Screams echoed throughout the kingdom.

The man was strangled in the air. Blue tentacles whipped through the buildings, crushing through everything in sight.

Why is this happening? What did I do?

I can't control these things. This needs to stop.

The man dug through the swarm of tentacles, trying to rip them apart, but instead, they spread across his fingers. They latched onto the side of the castle and slammed the man through the brick walls. They hurled the man back into the air, The ground splitting apart from the giant holes they ripped through the crust. Citizens ran for their lives as shops and trees were pulled out of the dirt and thrown around, some were already killed.

Right after, Kade bolted out of the debris, directly at the man. The tentacles lunged through the air, dragging the man beside them until they grasped an entire building and slammed it against Kade, sending him falling down into the piles of rocks and planks. Red tendrils flashed through the air as Lloyd flew toward the man. The tentacles swung toward Lloyd like bombs dropping down from a plane, and before he could escape the tentacles punctured through his body, leaving several bleeding holes in his chest. Kade lunged and grabbed the man's back. He grabbed the syringe and once again tried to inject it into the man.

"NO! K-kade…it's too dangerous…I can't-can–" The man tried to say.

Cracks of lightning snapped through the man's arms and body. From every vein and bone tentacles ripped out his skin and jettisoned through the demolished buildings surrounding the area, like several dozen blades had stabbed him. The man shrieked in agony as blood poured out from the cuts. The surge of energy blasted Kade off into the air and back to the ground.

"NO! don't h-hurt him!" The man wailed.

The tentacles dug through the debris until they snatched Kade, slamming his body into the ground and some buildings that were still intact. Kade tried to cut through them but every time he did another latched onto him. The tentacles rapidly threw Kade back onto the ground. All of the tentacles wrapped together into a giant arc of blue and lunged directly at Kade.

He's going to die

He's going to die

He's going to die

The man used all his power to not let the tentacles hit him, every second they inched closer. Kade struggled to get up and escape, and all the man could do is watch and try to not let it hit.

He's going to die, and it's all my fault.

How did things go so wrong?

From the distance, a sudden ear-piercing roar echoed throughout the area. The smell of smoke filled the sizzling air as the sky turned a burnt orange. From in front of the sun, a giant feathered dragon, its wings arced across the sky and shone a bright crimson red that melted into gold and emerald green accents. The tentacles quickly turned away from Kade and toward the towering beast, which let out another roar. A giant cloud of fire bursted out of the dragon's mouth, incinerating the tentacles into black ash. The man's skin burned and sizzled, sending shocks of pain through his body. An array of flames circled through the dragon's body. The burning flames then launch at the man, each one crashing into his body and tentacles. The fire scorched through the man's muscle fibers, his limbs felt life withering away. The dragon glided into him and seized his body with its sharp talons.

The man's vision slowly fades to black, as he'd carried through the air. Kade laid on the ground, coughing up blood with his legs and arms twisted. Lloyd was crushed over rubble, barely moving with several holes punched through his chest. Dozens of civilians lay dead over the demolished city.

What…have…I…

Done.


Laurence…

A dark rumbly voice echoed through the man's ears.

The man quickly woke up.

"What? Who said that?"

Me. I'm in your mind. Thank Xeroc you're still alive.

"Wait, you're in my mind? Who are you? What are you doing here?!"

The questions you are asking are completely irrelevant at this point in time. You've been asleep for several hours Ren, they've locked you up.

Ren? the man thought. Do you mean me? Is that my name, Laurence?

Yes.

He looked around. The walls were bolted with metal plates and in front of him was an energy-like barrier blocking the opening. The man walked up toward the barrier.

Don't touch that, it'll give you a deadly electrical shock.

He gently landed a finger over the blue light, and pain surged through his hand followed by a loud crack.

What did I tell you? The voice called.

No. Wait. I've felt this before. When those tentacles burst out it burned the same way as this, but way harder. I might be able to cross without getting seriously hurt. The man thought.

That's a stupid idea, the voice said.

It could work. He thought.

The man took a deep breath and attempted to push across the barrier. The noise of cracking energy filled the room, arcs of electricity zapped through and into his skin, leaving his whole body in pain. The barrier pushed him out the other end, laying on his back while energy still arced around his body.

Don't ever do that again. The voice said.

Lesson learned. The man replied.

He took a quick glance around his forearms and legs– the veins were glowing brighter than ever as energy pulsated through his fingertips and out as electrical arcs.

Woah, He thought.

The man quietly snuck through the empty corridors. More prison cells were built into the walls, but all were empty. Walking through the halls felt like a maze. Each turn made him question if he was stuck in a loop. He walked through another set of halls, and then something in one of the cells caught his eye. The man stopped and lurched closer to the inside of the cell. An arrow was carved through the steel walls pointing at the middle hall in the next cross-path. He did what the sign told and went through the middle path. The walls were made of orange brick without any cells built in. overgrown vines slithered and wrapped through the crevices. The hall stopped at a door with a circular plate in the center; Pictures of more dragons were carved in the stone.

Maybe I should push this…

He gently pushed the plate into the door and it split into symmetrical pieces and slowly moved into the walls like a grindstone. A sudden wave of dust wafted out the room followed by fluttering wingbeats. Through the door frame, a massive room stood in his path. Several gilded pedestals sat scattered around the floor, each one holding a certain weapon or artifact.

A vault.

In the middle of the room stood a circular flight of stairs that ran up to 3 bigger pedestals, each holding a weapon with pride. One was a gray and blue bow covered with an ethereal purple aura, the 2nd one was a huge red and green sword with a crescent moon edge, and the 3rd was a shimmering blue crystal fixed into a gilt frame. He snuck closer to the crystal, it seemed to call for him.

Suddenly, the faint noise of shoes tapping on the ground caught his ear.

Somebody is coming, quickly, hide behind the sword until they're gone.

The man did what he was told and ducked behind the sword. 2 figures opened the opposite door and walked through the vault while conversing loudly to each other.

"Can't believe the lord still wants that thing alive." figure 1 said.

"Have you heard what he did? Half of the city is crushed into ashes with more than 100 dead." Figure 2 replied.

"Nothing that lethal should ever step ground over this kingdom."

Don't let them get to you. This was never your fault. The voice reminded him.

The 2 figures soon exited the door and headed toward the prison cells.

They've headed to guard the cells, and soon they'll notice you're gone.

The man pushed himself off the floor and fled for the back door. Behind the door were more spiraling mazes. Faces were carved in the orange brick walls, each one watching him as he snuck through the halls. Atop the unlit ceiling, he caught glimpses of more eyes looking down on him. The torches faded from regular orange flames to now flashing deep red. a siren rung in the background as the stampede of footsteps stormed forward.

They know you're gone, Ren. The voice said.

What do I do?

run.

He bolted across the corridors, unaware of where he was going. He just had to stay away from them as much as possible. The footsteps and siren grew louder and louder. Half of the time he couldn't see anything with the flashing red lights. From the corner of his eye, he saw a figure at the start of the corridor catch him.

"HE'S HERE!" The figure shouted.

Before he could turn his head, a huge crowd of guards formed behind him. A vine caught against his shoes and almost tripped, but he managed to flee the cluster of guards they caught up. The hall slowly shrunk down in size until it lead to an opening. The man soon realized he was running across a wooden rope bridge, and beneath him was an enormous hole. He glanced behind and the guards were still chasing him, but running at a slower pace. Suddenly, the boards he was standing on cracked. Before he could blink his eyes the entire bridge snapped in half as he fell down into the hole.


Weapon: (no weapon)

Armor: (no armor)

Accessories: Eidolist cape (CalVan)