"Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change."
― Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Frankenstein
"Ven is awake…" A teenaged Kalina leaned back, skin against the sand. Her eyes reflected the black sky above. "He's pissed."
"Why?" Syy poked her finger into Kalina's exposed belly button. "Wouldn't he be happy to be free?"
"Impudent," Kalina murmured as she wrestled with her friend's hand. "And I don't know, maybe he's ripping Cain a new one."
"I doubt that," Syy laughed as she flipped Kalina onto her stomach and sat on her back. "We've both seen Cain fight, inside his personal dimension there are very few beings that could touch him."
"My little fish is always doing impossible things," Kalina pressed her face into the grass and relaxed, as if she wasn't held in a joint lock from behind. "He's outwitted your abilities, and that stupid turtle couldn't see his future clearly at all…"
"Should we go say hello?" Syy reclined atop Kalina and fiddled with the teen goddess' hair.
"Not right away," Kalina sighed. "I don't want to be there when Huan shows up…"
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"Come on Stony, let's head to the edge of the cosmic ocean," Huan patted her enormous void worm. "Maybe we'll be strong enough after a few more months, then we can try that bastard Cain again!"
"Oouuunnn!"
Stony bellowed his agreement and shook the sky. The last thousand years had changed them both. She stood on the back of a mountain, a mobile fortress of living rock. Time had transformed her, a young woman in the prime of her life. Blond hair, twined into a long braid, looped over her shoulder and draped across her chest.
She rode her beast into the sky until the air thickened. A deep rush of energy, overflow from the cosmic ocean, tingled into her pores. Under her feet, Stony opened his mouth wide, a vortex that drew a twist of blue from the heavens above. Huan breathed deep, a heady taste that ignited her heart.
Dragon fire coursed through her veins, a welcome warmth under her skin. The Dragon God's training was truly marvellous, her bloodline purified by the Goddess' efforts. Next time, Cain… Huan balled her fist. The last battle had given her a taste of victory, a pocket of light in a stormy wall.
"I can't wait to crush that asshole between my fangs…"
The sky darkened, enveloped by a dense black fog, taller than the clouds. Strands of mist coiled around her, a touch she'd almost forgotten.
"Husband…"
Huan tapped Stony with her foot and the beast turned toward the north. Faster than she could fly, the great worm carved a path through the shadow, toward her Husband's prison.
"Don't worry, I'm on my way!"
"OOUUNNN!"
Stony bellowed, speed increased to the limit. They streaked into the horizon, a beam of rock coloured light that marred the blackened sky.
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"There we go, now what do you have to say?"
Ven's aura withdrew, the runes of control wiped clean from the drone's core. The mechanical being stood with its limbs extended, frozen in place. He waved a hand in front of its sensors, one eyebrow raised.
"You ok in there?" Ven tapped the drones head. "I didn't cross any circuits or…"
A wave of static filled chaos ripped from the drone's speakers. It howled to the sky, body limp on the ground. Twitches and spasms wracked its form, eyes dimmed to different levels. Ven hovered beside it, unsure of what to do.
"Th..thank… you…" The drone's speakers squealed out, weak and poorly filtered. It slumped to the ground, non-responsive to his touch.
"These things are alive," Ven raised his gaze to Vivian. "Born to servitude and forbidden to complain."
Shadows seeped from his eyes as he stepped toward the remaining drones, who had paused in their work. His aura unfolded over the field, wrapped around the mechanised slaves.
"Innocent beings, subjected to slavery by my friends…" Ven engulfed the runes of slavery on the cores of each drone. "Things have taken a different path than I imagined."
A chorus of wails filled the air, mechanical expressions of grief and joy. A layer of shadow carried Vendak into the air as darkness poured from his eyes. The jet-black stormcloud grew to dominate the sky, connected to his back by strands of night.
"I can forgive people's mistakes," Ven muttered, shoulders low. "But I won't stand for this…"
The cloud became a stormfront, pressed outward like a blanket over the sky. His aura expanded, further and further, beyond anything he'd tried before. Teeth clenched, he stretched until the shadows touched all of Avalon.
It's a beautiful city…
Ven sighed. This place, like so many beautiful things, was built on the backs of others. Within his aura were countless drones. Millions of nameless servants, forbidden to express their grief.
Time to get to work!
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"Hmmmm…" A pair of miss matched eyes, one black, the other white, opened to face a storm. "Ven is back… how long has it been?"
Ooulin shifted his shell, now larger than a big dog. New runes covered its surface, the beginnings of a knight on horseback. His legs stretched to his full height, well deserved after his long meditation.
"It's time to go home for a visit!"
One step at a time, Ooulin pushed his turtle body, aimed toward the clouded horizon.
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"Father, look at the sky!" Jun pointed from the palace window, face bright with a smile. "Master Ven is free!"
"Great…" The King rolled his eyes. "Now you can go bother him everyday to train you, like a real Master should!"
"It's not his fault that Cain imprisoned him," Jun frowned. "We should welcome him back!"
"I'd rather lick paint," The King flicked a hand. "Go, greet your Master, and tell your sister, she's not married until I give the go ahead!"
"Alright, fine," Jun rolled his eyes. "But she won't listen to me."
"SHE WON'T LISTEN TO ANYONE," The King's head pointed to the ceiling, face reflected back at him in the crystal hangers. "Just tell her to come home first…"
"I'll give her the message!"
Jun vanished from the hall and the King heaved a sigh. If that monster touched his daughter, he would rip him apart. He stared into the hearth, eyes lit by the flame.