The possessed girl got her feet bearing a sinister grin. The yellow eyes of a bloodthirsty demon peered through the eyes of Corrine. A faint wind blew across the graveyard, causing her hair to blow over her face rendered grotesque from the pulsating veins.

Griflore proceeded to walk up to the statue, walking past Mack who was in shock. Dye and Jason kept their distance, avoiding the dangerous villain, as he grinned with the girl’s mouth, his glowing eyes tracking them.

He looked up at the statue, his back to the boys. “So, boy, I see you're still alive.”

Dye didn’t respond.

“What’s that matter? Lost your tongue again?” Griflore said, taunting him.

Dye finally came back to his senses and realized this was his sister. She was alive but she wasn’t free. She had been his puppet this whole time and that made him angry. His face grew disgusted. His eyes changed to an orange color.

“You made her do all those terrible things. You made her kill all those people!”

“I can assure you she enjoyed it. That’s how she let me in. She wanted this.”

“Liar!”

“Oh, I assure you, I don’t lie. This was her wish. So I gave it to her.”

Dye looked upon the predator as his skin started to turn red, his body beginning to emit an intense heat. Jason took a couple steps back and Mack scooted away in the grass to avoid the heat; Mack was still terrified and decided being on the ground was the best option for him.

Griflore didn’t understand how he was doing this, and then he realized. “You are the Fox Bearer,” he said, smirking disturbingly. “It was you that I fought yesterday. Which begs the question, who was the other from before?”

Dye blurred towards him and grabbed Corrine’s neck. A grin appeared on her face as Dye raised his fist, ready to unleash his anger and rage upon the face of his most hated enemy.

“Dye!” Shouted Jason. “Look at what you're doing! He wants you to give into your anger. Look!”

Dye removed his hand and saw a burned hand print on her neck. He backed off, allowing his body to revert back to normal. The sound of Griflore’s laughter coming from above him.

“You can beat me all you want,” said Griflore, “but I feel nothing. This body has taken all the beatings you’ve given it. Even now, I can hear her painful screams from the burn you just placed on her.”

“You – son of a bi –”

“Dye! Control yourself.” shouted Jason.

Dye remained livid. He glared into the eyes of his enemy. “You give her back now,” he said while trying to hold back his ire.

“I’m sorry,” said Griflore with a grin on her face, “but I’m not quite finished with her yet.” Dye saw the veins on Corrine’s face beginning to pump harder. The burn mark on her neck healed instantly.

Just then, a white portal ripped open. Griflore’s eyes looked upon it in surprise. “Ancient sorcery,” he said.

Arayan stepped through and the portal closed. He clutched his medallion as it flickered purple.

“Arayan,” said Dye.

“Hello, Dye…” he didn’t even look at him. His eyes were fixated upon the being standing before him. “This is…”

“Ah, the Medallion of Ivor,” said Griflore. “A great device to detect something of great energy — and take it away. You 're the one I fought that day.”

“What is this?” Arayan asked, perplexed.

“That’s Griflore,” said Dye. “He’s just a Ka that’s been possessing people.” Arayan looked at Dye befuddled and then brought his eyes back up at Griflore.

“This is why my medallion is acting strange, but why? It is supposed to be able to detect any kind of energy without flaw.” his medallion still flickered. He held it up. “This suggests something else.”

“That is because I am not a natural Ka.” said Griflore.

“What do you mean?” Arayan questioned.

“My essence did not surface naturally, it was created, but do feed my curiosity. Who are you?” Asked Griflore.

“I am Arayan,” he replied,

“You possess magic of the Ancient Times. Then you know…”

“Of the ancient past? Yes.”

Griflore grinned with malice. “No, of my existence. How I came to be.”

“What are you suggesting?”

The three brothers stood silently by, observing the exchange.

“Isn’t it obvious? I am nothing but a mere experiment. A project. Created by your Great King Owena!”

“That’s a lie!” Arayan grew angry. “How dare you suggest such heresy!”

“He was a fool! An arrogant fool! He messed with things he shouldn’t have and created something he couldn’t control!”

Griflore raised his hand and Arayan’s medallion’s started to react. The purple flickering stopped and a white glow started to emerge. It consumed them all in a dome-like confinement, nothing but white in all directions. Dye, Jason and Mack looked around. Arayan was on edge as he didn’t know his jewel was capable of this.

“Shall I reveal to you the great secret that caused the downfall of the Ancient Ones?” the white void started to warp around them. They saw different colors of Ka flowing around them. Zipping and streaking all over the place. “Ka is a natural energy. A life-force. A product of nature, but as nature suggests, if you tamper with it, nature always bites back.” Two Ka of yellow and white slammed into each other creating a loud noise and expelling a great deal of energy. “You’re king desired something more. Something powerful. So he used forbidden sorcery to do so. He took the Ka of two different animals and merged them together. Creating something unnatural. Me.”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The two Ka merged together and as a result a purple essence emerged.

“He had succeeded. But he didn’t stop there. He took it a step further and created more. Six more to be exact.” Before their eyes, the rest of the Ka slammed into one another, creating five more wispy forms of energy.

Griflore waved his hands and the scene misted away. Arayan’s medallion then started to produce another image.

“What is this?” Arayan asked.

“The King went about creating his own Elite Class of Xenton,” Griflore continued, “but not just any Xenton. These Xenton were to be the most powerful Xenton ever created. Witness my birth!” The scene materialized and there they saw an advanced lab. There they saw five tubes containing what looked to be empty bodies. They looked doll-like, almost like a pale mannequin that breathed like a real human. Above those tubes were containers that contained the six Ka. They wisped around in their confinement.

“Those Ka you see there,” Griflore pointed, “Are the most powerful Ka in existence. Do you understand now?” said Griflore, looking at Arayan. Arayan looked over to him. “You’re great King was nothing but defiling disgrace. Someone who thought he could control the balance of nature.”

The Ka’s were released and flowed down into the tubes that contained the artificial bodies. After a long drawn out process, the six spirits finally infused themselves with the bodies and immediately the bodies started to change. The brothers and Arayan witnessed the containers starting to crack. The glass shattered and the tubes were destroyed.

“What’s happening?” Asked Jason as a pink fluid spilled all over the floor.

“A miscalculation,” Griflore replied.

Standing before them were six, very strange looking creatures whose features were completing their adjustments. They were all bipedal in stature. Animal-like and roaring with intensity. Two of the creatures grew wings as they reveled in their creation.

“Because the spirits were too powerful for the hosts, they did not attain armor like a Xenton would. Instead they took on the traits of the spirits they were hosting. In essence, we became flesh. We became the mythical creatures that you know today. The Minotaur, Sphinx, Garuda, Basilisk, Siren, and the Griffin.”

The void went white again.

“So what happened?” asked Dye.

“The King tried to control us. We became his slaves,” he replied. “But we saw right through that. The truth was he feared us, feared our power and they threatened to seal us away in another dimension to keep us in line. We rebelled of course. So we waged war against him.

The white void shifted again. A dark sky and a burning battlefield formed. Thousands of Xenton fought the fearsome six beasts. The beasts tore through the armada of Xenton. Thrashing about and rampaging through the brigade. As though the sun unleashed a beam of its own, the dark clouds parted and through the light came a Xenton wearing gold armor that was purer than Dye’s. He had lion’s hair on his neck and wielded a golden blade.

“Your King did his best to undo his mistake. But it was too late. My brethren and I would not stop until we were free, and if that meant purging every man, woman and child on this planet, then so be it!”

They all watched as the King single-handedly fought all six of the powerful beasts. Out of the sky came another Xenton who wore armor that glistened with the light of the moon.

“Queen Diea,” said Arayan

Together, the two strongest Xenton fought with the Xenton army against the bioengineered creations.

“Owena and Diea proved to be too much for us,” Griflore continued. “Owena opened the gates that lead to the Lost Void and one by one we were forced in. However, I would not go willingly. My body was sucked in, but my Ka was not. I ripped myself from my body and my Ka roamed free for years, unbeknownst to the arrogant king. I wandered for decades, plotting my revenge. Trying to find a way to free my fellow creations and that’s when I discovered the truth. Another Ka was created in secret. The Phoenix spirit and it would be through it that I could finally free my brethren. So I made my move. I possessed a lonely body and began spreading the truth of what our ‘great king’ had done. Over time, my words spread and my followers believed that the only way to attain justice was to overthrow the K’esiah. Those people felt their king had betrayed them and so they joined me in my crusade. I learned how to finally attain my Xentonian form and together we attacked all of the civilizations to overthrow the great Xenton King and his accursed Order and the rest you know.”

“And then you disappeared…” Arayan added.

“Yes, well,” said Griflore, rolling his eyes. “My attack was premature because I never found that seventh Ka. Allegedly the king destroyed it.”

“Then why are you here?” asked Dye.

“Because I was misled!” Griflore snapped immediately. “It was a lie. The king never destroyed the Seventh Ka, in fact he was aware of my escape and hid it.” Griflore paused. He grew disgusted as though what he was about to say made him sick. “It was never placed into an artificial body. Instead, King Owena merged it with his son, Prince Ziehr, before I launched my attack.”

“Why though?” asked Arayan. “When he could’ve destroyed it.”

“Because he wanted to use it as a failsafe in the event I came knocking obviously, but even that was a risky move so Owena cast a spell that would allow his son’s soul and his Ka to continuously reincarnate. The person he would reincarnate into would not be aware of their past, making it hard for anyone to find him. The only way his power could be awakened is if the host was in life-threatening danger. This would awaken the Prince’s spirit and the Ka allowing the host to be imbued with all the memories of Ziehr and assuming his Ka.”

“So?” Said Dye, “What does the Prince have to do with any of this?”

“His Ka is the only thing powerful enough to open the gates to the Lost Void. Once opened, my brethren will be free to rule this world as they please.”

The white void vanished, bringing back the sunlight.

Arayan couldn’t feel anything but resentment for Griflore. What he thought to be true could’ve been a lie. To speak ill about the Great King Owena was blasphemous to him. However, he couldn’t help but consider the fact that what Griflore said could’ve been true. Before he could rationalize anything, Griflore opened Corrine’s mouth and slowly a purple smoke started to seep out. The veins on her face were pumped harder. Her fingers contorted, and her eyes rolled into the back of her head.

“What are you doing?” cried Dye.

Immediately from Corrine's mouth a purple energy sprung out. Dye and Jason jumped out of the way and Mack rolled off to the side. Arayan found himself directly in the path of the energy and he was engulfed in it. Corrine’s unconscious body fell to the ground.

Dye ran over to her. “Hey!” He shook her. “Say something, wake up!”

“Dye, look!” Mack pointed.

Dye saw the yellow, cat-like eyes now looking at him from Arayan’s body.

“He transferred bodies?” Said Dye.

“Once I’ve nearly depleted the life force of my host, it becomes necessary to change bodies,” Griflore admired his newly obtained host, the veins pumping through Arayan’s face. Almost immediately Griflore’s face grew perplexed. He lifted Arayan’s hand and looked at it confusedly. “There’s — something strange about this body.” Jason, Dye and Mack became fearful. Griflore looked at the boys. “No matter, I’m sure this will suffice for now. As for the girl, she won’t last much longer. Her life force is almost gone.

“I swear when I–.” Dye began

“You’ll what? Beat your friend to death to get to me? Griflore stretched a smile. “You won’t get the chance.”

Griflore closed Arayan’s eyes and opened them relaxed. “So that’s where you're hiding the star. Clever boy. I should’ve known.”

After those words had been spoken, Griflore clutched Arayan’s medallion and teleported away.

“Wait!” Shouted Dye, “Get back here!”

“Let him go.” said Mack

“But you heard what he said,” said Dye, responding furiously, “he’s going after the star.”

“Even if we wanted to we can’t follow him,” said Jason, “The sanctuary is cloaked remember? And besides, we have other things to worry about.” He gestured towards Corrine who’s body lay unconscious at the foot of the golden angel statue.

“We need to get her to a hospital,” said Jason,

“Jason is right,” said Mack, finally getting up from the grass. He was still clearly freaked out over what he just saw. He picked up his sister’s body. “Let go!”