Age of Darkness Book Two: Ascension, page 1
Age of Darkness: Ascension
Book Two
Brandon Chen
Copyright
Age of Darkness – Copyright 2015 – Brandon Chen
All rights reserved.
Researched and written by Brandon Chen
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under the copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without prior written permission.
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While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy and legitimacy of the references, referrals, and links (collectively “Links”) presented in this e-book, Brandon Chen is not responsible or liable for broken Links or missing or fallacious information at the Links. Any Links in this e-book to a specific product, process, web site, or service do not constitute or imply an endorsement by Brandon Chen of same, or its producer or provider. The views and opinions contained at any Links do not necessarily express or reflect those of Brandon Chen.
Table of Contents
The Oncoming Age
Save Me from this Darkness
The Next Journey
Hand from God
I’ve Become a Monster
Empty Darkness
Unexpected Friends
Rise Against Tyrants
A Trade
The Darkest Past
Test Your Limits
Justification for My Sins
The Finest Betrayal
The Islands in the Sky
Watching from the Heavens
Rejoin the Dead
To End this War
A Hero’s Farewell
Beast of the Skies
The Destroyer
Never Fall
About the Author
To my family, who will always be there to inspire and push me to be the best that I can be.
The Oncoming Age
The stars gleamed and twinkled brighter than Keimaro had ever seen them before. They truly were beautiful. Yet the young man didn’t feel anything but emptiness inside. It was as if an ebon knife had been stuck in his chest and carved out the hole where his heart was. He felt something missing. And he knew that he wouldn’t get it back.
As the gentle rain subsided, Keimaro stared at Yata’s pale body, still and unmoving. Droplets of water dripped from Keimaro’s nose and hair onto the ground as he stood in silence. He wanted to see even the slightest of movements from Yata; even a mere twitch of his finger would bring light to Keimaro’s eyes. But there was no movement. It was improbable. Yata was gone.
All of this pain, all of this agony that Keimaro felt throbbing in his chest. How much more of it would he have to endure before it was finally his time to pass? He watched as droplets of rain slowly dribbled down Yata’s pale cheeks. Keimaro reached up and pulled his hood over his head, covering his gloomy expression with the shadows of his cowl.
Knowing that he would have to hurry after his friends, Keimaro turned away from the body of his old friend. He bit his lip, wanting to look back to find Yata slowly rising to his feet as he always had. But he knew that by turning back around he would only be met with disappointment and more sorrow.
Keimaro began to jog away in the direction of Edward Jones’s house. His friends had headed there, to the last teleporter in all of Faar. Danzo, one of the more experienced Bounts, was going to use the Chains of Memories to rewrite the memories of all those who inhabited the land of the Faar empire. The Chains of Memories was supposedly a weapon that Danzo possessed that could alter the memories of humans, potentially turning them into his minions. The only way to escape the range of Danzo’s Chains of Memories would be to use a teleporter, and since the device in Zylon’s mansion had been crushed when the building had collapsed, Edward’s house luckily had the last one.
The streets of Bassada were completely empty, as if everyone had disappeared. Keimaro walked through the emptied streets alone, remembering how lively the city had been prior to the awakening of Kuro’s dragon. Tiny flames flickered on the desolate city from the dragon’s awakening and some buildings lay in ruins. The boy staggered morosely past a fractured statue of the king, one that he had seen when he had first arrived at Bassada. The sculpture had its entire upper body ripped clean off and the king’s stone head lay cracked on the ground.
Keimaro reached Edward’s house and opened the front door, which was unlocked. Aoi, Yuri, and Edward were all inside scrambling about, trying to pack as many supplies as they could before their abrupt departure. Aika was silent as she stood, watching as everyone frantically scampered through the small house. The light that Keimaro remembered in her eyes had now faded, but he couldn’t blame her. Aika had lost her brother, Darius, her father, and her kingdom, in a matter of only hours. Such a quick course of events had twisted everything upside down, including the life that she had once had. She needed time to think and take it all in. Everyone did.
“Set the coordinates for Sparta, Edward,” Aoi called, rushing up the stairs of Edward’s house to the upper floor. “Knowing Zylon, that is where he would set his eyes. He would want to set up a defensive rebellion against Faar as soon as possible. Since Sparta has already been under siege and has lost almost all of its land to Faar, it seems logical that they would be desperate for help.”
Yuri held Lena, who was drastically weakened and unconscious, in his arms as he walked onto the small, blue teleportation pad in the center of Edward’s room. Keimaro and Aika reluctantly followed.
“Got it,” Edward said, touching a small blue gleaming crystal on his bed, which was on the far side of the room. The crystal glowed evanescently and the pirate returned to the teleportation platform where everyone stood crammed. Clearly the teleporter was not meant for so many people. “Hold on tight, mates. Hopefully we’ll fit everyone in one go.”
“Hopefully?”
“This isn’t the most operational teleportation pad in existence, lad. Especially when you’re expecting to transport the whole lot of us over hundreds of miles,” Edward muttered. “Well, here goes nothing!”
There was a whirring sound as the pad suddenly flashed a bright blue and Keimaro felt his breath extracted from his lungs. There was an odd tingling sensation in his flesh as he felt every part of him dissipating into thin air. Images zoomed by: trees, blue skies, lush fields of grass, and within moments, he found himself stumbling off of the teleportation pad and into a new room. Keimaro sighed with relief when he saw that his friends were still in one piece after being teleported across the continent. Turning his attention to his surroundings, he blinked when he noticed that the room shared a similar setup as the room in Bassada, if not identical. “Are we in Sparta?” he asked. “This place looks the same.”
“Aye, I like the setup of the room, mate. I have all my rooms done like this.” Edward beamed proudly, walking past Keimaro and down the stairs. “Huh, I figured that Z and his friends would’ve teleported here.” A part of him had expected that they would all be waiting downstairs. But when he poked his head around the corner after he descended the stairway, he saw that no one was there.
“Why would they do that?” Keimaro asked, following the pirate. “There are hundreds of assassins. Cramming them in this small house would be absurd.”
“It’s not that small.” Edward pouted. “Anyway, Lena is probably hungry, aye? She looks like she’s lost a ton of weight since we last saw her.”
Keimaro walked back up the stairs and saw Yuri gently putting Lena down on the bed. “Aika,” he said, turning to the princess. “Can you possibly heal Lena? She’s been through a rough time and has a few broken bones and cuts. She was imprisoned for a while.”
“She was locked up in the Royal Jail then?” Aika asked, and there was silence.
Keimaro and Yuri both nodded in unison. “She was locked in there for a while,” Keimaro said, watching tears beginning to form in the princess’s eyes. He stepped forward and touched her shoulder reassuringly. “Hey, what’s wrong? It isn’t your fault that this happened.”
“I know.” Aika sniffed. “It’s just … everything that’s happened. Darius betrayed our family. That selfish fool! He had everything already, why did he want even more? He killed his own father, blinded by his own greed. I’ve known him since birth, and even still, I can’t believe he’d murder a member of his own family.”
Keimaro didn’t speak, knowing very well the pain that Aika was feeling. After all, only moments ago she had lost a brother. Keimaro understood what it was like for he had just lost a brother as well. He hadn’t been there for his best friend when it had mattered the most. And now Yata was gone forever. Keimaro would never see his friend’s grin again nor would he hear Yata’s emboldening laughter. He sucked in a deep breath and leaned forward, kissing Aika’s forehead gently. His own warm tears glistened in his eyes, blurring the princess as he pulled her close and felt her silent sobs into his chest. He heard the thumps of Yuri’s boots as he left the room. “It’s alright,” he said. “Everything will be okay.” He reassured her, stroking her back gently.
“Thank you,” Aika whispered, pressing herself a bit closer to his chest. “What do we do now? I mean, I have no home now. I don’t know where to go and….”
“I’ll bring you with me and I’ll protect you,” Keimaro said with a heartening nod, pulling b
***
Tobimaru leaned against a pillar in the destroyed ballroom of Bassada’s royal castle, watching the marred walls crumble around him as Kuro’s black dragon pushed off of the ceiling. A single flap of its majestic wings sent the gigantic beast propelling skyward, creating roaring winds that smashed into the ballroom. A second flap launched it towards the mountains and it began to glide through the sky. The Hayashi clansman glanced over his shoulder at Kuro, who sauntered into the room. “Where’s your beast heading?” he asked.
“To the mountains to stretch his wings. After such a long slumber, he will require open space to recuperate his strength,” Kuro said, smiling as he saw Hidan chasing Mai around the debris-filled room.
Tobimaru sighed at the sight of Hidan playing with the child. The white-haired Bount caught Mai and lifted the young girl up in his arms. Her giggles broke the silence as Hidan nuzzled her cheek, laughing with her. “Getting a bit too close, aren’t you?” Tobimaru grumbled to Hidan, who stuck his tongue out at his partner.
“She reminds me so much of my daughter, I told you!” Hidan complained, grinning at Mai. “Besides, just because you had a crappy childhood doesn’t mean that everyone else has to.”
“What happens if Keimaro doesn’t cooperate with us, Hidan? Did you ever think of that?” Tobimaru scowled, crinkling his nose at the mention of his childhood. “Are you going to have the guts to do what’s necessary then?” He nodded his head towards Mai, giving off a clear message. She’s a hostage.
“Why are you so grouchy, Tobi?” Mai called out, pouting at Tobimaru. She clearly wasn’t getting the idea.
“I’m not grouchy and I told you not to call me Tobi!” Tobimaru growled, glancing off in another direction. He folded his arms and sighed as Mai leapt out of Hidan’s arms and began to run around Tobimaru, poking the Bount in the legs. Tobimaru winced in annoyance at the young girl, feeling his face heat up. “You little brat….”
“Tobi! Tobi! Tobi!” Mai chanted, intentionally angering Tobimaru until the Bount pushed off of the wall and began to chase her. She began to run away, giggling as she leapt elegantly out of the way of Tobimaru’s lunges and grasps.
“Come back here!” Tobimaru snarled while Hidan burst out laughing.
“Look who’s chasing her now,” Hidan teased.
“What’s this?” An old raspy voice spoke. Tobimaru blinked, tripping and falling on his stomach. The Hayashi clansman looked up to see the black-cloaked Danzo, standing in the doorway that led from the courtyard into the ballroom. The old man walked forward into the light. “I wasn’t aware that Tobimaru was the playful type.” The wizened man chuckled.
“I’m not,” Tobimaru muttered, pushing himself to his feet and brushing off his pants. A moment later, a teddy bear struck Tobimaru in the side of the head and the Bount gave Mai an evil glare. “We’ll talk about this later, Mai.”
“Alright, Tobi.” The girl beamed, sticking out her tongue.
Danzo clapped his hands and began to slowly walk forward, his eyes small and squinted. His wrinkled eyebrows rose as he examined Tobimaru and Hidan and shrugged. “These are the newest Bounts, are they not? What happened to Junko, Kuro?”
“He was killed not two hours ago.” Kuro smirked.
“What?”
“Junko was murdered by Keimaro Hayashi.”
Danzo sighed and shook his head. “You don’t seem particularly distressed by your right hand man’s passing.”
Kuro grinned slyly. “And why should I be? Keimaro Hayashi is growing to be much more of a weapon than I would’ve ever expected Junko to find. He’s incredibly dangerous at his age. He’s eighteen, correct? If so, he surpasses even my strength when I was his age. I can’t wait to see what he becomes when he grows up.”
“He won’t make it to adulthood if he travels the path he’s on now.” Tobimaru scoffed. “He’ll attempt to cut us down which will end in his inevitable death,” he said. “He doesn’t seem too intent on joining us as you had intended. I don’t believe that he’ll take you up on your offer to help destroy the gods either. His love for his family is great but I’m beginning to believe that his hatred for us is trumping that.”
“What makes you say that?” Kuro said with a raised eyebrow.
“The look that he wore when he emerged from the explosion you created when destroying that house,” Tobimaru said. “Keimaro’s look was filled with more rage and enmity than I had ever seen in a human before in all of my years. By killing that Yata kid, we’ve only pissed him off and pushed him further from us. Why the hell would he join us after that?”
“You’re right,” Kuro admitted with a hearty chuckle. “Keimaro despises us. And he has deceived himself into believing that he is willing to fight for the people. He thinks that he has overcome his old murderous ways and that he will defeat us in order to save the world. However, I know that isn’t the case. Within him lies the true seed of his intent and his potential. It is merely dormant for now, but I will awaken it. And when I do, he will reveal his true colors. Keimaro cannot escape his longing for vengeance nor can he escape his nature of hatred. And if his mind is not with us, we will seize it by force.
“I have an idea, do not worry. Anyway, there’s no time to waste,” Kuro said, clapping his hands together. “Let’s commence our domination of this empire. Danzo, initiate the use of the Chains of Memories. Meanwhile, Tobimaru and Hidan, I want you two to find Keimaro and trail him. I believe that he will be suited to fight beside us, and perhaps have a change of mind, rather soon. However, if I am not convinced that he will come to our side, you will be sent a signal.”
“And what will the signal mean?”
“That you will dispatch Keimaro, of course.”
Danzo walked out to the center of the room and held out his hands, his large, black sleeves drooping out. In an instant, chains began to fire out of his sleeves, flying outwards into the air. They traveled through the gaping ceiling and stretched into the sky, piercing the clouds. There seemed to be no end to these chains, which glowed with a mystical white. The chains broke off and spread out, each link breaking off into two, multiplying infinitely. This continued until there seemed like millions, or even billions of chains descending upon the world, moving at incredible speed. These chains rammed forward into all the humans in Faar, smashing through their chests or backs and linking them all to the same memories. In a mere ten-second period, the entire empire of Faar had been brainwashed to become nothing but zombies at the mercy of Danzo’s command by these powerful chains. Danzo closed his eyes, sweat rolling down his face as he staggered backward, sapped of strength. The chains glistened for a moment before fading from sight, as if they had never existed to begin with.
“Get him some food and water and help him to a bed,” Kuro commanded Hidan. The Bount Leader sauntered to the far side of the ballroom to Darius’ body, which lay sprawled on the marble floor, lying in a pool of his own blood. Kuro reached down and grasped the heavy crown and lifted it from the fallen prince’s head. He placed the golden crown upon his own head and smiled, turning away from the body as he began to walk out of the room, his footsteps echoing loudly.
Tobimaru watched Kuro with curiosity, following the new king as he strolled out to the courtyard. What he saw left him speechless. The nobles rounded up outside and tied up were now bowing their foreheads shamelessly to the dirt, begging Kuro for forgiveness. They were hailing him as their new king and were desperately trying to convince Kuro that they didn’t know what had overcome them when they had rebelled. This was truly something else. These nobles were more than just loyal to Kuro, they worshipped him as if he were a god. The memories of these people had been altered so quickly that it was almost shocking to see their personalities transform so much in such short time. Was the rest of the empire like this as well? If so, that meant that all of these people were just mind-slaves to Kuro. As the young man watched as Kuro acted as an amiable hero and cut the nobles’ bonds, he couldn’t help but feel his stomach twisting in disgust. These groveling fools were all being manipulated. And it happened so easily. It made Tobimaru wonder whether or not his own memories were real, if it was that easy to change them.
