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Crystals Of Tame

Chapter 4

The Red Night Part 2

11 years ago

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“Every tamer has come out of Turtle Mountain Forest except for the tamer king, we are getting reports from the other tamers that the tamer king has struck down the crimson beast, ” Light, a young Trainerian tamer knight said, bowing before the prince of Traineria.

The prince looked at the young tamer knight; he had light pink hair, piercing blue eyes, and a pair of black-rim glasses. He was wearing a black with yellow sides tunic and shoulder plates with a chest plate on top of it. In his waistline, his leather satchel hanged, no doubt fresh from Traineria’s tamer academy, a boy of sixteen, yet on this day, he was not a boy but a man who had fought bravely for the safety of Traineria and the continent of Monsterra.

The prince of Traineria placed his hand on the young man’s shoulder and nodded.

“It’s over now,” he wanted to say, he let out a sigh, but it wasn’t over yet. This was only the beginning.

Light looked at the prince, his brown wavy hair dancing as the cold breeze washed over them. He had on a white tunic with light metal shoulder plates, a chest armor that covered half his chest, and a long cape that went down to his feet.

The prince looked up at the crimson moon which was watching over the continent on this fateful night, and let out a sigh.

On this red night, Trainerians had been made citizens of a city now half-ruined. All thanks to that crimson monster that had cursed them by descending upon their kingdom and laying half of it in a sea of red, but that was over now. They had defeated this dreaded beast somehow. A battle that many Trainerians tamer knights, Rock Shield guild tamers, and other tamers from the other two major guilds fought with their lives on the line to drive that dreadful beast to its end. But despite every tamer battling courageously, if it hadn’t been for the tamer king, would they have been victorious? Light brushed those thoughts aside, they had beaten the beast and that was all that mattered at this moment.

The prince looked at all the tamers who had fought bravely against the devil of the red night, their wounds being attended to. Yet the prince couldn’t help but feel like the beast had not truly lost, for how many tamers had they lost on this day?

“Worry not my prince, we will rebuild stronger than ever,” Light said, catching a certain sadness in the brown eyes of the prince. A sadness that was present in all of Traineria that night.

“Of that we will, light, of that we will. In the meantime, make sure all the tamers have been attended to, “ the prince said,

“Yes sir! “Light said, saluting the prince of Traineria. The prince nodded and left Light at the entrance of the forest of Turtle Mountain. He had somewhere else to be now. A place deep in the forest awaited him, ready to greet what was left of the hellish beast, as well as the tamer king, the most powerful individual of Monsterra, and whose strength had saved Monsterra.

“Come out Elkder! ” the prince said, throwing one of his monster crystals in the air. A blue and yellow deer-like monster appeared in front of him. Its yellow fur was pointy as if electricity was cursing through its body and blue spikes were protruding from it like thunderbolts. It was an Electric-type monster, the final evolution of the lightingteer family.

The prince petted the head of his monster partner, feeling the electricity on his palm.

“Elk, Elk,” the monster said, caressing his face against the hand of the prince.

“Let’s go greet our savior.”

The prince got on top of the deer monster and hit the beast lightly on its side, making it dash toward the forest as fast as lightning. A yellow-lighting path trailed behind the creature.

Most of the forest had been destroyed along where the beast had used all of its life force to make its final stand. The prince could see traces of its reddish flames along the path the crimson beast and the tamer king had created in their final battle.

“Stop!” the prince of Traineria commanded, and the Elkder obeyed, coming to a stop. The prince got off his monster partner and saw the tamer king standing before the giant Tamer Stone which was located in the center of Turtle Mountain. It was a giant rectangular-shaped tablet made of stone with a single see-through crystal shining in the middle, but on this night, the translucent crystal looked as red as blood. The king didn’t know if the color was because of the reflection of the red sky, or the blood from the beast that had its back lying against the stone tablet, but it didn’t matter, nothing on this reddish night mattered more than the defeat of that hellish monster that now laid defeated before them.

"A beast straight from hell….” The prince of Traineria thought, seeing the ruined body of a monster whose skin was as crimson as the flames that surrounded it, and wondered if that was the monster’s natural color or if its body had been painted by the blood of the night. He also noticed, which he found quite unsightly, its face was grotesque. It looked as if two monsters had been combined into one hideous beast. It had horns protruding from its head and elbows, and a third eye socket in the middle of its face.

It truly was something the king had never seen before, and he was sure it was something he would never forget, nobody who fought it will.

The prince of Traineria walked toward Uriel or the tamer king as he was known by the south as well as other tamers of Monsterra. He had long wild dark green hair that was tied into a ponytail with two strands flowing down on each side of his face. He had one blue eye and one green and a bored expression on his face that seemed to be always there. He was wearing a small black chest tunic leaving his stomach exposed and a short cape around his shoulders with black pants, green boots, and a dark green belt around his waist.

The prince got closer to the beast, feeling as if the presence of the beast was trying to squish him underneath its dreadful weight.

“I don’t think there is or has been such a monster as grotesque as this crimson beast in all of Monsterra. It looks more like some abomination from a nightmare than a wild monster partner."

“This is not a monster from Monsterra,” the tamer king said, his blue and green eyes never leaving the body of the crimson beast as it lay against the Stone of Tame.

“Perhaps you're right,” the prince of Traineria said, not denying the tamer king’s words. They spoke the truth. This red beast looked like no monster partner in all of Monsterra.

“Could it perhaps have come from the valley of mist?”

Now that the monster had been defeated, the question that remained unanswered, was: where did it come from? And the only explanation that the prince could think of, was the valley of mist. An area of Monsterra covered in a thick cloud of mist, nobody knew what was at the other end, or what kind of vile, and dangerous wild monsters lived there. Could this crimson beast perhaps be a creature from there?

The prince wondered.

The Valley of Mist is a place where no man had set foot and lived to tell.

Located at the end of the continent, its thick cloud of mist disappeared anyone who dared set foot in there. This wild monster was so different from the monster partners that lived in Monsterra that it looked more like a demon to the prince.

A demon that had cursed his kingdom on this bloody night.

“We may not know where it came from but…” The tamer king said, staring at the crimson beast, its power lingering in his mind.

“Its strength is that of an Emperor-level monster, or perhaps much stronger than one.”

“Impossible!” the prince of Traineria said, in shock. To think there was a wild monster that was stronger than the strongest monster partner in Monsterra was preposterous, but the prince couldn’t deny the crimson’s monster strength.

And if the tamer king’s words were true if this vile beast was stronger than the strongest monster partner in all of Monsterra, that posed an existential threat to them all.

If an army of these vile creatures descended upon their lands, the whole continent of Monsterra would be in ruin.

Both humans and monster partners alike doomed to its power. A cold sweat ran down the face of the prince of Traineria. To think about an army of these monsters would be the end of Monsterra.

“That would be….No, I just can’t,” the prince of Traineria said.

"The three great guild leaders must be made aware as soon as possible, we must act fast before another tragedy befalls us all. "

“Have you seen Roth?” he asked, amid battle he had lost track of him. He needed him now, he needed to be made aware of such a possibility.

“He's attending to the guild tamer injuries, “ the tamer king said, his eyes never leaving sight of the ruined body of the creature.

‘I see,” the prince of Traineria said, the many faces of the injured tamers flashing in his mind. His tamers weren’t the only ones that were hurt on this night. Other tamers suffered too.

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"We must gather all the guild leaders as soon as possible for---"

"We must not act too hastily my young and inexperienced prince. We cannot go just on a hunch without evidence. Who's to know that this was not just some monster partner that went berserk because of some foolish tamer lust for power."

The prince of Traineria looked back and saw a man with black hair and a purple tunic with intricate designs adored on each side, no doubt the finest tunic in all of Monsterra, appearing from the dark forest.

“Adviser Villa,” the prince said, recognizing the adviser of the royal family and the king of Monsterra, his father's right-hand man.

“So this is the bloody beast of Traineria,” Villa said, his emerald eyes analyzing the downed creature.

"So this has the power beyond an emperor-level monster partner, according to our tamer king, Uriel. But I feel he’s being too modest after all,

the beast is death so it's not unbeatable for an Emperor-level monster partner. We were truly lucky to have the tamer king with us to beat this crimson beast.”

"Lucky!” the prince of Traineria said, feeling a hot flash of anger that was not like him.

“When half the kingdom lays in ruins, and our streets painted with a coat of red. You consider that lucky!”

"My apologies, my young prince, I misspoke,” Villa said, bowing before him, but to the prince, it felt more like he was mocking him, which he ignored for now, after all, he was his dad's, the ruler of Traineria, right-hand man.

“You are right, what happened here in Traineria is truly an awful moment that I’m sure many citizens of Monsterra would not only remember but appreciate the bravery of the citizens of Traineria.”

“It wasn’t just the citizens of Traineria, the south also helped as well as the other major guilds. This was something that we could not have defeated without all the tamers of Monsterra,” The prince added,

“Of course, my young prince,” Villa said, his mouth paying respect, but his eyes did not.

The prince of Traineria noticed, but he ignored it, now was not the time.

“Yet, I fear that perhaps there's more to this beast that our young prince has not noticed yet. For I fear I was right in the assumption that a tamer is involved with this beast."

"A tamer?” the prince said, flabbergasted.

“That’s unthinkable, there is no tamer that would be involved with such an abomination.”

“Perhaps you are right, my prince, but yet I can’t help but notice something on the beast’s right hand,” Villa said, as he pointed at the red color arm of the crimson beast.

"What do you mea---”

The prince couldn’t believe his eyes, there was a crystal of tame in the crimson monster’s hand. Its red skin had camouflaged the crystal, but there was no denying it, that was a taming crystal.

“No, is not possible?” the prince said, stunted by the revelation.

“If this gets out…”

The prince's thoughts took him to the worst, if this got out, the crimson night would continue beyond the beast, he feared.

“How we move from this incident would define Monsterra's days to come,” Villa said looking at the full moon whose color was a vibrant red as it overlooked the red skies of Monsterra on this night.

The prince was too in disbelief to think of anything in that moment, the shock that a tamer could be responsible for this beast was too unthinkable. If such a thing got out, there would be fighting and fear spread along Monsterra. The prince looked at Uriel the Tamer King. He was a tamer from the south, the same south that Traineria had always had a rocky relationship to begin with. If it was known that a tamer was responsible for the destruction of Traineria, Trainerians would no doubt blame the South.

The tamer king stared at the monster’s dead body and wondered if this indeed was because of a tamer's greed, or perhaps there was something more to it.

“I fear that the people of the south and Traineria's relationship could be at stake, my prince. We should move quickly and swiftly so that rumors don’t get out, for I fear the turmoil that would be unleashed."

“You're right, Villa,” the prince of Traineria said, catching his thoughts, now was the time for the leadership of the king of Traineria to be firm and unwavering. But his father wasn't here, he had been bedridden and now it was on him to act as a king in his stead. But one thing was certain on his mind, whatever they were looking at, a tamer was involved somehow. He didn’t how or why, but he knew that it was only a matter of time before rumors spread and people would begin to talk.

“If we don’t do something, tamers of the south would be met with prejudice as you have said, causing even more destruction," Villa said,

“ But the real question is?"

Villa moved closer to Uriel, looking at his blue and green eyes.

“How would we deal with the body of this beast? I’m sure monster researchers would no doubt want to study it,” Villa said, and as the three of them stared at the beast, its body began to flinch and twitch almost as if it was reacting toward the words of the three men.

“W-What’s happening?” the prince of Traineria said, taken aback by the beast. Both Villa and Uriel stood and watched, neither man flinching from where they stood as they saw the body of the crimson beast begin to deflate, its bulky body reducing in size, and what was left of it was the frail body of something come to light underneath of what was now gone.

Its body was red and bony and very human-like.

“That’s a person!” the prince of Traineria said, flabbergasted at what he was seeing, and looking at it twice, making sure he was seeing what he was seeing.

“H….E….L……P!” It tried to say but its body erupted in a reddish flame, consuming it.

The prince of Traineria watched as the body burned to a crisp. He could feel a certain dreadful aura emanating from the ashes, an aura he had never felt before, taking hold of him. It was as if he was looking at something, not of this world. Something that was clawing at him, marking him. He wanted to run, wanted to escape from whatever he was seeing, but yet, he couldn’t. He had to bear witness to its destruction and its birth.

"I don’t know what we just witnessed, but judging from our prince's face,” Villa said, “Whatever this was, has the power to doom us all and I fear it’s only the beginning.”

Villa composed himself, what he had seen was straight out of some nightmare. The crimson beast had turned into a human, well a human-like creature, he wasn’t even sure if it even was human, to begin with.

“Do you think is not over?” the prince of Traineria said, clearing his throat.

“If this beast or what was left off him appeared once then I’m sure another one like it could very well appear again,” Villa said,

“But the question is, how will we deal with it the next time.”

“We will be more prepared,” the prince of Traineria said, hoping to believe his words, but underneath, he wasn’t so sure. He was too stunned to even think clearly.

“Perhaps an army of Emperor-level monsters,” Villa said, looking at Uriel.

“Emperor-level monsters?” the prince of Traineria said, the tamer king’s monster partner was the only emperor-level monster in all of Monsterra, and it barely was able to take on this beast whose ashes now remain next to the Stone of Tame.

The Tamer king looked at Villa, inspecting his words. Not trusting the long-haired man from Traineria.

“Emperor level isn't a simple thing to achieve.”

“He’s right, only one monster has been able to achieve such a feat,” the prince of Traineria added.

“You are right my prince, but...” Villa said, running his hand through his straight black hair.

“Just as we have witnessed a monster of great and fearsome power turn to human somehow, it opens the door to possibilities much greater than we know.”

“Villa!” the prince said,

“This kind of thing no tamer should have anything to do with it, it is not right.”

“Of course, your highness, “ Villa said, his pale blue eyes glistening as the light from the red moon hit them.

“No tamer should have it.”

“Good, “ the prince said,

“The important thing that we need to do is make sure Monsterra stands united--"

"United? That’s a very tricky and grandiose plan,” Villa said, his interest peaking once again.

"A new alliance for the safety of both tamers from the south and Traineria, perhaps?”

"No," the prince said,

"For the safety of everyone in Monsterra."

What the prince had witnessed was something that he was sure could doomed them all.

“I will happily aid you in any way I can my prince, for the safety of Monsterra,” Villa added eagerly.

The prince of Traineria looked at Villa and nodded, he didn’t trust his father's adviser, the man had ambitions as big as a Leviathan.

He had been the advisor to his father since the prince could remember, always being next to the king at every moment, but he knew that this was bigger than not trusting a single individual.

This was about the safety of their world.

“Come out Terradion,” the tamer king said, and a large dragon with an upper body made of stone and a black serpentine body with four legs protruding from it took center stage in the forest.

It truly looked magnificent to both Villa and the Prince of Traineria.

“He’s even more magnificent in person,” Villa said, admiring the only Emperor-level monster in Monsterra, a level beyond Alpha which was already a rarity in itself.

‘” It’s a privilege to witness such an elegant monster, Uriel,” Villa said, bowing to Uriel in a joking manner.

“Oh! before I forget, a little blue Pigen has told me that there was a certain young lady in the casualties of the south, I believe her name was Anita.”

For the first time, the prince of Traineria saw an expression of deep sadness in the face of the stoic face of the king of tamers. It was an expression that he had never seen the king of tamers, Uriel, have in all the years the prince of Traineria had known the young tamer king.

And wondered who this person was, and what their relationship with the king of Tamer was, but judging by Uriel’s expression, it must have been an important person to him.

“I’m sorr—” the prince tried to say,

“I’ll leave you two now,” Uriel said, as he got on Terradon, and left.

The prince of Traineria watched as the tamer king left with the only emperor-level monster partner in all of Monsterra. And on this night, he had proved why he was the strongest tamer in all of Monsterra, saving both Traineria and Monsterra when they most needed him.