The Last Celestial

Darkness in the Fortress

The keepers could only stand and fight to not let any more creatures outside of their area of protection. They stood still on the borders and chanted and prayed for the last Celestial to give them strength to fight.

In the small island of Mindoro, the Keepers have no other choice but to wait and remain strong. Until the much needed help they wish for arrives. Half of the citizens escaped while the other half perished.

The defense team summoned a new type of barrier. One that glows in gold and white. Though the barrier is still on its experimental stage, it was stronger than the previous one. They remain strong as the creature bangs and pushes against the thick barrier. They stand strong and try to resist as the vile beast pushes through. It's troubling how much the creatures have grown, an obvious sign of how many people they've slaughtered and ate.

It was only a single six foot monster before, now not only did it multiply in numbers but also its size and is much stronger.

"Concentrate!" Kriyanne' screamed. Her forehead had beads of sweat, and her eyes was closed shut. She helps the defense team even with just one arm. Concentrating and praying while the men and women behind her chants. "We have to keep them here until help arrives!"

With their hands shaking and arms stretched out for hours and hours. They were getting tired and weak. Not only chanting dried their throat and numbs their arms, chanting requires spiritual strength as well. As they continue to release power to maintain the barrier, a small part of their soul gets taken.

"Where is Andrew? I thought he'd be here soon." Gail asked, his arms were trembling and his voice was raspy and coarse. "I can't last much longer!"

"Don't give up!" Bing-bing, screamed. "We have to wait!"

As minutes pass by, more and more creatures show up. The Keepers' eyes widened and fear struck their hearts. The vile beast pushed and pushed against the barrier, almost pushing the Keepers off their balance. Most were bigger than the previous ones. Soon the few creatures reached the hundreds, and as they grow... so does their appetite for more blood and animals.

James was barely holding on, his knees were shaking and his whole body was at its breaking point. Fatigue was setting in, and as he opened his eyes, all he could see was a blur. "We need back-up!" He hollered to Kriyanne'. "I can't take this anymore. There's too many of them! We will die before Andrew arrives!"

Kriyanne' remained still and did not speak. She continued to chant and pray. She knows what James is saying was true. They lacked energy and were hungry and tired. But many of the Keepers who were with them went into hiding as well, backing out and disowning the decree that was bound to them by blood of their ancestors.

Fear struck their hearts when they saw the terrifying beast. They feared death and the imminent mortality that is laid upon them. Diomedes' the great Elder's dream was right. Landon is one of those few. Not all of them would remain true to their purpose, and she understands.

"If we die, then we die! We must wait for Andrew, we must prevail at all costs!" Was what Kriyanne' shouted loudly as a reply.

The Keepers did not reply, but respected the decision of their leader. They closed their eyes and decided to lay out their heart and soul for the association and the world they vowed to protect.

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Not all of the Keepers joined the battle, almost half of them went into hiding. Thousands of Keepers from all over the world went into hiding, and some would go as far to burn their skin just to remove the tattoo they've received from the day they were anointed to be a Keeper.

The Great Elder's dream---Diomedes was true. A lot of them had betrayed the creed.

Some of those who betrayed the association tried to face the terrifying beast with conviction. But when they witnessed how gruesome the beast kills and devours humans, slowly and disgustingly---their hearts changed.

How the beast eats their victims is unexplainable. As soon as it consumes humans and animals, the limbs, eyeballs, fingers and bones with hanging flesh sticks out from the creature's body. As the vile beings continue to eat and devour, the flesh and internal organs continue to rot and decay.

Not only does the creation of the Undying man bring death, it also brings sickness and a new aggressive plague.

Citizens from different nations began to get sick, catching an unknown disease. Boils and puss showed up on their bodies. Rashes and skin diseases. The children are dying and are having trouble breathing. Hospitals and protected areas are at full capacity just to treat the pre-existing disease and the disease from the vile beast.

Everyone was frightened.

Everyone feared for their life.

Countries were allowing Keepers to close their borders and not allow ships and small boats to travel and catch fish. Lives and livelihood were affected, the peace humans experienced for thousands of years stopped.

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The Spartan training scheduled by Nathaniel did not reschedule or adjust. Since the Creatures of Damnation---as he calls it spread throughout the world, he sees no reason to stop the training meant to strengthen his men. Instead, he decided to begin the training now.

Nathaniel also heard of how the battle lasted for days in the Fortress of Taurus. Another dreadful news loomed over them, Kriyanne had passed away. Darlene --- the second in command will be taking her place.

It is said that Andrew had already been anointed, news of this had spread out like wildfire. And if his sources are correct, Andrew will be heading out to the Island of Mindoro first. Their top priority is to protect the relic.

The Undying man once sent his creature to lay waste on the Fortress of Scorpio before, it's highly likely that he'll do it again. This is where he is assigned to. This is his area of protection, and he's going to make sure that the Keeper's are up for the task.

The schedule of the training depends on the role of the Keeper. For the Defense team, they are going to test out the magic dust that's been created by Tahani. After that they are going to compare it to the magic dust created by Marissa.

The comparison begins as other Keeper's shots arrows at them. The next level will be arrows lighted up with fire. And the last task is a boulder weighing four hundred pounds is to be thrown at the barrier using a catapult powerful enough to hurl thousands of pounds. A force strong enough to be compared to the strength of the humongous beast created by the Undying man.

For soldiers like Zebedee, Elly, Aiziah and Phing, now that's a different story. They wake up at five o'clock in the morning, stretch and jog across the Sahara desert for an hour. They stretch, and then each one of them must pull a spherical boulder weighing two hundred pounds. Each of them must drag the boulder for one kilometre. Men or women, all must do the same thing. No excuses.

'Dying is better than this.' Zebedee thought as she pulled the chain of the massive boulder. The sun was hot against her skin and sweat dripped from her face to her neck. Her muscles flexed as she pulled, and her legs were burning.

She's sticky and wet and miserable. With a groan, she pulled against the chain as hard as she could, never minding the burning sensation as her skin tore from the friction. At last, the boulder touched the faded blue line, indicating that the first half of her training is done.

After recovering her breaths, she looked at her friends who's equally miserable.

Elly, who was drenched with sweat, looked back at Zebedee. "Well, you look horrible."

"Don't we all?" Was Zebedee's sarcastic reply. She looked out for Phing, and noticed he wasn't there with them. "Have you seen, Phing?"

Aiziah bobbed her head in an up and down motion, the sweat bounced off her face in the process. "Yeah, he's done. He finished first, actually."

Zebedee's eyes widened in shock, while her mouth gaped in utter disbelief. However, Elly remained silent. He knew something was wrong. Not only did Phing have superhuman strength, speed as fast as a Cheetah could run. He also had impeccable senses and can feel if someone is watching and following him.

There are times when he would also notice a green shiny thing was always sticking on either Phing's neck, collar, ears or shoulders. They were eating one time, and when they sat next to each other that's when he noticed that it was a bug.

A bug that he'd never seen before. He even asked some of the locals living near the area, but no bug of that kind was seen or recorded ever since the desert lost all of its greenery. In fact, the only invertebrates likely to be seen are the occasional ant, some flies in the daytime, and the ubiquitous dung beetle.

The Spartan training was the perfect time to observe the other male. And he would not miss this opportunity.

He stood up, and lightly patted on his lower back to clean off the sand. "I'll be going now too." Was what he said before jogging towards the changing room.

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Since the news of the creatures of Tar and Fire reached the fortress of Taurus, Golind can't help but anticipate the next step of his creator. He heard it from one of the leaders in their troop. Scorpio senses the relic of the Celestial fated with him is in danger, and the Bane is getting more aggressive as the yellow moon arrives.

Day in and day out, he's sneaking out of his room during sleeping hours to check if the Bane of Scorpio is beginning to wake. Hoping that maybe, he can take the bane as well.

Keeper's have been talking about it, and they call it Moon Rising. The Zodiacs were paired perfectly to maintain balance, love and harmony. The Rising Sun and the Moon Rising.

Taurus represents the sun and the moon is the Scorpio. A perfect balance of day and night.

As well as what scholars talk most about is the story of the Scorpio and the Taurus. The pair that brought chaos and love to the Earth. They also talked about how a drop of venom from the vessel could kill a full grown Elephant. The largest of all the mammals.

A lot of expert Elders stated that if ever the relic containing the blood of Taurus is broken or damaged --- then the bane of Scorpio would break free from its vessel and unleash its wrath to the world. Poisoning every living being, every waters and rivers, until all is laid to waste.

This is the first time that Golind heard of this. There are times during lunch break in the Cafeteria when the storytellers or the scholars of the Keepers would tell the stories about how the Celestials came to be.

The venom of Scorpio leaks during the night. And the guards have to wear a special kind of armor that resists the deadly bane.

A lot of Keepers leading the research for more weapons are getting samples from the bane. Heiy went to the fortress a few weeks ago to collect a sample, hoping that they'll be able to use the droplets for a new weapon to kill the vile creatures.

Now, Golind's goal is to get one of those Armors.

"Phing." By just hearing that name, he feels his whole body shiver in disgust.

Still, he did his best to turn to the person with a smile. "Elly..."