Kuroinu: The Power of the Third Eye

Chapter 1

The Black Citadel

Rapten was flying over what appeared to be a black castle. It was under siege by men as demons fought to keep the men out. Rapten looked to the castle that stood. The third eye glowed. Rapten closed his eyes and he gazed into his third eye. He could sense all the power coming from a single spot. It must be where all the life energy in this land is going. It is being channeled into a powerful being with a powerful aura. Rapten summoned an updraft that took him high into the air. Rapten opened his eyes and began to dive into the castle. He spun, creating a whirlwind around himself. Rapten smacked into a magic barrier of some kind. The barrier cracked as Rapten continued to spin. Rapten broke the barrier and smashed through the ceiling.

Rapten turned into a gust of wind that was sucked into Tepu's third eye, undoing his transformation. He looked around for a bit. He reached into his third eye and pulled out his father's prized axe. He knew he had to defend himself somehow. He looked around again before moving forward. So far so good. Not one orc showed up. He kept his guard up. He didn't know what was around the corner. He heard footsteps. He saw… goblins! Dead ahead! Green-skinned miscreants who would pillage for gold and women, mere pests to the Crusaders who defend the mountains. They all charged at him. He remembered his training as a priest.

Tepu got into a battle stance. He dodged one attack before swinging the axe at the goblin, giving it a nice clean decapitation. He saw a goblin coming at him. He blocked the attack and pushed the goblin back before swinging the axe again. The blade hurled itself deep into the goblin as it was thrown upwards by the force of the swing. He swung his axe at another goblin, this time, having it come down on the goblin's head. He planted the blade deep into the skull. He turned around and saw orcs coming in. He looked to his back and saw more of them. He knew what this called for.

He withdrew his axe and closed his eyes. He began to mentally recite a mantra. He pulled out what appeared to be a tuning fork. He hit the fork against his arm. It let out a ringing sound. He held the fork up to his forehead. The third eye opened, now with the sclera being red and the iris a white color while no pupil could be seen. A different circle surrounded him and flames erupted from both his eye and the circle around him. An almost demonic sounding growl was heard. The flames burst as a mighty roar as mighty as one hundred lions roared with unyielding rage came forth. The being that emerged had a charcoal black upper body with a flame orange lower body with black stripes. The being had a pair of horns sticking upwards as a white mane shaped like a flame rippled as a flame. The beast stopped roaring. Six disembodied arms hovered around him. The six arms began to stack on top of each other. The beast smiled at the orcs who seemingly were undeterred by his appearance.

The arms finished stacking themselves, turning into a kanabo mace club. The beast latched his hand on it.

"You guys like to party, don't you?" The beast spoke.

The orcs were initially confused, but then returned to being steadfast. They wielded their clubs as the beast began to twirl his. The beas smiled as he hung the kanabo against his shoulders.

"I am the Fire Heruka Maha, the strongest beast to ever exist!" The beast said. "Now then… let's go wild!"

He began to put on one hell of a hustle as he ran straight for the first orc ahead of him. He swung his kanabo at the orc with great speed. The minute it was being swung towards the orc, the kanabo released a huge burst of flame. The flaming weapon struck the orc. The club not only crushed the skull, but began to melt the head off. The orc was tossed off to the side. One of the orcs swung at him. But the club broke as soon as it struck. Maha barely budged. He turned to the orc before viciously swinging his open arm at the orc. The arm bracer he was wearing was like a club. The incredible force of the blow sent the orc into another wall. He unleashed a breath of fire that began to burn the other orc's face. He swung the kanabo down on its head. The arms that made the kanabo broke apart and hovered around Maha. Maha laughed.

"Come on come on come on! It's not that hard to stop me!" Maha said. "Let's party some more!"

The arms formed fists as Maha turned to the orcs behind him. The orcs seemingly growled and charged. The arms formed a hexagon. Maha puts one hand over the other. The third eye glowed as fire built up into his hand.

"Rekkadan Ken (Raging Fire Bullet Fist)!" Maha said as he pushed his hands out.

A barrage of flaming bullets speeds towards the orcs. The fireballs hit their targets, knocking the orcs down and leaving them with severe burns. Maha turned away. His body turned to ash. The ash began to fall as Tepu now stood in Maha's place. Tepu began to move forward.

He saw a woman up ahead as he kept walking. She had pointy ears, red eyes, dark skin, blonde hair with one bang longer than the other and a ponytail. Her clothing was rather revealing. Most of her midsection could be seen while her legs and arms were covered with clothing. She had a black thong and her breasts were covered with clothing as well.

"Halt." The woman said.

Tepu stopped.

"I don't know how you got in here, but you shall not pass." The woman said before drawing a pair of daggers out.

"There is no need for violence." Tepu said, putting his arms to his chest made it appear like he was holding a sphere in his hands. "I am but a monk on a pilgrimage in the name of Itia, the God of Creation."

"A monk on a pilgrimage. Likely story." The woman said. "Besides, I could care less about what religion you have. Your 'God' won't help you here."

Tepu kept his peaceful demeanor. He closed his eyes. His third eye revealed itself. He began to sing the song of prayer. The Hymn of the Heruka. The woman grew tired of this and rushed at the boy. The third eye began to glow. As the woman kept charging, he continued to sing. The eye glowed more intensely. Just as she was about to cut him down, a beam of light emerged and touched her. Then her body began to turn into light and was being absorbed into the third eye. As he began to sing the last line of the song, he slowly opened his eyes. His third eye began to close.

He noticed the woman was gone. Where could she have gotten off to? Wait… no… something feels different now…

Elsewhere

Chloe wasn't sure where she was. One second she was about to strike down what she had to assume was an Indri and the next she's in this blue space with floating islands. That boy did something to her! That had to be it! She looked around and didn't know where to start looking. She heard a piercing screech coming from one of the islands.

"That's Duga." A voice said.

She turned to see—! That Indri bastard! How did he—!

"This is my inner world." The Indri said.

"Inner world? Wait, how did you—?"

"How did I get here? This is the realm of my soul." The Indri said. "The third eye is simply a gateway to this place. I can freely enter this world whenever I want. What you are seeing is my image."

"Wait… that means we're still in the Citadel…" Chloe said. "Wait… how do I get out?"

"Actually, this is the first time this has ever happened." The Indri said. "I never actually had a person enter my inner world before."

"So you don't have any idea on how to get me out of here?" Chloe asked.

"Um… sorry." The Indri said. "By the way, I am Tepu, Messenger of Itia."

Chloe lost her patience and pulled a dagger out. The boy quickly vanished from her sight. She didn't know what to do. Perhaps she could have a look around this world she was in. Find out more about it.

Tepu woke up in the physical realm. She was definitely in his inner world. Storing objects in it was easy, but he never put an actual person in his inner world, especially while they have a physical body. The Heruka were different. They were just spirits that now live on inside his inner world.

He closed his eyes. His third eye opened. He saw a path leading him to the source of the powerful aura. He opened his eyes, closing his third eye, and began to run down the path. He brought his axe out. Orcs stood in his path. He recited a mantra before pulling out the tuning fork and banged it against his arm again. He held it to his forehead. The third eye opened and looked as it did the last time Maha appeared. Tepu was covered in flames and Maha soon stood in his place, roaring as the flames dispersed. The arms formed the kanabo mace. Maha lifted it off the ground and twirled it around. He held it over his shoulder.

"Now then… let's see if you guys can handle this." Maha said with a smile of pure savagery.

A fireball in Maha's hand. Maha tossed it up. He reared his arm back before stepping down on the ground. He quickly swung his arm.

"Bakuretsu Kaen Hakke (Eight Trigrams Explosive Flame)!" Maha howled.

He smacked the fireball and a huge explosion went straight towards the orcs. The blast was enough to incinerate the orcs. The flames reached the door, blasting it down. Maha walked past the charred corpses. As soon as he walked through the door, Maha turned to ash before Tepu entered the room.

He saw a woman sitting on a throne. Her skin was dark. Her eyes were a brownish-gold color. She had a black thong along with less clothes. She wore purple leggings, purple arm sleeves, and purple breast coverings. She looked more revealing than the woman he had met earlier. Her hair was dark and went down to her knees. She had a cape. She held a staff in her right hand. He could feel an incredible aura coming from her.

"I'm sorry about the door. I—"

"I know what you are, Indri." The woman cuts him off. "You have quite the gall to come in here like that. Especially when you don't even know who you are standing in front of."

She got off her throne.

"I am the Dark Elf Queen Olga Discordia." The woman said. "Tell me, why is it that someone like you would dare barge into my stronghold?"

"Oh uh… I am a messenger of Itia on a pilgrimage to bring about peace." Tepu said. "I'm merely a monk."

"Bring peace will you? And just how would you do that?" The woman, Olga asked.

"Well…" Tepu said. "I can sense that you are really strong. So could you go and tell everyone to stop fighting for a moment?"

Olga glared at Tepu. Tepu felt a sudden shift in her presence. It sent shivers down his spine.

"If I were you, I'd kneel before her."

That voice! The woman from earlier.

"Do it before she decides to destroy you." He heard her say.

Without questioning it, he bowed before her. Olga seemed confused by this action.

"Submitting to my authority? I haven't even shown you the extent of what I am capable of." Olga said.

She held the staff aloft. A surge of electricity zaps Tepu and sends him flying backwards. He crashed into the ground. He writhed in pain.

"Orcs, take him away to the dungeons." Olga said.

"W-Wait… the fighting must… must end…"

"Oh the fighting will end. That I can assure you." Olga said.

The orcs grabbed him as Tepu was losing consciousness.

Olga watched as they dragged the Indri away. She could still feel it. Her magic was declining. Even with the Citadel feeding her magical energy, she could tell that her magic was beginning to decline. Soon enough, she won't be able to cast spells like the one she had just casted. She needed to find a way to at slow the decline down so that she'll have enough time to work out a solution to her conundrum.

She had to keep the embers of her magic lit. She had to.

A/N: And so ends another chapter.

The Ten Heruka

I mainly used Tibetan names for the Heruka. Some of their characteristics are references to Final Fantasy and based on the element they represent. Maha for example, is a fiery oni-like Heruka who fights because that is what he loves the most. He is ruthless and bloodthirsty in the heat of battle. Since he represents the element of fire (as most of his abilities operate on the principles of heat and fire), he is war-like and will not bow down to anyone, but will exhibit a strong sense of justice as his fayth was once a soldier who refused to let injustice get the better of him and his people. He is based on Ifrit, a summon in Final Fantasy.

Since the Heruka are fierce deities, they are unimaginably powerful and are experienced in battle. Some like Maha are unparalleled in close quarters combat due to physical strength, speed and endurance. Some like Rapten know how to amplify their magic capabilities to the point where they can not only manipulate the element they represent, but also generate it seemingly at will. Some will have great amounts of intellect and can even come up with complex strategies.

Tepu and the Indri

Tepu is basically a monk, albeit a warrior monk with an axe. The pilgrimage he embarks is a journey across the mountains to collect the Heruka and then bring them to Eostia and use them to bring about peace by restoring order. The Indri choose whomever among them they deem worthy on going on this journey ever 100 years. As explained in the Prologue, Braska, Tepu's father, went on this great pilgrimage, only to then die for his beliefs as all Indri who partake in the pilgrimage will inevitably do when they reach the final step of the pilgrimage. Some of the practices of the Indri are references to real-world religions. They are allowed to kill anything they deemed to be 'wicked and full of sin' (i.e Demons). However, the rules change when it comes to killing people.

1. Children are out of the question since the Indri deem children to be precious and that they are incapable of committing sin.

2. Women are out of the question as well since the Indri deem women to be needed for the birth of children and to help men find love and peace within themselves.

3. Men however are fair game in the case that said men have committed a horrible act (basically murdering an innocent person or committing rape), harm children and/or women, betraying the people by lying to them, breaking really important promises, or by serving the interests of the individual over the interests of the people as the Indri deem men to be liable to sin and therefore precautions must be made against potential sinners.

With animals, it is better to trap them and then pray for the animal's forgiveness before killing it and using the meat as food.

The monks are taught on how to defend themselves from attackers and learned how to use magic and various fighting styles. For that reason, Tepu knows well enough how to use his axe and even how to fight with his fists in case he doesn't have a weapon.

Stay tuned for our next chapter!