I landed heavily on the ground as sand and dirt flew everywhere.

I felt pieces of debris cut into my arms as I pushed myself up onto my knees and then my feet.

I kicked at the debris still in my way as I tried to stand up.

When I finally made it to my feet,

I didn't have time to recover as Old Bu came rushing toward me.

He reached me in an instant then he grabbed my chin

he then pulled my face forward violently and began to study my face intently

"what in memory of ancestor have you done to yourself"

I was surprised, clueless, scared and confused

I hadn't done anything to myself that would garner so much attention from old Bu

old Bu face wasn't even an inch far away from me

his face in all this time hadn't changed even in a bit

I had not the slightest notion about why he was staring at me

I thought I was being paranoid as I kept my hands from shaking too badly

"what have done to your eyes boy, and why have you painted your face like ancestor cursed eastern barbarians"

I was growing more confused by the second

What did he want to know

I didn't even think of that

I didn't understand anything, old Bu and that strange way he looked at me

still scared, confused and lost I continued to stare at old Bu

what paint and my eyes felt no different than ever wait I had no eyes before maybe my new eyes were a surprise

I began to think about what lies to feed the old man

I had read somewhere the best lies are half-truths

but which half of the truth should I tell

but before I could weave my web of lies Old by let me go

"Forget it we don't have time to pry your secrets, quickly follow me"

old Bu spoke and then took off in. brush walk at full speed in the direction of a cave entrance

after a while, the sandstorm began to dissipate and the sky began to clear

when it had cleared completely,

My vision began to clear as I looked up towards the sky, I noticed a really, really, bright light and I then realized it was the sun, it was a bright, vibrant and beautiful purple light

I looked down at the ground and was surprised to find myself covered in dirt and dust

I was surrounded by thousands of people all standing near a big square stone that glowed and pulsated bright light

there were hundreds of people inside of the square stone standing surrounding a stone altar that liked like a portal of sorts

these people were holding smaller golden stones on their bodies and their skin looked similar to the red skin of all the Kandarian

but only one stone was glowing brightly and pulsating light which was placed right in the middle of the altar

I was standing intently at the amazing stone when a powerful blow landed at the back of my head and sent me rolling forward

I felt the impact and felt the wind as I slammed down

the next thing I knew I was lying on the ground at the feet of the stone platform

I looked up at him and for the first time I noticed his eyes

they were glowing with a dark black colour and he was dressed like a member of the black mist and his face was that of a skull

It felt like I had been sucked into a vat of mush

I struggled to get up in a panic

“Hey, keep moving ongediertes you have a very heavy duty" a man who suspiciously looked a lot like the man from the caves spoke

his hair was bright wavey red colour and his eyes were blue.

"Yeah..." I mumbled

I stood up slowly and tried to focus on what was happening but everything was blurry to me,

my vision kept failing me until everything turned upside down and yellow

I fell back onto the stone floor

I got up a short while later as the red hair Kandarian marched toward me in fury

he roughly grabbed my shoulder and shoved me forward

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my head was spinning as I saw colours and dancing lights everywhere the momentum of the push sent me spiralling forward as I found myself once again on the stone ground

what was wrong with me why couldn't I concentrate why was everything spinning all around me and how come my head hurt so much why am I lying on the ground what happened

"get up!”

said a man and as he spoke, he placed

his foot on my stomach and pressed hard

I groaned

“You will obey me ongediertes or you will die"

"Stupid oaf get away from him" a loud all to familiar voice echoed

Pollux

another moment later he was in front of me

and helping me sit on the ground

I was looking at him

"what are you doing here?" I asked him confused

"Don't ask dumb questions"

"I.......

bile rose up to my mouth and I turned and empire my stomach onto the ground next to me

good gracious God did the food come from I hadn't been eating when I was training with Erebus and the lot as far I could tell

I began playing with the vomit to find what was in my stomach

"He disoriented you two come here and carry him"

before I could further explore my vomit two-strong strong sturdy suddenly grabbed me

each grabbed one of my arms and began to carry in tow

they began walking quickly as I groaned in protest

I tried struggling against them

"STOP!"

I screamed at the top of my lungs as they continued to drag me

"STOP!"

I yelled again as they continued

"STOP YOU, DUMB OLD MEN”

I yelled again as I continued to struggle

"stop stop, please!! Please stop"

then my head became dizzier and then I felt bone-weary tired

I will get them later I thought as I become a human sandbag and laid back as the guards carried me toward the stone platform

I was a alter of sorts was it though it seemed like it

as it looked similar to a stone pillar

There in front of me was my golden blade

"here is the boy, Priest," Pollux said as the guard there me toward what was that feet of shadows or they were just blackness

"now give him the blade."

I heard him say

I looked towards the darkness as I heard him speak

"Now take it and bring it over to the stone slab"

he commanded as I could hear shuffling sounds of footsteps and then a strange noise which made my skin creep and my heart palpitate.

"I'll take care of the boy"

a deep voice

a soft voice

it had an echo of gentleness and peace

its voice was calming and soothing as if it was calling a frightened animal to safety

as it spoke

a warm embrace gathered me

"he is ready won't you say," the woman said

"Yes, yes he is ready we free and we approve he has grown so much more than we could ever hope for"

I began to tremble uncontrollably in fear and terror, my eyes opened wide as I stared unblinking at something

something which had appeared out of nowhere

it was huge, it had wings and horns like a beast

It had red blood flowing down its body

its eyes were gold

then the world went mad

................................................................

~ POV change~

Xu Lin stared intently as he looked at the big brother who had been missing for a month now

being dragged by the Kandarian like a dog

He looked scared and bewildered, he was dazed, he was confused,

Xu lin was also terrified of every little thing he saw a week ago everything changed

******** a week ago**************

the day was a normal

day as usual

Xu lin had gone deep into the mine to gather more ore to fill his exorbitant quota

next to him lay a dead cold body of a middle-aged man

Dublin had killed the man when he had insulted Xu lin's mother when xu in asked him to scram

Xu Lin’s actions had been so stupid, so aggressive. Killing the man would probably make Kandarin guards angry

Attracting the attention of the guards was bad Xu lin had learned that the hard way.

but still, this man deserved death; it was what he deserved

but not today, not today it wasn't the day that kandarian guards would catch them both

today it was another day for xu Lin, it was another day of being afraid

Today he was going to fight and kill

Kandarin's guards If they choose him the wrong way

today was his birthday and none would ruin his pleasant mood

Xu Lin happily sang an old song that his mother used to sing to him as he place the sixth ore in his basket

The rumbles began almost immediately, and Xu lin hissed, hoping it was nothing major

The tunnels were so shoddy, and the stone so easy to destroy with all the ore nearby —even as careful as he’d been, he might have made a mistake and the cave would have crushed him

Finally, after the crashing from behind stopped and dust and debris caked him from head to foot in filth, Xu Lin decided he was probably safe.

He slowed down, panting, and leaned against a wall.

Other slaves and practitioners would come soon to check on all the commotion.

Maybe the guards would come too.

Xu Lin didn’t want to deal with either, so he looped around to another tunnel and started moving lower into the mines again.

Xu Lin plodded deeper into the bowels of the mines thinking about big brother he had just disappeared and no one had seen him for three weeks now

he wasn't worried but he was concerned

Xu Lin had always trusted big brother because he never let anything happen to him

that was why he had always followed big brother wherever he took him even when big brother was busy.

He always loved to follow him to places where he wanted to go but he never minded.

Xu Lin was happy to help his big brother whenever he needed him.

But lately, he had been absent

Suddenly, Xu lin thought he felt something.

A tremor?

His boots were crude.

Basically, just bindings made with a dirty cloth and rubber soles.

Maybe he’d stepped on a mouse? He paused, and it came again.

“Okay, I definitely felt that,” he muttered. He began walking back up the tunnel, listening as hard as he could.

Nothing else seemed amiss, but he was really far down in the mines. Then he felt another vibration.

“What the…” Xu lin shook his head, wondering if the whumping tremors he had felt had anything to do with the fool he’d killed earlier.

That didn’t seem likely, though. Cave-ins had a particular feel to them.

The guards that had no doubt checked on the cave-in that day probably would have retreated to deal with it tomorrow.

It wasn’t like they cared about saving the lives of slaves.

No.

They didn’t care about anybody or anything that mattered.

They would have let everyone die if they wanted to.

The quake grew stronger and stronger until it felt like something was shaking the earth

The vibrations didn’t feel like an earthquake, though

Something was happening.

Xu Lin felt a premonition and began hurrying up the tunnel, moving as fast as he could.

He almost placed his pick against the wall on the way up, but thought better of it and kept it.

he began running toward the exist as the tremors began to become more intense

Xu Lin began hearing strange noises about halfway back to the surface.

All he could make out was muted, disjointed, distant, but his stomach dropped out.

Something was definitely wrong.

Had someone died?

No one would die, right?

Xu Lin ran faster as his mind raced.

Then he heard it—the sound of someone screaming ‘HELP!!’ as a loud cracking sound sounded off.

The sounds he was hearing grew louder, and he somehow moved with more speed.

When he started approaching the mine’s entrance, something out of the light if the entrance few towards him

Xu Lin out of habit began to run the body technique big brother had given him he easily caught the thing or rather the person or half a person

he closely looked at and his stomach dropped it was one of the kandarian women, not a guard as far as he could tell

her lower half was missing as blood dripped from her hanging disembowelled stomach onto the ground.

it looked as if someone had torn her in two

And then he heard another scream again as another explosion occurred from above.

he dropped the half body and rushed out the mine

As he heard the explosions above he couldn’t understand what was causing them.

He wondered if they were the kandarian men returning after another failed attempt?

Did the guards know something he did not?

as he came out what he saw was horrifying

{to be continued}