《DISSOULVER》 Foreword G''day everyone, This is the first work I have ever released to a writing platform. I have dabbled in writing loosely but all these ideas in my head need someplace to go and this is where I''ve landed. I''ll keep this brief. I am fairly new to writing so any feedback would be appreciated. Don''t hesitate to critique my work and let me know where I''m falling short. Although this is my first piece and something I will continue to work on, it is an original idea that I have tried to put to paper. I would appreciate it if my work is not distributed without my permission. I will solely be releasing my work on this platform in English. If you find my work anywhere else in English or any other language please let me know. Most importantly, if you notice any spelling or grammatical errors, please let me know. I check over my work multiple times but I am not omnipotent. I can and will miss things. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Next up is that I have only written a few chapters ahead. Meaning that this story is progressing as I write it. Things can and most likely will change as I write each chapter. So I may have to go back and edit/change earlier chapters as this story progresses. I have an ending in mind and a vague sense of what will occur throughout but no super solid stuff. Lastly my schedule. I currently work two jobs and study full-time so my schedule is pretty jam-packed at the moment. I will try my best to release one chapter every 1-2 weeks. I''ve said my piece, I hope you enjoy Dissoulver. Regards, Jack. 1-000 | PROLOGUE: THE CRIMSON MONSTER Lieutenant Shil of the Boren Militia ¡°Run!¡± I shouted to my comrades in the darkened corridor, shadows flickering as lanterns shook. We were sprinting as fast as we could in the heavy armour we were sporting. ¡°A monster is coming!¡± I yelled. We all got into formation. Knights at the front with their raised shields, mages and archers behind them. The archers poised ready to fire with their bowstrings taut, arrows nocked; the mages prepared to fire their offensive magic as mana swirled around their staves. ¡°Prepare to fire!¡± Captain William shouted as he raised his sword and braced himself. A guttural growl bounced through the corridor alerting us to the approaching threat. We heard the sound of glass breaking as the monster shattered each lantern it passed. Drip, drip, drip. A solitary, clawed hand became visible out of the darkness, dripping with crimson blood. Many soldiers gasped and cried out to one another as the rest of it became visible in the light. A figure in tattered clothing, covered head to toe in crimson stood tall in front of them. The ranged fighters hesitated for a moment, they took deep breaths to steady themselves. ¡°Ready¡­ Fire!¡± The archers released their arrows all at once and the mages shot magical projectiles at the monster. It ducked and weaved with impossible speed and precision, the shots it couldn¡¯t dodge were rendered useless against it¡¯s clawed hands. Massive bolts of lightning and balls of fire dissipated as it touched it¡¯s crimson claws, flickering out leaving it unscathed. The monster laughed and smiled at us as it stalked closer to our position. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. I have fought in battles where thousands have met their end, but this is¡­ Captain William ordered those with bows and offensive magic to prepare a second volley, but the beast in front of them didn¡¯t give them a chance to attack. It cut through the defending knights easily, crushing shields and shattering swords. Knights fell one after another with fatal wounds, some dying instantly and others slowly fading in increasingly deep pools of blood. I watched as battle hardened soldiers screamed and swung their weapons blindly, injuring each other in an attempt to damage the monster. None of their swings or attacks touched it as it danced through the flurry of blades and slashed the attacking soldiers with it¡¯s dagger-like claws. Blood sprayed from deep and jagged slashes and blood flowed freely along the floor and into the crevices of the stone bricks lining the corridor. The walls of the damned corridor shone with glistening crimson as if the beast was trying to paint it with blood. I backed away from the shattered formation as it not only sliced my comrades but tore them in half. Limbs covered the floors, bodies had bones showing and heads rolled. The screams of my comrades cut out one by one as the monster slaughtered each and every one. The sound of glass shattering rang throughout the corridor as the monster¡¯s deadly slashes destroyed the lanterns and cloaked the corridor in lasting darkness. The captain sprinted down the corridor, away from the massacre. In the darkness, I heard him stop when the last soldier screamed his last and an ominous silence filled the corridor. He struck a match and his face was illuminated, he slowly turned, and searched the darkness for a hint of any survivors or the monster. Drip, drip, drip. The captain hesitated, perhaps cut in thought between fleeing, searching for any survivors or to see if the damned beast had been killed. Drip, drip, drip. It sounded closer, I blanched as I remembered what that sound was. I backed away in a panic, recalling the crimson clawed hand poking through the darkness. My crotch warmed as I slowly backed away trying not to make a sound and silently prayed to the gods. My prayers were cut short when a jagged slash sliced the captain¡¯s throat and vocal chords. He lifted his hands to his throat in a feeble attempt to staunch the waterfall of crimson. He collapsed and the light went out. As I ran, I heard a voice in the darkness. The voice of the beast, the voice of the monster. It whispered to itself ¡°I will kill them all¡±. 1-001 | CHAPTER 1: A PARTY ON AN ISLAND NEVER HURT ANYONE FOUR MONTHS PRIOR¡­ JAY MYERS ¡°Woohoo!¡± My sister shouted from behind me. Her arms were currently wrapped around my waist as the salty sea splashed onto our smiling faces. My name is Jay Myers and I am currently in a jetski race with high stakes. Whoever comes in last place has to cough up a fair amount of cash to pay for the first round of drinks at the bar later. We are currently on a holiday in New Zealand with a large group of friends. Twenty in fact, twenty-two when including my sister and I. Many of us had finished our last semester of the year at university and just needed to cut loose. ¡°Go faster Jay!¡± I heard behind me. As requested I increased our speed as we hit a wave and flew across the dazzling sea. The deep blue of the ocean was mesmerizing and the sun reflected off the dancing waves. I grinned as we raced the others. Whatever happened I was not going to come in last place.
¡°Congrats on finishing last Jay!¡± Kaidan said smiling as he helped me onto the pier where everyone had gathered. Kaidan was a fairly tall and muscular bloke at 5¡¯10, with sandy blonde hair and good looks, he was not lacking in the women''s department. Another mate helped my sister off of the jetski and started to celebrate the fact that the first round was going to be free. We started to walk towards the bar where my wallet would become considerably lighter. Originally, my twin sister Jade wasn¡¯t going to come on this trip but she had insisted on being included. I guess she didn¡¯t want to be separated from me. Our parents had passed away when we were young in a traffic accident. We moved in with our grandfather on his ranch in the outback of Australia. Old Grandpa Rob was a retired veteran who had fought in a number of conflicts around the world in his earlier years. He was discharged from active duty, but had never told us what the reason was. He was a gruff and strict old man but he taught many valuable things that would keep my sister and I safe. He taught me various combat techniques and how to use a vast amount of weaponry; ranging from blades to rifles. He drilled me as if he was a sergeant and made me into a man who could protect those he cared about. He had also taught both my sister and I how to live off of the land. He thought it important that we knew how to hunt, skin and butcher animals as well as how to survive outdoors. Jade didn¡¯t quite have the stomach for it so I learnt for the both of us. Unfortunately, Rob had passed away as we had finished our last year of high school. Although the times were tough, both my sister and I got into our chosen courses at university. I was to study nursing and my sister, art. Although I knew how to protect myself and others, all I really wanted was to keep my sister safe. I knew that I wouldn¡¯t always be able to prevent an injury from taking place, so I studied nursing to learn how to treat them. I had already proven how useful my knowledge was when one of our friends had cut his leg while hiking up a mountain. I was able to stop the bleeding and bandage him up. A large hand slapped me on the back, snapping me back to reality. ¡°Fine work there Jay, thank you for investing into our drinks tonight¡±The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. ¡°Fuck off Kaidan, but yeah my pockets are gonna be lighter after tonight,¡± I said. Kaidan was the unofficial leader of our group. He was planning on attending the police academy. He had a strong sense of justice and wanted to be the hero who saved the day. I thought it was a bit childish, but kept that to myself. We finally arrived at the bar and I could see the physical depression in cash as I paid for the first round of drinks. ¡°Ah congrats Jay on a job well done!¡± one of my friends Joey announced, earning noises of agreement from all around. Kaidan raised his beer and clinked it with mine, finishing off the ceremony. We all drank and laughed well into the night.
¡°Jay wake up, it¡¯s time to go¡± a voice softly spoke. I opened my eyes to see Jade standing next to my bed already dressed for the upcoming skydiving trip. She wore a dark red shirt with white pants. Around her neck was the pendant she always wore. It was our mother¡¯s. It was a brilliant red ruby set into a silver diamond, with a silver chain looping through a hole at the top. Her long brown hair was tied into a ponytail and her soft blue eyes gazed at me. My vision flashed red and saw a blurred figure with a sword sticking out of their chest, then it was gone. ¡°Are you okay?¡± Jade asked me. I shook my head and glanced at the clock on the wall, it was 4:30 AM. The trip was scheduled for 8 AM, and would take a few hours to arrive at the landing strip where the plane was. ¡°Yeah I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡°Alright, alright I¡¯m getting up¡± I said with a smile and got ready to go. As I stood, Jade had to angle her head upwards to look me in the face. Standing at 6¡¯4, I towered over most people. Jade was a bit shorter at 5¡¯9 but we shared the same hair and blue eyes. I threw on my favourite shirt which was just a plain navy one and the combat pants I always wore. Jade rolled her eyes and asked ¡°Do you really need the gear? We¡¯re just skydiving, nothing¡¯s gonna happen.¡± To which I just replied ¡°Famous last words¡± With that my sister and I exited the hotel and walked over to our group of friends who were waiting outside. ¡°Nice of you to join us Jay¡± a friend to my left said to me. ¡°My bad Joey, was a bit tired from last night¡± I replied smiling. Joey laughed and smacked me on the back ¡°It was a good night wasn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°It sure was.¡± A few hours later we arrived at the landing strip. A large plane stood waiting for our group to go. Kaidan went into the reception building off to the right hand side of the plane and organised for everything to be sorted. Not long later everyone was up in the sky sitting in the many seats in the massive aircraft. We had been skydiving many times and didn¡¯t need an instructor to be attached when we made the jump. A few were a little nervous but smiled knowing it was all good and fun. Sometime later, everyone stood in a line patiently waiting for the signal to jump. The light went green and the instructor shouted ¡°Go, go, go! Let¡¯s move it everyone!¡± Kaidan jumped first laughing as many others followed. My sister and I were the last to go. I launched myself out of the aircraft laughing as I did everytime we went skydiving, and knew my sister would be hot on my tail. I dove to catch up to everyone when I noticed a disturbance in the air. A shimmering surface appeared below Kaidan and the others. Confused, I stared at the aerial discrepancy and pondered as to what it was. A haze from the heat? A hallucination due to a lack of sleep? Maybe I ate something funny? Before I could think of any other reasons as to why the shimmering surface was there, Kaidan touched it and disappeared. My stomach lurched as I watched friend after friend vanish through the shimmering surface. There was no way to stop myself from touching the mysterious plane, so instead I braced myself in anticipation for what would happen. Whoosh! 1-002 | CHAPTER 2: A NEW WORLD Jay Myers I opened my eyes and saw a different view to what I had seen over New Zealand. Wherever I am, it isn¡¯t the small island surrounded by the ocean we had previously been. Instead I saw large mountains and rolling grasslands as far as the eye could see. My eyes widened as I saw what looked to be cities and towns scattered across the valleys and peaks of this bizarre land I was flying towards. Lost in thought I saw the ground rapidly approaching, getting closer and closer, I realised that I was still freefalling towards the ground. I hurriedly opened my parachute and floated towards the ground. As I slowly lowered to the land below, I felt a visceral touch inside of my being. I felt a presence inside and outside of my body. Unsure as to what to think, I panicked and watched as light ran through my veins and felt the light permeating throughout the rest of my body. As the light started to fade an immense burning sensation rocked my body, I felt an explosion go off from within and I started coughing blood. Blood? Swirling shadows entered my vision, began to circle me and enter my body. I heard voices that weren¡¯t my own yelling and arguing, but I couldn¡¯t quite make it out. I felt lightheaded as the world turned to black. My eyes snapped open and heard someone screaming. I shot up and raised myself into a sitting position. I shrugged off my pack and shakily stood up, I started to lean to the side but something caught and held me upright. I looked to my left and saw Jade smiling at me. ¡°Thanks Jade.¡± I started making my way towards the source of the screaming and found Cal holding his leg, rocking back and forth. ¡°Move away everyone¡± I calmly directed and moved towards Cal. ¡°Let me have a look mate.¡± I examined Cal¡¯s leg and suspected that he might have a fracture, but without any medical supplies there was little I could do. I ran and picked up a solid stick off the ground and cut off some rope from a discarded parachute. I held the stick parallel to Cal¡¯s leg and tied it together with the rope and fashioned a makeshift splint. Two friends walked over and helped Cal to his feet and supported him so he could walk. ¡°Thanks Damo and Zack¡± I said to the two friends helping out Cal. ¡°No worries mate, nice work on the splint.¡± Satisfied, I began to walk over to Jade when I heard a howl from behind. I spun around and saw a group of animals poke their heads over the hill. I stared at the animals slowly stalking towards our group, their bodies low to the ground and making little sound. They advanced slowly, their eyes never leaving us. I walked to the front of the group and told everyone to get behind me, I saw my sister¡¯s eyes full of fear. I smiled and told her ¡°There¡¯s nothing to worry about, I fought my fair share of dingos back home.¡± Everyone thinks dingoes are harmless, but I¡¯ve had a few encounters that say otherwise. I pulled out the knife that was tucked away in a holster attached to my lower leg and held it out, at the ready. I had seen pictures of wolves online and what advanced towards me had a lot of similar features. The animals, which I dubbed wolves stopped moving and sniffed the air. Perhaps sensing the fear of our group, a wolf let out a snarl and charged towards me.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. I let the wolf approach and as it jumped to take a bite out of me, I ducked and punched the wolf¡¯s underbelly with a closed fist. The wolf whimpered as it landed on the ground. Before it could move, I jumped on it and stabbed it through the underside of its jaw. The knife easily slid into the wolf¡¯s head and as it breathed its last breath, it slumped forwards onto the ground. I stood up swivelling to face the other predators. The wolves watched me cautiously, not ready to jump in recklessly. One of the wolves looked like it was preparing to charge, when I heard a shout from behind as well as the sound of hooves smashing against the grassy plains. I glanced over my shoulder to see four horses galloping towards us. Horses? Not a buggy or a four-wheel drive? Atop the horses was a man in what looked to be full metal armour with a large sword hefted in his left hand while his right guided the steeds'' reins. To the right, there was a thin man with a wooden bow in his lap. To the left, a older man with a long stick sporting a shiny gem at the top lay resting in his hands and behind the armoured man, a woman with two knives strapped to her waist held the reins with both hands. Coming to a stop beside us, the mysterious and armed people slid off of their horses and hurried over to stand beside me. The armoured man nodded to the dead wolf I had previously killed and stated ¡°Nice work, please allow us to assist you with these beasts.¡± I nodded and faced the wolves again. I fought briefly with the armed warriors before it had turned into a very one-sided battle. I watched as the armoured man swung his sword with ease slashing through wolf after wolf. The thin man with the bow shot arrows with deadly precision, often immobilising his targets so the woman with the twin knives could run in and dispatch the wolves who were unable to move. I looked to the man with the shiny stick and was disappointed to see him waiting for his companions to finish off the wolves. In a very short time, the remaining wolves whimpered and fled towards a line of trees in the distance.
¡°The name¡¯s Jorik, a pleasure to meet you!¡± I stared as the armoured man held his metallic hand out to me. I quickly shook it off and grasped his hand. ¡°Thank you for the help Jorik, I doubt I could have defended all of my friends on my own.¡± The thin man shook my hand next, smiling ¡°Ah a man with skill and who knows his limit, a rare combination these days. I¡¯m Faendal, a pleasure.¡± I nodded and smiled back at him. The woman with the daggers as she had called them approached next and shook my hand ¡°Fine work out there, I am Avella, but please call me Av.¡± I nodded and smiled ¡°Thanks Av, my name is Jay. Thanks for the help out there.¡± Av smiled and walked over to her companions. Lastly, the man with the shiny stick held out his hand ¡°Eomur, at your service.¡± I smiled and thanked the man for his help. I knew the man hadn¡¯t done anything but was grateful nonetheless. I noticed a couple people shoot me dirty looks but thought nothing of it. Maybe they wanted to shake their hands too, well there will be plenty of time to do so. After the introductions had been completed, Jorik stood in front of our group and said something unexpected. ¡°I am extremely happy that we arrived in time to find you all. You must have questions but I beg you to hold them until we arrive at Altheim.¡± I heard many of the group whisper amongst themselves but respecting the armed man¡¯s wishes withheld any questions they might have had. Thus began the long trek to the city of Altheim. 1-003 | CHAPTER 3: SHATTERED STONES JAY MYERS Jorik and the others led us towards a large city with a walled perimeter. After walking for three hours, we finally had reached a large bridge with an imposing portcullis across the other side of it. As we approached, a man on top of the wall noticed us and called out for us to state our business. Jorik bellowed back ¡°Upon the king''s name, I have found those who had been summoned!¡± I glanced at Jorik, unsure as to what he had meant by that but remembering he had said it would all be explained inside the city, I withheld my questions. I had no choice but to follow Jorik and be in the dark for the moment. I appreciated Jorik and his companions saving my ass with the wolves, but I didn¡¯t trust them. ¡°By the gods, is that you captain? A thousand pardons. Open the gate!¡± the man shouted. I glanced at Jorik, a hundred questions swirling in my mind but I held my tongue. As more details came to light, I became more suspicious of our group''s saviours. With a loud grinding noise, the large portcullis slowly rose. As we entered the city many armoured men cheered. Our group followed Jorik and walked through the streets towards a large, imposing castle. I noticed people watching our group from alleyways and side streets as we walked down a large road. At last we stood in front of a huge castle. I couldn¡¯t believe my eyes as my gaze raced across the expansive structure. Sporting tall walls, with numerous turrets shooting up at regular intervals. A huge complex of buildings interconnected with each other grew taller and taller as the buildings rose in a tiered fashion, leaving the last building to be the tallest. Numerous towers shot up from the castle. Jorik led us inside a large hall filled with elegant tapestries and furniture. We continued through and finally ended the long trek at a pair of large doors with multiple armed men guarding it. Jorik turned to us and stated in a clear and authoritative voice ¡°You are about to meet the king of our nation. Do not speak unless spoken to and show the utmost respect.¡± With that Jorik nodded to the guards and they struck the base of their weapons on the ground. Bang, bang, bang. A guard then shouted ¡°The search party has returned with the summoned!¡± Hearing that word again, I thought of all the stories I had read with people getting transported to another world, but dismissed it immediately thinking I was jumping to conclusions. There could be a reasonable explanation for this, I was sure of it. ¡°Greetings brave heroes! Welcome to the City of Altheim! You have been summoned here to assist us in a war against the demihumans who plague this land!¡± The king spoke his proclamation and I shook my head. I couldn¡¯t believe what I was hearing, it had to be some joke. I looked around the room and saw men and women in fine silk robes standing in a line on my left. On my right stood a line of armoured men ending in the four people I knew: Faendal, Jorik, Av and Eomur. In front I saw the king standing in lavish robes with a shiny, gold crown atop his head. Next to his large throne, three smaller seats housed a beautiful woman wearing equally lavish clothing with a smaller jewelled crown, what looked to be a girl in her teens and a young boy. The king smiled and noticed our apprehension, it seemed I wasn¡¯t the only one who held reservations. He announced with a rich voice ¡°I see many of you need to be convinced of the truth in the words I have spoken.¡± He smiled and continued ¡°Grandmaster, would you be so kind to show them a demonstration of your magical prowess?¡± Eomur answered at once ¡°Of course your majesty.¡± I watched as Eomur, who was apparently a grandmaster, walked over to an empty space in the large chamber. He muttered something we couldn¡¯t hear and struck his shiny stick once on the floor of the chamber. Light pooled in the gem and shone brightly, a flash of light shot out from the gem and a bout of fire floated above it. I stared as the fire crackled and flickered in midair. The king smiled and said ¡°Thank you grandmaster. As you can see this is not your world, it is ours.¡± Eomur bowed and returned to his place amongst the right hand personnel. I felt movement beside me and glanced to my side to see Jade sidling up next to me. Her expression showed worry and fear as she looked up to me, her big brother. I patted her head and whispered ¡°Don¡¯t worry Jade, I¡¯ll keep you safe.¡± Jade relaxed and leant against me. I wrapped my arm around and pulled her into a one-armed hug. I cautiously watched those in the room and saw many smiles among those present. I didn¡¯t like what I saw. Kaidan stepped up to the front and said ¡°Your majesty. I would like to help you in your war, but we are civilians in our world. None of us are soldiers. We wouldn¡¯t be much help to you.¡± The king smiled and announced ¡°In your world you may be weak and ordinary but in this world that is not the case.¡± The group shifted uncomfortably as they waited for the king to continue. ¡°We have prayed to the gods of light and they have answered our call.¡± The king looked around the room, his smile widening now showing teeth. ¡°The gods brought us the heroes we desperately needed and have blessed them with divine strength and powers.¡±
¡°Here you go hero.¡± I glanced up at the soldier who had handed me a strange spherical object that was dull and gray in colour. Everyone in the group had received the mysterious object and held it out on their palm as they were instructed. Jorik, captain of the Royal Knights, stood before them issuing instructions. He told us that it was a status stone and when bonded, it would tell us important information as well as our affinities and skills. The members of the group were to prick their finger with a dagger and let a few drops of blood hit the dull stone. Following the instructions, the group went one by one and Jorik took notes while examining their stones. Kaidan went first and let the blood drip onto the stone. ¡°Woah¡± Jorik gasped as the stone caught fire and let out a roar. Kaidan, not getting burnt, stared in amazement as the fire changed colour from a reddish-orange to a blue flame. The stone shone with what looked to be scales. Jorik took notes and said to Kaidan ¡°You have an affinity for powerful fire magic. You will be able to cast powerful flame spells with a little practice in the near future.¡± Kaidan smiled and laughed as he examined the blue flames. Jorik went down the line of friends. Joey had summoning magic, Damo could use ice magic, Cal could use light magic, Jake could use strengthening magic, and so on. Jorik paused in front of me, I was second last in the line. I pricked my finger and let a few drops of blood land onto the stone in my palm. The stone shone brightly, and Jorik watched in anticipation. I noticed shadows forming at the bottom of the stone invading the light and I saw cracks begin to show on the surface. A moment later the stone shattered in hundreds of pieces and fell to the floor. Jorik stood still and I saw a stiff expression on his face. Jorik said slowly, ¡°Ah well this is unexpected and disappointing.¡± I waited for him to continue but he didn¡¯t. ¡°What is?¡± I asked hesitantly. Jorik looked at me and said ¡°When a status stone shatters, it means you have no affinities and are unlikely to ever gain them in the future. It means you have no power.¡± I was confused as I was the only member of the group that had encountered a problem and looked over to Jade. I asked Jorik cautiously ¡°Does it run in the family?¡± Jorik laughed and told me it didn¡¯t and moved on to test Jade next. When Jorik stopped in front of Jade, she replicated what everyone had done previously and let a couple drops of blood drip onto the stone. I saw the same shadows swirl around the base of the stone and it too shattered after a moment. As the fragments of the stone fell away, Jorik jotted something down in his notes. Jade looked saddened by her results but stood tall and accepted what it meant for her stone to shatter too. ¡°You guys are useless. The useless siblings.¡± I looked over to my right and saw Grant pointing and laughing at my sister and I. Before I could respond, Jorik bellowed ¡°Silence! This man took down a few greenland wolves without any powers. I am sure he can still fight well without them going forwards.¡± Grant stopped and shrunk back into the line. I watched as Jorik defended me, but I didn¡¯t feel grateful. Instead my suspicion started to increase the more I interacted with them all. I noticed the notes Jorik had been writing now faced me. I leant forwards and read them. Hero¡¯s Affinities
Kaidan Draconic Magic Becca Taming Magic
Joey Summoning Magic Clarissa Elemental Magic
Damo Ice Magic Emma Barrier MagicThis story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Cal Light Magic Mia Water Magic
James Combustion Magic Alex Healing Magic
Grant Lightning Magic Ben Wind Magic
Jake Strengthening Magic Paul Mist Magic
Mitch Gravity Magic Mason Volcanic Magic
Josh Geo Magic Dan Fire Magic
Cass Telekinetic Magic Jay and Jade No Magic
I lay in the bed provided to me in the castle dormitories. I thought over all I had learnt from my time with the royal family and all of the interactions I had with the rest of the kingdom¡¯s personnel. Jorik was the captain of the royal knights. He was in charge of the most powerful knights in the kingdom and was in direct service of the king. Faendal was the captain of the ranged soldiers. That included archers and soldiers who operate siege engines such as ballistas and catapults. Av was, I¡¯m not sure what she does, and Eomur was the grandmaster and in charge of all of the mages within the kingdom. I wondered why the top brass were sent to collect us instead of a normal patrol of soldiers but came up with no answers. I don¡¯t have enough information. Over the next few weeks, our group trained with the royal knights and mages to enhance our abilities and train with the appropriate weaponry. Although I had been taught archery, blade work and many other useful combat skills. Hefting and swinging a large broadsword was something new to me. I trained as much as I could, incorporating my existing skills and techniques with the new ones I was taught by the knights. Even though I had no magical powers, I could still rival my friends that did. In the evenings, I visited the Royal Archives. I read about the history of the world and the races that inhabited it. I found that the world we had been summoned to was called Lacia. I poured through numerous historical texts but none of them spoke of the origins of the name. It was as if the world itself had willed it into existence. I read about the demihumans too. In every text they were depicted as despicable creatures who were impure and savage. The books mentioned bloody wars, where the humans fought many different tribes of the beasts and drove them from their domains. It continued this way for about a month when Jorik announced that they would be heading out on an expedition to the Shearmouth Caves in three weeks. We would train against weaker monsters with the support of the knights to acclimatise us to taking the lives of beasts and working together as a team. Three members of our group refused to go and decided they wouldn¡¯t fight in the war. Although they were disappointed, the kingdom didn¡¯t force them into fighting. The friends split into two groups: The Heroes Party and those who chose to stay behind. Since I didn¡¯t trust anyone in the kingdom, I decided it would be best for Jade to accompany me to the cave along with the heroes. Although the monsters could be dangerous, it was even more dangerous to leave her alone in a strange and suspicious city.
¡°Master Jay, if I could speak with you for but a moment?¡± I turned to see a man in elegant robes standing to my right. I walked over to him and asked ¡°What is it that you need?¡± The man smiled at me. ¡°By the king¡¯s orders we are to magically test those whose status stones have shattered. That being yourself and your sister.¡± I said nothing as I rested my hand on the hilt of the sword I had been given. ¡°Hold on a moment Master Jay. I came to speak with you to ask if you would willingly allow us to perform the tests on you and you alone.¡± I hesitated and then asked ¡°What do you mean?¡± The man replied ¡°Well if you were to sign this magical contract stating that we could perform the required tests, we would not involve your sister in any of this. How does that sound?¡± I had nearly forgotten but I remembered that apparently I had no powers. ¡°How can I sign a magical contract if I don¡¯t have magic?¡± ¡°Ah, well you see everyone has mana, but not everyone has an affinity. Meaning not everyone can channel their mana for complex or combative purposes, but they can sign a contract such as this.¡± I was wary of the supposed tests, but if this meant that my sister could be left alone, then I would do it. ¡°How do I sign this magical contract of yours?¡± The man smiled and explained how to do so and what a magical contract is. He told me that a magical contract was one that etched itself onto my soul. If I were to break such a contract, it would mean my death. The contract was set to go until the day before we left on the expedition to Shearmouth Caves. ¡°Come this way please,¡± the man said. I waited a moment before following him. I followed him towards a tall tower, we entered and headed up the stairs and into a circular room filled with instruments and other robed people. ¡°Please lie down onto the table, the experiments will begin momentarily.¡± Experiments? I thought to myself. That sounds a little different than a test. I lay down on the table and straps were tied around my arms and legs. I was full of apprehension and was scared of what was to come. The robed man held up a rod that crackled with lightning. ¡°Let¡¯s begin experiment number one.¡±
JADE MYERS Something is happening with Jay. He hasn¡¯t been himself for a couple weeks now, and the deadline for our trip to the Shearmouth Caves is fast approaching with only one week left. ¡°Jay, can I speak with you?¡± He turned and looked at me. His eyes, they seem so bleak, so¡­ dead. ¡°What are your plans for this evening?¡± He considered my question for a moment before answering. ¡°I need to help the researchers and then I¡¯ll head to bed.¡± With that he said his farewell and left in the direction of the tower the researchers base themselves in. Something is wrong but if he doesn¡¯t want to tell me on his own initiative then I¡¯ll have to find out on my own. After we get back from the upcoming expedition I¡¯ll investigate. More pressingly, I¡¯m really worried about the upcoming spar that¡¯s scheduled for tomorrow. Jay is facing off against Jake in a ¡®practice¡¯ match where the fight only stops when one side surrenders or cannot continue. In the beginning, Jay had outclassed all of our friends with his innate talents and knowledge of combat. However, the gap closed and widened instantaneously when his opponents began to channel their magical powers when sparring, and it widened in opposition to my brother. They use the word practice but lately it has just been extremely one-sided against my brother and those with ill-intent capitalise on it.
JAY MYERS The day passed quickly and now I stood waiting for the match to begin. Sparring against my friends has not been going very well from when they started to use magic and enchantments in the matches. My sister had protested on my behalf but had been shut down as this was the point of the practice matches - to further their groups magical prowess along with the weapons they would use to fight. Disallowing the use of magic would be counterproductive to their goals. I am facing off against Jake today, something I haven¡¯t been looking forward to. Jake and I have never gotten along well ever since I kicked his ass when I caught him looking my sister up and down one night. I had made it very clear that she was off-limits for him and if I ever caught him again I would not be so lenient with the next punishment. The intimidation had worked wonders and there hadn¡¯t been any problems but magic. It has changed the entire dynamic between us and I can¡¯t lie, I am a bit worried that I won¡¯t be able to overpower him if something happens with my sister. Something has changed with everyone, they¡¯ve all become a bit more impulsive. Not everyone of course, Damo was fine. Nothing much had changed between him and I but some of the blokes¡­ I hope I¡¯m just overthinking it. That cliche line with great power comes great responsibility had never been more true in this situation. Of course back in the old world, or should I say my world that was for those who were in power. Governments, militaries and so on, but now my friends have the power. I don¡¯t though, it was made abundantly clear and the experiments by those sick researchers has done little to change that. At least my sister doesn¡¯t have to deal with those sickos, the thought of it made me fume. Noticing movement in my peripherals, I glanced up to see Jake strutting across the training grounds. Yes, strutting. That fool was nonsensical but he was stronger than me. His power literally being, strengthening magic, but I won¡¯t let that deter me. I can still come out on top if I use my brain and my prior experience in fighting. Jorik stood off to the side about halfway between us. He threw a coin into the air, and when it landed the bout would commence. I watched as it rotated through the air, the sun shining across its gleaming surface. My vision flickered as I saw a blurred figure on fire, burning while screaming. Then it was gone. Clink! The coin had reached the ground and Jake had begun to move across towards me. His body shone blue as he began using his strengthening magic on his entire body. Dazed, I tried to mentally shake off whatever had affected me but my movements felt sluggish and delayed. I managed to raise my arm to block Jake¡¯s approaching fist. Crack! The bones in my forearm shattered and I was knocked backwards onto my rear. My thoughts still felt muddled and I had trouble trying to move my body. Before I could do anything I saw Jake¡¯s foot descending in what seemed to be a kick aimed at my chest. Crack! Several of my ribs broke and I began coughing. Why can¡¯t I move? My body still wouldn¡¯t respond to me and now I was getting beaten up. Several punches and kicks later, I saw Jake¡¯s fist rocket towards my face and everything went dark. 1-004 | CHAPTER 4: THE END AND BEGINNING JAY MYERS The heroes'' party entered a dank cave with the contingent of Royal Knights. We had travelled to Shearmouth Caves as it was a known den of weak monsters and only occasionally held monsters of a moderate threat level. The knights had previously explained the way they ranked monsters. Weak monsters are at the bronze level. They can be killed by novice adventures but can be hazardous as they are known to appear in large numbers. This rank is reserved for monsters that are numerous but not a threat such as slimes, greenland wolves, ghouls and many more. Moderate monsters are at the silver level. They required groups of experienced adventurers to eliminate them. They are deadly alone and brutal in packs. These can include emerald tigers, sun leopards, evolved types of bronze monsters and many others. Dangerous monsters are at the gold level. They require the formation of a large group of adventurers with highly ranked adventurers participating. They are often at the pinnacle of their power. They can range from sea serpents to wyverns. There were two ranks above gold but were only reserved for special cases. Platinum was next and was reserved for extremely dangerous beasts that had the strength to level a small town. They required support from other towns and could even require the kingdom''s army to assist. Any dragon was considered at least a platinum level beast but could be even deadlier. Above that was diamond, which boasted monsters capable of levelling an entire city, and required nearly an entire kingdom to band together to face such a grievous threat. In the past, it was not unheard of for kingdoms to request aid from others to assist them. There had been two recorded passages in a book that I had read. One was of Verlgander the Dragon of Lightning who decimated an entire nation. The other was of the leviathans found in the northern oceans. As monsters in this cave were primarily that of a bronze level with a scarce amount of silver monsters, it was a relatively safe place to train the young and inexperienced heroes in their abilities and new weaponry. We progressed through the cave finding little resistance. Our party of heroes were strong and could take out bronze monsters with ease. We had spent well over three hours in the dark confines of the caves when we entered a large cavern with slick, damp walls. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end and my eyes darted around the cavern. Just as I was about to warn my comrades that they should remain vigilant, a lithe feline darted out from behind a boulder and moved in to attack the group. A knight shouted ¡°Careful, that¡¯s an emerald tiger. It¡¯s ranked at silver!¡± Two members of our group ignored the knight¡¯s warning. Grant and Jake ran in and tried to slash and stab the green tiger with their sword and spear respectively. The tiger darted past the outstretched spear, batted the sword away with ease and sank its teeth into the calf of Grant. He cried out in pain and hastily tried to move away from the tiger. Before anyone could move in to help, a loud roar was heard from behind the boulder from which the tiger had first sprung from, and the group watched in horror as two more tigers approached. Jade, who had been on the side watching the tiger attack in fear, was singled out by one of the tigers and it bolted towards her. The rest of the group had saved Grant and had begun to retreat back the way we had come, no one was watching out for Jade. I sprinted across, with no time to ask for help or prepare, I simply stood in front of Jade and braced myself. The tiger crashed into me and slashed with both of its claws. The claws left long and deep cuts all over my body and I was sent flying into the wall of the cave. The tiger bolted forwards a second time and attacked me mercilessly, clawing all over my body, leaving deep and jagged cuts along my legs, chest, arms and even one along my face, I nearly lost an eye. The claw dug into the area above my right eyebrow and glanced downwards, missing my eye by a hair''s breadth continuing down my cheek. Blood dripped down obscuring the vision of my right eye. I looked up at the tiger, to see an arrow spring from across the cavern and sink into its neck. It cried out in pain and quickly scurried away. I watched as another arrow sunk into the tiger''s flank, along with a few more, all landing. The tiger tried to move away but instead slumped, falling to the ground with ragged breathing. I looked back to my group but they were standing still, mouths agape. I followed their line of sight to a large group of men in matching armour standing across the cavern. Jade ran over to my side and tried to help me but I was bleeding a lot all over. What little she could do was not going to stop the bleeding in the slightest. Jade teared up and continued to try and help me. ¡°Jay! Jade! Retreat! We need to leave right now!¡± I looked over to see Kaidan shouting to us. Jade shook her head motioning to me and shouted back ¡°Jay can¡¯t move! Please, come back and help us!¡± Kaidan and a few others stopped but didn¡¯t move towards us. Hesitating, Kaidan shouted something that neither of us wanted to hear: ¡°I¡¯m sorry but we can¡¯t risk it. You¡¯re on your own.¡± He waited a moment longer before disappearing into the dark recess the party had fled into. I watched as tears flowed down Jade¡¯s face. I lifted my hand and rested it on her cheek, Jade started and looked at me with tearful eyes. ¡°My, my what a splendid showing that was young man. I have to say I am impressed¡± Jade and I both looked over to where the voice had originated. A burly man with a thin moustache approached us, followed by his group of armoured men. ¡°I am the captain of this patrol, we are soldiers from the glorious nation of Vahn.¡± We watched and waited with bated breath. The captain smiled and continued ¡°You have shown us great valour and bravery in the face of danger. I see you hail from the kingdom of Altheim, although we are on opposing sides I have quite the generous proposal for you boy.¡± He stopped in front of us, and we waited for him to continue. His smile hadn¡¯t faded and he at last spoke his generous proposal. ¡°How about you switch sides boy.¡± His smile widened, his teeth glinting in the cavern. Jade stood and walked a few steps towards the captain. ¡°Absolutely not.¡± She spoke with authority making her stance clear. ¡°My brother and I will not fight in this silly war.¡± The captain¡¯s smile faded. He walked a few paces towards Jade and looked over her shoulder at me. ¡°Does your sister speak for you boy? What say you?¡± I tried to speak but only a hoarse whisper came out. ¡°What was that boy? Speak up¡± the captain said. I tried again with some success this time. ¡°My sister is correct.¡± I croaked, ¡°We want nothing to do with this war.¡± The captain stopped pacing and stood behind Jade. ¡°I see¡± he stated simply. I tried to move but my body wouldn¡¯t respond to me. The captain smiled and said ¡°I see¡­ so what you¡¯re saying is you won¡¯t comply because of your sister?¡± I was surprised but cautious so I remained silent. The captain smiled again and his eyes glittered. ¡°I suppose there¡¯s not much more to say. I see you cannot be persuaded by normal means.¡± The captain unsheathed his sword and raised it, preparing to strike. I tried to stand but couldn¡¯t, before I could warn my sister, the captain stabbed through her back. Jade gasped and looked down to see the sword jutting out from her chest, blood cascading down her front. Jade stumbled forwards and the sword withdrew from her body, she turned around and staggered towards me. I couldn¡¯t believe what had just happened, emotions swirled within me as my sister stumbled towards me. Surprise and shock changed to anger, in turn, changed to sadness. Jade fell in front of me onto her knees. She leant towards me and wrapped her arms around me, hugging tight. Blood spilt from the wound in her chest and back, and started to pool around us. The bleeding wouldn¡¯t stop, it poured out, more and more blood leaving Jade¡¯s body. Her breathing ragged, she started to cough over and over, blood spilling from her lips onto me. Jade leant towards me and whispered into my ear ¡°I will always be with you brother and I will always love you. No matter what happens I will always accept you, for who you are. I ¡­ love¡­ y¡ª.¡± Jade collapsed against me and I found the strength to hold her in my arms. She coughed a few more times and gazed up into my eyes. She lifted her hand to my cheek and rubbed the rough stubble with her thumb. I watched as my sister¡¯s arm fell limp to her side and watched the light drain from her sapphire eyes. The life faded from her as I held her in my arms. I couldn¡¯t speak, couldn¡¯t breathe, couldn¡¯t think. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Rage bubbled up from within and overshadowed the sadness I had felt before. Feelings of rage filled my entire body, but I couldn¡¯t move, he couldn¡¯t act. My wounds prevented me from releasing the rage building up inside. I looked up at the captain and saw him smiling down at him. The rage threatened to spill over from the turbulent ocean within. It was then when I heard a voice from inside my head, from inside my mind. Kill¡­ Kill them all! It shouted. Rip them apart¡­ Tear flesh from bone¡­ Shatter their souls! It roared. Not knowing whether the voice within was real, I whispered to myself ¡°I can¡¯t¡­ I can¡¯t move.¡± The voice took form inside of my mind in the shape of a beast, one with long fangs, and sharp claws. The beast laughed and said, do not worry, I will lend you my strength. However, there is a price¡­ I whispered back to the beast, ¡°What is it you want?¡± There was a pause and I waited. The beast answered, many things but they will make sense in time¡­ for now though I will lend you my strength and guide you through what is about to happen. I gasped as I felt a rush of power and strength course through my broken body. An intense burning sensation flowed through my body cauterising all of the wounds that covered me. Barely staying conscious through the pain and sound of my sizzling flesh, I noticed black lightning crackling around my body. A hand that was mine, moved without me guiding it and rested on Jade¡¯s wounded chest. The power surging inside me moved through my body. Guided by the beast, it flowed up to my shoulder, down my arm and out through my palm. There was a reaction. Light and shadows poured from the wound and surrounded me and my sister¡¯s still body. The soldiers shouted to each other ¡°What the fuck is going on?¡± Another cried ¡°Where did he go?¡± Another called out ¡°What is that darkness?¡± The captain silenced them all with a wave of his hand. ¡°Quiet men, weapons at the ready.¡± The beast continued to guide me and the light shot up in a straight line. A single pulse disrupted the serene beam of golden light. The shadows swirled around me and started to enter my body through my nose and wounds. I opened my mouth to breathe and it entered through there too. It entered my eyes and ears, I couldn¡¯t see and couldn¡¯t hear. A rush of sound like the roaring of waves and swirling darkness obscured all of my senses. I began to panic, but the beast simply laughed and said I will help you slaughter those who have stoked the fire within you. The furnace of rage within you has been lit and is burning with hatred. The darkness dissipated and finished entering my body. Swirling shadows continued to obscure us from the soldier¡¯s view. The beam of light shrunk and began to fade away, but before it disappeared completely, a beam shot out perpendicularly and hit me in the chest where my heart resided. The beast growled from within but didn¡¯t say a word. The light disappeared and the swirling storm of shadows dissipated into the air a moment later, and the soldiers stared at me. The captain shouted something but all I could hear was the beast. KILL!¡± ? All I could feel was the power that surged through every vein in my body. It filled my entire being and it burned. All of the pain felt from my wounds disappeared and all I could feel was the burning power within me, the burning rage. With an animalistic roar that was not my own, I stood up straight. The soldiers took a step back, but the captain held firm, shouting. Visions of my sister being impaled played in my mind nonstop. I saw it happen hundreds of times within a second. Over and over, it played. Rage filled me and my body acted so quickly that I didn¡¯t even know what I had done. My left hand held the head of the captain and my right was stained in crimson. Claws that weren¡¯t there previously dripped with the blood of my enemy. The soldiers backed away and held their weapons up. A single soldier charged and thrust his spear towards my throat. In a blur, I had dropped the severed head from my left hand and caught the shaft of the spear with it. I squeezed and the wood splintered and shattered. The spearhead dropped to the floor and the soldier blanched at his failed attack. He tried to back away but my right hand swiped at his neck and three deep and jagged slashes destroyed it. He gagged on his own blood and stumbled away, falling on his rear as he held his neck. Crimson blood spilt through his meager attempt to stop the bleeding and cascaded down his front, dripping ceaselessly to the floor. I stood over my victim and delivered the killing blow. A few soldiers threw down their weapons and knelt with their hands raised in surrender, one soldier charged while others ran. I wasted no time killing my attacker and chased the fleeing soldiers, killing them each with a flick of my wrist. My claws delivered mortal wounds with each swipe. I stalked back to the soldiers who stood with their weapons raised. An arrow shot towards my head. I blew it away with a swipe of my hand. A powerful gust of wind hit the arrow and sent it flying into the wall of the cave where it shattered. The soldier''s eyes were wide with fear and backed away towards the corner of the cavern as I stalked closer. With each fall of my feet I drew closer to my prey. I stopped a few feet away from the huddled group of soldiers. There were fifteen in total. I looked at their frightened faces and their shaking weapons. In the corner of my eye, I saw the kneeling soldiers and smiled. I barked a guttural laugh. A mix between my own and the beast within. I mercilessly killed every soldier in the corner save one, who had ran when my attack missed his chest. Instead I slashed off his arm. The soldier ran holding the stump of his missing limb with his free one. He stumbled and fell to the ground. He rolled onto his back and saw my face centimetres away from his own. The soldier was horrified and prayed to the gods as my bloody face curved into a gruesome smile. The last thing the soldier saw was my blurred claws approaching. I stood and slowly turned to the soldiers who had surrendered. I counted them. There were five soldiers who had thrown away their weapons and looked to me pleading for their lives. Their eyes shone with fear, I could smell it. They had pissed themselves and were begging to be spared. I started walking towards them when the beast spoke. Wait a moment. Allow me to do something for you. I waited patiently for the voice within. The beast''s presence faded and he felt another. A cold presence entered my veins and permeated throughout my body. If the last presence was that of a beast, this was one of a corpse, long faded to the will of time. It was that of a skeleton, long passed from this world. I heard a raspy voice from within. The reaper whispered, before you end their lives, I have a suggestion for you. ¡°Who are you!¡± I shot back in an angry tone. ¡°Where is the beast? I feel his power fading.¡± The reaper chuckled and replied in his raspy voice, Xeria has returned to the recesses of your soul, so I could help you with what comes next. I hesitated before asking the question that had come to mind. The raspy voice beat my own and simply stated, I will activate your ability. Xeria used it on your sister to retrieve me. It is the art of dissolving the souls of the dead. ? The reaper explained to me that I indeed had an ability. It was to capture the souls of the dead and dissolve them into my own soul. He told me it would taint my own soul in darkness but would grant me tremendous power. Enough to kill those who stand in my way and who have betrayed me. My rage bubbled to the surface, but the reaper stilled the crashing waves of anger within. Be patient, the reaper said. I asked the single question the reaper had not addressed. ¡°Why couldn¡¯t I use this ability when I first came to this place?¡± The reaper chuckled and answered, because this is a power born from darkness and you were previously balanced. Still unsure, I went to ask another but the reaper stopped me. More will become clear to you over time but let¡¯s not tarry lest the souls of the dead will disappear. I quelled the storm of questions that raced in my head and waited for the reaper to continue. I will now activate your ability. I felt a burning pain throughout my entire body and as soon as it had come it was gone. I was now filled with a freezing feeling, that of a blizzard which snaked through my limbs and to my core. Time slowed as my eyes adjusted to the immense light that filled my vision. I gaped at what I saw. Swirling balls of light coalesced and floated in the cavern above those I had killed. Balls of various colours shimmered and pulsed around the room. I heard the reaper whisper, Open yourself and absorb the souls of your enemies. Make their power yours. Make their knowledge your own. Make their abilities serve you. I did as instructed and spread my consciousness out to the souls. Tendrils of myself reached out to the souls of the dead. Once a tendril latched onto a soul, the ball of light started to melt away. I felt power surge into my body. I smiled as my strength increased. My smile faded when the torrent of knowledge entered my mind and overwhelmed me. I grasped my head in my hands and screamed. The pounding and pain in my head subsided as the information burned itself into my skull. As knowledge filled my mind, I brushed it aside and pushed it to the back. I will sort it out later. I thought. The reaper spoke, Excellent, I have never seen one such as yourself. You will serve as a worthy vessel. Now finish what you have started. I felt the presence of the reaper withdraw. As he did, the suppressed rage bubbled to the surface and the stilled anger rose, forming a tsunami of anger which roared in my mind. I picked up a cracked sword from a fallen soldier. I walked over to the surrendering soldiers and slit their throats. I watched as their crimson blood spilt to the floor. I watched their writhing bodies as they slowly stilled, the life fading from their eyes. I went to absorb their souls but the pain from my wounds the beast had previously suppressed, caught up to me and I collapsed. As my vision faded, I thought of my sister and a single tear ran from my left eye. It ran down my crimson stained face and landed in a puddle of blood that was a mixture of mine and and not my own. 1-005 | CHAPTER 5: THE LONELY PRISONER JAY MYERS Drip. Slowly lifting my eyelids, I saw a damp and musty room. Drip. My gaze wandered about lazily, taking in the place he now found myself. I saw a small puddle of water in the corner of the bricked room. I watched as a drop of condensation fell into the puddle. Drip. Looking away I searched the remainder of it. I saw three brick walls swathed in shadows. Turning I saw metal bars covering the remaining side of what I now knew was a cell. A dim lantern hung on the wall of the corridor outside, casting about a small amount of light. I had no idea where I was or how long I had been there for. I grimaced as a wave of pain racked my body. As the cool air flowed across my figure, my wounds burned. I glanced down to see long gashes down my shredded clothing, red and black in the dim light. My crushed armour and gear was nowhere to be found. Pushing through the aching pain, I stood and hobbled towards the cell bars. I gazed outside into the corridor and spotted numerous cells lining the walls. I heard footsteps approaching from outside of my vision. They steadily grew closer until I saw a pair of soldiers stroll down the dimly lit corridor. They approached my cell and stopped in front of the locked gate. ¡°Oi look, he¡¯s finally awake.¡± The soldier who had spoken thrust a key into the gate, with a turn and a click he pushed the gate open and walked inside with his partner in tow. I backed up until I found the wall, and watched the soldiers walk closer. They grabbed me and brought me over to the wall opposite the bars and forced my arms into metal constraints which they closed and locked around my wrists. They put a metal collar around my neck, which had a long, dangling chain bolted into the floor. Once they had finished they stepped back to examine their work. The soldier who had opened the cell took a couple steps towards me, his face centimetres away. I could feel his hot breath against my weary face. The soldier whispered ¡°You are gonna wish that you died in those damned caves.¡± He pulled his face back and punched me in the stomach. Leaving me gasping for air, they left the cell and locked the door behind them. ? Hours ticked away while I struggled to find moments to rest. The pain wracking my body had barely lessened and my wrists chaffed with every movement. I tried to find a position that didn¡¯t exacerbate my existing wounds and ended up hanging limply, with my feet resting heavily on the rough floor of the cell. Hours, turned to days. I ended up losing track of the time. I had no idea how long I had been left alone in this cell. Besides the occasional patrol of guards, I saw no one. My stomach tried to eat itself and my throat was parched beyond imagination. Feeling extremely weak, I wondered if this is how I would die. All alone. When I wasn¡¯t fighting my hunger and thirst, thoughts of my sister took over. My sadness and grief clashed with my ever present anger and rage. At last, when I didn¡¯t think I could last any longer, footsteps approached my cell and with the sound of metal grinding, the cell door swung open. A pair of soldiers walked in carrying a wooden tray. On the tray was a piece of bread and a cup of water. The soldiers put the tray down and picked up the cup. He brought it over to me and allowed me to drink the water. After the cup was empty, the soldier picked up the piece of bread and shoved it into my mouth. After I had roughly been fed, the soldiers picked up the dishes and left locking the door behind them. My appetite and thirst had not been sated, but I was going to survive another day. Soldiers brought bread and water daily, at least that¡¯s how it felt. With no means to track the time, I started to question how long it had been. Being all alone for an extended period of time started to get to me. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Fucking loner¡± I rasped, my voice barely audible due to a lack of using it. Who said you¡¯re alone? I looked around in confusion. I will always be with you human, the beast stated inside of his head. ¡°Is that the beast?¡± I asked myself. I heard a guttural bark of laughter followed by The beast. I guess that is true in a sense. The beast paused for a moment before continuing. I am Xeria, the god of annihilation. ¡°Xeria¡± I repeated. ¡°The god of annihilation. I see.¡± I began to think about what I had just heard. I asked the voice inside my head a question. ¡°Why are you inside my head?¡± Xeria answered with what seemed to be frustration. When you were brought to this realm, the gods of light gifted each of you with magical power. We, the gods of darkness decided to interrupt them and tried to ruin their plans. Unfortunately, we were too late to stop them from gifting the ones who came before you, but we were able to interrupt them gifting your soul, and the one who came after you. Xeria paused to think how best to explain the last bit to me. When I interacted with your soul, the goddess of light was already in the process of altering you and we clashed before being absorbed into you. It warped your body and your magic into the art of dissolving souls. ¡°Dissolving souls'''' I repeated. Xeria continued Yes, the art of dissolving souls. It is unheard of that a human was granted such a sacred ability. However, when we tried to escape your body, we were unable to and were trapped inside your vessel. Is there no way for you to escape my body?¡± I asked. Xeria answered No there is not, the three of us have searched for a way to leave but were unsuccessful. ¡°I see,¡± Jay replied. ¡°Wait, the three of you?¡± Yes, the three of us. You have already met Mors. Mors come say hello. A cold, raspy voice replied Greetings human, I am Mors. The god of death. ¡°I remember you,¡± I said. ¡°You were the one who helped me with my ability.¡± Mors chuckled and said That is correct. I see you have not made use of the knowledge gained from those souls yet. Do you know how? `I paused, then answered ¡°I don¡¯t know. I can feel information in my head but it is just out of reach.¡± Mors replied, Do not fret human, I can help you access that knowledge. Mors taught me how to access the knowledge I had absorbed when I dissolved the souls of the soldiers from the cavern. I had to loosen my mental barrier to let the information seep into me. ¡°Ow!¡± I cried. Yes, having the knowledge enter you will hurt at first, but you will get used to it. When a soul contains a large amount of information you didn¡¯t know, it will hurt as you absorb all of the unknown knowledge. However, if you already know about it, the information will dissipate and not be absorbed. This will happen automatically. The more you absorb, the less it will hurt. I understood what Mors meant. ¡°I see, so the more I know, the less new and unknown information there¡¯ll be.¡± Mors chuckled, that is correct. I sifted through all of the information I had absorbed. I learned about the nation of Vahn and about their military. I learned about the best tavern to get mead from and the best brothels to visit in Boren. ¡°Ugh, these soldiers were bums,¡± I said to myself. ¡°Boren, huh. This is where I must be then.¡± Sifting through memories, I learned that the town of Boren was a small walled community near the edge of Vahn¡¯s borders. Soldiers stationed in Boren often found themselves up against other nations and their soldiers. That¡¯s what must¡¯ve happened to me, I thought to myself. ¡°Xeria?¡± I asked myself. Yes? the beast replied. I asked what he thought to be the most pertinent question so far. ¡°Who is the third person inside of me?¡± Ah. Xeria replied and didn¡¯t continue. ¡°Xeria?¡± I asked. He replied with a start, Well a goddess of light is inside of you. I don¡¯t talk to her, ask her yourself. With that, Xeria retreated to the confines of my mind. Not knowing any more than that, I hesitantly asked myself, ¡°Hello, goddess of light. Are you there?¡± I felt light within myself, then felt a being inside start, pouting? No reply came from within and I gave up. 1-006 | CHAPTER 6: THE BOWELS OF BOREN JAY MYERS Footsteps. I could hear people stomping down the corridor. I looked towards my cell door and saw multiple figures stop outside of it. From my estimate, it had been a week since I first awoke in this cell. The door squeaked open, and four men entered. Three armoured soldiers and one older man in dark blue robes. The soldiers came close to me and the robed man stood a few paces away. The soldier on my right announced ¡°You had better answer our questions or this will not be pleasant for you.¡± I had gathered that I was still alive exclusively for this purpose. The questions started out simple. ¡°Who are you?¡± The soldier asked. I remained silent. ¡°Answer now or there will be consequences!¡± The soldier said angrily. Silence. The soldier punched me in the face. He asked again, was met with silence and punched me. The cycle repeated over and over. The questions changed. ¡°What happened in the Shearmouth Caves?¡± Silence. More punches. ¡°What happened to the soldiers on patrol?¡± Silence. More punches. ¡°Who are you working for?¡± The cycle repeated over and over. Different questions were asked and were ignored. The soldier drew his blade and made a shallow incision on my back. I gritted my teeth as an explosion of pain seared across my back ¡°What are you doing?¡± the robed man asked. ¡°Beating him clearly isn¡¯t yielding any results, we¡¯ll have to try this next.¡± The questions started over and besides my occasional screams of pain, I gave no responses. The soldiers and robed man left me in my cell bleeding from the numerous cuts they had inflicted. There were shallow gashes all over my body with the exception of his face. The next day it was repeated. And the next. And the one after.
What felt like three days had passed with me not answering any questions. The robed man stepped forward and the soldiers retreated. ¡°I had not thought I would need to use magic on this filth but it appears I was wrong.¡± Use magic? I thought to myself. The robed man began to chant quietly to himself. I thought I heard the word ¡®mental¡¯ somewhere in the chant. I definitely thought that man was mental and hoped that was all it had meant. Vyom. My vision began to flicker and darken. Memories of my past flashed before my eyes. The day I had lost my parents, the day I lost my grandfather, and the day my sister had been murdered. They began to flash in my mind. My thoughts swam amongst the currents of pain I was being subjected to. The pain began to pierce my mind and once it started, it didn¡¯t stop. The pain was unbearable. I was being forced to watch my sister be killed over and over. The blood gushing out of her wound. The sound of the sword being pulled out of her. The glisten of blood pouring from her lips. The shine of tears falling from her face. The sound of her ragged breathing. It was all too much. It felt like hours had passed, then it was over. I blinked, and in front of me was the robed man. He was smiling. There was a glint beneath his robes, I looked towards it and saw¡­ ¡°Why are you wearing that?¡± I screamed at him. ¡°I am the one asking the questions here, not you.¡± I struggled uselessly against my restraints and stared him down with the worst glare I could. ¡°Why are you wearing that pendant?¡± I screamed. ¡°How bothersome.¡± The robed man sighed. ¡°This pendant was found in the cave you were found in, and I took a liking to it? Now answer my questions or else.¡± ¡°That pendant belongs to my sister, now give it back¡± I screamed. ¡°Enough!¡± he shouted. My vision began to darken once more and I was subjected to the pain of seeing the horrific incident over and over. This mental torture happened over and over until at last I broke. ¡°I will answer your questions,¡± I said to the robed man. He smiled. ¡°Excellent. Now then what is your name? And just so you are aware, I can tell if you''re lying with my magic.¡± he said, the smile never leaving his face. ¡°My name is Jay.¡± The questioning continued and the robed man asked about who I was and where I was from. I had replied to that with ¡°Not from around here.¡± The robed man tried to coax me into elaborating but I refused. The questioning then turned to the events that had occurred in the Shearmouth Caves. ¡°What happened to the patrolmen inside those caves?¡± the robed man asked. ¡°I don¡¯t remember.¡± I said after a while. ¡°I told you not to lie filth.¡± The robed man nodded to a soldier and he made a few incisions onto my back with his sword. ¡°Now let¡¯s try that again. Answer truthfully, otherwise I will have to use that magic again.¡± I winced, but remained silent. I couldn¡¯t tell them, my life would be forfeit if I divulge that information. With me refusing to answer his question. The robed man began the mental assault once again. However, I refused to answer no matter what he did. They tried various methods of torture. Besides the few meals and water they gave me, every other visit brought pain. They tried beating me, cutting me, whipping me, mentally assaulting me, leaving me naked in my cell, subjecting me to ice magic. They tried burning me, using devices to stretch my limbs and locked me inside a coffin with no light aside from a couple holes to let me breathe. Weeks passed and I still refused to answer them. I hurt everywhere, but the worst of them was the mental torture. The robed man visited again to work his horrible magic. This time it was when Kaiden had abandoned us. ¡°You¡¯re on your own, You¡¯re on your own, You¡¯re on your own, You¡¯re on your own¡± I heard Kaidan¡¯s voice over and over, warping and compounding. The incessant noise wouldn¡¯t leave my mind. Over and over. I grinded my teeth and wanted to scream. The noise dug into my head and kept digging deeper and deeper. ¡°You¡¯re on your own.¡± ¡°You¡¯re on your own.¡± ¡°You¡¯re on your own.¡± ¡°You¡¯re on your own.¡± ¡°YOU¡¯RE ON YOUR OWN!¡± It wouldn¡¯t end. It wouldn¡¯t stop. Slowly, I began to lose my emotions. I had to give them up if I wanted to keep my sanity. I threw away everything except my anger and hatred. Instead of hurting me, the visions made me angry. Instead of causing me pain, the beatings made my hatred grow. I don¡¯t know how long I have been imprisoned for, but it has been a long time. I don¡¯t even know who I am anymore. I had hoped that they would leave me alone or kill me after a while of refusing to answer their questions but they kept at it every day. Slowly, my thoughts changed from wanting to die and be done with my miserable existence to contempt for my captors. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. I wanted to kill them, to tear the limbs off, to cut them and subject them to a fraction of the pain they had caused me. I was unguarded and left alone when they had finished with their ¡®questioning¡¯. Back near the beginning they had used his blood on a status stone and it had shattered, so they believed that I didn¡¯t have any skills and was not a threat. I didn¡¯t correct them. I will kill that magician. I thought to myself. I will kill him and take back my sister¡¯s pendant.
Agsius the Court Magician ¡°Today is a special day!¡± I announced, inside the cell of the criminal. Hmmm. Criminal is annoying, I should call him something else, I do come here almost everyday after all. ¡°I have decided to grant you a name, you wretch. I have decided to call you Solus.¡± I smiled. ¡°Do you know why?¡± He didn¡¯t respond, just simply stared at me. ¡°Because you are all alone, just how scum should be. So now your name is Solus.¡± I started chanting softly and cast a spell on the filthy wretch. I watched as he tried to move but was unable to. ¡°I have casted a spell of paralysis onto you.¡± I said with a smile. I directed the soldiers to unshackle him from the wall and put a cloth sack over his head. The soldiers picked him up by his arms and began to carry him away. The soldiers had taken him through the dungeons and up into the town, I directed the soldiers to attach him to a large pole and tie him to it. ¡°Partial release.¡± I watched as the presence restricting his movement was gone from his head. He could turn and look around. He looked at what he was tied to. I laughed as I similarly examined the contraption. It was a flat carriage with horses attached to the front of it. He was tied to a pole which forced him into a standing position and left him open to the elements and to the people. The horses began to trot forward onto a large street. Hundreds of people were lined up on either side of the road. He looked around at them and noticed that they were all holding something in their hands. I held up a roll of parchment and began to read its contents. ¡°This man¡¯s name is Solus and he is responsible for the Shearmouth Massacre. He committed an atrocity and shows no signs of remorse. Feel free to take your frustration out on this filth.¡± I looked at the people on the sides and saw them move their arms back. They all started to pitch something at him. He was being pelted by rocks. Hundreds of rocks were thrown and many found their mark. I heard the stone throwers shout at him. ¡°Murderer!¡± ¡°Scum!¡± ¡°My husband was killed by you!¡± A few hours later, I brought Solus back to his cell and the soldiers restrained him. Once that was done we left him battered and bruised. That will teach you, you filthy criminal. All will bow to the almighty Agsius. A smile crept onto my face as I imagined torturing the scum tomorrow. JAY MYERS Humans are so ignorant. I thought to myself. They believe whatever they are told without trying to pierce the veil. They don¡¯t know that their precious soldiers murdered my sister. I WILL KILL THEM ALL! Do you want to kill them all? Xeria asked. Yes, I will tear them apart. No-one is innocent. Then when the time comes I will assist you, for the moment however. I felt Xeria¡¯s presence retract as he went back into my soul. Soul, I thought to myself. Do I even have one anymore? I thought back to when my sister was still with me. Ever since I lost her, I feel alone. I feel soulless. Soulless? I ran the word through my mind. I have no family. I have no-one and I am alone. I don¡¯t know how to feel anymore, it¡¯s just too painful. I guess that piece of shit magician was right. My name is Solus.
An endless amount of time passed and I had been ¡®questioned¡¯ three different times. If they did it once a day, that meant it had been three days since the stoning incident. ¡°Get in there you filthy demis.¡± I looked up. Demis? As in demihumans? I watched a group of soldiers shove a bunch of animal people into the cell across from his. He watched as the robed man entered the cell with four soldiers. Are they going to be tortured too? I watched as the robed man began to ask them questions. None of them answered him. He raised his hand and a soldier pulled out his sword. He walked over to one of the animal people and swung his sword at its neck. I watched as the head dropped to the ground and rolled before coming to a stop. The old me would have been disgusted by a sight like that. I thought to myself. How I have changed. The decapitations continued until there were none left. The robed man exited the cell with his soldiers in tow and met my gaze. He smiled and waved his hand at the headless corpses as if he was showing off a piece of art. Humans are filth. The soldiers and the robed man left and I activated my ability. Different coloured orbs shone in the dim cell across from me. I extended myself towards the souls and dissolved them into myself. An immense amount of knowledge burned into my brain. My vision flashed as hundreds of memories played and imprinted themselves in my mind. What I learned was disgusting. Humans treated beastkin as lesser creatures. They called them demihumans or animals and hunted them for sport. If beastkin were captured, they would either be enslaved or executed. From this knowledge I gained, I found conflicts in what I had read from human texts and the knowledge of the deceased beastkin. Of course each side would have bias, but from what the beastkin has shown me... Humans are despicable.
I woke up and opened my eyes to see the robed man opening the door to my cell. He was accompanied by his usual retinue of soldiers. ¡°I¡¯ve grown tired of this farce,¡± the robed man said. ¡°You are scheduled to be executed the day after tomorrow.¡± I remained still and didn¡¯t say anything. This seemed to anger the robed man. He ordered his guards to begin their ¡®questioning¡¯ and waited for them to finish. For what seemed like an eternity, they had finally finished their bloody work. The robed man seemed dissatisfied so he ordered the soldiers to impale each of my limbs with their swords and leave them there. He laughed as he left the cell with his soldiers, locked the door and walked down the corridor out of sight. The swords weighed heavily and caused torrents of pain with every small movement. I am tired of this torment, Xeria. Will you lend me your power soon? The time is near, I will lend you my strength tonight. We will slaughter them under the darkness and make our escape. I look forward to it. The hours slowly ticked away as I waited for Xeria to give me power. It is time. I felt a surge of power enter my body. It was like a storm welled up inside of me, coursing through my veins. I flexed my hands and yanked hard. The metallic manacles that had kept me stationary all this time snapped as easily as a twig. With my hands free, I used them to tear the remaining chains off of me. I moved towards the cell door and ripped it off of its hinges and threw it across the corridor. The screeching and crashing sound of my work was bound to attract soldiers, but that was the point. I screamed in pain as claws began to protract from my fingers and a fire began to attack my wounds. The bleeding stopped immediately. I looked at the swords still inside of me. I ripped them out one by one and dropped them onto the floor. It is time for the hunt. I moved through the corridor, searching for my prey. It wasn¡¯t long before I spotted a group of soldiers, they saw me and ran away down the corridor. That¡¯s right, run. I swung my claws at the lanterns lining the walls pitching the corridor into darkness. I could see well in the darkness. I slowly walked along the corridor smashing lanterns. A soldier ran out towards me and I slashed at him. My claws raked across his face down to his stomach, leaving deep and jagged cuts down his body. He dropped to the floor and convulsed before stilling. One. I walked towards a large contingent of soldiers. They couldn¡¯t see me yet but it wouldn¡¯t be long. My claws dripped with the blood of the soldier and left a red trail down the hall. I came into the light and the soldiers shot arrows and magic towards me. So slow, I thought. I dodged the incoming projectiles with ease, the ones I couldn¡¯t I simply smashed or absorbed into my claws. My body burned with hatred as I charged towards the line of shields. I swung my arm and tore through the metal shields as if it were paper. I tore limbs off of soldiers and tore some in half. My strength was off the charts and my anger began to take control. I had no mercy as I slaughtered soldier after soldier. As their lines began to thin and break they became more frenzied and chaotic. They swung their swords without regard to their fellow soldiers and hit their comrades instead of me. A soldier with special markings on his armour broke away and began to run from the fight. I killed the remaining soldiers and smashed the lanterns, cloaking the corridor in darkness. I saw the soldier stop and turn around, he hit two things together and a flame appeared. Matches, I thought. I stalked closer and closer until I was in front of him. He noticed too late however, as I slashed his neck with my claws. He raised his hands to his neck from which he was bleeding profusely. Shortly after, he dropped to the floor and bled to death. I saw another soldier run away, bleeding from a gash on his stomach. I chased him towards a cell. I noticed it was full of beastkin. I lunged and grabbed the soldier by the neck. I held the soldier as he squirmed in my grip. ¡°Please don¡¯t kill me, it isn¡¯t my fault I swear.¡± ¡°Where was the mercy when you tortured me huh?¡± I asked. ¡°You humans are filth, every single one of you. I am disgusted that I share the same race.¡± ¡°Please let me g-¡± The soldier never finished as I crushed his throat. I looked at the dying soldier in my grip, then threw him at the wall. Intense pain flooded my body as the claws began to retract and I felt the strength ebb away. I heard a woman¡¯s voice in my head. Stop. The voice said. Who are you and why the hell should I take orders from you. I am the Goddess of Parity, I am Aequa. Okay, so what do you want then oh goddess. Hmph. Such disrespect. Moving past that, I want you to release the beastkin. Why should I do that? Why? You have killed many in your escape, should you not rescue some to maintain a balance? I don¡¯t need a balance. I will kill anyone who stands in my way and anyone who has wronged me, and right now that is a lot of people. I do not wish to argue with you. Please do as I have asked. Seeing how this was going to go in circles, I relented. Fine I will free the beastkin. Thank you. The presence retracted back inside and he heard no more from Aequa the Goddess of Parity. I walked over to the soldier I had thrown and fished around his pouches until I found a set of keys. I headed towards the occupied cell and unlocked the door. I entered and looked at the beastkin, they looked terrified of me. I leant against the wall and tried to speak but my strength was fading. I struggled to stand as everything went black. 1-007 | CHAPTER 7: THE CAGED FOX LENA OF FOXKIN How did it get to this? I thought to myself. How did they find us? It was no use thinking about it. Our current mission was to observe the comings and goings of Boren to ascertain whether they were planning on launching an offensive against us, or any surrounding cities and towns. Unfortunately, we failed and were subsequently caught and brought to the dungeons. They had separated us into two groups, one was taken away towards a different section of the dungeon and the other was in this cell. There were thirteen of us in the large cell. We could hear screaming from the direction the others were sent and knew that nothing good was to come of our imprisonment. In human countries, beastkin were hunted and were either enslaved or executed. They deemed us as lesser than them and treated us horribly. Many a beastkin had lost family members to the humans and many despised them. Our reaction to seeing a human was to either flee and hope we weren¡¯t spotted, or to kill them. No beastkin had communicated with humans in a long time, and none were likely to in the coming years. Soldiers brought us pieces of stale bread and pitchers of dirty water occasionally. On one of the visits, a soldier laughed as he told us about our brethren. ¡°They¡¯re all dead!¡± He said and continued to laugh as he walked away. Even though all of our brethren were supposedly dead, we still heard screams from the same direction they had been sent. If the soldier had been telling the truth, who was the one screaming? Roughly a week had passed, is what my body told me as I stood and stretched in my cell. Many of the others had lost hope to ever see the outside again, and to be honest I wasn¡¯t that far behind. If I had to guess the time, I would say that it was night. I had no way to see outside, nor did I know any utility magic to tell the time. I just had a feeling, instincts maybe? I had thought that this night would pass like every other in this prison. Then, I heard screaming. Soldiers ran towards the direction of the screaming. They had panicked faces and had already drawn their weapons in preparation for a fight. Sounds of clashing steel and screams rang through the musty corridors and reached our cell. Then it stopped. There was silence. My hair stood on end and my instincts screamed danger. A soldier staggered towards my cell, bleeding heavily from a wound in his stomach. He had a fearful expression and was trying to move as quickly as he could as if he was trying to escape. What is he running from? I thought to myself as the answer became clear. Someone or something was approaching the cell and the soldier; and its aura, screamed death. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. A clawed hand sprang from the darkness and wrapped itself around the soldiers neck. The hand was attached to¡­ a man? A beast? I wasn¡¯t sure what I was looking at until it had come into the light. It was a man with sharp claws on each hand and foot. He wore tattered pants and no shirt. He had horrific scars all over his body. It looked like he had been cut a thousand times, then burned. All of the cuts looked as if they had been cauterized. He was covered in blood from head to toe, whether it was his own or not was another question entirely. He held the soldier by the neck and stared at him coldly. The soldier squirmed and begged for his life. ¡°Please don¡¯t kill me, it isn¡¯t my fault I swear.¡± ¡°Where was the mercy when you tortured me huh?¡± The man asked, his words dripping with malice. ¡°You humans are filth, every single one of you. I am disgusted that I share the same race.¡± ¡°Please let me g-¡± The soldier never finished as the man squashed his throat. He looked at the dying soldier in his grip, then threw him at the wall opposite the cell where I could hear his bones shatter. I watched the man closely. If what he said is to be taken at face value, he was a human who despised other humans. He didn¡¯t look human, he had claws dripping with blood. Suddenly the man arched his back and screamed. The claws began to retract into his fingers and disappeared. He was breathing heavily and the wounds that had been burned shut, began to crack and blood began to seep out and down his body. He staggered over to the body of the dead soldier and rummaged through his uniform. He then stood up and walked haphazardly towards our cell. I began to back away from the bars of the cell and watched as he approached the door. He pushed a key into the lock, turned it and with a click he pushed the cell door open. He looked at us warily and staggered inside, leaning against the wall. He looked us over, and collapsed. Blood dripped from his wounds and began to pool around his fallen figure. I cautiously watched to see if he would wake up and move but he didn¡¯t. I slowly started to walk over to him. ¡°Lena! What are you doing?¡± I turned to see a hairy faced man with long whiskers looking at me. That was Rode of Tigerkin. ¡°I''m checking to see if he is alright.¡± I replied. ¡°That human is dangerous, why would you help him?¡± He made a valid point. ¡°He opened our cell door when he had no obligation to do so, and you heard what he said. He hates humans.¡± Ignoring the protests from many of my brethren, I walked over to the collapsed man and looked him over. He had numerous wounds all over his body and many were dripping with blood. I was no magician, but there was a certain Tigerkin who was capable of lesser healing magic. I beckoned to Selce to come over. She hesitantly approached and squatted down next to me. ¡°What is it?¡± She asked. ¡°Please use your healing magic to close his wounds. I know you cannot do more than that but at least stop the bleeding.¡± I told her. She started to shake her head and refuse. I grabbed her hand and said ¡°Please Selce, for me.¡± She relented and began to cast her healing magic to close the wounds of the man who had saved them. 1-008 | CHAPTER 8: THE BEASTKIN SOLUS The pain is better, I thought to myself. It¡¯s no longer that excruciating pain that made me to black out. I thought back to what had happened before I had lost consciousness. I had slaughtered those despicable soldiers and chased a straggler to an occupied cell. I had killed him when suddenly Aequa, the elusive goddess of light had spoken to me and asked me to open the cell door. I had found the key in the soldier''s belt pouch and opened the door. I had walked in and looked at the occupants. They looked like more animal people similar to the ones that had been killed in the cell across from me, more beastkin I suppose. I tried to speak but had passed out before I had a chance to do so. I opened my eyes to see the ceiling of the dungeon I very much wanted to escape from. I tried to sit up, but pain wracked my body. I pushed through it and sat up. I rubbed my eyes and looked to see a bunch of beastkin looking at me. Some seemed cautious, some curious and others looked ready to strike me down. I leant against the wall I was next to and sat there, not saying a word. None of us broke the silence. Eventually, a girl with ears on the top of her head stood and spoke to me. ¡°Do you understand me?¡± She asked. I nodded choosing to remain silent. She nodded back and began to speak. ¡°I am Lena of Foxkin. I would like to thank you for opening the door to our cell. We treated your wounds as best we could in the circumstances.¡± Foxkin huh. Her ears sort of looked like a foxes and I spotted a bushy tail behind her. Treated my wounds? I guess it felt better than it had previously. She waited for me to speak but I refrained from doing so. She continued with a slight nod. ¡°Since I have told you mine, could you tell us your name?¡± She asked. A simple question, but I hesitated. My name. How long had it been since someone had used it? Weeks? Months? She waited patiently for me to answer. I thought about remaining silent but she had told me her name first so I guess it was fair. ¡°My name is¡­ Solus.¡± The animal people looked confused and Lena paused for a moment but pressed on ¡°Are you planning to leave this town?¡± I nodded and she looked relieved. ¡°We lost most of our fighters when they took them away, they said they had been killed. Do you know if this is true?¡± She asked. I hesitated, then nodded slowly. Many of the group looked crestfallen, but at least they knew the truth. I wasn¡¯t sure where this was going but maybe they knew the way out of here. It had been so long since I had first been locked up in this place, and they had always put a bag over my head when they took me out of my cell, so I had no idea how to escape. ¡°Since we are lacking fighters, will you come with us?¡± Lena asked. I paused before answering. ¡°I will fight with you until we are out of this town.¡± Lena nodded as if she expected an answer along those lines. With that, she began talking to the others and preparing for what was to come. LENA OF FOXKIN With all of my comrades ready to go, I motioned for Solus to come with us. I led the way with Solus a few steps behind me, following the two of us were the rest of the beastkin. We rounded a corner where I was met with a horrific sight. Bodies were strewn across the corridor, the walls and floor were dyed crimson. Splatters of blood reached high up the walls and even onto the ceiling. Many of the dead soldiers had been ripped apart. I looked at Solus who simply glanced at the carnage and continued to move forwards. Two members of the escaping party threw up onto the bloodstained floor and others looked not far off from the same. We swept through the deceased and continued to move towards the exit. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. We passed a cell when Solus stopped. I paused and looked back at him. His expression was unreadable. He gazed into a cell who¡¯s door looked like it had been ripped off the hinges. The cell was bare with the exception of broken iron manacles and chains littering the floor. Upon closer examination, it looked as if the floor was painted red. Knowing that all cells were likely to have been identical, the floor must have not started that colour. I glanced at Solus who continued to stare at the empty cell. I couldn¡¯t begin to imagine the torment he must have endured in this prison and I vowed to try and get him to come with us. I doubted he would get very far on his own with him being hunted as a criminal. For now we had to keep going. I lightly touched his shoulder and he jumped away hissing at me. His hand resting on the hilt on a sword sheathed by his waist, he looked at me with cold eyes and looked ready to kill. Where did he get that sword? I thought to myself. Never mind. Speaking softly I told him ¡°We need to keep moving.¡± He nodded before glancing one last time at the place he had been kept in previously. We met no soldiers on the way up from the dungeons. Only two guards were stationed in the building above it and Jay dispatched them with little resistance. No alarms had been sounded so it looked like it would be easy to slip out of the town if we could avoid the guards on patrol.
We had nearly made it to the gates when a bell started to clang loudly from the direction of the dungeons. An alarm, they¡¯ve realised. Our group began to move more quickly and we reached the gate. There were ten guards standing in front of a large wooden gate which was closed and locked with a large metal bar across it. ¡°You will not pass, you filthy animals¡± A guard shouted at us. Our group stopped before the guards, but Solus kept running. ¡°Solus¡± I called out but he didn¡¯t stop. He unsheathed his sword and threw it. His target was surprised and wasn;t able to raise his shield quick enough, so the sword plunged into his chest and he went down. Solus screamed as he began to smoulder. Steam and smoke rose off of him and claws began to protract out of his fingers. The guards looked mortified but formed up into a three rank and file formation. It didn¡¯t matter. Solus swiped with his claws and the first three guards fell with the first one he struck being split in two. The rest fell within seconds. I watched in stunned silence and I glanced at the others to see they were in a similar situation, some even looked horrified. Solus picked up a sword and sheathed it. He turned to look at us. ¡°What are you standing around for?¡± He turned away and tore the metal girder barring the gate closed and it flew into a building nearby. What incredible strength. Our group ran forwards and pulled the gate open. We saw the land surrounding Boren and a treeline not too far from the walls that we could run to. Nearly there. ¡°SOLUS!¡± I turned back to see Solus had stopped moving. He stood unmoving as he turned his head to gaze back towards the main street. I saw a man in blue robes approaching with a contingent of soldiers. There had to have been at least one hundred men. ¡°You¡­¡± Solus growled. 1-009 | CHAPTER 9: ONE AGAINST A HUNDRED SOLUS That man, that despicable prick. I saw the magician leading a wall of metal armour and gleaming weaponry. My entire body burned with hatred as I stared at him. The glint of the pendant caught my eye. Rage bubbled up inside as I contemplated how to kill him. Do I make it excruciating or do I end it in one slice? I could hear Lena yelling at me to keep running, but I was not having it. I will kill this magician and take back what belongs to me. ¡°All of you keep going,¡± I said to the beastkin who had stopped running to watch me. They listened and ran, all except for Lena. She ran back to me and pulled on my arm to run too. I watched as she winced in pain as she was burned by my boiling rage. ¡°Please you need to run too¡± She said with tears in her eyes. I shook my arm free. ¡°No, I will stay and fight. Get out of here or you¡¯ll be killed.¡± She shook her head. Twang. I pushed her away roughly and she tumbled away as something impacted my right shoulder. I glanced to see an arrow sticking out. I snapped the shaft and threw it to the ground. ¡°So this is your true nature, Solus. You filthy monster.¡± I roared and a bestial sound could be heard from the farthest reaches of Boren. It was a sound of malice and death. The magician paled and disappeared into the ranks of the soldiers. My eyes searched for him but he was gone. My anger was not. ¡°Spearhead formation!¡± A soldier yelled. The rank and file of the soldiers changed in an instant to that shaped like an arrowhead. With the soldier who called out the order in front, with the soldiers doubling the further back you went. My mind had one singular focus, to kill that fucker, that magician. I heard Lena scream at me but it was too late. I couldn¡¯t hear anything over the waves of rage that crashed in my mind. My feet moved in a blur and in an instant I was in front of the leading soldier. My dagger-like claws raked across his chest burying deep into him. He screamed and fell. That was only the beginning. Lena of Foxkin ¡°No, please no¡± I said to no-one in particular. All of my comrades had used the distraction to escape into the woodlands. I watched as Solus fought against the increasing number of soldiers. Even an amateur could tell that with each soldier Solus killed, two appeared to take their place. ¡°I WILL KILL YOU MAGICIAN!¡± Solus roared in anger and desperation. Why am I still here? I could have ran too but¡­The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. I couldn¡¯t turn away from this fight. I ran towards Solus and picked up a discarded sword from a dead guard on the ground. As I approached three soldiers broke off from the rear and ran towards me. I settled into a defensive stance as the soldiers raised their swords and charged. ¡°Die, you damn mongrel!¡± One of the soldiers shouted at me in their approach. My sword whipped towards him and he blocked it with his shield. The other two soldiers surrounded me on either side. I don¡¯t know if I can take on three but if I don¡¯t I¡¯m dead. I swung the sword at the soldier in front, but he parried with his own weapon. His sword hit mine from underneath and the blow knocked the sword out of my hand. It flew and landed next to the soldier on my left. ¡°Hahaha you can¡¯t even take a single one of us down¡± the soldier continued to laugh at my failure. He readied his sword to cut me down. There was a flash of steel and I closed my eyes waiting for death to come. ¡°Arrgh¡± I heard a scream and I opened my eyes to see the gleam of a sword with an arm attached fly through the air followed by a spray of blood. I looked over the soldier who had swung the sword to see he was missing an arm and was holding down the bleeding stump with the other. A shadow fell onto him and he was torn to shreds. The other two soldiers backed away with their sword hands shaking. Solus stood up and bolted towards the soldiers and cut them down. Twang. Twang. Twang. Twang. Twang. Twang. Twang. Twang. Twang. Twang. Twang. Twang. Twang. Twang. Twang. Twang. Twang. Twang. Twang. I looked over to the formation of soldiers to see countless arrows flying towards us. They were hard to spot in the night sky but it looked to be over a hundred arrows heading straight for us. It¡¯s over now. I thought to myself. I¡¯ll never see my sister or mother again. A shadow fell across my face. I looked up to see Solus staring at me with his arms stretched out to either side. He looked at me and closed his eyes. Thunk. Followed by another Thunk. And another, one and a few more. Arrows clattered against the cobblestones of the road and buried themselves into the houses lining the street. ¡°Why?¡± I choked out. Solus opened his eyes and said nothing. His gaze seemed more gentle than I had previously seen. He tottered to the side and fell forwards onto the rough ground in front of me. Multiple arrows were sticking out of his back. He took those for me¡­ why? I heard the clanging and rustling of armour as soldiers encircled us and held their weapons at the ready. The robed man weaved his way through the soldiers and approached. ¡°What a fool¡± he said as he glanced at Solus who was lying face down. ¡°He could have easily dodged the arrows but he decided to turn himself into a pincushion.¡± He smirked and looked at me. ¡°A monster and a filthy demi, hmmm¡­¡± the magician seemed to be deep in thought. ¡°Cutting you both down now seems inelegant, and a hanging is too boring.¡± He paused. ¡°Oh I know, I¡¯ll drop you into the gorge.¡± He smiled wickedly and ordered the soldiers to chain our hands and feet and take us away. The last thing I saw was the pommel of a sword approaching my face. 1-010 | CHAPTER 10: THE DROP IN A CLOUDLESS SKY PART 1 LENA OF FOXKIN ¡°Urhhhh.¡± A headache was pounding between my ears. I cracked open an eye and a blinding light filled my vision, burning. I quickly shut my eye, only to slowly open it to adjust to the bright light. Where am I? I wondered. My eye finally grew accustomed to the light so I cracked my other eye open too. I could see mountains and a forest in my immediate surroundings. I shifted my arm and heard a clinging sound. I looked down to see my arms and legs were bound in manacles and chains. I was was sitting against a wooden pole, that was atop a wooden platform. Looking around I saw a large number of soldiers and townfolk surrounding the platform. I turned to look behind me and saw nothing¡­ there was just a tear in the land. A gaping chasm spanned what looked to be the entire world. Horizon to horizon. I shakily stood up to see it a bit better. Those surrounding the platform eyed me venemously as I took a couple shaky steps to the edge of the platform. Nothingness. The blackest of blacks. The deepest of the depths. It was so deep, the bottom couldn¡¯t be seen. This is the bottomless chasm, I am sure of it. I turned to find Solus sitting against another pole on the platform. He was covered in blood and was barely wearing anything. I covered my face with my hands as my face began to get warm. I slowly spread my fingers to look at him. Even though he was imprisoned, he was still well built and not emaciated from his time behind bars. I dropped my hands and sat beside him. He was similarly bound like me, however his manacles and chains were triple the thickness of my own. I guess they¡¯re a little worried about his transformation. As I stared at him, he groaned and slowly opened his eyes. SOLUS Where am I now? My body felt heavy and painful. What happened? I remember a fight, then¡­ arrows, lots of arrows¡­ I opened my eyes and turned to see that foxkin girl sitting beside me, staring at me. Her face was red and her ears were standing tall and attentive. ¡°Hey¡­¡± I said to her. She leaned closer, ¡°Yes?¡± she replied. I paused before continuing, ¡°Why is your face red?¡± She gasped and covered her face with her hands shifting in her sitting position. Thinking to myself, I pondered. Did I say the wrong thing? What is with her. Hmmm¡­ what was her name? Rennae? Leslie? It was Lena. Ah thanks¡­ wait who said that? Oh, uh¡­ hi! I am a quasi-god that Mors created for you. I don¡¯t have a name. Pleased to meet you Solus.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Uh¡­ a quasi? Mors? Whatever, they¡¯re always up to something. What did he create you for? I am your personal assistant. Think of me as your secretary or an artificial intelligence privy to your memories. Secretary? AI? How do you¡­ ah I see. You read my memories. Yes I did! I know everything you do and a bit more. Mors created me to help you sort through the data you collect from souls and to assist you in any way I can. Right. You said you didn¡¯t have a name, right? Do you want one? Hmm. It wouldn¡¯t impact my duties, however it would be convenient to have a name so you can call on me. Makes sense. Gimme a sec. Although the quasi whatever said it didn¡¯t want a name I felt a sense of longing from it. Alright, a name, a name. God, I suck at thinking of names. Jerry? I felt a feeling of discontent and a flash of red. No? Okay¡­ Gerald? Red. Nope, Jack? Red. Was that a sigh? Oh. Hang on, you don¡¯t like guy names. Right. What about¡­ think, goddamn it think. Oh! I got it! What about Eve? Green. Ding, ding, ding. Eve¡­ I like it! From now on I¡¯m Eve, your personal assistant. Now you better stop talking to me and check on Lena, she looks like she¡¯s having a meltdown. Also, um¡­ it looks like you''re bound and awaiting punishment. Well¡­ good luck! Great. I looked at Lena who was still squirming with her hands covering her face. ¡°Hey Lena.¡± She stopped moving and her hands parted, dazzling emerald eyes shone in the hazy sunlight. I never noticed her eyes. ¡°W-Why are you staring so intently at me?¡± She stammered. I continued to stare at her beautiful eyes. ¡°You¡¯re eyes, they¡¯re-¡° ¡°SOLUS!¡± That fucking prick. LENA OF FOXKIN Why is he staring at me? His gaze is intense but gentle at the same time. I didn¡¯t imagine it! I thought back to the volley of arrows that covered the sky back in Boren. That look on his face when he protected me. Even after all the death and carnage, that gentle look in his eyes calmed me. Even though I knew the situation was not okay. He began to speak, ¡°You¡¯re eyes, they¡¯re-¡° ¡°SOLUS!¡± I turned my head to look at the one who shouted his name. It was the robed man that Solus chased during the failed escape in Boren. I looked back at Solus to see that gentle look had vanished. His face had changed, his eyes were full of scathing rage. He looked ready to kill.