CH 14 - Death's Prodigy

Dainn

The world went black.

I was in darkness. It wasn't the void that Silver magic connected to, because for there to be shadows, there must be light. No this was pure, utter darkness. It was like an abyss.

Around me I saw only the people and the corpses. Emilia lay dying behind Yanxa, the light fading from her eyes. The corpse pile was about ten feet to my right, Yanxa's left.

I still saw the smoke, and I raised a hand and commanded my magic to connect to it.

My eyes widened as I saw my mana, colorless and raw, flow out from me, combining with the black smoke and becoming like it. I felt connected to the lifeless bodies, like a hive mind, but I was the only one with any thoughts. They were dead, after all. Puppets to be used.

The smoke rose high into the air, forming into a cloud above the freshly arisen zombies as they were pulled to their feet. The smoke carried out my orders, maneuvering the undead like marionette strings.

I opened my mouth to speak and my voice was foreign to me. Deep and powerful, echoing like a chorus as I spoke with the voices of those I now commanded. "Rip him apart!"

Yanxa

Yanxa watched as the corpses began to stand, and for the first time in his life, he felt fear. He hadn't felt fear when Ares bested him, he fought to the death and had accepted it. When he was healed and offered a new job, it was only right that he, as the loser, should accept it.

But this wasn't right. It was unholy, blasphemous even! The corpses twitched and jittered with every jerky movement. They looked around, until their empty eyes landed on him, their pupils gleaming red with an inhumane hunger.

"Rip him apart!" The kid sounded like a monster that had learned to speak common. It was abhorrent, unnatural, and revolting.

The undead beings launched at Yanxa, moving like puppets being controlled. One grabbed him by the arm, and crushed the steel with such strength that Yanxa roared as his forearm snapped like a twig.

He punched the creature, but his arm was caught by a second one, even as a third jumped on his back and bit into his right cheek. It wrenched its neck violently, tearing out a huge chunk of flesh, Yanxa's teeth now visible and red through the hole.

"Fuck!"

Fear filled Yanxa. These things were unstoppable, and there were at least a dozen of them.

The first zombie pulled on his broken arm, and tore it off at the elbow like it was simply pulling a book off a shelf. It was effortless, and Yanxa fell to his knees in agony.

"Hold!" came the inhuman voice.

The zombies stopped, and the kid walked up to the mortally wounded assassin. He didn't stop, however. Instead, he went over and kneeled beside the girl.

Emilia

Emilia was barely able to see. She couldn't feel anything except a numb coldness. She heard nothing but her own gradually slowing pulse. All she smelled and tasted was blood.

She saw Dainn.

Her Dainn.

Her hero, who was always by her side.

What she saw terrified her. She wanted to look away, but couldn't. She didn't have the strength to. She saw his eyes go completely black, like empty sockets, save for two glowing red orbs. He had a smile on his face that was creepy and insane, going ear to ear, his teeth red with blood. His usually neat, black hair was dishevelled and in his face.

His fingers were black, almost dead, and they moved with intensity as he commanded the remains of people, like they were toys and nothing more. She watched as they stopped the armored man like he was little more than a rapid pup.

She saw him say something, and the monsters stopped. He was walking over, not to the killer, but to Emilia.

She felt tears in her eyes, because that smile was still on his face. He was scaring her, scarring her image of him irreparably.

He took a knee beside her, reaching out and touching her neck. She wanted to flinch, to recoil, to run. She was sobbing now. He hesitantly yanked the glass out her throat. She choked and coughed on her blood as it began to pour freely.

She saw crimson light beneath her chin. She thought she was dying, but soon her breathing became easier, and the light turned pure white.

"Dainn…" she didn't know what to say, but she didn't want to look at those crazed eyes anymore. She closed her eyes, letting exhaustion take her.

Henry

Henry had struggled to the window, to watch the end of this whole ordeal with his own eyes. What he saw sent chills down his spine. It was so similar to the legends. It was like looking at living proof of a history the Empire tried to erase.

Has the era of the Abyss come again? Was this child to be the ruin of our world? Had we, the people of Elysia, gotten two bad Miracles in a row?

"No…" Henry smirked to himself, as he watched the boy he took in, in the midst of a murderous rage, still take the time to save Emilia. "No. He has the potential to be good."

Henry's heart sank, however, when he saw Emilia shy away. She didn't see what Henry did. She was too afraid.

Henry couldn't blame her, but he knew he needed to help her look past this scary version of Dainn. If she abandoned him now…

Henry was certain the outcome could spell ruin…

Dainn

I froze. I couldn't deny what I saw.

Emilia had cried. It wasn't sadness. It wasn't happiness. Why had she cried?

Her eyes had been wide, pupils dilated. She had shared the same look Gauss had had earlier that same night.

She was afraid. Afraid of… me.

I could handle Gauss hating me, he was no one to me. I could probably handle Hannah, Henry, maybe even Sila hating me.mit would suck, but he was used to that kind of relationship.

But Emilia?

Why would she be scared? I had overcome the overwhelming force that threatened to brutalize us. I had killed to protect her and her family. I had saved her…

Why had tears sprung into her eyes? Why? Why! "Did I not do everything right?"

I clutched my face, and felt the smile still there. Was I crazy? And why did I feel so… so…

I turned and glared at Yanxa. He was still alive, being held on his knees by the zombies I commanded.

"It's your fault… she hates me because I… I had to… FUCK!" I pulled at my hair. "Why did I have to awaken to THIS? I wanted to leave all the death and despair behind! I never wanted this!"

I walked over and looked him in his eyes, even though he was still slightly taller than me on his knees. "Say something. Give me a reason not to kill you."

"W-what?" He was trembling, getting paler and paler. I stopped his bleeding with a White spell. I needed him to be aware.

"You see, I want to kill you. I want to watch the life drain from your eyes and feel your body go cold and rigid. But more than that, I don't want to be that guy. So please," I felt a tear go down my left cheek, maneuvering around the sick expression on my child's face, "give me a reason not to. I am begging you."

I looked down, and saw his chest glowing red, the light bumping erratically. It felt familiar, and I get a faint recollection of seeing another light like this one earlier tonight. Then it clicked. A panicked heartbeat…

"Look, kid. Don't kill me, yeah. I'll take you in, right? You say I ruined everything, then I'll own up and take responsibility. I'll train you, help you harness this power, and be the best killer you can be!"

I looked back into his eyes. He gave a weak smile. "You're hopeless. It's like you didn't even listen to me." I sighed, and resigned myself to at least try and enjoy the next few moments. "Oh well, I guess the monster won tonight…"

He started pleading for his life, but I ignored him. "No wait! Join me and you wouldn't need to hide who you are!"

I reached out with my magic, grabbing at his red glowing heart. It was the first Black spell I ever used, though on accident. Just like with Sedrik, I reached out and grabbed his heart with necromancy.

He choked, going silent from the unexpected and agonizing pain. I felt the arrow, still there from their first plan earlier. He wouldn't have lived past tonight with such an injury, not without some sort of medical anomaly to save him.

I slowly closed my fist, dubbing the spell Heart Crush. Blood poured from his agape mouth, and he slowly went limp in the zombie's grip.

I felt nothing, still remembering that I had scared Emilia. I released my hold on the undead. They collapsed and became unmoving corpses yet again.

I felt my face go back to normal, and collapsed onto my knees. I started into space, thinking of only one thing.

It repeated on loop as I kneeled there expressionless. It repeated until I finally got up with the rising sun. I didn't go to find anyone and let them know it was over. I knew that they'd figure out the danger was quelled eventually.

No, I just kept thinking that one thing as I headed upstairs, opened the door to my room, and locked it behind me. It was the last thing I thought of as I cried myself to sleep.

I had scared Emilia to tears.