《Archive of James: Origins.》 Prologue A writhing flood of mist whipped over a stretch of the broken continent of Teknish. The hellish mist contained countless souls sundered from their natural cycles. Each soul screamed in their eternal agony, seeking to break free from their endless torture of being bound to the earth. The incessant wailing only matched by the continuous roaring of hate filled beasts as they trudged across once-green fields. A lonely hill stood bastion against the ocean of mists as a vivid sapphire light glowed from a cave entrance situated at its base. Time had shattered the tower that once guarded the cave, yet the blue glow was enough to drive even the fiercest of the beasts away with it''s hidden promise of death. Within that cave every wall was bathed in sapphire light that streamed from glowing moss growing on the ever morphing walls of a vast maze, the azure light flickered each pulse regular and rhythmic as if a great eternal heart were beating in synchronicity to the light. At the core of the maze, a floating gem shed its palpitating light upon a figure that was on its knees with a rapt expression of prayer. The light of each Azure flicker seemed to flow around the creature as if the light refused to touch its hard-edged scales. The gentle curvature within the radiance of the light made it difficult to distinguish the creature from the surroundings, acting as camouflage as it blended into surroundings. In front of the figure loomed a giant statue depicting a man who stood covetously guarding a thick book while glaring at possible intruders with eyes that seemed to pierce through every thought, examining them with a distant sense of curiosity. However, any attempt made by a common man to identify the creature would be doomed to failure, for it was an Eccudian, one of the many legends lost when the continent was damned. The legendary creature was still in prayer as its eyes skirted over the statue, the creature knew it better than most men know their lovers, the serpentine eyes stopped on the only part it contained no knowledge of ¡°------ the heretic who became Curios.¡± The lack of knowledge was forgivable, existences similar to Curios had all lost their original names to others with the sole exclusion being themselves. Another moment of silence passed as the creature maintained its silence, what it prayed for only it and its god would likely know, however, if an onlooker were to pass by they would know the expression the creature was making was one that a slave makes of its master whilst awaiting their request. The lizard suddenly became entranced, its eyes glazed over as it violently began to tremble, the force of the words it heard echoing through its skull with a power that, were it of a physical nature, would¡¯ve crushed it a hundred times over. moments after they had begun, the tremors ended, and the serpentine pupils of the creature became sharply defined within its eyes. ¡°Oh Sage, What has my Lord spoken?¡± a crystalline voice filtered through, coming almost from the walls themselves.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°The pieces of the puzzle have begun to shift and fall¡­ He shall be bored no longer.¡± The Lizard answered cryptically. ¡°Ah! That my Lord should be entertained once more! How glorious! Were the world to be burned for the amusement of my Lord I would care less!¡± The ecstatic cries of the crystal echoed as her light pulsed brightly in her joy belying her typically reserved nature. ¡°What does he ask of us?¡± she questioned. ¡°I am to go to the fortress of Alzor to make some arrangements¡­ there is the coming of an ancient soul, and I am to take advantage of the... ripples it creates.¡± The Eccudian stated dryly. ¡°And what of me?¡± the begging voice of the crystal responded it¡¯s light growing dim in fear that it could not be of service The dry voice echoed from the lizard as it soothed the worried crystal, ¡°He asked that you shed some crystals for my use.¡± Almost before he had finished speaking the sounds of fracturing latices could be heard as a slab of the large crystal itself broke away, whilst not a significant portion of the crystal itself its size and the reflection of the light made it look to be a human heart. The ancient lizard walked over the crystal and picked it up gingerly placing it within a large cloth bag. The voice of the crystal echoed out again expressing its curiosity with a slightly drained tone. ¡°what task required the use of my child?¡± A trace of a smile drifted across the eccudian¡¯s stoney expression ¡°Like creator, Like creation. It muttered before speaking to the crystal itself ¡°I am to add my blood, some plants, and your crystal to a Summoning ritual on the second continent.¡± The sapphire light of the crystal started flashing brilliantly, the echoing sounds betraying the Crystal to be mimicking laughter ¡°have the people of this world become so dull that Master looks even at stew for entertainment now?¡± Came the mocking voice. ¡°Indeed it appears that they have.¡± responded the creature''s voice carrying hints of disdain and amusement as it too found amusement in mocking the fools who blundered about in absent-minded self-destruction. Both Crystal and Lizard had lived near each other for centuries and had long since understood each other for what they truly were and could predict the other''s thoughts without so much time as a second passing, as such the Crystal knew that the Lizard despite its dry humor had a slight fear of its death. The crystal also knew that the lizard¡¯s fear was nothing so grounded as it was instinctual; it was the fear one carries when one knows that they have a calling with the reaper. What had surprised the crystal, was that for as long as she had known the scaley creature he had always been unphased by the threat of Monster, Soul, or sea of magic. Yet shockingly, the placid second continent was somehow more of a threat than shattered First. Despite the glaring inconsistency she as well as he could hear the mournful clinking of the cold chains of death in the distance, invisibly the crystal shivered at a sense of certainty that she would never meet him again, that even his soul would be lost at his death. Neither lizard nor crystal made any comment. Their loyalty to their master had long since surpassed any trifling fears of death. A slight sigh escaped from the lizard as a mocking smile slid on its scaly lips. It then began to leave the maze, the mossy walls warping to allow it to quickly leave the cave and venture forth into the hell that awaited outside. The crystal was left to mind its creation; its sapphire light never ceased to pour from the cave as it quietly hummed, in all honesty, their conversation had been entirely ritualistic, after the many centuries they had spent together one¡¯s attunement to the other allowed even the slightest change to betray their inner thoughts. As such despite his silent parting, she knew that he had left communicating a far more eloquent message than any speech could hope to match. The tune that the crystal hummed took on an amused tone as it examined the slightly curved path which led to the exit, even after thousands of years she had never forgotten the first lesson her master had taught unto her; ¡°Never build a straight path, it kills the excitement of the journey.¡± A1 C1 Torn A single barren tree broke the amber waves of light cast by the setting sun; the tree was alone amidst the sparse landscape commonly found around barren mountains, accompanying the tree, however, was a single figure that could have easily been mistaken as part of the tree itself. The figure was perched in the tree and stared quietly as knights wearing blinding silver armor passed its quickly shifting eyes contradicting its idleness as they flicked from knight to knight before resting on a large black armored man riding next to what would look like to be his king. One of the soldiers called out to the pair alerting them to the imminent arrival only to be mocked by the large soldier for his noise. The aristocratic knight was quickly shamed by the belittlement and shrunk down in his saddle. Dropping from the trees and landing on all fours the figure scuttled past the Knights, predicting where they would go and entering before them, despite the quick movements the Creature didn¡¯t even draw the slightest wayward gaze as it scuttled into a large cave. In the main room of the cave, there were inscribed various magical formulae in addition to a significant amount of magical crystals causing the Creature to click its tongue inaudibly as it mocked the magical progress of the humans in the last two thousand years. The Creature calmly watched from the ceiling of the massive cave, its lack of movement attributed to its sharp claws that aided its grip as it hung. Patiently and silently it watched the various groups of people mill around preparing for the upcoming ritual. There were many young and inexperienced troops present in addition to a group of people sitting off to the side, bound and gagged to prevent them from making noise or fleeing. If anyone knew what the lizardlike Creature thought of the processes they would¡¯ve been shocked as the Creature felt extreme disgust towards the inefficiency of the formulae used, as it was comparable to those found in textbooks of over four thousand years of age. The Creature spent a few moments of its time in a state of light shock at the capabilities of these supposedly intelligent beings even two thousand years after the regression and they were still at a lower level of study than two thousand years BEFORE the calamity. However, its mild shock and dull minded thoughts were interrupted by the increased activity of the struggling victims. Apparently, the kingly figure had spoken some words to them causing them to panic, fear roughly carved its place upon the horrified faces of the panicked sacrifices as they realized what was going to occur even as the king asked for forgiveness and thanked them for their sacrifice. Hanging from the ceiling, the Creature disinterestedly let its arms fall from their crossed position and point towards the ground as it stretched and yawned. Its mild boredom was palpable as it seemed to easily dismiss the horror of the scene below as a struggling woman was carried forcibly by one of the tall knights towards the center of the cave. Ironically the Creature found the woman''s sobbing annoying enough to wish that the knight would hurry up and get on with it. ¡°Sure, let''s build a portal fit to waste twice the necessary amount of crystals in its inefficiency, but don¡¯t mind us if we forget how to mute the bloody sacrifices.¡± The Creature only slightly relaxed to quietly mutter as the mages began to drone on in a disturbing chant, each one carefully articulating their words. Within a few moments, the embroidered cloaks of the mages had started to stick to their backs as a sweaty testament to the extreme precision and focus they were exerting to maintain the ritual.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Suddenly the eyes of the Creature seized on one of the younger humans. The gem in his eye so happened to be the squire who had handed the Knight the sacrificial knife. The naive and accepting attitude of the kid caused the Creature¡¯s face to twist in its only significant change of expression thus far; a deep mocking grin. ¡°That kid¡­ is positively oozing idiocy. He won¡¯t survive this.¡± The grin, although frightening, lasted only a few moments as the Creature''s focus within the room returned to the tall Knight and his victim. The struggling woman''s throat was being slitten with a disturbingly practiced ease. The blood that poured from the gaping wound quickly gathering into a pool that slowly spread outwards filling the etched gaps within the carved formulae. As more of the gaps blood flowed and filled more of the etched designs, it began to be drawn towards the gate, flowing ever faster almost like a rapidly flowing river moving to its mouth. The black gate that stood at the center of ritual seemed almost alive as if drank the blood of the sacrificed woman, as more blood flowed towards it dark, bloody runes began to become visible on the gate. The horrifying runes did not shine with the light commonly known to charged magical artifacts but seemed instead to greedily consume light and energy even from the air itself, not satisfied on gorging itself on human blood but seeking to partake of anything that remotely came close to touching it. The Creature blinked as a shocking white bolt struck at the fallen woman, the gate seemed to hunger for more than blood, and it was going to happily partake of the meal that had been offered to it. Drawn out by the unnatural force the soul, once contained inside the woman''s chest, was drawn out and floated for a few moments as if confused. Slowly it began to drift towards the innocently flickering light of the dark gate as if having it had found a kind guide. A sardonic grin appeared on the Creature¡¯s face once more as all too soon the docile white light violently transformed into black lightning. Unleashing several bolts that struck out, again and again, tearing the soul into shreds. Its sudden demise caused a shrill scream to echo from the soul. Even before the scream''s echoes began to fade, fear and self-loathing had imprinted itself upon the unprepared soldiers as they felt an empathetic horror at having consigned a living being to a torturous fate worse than any form of cruelty imaginable to a single man. The gate, having consumed its latest meal opened and belched forth a gray soul, larger and lighter in color than the woman''s had been, the soul quickly began to shake in fear as if it were lost and searching for its lost host who could not be found In subtle coordination to this shaking one of the jars started to bubble and overflow. The blood contained within being drawn as a gory river towards the soul''s call where it pooled under the gray orb. The soul, as if sensing a potential host began to vibrate faster, calling to the blood and pulling it slowly forming the structure of a body. The Serpentine Creature was raptly watching the process, its eyes flickering with a uniquely satisfied greed as it examined the rapid transformation of the gore as it solidified to bones and veins weaving a new creation together. The Creature¡¯s face had an expression of disappointment when the soul had finished forming its vessel, watching the body for had been a heavenly treat to appease the Creature''s burning desires of curiosity. Thirty summons later and a great many stifled yawns later the watching Creature quietly waited. The mistakes made in the chants as well as the slight errors within the formulae hadn¡¯t significantly affected those summoned up to this point. However simply because nothing had gone wrong up to this stage, didn''t mean nothing would go wrong, in fact, considering the cumulative nature of mistakes in magic, this last performance of the ritual was likely to be a disaster and thus the reason for the Creature''s presence. The Creature lightly frowned as its theory was immediately proven true. The latest Creature¡¯s formation was unlike that of the others as the structure it formed was mishappen and small, the soul attached soul caught in the crossfire as the portal attempted to sunder a bond beyond its power to break. Resulting in the forming Creature that was pathetically weak as it lay gasping for breath. panic erupted within the cave, and distress shot across the king''s face as he yelled out commands, one order being that one of the men kill the beast, the other for the mages to continue their chants resulting in the Creature to give voice to a dry chuckle. ¡°Hoh..? Humans certainly are a species stupid enough to steal a dragon¡¯s egg.¡± A1 C2 Bound The Lizard creature sighed from its place on the ceiling. The king had had a choice between decisions; the first would be to let the child live, it¡¯d be a malformed and pathetic existence, not to mention the surrounding area would be irradiated with Chaos magic for several years, draining the land of vitality¡­ or the king could kill the child, unleashing the beast waiting on the other side of the wall. Of course, the subject while it was a matter of amusement for the Creature, Humans would find the matter to be a grave issue in the future as the king obvious would choose latter, not knowing the risks of the second compared to the dangers of the first. The creature began mocking the current situation, speaking lines as if he were characters in a play. The loud voices were panicking below canceling out the small monolog that was being muttered by his dry and uncaring voice. ¡°Here mysterious void, have your hard work back, it sucks.¡± was the first of his sentences, said when the child was slain, the limp body gracelessly thrown back into the gate ¡°How ungrateful! Fine, Here stupid human children how about I give you a toy to play with¡­¡± was spoken as the gates nearly shattered, forced apart by the wrath filled soul ¡°Ooh, what is it?! I¡¯m a naive little king who believes this won¡¯t backfire and obliterate my country!¡± The three remaining jars spilled forth their contents, the blood pooling and forming into a body. ¡°Eternal¡­! JOY!!!! How droll, and pointless. It''s Death.¡± muscles rapidly began to grow over the still forming bones, soon a skull was visible opening its jaws to release a soundless, yet somehow still terrifying roar. The mocking voice ceased its monolog as the bloody demonic being that was still forming began to move and consume the bodies of the surrounding knights, drinking their blood and essence. The desiccated corpses fell to the ground, as the demon sought prey after prey both King and General had already fled, leaving the room a chaotic battleground between untrained knights and unstoppable demon, the resultant massacre was all too predictable. The creature was idly watching the scene as if they were characters performing some form of tragic comedy; the creature began to guffaw at the scene it was witnessing. One of the idiotic humans was heroically trying to collar the demon as if trying to save their friends from the enraged creature. This, while the creature found it to be amusing in its futility, was not the cause of laughter. What had caused it to laugh was the fact that it was the idiotic boy from before who had attempted to seduce the demoness child. ¡°Ha. Called it. Those things only restrain those who can understand what they¡¯re being restrained from doing, he doesn¡¯t even know enough of your language to understand the word ¡°stop.¡± Oh, this wonderful race of fools.¡± As if in agreement with hanging creature¡¯s words the Demon tore the throat of the idiotic hero casting him backward as a limp ragdoll where he landed limply upon the corpse of a fellow knight. At this, the lizard¡¯s expression turned ugly as it started to swear angrily, what it hadn¡¯t noticed before was that the black gate hadn¡¯t become inactive, without the mages chanting to control it the magic was going wild¡­ directly attacking and consuming the souls of all those who had died and feeding their raw energy demon child. If the child were to be sustained off of the energy, then there would be no issue¡­ however like every other child, the demon would only suckle off its mother''s tit for so long. The unused remaining energy would likely annihilate the continent. The creature quickly analyzed the situation and gasped in horror. ¡°Shit! Even if the all Humans died in a self-inflicted grandiosely hilarious style that would mean they no longer be around to entertain Him¡­ Can¡¯t have that.¡± The creature was immediately roused to action, his presence going unnoticed by the demon in its currently incomplete slaughter. It began to hum lowly, the pace of the quiet humming mimicking that of the summoners¡¯ chant as it rose and fell in volume, eerily clear yet still lost amidst the chaos caused by the rampaging demon.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. The red runes on the door which had been glowing brightly for a long time now began to revert to their darkened state, and instead of unleashing the lightning it once again returned to the door as if a pet called to its master. This action prematurely ended the flow of magic between gate and demon, causing it to suddenly weaken and grunt in pain as it attempted to recover from its rampaging state. Without the support of other mages the creature was unable to support the full strength of the chant, but only by pushing its own limits was it able to keep the gate from collapsing and reforming into another ritual entirely. The gate hungrily began storing energy once more from the surrounding, in a moment of horror for the creature one of the black lightning bolts struck its chest causing to growl in pain. In reaction to being struck the creature took out a knife, slashing at its chest it began to hurriedly carve bloody runes onto itself uncaring for the condition of its clothes as each stroke of the blade tore through both cloth and skin. A subtle pulse of magic echoed from the creature, obscuring the sounds and sights of the scene currently occurring before it shuddered violently and the runes on its chest began to vibrantly glow even as the creature slumped in exhaustion. At that point the light had faded from the creature¡¯s eyes as blood seeped from its mouth, its body, however, kept moving with jerky motions even as at that moment an off white orb was ripped from its chest. Floating towards the gate the soul was consumed by the black lightning. Although an inconspicuous wave of magic rippled from the ground as it attempted to detect those still within the room the creature had neither soul nor presence of life and so seemed to be part of the earth itself, as such the pulse failed to identify it and quickly moved on The gate continued to fracture, faults appearing within the doors even as small bright motes flooded from the collapsing gates. These small motes were minuscule compared to the larger, whole, souls that had been previously summoned. The dust-like motes floated around without direction, seeming almost lost¡­ until one last bolt leapt from gate to strike at the body of a human squire. A gray orb was ripped from the human¡¯s chest as it floated upwards, the orb was not consumed by the gate as had the rest however the previously lost gray flecks in the air flooded towards it gathering like a disturbing stormcloud as they hovered around the soul. The exterior of the soul visibly began to ripple as it was repeatedly pierced by the motes, almost as if it were being eaten into, however, this was not what happened, instead of consuming the soul the motes were instead injecting themselves as part of it, forcibly intruding themselves into the soul. Suddenly the bloody runes that the creature had earlier carved upon itself began to glow, as it jerkily began to move, picking up a bag and emptying its contents.A shining azure crystal was thrown at the floating soul, the soul immediately captured and wrapped around the sparkling gem. However, the bright blue light quickly faded away leaving a dull crystal in its place. The door which had been tied to the soul quickly stole the azure crystals energy, and once more the black lightning began to flicker dancing around the gate even as dozens of open alchemical vials upended upon the ground. Blood and essence of plants, vivid red and vibrant green slowly pooled around opened vials of glass, even as the lizard-like creature collapsed to the floor, its own lifeblood entering the mix. Lacking both control and sentience the soul fell into the pool of blood causing ripples to flow from where it landed in the pool. over the ripples within the pool slowly transformed to bloody waves as the center of the gorey lake started to bubbly and froth. Ripples and bubbles gradually turned into a chaotic maelstrom as strings of fluid were forcefully drawn in by the soul. A body was slowly formed as the strings turned into veins and bones. However, the process was smooth as either lacking the appropriate energy or being rejected by the blood itself the bones were incomplete and hollow even as muscles stretched to form the chains that would later allow the body to move. The process while easy to describe had taken several hours before the body had developed to the point where both musculature and skin had begun development over its skull, The creature started to scream in soundless agony, not stopping until it finished forming and only stopping there as it had blacked out and was now crashing to the ground in a state of unconsciousness. At this last effort, the gate which had looked as if it were on the verge of collapse for the last several hours finally collapsed, not into a continent annihilating disaster but inert and dispersing remnants of chaotic magic. Although the gate itself no longer posed a threat, only time would tell if what had been wrought by the gate would lead to immeasurable disasters¡­ or if they would fade away, the cruelty inflicted by the gate was such that to even consider peace and joy were echoing from its depths was as laughable as curiosity was kind. A2 C1 Incomplete As the sun rose sparse daylight wove itself through the sloped entrance to the cave slightly illuminating the deepest parts of the cave dozens of corpses lay around, their bodies frozen in vacant expressions of horror and fear as their cold eyes remained open to the slaughter that had occurred hours prior. One of the limp forms, however, had its eyes closed as it lay on the ground in the mimicry of one who had died. The heat of the sun''s rays brought the slightest warmth into the room causing the form to twitch violently as a low growl rose from its throat. The figure tried to stand up, instinctively bracing itself on its arm before a loud *crack* erupted from the arm of the creature and it fell back to the ground, the bone in its right forearm jutted an odd angle from its previous resting place. A quiet whimper echoed from the human-like creature as it once more tried to get up, bearing some weight on the right arm¡¯s elbow while supporting the rest of his weight upon his left arm the naked body of the creature roughly scraped across the ground as it slowly pulled itself up, grunts of pain echoed within the cave as the right arm was jostled causing the bone to abrade against nerve and muscle. Instinctively the creature grabbed his right arm and violently wrenched it, this time yelling in pain as it did so, the bone was forcefully reset by this aggressive method, having attended to its arm the creature looked around for some moments before seeing the sunlight that slipped through the entrance of the cave. Hunger flickered in the creature''s eyes as it painfully limped towards the light. ¡°Star¡­ ving¡­ eat¡­¡± The littered corpses on the cave floor, however, proved themselves uncooperative towards the creatures plan and became its literal downfall as it tripped and fell over one of the suited knights. *Crunch* The creature''s sudden fall shattered the silence. Breaking more of its pathetically weak bones as they fractured from the fall. Both of its arms were now useless as was its right leg. Just moments ago the leg had slammed against the metal armor worn by the knight, while the creature had shattered its arms by instinctually trying using them to try to stop its fall. The only blessing for the Creature was perhaps that of all the bones the bones in its skull were the most robust, and despite harshly hitting the ground no damage was actually dealt to the creature''s head. Still struggling forward the creature crept forward using a combination of its chin and yet unbroken leg for propulsion. Crawling inch after inch yearning for the light as if it were the only thing ever worth desiring. Thus desperately the Creature fought its way forward, its eyes were clouded with pain yet still carrying a sharp fanatic light as it took deep breaths in its journey towards the light. Minutes crept along much more quickly than the creature itself; it took about an hour to move the few meters distance into the light, where it promptly collapsed into a state of unconsciousness, exhausted, starved, and overwhelmed by the pain. Flashes of vibrant green ran along the creatures naked skin as the sunlight fell upon it, the creature''s body creaked as bones re-organized themselves mysteriously pulling every fractured shard into place before the lines and fractures healed. Within a few hours, the sun had risen high into the sky and its light no longer flooded into the caverns, at this moment did the creature awake. Its eyes showed shock at its recovery before it carefully and cautiously pushed itself from the ground, using whatever dim light it could to see the exit.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Step after step the creature climbed, its eyes showing a subtle flickering of fear as it mounted ever higher. Considering its frail frame, it would be surprising for the creature not to be afraid of falling as the height it had climbed to would most certainly leave it dead upon the ground. The creature¡¯s pace was significantly faster than when it had been crawling on the ground as the creature soon climbed the many stairs and for the first time in its short life, saw the bright sunlight, vast array of sunlight unrestricted by the claustrophobic cave. However, before even the slightest expression of joy formed upon the creature''s face it quickly changed to a look of horror, its foot slipped upon the roughly, poorly carved steps and it began to fall. Stumbling forward the creature attempted to steady itself, cruelly bashing its legs against the steps in the process, however despite totally exiting the cave it was unable to catch and itself and fell headfirst to the ground, hitting it with an extreme force resulting in the creature being knocked unconscious. With its flesh once more flashing a verdant green the body of the creature quickly recovered. However, its mind did not. Hours slipped away as the creature lay unconscious upon the barren grounds of the mountain. Twin moons had risen high into the sky as each brightly exposed the body that lay upon the mountaintop which only now twitched with the movements of life. The creature loudly growled voicing its displeasure at how it had been spending so much of its time. Once more shocked at the rate of its recovery, the creature cautiously stood up moving slowly in its fear of once again tripping and falling to the ground, wasting more time unconscious. As the creature looked around, it saw several bodies lying on the ground, dried and the blackened pools of blood that surrounded every single body. Sighing the creature stared at the scene, it felt that on a very deep level, normally there shouldn¡¯t be this many dead, but without knowledge or experience, it had no idea what ¡°normally¡± actually was. As the creature completed its examinations, it was forced to come to terms that nothing around was alive or capable of helping it. Sighing once more it sat down and began to think aloud, unaware that as it was speaking it kept randomly switching between many different languages. ¡°Name.¡± ¡°I have no name?¡± ¡°I have a name¡­¡± ¡°Several names?¡± The creature gradually became more and more frustrated as it talked to itself, its facial expression twisted as the creature became increasingly wrathful at its inability to validate any of the fragmented knowledge it had. ¡°Me? Screw it; I am Me.¡± The creature finally spat out an answer, it was unsatisfied but coming up with any other answer was beyond its current capabilities and desires, after all, right now it wanted only one thing; Food. Like with all the grace of a puppet under a marionettes control Me¡¯s body twisted and turned as he looked for something to eat. His eyes were shifting around until they finally rested on a nearly bare tree. His eyes latched onto the trunk, staring for a few moments before his lips curled in disgust. Me¡¯s eyes then moved up, and he stared at the branches for a few minutes, thinking as he stared. Before once more his lips curled in disgust. Not yet discouraged his eyes quickly moved towards the edge of the branches resting momentarily on the snails that were quietly eating some of the few remaining leaves on the tree. immediately Me¡¯s eyes lit up with an uncontrollable hunger, and he began to sprint towards the tree, rashly ignoring the slight creaking coming from his legs as his bones absorbed the violent shock of his charge. As if sensing his bloodlust the snails began to panic and flee, desperately trying to run away even as they crawled upon the leaves. Me, who had now reached the tree tore at the few remaining leaves, violently shaking off the snails that had been feasting on them. Me¡¯s eyes were still fervent as he stuffed the foliage into his mouth crushing, tearing, and ripping the leaves apart before swallowing in a single gulp. Me¡¯s eyes only grew wider as his face contorted into a hideous expression, suddenly he collapsed to the ground with his eyes watering. Beating his back he swallowed again, attempting to remind his throat that in the grand scheme of things, food should go down, not up. Finally, the mass of foliage acquiesced to the subtle seduction of gravity and slid down the rest of Me¡¯s throat, leaving him gasping for air as his throat was now unblocked. Me¡¯s attempts to catch his breath were however wasted, as a green pulse of pigmentation slid through the skin of his body wasting his newfound breath on a sudden pain filled scream. Creaking could be heard from Me¡¯s body as he arched his back and continued to violently scream in pain, two more green pulses separated by only some moments ravaged his pale skin before they dispersed leaving him exhausted and collapsed on the ground. A2 C2 Sisyphean Me startled awake, breaking free from a cocoon of coagulated blood which had seeped from his every pore to cover his body while he had been asleep. Looking around cautiously Me carefully pulled himself up; his eyes widened in shock at the strangeness of his pale green skin. However, the shock only lasted a short time before his face morphed to one of confusion then to a dull expression before he looked away disinterestedly, unsure why he had found his skin curious in the first place. With an aura of cluelessness, Me looked up and down the mountain, before shivering. Seeing the boundless floor far below and the pointy tip close by he suddenly became to a decision and started marching. Only a few hours had passed before Me reached the tip, and with a triumphant expression he flopped over and laid on the top of the mountain. His appearance was devoid of all intelligence and displayed a glassy-eyed joy. The sight of a pale green speck atop the mountain would certainly cause most people to question their eyes if they were to see it. For thousands of years the mountain had been barren of both resource and greenery; therefore, no man had found a reason to stand on its tip, now finally an intelligent creature sat upon its tip but did so with all the poise and grandeur of a wild beast. The abundant sunlight spread across the body of the creature and for the first time in its life it intentionally closed its eyes and began to nap. Me¡¯s pale green skin seemed to deepen and lighten in color as he slept. Pulsing with a quiet sense of life while he peacefully lay there in the rising sunlight. When Me finally woke up two days had already passed, he sat up with a satisfied expression. Having been reluctant to sleep on accident having now had the opportunity to sleep on purpose he had been all too happy to seize the opportunity with gusto. Now, any other creature would have long since picked themselves up from the ground and gone exploring; Me instead was lying on the ground, his expression an undisguised mixture of emotions. On the battleground of his face existed a bloody war between laziness and curiosity. Every time Me decided to pick himself up to go exploring the morning sun had crept ever higher in the sky increasing the exposure and intensity of its light, resulting in a sudden surge in the combat strength of Me¡¯s laziness, overwhelming his face with a vacant expression of euphoria.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. The constant battle continued for several hours leaving Me emotionally exhausted, and even as his curiosity finally triumphed against his laziness, he was far too exhausted to even pick himself up off the ground. Sighing in an outward display of nonchalance Me closed his eyes and relaxed in the falling sunlight. Despite his curiosity having ultimately won the battle, it had lost the war. And as simple as he was he felt that if he was at least half triumphant in having won the battle then it was a triumph half triumphed; and if it had half triumphed in a half-triumph then didn¡¯t it mean he had mean than half triumphed overall? A bemused smile crossed Me¡¯s face; he didn¡¯t even know what he was thinking about anymore. Quietly chuckling and choosing to free himself from this burden of thought he closed his eyes and began to sleep once more. Me opened his eyes and started his day with an amused smile. An idiot spider was rolling its cocooned victim up the mountain, predicting that should the spider succeed in its task Me would be in its way and considering that the spider already was already performing such an arduous task it was simply unreasonable. Remembering his experiences, Me decided it would be a simple kindness to move out of the spider''s way. Me started to lift himself off the ground to prevent himself from becoming one of the spider¡¯s obstacles. However this attempt was doomed to failure as soon enough, crashing down with heavenly force came the light of the sun, finally freed from its watery chains from within the clouds. Immediately Me¡¯s eyes once more became vacantly euphoric, lost in the pure joy of the sunlight hitting his back. In many living creatures exists the capacity to turn pain into pleasure, on the other hand, some creatures found joy turn into pain, a trait which could be joked as being most commonly found in the elderly. The constant waves of pleasure, while not by definition painful to Me now caused him no small amount of irritation At this moment Me discovered a unique feeling that he would often be carrying throughout his future, rage, rage against something that dared to take away his freedom of choice. Releasing a low growl, Me peeled himself off the ground, fighting against his overwhelming desire to simply lie on the rocky top of the mountain. Pulling himself to his full height Me looked around, examining the barren surroundings before looking down and seeing an amazing sight, stopped by feet was the spider he had been earlier, by getting up he had started it causing it to drop its prey which had promptly rolled down the hill. The little spider looked to be shaking its legs in reproach at Me as it skittered around his feet angrily, the imagined vehemence of the spider¡¯s inaudible scolding caused Me to grin loosely for a single moment before his expression turned to nervousness and his arms started to windmill. Unable to catch his balance Me began to fall over, fear and panic momentarily flashed over his face before a pleased look replaced it, and, mimicking the spider''s prey, Me curled himself into a cocoon and let himself fall down the mountain with abandon. ¡°Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Haaaaaaaaa!¡± As the creature fell it vocalized the sheer mass of emotions it felt right now, unconsciously releasing brazen waves of mad laughter which bounced off the mountains and disturbed the serene song of nearby birds which flew off in various directions. A2 c3 Rebound The mangled mess that was the result of Me¡¯s downfall sighed irritably. Having broken his several of his bones once again, he had accepted the pain as normality and even had begun to ignore it to a larger degree. Accepting and ignoring pain did nothing to solve his current predicament, however. With too much energy and too little to do Me lay in an awkward position as he waited to fall asleep under the rising sun. Closing his eyes, Me began to spread his senses out for something to relieve his boredom. ¡°Clip.¡± The weakest echo of an alien sound rang out, causing Me¡¯s ears to twitch ¡°Clop Clip¡± Again the phantom sound rang out clashing harshly against the natural noises of the forest. ¡°Clop clop clip clip clop.¡± The noise grew louder rising slowly in intensity. A budding fear rose in Me¡¯s chest, the noise was unfamiliar yet familiar, touching upon something as yet unrealized in his mind. ¡°Cloppety clip clop clop¡± The fear rose from its nesting point in his chest and started to attack his brain. ¡°CRACK, SNAP, CRUNCH.¡± Me¡¯s bones started a symphony of noises as they painfully yet quickly reassembled. Heaving himself up stark fear causing him to ignore the consequences of straining his still healing bones he looked the closest place to run to, before suddenly climbing a nearby tree. ¡°Clippety Cloppety clip clop clop clip.¡± The noises intensified as dozens of beasts could now be heard as Me reached more than halfway up the tree he suddenly stopped moving as if petrified, his green skin appearing to meld into the tree itself as he hid. A few dozen of the creatures Me would later recognize as horses broke from the foliage and entered into his sight, nearby some of these horses were humanoid figures marching, one of them stopped suddenly and looked around, their pointed ears flicked as they stretched their senses. One of the men astride their horse shot the walker a questioning glance while sneering a question. ¡°What is it? Elf.¡± The elf stopped looking around for a moment to shoot a glare at the man who had spoken. ¡°A while ago the birds left from this place and still have yet to return.¡±This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Ugly fucking tree talker who said you could make that expression!¡± the man spoke angrily ¡°Silence!¡± echoed the commanding voice of a crowned man astride a great white horse. ¡°Elf, if the birds are gone from the trees, why haven¡¯t you been looking up?¡± ¡°What kind of demon hides in a tree?¡± the elf quietly commented before raising his eyes upwards. As the elf looked upwards, it met Azure eyes, causing the elf to blink in surprise switching his gaze from ground to sky just to make sure he had seen the oddly out of place blue eyes. Meanwhile, Me felt his fear peak; the shock of being spotted making him momentarily lose control of his body. ¡°Crash!¡± A humanoid figure fell from the trees before landing on the ground, the sudden surprise causing every single soldier to ready their weapons, bow, sword, spear, or stave. The elf cautiously approached the unmoving body, his bow at the ready. A look of study appeared on the elf¡¯s face as he stared, the body¡¯s eyes were open, yet glassed over. Putting bow aside, he knelt to feel its heartbeat. ¡°Lub-dub¡± ¡­ ¡°Lub-dub.¡± The internal rhythm of the body beat strongly against its chest. Standing up, the Elf began speaking to crowned man. ¡°It¡¯s alive but¡­ I¡¯m not sure what IT is.¡± ¡°Human, Beast, tell us what it is you¡¯re supposed to be ever so sensitive, tree hugger.¡± sneered the first knight, dismounting and brushing the elf aside before his lips curled in an expression of disgust. ¡°Half-breed¡­ Some disgusting wench must¡¯ve mated with a goblin.¡± the man began to raise his sword. ¡°Stop!¡± ¡°What''re you doing?¡± questioned the King. ¡°Ending a miserable half-breed¡¯s existence, such scum shouldn¡¯t corrupt our human line.¡± the man pridefully said. The simple mention of ending something¡¯s life caused a spark of anger to materialize in the King¡¯s eye. ¡°You dare speak so casually in front of me? You know little of what those words mean.¡± The knight''s eyes showed his wounded pride for only a few moments before it was quickly and skillfully disguised with layers of submissiveness and apology. ¡°I¡¯m sorry my king. I was not aware that you were so against such a matter.¡± The King¡¯s expression calmed down after a few moments, to hide his ugly display of emotion he gazed at the prone body before him. ¡°Stange; seems to be entirely human except for the hue of green he has for his skin.¡± ¡°Now you see why I was reluctant to say I knew what his race was?¡± the Elf said somewhat irritably. ¡°Cage it.¡± the king commanded, ¡°Perhaps this beast will prove useful for the good of Vonai.¡± A carriage drawn by some horses was pulled up, a servant quickly pulled out a metal collar and clasped it around the lying body¡¯s neck. After checking that it had been securely collared the Man picked up the body and roughly threw into the cage. ¡°Lord Harken¡­¡± The knight began ¡°Yes?¡± The king turned as his met with the knight. ¡°What need have you of this¡­ creature? Haven¡¯t we many other, better candidates?¡± The knight questioned. The King shrugged. ¡°Whimsicality, this creature isn¡¯t normal.¡± ¡°That¡­ is unlike you Lord Harken.¡± the Knight spoke quietly. The King raised an eyebrow as he stared at the knight ¡°and who decides what is like or unlike me?¡± ¡°You, my lord.¡± the knight said as he lowered his head. ¡°Yes, me.¡± The King affirmed, ¡°Quickly now, we must check the mountaintop for that demon, lest it escapes.¡± ¡°My lord, it is unlikely that the demon would still be there for so long.¡± the elf servant commented. King Harken responded angrily to the servant ¡°Do you take me for a fool that hasn¡¯t considered the options? The sooner we get there, the sooner we can find his path. That beast will do only evil; we must kill it before it reaches the hands of those who would let its evil grow.¡± Meanwhile in the cage nearby, lay Me who was still lying limply with his eyes still wide open and glassed over, staring avidly at something only he could see. A3 C1 Ashen Tree Fear¡­ Me felt fear. He couldn''t name the feeling for himself, yet he felt his blood turn cold, his muscles tensing as if preparing to flee. his eyes were locked onto the elve''s as he stared with uneasiness. ¡°Lub-dub, lub-dub.¡± With the thrilling of his senses, his heart beat faster. Veins widened and pulsed to the rising pace of the pounding of his heart. The elf blinked as he finally realized that he was making eye contact with Me. ¡®KILL.¡¯ The entirety of Me¡¯s body shook as an icy command emerged from his mind, causing his mind to reel in shock at the overwhelmingly unfamiliar desire. ¡®Ahahahah KILL.¡¯ The second time the voice rang out, Me lost his sense of time, feeling it drift slowly, a single second lasting an eternity as time flowed at the pace of syrup. Every nerve of his body overloading his mind with sensations. Me''s eyes glazed over as he unconciously leaked some of the bloodlust that was dominating his mind. his knees growing weak as he lost himself to a maddening tsunami of sensations and murderous intent. ¡®Ahahahahahahaha Kill! Kill! Kill! Hahahahahahahahahahahaha.¡¯ As the hellish voice echoed once more in his mind, all of Me¡¯s senses began to fade, and his mind blanking out even as he lost his balance and fell from his wooden perch. From tree to ground Me fell, unconscious and stuck in a dream even before he hit the ground. When Me startled awake, his back was roughly resting against a dying ash tree, as he looked around all he could see was a vast expanse of rising water, already the water had covered his legs and was climbing. Trying to get up Me discovered that his back was buried inside the tree itself, preventing him from moving even as the water rose up to his chest. A deep fear flickered into Me¡¯s eyes as his instincts demanded that he not be overtaken by this unknown liquid yet despite his struggles he remained stuck in the tree. As he struggled against the tree, he started to cry out in fear, yet the water was ignorant to his pleas and completely submerged him beneath. Even as Me blacked out underneath the ocean of water a slight presence revealed itself by the tree; the presence was easily identifiable by an air of curiosity that was unmatched by even the mass amount of water. ¡°What an odd soulscape¡­¡± a few words came from the presence as suddenly an explosive force erupted from it and formed a globe of protection around the tree and revealing the fainted form of Me below. The presence began to muse out loud. ¡°Oh, this is interesting, a fractured soul? I suppose that it was separated from its host by the summoning¡­ but¡­ why is there a third? Hmm.¡± It paused for a minute. ¡°Ah, I see. The host is a fate chosen, and thus can¡¯t be consumed, yet the fractured soul is too old to be banished. I suppose then that this third is the result of this paradox.¡± There were traces of amusement in the voice as it spoke in its musing fashion. ¡°Yet while the chosen is protected from the assault, the third is not. How disappointing to see so much effort go to waste if neither can win, why don''t we just... let the third take the victory?¡±Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. As the last tones of the voice faded, the pressure released was rapidly increased causing ripples across the water as it magically faded away, crushed into nonexistence revealing more of the land before finally settling down into a single puddle barely tapped by the farthest root of the tree. ¡°A chance, a chance, all for a single chance. What will you be Mr. sprout? Will you come to match Trace¡¯s fabled Yggdrasil, or be a weed trampled underfoot? The answer, I look forward to it.¡± with a happy humming the presence disappeared, leaving the sleeping Me underneath the withered tree. With the disappearance of the presence everything the scene would have appeared to have turned to a peaceful state, but at this moment, against the tree, Me shifted slightly illuminated by an odd azure pulsing that was emanating from the ground. A quiet groaning could be heard from the tree as ever so slightly it grew in height and width, its roots strengthening within the earth. ______________________________________________________________________________ First came the rumbling sound of cart wheels, then came the site of a darkened cage, covered by a rough sheet. Me spent a moment in surprise his mind racing after an incredibly vivid dream. Outside the cage, the elf archer had picked up on the sounds of Me¡¯s shifting and alerting the King who was riding nearby ¡°He¡¯s awake, what should we do?¡± ¡°Leave him as he is, for now, I have a strong feeling about him, and we cannot afford for spies to idly catch sight of him.¡± came the commanding response of the King. ¡°As you command my Lord.¡± the Elf said subserviently ¡®I have a name you know...¡¯ Me frowned irritably out of an odd sense of frustration even as he mentally responded to the overheard conversation. ¡®Me may not be much of a name but, wait¡­ Me is a terrible name, who the fuck named me Me? What an idiot.¡¯ With nothing better to do, Me assigned to himself the task of finding a new name. Irritably blotting out the various sounds that come from a large city along with the curious chatter as the mysterious cage passed by the idle townsfolk. The sounds quieted as the caravan entered the inmost citadel, the sounds of horses being led off to various stables could be heard as many of the soldiers detached themselves from the caravan, leaving the king and only a few of his attendants in privacy as they slowly escorted the cage to a large throne room. Me was meanwhile entirely focused on pondering over his name, oblivious to the fact that his vocabulary was somehow much greater than what it had been a few days ago. ¡®Markek the Willbreaker? Ele of the eternal silence? Verz the bloodhound??? Hm, some of those are female¡­ I¡¯m male right?¡¯ Me shifted and stuck his hand between his legs and rubbed against a smooth curvature. ¡®Neither¡­ that¡¯s¡­ strange?¡± at this moment the covers were lifted from the cage, revealing Me in all of his bizarre glory. ¡°...¡± An awkward silence pervaded the air as the King and his attendants, a large bandaged man in a black tunic, and a hooded Mage with robes the colors of burnt blood. The king coughed awkwardly bringing the creature¡¯s attention up to him while the hand still rubbed against its smooth crotch. At this the General coughed awkwardly as well, such an immodest reaction would have immediately earned a significant punishment amongst the king¡¯s other subjects. ¡°Judging from its reactions it may have recently ascended monster hood, perhaps it was assisted by a certain idiotic ritual.¡± the Mage commented in a derisive tone. ¡°Oh, you had an alternative solution to our decline great Mage? Pray tell.¡± mocked the General. The Mage¡¯s expression morphed into one of irritated spite ¡°as a matter of fact; I do, why don''t we... get rid of the moronic racism that is the sole reason why humanity is so hated amongst every other race?¡± The King looked uncomfortable at the comment and offered a slight defense of his general. ¡°Convincing people aside, that in no way guarantees the end of Humanity¡¯s decline.¡± ¡°If the solution was perfect then why try another? At least it wouldn¡¯t¡¯ve guaranteed the end of humanity like that fools bait of a portal.¡± came the Mage¡¯s irate reply. ¡°We had NO way of knowing that such a monstrous being would have come through!¡± The General bridled and yelled at the Mage angrily at his comment. The Mage ignored the General¡¯s rage and took on a cold air as he responded ¡°How is an idiot like you our General? Handing off the best possible trainees to that god forsaken sun clan is a decision made to be regretted.¡± ¡°Antek, Rynheart, Enough.¡± came the commanding voice of King Harken. ¡°We will discuss the ramifications later, right now I am curious as to the nature of the creature in front of us.¡± ¡°As you wish my King.¡± Antek sighed as he turned to look at the creature. ¡°...¡± The group collectively paused and stared at the empty cage that sat in front of them, its steel gate quietly swinging open The King¡¯s jaw dropped open as he weakly gasped a question ¡°Rynheart¡­ How long has it been gone?¡± ¡°My lord¡­¡± Rynheart in his black tunic quietly began to respond to the King¡¯s question ¡°I do not know.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Shit.¡± The silence was broken as the each member forgot the formality of their ranks and swore.