【 PROLOGUE: WISHFUL THINKING】
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In the sea of blood and dead bodies, a human swam in panic to reach the surface. With decapitated legs, it was only a matter of time before the poor thing drowned. Struggling to keep himself up to breathe in air, he desperately screamed for help. "P-Please! Someone! Help-"
Plunging back down he accidentally took a gulp of his own kind. "No! Please!"
Dyed with a beautiful warm red, both his vision and tears glistened beside the fiery battlefield. Swimming violently, he tried to call for help once more, but no one heard the cry of this unfortunate soul in the raging war of the Descendants and the sudden attack of tainted creatures.
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{・???・YEAR ???・POV ???・}
"How long will this go on for?!"
Surrounded by monsters, a man with sky folk features stood his ground firmly. The air became warm around him, and soon a heat haze can be seen in the atmosphere. As the temperature increased, blobs of blue fire and sparks appeared everywhere. In no time, calm and serene looking flames were hovering near the user, waiting for his command.
Without a sign, the tainted creatures rushed towards the man, and with a gesture that looked like a punch, his left fist went upwards instead. Fiery pillars streamed from the ground to the skies above, all the while the hovering blue flames surrounding the area exploded simultaneously engulfing the tainted beings.
"Complaining now won't do you any good, Lathan!"
Scolding his friend, another sky folk struggled from a distance while creating a massive ritual circle. "Just keep those nasty things busy!"
Lathan laughed as he fought off the Tainted beings in the area. "Aw, c'mon Cedric, and to think you're the Heavenly Marked, so demanding~"
Cedric turned and glared at him, "If they're dead, come help why don't you? We don't have much time…"
Time. Time wasn't really their problem. Not quite. It was more so if they could truly pull this off. The plan was to eradicate the tainted creatures by using the ancient weapon through the ritual circle. This will also disrupt the war between the Descendants giving the group an opportunity to fully stop it as well. Killing two birds with one stone as they say. However, their group has already exhausted much of their energy during the trials that they were going through before the chaos occurred.
"I'm worried about the other two," Cedric said in frustration. Hours probably have passed already after being separated. He was struggling from various emotions and the task at hand. It felt like his mind was about to split physically at any moment. He then felt a pat on his back. "They'll be fine," Lathan comforted. "Our ladies are strong, remember? Both of them will be here soon."
Cedric's demeanor softened at the thought of his lover. He then noticed Lathan's hand was also shaking. They were both in the same situation. Being far apart from their loved ones wasn't easy, especially during these moments of chaos where anything can happen.
"Thanks…" Cedric replied, "I know we'll be fine."
Joining him in creating the ritual circle, Lathan smiled and stood by Cedric's side with confidence. All that he had to do was stay in the circle as he gives his energy to his friend, since Cedric is the main anchor for this massive summon.
Markings and lines traced along the ground they're standing on. It went further into the distance until they couldn't see it. All they knew is that the size of this circle would be big enough to surround a kingdom. With a ritual size like this, it would take about seven of them in the same power level to complete it. However, most of their friends had already died, some in front of them and a few were never found. Cedric refused this calculation. There were only four of them left in total. They have to complete it.
A vicious and dark monster suddenly appeared in front of Cedric and Lathan as they focused on creating the ritual circle.
"UH, Cedric…?" Lathan's sweat ran down the side of his face and looked at his friend's back, one of the nicer views he could see other than the demented creature in front of them. No reaction was seen from Cedric.
"Cedric, you know I can't move to kill that thing!"
"Shut up! I know! …Neither can I."
Both knew if one of them stepped out from the inner circle, they wouldn't be able to complete it nicely. Time would also be their problem.
The demented one stood still, then its neck snapped open revealing a masked face. Its legs grew longer and more pointed like a needle. Its back opened also revealing a huge bump that gathered human body parts and faces. It moved like a heartbeat. Thump. Thump. The sounds got louder and louder.
"Well, that's new…" Cedric commented as he looked back to his friend who was also surprised. "Seen anything like this before?"
"...Nope."
The two stared at the creature in front of them. With no plan, they both looked at each other and understood that no matter what, they'll have to stay inside the inner circle even if their body was rendered useless, because their soul would still be helpful to the ritual.
"HELP! HELP! HELP!" The creature shrieked, mimicking the sound of humans in danger. Cedric and Lathan were shocked. These things never spoke, until now. Alerted by the new discovery, both were about to attack with their most powerful range abilities to ensure it will die on the spot, but right before they did the creature was swallowed and gnawed on by a bigger figure. Slowly, the figure flattened on the ground and swirled around in front of them revealing shadows and inky darkness cloaking someone.
"Go," ordered the person hidden in the shadows. Gesturing to the shadows to kill the remaining hidden Tainted Beings in the area which lead to revealing her body and appearance. Raven hair and fair light skin. A human wearing a short combat dress with no weapon smiled at the two.
"Heinzelle!!"
Cedric and Lathan shouted in unison, sweating inside the inner ritual circle.
"Didn't know the boys had trouble dealing with these…," Heinzelle laughed at the two who are now showing a relieved expression.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
"Those things certainly surprised us this time," Lathan gestured to Heinzelle. "Did you know they could speak?"
Heinzelle came closer and joined the two in the inner circle giving her energy to Cedric, accelerating the ritual circle's markings. "No, but there's no time for that right now, just focus your energy." Heinzelle looked tired yet determined which made the other two focus more.
The other demented creatures screeched in their surroundings as they were being defeated by the shadows, then silence took over them.
After a while, Lathan finally gathered up the courage to speak, and made a very grim and serious expression, his red wings slightly opening up indicating that he would leave even if it cost them. "Zelle, Where is she?"
"Lathan!" Cedric was struggling with the situation, he can't have them fight. Not now.
"You know where she is-"
Lathan paused as he saw Heinzelle look towards him. For a good minute there was silence, both with a serious and frustrated expression until Heinzelle smiled softly, "Oh c'mon, don't stare at me with that scary look, she's fine you know. She'll be here any moment~"
The two men sighed, they had forgotten Heinzelle likes to give them heart attacks even in these types of situations. Lathan felt reassured and thanked Heinzelle. All three continued to keep focus on the ritual. The inner circle showed how much left of the markings was needed to complete everything, and they only had a little bit left. Cedric felt proud, they didn't need seven, they were fine with four. Although Lathan was a bit restless, he was still doing what needed to be done. Relieved yet frustrated because he couldn't do anything.
"Don't worry, she's fine. She'll be here any moment," Heinzelle kept smiling at Lathan to make him stop from thinking about negative things.
"Trust her, Lathan." Added Ceric, opening his white angelic wings to his friend behind him. Lathan looked at him with teary eyes and thanked the both of them. Everyone was struggling with their emotions, and without each other, who knows what would happen to all of them.
A strong gust of wind appeared out of nowhere. Heinzelle felt a shift in the atmosphere and knew right away. "Lathan, look up!"
A massive sword made out of wood came flying down with a huge Tainted Being stuck on the end, landing at the side where Lathan was. Fog of dirt engulfed them for a bit until it was sucked back onto the ground. All of them were in shock of how close that was to hitting the inner circle.
"Woohoo! Missed me guys?"
Everyone made a silly smile back at her. With her beautiful fae features and elf ears, her green wings matched perfectly as it fully opened. Nairah waves from above and slowly lands in front of Lathan. Both shared a hug and a quick smile, relieved that they are both alive. No one expected this sudden war that made the world speechless. It was as if the world had turned crimson overnight. The four then shared quick glances at each other, showing their closeness and understanding of the situation. Nairah hurriedly went to Heinzelle, while Lathan gestured to Cedric to speed up the ritual circle. Before joining, Nairah hugs Heinzelle tightly and whispers a thank you. Heinzelle knew what it was for and smiled at her, patting Nairah's back.
"It was nothing. Now, let's finish this up, together."
Nairah, of all people, knew that what Heinzelle did wasn't just nothing. While the two shared a moment, Cedric glared at them while struggling with the summoning circle. "You know if you're going to cheat on me-"
Heinzelle glared back which made him pause, "She is my best friend!"
"Okay Best friend 1 and 2, care to finally focus?" Lathan added.
"Oh of course we would love to help out your majesty, Holder of the Dragon Heart, Lathan!" Nairah teased sarcastically and elegantly bowed to Lathan while his face distorted to an embarrassed expression.
"Never call me that again… as my soon to be wife, I beg you to not call me that…"
The two ladies shared some laughs as they joined to focus their energy into the inner circle. When complete, the huge ritual circle would appear across the vast land and oceans of Shiruneia. An Ancient weapon that would eradicate all Tainted beings across the world. When Nairah gave her energy, the inner circle quickly completed itself, indicating the outer markings are done as well. The glowing lines, shapes, and ancient words expanded and were seen across the lands, skies and oceans. Humans stared from where they hid. The Descendants stopped fighting each other being cautious of what is about to happen. The four knew this method would take a great toll on their bodies, both mentally and physically, but it had to be done. They were the only ones who cared enough.
Cedric, who can finally move normally, looked at his friends. Eyeing them, "Ready?"
The other three nodded back with confidence on their faces. Cedric nodded and the four summoned their Soulcores in front of them. The ability that would eradicate all Tainted Beings needed energy and life force from powerful beings within their soul itself. As no one really has tried this out before, the four of them were ready to die together to protect the world they love.
They held onto each other's hands to continue the ancient ritual as well as to gather all the power they had in their Soulcores. The glowing light from the inner circle shined brighter until no one could see anything. All kinds of elements and abilities eradicated the Tainted Beings across the world. It sent multiple waves of supernatural and miraculous power. Nature itself came to life and helped humans find shelter. It was a sight to see.
After what it would seem like a while, the ancient summon was done. The four dropped to the ground slightly wheezing. They were much more powerful than they had thought as they stood back up at the center of it all. It was a success. The four shared a tight, warm group hug. They were in tears.
For a moment they were cheering for themselves. Cedric glanced at Heinzelle with a smile, and hurriedly approached her for a hug of their own. With her last energy, Heinzelle forced a smile back to her lover as she slowly fell into his arms. Nairah, who knew this would happen, was already right behind Heinzelle and caught her too.
Cedric cried out, "ZELLE!"
He was in a panic, and quickly used a healing incantation. It wasn't just a normal incantation, it was his most powerful one. He didn't care if he was exhausted or if it would threaten his life after just doing a massive summons. Cedric, who is Heavenly Marked, used everything he had. He coughed up blood making the other two alarmed, stopping him from doing anymore. Being Heavenly Marked meant you were loved by Nature and everything good he thought, so why wasn't it working. He questioned the world he had just saved at that very moment. He thought it was unfair.
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{・???・YEAR ???・POV ???・}
Staring at my hands, I can say for a fact that I am alive, but I can't help questioning myself everyday if I really am living this life, in this body, right now. More questions start to fill my head: What's out there? What's in my mind? What's in my heart? Do I have a soul? Who is this voice? Is it truly "me"? How do I make sure it IS "me"?
It's frustrating, really, having these thoughts. Or maybe I've just read too many fantasy novels that it's getting to my brain... I proceed to ponder about silly things that would come to mind:
Is someone writing about me? Is someone writing about you?
Is someone watching over me? Is someone watching over you?
After a bit of thinking, my eyes started to feel heavy and I could feel myself drift into a black void.
Wait..."you"?
Click clack.
What was that?
The sound of Time got louder.
CLICK CLACK.
PLEASE WAIT! NO! YOU PROMISED!
CLICK CLACK.CLICK CLACK.
DON'T HURT THEM!
CLICK CLACK.CLICK CLACK.CLICK CLACK.CLICK CLACK.
"..."
"..."
Time is up, it's my turn.
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A soul vanished, but its shadow lingered.