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«Say your last words!» They all laughed in chorus with an evil tone.
Damian didn’t have the strength to speak, he was losing consciousness and his eyes clouded over.
The Mephistofeles hurled the purple demonic energy at him. The demons near him moved just before the impact. The ball took him in full and caused an explosion that made the dungeons tremble. The boy crashed to the floor, with large wounds on his face, chest and the rest of his body. It seemed his end had come.
«Zharaah! Now I will take you to the Hell!» Mephistofeles triumphantly said.
Damian suddenly started making strange lines: «Graah, Zruhaa, Uuushaa!»
A black aura began to envelop it all, like a nefarious smoke. His right arm lost the human features and assumed those of a dragon, with blue scales and silvery reflections, rough like those of a reptile and ending with fingers with long claws. It was a transformation that had already taken place in the past, but what distinguished him now was the dark energy that emanated and enveloped every part of his body. Then, that same dark energy went to locate itself on the left half of his body, including the face, permeating its flesh. As the metamorphosis took place, it slowly rose from the ground and the wounds disappeared. The other half of the body remained human, except for the right arm of the dragon. The left eye becomes all purple, the pupil was no longer visible. On the left head appeared a devil horn, all black and curved, while on the right a blue dragon horn. The blond hair became silver and as long as the bust. The change did not happen only on the physical level, but also on the mental level so that its reason disappeared. It became something more like a demon than a man.
«Graghratraaa!» Damian shouted at all the Mephistofeles. It was not a simple scream, the voice came out like a rushing wind so powerful that it pushed the six demons against the walls. The prisoners behind bars trembled with terror, many fainted for the vision of Damian’s metamorphosis and for the immense power. His demonic essence had manifested itself.
Damian lashed out at one of the Mephistofeles, grabbed him by the dragon’s head and destroyed his skull. Immediately afterwards, he tore the abdomen of another. With his human hand, wrapped in demonic energy, he emanated a dark sphere that he launched against the face of another copy, creating an explosion of black lightning. As soon as it struck those beings with his dark energy, they became dust. With his purple eye he stared at one of the copies who was trying to attack him, paralyzed him with his eyes and with his dragon claws tore him to shreds.
«Go, make yourself useful!» the original Mephistofeles said to the last remaining copy.
He rushed at Damian, opened his mouth and emitted a purple demonic energy, like a ray of light that cuts through the earth.
«Zhragaaah!» Damian responded to the attack by emitting black flames from his mouth, so dark that the last copy seemed to disappear in the darkness.
«This power is so strong, hidden inside a useless being like you, it will be ours! Now, yes, we start to get serious!» The real Mephistofeles shouted.
Damian had lost control, his mind was alienated from his body and all that was happening was the work of his demonic essence.
Mephistofeles growled full of anger, making sounds by showing off his forked tongue. His eyes became bright yellow and the pupil became even more red. He became even more invigorated, fell to the ground and was face to face against Damian. They were two beings, not belonging to this world, ready to destroy themselves and destroy everything. Many of the prisoners were injured by the violence of the clash, while some died. Everything had been devastated and destroyed. The final battle began, with a flurry of blows, those who dodged and those who struck with claws. Damian wounded the enemy in the chin and Mephistofeles responded by hitting him on the abdomen. He used his tail to grab Damian’s left leg, which fell to the floor but the dark energy from his face extended to his left arm and took the form of a long thin spike that speared Mephistofeles’s chest.
«Grahaah!» the Red Demon cried out in pain as he struggled.
The two found themselves both on the ground, but Damian rose easily and picked up the Dragon’s Claw from the floor. He was still unconscious and it was the beast inside him that acted on his own. He took that dagger and threw himself against the enemy lying on the ground. He was ready to kill him. At that moment, the left wing of the Dragon Statue shattered into four pieces. Just in that moment came Diosmed along with the other two.
«Stop yourself!» Diosmed shouted.
«Jhalùl kelàssh subjèl, pitiwypìn ipovuhàl pisthasèl!»
«Chains of light, imprison the evil!» Tanya said.
Golden-yellow chains appeared from nowhere and chained Damian from head to toe.
«What happened to you? Come back to you! What did you do to him, monster?» Diosmed said in anger.
«Me?», the demon spat black blood «He is the one who did it all. Now I understand why you are so special to Our King. The unstoppable power that flows inside you is the one who he wants» Mephistofeles answer in Latin.
«Soon, we must exorcise him and make him leave the body of the Emperor!» Tanya said.
The girl drew an X on the forehead of the Red Demon with a charcoal, taken from her bag, and an S written in the opposite direction on her chest.
«Draw a cross near the heart» the boy suggested, trembling.
Tanya executed the order, then took rose petals from the bag and sprinkled them on the body while that demon laughed, motionless and dying.
«Goddess of the Eternity, set him free from evil!» Tanya pronounced in her language.
The boy, all trembling, made the sign of the cross and then spoke firmly: «May the light of the Lord free you!»
A light illuminated Mephistofeles and the darkness left the body of the Emperor Constantine. The two bodies separated, on one side there was the demon, on the other the man. The Emperor was wounded, so Tanya immediately started treating him with his ointments and everything in his bag.
«I will wait for you from the other side! Sooner or later you will come!» Mephistofeles said laughing in the Language of the Demons, after which a small Hell Gate appeared beneath him, the same as the original but small in size, which incorporated the body of the Red Demon inside. Mephistofeles was sucked into the black vortex and the door disappeared forever.
«Disappeared! Cursed Hell Gate! Now let’s think about saving Damian!» Diosmed said.
«The Emperor is seriously injured, take care of Damian. Little boy, help me!» Tanya ordered.
The boy agreed and while he was helping, he prayed for the Emperor. The chains of light suddenly disappeared and Damian freed himself from that prison.
«Take it easy! Come back to you! This is not you!» Diosmed shouted at him.
His soul was dormant in the depths of his being. He began to attack Diosmed with a fierce rage, holding the Dragon’s Claw. Diosmed blocked him with the Dragalòs, but the dagger, despite its size, could hold its head and repel the sword.
«What do you want to do? Kill us all? Do you want to do it again? Say that! Do you want to destroy the village again and kill Dasmond again?» Diosmed said angrily.
At that moment Damian’s conscience came to his senses, in the depths of his ego the memories awakened and he thought about his mother’s words.
«I choose the Dragon!» he said aloud.
The dark energy that enveloped him quickly disappeared and the metamorphosis regressed, making him human again. He fainted and fell into Diosmed’s arms.
Meanwhile the prisoners had been freed by the boy, the guards and attendants rushed to the shouts of help, no longer controlled by Mephistofeles. The emperor was rushed to his room and the doctors immediately rushed to heal his wounds. Damian was also transported to the Emperor’s room and was stretched out on a triclinium. The doctors, in white robes, also took care of him and the other wounded who had instead been taken to another room.
The Emperor, despite his wounds, had a smile on his face. The wound
s healed for the most part thanks to Tanya’s care, but the chest wound could not heal. The boy continued to pray to his God and while the other symbols designed by Tanya disappeared, the cross remained on the heart and, to everyone’s amazement, a white light lit up on his chest and closed the wound.
«That kid still didn’t know that he would become the first Christian exorcist in history».
The next day a light woke Damian, still groggy and numb.
«Where am I?» Damian asked.
«In my room» a regal voice said.
It was that of the Emperor, still lying on the bed to rest.
«What happened? What are these bandages? Oh, what a pain!» Damian asked as Diosmed entered in the room, accompanied by Tanya and the boy holding a book.
«Finally you woke up! It’s almost half a day, I’ll explain everything later. Now how are you feeling?» Diosmed said.
«I think well, but I don’t understand what happened. I need to talk to you later» Damian replied.
«Come here. And you, kid, come here. What is your name?» the Emperor Constantine asked.
«I? My name is Em... Emmanuel!» he replied in Latin.
«Show me your book» the Emperor asked gently.
«This is a book I made, I copied several writings from other texts» Emmanuel said.
He handed it to him and the Emperor leafed through it, then noticed that there were still many blank pages.
«There are so many parchments tied together and its cowhide binding is well cared for. Call my counselors, I have an announcement to make!» the Emperor Constantine said.
«So that day was issued the first words that would take following the drafting of the Edict of Constantine, which guaranteed freedom of worship for Christians. The cross had disappeared from the chest of the Emperor, but it had remained in his heart.
«Here, this is yours» Diosmed said, handing the Statue of the Dragon to Damian along with his black dagger.
«Where are you find it? His left wing is broken...» Damian noted.
«After all the chaos at the Colosseum, it’s the minimum. I have found in the rubble, fortunately, is still full» Diosmed replied.
«Thank you, I owe you. I didn’t kill Dasmond, but for the valley I’m responsible» Damian said bitterly.
The two spoke for quite a while, Damian explained to him about the Roman invasion, the struggle and death of his friend Dasmond. Diosmed, on the other hand, explained everything that had happened in the basement.
«Now everything is clear to me, the goal of the Romans was you! It was Mephistofeles who hatched the invasion, who knows how he possessed the Emperor and what he did to find you! My brother and the Village of the Gods died at the hands of the Demons. Our meeting will not have been casual. I knew there was evil hidden in you, but I shouldn’t have doubted your goodness. Forgive me Damian» Diosmed said.
«You must forgive me. If I hadn’t stopped, who knows what would have happened. I am even more indebted to you. I recovered my memory, but Dasmond never told me about you» Damian said sincerely.
«Dasmond and I had two years of difference, now I’m 21 and so Dasmond should have been 19 years old. I still don’t understand how it is possible for you to be 20 if what you say happened when you had 5. Living in timeless places, like the Village of Gods, upsets every human calculation!» Diosmed explained.
«Timeless? It’s always me but in a bigger and stronger body. For me it was like yesterday. After all these events I also grew mentally, I am no longer a child. In the Colosseum I fought against my father, chained there by the Devil himself. I was the only one who could have saved him. He told me all the stories that led to my birth. I am the son of my father Hercules, my mother Lour and the Dragon Ishtar. They are Man, Dragon and Demon, three essences in one person. This is still difficult for me to accept» Damian replied.
«It seems an absurd story, but after all that has happened, I believe you. In the village, as in other particular places, time does not exist, time does not flow. We don’t know how much time has passed since that fateful night, so our calculations are wrong. Returning to us, you have lost total control, you will have to learn to use this dark power if you do not want to destroy the World» Diosmed warned him.
«And that’s why I put a seal on you, a chain of light to block your demonic essence» Tanya broke in, speaking in the Language of the Gods.
«Do you speak our language? But who are you really?» Diosmed asked.
«I have studied many languages. Who I am it doesn’t matter. The others did not understand anything of your words, you should speak to him, otherwise from the outside no one understands you» Tanya said to the two boys.
«Yeah, you told me that, Diosmed. Only when we speak to someone using the Language of the Gods they understand our speaking in their language, but if we do not speak to them, they do not understand us» and so Damian also spoke to others.
«Yes, that’s exactly right» Diosmed added.
«The Devil wants me, his black blood entered inside the Dragon and now flows in me. I will find a way to eliminate this evil and defeat the King of Darkness! First I will go to Egypt, to avenge the two Egyptians!» Damian said proudly.
«We will come with you!» Tanya and Diosmed said in chorus.
«And who are you?» Damian asked, noticing the boy.
«I am Emmanuel, pleasure».
«He helped us a lot, he exorcised Mephistofeles from the body of the Emperor and helped to heal him from the wounds that you yourself, unfortunately, brought to him» Diosmed explained.
«Thank you. I ask your pardon Emperor» Damian told him respectfully.
«There is no need, today we will celebrate! Wear your clothes, as your friends have already done» the Emperor Constantine.
He had not noticed that his cronies wore very elegant and luxurious clothes. Tanya had a long red silk dress with a slight neckline that matched the beauty of her gray-green eyes, while Diosmed had a green dress, always in silk, and Emmanuel a white one. They wore very long tunics and well cared for in detail. Damian’s dress was as blue as his eyes. He wore it along with the shoes, the most comfortable he had ever worn. They went down with the Emperor, who had been wearing a white tunic with a red drapery and a laurel wreath on his head, in the ground floor celebration hall. They went through the sumptuousness of that huge place. There were servants and guards at every corner. They crossed a large arch and arrived in a room full of tables laden with all sorts of food, in particular there were roasted pork, chicken, pheasant with raisins, ciccioli and ricotta cheese, tripe, all kinds of fruit and vegetables, red wine in abundance and finally honey cakes, dates stuffed with walnuts and the beloved biscoctus. They ate and drank for a long time, the young heroes celebrated together. Then the Emperor addressed words to them and his guests:
«I thank deeply these guys for saving me, that the man you saw during these years was not me, but a magician who had taken my form. Every action was his work, it will now be my duty to resolve the problems who he created. The Colosseum will be rebuilt, as will the palace. To you saviors I will donate a ship of the roman fleet with its crew, to go wherever you want!»
«A ship? Wow! Finally I will leave here!» Diosmed rejoiced.
«We can go to Egypt!» Damian shouted.
«I will come too!» Tanya replied.
«Do you still insist? We don’t know anything about you, you old witch!» Diosmed said.
Tanya answered, took a honey cake and threw it on his face.
«Sure! We need your care and your magic!» Damian said.
«I... I... I would like to come with you!» Emmanuel interrupted all shaking.
«Any help is welcome. Don’t be afraid, you have great power» Tanya said and he blushed.
Damian nodded as Diosmed cleaned his face.
After the banquet, they went to the garden to relax in the Emperor’s tanks. They stayed in the water for a long time and enjoyed the many attentions of the palace servants,
until it was evening.
«We rest. Tomorrow we’ll leave for a new journey» Damian said.
«Yup. I believe that destiny will reserve us great things. One day we will return to the Village of the Gods and settle everything. We owe it to Dasmond and the others» Diosmed said.
«I am happy to have met you Diosmed», then he turned to the other two, «and also to have met you two, especially you Tanya. I knew someone was rooting for us, did you give us that ampoule?», Tanya smiled, «And you Emmanuel, you have great powers. Without you we would never have been able to eliminate that demon from the Emperor’s body. Thanks to both of you». After that speech Damian was very happy, he found himself in a new world, but he had found someone who appreciated him for what he was.
«Good night» Tanya said before heading to her third-floor room, while the three boys each went to a different room on the fourth floor. They went to sleep in comfortable beds with a wooden support and mattresses formed by a sort of large sack filled with very soft goose feathers. In those sumptuous rooms of the imperial palace, sleep came with the simplicity of a breath.
At the dawn, Damian was awakened by the rays of the sun, he wore a blue tunic, which left his arms and legs uncovered and the black belt and put inside her the Statue of Dragon and the dagger in his black bag. This time he also wore bracae, a black short, so as to have greater protection for the lower parts. Like shoes this time he had received the calceus, a leather shoe with laces, similar to an ankle boot that completely covered the foot and ankle. After he dressed, he left the room and saw Diosmed and Emmanuel with clothes similar to his own, one in green and the other in white.
«Let’s wait for the delay girl» Diosmed said annoyed.
«Here I am, cockroach!» Tanya replied, wearing a red stole and a golden belt, along with her small white oval-shaped magic bag.
«Is there really anything in this bag?» Diosmed said as he tried to grab it. Immediately Tanya pulled it to her and promptly replied: «Don’t touch it, ungrateful! Women bags are not touched. Didn’t they teach you?»
«It’s time to go! On the road!» Damian urged them.