Neccssary sacrifice

Somewhere else

The sky was dark, the moon shining bright, but not a ray reflected on the castle that stood proudly.

In one of the room sin the castle, a woman was sitting on a throne. At her feet, a man was bowing, but the woman paid him no attention.

“I’m sorry Ma’am; I almost got him but the boy with him…” The man said hastily, “He is also strong. He is the reason ‘he’ managed to escape.”

Since the woman on the throne didn’t say anything, the man took it as his cue to continue.

“I also heard news that they are currently with Chiron, and I am planning on a way to infiltrate his camp,” The man said, “All I ask is for a little more time and I swear to bring them to your feet.”

Silence. That was the only response the man got. If someone were to see him, they would think he was talking to a shadow statue, because the silhouette on the throne didn’t even move an inch, her blurry face showing next to no emotion.

“I will take my leave now, Boss.” The man bowed again and stood up to leave.

But as soon as he took a stop, there was a sharp sound and when he looked down; his left hand was completely missing. Before his brain could process the pain, the woman snapped her fingers again and this time he knew what happened.

His right hand exploded muscles and flesh smearing his face.

Terror was clearly written on the man’s face, as he slowly looked at the woman still sitting on the throne.

Snap!

His left leg combusted, then his right leg followed. Now he neither had hands nor legs making his look like a sack of cement in the shade of the cantle lights that lit up the room.

“You had your chance, but you services are no longer needed.” The woman said, but her mouth didn’t move. Another snap was heard; this one sharper than the rest, and the man’s head went missing.

The only thing the man could say before he died was, “M…mistress,”

But one thing he didn’t notice was while his remains littered the room, no blood was there. Instead they were frozen in place.

The woman waved her hand and the blood entered a type of mug before the mug flew to the woman.

“Pttf, even for a failure like you, your blood tastes well…and that makes me wonder how yours will be Dylan” She muttered to herself, “And who is this other boy they keep repeating.”

She finally stood up and walked to a stool, picking up a communication device.

“Immediately the sun sets, attack the old centaurs camp. I need the ‘two’ alive’”

“Dylan dear, let’s see how long you can keep running.”

- - - -

…Back at Chiron’s camp

“Dylan, what are you hiding?”

After thirty minutes, Dylan still hadn’t said anything. The whole room was once again silent, the only sound that could be heard was their hearts beating, and Dylan’s muffled breath.

“I…” Dylan tried to speak but choked on his words.

It can only be her, Dylan thought, who else could be powerful enough to make hundreds of monsters heed to her command. Who else would place a bounty on his head?

“The Mistress…” Dylan said at last, “…she’s the one.”

Alex could only stare at Dylan, and seeing him in this state made his heart ache. Dylan had always looked strong, even when facing great danger, which made Alex even more curious about this mistress person.

“She…” Dylan was about to continue when the room suddenly began to shake.

“What’s happ…”

BOOM!!! The explosion almost made Dylan deaf. Alex had it worst since he was literally allergic to loud noise.

“Master, there is trouble.” Milf rushed inside the room, panting hard.

“What is it Milf? The Tropins?”

“Worst even, we are being attacked by monsters.”

Surprisingly Chiron was calm, “Go, gather everybody and hold off the enemy. I’ll join shortly”

It looked like Milf wanted to say more, but only shook his head and obeyed his master’s order.

After Milf left, Chiron’s calm expression disappeared.

“You two have to leave now” He inhaled sharply.

“No, we can’t do that,” Said Dylan, already having his trusty knife on one hand. “We’re the reason these monsters are attacking, it’s only normal for us to stay and fight.”

“…”

Chiron wanted to say more but seeing the expression on the boy’s faces, he knew nothing he said now would get through.

“Do you actually think just the two of you would make any difference?” Chiron asked as he took them to the highest floor, where they could see the whole island.

“…”

“…”

Both Dylan and Alex left their mouths wide open. All they could see around them could be summed up in a single word; Destruction.

Hell hounds, winged snakes, ran-headed men, harpies, centaurs, and many more monsters they couldn’t describe, were running rampage.

They onle reason the monsters had not gotten to them was because of the small line of centaurs holding back the army of monsters.

“Th…this is …” Alex tried to speak, but the words refused to come out as he watched a hell hound bite off the hind legs of a centaur.

Dylan’s hands were shaking so badly the knife on his hand fell to the round, the clang resounding in their ears several times.

“My students would not hold on for long. Come with me.”

“To where? Aren’t we going down there to kill some monsters?” Alex was aleady getting excited at the thought of killing

Chiron walked away, leaving the two no choice but to follow. He took them into an armoury before pointing at Dylan’s pocket knife.

“It’s surprising that you have managed to live with this ‘thing’,”

Dylan his the knife behind his back, thinking Chiron wanted to take his only asset.

“You can pick a weapon.” Chiron trotted across the room.

“Really?” Alex didn’t even wait for a confirmation as his eyes darted across the room.

Dylan just walked to a shelf and picked up two daggers. The blade was about 2 meters long and had a black hilt. Alex couldn’t see anything special about the daggers, and was even wondering why Dylan picked it. Probable because it was black.

“Must you always be creepy?”

Dylan swung the weapon in the air a few times and smiled satisfied.

“I think this would do.”

That left Alex to pick his own. He didn’t really have a weapon of choice since all he did was using anything that was available at the moment. From a cooking pot to a baseball pat, to fan blades.

Finally he found something he liked. He swung the weapon a few times in the air, mimicking Dylan. Dylan didn’t even glance at him.

The weapon Alex ended choosing was a sword. The main and only reason he chose it was because…it was beautiful.

It was a one-handed sword. It had a nice ripple wave pattern going down the edge of the sword and the handle had an outline of beautiful white feathers.

“I think we’re good,” Dylan said, already walking out of the door.

He however froze as soon as he heard Chiron’s words.

“I think you got me wrong. I dodn’t give you these weapons to fight those monsters.”

“Really?” Dylan repeated Alex’s question.

“I gave you so that you could protect yourselves,” Chiron said, “You are leaving this place.”

“And what do you mean by that?” Dylan didn’t mean to shout, but it sounded like one, “There is an army of monsters out there slaughtering your…students. And you just stand and say we leave? D…do…you even care about the life of your students?”

The room became silent, the only sound being that of swords clashing and screaming centaurs.

“I do.” Chiron said in a low voice, “I do care about them. B…but this is a necessary sacrifice, not just for me, but for the world.”

He then raised his head and even Dylan couldn’t help but take a few steps back as soon as he saw the fierce look on Chiron’s face.

“You two have to live, please…” He said, “The fate of the world…is in your hands.”

“…”

“You’re definitely crazy,” Alex tried to say, but the words refused to come out.”

“Please, come with me,” Chiron bowed.

Even Dylan didn’t dispute as they followed Chiron to yet, another room. Perhaps it was the look of rage in his eyes, his pitiful expression, or the tone of his words, Dylan this urge to obey every single words of Chiron. And not just Dylan, even Alex felt the same.

Finally, they were inside a library. Chiron walked up to a shelf, rearranged the books and stepped back. Soon, they heard a clicking sound and the shelves parted, revealing the entrance to a tunnel.

“This will help you escape, go now.” Chiron pushed them toward the tunnel.

“Wait, you said the fate of the world is in our hands. You don’t just throw people away after dumping a shit like that!” Alex tried resisting but he underestimated the strength of a centaur.

“The onw who would tell you is out there, waiting.” Was chiron’s reply.

“Wait,” Alex shouted again, realizing it was useless to resist, “How do we find him?”

“Who told you to find me?” Chiron asked back.

“Old Man Jin?”

Instead of answering, Chiron rearranged the books and after a click, the path began to cave in.

But before it completely closed, Dylan looked up at Chiron and asked.

“Why,” His voice was shaking as he felt a cold feeling engulfing him, “Why are you doing this for us? You could as well just surrender us to the monsters. But why do you have to sacrifice your life and that of your…students? Why?”

Chiron heaved a short but deep sigh, his eyes flickering as hundreds of past memories resurfaced in his head. He gave Dylan a painful smile.

“…My weakness,”

CLANG

The doorway shot, leaving the boys in darkness. A darkness that could never compare to the dark hole in their hearts.

* * * TO BE CONTINUED * * *