Shobek slowed his pace a little after a long walk, a light starting to peek at me as I walked behind him. Our footfalls in sync as we approached the yawning room that was before us. Why are all of these guy's basements so large? I questioned silently to myself, glancing at the young boy, internally scolding myself about blindly following someone I don't know. If this was the normal world, I would run away from things like this. I mean, what kinda girl follows a guy she hardly knows into a basement? Or why would she EVER follow them knowing that they are from the supernatural?
"Get your head out of the clouds. We'll start with the basics. I want you to do a jab, cross, jab, then an undercut." The boy glanced back at me as he walked a little further away.
"As...in punching?" I followed a few feet behind him, watching him make himself comfortable atop a large rock. He looked down at me as he sat crisscrossed, watching me with a judging look. "Alright..."
Shobek watched his new student walk away from his rocky throne, waiting for her to start throwing the basic steps of kickboxing. The girl gave a soft huff and moved into position, throwing an awkward jab with her right hand, a cross following a few seconds after. He watched her perform the routine a few times before straightening his back, letting a sigh leave his lips as his apparel changed, along with his figure. The human-like version disappearing in a black and violet cloud. His ears came to a point, like a wood elf, but slightly smaller; the sweatshirt and pants he was wearing now a completely different outfit that allowed his new dragon limbs to move easily. His pants were now timeless-cream loose trousers or dhoti. A silky purple dupatta draping itself around his left shoulder down to his right hip to circle back up to make a neat tye on his left shoulder. A gold liquid suddenly forming and encircling his right upper arm in a smooth band. he stretched out his wings and curled his tail close to him as he came to rest in a meditating position.
Kasey, glancing back, froze at the sight in front of her. He was beautiful, his wings slightly stretched, catching the light and making his appearance seem godly. She must have muttered something in her trance when his fierce eyes suddenly met hers, seeming to glare and question her. She looked away, beginning the long routine again, letting her eyes occasionally wander back to the young boy that seemed to be a god. What was his story? Why is he here?
"You are starting to get on my nerves. What is your question? I can't focus with you staring at me." His sneer showing off his long canines as he silently cursed at her. She slowly let her hands rest at her side, her attention instantly on him as she pondered what question she wanted to have answered. He might only answer one, so she had to choose wisely, else she will get nothing.
"Why..uh, what is your story? Why you are here in hell..." Kasey gave him a long wary look, wondering if she was crossing a line. His expression didn't change.
The silence was loud between them, pushing a nervous feeling at Kasey as she waited. He turned his head to look away from her, a gold hoop swinging slightly on his right earlobe. "I wasn't brought into this world like you. I was made from the wishes of others. When those wishes gathered at the shrine, I was created, a small dragon that was clueless about the new world. Only knowing how to grant those wishes."
Kasey moved and sat down before him, crisscrossing her legs as if she was back in kindergarten, sitting for a storybook. He looked at her, a tsunami of pain seeming to crash down on him as his wings drooped heavily. "I was created to give people confidence. The ability to confess their love to someone or stand up to their bullies. I put courage in the hearts of many. Bringing good fortune and luck." His eyes looked down at his hands a flare of anger striking like lightning before disappearing. "My name wasn't even Shobek. The creature you see before you now is simply an illusion of a black hole.
"You see, humans came to my shrine and I would grant their wishes, centuries going by though it felt like only a few weeks for me. I watched young toddlers grow older, to suddenly stop coming. I didn't understand that. I was...Naive. I was practically an infant. Unable to comprehend anything except what they wanted." He looked at the curious human sitting before him and cringed on the inside, the sting of hate pulsing through his blood again.
"What...happened?"
Shobek stayed silent for a moment before looking at something off in the distance. "After a few million or so years, I finally started to pick up on things, and I started to control my powers. When I was finally able to give myself a..physical form...I..All those people that came and worshipped me... They weren't who I thought they were. Living in a shrine can get lonely, having no one to talk to, to play with. It starts gnawing at you. When...I appeared before them, this" he waved his hand to himself, "is what I looked like. They didn't take it very well."
"Did they.. fear you and run away?"
"They did fear me, but they didn't run away. instead, they killed me. Utterly destroying any part of me to make sure I don't resurrect. If they let any part of my flesh alone, I would slowly grow back. Like a starfish when you cut off its limb. But...They knew that. So I was killed and ground into dust.." His hard eyes looking deeply into mine as I stared at him in shock. My heart aching slightly for him as I sat silently.
"That is why... I hate humans. They betrayed me in a snap of their fingers. I wasn't killed right away. I was tortured." He said each work achingly, a cold gaze meeting mine again as it felt like nothing was right.