Chapter 31
The Cost Of Hubris
They were all directed to go to their rooms to get dressed. All of them received similar things to wear. A tight black bodysuit with boots. The material was light and felt more like a second skin than clothes.
Klaus got dressed mechanically. His mind was on what was coming, and he did not care about how revealing the suit was. They also got a pair of shin guards, arm guards, chest and back armor. It only covered the essentials and was not restricting. Furthermore, it was made out of some kind of lightweight alloy that none of them recognized.
Last but not least was a full-faced helm. It already had padding inside, so no arming cap was needed.
When everyone walked outside, some were standing with a bit of embarrassment. Klaus held his helm under one arm. Held in his other hand was the enormous greatsword. It was too big to be sheathed since drawing it without putting it down would be impossible.
A dagger was strapped to his boot, and an arming sword hung from his hip.
Klaus' eyes flitted over the others. They were nervous and embarrassed. Liz, and Amelia especially so. So they were acutely aware when the young men looked at them. Klaus' gaze gave them pause. It was like he looked through them and not at them. His face was a mask of determination. The way his hand gripped the hilt of the ridiculous sword made it all the worse.
Liz's thoughts turned to the previous day. Klaus had seemed worried, and she knew the strength he held was not ordinary. Her embarrassment faded with realization. Klaus knew something they did not.
She glanced at Fred and Leo, who were speaking animatedly. Despite feigning disinterest, they stole glances. Their boisterous talking was just a mask to hide their nervousness.
Only two others held weapons. Amelia and Beatrice, each held a small hand crossbow.
Liz wanted to talk to Klaus, but something about his demeanor kept everyone away.
In the end, no words were shared between them. They just got into trucks that they were directed to by guards. Klaus had to put his greatsword on the back of the truck he was going in.
The trucks went onto a gravel road and soon split form each other. Klaus looked out the window as trees quietly went by. From the map and what he was seeing now, the valley was bowl-shaped. They would have to start at the rim and run inwards. There was a river running through the middle, where it ran the downward slope was more gradual except for two points where it cascaded down in small waterfalls.
If not for his state of mind, he would have been lost in the beauty. All the forest represented now was a danger.
Every shadow would be a hiding place, every bush, rock, and boulder an obstacle.
Klaus looked at the trees and realized they would make wielding the greatsword effectively troublesome. He thought it was a good thing that he brought a smaller arming sword and dagger, just in case.
His first objective would be to find a clearing. The second to make a lot of noise and finally, he would fight until he couldn't anymore. The nervousness and dread he felt, in the beginning, was quickly fading. It was being replaced by a willingness to fight that accepted the inevitable. His draconic side was rearing to go.
He had all day to think about why they were playing the game. He had come up with many conclusions, but one stuck out in his mind. Pride had said it correctly. They knew about the dangers of the Secret Worlds, they knew they could die, but like most things. His mission, his parents even. His life at that moment. It felt so distant.
Since he could remember, there was one thing that could ground him keep his thoughts from straying: the hilt of a sword. It was nothing profound. It just felt real. Thought, futures, and feelings. Those things were abstract. The hilt of a sword was true. In history, people carved out their own destinies with the skill and strength of their sword arm. It is what drew him to the weapon. It was stupid and overly romanticized, he knew, but it was his truth.
The truck came to a stop just as the sun started to fade behind distant hills and mountains.
He got out and stabbed the greatsword into the ground. It would start as soon as they heard the signal.
Pride was waiting with three others of her kind. They did not know where the teens would start.
Her phone rang. "Yes, Pain?"
"How are things?" asked the top hat.
"We are just about to start with the first hunt, hopefully, Billy will do better than just curling into a ball. I still don't understand why you insist that the useless creature stays on the team." Pride spoke with clear disdain.
Pain's voice lost the amusement it always seemed to carry. "Have I ever failed my Mistress? The boy will be an asset. Once he accepts his nature, Klaus will have to tame him and assert his dominance. It is their nature."
Pride shook her head. "I am not so sure about that, Klaus is different from his mother. He is weak, sentimental, and cares too much."
When Pain spoke again, it was with authority. "For now, but soon he will come to be who he is meant to. He will be a wolf among sheep, and a wolf does not apologize when he stands on top. Like a human that does not think twice about plucking a flower for stealing its beauty, he will pluck and indulge, and Billy will thank him for it. It. Is. Their. Nature."
Pride sneered. "What could have you so optimistic and sure?"
Pain chuckled. "Billy's bloodline, it is the strongest his family has ever had. I ordered the blood to be delivered for his awakening myself. He is the ever-faithful guard, the one who sees with six and smells with three. He is Cerberus and will be loyal to his first master and only him."
Pride took a deep breath and clenched her hand. "It took thousands of us to kill that creature. Now you want to resurrect it through this boy? Are you mad!"
"No, I am Pain, and I do as my Master wills."
The phone disconnected and with a blaze of fire, a bonfire exploded into being in the center of the woods. It would be the beacon for the teens, as well as a trap.
Pride shook her head. They were playing with fire. At least her part of the plan was working out. Klaus had chosen to be the first sacrifice. Through him, the others would learn the folly of their hubris and years of useless teachings. Klaus' flesh and bones will be the sacrifice he makes to teach the others, and they will respect him for it. Or she will kill them all.
She turned to Silence. Her heart started to beat with anticipation and bloodlust despite knowing it was just a game. She could see the same reflected in the eyes of Gluttony, Sloth, and Silence.
"Let's make them bleed."
Klaus opened his eyes just as the ringing started. It sounded like the old sirens used at factories. Starting soft before becoming loud and unending. The ground beneath Klaus sank as the maw opened, and his strength soared.
Despite feeling like his strength was limitless, he took off using barely half of it. Klaus would need every drop, so pacing himself was essential.
'Find a clearing. Make noise. Fight.'
The thought repeated itself while he dragged the cumbrous sword behind him.
The others, like him, started to move as soon as the siren rang. They were not sure what to expect, the fear of the unknown only spurred them on and gave flight to their feet.
There was one that simply sat down. Billy looked tired and haggard. It was taking his all to resist the urges that the pills served to suppress. Every day was his own personal hell in which he could feel himself sinking away. Being replaced by something else.
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So he sat and waited for the demons to come and beat him into unconsciousness. The pain it would bring was bliss. A reminder that he still existed. They were forced to remove all the sharp objects where he stayed when he discovered that.
The siren stopped after a few minutes. The demons did not move.
Gluttony turned to Pride and spoke, his voice was somewhat muffled by the faceless mask each of them wore. Unlike his stature suggested, Gluttony's voice was smooth, almost gentle. "Are you sure he will do as you said?"
"Yes, we stick to the plan-"
Her sentence was interrupted by another sound that rang over the forest. It was not like the siren. It was raw and unrestrained. It was a challenge to all who heard it, and the demons let out growls of their own as something feral in them wanted to answer the challenge.
She smiled at the others. Even though it could not be seen under the mask, they heard it in her voice. "We move!"
Klaus felt his roar rumble in his chest. The small stones around him rattled with the sound. It was a roar that proclaimed dominance. He was a dragon, and all that he saw belonged to him. The release of his instincts almost overwhelmed him. The young dragon nearly transformed completely into what he felt was his one and only true form.
The roar made those that were running come to a stop, if only for a moment. It made the fear in some of them grow. Those with mixed bloodlines were most affected.
Billy jumped up, and without any thought started sprinting in the direction it came from. The darkness he was surrounded by a moment ago had turned into a bright red landscape. A testament to the red glow that now came from his eyes. Eyes that did not hold two pupils, but three in each. They overlapped like bloodred moons, promising murder.
Amelia came to her senses just as she was about to run in the same direction. Luckily or unluckily, Kitsune were known for their wily and smart nature. Her instincts agreed with her human nature. Going towards the scary sounds was a bad idea. She was curious though, it burned in every fiber of her being. The only thing that stopped her was the thought that she would be able to find out what it was later.
Klaus stopped his roar and took deep breaths. They would be coming. He could feel it in his bones. The clearing he had come across was near the lazy river that ran through the valley. Not far from him was the first waterfall. It was not a large clearing, but it would have to do.
His enhanced hearing soon picked out unnatural sounds. The siren, and his roar had cast the forest in eerie silence. No birds, bugs, or living creature made a sound. They did not dare to.
Just the sound of the river and the rustling of the leaves above accompanied his wait. It served to calm his instincts and hone his senses.
So he heard them coming. They were fast, their feet barely touching the ground as they jumped and skipped over obstacles and through the trees.
It was hard to follow them and to count how many there were. That was why he still got caught by surprise when one moment there was nothing and the next he saw masks.
With a roar, Klaus launched himself forward, the sword following behind. One ducked as it swiped past at blinding speed. It caught Gluttony and launched the demon back into the trees with resounding crashes.
Klaus was lifted off his feet when a blow connected into his stomach. Another demon crashed into him from the side and he went skipping over the river liked a stone before crashing into the bank on the other side.
He managed to just get up before another blow pushed him back into the hole his body created. Klaus opened the maw more as feet stomped him deeper into the ground. His chest was on fire, he fought through it and grabbed the next foot that stomped down.
Klaus smiled even as dirt spilled into his mouth as his hand closed, breaking the caught appendage.
"You pay!" He swung and lightened himself, the force ripping him out of the crater as he held on, shoulder screaming in pain.
They spun in the air and Klaus made himself heavy again, dragging the demon under him as they plunged through trees.
They crashed into the ground, the demon deforming under him. Klaus staggered up just in time for Gluttony to crash into him from the front. Klaus dug his feet into the ground, roared and then smashed his helmeted head into the mask. Once, twice and third time.
Gluttony landed body blows that stung and angered the dragon more. Klaus thrust a knee into the fat thing. The force lifted the demon, but Klaus held on dragging him back into the knee causing the trees and ground to shake with every blow.
A blow to the side of his head broke the straps of the helm and it went flying. Klaus shoved Gluttony into his new assailant, drew the arming sword that was miraculously still in place and jumped towards them.
The sword went through Gluttony's spine and then the stomach of the one behind him. Klaus continued to push and nailed them to a tree.
With his sanity long gone, Klaus broke the hilt off and stabbed the broken blade into Gluttony's neck.
Klaus roared in triumph, but it was short-lived. Hands clamped on his shoulders and a knee connected with his kidney. He then got thrown head over hills back towards the river.
Leo was the first to arrive at the fire, he was breathing hard and nowhere near as elated as he thought he would be.
It was the sounds that haunted his every step. The roars, the crashing and cracking trees that seemed to echo in the valley taunting him.
When nothing came to stop him, he guessed at what those sounds were. Klaus had never said what his bloodline was mixed with. None of those who had a mixed bloodline did. The roars of pain and violence still served to give Leo goosebumps.
He had fought against Klaus. He knew he was strong, but the sounds that were coming from the forest was something else. It humiliated and angered him. He was a warrior, taught to be one. To live with honor and strive for glory. Yet he had accepted Klaus' suggestion just like that, and he was starting to feel ashamed.
Others soon arrived. Amelia first, then Fred and Liz. Almost at the same time.
Last was Beatrice. None of them wondered where Billy was. They were too transfixed by the sounds of carnage coming from the forest. The ghastly roars and inhuman clashes of strength.
Pride was waiting for her time to jump in. Klaus had been surprisingly resilient. If not for their immunity to physical damage, things would have been much different. Granted, they were not using weapons or their abilities except for one. Being able to siphon life energy with impunity served them well. The morning would find more than a few dead trees in the forest. Fuel for their recoveries.
Still, they would have to be careful not to overdo it, lest the madness takes them. She watched as Klaus swung that ridiculously large sword Pain had him singing around. When she had thrown him back towards the clearing, it was shitty luck that he would land where it was dropped.
The blade caught Silence on his shoulder and plowed him into the ground.
Pride jumped off of the tree she had been watching from and drove her elbow into Klaus temple. Klaus like, Silence, got thrust into the ground rolling and bouncing a few times.
For a moment she was scared that she had used too much strength. Klaus was a lot lighter, proof that his strength was starting to flag.
The demon narrowed her eyes. Klaus was back on his feet, stumbling yet standing. She thought he was weaker than this. Pain had made it look so easy, after all.
'Time to end this.'
She signaled the others, and all of them sprang forward at the same time.
A howl brought them all to a standstill.
As one, the demons turned towards the origin.
'Billy?'
Pride got awarded for her inattentiveness by a greatsword nearly cutting her in half. A moment later Silence had her in his arms and the demons disappeared into the woods to watch.
Klaus dazed, and battle-crazy paused with confusion at the sudden lack of enemies.
Until his eyes settled on Billy.
Billy was being driven by instincts, instincts that told the Cerberus that the one who let it free was the injured and gasping young man in front of it. It was confusing. Billy blamed Klaus for everything that had gone wrong, felt resentful for nearly denying him access to the Secret Worlds.
The Cerberus saw it for what it was: strength and control over it and its fate. There was another. A young girl that had caught him, it, the other thing? Using the pills to keep it prisoner.
If this one failed the test and died, it would move on to her.
It let out another howl and then growled in challenge.
Klaus faintly recognized Billy through the fog of anger and bloodlust that clouded his mind. It was starting to fade until Billy challenged him.
Klaus was tired, hurt and way past his prime fighting state, but above all else, he was a dragon. A challenge could not be ignored.
He roared a reply.
Billy started to change as soon as the challenge was accepted. His body grew larger, arms thicker and longer. Hair sprouted from his skin. Black and hard like obsidian. The most gruesome was his head. His jaw spread wide and then split before splitting again and again. Three large heads took the place of one.
Klaus was not idle. When the change started with Billy. Klaus did the same.
Gluttony took a step forward. "They will kill themselves!"
Pride held him back. "We cannot interfere. This must end in an instant, and I think they both know it. Go fetch as many of the potions you can carry."
Cerberus roared and leaped, clearing ten meters in an instant. Klaus' claws dug deep into the ground. Instead of meeting Billy head-on, a spiked tail whipped around smashing into the side of the beast. Flesh and bone broke with the impact.
One head clamped onto the tail, its armor ruined the offending jaws, causing the other heads to yelp in pain.
Klaus felt strength leaving him faster than ever before. He could feel himself dying but pounced onto the prone form, ripping his tail back along with his challenger's lower jaw that was caught on the tail's spikes.
Klaus went directly for the middle head's neck and bit down. The other head tried to bite him, but his claw scratched open its neck. Blood gushed into his maw.
Like in his memories of the hunt, it was time to burn his prey.
Time was up, the stigmata flashed, snapping shut and throwing Klaus into darkness.
Klaus fell to the ground, naked and in human form.
The Cereberus leaned forward and it's lifeblood spilled over Klaus. Wounds on his back, a leftover from his bite to Klaus' tail were festering, but as soon as the blood touched it, the poison stopped.
It then collapsed, the large body turned into ashes like that of a volcano. Burning hot and then fading to leave a naked Billy behind.
"Help them!" shouted Pride.
The others were picked up by trucks not long after they reached the middle, by then the sounds in the valley, had stopped and grown eerily quiet.
No one spoke. They just sat in silence until they reached the point where all the dirt roads connected. A truck came speeding from the side, nearly smashing into them before speeding off towards the lodge. The guard driving swore and honked at the other driver before keeping pace.
Three trucks came to a stop in front of the lodge. The other team members watched with horror as Klaus, and Billy were carried out of the originally speeding truck. Both were naked, and Klaus was covered from head to toe in blood.
Amelia was the first to jump out and speak. "What happened?"
Pride, who was the last to exit the truck whaled on her. "It was the cost of hubris!"
The words were not only to chastise them but herself. Pain had said it would happen. She just did not expect it so quickly and now both of them could die. She was sloppy and should have had someone watching Billy.
Instead, she was so sure of her plan to kick the other team members into gear that everything literally, went downhill.