The Blood Of The Beast

4. End-Romeda and Axilux

(30/06/16 - 01/07/16)
[Edited: 04/07/16]

The water slowly stirred in the air, taking the shapes if people, objects and places. Miss Mary's eyes glowed in the dimmed lights of the room. Gold, instead of their usual, green-blue.

And she started to narrate the characters in a deep voice, as if she had practiced it a thousand times.

"At first, the shifters were heroic and selfless, doing good for the people of Greece before themselves. A man was wrapped in a mass of water and emerged as a large dragon, spitting fire and killing a three headed monster that was chasing three children in the outskirts of a tiny town. Another dragon took down two pirate ships plundering a city's port.

But as the time passed, the beast's side of the human began to see the true extent of their power. The beasts knew themselves invincible and wanted more power, for their own selfish hearts. A large dragon flew over a small town, blowing flames and ransaking the humans' goods.

Aware of that their newly acquired side was stronger then them, their human counterparts trained non-shifter humans to be dragon hunters, the only creatures alive that could kill dragon shifters. Men and women trained with bows and swords, learning to fight under the shifters' careful watch.

But as they entered their beastly state if mind, they forgot their apprentices, only thinking of them as lowly humans, many apprentices were slaughtered, unprepared to assassinate their beloved mentors. And the beasts started to look for challenges. Fire was set upon fields of humans being trained. Some ran away while others fought. All died.

They want against hydras, basilisks, and cyclopes. They got away without a single scratch, always deeming victorious. Like any creature, they wanted to find their place in the food chain. They murdered demigods, nymphs, and dryads for sport, soon becoming selfish and self-serving.

The gods began to worry. Their creations, their children, made with the best of intentions, had started to seek them out as the newest challange.

Embarrassed that it was their own fault that there were beasts on the rampage, the gods refused to seek help from the dragon hunters.

But they were unprepared for the day dragons finally attacked. No longer part human and only full beast, the dragons held no heart, mercy, or compassion on the battle field.

Since neither gods or dragons could truly be destroyed, it was a battle that raged for centuries. Unfortunately, the great Greek gods were old and weak and losing to their creations.

As a final attempt to stop the beasts from ending the world, Zeus called upon the original dragon hunter, End-Romeda, a half-blood daughter of Apollo.

She was blood tied to the gods so she had no choice to oblige. End-Romeda was to lure her mentor and lover, the leader of the beasts, Axilux the Strong, into a trap.

No one knows how she managed, but as soon as it was set, the gods, together for the first time, exiled him into Tartarus along with his brethren.

Enraged that he was betrayed by the female he loved, Axilux mustered enough power to curse her bloodline. Every second generation, as soon as they procreated someone to continue their legacy, would die a horrid death.

The gods, afraid of bringing the apocalypse close again, refrained from stopping the curse. But the Fates, always defiant and rebellious, had say otherwise.

They spun a loom far more complex than any before, it was so deep, that Apollo had no choice but to war the other gods with a prophecy.

One that could unleash, or finally destroy the beasts.

The prophecy was lost over time, as Greece grew weak again an crumpled over the rule of the Roman empire. Having no choice but to help their new children, the gods and immortal demigods changed their names to the current Roman ones.

But Apollo refused to speak of the prophecy again, claiming that if it was forgotten there would be no need to worry about unleashing the beasts.

Every god agreed with him, and so the the curse went on for centuries and the prophecy was long forgotten, until a particular era, hundreds of generations ago.

Descendants of End-Romeda began having visions, as the blood of her father Apollo finally began to stir in their veins.

They saw glimpses and pieces of the prophecy, and knew that in the wrong hands, it could destroy peace and unleash something far more horrible that the beasts.

It could unleash evil it self.

Do they hid parts if it in remote locations, leaving clues behind to trusted families that knew the truth about the gods.

And so those families passed down the clues, from one generation to another, awaiting the chosen one of the prophecy to arrive.

He would be the first one in decades to be able to see and change the past, present and future.

And now he finally had arrived, Alexander Beck, the Resurrecter of the Dragon Slayers!

Suddenly, the water swirled in the air, spinning faster and faster, until it formed a familiar figure, the knight that appeared in my dreams. His face was uncovered, but not bloody this time. And obviously mine.

Miss Mary grinned with triumph, along with Mr. Mafia, Archie, and Kiara.

No, thy can't believe this bunch of mumbo-jumbo! It's just a story! I must still be asleep and I will wake up any second now!

I pinched myself, not wanting to be part of this creepy dream-turning-into-nightmare anymore.

It didn't work.

I was still there.