Chapter 10 - Blood Lust Part 1
#10 of Chains of Destiny
Chapter 10 - Blood Lust Part 1
- * * "Sir, magic has returned to the land. The magician's tablet is glowing inside the vault as proof," said a General as he presented himself to a door. The hall was laced with many antiques, mainly full plated armor with different designs on them. The door had two doorknobs that would be used in old times. The General was dressed in a lab coat because he is the commanding officer to the department of magic and science. "That's good. Update all of our weaponry in the next three days. The Country of Goliath won't know what hit them," responded a voice from inside. "Understood," said the General as he dashed down the hall. * * * In the Country of Goliath, the king is holding a counsel to see what their action should be when a page ran in. "Sir, magic has returned to the land!" shouted the Page. "Magic has returned?!" shouted one of the counsel men. The room was large with a circular desk in the middle. Ten men were seated around the circle and each wore different clothing from one another. The men are the head leaders of their department, one head and one vice head, except for the magic department which had only the leader. The king was the tenth person and he sat directly across from the only door that lets anyone in and out of the room. No one was dressed lavishly because they didn't want others to think that they were a threat. "The stream of magic is in the night sky as we speak!" shouted the Page as he tried to regain his breath. "Tiodius, lead your team and begin working with Claris on updating our most recent creation to use the power of magic," stated the king and Tiodius, a man that wore plain, street clothes with blue badge to represent the magic department, and Claris, a man wearing semi-formal clothes with a red badge representing the war department, left the room. The rest of the counsel men were talking amongst themselves about how to curb the war to their liking. * * * "How are we going to prepare for the war in three days?" asked Bahamut. The group was still standing in the circle by the lake as the Country of Star and the Country of Goliath prepares for the final battle that is take place in three days. "We're going to split into three groups. I'm my own group. Brian and Collins will go to the Country of Goliath because Collins is a known Lieutenant there. Fiona and Alan are going to the Country of Star and have beliefs about how terrible the beast men are and become apart of the army," said Leo as the others listened to the plan. "Are you sure it will work?" asked Collins. "There's no way they will accept two beast men that easily," said Fiona as he considered the effectiveness of the plan. "Don't worry, I will take care of that personally," said Leo. "Ok, say that we are able to get into the Country of Star without any problems and Brian and Collins are in the Country of Goliath, what do we do?" asked Alan. "Simple, you two are going to infiltrate the military and keep me posted about what is going on. One of you will need to be in the magic department and the other military department. Same goes for Brian and Collins but I think Collins can arrange a new group of scouts for me, right?" asked Leo. "It only takes me one day to train five newbs. Piece of cake," said Collins. "How will you guys stay in touch with one another?" asked Canterus. "He's going to use us. We can freely travel on the stream of magic back and forth without any suspicion unless the two countries are more developed that I believe," responded Bahamut. "Some of us will have to go on foot to make it easier to. I know that Silva can move through the Country of Goliath perfectly fine," said Shiva. "I'm utilizing all of the ancients. Silva and Ifrit are going to the Country of Goliath as messengers to me. They will interact with Bahamut at the border to reduce some suspicion. Canterus and Alexander are going to the Country of Star and communicate with Shiva. Both Bahamut and Shiva are my personal messengers so that I can send messages back and forth easily," said Leo. "That covers everything for now. Guess all we need is this so called 'Ifrit'," said Alan. Leo made the Obsidian Butterfly appear in the middle of the circle and called for the "Beast that resides in the depths of hell." The ground underneath the butterfly exploded with fire and Ifrit appeared once the fire subsided. He appeared to be tired when Leo looked at him. "What is your will (yawns) Leo?" asked Ifrit as he rubbed his eyes. "Just go with Silva and she'll tell you everything. Everyone has their commands so get to it," said Leo as everyone began to disperse and head to their designated country. Fiona and Alan only had to find the capitol of the Country of Star from where they were. Within minutes, everyone, but Leo, Bahamut, and Shiva, has left for their designated areas. Leo got onto Bahamut's back but decided that it would be better to walk and returned to the ground. Shiva and Bahamut didn't know what his intentions were but they wouldn't question it until the ground began to shake. Leo could smell the scent of blood within the air. The blood smelled of rusted iron and gun powder and it attracted Leo even though the shaking ground is not a good sign. A loud bang was heard followed by a loud explosion and countless screams. "It's coming from the forest, we must be near a village," said Leo dashing towards the explosion. Bahamut and Shiva looked at each other before dashing off after Leo. The trees seem to melt with the ground as Leo sprinted through the trees. The under brush seemed as if it was never disturbed as Leo glided over them at high speed and only stopped at the edge when he could see where the explosions were coming from. There was, indeed, a small village near the lake that is up in flames. Large tanks stood about ten miles away with many soldiers surrounding the tanks. "Please, spare my life," begged someone as she ran out from behind a burning building. A soldier stepped out and killed her with a gun showing no effort. People were running out of the village in all directions but the soldiers outside were waiting for them and killed them all, letting none survive. The smell of rusted iron and gun powder became unbearable as something inside Leo's mind snapped and he moved unconsciously with no intent on sparing any lives. By the time Bahamut and Shiva reached the place where Leo stood, he disappeared only to reappear next to one of the soldiers, catching him by surprise. "Huh? Who are you?" asked the soldier. Leo's hair covered his eyes but the moment the wind moved it slightly, the soldier coward in fear. Leo's emerald and sapphire eyes turned dark with the menacing evil stored within. Leo drove his hand through the soldier's body and extracted the heart that is still beating. "I am no one," whispers Leo as he crushed the heart causing blood to splatter in all directions. By now all of the other soldiers turned their attention towards Leo. Shiva made an attempt to save Leo but Bahamut stuck his arm out and prevented her from going any further than a few inches. Being heartless, as Leo currently is, he shifted his weight slightly and threw the dying body at the soldiers as an attempt to provoke them. He got his intended response. Before the body even hit the ground, the other soldiers opened fire and the tanks redirected their cannons. "This nothing but child's play," murmured Leo as he vanished into thin air once again. "Where'd he go?!" shouted one of the soldiers frantically looking around. "Right behind you," whispered Leo as he reappeared and tore the soldier's head off. The tanks shot their cannons consecutively but they always missed and kill one of the soldiers that Leo didn't kill himself. By the time there were any soldiers left outside of the tanks, Leo broke into each tank and murdered everyone inside without any sympathy for what he was doing. After the last tank members were murdered, Leo stepped out of the tank and stood in front of the hole he made. He's covered in blood that is splattered all over his body and soaked into his hair and fur. "That was fun," murmured Leo as he licked the blood off of his hand and smiled. The fire that was raging in the village was almost gone, leaving nothing but charred buildings. The ground is covered with dead bodies either civilians or soldiers. The soldiers were more gruesome since their body parts laid all over the ground, some only lost parts of their bodies, others been shred to pieces. Bahamut and Shiva stepped out from where they were standing and examined the bloody land before them. "Isn't this a sad world we live in? Where the military takes away innocent lives?" asked Leo as Bahamut and Shiva moved closer. "It is. It's such a shame that no world is ever perfect," replied Shiva as she stepped over bodies. Bahamut merely whacked the bodies away using his feet as he progressed towards Leo as well. "You're soaked in blood," said Bahamut deciding it would be better to just fly his way to Leo. "I sure am. Although, it was fun while it lasted," responded Leo moving towards the forest. "Everything seems fun but what you did was more gruesome than fun," said Shiva jumping onto one of the tanks. "What ever, the idea's still the same even though I should feel sorry for what I did, right?" questioned Leo sitting underneath a tree. "That's for you to decide, not me," answered Shiva landing softly next to Leo. "It is true though, you should have felt some kind of remorse for what you did," said Bahamut only a few feet away from Leo and Shiva. The night bore on in silence as Leo sat under the tree meditating in his thoughts. What Bahamut and Shiva didn't know is that Leo's mind is traversing the vast land, following his friends' movements as they commit to their jobs. * * * Fiona and Alan made it to the Country of Star capital, Nightingale, in only a few minutes with the help of Alexander and Canterus. They pleaded with the guards at the city gates to let them in and after a few minutes of arguing, the city guards took them straight to the king to plead for their allegiance and assistance to the military and magic department. "So you're saying that the Country of Goliath recklessly murdered your families for their amusement and now you want some pay back for what they did?" questioned the king. "Yes, that is exactly what we are saying," responded Fiona. "I don't buy what you are telling me. For all I know, it is nothing but a hoax," stated the king. "We have been traveling for years trying to find some way to enact our revenge. With the revival of the stream of magic, it is now possible," said Alan. "That is true, the stream of magic has returned but I am still unsure about permitting you two into the army. You are beast man after all," said the king. "If I may your majesty, we should test them, whether they are worthy of being apart of our army," said the royal advisor, Alvis. Alvis is the king's best friend since their childhood. The day that the king ascended the thrown and became king, he appointed Alvis as his royal advisor such that they are together for all important decision making matters such as this. Dressed in royal blue with lighter blue laces, Alvis is qualified to the royal advisor. "Do you believe a test is adequate?" asked the king. "My choices have been well thought out and I believe that if they are qualified, then they should be able to kill one of the beast man prisoners without any remorse or holing back," replied Alvis. "We will kill the prisoner, regardless of who it is," said Fiona and Alan hid his disgust over the idea. "Then so be it. Guards, bring up one of our beast man prisoners," commanded to the king. The guards at the far end of the room left the room and quickly returned with a struggling beast man. The beast man was only in his early 20s, a goat for the most part. He was well fed which means that either the prison guards keep their prisoners well fed or that he is a recent captive. "Execute him," said Alvis pointing to Fiona. Fiona didn't hesitate to do just that as the guards let go of the prisoner and backed away. The prisoner is scared of what is going to happen to him as Fiona drew out one of her guns. "Please, save me! You wouldn't want to hurt a fellow beast man," pleaded the goat but Fiona fired away and killed the goat without any hesitation or regret. "Well done, now what about your friend?" asked Alvis as the guards went to get another prisoner. This time guards returned with a wolf beast man, also well fed and in his 20s. Alan didn't really want to kill the poor guy as he showed large amounts of fear. The wolf's eyes are also pleading to Alan to spare his life and help him escape which Alan had to pause because the guards still held him. Inside Alan's mind he is saying sorry and didn't want to do this. The guards let go of the wolf and he just coward there. "Harmonic Shatter," whispered Alan as the room began to shake, mainly the wolf as he held his ears. The vibrations were sound particles that concentrated on the wolf as it slid past the hands the closed off the ears and injured his brain beyond the point of repair an killed him. "That is a unique way to kill someone which means he has the power of magic flowing through him," said the king to Alvis. "Indeed but maybe the female should be apart of the magic department. She can help with the development of the weapons," said Alvis. "Indeed," said the king briefly as Fiona and Alan turned their attention back to the king. "You have proved yourselves worthy to join the military. You, Fiona I believe, shall join the magic department and help with the conversion of our current weapons to supply magic. And you, Alan, shall join the military department as an active soldier. You will be the first beast mans allowed into our military. Housing will be provided by both departments," stated the king. "We will not fail you your majesty," said Fiona bowing low, Alan following suit. "Guards, take them to their departments," said the king as Fiona and Alan got up and followed the guards outside. "We got in now we just need to be able to complete our objectives. We can remorse later," whispered Fiona to Alan. * * * Brian and Collins faced many problems when they arrived at the Country of Goliath's capital, Raze. They were able to get past the guards easily but they had many problems getting an audience with the king because he is extremely busy with all the preparations of the war that is to commence in two days. Fortunately, Collins is able to pull enough of his connections to gain an audience with the king at dawn. "Lieutenant Collins and mercenary Brian," announced the guard in front of the royal room. "Let them enter," replied a voice on the other side. The guard opened the double doors and allowed them to walk though the threshold with ease. The king is seated at his desk which is piled high with papers. The room is quite large for it could have contained a small party. The walls were lined with many selves, some holding books or family items. The king is dressed in the same clothes he was wearing during the announcement of the return of magic. "Lieutenant Collins I presume," questioned the king pointing his pen at Collins. "In deed your majesty. I have returned after my party was ambushed by a mysterious group but I can ensure you that it was not the recently discovered resistance that resided inside the forest at the front lines," said Collins. "I see you have brought a mercenary to join our ranks," said the king. "Yes, he has offered to aid in our armory for no charge except for housing and food," said Collins. "Bring him closer," said the king writing something down on paper. Collins brought Brian half way to the desk but the king motioned them to come up to his desk. "Take this to the armory inventory master, he will tell you what to do. As for housing and food, I cannot be certain about the housing but food can be provided easily," said the king handing Brian the paper that the king wrote on. "I have a request your majesty. I would like to request for more men to become scouts under my surveillance," said Collins. "Your request is granted, take the new recruits and train them to become scouts. The maximum you can take is only ten," said the king without looking at Collins as he returned to his work. "Thank you your majesty, I am in your debt," said Collins as he lead Brian out of the room. "Hold on a moment Lieutenant Collins. Do you know about the whereabouts of Colonel Greaves? He hasn't returned from his so called mission to find you and murder your original scouts," said the king. "He has indeed murdered my scouts and almost killed me. His whereabouts is known as dead and the body burned or so I believe," replied Collins. "Good, Colonel Greaves was causing me a lot of problems demanding to know about Project Time," said the king. Collins and Brian left after that and made their way down to the armory. They passed through many halls and doorways in order to reach the armory that is actually situated underground, directly below the royal room. The hallways that lead to the armory are designed in such a way that the path would become a maze even though it's a 360 down one level. Once they reached the a black mahogany door, Collins opened it up to reveal row after row of shelves filled with assorted weapons and a desk that is to the right of the door. A chameleon is sitting at the desk shuffling through inventory papers. "May I help you?" asked the chameleon. "Yes, I'm looking for the armory inventory master. Do you know where he is?" asked Collins. "He's all the way in the back, by the old developmental room," said the chameleon as Collins and Brian walked off into the vast numerous rows. "You'd be amazed at how me things we store in here. Food, clothing, weaponry, armor, even medical products. We tried to make a map of the whole place but that was a complete and utter failure if you ask me. For the weapons portion, it is categorized by size so hand guns and grenades in the front and Goliaths and large tanks in the back," said Collins making his way to the back. "There are so many things in here. I don't think me being in inventory is a good idea. I'll get lost," said Brian looking at the different weapons that are stored. "Don't worry, the armory inventory master is a good friend of mine and a perfect scout but I can never get him to leave the armory for special missions only he can complete," said Collins as they made it to the end. Before them were Goliaths as far as the eye can see. There are also two doors before them. One marked with "Development Lab" and the other "Development Lab - Magic Department". Collins opened the door marked Magic Department and walked in with Brian following close behind. It could be said that the room is supposed to be full of ancient artifacts that have some sort of relevance to magic but this room was completely empty. There is a husky standing all the way in the back, where there is a window over looking something. "Travis!" shouted Collins as he walked towards the husky. "Collins?" asked the husky as he turned around to see who called him. Travis is the armory inventory master. He grew up in a small town not to far away from Raze. No body knows what happened to the small town or why he is the only survivor. He has a scar on his left arm which he wears proudly but refuses to tell anyone about it. Travis's life is a mystery to almost everyone who meets him for the first time. "Meet our new helper in the magic department," said Collins nudging Brian forward. "It'll be great working with you cause we need to get the Dragon up and running in two days," said Travis as the window turned black and a door to the side opened. The light was bright but not blinding bright allowing Brian to see the head of the Dragon. * * * Leo moved to both sides of the world and examined what has happened before going back to where his body was sitting. Bahamut didn't seem to mind that Leo was spiritually gone from his body and neither was Shiva when Leo returned at mid morning. "Have a nice nap?" asked Bahamut. "I guess you could say that but we need to get right to work if we are going to be ready by the time the final battle begins," replied Leo getting up and stretching out his body. "Is what we need to do that important?" questioned Shiva. "Most definitely. We need to rebuild a resistance and that won't be hard because I know where I want to go already," smiled Leo as he started to run through the forest. Bahamut and Shiva followed obediently and kept Leo in their range of sight as he dashed through the forest leaving a five second gap for the wind to catch up. The tree branches swayed out of his way and the rocks seem to roll to its side before Leo even got close to it. The birds chirped a pleasant melody and the animals minding their own business as they moved along their regular day. A lake is near by and so is a village called Shower. The village is called Shower because they are situated next to a waterfall that sprays water into the village occasionally. Leo dashed into the village and stopped at the waterfall to wash off all of the dry blood. A small kid was playing near the waterfall when he slipped on a rock and began screaming for help. The adults that heard the scream ran to the waterfall to see what was going on. To their surprise, Leo is holding the small kid while standing under the waterfall. Someone from the crowd screamed while others feinted at his sight. "Don't eat me! I don't taste good!" shouted the small kid struggling to get out of Leo's arms. "Keep struggling and I might," said Leo as he walked towards the shore. "Somebody, get the cops!" shouted a man in the crowd. Leo made it to the shore and placed the kid safely away from the shores edge before backing up a little to allow the kid to gather his surroundings. The kid kept his eyes closed while Leo was holding him only to open them up when he felt the ground. Bahamut and Shiva made it just to see Leo place the kid on the ground and waited patiently for him to get out of the water. "You're not going to eat me?" asked the kid looking at Leo confused. "Why would I want to eat you?" asked Leo. "Because you're a monster," replied the kid. "Well I don't like eating people," said Leo turning away from the kid. "Just be careful next time when you're playing around the waterfall." The crowd of people couldn't believe what they had heard. A beast man not eating a human and actually saving a human just broke any molding that they had for beast men. "Coming through, move aside already!" shouted a man in grey clothing trying to make his way through the crowd. "Besides, the water by the water fall is deep for someone as tall as yourself," added Leo as he began to stride his way to the other end of the water. "Wait!" shouted the kid. Leo turned around to face the kid. "Thank you! You are kinder than what we are told about beast men!" shouted the kid happily. This brought a smile on Leo's face as he made his way to the shore. Once he made it to the shore, Leo jumped out and made minimal disturbance to the waters surface as he landed on the ground. "Hold it right there beast man," said the police officer. "You're under arrest for being in the Country of Star." "No! You're not arresting him!" shouted someone from the crowd. "He didn't harm the child! He saved him!" shouted another. "If you want to take him in, then you will have to take all of us in with him!" shouted a third. Everyone in the crowd began to protest against the arrest as Leo looked at everyone with the eyes of kindness and sincerity. Bahamut and Shiva stood behind him as the citizens of Shower did all they could to prevent the jailing to Leo either by making shouts, constraining the police officer, or creating human wall between Leo and the police officer. This went on until the little kid spoke up again catching everyone's attention by surprise. "He did something good that goes against what we are taught in school! We should give him thanks and make change within not only the city but in the country as well! Maybe now, we can end the war not on the outside but on the inside as well!" shouted the kid. "What he speaks is true," said Leo as he made a large jump and landed by the kid. "If change doesn't occur on the inside, then the outside wouldn't make much of a difference. Everyone, humans and beast men, should live as one and at peace with one another. It is what we can call a revolution. A revolution within the country may jeopardize all that I am fighting for but I am willing to risk it, to change the world for the better." "Ok! Ok! I won't arrest him if everyone would just quiet down!" shouted the police officer. "Be forewarned though, the king will hear about this!" Everyone backed away from the police officer as he stormed off into the village. Leo decided that he has done what he needed to do and began to leave but the little kid stopped him. "Are you going?" asked the kid. "Ya, I need to do the same thing in the Country of Goliath if I want the war to end sooner," said Leo. "Will you come back?" asked the little kid. "Maybe not right after the war is over but I'll promise to come back," said Leo kneeling down to be at the kid's height. "Your clothes don't look suitable for travel, will you please accept this gift on behalf of the village?" asked a woman who stood by the kid's side. She presented Leo with clothing that is finely made but very durable in any situation. The shirt is black with an outline of wings on the back that stretched to the front. The pants are black jeans with chains that ran down one side. At the end of the chains is the clock with wings, the very same clock with wings that Leo picked up in the part in his home world. There is also a belt. The belt is black with a dragon buckle and on top of that is Leo's old armlet/gauntlet thing. "These clothes," said Leo. "I can't take them from you." "We insist. This is our way of thanking you for saving one of our own regardless of the species," said the woman. Leo took the clothes from the woman and went into the forest to change into his new clothing. Folded inside of the pants is an A-shirt and boxers. Bahamut and Shiva waited patiently for Leo to emerge from the forest and did the people of Shower. After a few minutes of waiting, Leo emerged in his new clothing and held something in his hand. "What's this?" asked the woman. "This is something that I want everyone to have," said Leo offering a golden statue. The statue is in the shape of a butterfly. A silver chain hung from the butterfly's mouth with the head of a small lion attached to the chain. Leo removed the chain and placed it around the kid's neck before giving the butterfly to the woman. "This is for me?" asked the kid. "Yes, so that you will remember that there is no division between any two people. It is what's on the inside that matters the most," said Leo patting the kid's head. "Ready to go?" asked Bahamut standing next to Leo. "Yes, it is now time for the revolution to begin. It is now time for change," said Leo getting onto Bahamut's back. Bahamut grabbed Shiva's arm and began to take off. He effortlessly flew into the sky with Shiva in his grasp and Leo on his back. Before they left the village officially, Leo looked back down. Everyone was waving up at him and smiling with eyes full of hope. The one thing that Leo heard clearly amongst all of the shouting is "we will tell more people and make a revolution happen!"