by SlyOkami
She held it in, her sadness, overwhelmed by the fear that filled her. A draining coldness that numbed her entire body when the portal opened before her bed. She gazed over her knees, eyes wide and expression pale.
She shook her head, it was time for him to come. Another life, or more, was spent at the cost of her cowardice.
But, his rose-red eyes weren’t what came through.
Instead, to her relief, Makaela appeared out of the portal. Followed by Thea and Erik.
Seeing her broken and terrified state, Thea immediately rushed to her side, dashing about her bed and kneeling next to her. Thea reached out to Shizuka, but the bestia suddenly move away from her, a natural response from the terror that filled her.
Thea met Shizuka’s wide and confused eyes, with her own, giving her a warm smile. “It’s okay now, he’s gone, you’re safe.” She said softly.
Shizuka shook her head, “H-He’s never gone…It’s never safe!” she exclaimed, tears now starting to stream down her cheeks as she rushed into Thea’s chest.
Thea put her arms around the girl, letting Shizuka drown her face into her chest, she felt her trembling and muffled screams. She felt her cold tears wetting her shirt and chest. Thea held her close with one arm, raising her right hand to pat Shizuka over the head.
“It’s going to be alright, kitten.” Thea said, glancing over at Erik as he stared at the bestia, studying her.
He had underestimated how afraid she’d be.
Erik opened his mouth to speak, but Thea’s sudden fierce eyes turning to his, made him lose his voice. (“Not now!”) Thea exclaimed through their connection, (“Give her time, let her release some of it first!”) she told him harshly before turning back to the shivering girl in her arms.
Erik’s mouth closed, he stood there with Makaela beside him, both of them watching awkwardly as Thea held the feline bestia.
For the briefest moment, he had seen it, a bright gold light shining within Thea’s eyes as she chided him. He felt it too, a surging energy akin to his own filling her body.
But she had never called it up, she hadn’t summoned his mana through their bond, not consciously at least.
Erik set these thoughts aside, for now, continuing to watch and wait as Shizuka spent several minutes clinging onto Thea. At first, she screamed, muffled cries as she wept. Soon they changed to mumbling, “Why? Why risk yourselves?…Why fight him? Why protect me at all?” she asked in quick succession, shaking her head and rubbing her wet face into Thea’s chest.
Shizuka leaned away briefly, her reddened eyes rising to meet Thea’s. “Why? I’m…I’m not worth anything!” she said, her voice cracking.
Thea smiled, her own eyes now leaking with tears as she couldn’t handle watching someone in such pain. “I told you, you’re stuck with us now.”
“You are worth something, Shizuka.” Erik then said, the both of them turning to him as he left his staff hover in place while he approached. “If you weren’t worth a damn, then you wouldn’t have been born. All life is worth something, the question is, what will you do with that worth? Will you burn it away like the Blood Lord that shadows over you?”
Shizuka though glanced away, “What can I do?…I’m cursed, marked for life!” she exclaimed, her eyes closing as she held herself.
“Excuses,” Erik snarled, “Listen to me, above all, pitiful beast-woman. I who turned the entire world against me, I, who’s own family turned their backs on. I betrayed everyone, I disappointed everyone. Yet do you see me sulk? Do you see me balled up and helpless? No, I’ll fight, I’ll fight till my legs break and arms fall off.”
Erik leaned over them, holding onto the bed’s side as he grabbed Shizuka by the chin, turning her eyes to face his. “Do the memories scare you? Do his actions haunt you? His touch, his voice and face, like a demon they plague your mind and soul. You think that makes you weak? Then you are, you are very weak indeed. But do you wish to be strong instead? Do you not yearn for power? Is that not why you became a mage in the first place?” he asked her.
Shizuka nodded, her eyes though teared up more, narrowing as she couldn’t meet his gaze.
“Then let that fear, that terror which numbs your mind and body, fuel you instead. Burn it, turn it into hate, let fury overwhelm you instead.” Erik spoke in draconic, Shizuka at first not understanding a word until she met his eyes, the words then echoing into her mind. “I can free you, I can dismantle his mark and damn his soul to hell for the rest of eternity. He’ll never come back, that abyss will swallow him and warp him into its minion. You’ll be free, to live your life as you wish from now on. Is that what you want?” Erik asked.
Shizuka gazed into his deep blue eyes, golden energy surging through them like lightning filling the sky. She nodded in silence.
“Is it? Or do you want his power? Do you want to take the strength which enslaved you, and make it your own?” Erik then asked, Shizuka’s eyes widening at his words. “The darkness which he bent you with, into his will. You’ve lived with that darkness by your side for years, would you abandon it now? Or will you master it? Wield power like you never have before, ancient dark magiks of beings before the first age, bent to your will.” He offered her, yet her ears couldn’t believe the words.
Shizuka glanced at Thea, as if for confirmation. She nodded with a warm smile, trusting Erik.
“You are now still a slave, I give you a choice. Do you wish to be free? Do you wish to go on with your life? I won’t lie, bestia, you alone will never be accepted by the rest of the world. Your own people look down upon you for your tribe, I’m sure you know how the rest feel.” Erik said, as Shizuka returned to looking him in the eye.
“No…they won’t… nobody will accept me.” Shizuka agreed softly, her gaze beginning to droop.
“Or, you can become the master.” Erik then said, her gaze steadying on him. “Wield darkness by my side. And whereas, as a slave, you would have been forgotten. Whereas, free, some would’ve remembered you.” He said, leaning away before forwarding his hand to her.
Shizuka glanced at his hand, open for her to grasp. She then looked up at his eyes, set upon her, as she lay at the centre of this drake’s attention.
“By my side, your name will echo through history, nobody will forget what we’re about to do. Join me, Shizuka, join us. And I promise you power, if you accept to face the challenges that lay ahead. Times will be hard, sometimes seemingly impossible, but you won’t face them alone. With us, we shall stop hell, and in turn become legends beyond my own tales made myth.” He promised her, conviction filling his tone.
Shizuka grimaced, her expression turning dark as she moved away from Thea, turning to a full kneel before Erik. Her gaze dropped to the ground, “I-I’m tired of-the fear…the coldness…I want to leave it behind. I hate it, I hate this feeling, I want to change. I don’t want to be weak anymore, I want to be strong, stronger than him.” She said, clenching her hands into fists as they rested on her thighs.
Her ears rose up straight as her eyes widened, her tail uncoiling from around her waist and starting to wave back and forth behind her. Anger filled her eyes briefly. She then suddenly raised her hands up and slapped both palms on her cheeks, leaving them flushed red as she met Erik’s eyes once more.
“I want to be strong, Erik-athyr, I want to fight and I do not want to be forgotten.” Shizuka told him, her eyes burning with resolve.
Erik grinned as he stretched his arm further towards her, “Then take my hand.” he said.
Their eyes locked on one another, Shizuka reached out and grabbed Erik’s hand.
He raised his other arm back, the then staff rushing into his grasp.
“Darkness which flows deep within,” Erik began to chant, as Shizuka’s black mark suddenly expanded to engulf her entire arm, meeting his whereas the green mist within his staff rushed down his own body and meeting the darkness midway through Erik’s arm.
He felt it, the hunger that made up the darkness, and for it he altered the chant. “Gl
uttony that plagues, like an endless pit screaming to be filled.” He felt the anger, the fear, the sadness rushing within Shizuka and flowing into him. “The burning of fury, the coldness of terror, the emptiness of sorrow. They lead you, they command you. But by my will, they stand aside, for I make you their master.”
The dark pattern slowly moved back down Erik’s arm, the green energy taking over his body and beginning to flow into Shizuka. And she felt it, a rush of cold that filled her heart with dread, the effects of death’s mana.
“Draconic School; Custom Cast…” Erik chanted for the altered spell, then pouring his own mana into it, turning the green mist-like energy that engulfed their bodies into a golden surge of lightning. “Unleash Linage!” Erik exclaimed.
He then felt his consciousness enter her, his mind being surrounded by her very being, reality blacking out from view.
What he saw, was not truly in sight but instead where his mind currently lay. He saw things he could not explain, but could somewhat understand. Her mana, the attributes of water’s element to which her soul was naturally aligned to, and the attribute of darkness’s element which was forced upon her.
He saw each of these as clear as day, not in shape, not in colour, but an inexplicable feeling that it was what he saw.
Just as he had seen the lightning and flame that filled his own soul, just as he had seen the darkness and shadow that filled the Elves long ago. He reached out, grasping the darkness which ran rampant within her and taking command of it.
And as he grasped it, he noticed, a small speck of something else.
He recognised the energy, as he had within the elves, but here it was much more noticeable.
He grasped it too, unable to bend it to his will as with the darkness but able to bring it forth from the corner.
Suddenly the existence around him took colour, his mind trying to make sense for his inner eye. He found himself laying within a world of blue energy, water’s elemental colour flowing all around him. Within his right hand, he held a patch of darkness that spiralled around itself, lashing out at the green with spiked tendrils.
Erik crushed it with his will, the darkness then suddenly flowing out and melding with the blue, turning it crimson, like a sea of blood.
He then turned to what lay within his other metaphorical hand, shining bright but colourless, a see-through bubble of ethereal energy. Erik knew what it was, not just any element, but something far more.
He tried to crush it, but it resisted his attempts. It was too durable, far more than when he had encountered it before.
Blunt force wouldn’t work to bring out this aspect of Shizuka, as he had done with the vampiric darkness. He could’ve left it be, his goal here was done, the mark would be gone and what power the vampire had would fall to the bestia…
But something within him burned to know, whether or not he would be right.
Curiosity fuelled him, to try something else.
As a Dragon, he had little of it, but he trusted his skill at bending mana enough. Erik brought forth this time not his raw draconic energy, but instead the minuscule amount of spiritual energy he could call upon.
It was barely enough to cover his right index, a bright ethereal aura of gold that formed a claw over his own.
He rested the ethereal orb before him, and it stayed, hovering in place.
Erik lay his claws about it, slowly, carefully beginning to pierce his index claw into it. It resisted still, pushing against the alien energy that tried to enter it, but eventually as Erik took his time it softened to his touch.
His energy pierced the bubble, popping it.
And out of the small orb, a rush of raw spiritual energy exploded outwards. It blew past Erik, released from being separated, it melded with the rest of the energy around him.
Erik watched as the redness around him quickly changed, from an impenetrable bloody darkness to a misty rose-red. Like murky water, dirtied with some blood.
Erik felt himself being pushed out, his control over the spell falling apart as the change made Shizuka’s soul far too resistant for him to remain connected.
The bond was broken, snapping Erik back to reality.
And before him his new creation lay, kneeling and gazing up at him with bright pinkish eyes. Her hair had changed too and with so did her ears’ and tail’s colour, from ginger to a darker red.
Erik released her hand, as Shizuka looked behind him and into the mirrors. Her eyes widening as did Erik’s, both equally surprised.
But whereas Shizuka was surprised by the change in her hair and eye colour, alongside that her mark was gone.
Erik grinned widely, for the being that now stood before him was no longer a bestia, but neither a vampire…
He could sense it, as similar as to the what he had sensed before, and just as confusing to him.
Yet, what lay before him…
Was undeniably a Spirit Beast.
More… Mappage? Mapping? Mapping!
Sinbeni
Ai’Sen; Port City
Lahihr; Mining City
Abyele; Port Town
Dammamas; Oasis Town
Abu Katra; Sinbeni Capital, River City
* * *
Zrosa
Keye; Keye Tribe, Jungle Town
Zidao; Zidao Tribe, Jungle Town
Dabangui; Zrosa Capital,Dabangui Tribe, Deep Jungle City
* * *
Faetera
Druvia;
A union of Human, Elven and Dwarven people.
Bound together after the disastrous Dragon Wars.
Formerly divided into; The Elven Druv Empire, The Human Tyria Kingdom and The Dwarven Six Governments.
Sinroz;
Divided into the two kingdoms of Sinbeni and Zrosa.
Sinbeni is inhabited by a mixture of Humans, Dwarves, minor Bestia tribes and enslaved Xilfir.
Zrosa is Bestia only territory, any and all non-Bestia found are rightless and outside the law as written by the lead tribe of Dabangui. Therefore, if killed, nobody would blink.
Pre-Dragon Wars, Sinbeni only had the two cities of Ai’Sen and Lahihr, the Sinbeni expanded their territory Post-Dragon Wars.
War does not break out between the Sinbeni and Zrosa due to a harsh warning set upon them by the Empire of Druvia, The Kingdom of Pepputia and The Kingdom of New Druv. Each would wage war on the one to strike first, wiping said side off the map.
Pepputia;
The Fae Kingdom, where Fairy, Elf and now Human live in peace and tranquillity…
Seeri;
An icy tundra where remnants of The Dwarven Six Governments escaped to after Hell’s invasion of Druvia.
Nurin;
A volcanic hellscape where little noticeable life can flourish.
An expedition Post-Dragon Wars by Druvia and Sinroz, gone wrong, created a phantom kingdom to which no other outside group has had any relation or communication with since.
New Druv;
Elven purists who detest both Human and Dwarf, divided from most of their brethren who decided to live alongside both within Druvia.
S’Sern;
Tropical landscape inhabited by Merkin and their like, surrounded by underwater cities built into massive cavern systems.
Dumatra;
Cold winter landscape where monsters of myth roam, inhabited by giants and mostly conquered by Findri’s children, the Jotunn.
Orcish tribes live at the very edge of the continent, on the shores where some vegetation can survive the cold.
Wyv’Nor;
Wyvern infested winter land.
At the very southern edge, ruins of an ancient Mer city lay.
Drak’Mor;
The old Dragon inhabited continent, where no lesser mortal would set foot, sane or otherwise.
To this day there lay few Human and Dwarven towns, still flourishing through the hunting of Wyverns and other Draconian beasts.
Ch 35 - Magic
The day after
Shizuka wiped her ey
es, the sleepiness still clear in her expression as she yawned. Opening her eyes she found herself in the armoury corridor once more, having been woken up early by Erik who walked ahead.
She followed him, trying to keep herself awake as she did. She hadn’t caught much sleep, her change keeping her mind busy with questions. Questions she now found the courage to ask.
“Erik…” She felt strange speaking his human name, she didn’t feel at all close to him enough yet to use it. Not like Thea, Makaela or Nerick. Shizuka still felt like an outsider. ”You said I’d gain his power, but this is feels so different…What am I now? What can I do?” She asked while following him through the dimly lit and very large corridor.
Erik briefly paused in his steps, glancing back at her with a solemn gaze. He looked at her for a few moments before turning back around, “You didn’t, when I awakened the power within you as I did with myself and as I did with the Xilfir long ago. I found something else, slumbering within your blood.” He said, continuing to walk onwards.
“Something…else?” Shizuka asked, her eyes widening, slumber lost from her mind as a slight fear filled her. What else could he have found?
“Something far more ancient, than the vampiric power that enslaved you. Something…I barely recognise myself.” Erik admitted, the last part with a bit of annoyance as he stopped before a room they hadn’t entered before.
Shizuka glanced up, reading the runes under her breathe. “Dark Age…”
“In here I hold my collection of unknowns, magical objects from a time gone unrecorded. I know not how they were made, by who or for what purpose. All I know is the capabilities I myself was able to produce with them.” Erik explained as they entered the room, seeing a total of twenty-six objects. Some sealed in the same fashion as the cursed weapons within the Human room, while others lay with far more protection around them.
Erik stopped before a certain object, one of the few gone unsealed within the room. A circular hand-held mirror in shape, the metal surrounding the mirror being pitch black while the handle seemed to be made of a dark blue wood. The metal ring surrounding the mirror was etched with runes Shizuka could not even recognise less so read, characters she had never seen before, even within forbidden texts of Elven, Dwarven and Giant’s runes.