The parents of a new generation never lose the fragment from their heart. Every carrier of a fragment keeps their own part until the end of their days, so if there are a hundred carriers out there in the world, every single one will carry a hundredth of the fragment. If fifty were to die suddenly, everyone would carry double the amount. So, in other words, it doesn’t matter how many there are carrying the fragments, unless the numbers are below five.
If only one human had to carry the whole sealed Dragoni Emperor within their heart, he or she would become the very Dragoni Emperor itself, that is, one could become a god by killing the other Priests at the cost of losing humanity and sanity.
So far only one has been as foolish as that. He was beheaded as soon as the Priests found out he’d murdered four other Priests in his quest for power.
Currently, fifty-seven Priests are sharing the power of the Dragoni Emperor.
“We must send someone to inform the villagers that the earthquake is not caused by us.”
“I will do it,” a Priest in a spacious room says.
The Priests of the Dragoni are gathering because of the quake. It’s crucial they calm the villagers and repair any damage their monastery has suffered. They can’t risk angering the Serpents of the Heaven.
“Now, we need to do a thorough check on the monastery. Report if there’s anything that needs to be repaired.”
“Understood.” Several Priests leave the room.
Just like in the village next to the Dragoni Priest monastery, the whole place is a mess. The monastery looks like a temple inside out, but the Priests have decided to call it a monastery nonetheless. Similar to the commune, it’s located on the mountainside, though slightly above the village. The size corresponds to a third of the village.
A certain Priest in a corridor is hurrying to the underground chambers to see how badly it’s damaged. His age is twenty-three, his hair is black, and his eyes are no different from the other Priests, resembling Serpentine eyes. The color is that of a raging fire.
If he had a scar on his face, he’d look intimidating. His clothes are custom, dark for the most part. His cape barely reaches his ankles, and his boots are made of dark leather.
He enters a staircase that leads to the underground chambers, only to find out the entrance has collapsed. There’s no way to get in or out.
“The entrance to the underground chambers has collapsed! Was anyone down there?” He yells, hoping someone will hear him.
Someone rushes to the staircase entrance. “What? It’ll take many generations to repair such damage!”
“Any idea if someone was down there?”
“None. I’ll ask around.”
The other Priest asks around while the young Priest stays behind to open up the entrance to the chambers. By using the power within his heart, he makes the boulders melt from the core, turning into magma. If he wished for it, he could kill a man in a similar fashion. It’s because of that why the vikings cannot raid the place. A single Priest can wipe out a small army.
Soon, he’s melted the entrance open, but it appears the chamber collapsed thoroughly, so it’s unlikely there’s anything to be saved down there, especially human lives. Also, since the damage is so severe, the ground above must’ve sunk as well. Thankfully, the chambers aren’t exactly below the monastery.
“We better hope no one was down there,” the Priest speaks to no one in particular.
His hope is crushed when a little girl’s voice resounds behind him. “There is one down there.”
The Priest turns around, startled by the sudden appearance of the girl, and he is startled even further when he notices that her head is in no healthy condition. The blood that keeps streaming down her face makes her figure look horrifying to the point that he instinctively tries to eliminate her with the powers at his disposal. He waves his hand to indicate he wants to cast a spell, using his mind to craft the rest of it. His Dragoni eyes work as the target marker.
But nothing happens.
“Seriously, I can’t be that scary, can I?”
The Priest’s heart starts pounding in fear. If his powers aren’t strong enough to kill the girl, just what can kill her? Is there actually something more powerful than the Dragoni emperor and the Titan out there?
“What are you...?”
“Damn it! Please, I don’t feel like explaining that to every god damn stranger I talk with! Shut up and listen! One of your fellow Priests is down there and still alive. I think her name was Ohan.”
“Don’t mess with me!”
“Do you love her?”
“No.” His answer is blunt.
“Then why are you so worried?”
“Can’t I care about my fellow Priests!?”
“Nevermind. I recommend that you save her, now. I’ll get some help for you, okay? You start doing your part here.”
“I don’t know what you are, but please hurry!”
“Sure.” Her smile makes one wonder what she has in her mind.
The young Priest starts melting the boulders at such a pace that he’ll make his heart burst, literally. The more there are fragment carriers, the easier it’s to cause one’s own heart burst by rapidly casting spells. Since there are fifty-seven Priests, he won’t have to keep it up for long until his heart explodes, which would cause instant death.
After a few minutes, he’s melted quite a few boulders. He feels like his heart is burning, but won’t stop nevertheless. After the next boulder, he gets an odd feeling, like his heart had healed suddenly, though only by little. He wonders for a moment what it could be, only to ignore it as soon as he remembers his fellow Priest is stuck down there.
He melts the boulders even faster now. His heart should have burst already, but somehow, he is still alive. Ignoring the possibility of his own death, he keeps casting recklessly.
But where’s the girl? She promised to get aid, yet I see none.
The chamber is starting to have a shape as dozens of boulders have melted already. The more he melts the boulders, the less it’s starting to hurt his heart. A bad premonition creeps into his heart, but he pays it no mind as it’s something that can’t happen.
“Ohan!” The Priest shouts, hoping she’ll hear him.
No answer. He keeps melting the rocks. Since his heart doesn’t seem to burst, he tries a spell that makes all the boulders melt in one go. Of course, he is skillful enough to control the spell so that the melted rocks won’t kill Ohan. Basically, he delimits the spell’s power so that only inorganic objects melt, which makes the molten rock just a warm liquid to human touch.
When most of the chamber is revealed, and all kinds of items and goods come to view, the Priest can see someone lying beside a boulder, both legs squished from knees to toes beneath the rocks. What matters, however, is that she seems to be alive, for now.
“I told you she’s alive.” The girl shows up.
“You...! Didn’t you promise to bring aid!?”
“And I did.”
“Then where is this aid!?”
“It’s within you.”
“...What?”
“Don’t you feel it? Or are you too stupid to understand it?”
“I do feel odd... What did you do!?”
A sadistic smile spreads on her face. “I killed all the other Priests.” Her eyes are gleaming, golden.
“You did what!!?”
“You two are the last Dragoni Priests out there. Enjoy your godhood.”
“I will turn into a monster with her!! You have no idea what you have done!”
“Don’t preach about anything to me. I know this world better than you will ever know. I am a fucking monster that will never die, I’m a thing that knows more than you can imagine, so you just shut up and listen to me, got it!?”
“I will kill you...!”
“Try it. You don’t even know the plane I exist in. I’ll give you a hint: it’s not this one you think of as reality.”
“Te... reahn?” Ohan’s weak voice c
an be heard in the chamber.
“Ohan?” The Priest turns around to help her.
However, since her legs are still under a boulder, he needs to melt the rock first. He casts a delicate spell to melt the boulder away carefully as to not kill Ohan. Once done, a horrifying view catches the Priest off guard.
Ohan’s legs aren’t pulp. Her legs have scales for skin, and small claws expand from her toes. The color of her scales is black. Furthermore, her eyes have a burning look to them, stronger than what Priests usually have.
“Don’t be so afraid of her, Tereahn. She looks exactly like you right now. Look at your left arm. It’s similar to her legs. And the same goes for your eyes as well. You got that burning look.”
“It can’t... be.” Tereahn cries. He’s become a monster, and soon, his mind will become that of the Dragoni Emperor’s as well.
“Don’t worry... Tereahn... We can be... Together.”
“But we are monsters now, Ohan. The Dragoni Emperor will muddle our minds by tomorrow.”
“He won’t. I can keep it that way if you do what I ask of you.” She states out of the blue.
“How?”
“Didn’t I tell you!? I’m a fucking monster. Now, how is it?”
“I will do whatever to stop us from becoming puppets to the Dragoni Emperor.”
“You do love her after all?”
“Didn’t I answer you already?”
“Yeah, you did. Whatever. So, travel to Poer Haem. I will be in touch with you as soon as I need you.”
Thus, the two are left with no choice.
***
The view before them is nightmarish. Their fellow Priests lie butchered on the floor here and there, gore garnishing the walls. The worst part is that neither of them feels any sorrow or disgust. The dead Priests weren’t only their acquaintances, they were also their family.
“Why do I feel so empty?”
“I don’t know. I wonder the same. My heart doesn’t ache. I just don’t feel anything.”
“Ohan, have you got any idea where Poer Haem could be? Nay, do you even know the closest neighboring village?”
“No. But there’s something I want to ask; that girl from before, you know her? She seemed to know you.”
“No. I saw her for the first time when I began rescuing you.”
“Ah, I see.”
They exit the ruined monastery, walking down a stone path that leads to the village below. Ohan’s covered her legs with a skirt to hide her Dragoni legs. She is a charming young lady, even with the scales. Tereahn, in turn, must cover his left arm with a cloth. If the villagers saw their new Dragoni parts, they’d riot for certain. The villagers aren’t stupid enough to try killing them if they saw, but they’d most likely try to imprison the two for the time being.
It’s fall, so the gentle breeze is cold, and the greens are turning into yellows. Also, since the place is high up the mountains, one can see the ocean dozens of miles away to North. On the horizon, a massive iceberg can be seen far off the coast.
Once they get closer to the village down the stone path, the locals rush to welcome them. “Priests of the Dragoni, what news do you bear?”
Tereahn and Ohan look at each other. “We bring grave news.”
“Was the Dragoni angered?”
Tereahn makes up a story. “The two of us must go to an ancient shrine where we can perform an ancient ritual to calm the Dragoni. If we do not return, you may have to leave this place.”
“Leave? Just what happened?”
“A Demoni managed to interrupt our ritual earlier today. I have no idea as to how it happened, but a strong Demoni it was. We managed to force it to retreat, but I have no idea if it is coming back.”
“A Demoni!? Here? We must build strong defenses! How many Priests can you spare for the protection of the village?”
“None.”
“None? Just what are they doing up there?”
“Go look for yourself. I grant you and the others permission to enter the monastery.”
The villager is left dumbfounded as Tereahn and Ohan hurry past him. Neither of them has any intention of returning, and so they wish to depart as soon as they can. They don’t feel anything anymore, so, to them, the old monastery has become a place that reeks of blood, nothing more, nothing less. They hold no lingering emotions for their home.
“Let’s hurry, Ohan. We need to perform that ritual soon,” Tereahn adds the final seasoning. With that, they depart from the home of the Priests of the Dragoni.
***
Once they are almost two miles away from the village, they start running. They’ve been traveling to East in hopes of finding another village or town. Now that they are sprinting, they’ll cover three miles in an hour without getting tired.
Their newfound power of the Dragoni has enhanced them physically. They can run for days without any nourishment or rest. Their nimble moves are inherited from the Dragoni as well, and since they were both leading a quiet life in the monastery, they weren’t athletes until today. Their muscles have grown ever since the death of their fellow Priests, and not because of running.
Four hours after the incident, they’ve covered dozens of miles, and they’ve sighted a village from high ground. They’ve stopped by a river down in a valley.
“Even though I can’t get tired anymore, the warmth is just too much.”
“It’s fall, so I dare say it’s cold now.” Ohan remarks.
“But as we run, we use our muscles, which causes the body to heat up,” Tereahn explains.
“Then swim for a bit in the river.”
“That’s what I thought.”
Without further blabbering, Tereahn removes his top and dives into the river, not head-first. The current isn’t strong there, so he won’t have to fear drowning or anything, not that he could die like that anymore. Also, it’s shallow where he’s swimming. He enjoys the cool water. Half of his mind is taken by the Dragoni, half is his own, so his behavior is rather odd. She did promise to keep their minds sane, but apparently, not wholly.
As Tereahn is swimming, Ohan loiters about to kill boredom. While she is at it, something catches her attention. From a nearby thicket, a rustling noise can be heard. She trots towards the foliage, wondering what it might be. Her face is very curious, almost cat-like, although she has a Serpent inside her. The closer she gets, the more she appears feline, a very playful smile spreading on her face.
A spear is plunged into her abdomen.
A dozen of armed men come out of the thicket, ignoring Ohan who’s been stabbed. That is their downfall. The wound does nothing to stop her. Part of the Dragoni’s power is immortality, hence the spear merely tickles her.
“Tereahn! I found a group of idiots!” She shouts, startling the vikings, who thought her to be dead.
She breaks the spear with her left hand as the plunderers have stopped to stare at her, confused, and with her right hand, she raises the spear-wielding viking into the air by his throat. She strangles him so hard she can feel the spine of the man in her hand. Once she does, she wrenches off his head without any spellcasting or weaponry. Her physical prowess is enough to tear it off.
The other vikings are angered. “Kill the lass! Now!” They all charge at her, weapons held high, axes, swords, maces, and whatnot. They think they can kill her.
Ohan kneels, removing the spear’s remains from her body. They’ve made her angry. “I’ll tear you all apart!”
One of the vikings is about to land his ax at her while she’s still kneeling. What happens, however, is the death of the ax wielder. Ohan explodes with flaming fury, the Flames of Dragoni. The ax-wielder is incinerated on the spot, causing the others to shiver in terror.
“Die!” Ohan lunges at their leader, ripping his abdomen open through the armor with her bare hand; nay, she has Dragoni claws in place of fingers, her figure reminding anyone of a rampaging monster. She’s undergone a transformation. Also, she is out of her character. Her behavior is very feline.
Entrails on her claws, she butchers another viking, her eyes flaming with the Dragoni’s fire. “Die! Die! Die!” Each time she says that, another viking is eviscerated, until only one remains, sword held in defensive stance. He is trembling, pants wet because of urine.
“My, my! You think you can just kill us? We are gods now, you imbecile. Die!”
“Wait!” Tereahn shouts.
Ohan stops her claws. “What is it, Tereahn?” Seemingly calming down. Her cat-like behavior is gone too, and her body reverts to what it was a moment ago.
The last viking is sobbing as Tereahn speaks. “I want to ask him something. May I?”
“Go ahead.” She appears to be disappointed.
“Oi, warrior, do you come from that nearby village?”
“Y-ye-yes!”
“Why did you attack us?”
“B-be-because... ordered...”
“For plunder?”
“Yes!”
“Fine. Tell me one good reason why we’d leave you alive. You got five seconds.”
“Eh, umm...”
“Five.”
“Wa-wait!”
“Four.”
“O-our chieftain...”
“Three.”
“He likes duels!”
Tereahn stops counting. “And how does that help us?”
“Y-you could... persuade him with a d-duel.”
“I can just kill him if I want to. Two.”
“Wait! Please!”
“One.”
And his head is sent flying by Ohan’s doing, a happy smile spreading on her beautiful, yet mad face.
“I didn’t say ‘zero’, Ohan.”
“You’d have killed him anyway.”
“True. Now, let’s go.”
It should be mentioned that Ohan’s wound has healed already. The process looks as if some molten substance were filling the wound, creating perfectly healthy skin.
***
“Intruders! Man the walls!” A viking on a wall made of wood sounds the alarm upon spotting an unknown pair of humans.
Two figures walk towards the town of vikings protected by the wooden wall. This particular clan controls vast amounts of land. They’re known as the Sons of Thunder, third most powerful clan of Orloss in terms of war potential.
Apocalyptic Life (Era Series Book 2) Page 5