I laughed. I laughed at this god that was capable of annihilating entire civilisations with little effort. I laughed, knowing what he could do to me.
I'm an Olm? I thought hysterically. He has to be insane.
"I know you think that I am crazy. But please, allow me to demonstrate."
I didn't even get a chance to react.
An explosion of pain erupted in my chest as I flew backwards, slamming into the ground so hard that my ribs weren't the only thing I heard crack. I couldn't even think, with the sheer amount of pain clouding every part of my brain, tearing through my chest...
At that moment, I wished I was dead.
After what felt like an eternity, the pain began to ease. A comforting warmth flooded through my body, acting as a painkiller for the feeling of molten lava in my ribcage.
"Now watch." The Beast's flat voice rang from somewhere around me. The pain was consuming me, driving me insane... I could barely think straight, much less use any of my senses.
But the pain was definitely subsiding.
Somehow, I felt my bones shifting, clicking back into place. I looked down.
My ribcage looked normal.
Gingerly, I pressed on it with a finger.
Not even a tinge of pain.
"What - how?" I lay on the ground, hitting my chest just to make sure. It was as if I had never been punched.
"As you can see, you have fully recovered," the Beast smiled. "Your powers will help greatly against Orphion."
"Who's Orphion?" I asked. From what he had said, Orphion must be his opponent or adversary. Certainly, I wasn't considering joining forces with this world-ending monster, but I had to also consider my options. Teaming up with the wrong guy and losing could lead to my demise.
"Orphion is the Light Beast." The Beast before me wrinkled his nose. "I am the Dern Beast."
"Light... the good guys?" I couldn't help but associate the term 'light' with good, and good seemed like a nice option to me.
"Do not make a mistake as simple as labelling the enemy evil or good, child. Orphion is not to be underestimated." The Dern Beast snapped his fingers once more, and another hologram appeared, this time showing something I could only imagine was the Light Beast, Orphion.
"Orphion," the Dern Beast confirmed. "He has corrupted the minds of so many people... yet I cannot say that I am any different."
Orphion was a wolf-like giant with two antlers protruding from his head. His fur was snow-white and I could almost feel its softness through the image. His eyes shone a brilliant gold, and a powerful aura encased him. I watched as he stepped through a portal and entered... Dern.
The Dern Beast narrowed his eyes.
"It seems he has come looking for you." He sighed, almost in annoyance. "Sooner or later, I swear, that Parasite will get ahold of him and consume his mind..."
Suddenly, a burst of golden light appeared behind the Dern Beast. A black barrier appeared before me seconds before my world went white.
A shadowy figure appeared beside me. "Wyatt, run. I'll deal with him."
I turned to run, but a blast of pure white light sent me flying backwards.
"Child!" an unfamiliar voice shouted through the noise. "Please, do not let yourself be corrupted by this foul creature. Join me and eradicate the darkness he has spread across the world!"
I crawled backwards, my ears ringing. I wanted none of this... why did I have to be so unlucky?
"Orphion!" the Dern Beast snapped. "We can take this battle elsewhere. The child should not be caught in the crossfire."
"What do you intend to do with him?" My vision cleared and before me, I saw a scene of pure terror.
An obsidian-black dragon as tall as a skyscraper stood on all fours, its singular magenta eye glowing at its opponent in front of it. Orphion was now covered in white crystals that shimmered and shifted constantly, resembling waves in the ocean. His gold eyes seemed to illuminate the darkness.
Both glared at each other. The air around the Dern Beast seemed to be constantly restless, as if fearful of his very presence. Meanwhile, the air surrounding Orphion was perfectly still and silent, like he had some sort of calming effect on everything near him.
The Dern Beast smirked. "I intended to do... this." He raised one foot and slammed it onto the ground.
Immediately, the crystals on Orphion's fur extended like spikes, and I felt myself being pushed... into the void. I felt myself soaring further... further... flashes of gold and pulses of purple illuminated the darkness as I soared through the empty space. I could hear Orphion's desperate cry in the distance.
"Remember, child."
I gasped. The Dern Beast's voice had just spoken in my head. I looked around me. Not that I could tell, but he didn't seem to be around me, so I could only assume this was a message in my head.
"In two years' time, on the first day of the new year, you will be brought to me."
I felt myself falling... falling...
~
"Wyatt?"
My eyes shot open and I practically flew out of bed... and then crashed into the wooden wall.
"Wyatt!"
Aledar was sitting beside my bed, holding a tray with a bowl of scrambled eggs and sausages as well as a simple wooden mug with milk. He quickly set down the tray on the bedside table.
"Wyatt, stop moving around! You -" Aledar grabbed my shoulders; " - need -" he forced me onto the bed; "rest."
I lay on the bed, not even bothering to resist. Instead, I pondered what had happened over the last while. Had it all been a dream? No, it can't have been; the agony from that one punch from the Dern Beast would be enough to wake even the deepest of sleepers.
So what in the world...?
It could have been a simulation in my head, implanted by the Beast. Or perhaps my spirit had been brought to his land? All I knew was that that had been too realistic to be a dream.
Orphion, the Light Beast, had also sought me out, it seemed. Over my Olm blood. Both dark and light wanted me on their side... I had just attracted the attention of two very powerful forces. I didn't particularly like my position.
"Wyatt." I looked to my side to find Aledar studying me, his forehead creased and eyebrows furrowed. "After you recover, we're going to need to ask you a few questions about how... how you killed that thing."
Ah. After what had just happened, what with being transported to and back from the very land of darkness itself, I had completely forgotten about my killing the strange tall beast.
In all honesty, compared to the original form of the Dern Beast, that thing had looked tame.
That black spike was, without a doubt, a form of magic from Dern. Before I passed out, I had heard Aledar and Tasim talking about the 'Corruption'. From what Orphion had mentioned earlier, I deduced that this Corruption was some sort of disease that the Dern Beast was spreading across the world. The spike had to be a product of Corruption magic.
I would have preferred not to pick sides, but with things being as serious as they were, the Light seemed the better option. This Corruption didn't seem very nice, especially after we had been attacked.
Though, it didn't make sense for me to be able to conjure a spike of Corruption, unless...
Did I possess Corruption magic?
I couldn't believe it. The boy was Corrupted.
I had been slicing and hacking at the seemingly never-ending wave of Corrupted when I saw Wyatt getting attacked by the leader - an Enderman.
Endermen were legendary creatures that had been debunked as a myth centuries ago. Legend had it that once upon a time, a man named Eraken had been adventuring with his party in the depths of an unexplored dungeon, and a portal had shimmered into life before his eyes, from which one of these Endermen emerged, leading a few other strange creatures.
Eraken had immediately run from the area, leaving his party to die to the monsters. When the Adventurer's Guild went to investigate, all they found were the mangled corpses of Eraken's party members, and Eraken had been charged with first-degree murder and executed.
There had always been a part of me that was secretly hoping the story was true, because if such powerful creatures truly existed, I would be given a new challenge. Though, I knew it was wrong to be praying for such beasts to enter our world.
Seeing the exact same beast that was mentioned in the story, emerging from the portal that had appeared from nowhere, I had begun to think I was hallucinating, but when I saw Aledar's shocked expression beside me, I knew it was reality.
Excitement and joy had surged through me, but was quickly replaced with guilt and worry as I remembered we were escorting somebody.
The Enderman advanced towards Wyatt, who was desperately backing away and pointing his wand at the beast, trying to cast a spell. Sadly, his efforts were futile.
All of a sudden, the Enderman had vanished and reappeared next to Wyatt with a loud whoop! It punched him in the gut, sending him flying backwards. The Endermen reappeared in front of him, readying its finishing blow.
I could see Aledar desperately sprinting towards them, and I was slicing away at the horde of monsters blocking me, but I knew it was too late. We couldn't save him.
Until...
A shrill scream pierced the air. Immediately, all the undead around us dropped to the ground, lying motionless.
The Enderman was dead.
A long and thin black spike protruded from its chest, where dark purple blood oozed from an open wound. The monster flailed and struggled, trying to free itself, but to no avail. Then I looked at the boy, and what I saw terrified me.
His eyes blazed with a fury so strong I could almost feel it tearing into my soul. His arm was outstretched, palm facing the sky. But what was truly horrifying was what surrounded him.
A dark shroud of fire encased him, and the flames leapt on the Enderman, which screamed and wailed in agony as it was consumed by the fire. Within seconds, all that was left of it was a pile of ashes.
The boy groaned, and collapsed.
"Wyatt!" Aledar dropped to his knees in front of the boy.
"Aledar, was that - "
"Yes. I fear what the Queen has told us merely scratched the surface of the truth."
"But he really touched a shard of Corruption?" I couldn't help the panic that seeped into my voice.
"Yes. And it seems that may not be all the special abilities he possesses. Look at his stomach."
His stomach, once bruised beyond recognition, was mending itself. The black and blue was fading into the usual, normal, warm skin colour.
What in the world?