had seen people swim in the past and the form and position they took.

    Mimicking the position he began to swim upwards from the depth.

    *HUFF *HUFF *HUFF

    Upon reaching the surface of the water he began to take deep breaths.

    Looking into the far distance ahead on the land near the trees he could see the satyrs looking at him with smiles on their faces.

    Everything in the water seemed to come naturally and he began to swim as if it wasn''t his first time straight towards them.

    He grabbed onto the land with his hands and pulled himself up to the ground from the water.

    The cracking noise had stopped upon his ascension from the water but he was still wary.

    He walked over to the satyrs where both Ja''eh and Quo''ah congratulated him and gave him a pat on the back upon him learning to swim.

    <hr>

    "So where are the nymphai?" the boy asked upon only seeing the satyrs.

    "You didn''t see them underwater?" Ja''eh asked.

    "No" the boy responded.

    "Look now child" Quo''ah said pointing at the lake.

    He turned around to see multiple blue lights glowing beneath the water, with the light getting stronger and stronger showing some things were about to emerge.

    "How well can they use magic?" the boy enquired looking at the glowing blue lights.

    "Better than us for sure" Ja''eh responded.

    "Why do you ask?" Quo''ah enquired.

    "Nothin really" he responded.

    My seals...............they''re on the verge of breaking..............

    "They are coming up now, look" Quo''ah said.

    Vague outlines could be seen getting closer and closer to the surface of the water and then a light blue finger emerged from the water, reaching for the edge of the lake where they stood and the entire arm followed shortly after, grabbing onto the ledge.

    Beautiful black hair slowly emerged and before he could tell, they were already up on the land.

    Women bare naked with their breasts and genitals fully exposed, their bodies of different sizes and statures, different hair types, some curled and straight, the only things that seemed a general trait was their blue skin tone and runic symbols etched unto their bodies all along each body part with the face being the exception.

    These women were unparalleled in beauty, probably the most beautiful women he had ever seen in his life.

    He looked at all the nymphai bare naked for all the world to see how they were born but the sight of the naked women didn''t catch his attention...........one of the nymphailooked familiar, and with that feeling of familiarity, his mind sparked.

    She''d look better with a tree branch running through her skull wouldn''t she.......

    Her presence made him feel uncomfortable stirring up the urge for violence within, she seemed normal just like the rest of the nymphai but something about her was "off".

    She made a subtle glance at him then redirected her gaze back at the satyrs.

    His mind couldn''t wrap around where he knew this nymph from.

    I need to clear my mind........

    He could care less about introductions right now, if he stuck around something bad would happen, getting away from these people was the only thing on his mind.

    The nymphai looked at him smiling and as they began to walk towards both him and the satyrs, he simply turned away and walked towards the forest trees where he could see the satyrs bows and arrows leaned up against a tree.

    He walked over and put the quiver filled with arrows on his back and threw the massive long bow over his shoulder and proceeded to leave them.

    "Where are you going? The fun is about to start" Ja''eh said smiling looking at one of the nymphs.

    Fun?

    One of the satyrs walked over to one of the nymphai and began to kiss her and rub her breasts.

    Immediately he pushed the nymph against a tree and rammed his cock straight in her and began to fuck her.

    All he could hear was moaning and the nymph screaming "Harder", he definitely had to leave now.

    What the fuck is happening..........

    "You guys do you, I''m going hunting" he informed them.

    "Hunting?" Quo''ah asked.

    "We need to eat don''t we?" the boy replied.

    "We can just fish" Ja''eh said.

    "No thanks, I''ll find something else for us to eat, wait for me, I''ll be back before dark out" the boy insisted.

    "Can you even wield that bow, the drawback for it is intense, even for us not to mention you don''t even know the forest, you can get lost easily" Ja''eh said.

    "This bow is for a child...........I''ll be back soon, I''m not worried about getting lost, I have your scent"

    All the satyrs looked at him with a look of pure shock as he walked away, he was different, almost like a completely different person.

    His aura wasn''t human at this point, some of them understood immediately why he left, it was a form of self restraint and he was trying to go back to his normal self, he needed to be alone undisturbed by anyone.

    As he walked towards the trees of the forest to hunt he could feel a hand spontaneously grab on his shoulder.

    He slowly turned around to see one of the nymphai touching his shoulder.

    She immediately put her arms around his waist and began to move it downwards towards his crotch.

    "A big strong man like you and you''d rather play with wild animals than have fun with us? Let''s play pleaseeee" the nymph said with a lustful smile.

    "Sorry but women don''t interest me right now" the boy said as he shrugged her off.

    "Remember what I told you about living a little back then? Have some fun" Quo''ah said.

    *Crack

    "My definition of "fun" and yours are two completely different things, you don''t want to see my definition first hand" he said with a menacing smile as he walked off.

    "Whats his problem?...........You''ll have fun with me won''t you Quo''ah?" the nymph said as she redirected her attention to Quo''ah.

    Quo''ah looked at the boy for about 5 seconds as he walked off before the nymph''s words reached his head.

    ".....Hahaha, of course"Quo''ah said as he approached her and grabbed her waist.

    That fuckin smell.......is that a?.............never mind............I''m just overthinking it.....................no I''m not................I''ll have to break my viribus seal when I come back..........I''m sure of it............they should be okay until then..........I don''t think it will make a move until I come back anyway

    After he had walked off a good distance and was sure he was far away from the rest of them, he stopped in his tracks.

    "HA........HA..........HA............... TO THINK I FUCKIN LOST TO THAT FUCKIN WEAKLING BEFORE, I REALLY AM APATHETIC PILE OF SHIT" he laughed as he began to pummel his hand into a tree.

 Chapter 25: Hunting

    "It''s allcoming back slowlyto me..........Susan what the fuck did you do to me you bitch" he asked himself looking at his bloodied fist from smashing his fist into the tree in a sudden fit of rage.

    He was speaking off impulse and his thoughts felt as if they weren''t his own.

    Instant regret overcame his mind upon calling Susan a bitch, his conscience was playing on him, he had no right yet at the same time it felt so natural and from before he could tell things weren''t what they seemed.

    He dropped the bow and quiver of arrows and sat down on the ground calming himself and waiting for the bleeding to stop.

    Things he hadn''t known before stormed his mind, with one thing standing out about the rest.

    He thought about when he left the satyrs and nymphs earlier before and he remembered upon leaving he clearly thought about a Viribus seal.

    What was a Viribus seal he asked himself.

    This limits my body doesn''t it?

    The thought came immediately to his head.

    He sat there listening to the breeze blowing through the leaves of the trees making a whistling sound along with the birds chirping, a peaceful scene which could calm anyone down.

    His mind began to clear up and he began to understand, all restrictions which were placed on him were slowly being removed, for better or for worse.

    Everything was uncomfortable.......tense........not passing no matter how idyllic the environment was.

    He could remember a fragment which was of him asking Susan to seal various aspects of himself, she placed a total of 3 seals, one on his memories, oneon his emotions and one on his body to restrict him.

    He had done something horrible and this was the only choice he had left in the past.

    I need to know.........should I find a way to break these seals now or just wait for them to break on their own?

    The sole thought about breaking the seals right now instilled a gut wrenching fear of what would happen if he did, all actions have consequences, something he knew very well.

    His mind was getting surges and things which were hidden were slowly making their way into the light.

    The name of the seal which restricted his body was the Viribus seal however he couldn''t remember the names of the other two.

    The more he thunk about everything, the more his brain went into overdrive and then it hit him suddenly like a punch to the face.

    Rage.

    It was surging within him for no reason, spurring at different intervals then suddenly leaving without a trace.

    His mind right now was like the sea with waves of bloodlust coming up on shore.

    He kept trying on and on, taking deep breaths and trying to zone his mind by focusing on the environment...........it was to no avail.

    If this wouldn''t work, he would have to find something else to calm him down.

    He picked up the bow once again and strapped the quiver to his back and ventured deeper into the forest.

    <hr>

    He walked on the balls of his feet, taking small steps ensuring he wouldn''t make any loud noises from moving through the grass and dry leaves.

    *Squeals

    All the time tracking through the woods had finally paid off, he could hear the sound of a wild boar nearby which seemed to be squealing.

    He began to run on the balls of his feet aiming at the specific portions of the ground which contained no dried out leaves and using the grass to cushion the sound of him running.

    The squeals grew louder and then he could see the shadow of the boar move directly in front of him at a high speed as if it was running from something.

    Upon reaching within the boy''s vicinity, the boar immediately calmed down about 30 meters away on the grass in between the trees.

    It was black in color weighing at least70 kilograms.

    It didn''t seem to notice his presence.

    *Scryyyyy

    What the fuck was that

    It was something he could remember from the time he was in the passage to reach Mephisto.

    Immediately he hid directly behind a tree.

    The boar seemed to be afraid and all of a sudden it began to rampage.

    He shut his eyes and proceeded to focus.

    Zoning all the sounds in the environment to find what he was looking for, the direction of the screeching sound, however as soon as he began to do this the sound immediately stopped.

    He took a second.

    Looking in all directions, focusing on the sound of the grass to see if anything was approaching as the trampling of the grass would give it away.

    There was nothing besides the boar.

    It felt as if paranoia was taking over.

    He cleared his mind and looked at the boar wilding on the grass.

    He took the bow of his back and drew an arrow from the quiver.

    The bow was over a meter long and the arrows seemed to be a little bit over a half a meter and were thick in nature.

    The bow seemed to be made of sturdy wood but what seemed to catch his attention was the string.

    The material seemed to be tougher than normal and tenser.

    He put the arrow in the bow and began to pull back, it was tense but he felt stronger than ever and drew it with ease.

    For a child............I swear...................

    Taking a deep breath he took aim.

    *Whispering

    Soft whispers could be heard from his surroundings and it invoked a spontaneous reaction to release and fire the bow.

    The arrow shot off at lightning speed despite its thickness and weight, the bow had a harder drawback but the speed at which it released the arrow paired with its power was not to be trifled with.

    He missed the boar by a mile and the arrow made its way through the gaps of the trees and seemed to have impaled a tree a great distance away, so far that the boar still had no sense that he was there.

    He made a full 360 looking for the source of the whispers.

    They grew louder and louder with each passing second the voices became slightly more recognizable yet still distorted.

    It was his voice paired with many others in a conversation.

    As the voices began to get audible to the point where he could recognize what they were saying, it felt like 10 more popped into his head.

    Multiple conversations all happening at the same time, a noise parade within.

    He tried his best to put up with it whilst breathing deeply, but it didn''t seem to help one bit. It felt as if his mind was slowly being ripped apart.

    ShutupShutupShutupShutup

    *Thud

    He fell to the ground on his knees, dropping his bow to the side and grabbing his head in agony as it felt as if it was on the verge of exploding.

    The boar heard him as he hit the ground, it looked at him with his hands grasping his head and gave a loud squeal and began to charge at him.

    With each second the voices grew louder and the boar closed in at him extremely fast.

    About 3 seconds away from collision, he couldn''t take it anymore, the voices paired with the loud squealing was enough to make a grown man go mad.

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    As he lifted his head he could see the white tusks directly in front of him at chest level mere moments away from impaling him.

    "I SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP" he screamed as he grabbed the bow at his side immediately.

    It all happened in a split second, upon grabbing the bow he instantly grabbed it by the top limb and took his left hand and grabbed the boar by its tusk and with the swing of his left hand he threw it on the ground.

    It didn''t even get a chance to even attempt to get up, upon it hitting the grass he immediately bashed its head in with the lower limb of the bow in rage.

    The first strike did nothing for him, the second made him feel a little tingly and by the 12th strike bashing in the boar''s skull, the voices had stopped and he felt happy.

    <hr>

    Meanwhile back at the lake, all the satyrs were busy having sex with the nymphai all except for Ja''eh.

    Something made him feel uncomfortable around the nymphai on this day in particular, something wasn''t right, the others didn''t seem to feel the same way but all he could feel was danger, something was lurking about his mind told him.

    He sat against a tree watching the others and he had no idea what to do.

    His mind was blank right now, he pulled out a horn which was in a pile of all their belongings and walked to the water and filled it and began to drink.

    "Ja''eh, what are you doing?" Quo''ah asked a couple of meters away whilst fucking a nymph against a tree.

    "I don''t know Quo-"

    *Shhhhhhhhhhhhh

    They could all hear something, a dragging sound coming from the forest ahead.

    All fun and games were over and all the moaning and screaming had stopped, the satyrs rushed over and grabbed their bows and the nymphai jumped into the water.

    It was threatening to the point where it even scared them.

    They all drew their bows and the nymphai looked on prepared to cast magic if push came to shove.

    "Ay ay ay, put the bows down, it''s just me" the boy said as he walked out the shadows of the trees with his entire body covered in blood whilst dragging a dead boar on the ground with his bow strapped to his back.

    Upon seeing the boy Ja''eh took a deep breath out and dismissed the feeling he had before.

    "WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO YOU" Ja''eh shouted upon seeing him in that state.

    The boy glanced at the nymphai then responded.

    "Eh what happened to me?.....oh this........its nothin............I''mjust..........chillin" he said.

    He was the center of attention right now, not because he was covered in blood but because of his attitude, as if it was normal to him.

    They stared at him for awhile before they all dropped their weapons and the nymphai climbed back out of the lake.

    Some of the satyrs upon seeing the boar walked over to him and pat him on the back.

    ".................See you got a boar there" Ja''eh said.

    "Told ya I woulda get somethin to eat" the boy said.

    "And the bow?"

    "Uhhh didn''t get a chance to use the arrows as you can see"

    "You mean-"

    "Yea, had to go oldschool"

    "You alright though?"

    "Yea man, can y''all just take this boar, I wanna go wash up by the lake there" the boy said as he dropped the boar''s leg to the ground and walked past Ja''eh.

    "............."

    All of the nymphai could be seen standing at the edge of the lake looking at him as he made his way there with a grin on his face walking past each one of them.

    *Sniff *Sniff

    "You -"

    *Splash

    The nymph didn''t even get a chance to say what she wanted and the rest of them looked on as he ignored them and jumped into the water.

    He didn''t care about who they were, he forgot why he was even here in the first place, for his injuries which felt non-existent at this point and was the last thing on his mind.

    It didn''t take them long to realize he was ignoring them all whilst he washed the blood off his arms and face.

    They all moved back over to the satyrs who couldn''t help look at the boy and began socializing once again.

    <hr>

    Hours passed and the moon''s light illuminated both the lake and the forest.

    The nymphai and the satyrs started a fire and roasted the boar and ate it.

    As for the boy, since he had come back from hunting he seemed isolated and stuck to himself, just sitting by a tree eating and looking at the others.

    It was like a dating mixer with each satyr and nymph trying to pair up, from what he could observe some of the nymphs seemed uninterested and socialized amongst themselves talking, laughing and giggling.

    Quo''ah walked over to the boy and took a seat next to him.

    "Are you alright?" Quo''ah asked out of concern upon seeing him brooding alone in a corner.

    "Yea..........just here.............so whats the deal with you guys and the nymphs?" he responded trying to make small talk.

    "This is how we mate" Quo''ah answered.

    "Mate?"

    "Yes it is mating season right now and it is about time we started a new generation of satyrs"

    "So how does that work? I mean eh.........you can probably understand what I mean" the boy said bashfully.

    "Oh you mean for reproduction, there are no female satyrs, only males, this is how it had always been and the nymphai have always been our companions, we are spirits so the rules of humans do not apply here"

    "Ah I see.............so how long until you guys go to sleep?"

    "I do not know, why do you ask?"

    "No reason..........but anyways, go have some fun for me too, I''m trying to deal with my shyness towards women............ I think I just wanna sit here for awhile, I''ll come by you guys just now when I muster up my courage" the boy insisted with a smile on his face.

    "Ah I see, we will be waiting for you" Quo''ah said as he got up and walked back over to the nymphai.

    He sat there looking at the ground and focusing on hearing what the satyrs and nymphai were talking about in a group.

    "He said he is shy, that is why he is not here with us"

    "Ohhhhh such a cutie"

    "Should we go to him?"

    "How good do you think he is?"

    And just like that the bait''s been set.............

    <hr>

    Time went on and the sky seemed to have reached its peak of darkness with the moon hiding behind the clouds.

    They showed no signs of going to sleep with everyone talking loudly.

    In the time he spent sitting there, various nymphaicame all trying to make small talk with him but he showed no interest by pretending to be overly shy.

    He looked on and then he could see one of the nymphai who was only socializing with the other nymphai get up and begin to walk in his direction.

    As she made her way towards him slowly he looked at her.

    Her hair straight, plump lips with an oval shaped face with brown eyes, a small nose and a great body fully naked.

    She had finally reached infront of him and she looked down at him smiling.

    "..........Wow so beautiful" the boy said out loud speaking his mind.

    It could be heard by the satyrs and the nymphai and as he looked at them he could see Ja''eh and Quo''ah smiling rooting him on.

    "Thank you" she said as she took a seat next to him on the grass a little distance away from him.

    He bent his head down and looked at the ground avoiding eye contact.

    She looked at him and his expressions showing how shy he was and giggled.

    He looked as though he didn''t even have the confidence to break the ice and just like that she began to talk on and on, rambling non-stop.

    About a half hour passed and he just sat there pretending to listen to her whilst knocking on the tree he sat against.

    "Are you not interested in me?" she asked as she pushed her breasts forward.

    "I am.........its just..........I''m not accustomed using words" he said softly.

    "Oh...........hehehe" she said whilst giggling as she got up.

    She walked over by him.

    "What are yo-"

    She put her finger on his lip and sat on his lap.

    He could feel her breasts against his chest and her warm crotch through his pants.

    He grabbed her waist as she sat on top of him.

    All of a sudden he could feel her one of her hands move down his pants and grab his cock and begin to stroke him.

    "Ohhhh" she moaned as she leaned in to kiss him.

    "You know when I entered down here I couldn''t take my eyes off you" he said.

    "Me too" she said as she kissed him on his neck.

    *Sniff *Sniff

    She kept kissing him on and on his neck and both her hands made their way to his pants button.

    "I want to feel you inside of me" she whispered in his ear and then she moved her head down and kissed him on his chest and began to make her way down.

    Everyone looked on at them and Ja''eh and Quo''ah had a proud look on their faces.

    "That''s nice and all, but unfortunately for you, I''m done playing around" the boy said with a smirk on his face.

    "What do you mean?" she said as she raised her head and looked him in the eyes as she moved in to kiss him on the lips.

    "A wolf that hides in sheep''s clothing" the boy muttered.

    *Snip

    "OUCH" she shouted upon feeling one of his nails sink into her back.

    *BAM

    <hr>

    They could all see it, he drove his fist straight into her face pushing her to the ground a couple meters away.

    As she raised her head they could all see her nose bloody and her nose out of place showing it had been broken. She began to cry loudly and began shouting in a different language to the nymphai seemingly begging for help.

    "WHAT THE-" Quo''ah shouted only to be interrupted by a crushing presence with a stifling fear.

    "Shut the fuck up"he said with a serious and dangerous tone as he got up with a grin on his face.

    As he looked at the crying nymph on the ground he could hear the sound of arrows being pulled back and the buzzing sound of the nymphai channeling their magic in their hands giving a blue light, all aimed at him.

    "Calm down, it isn''t what it seems,[looks at nymph] ain''t it........... bud"

    "Whats going on here boy?" Ja''eh said

    "I''m surprised you people haven''t noticed it"

    "Noticed wha-"

    "YOU HAVE HELL TO PAY FOR PUNCHING MY SIS-"

    "Didn''t I say to shut the fuck up? You''d best fuckin listen to me you fuckin children, I''m in no mood for unnecessary bullshit"he said angrily, immediately shutting her up.

    It went quiet, this presence they were in, so intimidating awakening the fear of death within them all, this bloodlust thickening the air to the point where they felt as if they were being choked, all of this being emitted by one man.

    They all knew they were stronger than him but his aura made them think twice about trying him.

    He took a second and waited for his bloodlust to subside once more.

    "Ah yes so back to what I was saying before I was rudely interrupted...............that thing on the ground is no nymph"

    "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT THATS MY SISTER, OF COURSE, SHE''S A NYMPH" the nymph from before shouted.

    CalmdownCalmdownCalmdown.........Can''t they let me fuckin speak in peace

    "You see.....everything has a certain smell to it.........every single race has a scent which distinguishes them and kin of each race although different are extremely similar and well how do I put it...........that thing over there although it smells similar to a nymph, it isn''t, I thought I was being paranoid when I first saw you all but ............. just now when she got close to me I confirmed my suspicion, that thing over there is clearly different from the rest of you"

    "HE''S LYING SISTER" the nymph on the ground shouted.

    "DO YOU THINK WE WOULD BELIEVE YOU OVER ONE OF OUR OWN WITH SOME BULLSHIT STORY" one of the nymphs shouted as she launched a blue ball of energy at him.

    Their eyes couldn''t keep up, it was like a frame shift in reality, he suddenly disappeared and when he had reappeared all they could see was him lifting the woman off the ground with one arm whilst choking her.

    "So little "lady"...........[looks her in the eyes] .......................what are you?" he asked with a sadistic smile on his face.

    All of a sudden they could see him taste the blood on his fingernail from which he stuck into the nymph from before.

    "Oh............how surprising........a hag......" he said with a condescending look on his face with eyes filled with disappointment.

    "WHY YO-"

    *SNAP

    He did it in an instant, he crushed her windpipe so easily and tossed her dead body aside on the ground.

    "WHAT DID YOU DOOOOOOOO" the nymph shouted as she began to cry and fell to her knees.

    The place once relatively quiet due to intimidation was now overrun by the crying of the nymphai and the aggressive talking between the satyrs.

    *Whoosh

    He could hear it run through the air...........an arrow aimed directly at his head.

    They all looked on in shock as he caught the arrow way before it had even reached his head and snapped it like a twig with his index finger and thumb.

    "Word of advice...............try it again and I''ll rip your jaw out" he said with a friendly smile as he turned and looked at one of the satyrs who fired at him.

    *Shaaa

    "About time you showed yourself to me hag" the boy said as he looked at the body on the ground.

    Dirt could be seen rumbling beneath the body he had tossed aside and then a screeching sound with an increasing volume could be heard emanating from the body.

    The hands began to twitch and the skin color slowly turned into a moss green and sooner than he expected the body began to move on the ground shaking frantically.

    He looked up at the moon hiding behind the clouds.

    "Hide your eyes for my hunt begins now............may the clouds stop you from seeing this red night to come" he muttered to himself with a sole teardrop running down his face and then he redirected his attention to the enemy in front.

 Chapter 26: Red Night (I)

    He stood there looking at the body on the moonlit covered grass slowly morphing and mutating. The once blue skin began to slowly change into a moss green color, the limbs seemed to extend increasing in length, her eyeballs rolled back and when they returned to their original state, the once white sclera seemed to be filled with red blood vessels meeting the iris of the eye which had turned pitch black.

    The hollowed out throat which he had shattered seemed to reinflate itself like a ball. She was surely dead before but that was no longer the case. A black aura could be seen manifesting from her feet up forming a brown dress, covering her entire body.

    Her canines seemed to have gotten sharper and the rest of her teeth showed signs of tooth decay.

    Her bones twisted and she assumed a crab like position and moved back away from the boy around 15 meters and then her upper body straightened itself like nothing.

    The satyrs and nymphs looked in disbelief with shock and fear running through their bodies. This was not something which should have even been near this sector of the forest.

    It winced at him full of disgust.

    As their eyes met, he became overrun with conflicting feelings...........contradictory feelings.

    His personality was switching up periodically, he could tell, the confidence he had mere minutes ago was gone and he was back to his normal self.

    It felt as if he was fighting between doubt and confidence.

    The hag gave no time for him to settle his feelings and charged at him at an incredible speed.

    He could see it coming at him, drawing closer with each millisecond, its hand with sharpened nails aimed directly at his chest about to thrust in and go for the kill.

    It all looked so slow, an attack easy to dodge and counter attack, he had no idea how to kill it, it felt as if he had gone blank like an empty canvas.

    If he didn''t know how to kill it, he would surely do the next best thing, incapacitate it and keep digging away until he could find a way to kill it.

    The hand with elongated fingers finally made its way to his chest, now was the time to start.

    Knocking away the hand then pummeling that filthy face into the ground would do.

    He tried to raise his hand only for his body to not respond, he had lost all control and was a sitting duck.

    Instead, his body shifted to the side and the hand pierced the right side of his chest.

    He could feel the nails impale his bones, and his flesh parted with blood leaking down paired with a pain like no other.

    The speed at which the hag attacked him pushed him through the dirt with incredible force only until they met with a tree.

    It impaled him directly on the tree and everything suddenly got hazy and blurry, his vision was fading.

    As he bent his head down and looked down at the hand in his chest, it was blurred but he could see it, his flesh parted, tattoo ripped apart and the blood running.

    He raised his head and looked at the hag in the eyes.

    The hag bent its head down and then she stuck her tongue out of her mouth.

    It was long and made its way to the wound where it licked his blood and tasted him.

    Then its head made full contact and began to suck his blood and nibble at a piece of his flesh.

    She then raised her head and looked him in the eyes and licked his face and began to speak.

    The words were unrecognizable, getting weaker and weaker with each passing moment until he could hear nothing anymore from anywhere as if he was deaf along with a burning sensation on his entire back as if it was slowly being torched.

    He could feel the earth shake, and the ground melt beneath his feet turning into a pool of blood.

    <hr>

    The hag along with everyone disappeared from his sight and the surroundings immediately changed, with the ground crumbling and blood rising along with the three pillars from before shooting up in front of him from below.

    The three pillars erupted from the ground only to crumble away before his eyes, what was done was now undone.

    Remains of the pillars fell to the bottom of the sea but as they fell, three silhouettes could be seen rising from the depths.

    Slowly but surely they rose until they all stood before him.

    All of the figures were bare naked, but the tallest of the three seemed to capture his attention the most.

    As he looked upon the three carefully he could see they were all faceless but once he began to look at their bodies he could finally understand what the silhouettes were, each one was him at a different point in his life, from his childhood straight until adolescence.

    They all slowly walked towards him and upon directly standing in front of him, the tallest one pointed his finger at the blood at the boy''s feet signaling him to look down.

    Slowly he bent his head down to glimpse at the blood beneath his feet only to see that in his reflection he had no face of his own. It made his chest tighten seeing this.

    "Who are we?" the voices asked in unison.

    Who are they?

    He thought about it for a second but there was no definite answer in his mind.

    "Me, that''s who you are" he responded.

    "Who are we?" they asked again.

    He gave no answer, he could already tell where this was going, this was supposed to be a point of self-reflectance but the answer which they desired he had no idea of.

    Keeping silent he waited,hoping for them to shut the fuck up but they kept asking on and on until they finally began to annoy him.

    Anger and frustration built up, with the same question being repeatedly asked and no escape possible.

    He couldn''t take it anymore, he grabbed the two childlike versions of himself by the throat with each hand and snapped their windpipes and then walked over to the tallest one and grabbed him by the neck and threw him on the ground and choked him to death in a fit of rage and then stood up and looked at the bodies lying there.

    The blood thickened and the bodies slowly sunk to the bottom in what seemed to mimic that of tar.

    "I FOUNNNNDDDDD YOUUUUU" a voice screamed to the point where it was nearly deafening.

    "What the fuck" the boy said to himself as he frantically began to look in all directions.

    The voice was feminine yet at the same time, it was hoarse, rough......dark and he immediately felt fear course throughout his body.

    "THE BITCH THOUGHT SHE COULD SEPARATE USSSSSSS.........DON''T. YOU .WORRY .ABOUT . A THINGGGGGG, I''LL FIXXXXX ITT ALLLLLLLLL" the voice said extremely enthusiastic.

    "Shut up bitch, this isn''t your place" a voice echoed from beneath him with great aggression and then it went dead quiet.

    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    The blood began to pulsate where the 3 figures sunk and a hand rose from beneath as and then a figure slowly climbed out.

    It was the adolescent version of himself dripping in blood that emerged from below but unlike the previous encounter, this one had a face, upon seeing that he immediately looked down only to see that his own face had returned. He gave a sigh of relief and looked at the figure before him.

    "Man this thing is a pain in the ass" the figure exclaimed as he walked towards him with a grin on his face.

    If I kill this one too will he go away?

    "No you stupid fuck, I won''t disappear"

    "The fuck"

    "I dunno how long I got here before we go and if that bitch might try to interrupt me again"

    "Who was that?"

    "You don''t have to study about that, but we have more important matters to discuss"

    "Like what?"

    "This is the last conversation you''ll be having..........well me too, this is the least I can do for you" the figure asserted with a slight hint of sadness being detectable.

    "Sorry what?"

    "The seals just broke, so it''s bye bye good world......or should I say cruel world? I dunno to be honest"

    "What do you mean?"

    "I am the incarnation of everything those seals were, a pure manifestation of its contents"

    "And your point is?"

    "Because I''m here it means only one thing, both of us are going to merge"

    ".............What?"

    "When I had originally asked Susan to place these seals, it was for a better life, removing my essenceand sealing it was also like sealing a separate person and bottling it up but the bottle just broke and everything is leaking out looking for a new place................."

    "Sorry what?"

    "Is your head hard? If there are two things of similar nature which are different at the same time and you mix them, something new will come out right?" the figure asked with a condescending look on his face.

    He understood everything that the figure said and he wished it was all a dream but it was no dream.

    "See,when I was in control, I felt nothing except for that rage you feel now, so when I disappeared you developed things I never had, empathy and all that other bullshit, things I couldn''t have I made sure you could, so even if Susan hadn''t died, you could''ve lived a happy life but on the off chance that the seals were broken, I fuckin made sure that a damn well stronger version of ourselves would come out with aspects of both of us, making up for what each one lacked"

    "So all this rage I feel ri-"

    "That''s my emotions coursing through you, looks like you were already corrupted to the point where it even influenced your subconscious self, to the point where you just killed off yourselves which I personally thought was kinda funny.............we were already slowly starting to merge but I was going to be the dominant one from the looks of things, you seemed to already be on the verge of shattering, it''s a good thing the seal broke now from that hag outside stabbing you while you still have all these emotions you can still feel"

    "...............Dominant one? If the hag broke it from that, why didn''t the seals just break from my fight with glutton?"

    "Yea, the way in which these seals were designed was for them to be immediately broken, not gradually like whats been happening, because it''s gradual, I would take over for sure as you''d be unable to cope with everything and would slowly disappear.........those voices you heard, you only heard them for a couple hours and you were gonna trip, I''ve been hearing those things for years and I still didn''t snap and that glutton thing, seems he tried to help you out a bit, he tried to restore the seals but in the end, no matter who you are, when it comes to seals the only person who can restore a damaged seal to its original state is the caster, he just bought some time" the figure explained.

    "I see.............. so it was like that......... so right now you and I -"

    "We''ll disappear and entrust our future to whatever comes out after this, he''ll be both of us yet neither of us, we leave everything to him and pray to god he makes the right choices from experiences from the both of us"

    "................."

    He was speechless, these were his last moments based on what the figure said.

    "You''re talking this pretty well aren''t you"

    "Not really but there isn''t a say in the matter, the minute I was getting fragments of your memory and I felt mood swings, this was already a possibility I thought about but I guess I''m kind of happy too"

    "Happy?"

    "Yea, my misery ends now if you know what I mean" he stated with sadness to the figure.

    ".............I felt the same way before I was sealed away, knowing that I wouldn''t have to endure pain anymore, forcing myself to live on" the figure reaffirmed.

    "We really are cowards aren''t we?" he asked the figure.

    "The definition of a coward, we might not run from a fight but we damn well run away from living, fearing pain and failure but I think he''ll be a stronger person than both of us in each aspect" the figure stated.

    "............So what now?"

    "Our misery ends now and hopefully he won''t end up like us.....and to you Zifaira................. I know you''ve been listening so let me leave this message for you, although I won''t be around don''t forget this............. a part of me is still within him meaning.........come near him and try to corrupt him the way you did to me and he''ll fuckin kill you bitch...........hopefully he''ll kill you, I mean he''s got some of this dumbass in him too" he said as they both began to slowly burn away into a black ash with a crimson tint that slowly merged forming a gray colored ash which solidified and a new figure could slowly be seen forming.

    ".........................He is already mines............"

    <hr>

    Ugh..............

    It was subtle and the hag couldn''t feel it but a small heated wave erupted from the boy for a second but Quo''ah felt, with his age, his senses were refined and he picked up on it immediately.

    "I WILL DEVOUR YOU FOR YOUR ARROGANCE, I WILL TAKE PLEASU-"

    Why the fuck do I have to deal with their problems...........

    "You? Eat me?" the boy said as he headbutt the hag.

    That felt nice, I guess since I started I might as well follow through.......

    "We should run Quo''ah" a nymph whispered signaling the entire group''s desire to get out of this situation as fast as possible.

    "......We....cannot" he stated.

    "Why no-"

    "Just stay quiet, I will explain everything after" he adjured.

    *CRACK

    It could feel an overwhelming pain course through its body followed by a cracking sound similar to that of a piece of wood being broken but the source wasn''t the where the boy had headbutted her but her hand.

    As she glimpsed below at her hand which she had used to impale him against the tree, she could see the bones of her forearm protruding out and next to them were the boy''s hand clenched into a fist.

    The punch was so quick and powerful it had shattered the bones and it took some seconds for the pain to reach her brain.

    "AHHHHH" it screamed as it pulled its hand out and backed away about 20 meters towards the trees of the forest leaving a trail of blood which came from its hand and dropping the boy to the ground.

    "I don''t know who you think I am but I don''t take kindly to threats" he muttered to himself on the ground as he slowly got up.

    "Seems that it managed to land a good one on him" he said he looked at the blood pouring from his chest.

    The wound in his chest gave no pain and the wound didn''t seem fatal enough to kill him in his opinion but something was off.

    He could feel it make its way up through his windpipe.

    *COUGH *COUGH

    "Blood?................. It isn''t being triggered from the wound, what the fuck"

    *COUGH *COUGH *COUGH *COUGH

    He fell to his knees by an excruciating pain running through his body and he began coughing like a horse with more blood coming out with each cough.

    FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK, IT''S MY TIME RIGHT NOW, IT CAN''T END LIKE THIS

    "What the hell is that Quo''ah" Ja''eh said upon noticing a slight gray tintish aura around the boy just barely visible to the naked eye.

    "The mana from the surroundings is trying to enter the wound but is forcefully being expelled, it would seem as if his body is trying to heal itself immediately but something is stopping it, at this rate he will di-"

    All the blood immediately stopped pouring from his chest along with the aura, the wound had not healed, it was as if his body was stopping itself from further degradation on its own.

    I lost alot of blood but I don''t feel any weaker, how strange

    He got up and began to walk towards the hag.

    For a split second he turned his head and looked at the satyrs and nymphs and in that singular moment, they could see it reflected in his eyes, condescension.

    Making them all feel worthless and weak as all they could do is stare at the situation and hide behind him like cowards.

    Words were no longer even capable of being formulated by their mouths in the fear that this man would turn and redirect his attention to them, pure dominance like a wolf to sheep.

    "I don''t really get whats happening but right now it seems you''re pretty bad lucky, seems I ain''t gonna die", he said with a sadistic smile on his face to the hag.

    "WHAT ARE Y-"

    *WHOOSH

    He dashed at her faster than anything they had ever seen and when their eyes finally caught up they could see the boy''s hand covering the hags mouth, stopping her from speaking.

    Her breath stinks, it''s pretty strong huh I could probably smell this even from far away............

    "Dunno but right now I should get a little even for this wound huh," he said answering the question she tried to ask before.

    *SNAP

    He hit her a swift jab to the throat shattering her larynx, then he twisted her head in a 180 and hit her a powerful thrust to her right knee, shattering the joint and forcing her to kneel before him and completely incapacitating her.

    Fuck, I don''t wanna talk to the back of her head.....

    *SNAP

    He twisted her head in another 180 so he could look it in the eyes.

    "See the benefit of you being a hag, although it takes a little while, you''ll heal from most injuries, that makes you the perfect toy doesn''t it, unless I rip out that filthy heart and put an end to you" he muttered to himself as he lifted her hand that she used to jab him in the chest with from before.

    One, Two, Three, Four, Five.........

    *CRACK

    He grabbed her four fingers and broke them back to the point where they could almost reach the knuckles of the hand.

    She tried to bawl out in agony but her body would not allow it.

    What the fuck do I do with the thumb now...............

    Looking down he could see that tears were beginning to form in one of her eyes, seeing this filled him with rage, crying was the equivalent of begging for mercy in his eyes.

    *CHOMP

    He bit off the hag''s thumb and spit it into the palm of his hand.

    *SPLURK

    Using the thumb he drove it straight into her left eye with the vitreous humor within the eye leaking out.

    The sound of muffled screaming permeated the air.

    *CLACK

    He could hear her joints fix back into place and could see her neck return to its original state along with her kneecap and hand.

    As he looked down on her kneeling before him, he could see the fear in her remaining eye paired with her urge to scream out aloud showing on her face with her facial muscles extremely tensed up.

    This............... turns me on a little...........maybe I shouldn''t have crushed her voicebox..........damn she looks good to kill right now........but it''ll have to wait a bit......

    "So boring, get outta here," he said as he kicked her away, turned around and began to walk towards the satyrs and nymphs.

    *SKITTERING

    A glance to his behind and he could already see that the hag had run off.

    Now these people..........should I kill them?........ No, I need help from them

    <hr>

    "Ay you, your name was Ja''eh right?" he asked with doubt as he dug through his other counterparts memory to recollect their names.

    "Yes," Ja''eh responded.

    "Gimme your bow there" the boy ordered with a threatening look on his face.

    "Sorry what?"

    "Her coven should be nearby here"

    "You are going after an entire coven by yourself?"

    "Why are you going to chase after them? The threat has passed, it was clearly your victory, there is no need to go to this length." Quo''ah added in on the two of them conversing.

    This one''s Quo''ah right......

    "Uhhh, You''re right but this is pretty fun right now and also, its because I can"

    I just wanna see how far I can push this body, fighting''s pretty fun after all

    "Your idea of fun is going after an entire coven in that state?" Ja''eh said with sarcasm feeling his fear of the boy slowly disappearing.

    "No shit, just gimme the bow" the boy replied with a bored look on his face.

    Ja''eh picked up the bow at his side and passed it over to the boy and then proceeded to pick up the quiver filled with arrows and pass it to him only for him to refuse it.

    "The bow is all I need, wait here until dawn, I should be back before then" he instructed the entire group.

    "AND WHY SHOULD WE DO THA-"

    "We will wait for you child but before you leave, I must ask you this" Quo''ah interjected as he stopped a nymph from speaking out.

    "Hurry up, the scent is fading," the boy said with belligerence being detected by everyone.

    They understood in that moment that if they held him back any longer he would probably turn on them but that wouldn''t stop Quo''ah, it was the first time he had seen something like this and only one question filled his mind at this point.

    "Who are you?" Quo''ah queried.

    "That''s a good question, I don''t really know but for now let''s call me................. fuck up number 3," he said sarcastically with a smirk on his face as he ran into the forest following the scent of the hag.

    "We better get out of here quickly" a nymph suggested to the group upon seeing the boy disappear into the forest.

    "We stay here and wait for him" Ja''eh exclaimed.

    "Ja''eh is right, that person you just saw was not the same as before, I would rather not take chances with him...................a hag is stronger than all of us here and he crushed it like it was nothing before it even got a chance to use magic and what was even more surprising was that he took pleasure in it and is hunting it just based of a scent, that is not the type of man I would like to run away from " Quo''ah said with fear being clearly reflected on his face.

    The nymphs separated themselves from the satyrs and seemed to be having a discussion as if to stay or not, the discussion took about 5 minutes and then one of the nymphs walked forward with their decision.

    "Fine, we will wait" she said, it could clearly be seen that some of them didn''t like this idea but right now what was best is that they stuck together, not only because of the boy but the appearance of a hag in this part of the forest signaled that other potentially dangerous creatures could also be nearby, this was the best chance for survival, there was potential strength in numbers afterall.

 Chapter 27: Red Night (II)

    A strong cold breeze passed through the forest matching the overall atmosphere he felt as he tracked the hag between the trees illuminated by the night''s light following a filthy stench stuck within his nose.

    All of his senses seemed to be in a heightened state as he could even hear the small footsteps of spiders moving between the dried leaves which laid on the grass beside him and the wound which he suffered from before hadn''t fully healed but the blood had stopped flowing out and to his amusement he could see on the corners of the wound, skin was slowly beginning to grow out as if his body was slowly returning his body to its original state in a shortened period of time.

    Mosquitos seemed to be abundant, they all came to his body ready to suck the blood from him but upon making contact they would all fly away, a peculiar sight, the first time he had seen something like this.

    It seemed as with each step towards the hag''s direction, the wildlife seemed to move farther away in the opposite direction.

    His motives for chasing the hag wasn''t all about the fighting but since he came to be, he felt as if something important laid there in wait for him, his gut told him to follow and find them.

    He moved at a slow pace, taking his time walking with the bow clenched within the palm of his hand, ensuring that there would be no traps lying in wait for him.

    With each passing moment, he felt number and number as if everything was fading, baring a seed of discomfort in his body. It was a new feeling which neither of his counterparts had experienced before, something which genuinely surprised him but on top of that, it felt the longer the night drew on, the greater he felt a weight slowly begin to stick to his back which was constantly growing.

    *Chirping

    What is that...........?

    *Chirp

    That ain''t an owl.........

    The sound drew in closer and closer but as he looked around he could see no bird within the vicinity.

    *Rustle

    Looking upwards at the tree leaves being rustled he could see a small hole being bored through the thick leaves, shooting a concentrated moonlight downwards at his feet and a small bird moved through at bullet speed at him.

    This bird gonna attack me? What the fuck am I seein

    His face was filled with disbelief as he grabbed the bow like a bat and smacked it straight into a tree causing it to explode leaving a blood splatter with the internal organs and feathers all mushed up on the bark, he couldn''t even make out the type of bird it was with the magnitude of force he used to hit it.

    "Try again next time birdie....." he said nonchalantly as he walked past the tree and carried on.

    Down to fuckin birds are attacking me now.......

    *Sizzle

    Something similar to meat being seared in a pot could be heard coming from behind him.

    "I FOUND YOUUU" a squeaky voice said from the behind.

    He turned around slowly to see the remains of the bird pooling together, he could see it all reform. Destroyed tissue like a red form being remade and the organs falling into place and before he knew it, a red kiskadee with pitch black eyes hovered in the air directly before him.

    "Do you know who I am?" the bird asked.

    The voice was so squeaky and annoying he couldn''t keep it in anymore.

    "HAHAHAHA WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK" he said laughing in disbelief at a bird talking to him.

    "I know I know, I sound weird but this was the only thing I could possess to find you quickly"

    He took a second to calm down and suppress his urge to laugh at this creature, from what it was saying it seemed to have something serious to discuss.

    "I''ll humor you for a second, so who are you?"

    "It is me, Zifaira"

    "Hmmmmmmmm, Zifaira, I feel like I''ve heard that name before......." he said as he stopped in his tracks for a second and begun to think.

    "Come on, you have to remember me" she said urging him to think hard.

    ZifairaZifairaZIfairaZifaira............Zifaira?

    He could remember that name being called out before his two counterparts merged.

    "You were the outtatimin one right? The one who interrupted everything like a loud cunt right? The one who said I was already hers right? Well I got some news for you.................you can go fuck yourself" he said hastily and began to walk away.

    "How can you talk like that to me? After all we have been through in the past...." she asked with those words immediately making him halt in his tracks.

    "Sorry what?........ I don''t have a clue about what you''re talking about, all I remember you from is that one thing"

    "Seriously?"

    "Yea..........."

    "Try to recall as far back as you can"

    He tried his best but the period of memories he could recall was up until Kolasi and anything before that seemed blurry and gave him a headache, if he couldn''t remember it then so be it, the past was the past, it died with the other two and it shouldn''t have a hold over him, it was his time and the past would only serve as mistakes that need to be corrected, flaws that needed to be ironed out, he had to learn from their mistakes and make his own choices.

    "I can''t recall that far back but I don''t give enough fucks to find out so I''m done speaking with you" he stated as he began to walk once again.

    "Atleast tell me where you are going?"

    "Hags"

    "Seriously, the hags, and you do not remember me?"

    "Please stop annoying me and fuck off"

    This one''s even ruder than the one I knew but from the way things look, he does not seem to recall that far back....I need something to make him remember the old memories.........

    "Hold on, I am not done yet, I want to talk some mor-"

    "I beg to differ," he said in a menacing tone showing his impatience.

    Don''t look at me like that with those eyes.........it just makes me want you more....but it seems he isn''t playing around.........

    "Sorry, I will make my presence scarce, goodbye" the bird said.

    "I don''t want it scarce, I want it completely gon-"

    She flew offinto the tree branches above, disappearing completely from his line of sight and senses before he could finish his sentence.

    Looks like she understood what I meant to say anyways........

    Although completely unknown to him, she wasn''t gone, watching from above she kept her eyes on him, monitoring him by using magic to a degree to mask her presence by constantly changing the bird''s scent and looks to camouflage with the trees, she was completely undetectable.

    When he meetsthose hags there''s no doubt that his memory will re-emerge and maybe he will feel the love I feel for him, all I have to do is wait and watch........

    <hr>

    He had slipped up, by moving this slow the scent of the hag had grown weak and was borderline on the verge of disappearing, he had to catch up and began to sprint towards the vague scent.

    Faster and faster he ran like a cheetah but as the scent was finally beginning to pick up to the point where he could accurately follow it, it was shut down immediately by a stench like no other, a familiar scent, a pungent robust smell mixed with shit.

    This is the smell of....corpses?...............It smells so bad its good.........

    "AHHHHHHHHHHH"

    "AH"

    He heard a woman scream in the distance along with the grunts of a man and there seemed to be an altercation ahead he judged.

    Immediately he stopped running and began to crouch and slowly walk towards the sounds, hiding behind a tree with each pace forward, trying his best to mask his presence completely even by removing the sound of his breaths.

    Slowly he crept up towards the source but his bare feet felt sticky, it wasn''t slowing him down but it felt gooey.

    Quickly he bent his head down only to see what looked to be a clear, thin goo covering the grass beneath his feet like water attached to grass after a rainfall.

    Looking down on his feet covered in the clear goo and his previous footsteps which left an impression in the goo slowly began to change into a dark yellow color with a pungent scent similar to hydrogen sulfide.

    He understood exactly what it was upon seeing this change, it was like a hunters mark per say, this goo was a way of finding mobile targets and tracking them accurately based on the color and scent but the hunter was nowhere to be seen.

    Zifaira had been following him the entire time but what had truly caught her attention was not the same as what caught his.

    Something is wrong here, in the entire time I have been following him its been subtle but bit by bit another shadow has been growing out from him, the first one even moved aside making place for this one but not just that, they have both been getting darker and darker...........also what is this place.........all this goo and bodies like that it''s just like an aterna''s lair but they do not even live in the forest so it does not make sense.......

    *SCRYYYYYY

    A loud shriek could be heard in the direction of the people along with their intensified screams.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

    They weren''t his problem, there was no need to rush, for now, all he needed was a clear line of sight to see whatever the fuck was attacking them.

    He moved in slowly and he could see a white silhouette move at an unfathomable speed and before he could clearly see what happened he could feel droplets falling on him from above..........a rain of blood, soaking his body.

    Immediately he turned his back against a tree and quickly he made a glance only to see corpses on the ground already decomposed making them indistinguishable in his eyes with their abdomen''s ripped open and the intestines missing but what killed them wasn''t in sight, all he could hear was the sound of the wet grass being trampled and people screaming and running directly ahead in fear of their lives presumably.

    The way these bodies are....and this substance......theres no doubt now..........

    "RUN, THIS IS ANATERNA''S LAIR" Zifaira screamed from above.

    Quickly he raised his head up, looking at the trees above only to see that she had finally revealed herself.

    "*PFFT* Hahahahaha, my god that sounds so fucked up with you screaming birdie, sounds like your throat is about to burst open hahaha"

    People are dying right there and he has time to laugh............

    "This is not the time to be laughing, this is serious, you need to run.........NOW"

    "Can''t"

    "WHAT? WHY NOT? DO NOT TELL ME YOU INTEND TO FIGHT THAT THING"

    "...........That''s my plan exactly as I completely lack common sense, I want to look it dead in the eyes, run in like a jackass and put my life on the line for no meaningful reason whilst I battle it to the death with no reward in it for me even if I win, just the sheer pleasure of fucking it over hard" he said sarcastically with a straight face that looked serious.

    "Why am I not surprised you, of course, you would be battle hungry just like the other two, no matter what, seems you are just going to be dum-"

    "It''s not as if there''s a fuckin trail on the ground pinpointing my location or anything, so I could just run and it definitely wouldn''t find me as the trail isn''t fresh or anything, and of course whilst I''m running away from my unknown opponent with my back faced to it, it''s not as if it could stab me or anything since I don''t know what I''m up against..........."

    "Oh........you were being sarcastic before....."

    "No shit"

    He would run if he could but the trail was already there and taking the chance to run would be fruitful but he had no idea of the creature''s habits and if whilst running and he had not even a clue of what it was he would be begging for it but at least if he stayed he could get a grasp of what he would be up against soon and formulate a plan of action after assessing it.

    *TRAMPLING

    Ouuuuuuuuuuu its comin back..........what do I do.............what do I doooooooo..........

    He put his finger on his lips and looked up signaling her not to speak whilst he thunk about what to do.

    "We can speak, it is deaf but as a result, all of its other senses are heightened"

    Oh.....good to know.................as if that''s gonna fuckin help me..........out of all the fuckin senses it had to have gone, of course it''s my fuckin luck that it''d be deaf.........not blind or something which could give me a meaningful advantage but fuckin deaf...........fuck my life..........

    "Make yourself useful and find me an escape route" he told her as he began to think up a plan.

    Since when did he get the audacity to tell me what to do?

    *TRAMPLING

    With each second the sound was growing larger, he needed a place to hide.

    He looked around on the ground looking at the corpses and then he saw 5 bodies lying on top one another stacked like logs.

    Quickly he ran over to the corpses which were fully clothed with some of their attire ripped off and their stomachs torn open with their entire stomach and intestines missing, he just found out what it ate.

    One of the corpses seemed to still have a shirt intact which was covered in blood, it seemed that this body was fresh, he gave it a whiff and noticed it had no signs of decomposing yet unlike the others, this must have been the man he heard the grunting from before, the man was dead and gone and although the shirt was a little torn up and covered with some blood, it was still usable, running around the place bareback had begun to annoy him awhile back.

    He unbuttoned the shirt quickly and threw it on the grass to let it dry for a bit for when he would make a break for it if he had too.

    What is he doing?

    Using the bow as a prop he used his strength to raise the bodies on top of it and then covered his body with the faeces and goo inside of the stomachs of the bodies and he wiggled his way under the pile of corpses, leaving only one eye exposed granting him a view of the aternaand smacked the bow out under forcing the bodies to collapse upon him, it was heavy but endurable due to the fact that most of the bodies were hollowed out.

    Although the trail on the ground would lead to the body pile, if his scent was completely masked he could camouflage there assuming the creature was a dumb as dirt, it wasn''t the best plan but it gave him more opportunities than running without knowing.

    So this is your plan.....

    "I''ll be back soon, just wait for me" she said as she flew off into the sky in search of a route for him.

    Immediately after she left he could see something slowly walking out from the darkness of the trees.

    <hr>

    It was huge about 4 meters tall almost completely white in color with only the hands and feet being a dark grey color. A slender body with a relatively large bone structure with broad shoulders matched with elongated arms and legs accompanied by enlargened hands and feet at least a meter in size paired with razor-sharp fingernails crimson red in color from it slashing at its victims, its head was ovular in shape possessing grey eyes, no ears and a mouth with filled with perfect pearly whites, surprisingly there wasn''t a single k9 he could see neither were there any sharpened teeth. He looked at it closely noticing it also didn''t have any kind of bodily hair whatsoever nor any genitalia but what stood out the most was what laid on the surface of the skin as he looked closer, it looked similar to bone, covering every nook and cranny leaving only the eyes and mouth exposed, even its strange nose had the material covering over it, it looked extremely tough yet flexible, it was like a built-in armor from its genealogyas a form of defence.

    It walked towards the pile with two people in both arms and two over its shoulders, the two on the shoulders continuously beat on its back to which it felt nothing and they continuously screamed knowing their impending doom was coming whilst the two in its arms looked as if they were already dead.

    *SNIFF *SNIFF

    It began to sniff in the direction of the pile of corpses the boy was beneath, he was sure that he masked his scent and he lowered his breathing rate to slow down his heart rate to the point where only if it was in extremely close proximity it would be able to hear it.

    There were corpses scattered on the ground but what drew its attention to his pile specifically.

    Where did he go wrong, he had to think fast as it walked towards him.

    Fuck no, you can''t be serious...........my fuckin breath....seriously...........

    He was right, although he was taking fewer breaths, the smell of his breath was still different from that of the corpses, he remembered that Zifaira had said that its other senses would be heightened to compensate for the loss of another and although the scent of his breath was faint, in the nostrils of something with enhanced senses it would pick him up.

    There was no choice left.

    On the corpse that laid on top of his face, he slowly opened his mouth and bit into the flesh and began to chew it.

    It would be a taste he would never forget, the flesh already on the verge of decomposing left a nasty taste in his mouth, sour and bittery similar to cheese due to it being covered in shit.

    Absolutely disgusting, he chewed it thoroughly ensuring it covered every fiber in his mouth and then he swallowed it to ensure the scent would cover the lining of his esophagus to completely mask the scent.

    Tastes like....... well shit as expected....this taste does not disappoint hahaha, shit tastes just like it smells hahahaha

    "EWWWW ITS BETTER YOU JUST FOUGHT IT THAN DOING THIS"

    Way to kill my mood.....

    *SNIFFFFFFF

    It inhaled deeply looking for the scent which was now gone and began to look around frantically and then it saw the trail of footsteps and the strong odor indicating something was here after all, judging by the strong fresh scent.

    "There is a miniature waterfall with seemingly deep waters at the bottom along with caverns to the east, the only problem is that this goo covers the entire area up a decent point before the waterfall, your only choice seems to be to fight this, I could try to distract it and draw its attention but I do not think it is interested in birds" she said informing him of a route.

    I really don''t wanna fight this thing, can I outrun it?........I don''t know.........

    It walked over the pile of corpses and looked carefully, it could tell something was off from the way it had left it before.

    Immediately it smacked the top of the pile away leaving him exposed looking directly at it, he pretended to be a corpse but he couldn''t help but blink.

    Well hello there...........

    He rolled backward and upon regaining his balance he could feel something weighing himself down, it wasn''t physical but mental, the feeling as if he was being tethered.

    "HELP US", "PLEASEEE" the women screamed whilst crying upon seeing him moving, he was hope for them, a potential chance to make it out alive.

    I''d help if I can........but I ain''t sure if I can even help myself right now............

    His shadows have gotten so dark they almost mimic the abyss, its like I am watching a bottomless pit.......is this magic? No, this is something else undoubtedly......

    The thought about fighting the enemy had run through his mind when he was gettingunderthe bodies but now that he could see what it truly was, he understood, he had no chance whatsoever in beating it.

    The only possible weak points he could see were the eyes and mouth and the ends of the bow were waytoolarge to run through its eye socket and kill it which only left the mouth and that wasn''t a reliable form of attack, he had no idea of its jaw strength which was one of the key variables, he could try to run it through there and hit put as much force as possible and attempt to fuck with its spine through there but what if it just chomped at the bow and snapped it, he could be open to any form of attack in that moment and those big ass hands would have a chance to slice his ass up not to mention the fact that he had no in-depth knowledge of its physiology, potential for magic or its brute strength.

    Just off watching it, based off of looks he assumed it beat him in every aspect. Remembering the mistakes of his previous counterpart''s fight with the glutton, he would not make the same mistake.This was not an enemy he could crush like he did the hag either, he completely overpowered the hag before just based on his own confidence in his physical ability to dominate it but this thing already beat him in size, running seemed to be the only viable option where he could take a chance and make it out alive.

    "Sorry there ladies but errrr....[giggles] ummmm........I''ll be blunt, I ain''t risking my life for y''all...... good luck tho, I wish you the best" he said laughing as he looked them dead in the eyes as he nodded his head, snatched the shirt he had thrown on the ground from before, threw it over his shoulders and grabbed the bow and began to run to the east with Zifaira flying above.

    The aterna surprised by his boldfaceness couldn''t help but be stunned in amazement of its prey giving him a chance to put some distance between them.

    He heard a loud sound like a puff of something being sprayed and as he glimpsed behind he could see the aterna drop the two bodies in its hands and emit a spray from its pores which hit the women on its shoulders and immediately after they all went quiet and fell into a deep sleep and then it began to follow.

    <hr>

    The further he ran the more tight-knit the trees became but that wouldn''t stop the aterna, although it was tall it gracefully moved between the trees whilst jogging.

    The more he thought about it the more the possibility of this thing toying with him arose, before it moved at a speed so fast his eyes couldn''t match the movement and then his body was soaked with blood falling from above indicating it had a degree of speed.

    Basing his judgement off of this he knew that this thing loved playing with its prey, the women from before shouldn''t have even had a chance to run yet somehow they did and shortly after it chased them down and caught them, it had the same mentality as him, what he did to the hag before was now being done to him yet at the same time he asked himself the question, was it really the aterna that left a rain of blood?

    He made a quick glance up at one of the thick branches of a tree about 20 meters ahead of him and about 18 meters high, then he bent his head back down and continued running towards it and then he focused extremely hard visualizing himself running up it and grabbing one of the minor branches then slowly climbing up it to reach a high branch but the aterna''s slender physique made him question if it would be wise, it looked as if it could match his actions and if it could it would surely be an execution.

    As he raised his head and looked forward, he could see a shadow move under his feet along the ground matching the speed he was running to the top of the branch he had envisioned and then from the shadow''s pool something emerged,immediately solidifying, mimicking his form, being a shadowy silhouette with pitch black smoke being emanated from it, looking straight ahead of him in a stationary position, the original image he had in his mind to overlook his surroundings quickly to get an estimate of how far the waterfall was or to stay there to avoid it.

    What the hell

    Overdrive was the only word that could even come quickly to describing his mind right now, just by seeing the shadow mimic his thought he already got an idea of what it based its actions off of, his thoughts. He thought quickly, and in his mind he envisioned himself turning around on the branch and looking down at him. The shadow followed his thought, confirming his belief.

    As he looked at it, he could see it was a perfect mimic of himself comprised of seemingly black smoke, it even copied the bow in his hand.

    The eyes of the shadow seemed to slowly be changing color from pitch black to a moss brown color.

    Although it looked tangible he had no idea if it was but if it was it would hold an unlimited amount of potential, it was too early on to assess it, for now, that would have to wait.

    *SHHHHHHHHH

    He could hear the sound of something cut through the air and before he knew it he could feel the impact of something hit his left arm, forcing the bow out of his arm as he glanced down whilst running he could see a that the aterna had thrown a hand at him and it was ripping the pieces of the women it had paralyzed over its shoulders to use as a weapon to incapacitate him.

    The speed at which it shot it at him had forcefully dislocated his shoulder but more importantly, his focus had broken.

    The shadow from above immediately sunk back down into the pool of darkness on the branch and rushed back to him promptly and upon reaching directly in front of him it raised from the ground forming a black ball which shot into his chest leaving a smokey trail, it was painless as it went in but almost instantaneously he felt a degree of exhaustion, as if he were the one who had climbed the tree, his legs and arms felt weaker and he could feel the urge to gasp for breath.

    Zifaira was speechless upon seeing this and her brain felt as if it had gone dead.

    She tried her best to get a clear view of what was happening but all she saw was a glimpse of it at the speed of which it all happened.

    "MAKE IT TO THE BOTTOM OF THE WATERFALL, MY POSSESSION OVER THIS THING IS ABOUT TO WEAR OFF, I HAVE MEMORIZED THE LOCATION, I WI-"

    She tried shouting quickly to attempt to notify him of something but her possession of the bird had worn off and the kiskadee returned to its fucked up state the boy left it in when it first flew at him.

    Although she hadn''t finished the sentence, he had an idea of what she was trying to say which was his plan anyways, to jump the fuck off the waterfall and pray to god he would survive.

    <hr>

    He felt tired, he was dealing with his own exhaustion from running and paired with the exhaustion of the climb, he was on the verge of collapsing but he had to keep on going, this thing wasn''t letting up on the chase and it seemed to be catching up slowly but surely, and one of his arms was out of order.

    *SHAAAAAAAA

    The sound of the water crashing could be heard, he was close, this was the last stretch.

    As he darted between the trees, he could see a glimpse of it hiding behind of the trees ahead, a raging river filled with murky brown water separating them from the other side of the forest.

    At this point his legs were starting to give up and although in his eyes it seemed as if he was running, in reality, he was limping for quite awhileand the aterna was quietly walking behind him trailing the scent of the rotten corpses on his body, waiting for him to break down, it clearly saw from before whilst it was chasing him that he was growing tired.

    It took him awhile to realize this but since it was walking trailing him he could save up a little energy and so he did.

    The aterna could not hear the sound of the river ahead and its goo marking its territory had ended about 100 meters back showing that it had not ventured to this part, marking it as its territory, this was unknown grounds to both of them.

    He limped the last stretch holding his arm ensuring it wouldn''t fall even more out of place from swaying and he could finally see it ahead, the light known as the river in his eyes with the cascading sound of the water falling directly to the left.

    The river bank was seemingly on higher ground causing an immediate descension from the end of this tree patch into the river which worked out for him quite well howeverthe aterna was deaf and not blind, it could see what he was aiming for and read his thoughts like an open book, he assumed because of its height and bone structure it would be heavy and it wouldn''t dare follow him down a waterfall into deep waters where it would sink he thought, but the aterna wasn''t having any of his shit, it already followed him this far and it wasn''t going to lose it''s prey to something so trivial.

    He could hear the cracking sound as it quickly snapped the necks of the sleeping women on its shoulders followed by it spitting on their lifeless bodies so it could find its way back by following its own scent and dropping them on the ground.

    Oh fuck..........

    It began to run at him, it was done toying with him.

    Mustering up all his strength with each step he put as much force as possible into the balls of his feet producing as much force as possible, enduring the overwhelming fatigue which made him borderline faint with each step making him feel as if he was burning inside out and finally he made it past the last tree and jumped into the torrenting river feet first.

    The stone cold, gushing water completely took over his body with the strong current heading to the waterfall, he was at mercy with the river.

    *HUFF *HUFF

    He gasped for breath as he fell under numerous times with water slowly filling his lungs.

    *HUFF *HUFF

    His arm was out of place making it even more of a struggle than it should have been.

    Struggling with each second, he fought against the force of the water desperately trying to get his head exposed to the air to at least manage to get a breath before submerging once again.

    That was the least of his problems, the aterna understood that it would have been a waste of its time as jumping into the river would also place it at the mercy of the current however the current wasn''t as fast as the speed at which it could move and it judged the pattern at which the boy moved through the water, at the pace he was moving and the angle, he could eventually end up towards its side in the last stretch.

    <hr>

    The river was near its end and he could feel the pull of the water making a vertical drop but off the corner of his eye he could see the aterna, it hadn''t given up.

    It dashed behind a line of trees and aimed to reach the cliff where the water descended and would attempt to pick him off before he would fall over.

    Moving with haste it ran behind the trees but the current''s pull grew stronger and as a result, the boy matched its speed, they were neck in neck, the hunter and the prey with only a few seconds being the decisive factor as to which one would emerge victoriously.

    Putting, even more, effort than it initially intended for it put as much effort as possible to sprint making it move about 2 seconds ahead of the flow so it would arrive at the end before the boy.

    As he beat down the water trying to not be submerged, things turned out just as the aterna expected, the boy had made contact with the edge of the river''s bank, all it had to do was make it to the end, get the perfect timing and he was a goner, its prey was within reach.

    Struggling to keep his eyes on the aterna he realized something, the path in which it took behind the trees would surely allow it to end up at the river''s end but the last two trees in which it would have to pass through to pick him off were seemingly a little more tight-knit than the others.

    Please work......

    It was about to emerge from the trees and pick him off.

    He stopped breathing and made eye contact putting his remaining effort into focusing.

    In his mind he pictured a shadow standing in place using its body to fill up the gap between the trees to clog the hole, stopping the aterna from even making it out the tree patch.

    As it was about to emerge from the trees it could see a shadow in the boys form standing stationary between the path.

    Surely the boy was in the river but why was this thing here ran through its head and in the time it was puzzled the boy had already made it past its point and was about to descend.

    Enraged at the thought of losing its prey like this immediately it kicked the shadow in its abdomen straight across the river.

    The boy could see his shadow fly over his head and then immediately vanish into a thick black smoke which then condensed and formed a ball which rushed back to him hitting him straight in the chest.

    He could feel an overwhelming pain in his abdomen in the same position the aterna had kicked the shadow as the black ball completely went inside but that wouldn''t stop him this time, it was his victory and theaternahad no intention of chasing him any further but he couldn''t let it slide like this, amidst all the struggling he managed to bring his hand up and give it the finger just to show he won.

    Seems like I live to fight another day.........

    Although it didn''t know what the finger meant, something about it made the aterna feel as if it was being mocked, the aternacompletely filled with rage at the sight of this and the thought that the time and effort it put into catching this sole prey wasn''t going to come to fruition lost its senses in rage and said fuck this, if it couldn''t eat him it would at least fuckin kill him, it couldn''t give the boy the satisfaction of making it out alive

    The last thing the boy could see before fainting from the pain and coldness from the water was the aterna as it leapt into the air with its sharpened nails ready to slash away at him as he began to drop from the waterfall.

 Chapter 28: Red Night (III)

    *TRAMPLING

    A grey wolf with red eyes paraded through the forest from the east in search of the waterfall. It was Zifaira, almost immediately after losing her possession over the bird she had already possessed another animal and was in search.

    Scampering below the waterfall on a ground level above the caverns, she ran through the trees listening as closely as possible for the sound of the water crashing into the pool would definitely guide her to him.

    However, all these trees on the surface level with seemingly no end made it extremely hard to even distinguish which was the right direction, if she had possessed a bird it would have been easy to find him but she would lose the possibility of pulling him out of the water if he had fallen unconscious or exhausted to the point where he would be paralyzed to the point where he would have no self-control.

    From the aerial view she had before she could tell that the waterfall''s drop lead through a gap in the earth leading to caverns under the forest indicating that this entire part of the forest she was running through had another level directly below it, the only thing that was close to a landmark for the waterfall were extremely thick, short oak trees which were greatly spread to great circumferences however she was nowhere near that point at all, at least that was what she thought.

    She dashed through the tall pine trees of this sector in overdrive and then she could hear the cascading water to the west and she immediately changed directions and carried onwards.

    Running like there was no tomorrow she ran and finally could see the oak trees with huge gaps in between, she was mere moments away from reaching and by her calculations he should have at least jumped into the river by now and would be moving down towards the drop.

    If she made it in time when he would fall with the water straight down into the pool below, she would time it right till the point where he would be eye to eye with her on this ground floor and then she would jump in directly after to get him out of the water as soon as possible and into the caverns below depending on his state of consciousness.

    The trees of this part were huge with large barks and monstrous branch width however they were extremely spaced out making it easy to navigate through and allowing her to run in one continuous direction without having to make any movement changes which would slow her down and before she could tell, the water began to pitch down from above through the trees, slowly wetting every fiber of her body.

    Looking ahead, the water gushing downwards into a huge gap in the land leading deep down to the cavern floor could be seen and she put all energy to force out as much speed as she possibly could and soon enough, she was at the edge of the land completely soaked, looking directly up above at the trees and river. At the corner of her eye she could see the aterna at the waterfall''s edge waiting to pick the boy off and two seconds later she could see a glimpse of the boy with his hand raised and the aterna leaping into the air with its arm fully extended back to gather the momentum to rip him in half with a slash.

    "NO" she shouted, but those words were far from anyone''s ears and failed to even exit her mouth.

    *BOOM

    Suddenly she could see a silhouette pass through the air from the sky above and by the time she had finished blinked she could see the trees up above on the other side of the river completely torn down and the sound of two explosions.

    It took her a second to even realize what had happened next to her only a couple of meters away to her right.

    A cloud of brown dust raised from the ground being dug out completely blocking the view of anything and as the dust cleared she could see one of the oak trees completely pushed aside on the verge of falling with its roots ripped out of the ground, leaving a massive hole with the ground around it showing signs that it collapsed to the cavern floor which looked to be about 15 meters down.

    Immediately she ran over to it, peeking, she looked down the hole to see a massive heap of rubble on the cavern''s floor.

    Looking closer she could see an arm with a white shirt hanging out from the pile. She immediately realized it was the shirt the boy had taken from the corpse before due to the blood stains on it.

    What the hell is happening right now? There''s no time to think about that, I have to get him out of there. Please be alive.....

    Putting one paw forward she was ready to make her descent and pull him out the rubble but that was immediately halted by the sound of a loud squeal from above where the trees were broken down like sticks. The squeal wasn''t human, it was the sound of the aterna in pain.

    More squealing could be heard and then it completely stopped and a silver plated figure could be seen flying out with magnificent blue bird-like wings from the torn down trees above and then immediately it vanished and she could feel a gust of wind hit her along with warm moist breathing in the ring of her ear.

    "Oh, a possession? How quaint" a male voice whispered in her ear, sounding muffled as if it was being spoken through something.

    Startled, she quickly turned her head to the side only to see a blurred figure make its way down the hole. She could finally see what had whispered in her ear before down below standing up and looking down at a seemingly lifeless arm sticking out of the rubble.

    A tall and bulky figure at leastthree and a half meters in height stood over the body covered in rubble gazing down at the body in the rubble in a seemingly full armor set made of silver similar to that of a knight''s yet vastly different. Just the armor set the man wore scared her, all over the set were protrusions, which were curved in shape with spiked ends similar to canine teeth, with each protruded curvature possessing symbols never before seen in different colors making her feel somewhat disturbed within. Not a single chink could be seen in the armor where the figures joints were supposed to be, whatever it was seemed to constantly mold to the body of the figure, it looked to be a perfect defense system. His helmet mimicked that of a knight''s, however, there were no openings by the mouth nor the nostrils for breathing, just a sole slot exposing the man''s deep blue eyes.

    To his sides, she could see what looked to be two longswords sheathed on each side of the man''s waist strapped on with a material similar to leather.She blinked only for a split second and when her eyes reopened she could see it, stuck on the man''s back like a piece of metal to a magnet, an unsheathed scimitar with a black hilt and a gray blade which looked to be made of stone but as the light from the night''s sky hit it, a frightening gleam presented itself.

    "You would still sleep in this situation like a baby? Am I not worth your attention Rex?..........No, that name doesn''t suit you....maybe Glutton is more appropriate......... you filthy piece of shit" the man said as he looked down at the body in the rubble.

    He walked over and grabbed the boy by his arm and pulled him out of the rubble and tossed his body on the ground aside him.

    "Watching you in this form.......looking like a nasty human...........you disgust me as usual........." he said as he drew the scimitar mounted on his back and walked over to the body.

    "My king told us all you are an invaluable asset we need.......but I beg to differ.........I know the truth and I think it''s in the best interest of all worlds that I should kill you here but this is like taking advantage of a cripple, not even in your primal form...........then again, I might as well get it over now since you can''t put up a struggle" the man muttered to himself as he tightened his grip on the sword.

    Goddamn, he is really going to do it......Can I even do anything to stop this guy?

    As the man swung downwards at the unconscious body all he could feel was a kick in his gut.Glimpsing down, he could see a black legemerging from the boy''s shadow at his feet, it startled him to the point where it caused him to drop the sword and back away.

    The sword began to fall only to be grabbed by a black arm which shot out at an incredible speed from the chest stopping the falling sword from impaling the unconscious body.

    Slowly, the leg which was now stationary in the position where it kicked the man bent its knee down making contact with the ground and then using it as footing another foot flew out and made contact and then they pushed down and using the momentum the shadow''s full body emerged similar to a ruler being bent and upon releasing its momentum, shoots it into a fixed position.

    It turned around quickly and snatched the scimitar from the arm holding it and immediately turned back looking the enemy ahead in the eyes.

    As the sword left the other one''s arm, the arm retracted into the boy''s body and a pool filled with darkness left his body and moved next to the one with the sword.

    Two arms ripped through the pool from beneath and dug their nails into the ground and then it pulled itself up from the pool like a man buried man digging through the dirt to reach the surface.

    The one with the sword nodded his head and with that, the one at his side immediately turned around and walked towards the body and picked him up in his arms and moved towards the coursing water. It looked at thecourse of water and found the point where it tapered off and the water was slow moving and shallow to the point where it could only cover its feet and placed the body into the pool of water, taking a seat in the water next to the body, looking at the shadow in front of him.

    "These things.......are they soul templates? How disgusting........."

    The shadow clenched the sword in its hand yet it didn''t move.

    It walked around the man placing both the other shadow and the boy in the opposite direction from it, ensuring they weren''t directly behind it and were within eye view.

    It placed one foot on the ground in the direction of the man as if it was going to take a step.

    Directly before its other foot was even planted firmly into the ground, he could see an immediate change in the shadow, its eyes went from pitch black to a deep orange and a gray smoke began to be emitted from both shadows bodies.

    *BOOM

    It all happened so quickly, but the magnitude of the force that the shadow kicked into the ground to propel itself completely destroyed the ground beneath''s it feet and completely cracked the earth behind it as well from pushing off.

    It was something the man was not expecting and although he could clearly see the movement of the shadow, it felt unreal and shocked him, all being reflected in his eyes as soon as the shadow could make eye to eye contact.

    Grabbing his helmet with one arm by placing its nails on the it for traction, it pulled his body downwards into the ground and right as he was about to hit the ground face first, immediately it redirected itself to his side only leaving the sound of the air being cut through giving away its movement, although the man had caught back himself mentally and was about to prepare to counterattack with his hand already going in motion for one of the swords strapped to his waist, it was too late.

    The shadow''s leg was already coming upwards at his abdomen and it kicked him like a football sending him flying through the roof of the cavern.

    Dust and debris flew in every direction obscuring everything from Zifaira''s sight.

    As the dust cleared she could see the man standing on the surface under a tree and the shadow below standing in a position looking up at him.

    "Was that mana you just used to reinforce your attack?........No, mana isn''t capable of producing a physical force like this and a soul template shouldn''t be able to use any other energy source besides mana" the man said looking at the sky.

    Something felt off, Zifaira was slowly beginning to feel weak but as she turned and looked at the trees directly above of the boy and the shadows positions, it was as minute as a couple of leaves falling from the trees but it was evident to her.

    Those two things.....are pulling in all the lifeforce from the surroundings, the trees are starting to wither...... I have to get away from here or else this vessel will die in soon.......I can always come back and these things seem to be protecting him and I have no idea what they might do to me.........

    "Although this man may look like him, it''s clear he isn''t, I can see it already, he''s going to become worse than Rex........{stares at shadow} and I see,YOUaren''t a template but from the looks of it, the other is. SO, what are you?" the man asked as he placed his hand on the hilt of one of his swords.

    All of a sudden the shadow looking up at the man gave a smirk and its once lifeless eyes similar to that of a puppet transformed into a menacing gaze.

    In the man''s armor, there was a major indentation in the position where it kicked him in the mid-abdominal region.

    "You piece of shi-"Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    The man glanced down at the indentation then redirected his eyes back to it only to see its attention wasn''t on him but it was staring at something in the distance to the south with a wider grin on its face than before and turned his attention in the same direction.

    "All those people........is it already that time of the year already? No............ those don''t look to be for us but I guess it doesn''t matter, its better for us anyways"

    The shadow by the pool of water snapped its fingers and suddenly the grin on the other shadow''s face vanished, leaving behind only a look of distraught.

    It dashed over to the other one and passed the sword over to it immediately.

    What it did next shocked both the man and Zifaira, using the sword the shadow impaled the other in the heart with it and immediately after doing so, it committed suicide by driving the sword into its own chest and tossed the sword to the side on the ground.

    The two quickly exploded into a black smoke which then condensed into two balls and rushed back into his chest.

    I could hear it, his heart rate was beginning to drop and the other one made a signal immediately........

    Abruptly, the clouds in the sky parted with what looked to be a large fragmented hole deep blue in color, making the sky around its rim look like cracked glass forming up above them at least 150 meters in the air.

    "*Hmph* Looks like the gate is about to close, count yourself as lucky, or maybe unlucky because it seems I''ve found something to play with " were the man''s last words directed at them.

    He raised both arms into the air and began chanting and the hole slowly began to open up showing something green in nature on the other side.

    *BOOM

    Making a great leap at an absurd speed, the man jumped straight from the ground into the hole within a second leaving behind only a sound similar to that of glass being broken to bits and the hole vanished without a trace with the clouds slowly beginning to fill the space which was once torn apart.

    Was that grass I saw on the other side?

    <hr>

    He slowly opened his eyes with a heave and a cough with a cold piercing gaze looking to the sides with the destroyed terrain and sword lying on the ground, confirming that what he dreamt wasn''t a dream, and it all happened in real time, leaving him befuddled by the events that transpired. In the dream, he wasn''t in control but was in the backseat of a soundless ride. He saw everything from the shadows point of view, his brain felt overloaded with information, it was too much data that was inputted from the two shadows viewpoints making it extremely difficult to process making him feel paranoid and borderline insane. It was all so bleak, the world itself looked different, it was pitch black as if everything was covered in smoke and they saw no one as people, all they could see was a glowing black light in the outline of the man they fought with a blue light in the form of a wolf looking at them from above.

    It all felt so hopeless with his willpower feeling as if it was constantly being drained but amongst this bleak perception of reality, there was one thing they saw that inspired a feeling within that shook even him. It was what the shadow saw in the far distance, a bright gray light which was slowly getting brighter from afar and the feeling it instilled in him, fear. Something was going on but he had no idea if it had already happened, he had no idea of how long he was out, it still looked to be nighttime as he looked through the holes up above and as he shifted his leg he could feel something soft lyingon topof his legs and as he looked down he could see a wolf cuddled up on him with his body on the shattered ground, pulled out of the water.

    "Calm down, it is me Zifai-"

    "Get off me," he said extremelyagitated, to which she immediately got off upon seeing the look he had in his eyes and moved over to the side.

    ''Whats wrong?" she asked.

    "How long?"

    "What?"

    "How long have I been out?"

    "A full day''s rotation" she answered.

    She said nothing about the events that happened before unknowing that he already knew what happened, she thought he would ask but he said nothing after that.

    He tried to get up but his body felt frail and hot, as he made his way up, he could feel an overwhelming pain in the shin of his right leg where the shadow kicked the man, it felt as if it would crumble if he walked causing him to theorize that what they felt he felt but there was no time to waste, something was calling him, whatever that light was, it seemed to be stuck on his mind.

    Limping he moved towards the pool of water and stuck his fist into it checking the temperature, it was cold, cold enough to numb his hand.

    He moved inwards to where the water was no longer shallow and fell headfirst into the pool and submerged his entire body into the freezing water.

    Forcing himself to stay underwater for as long as possible on and on, only coming up to take short breaths then head under once more, it was borderline unbearable but the longer he continued the more he grew number and number to the point where he could no longer feel pain and then he decided it was time to exit this icy grave to which he casually walked out of as soon as his feet got placed on the shallow dirt below the water.

    A strong breeze blew making him tremble but his leg was numb to the point where he could walk without a care in the world but with one problem gone, two more popped up.

    His stomach grumbled, he was famished and he had to get a move on soon, with each second he stayed there, it was a second too long, his gut wouldn''t allow it, with every moment that passed he grew more unsettled, he had to get a move on quick but he needed to eat.

    Looking around the waters pool, it was dead empty of any life and the surrounding cavern seemed to be the same, that is until he saw Zifaira at least, she seemed to be possessing shit, so it wouldn''t have made a difference but not only that, since he woke up, all he could feel was this hate that settled in his heart, just her speaking agitated him, he had no clear idea of why but his body hated this woman.

    He walked over and grabbed the sword which laid on the ground and looked at the wolf laying on the ground looking up through the hole up above at the moon.

    She could feel a shadow cover her body and as she glanced up, it was the last sight she saw as he cleaved the sword through her head, beheading her with a single swing, feeling nothing in the process.

    A cloud of purple smoke leaked out from the beast and the sword''s silver blade''s edge became covered in a foggy black and gray mist.

    It looked cool to him but as he tried to touch the mist covered blade he could feel it in his brain, a sense of danger, his body was screaming at him not to do it, as his finger grew closer to the mist he could feel a shocking sensation and he began to cold sweat, that was enough he drew back his hand and shortly after the mist slowly thinned out until it completely vanished into the air.

    What was that?

    With the sense of danger soon gone he touched the blade, to see it had returned to normal but with that he had another feeling, the urge to run the blade through his chest, he had no desire to end his life yet but his left arm couldn''t stop shaking with excitement followed by a warm feeling in the center of his upper abdomen which began to tingle, spurring him to do it.

    He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled as he bent down and began to skin the wolf. As he skinned the wolf quickly, he realized something, when he killed the kiskadee before, she had possessed it before and reformed its body, so why didn''t she do that with the wolf? He had no clue and the thought of it made his head hurt with his brain going into overdrive to find the answer.

    Working faster he tried to soothe his mind by taking it off that topic and focusing on the task at hand, it took time but it worked and his suicidal urge slowly passed along with the overthinking he was suffering from. All he could think about now was his hands soaked in the wolf''s blood and the raw flesh which laid before him.

    Again he could feel a pulling sensation from above, making him feel dizzy and nauseous, his body was telling him it was time to move.

    Like a feral animal, he bit into the thigh of the wolf and ate the raw flesh till he was full with his mouth going numb from the metallic taste of the blood.

    He got up slowly and wiped the blood from his mouth with the palm of his hand and picked up the sword and walked over to the pile of rubble which led up to surface.

    He couldn''t climb up the rubble with the sword and he had no intention of leaving it down in this shithole, he could use the wolf''s skin and fur to make a temporary strap or sling to throw over his shoulder but he had no idea of how to do it.

    Glancing up, he could see a tree overseeing the hole.He picked it up like a spear by the handle and tossed it at a tree above, impaling it in a lower region of the bark which would allow him to reach and pull it out when he ascended.

    Grabbing onto the rubble, he slowly began to climb up.

    <hr>

    As he pulled his body out of the hole, his feet and palms of his hands bled from minor cuts and scrapes from some of the sharpened debris but he was met with new sight, the moon looked slightly tinted pink and the light being reflected off of it seemed to make everything glisten with a light pinkish color making him want to gouge his eyes out due to the same color tinting everything within sight inspiring an extreme feeling of discomfort from being unaccustomed to it.

    Turning around he gazed up at the waterfall he was falling from previously, witnessing all the trees on the other side of the river above completely torn down. All he could do was gaze at it and put the pieces together of what happened.

    He moved over to the tree he impaled with the sword and grabbed it by the handle and pulled hard expecting it to be stuck in, it slid out like if it was buttered up and he fell on his ass to the ground from the force he put in.

    .................

    Dusting off his ass, he got up and walked around the holes over to the footprints embedded in the soil where the man stood and looked over to the south, but looking in the same direction, he could see no bright gray light, he was confident it was the correct direction he was looking in but he wasn''t sure if it was all this pink shit light which was fucking with him or if whatever was happening at that time was already over but he had to go in that direction his senses told him.

    The gashes on his hands made it hurt to even hold the sword as his palms dripped blood and the cuts and bruises on his feet made it difficult to walk with each step with the grass agitating the wounds from him walking barefooted.

    He took his time and made his way to the south with the dizziness and nausea he was feeling before almost completely gone.

    It had to be at least an hour he was walking in the same direction and the trees were slowly becoming more clustered but directly ahead he could see the ground becoming sharply angled upwards about 80 meters away. He was about to ascend a hill from the looks of it.

    Continuing to trackonwards, he began to walk up towards the base of the hill all of a sudden his legs began to feel heavy. Glancing backward he could see a trail of his bloody footsteps in the grass glowing with a deep red color.

    *RUMBLE

    A slight tremor below his feet could be felt and before he could react all he could feel was the sensation of falling down into the ground.

    *THUD *CLANK

    "What the fuck is it with me and FUCKING FALLING DOWN FOR FUCKS....{looks around}...........sake" he said in anger.

    It was dark and cold with the only thing light shining on was a marble pedestal embedded into the ground which extended up until his waist in height supporting what looked to be a white stone tablet with a blue orb which could fit in the palm of his hand.

    As he placed his hand on the ground to push himself to get up, he could feel the material was smooth and hard like stone. Upon standing up he immediately picked up the sword at his feet and looked at the pedestal in the center of the room.

    Huh....What is this shit?

    He moved over to the pedestal and gazed down at the stone tablet. It was riddled with impressions in the form of symbols, soaked from blood which had now dried up that gave him a bad feeling in his gut, it felt like a danger warning was being given off, and he understood perfectly well that it was time to leave this place but the moment he looked into that blue orb, he could see within it, blue light moving in circles.

    His attention was immediately stolen, he couldn''t stop gazing at it, his mind kept telling him to stop but his body refused. A small black dot of light could be seen in the center getting larger and larger with each second and the blue light immediately shifted to the left half of the sphere and the black light occupied the right half.

    It began to pulsate and he could feel the vibrations coming from it and then suddenly the two lights began to mix like paint forming a black light with a deep blue tint which he could feel pulling him in. First time had he ever felt a desire this strong to touch something.

    His arm moved towards the orb and as he laid the palm of his right hand on it, the top of the orb opened, like a shell being cracked and from the darkness within, all he could see was a silver blade move at tremendous speed, slitting the palm of his hand.

    The orb immediately closed upon his blood falling within it.

    It dripped from his hand onto some of the runic symbols which were embedded deep into the stone tablet, it didn''t take much but the impressions were filled with blood.

    *VOOSH

    Spontaneously in front of him, two lines of fire slowly lit up parallel to each other but he could feel no heat being emitted from it. He could clearly see a corridor made of white stone with blood smeared all over the walls with symbols similar to the ones on the tablet rooted in the walls.

    The orb suddenly sunk into the concrete slab as if it was water. He had no idea what laid at the end of the pathway and he had no intention of finding out but it looked like he was about to find out anyways.

    The lines of fire converged to the center of the corridor and a massive flame ball formed illuminating the entire room. He could hear the sound of stone being moved and as he looked at the walls within the room, unlit torches began to emerge on the walls, pushing what looked to be stone slabs camouflaged into the walls to the side. Unprompted, the ball exploded with miniature globes of flame spreading out to each torch making the once cold and bleak room, warm and grim.

    At the end of the room laid a figure with its entire body was wrapped in a black cloth similar like that of a mummy but its body was massive,laying on top a gigantic black stone slab, with massive bone spears with black stone tips impaled on the ceiling with a black chestplate, rough and seemingly scaly in nature laying on the ground with bones embedded on the gauntlets which looked to be sharpened and on the chestplate possessed two bones on each shoulder projecting upwards laying directly on the ground before the body with two whitegreaves scattered on opposing sides of the slab. The spears distracted him but as he looked closely at the body he realized something, this body was about the same size of the man the shadows had fought before, it was huge, how could he have not noticed it properly.

    He slowly raised his head up at the hole which he fell from.

    "I think its time I took my leave," he said slightly worried.

    To reach the opening above he would need a boost but he couldn''t use the pedestal in fear that it would stab him in his feet or he could risk some other dumb shit happening.

    Nows a better time to try it out than ever I guess........

    He began to focus forming a clear image in his head of the shadow and low and behold one of the two shadows crawled out of a pitch black shadow pool.

    It did nothing but stand there as he imagined it. There were things he wanted to know about them but he couldn''t dwindle here any longer.

    I wonder if it can take verbal commands?

    "Uh, gimme a boost?" He asked unsure if it would work.

    The shadow crossed the palms of its hands and took a knee. He did not stick, quickly he put his foot onitshands and he could feel the push it gave and he paired it with a leap and flew upwards into the air through the hole and maneuvred his body to fall upon the grassy land being careful with the sword he held not to stab him as he fell.

    "Thanks" he muttered as a black ball flewfrom the hole straight into his chest making his arms feel weighed down momentarily but it wouldn''t stop him from getting the fuck out of this area immediately and continuing up the hill.

    He glanced up at the hill but as he turned around once more to look at the hole, it was gone as if it vanished into thin air, making him question if he was hallucinating but the slit in the palm of his hand proved it was no hallucination, this pain was real, this blood was real and this fatigue in his arms from being pushed up through a hole from the shadow was real.

    *MMMMMHHMMMM

    It was faint but he could hear what seemed to be muffled screaming coming from higher up on the hill within the thicker trees above.