~Ashmael Empire~
The round public square was surrounded by brick houses that were of different sizes and structures. At the center of the square were erected gallows, Many townspeople that gathered at the plaza were waving their fist in the air and threw stones toward the gallows and the five figures on it as they yelled angrily, “ Blasphemy! ”“ What a disgrace” “ How dare you go against the temple of our dear Goddess Selena?” “ Burn them alive! ”One of the stones thrown hit Amaria's head, Amaria turned her head slowly away, but another stone hit her head. She groaned loudly as her eyes snapped open. She scanned her surroundings slowly, although her vision was blurry, she could still see people yelling and wondered why they were yelling.Amaria tried getting up, but her hands were tied tightly behind her back,“ what is this? Why am I tied up? ”, she looked at her side and saw her comrades were also tied up.“ Teresa? Elex? Dove? ” She mumbled, tears shimmered in her eyes, she was in pain; the fact that her comrades were also hurt, made her pain worse. She felt like she was forgetting something or someone.The townspeople began to give way for a man in long white Alb, a white stole hanged around his neck with a white chasuble to complete the clothing, on the white chasuble was a golden symbol of the Goddess Selene.“ The high priest is here, everyone give way,” A man said. The people gave way until he reached the front of the crowd. The priest washed his hand in a clean bowl of water and said,“ O Goddess Selene, bestow purity to thy hand, so it shall be cleansed from all enormity”, After saying his prayers, he finally turned to face Amaria.“ Amaria, That is your name, isn't it?” He asked.“ Let us go” Amaria begged and attempted to free herself, but it didn't work.“ You and your comrades know that it is a great sin to interact with Daemons or to even come in contact with one, right?” He asked again as he raised his right eyebrow and continued,“ but you travel with a Daemon ”. That's when Amaria finally noticed. ' Ammon? Where is he?! '“ Where is he? Where is Ammon? What did you do to him? ” She cried out with a hostile gleam in her eyes; her face warped with rage.“ We have not done anything to him , At least not yet. To answer your question, This Ammon you are so worried about is in a place best fitted for a low life like himself” The priest replied.“ You must release him, you must release us, if you kill us, everyone in this empire will die,” Amaria said. The priest shook his head slowly and turned to her. “ Is it true you and your comrades called the temple a lie? ” The priest proceeded, while he ignored everything she said. Amaria sough and retorted,“ you're asking like you don't know why? Like you don't know what's going on, I will continue to say it, the temple is a lie”“ Keep quiet! you sinful wretch” someone from the crowd yelled. “ you are in such a situation, and you dare to speak in such a manner? ” The Priest scoffed as he shook his head again. “ What's the commotion here? ” a tall man with a huge body build, he had long pitch-black hair and sharp hazel eyes, said with a raucous voice that echoed as everyone went silent. The priest had a smug look on his face as he watched the man walk in his direction. “ Alpha King Theon! These miscreants called the temple a lie” the priest said. “And they even travel with a daemon” someone from the crowd said. “ Despicable! ”'What do I do? If the werewolves are involved we are done for but since it's uncle he might hear me out. I hope.' Amaria thought as she pursed her lips. “ You do know this is a crime, right? so, why did you do it?” Theon asked. “ Uncle Theon, please, let us go, the world is in danger, if you don't let us go now, everyone will die, I swear on the Moon Goddess, this is no blasphemy but the truth” Amaria replied as she stared into his bright hazel eyes, with hopes that he would at least listen to her. Theon had an angry glower on his face and said, “ how many times have I told you not to ever address me as' uncle' but as 'your highness '?” Amaria felt a sickly lurch of disappointment as an empty laugh escaped from her chapped lips and mumbled to herself, “what was I thinking? Uncle will never be on my side, After the day he banished us... Ah! I should have known”. “ Your decision will be the final word, your highness,” The priest said. “ Bring the Daemon out of the Dungeon, we shall behead it,” Theon said with a dull expression. Amaria's eyes widened,' no, not Ammon'. “ No, I beg of you, please, do not behead him!” Amaria screamed. Theon turned sharply and roared, “ silence! How dare you? I was not done with giving out my order and yet you have the guts to interrupt ”Amaria bowed her head in shame as tears fell from her eyes , ' this is not right, I have to do something'“And the rest of them? ” The priest asked with a subtle grin on his face as he waited for Theon's judgment,“ Lock them up in the dungeon but behead that daemon first,” He said. “Yes sire, as you wish,” The priest said and bowed. Theon glanced at Amaria for a while, turned and began to walk away.Amaria, who had her neck bent downward, rose steadily from the ground and mumbled “ I won't let that happen”, she was in pain, but it didn't matter. Right now, she was boiling with rage.Theon turned to face her and asked,“ what did you just say?”. Amaria raised her head slowly to reveal her glowing blue orbs and growled,“ I said I won't let that happen! ”Over the towering cliffs was a decrepit, respected, and antique castle-like structure with four square towers, each with azure coated top, distributed in a seemingly random pattern, built-in for an ideal defense and bound by strengthened, vast walls made of grey stone and a sizeable gate with thick wooden doors. Within the Castle training yard, stood a fair maiden with long curly pitch-black hair, peering at the target with her dull pitch-black orbs. Her bow and arrow aimed at the target, she drew back her bow and let the arrow loose, and it drilled the target.A man with a huge build long pitch-black hair and sharp hazel eyes, in black leather armor and black leather boots with a blood stain Claymore, walked into the training yard. All the guards present there bowed and said, “Greetings, your highness Alpha King Theon”. Amaria rolled her eyes, took another arrow from her quiver, aimed at the target once again, drew the bow back, and let the arrow loose, but this time she missed the
Amaria met Theon at the Bailey, where different breeds of horses were kept. Theon climbed onto a Friesian,“ pick any one of your choices” the horse wanted to move, but he pulled the reins back making it halt. Amaria walked around and stared at the other horses,“ hurry and pick one, we don't have much time” Theon ordered, Amaria nodded and continued her search, she was about to pick a shire breed when she heard a nicker, she turned and saw a beautiful light grey colored horse, it was a Lipizzaner breed. The horse eagerly waited for her to walk towards its stall door as it nickered again, Amaria walked closer to it, and it blew air on her face, Amaria smiled and giggled as she pats it on its face.“ She's so pretty, I'm taking her,” Amaria said. ' This horse was owned by the former Alpha King, it didn't let me or any other person ride it but allowed Amaria,' Theon pondered, as he watched Amaria climb onto her horse, but he shrugged the thought off. “ Let's go,” he said as he made a cli
Two days later… They came to a halt, before them was an old sign with the words' welcome to Symar' written on it, The whole town was filled with snow.“ Snow … ” Teresa mumbled with a smile on her face. “ How did you know there was a shortcut? ” Elex asked.“ I studied a lot” Amaria replied,“ go” she ordered her horse as tortes toward the town, Then Elex and Dove followed. Standing at the entrance was a guard, he spotted them from afar and stood in the middle of the entrance. When Amaria reached the entrance, the guard unsheathed his sword and pointed it at Amaria.“ Who are you? And what is your business here? ” he said. Amaria sighed and brought out the crest of the Moonstone pack, the guard's eyes widened and yelled,“ thank the goddess, the Alpha King has finally sent someone to help us” Suddenly, everyone came out of their houses and stared at them with expressions full of hope.“ What does he mean by' finally '?” Teresa asked Amaria, and she replied,“ I do not know” An elde
She left the building and walked toward the kid. “ Hello, ” Amaria said to the kid with a smile on her face, the kid turned and stared at her with his sharp pale magenta orbs, as his long jet-black hair stirred with the wind. The sharp look in his eyes gave Amaria chills but she didn't stop. “ Here this is for you, take it” Amaria said again with the loaf of bread in her hand. The kid stared at her then at the loaf, Amaria was about to take his hand but he moved back, Amaria sighed and grabbed his hand gently and placed the bread in his hands. “ What's your name?” she asked as she crouched to his height, but he didn't reply. She sighed, stood up and removed the short cloak she was wearing, and put it around him. “ You need it more than I do,” she said and left. The kid's face reddened, as he snuggled into the cloak, leaned on the wall and ate the loaf of bread, “ It's suddenly very hot, ” he mumbled to himself. Night-time… Everyone locked their houses, no one roamed the streets
The gemstones join together to create one big gemstone and from that gemstone, a huge Daemon boar with a larger tusk standing on its two hoofs was formed. It glared down at them and growled.“ it grew bigger ” Teresa mumbled to herself.“ Yes, we can see that ” Dove replied, sarcastically. It glanced at Amaria, anger flashed through its eyes as it became more aggressive and charged toward her.' why is it coming towards me? ' Amaria mentally screamed. She turned sharply and began to run.“ whyy is it chasing Amaria? ” Dove asked, “ I don't know but we have to stop it before it destroys the town and kills Amaria,” Elex said. Dove scoffed and Teresa replied, “ Elex, did you see the size of that thing? We can't defeat it easily, that's a warrior Daemon boar, the strongest type of Daemon boar ever seen, we do not have the power.”“ You mean you do not have the power, right?” Dove said with a smirk on her face. Teresa sighed and rolled her eyes.“ Look Elex I'm sure we can take this thing
“ Let go! ” Dove yelled, Amaria let go of Dove and was about to sit on the ground, that's when Dove dashed toward Amaria and was about to attack Amaria with a blow but Amaria grabbed her hand, twisted it to her back and pinned her to the ground. “ I might not be able to transform into a werewolf nor use magic but I do know martial arts and how to use different types of weaponry, so never call me weak,” Amaria said with a sly smile on her face.“ Fine, just get off me,” Dove said, Amaria stood up and let her go.“ This isn't over, after we defeat that Daemon boar I challenge you to a duel,” Dove said, Amaria stared at her for a while and thought about it, Dove smirked and said, “ What? are you scared ”, Amaria smiled widely and said, “ What is there to be scared of? I accept your challenge ”“ hmph! Whatever, just stay hidden, I'm going to help… ” Dove said, before she could finish her sentence, Amaria shut her mouth by covering it with her hand because she heard a scream and it sounde
“ Hey! hybrid, are you okay? ” Teresa asked but He didn't reply. The only thing he could hear was 'worthless piece of shit! ', as it echoed repeatedly in his mind until Teresa tapped him on his shoulder and he came back to his senses.“ I asked if you were alright, ” Teresa asked again.“ no… yes, I'm fine let's go find them ” He stuttered, while he shook his head and led the way, Teresa nodded and followed.***The Daemon boar had already reached their spot but it couldn't find them because they hid behind the trees. “ So your plan is for you to distract it while we try to attack it from behind,” Elex asked with a puzzled look. Amaria nodded and replied,“ of course, if it doesn't know it's going to be attacked then there's a possibility .” “ Possibility of what? Of it dying? Amaria, are you even listening to yourself?” Dove whispered and facepalmed.“ We could give it a try,” Amaria replied. “ No, we can not because Elex and I couldn't even leave a scratch on its skin, ” Dove repli
This Mysterious figure tapped the feet of the Daemon boar and whispered, “ Horc, These are the commands your master has given to you, once you are done, you shall be free ” A red rune circle appeared on the forehead of the Horc. Horc is the name given to all Daemon boar specie. It is said that these Horcs are the weakest of the Daemon kind but with a little boost, they can surpass even a C-class five-star mage or swordsman. For someone like Amaria -who isn't a mage like Teresa and Dove nor a mana using swordsman like Elex - she wouldn't stand a chance with a Horc, boost or no boost. The Horc opened its bloodshot eyes and gazed directly at Amaria making eye contact with her. Amaria gulped as she felt the intense bloodlust aura coming from the Horc. It roared hysterically and charged toward her. The mysterious figure snapped his fingers and Amaria fell to the ground. “ I wish I could stay and watch how you struggle to survive but I have other things to attend to, we could meet again
Ammon appeared in the nick of time and sliced the chimera's neck off its body as it charged towards Amaria."That's not all, Ammon, Amaria, get out of there now!" Teresa yelled. They could all hear shrieks coming from above them. When they looked up, they saw that all of the chimaeras had opened their eyes."What on earth is going on?" Elex mumbled as he covered his eyes and slumped to his knees, and Jareth, Evera, and Ammon did the same." It's affecting the werewolves," Teresa mumbled, and Rex's ears felt like they were going to burst."As well as wolves," Teresa added. "What do we do, Teresa?" Amaria yelled in front of Ammon.Teresa's gaze wandered around her surroundings as she considered a solution.Amaria returned her gaze to Ammon's side and mumbled, "Ammon, are you okay?"Ammon couldn't respond because he was in pain, just like the other werewolves."Oh jeez, how do I stop this?" Teresa mumbled to herself, fully aware that her magic would soon be depleted so obviously she had
While her body decayed, Vega formed a massive ice shield around her and Dove.When she pushed Dove aside, one of Seth's tentacles was about to come into contact with both of them, but because Vega pushed Dove aside, it only touched her slightly, so she immediately formed a water bracket, sliced the two tentacles, and created the shield.Seth was outside trying to break the ice shield, but it was too strong; Vega created it with both water and ice magic.Vega slumped to the ground, biting her lips in an attempt to muffle her scream. Dove's mind went blank for a split second, but when she recovered from the shock, she felt intense anger rising deep within her, clouding her senses.She rose to her feet and dashed over to Vega, whose left hand had already decayed.She was about to touch her when Vega screamed, "Don't touch me or you will become infected as well." "Why did you push me?" Dove inquired, her voice low."Because you're my sister, and it's my duty to protect you," Vega responde
Following a hysterical cackle, that familiar annoying slightly high pitched voice echoed in the arena.The person who spoke emerged from the shadows. He had his eyes covered with a raggedy piece of clothen that used to be white, he was tall and lanky, his back bent, giving him the appearance of a hunchback, the Roman numeral five written in bold italics on his neck and his skin appeared diseased."So this is your true form, Seth, fifth summon of the Tartarus Klisi clan," Vega said, glaring at him with daggers."It's been awhile, did you miss me, because I missed you both, especially you Dove," he said excitedly, and Dove frowned, irritated by his appearance, the smell he emitted, and his way of speaking."I was originally ordered to kill a girl named Amaria because El couldn't complete that one task, but instead I'll leave that to my minions while I handle you both," he said again, clapping his hands.'So El was the one who used illusion magic that time and now this guy is targeting Am
Teresa and Rex arrived at the entrance of an empty massive dark cave, but the odor was stronger than ever. Teresa climbed down from Rex's back and said, "Don't move, just wait for me here." Rex nodded and stood still. Teresa turned around and walked in slowly. There were eight entrances in front of her, including the one she walked in through, making it nine. She walked around for a while and nothing happened. 'I guess it's really empty, but why is the smell stronger here than before?' she reasoned.A strange slimy liquid dripped on her face from the stalactites above her. Teresa was in trouble, and Rex could sense something was wrong. Teresa was so overwhelmed by the ominous presence that she couldn't even move when Rex barked at her to leave. She slowly raised her head and looked up. Thousands of chimeras hung above her, their backs sprouting worm-like creatures. "C-chimeras?! " she muttered. A loud shriek escaped the mouth of one of the chimaeras as it opened its eyes and looked do
Amaria's eyes shot open as she sharply inhaled, she propped her upper body slightly and examined her surroundings, her vision hazy. She swept some debris away from her and inquired, "I thought I was going to die, Hey are you guys okay?" She blinked her eyes several times until her vision improved.She froze and pressed herself against the cold, wet stone when she received no response. She then looked around, her gaze darting across the endless darkness. She discovered she was the only one sitting there.A disgusting, unbearable rotten pungent smell hit her nose; it smelled like a mortuary with a large number of decaying corpses. She immediately covered her nose with her hand, which made matters worse because her hand reeked of the same odour.'What the heck? Where the heck am I ? And where are the others?' she wondered as realization dawned on her.She immediately rose to her feet and exclaimed, "Ammon! Ammon, where have you gone?"" Anyone? Dove, Elex, Teresa?" She screamed several ti
Everyone was disturbed and horrified as they looked at her.'What about mother? I can't feel her energy, so she's probably dead as well...' she thought as she stood up and ran towards a tiny thatched cottage, Amaria trailing behind." Teresa, are you all right?" Amaria inquired as she watched Teresa stare dazedly into the empty room.Teresa mumbled, "My mother and I used to live here."" Oh... " Amaria responded quietly.Teresa mumbled, "We never had the best relationship because I never lived up to her expectations."" I sometimes regret the day I fled this place and also sometimes don't regret it because it got me to where I am today " Teresa added as she clenched her fist. "I've been through a lot because of this woman; even though she came from a line of priests, she had no clean heart," Teresa whimpered, tears streaming down her cheeks, a great sob escaping her lips, and she covered her face with shaking hands. Amaria comforted her by wrapping her arms around her.***Dove and Ve
It almost grazed his neck, but he dodged it quickly, thinking, 'I didn't expect someone to be here.'"Who are you? and what are you doing here? Did you come here on your own? , did someone send you? Or Are you an assassin or a spy? "The person asked coldly as they continued to attack Ammon with the sword, which he avoided.'Oh, it's Dove's sister,' he realised.'This guy is gracefully and easily avoiding my attacks. I'm not even aware of his energy. Did he do it on purpose, and who is he?'She pondered.Ammon clucked his tongue quietly, thinking, 'I'm tired of this, master is waiting for me.' He looked at the door, then at her, thinking, 'How do I get past her without fighting her?' He dashed towards her, and she raised her sword to attack him with it. He slid under her in between her spread out legs as he approached her side.Vega exclaimed, 'shit!'He had already left when she turned around."Damn it!" She swore as she drew her sword into its scabbard."The most important thing is
Dove was perplexed, cocking her brow and asking, "Why, what's going on?""Just hold on to my hand and close your eyes, don't open them," Lynette said, grabbing her hand.Dove nodded and followed instructions. She shut her eyes and gripped her sister's hand tightly.Lynette jumped out of the window while carrying Dove. She made a slide out of ice and slid down safely to the ground." Can I open them right now?" Dove inquired quietly. Lynette clutched her tightly and replied, "no, not yet," before fleeing the castle.Dove, on the other hand, did not listen because her curiosity got the best of her. When she opened her eyes, she realized they were no longer on the grounds of the castle. She also noticed the scent coming from the town was different. It smelt like dead rotten human corpse.'Why is it so bad?' she wondered. Lynette used her ice magic to keep from stepping on the ground. Dove looked down and saw sucker-like tentacles sprouting from the ground everywhere, and the Houses were d
Their movements were far too quick.'What in the world is going on?' Amaria thought. Neither her, Elex nor Teresa could move." Why are their movements so similar? " Jareth and Evera murmured.'It's nice that she remembers the moves I taught her years ago, but there's nothing really special about her.' Vega pondered. Dove attempted to punch her in the face with her right hand, but Vega stopped her and gripped it tightly. Dove attempted to use her left hand, but it was grabbed by Vega.'At least she was quick enough to react to my attacks, so I should wrap this up quickly. I have work to do,' Vega reasoned." You've gotten better at your martial arts but it still isn't enough" Vega said , She brought her head closer to Dove's and tried smashing her head with Dove's but Dove moved her head away and rose her right knee, Gnashing with Vega's face.Vega let go of Dove's hand and covered her face, exclaiming, " Dang! my face!" "Why have you suddenly turned into this?! What made you change?"