Chapter 30

Rise From The Ashes

"Klaus, can we talk?" The voice belonged to Leo.

After they landed in a small airport that could barely support the size of their plane. The team was brought to a large and luxurious lodge. The building was three stories high and had a helicopter landing pad, a large heated indoor swimming pool, and a tennis court.

During all this, Leo had never gotten the chance to talk to Klaus privately. His goal was to make things right with Fred and to do that, the Spartan needed to change Klaus' mind.

Klaus did not have the heart to refuse. He was too entranced by the forest that stretched down the valley. It was a sea of yellow and golds that stretched from one side of the horizon to the other.

Klaus did not turn his gaze away from the sight, but he nodded while thinking. 'There are moments when being rich makes it worth it.'

Leo got closer to stand next to Klaus and looked in the same direction. "It is about Fred, I want to make things right with him."

Klaus could guess what it was about, but he stayed quiet and let Leo continue.

"The contract, I would like you- No, I am asking you to please change it for him. When Fred attacked you, it was because of our friendship. The guy is honest to a fault and would take the arrangement without a word because he feels what we did was wrong." Leo cringed when Klaus gave him a look with a raised eyebrow.

"What we did was wrong. What I did at the party and the cause of the fight. It is all on me, Fred is not to blame." Leo sighed after a second when Klaus did not reply.

He was about to turn away when Klaus spoke, "I was not always like this, you know my story, so it should be obvious. Knowing all that, you should have reasoned that even before my awakening, it wasn't easy for me to trust. The thing with the Dalmora made it worse."

Klaus bent down a picked up a few stones. Leo took a step back when the asphalt of the driveway suddenly cracked under Klaus' feet, and his body seemed to swell by a bit.

Klaus' arm swung back, and the stone went rocketing over the forest. It whistled as it flew.

'Such a cheat skill,' thought Leo, not for the first time.

"I went with it all, followed Lilith despite years on the streets telling me not to. I followed beings from another planet into a helicopter, to a fortress in the mountains without much complaint. Finally, I allowed you all to vote despite knowing that I held all the cards. Can you guess why?"

Klaus gave Leo time to reply by throwing another stone.

"Because you were afraid?" Asked and stated Leo at the same time.

Klaus snorted and turned to Leo while dusting his hands off, the dragon in him wanted Klaus to deny ever being scared. He pushed the feeling to the side. "Yes and no. From the moment Lilith and I were attacked, when I killed someone, I understood that my life as I knew it was over. I did not even think about it at the time, but I think a part of me understood. I was afraid, yes. Even more than that, I understood I would need people I could trust. These people and creatures were way stronger than me, and I would be helpless against them on my own. I had to gamble with the only commodity that was worth something for them."

Leo frowned, he did not really understand, so he stayed quiet.

"The gamble was my life. I nearly lost it during my awakening, but there was a silver lining. It was Lilith. Despite the danger, she would be in by staying with me, she did. I have never trusted someone as I do her. What she did, taught me something."

Klaus' draconic eyes bore into Leo's. "I took another gamble with you guys. Despite it being completely idiotic and against my better judgment. I allowed you all to vote because the fastest way to gain trust is by giving it. It backfired to a degree, but denying the vote would destroy what it represented. I know I will need people I can trust where we are going. You and Fred were never part of that plan. Well, maybe Fred was a little before he attacked me."

Leo frowned. "So what, we are supposed to prove ourselves?"

"Yes, and now that you know it will be even harder. You took the ball instead of me placing it in your court. Maybe you feel it is unfair, but life is not fair. It is not fair that I had to accept you into the group. It is not fair that I have to risk my neck by accepting a drug addict, but you were voted in. So we all have to live with the consequences. The others gambled on you, Fred and Billy. Make the gamble worth it, and I will do my best to achieve all of our goals."

Klaus looked at Leo, the frown he had was deepening.

"Don't get me wrong, I lost control and nearly killed you. That is on me, the killing you part. Hitting you was worth it." Klaus chuckled at the last part of his sentence, but Leo stayed serious, so he stopped.

"This whole team needs to prove themselves in one way or another. It could be to others or just to ourselves. Life owes us nothing, but it provides the raw material for anything we wish to create. This team could lead to greatness or the death of us all. It is a gamble. Some have been forced into it, and others chose to take part."

Klaus took one last look over the valley and turned away to walk towards the lodge. "The contract will not change. I have to live with my choices, and others should as well."

"What happens if we prove them wrong?" Leo asked at Klaus' back.

He did not plan on betraying Klaus. His parents were fighting with Klaus' and whether on purpose, or accident Fred's sister was also involved with him now. Leo knew he had misjudged Klaus. The Roth truly held all the cards.

Klaus did not answer him.

Amelia had been watching the two through a large window. She could sense the air was rather tense between them, but it did not turn into a fight, so she shrugged.

A loud sound made her wince and jump in freight. She looked around and found that there was a speaker in the corner of the room. Pride's voice blared through it.

"All team members are to make their way towards the sitting area, now."

Beatrice came out of the bathroom, adjoined to the room. She was struggling with the button of her denim pants, and by her flustered look had received a scare as well. "Bloody hell, what is it now?"

Amelia laughed at her friend and made her way to the door. They had gone through the house earlier. The sitting room was connected to the pool and had few games like a pool table, foosball, and table tennis. They were arranged around comfy lounge chairs that faced a large television.

Fred had immediately whooped before making his way towards the pool table when they first entered the room.

The two young women found him there when they made it down. Judging by the lonely duffel bag discarded and still in the same place where he had thrown it earlier. The two guessed that he had not even unpacked.

The others soon joined, and Pride appeared from a shadow in the corner.

'Was she there the whole time? Can't be, I did not smell her.' Thought Amelia in surprise.

Pride picked up a remote, pressed a button, and a map of the valley was displayed on the television.

Everyone turned to it. On it were fourteen dots. Near a green one stood, "you are here."

Pride walked to the display and then looked at them all. "Tomorrow, your last team member will join you. He has already taken part in our game once. Due to his circumstances, Billy will not be staying with you."

Klaus frowned, recognizing the tone of voice Pride used. He knew it would be no game.

Pride pointed at yellow dots that were in a large circle set around the valley. They were equally spaced, so the shape was easily discernable.

"These will be your starting points for the game."

She then pointed to a blue dot in the middle of the circle. "This will be your goal. Every night, starting tomorrow you all will be placed at a random starting point. You will then have to run five kilometers to the center."

Leo smiled with confidence. He had been training his endurance from a young age, and even though it would be dark. He was sure it would be easy for him.

Fred shared his confidence until Klaus spoke.

"What is the catch?" The young dragon had not forgotten how Pain would beat him to near-death every day- "For training."

Pride gave a rare smile. "While you run, we will be hunting you. We will start in the blue area. It will be a game of tag if you will. You can choose to stand and fight. I really hope you try."

Klaus swore, and the others suddenly felt less confident.

Amelia stepped forward. "Some of us are physically weaker than others. What is the point of this, game? Do you just want to hurt us?"

Pride's face was blank when she turned to her, but Klaus once again recognized her tone. "We do want to hurt you, but it is about more than that. You will come across many beasts and monsters that are stronger than you. This leads me to the second way you can win the game. If you survive until sunrise, you win. You can use any method deemed necessary except stigmata for obvious reasons."

"You do not think like beasts!" Amelia countered, worried for her friend. "You have minds that can think and plan."

Pride snorted. "Others will disagree with you on that, but you won't always be running from beasts. I did say monsters as well. The sentient races of the Secret Worlds are sometimes no better."

Amelia had no counter for that.

Fred shuffled nervously and then spoke. "What constitutes a loss, and can we give up?"

Pride looked at him with a scowl. "When you are unconscious or otherwise incapacitated, you lose. There will be no giving up. You can try, but we will just hurt you anyway. Losing is the same as dying in the Secret Worlds."

Beatrice was next to speak. She did not like this at all. "If we get injured, how will we heal?"

Pride considered ignoring her but thought better of it. "We have our ways, just know that you will be perfectly fine before every game, physically that is."

Klaus swore again. If they used the fruit and other plants as they did with him, almost any injury could be inflicted. The demons would be free to beat them to a pulp.

"Do we get weapons?" Asked Leo.

Pride nodded. "You can use weapons if you want. I suggest you don't, considering it will probably only slow you down."

Klaus wasn't sure about the idea. The method could break them or make the others resent him. Despite his issues with Leo, he would not wish this kind of training on anyone, except maybe someone like Morgose.

He knew it was probably worthless, but he had to try. "Pride, I'm against this idea. It could lead to other problems."

Pride shook her head. "It is non-negotiable. A direct order from Pain. Those who do not take part, cannot go with you. You either band together and get through this, or you fall apart. The Secret Worlds is not a game. You all think you know this, but it has not been engraved into your flesh and bones. We intend to change that."

'Pain, again.' Thought Klaus, while adding another notch to all the stuff he had subjected the young dragon to. His dragon's pride insisted that he add two. The second for being undermined in front of others.

Taking the silence as everyone's acceptance, Pride continued. "During the day, you will be free to rest and ask us questions on how to improve. We will not hold back any knowledge purposefully. You will also get training like Klaus has, in various magical plants that you will come across in the Secret Worlds. There is also a dojo behind the lodge, where you will find Silence. He can train you in any arms you wish. Though, I suggest you stick to cold weapons."

The others seemed to perk up at this.

Klaus did not feel any better. The only thing that got him through his time with Pain was his past and the undying pride of his dragon self.

It dawned on him that it would not only be a test of their will, but of his leadership as well. He would have to figure out a way to keep them all united.

When Pride left, Klaus walked to where she stood. "I won't lie, this is going to be hard. We need a plan and fast. Running away from them will not be an option for most of us here, so think back on what you have learned and how you could apply it. The best bet is for us to get together as quickly as possible."

Amelia pointed at the screen with the map. "We won't be able to, we get placed randomly, and could be positioned opposite of each other. I think we need stealth."

Liz looked at Klaus. "Will it really be that bad?"

Klaus nodded. "It will."

Pride appeared again, interrupting them. She gave Klaus and Leo a silver satchel that reminded them of the containers that cheap wine was kept in. "That will make up for the two of you using your stigmata. Don't do it again."

She then tossed a smaller one at Fred.

Leo was thankful. Whatever they gave him managed to get him in a state where he could walk that day, but he still felt pain.

As soon as the demon left again, Liz spoke up. "So we either have to hide or try and get together. How will we do either of those things?"

Klaus put a hand to his chin while thinking.

"I am just gonna run and hope for the best." Interrupted Leo. He doubted they could hide from the demons. Pride had said that the Roth glowed like suns with life energy. Leo could not see Klaus glowing, so assumed they could sense life energy.

Fred nodded. "The way I see it, this game was made for us to lose. It is more about survival than anything else. Trying to get together will only give our positions away and make us stay in the game longer. We are also more than them, so they will be split up."

Klaus clenched his teeth. He had the same thought, but Fred was ignoring what that would mean. "If we are using the fact that they are split up, we need to go all the way."

The others looked at him confused. Amelia caught on the quickest. "He means we have to sacrifice someone."

"There are six of us, and we can assume that there will be three or more of them." Klaus looked at the faces around him after he spoke. They appeared unsure and suspicious.

He took a deep breath, Klaus knew he would regret the next words. "I will serve as the first sacrifice. I know what is coming and have dealt with it before."

'They don't seem scared, that will change after the game.'

The next day arrived quickly and flew by ruthlessly to Klaus. Most of his time was spent on practicing with the large sword. He would be the decoy, so he wanted to make the demons work for their kill. Part of it was his pride speaking. Dragons don't get hunted.

The others learned more about magical plants before getting free time. Beatrice was the first to join Klaus in the dojo. To his surprise, she practiced with a bow and was very good at it.

Leo and Fred trained for an hour in swords, shields, and spears. Klaus had to admit that they were good.

Amelia also used the bow and another two weapons that Klaus had never heard of. Swords, one called a katana that was about as long as an arming sword, the other was called a wakizashi. It was shorter, but apparently, the two swords were always carried together.

Klaus was curious about the weapons after hearing about them from Beatrice, but Amelia never showed up. Liz, also never went to practice. The young dragon did not begrudge her absence. From what she told him, her sister was the instructor that taught Liz everything.

Then the sun started to set, and it was time.

Pride arrived to collect Klaus from the dojo. He had started to do the slow motions of taiji, to try and stay calm.

Silence tapped on Klaus' shoulder just before he stepped out of the dojo and pointed upwards.

On a wooden beam above the entrance was an engraved tree with words written under it.

"Rise from the ashes, steady your hands, steady your feet. Radiate the message. It is not the fight that makes you bleed, but the sacrifice of your flesh to end your enemies. End them, break them, make them pay. You are Roth, and you will stand until you destroy them all."

Klaus turned to Silence as the words had transported him to a time long past when his ancestor stood with Harkon.

Klaus felt fire burn in his hearts. He would make the demons work to get him down. The young dragon smiled. "You should not have shown me that."