Chapter 52: Watcher
No one knew when the figure appeared, but in an instant his mere presence forced the air inside the tunnel to freeze. Feelings of both impending doom and royal majesty crushed the surrounding scene with terrifying pressure.
The young man’s forearm that Balon held an iron grip on, was literally being crushed by his enormous hand. Bones started to fracture and shatter, blood vessels popped and muscle started to slowly turn into mashed meat.
Crying out in agony the eyes of everyone in the tunnel quickly focused on the man who had just appeared. The figure was towering and imposing, standing at least twice as tall as the person who’s arm he squashed and at least twice as wide. Lining up his arms and legs were gigantic steel muscles that threatened to sunder the world. Instantly everyone recognized him. Though, what they saw was not the gigantic man, but simply a tall, delicate and slender youth. And yet…this was the same youth who fought and defeated the red haired beast.
It just so happened that everyone currently in the tunnel were miraculous survivors of that harrowing massacre. They were there for their glorious fight…and their mass slaughter. They were there for each instance that the two threw each other around and squashed the people into meat paste. They were there each time a scream was uttered in the darkness, and each time the thud of a body slipped on the floor from the rivers of blood.
To all the people around him he was a butcher, but of men. A callous murderer who did not care for the lives of those around him. The worst part, there was absolutely no one who could stop him if he wished to reap the lives of everyone here.
The three individuals froze in sheer terror. Their hearts were literally about to pop out from their chest if the bloodthirsty beast didn’t do it himself.
In the next moment a deep, full and imposing voice filled the cave.
“Are you afraid, ants?”
“Are you but animals and insects who only know how to hunt those weaker than you?”
The people were too afraid to respond. It was already hard enough to breathe under their circumstances, much less let out the locked voice in their throat.
“Yes…you are.”
Balon fully squeezed the forearm with all his strength and a horrifying burst of blood splattered out onto the gray floor. A limp hand and mashed wrist plopped down towards the spilled blood.
The two other individuals saw this and screamed in absolute terror, running for their lives. Luckily, Balon was simply too lazy to chase after cockroaches. That left only Yela and Cole at the hellish scene. The young man whose arm had just been burst from his body fell unconscious, his body falling towards the small pool of blood that harbored his detached arm.
Yela simply looked at the scene, stunned. At one moment her heart stopped from the fear of that hard stone descending upon her, the next moment however only left her confused and sickened from the grotesque sight she had just witnessed.
At no point did she feel like she was rescued and truly, she was not. The intervention of the dragon blooded youth came not from the kindness of his heart but from an abstract frustration and mind state he could not currently decipher at the moment.
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Balon threw a glance at the pathetic blonde haired boy and reviewed everything that had happened thus far. From start to finish he watched the events play out. On a high ledge his draconic eyes zoomed into the situation of the boy and girl running from the gang of individuals. Subsequently, he followed them. While stealth was not his forte, it was easy to hide from the powerless people of the world and observe the following events unfold.
Magical eyes watched as they ran into a sharp narrow turn and the blonde haired boy gave himself to save his lover. While Balon would have done things differently, he admired the resolution of someone willing to do such a thing. Yet, the girl did not run like Cole or Balon thought she would. Instead she chose to stay, to fight and to fall with her beloved. The fifteen year old virgin that was Balon was almost moved to tears.
When she fell and was riddled with punches and kicks, the youth wondered for a moment if he should intervene. Yet, there was one thing he wanted to see, so he held out, and he saw it. In the most dire of moments, the boy finally gathered the courage to fight to change his circumstances. Seeing his lover abused and mistreated, he delivered all of that fury, all of that injustice, into his body and into his fist.
For some reason Balon felt proud when the blonde haired boy threw his first punch. No matter how pathetic those strikes were, they were made with heart and determination. As the boy successfully gained the attention of the group, and was once again being beaten to an inch of his life, Balon thought once again that now, it was time to intervene.
Yet something happened that surprised him even more…A fire within the girl was lit, a flame burning with zeal and passion to struggle against her circumstances. As she pushed her body off from the ground, Balon saw it as she was pushing the Earth away from her. Once again ignited by her determination, the lurker in the darkness conveniently placed the rock closer towards her position and watched as she did exactly what he would have done.
Balon’s eyes wandered from Cole to Yela and the little girl experienced the beauty and absolute terror of those glowing eyes looking down on her.
Hands shaking yet still swinging, Balon remembered how the scared girl desperately fought to help her lover, how she fought to change her fate. Yet her hesitation at a key moment led to her fumbling the stone and almost led to her being killed, or at least thoroughly battered.
Balon looked towards Cole in that moment and saw him scrambling up to save her. In response he used his ocular powers to alter the weak minds of the gang of individuals, buying time that allowed the blonde boy to struggle, to fight.
The boy successfully diverted the stone’s momentum and the pretty face of his lover was saved. Recognizing the urgency of the situation, the girl did not relent and tackled the young man to allow her lover to claim the rock. Balon was jumping out of his seat. Well, really he was just squatting on the floor in the near darkness, but still he clenched his fist in expectation. This was it! Prove yourself now, you pathetic worm! I have been watching you these past few weeks! Do it!
Yet…the boy froze. While the girl used the rough stone like a lethal weapon, like a sword to a determined swordsman, in the hands of Cole it turned into a mere object of decoration for the poor slave boy. Quite honestly it fit him, but Balon was left fuming at his indecisiveness.
He grit his teeth and grinded them together.
‘You useless bastard…!’
The tides changed once again and the young man broke free to tackle Cole. Perhaps the fates really were shifting. When Balon was going to alter the stone’s trajectory towards Yela, it seemed the rock had a will of its own and tumbled towards the little girl. Surprise after surprise came from the dainty and frail girl so Balon had his expectations up.
The burly youth was not disappointed. What Balon thought Cole should have done, she did instead with frightening resolve. Although her hands were shaking and she had to close her eyes from the brutality and savagery, she got the job done. And she did it spectacularly, he might add.
Balon’s eyes glowed and he removed the warping effects on the three individuals' minds. The eager youth wished to see her fight her way out of her circumstances but in his excitement he forgot that Yela was no experienced warrior, the two strugglers were not even aware of their nearest surroundings.
An older girl slammed into Yela but the clever girl threw the rock into her lover’s direction at the last moment. Here it was again! Another opportunity for the boy and Balon’s draconic eyes glowed bright from excitement…only to dim once again and for disappointment to settle in. He froze. Again. No, he could not even pick up the stone this time.
Cole snapped out of his trance to find that the menacing golden eyes were looking straight towards him. The boy’s breaths turned heavy and he started to sweat, but he took a look at the unconscious young man on the ground and reminded himself of the urgency of the situation. While he was afraid…he took off the linen shirt from his body and wrapped it into a makeshift towel. The boy then proceeded to the unconscious man…and tied a tourniquet around his exploded arm to stop the bleeding.
Balon watched him the whole way through. Like the eyes of a predator at prey. What those eyes were thinking, no one knew.
Cole then ran towards Yela and he hugged her with all the strength left in his body. While the bare skin of the boy would have usually flushed the girl’s face red, this time she simply enjoyed the warmth that he gave to her.
Balon was still watching them. Suddenly their worst fears came true and he started to walk towards them, step by step in the echoing stone tunnels of this hellish cavern. Cole placed himself in front of Yela while the towering figure bent his knee to meet them at eye level. The golden vertical slit eyes looked not at Cole, but behind him at Yela. A deep, booming voice came out of the dragon.
“Do you yearn for strength, little girl?”