Capítulo 27: Fractured
Zmey's butt dragged across the cold, rocky surface. His mouth was agape, eyes staring up in terror. "W-what in the world...?"
His chest tightened. As the shadow loomed closer, Zmey drew back.
A humanoid creature towered over him at around ten feet. It had elongated limbs, a hunched back, and claw-like fingers. It was as if invisible hands (or forces) glued him to his butt. This was his first time seeing a nightmare of reality.
It was a thing with a featureless head and two violet eyes that emitted a faint glow. Do things like this exist in this damned world after all? Swirling, shifting shadows composed it, appearing both solid and fluid. Zmey dared to glance at its toe.
The surface rippled as if hiding countless souls. This monster had appeared out of nowhere immediately after he broke the barrier. It had only appeared the atmosphere was darkening... If he had predicted such, he would have either fled or faked being dead!
The monster approached him in a predatory mode. Zmey cursed, driving his butt backwards. "Come at me if that's why you're here! St-stop being a bastard holding back!"
Shit - he knew he had doomed himself. But something in him had forced him to voice out such. Somewhat out of its irritable sight. Or another that ties to his desire for life and death. Only when the monster slithered towards him did he understand the...
"Curse it!" His hands shaking with his legs, he stood to his feet in a swift motion. Shadow loomed over him. There was only one thing. To try to survive. Even though he knew that was damn impossible!
The monster closed in. Its tendril-like, splintered arms, like the limbs of a jellyfish, cut down towards Zmey. Its glowing eyes bore into his. "Crap!" he screamed. With rough thoughts, Zmey threw himself rolling leftwards. He...
Swoosh! - the sound screamed in his ears. His arms ached from the fall. A green light filtered through his eyelids, though dull. It contrasted with his darkened surroundings.
"Please stand aside, Lord Zmey!"
Zmey gasped. His eyes were wide open.
Aura, her body burning with green energy, stood in a battle lord stance. She was a repulsive force against the harbinger of darkness. Her eyes glowed, milky green light raising her hairs towards the sky in a bunch.
Her legs stood in a rigid position opposite to each other, forming a bent n-shape. Her calm, composed demeanour in the situation drew a "wow" from Nero, who stood with Lady Nadia at the cliff edge. Zmey remained on his knees, his attention drawn.
At that moment...
The creature lunged at her. Its limbs elongated. A crystalline scythe formed in its splintered arms. Shadows trailed behind it, consuming the light. The ground beneath it hissed, frost forming in its wake. Its violet eyes blazed with a feral intensity.
With a burst of speed, Aura raced towards its towered apex. She evaded its blow with ease. Her entirety was a blooming green energy. Her short sword, a predatory entity, sliced through the monster's skin and bone at the neck with a swift motion.
Aura landed in a parabolic arc half a metre behind it. The monster and the malevolent dragon stood back-to-back. Nero was stunned at the relaxation Aura had when the monster could lung at anytime...
Zmey's eyes widened - the monster's featureless head fell away from its body. It rolled down the slope of the cliff, getting shrouded in plants afterwards.
Aura sighed. But the next case was different. Nero shouted, pointing at Aura, "Behind you...!"
Zmey had already begun sprinting towards her. To get her out of the way before the monster would have crashed into her. Aura glanced over her shoulder, her brows creased in curiosity. She mumbled, her reaction with confidence,
"Strange... why is it not losing form already?"
Zmey cursed aloud, "Crap!" jumping towards Aura. The monster neared them by inches. He held her arms. And pushed their combined weight away from the monster's direction.
Aura's eyes widened on seeing Zmey's action. Her leg tripped backwards. His body pulled closer to hers, the world spinning before her eyes.
But the monster swept past them. As if they never existed. It closed in towards the other duo. Lady Nadia's chest tightened...
"Get down!" She pushed Nero out of the way even before she knew it. Her mind raced. The monster's shadow loomed over her, its movement disorderly but still towards her.
Nero hurried from the ground. His eyes grew wide. The monster's tendrilled arms moved towards the woman. He thrashed his body towards her, his muscles taut with tension.
Time seemed to slow down before Nero's eyes. Lady Nadia looked at him. Her smile fell on his eyes. Saliva dripped down his mouth from his gaping. Yet, he moved on. Not like this! He could get her away from...
Stab!
Blood sprouted from her mouth. Nero stormed towards her. "NO!!!"
His breathing grew ragged. Zmey, now apart from Aura, had his eyes wide open. His mouth was agape, and his body pushed forward as if he'd tried to step. Aura stood still, sweat huddling in her palm.
Each of the monster's tendrils hooked into Lady Nadia's chest, painting her dress red at chest level. Its weight then dropped downwards, losing energy, with the last bit seeming to be used to kill her.
Before Nero could reach them, the monster's weight dropped against Lady Nadia's. They both plummeted down the cliff.
Zmey gaped.
Aura's jaw dropped. "She..."
Nero froze in place, shock and thrill overwhelming him. He dropped to his knees at the cliff. He dug his nails into the rock.
"AHHH!" he screamed in agony. His face turned red with unshed tears. His entire body shook, thrills coursing through him.
In a mix of rage, frustration, and disbelief, he jabbed his fist against the rock. Zmey took slow steps towards him. Nero screamed.
"Why.... why!? No... Why did she save me but not herself!?"
Zmey reached him. His arm trembled as he moved it towards Nero's shoulder. Finally, he gave a gentle, comforting pat on his shoulder.
The weight of the situation was now dawning on him too. Before his eyes, someone had risked their own life to save another. If she had acted to keep her own life, she might not have been the victim.
He could understand Nero's feelings—guilt, powerlessness, and agony. It would even be more intense if he were very close to the deceased.
"Damn it...! She's not someone befitting death this soon! Why...? Oh hell...! Oh fucking goodness...!" Nero lamented.
At that moment, a wave of dizziness overcame Zmey. His body dropped forward so that if he were not holding tight to Nero's shoulder, he would have fallen.
A sharp, needling pain swirled in his temples. He shut his eyes to somehow subdue it. A flash of information (memory of Ashbane) crossed his mind.
He frowned. 'Response to a strong energy…'
In the next second, fragments of somewhere else revealed themselves to him. It was quick and brief, yet it remained glued to his mind in a strange way. Zmey gaped as the memory of Ashbane cultivating crossed his mind. His saliva thickened.
....
Seconds later.
As his instincts led him, he turned and glanced at Aura. She was turning her back on the scene, rubbing her temples as if nursing something there. Zmey sighed, then turned to Nero. He looked at him for a few seconds, after which he whispered,
"Forgive me, comrade." And in a blinding manner, he hit the side of his palm against his neck with force.
Nero tried to keep his consciousness, but he lost it to darkness. His body dropped, which was the instance Zmey lifted him. He draped his weight over his own shoulder.
"Aura..."
"Yes...?" she responded as she turned, her arms crossed. But she pulled a long glance at Zmey as he approached her with Nero in that state. Her brows creased. She querried, "He was just normal till now..."
"...I knocked him out," Zmey replied in a brief tone. He continued striding towards her. "We have no time; you as well know that. You must have as well felt the strong energy in the atmosphere, meaning either something deadly is unfolding or approaching..."
Aura's brows creased. "... You can feel that too, even when you've lost your powers?"
Zmey's boots halted one after the other. His glance pulled at Aura.
"You know about my loss of power?"
Aura remained resolute. She stayed silent, her arms uncrossing. It appeared as though she was holding back on something, and her mouth closed with abruptness. Yet, Zmey didn't revert his gaze laid on her, a knot tightening in his abdomen as he waited for a response.
Aura cleared her throat, composing herself. "Did you really have amnesia?"
Zmey nodded his head with a brief motion.
She looked at him with hesitation. In herself, she knew it; the emperor was still acting strangely. Even forgetting essential rules in the realm he governs.
"Forget it. Let's move on," she said without delay. She turned her back, striding down the slope beneath the cliff.
Zmey groaned aloud, "Aura Drakeborn!"
She halted in her steps. Even so, she kept her back turned to him.
"I'm asking you a question here. You can't walk out on me without answering," Zmey stated. "Your belief tells you I'm powerless. Either way, I still remain your emperor. Yet, you're acting a disloyal servant..."
"... You're acting strange instead! That's my issue for being careful around you," Aura voiced, turning to him.
Her face turned red. Snow drifted down from the sky.
"I don't believe you, no matter how hard I try to. Seems you have forgotten we grew up together and I know every bit of your behaviour even if you're cold. Let's think about it... how could you forget the sole law you made in Infernosphere? That's the only law we have..."
"...And I demand that you tell me. Mm!?"
Aura swallowed. "You made it after the death of your parents... you don't recall? Anyone who does not follow in their footsteps, including you, would lose their power.
You made that swear to the Inferno Deity. Your parents always used the Pathway to teleport to Earth... but instead, you harnessed your mage body's power!"
Zmey blinked. Hearing that, the memory emerged gradually in his mind. He grappled with the frustration - why must it come bit by bit any time it wanted? If he had known this all along, he wouldn't have landed in trouble.
Memories revealed the Inferno Deity, creator of the Infernosphere and its beings. And worshipped in the Hall of Sovereignty. Their belief in the creator contradicted that of humans.
But Zmey kept everything, both the frustration and astonishment to himself. It seemed it's high time he grew stricter against Aura. Her behaviour was intolerable.
He walked towards her until he strode down the path before her. He then said, "We head out of the woods then."
Minutes afterwards...
Zmey grew familiar with the path they took. Aura walked behind him. Now seeing an intersection ahead and a green-barked tree in the distance, he recalled this was the position he stood earlier...
But in a sudden moment, he heard noises from up ahead. Curiosity grew in him as he paced a bit faster to see what was occurring up there.
Was this wood a general path taken by the inhabitants of Frosthaven? Oh, he almost forgot—people do not come out of their homes. Then, who else could have the courage to do so?
"Stand aside! The headmaster said this is the location! We must protect Captain Ferox at all costs!" A deep masculine voice cut through the thick air. Zmey finally reached the intersection. And his gaze climbed over the downhill path, now appearing otherwise.
Huddling around a spot where the barrier was, were people in black long jackets. Their hems had designs in different colours. Some had serpent designs. Others had interlocking runes. They suggested precision and order.
If Zmey was oblivious to the other one, he at least recalled a serpent design around the kidnapper's hem as well.
'Are they from the same organisation?'
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