Chapter 10: A Hellions Journey
During his slumber, Kobra had the strangest dream...of Kira.
In his dream, he saw her atop a formation, a stellar view of millions of diamond like stars behind her. She was nude, with a strange net of scales covering her body. Brilliant ivory wings sprouted from her back like a morbid angel, and her eyes glowed a crimson red. Kobra could feel an immense energy emanating from her, a wide range of emotions plowing through his body and coming to rest in his loins. Passion, ecstasy, lust, and violence, all conflicting within his soul.
She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen...
Kobra finally awoke from his deep sleep. He lay prone on the pulpit in the grand room, an unknown breed of flower surrounding his body. Kobra sat up on the dais, surprised by how refreshed his body felt. No traces of the lingering phenomenon invading him. He stared around the room, half expecting to find it empty, when he saw Kira, sitting crossed leg on the floor and intensely watching Kobra like a hawk.
Kobra suddenly remembered his dream, and berated himself for even thinking of this woman in a exotic fashion. He had know idea who she was, her intentions, nothing. Kira slowly rose from her position, her sharp eyes still locked on Kobra. She could sense the hesitation in Kobra's body language, as she smiled at his fidgeting form.
"Calm yourself Kobra." She said."There is no need for hostilities against a fellow Black Dragon."
Fellow Black Dragon?
Kobra recalled his tantrum before his collapse, his frantic cries for salvation, and unwittingly pledging his allegiance. Those were the cries of a desperate man, not his.
"Listen, I'm not joining your little cult. You people are crazy. Bat shit crazy!"
"But Kobra...you're already a member..."
It was then that he felt it. A slight tingling sensation on the back of his neck, almost burning like. With one shaky hand Kobra reached towards his neck and lightly brushed the abrasive spot. A wave of pain shot through his body as he recoiled his hand. Kobra glared at Kira with disdain, mortified beyond belief that they would bran him with their mark.
"What do you people want from me?" Kobra said through gritted teeth.
"It's not a question of what we want from you; rather what you need from us..."
Kobra swung his legs over the side of the dais, knocking the flowers to the floor. "I don't need a damn thing from you." He spat.
Kira shook her head, dismissing Kobra's rage as a mother would her child. "You still don't get it do you? You will die if you do not conform to us. Your internal Chi has been corrupted to the point where your body is slowly dying. We saved you when you fainted, but unless you stop this stubbornness, there is no hope for you. Your life is ours now..."
As if on cue, Kobra felt tendrils of pressure snaking through his arms. Slight quivers flowing through his veins. He could hear the steady rush of blood in his ears, albeit with a more rushing sensation, as if a river were coursing through his body. It was the same feeling he had felt when he arrived in Chaosrealm, the invisible force slithering through his body.
Is this my Chi...being drained?
"How can I stop it?" To his ire, Kobra's voice quaked.
"In the realm of Outworld, there is an item."
Outworld...
"Just what is this about realms?"
Kira came closer to him, her presence domineering in Kobra's confused state. "Our universe is made up of six realms, each independent from each other. The realm you are from, Earthrealm, the realm of paradise, Edenia, the realm of order, Seido, the realm of the dead, Netherrealm, the realm you are currently in, Chaosrealm, and the realm where the item you need to stay alive is, Outworld. Your bodies internal energy corresponds differently to each realm. In your case, a slowly a painful depletion."
Kobra listened to every word, intrigued by her new information.
"What do I need to find?" The fear was now evident in Kobra's voice.
"In Outworld, there is a fragment, a shard from a long and forgotten artifact. This artifact has the ability to control your Chi against the realms...and more."
"More?"
"The shard is in the possession of a mutual, well, let's just say friend. The Vampiress, Nitara."
Kobra felt another undulating quiver snake through his arms. "How do I find her?"
Kira laughed, a light malicious sound that made Kobra's hair stand on end. "Oh don't worry...she'll find you."
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
The Vampiress: Nitara
It's taken me fifty thousand separate wrecks, to get here
And I've learned, absolutely nothing. As I'm standing here alone
Upright and motionless I am drowning in her sea
The rising and sinking of every consciousness I have ever known
Now detached and disconnected. The endless cycle of idea and action
Endless invention, endless experiment, endless hope and endless disappointment
And I thought all I needed was one more breath to stay afloat
For me it was like the breath...the last breath, the last breath that I never wanted
Any of this
I never thought that this would capsize, but this isn't a boat, it's a coffin and now I'm moving forward
Into the sea...into the great sea
So I begin with the end in mind
The cycles of Heaven, twenty centuries gone by...come home.
The only thing more dangerous than the realms extreme climate is the realms bloodthirsty inhabitants. Home to some of the most inhospitable environs in the universe, it is a cesspool for lawlessness and war, all under the watchful and omniscient eye of a malevolent ruler. Welcome to Outworld...
The sun beamed unmercifully from the alien sky. It was unlike our sun, more elliptical in shape, crimson red, and scorching hot. The desert sand magnified the heat twenty fold, making the surface nearly unbearable to trek on.
Kobra endured the harsh environment, his body being pushed to its limit.
"In Outworld, there is a vast desert, home to Nitara. If you can survive this harsh and deadly land, you will be rewarded most generously."
Kobra was handed a sack containing food and a flask of water by Kira.
"The days in the desert are long and unforgiving. Pace yourself accordingly. The nights are just as extreme, so seek shelter where ever possible."
Kira unsheathed one of her knives and handed it to Kobra. He took the blade, surprised by how heavy it actually was.
"Take this, you'll need it."
Kobra tucked the knife in his belt. He didn't know what it was, but there seemed to be a sort of trust growing within him for Kira. He needed to trust her, for she hadn't led him astray yet, and not doing so could cost him his life.
"Kira, what's your story, how did you get involved in all of this?"
Her face softened, and Kobra could detect a flash of pain in her eyes. "When you come back, I'll tell you..."
Sweat flowed from Kobra's body like rivers. He had long since abandoned his shirt, sick of the fabric sticking to his skin. He moved with haste but kept his speed to a deliberate pace to conserve strength. The heavy sack of essential items sat slung over his shoulder, full of strange meat and water. Kobra stared at the blistering hot sun, noticing that is was almost directly overhead. It was really unlike anything he had ever seen on earth. More than just a star, more than just a source of heat, it seemed to emit danger.
Kobra kept walking.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Kira closed her eyes. Kobra could feel the same wave of energy engulf his body as before. She waved her hand in front of her as radiant light erupted from her palm. Kobra shielded his eyes from the blinding light, but it was too luminescent. It was a portal. Crimson red in hue with shades of black swirling around its fringes.
"Remember, the most difficult thing you will have to find in the desert is yourself..."
Kobra could hear the wind whirling in its ethereal mass. It sounded like the cries of the oppressed...
Kobra's tongue began to hang out of his mouth like a dog and his face was flushed with sweat. He could feel the sting of sunburn attacking his body, and the intense glare from the sun and sand made his head spin. He was just about out of food, only scarce scraps of meat clinging to the bottom of the sack. There was no more water.
Fwish...fwish...
Kobra stared at the sky and was surprised to see the silhouettes of two large birds in the sky, the first form of life he had seen since coming to Outworld. They were massive, their wing span easily stretching four feet across and making dry sounds in the still air. They resembled vultures, and Kobra knew the only reason why vultures circled overhead...
I ain't dead yet.
Kobra continued to walk, ignoring the ravenous birds overhead. Their thick shadows floated along the ground ominously, dipping closer every few seconds.
Kobra felt his knees quiver, his body becoming weaker from pure exhaustion. He fell face first into the scorching sand, and lay...
Fwish...fwish...fwish...
Kobra felt a slight nudge at his side. Soft at first, then escalating in pressure. Suddenly, a sharp pain erupted in his thigh, as if he were being bitten. Kobra yelped, the pain releasing a new found strength in his drained body. He shook his leg with all of his might, finally alleviating the vice like grip. Kobra turned around and was shocked to see one of the vultures looming over him, its wild, yellow eyes fixated on his form.
Kobra remembered the dagger tucked away in his pants. He whipped it out, prepared to strike the morbid bird. The vulture shrieked in agitation and swooped away, its eyes still locked on Kobra.
"Get away!" Kobra yelled. "Back!!"
The vulture began to pace back and fourth on its hooked talons, its beak snapping back and fourth menacingly. Overhead, its brethren began a slow descent, its movements swift for its size.
The one in front of him darted forward, squawking in excitement at his weak form. Kobra slashed the air in front of its face, keeping the predator at bay. Fatigue was eating away at his body, and the knife was becoming increasingly unsteady in his hands. Above him, the other vulture was getting closer, so close that Kobra could feel the wind from its wings...
From Kobra's peripheral view, a pink flash of light shot towards the flying vulture. It sounded as if it were a firecracker, beginning with a bang and settling into a low whine. The bird fell to the ground in a blaze of burnt feathers and meat, dead.
The other bird let out a squeal of surprise and took to the sky, it dark form disappearing towards the sun. Kobra turned his head towards the source of the light, and for a second thought he was hallucinating, a cruel trick by the unmerciful heat.
He adjusted his eyes, and when she did not vanish, a new found sense of hope came over him. She was a young woman, beautiful, wearing highly provocative violet lingerie and a matching veil covering the lower part of her face. Her hair fell in long, purple locks around her slender shoulders, obscuring her right eye by its design. A pair of Japanese sai sat sheathed on her full hips, adding to her exotic appeal.
She carefully walked over to Kobra, concern in her light hazel eyes.
"Are you okay?" She asked. Her voice was pleasant, as if it were the song of a siren.
Kobra lowered the dagger, too exhausted to hold it any longer.
"Are...are you N...Nitara?" He whispered.
The woman rushed to his side, a sweet aroma invading his nose. She cradled his tired body against her voluptuous breast, stroking his hair with tender fingers.
"You poor man! Shhh, don't speak, just relax..." Kobra felt himself being lulled into her care. His eyes began to droop as he gave his body away to her.
"That's it, just close your eyes. It's okay." The woman reached up with one hand and slowly removed her veil. Kobra stared at her face through weary eyes, not sure what he was seeing. Her eyes still retained a feminine softness to them, and her nose was well defined, but beneath her veil was razor sharp teeth set into a twisted grin of a mouth.
Kobra's eyes shot open, all feeling of fatigue vanished from his body. He bolted from her arms in panic, shocked beyond belief at her face.
She laughed, not in the same enchanting voice as before, but a rough, gravely tone. "You don't like the way I look!?"
"Stay the hell away from me!" For a second Kobra thought he had been deceived by Kira, that this mad woman, Nitara, or whoever she was, was an enemy.
Kobra turned on his heels to run, too weak to defend himself. As he ran however, distinct screams echoed around him, screams of violence and blood lust. Figures shrouded in tattered garbs rushed for Kobra, their appearance seemingly coming out of nowhere. Elongated blades jutted from their wrist, dangerously gleaming in the desert sun.
To his horror, he saw that their mouths resembled the same bestial visage as the woman, rows of razor sharp teeth, blackened with decay. Kobra was tackled by the largest one, the wind literally being driven from his lungs. Kobra struggled underneath the things weight, but it was too strong. It raised its bladed arm, ready to strike down upon his face...
With a dull thud, the blade impacted just inches from Kobra's head. Kobra stared at his reflection in the blade, and saw the look of helplessness in his eyes. He was trapped...