An Empire of Betrayal & Order 4

Screams full of anguish, the fresh smell of blood, the sound of human flesh being torn apart, and numerous bodies lying down on the ground…That’s the kind of vision Dastan and Arol viewed as they reached Elys village.

Their pupils had contracted as their stomachs swirled, signaling to the brain the need to throw up. But they’ve restrained themselves since despite the horrific vision their eyes feasted on, they mustered the courage to keep moving.

Both of them had been to Elys village before and the image they have instilled into their brains was that of a tranquil, filled with kindhearted people place. But now, that memory was wiped away and got replaced by the dreadful scenery of the dissected bodies and the destroyed stone-built homes that they once resided in.

Elys village was rumored to house Azualits, the infamous ancient azure-hair clan that couldn’t find any place in Vierizen easily to stay because of their bad reputation that made them disliked in most territories.

That was the whole reason both of them found a lot of dismembered corpses of blue-haired people among others. At that sight, he clicked his tongue as his face formed an even more appalling expression.

“These poor people…They just wanted to find a peaceful place to live, and they have succumbed to the mischievous political agenda of the two opposing countries…”, Dastan murmured with a disgusted tone.

“They’ve been put into eternal slumber, Dastan!”, Arol stopped his march and yelled at him as if hiding away his pain from the sight before him, “They can now finally rest in peace…”

“But why…WHY should they’ve been put through this? They had only asked for serenity…they had only asked for forgiveness…”

Dastan inserted his Onyx [Stone wielding] into the empty socket of his gold bracelet and, as Arol saw Dastan doing that, he mimicked his moves and put his Fluorite [Wind manipulation] in his ring.

Several ghastly voices could be heard from a few spots in the near vicinity of the two men and Dastan formed with a wave of his two hands many sharp rocks that were thrown toward the Dwellers lurking behind Arol, puncturing their ethereal body making them vanish into thin air.

After that attack, several loud and piercing screams were cast toward Arol’s and Dastan’s positions. Arol noticed them and made a quick whirl with his hands creating a wind barrier that covered both him and Dastan dispelling the soundwaves that were launched in their direction.

Dastan then pulled some rocks to cover both of his arms with them and stomped toward the Regretters that were the cause of the last attack and smashed them both with each other, evaporating them from existence.

At that instant, two wind blades crossed Dastan’s two cheeks and impaled two Revengers that were trying to get close to him between 2 and 10 o’clock.

“Dastan! I know you are angry and sorrowful at the same time and I feel you, but now is not the time to be this impatient! We know better than anyone that there should be a bunch of them here, so be careful so that we can both return home to tell the tale.”

“I am aware…but…but…”, Dastan tried to articulate some words but they couldn’t come out of his mouth.

At that moment —

“PAPAAAAAAAAAAAA”

A glaringly terrorized woe reached Dastan’s ears, and with widened eyes, he turned his attention toward the direction of that desperate sound.

“That wasn’t a Regretter…AROL, QUICK, follow me!”

Arol nodded positively to Dastan’s shout as they both immersed themselves deeper into the now utterly chaotic image of Elys village.

Meanwhile, Saffron and Niye were hiding behind a rocky building that was half collapsed as they gazed at the numerous Dwellers marching while either dismembering or putting holes in innocent people’s bodies.

Niye is a Peridot user which granted him ground and dirt-wielding powers which he used to create a hole in the ground for them to hide in from plain sight. However, Zeal was using his voice powers to attract the Dwellers till the whole village was covered with them, so he was away from there.

Wolf was also helping Zeal by protecting him in case a Dweller or any other person nearby was trying to attack him. Some people had seen him using his powers for such a vile reason which in turn shaped a furious and sickening expression on their faces.

That point was when they instantly turned their focus to attack Zeal with all their might. So, Wolf, using his abilities, assassinated them before they unleashed anything that could distract Zeal from his purpose.

That was the plan they have conjured at least.

“Are we…are we really doing the right thing for Heilig?”, Saffron questioned with an unsure tone, “It was one thing to think about a way to pay back Vierizen and gain some control over their grounds, but…”

Niye could also be seen grinning his teeth at the whole massacre that took place before his eyes.

“If we don’t do that, that vision we stare at now is going to be a reality on our side…I trust my brother, he wouldn’t come up with such a thing for pure revenge. He knows that we will end up suffering, so he tries to block them from doing that to us. He just wants to protect his nation…”

“I know but still…it strikes different when you see it…”, Saffron said with a tremble in his words as he looked away from the victims of the Dwellers’ attacks.

Niye then stood up and took the initiative to speak in a more strengthened voice than before.

“It would be different if we saw our own people getting massacred by them. I won’t apologize for being defensive and protecting my country! And I won’t sure just stand there and wait for my brother to do so for us. I’ll go check how they are doing, you sit tight here.”

Then Niye put his Peridot in his necklace and dived into the ground and dug his way like a mole through it toward the now fierce battlefield.

“Niye, wait!”, Saffron yelled in a loud voice and immediately covered his mouth with his hands, “Be careful out there…”, he murmured to himself after Niye had gone several meters away.

Niye was proceeding extra carefully to not get caught by others, be it Dwellers or the villagers, and found his way near the place where Zeal and Wolf had now reached.

What he found besides them, however, was an Azualit couple and a bunch of Dwellers attacking relentlessly at whoever stood in their way. It seemed like Wolf and Zeal were cornered and had to find a way out.

The Azualit couple was focusing on them, especially the man, while the woman tried to keep the Dwellers at bay. They both wielded an Aquamarine as they bent water to form various shapes that were cast at Zeal’s position.

“Stop you despicable beast! You’ve brought them here for your wretched plans, now stop making them more agitated!”, the man yelled at an incredibly angered volume.

He then formed three water daggers and threw them toward Zeal who used his voice and scattered the water shapes in the air. Then, he nodded to Wolf’s side and he vanished away from plain sight.

Wolf’s Opal caused him to camouflage himself based on the surrounding scenery colors, unable to recognize him easily with the naked eye.

“Again with your petty tricks!”, the woman shouted as she waved her hands and created an enormous wave to crash down toward Zeal and the position Wolf was supposedly in.

“BROTHER!”, Niye screamed as he came off the ground and formed a barrier of sand that withheld the wave that was ready to crash them both.

“Niye…what are you doing here? But actually, that might suit us now…”, Wolf murmured so that no one could hear him while tiptoeing his way toward the couple’s house.

Wolf had noticed that the couple was extremely agitated and took side looks toward the stone building while they fought. That indicated to Wolf that something valuable in their eyes might lie there.

“Honey!”

“I know!”, the man shouted to his woman while marching his way to the building’s entrance, “I won’t let you!”.

“Neither will I!”, Niye also cried to the man, constructing a thick dirt wall that blocked his path, but the man dodged before it struck him from underneath.

“YOU LITTLE…”

The man turned with a look beyond being furious to Niye, but a splattering sound cut his expression instantly. A Revenger had sliced his wife in half after her attention was split for a brief moment to the house.

“AHHHHHHHH”

The man roared so loud that his voice felt like it tore the skies apart.

This is a side story featuring characters Vierizen Kingdom from my work-in-progress novel, "In The Ashes of Forgiveness", originally published on Medium.

You can further support my work and even gain access to exclusive stories from the novel through Ko-fi!

© All rights reserved to Harrys Stratigakis