And So It Begins

Inari, Darius and Akuro traversed the crater to its lip, Akuro being the first to the top followed by Inari. As she came up, he held his hand out to her. She took it, and as he pulled her up, he noticed her give him a strange look, but he payed it no mind as he turned to help Darius up, who was struggling due to the wound in his shoulder. When they were all at the top, Inari motioned for Darius to sit down.

"I'm fine, really, it's no big deal." Darius complained.

"Shut up, you had a sword stab you in he shoulder, I'm surprised you were able to move at all." Inari held out her hand, Makane materializing at her feet. The fox spirit extended one of her tails, touching it against Darius's shoulder, closing the wound, though his clothes were drenched in blood that was slowly freezing due to the cold. When the wound was healed, Makane returned to Inari and they moved forward down a long hall. The hall had originally been sealed by a stone door,  it that had been obliterated by Akuro's attack.

The hallway led straight for some time until it opened up into a small room with five strange slabs of stone protruding from the ground. Despite the cold, vines clung to the stone walls and the stone slabs. Akuro was the first to step forward, approaching the middle slab. As his foot stepped onto the vines they began to illuminate in a faint green-blue glow that spread through the entire room, illuminating it, and then Akuro realized the far wall was not stone, but thick ice. As the vines illuminated the room they also lit up the ice, and Akuro and the others gasped when they saw what was encased in it.

The massive head of a Dragon stared back at them, it's body fading out of sight deeper into the ice. The Dragon had silver and gold scales with six coiling, regal horns and a thin snout. It's eyes were gold and lifeless. The sheer size of the sent shivers through Akuro's body, it was larger than a small house!

"What... in the world..." Darius spoke in awe.

"A Dragon... a real Dragon..." Inari spoke.

Akuro shook his sense of awe, stepping towards the center stone.

"So humans really did ally themselves with Dragons..." Darius observed, his eyes still locked on the beast.

Akuro placed his hand against the stone slab and sent a wave of his aura through his arm and into the headstone. And then his vision went black.

Akuro's surroundings changed to that of a white void, endless and empty.

"Hallo!" Came a child's voice. "What took you? I've been waiting here for you to show up." A child appeared before Akuro then, an innocent smile on his lips.

"Sorry, had some stuff to take care of. So how do we go about this? Do you just bless me or...?"

Mato's face scrunched up. "Kinda?"

"The hell do you mean kinda?"

"Well, I just want you to do one thing for me."

Akuro furrowed his brow. "What would that be exactly?"

"Answer my riddle."

"A riddle? Are you seriously the First Deity? If you ask me you seem like just a kid."

Mato's smile turned to a frown. "You know, I really hate when people underestimate me."

"Then prove to me you are what you say you are."

At that moment Akuro felt an intense pain in his head, his vision becoming blurry and static. The boy that stood before him became hazy, but he could barely make out red eyes, scales and horns, as if the child were half human half Dragon. Then his vision returned to normal, as did Mato.

"Good enough for you?" Mato asked.

"I-"

"Good." Mato didn't even let Akuro finish his sentence. "Now then, if you want my power, you need to answer this riddle; I lie, but at the same time I am never wrong. I give you peace, but I also give you agony. I could be your strength, but I can also be your weakness, what am I?"

Akuro sat, legs crossed in thought as he echoed the riddle in his head. And then it struck him. He glared up at Mato. "Get the fuck out of my head."

The boy's eyes had an edge to them then, they were not the eyes of a child, instead there was a darkness to them, bloody and dangerous. "Sorry, I just wanted to see how sensitive you'd be. But yeah, the answer is-"

"Hope. Now fuck off and give me what I came for. I'm done with your games." Akuro growled.

Mato tilted his head with a frown. "Boo, you're no fun. Oh well, you answered the riddle so I guess it can't be helped. Here ya go!" The boy stepped toward Akuro, then flicked his forehead, snapping him back to reality. He stood once again in the room of vines, his hand on the stone slab.

"Akuro? You good, man?" Darius asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Akuro looked down at his palm where he had touched the stone. 'I don't feel any different..'

"Yeah... I-" at that moment Akuro let out a scream of agony as his own aura lashed back at him in much larger amount than ever before. It was as if every bone in his body was being crushed while at the same time his mind was being shattered. He crumbled to his knees holding his head in pain. He faintly heard Darius and Inari calling his name in concern, but he payed them no mind, the only thing he was able to focus on was the pain.

When the pain faded, Akuro sat on the ground gasping for air, sweat beading on his forehead.

"Akuro? Hello? You good?" Darius asked