Everyone looked at each other, with deep suspicion. The only person who was confused was Reeve. From what he had read, there were seven ancients. There was the old man Oldavin, Eskaria or Mysa as she was known, Rokkai and his wife, Paldin the barbarian, grumpy Diophas and the huuuge Haggarth. So, who was this Ezrom? And, didn't they make them eight?
"Umm if I may ask a question?" he stammered.
"Who are you?" Ezrom asked, before his eyes widened. "Why do you have the mark of death?"
"The what now? Hey, I'm the one who's supposed to be asking questions!" Reeve yelled. "Why are there eight of you instead of seven?" That was when Reeve realized something. Seven Ancients, seven seeds, seven foundation stones… was the world's creator obsessed with the number seven?
"Who says there were seven of us?" asked Mysa, confused.
"I read about it in a book, about how one of you committed genocide against the dragons!"
"Oh, that's his doing", replied Mysa, pointing at the smiling Ezrom. "He likes showing off too much."
"So, there are eight of you instead?"
"No, there are seven actually", replied Mysa. Pointing at Rokkai's wife, she said, "She's the odd one out."
"There's no need to point at me like that! You're still jealous, aren't you?" Kyrra glared at Mysa.
"Of who? You? Keep dreaming!" sparks flew between the two of them, as Mysa returned the glare.
"Enough you two!" interrupted Rokkai. He continued, looking at Ezrom, "Now that you have delivered the message, you should leave this place. You're allowing yourself to be manipulated by a human! Have you no shame?"
Ezrom chuckled. "You think I'm being manipulated?"
"Why would you do a human's bidding then?" asked Oldavin.
"You won't understand even if I tell you. Now, are we going to ignore that he has the mark of death?" Ezrom pointed at Reeve.
"What's this mark of death thing?" Reeve asked.
"It's a mark placed by the god of death which makes the bearer unkillable by conventional means. However, … the only person who's supposed to bear this mark is the seed of death. You're not the seed of death!"
"What makes you so sure that I'm not?"
"Because you bear the full mark! All the seeds bear partial marks from their respective gods. Otherwise, all the seeds of death would still be alive!" Ezrom explained.
"Well, from what Obitus said, none of us have anything to do with him. He has his own mission, and we are not to bother him", spoke Oldavin.
"Ah, I see. In that case, I have nothing to worry about. As for you, before I take my leave, I would like to leave you with a gift", Ezrom smiled.
All the ancients started having bad premonitions the moment he said that. It was then, that the sky darkened, as a giant, purple-black rune appeared in the sky!
"I hope you like this gift. Mysa, my love, see you soon", as he said this, he vanished.
"This is not good!!" yelled Oldavin and Rokkai simultaneously, as their faces turned ugly.
Bits of sand began to fall onto the island from the giant rune, and within minutes, a dark, sand giant covered the sky! Well, technically it was above the island, but from the people below, it covered the sky.
"I thought you said you had sealed it!!" Kyrra yelled at Rokkai.
"That's because I had actually done so!"
The sand giant fell onto the island with a loud THUD, and as it did, it flattened some of the huts which were on the edge of the village. The fall generated a blast wave of wind, that carried with it sand and bits of stones, and trees. Reeve, Soren and Riza were thrown backwards by the wave. Only the ancients remained standing.
"Rokkai, Oldavin, would the two of you explain to us what is going on?" asked Paldin. "Why is there a titan here?"
Mysa, Haggarth, Paldin and Diophas, who had appeared from nowhere, all looked at the mentioned curiously, but with serious concern written on their faces. Well, Mysa wasn't surprised about the titan, considering she was sort of there when it attacked Harazade. She was actually wondering how it came through the barrier.
"We can talk after we vanquish it", Oldavin replied.
"No, let me. It was my failure last time that caused this, so allow me to finish this!" Rokkai started walking towards the titan.
Reeve scrambled to get up, before he ran to check on Riza, who was still unconscious. Soren walked up to him, before asking, "What is that? That's what attacked Harazade!"
"I'm sure that's what they called the titan. Let's stay back, otherwise we might get caught up in the fight. As weak as we are, we'll be squished like bugs if we try to do anything", it was then Reeve realized that, others might die, but he would still be alive if that thing stepped on him.
Rokkai walked forward, and raised his right hand into the air. Light gathered into his hands, before forming a blade.
"Aaah, l*ghtsaber!! How awesome!!" Reeve shouted, pointing at the light blade in Rokkai's hands.
Everyone turned to look at him with blank expressions. Even the titan paused and turned to him.
"Never mind. Do carry on", Reeve spoke with a light cough.
Rokkai continued with his advance, and then he began to levitate. He went up, before passing the height of the titan. Light began to gather on the 'l*ghtsaber', which was still in Rokkai's raised hand. It kept gathering, until looking at Rokkai was now proving to be an issue.
There was a calm, the sort that usually happened in anime or movies before a terrifying explosion.
And then, Rokkai brought down his hand in a slash, while shouting, "SOLAR FANG, SKY DESTROYER!!!"
The slash came down in a golden-coloured, crescent wave!
SLASH!!!!
As the wave came down, Reeve's eyes widened, before he yelled, "G*tsuga tensho!!!" Everyone else looked at him again, but this time he smiled bashfully, before murmuring, "I must get him to teach me that move!"
The problem, however, was not what the wave looked like. It was what it caused after being unleashed!