An old, thin man was sitting in a throne far too big for his old, crumpled body.
The throne was made out of gold and precious stones, shining outwardly as bright as
the sun. It made it impossible to stare at for a long time, hence not letting anyone
look at the king for too long. The king stood up and walked towards Kane. The
clothes were hanging off his body, the silk freckled and bent. A long cape was flowing
behind him as he walked, and the crown was too big for his small head. The long
white beard was unkempt and uncared for. The small black hollow eyes were staring
intently at Kane when he suddenly bowed and crashed to the ground. Kane ran
towards him, helping him up, when the guards advanced towards him, weapons out.
One growl from Alpha made them rethink their action and they froze for a moment.
The king put up his hand and waved them off, tension lessening in the room. Beside
us, there were about twenty guards, fully armoured, ten on each side of the walkway.
At the foot of the throne were seated four people, richly clothed, all looking like they
would rather kill him than having his presence. The king bent towards Kane and
whispered Kane’s my ear.
‘’Help me, my grandson. Help me or this will be my last day alive’’ Kane looked
at him, shocked, his eyes and mouth wide open. Grandson? What the hell was the
man saying? And why would it be his last day? Obviously, the others had noticed
something was off, and a man Kane hadn’t noticed, at the corner of the room,
standing next to a pillar, put his hand up and snapped his fingers. Suddenly a group
of men clothed all in black stormed into the room through the door Kane came
through a few minutes ago, crashing through the windows from the outside and
dropping from the balcony. There were a score of them at least. The otherwise large,
empty room was filled with men holding weapons, intent on doing them harm.
‘’Walfrid, make a circle around the king, protect him with your life!’’ Kane yelled
at him, after assessing the situation, then summoning his blades into a barrier. Kane
moved the barrier around the soldiers protecting the king, who were shocked,
obviously, but none of them tried anything, since they had already heard about it,
from walfrid Kane assumed. ‘’Alpha, take the exit i will take the rest’’
‘’Right, to give you more people to kill? No way in hell, boy!’’ he barked back.
He soulforged and split apart from it. The soulforge went left and he went right,
ripping into the horde of assassins.Their sword slashes and thrusts just deflected off
of Alpha’s armoured skin, whilst he raked in their blood, cutting them open with his
claws on both fronts. Kane ran towards the opposite side to protect the flank, when
he noticed none of the rich people had moved. They must be in on this most likely as
well, or they would try and see aid from the king’s men, or the king himself. Egeryon
was stirring inside of Kane, trying to take control of his body.
‘’Boy, let me do this. I feel a strong presence somewhere near us. It is
probably too strong for you in this state’’ Egeryon said.
‘’If you try anything, i will take you out from the inside’’ Kane said untrustingly.
‘’My self preservation instinct is too strong for our petty rivalry over this body to
matter a damn thing this moment. If your body dies, we both die’’
Kane relinquished control over his body and Egeryon took over. The body’s
skin turned a darker tinge of black, rough and little horns grew on top of his head.
‘’Horny, you are looking good like that’’ Alpha sent him mentally, making fun of
him, to which Kane didn’t feel like responding.
‘’Sanguinum es, et non declinetis neque ad sanguinem’’ Egeryon chanted
loudly and held his arms up, blood flowing from his veins into the air. Suddenly the
blood turned into a fine red mist which spread all across the room, creeping up on
everyone, except over the king and the soldiers. Every little particle of mist was
infused with magic. No one was moving, waiting what would happen next. Suddenly,
the blood particles started searching out the assassins actively, exploding on impact,
leaving gaping holes in their victims. Limbs were scattered all over the room as well
as bodies with holes in them. Anyone who tried to block the particles with a hand or a
weapon, got blown into even smaller pieces, their limbs being torn out, their weapons
cutting themselves up. It was a gruesome sight and Kane felt sick upon seeing what
Egeryon was doing. The four who were sitting at the foot of the throne, now afraid,
were backing up in fear. Egeryon smiled and slowly walked towards them.
‘’Any last wishes?’’ he asked sarcastically. Surprisingly, two of them fell on
their knees begging for their life. Egeryon cut them in half without even thinking about
it their upper bodies falling next to their feet, eyes in shock. Kane let him have his
moment so he did not interrupt. One of the remaining two took a sword in his hand
and the other stood behind him, trembling in fear, hiding from Egeryon. Egeryon leapt
towards them and pushed the one with sword in hand aside, ripping right through the
one behind him, tearing out his heart and squishing it. The whole room was silent
and no one dared to move. The one with sword in hand tried to get up, but he had hit
the wall pretty hard, so he was still unsteady, shaking. The sound of clapping could
be heard from where the lone hooded person was standing. Mixed with the clapping,
footsteps could be heard coming toward them.
‘’Bravo, bravo. My dear boy has become so strong. Far stronger than anything
beyond our wildest dreams’’ the voice said. Slowly the person came towards them
and stopped a few meters in front of Kane. ‘’Afraid what you will see when the hood
is down?’’ the voice mused.
‘’Not really. It is you who should be afraid of what i can do, to people who
threaten me or people i know’’ Kane said menacingly. ‘’You should rethink what you
plan to do now, really hard. If you do not, this could end up really messy for you as
well’’
‘’Do not threaten me, boy!’’ the person yelled. It was a female, the voice had
lost all of its bravado and facade. ‘’It is I who holds everything in my palm. Just think
what will happen to that girl of yours and her brother and the other two women if you
defy me!’’ she yelled, frustratingly. Egeryon moved again and in an instant he was
upon the woman, her hood torn off and his hand around her neck, crushing it slowly.
Kane’s mind couldn’t believe what his eyes saw, or, didn’t want to believe.
‘’Mother?’’ he asked stunned. ‘’What the hell is going on?!’’ he yelled now,
angrily. The person who had just tried to assassinate him and the king and even
dared to threaten Janine was his own mother. She was struggling with his hand
around her throat, trying to pry his fingers loose, obviously not succeeding.
‘’Stop… it’’ she said under her breath.
‘’Egeryon stop it, or give me hold of my body again!’’ Kane yelled at him. So he
did, within an instant. He dropped her and looked at her, not knowing if he should
help her up or kill her.
‘’What do you have to say for yourself? Mother?’’ Kane asked her, full of
resentment.
‘’Nothing much, beside that you are our greatest accomplishment. We had
hoped your sister would become stronger, as she was easier to control, but, either
way, we are happy with the outcome’’ she said and laughed.
‘’What the hell? Experiment? Sister? Make some sense already! Why did you
abandon me as a kid and not come back for me!’’ Kane yelled angrily, fuming with
rage.
‘’All in due time, my boy. All in due time. Now, there is a matter we have to
settle immediately. Come with me and join me and your father. You can meet your
sister as well, if you behave’’ she said full of herself, as if that was the right thing to
do.
‘’You must have a screw loose in your head, mother. No, you are not my
mother. A mother wouldn’t behave like you do. You and father left me to fend for
myself, now you threaten my woman and tried to kill me. Why the hell would i come
with you? Give me one good reason!’’
‘’I am your mother’’ she said and stood up, moving her hand up towards his
face. He slapped it away with malice. She could see the look in his eyes, but nothing
moved her. It was as if nothing he said got through to her thick head, or, she really
was like he feared. A soulless monster herself, only caring about power.
‘’Where is my father?’’ Kane asked, changing tactic.
‘’Well, i think he went to visit your girl. Of course, if a message from me arrives
telling him all is fine, nothing will happen to them. It is all up to you.’’
‘’When is the message due to arrive?’’ Kane asked again.
‘’Hmm, i think about three hours from now. There is no way you can arrive on
time, if that is what you are thinking. The ride there takes a few hours, and besides, i
can easily keep you here for that long’’ she mused.
‘’Not if you’re me. I can get there within an hour if i leave now. And you, well,
you have made a big mistake’’ Kane said and laughed.
‘’What mistake?’’ she asked playfully.
‘’My mother had a birthmark right under her right ear, a specific one. Shaped
like a thunderbolt. Yet you, do not have one’’ he said pointing at the spot with his
finger. Suddenly a bright flash lit up the room and the woman had transformed into
another, much younger woman. Maybe barely in her twenties. She was beautiful.
Long blonde hair ending in curls, big green eyes and a pretty face. She was almost
as tall as Kane was, slender with big hips. Her chest stuck out like two little
mountains and her skin was as pale as the dawn. All she had on was a cloth
wrapped around her chest and another one wrapped around her thigh, ending a bit
above her knees.
‘’Like what you see?’’ she asked provocatively, winking at Kane. He hadn’t
noticed he was staring at her body, but then again, he stared at every woman that
has even the slightest of a good shape.
‘’Yes i do. How about you come home with me, give birth to a few babies for
me’’ Kane said sheepishly.
‘’Oh my, is that the way you should talk to your sister? To your own blood?’’
she said and winked again. Somehow that statement had shocked him enough to
forget about her being a danger and his body showed it. She took that chance and
took a knife out of her skirt and threw it at Kane. He managed to dodge, but just as
the knife missed him, a big tear appeared on my chest. The knife was imbued with
soul power it seems and it was much wider than he had even thought possible for a
physical, steel weapon.
‘’You shouldn’t underestimate me, just because i am a girl, or just because i
look to die for, big brother’’ she said. The tone in her voice had changed to something
darker, even an angry tone.
‘’You are my sister?’’ Kane asked still stunned by the revelation. The blood
flowed steadily out of his wound, but he didn’t care about it. ‘’Are you really my little
sister?’’ She just nodded and stared at him with spite. ‘’Then why so much hate?
What have i ever done to you to deserve you hating me at our first meeting? Why try
and kill me?’’ he asked in disbelief.
‘’Because you were always their number one child!’’ she spit out. ‘’It was
always Kane this and Kane that. You have no idea how it was to live with them for
twenty years and be treated like a little child, all the torture and torment i have went
through. With the age of ten i had already received two hundred lashes. I had already
over a hundred hours of torture, to toughen up, as they called it! Only because of
you!’’ she spit out.
‘’It was not because of me!’’ Kane yelled back. ‘’I didn’t even know they were
still alive. They had abandoned me when i was a little kid. I Barely stayed alive that
year, and had to resort to all kinds of things i am not proud of. I didn’t have love,
parents, a home, nothing! I was all alone, so dont come hating me just because you
knew about me and i didn’t know about you!’’
The pain in Kane’s chest had lessened, the stone humming and vibrating in
his hand, probably had healed the wound. At least one thing to worry about less than
a moment before. Kane found her eyes again, but found nothing inside of them
beside anger and hatred. He couldn’t understand it, no, he wouldn’t understand it.
How can you hate someone who has done nothing to you. It made him angry and he
could feel the anger rising, slowly, to the point he had trouble breathing. Kane lunged
at her and slammed her with his fist into her gut. She toppled over to the ground and
gasped for air, clutching her stomach with her hands.
‘’That is for slicing me up just now, and for a lot of other things. Now, i have an
idea about what to do with you. Let me explain’’ he said as he kneeled next to her.
‘’Since i am far more powerful than you are, i will capture you. I will take you back
with me to my home. There you will stay until i have all the information i need, and
until i knock some sense into you. If you really are my sister, you will live with me, far
from the ones who hurt you. I will protect you and cherish you. I will love you with all
my heart. If i do not, if i kill you now instead, i doubt my soul would ever find
redemption. As you can probably feel, there is a lot of anger and hatred and despair
inside of me. Keeping it just beneath the surface is all i can do. If i give in, even for a
moment, i am afraid i will lose all of the humanity i have left. Do not make me. If you
do, and i become something i fear most, death will be preferable to life under
Egeryon’s rule’’ he whispered into her ear. She flinched at the mere mention of
Egeryon’s name, and Kane could feel him stir inside of him, full of joy.
‘’Shut up and be calm, Egeryon’’ Kane told him.
‘’You are about to find out something really interesting, my boy. O how
wonderful. Two siblings find each other after twenty years of pain. Then they find out
they are housing the number one and two in power ancient demons. O how
wonderful!’’ he shouted in joy.
‘’Why did you flinch’’ Kane asked her after hearing Egeryon’s words.
‘’I didn’t, but the one inside of me did. Uheryon’’ she said, smiling.
‘’So you also have an ancient inside of you?’’
‘’Yes i do. But of course, she is nothing like Egeryon. She has her talents, but
they mostly are limited to deception, illusions and the like. Nothing like the Ancient of
Destruction, Egeryon’’ Kane could feel him stir inside of him, he was happy, content,
joyfull.
‘’So i am not the only monster here, there are two of us’’ Kane said, more to
himself than anyone else‘’ Tell me your name, sister’’
‘’Why would you care? You’re a monster, and you will kill me the moment i let
my guard down’’
‘’Not true. However, i will convert you. I will not kill my own flesh and blood,
even though i haven’t known about you at all. If you really are my sister, i will protect
you and love you. You have my word on that’’ Kane really did want to have her
around if she was his sister. After all, he has been without family forever. Only
recently Alpha and Janine had joined him and killed his loneliness.
‘’My name is Rasiela’’ she murmured under her breath. Kane could barely
make it out. He sent her a gentle smile and patted her head.
Alpha sent him a mental note to survey the room and take everything in and
see how to proceed further, so Kane did. The king was still closed in inside of the
group of soldiers who were staring at him intently. Walfrid was next to him, sword
unsheathed. Not that they could do much, but still, he liked the sight of them and their
dedication to their king.
‘’She will not harm you. She will be my responsibility from now on and i will
take her with me. Walfrid opened his mouth to protest, but Kane cut him off with
raising his hand. ‘’I am the only reason the king and all of you are still alive. If i
wanted to, i could get rid of you within seconds, so do not tempt your luck’’
The king nodded towards the bladed wall and Kane dismissed it. He removed
himself from the soldiers standing around him and turned towards Kane and Alpha
and bowed deeply.
‘’You have my thanks, young man. I might be old, but i am not senile. As long
as i live, you will have my thanks and my favour. In fact, let us have a celebration in a
ten days time. What do you say?’’ he asked earnestly.
‘’I would be glad to be your guest, my king. I will bring my future wife with me
as well. I think you will be happy about meeting her. My sister will return as well then,
and one more male my size. We will be a total of four people’’
‘’All right’’ he said loudly, straining his vocals. ‘’In ten days at noon the feast
will start. Now clean up this mess, i beg of you. Get people to clean this up, Walfrid’’
he said almost pleadingly. One really needed a stomach to get over the carnage
Egeryon had caused.
‘’Aren’t you people forgetting about someone!?’’ Rasiela barked, standing up,
dagger in hand.
‘’Don’t’’ Kane said calmly. ‘’You will get hurt if you try anything. Do not say i
didn’t warn you’’
Her eyes narrowed on Kane’s and she sent him a venomous stare. If looks
could kill, he would be dead by now. Still, women never listen to men, so neither did
she. She thrust the dagger towards him, missing by a longshot. He hit her wrist and
sent the dagger flying. She grabbed her hand with the other, applying some pressure
to ease the pain and groaning.
‘’I told you not to, Rasiela. Yet you think you still hold the upper hand. You do
not so be silent and don’t move until i am done here, understand?’’ She just glared
back, shooting daggers with her eyes and sticking her tongue out. She sure caught
him by surprise, but it just showed there’s still some humanity inside of her. He would
need to use it to his advantage, if any way possible.
‘’My king’’ Kane said, nodding ‘’If there is nothing else, i would take my leave
for this time’’
The king nodded and then turned towards the throne, walked over and fell into
it. Then all of them noticed the fourth man who had survived earlier, when Egeryon
had pushed him aside. The king called for Walfrid.
‘’Walfrid, kill that man!’’ Walfrid rushed the man with a swiftness that surprised
Kane and slashed the man in two, his corpse still shuddering before it hit the ground,
dead. The king’s face lit up as he finally understood what had happened. All of his
enemies at court had been dealt with, finally. It must have been quite the ordeal for
him, all this time fighting these bandits, Kane thought as he turned towards Walfrid.
‘’My friend, do you have a moment for me?’’ Kane asked as he approached
Walfrid
‘’Yes, sir Kane. What can i do for you, besides thanking for what you did
earlier. We all would have been dead if it wasn’t for you’’
‘’A few things. One of them being information and the second a favour. Firstly,
is there anyone left you think was working behind the curtains to bring ruin to this
kingdom?’’
‘’No. I do not think there is anyone left. They were quite open lately, not fearing
reprisal. But you sure showed them, sir Kane’’ he replied cheerfully, as if nothing had
happened just now.
‘’Al right, that is good. Now, the second thing. I am taking charge of the alley.
Let the king know about it, and whisper some suggestions, like giving me a rank or
something so i can take hold of it legally as well. I killed the snake less than an hour
ago. He tried to kill me, so i killed him, rather brutally’’
Walfrid flinched at the last part, but just nodded and bowed slightly, running off
towards the king. Kane walked over to Rasiela and and took her by her hand, pulling
her up and dragging her out of the room, more by force than not. At the door he
stopped and turned around, only to find Alpha walking slowly behind him. A smile
appeared on Kane’s face.
‘’Thanks, Alpha. Everything was just so hectic, i hope you can forgive me for
forgetting you for a moment’’ Kane said. Alpha just smiled back and nodded.
‘’Let us go meet Gabriel. He is probably waiting for us’’ Alpha said and walked
past them. Kane pulled Rasiela again by her hand, dragging her behind him
basically. She was resisting as much as possible, holding him back, tugging at his
arm, kicking, screaming. Nothing really helped.
‘’If you do not follow me quietly, i will punch you until you are unconscious’’
Kane said, right up in her face. ‘’Be quiet and follow me, or you will be hogtied and
carried like that’’ She gave Kane an incredulous and evil stare, as if daring him to.
After the threat, she was more cooperative, probably knowing she couldn’t escape,
unharmed that is’’Al, can we ride on your back?’’ Kane asked looking over at Alpha.