Ashley felt like acid was rising to her throat. Richard was as quiet as everyone else in the room.
"Nine hundred years ago," Richard said. "With the help of a Sea-Witch, I found a way to defeat Ethan... but one thing I learned even from Ethan himself is that there is always a price to pay when it came to magic."
"S-Sacrifice... you mean you had to take ten lives," Ashley said, her voice trembling a bit.
"Nine to be exact," Richard replied.
His face... Ashley may have felt shame from his aura but Richard's face was expressionless. He had just said there was no other way but Ashley was willing to listen to what he had to say.
Ashley turned to Sara. Of course, she isn't shocked, Ashley thought. Sara was a Hunter and who knows how many creatures she had killed. The more time Ashley spent with Richard, Sara, Claudia and Shira the more she realized that death was something that was somewhat normal to them. Claudia was a Vampire and Richard a Fire Demon... Dark creatures that had to die in order to become what they were.
The angry sound of rain hitting the roof and trees outside filled the room. Richard slid the window to his right and stretched out his right hands into the rain. Ashley then saw a thick vapor rising from his hand. At first, she didn't know why but that was before she saw the painful expression on Richard's face and heard his muffled grunts.
Ashley dashed to him and pulled him away from the window.
The burn marks on Richard's right hand began to heal and the red color faded.
Richard was breathing heavily when Ashley asked, "What was that?"
"Killing me and turning me into a monster wasn't enough for Ethan," Richard said, his hand tightening into a fist. "He cursed me never to return to my home. For you, natural water... filled with earth's very own magic... If even a drop were to touch your skin you would immediately transform into your merform..."
Raising his hand, Richard said, "But for me... this is what happens... Ashley, I have done a lot of abhorring things ever since Ethan made me into what I am but..."
Richard stopped talking when Ashley hugged him. Her hands slowly wrapped themselves around his neck and she could feel his warm breath.
"Richard, I am sorry for judging you... I didn't mean to..."
"Ashley... I..."
Richard pulled away from her hug, held her by her shoulders and said, "Ashley... Everything I did, I did out of vengeance and..."
Ashley just smiled and Richard's mouth almost dropped. She could now see it in his eyes and feel it in his aura. Regret...
"So how did you actually defeat Ethan," Ashley finally asked.
"Talya... the sea-witch... she came to me with a dagger."
"It wasn't just any dagger," Shira said. "At least not according to my grandfather..."
"Glati, your great grandfather, was a great Arzyrian and so was his son, Althari," Richard said. "They were the ones who made the dagger."
"What was so special about this dagger?" Ashley asked.
"The blade itself was just as ordinary as any but its power lay within its hilt," Richard replied. "Glati and Shira's grandfather placed ten Ethren Stones on the hilt."
"Ethren Stones?"
Ashley could not hide the confusion in her voice.
"Ethren Stones can only be found in a realm I'd rather not mention," Shira said. "They are some of the rarest stones in all the realms. They have the ability to store magic."
"Can't other magical objects do that?" Ashley asked.
"Yes," Shira replied. "But Ethren Stones are different... Say your magic was to be absorbed by even a fragment of an Ethren Stone, anybody who holds that fragment would have the same abilities that you have."
"And how would this help you defeat Ethan?" Ashley asked, turning to Richard. Magic, Chimera, Fire Demons, Vampire... It seemed like only yesterday that the only thing Ashley had to think about logically was how to apply theorems in calculus or how the principle of duality in physics never made any sense. Now, here she was trying to make sense of... magic. She could feel her inner self laughing hysterically at her.
"The Ten," Richard answered. "I searched the earth for nine creatures and asked for their help."
"Wait," Ashley asked, rewinding Richard's words in her mind. "Two questions... First, you gave these creatures a choice? And secondly, I thought you said 'The Ten' why did you seek nine?"
A beautiful smile formed on Richard's face. Ashley's heart skipped a beat... She wanted to look away but he was just so...
"Yes to the first question Ashley," Richard replied. Ashley was pulled out of her daze.
"I gave them a choice. When Ethan turned me into a Fire Demon, he didn't give me much of a choice... well... after feeding me his blood and killing me, Ethan did give me two choices. He handed me a vial of human blood and told me that I could both drink it and live out my days in darkness or I could have rejected it and died within a day... The choice I made is obvious."
"Speaking of blood," Claudia said.
Claudia was biting her lip, her skin was a bit pale and in way pacing around the room like a child. Putting aside the fact that she was craving for blood right now, Claudia looked kind of... adorable.
"The fridge in the basement," Richard said.
In a blink of an eye, Claudia was already out of the living room.
During her training, Ashley had heard Claudia mention that sometimes she did drink from blood bags. But usually, she did feed on humans and later compelled them to forget. Was it right to feed on humans? Ashley was still trying to wrap her head around that question. She looked at Sara. Sara being a Hunter was alright with Claudia and as long as she wasn't hurting anyone, it appeared things would be this way.
"And to answer your second question..."
Richard walked to the stairs and sat there.
"Ethan is a being made up of ten creatures. But each creature he's made of has a weakness. But before I go there, you have to know something else... and I am honestly surprised none of you have asked me this question... If Ethan fed me his blood and killed me, why didn't I turn into a Chimera like him?"
Ashley's eyes widened. It's true she thought. Jacob told her that the reason he became a Vampire was that Claudia's blood was in his system when he died so then...
"Well, don't just keep us in an atmosphere of suspense," Shira said.
"It baffled too at one point but I later discovered that Ethan's has what I might call a mind of its own... for lack of a better term that is. If someone dies with Ethan's blood in their body, they can only turn into one of the ten creatures that Ethan's made of... And that's all up to fate... though, throughout the ages, people say that Ethan's blood seeks out what you really are on the inside and that's what it manifests... I was a water merman before I became a Fire Demon Ashley... I guess that's what I truly was or am..."
"That's not true Richard," Ashley disagreed.
"Anyway," Richard said. "There was another thing I discovered about Ethan's blood. Many warlocks, witches and other creatures were intrigued by Ethan. Once, I came across a group that had somehow managed to get hold of some of his blood. I didn't know how and I personally didn't care. All I was interested in was why. They told me that they were trying to create a Chimera of their own but every time they tried..."
"The unlucky soul could only turn into one of the creatures within him... I mean that was the same case with you" Shira finished.
Richard simply tilted his head in agreement.
"But they discovered something else," Richard said. "No matter how many times they tried, they couldn't create a Fire Demon."
Ashley and everyone didn't know for how long but Sara's hand was up. She made some hand signs. She was asking Richard what that had to do with destroying Ethan.
"I was going to ask the same thing," Claudia said, appearing out of nowhere. Her skin tone was normal now that she had fed.
"Well... The first step was finding the ones willing to sacrifice themselves in order to defeat Ethan. Victor the Air Merman, the Sea-Witch Talya and her Dragon Roagu, Arad the Water Merman, Zafrina the trickster... a Kitsune I mean, the Earth Merman Sebastian, Alson the Vampire, Isaac, a Tormentor and Niamh the Werewolf. Each of one these were willing to do anything if it meant the world would be safe from Ethan... even if it meant being turned into creatures of the dark.
"Richard," Ashley said, realizing emanating from her voice. "You were the tenth... a Fire Demon..."
"That's correct," Richard replied.
Creatures of the dark... Ashley remembered what Richard had told her during one of her training sessions with him. Any creature that had to die in order to become what they were was considered a dark creature. Richard had said that if the proper spell was cast or the right ritual performed, any creature could become a dark creature. Vampires were the most common because of how easy it was to become one but dark Werewolves, Merfolk, and other creatures also existed.
Richard continued talking.