Chapter 5
Carnage
Nothing was right with the world. While the man was on his knees with his hands clasped close to his chest, everything that was outside was consumed in absolute chaos. Women let out deafening screams, children wept cries, pleading for salvation, even the men were letting out war cries.
The modestly sized village was engulfed in flames, everything from the buildings to the village's farmlands were caught in the raging fire. A single man in a church temple was kneeling at the podium, hoping against all hope that he was trapped in some hellish nightmare.
The man was dressed in a luxurious sleeveless robe with a sash hanging over his shoulder. A necklace hung over his neck, clutched tightly by his shaking hands.
"Let the gods of creation guide us towards divine light. Let us not be tempted by the will of evil, for thou shalt not follow the path of chaos. Thy be in heavens kingdom, by will of Goddess Terra, as all life is the root of Ygddrassil. All chaos is the root of Bashkin. For thy kingdom come, the will and the soul, forever and ever. Amen."
Once the man- the priest had concluded his prayer, he opened his eyes only to be met by a sight so horrific it would make any man lose control of his bladder. And so the priest did. His face lost all colour, sweat dropped from his forehead, his teeth clattered.
"D-dear Terra..... please save us..."
The priest offered a final internal prayer to his object of worship. Then, almost like it was waiting for the priest to finish, the unsightly aberration raised it's limb and swung it down like a hammer. Blood splattered all over the floor, the creature let out a ferocious roar.
Atop the temple stood a lone figure dressed in a pitch black cloak, it's hood fully cascaded over the figure's face.
The figure heaved a deep sigh of frustration as they watched the anarchy unfold below. The figure's breath fogged as they spoke. "Another failure it seems."
Behind the figure was another, a being with rosary pink hair, a mask covered the being's face.
"Perhaps it's time we try it on a different species. Humans are simply far too weak and intolerant to the stimulus that comes with the external mana."
"No, I'm sure if I just figure out the right amount of essence to imprint on them then they'll respond positively."
"My lady I simply must ask that you reconsider. We already know what will happen if another one of your experiments runs wild. Keeping it from his majesty up till now has been nothing short of a miracle."
"My, are you scared?"
"I'm afraid that very few people in this world would find your husband as someone who isn't worth fearing."
"Well put. Regardless we're gonna need someone to take care of this. I'll leave to you then."
"Of course my lady. It would be my pleasure."
Like a fading shadow the hooded figure disappeared, leaving behind the masked being to ponder their next move. Beneath their mask a thin smile appeared, the being showed clear amusement on what had just transpired.
"Finally, now I can take the reigns."
Meanwhile, on the same night, in the capital city of Erith. Near the outskirts of the city, inside a small unassuming cottage, a shimmering blue light was emitted from within the bedroom windows. The source of that light was the left hand of the eleven year old child, the only son of Marianne Connor, Eden Connor.
The four pointed star that was etched into his left hand lit so brightly it could be mistaken for starlight. The boy tossed and turned in his bed, completely unaware of the shimmering of his left hand, and soon almost in surrender the light faded into the darkness.
Eden
Being woken up by a parent early in the morning is, and always will be, annoying. Unfortunately for my single parent, I got up way before she did so there was no pushing and shoving the sleeping beast today. Nope, this big boy got up all on his own.
Why? Because today he has a date with destiny.
Ah, my heart is full!!
Yesterday was no dream. I did in fact ask Reiya out on a date and to my surprise, she said yes. The seasons don't change in Ester, warm weather was our usual climate all year round but to me and me alone, today signified the dawn of spring!
My goddess took pity on me and decided to give me the chance of a lifetime today, I refused to waste it.
I finished bathing myself then headed for the dresser in my mother's bedroom, picked out the best outfit I had, groomed my hair by sliding it all the way back and did one final check of my get up on the mirror. Not to toot my own horn but I felt good and looked great.
"She'll fall over herself when she sees this." I said to the mirror.
A pure white t-shirt, blue necktie, black pants and hair to absolutely die for, yes I looked like the perfect gentleman. While I stared into the mirror I heard a knock on the front door.
"I'll get it!" I zipped through the bedroom door heading straight to the kitchen door then flung it open to greet my goddess.
We never agreed on a time to meet but I assumed it would be early in the morning since neither of us had work today. Plus Reiya is the type of woman who likes staying inside in the later hours and personally I had no problems with that.
As I flung the door, I offered a light bow as a welcome to the young lady. "Good morning my lady. I hope you slept well."
"This is a surprise. Your manners have improved significantly since the last time I saw you."
She sounded awfully masculine for a woman. Not only that she got taller too, and her presence made me feel like puking out everything I ate since the day I was born. She made me feel…..disgusted.
Preposterous! My goddess would never make me feel this way, it must be an imposter!
Mentally speaking, the chances of me being fed up with Reiya were slim to non-existent. Any other ratio would be downright shady. Right, if they weren't slim then they were shady. I turned my head towards the figure standing in front of me, fully prepared to rebuke the imposter.
I then realised that the person standing in front of me is not a woman, rather it was a man. A handsome man. A man that somehow managed to rub me the worst way possible. When all those realisations hit me one after another I felt my oesophagus give way to yesterday's dinner, and I let it waste all over the floor.
"Ugh, that's disgusting!!"
"Honestly….of all the things…" mumbled my older sister as she cleaned what remained of my filth.
"I'm sorry...."
"Apologizing isn't gonna change anything."
"I'm so sorry."
After she finished scrubbing, she wiped off her brows. "Eddy I do love you, really I do, but sometimes you're a bit too much. You know that don't you?"
"I have no excuse."
Turned out the imposter from before was actually Kai, the second in command of Ester's Knight Order. Ginevra's right hand man. As to why he came here, well he was actually looking for my mother not me to talk about something important that happened at a nearby village.
What that something was, I didn't know nor did I care. What I did care about was the fact that I vomited all over my outfit and now I've got nothing to wear.
Brilliant.
Life threw a plot twist at me and I fell for it hook, line and sinker, like a sucker.
"Eddy!!" Lucy yelled, snapping me back to reality.
"Huh, what?"
"You're not even listening to me are you?"
"I am….."
I took a quick observation at my sister. She had this frustrated look in her eyes, her long ears were down turned and her cheeks were flushed pink. From my observations I drew a single conclusion, she's furious.
"Thanks for cleaning up after me. I owe you one."
She sighed. "So you'll do anything I want?"
"Anything at all. I'm at your command."
"Then give up on Reiya...." She whispered.
"Sorry, could you repeat that?"
Whatever it was just she said missed me by miles. I couldn't hear her at all.
"Nothing. I'll think of something later."
She then scurried off in the direction of her bedroom. I watched her walk away, wondering in my heart of hearts just what it was that she'd make me do to make up for what she had to do today.
While pondering my fate, I walked outside to get a whiff of fresh air.
"That's terrible!" exclaimed Mary.
"Indeed. Now we're in the process of assembling a small army to scope out the extent of the damage and we're hoping that the church will provide us with the necessary aid."
"Of course, we'd be glad to help. Just tell us what you need."
"For starters we need you to analyse the contents of this vile. We believe it may be the work of a mage that excels in using shadow magic."
"Right! I'll get to it immediately!"
My casual stroll outside landed me right in the middle of a conversation between my mother and the oh so admirable Kai. From what I could grasp, they were talking about something important regarding a vile that Kai handed over to my mother. A vile that looked oddly similar to the enhancement potions we were selling at the store where I work.
For the past few days, these potions seemed to be the only thing that anybody talked about everywhere I went.
As my mother started commuting in the direction of the church, Kai started walking in my direction.
"What do you want?"
"Tch. Well you're as irritating as the last time we met."
"If you won't cut to the chase then I'll go now."
"Wait. My commander is in need of you."
The she-beast?
"Ginevra?"
Kai's brows furrowed. "That's 'Commander Brine' to you."
"Why does she need me?"
"She believes that your talents may be necessary for our mission to go smoothly. As to what talent a worthless pleeb like you possesses is far beyond my comprehension."
"I'm sure there's a lot of things you don't comprehend in that mediocre brain of yours."
"I've had enough of you!"
Kai reached for his sword only to be stopped short by a brown haired beauty standing behind him. I knew this beauty quite well, she and I engaged in battle just yesterday.
"Miss Ginevra. What brings you here?" I asked nervously.
"Leave us, Kai."
Kai's eyes darted between me and Ginevra before finally giving up and leaving.
"I'm sure my subordinate already told you this but I'll say it anyway. We're in need of your assistance."
She did ask me to join the Knight Order and I did agree to it due to some heavy blackmail on her part but for her to call me to duty so soon was unexpected. Plus coming to my house wasn't part of the deal since she promised to keep it a secret.
"Sorry, no can do today. I al-…"
"There was an attack at a nearby village last night. According to the survivor, the entire village was burned down."
I immediately recalled the conversation that I'd heard between my mom and Kai. Something about assembling a small army to scope out something (which I assume is the destroyed village). Suddenly everything clicked. Ginevra intended to make me a part of this small army.
"Even if I do come with you I doubt I can be of any help."
Part of me was saying that because I wanted no part in whatever was going on outside the capital, but I also believed that I'd just get in their way if I went with them. They're trained professionals, I'm an overly curious child.
"You being there is much better than you not being there."
"You don't seriously believe that, do you?"
"I do. Remember when we first saw each other. You used a first generation water spell, without incantations or the use of a magic circle. I've never seen a mage capable of that."
"I was just lucky."
"You also employed the use of third generation water magic. Those blades made of ice that you used to climb up the wall, they were sturdy enough to support a full grown woman dressed in heavy armour. Coincidentally, you made those without incantations either."
Telling her that I was able to do all that because I've been practicing since I was four, since the day a four pointed tattoo made it's home on my left hand, didn't seem like a plausible explanation at this point. If anything it would make her even more eager to drag me into whatever she has planned.
"Fine then….. Just let me tell my sister that I'll be heading out."
"Of course. We'll be waiting outside whenever you're ready to leave."
As I walked back into the house I got this irksome feeling that I was forgetting something important. Like a door I've been desperate to open forever ago finally budged and it was waiting for me to burst it wide open.
That thought was quickly dismissed when I felt a slight itch on my left eye.
"I guess it's allergy season."