In the world of Dianium, a legend is being survived by those bearing the anathema given by their gods.
Legend has it that out of her thirst for power, the goddess of blood, Karmi, granted her loyal worshippers the gift of the dark arts: whoever wields it will rule over another.As they grew in number, the wolf-god of flesh, Rolfus, realize it was catastrophic for humankind. He gave his followers supernatural strength to fight off Karmi’s worshippers.This was Rolfus’ charge, but as time passes the evil nature of men defeat their purest desires. His followers began to abuse their power, using it for selfish gains.With the chaos in the world, Dianos, the moon titan, awakened from his slumber of a thousand suns.He became furious at the fold of events, thus he subjected both to a curse to overpower them by the witborns, humans untainted with their gifts. Rolfus and Karmi’s worshippers received the same curse of being subject to untainted humans, though their supernatural gifts remained in their blood.So exist the bloodline of werewolves; known as fellhounds, the bloodline of vampires; termed as bloodhunts, and the untainted humans; called the witborns, with the witborns overpowering both of them with hydropneumatic technology.Today, the daily dealings in Dianium is deem peaceful and in order compared to things pass. Unsaid hostility towards each other still run in their veins, so each bloodline is kept to their regions. There are but few open cities in the world of Dianium, as it serves all bloodlines trade and commerce.Fellhounds are of brawny type, bearing a rugged and boxy physique. Their canine teeth are wider and sharper than their human ancestor. They are mostly hairy, but they have the most beautiful eyes of royal blue or light hazel.They are physically strong: one can carry a baby elephant without breaking a sweat. Their favorite pastime is athletics. When wounded or tired, they regenerate at a faster rate than witborns. Fellhounds are loyal to their word and caring in nature.Bloodhunts are of scrawny type, their kind being tall and pale in complexion. This is because they like to live in dark places and avoid sunlight, as they will burn literally if exposed to the sun. They would still survive, but it will be harder for them to regenerate. They have dark eyes that can pierce a soul.Each set of canines of the bloodhunts looks sharper and pointier, so as the top tip of their ears, but they look sophisticatingly beautiful. They excel in the magic, arts, and music, which they use in defense against witborns and fellhounds. They are a mysterious lot.As the witborns build cities and towers on flat ground, the fellhounds decided to live in the mountains. While the bloodhunts retreated to dark and gloomy underground caves.The witborns have overpopulated Dianium, compared to the fellhounds and the bloodhunts. They advance in knowledge and new technology, compiling codexes and conducting studies to maintain their defenses against the other races.Dianos, the moon titan, gave the witborns the gift of air and water power technology. With this knowledge and means, they have constructed what is called the Tink Tank.A Tink Tank is a steam-powered full armor that is worn and controlled mechanically by the wearer. It is a battle suit with enlarged limbs to raise up the strength of the witborn wearer.It is also installed with glass panels at the front for guarded viewing and to hinder the mind control skills of vampires. This powerful suit is the first line of defense from the fellhounds and the bloodhunts.Meanwhile, the bloodhunts have an arsenal of their own, but of the unconventional kind. They do not opt for selective breeding, but want to maintain their gifts through perpetuity.They naturally developed in their blood the means to make themselves immortal: by drinking blood of other creatures. So far, the best quality comes from untainted humans, though it is hard to come by. They abhor drinking the blood of the fellhounds; the taste seems repulsive to them.Selective breeding is the key to maintain the gifts of the werewolf race. Because of this, they are quite strict within their tribe, else it would weaken the supernatural gifts within their flesh. To keep their strength as they age, they eat untainted humans sold off through the black market.This is where Juste’s abhorrence lies. They are required to eat a human witborn on their 18th birthday. He just couldn’t take the thought of eating a live creature that looks, moves and speaks like him.The human branch had already split into three species, but deep down, instinctively, Juste would have not of it. Juste thinks he’s just a cursed human being, and he needs to reverse this curse in their bloodline starting from him.The tradition of eating human flesh has become less effective for the fellhounds, so the consumption of witborns must be at a more frequent rate. This was why Chastine had been experimented on, with tiny lumps of her innards biopsied and collected.She was a virgin. So instead of being discarded and slaughtered in the dishonorable way, she was to be offered in a ritual as the coming of age to their princely Juste. She was specially purchased by the wolf king for this purpose.But the predator and prey had one thing in mind: they both want to get out of their eventual situation. Juste couldn’t take eating Chastine so he wants to defect from their clan, while Chastine wants to break free and live as free human. They both want to escape that which imprisons them.“So, is that a yes I just heard?” crooned the happily surprised Juste to Chastine.“You want me to take back my decision?” muttered the passively irate Chastine, as she smiled with her eyes automatically squinting.Juste denied his enthusiasm with sarcasm, but underneath his words was an obvious jittery panic, “hah, suit yourself. I’m not the one going to die soon,”Chastine confidently replied, “face it, you need me to achieve your goals. I’m that one in a million chance you’re dying to have.”“Feisty guilt-tripping aren’t we?” Juste was growing irritable at the flow of their conversation.“I’m just stating a matter-of-fact.”“Fine…” Juste threw a thick pin from his coat to Chastine, “…prove your skills right now then let’s resume the talk.”Chastine’s little hands picked the needle on the damp floor. Her nimble fingers tinkered on the keyhole of her chains with the pin Juste gave.“Hurry, Chastine...” Juste was becoming impatient of her bust out. Then as he commented on her sluggishness, the unfastening of her chains became palpable in his ears. Then, there followed the freefall drop of those very chains on the stone floor.“Bunny, can we talk?” Maxill approached Bunny along the open deck of her airship.Bunny closed her eyes and heavily sighed. “What now, Maxill?”Maxill wanted to say sorry, but he wasn’t sure if it was the appropriate word to tell her. He’s not apologetic of his identity, and yet he felt he needed to tell her otherwise.“… I’ll make it up to you tonight.”Bunny scoffed. “Maxill, no, I get it. You don’t like me. Wait, let me reiterate—you don’t like girls.”Maxill was rare to speak out his feelings. Feelings of disgust and apprehension, yes, but his sincere feelings, rare. He finds it hard to do so. Still, he really tried hard, just to comfort Bunny in her disappointment. “But as an acquaintance, I kind of like you.” The sulking pilot was a bit surprised. “…you do?”“Yeah. You’ve been supportive and understanding, at least to me. I have my toxic traits, but you still put up with me for, like what, 2 years? You saved my butt too many times, too.”He added, “And for a pilot, you’
“So what’s your plan, Chastine? And why are you suddenly so snobbish with our pilot?” Juste asked his girlfriend with utmost curiosity in his eyes.Chastine wished to tell her beloved about it, but it might spoil all the fun. She merely winked at Juste and said, “sorry, can’t blurt it out to you. But you will know soon…” “Besides, even though I already halved the cost of our flight, I still think she’s charging us way more than the standard rate.”“Money’s not an issue, Chas, as long as I’m around.”“It’s not about that, Juste. We should be practical with money matters. And why are you calling me ‘Chas’ suddenly? Only Maxill calls me by that name.”“Heh, it sounds cute enough, and there’s this feeling of closeness to it.”“It’s fine by me, but Maxill might get a little bit jelly about it.”“Oh, yeah, about Maxill, how did you convince him to agree with your plan? After all, I can see our pilot to be head over heels about him.” Juste sneered. He was quite amused how his girlfri
SWEET-16 is considered an armored flight vehicle by national standards. It has a thin metal alloy for its exterior, and thick fabric panels for its interior. There are offensive and defensive mechanisms attached to the aircraft like the plasmic EMP barrier (for repelling thunders and sun flares), bomb assemblies and small firearm mounts.SWEET-16 stands for Sky Wings Embedding Etherial Technology, with the number as the successful prototype count of the said flight vehicle. It runs on Etherial fuel, an easily melted mineral deposit harvested under the sands of Ham Desert.Bunny Lang was the chief designer for the SWEET-16 project. But because of its high-cost and maintenance, the aircraft was scrapped off by witborn military.She overhauled the last prototype to make it stealthy, and was had finished upgrading it when Maxill and his friends popped out of nowhere.Bunny welcomed them inside the aircraft’s cabin. Inside, there was a small round table with four chairs around it. Th
Juste remembered one his mother’s greatest work.Being a herbalist herself, he never would imagine the vastness of Saraise Isaacs' scientific accomplishments if he didn’t look for the ingredients of the Remedium.Her mother’s discovery and breeding experiments landed her a place in scientific books.He started to feel enthusiastic and excited about getting the next ingredient.Saraisium ordinem, also known as ice rose, is a succulent plant that had been specifically bred for the very purpose of making the Remedium.It was fed with a special liquid while being exposed to the sun, and then nipped and attached to a base plant.Repeating this technique many times, Juste’s mother was able mutate a special component in the plant which was one of the ingredients needed in turning a human to a fellhound, and vice versa.Maxill spread the map again on a flat surface to know where to look for the ice rose.According to the codex, the ice rose is endemic to the Ham Desert.Maxill starte
“You think this is gonna work on him?” Juste asked Maxill, thinking if they would be able to be successful in their plan. “Trust me, I’ve memorized the whole guide.” Juste was quite surprised at what his bloodhunt friend just said. His eyes widened and his eyebrows raised up. “Woah, you did?” “Yes. And I bet on my 75 years of life that it’ll work on him.” “What the—you’re 75 years old?!” Maxill added, “And forget about what Scion said. He’s just toying with your head.” He also bothered to comment on Juste’s astonishment regarding his age, “look at me, Juste. For us bloodhunts, age is just a number. I could pass as a teenager just like you. Heck, I’m even young by vampire standards.” “Ugh, well, I just thought you’re around 40 years old, heh.” Juste’s nose showed wrinkles and lines as he smiled in an awkward way out of disbelief and amusement. Maxill couldn’t help but wonder, “…are you flattering me, or insulting me?” “Don’t worry, it’s a compliment.” Juste snickered at what
Everything was not going well with Juste, Chastine, and Maxill.The bloodhunt did acquire what he had planned in getting from the north, but it costed him his peace and composure.He even accidentally killed one of his own, even if he only wanted to beat the h*ck out of Dreon.Not that he cared about the snoopy bloodeye, but he realized that he wasn’t able to control his strength and went overboard just because he was led by his feelings.Meanwhile, Juste and Chastine have had some bad encounter with none other than Juste’s current nemesis, Scion, the army commander of their clan.Not only did Scion burnt each southern thorny wolfbane he could find around the region, he also decided to revisit the pair and take the diary of Juste’s mother to burn it before his very eyes.Among the three, Juste was clearly the most devastated. He was starting to feel that their quest was all for naught.Without any substantial guide to continue their mission, Juste was thinking how they would be