Chaos

Chapter 7 : Flashbacks

Two pairs of footsteps echoed in the dark, the harsh taps of iron cladded leather shoes on the floor carved out of stone, as they made their way deeper into the cave. The roars and cries of the battle as well as the light from outside fading slowly until the small spot of white completely diminished into the black. Steady splats of water droplets slipping down the stalactites joined the footsteps a few seconds later creating a new rhythm, and cold air blew from the small cracks in the tunnel walls making it all the more eerie.

"Stinks of rotten flesh" Darius's muffled voice reverberated down the tunnel as he snuggled his nose into the creek of his elbow.

"And here I thought meat was your favorite food" Raidan teased him, a giddily look on his face.

"If it's not rotten" he grunted. "How can you even stand the smell".

"What smell? I got nothing" he shrugged his shoulders, looking genuinely clueless.

"Tha-" Darius removed his hand, thinking the smell had dispersed only to suck in a mouthful, making him cough uncontrollably.

"Alright come here" Raidan snickered and flapped his wrists, beckoning him over.

Darius glared at him, uncovering his mouth and nose once more but held his breath this time. He caught a glimpse of the corner of Raidan's lips tugging up slightly in an effort of suppressing a smirk when a hand flicked the tip of his nose before he could avoid it.

"Ugh- what was that for?" he growled.

"Again, another thank you would be nice. Try breathing before you complain" Raidan snorted a laugh and walked ahead.

Darius rubbed his nose with the back of his hands a few times over. The stench of decaying flesh had vanished and was instead, replaced by Raidan's. The chilly breeze of the ocean that carried a fresh, raw odor with a tingling saltiness to it. It was the smell of the islanders of Crusiana, which every sorcerer seemed to possess, combined with a hint of citrusy aroma of lemongrass and an alluring, muted waft of poppies, Raidan's personal scent. Yet there was something foreign beneath that. A scent he did not notice was there, before. Foreign from the usual scents he'd pick up, but at the same time, one that was very familiar and which he had grown accustomed to at one point in his life. Something he could not recall no matter how hard he tried but stirred up a dreadful feeling deep inside him. He stopped and breathed in deeply, focusing on that one scent which danced at the tip of his nostrils. But, everytime he thought he caught a grasp of it, it slipped through the space between his fingers like sand until he was left with nothing again. Then, a memory clicked in his head.

"Darius. Child, close your eyes. Everything's going to be alright" as much as the voice of the woman was soothing, panic was all he could savour as he began to hyperventilate. His stomach churned and turned as the cave slowly transformed into a dungeon. One built underneath at the deepest part of his own castle and a place few had the knowledge of. Cold as no sunlight could reach the enclosed depths, and the air was thinned out to the point it was hard to gasp for a full breath to fill his lungs. He faded in and out of consciousness as he heard the rattling of chains, his own cry of help in agony and the repeated callings of his name by a girl, echoing endlessly. His vision blurred out completely before it focused again, for him to realize he was back in the cave. No sound of metal clanging against each other nor the screams of his own young self. It was complete silence apart from the steady pace of water droplets and someone shaking him awake while shouting his name.

When he came to, he thought he saw Raidan's face etched in worry before he let his head fall forwards onto his knees, trying to slow down his breathing. Sweat, mixed with tears for reasons unbeknownst to him, dripped down from the tip of his nose onto the already dampened cave floor. It was only after he calmed down that he noticed his back was pressed up against the cave wall and he was curled up and vulnerable in front of someone every muscle in his body was telling him to run from.

"You alright?" he heard Raidan ask.

"I'll live" Darius swallowed and got up, pushing half his weight on the cold, stone wall for support. He avoided eye contact with Raidan and quickly walked onwards, back on path. The boy left behind had a calculating look on his face but dropped the matter otherwise and followed from behind, maintaining some space from the person ahead.

The sound of water dripping turned from falling onto a hard surface to that of a plop into another water body, as they continued further into the cave. The stench was stronger as well but was left unnoticed due to Raidan's spell blocking out the particular scent.

"We're here" the footsteps softened down into a halt as the narrow passage of the cave opened up to a large chamber. Darius had already changed back to human form beside Raidan, putting back on the clothes he had taken off before he transformed. A pool occupied half of the hollow space with the nearer side to the two being the shallowest and slanted deeper as it reached the opposite end. Hundreds of stalactites joined by stalagmites hung up and down across the whole cavern like sharp teeths of a Megalodon. Only much larger. The cave must be of old age judging from the amount of pillars that had formed where two stone icicles met. The room emitted a orange hue, be it from the small spark of fire in Raidan's hand reflecting against the walls or the natural deposition of minerals in the rocks, giving them a color. The place sure did give out a warmer and different energy compared to the black, smooth surfaces in the passageway.

"Obviously, I'd say. Except I don't see a guardian. Or the eggs. Or that Blaze kid" Raidan rolled his eyes which earned a glare from Darius. "Use your nose, furrball. You said you caught a scent of a dragon or whatever that is in the cave" he continued not registering the look he was getting.

"Well you've messed with my sense of smell. What do you expect?" Darius was clearly reaching his limits from the attitude that he was treated like a tracking dog. Not to mention he was still confused and on edge with why the memory of that atrocious Hell on Earth woman resurfaced. He must have been mistaken. There was no reason for Raidan to be carrying her scent. Witches were outcasts in the magical community. While magic was usually used in the form of spells, charms, elemental and forbidden but not shunned, spiritual; witches drew power from the demonic realm. Black magic, considered a disgrace and unpredictable, which could come back and bite the user in the back at any time. He just couldn't think of any logic where the next-in-line for the crown of the Sorcerers to be going down a different path. Not that he would actually be surprised if Raidan did meddle in the dark arts. His personality reeked of 'evil' to Darius.

"I only blocked that one awful stench. You should still be able to sniff out other things" Raidan retorted, snapping him out from his thoughts. "Besides you wanted it gone so act a little more thankful even if it's forced".

"Well whatever it is, it must've been inhabiting this place for at least a century" he muttered weakly. "The smell has been rubbed off all over the place. I can't trace it".

"What if I undo the spell?"

Darius shook his head with a disgruntled huff. "No use. Downside to a super sensitive nose. I'll have nosebleeds for the next 24 hours if I get that smell again".

"Wh-" Raidan opened his mouth to speak but closed it back up and brought a finger to his lips, signalling Darius to be quiet. He narrowed his eyes at the surface of the pool as bubbles rose up, making popping sounds that escalated, indicating that something lurking in the pool was about to appear.

What they didn't foresee was a brown head emerging out hastily with a small splash as it gasped for air. Loose curls that fell short just above the eyes were pressed onto his face, completely drenched. The head dives back into the water. Hands and legs turned up as the person swam quite speedily to the bank, onto land.

He coughed out some water as he dragged his legs behind him, weighted down from the change in density of his environment. The boy kept looking over his shoulder as if expecting something to jump for his throat from the rear that he didn't recognize there were others standing a few feet to his side.

"Blaze. What a surprise" Blaze jumped a few steps backwards, alarmed he didn't notice the presence of the two.

"R-raidan. Darius" his teeth chattered from the cold while he was catching his breath. His eyes still flicking over to the murky pool as if the threat he was running from is much worse than what was in front of him.

"Found the eggs yet?" Raidan's question caught him off-guard as a realisation hit him. He finally tore his eyes away from the water and faced the two.

"Why? Did the guardian scare the quest out of your head?" Blaze's face turned paler from the off-handed comment as if he had forgotten something important.

"I'm sorry kiddo, but this is as far as you live" a crooked grin full of mixed emotions lined Raidan's mouth. His eyes glanced sideways once to Darius, another fire now summoned while the small flicker of fire on his other hand used for illuminating purpose, now roared larger.

Darius swallowed in hopes of relieving his dry throat. His thoughts jumbled between making his own life easier by getting rid of an enemy or sticking out his own neck, saving the only one who ever viewed him as an equal, which could very well be just a pretence. It was a clear choice of picking the former yet his lack of pure conscience was severely questioning his sanity. Thoughts filled his head. Useless. Impotent. All his life, what he needed to do was find his way through the darkness and pull up the ropes from the abyss in front of him. Yet his own hands were tied with the same ropes.

"It's different now, isn't it?" a voice nagged at the back of his head. "You can save the boy. Your hands are free in this matter".

"Are they? Save one and kill the other. Am I allowed to make such a choice?" he laughed bitterly, a pang in his chest ignored.

"Stop" he croaked out the words stuck in his throat. The lights dimmed a fraction as Raidan turned to face him in disbelief, which soon turned to mockery. The exchange between the two let slip the youngest out of the three backing out slowly, his head never facing away from the ceiling.

"Protecting the kid now, Darius? You know you're going to have to kill him. It's just a matter of now or later" a dark chuckle filled the air. "We all know how this ends. And that it ends, when only one of us survives".

"And you know very well that, this is not the priority of this whole pretext" he picked his head back up and talked with confidence even though a slight tremble could be detected.

Raidan narrowed his eyes and took the few steps between them, closing the gap, and whispered into his ear. "You think sacrificing yourself and doing what's in your power while letting the whole world hate you, condones you for the damage you've done, no? But think again. Is it him that you're trying to save or yourself? Turn a blind eye, Darius. Isn't that what you do best?"

"H-how" Darius's voice shook badly this time, heartbeat rising up to the point where he could hear blood pounding his ears. His legs nearly gave away under him as if every ounce of strength was drained away in an instant. He couldn't make sense of a thing at that moment and he could feel the castle in his mind, which he had built back up by picking up the shattered pieces, starting to c***k again.

"A pure conscience? Don't kid yourself. Just because you can't do anything about it doesn't make you less guilty. Then again, do you even try? As long as they don't lay another finger on you a second time, you're content with it are you not? Admit it Darius. Don't be a hypocrite" Raidan continued, either ignoring how much it had already affected Darius or hoping to get more of a rise out of him.

"SHUT UP" if it was the latter that Raidan was aiming for, he had clearly succeeded as Darius roared out, shuddering in his spot, in anger and an unmistakable amount of fear. With bloodshot eyes glaring daggers at the other boy, yet not quite seeing where he was looking, his chest rose and fell as if he had just ran a full marathon. Raidan furrowed his eyebrows further at the response, his expression impossible to comprehend other than that he was lost in his thoughts. Silent fell upon the chamber.

"Oh no…." Blaze freezed in the middle of his attempt to sneak off and muttered under his breath.

A plop of an object falling into the pool seemed to shake Raidan out of his own trance as he let out a sigh and retreated, giving Darius space to cool off. He was about to shift his attention back to Blaze who was a good few meters away from the two of them when the whole cave rumbled and the pace of the plopping sounds intensified a notch. Thuds started to accompany it as Raidan realized it wasn't water drops falling anymore but stones.

Darius finally seemed to register things too as they both slowly tilted their heads, eyes travelling upwards. Serrated, pale yellow teeth descended upon them as both of their reflexes kicked in. Letting their knees to bend and fall into a crouch, the pair jumped backwards, leaving the creature between them snapping its jaw at nothing but air.

A terrible screech shook the cave sending more stones, showering down onto their heads. Ripples overlapped in the pool where the rocks had sunken, sending splashes of water to jump up and down. The creature gave a low dangerous croaking sound before it's tail lashed out in a circle. The sharp edge of its tail that scratched the ground unsettled the sand beneath, leaving a trail of haze, muddling the air behind. The pair retreated further away from the beast, as well as each other; Darius landing at the front of the tunnel opening where they previously entered from, and Raidan beside Blaze at the far end.

“I don’t suppose you could tame that big girl, do you?” Raidan asked Blaze, rather conventionally for a person who tried to end his life not a few minutes ago.

“Totally not. You can’t just tame a wild dragon. There needs to be enough chemistry between us. Only then will they obey”

“Alright Mr.Romantic. Eyes forward” The creature seemed to decided, having two people for dinner is better than one as it strutted out of the sandstorm-like haze to their side. Raising its front claws of a hand which was attached to a wing, it brought it down hard to the place where they were standing less than a millisecond ago. Sand scattered from the ground a second time and into a cloud which engulfed them making it hard to see even a meter ahead.

“Besides, it’s not a dragon. It’s a wyvern” Blaze shouted over the noise and more dust flying, which landed into his eyes and mouth. He heaved and let out a "blargh" before he started to cough uncontrollably as sand was left sticking on his tongue.

"Correct me if I'm wrong but I haven't seen any of these- wyverns murdering my people on the battlefield. Anyways stop coughing if you don't want to die. It can hear you" Raidan's voice came from all around as it bounce across the walls to which Blaze could not pinpoint from where as he couldn't see an arm's length in front of him.

Something shone in the corner of his eye and he leaned the other way. His eyes followed the object as it flew in directly to him, drawing blood from his left cheek and failing to pierce his head which undoubtedly was its initial objective. Shufflings could be heard as the wyvern retreated it's talons, followed by an angry growl at its failed attempt.

"You dead kiddo?" Raidan asked, unexpectedly close to him.

"I- no? Wyverns have dragon ancestry, yes. But they're different. Much more wild and aggressive too" Blaze lowered his body and walked backwards, his stance ready to leap out of the way anytime the wyvern throws another attack. "We can't tame them. Lest we can do is mess with its head for several seconds into confusion". His back hit a crag surface which was where as far as the cave extends, trapping him between the rock hard texture and the billowing wind of sand, which fortunately was setting back down to the bottom where they belonged.

"Well that's brilliant" Blaze could almost hear Raidan rolling his eyes from his tone of speech. "Should I just kill it" a rhetorical question reached Blaze's ears.

"NO" he exclaimed loudly. "Wyverns are a declining species. Why do you think the task was to retrieve the eggs? Besides, the rules stated that killing the guardian would disqualify you from the tournament".

"I know that kiddo. And I'm getting a feeling that it's somehow you who designed this task" Raidan raised an eyebrow to which an inaudible, nervous laugh followed.

"The rules said that?" Darius emerged after quite a while of disappearing. They heard a dull smash as a claw of the wyvern sank into the wall Blaze was cornered against. Pebbles fell in a trickle and a large hole the size of one made by a rather oversized drill was left when the creature pulled back it's claw. Blaze held his breath through it all and to his joy and horror noticed that he could see clear enough now which also meant there won't be more lucky misses when the wyvern strikes again. The brownish red wyvern flared its nostrils, smoke pouring out in anger. Possibly more sensitive and aggressive in protectiveness over her eggs. It rocked its body back, about to jump onto Blaze but ended bellowing in frustration, pulling its head up instead of snapping it's jaw forwards.

Blaze's eyes widened as a blurry figure of Darius rushed in front of him, right before the tip of the wyvern's nose as its head nodded back down from the roar. The young boy hastened to warn Darius when he thought the wyvern's eyes glowed blood red in anger but reconsidered on it once the beast was silent and unmoving as if put under a trance. White strings of light with a faint blue glow glided gracefully over the wyvern ending with several tight spuns around the snout, the loose end melting into the thick layer of rope it had just created. The gleam of red in both Darius's and the wyvern's eyes reduced back to their original colors, while the hushed up screeches of the wyvern rang in jumbled up grumbles as soon as the hypnotism was released.

"Well. Now that's taken care of" Raidan cheerfully turned to Blaze, dusting his hands off. "I wonder what I should do with you".

"You were trying to kill me before the wyvern woke up?" Blaze said in a genuinely suggesting voice and Darius let out a snort which was not of ridicule, but of amusement.

"You know? I really can't tell if you're being sarcastic or just….autistic" Raidan looked taken aback for a minute before he chuckled and replied. His grin didn't fade into a line, however, it did reflect the menacing seriousness of the situation. "Now, take a pick dear Darius. What's it gonna be?" he started off again where they had left. The mood turned solemn.

"You weren't expecting me to take your side, kid, were you?" Darius said, void of expression. Blaze pressed his lips together and shook his head. He knew better than to hope for even the slightest of something in a tournament where their lives were put at stake.

“I’ll have to say. I didn’t see-”

"Nor am I siding with you" Darius cut Raidan off. This time with harshness and a deep root of hatred in his heart. “You wish to play that game of pretense? Well three can play it fair and square. The truce is off” a sneer escaped from his mouth.

With eyebrows drawn inwards and his teeth tugging at his lower lips, Raidan appeared to be contemplating on what to do with the sudden change against his favour. He saw a flash of movement closing in from under his chin when he threw his head back. A vertical kick still grazed his jaw despite his more than average reflexes. He clenched his teeth and glared irritably down at the owner of the leg which was still straightened out an inch from his face. Raidan's anger subdued and his features softened however, at the sight of Darius.

"Hmm. Using my moves against me" the area of impact reddened into a bruise which returned to his original pale skin tone after he removed his hand covering the spot. "And a sneak attack, Darius? I thought you were above that".

"Eyes off the ground" Darius retrieved his foot and positioned his fists level with his cheekbones.

"Oh stop sulking. Now I got both my eyes on you" he said cheekily and winked with a grin like a Cheshire cat, which made Darius cringe rather badly. He threw a punch which Raidan blocked rather easily and countered with an uppercut, missing Darius by a few good inches. The two exchanged blows with Darius gaining the advantage by a clear margin as Raidan struggled to intercept his attacks. He lunged sideways out of Darius's focus and grabbing onto a scale on the wyvern, swung himself onto its head, sending a roundhouse kick aimed at the shifter's temple in the process, which didn't land. Darius gritted his teeth and hopped onto the creature as well after the close call, throwing punches and kicks with more belligerence than before. The small vibrations and growls of the wyvern in protest, and almost of annoyance if it were to be a person, were ignored as well as the cries and warnings of Blaze which bleeded into a background noise left unheard by the two. It wasn’t until Raidan took a hook square to his face that the two stopped to catch their breath.

“Oh Furball, you shouldn’t have done that” he chuckled, wiping blood off the corner of his lip. A metallic taste filled his mouth and he spat out the small amount of it gathered in his mouth. Darius kicked off the ground and lunged at Raidan who stood there nursing his insignificant injury and only reacted when his attacker was a step from him. Grabbing Darius’s wrist and letting go of his footing, both fell as Darius failed to maintain his balance. He was a step too late to stop Raidan twisting their bodies and sending a fireball flying towards Blaze, who was running towards the two. “I hope you haven’t forgotten our speciality is not a physical brawl”. Raidan’s back hit the floor, followed by Darius who rolled off to his left and snapped his head to see the ball of fire dispersed on a stone pillar, eating away more than half the diameter like lava and Blaze, nowhere to be seen.