Chapter 65
Origin of the War
The three of them, began running like they had no tomorrow, going towards the strange pillar of crimson light, spreading it's warmth throughout the island. The gleaming light pulsated, causing a very strange yellow essence onto the ground and anywhere that is the highest elevation. To them, it looked like a portal, pulsating only because of the souls coming through it, and they were highly curious to what they might see. They were already frantically dodging most of the leaves and branches, and with that still in action, they were able to get through it without having either a scratch or a cut from the thorns. Either way, they felt the pain running through the shrubbery.
Once they got into a opening, they were greeted with a very bright flash, and then the orbital pillar disappeared, with a burst of gushing wind. The sight came with a bunch of the Basalisks and Dragons, either being severed by the throat, or a huge gaping hole through their chests as blood gushed out of the wounds. There were multitude of them dead, including a strange red and green dragon, both who seems to had been trampled into the ground with a cut extending from their stomach to the bottom of their jaw. Both of the wounds were very deep, as they would all lay unconscious. Although, there was one, who limped and struggled while making his way towards them. He was unarmed, while he looked like one of the Basalisks from the point of the massacre. Suddenly, one by one, the corpses began turning black, and the scales became black as well, almost like the night sky. The surviving Basalisk limped on over still, with no sign of hostility.
He spoke with a very soft voice, as if he was very close to death himself, but he seemed to keep on going, no matter his status. "Please... help both of them..." He pleaded while dripping with the reddest blood that they ever seen. The wind began redirecting the trail of blood to start going right instead of down his scales, as he exerted cold air from his nose. "Both of them still have a living chance... Save them." He said.
"I thought the Sevawings had poison that could kill any living organism." Phaydera thought out loud. "We really do have a reputation for being high threat, like us killing the Sentients... destroying the humans, etc."
"Yeah, so if they have been stung by one of our own, how the heck do they have a living chance?" Feria asked. "I might be mostly a raptor, but the pipsqueak is right, we do have lethal poison."
He sighed, and picked them up himself, moving slowly, and moving away. He moved without a word, despite them asking repeatedly over and over again. Both of them were hung over his head, while his wounds were seeping blood, rendering a great pain. He grimaced for a moment, but then he got used to it, as if he could adapt instantly. Finally, he answered back to them, making sure that they could not attract attention because of their lack of knowledge. "Dragons seem to have a resistance to the poison... Something in them lets them live when it is injected, but passing out is still a thing." He said with a mild tone. "I thought you might've already knew it."
"Huh. Ytrian never told me that..." Phaydera stated quietly.
"Quickly, we do not have much time before he may come back..." The Basalisk said. " Agusi. The sentient is back."
"Agusi...? Wait a minute... Isn't that the chosen ones of Gentau?" Akaz questioned.
"Do you know this murderer?" He asked Akaz with a peculiar tone. The Basalisk's wounds began healing, as the blood would expel from his body with a huge pulse that traveled through the ground, and after, he looked like his normal self, not being so weak. He stood up with a newfound vigor, as if he had cured himself of all of the misfortunes that previously affected him. "If so, please, tell everything you can about him... That assassin must be stopped."
"I am so sorry... Strange reptili- sir. but I know nothing, except that may have a relation to Gentau." Akaz stuttered. "I just got here."
"Grrrkhh, wait. You arrived here at night? How did you-? I thought-" He said quickly and unintelligibly, while frantically stepping around. He began stammering like Akaz once did, but this time, he was really confused, and at the same time, randomly stomping the ground, causing both Feria and Phaydera to get sent up into the air due to them being not so attached to the ground. With each second, he grew a bit more impatient, and became angrier with each step. Soon, he began ramming Akaz, but it did not work, as he was just knocked back while sliding with his feet.
"Not as in I just got here right now, but I got here in the morning, while the island was still above the ocean." Akaz clarified whilst preparing for another one of the Basalisk's headbutts. "Another Sevawing from the Sevaeric helped me through these parts, and now I ended up here."
He let his guard down, with his mind urging him to extend his request even further. "You can just call me Teba." He said, crawling low to the surface of the ground, waiting for the time when dawn should break. He slithered away from the scene, and disappeared from sight within a quick second, and all they could see was the trees, grass, the corpses of huge lizards, and themselves. Feria then lowered her guard again, until Teba bellowed, letting them know that they might see him later. His voice echoed throughout the island, disturbing the flying birds from their habitat within a hundred yards. His voice also shook the trees and anything loosely connected to the ground.
Akaz was kind of surprised, because when Rhenka did that in the old days, it would also do that, but on a much larger scale, like almost a moderate intensity earthquake. Feria told them to warn the Sevawings; making sure that they all know that the assassin was back. The Suspicion in Feria's mind wanted to take her hate from the Sevaeric to the Sevawings, despite her being part Sevawing herself. If there was one thing that she would hate about this island, is that there was the constant sound of explosions, the screaming, and the thought of at least two souls dying per second.
The rising question in Akaz's head, was that this strange name, the alias of the assassin goes by Agusi, which was the name of Gentau's so called chosen ones way before it's fall hundreds of years later. This assassin sounded like on of the highly trained ones, unlike himself, who shunned away each and every request for a private teaching, either way, they would force it. "We had multiple reports of him getting murders, a little... sloppy with each kill." Ytrian said. "People got a very clear sight of him, calling him out as a strange yellow Sevawing, with a very strange preference of killing without silencing them first." Ytrian continued on while Akaz belated his attention to her. He quickly found out what he or she might've did during those imperfect assassinations. He probably used his claw first, slashing their legs while there was somebody around, and then stung the target with ease.
Although, that strategy was very peculiar, but at the same time, almost the same to one of the lessons in silent kills, and covering your tracks, since some of the Agusi conquered entire territories because of a overwhelming stealth. Although it seemed like him, he never did that, he would never take a life without a great reason, and if not, it would need to be one of his strongest enemies. So who did it? It was like there was a reject upon the Sevawing's side, going to battle without permission, and keeping his identity well kept.
"I am going back to our home." Ytrian and Phaydera said in succession. They both left, leaving Akaz all alone to brave out the eternal war, and to worry about an assassin that has been here, successfully putting the intended targets out of their misery. This, made him feel quite angered by the helplessness of the inhabitants of the island, leaving them for dead and not doing anything about it. Although he thought that there was still a great chance that Ytrian was going to be warned about this combination of new and old threat. He knew he could not just stand there, waiting for other tribes to come and seize him, especially the Basalisks, or maybe even the sentients, since Equinox left their territory before he was born.
Minute by minute, the time passed as he regretfully walked through the dense forest of Giha, wishing that someone would be with him. The light made him uncomfortable, because of the light making him visible to the others, as they might go and kill him as well once he is seen. It would not be too late to try and get back home now, but what if the Sevaeric put him out of his misery? It felt like he was getting trapped in one corner, being surrounded by four sides, and they all hated each other, but one of them had a lesser hatred, and could take them all out without even trying. There was nothing he could do, there was a dense army that has the humans over his head, another side that they will kill him on sight, why should I be tortured like this? He thought in his mind.
He kept on walking, and occasionally climbing around the trees because of the traps that were carefully placed on the ground. He did this until he finally stopped at a point where he would be completely shrouded in darkness, and the only light that remained, was the glowworms and the plants with a bright essence. A blue light shone across his entire body, as well as the surrounding environment. He knew that he was now surrounded by a bunch of trees, but there was a high chance someone was here, and if so, he was waiting for just the right moment to strike. Akaz did not forget to never let his guard down, but either way, if this assassin has been surviving this long in a technical war zone between four factions, that would mean that he has experienced dealing with each one, regardless of their caliber.
"Must... prevent outsiders!" An unknown voice bellowed beneath the overwhelming sounds of creatures dying and the crackling of the fire. Suddenly, without warning, came a egg, that rolled and rolled o, until it bumped against Akaz's tail. He noticed it by how it hit it in such a awkward position, at the end of his tail. He became surprised, disregarding the strange voice that must've been talking about it. There were two possible choices he could make at this predicament that he walked into, as he thought about it. It was either risk himself to try and save the unborn child, or leave and try to recognize him from afar. He did not have much time, as the stranger got closer, and began mumbling, so he tried what his partner did a while ago, wrapping the egg around his tail, and attempting to conceal it, but it was too late, as the Sevawing pounced out of the shadows.
Akaz saw the stranger's creepy face, as it was without blemish, and his claws looked like he had just sliced something to death a few seconds ago. The fresh blood frightened Akaz, while he backed up, fearing for his life. Then he had an idea, and a particular strange one as well, as he shot a fiery fume of flames above them, burning the leaves, and letting in the light from the sun. The ground and both of them were now perfectly visible, and then, without fail, he quickly prepared so that he may fly away, and hopefully not get chased down by the Sevawing. To him, Agusi looked so familiar, just like Rhenka, but then what revealed him right away, was both of his eyes, that had a green flame within both of them. The stranger, having troubling thoughts ran away, afraid that he would catch him, and when he did look back, he saw the wings of his son.
"Rhenka!?" Akaz called out, as he retreated quickly into the dense forest.
