THEY LAY down on the ground, looking up at the night sky. The stars seemed to fade away from their eyes while the cold of the breezing wind touched their skin. Around them, the silence was deafening. They could hear each other calm breathing. Xurden didn’t know for how long they stayed quiet. They only admired the serene scene above them. Yric broke the silence after a while. “How are the things there?” the young boy asked without turning his head. “It’s the same,” Xurden said to him. “Nothing had changed ever since I left.” He didn’t tell him about acquiring the seat from his older brother. But he felt like Yric sensed it, which was shown in his next words. “Even in your family?” Yric lay down on his side. The younger boy stared at his face. Xurden also did the same, meeting Yric’s questioning eyes. He hesitated for a second, but when he thought there was no point if he would hide it from him, he finally spoke about them. “Why do you ask?” he said to him first. “I just want to k
THE STORM had stopped on the mountaintops, making everything clear in Yric’s eyes from where he was standing at the mouth of the cave. All he could see was the thick snow that wouldn’t melt all year long. He was wearing thick fur to fight the surrounding cold. He left Xurden asleep inside his old house because he was waiting for his servants to arrive. Just as he was thinking about them, he could see movements below a hundred meters away from him. He saw his three servants climbing up the slope. All of them were wearing dark coats. When Tear waved his hand, he walked out of the cave and slid down toward his servants without using a tool to make his slide smooth. He used his body effectively and arrived in front of the three that stopped climbing.“You better have good news for me,” he told the three as he stood up. He removed the snow which clang on the fur.The three looked at each other before Drop spoke up. “We’re very sorry. Celestro escaped the dungeon,” the demon said and quickl
Xurden woke up from his sleep feeling refreshed on the side of the bed. His hand immediately looked for Yric while his eyes were still closed. But he didn’t feel him. He could only grab the empty sheet next to him. When he realized the younger boy wasn't there, he got up in a rush and got off the bed. He moved his eyes around the room, looking for a sign of the younger boy. Unfortunately, there was no sign of Yric, which made him worry. A second later, he closed his eyes, heightening all his senses. But he didn’t sense him even a bit. In the end, he accepted the reality that Yric wasn’t there on the mountain.As he was about to go out of the room, he noticed a note on the small table beside the bed. He picked it up after reading the message that Yric left for him. His forehead furrowed because of what Yric wrote on it. The message made him frustrated. Yric went on with his plan facing Veronica without bringing him along. Now that he was in that situation, alone in the mountain, he wou
They all got into the car as the traffic got heavier. The loud honking of cars never stopped ringing in his ears. The side mirrors almost rubbed together in that traffic jam. His servants sat down on his left while he remained on the other side. Arasia took the passenger’s seat quietly and Jake concentrated on driving. The silence inside the car didn’t last long. Sebastian couldn’t hold his mouth. His servant turned his attention to him. “Boss, why are you with him?” Sebastian asked. Jake heard clearly who was in front. Xurden observed the questioning look of his servant. “It’s because of her,” he answered. He moved his head a little toward the goddess. W “Are they together?” Sebastian said next. Xurden didn’t expect that Sebastian would say those words. He forgot Sebastian’s mind ran differently. His servant’s imagination could be wild sometimes. The moment that one question entered Arasia’s ear, she turned around with a frown on her face. She stared at Sebastian before she spo
Xurden woke up in a searing pain drilling his head. The moment he opened his eyes, he found himself in the very middle of the dome underground. They tied his hands in golden chains attached to two dark pillars, making his wrist numb and burned. His skin had now red wounds. At the brief movement he made, he winced crazily. He couldn’t think of a way to free himself because the chains had drained all of his strength.He moved his head to look around, only to find nothing. He was alone and all he could see were the dark corners of the dome that the light of the torches stuck on the walls couldn’t reach. The runes written on the floor beneath were noticeable as they glowed in red. He understood what was really happening. The demon planned on taking over his body using that ceremony.He turned his head to the right when dark smoke appeared a few inches away from him. In that smoke, Jake came out and walked toward him. Every step the professor took seemed different to his eyes. When he stud
The deity disappeared in a blink of an eye and appeared in front of him only a few inches away. He quickly blocked the attack with his sword, putting strength in the blade. The powerful punch of the deity touched his sword, creating a sound wave. Their clash turned the entire room into chaos, making the ceiling fall and breaking the walls. He pushed the deity harder, but the deity wouldn’t even budge even a little. He then sent his ice from his sword, starting with the hand to freeze the deity. His enemy was also fast to respond. The deity raised his other free hand, transforming his fingers into a sharp blade. When he realized the deity was about to stab him to the side, he stepped back to dodge.Fortunately, he escaped death as he stood alert. To calm his nerve, he took a deep breath. From that moment on, it would not be easy facing the deity. He had to put everything in one attack to defeat him. If he let the fight longer, he would only get tired. With that thought in mind, he held
He touched his head violently to deny the reality. His mind had stopped working. He couldn’t think of anything else other than the fading body of Yric. They both expected that there would be death. What he didn’t predict was the outcome of his fight with the deity.Once again, he questioned himself about being a god. He was a powerful god, but he failed to protect the most special person in his life. Yric and he didn’t get to spend a lot of time with each other which made his feeling worst. He could feel the pain building in his chest, drilling his new heart. The result of the exchange formed different pain. Saying goody to goodbye to Yric really hurt him badly. It was a fact that he could not forget even to his own death.The two leaders looked down at him. The expressions in their eyes never changed even a bit. But they were full of judgment, searching for all mistakes that he did to add up the sin he had made. After a while, the king shifted his attention to the demon lord.“What i
A salty wind blew from his left, whistling through the houses lining that one side of the beach. By late afternoon, that wind would breathe cool air, carrying with it the stench of the mudflats. The waves had already calmed down, giving this serene feeling aligned to the horizon. From where he was sitting, on the balcony of his two-story house, he could see everything that was happening in the white sand. There was a group of men drinking under the shade of the umbrella. Next to those men was a family sitting on the soft sand with no mats under them. Aside from those people close to his house, other humans scattered along the beach, going on with their life while seagulls cried in the air just above.It wasn’t out of the ordinary that many people flocked to the beach, admiring the solemnity and beauty. The month of December brought a lot of visitors to different places. He was now used to it, seeing people ever since Yric died, and that sorrowful day happened four years ago. He adjust