๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฌ๐บ, ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ-๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด, ๐ฃ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ธ๐ข๐ต๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ ๐ข๐ด ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐จ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ญ, ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฐ๐ญ๐ถ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ต ๐ช๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ข๐ด ๐๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ.
~๐๐น๐ค๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฑ๐ต ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ก๐ช๐ณ๐ฐ ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ช๐ค๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด
---
Kieran sat on a polished, high-backed wooden chair in his room as he stared at a pile of documents and records. Each one was about Asher Mark, though most not directly. Most of the documents were scavenge reports, but each were about Asher's team and their performance.
Throughout the year, only two people were consistent in that squad. Asher and Megan. All others died within their first two weeks in the squad. Megan survived because she was the strongest of the 15th Generation of Chimera, or the 15th, but Asher mark, a normal Human, survived for all these years in the most dangerous position of the scavenging unit.
He was a coward, a shut-in, and a frail man that had most likely never worked out in his life, yet he was able to defy reality time after time after time. What made this man so special, Kieran wondered. All of his personal files were average; his mother died of illness when he was young, leaving him in the care of his father and sister, before they too died after Kusio the Shadow Mind ravaged District 4.
Many others, including Kieran, had the selfsame profile on their backgrounds, but none were as extraordinary as Asher. Though he was a regular Human, Asher showed unbelievable amounts of fortitude and willpower, something most Chimera did not have.
Asher was, for lack of a better term, an anomaly. Kieran had known the man since he came to Haven, yet even with all of his skills and wits he could not read the seemingly open-book that was Asher Mark. At first glance, the man seemed to be just another person trying to busy himself with work, no matter how dangerous it was, in a fruitless attempt to forget the tragedies that befell him.
However, Kieran had the feeling that there was more hidden to the man than this...this ๐ง๐ข๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ.
He needed to know more, he had to for the sake of everything he held dear. If Asher truly has awakened like Megan said, then Kieran knew he would direct his hate toward an insurmountable target to gain its powers. If Asher was just as stupid as he used to be, then he would seek strength as he became disgusted with his weakness.
If Asher was anything like the others that came before him, he would surely have a target. One that has claimed many lives with yet more to come.
He would be going after Kusio the Shadow Mind, and Kieran was going to make sure the fool did not get himself killed, nor get his hands on that monster's power. He had to make a choice, one that filled his mouth with bile when he thought about it. And the options weren't favorable.
----------
Asher barely peeked his head around a large, obsidian-like boulder as a pack of Molten Salamanders feasted on the carcass of a large bull-like monster clad in smoldered flames. Within the two days he had been journeying across District 4, Asher had come across several buildings still semi-intact with barely enough supplies to make decent clothes and modify his bow.
Now, Asher wore clothes of dark browns and blacks to more easily blend in with the terrain of District 4. Unconsciously, Asher fingered his hip where his P220 would have been holstered. If only he had the damned thing...
Asher grimaced as he shoved the thought away. Stray thoughts killed a man here in this unforgiving place, and he intended to cling to life until he had regained what was rightfully his. Asher gently touched an arrow hanging from his belt before taking a deep breath and turning to sneak away, however, it seemed like fate wanted a different course.
Three Molten Salamanders were walking toward him, and when he turned to see if the rest of the pack were still there, they too were making their way toward him.
'๐ ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ? ๐'๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ธ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ฆ ๐ข ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ,' a watery, raspy voice said from deep within Asher's mind. Asher recoiled in surprise from the voice, but it only got louder the closer the monsters got, no matter how hard he tried to shut it out.
Now, there were many more voices, eight to match the number of monsters heading toward him, and each sharing a conversation...
'๐๐ญ๐ถ๐ฆ? ๐'๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด,' one of the voices quipped.
'๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ. ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ. ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ด๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ต, ๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ป๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข ๐ง๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ'๐ด,' said another.
As the voices continued their conversation, snickering and bickering, Asher couldn't help but think about what one had said. ๐๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด...? ๐ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข ๐ง๐ข๐ค๐ฆ...๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ...?
Asher's thoughts were interrupted by a large tail swinging toward him from his side, forcing him to roll forward toward three of the monsters. Asher rolled into a crouch and spun to his side, avoiding two of the monsters but placing him in between the third and another.
'๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฉ๐ข๐ฉ๐ข! ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ!'
Asher jumped above the two monster's attacks and used their massive, triangle-shaped heads as footholds to get out of the encirclement.
'๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ...๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ถ๐ฏ,' a voice said. Asher eyed all eight of the monsters, as he slowly backed away to match their pace.
"Can you speak...?" The monster's stopped and cocked their heads slightly before turning toward each other, their confusion written plainly in their pitch black eyes.
'๐๐ช๐ฅ ๐ช๐ต ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ด๐ฌ ๐ช๐ง ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ,' one voice asked in an incredulous manner.
'๐ -๐ ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ด๐ฐ,' another said.
"Yes, I did ask if you could speak," Asher said as he swallowed the bile building in his throat. He was afraid, but his curiosity wouldn't let him back down. The monsters all turned their heads toward Asher, eyes wide in surprise as they noticed he had heard their conversation. Or perhaps he just guessed...?
'๐ช๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฆ...๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ.' One of the monster's looked toward the one in front right before a different voice called out.
'๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ญ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐ถ๐ด-'
'๐๐ถ๐ช๐ฆ๐ต! ๐๐ฐ๐ธ, ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐ต ๐ต๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ.'
Of course, Asher could hear all of this, and it only made the bile in his throat rise to greater heights. Asher gnashed his teeth and planted his feet to keep them from shaking before saying, "Are you happy here? Do you believe your place is under Kusio?"
The salamander's faces revealed a startling amount of emotion before they twisted into rage and...fear?
'๐๐ฉ๐ถ๐ต ๐ถ๐ฑ! ๐๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ถ๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ!? ๐'๐ญ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ช๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ด๐ฉ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ!' The monsters, after much hesitation, turned back toward the carcass behind them, but Asher had other plans.
"So you really can understand me," Asher said, his bangs hiding his face from view. The salamanders turned their heads, a plethora of voices invading Asher's mind. But only one wormed its way to the forefront.
'๐๐ฉ ๐บ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ด๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ข๐ช๐ญ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ณ๐บ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ. ๐๐ฉ ๐บ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ข๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ฐ-'
The voice was cut short as Asher targeted the monster and dashed toward it before stabbing its bulging black eye with an arrow, causing the salamander to emit a gurgling cry as it stumbled back. Asher advanced with another arrow in hand. He refused to let the damned beast go.
With another thrust, Asher blinded the salamander's other eye and grabbed hold of both arrows and twisted them violently. The monster thrashed and wailed for help, but its companions just stood and watched, either frozen with fear or unmotivated to help, they just watched as Asher tore the salamander limb from limb in a fit of rage.
Once the salamander was nothing but a pile of blood and gore, Asher turned to face the others, blood covering practically every inch of his body.
"I asked you a question, and you ignored me. I was going to give you the option of living, but it looks like I need a new pair of boots."
The leader of the pack glanced around at his companions before looking at Asher and saying, '๐๐ฆ...๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ช๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ...๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฑ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด ๐ถ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข...'
Asher tightened his grip on the ruined shafts of his arrows and the monster's took one look at the gore that used to be their comrades before shivering and urging their leader to continue. The salamander emit a growling sound before projecting its thoughts to Asher.
'๐๐ฉ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ช๐ง ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ช๐ฐ? ๐๐ณ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ณ๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ด๐ต,' the salamander said with a hint of disbelief and fear. It probably thought that just speaking the monster's name would bring ruin down upon it.
Asher nodded his head slowly in thought at the expected response. Asher believed he knew the reason as to why they felt like this. When a District is terraformed it has a sort of "Boss" monster that resides within the District, and it's affinity is closely related with how the District has been terraformed.
For instance, District 3 is flooded with practically an ocean of water and have a massive sea dragon that presides over all the other monsters in the area, whereas Kusio isn't even related to any kind of fire or lava, or so Asher believed.
It was no wonder the salamanders felt like they were being invaded instead of ledโฆ
"I have an offer, one that you would be hard pressed to give up."
After much hesitation, the leader of the pack said, '๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฆ.'
Asher glanced at the salamanders, feeling and gauging the success rate of his plan. "What if," Asher said as he slowly paced back and forth, "we made an army, big enough to topple even Kusio, so that you can be free to do what you want? If you agree to help me kill Kusio the Shadow Mind, I will let all of you roam free here, unless of course you just wanted a ruler with your selfsame affinity."
The salamanders were as still as statues, staring at Asher with unreadable expression before bursting out with snarls and growls.
'๐๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ด ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ Kusio!? ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ!? ๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ!!' One salamander leapt toward Asher, its strong legs allowing it to jump at incredible speeds; but, Asher was prepared for such a reaction and had his bow ready in an instant.
With one fluid motion, Asher nocked an arrow and let it fly, embedding it into the salamander's eye and causing the monster to scream out and tumble to the ground. Asher stomped his foot down on the salamander neck before grasping the arrow's shaft and pushing it down further into the monster's skull, piercing its brain and killing it.
Two more salamanders rushed forward and Asher was low on usable arrows. With a sharp twist, Asher avoided the first salamander and dove into a headlong roll to avoid the second before coming up into a complete sprint. Asher desperately searched for a nearby obstacle to use to evade the monsters, but there were only dead trees.
Suddenly, an idea came to Asher's mind. As he was running, he reached down to grab a rock before changing direction toward a nearby boulder. The heat from the ground was making Asher sweat more than normal, but it was the large river of molten lava no more than a few hundred feet to his right, splitting the earth in two halves, that was slowing him down and leaving him on the verge of collapse.
The salamanders were close behind as Asher vaulted on top of the boulder and waited for the monsters to close in. There was a dead tree to his front, back, and the river of lava to his left. He had nowhere to run towards for cover, nowhere to hide.
Well, it's not like Asher was planning to run or hide anyways.
The salamanders opened their maws, flashing rows of razor-sharp teeth, and dove for Asher, but he rolled out of the way and used all of his strength to kick the monsters in the side and into the river. Now, with these monsters being lava-types, they just sprung up to the surface of the lava with ease. They were physically unharmed besides for a dull throb on their sides.
The salamanders began to look for Asher, but the snapping of dry bark caught their attention. They swung their heads and saw one of the trees next to the boulder collapsing above them, and it would land directly on them if they didn't move.
The salamanders leapt out of the lava and on the other side of the river, but they were met by the second tree, whose snapping was covered by the first. The dead tree slammed down on top of the salamanders with such a force that it broke apart and created a small indent in the ground beneath it, killing the salamanders with ease.
The other four monsters shambled over toward the boulder on the other side of the river and stared at Asher, who was panting and struggling to stay upright. The salamanders looked at their leader, but the damned thing never let Asher out of its sight. Several tense moments turned into what seemed like an hour before, finally, the salamander said two, clear words.
'๐ ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ต.'