A mighty roar thundered through the room as father charged into the mass of golems, red steam trailed in his path as he darted from golem to golem. I could only mentally claw at the dreaded blue window that with cold indifference counted down the time it forced me to watch my family die. For a moment it looked like his savage assault could actually turn the tide but the golems recovered and pressed their assault even stronger.
Unable to assist I could only watch as the golems advance took more and more of our space to move. My fine nose was the greatest curse, it told me with painful accuracy just how much the room began to smell like earth and iron as the fine red mist began do congeal into droplets of blood.
Suddenly the fallen golem Gale had investigated rose again!
“Puny mortals my golems are invincible! Rise again and bring demise to these worms!” The risen golem readied his mighty fist, the air rumbled as the strike hit true. Stone shards rained everywhere as the head of a golem was disintegrated by the punch.
Only now did I realize that the glowing lines and runes of the risen golem had turned from blue to green. Instantly the golem turned traitor was assaulted by its own brethren, the mass of golems immediately crushing the construct.
My last hope evaporated as I saw the golems turn their focus back to us, my desperate hope for our survival began playing tricks to my eyes, had I seen a hit of green in the golems surrounding the fallen traitor?
Suddenly all hell broke lose, golems began turning against each other. Small in number at first green began to rise through the ranks. Each fallen golem would infect his destructors, like a pandemic the green began to spread through their ranks.
“What is happening? What have you done to my golems? Stop it! What are you doing, kill the intruders!”
Even with the green light assisting us the fight took many minutes that seemed eternal.
As the fight neared its end I was finally released from my shackles, like the incarnation of destruction I dove into the remaining golems. Green or blue did not matter, my rage was second only to my worry as I trailed the track of blood.
At the end I found father, chest barely rising and falling, his arm still stuck in the torso of a golem his body was riddled with gashes of all sizes. I did not even notice crushing a few golems as I charged to his side. Not bothering to be gentle I flooded him with my energy, he was in disastrous shape. Whatever technique he had used to activate that strength it had cost him dearly.
His meridians were in shambles, blood dangerously drained his entire body was critical.
My conscious knew I could not save him, but deep within there was a small voice telling me there was a way, he may hate me but in my desperate state of mind I began grasping at straws.
The door flung open, knowledge of medicine so dark and forbidden I had sealed it long ago behind a separate set of doors deep within my mind-palace gushed out.
Without hesitation I plunged my own paw into my chest, lifeblood shooting forward, taking control of the precious liquid I forced it into the gashes, invading his very being.
Before he had silently endured, not showing any sign of pain- most likely to not cause us worry. Now he was screaming out of his very being as runes took shapes and patterns so old and dark entire worlds had been purged to remove that knowledge from existence formed around him.
Time was relative, I know not how long I spent in this state but the gentle touch of my mother returned me to my senses. Disregarding my own self-caused wound I took a look at my father. He was out cold, but my sensible ears could hear his strong heartbeat. If he could ever forgive what I had done, but he would live.
All my reserves drained I too was welcomed by the sweet bliss of unconsciousness.
POV Selanis
The battle was over! Gale had somehow managed to twist the runic enchants that gave life to the golems but even then it had been close. I could not spare any focus as I churned out healing and buff spells as my knowledge of casting allowed me. The red mist brought back unbidden memories, only once before had I seen this technique and its price had turned one of the strongest our race had ever seen into a farmer.
My heart grew heavy as a tiny voice in the back of my head told me of the inevitable. As the battle grew closer to the end the effects shackling Kai finally broke, unleashing the pure rage that I knew she hid from all of us. Like a typhoon the Imoogi dove into the figures of stone. Like ants the constructs shattered under her paws, a simple wave of the tail bisecting a metal golem.
My heart demanded me to stop her, to allow my husband his rest and not to burden his soul with the memories of his grieving children. But deep within I pinned all my hope on Kai, she had made miracles real maybe this time she could also save the day.
Following the trail of carnage after climbing over the fallen form of an extremely large golem I found my daughter and my mate. Sitting in a puddle of her own blood deep red runes hovered around my screaming husband. The sight of these runes gave me goosebumps, they felt wrong as if they defied the nature of this world.
But I did not stop the process, my experienced eyes told me how his body mended itself, how the once feeble heartbeat grew strong again, even if it somehow got a weird echo in the end.
Only as I saw the process finished and the runes disintegrating did I place my paw on my daughters side. As if awakened from a dream she sighted as her eyes rolled back in her skull and her muscles went limp. She was definitely out cold and the large wound in her chest was still gushing blood. It took my entire remaining reserves to barely stitch the damaged blood vessels together.
The last thing I saw was a bloodied Ere supported by Gale joining the pile of over-exhausted beings. Then sweet blackness the overuse of my abilities had caused claimed me forcing me into a restless sleep.
POV Gale
The spell had succeeded! With the fallen golem as template I had created a self replicating inscription that could be transferred through the metallic channels inlaid in the golems body's. While not perfect the spell served its purpose of allowing us the needed space to turn the tide!
The afflicted golems however would burn out in minutes, the needed changes I had throw together caused a conflict in their central matrix which would not allow them to recover and eventually overloaded their core.
It took a large amount of my manapool to invoke the spell leaving me quite drained but the gamble paid off. As I was finally capable of movement again I found Ere hunched over the fallen body of a golem, her rage out of control she kept pummeling the already destroyed body.
Calming her proved harder than I thought but the huge number of injuries made immediate medical attention mandatory. Casting a stun spell I managed to get close enough to hug her. She struggled a short moment after the spell wore off but her rage drained away leaving behind my bleeding and scared younger sister.
While not very experienced in healing I managed to patch her up enough that mother could deal with the finer work later, when we all had recovered a bit.
Supporting the limping Ere we followed the trail of destruction Kai had left behind until we reached its end. I only saw the runes hovering over fathers body for a short moment before they faded and Kai collapsed but it was enough to remember the “black section” of the compilation of runes Kai had gifted me.
Unable to analyze the structure with my hazy mind we joined the sleeping form of my mother that laid slumped down next to Kai's chest. I did not even notice the blood as we joined the pile of body's. Sweet sleep came over us, Ere began snoring before her head even hit Kai's side, all of us were utterly spent.
POV Ignalis
The
The once unbearable pain had faded into a faint pressure as I lost feelings in an increasingly large area of my body. Through the hazy mist clouding my vision I saw Kai approaching, I felt one word echo into my mind.
“Sorry”
Then she plunged her paw into her chest and my body began to contort in agony. Never in my life had I experienced so much pain, feeling returned to once numb areas only to drown me in even more pain.
Not long after my mind gave out robbing me of consciousness.
I was the first to awaken, I felt stronger than I had felt in a long time! Flexing my still aching muscles I opened my eyes and nearly puked. The colors were all wrong, red smoke wafting up from my sleeping family. Trying to stand up I only launched myself into the ceiling.
It took me a while to get a grip on my barely responding body. It felt like my mind was unable to match whatever had happened to my body. My stirring awoke Kai first.
Her eyes opened, head slowly rising she looked at me and immediately averted her gaze. I had seen this before, every time she had done something wrong she was incapable of looking into my eyes.
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Trying to be gentle “Kai what have you done?”. The massive Imoogi began fidgeting around which looked hilarious due to her size. “Kai I am not angry, what have you done?” In this moment Selanis awoke, the look of relief upon seeing me drained away as she fixated upon the top of my head. Confused I patted my head, my paw coming to rest on a smooth and solid surface where there should not be one in our species.
Lacking any form of mirror or way to check my appearance I put more pressure in the words than intended, “Kai WHAT have you DONE?”.
Shame and guilt radiated out from my daughter as her voice came weakly into my head.
“It was the only way I knew to save your life.”
Suddenly the surface made sense HORNS! Why did I have freaking HORNS? How could my mate even bare to be together with me if I had become a demon?
“You turned me into a damn DEMON?!”
My rage began to grow how could my own flesh and blood betray me like this? Now my soul would never enter the eternal plains of the afterlife! Firm arms closed around me, the sweet voice of my wife buried my anger.
“Selanis how can you bare to touch me? I am tainted!”
She gently turned me around, a deep happiness radiating from her face. “You my dear are everything but tainted, Kai what have you done to achieve this?” The large Imoogi flinched under the question, “His soul and body were damaged beyond repair, I had to fill the gaps with something. I infused a small part of myself to fill the gaps and stabilize him.”
“So those Horns and eyes are not demonic?” My silent question plastered a huge confusion onto Kai's face.
“Of course not, those are dragonic features, I have infused you with dragon blood!” Still a faint doubt gnawed at the back of my mind, could my family still love me if I suddenly became different. The question barely surfaced as I smashed it in shame, was this not basically the same that had happened to my Daughter? How could I be so dumb and question the love of my family?
It took a great deal of effort to walk to Kai and place my paw onto her snout. “It is okay big girl I am not angry.”
“So you forgive me?” Her tiny voice was so full of hope it pained my hearts? Hearts?
I could deal later with the quirks of my changed anatomy, “There is nothing to forgive, I only regret that we cannot bear another child anymore.”
A deep look of contemplation crossed over my mates face,”Kai is what you have done hard to do or connected to a price for you?”
“While very draining the only price I pay is to share the pain of the recipient.” “Would you be willing to do the same to me?” Any form of protest from my side was instantly shut down by my wife's stern look.
“Yes I can do that, but first we have a god to lynch!”
All our gazes hardened as all members of the family rose to punish the cause of this pain.
POV Kai
All my fears had been obliterated, father had forgiven my transgression, while mothers request made me feel bad I had an obligation to fulfill her wish. But first we had an appointment with a fallen god.
After some more healing and fixing each other up we began our descend into the lower layers of the pagoda. All doors were closed and we had to tear them down but it only delayed us and was incapable of preventing our advance.
It must have been ten layers as we were stopped by a door made of pure metal.
Immediately I knew what that black metal was, orihalcum! Thankfully whoever had created those doors was an amateur! While it took a full hour of concentrated dragon breath, we finally managed to melt a hole into the richly decorated slab of metal.
The inside had obviously once been the central and most holy area of that gods influence. Placed on an altar laid a shimmering crystal the size of a head. In front of the altar stood a person.
Once a mighty figure the avatar now in front of us was covered in cracks and in the form of a young female human.
“Esoi I presume?” My question broke the silence.
“So you have reached me mortals. What have I left that makes you hunt me down?” “Not sure, we had only come to ask a few questions but what you have done has left only one way this day will end. Your death! Maybe we will get some answers but we will repay this debt of blood in full!”
“HAHA I am a god, even if fallen you cannot touch me!”
“Well, and there you are wrong. With you so weak that you cannot even hide your godly core in some fold of spacetime you are very much touchable.” All her haughty demeanor dropped away as she fell onto her knees. Pure and utter relief spread across her face.
“You have a way of ending my existence? To liberate my soul from this broken shell? If you can grant me freedom I will answer any question you may have!” All of us looked quite surprised by the sudden change in her behavior. Uncertain gazes were exchanged as the information sunk in.
“This is unexpected, yes we have a way to destroy you that would in turn return you to the great cycle of life. If you answer truly I may even leave your soul intact.”
“I accept your proposal mortal, ask your questions.”
“First I would like to know the true history about this species once hailed as your creation. Second what has caused you to revert into this state?” “Are you a historian by any chance? No it does not look that way. For your second question, I have been betrayed. My most trusted high priest has turned against me with the help of a certain magister and another god.”
“With the help of Rodeyar, god of the Elves and nature they turned against me after our plan had born fruit. My creation, your species had become too powerful. Their devotion and faith had made me grow into a threat to many other gods. Rodeyar however managed to turn my most loyal against me.” “The magister had assisted me as my mortal extension in the creation of the wolf-man. We however called them
“My high priest and magister used their familiarity with the
Those touched by that cursed joke of awakening were cut off from my presence, I was too proud and missed the coup, deeming myself untouchable.” “In the end cut off from faith I was overwhelmed and sealed down here. My last remaining energy was used up in an attempt to seize control of your body. If successful it would have allowed me to flee this place and work on my revenge.
But you have won, I have lost so I will comply with your demands.” “Is that all? If so please release me from this eternal imprisonment!” I nodded, her information had confirmed some theories I have had.
“Probably last question, do you know of any way to remove blessings?” “Simple mortal, just die. The void liberates the energy back to its owner.” “But what would you do if that did not work? If that blessing kept going even through reincarnation?”
A look of confusion crossed the goddess face until she began to laugh uncontrollably.
Barely able to suppress her outburst she continued.
“Priceless, who would have guessed that in my final moments I would meet an
There is no way that I know of to remove it, clueless one. Maybe the world itself can answer your question but I highly doubt it! So consume me and return to your ancestral path!” Her outburst had left me with more questions than answers but I grabbed her glowing core.
The goddess was smiling like a birthday kid as I used
The avatar began to break down, entire chunks of flesh breaking off the pieces turning to white dust. Even with her form crumbling she kept smiling. As she finally collapsed a faint voice wafted out from her remains.
“At least revenge will be mine! Beware of the elves they cannot be trusted.....” With those words echoing away
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God am i tired, chapter 16 is half done but should not hit the site until i had a good bucket of sleep.
Chapter 15 up, i hope you enjoy.
MfG : Dr_Dac