Cameron roared, and an explosive shockwave knocked everyone back. The fortress walls crumbled away, and the underground tunnels collapsed. Six fleshy bullets bounced off the ground and vanished, before they reappeared and charged again.

Kagiso, Duke and Raymond vanished and appeared at random. Mei, Laurence and Gloria shadowed them, and they shrouded the three brothers in their golden light. The Golden Eyed Sisters vanished, and the tethers they had connected to their counterparts’ backs dragged them along. The Demi-God ducked, dodged, parried and blocked the hypersonic barrage of attacks. Her eyes became pools of blindingly bright light, and her smile widened.

“You all have the worst luck.” Cameron said with a hearty chuckle. “I am the most powerful of the three of us and you cannot match my power…for long.” She added and Kagiso laughed. “We do not have to. We need only live long enough for your executioners to arrive. Some wars of attrition have time limits.” He replied confidently and the Demi-God locked onto him. A cold shiver ran down his spine as a surge of fear coursed through his veins.

“Fear. I almost forgot this sensation. Then again, when was the last time I was in danger…A warning system? Systems? How many are there? Can we develop our own?” The two-horned man deduced, and he vanished. Kagiso dodged the first attack and appeared above Cameron.

“Is that the secret to their power? In fact, she only grew stronger once she unleashed her strange Mana. No, it was when she spoke. When she prayed. Words of Power. And if she has to pray to activate it, then it is a Spiritual Influence. Is that the advanced form of a Psychic Influence? Is that what they have done? They have taken what was ours and made it their own? Can we do the same? Through prayer and worship?” The two-horned man wondered, and another blazing golden claw swiped at his head. He vanished again, and the giant metallic paw missed its mark.

“It seems we can match your power, even if it’s temporary. But you cannot and will never match our speed.” Kagiso said and the Demi-God turned bright red. She glanced up at the Candidate standing on her head and chuckled menacingly. “I am going to rip out that clever tongue and kill you.” Cameron vowed and her golden armour shattered.

The flecks of gold coalesced and formed a giant golden ball. The sphere took on the form of a ten-metre tall and twenty-metre-long lion. The Divine Beast stepped forward and a searing heat passed through their energy fields, shields and armour. The heat licked their bodies and seared their skins. The three ghostly apparitions winced, and their companions leapt back thousands of metres. The Demi-God roared. Her golden tattoos coiled around her wrists and ankles, and her naked body turned into a tall silver silhouette with razor-sharp claws.

“Will you manage?” Kagiso asked, and Mei nodded silently. “Your mind and soul are more confusing than she is powerful. There are so many knotted soul ties and mental blocks and-and…gaps. Empty darkness where your nano-portals should be. What are you?” She replied, and the two-horned man closed his eyes. “I see. They’re all systems. One on top of another. Adjacent to one another. Through each other.” Kagiso deduced, and he stared at the blindingly bright intertwining pillars of silver and golden light that visually represented the lion’s energy signature.

The Divine Beast radiated a myriad of colours. The rainbow swirled and formed kaleidoscopic patterns before it settled. The stained-glass painting, kilometres above the lion, depicted a king with a broken crown on his head, a rundown castle behind him, a ruined kingdom at the bottom of the hill and a dark blue sky that had a single constellation.

“Leo? King of the Zodiac.” The two-horned man rumbled in disbelief, and the Divine Beast turned to face him. “That name and that title sound…familiar. Who are you and what do you know? Speak the truth or I will devour you in a single bite.” the lion said, and Cameron frowned. “What are you?” she asked, and Kagiso’s heart pounded in his chest. The youngest of the Golden Eyed Sisters felt the surge in energy and her Mana swelled.

*

Jane stared blankly at the sea of debris in the darkness. She turned her back on the clear path to her escape route and her future. The two-horned woman spread a pair of fiery wings, flapped and vanished. She flew over to the centre of the island and inspected the two curtains of fire before her.

“You are to my right, along with the more powerful foe. However, my brothers and my past are to my life.” Jane said, with a giggle. She doubled over and laughed hysterically.

“My King…you have one twisted sense of humour. Can you see me? I wonder if you are laughing or crying right now? Will they understand why you did this? I pity you. Lord of Sorrows. I pity you and your lonely throne atop a mountain of young and ambitious corpses. How much of your Kingdom can you see from there?” Jane rumbled to the sky. Her pain, sorrow, disappointment and fear turned into rage and she stepped forward without thinking.

The two-horned woman forced her way through the curtain of fire, even though she could part it with a thought. The flames charred Jane’s armour, and it set her hair on fire. The golden dreadlocks burned to ash and revealed the short iridescent quills on her scalp. The glittery flames charred the bone covered spikes as well and the two-horned woman endured the searing pain. She emerged from the flames with a head full of blood red dreadlocks and pitch-black armour. Jane strode across the ash dunes. She looked up, saw two red stars in the distance, and smiled.

“I do not know if you are amazing for killing Hilda, or if she was pathetic. Especially when I have had no problem tidying things up on my end. I mean, I even had time to experiment.” Vuyo said smugly, with his hands behind his back. The two-horned woman scanned her surroundings. She caught Clyde in the middle of a horrid act. He knelt and stuffed his face into a pile of mangled and mutilated corpses.

Mdu was lying in a puddle of blood with his severed limbs not too far away. Priya and Regius haemorrhaged blood from every orifice. They crawled on the ground, while two statues stood over them and smiled sadistically. The two malformed giants inhaled sharply and the curtain of fire parted.

Kenpachi and Riekes burst through the gap, before the two walls of glittery flames slammed shut behind them. Vuyo’s smile faded away. He glanced over at the shocked and enraged Candidates. The Demi-God removed his hands from behind his back and tossed Jabu and Hugo’s heads onto the slender, one-horned man’s plate. The pile shrunk and the two severed heads rolled towards Clyde.

“Devour and grow. Join us and rule.” Vuyo rumbled excitedly and Jane set her soul ablaze. The Demi-God laughed, and the imposing one-horned man watched his brother in horror. The ravenous one-horned man pinned a broken Priya down, before a portal to his hearth opened where his mouth should have been. Clyde ripped out flesh and bone. He held it up to his mask and devoured the magical cells, with glee. His energy signature shone brighter, and his power grew with each fist full.

Jane clashed with Vuyo and drove him back hundreds of metres. She swung a black bladed long sword at his neck and a cold shiver ran down his spine. The Demi-God ducked, and a series of explosions detonated mysteriously above his head. The white-hot blasts forced him to his knees and the two-horned woman’s warhammer slammed into his chest. She launched him towards the southern coast and dozens of swords, axes, spears and daggers chased after him.

Vuyo looked up and an army of golems materialised in their path. The weapons skewered the malformed knights, and he slammed his palms together. The Demi-God pried them apart and the glittery egg ballooned rapidly. He fired the cluster of atomic warheads, generated another and fired again in quick succession. The two statues turned towards the battle and took off. Regius crawled away. He left Priya and the sounds of tearing behind and dragged himself towards Mdu’s lifeless body.

Jane vanished. The two statues anticipated her movements and took off. They positioned themselves between her and their creator. The two-horned woman flicked her wrist and her daggers vanished. The bone blades pierced the stone skulls, and the impact scattered the magical grey matter inside the stone shells in every direction. Vuyo furrowed his brow, when spears appeared in the eggs path. They detonated on impact, and he counted the thousands of weapons barrelling towards him.

Jane screamed, and her weapons wrote dozens of black magical circles. Black crossbow bolts formed in the centre and the Void Spells glittered, before they fired the Death Bolts. The Demi-God dug deep, and his black suit burned. The old African man became more muscular, and the golden tattoos crept all over his body.

“In dire times, I pray for your guidance. Illuminate my path forward…Noctua.” Vuyo rumbled, and the white owl fluttered to his right. He followed it and time flowed normally again. Vuyo dodged Jane’s attacks and the black arrows annihilated the ground on impact. Another series of bright white explosions detonated, and he scanned the Void Spells carefully. However, the brackets were too dark for his eyes to penetrate.

The Demi-God sent hundreds of Astral bodies to the black circles and some mysterious force disrupted the ghostly bodies. Mdu stood up and fired a glittery black bullet from his omni-rifle. Kenpachi’s eyes bulged. Clyde looked up and vanished. He dodged the shot aimed at him and laughed.

“What are you doing?” the imposing one-horned man asked. The stocky one-horned man did not reply. He fired another black bullet and chased after the slender one-horned man. “Cease this madness immediately! The enemy is before us. We will settle our matters privately, as brothers.” Kenpachi rumbled stoically. Clyde let out a high-pitched laugh. “Then why are you clutching your sword so tightly? Settle this as brothers? I think not.” He rumbled apathetically and vanished.

The imposing one-horned vanished a fraction of a nano-second later. He reappeared with his sword drawn. Kenpachi swung at Clyde’s neck and his eyes glowed blue. He leaned back and vanished just as the blade touched his neck armour. The slender one-horned man dashed a kilometre back and appeared in front of the curtain of fire.

“I’m a few levels higher than you are now. How are you tracking my movements?” Clyde rumbled curiously. His voice washed over his brother and compelled him to answer. “I cannot…but we have fought countless times. And you always initiate combat with a backstab or a long-range shot, like a coward.” The imposing one-horned man rumbled honestly, and the slender one-horned man’s demeanour changed. He glanced over at Regius and the two severed heads at the bottom of the pile. Vuyo let out a booming laugh.

“Fine, but then you owe me one…Dragon.” The Demi-God said between breaths. Jane and Mdu’s eyes flared. They charged at Vuyo, but he was too quick. The white owl fluttered past them, and the Demi-God strolled past the bewildered Candidates. The two-horned woman and the stocky one-horned man looked over their shoulders in shock. Vuyo plunged his fist through Regius’ back, and the doppelgänger detonated. The powerful explosion engulfed the Demi-God and trapped him inside of a fiery tornado.

“A magic duel? Interesting. Entertain me.” Riekes said, and his eyes glowed orange. Lava cracks crept around the battlefield. The glittery streams sparkled and wrote thousands of dark orange crystal brackets on their way. Jane swung her sword downwards, and it shattered against Vuyo’s right shoulder. He pointed at the ground behind him and swatted the two-horned woman away with a wave.

Clyde vanished. He reappeared near the Demi-God, punched the ground and ripped out a battered and exhausted Regius. The much taller one-horned man held him up by his right wrist and watched his legs dangle, before he opened his maw and devoured slowly.

Regius roared in agony, as Clyde disassembled his arm on a cellular level. He raised his prey higher and tilted his head back. The slender one-horned man’s eyes glowed an ominous shade of green. Kenpachi severed Regius’ arm at the shoulder. He grabbed his left forearm and vanished, before the circle of lava was complete. Mdu charged at Clyde, Riekes flicked his wrist and the two-horned woman threw four spears in quick succession.

The Sol’s Anvil Spell glittered, and an invisible force pulled Vuyo down. His ankles and shins sunk into the ground, while a pillar of inter-dimensional energy slammed down. The Demi-God bent over, placed his right palm on the cold soil and glittery lightning bolts shot out of the ground. The wriggling streams of electricity broke the circle of lava, disrupted the holo-circuits and shattered their brackets. Vuyo raised his left hand. He stopped the pillar of energy, with ease, and exhaled sharply. A bright light burst out of his body and the glittery white dome repelled the spears.

The Demi-God plucked a spear out of the air. He swung at Riekes’ neck and the polearm siphoned oceans of Mana from his giant body. The strength left his limbs, and his eyelids grew heavier. The two-horned woman appeared before Vuyo, with a malicious glow in her eyes. She punched a hole through his stomach and chuckled at the shocked expression on his face.

“Just kidding. Judgement.” The Demi-God rumbled, with a smile. “Divine Retribution.” He added, and the glittery white light poured out of him again. The silvery rays illuminated the darkness and blocked out the light from the curtain of fire. The light disassembled Jane’s armour, weapons and body on a subatomic level. She winced, opened her eyes and stared daggers at the nine-hundred-metre-tall silhouette in the centre of the blast.

“I was granted the gift of purity. The power to cleanse or destroy souls. I usually use it to eliminate all false truths and wayward decisions. You will not reincarnate, revive or respawn. You will stay with me forever, or you will be obliterated. Join me or begone.” Vuyo rumbled excitedly.

The two-horned woman gave it some thought. She imagined herself as a powerful matriarch, adorned with a beautiful crown and a rugged suit of armour. She sat upon a golden throne on top of a platform with golden steps. Her sons and daughters were lined up along both sides of the red carpet. One by one, their lovers entered the long stone throne room. The torches flared as they made their way to the throne, knelt before the Dragon Queen and took their placed beside their wives and husbands.

Jane smiled at her children and grandchildren behind the long line of succession. They nodded at her, and she turned towards doors. Beautiful flags flew proudly, and the mortal lords bent their knees to the Dragon Queen. Most of whom were the soldiers that had died and had entrusted their souls to her. They raised their heads, and she nodded at them as well. The Dragon Queen finally turned her attention to the billions of subjects who would one day swear allegiance to her lineage beyond the horizon.

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

“Detonate.” The two-horned woman croaked. Her starry hearth, her mind palace and the planets her nano-cities rested on became unstable. The future she had envisioned became a black and white painting. Silence fell and black cracks crept up the path.

Jane felt a sudden surge of power. The mortal souls she was carrying with her lined up on a grassy field littered with broken weapons. They roared proudly, shattered the silence and the walls of the stone throne room. The darkness of the Void spilled in and the thousands of bipedal bodies of Mana lost their forms. The black cracks formed in the ground beneath their feet and the sky shattered. Vuyo felt the spike in her energy signature and frowned. The giant leaned forward, when he noticed the pitch-black dimensional fields in the masked woman’s cells.

“Only her left arm has them? What are they?” the Demi-God wondered before an explosion of inky waters burst out of her body. The cascade of starry explosions hid the burst of sparkly black waters. The black inter-dimensional fields cracked open and the antimatter particles inside spilled out. “Oh, great.” Vuyo said with a hint of disdain and Jane self-destructed.

“My soul is not yours to claim. Good luck, traitor. You will be hunted down to the ends of The Universe. There will be no rest or mercy for you…only fire and vengeance.” Jane rumbled prophetically, with her final breath. Clyde felt her pity, before he saw a red tidal wave. The Blade Wheel cut through the light and slashed the giant’s shoulder. The collision of darkness, light, shockwaves and fire masked the enraged one-horned man’s advance. Kenpachi swung through the rampant destructive forces and the slender-one horned man narrowly dodged the attack again.

“Aargh! We are just having the worst day today, hey?” Riekes’ said and the barrier around his blind and armless brother cracked. “I’m sorry.” He whispered and a glittery lightning bolt struck the enraged one-horned man from behind. The inter-dimensional infused electrons made his muscles seize, and they constricted his nano-portals. Clyde landed a vicious blow on his brother.

The enraged one horned man rolled and skipped like a stone. Riekes extended his left index finger and unleashed another powerful bolt of sparkly lightning. The bolt struck Kenpachi, and he dropped down to one knee, before his brother threw a swift toe kick that cracked his mask excruciatingly. Clyde let his Mana explode out of his cells and a glittery giant boot launched his brother at the spheres of light. The destructive forces knocked the confused one-horned man around, before he crashed where the southeastern coast once was with a meteoric impact.

Kenpachi repaired his broken bones in nanoseconds. He stood up quickly and his sword vanished. The Japanese sword reappeared in its scabbard and his hand hovered over the handle. The imposing one-horned man glanced at the Demi-God Vuyo carefully. The bright white body of Mana contracted, and a skeleton formed in its chest. The giant contracted again, and the skeleton had grown flesh and organs. Kenpachi glared at the unlikely alliance and exhaled slowly.

“Where’s Mdu? I cannot sense him. Was he destroyed by the blasts? What kind of magic rampages like this? What is this black dust? No. I have heard of this. Death Magic. I see. What did Mdu know? Where did he learn…of course. The one who unleashed it. Does Clyde know of it? Did the ones he…desecrated know?” the imposing one-horned man wondered before he glanced at Riekes, and his eyes bulged. He had removed his mask and revealed the sunken eye sockets on his forehead.

“How long have you been planning your betrayal?” Kenpachi asked softly and the four eyed traitor tilted his head back. He connected his brother’s optical nerves to his brain and smiled. “Oh, a while now. Do you really want to fight him, or do you want to avoid the end?” Riekes replied, before he turned to Clyde. The green-eyed traitor sighed, when he remembered the vision.

Clyde inspected the glittery black specks that danced in the violent winds. The air particles collided with the tiny black spheres. They cracked open, and another explosion of light sent shockwaves across the battlefield. More flecks of dust cracked open, and another series of explosions forced them to take cover. The trio uncrossed their arms and narrowly dodged the three Blade Wheels buzzing right at them.

“And he has oceans of this stuff.” The green-eyed traitor realised, when he remembered the silent darkness. An image of Kagiso flashed before his eyes, and a cold shiver ran down his spine. “You’ve been on a mission like this before, right? What happens afterwards?” Clyde asked, and Riekes scoffed. “A long and invasive debriefing. Afterwards, the older clans fawn over their precious legacies and shower them with gifts…or they are punished for their failure. Do you know what their rewards are if they have completed their trials?” he replied, and the green-eyed traitor stared at his brother.

“An Egg.” Clyde replied, and Kenpachi’s eyes flared. Vuyo rubbed his chin. “Hmm? Eggs? Oh, so this isn’t your full strength. Excellent.” The Demi-God rumbled excitedly, and the sound of his voice made the imposing one-horned man’s blood boil. Kenpachi let out a bone chilling roar. He attacked, regardless of the odds, and appeared in front of Riekes. His top left eye glow and the spell he had secretly written onto his opponent’s back activated. However, it was too late.

The bright yellow brackets punched a tennis ball sized tube through the imposing one-horned man’s chest, and he cleaved the four eyed traitor in half. Riekes’ eyes bulged and glowed. Binding spells seemingly wrote themselves on the ground and glittery crystal chains shot out of the balls of light in their centres. The hooks pierced Kenpachi’s limbs and the interdimensional spheres of light reeled him back to the ground.

The four eyed traitor wrote a spell beneath his feet and both halves fell through the crystal ring. The inter-dimensional and electromagnetic forces pushed the two halves back together and the blue crystal ring turned a dark shade of green, before it repaired the damage. Riekes slapped his palms together and pried them apart. The four eyed traitor tapped into the database of Spells his brother had stored in his eyes and Jabu’s summoning circle was written by his Mana. The four eyed traitor laughed maniacally, when a new notification popped up in front of him. He had finally earned the Dual Casting Trait.

The imposing one-horned man stood and grit his teeth. He coated his blade in Mana and unleashed a Blade Wheel at the bear falling out of the sky. Kenpachi scanned the battlefield once more, before he realised there weren’t any bodies at all. There wasn’t so much as a severed limb or a scrap of scattered flesh. The sharp pain shooting up his limbs disrupted his train of thought.

The imposing one-horned man looked down and noticed the hooks in his body. He looked up at Riekes, just as he put his mask back on and waved his hand. A fiery tornado erupted. The glittery flames evaporated Kenpachi’s Mana, and he secreted more to shield himself from the heat.

“No, we are nowhere near our full strength. But I may have discovered a way to steal it…with your help, of course. After which, all we would need is the time and resources to Assimilate.” The four eyed traitor rumbled happily, and Vuyo appeared right next to him. He eyed Riekes suspiciously and smiled madly. “You share traits and abilities with someone, and that makes you a family. Blood Pacts, Words of Power, Ascensions, Assimilations…Dragons and Gods. Isn’t magic amazing?” The Demi-God asked, with a delighted chuckle, and Riekes giggled with joy.

*

Cameron roared once more, and the Golden Eyed Sisters repaired their comrades’ burst eardrums. She glanced at the golden lion, but he did not move. The Demi-God snarled and glared at Kagiso. His left eye glowed purple, a cold shiver ran down her spine and she charged.

“You are an oddity. A danger I must snuff out immediately!” Cameron declared, and she locked onto the heterochromatic man. The Demi-God grew until she was three hundred metres tall. The bright white giant blinded Kagiso, and he closed his eyes involuntarily. The two-horned man was dragged into the Void once more. He saw a feminine shadow, and she strolled towards him. Black butterflies swirled around them, and shadowy spiders skittered around their feet.

Kagiso’s eyes itched terribly. He opened them and the light grew dimmer. He spotted Cameron and her eyes bulged. The white of the heterochromatic man’s eyes had become pitch black. The blue and purple irises glowed ominously, and the pupils became neon slits. Kagiso’s heart beat painfully harder and a surge of strength coursed through his body. A glittery dimensional field ballooned. It swallowed the entire island and time stopped. The Demi-God looked around, before she noticed the two-horned man’s vacant stare. His gaze shifted and her heart sank.

“So, the end has begun? The beginning of another end. Take solace in knowing your sacrifice will help to usher in a New Age. And in time, it too will give way to another beginning. That is the Great Cycle. That is the Order we have established. Your kind have disturbed that balance, and I fear it cannot be corrected without you.” Kagiso rumbled, but his voice was much deeper.

“Who are you? What do you know about my kind? No…impossible. You? How are you here?” Cameron asked, and the world contracted. The Dragon King inched closer mysteriously. The Demi-God blinked, and Kagiso had dragged her to the Void. The silence was maddening, and the cold made her shiver. Cameron sat down on the ash and curled up into a ball. The eerie environment sapped the will to move out of her body, along with her soul.

The Demi-God’s golden tattoos became dull, and her silver light became grey. She blinked and saw Leo staring at the purple sun in the sky. He looked down, saw a boy standing at his feet and jumped for joy. The boy placed a finger to his lips, before he glanced at Cameron and beckoned the golden lion closer. Leo leaned in and turned his ear towards the boy. The crimson skinned child whispered something in his ear and the Divine Beast’s eyes shone. Kagiso regained consciousness, and the boy placed his hand on his back.

“Quickly now. Time is of the essence. Until we meet again, my friend.” Leo said with a smile and the golden lion vanished. The stasis field shrunk slowly. The two-horned man took several deep breaths, before he sent hundreds of Astral bodies to the glittery black dimensional fields in his left arm. Kagiso barely recognised any of the machinery in the eerily quiet cities. His mind palace expanded and the islands, with hundreds of bookshelves on them, grew into continents. A glittery oil streak guided a wispy apparition to a black and white continent, beneath a cloudy grey sky.

The stasis field collapsed, and Raymond looked around frantically. He locked eyes with his younger brother, just as he opened the black stone gate in the very centre of the island of ash. Plumes of glittery black smoke poured out of his body. The ebon interdimensional energy snuffed out the curtains of fire and washed over the barren battlefields.

The Void Mana engulfed the island, and a black sphere inflated slowly. The Golden Eyed Sisters and the two brothers stared at the puddles of ink at their feet and the black butterflies fluttering about. The Demi-God was gone, along with the golden lion. In fact, theirs were the only energy signatures that they felt. Kagiso sighed sadly. He looked up at the dim light shining through the wispy black clouds.

“Take us away. Ferry us to safety.” The heterochromatic man rumbled solemnly. The world rushed past the six Candidates and the translucent interdimensional energy fields popped. The masked men and women had been transported millions of kilometres away. They stared at the black dome on the horizon in awe.

“It just keeps growing. Stop it, before it destroys the planet.” Duke advised with a hint of fear. “I cannot. Not until it has annihilated every particle.” Kagiso replied quietly. “And then it either repurposes the energy or it releases it all as heat and light.” The three-horned man deduced, and it happened as soon as he had said it.

The needle hole of light in the centre of the darkness expanded and the surrounding waters evaporated. The ripples from the steam explosion became bubbling tsunamis. The foamy and steamy waves crashed down and the sphere of light grew once more, before it finally detonated. The explosion of heat and light lasted ten seconds. However, the six Candidates did not look away. The masked men and women waited for it all to end, before they looked up at the starry early morning sky.

“Just as the Dragon King foresaw.” Raymond said softly, and Kagiso clenched his fist. “What is freedom? What is fate? How far apart are Dragons and Gods?” he wondered, and the two-horned man glanced at him and his purple eye. “You chose this future. You chose to risk our lives to save those of mortals. You destroyed the island and the enemy.” The three-horned man replied, and Duke turned his head to face him.

“That is not true. We all had a role in this play. Some were bigger than others.” The stoic two-horned man said, and Raymond scoffed. “Choices and consequences. You are going to spend the rest of your life making difficult decisions on behalf of others.” He rumbled solemnly. However, Duke detected a hint of fear and contempt in his voice. Mei gasped and broke the tense silence.

“Survivors!” The youngest of the Golden Eyed Sisters exclaimed happily, and she pointed at the horizon. Gloria’s eyes flashed. The sun rose slowly and illuminated three silhouettes standing in a circle around a fourth, lying face down in the water. “Curious. I only see four of them, yet I can feel Priya, Jane and her brothers.” the two-horned man added. “Not just them. I see Kenny and I think Regius is there as…No…what have they done?” Laurence asked in horror, and his eyes flashed.

Clyde laughed hysterically, while Riekes yawned and stretched his arms. Vuyo placed his hand on their shoulders. The six Candidates leapt into action and the trio disappeared mysteriously. An Astral Gate opened behind them, and the two Dragon Guard scouts emerged, followed closely by three colossal Whale Ships. The masked men and women stopped in their tracks.

The two eight-hundred-metre-tall giants wore suits of pitch-black armour. One had a canine’s snout and was covered in flowy brown fur, while the other had metallic scales and resembled a snapping turtle. They had caught a glimpse of the Demi-God and the two traitors with them, and that was enough.

“Secure the perimeter. We’ll give chase. They couldn’t have gotten far.” The furry Dragon rumbled, and his voice deafened the six Candidates. The vibrations chattered their teeth and shook their organs. Two feathered Dragons, with four armoured wings, extended their index and middle fingers. They placed their free hands on their bellies and erected a powerful dimensional barrier, that could have encompassed the entire island.

“Hmph. Why did they send pups to do a Dragon’s work? What a waste.” One of the four winged Dragons rumbled sympathetically, and the Candidates felt the full weight of her words. Tears welled up in Mei’s eyes, when she thought of the dozens of faces, she would never see again.

“Grieve child. You have survived a trial most will never have to endure again. By the Dragon King’s wisdom, you are here, and they are not. Grieve and celebrate. It is not our place to question his will. Only to surrender ourselves to it.” Reina rumbled reverently. Laurence fished Kenpachi out of the water. He froze the water, placed a hand on his backplate and scanned the extensive damages to his broken body.

“By the Universe. How are you still alive?” the Eldest of the Golden Eyed Sisters asked softly. Gloria watched the sea water fill the space where the island was. The furry and scaled Dragons appeared suddenly above the barrier.

“Their energy signatures have disappeared. However, they fled through the Iron Gate. Our suspicions were correct. A Hub World has fallen.” Gert rumbled warily, while stroking his chin hairs. The one horned man clenched his broken hand tightly. “Rest, BladeClaw. The Council will decide your fates.” Jomo rumbled calmly, and he eyed the seven Candidates suspiciously. The turtle faced Dragon locked eyes with Kagiso and gasped quietly. “Or perhaps they have already decided, and it is your mission to understand why?” he said to the two-horned man and Raymond glanced at him out of the corner of his eyes.

*

“And finally. Captain Simon Crane. For excellent service in a time of need. I award you the sword, Devil’s Bane and the titles of Lord and Demon Slayer.” Kagiso said and the white-haired pirate knelt. He held out his hands, and two holographic monitors popped up in front of him. The two-horned man handed the sheathed sword over to him and he accepted his reward with a smile.

The Pirates Lords left the grand hall and exchanged proud looks with one another. They were about to leave, when a powerful energy signature loomed over them. The giant wings flapped, and the gale force winds nearly flattened the surrounding foliage. A tall crimson skinned man, with a crooked back appeared suddenly. He eyed the pirates suspiciously, before he opened his mouth to speak.

“Where is your sponsor? Where is the young Lord? It is time for his debriefing, and the Council hates nothing more than having their time wasted. Where is the Chosen Heir?” the messenger asked, and Kagiso strolled through the tall and long stone passage. “Rork? So, my father has finally sent for me?” he asked curiously.

“Ah! Your Majesty. The last son of the BladeClaw clan has awoken. Your formal debriefing will begin soon. If I may share some words of wisdom?” the messenger replied happily, before his tone changed and he leaned in closer. “I know. Honesty is the best policy. Besides, I have a few questions that need to be answered as well. Until then, I do not want my brothers to find out about-what is it? What did you do?” the heterochromatic man asked, when he noticed the guilty expression on Rork’s face.

“Your brothers have already left for the Library of Truth. I am certain their debriefings have already begun. A-a precautionary measure.” The messenger answered nervously, when he noticed the scowl on Kagiso’s face. “Anyway, you must leave now sire. Your retainers may stay here until your return.” The messenger said with a proud smile. The heterochromatic man sighed. He raised his head and stared at the sky island and the Whale Ships in the distance.

To be continued…

Season 02: The King and Queen’s Prerogative: The Harrows of Hatching.

Coming soon.