Khai watched his island die. He’d been climbing to the Spirit’s peak in the heart of the island when the creature was first spotted in the distance, it had taken less than an hour for it to reach the remote island like a walking disaster. A fitting description Khai thought morbidly, the creature looked like a mudslide given shape; flowing, dripping layers of brown mud oozed across its giant mass as it lurched closer to the shore. It didn’t stop when it reached the houses, throwing its drooping appendages towards the clusters of homes, mud flowed from the shoreline in a thunderous wave. Mounds of wet earth swallowed thousands of lives, wiping all traces of their lives away in moments.
Khai couldn’t move, he couldn’t breathe. Why was this happening? The island had no warriors, no one had been given a blessing here in over a century. Creatures like that should have no reason to be drawn here according to his parents, it was supposed to be boring here, it was supposed to be safe from everything past the horizon, his parents said…. His parents, they must have already been killed. He felt…numb, he was in shock he knew it, but that didn’t make it any easier. In less than three breaths the creature had flooded the floor of the island in mud, it was trying to sink the entire island.
There was nothing he could do, he may as well have been the last person alive, he couldn’t fight, even if he had a centre that thing must have been lapis at least, diamond maybe. Khai was barely 17, even if he had been blessed with a centre he’d only have had a year to develop it. This destruction was inevitable.
Dropping to his knees, Khai remembered the small shrine on the next lip of the climb, if he was going to die he may as well do it at the highest point, ‘the closest point to divine Spirit’ his dad would say. Where was the supposed holy protector now? The whole island had given offerings and prayers to the damn elemental for centuries and now where was she? If Khai was going to die, he could at least do it on the same level as an elemental.
The creature was still advancing, lazily trudging across the rising swamp of mud, crushing the debris of structures long destroyed in its wake. Khai hurried, reaching higher he found the grooves to climb the last few steps to the peak.In his haste he cut his hand on the jagged overhand, he barely felt it.
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There it was, the pile of rocks supposedly connected to the Divine Elemental Spirit herself. Khai put a hand to the top of the pile, his own rock somewhere here, buried beneath the ones placed by each new child to reach 16. They were all gone.
It wouldn’t matter soon, Khai closed his eyes and, letting out a long breath, prayed for the last time to a deafened diety.
“You are the last, but it does not have to be the end”
The voice was faint, barely audible in Khai’s mind, but the words were clear.
Khai opened his eyes, his excitement drowned by the realisation of what the voice had said.
He called out, hoping the diety could hear him.
“Spirit? Why didn’t you stop this from happening? You’re supposed to be our guardian, we worshipped...”
“Time is short little one, I can only intervene for a short time before I must return to my.. ah..” The Spirit let out a short cry of pain before continuing, its voice sounding more strained than before. “If you consent, I can remove you from this island, I will channel my power through you and send you far away. I do not know the effect this will have on your body, or if your centre can sustain such an amount of mana, but I wish to save at least one of my followers..”
This was too much to process at once. Khai watched as the creature was almost upon him, he could see the mud had risen up the mountain slopes, rising to the peak where he remained. Was there any point In accepting? Everything was gone, his family, friends, his home, all sinking beneath the sea under a pile of mud.
“This was no accident little one, you must survive, you must grow and learn the truth behind this attack. I’m sorry I could not save more of you, but that does not mean you must die with the rest.”
The Spirit was right, he couldn’t die here, this would not be his last stand. Khai stood and looked toward the creature, toward where only moments ago his whole life had taken place. He had spent his whole life on this small island, he’d grown alongside so many others. Others who were gone now… Khai tightened his fists and spoke clearly.
“I accept this blessing”
Everything went white.