"Uuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhh."
The screams of a woman echoed throughout the entire cave. Screams of pain and agony.
In that dark, eerie cave, a woman was lying on a cold stone slab surrounded by dozens of hooded figures. Both her howls and the hooded figure's relentless chanting would make the atmosphere unbearable if anyone ever witnessed this scene.
"It... it is time…" She weakly whispered as she caressed her large, oversized belly.
Hearing her, a middle-aged woman approached her with a ritualistic-looking dagger in hand. She stood there in front of the pregnant woman and gave her a deep, worried look.
"It must be done. Everything must change." The pregnant woman smiled as she took the dagger from the hesitant woman in front of her.
"Everything WILL change." She added as she slightly glimpsed at an X mark on the back of her hand holding the dagger.
Just the sight of it made her feel a rush of both anger and hope. She immediately raised the dagger for everyone in the cave to see.
"For so long we have been oppressed. For so long we have been fought back to no avail. But tonight, the prophet has divined the arrival of the Child of Doom! And we shall be the new beacon of hope in this cruel world!"
"Take care, big sis." She slightly smiled at the middle-aged woman before swiftly slashing her neck open.
Blood soon slowly gushed out of her in a smooth manner. No one in the room seemed to react to whatever was happening. Only one woman looked away while the rest kept on chanting.
The pregnant woman was slowly losing the light in her eyes. She could feel her life slipping away from her. So she quickly covered her hand in her own blood and painted an O circle symbol on her belly. With that, the last ember in her eyes finally went out.
And with that came silence. So silent that only the small whispers of the burning torches in the cave could be heard.
The hooded figures have long stopped chanting since the woman's death. Instead, they all fell to the ground and kowtowed towards the now-dead pregnant woman. Only that one woman was left helplessly standing alone in front of the dead corpse.
With tears streaming down her cheeks, she warmly embraced her on the forehead before taking the dagger from her lifeless hands. Her hands were shaking holding it, but she strengthened her resolve and did what she was previously ordered to do. It had to be her.
She placed the top of the dagger on the dead woman's stomach and took a deep breath. She slowly and carefully started to work on cutting open her protruding stomach.
About a few minutes later, with her tired, shaking, bloodied hands, she emerged with a baby. The cave was quiet... The child was quiet.
"You! This was your people's prophet's choice. Do something!" She shouted angrily towards the quiet, hooded people behind her.
"If the child does not survive this... then... he is not the prophesized one." An old man answered her. He looked like he was the highest-ranked among the hooded figures.
"You will not die on me! Not after all that!"
She quickly removed a necklace from her neck and clenched her fist tightly around the vial on it. One hand clenching the blood-red vial, the other on the pale child's chest. She whispered words in a tongue unknown to everyone.
The vial slowly lost its color as a red-like energy was seeping into the child's body. The middle-aged woman's face got more anxious when she saw that it didn't seem to have any effect despite the vial being half empty.
With the final drop depleted and still no apparent result, she was determined to go all the way. She redirected her hand toward her heart and started to seep her life force and send it directly toward the child.
The old man frowned when he saw that the woman's hair started to turn white.
"Blood magic!" He whispered.
She couldn't care less about what he thought or how she looked. What mattered the most to her at the moment was the child in front of her.
The middle-aged woman could feel that her life force was getting weaker. And still, all her actions had no effect...
She finally let go of the child. There was no point in damaging herself more for no apparent results. It was against her ways. Draining her life force was already going overboard by her standards.
The woman's body dropped from exhaustion, and she slumped on the ground from sadness and exhaustion.
The old man shook his head and approached the deceased duo. He put one of his palms on the dead mother and the other on the child's chest and whispered a prayer for them.
"May you find your way in the afterlife..."
As he was about to remove his hand from the newborn, he frowned when he felt "something."
"A miracle!" He shouted joyfully.
"The child's heartbeats!" He shouted towards the slumped woman next to him.
The woman hurriedly stood up and picked up the child to confirm it. She didn't even have to feel the heartbeat to see that the child was truly alive. Its skin was no longer pale and cold. It was even staring at her with its dark eyes, looking at her curiously.
She stared at the child, then at her deceased sister, and sighed.
"Such a small thing causing so much..." She whispered.
"What shall I name you?" She wondered while studying the child who was looking all around his surroundings.
"Fate has already prophesied the name of the Child of Doom, milady. He shall be called Sors." The old man intervened quickly, seeing the woman trying to name him.
"You people gave up on him while I did all the savings, and you get to name him? No, no. He shall be named Mutar, for he has defied fate and lived to see a new day."
"You can call him whatever you want, but it has already been prophesized."
He didn't bother arguing with her. She did have a point.
'But it will be problematic if she insists upon it in front of the One.' He thought to himself.
The peace in the cave didn't last too long as something unexpected happened. Sounds of horse galloping could be heard in the distance.
"It must be the cult's envoys," said the old man.
"Come, let's show the Child of Doom."
The two pairs exited the cave and stood outside waiting for the group to reach them. The middle-aged woman, being younger, was the first to notice something amiss.
"These are the Church's Inquisitors!" She shouted.
"How!? Our location is top secret!" The old man was surprised as much as she was.
This was no good news. Where the Inquisitors went, a bloodbath would follow. The old man quickly ordered all the hooded figures to regroup and form a defensive line. There was no way they could outrun them.
"Hurry, take this and run! You've saved him once! I hope the Fates can choose you to save him again!" The old man handed her a necklace with a ring on it and helped her up on a horse.
"The Cult will find you as long as you keep that, keep the Child safe. I will pray for you both." He said one last prayer before he hit the horse to get it on its way.
It didn't take too long before the Inquisitors arrived before him. There were about two dozen knights on horseback wearing heavy armor. Their silver attire shone eerily under the moonlight.
"What do we have here? Sir Telum, in such a remote place, it is such an honor." The old man immediately recognized their leader and slightly bowed.
He was a famous Inquisitor of the church. Arrogant as he is, he didn't even bother to wear any armor. He was in simple attire, looking like a commoner. Anyone would've thought so if not for the shiny silver spear he was holding.
"Such an honor too to have a distinguished member of the Cult of Doom to be in such a remote place. Care to explain, Elder Zelo?"
The old man, apparently called Elder Zelo, didn't answer him but just stood there. He noticed that Telum's shiny knights were dispersing, slowly encircling them. He immediately knew that they knew.
"Recite your final prayers, old man," Telum ordered as he pointed his spear toward Zelo from his high horse.
Zelo slightly lowered his head, merged his palms on his mouth, and whispered. It only took him a few seconds. He resolutely raised his head and lifted his arm to conjure dozens of dark-colored arrows. Zelo's men simultaneously entered each of their battle stances. Just a few were like Zelo, capable of wielding magic, while the majority just drew their swords.
"Charge."
With one word from Tulum, the battle started. All the highly trained Inquisition Knights charged with their horses, spears pointing forward.
Zelo immediately sent out all his magic arrows. Some towards Telum, the rest towards the charging knights. The Knight's Captain just swung his spear nonchalantly, and the arrows dissipated while the other arrows successfully pierced his men, instantly making them explode.
Zelo's magic allowed the deadly Inquisitor's Charge to halt for a moment. It gave them a perfect opportunity for a counterattack. As experienced as he was, he would never miss such an opportunity.
"Attack! Focus on their horses!" He shouted while he prepared to conjure another wave of spells.
"Maybe I've underestimated you a bit." Sir Telum chuckled as he aimed his spear towards Zelo and threw it.
Zelo's heart skipped a beat, but luckily he narrowly avoided the shot just by a sliver. But before he could catch a breath, he could no longer see Telum on his horse where he was supposed to be.
He immediately felt a sharp pain on the right side of his abdomen. Somehow, Telum managed to get in his blind spot and give him a good punch on his liver.
The old man fell to his knees from the pain. All the spells he was about to cast were interrupted. And somehow, his men were already being slaughtered during the small fight they just had.
"You've also underestimated me and my men."
Zelo expected that the knights would recover so fast from their signature charge being interrupted. They would immediately take back formation and transform into living slaughter machines.
His men were easily taken care of, a bloodbath. Screams and sounds of flesh tearing all around him.
"That's the Inquisition for you, Elder Zelo." He stated with amusement as he took back his spear embedded in the ground.
Captain Telum put the blade of the spear on the old man's neck and started questioning him:
"Where is the child?"
"I know not what you're talking about," Zelo answered innocently.
The captain sighed, looking at the defeated old man. He didn't want to play this stupid game with him.
"Sir, we've found tracks of a horse running south." One of Telum's Knights reported while he was about to order them to search the area.
"Aaah, it's nice to hear some good news finally. How many casualties?"
"We've lost 8 men. And we've secured six prisoners."
"We don't need dead weight; kill them." Telum just casually ordered their death with a straight face as he moved to get back on his horse.
"And you... you've already made me lose so much; I'd rather have you alive than dead." Telum gave him a last look before signaling his men to take care of him.
Zelo was tied and fastened on one of the dead knight's horses. The Inquisitors didn't waste any seconds and followed the track.
"I wonder what this Child of Doom will look like?" He whispered.
"No, don't spoil me. I like being surprised." He laughed when he saw Zelo turning his head towards him.