Chapter 6: The Mysterious Witch Doctor

I bravely stride to the monster on the podium with Nyx by my side. She's clutching her tome as if she is ready to attack at a moment's notice. I'm afraid too, but if we want to save Mozu, we need to be careful.

Surrounding me is close to what I imagined would happen if my nightmares came to fruition-and they totally did, but not like this. All the town buildings are either on fire or burned down: I almost choke on the gas, soot, and ask in the air. The grass has virtually changed colors to crimson and is littered with the bodies of deceased, innocent villagers. Faceless mindlessly roam the streets, moaning with blood splatters on them.

Before me is the worst of the worst. On a small podium is this monstrous of a man. A humanoid, snake man with mechanical parts jutting out at various points. Being part mythical, and part artificial, he is the definition of "impossible to exist," yet here we are. The podium is surrounded by piled corpses of villagers, one of which being Mozu's grandmother. As for Mozu herself, she's dangling by the neck in that monster's metal-plated hands as he sits on a chair removed from some living room.

The entire area makes my blood boil as hot as when Hoshido Square was attacked. But I must remain in control, or I'll turn into something worse than a dragon. I need to save Mozu, and buy time till Azura and her group arrived-

"Sorry to rush you, daughter of Anankos, but I don't think this girl will last much longer," he says in his distorted voice that sounds partially mechanical.

He tightens his grip.

Mozu winces.

"ENOUGH!" I shout looking up at the monster.

"Corrin, why did he call you by that name?"

"Not now Nyx, I'll tell you later."

"Oh, so you prefer to go by your first name? Why didn't you say so?" the monster casually responds.

"Don't act so casually you murderous fiend! Now let go of Mozu!"

"You see, I would if I could, but..." he snaps his fingers with his other hand as he positions Mozu's body off the podium over a pit of now-visible poisonous snakes. "The pit is five meters deep and full various species of venomous snakes. However, looking at it now, I think I put too many venous serpents in there. My bad."

"Five meters of venomous snakes?!" I shake my head. You need to focus on Corrin.

"What are your demands?"

"Ah, I see you're quick to the point. Guess you inherited some smarts from your father after all."

"WHY YOU!"

I feel a strange spell come over me from behind. It relaxes the emotions I was feeling at the moment. It stopped the rise, but it will probably rise again. "Thank you, Nyx."

"Please keep your calm Corrin, or you'll play right into his hands. And, um, your welcome?" She started strong but ended so awkwardly. I guess she hasn't had friends before.

"Phew, thanks for the save girl. Your dark magic is impressive. If it wasn't for you, I might not be alive right now."

"Do not take me for a fool fiend. You never feared Corrin's rage from the start. After all, that's why you are in this village: for Corrin. I can even hypothesize that you are here concerning some "special power" she has. Well, she is here now and will listen to your demands as long as me, and that girl in your clutches are safe. So, you can return her to us now as she is no longer of use to you," Nyx analyzes.

It's like she calmly broke down this situation I had a massive panic attack over. Incredible.

"You took the words right out of my mouth little one. Here," the fiend casually tosses Mozu's body towards us. Her body is quickly enveloped in Nyx's dark magic aura and floats behind her. The magic flared ten rapidly subsided. This guy pulled her trigger word, yet she held herself back. How strong is he?

"Your name is Nyx, correct? I left one building intact," he says pointing to an old temple I've read about in books that more impoverished locations used for local worship. It's pretty tall too, at least about three stories high.

"Watch from up there. It's the only place these beasts won't touch. It was never used, so I lived there for a while, and thus I grew a bit attached to it. Stay on the roof though so I can see you. I can never be too sure Corrin won't break out of the deal."

I want to respond that I won't, but Mozu concerns me. Nyx lowers her body and lets it levitate a few feet off the ground. Her neck isn't the only injury; I can see she has several bruises and broken bones. Her breathing is faint too. I only have one choice: Lilith!

"Yes, Lady Corrin?" her soft voice echoes through my mind.

"How are Felicia and Jakob?"

"Better, but not at fighting capabilities yet."

"How close are Azura and her group?"

"Not far. I cannot get an exact estimate as I have always struggled with anything math-related, even under Anankos' evil control. But I guess not more than an hour at most."

"Ok. What I need you to do is hide among Nyx's clothing and go with her as she observes what will happen from the rooftop."

"Yes. I overheard everything. Would you like me to use my power to heal Ms. Mozu?"

"No, save your energy. Give her a potion. She's hurt real bad so use your judgment as a medic to determine how strong it should be."

"Understood. Anything else?"

"Tell Felicia and Jakob to be ready for an emergency when I go berserk. I can't think of any other reason why he'd go out of his way to do this if I am his target."

"Understood. While I don't think they can fight in their current state, I will let them know. And please be careful: Father no longer can suppress your dragon half. Goodbye."

As she says that I grab Nyx's dark cape. She seems confused at first, but when she feels Lilith's blue spark, she nods and warps away.

"Is it wise to warp all your allies away?"

"It's better this way. So if I lose control of myself, they won't get hurt."

"By "losing control," you mean turning into a Tenkai, right."

My body instantly froze when he said that. "How do you know?"

The monster stands up and walks to the end of the podium. I raise my head to meet his cold visor-covered eyes. I'm feeling scared. He bends down on his knee, so we are closer to each other. I instinctively step back.

"Why wouldn't I know? After all, I made them."

"You?! Made them?!"

A chill goes down my spine so strong it robs me of movement. My fear has become a fog robbing me of any ability to move.

"Yes, I did. The same ones your father stole. Not like I made them hard to find or anything."

"You, made them easy to find on purpose? So that you could catch and kill my father?"

"Sort of."

"What do you mean sort of?!"

"Well, yes I intended the good side of your father to steal but ut I didn't want him dead. That was your other father's decision. You know, the mad one?"

I feel anger and boiling hatred until I had an epiphany that shook me to my core.

"You're trying to make me angry, so I transform. Like you did before when Nyx stopped me. You've been manipulating me like you did my father, this entire time!" I fall on my behind and crawl away from the podium shaking in fear and sweat dripping.

He chuckles, then vanishes into smoke. I feel my something hit my back as I crawl. A wall? I twist my body and look up.

"Hello," he casually waves at me like greeting a friend. The object I hit was him?! How?!

I scream and leap the other way, but when I see the sight around the podium again, I force myself to land on my feet. With my back to the podium, and him in front, there is nowhere to run. Azura, if you can hear this, please help!

"Now now, no need to get all scared. I'm not going to eat you; I can't have you fulfill your end of the bargain if I were after all. Ah! Forgive me; I haven't introduced myself yet: my name is Forneus. Some call me the "Draconic Witch Doctor" and the creator of the Tenkai. Now then, transform, Corrin, so that we can begin the experiment. Or should I say, Tenkai Anankos."

To be continued...