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Chapter 2 - I Won't Let You DieTime - SunsetÂ
Location - City of Roses, Black Fire
The wind was fierce, the rain was unending, the air was even soaked to the brim with so much water it was hard to breathe harder than maybe a shallow breathe or two. Aaron felt as if he was almost drowning despite no longer being submerged in water as he stood atop the broken college looking out towards the now blackened and stormy sky while being pummeled with rain so thick it was hard to see more than a few feet in front of him now.
"Damn. . . I can't see a damn thing. . ." Aaron suddenly cursed frantically looking from here and there, Razanthic, the God of the Puri, the native race of the continent of Tsunami. . . was no longer in view due to the torrential downpour pounding the ground. Another roar shakes the ground causing Aaron to stumble and stagger losing his footing on the drenched rooftop and causing him to fall on his back and slide backwards towards the large hole in the rooftop.Â
"Shit!" Aaron cursed again loudly, gloved hands scrambling to find something to grab as leverage to stop himself from falling, fingers only to meet smooth grip less stone roofing. His brown eyes grew wide with worry as his black messy hair stuck wet to his butter colored skin and he plummeted through the hole into the whirlpool of dead bodies and water below him. The fall felt like it took a century. . .
"So this is it huh? I'm. . ." Aaron's voice spoke in a melancholy tone inside his brain as he fell to what would be his death, drowning never seemed like a pleasant way to go. . . neither did being slammed into stone and rock from the force of the crashing waters below.
"I'm going to die. . . Tch. . . oh well. . ." he said accepting his incoming death as he fell, closing his eyes and waiting.
Suddenly. . . a hand grabbed his mid fall. . .
"AARON!" Aleria called out to the young man who opened his eyes again. His eyes would look upon her hazel ones, he could tell she was terrified inside, her left hand. . . the one that grabbed his. . . was shaking under the sleeve of the one shouldered black and drenched shirt she was wearing, and clenching his so tight it could damn near break his wrist. Her bare right arm save for a gloved hand gripped the broken steel railing above as they dangled completely perpendicular to the certain death below. Bodies kept piling up in the water as more screams and cries fell quiet as the deep embrace of death by drowning dragged them to the other side. Aaron himself could barely hear Aleria over the screams and the sound of the rain.
"Aaron! You're heavy! I can't hold on to you much longer! Figure something out!" Aleria screamed to him as she felt the grip in both her arms slipping. Aaron was about to reply to her.
Too late. . .
Aleria's grip slipped prematurely and the two fell what felt like several stories. Aleria tried to cry out but her voice wouldn't make a sound as her screams were deaf. She extended a fleeting arm out towards Aaron as they tried to grab each other. . . fingers barely touching each others. . .
"No. . . I won't let her die. . . not in front of me. . ." Aaron thought quietly to himself in the depths of his psyche, and his brown eyes turned a pale bluish white once again. . .
"I'll burn this entire place down before I let you die. . ." he thought to himself, he was already exhausted from fighting Niklas earlier. . . and he knew he couldn't do anything else after this because his aura pool would hit empty. . but whatever, he didn't give a damn. Using the last of his energy he flickered over towards Aleria and grabbed her in his arms before their bodies became enveloped in blue white before vanishing into thin air.
The rain doesn't seem to end. . . the sounds of Razanthic rampaging off the coast of the island was ever imminent from the rapid explosions of water that went off like bombs around the entire landscape as the God of the Sea destroyed everything in his fury. . .
A small fiery white inferno pulses into exist as Aaron and Aleria hit the stone rooftop of the college with a this, water splashed everywhere. Aleria hit her head and fell unconscious. Aaron. . . now completely drained looked on through the blanket rain just barely managing to make out the silhouette of Razanthic off in the distance over the water logged ruins of a once great city. Before he collapsed himself on the rooftop.
"I. . ." he said laboured and breathing hard, it was dangerous to use so much energy. . . Aura is the life force of all being on Cyril 9. . . once it hits zero, you die. Simple as that. Aaron held out a soaked glove to Aleria who laid a few feet from him onto the roof. . . when another loud bomb like explosion went off not a mile from the college. Aaron raised his weak head and looked up to see what looked like a drill of water, spinning violently into the ground like a nail before violently bursting a hole into the pavement launching pressurized water everywhere. Aaron cursed under his breath as he could only watch as the torrent of residual water splashed onto him and Aleria, and the once again started to slide towards the gaping hole in the rooftop back into the abyss below.
"Useless. . . again. . . damn Aaron. . . maybe that Cryo was right about you. . ." Aaron scoffed to himself as they fell again, this time nothing he could do to stop their deaths.Â
"I'm sorry. . . Aleria. . ." were the last words Aaron managed to think before he blacked out with her. . . and everything went quiet. No more rain was felt. . . no more screams were heard. . . no more fear was apparent. . . just silence. . . however, before he fully went flat line he heard a voice. . .
[small]"Aaron! Aleria! Stay with me!"[/small]
"Who could. . . that be?" Aaron mumbled under his breath inside his mind before fully passing out.
"And after this day. . . history begins anew. . ." the original disembodied soft spoken female voice said from the blackness. . .
Time - Morning, roughly 12 hours later
Location - ???
"Aaron. . . Aaron wake up. . ." a soft voice called out to the man from the depths of the blackness that was his mind. Did he die? He wondered to himself as the voice called his name again. . . Aaron. . . it said again. . . suddenly a wet sensation drenched him causing him to sit up now wide eyed and alert looking frantically around. Brown eyes barraged with a view of glowing luminescence given off by the large underground cave of crystals he was now in.
"Thank God you're awake!" Aleria gasped relieved as she embraced him tightly startling him even more. Her warm body pressed against his as she pushed him back onto the ground and laid on top him still in a bear hug. Aaron couldn't figure out what to say, or even what was going on. . . so many questions flooded his mind. Why wasn't he dead? What was this place? Where is this place? How did he get here? What happened to the City of Roses? The air inside the cave was surprisingly fresh to breathe in however. . . nice and cool. . streams of water could be heard running off to the side somewhere inside the cave leading Aaron to assume the place was an underground wellspring.
"Aleria, I know that he saved your life and all that before you both passed out. . . but don't you think you're overdoing it? Let the man breathe." Isra sighed walking over and squatting down on her bare tanned colored feet. Her dark blue colored pants had obvious water damage to them, and her sandy colored hair looked dried out a little bit, but other than that the girl had a big cheesy smile on her face. Aleria released Aaron and fell back into a sitting position, legs to each side as her palms touched the rocky ground. Black hair hanging profusely over her face as she nodded.
"Right, sorry. . . are you ok, Aaron?" She asked concerned as she tilted her head to look upon the Infernic. Aaron raised back into a sitting position and rubbed his face.
"I'm fine. . ." he said tiredly, his body still hadn't recovered from the incident. "But never mind me. . . where are we and how did we get here?" He then asked while looking at his gloved right palm.
"We were teleported here using these crystals." Aleria replied pointing around the the variety of bright blue white crystals illuminating the seemingly endless cavern. "This cave is filled with aura crystals with energy signatures aligned to teleportation. However it apparently took a while to prepare everything and get everyone off the island. . Â so everyone that died before the teleportation happened didn't make it here." Her voice got more solemn as she sighed, this surprised her about as much as everyone else.
"And the city of Roses?" Aaron asked.
"Destroyed, the entire island is probably destroyed and flooded now. . . Razanthic razed everything out of the blue. No pun intended." Isra said trying to lighten up the mood to no avail. Aaron just sighed and looked off into the distance. He noticed he saw no one else around.Â
"We couldn't have been the only survivors. . . where is everyone else?" Â He curiously asked now holding his head, he had a mad headache.Â
"They're somewhere down here. This cave is supposed to span the entire underground of the southern Black Fire mainland. Or run into one of the relief soldiers, I hear they traverse the waterways when stuff like this happens to guide people to the surface." Isra gestured around her briefly before pointing towards the direction the sound of running water came from. "When you're rested and back to strength if we follow the water in the opposite direction of where its flowing we should reach the surface." She said getting up and stretching before wringing out her still dampened white t shirt.
"We should hurry though, who knows what lives in these caves. ." Isra spoke once more before walking off into the crystals somewhere. Aaron brushed a hand through his black messy hair and then sighed. A part of him couldn't believe he barely managed to survive long enough for the emergency teleportation. . . if he hadn't have used the last of his energy in that moment. . . he and Aleria would have died minutes before they were saved. . . a frightening thought.
"Why did all of that happen. . ." Aaron pondered the reason a God could possibly want to attack unprovoked. No one had seen Razanthic in over 50 years if his memory of the lessons he took back at the college were correct. So why now? He fell back onto his backside again staring at the caverns ceiling.
"Ten more minutes and we're moving Aaron, try to gain your strength." Aleria said quietly as she got up. Aaron stared at her as she walked away. Her black form fitting pants showed obvious water damage too.
"Yeah. . ." Aaron said quietly still resting. All of this was too much for him. So many unanswered questions in such a short time frame. . . he closed his eyes and just sat there suspended in thought as he tried to rest up as fast as he could. Briefly would the question of whether Niklas survived would run through his mind before Aaron quickly scoffed and trashed the thought away. The cool misty underground air felt nice going into his lungs. Arms reaching behind his head making a makeshift pillow in his palms. He stayed like this until it was time to get moving.
About twenty minutes later. . .Â
"How do you feel, Aaron?" Isra asked walking ahead of him and Aleria as they followed the small underground river upstream to what they hoped was the entrance. There was a long silence.
"I'll live." Was the only reply she got. The young man's palms hidden in the pockets of his still damp pants. Aleria sighed quietly, walking between the two in a line fashion as they trekked along the edge of the river. The luminescence of the crystals giving all of their skins a blue white tint to it.
"First time I ever see a God and I nearly get killed by it. . . the world we live in." Aleria shook her head mumbling loud enough for the other two to hear. Aaron didn't speak, he just looked at his passing reflection in the clear cool water.
"The real surprise is it was Razanthic who attacked. . . I thought he'd be one of the more passive of the Gods." Isra retorted shrugging and hopping over a large rock as she made her way. "Guess not. . . I wonder what pissed him off though." She said again curiously to herself.
"I have no idea, but did you see the power that creature wielded? He destroyed an entire island in under ten minutes and killed thousands. . . Gods are terrifying." Aleria spoke to herself.Â
"Isn't the God of Infernics still sealed up in a volcano or something? Deraga was the things name?" Isra replied as they continued to walk.
"Yeah. . . to my knowledge of all the five gods, Deraga and Aeritotle are sealed, Gidoran is rampaging in Cragsland somewhere, Senilian is roaming the skies around Resurreccion and Razanthic has the entire Ocean at his disposal." Aleria replied knowledgeably. Aaron suddenly seemed interested in the conversation, as he spoke next.
"What about the Cryo?" He asked quietly and absently. He didn't think Aleria heard him at first as there was a long pause, and then she spoke.
"The Cryo don't have a deity, they're a mutation from the people of Tsunami that evolved after the initial landmass Shivering Rain broke apart." Aleria explained to the man.
"Poor guys, if it wasn't for their hostile and basically useless landscape they'd have been wiped out by now. . . Â to my knowledge they're the only ones not getting in on the technological advancements of society because they're so isolated from everyone. And Cryo outside of Azuron are rarely seen." Isra relayed her knowledge too towards the conversation. Aaron looked away from his reflection and to the two girls in front of him with that said.
"So is that why everyone was so excited a Cryo was fighting against me before everything went to shit?" Aaron rolled his eyes before pulling his left hand out of his pocket, holding it to his face and snapping his fingers. A small white blue flame flickered into existence over his index and thumb. His aura was slowly building back up.
"Yeah, also explains why everyone jumped up when they thought he beat you. And then you blew yourself up." Isra teased glancing back at him as the all started to walk up a inclined bit of the ground following the stream.
Aaron gave no comment. . . however sooner than later, the three friends heard voices coming from further ahead. Isra's eyes lit up light Christmas tree lights and she pointed ahead.
"Guys we're close! I hear voices! Come on!" She said before breaking into a run, her air manipulation enhanced body reaching speeds faster than most other races.
"Isra wai--- goddammit." Aleria sucked her teeth and broke into a run after her. Aaron, slowly but surely began to walk faster before he broke into a run as well after them. His bandaged feet pounding the smooth rocky ground as he picked up speed, jumping over small clusters of crystals every so often as he kept the two girls in his sight. Soon enough, he saw Aleria stop along with Isra and eventually caught up.
"Didn't need to run so fast. . . not like they were going anywhere." Aaron rolled his eyes as he came to a stop. He'd turn to look at Isra before looking anywhere else expecting a reply, but the expression on her face showed oddly. . . it showed fear. . . but not just any fear. . . fear born of natural instinct. . like a rabbits fear of a hawk. . . Aaron then looked to Aleria briefly before turning to see what the voices were. His eyes soon became dilated with shock at what view came into his vision. . . in front of him and the girls. . . about a meter or so away. . . was a man and a woman, the woman. . had skin as pale as milk save for the blood splattered across her face. . . chin length jet black hair that looked smoother than silk. . . deep violet eyes and a fine featured face that gave the impression she was a beautiful corpse that was alive. . . she was wrapped up in a loose hooded cloak blacker than the darkest depths of night. . . in her right hand was a large and bloodied jagged red and black scythe with sharp edges lining the entire blade both inside and out. . it was coated with the fresh blood of a ripped open body laying at her feet, too mutilated to even make out the gender. . . but the attire was known all too well. . . it was a relief soldier from the Black Fire army. Slain, like cattle.
"What the. . . hell. . ." Aaron muttered to himself as he, Aleria and Isra slowly backed up away from the duo. His eyes switched to the man, he too was wrapped in a loose hooded cloak akin to a grim reaper, however his face was hidden beneath his cowl. He had no weapon, unlike the girl. And the only skin that could be seen on him was his callous pale fingers. A low gutteral cackle escaped his lips as he saw us, particularly Isra.
"What did I tell you, Rin? Prey eventually always is caught by the predator, whether the predator is the stalker, or the baiter. . ." he croaked out in a voice that made Aaron's skin crawl. Aleria looked to Isra, who still looked paralyzed in fear, and then to Aaron. He and her traded hesitant glances and immediately looked back towards the man and woman, the latter who just flicked a large amount of blood off her scythe painting the nearby clusters of crystals dark red. The man then turned the direction of his hood towards Aaron and Aleria, perhaps now looking at them too.
"Ah. . . if it isn't the two people from the college. I must commend you for your efforts in the battle, Aaron. . . Advent was it?" He pointed to Aaron, the young man tensed up at the way he said his name, full of disdain despite the apparent compliment he gave. "And you, friends with the God of Sealing over there." He then looked at Aleria while gesturing towards Isra at the end of his remark. Aleria blinked confused. What was he talking about?
"Since you're such good friends with her, I can only guess she has chosen you for whatever particular reason. . . the Gods can be such a hassle sometimes." He cocked his head back towards Aaron, suddenly staring daggers at him as if he was looking into his soul. Aaron froze up. "Oh. . . now this is interesting. . . your aura signature feels very similar too. . . my my. . . you've been marked too? Why this is delightful." He broke into laughter. Aaron looked beyond confused.
"Marked!? What the hell are you rambling about?" Aaron suddenly asked impatient at all the cryptic talk. The mysterious man waved a hand dismissively at the young Infernic.
"It matters not, you won't be alive long enough to process it anyway." He spoke casually before pointing at the group again. "Kill them, Rin." He ordered, and the pale skinned female beside him suddenly faded away into a purplish black mist vanishing from sight. Aaron, Aleria, and Isra were dead silent. . . did they really just hear him right?
"Kill them!?!?" Aleria said shocked. Isra suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs. Her voice piercing the quiet of the large cavern.
"RUN!!!"Â
To be continued. . . .
Location - City of Roses, Black Fire
The wind was fierce, the rain was unending, the air was even soaked to the brim with so much water it was hard to breathe harder than maybe a shallow breathe or two. Aaron felt as if he was almost drowning despite no longer being submerged in water as he stood atop the broken college looking out towards the now blackened and stormy sky while being pummeled with rain so thick it was hard to see more than a few feet in front of him now.
"Damn. . . I can't see a damn thing. . ." Aaron suddenly cursed frantically looking from here and there, Razanthic, the God of the Puri, the native race of the continent of Tsunami. . . was no longer in view due to the torrential downpour pounding the ground. Another roar shakes the ground causing Aaron to stumble and stagger losing his footing on the drenched rooftop and causing him to fall on his back and slide backwards towards the large hole in the rooftop.Â
"Shit!" Aaron cursed again loudly, gloved hands scrambling to find something to grab as leverage to stop himself from falling, fingers only to meet smooth grip less stone roofing. His brown eyes grew wide with worry as his black messy hair stuck wet to his butter colored skin and he plummeted through the hole into the whirlpool of dead bodies and water below him. The fall felt like it took a century. . .
"So this is it huh? I'm. . ." Aaron's voice spoke in a melancholy tone inside his brain as he fell to what would be his death, drowning never seemed like a pleasant way to go. . . neither did being slammed into stone and rock from the force of the crashing waters below.
"I'm going to die. . . Tch. . . oh well. . ." he said accepting his incoming death as he fell, closing his eyes and waiting.
Suddenly. . . a hand grabbed his mid fall. . .
"AARON!" Aleria called out to the young man who opened his eyes again. His eyes would look upon her hazel ones, he could tell she was terrified inside, her left hand. . . the one that grabbed his. . . was shaking under the sleeve of the one shouldered black and drenched shirt she was wearing, and clenching his so tight it could damn near break his wrist. Her bare right arm save for a gloved hand gripped the broken steel railing above as they dangled completely perpendicular to the certain death below. Bodies kept piling up in the water as more screams and cries fell quiet as the deep embrace of death by drowning dragged them to the other side. Aaron himself could barely hear Aleria over the screams and the sound of the rain.
"Aaron! You're heavy! I can't hold on to you much longer! Figure something out!" Aleria screamed to him as she felt the grip in both her arms slipping. Aaron was about to reply to her.
Too late. . .
Aleria's grip slipped prematurely and the two fell what felt like several stories. Aleria tried to cry out but her voice wouldn't make a sound as her screams were deaf. She extended a fleeting arm out towards Aaron as they tried to grab each other. . . fingers barely touching each others. . .
"No. . . I won't let her die. . . not in front of me. . ." Aaron thought quietly to himself in the depths of his psyche, and his brown eyes turned a pale bluish white once again. . .
"I'll burn this entire place down before I let you die. . ." he thought to himself, he was already exhausted from fighting Niklas earlier. . . and he knew he couldn't do anything else after this because his aura pool would hit empty. . but whatever, he didn't give a damn. Using the last of his energy he flickered over towards Aleria and grabbed her in his arms before their bodies became enveloped in blue white before vanishing into thin air.
The rain doesn't seem to end. . . the sounds of Razanthic rampaging off the coast of the island was ever imminent from the rapid explosions of water that went off like bombs around the entire landscape as the God of the Sea destroyed everything in his fury. . .
A small fiery white inferno pulses into exist as Aaron and Aleria hit the stone rooftop of the college with a this, water splashed everywhere. Aleria hit her head and fell unconscious. Aaron. . . now completely drained looked on through the blanket rain just barely managing to make out the silhouette of Razanthic off in the distance over the water logged ruins of a once great city. Before he collapsed himself on the rooftop.
"I. . ." he said laboured and breathing hard, it was dangerous to use so much energy. . . Aura is the life force of all being on Cyril 9. . . once it hits zero, you die. Simple as that. Aaron held out a soaked glove to Aleria who laid a few feet from him onto the roof. . . when another loud bomb like explosion went off not a mile from the college. Aaron raised his weak head and looked up to see what looked like a drill of water, spinning violently into the ground like a nail before violently bursting a hole into the pavement launching pressurized water everywhere. Aaron cursed under his breath as he could only watch as the torrent of residual water splashed onto him and Aleria, and the once again started to slide towards the gaping hole in the rooftop back into the abyss below.
"Useless. . . again. . . damn Aaron. . . maybe that Cryo was right about you. . ." Aaron scoffed to himself as they fell again, this time nothing he could do to stop their deaths.Â
"I'm sorry. . . Aleria. . ." were the last words Aaron managed to think before he blacked out with her. . . and everything went quiet. No more rain was felt. . . no more screams were heard. . . no more fear was apparent. . . just silence. . . however, before he fully went flat line he heard a voice. . .
[small]"Aaron! Aleria! Stay with me!"[/small]
"Who could. . . that be?" Aaron mumbled under his breath inside his mind before fully passing out.
"And after this day. . . history begins anew. . ." the original disembodied soft spoken female voice said from the blackness. . .
Time - Morning, roughly 12 hours later
Location - ???
"Aaron. . . Aaron wake up. . ." a soft voice called out to the man from the depths of the blackness that was his mind. Did he die? He wondered to himself as the voice called his name again. . . Aaron. . . it said again. . . suddenly a wet sensation drenched him causing him to sit up now wide eyed and alert looking frantically around. Brown eyes barraged with a view of glowing luminescence given off by the large underground cave of crystals he was now in.
"Thank God you're awake!" Aleria gasped relieved as she embraced him tightly startling him even more. Her warm body pressed against his as she pushed him back onto the ground and laid on top him still in a bear hug. Aaron couldn't figure out what to say, or even what was going on. . . so many questions flooded his mind. Why wasn't he dead? What was this place? Where is this place? How did he get here? What happened to the City of Roses? The air inside the cave was surprisingly fresh to breathe in however. . . nice and cool. . streams of water could be heard running off to the side somewhere inside the cave leading Aaron to assume the place was an underground wellspring.
"Aleria, I know that he saved your life and all that before you both passed out. . . but don't you think you're overdoing it? Let the man breathe." Isra sighed walking over and squatting down on her bare tanned colored feet. Her dark blue colored pants had obvious water damage to them, and her sandy colored hair looked dried out a little bit, but other than that the girl had a big cheesy smile on her face. Aleria released Aaron and fell back into a sitting position, legs to each side as her palms touched the rocky ground. Black hair hanging profusely over her face as she nodded.
"Right, sorry. . . are you ok, Aaron?" She asked concerned as she tilted her head to look upon the Infernic. Aaron raised back into a sitting position and rubbed his face.
"I'm fine. . ." he said tiredly, his body still hadn't recovered from the incident. "But never mind me. . . where are we and how did we get here?" He then asked while looking at his gloved right palm.
"We were teleported here using these crystals." Aleria replied pointing around the the variety of bright blue white crystals illuminating the seemingly endless cavern. "This cave is filled with aura crystals with energy signatures aligned to teleportation. However it apparently took a while to prepare everything and get everyone off the island. . Â so everyone that died before the teleportation happened didn't make it here." Her voice got more solemn as she sighed, this surprised her about as much as everyone else.
"And the city of Roses?" Aaron asked.
"Destroyed, the entire island is probably destroyed and flooded now. . . Razanthic razed everything out of the blue. No pun intended." Isra said trying to lighten up the mood to no avail. Aaron just sighed and looked off into the distance. He noticed he saw no one else around.Â
"We couldn't have been the only survivors. . . where is everyone else?" Â He curiously asked now holding his head, he had a mad headache.Â
"They're somewhere down here. This cave is supposed to span the entire underground of the southern Black Fire mainland. Or run into one of the relief soldiers, I hear they traverse the waterways when stuff like this happens to guide people to the surface." Isra gestured around her briefly before pointing towards the direction the sound of running water came from. "When you're rested and back to strength if we follow the water in the opposite direction of where its flowing we should reach the surface." She said getting up and stretching before wringing out her still dampened white t shirt.
"We should hurry though, who knows what lives in these caves. ." Isra spoke once more before walking off into the crystals somewhere. Aaron brushed a hand through his black messy hair and then sighed. A part of him couldn't believe he barely managed to survive long enough for the emergency teleportation. . . if he hadn't have used the last of his energy in that moment. . . he and Aleria would have died minutes before they were saved. . . a frightening thought.
"Why did all of that happen. . ." Aaron pondered the reason a God could possibly want to attack unprovoked. No one had seen Razanthic in over 50 years if his memory of the lessons he took back at the college were correct. So why now? He fell back onto his backside again staring at the caverns ceiling.
"Ten more minutes and we're moving Aaron, try to gain your strength." Aleria said quietly as she got up. Aaron stared at her as she walked away. Her black form fitting pants showed obvious water damage too.
"Yeah. . ." Aaron said quietly still resting. All of this was too much for him. So many unanswered questions in such a short time frame. . . he closed his eyes and just sat there suspended in thought as he tried to rest up as fast as he could. Briefly would the question of whether Niklas survived would run through his mind before Aaron quickly scoffed and trashed the thought away. The cool misty underground air felt nice going into his lungs. Arms reaching behind his head making a makeshift pillow in his palms. He stayed like this until it was time to get moving.
About twenty minutes later. . .Â
"How do you feel, Aaron?" Isra asked walking ahead of him and Aleria as they followed the small underground river upstream to what they hoped was the entrance. There was a long silence.
"I'll live." Was the only reply she got. The young man's palms hidden in the pockets of his still damp pants. Aleria sighed quietly, walking between the two in a line fashion as they trekked along the edge of the river. The luminescence of the crystals giving all of their skins a blue white tint to it.
"First time I ever see a God and I nearly get killed by it. . . the world we live in." Aleria shook her head mumbling loud enough for the other two to hear. Aaron didn't speak, he just looked at his passing reflection in the clear cool water.
"The real surprise is it was Razanthic who attacked. . . I thought he'd be one of the more passive of the Gods." Isra retorted shrugging and hopping over a large rock as she made her way. "Guess not. . . I wonder what pissed him off though." She said again curiously to herself.
"I have no idea, but did you see the power that creature wielded? He destroyed an entire island in under ten minutes and killed thousands. . . Gods are terrifying." Aleria spoke to herself.Â
"Isn't the God of Infernics still sealed up in a volcano or something? Deraga was the things name?" Isra replied as they continued to walk.
"Yeah. . . to my knowledge of all the five gods, Deraga and Aeritotle are sealed, Gidoran is rampaging in Cragsland somewhere, Senilian is roaming the skies around Resurreccion and Razanthic has the entire Ocean at his disposal." Aleria replied knowledgeably. Aaron suddenly seemed interested in the conversation, as he spoke next.
"What about the Cryo?" He asked quietly and absently. He didn't think Aleria heard him at first as there was a long pause, and then she spoke.
"The Cryo don't have a deity, they're a mutation from the people of Tsunami that evolved after the initial landmass Shivering Rain broke apart." Aleria explained to the man.
"Poor guys, if it wasn't for their hostile and basically useless landscape they'd have been wiped out by now. . . Â to my knowledge they're the only ones not getting in on the technological advancements of society because they're so isolated from everyone. And Cryo outside of Azuron are rarely seen." Isra relayed her knowledge too towards the conversation. Aaron looked away from his reflection and to the two girls in front of him with that said.
"So is that why everyone was so excited a Cryo was fighting against me before everything went to shit?" Aaron rolled his eyes before pulling his left hand out of his pocket, holding it to his face and snapping his fingers. A small white blue flame flickered into existence over his index and thumb. His aura was slowly building back up.
"Yeah, also explains why everyone jumped up when they thought he beat you. And then you blew yourself up." Isra teased glancing back at him as the all started to walk up a inclined bit of the ground following the stream.
Aaron gave no comment. . . however sooner than later, the three friends heard voices coming from further ahead. Isra's eyes lit up light Christmas tree lights and she pointed ahead.
"Guys we're close! I hear voices! Come on!" She said before breaking into a run, her air manipulation enhanced body reaching speeds faster than most other races.
"Isra wai--- goddammit." Aleria sucked her teeth and broke into a run after her. Aaron, slowly but surely began to walk faster before he broke into a run as well after them. His bandaged feet pounding the smooth rocky ground as he picked up speed, jumping over small clusters of crystals every so often as he kept the two girls in his sight. Soon enough, he saw Aleria stop along with Isra and eventually caught up.
"Didn't need to run so fast. . . not like they were going anywhere." Aaron rolled his eyes as he came to a stop. He'd turn to look at Isra before looking anywhere else expecting a reply, but the expression on her face showed oddly. . . it showed fear. . . but not just any fear. . . fear born of natural instinct. . like a rabbits fear of a hawk. . . Aaron then looked to Aleria briefly before turning to see what the voices were. His eyes soon became dilated with shock at what view came into his vision. . . in front of him and the girls. . . about a meter or so away. . . was a man and a woman, the woman. . had skin as pale as milk save for the blood splattered across her face. . . chin length jet black hair that looked smoother than silk. . . deep violet eyes and a fine featured face that gave the impression she was a beautiful corpse that was alive. . . she was wrapped up in a loose hooded cloak blacker than the darkest depths of night. . . in her right hand was a large and bloodied jagged red and black scythe with sharp edges lining the entire blade both inside and out. . it was coated with the fresh blood of a ripped open body laying at her feet, too mutilated to even make out the gender. . . but the attire was known all too well. . . it was a relief soldier from the Black Fire army. Slain, like cattle.
"What the. . . hell. . ." Aaron muttered to himself as he, Aleria and Isra slowly backed up away from the duo. His eyes switched to the man, he too was wrapped in a loose hooded cloak akin to a grim reaper, however his face was hidden beneath his cowl. He had no weapon, unlike the girl. And the only skin that could be seen on him was his callous pale fingers. A low gutteral cackle escaped his lips as he saw us, particularly Isra.
"What did I tell you, Rin? Prey eventually always is caught by the predator, whether the predator is the stalker, or the baiter. . ." he croaked out in a voice that made Aaron's skin crawl. Aleria looked to Isra, who still looked paralyzed in fear, and then to Aaron. He and her traded hesitant glances and immediately looked back towards the man and woman, the latter who just flicked a large amount of blood off her scythe painting the nearby clusters of crystals dark red. The man then turned the direction of his hood towards Aaron and Aleria, perhaps now looking at them too.
"Ah. . . if it isn't the two people from the college. I must commend you for your efforts in the battle, Aaron. . . Advent was it?" He pointed to Aaron, the young man tensed up at the way he said his name, full of disdain despite the apparent compliment he gave. "And you, friends with the God of Sealing over there." He then looked at Aleria while gesturing towards Isra at the end of his remark. Aleria blinked confused. What was he talking about?
"Since you're such good friends with her, I can only guess she has chosen you for whatever particular reason. . . the Gods can be such a hassle sometimes." He cocked his head back towards Aaron, suddenly staring daggers at him as if he was looking into his soul. Aaron froze up. "Oh. . . now this is interesting. . . your aura signature feels very similar too. . . my my. . . you've been marked too? Why this is delightful." He broke into laughter. Aaron looked beyond confused.
"Marked!? What the hell are you rambling about?" Aaron suddenly asked impatient at all the cryptic talk. The mysterious man waved a hand dismissively at the young Infernic.
"It matters not, you won't be alive long enough to process it anyway." He spoke casually before pointing at the group again. "Kill them, Rin." He ordered, and the pale skinned female beside him suddenly faded away into a purplish black mist vanishing from sight. Aaron, Aleria, and Isra were dead silent. . . did they really just hear him right?
"Kill them!?!?" Aleria said shocked. Isra suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs. Her voice piercing the quiet of the large cavern.
"RUN!!!"Â
To be continued. . . .
Kevin Gates - Told Me