Days have passed since the defeat of Alexander, but the Leviathan's influence remains. Tyson fights to retain his humanity whilst his friends must face threats from all sides. Will Tyson and his friends overcome the darkness or be consumed by it?
Thanks to SakuraAlexia for the cover.
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Prologue
Elder Pierre glanced out the window and looked skywards. Days had passed since the battle between Tyson and Alexander, but the skies remained a bright orange, completely absent of life. Normally, at the break of the dawn, birds would fill in the skies, but there had been nothing. Discomforting.
Yesterday he had taken a walk through the forest. Pure silence. Not even the crickets were making any noise. It was as if the animals themselves sensed something was amiss and had taken cover. Were they aware of the Leviathan's power too? Or was it simply just the unnatural colour of the sky that had unnerved them?
His fellow companion, Rowena, joined his side. She placed a hand on his shoulder, following his gaze skywards. "It's happening. It's really happening. I didn't want to believe it… but… Now that I can see it with my own eyes…" She stopped abruptly, unable to find the words to finish the sentence off.
He nodded. "When we were children, my grandfather spoke to me of a reckoning. The skies would turn orange and the demons would be released to cause havoc on the land of the living. He called it 'The Time of Troubles' an internal war between the bitbeasts." He turned his head away from the sky and looked at Rowena. He could see the uncertainty and fear in her eyes. He was sure his eyes told the same story.
"What does that mean for us?"
Shrugging, he added, "We're caught up in a war between two sides. The fallen bitbeasts, the demons, and the untainted ones guided by Gaia, the creator. I don't know where the answers are, but I do know we are in grave danger. These bitbeasts are not bound by beyblades. Their powers are unimaginable. There's no telling what is going to happen now and if we can even survive this."
"Is there nothing we can do?"
He didn't know the answer to that. His grandfather had simply said humanity would face judgement by the bitbeasts. A war would break out and hundreds of lives would be lost. Each death would only make the Leviathan stronger. "I don't know." Nothing in his teachings ever taught him how to deal with an apocalyptic war with the bitbeasts. "If only they had lost the battle…"
The battle between the Avengers and the Horsemen. If Tyson and his friends had failed to make it to the finals then none of this would've happened. If would've been better if they hadn't decided to compete. It was obvious the Horsemen only cared about defeating Tyson and his friends, the holders of the sacred bitbeasts. Now? It was rumoured both Tyson and Kai had left. Some even believed both had died. Without the two strongest bladers, what chance did they have to survive this?
"We could always run…" Rowena said, removing her hand off his shoulder.
"We could run far and wide, but the Leviathan's minions would still catch up to us."
"Then we hide. Hide underground."
"They'll still find us. The demons come from beneath. When the ground opens again, more will come."
"Then we fight the hordes of demonic bitbeasts."
He turned to her again, catching a flicker of doubt in her eyes. "With what? We are not warriors." They didn't even have blades of their own. He had been raised to spread scripture and to educate; not to blade and fight. That wasn't the path chosen for him.
"We can't just stand around and do nothing! There has to be something."
He didn't reply to her words. Rather, he focused on the orange skies. It was like the heavens above had caught alit. There were clouds in the distance and they were as black as coal. Like a scene right out of a Hollywood action blockbuster only this was very real and there were no second chances. No happy endings. No overly dramatic actors.
"I've read enough of war to know how this will end," he said softly. "Innocents are caught in the crossfire and they pay for it with their lives. I don't want to relive such history. I don't want to watch the world around me burn." He dug a hand into his pocket beneath his robes, his hand resting on a clear bottle of rat poison.
Perhaps it was an act of cowardice to run away from the incoming threat, but what was he, an elderly man, supposed to do to combat it? Words wouldn't help here, and their only hope of survival, Kai and Tyson, were both gone. What was the point in fighting an uphill battle? It was better to die now. At least the decision to die was in his hands and not to be made by the enemy.
"We need to believe in hope."
A dry laugh escaped his throat. "Hope? Look around you Rowena. What hope is there to believe in when the skies are orange and the ground has been splintered? Dangerous beasts now prowl across these lands and the Avengers have dispersed and some even rumoured dead. How do we stand and fight against a creature we still don't fully understand?"
She fell silent.
A part of him wanted to apologize for his rash words, but he knew he spoke the truth. They were doomed. They were all doomed. "I'm sorry, Rowena… I truly am, but this is the beginning of the end. Our ancestors always predicted this day would come – Judgement Day. I will not allow bitbeasts to determine my fate. That is for me to decide."
She frowned, concerned. "…What are you…"
He withdrew the bottle from his hand and unscrewed the lid. Bringing it to his lips, he arched his neck back and poured the liquid into his mouth. He drank until there was nothing left. Once done, he discarded it, and waited for the effects of the poison to kill him. Already, he could feel the taste of blood on the back of his tongue. The chemicals were starting to eat away at his flesh.
Her eyes widened. "Pierre?!" She paused then, "Roark! Myrah! Call an ambulance! Pierre is sick!" Blood seeped through his lips, spilling out onto his clothes. Weakness gripped him. His knees buckled and gave way to the ground. He fell but didn't quite hit the floor. Rowena had grabbed him. He coughed up more blood as the rat poison quickly ate through his internal organs. Soon, he'd have peace.
Before he lost all ability to function, he grabbed her arm with a bloodied hand and said in between coughs, "...Do not mourn for me, Rowena… This is our fate… Our end."
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I'm so excited to finally share this with you! This is the opening chapter, and it picks up right where A Hero's Last Cry finished. If you haven't read it, you really should because otherwise you're going to be a bit confused. If you have read it, that's great news, and I hope you'll enjoy this story even more. It won't be as long, but it'll be darker, and you'll see new sides to characters you've to come to love (or hate). Reviews are much appreciated, as always!
