Tales From Idri'Aniss: Divine Ascendant

“Wake up, boy!” Tempus heard as a sharp pain erupted on his left cheek. His eyes fluttered open as he shot up, his hands jumping to his chest where he had been cut. Strangely, his armor was torn open but there was no wound on his chest. He moved his hands down to his lap and noticed they were covered in blood.

“Look at me, boy!” a man shouted at him. “What happened here? Did you do this?”

That was when Tempus realized he had woken from one nightmare into another. The man in front of him was dressed in plate mail, the insignia of the Baron etched into the chest. He held a large sword on his left shoulder and his right hand was raised and glowing.

“If you lie, I will know. Tell me you didn’t do this, boy!”

“I… No, sir… I didn’t… I would never do something like this.”

The man stared at him a moment longer, then visibly relaxed. “Good. Do you know what happened?”

Tempus explained what had happened to him. The man nodded as he explained, seeming to mostly believe him.

“I don’t know what you saw, boy. You must have had a small bit of mana in you to see through an invisibility spell like that. You should talk to your parents about training it. Anyway, run along and tell your parents what happened. I’ll talk to the others. Your healing ability is either astonishing or what happened overwhelmed you so much you thought you were hurt. Either way, you’re safe now. You get home.”

“I… Yes, sir.” Tempus stammered out before walking outside and bolting home.

A few weeks passed, and just when Tempus thought things had gone back to normal, it happened again. He saw a Demon. No death this time; it just followed a woman around town. He saw more and more. The first few times, he had gone to find his father and dragged him to the people with demons following them. Every time, his father would truly try to see what he did but couldn’t. Eventually, every person in town aside from himself had a creature following them. Each one looked more and more disgusting than the last.

The one that followed his father around had its lower half obscured in some kind of cloud and its upper body grotesquely bent to stare at his father’s head as it salivated. Its arms were thick at the top but skeleton-thin from the wrist to its fingertips. It used these to hold itself at the lowest part of the waist as if that was how it supported itself.

The creature that followed his mother looked like a woman from behind, long wet black hair falling to the ground over a slight form that was covered by a white sack-like dress. However, its face was hollow, and blood spilled out of it onto the floor every time it moved.

He spent a lot of time in his room, away from everyone and everything. He couldn’t take it anymore. He started to draw what he was seeing, trying to illustrate what he saw, hoping someone would see the drawings and finally see the horrors he did. It didn’t help; his parents looked at him with such concern when he tried to talk to them again. Everyone thought he was losing his mind.

It was a week after that another person died while he was around. A young girl, about twelve, being followed by a small demon that looked like a tiny human. Its fingers were tipped with abnormally long thin claws. He saw it and looked intensely at the girl and shouted for her to run when the thing sliced into her like a butcher’s knife into a cow. She fell to the ground in pieces as he watched. A group of people had heard him shout and came running around the corner as the girl fell. Enraged, they chased him home and swore at his father until he calmed them.

As they left, Alden turned to Tempus. “What is going on, son?”

He said nothing, tears welling up in his eyes as he turned and ran inside to his room, slamming the door shut.

One day, Tempus heard a group of people approaching the house. He could hear their footsteps as their large group marched up the street. Angry shouting and roars of hatred reached his ears.

“Bring him out here, Alden!”

“We know he is the one doing all of this!”

“You need to kill that thing you call a son!”

“Damned fiend he is!”

Tempus’s heart pounded in his chest as he peeked out the window. The mob outside was growing larger and more aggressive by the second. His father stood on the front lawn, trying to reason with them.

“My son is sick, people. He didn’t do this to your family and friends,” his father shouted, his voice strained with desperation.

“Then why does he always seem to be around when people die?” a man shouted back, his face contorted with rage.

“Yeah!” A large portion of the group shouted in agreement, their voices a cacophony of anger and fear.

“Just listen, people…” His father tried to speak, but the outrage of the group was deafening. They were beyond reason, their eyes wild with fury.

Tempus felt a cold sweat break out across his forehead. He could see the hatred in their eyes, the way they gripped their makeshift weapons. They wanted blood, and they were convinced he was to blame.

Everyone grew silent a moment later, staring at his father in confusion.

“What?” Alden said, looking around at the sudden quiet.

Tempus’s blood ran cold as he saw the Demon who followed his father open its mouth to an unnatural size and chomp down over his head down to his waist.

“NO!” Tempus screamed out the window as his father’s lower half fell to the ground like an empty sack of potatoes. The sight was horrifying, the blood pooling around his father’s lifeless body.

Everyone began to scream as it seemed more and more of them could see the demons that were walking in their footsteps. Panic and chaos erupted as each demon began to kill the person they followed, whether they ate them or simply cut them to pieces. The air was filled with the sounds of tearing flesh and agonized screams.

Tempus felt paralyzed with fear, his body trembling uncontrollably. He watched in horror as the demons tore through the crowd, their grotesque forms moving with terrifying speed and precision. The smell of blood and death filled the air, making him gag.

He stumbled back from the window, his mind racing. He had to get out of there, but where could he go? The world outside had turned into a nightmare, and he was at the center of it. The fear and horror he felt were overwhelming, threatening to consume him entirely. The chill he had felt that first day in the market had been constant since and now felt more intense than ever.

That was when he heard it, a scream unlike any other. He raced down the stairs to see his mom standing over the demon that had followed her. She stood over it, spear in hand, panting. She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep calming breath. Then her eyes snapped open, and she looked at her son.

“I… I’m sorry I ever doubted you Tempus. Grab your pack and all your gear. Put your armor on and we will head out. We need to help who we can and run. Go!” She spat out.

“But… da… he…” He tried to tell her.

“I… I saw son. We can mourn later. Right now we need to survive and help who we can.”

“Okay, ma.” He straightened up and took a deep breath of his own before running back upstairs to grab his gear.

They ran down the main road as a cacophony of screams surrounded them. Fire partially consumed the town and large winged creatures flew through the sky screeching. Tempus’s head spun as he tried to take it all in. He couldn’t believe this was happening. That was when he heard it. A roar so loud his eardrums burst. He could feel blood pool up in them then run down his neck. He couldn’t hear anything anymore.

Tempus watched as a goliath of a creature stormed down the main thorough fair right at them. Horned with a grotesquely disfigured face, the beast was larger than life. It stood at least fifteen feet tall and its skin red as blood. This had to be the creature that roared.

It barreled through those that were frozen and still alive in the street. Launching them away from it as it swung its massive, clawed hands in front of itself. He felt stuck in place. This had to be a nightmare. He looked to his mother as she shouted at him, though he couldn’t hear her he could see what she was saying.

Run!

He turned with her as she grabbed his hand and they both began running through a side street away from the creature. It passed behind them still destroying everything in sight, tossing debris all around including at them.

They ducked down another side street and ran as fast as they could to no avail. At the end was a group of grotesque creatures and, in the center of them all was the creature he had almost lost his life too. It turned in their direction and smiled a toothy grin, its teeth all seeming to have been filed to a point.

“Hello again little hero. I’ve been waiting for you.” It said as it stepped away from the rest. “You know? You played your part well. Everyone thought you had lost your mind and started hurting people. Thanks for giving us the time we needed.”

“What…” Tempus started.

“What do I mean?” the demon replied as a sneer grew on its face. “We needed time to create the ritual circle. I’ll let you in on a little secret, since you both die anyway. How do you think demons are created? It’s not the disgusting way you humans procreate. It’s more elegant. We taint the souls of the creatures of this world, and they become demons. Its agonizingly painful and thorough. There is nothing left of the person that’s been changed. But we had to make a lot more than usual to fill out our ranks. So here we are with you taking the fall for our work as we created our circle around the town. Now you all just need to die.”

“Why would you do that?” his mother asked.

“Who is this…” it licked its lips with an elongated forked blue tongue “…scrumptious creature with you boy?”

Tempus didn’t even think about what he was doing when he stepped in front of his mother and drew his sword.

“Tempus, what are you…” His mother began.

“This again? So, you’re going to protect her are you. Hahahaha!” It laughed before disappearing and reappearing right in his face. “How do you suppose you’ll do that?” It asked before raising a clawed hand and batting him away.

Tempus felt like every organ in his body burst along with every bone shattering as he slammed into the side of a building and was launched through it. He hit several walls before finally coming to a stop several blocks away. He quivered and then vomited blood. It gushed out of his mouth and covered his front. He could barely see but when he slowly raised his head he saw his mother fighting with the demon. Her spear swiped and jabbed at it in quick succession. He couldn’t believe it, but she was keeping up with the demon. The fury on her face said it all, she was angrier than he had ever seen.

Then he saw the demon laugh maniacally and bolt at her claws raised and he knew that would be it. Something inside him bloomed, warm and reassuring. His body didn’t hurt anymore, and his vision turned crystal clear. He felt as though time had slowed to a crawl. He stood, blade still in his hand and bolted over towards his mother and the demon. Sword raised, he sliced down on the demon’s hand and severed it. Then time returned to its normal pace as the demon slashed down with its now stub of an arm and splattered blood on his mother instead of hurting her. The creature flew back, a confusion plain on its face as it stared at the stub of an arm then looked at him.

“How…” It began.

“How did…” his mother began as well.

“Mm, It matters not.” The creature grunted. A red glow surrounded its severed arm and then it instantly grew back.

Tempus and his mother stood in astonishment as they watched the demon’s arm reform. It began to cackle when it saw the looks on their faces.

“Did you think it would be that easy? No. And now, play time is over.” It dashed forward, snatching his mother’s spear from her hands and circling behind her in one smooth motion. Then it shoved the spear through her upper back and out of her abdomen into the ground. Blood spurted from her mouth as she grabbed the haft of the spear and tried to push off it to no avail.

“Perish in agony.” The creature sneered as it turned its back to them and began to walk away.

“Temp…” She tried to say but couldn’t form the word. She let go of the spear with one hand and reached out towards him “R… run.” She said “I… I love you, son.” She smiled as the light of her eyes dimmed and they glazed over.

Tempus stared at his mother. The woman who had raised him with kindness and love now stood lifeless, impaled with her own spear after trying to protect him. He stared as the demon reached its cronies, grabbed something then started walking towards him. It slowly made its way in front of him but he never took his eyes off his mother.

“I was going to tear you apart in front of her but she had some spice to her. Now I’ll just take the core I sensed in your bag…” He held the magic stone his father had given him in front of his face. “…and put that inside you. This will make you a rather powerful demon. How fortunate for…” The demon didn’t have the chance to finish what he was saying.

Tempus held the demon’s wrist in a firm and crushing grip. His eyes aglow with a bright purple light as something in him grew. It was powerful. It made him feel like an over filled water skin ready to burst at the brim. Then the demon screamed as Tempus crushed his wrist completely. It was a terrifying screech, like the screams of a thousand souls. The bright purple light of his eyes surrounded him entirely and began to move out from him. Everything in sight disintegrated when the light touched it, and nothing escaped as it enveloped his entire surroundings. It then continued to slowly but surely envelope the entire town past its borders and high into the sky, destroying everything.

Then faster than it had gone out, it snapped back to Tempus, and he fell to the ground unconscious.

Purple, green, gold and silver lights danced in front of Tempus. He didn’t understand where he was, but it did not feel like he was awake. The darkness that the lights swirled through was all consuming and he heard a faint noise but couldn’t make it out. Then it snapped to him, and he heard a voice saying;

Beyond Earth, Beyond Divine. This human is benign. Now here in your darkest hour, you shall know true Power. Awaken, Ascendant.

A cacophony of noise, bright lights and overwhelming smells assaulted his senses. Along with pain he could feel all over his body and a brutal headache knocking at his mind. For a moment he lay in place battered by all his senses in agony. They slowly started to fade as he concentrated and breathed slowly.

First, he listened to the noises around him. The rustling of trees and bushes blown by the wind carrying the scent of dirt and plant life. He opened his eyes to see the brilliant green leaves of trees and plants that surrounded him. The cool dirt floor he laid on felt more intensely grain like than he remembered dirt feeling. The air was thick with scents he didn’t understand and the colors of everything were not only brighter but there were colors he didn’t have words for and had never seen.

The odd sensation reminded him of something his mother had told him growing up. They were the side effects of one who had gained their twinned soul. Had he somehow attained his? That was when the memories of the past days came slamming back into his mind. The overwhelming events leading up to the attack of the demons and his parents deaths.

He laid back down on the ground and curled up into a ball. Remembering how his father had died and the scene of his mothers death playing over and over in his head. He cried, how long he lay there he didn’t know. How he had survived and how he had gotten to where he was confused him more than anything at the moment and he decided to focus on where he was. If he had his bag he could just look at the mana map his father had given him last year.

He sat back up and wiped the tears from his eyes. Then stood and looked around more thoroughly. He saw his pack lying about five yards away along with some cobblestone rubble. That was when he realized, he had to have been teleported from town to this forest. It was the only explanation he could think of with the evidence he had. He and his bag along with some of the street he had been on were teleported away from town when that bright explosion had happened.

Thinking of that made him realize something else. That had been his power awakening. Somehow, he had gained his second soul and teleported himself here and killed the demons in the area with his soul awakening. Good, he would grab his things and head back home.

He grabbed his pack and pulled out the map before throwing it back on his shoulders. He had could not find his sword however, though his bow was still attached to his pack. He looked at the map, it was called a mana map because it had been fused with some mana by its creator. This allowed the bonded owner to see there position, the wind strength, their direction and the condition of there surroundings. That was why he stood in place, his mouth ajar in sheer confusion as he realized there was only a crater on the map where his town should be.

“Did I do that?”

It must be wrong! There’s no way! He knew it wasn’t but that didn’t stop him from walking that direction. A small spark of hope still lingered and he knew if he didn’t see it for himself he would always wonder if the map had been wrong. No, he needed to go and see for himself.

As he made his way back towards Oakhaven, his mind raced. What did this mean for him? If he truly was alone now, what should he do? Should he just move on? Should he mourn? Try to find help? What could anyone do about it?

All of these questions and more ran through his head as he trudged through the forest towards his home. When he finally emereged from the forest he saw it. Just as it had been on the map, the entire town was gone and only a sloped crater remained in its place. He fell to his knees and wept once more.

“Why!” he shouted as he pounded the ground with a fist. “Why us? What was the point?” tears ran down his face. He didn’t know what else to do. So, he wallowed for a while. Then, out of pure instinct, he began to set up a fire and lay his bed roll out near it. He crawled under his blanket and wept himself to sleep.

Tempus awoke the next day and stared at the crater for a few minutes before packing up and heading for the cliff he and his father always visited on their hunts. The long trek took him most of the morning. Finally there he searched for a large flat stone. He found one and returned to the cliffside. Tempus, over the course of a few hours, carved the names of his parents and all the names of those he could remember into the stone.

His hands began to bleed but he never stopped until he couldn’t remember anyone else. Then he buried the stone halfway in the ground, standing up right at the edge facing away from the cliff. He wouldn’t allow any to be forgotten. He sat there staring at the stone for a while before he finally stood, dawned his pack and began his trek back into the forest.

He had made up his mind, he would travel and try to find more information about demons. How they worked and how he could kill them. With his new powers he would wreak havoc on them all. As soon as he figured out how to use them.