Chapter 40- Draghaul

Morpheus gripped the loose dirt beneath him. He knew where Draghaul was staying. He knew he had no other choice but to confront him. The Beast had killed Fuzz and taken Rose.

Tears began to stream down his face as he made his way through the maze of the catacombs. A still mix of fear and anger flowed through him. The young chimera reached the exit of the catacombs, the sun was glaring at him.

There was a large rumble beneath him, seconds later the gothic house burst into pieces. Undead began to pour out of it, all with green glowing eyes.

Morpheus quickly grew his wings and took off towards Southcross. They weren’t his problem anymore.

He had no idea what he could do but the young chimera was completely fuelled with anger. He wanted to kill Draghaul, even though he stood no chance.

He didn’t even go through the gate, just flew straight over it, heading directly for the hotel where he knew Draghaul was staying. Morpheus landed and quickly knocked out both stewards with his fists.

He kicked the lavish door leading into the reception.

“Where’s Draghaul!” He shouted across the golden lobby.

He was quickly hit on the back of his head and it all went black.

—————————————————

All he could remember was being dragged by his legs on a cold and hard floor, his head bouncing off a stone pathway. He was strung up, still with all his clothes and pouch still on him, a few seconds later Draghaul walked in.

Morpheus opened one eye to see Draghaul staring directly at him. The Beast had a menacing grin.

“Fuck you!” Morpheus screamed.

“Look at how pathetic you are.”

Morpheus struggled in his chains in frustration, Draghaul punched him in the chest breaking multiple ribs.

“Carry on, make sure he gets what he deserves.” He said to a pair of pirate guards as he left.

“We will make sure of that.” A guard replied.

Morpheus was brutally beaten senseless, his healing was barely able to keep up. He looked up at the two guards beating him.

(Brute, Level 146)

(Scout, Level 168)

There was no way he could take them, and his chains were too tight.

It seemed like he had to take this beating, but he still had fight in him. For what they had done to Fuzz there was still fire in his eyes.

He began to laugh as they kept punching him.

“What the fuck is up with this guy?” One asked.

“Must be the reason he would insult Draghaul.” Another replied.

Morpheus looked up at the guard and spat in his face.

“Come on you bitches, you call that a beating.”

One punched him in the face again.

“You hit like a woman.” Morpheus said with a bloody smile.

“Fuck this I give up.”

“Yeah I know.”

Morpheus laughed again. “Don’t leave.” He said.

The two looked up at him in horror and left, locking the bolt on the door. Morpheus quickly sprang into action as he heard their footsteps disappear.

He began to bite at his own arm and make his body below heavier, tearing it off. He regrew the arm and took out his axe. The young chimera cut off the chain on his other arm, and he was now covered completely in his own blood. A pair of smiling white teeth could be seen from the red cloaked chimera.

Arcane Pulse seeped out from underneath the door, he could sense no one else around him. He chopped the lock and gently poked his head around the door. He guessed he was underneath the inn since Draghaul told him that Rose was here as well.

He crept down the silent corridor to find he was at the bottom of a wooden staircase. He looked up the center of it but he still could not hear or sense anyone else.

Suddenly he heard multiple screams coming from outside.

“Everybody run! The undead are coming!”

“It’s a jinn, he caused all this!”

“Everybody run!”

It seemed like the jinn had sent his undead to Southcross. ‘A good distraction’ Morpheus thought.

He could hear multiple people running around on each floor, all yelling and screaming in fear.

“They’re in the central zones!”

Morpheus did not know where Draghaul was staying, he would need to find out somehow.

A few people ran down the stairs completely ignoring him, all with boxes and other things in their hands.

The last person to run past him was grabbed by the young chimera.

“Where’s Draghaul!” Morpheus screamed at him.

It was a young boy who looked terrified.

“Where is he!” He screamed in the boy's face. The rest of the people below them all stopped and stared.

“Urm."

"Where!"

"Top Floor!" The boys mother said.

“Thank you.” Morpheus said, easing his grip on the boys shirt.

Morpheus began to run up to the top level of the Inn and stopped where the staircase reached the floor.

Morpheus could feel a few guards around the corner with Arcane Pulse, two stood by a door while another one was looking out a window.

“Frank, the undead are really in the city.” The one looking out the window said.

“Ha, so it was true. Those bastards he hired weren’t lying when they said a horde of the undead followed them.” Frank said.

“Why did you leave that guy downstairs? He’s dangerous you know.”

“He’s only level ninety for Zeus's sake.” Frank said with a roll of his eyes.

“I heard from Draghaul that he’s secretly someone powerful.” The same person replied.

Morpheus knew he couldn’t just fight them. He racked his brain to try and think of something, he could try to use suprise or maybe another tactic.

Rage was still built up inside of him and he couldn’t wait any longer. Morpheus used the ring of Many Faces to transform into a beautiful woman, with long brown hair and sparkling eyes.

Morpheus began to scream in the woman’s voice behind the staircase. “Please help me.”

“Frank it’s your lucky day.” The other guard said.

Frank stretched and checked his breath, he confidently began to walk over to the staircase. Frank walked into the stairwell but he didn’t see a woman, there was no one there.

Morpheus grabbed his mouth and dug Dagger of Black into his heart. Morpheus was already covered in blood so the man did not bother him at all.

The young chimera carefully laid the man down on the ground, without making much noise. He carefully placed the man’s body in his pouch.

Morpheus changed his face again to Frank’s.

“Hey come take a look at this.” Morpheus said in the man’s voice.

The guard who was staring out the window rolled his eyes and made his way to the staircase.

“What is it?” The guard asked as he turned the corner.

Morpheus plunged his dagger into the man’s heart, he tried to struggle but his body soon went limp.

The last guard heard a slight scuffle and went to investigate. Morpheus used Arcane Step to teleport behind him and stick a dagger in his neck.

The man dropped while clutching his neck, blood spurting out. He fell back backwards while Morpheus stepped aside. The young chimera stared at the corpse with lifeless eyes and then stepped over him.

Morpheus crept next to the door and Arcane Pulse relayed the outline of the room. It was large and he couldn’t tell where Draghaul was but he could see a sack and something was squirming inside it.

‘Rose’ he thought.

He heard footsteps from inside of the room, it was Draghaul. The Beast kicked the sack and the movement stopped.

“Do you know who the fuck I am, I’m a scarecrows daughter!”

Draghaul chuckled. “Do I give a fuck, I’d like to see a scarecrow challenge me.” His deep voice boomed.

“You won’t receive a trial. You’ll be slaughtered.” Rose screamed from the sack.

Draghaul just laughed and poured himself a glass of spirit.

Morpheus drew Blood Axe of the War Orc, and took a deep breath. He knew challenging Draghaul would lead to his death but he would die trying.

The young chimera heard glass shatter, Arcane Pulse picked up multiple outlines of people flooding in the room. There was sounds of shuffled movement and a few groans but then it soon went silent.

“Get me out of this fucking thing!" He heard Rose shout.

“Mrs Crownwell, please refrain from doing anything drastically, you must keep your cover.”

“Fuck, whatever just hurry the fuck up and get out of here.”

“Yes agent Crownwell, do you still have the shadow?” A man asked.

“Yes, I’ve broken the bond. He thinks it’s dead.”

“Good, where is he?”

“The stupid fuck probably got himself chained up.”

“Good, keep cover and report to Dion before the event.”

He saw multiple outlines all leave out the window and Rose got out of the sack and walk to the door.

Morpheus kicked open the door, axe in hand.

“Morpheus!”

“Hi Rose.” He said and hit her in the face with the butt end of his axe, knocking her out.

He looked over to the double bed, and Draghaul layed on it in a pool of his own blood, a deep gash was on his neck.

'Don't fuck with the scarecrows' He thought.

Morpheus walked up to him and slammed his axe in Draghaul’s face for good measure. He spat on him and turned back the unconscious Rose.

Morpheus couldn’t believe what he heard, Rose was an agent for the Scarecrows. Morpheus trusted her, trusted her enough to leave Fuzz with.

Morpheus began to rummage through her belongings, her pouch and on her waist was a thin glass cylinder with shadow magic inside.

'Magic Capture Flask' This flask can capture magic.

(Shadow, Level 92)

“Fuzz!”

The young chimera was over the moon, Fuzz was alive and Rose tried to keep the shadow away from him. He didn’t know what her plan was with him but it didn’t seem pleasant.”

Morpheus didn’t release Fuzz yet, he went through the rest of her belongings.

He brought out multiple pieces of paper, all with his name stamped on them.

‘AGENT CROWNWELL-CONFIDENTIAL MESSAGE.Target-Morpheus. Height 6ft 2. Chimera. Black clothes, preferred weapon- battle axe. Should be at the battlefield at the Bording. Potential 2 marks or more, Gullible, easy to approach.

-Befriend target and infiltrate Ditorian Hideout. Mission details included in a copy of the message he will receive. Gather intel on target, may have to use sexual means to gather intel.’

The young chimera shook his head as he read ‘gullible’ and ‘sexual means’. He had been taken for a fool.

He brought out the same note that Rose received when they entered Southcross. On the back of the note there was another message which was written in red.

‘Carry on mission, test Chimera in Grand o’Royale. Celene of House Baylor has agreed to let Target fight in the hundreds category. Do not interfere with levelling. You must report with a superior before the event.’

Morpheus sat down with his back against the wall and a hand on his forehead.

The young chimera could hear multiple groans from beneath him. He got up and looked out of the window, there were hundreds of undead littering the streets. Screams and shouts were muffled out by the sounds familiar of the undead.

He had to leave the city, he couldn’t stay in Southcross anymore. He looked down at Rose again, a roller coaster of emotions hit him. From the time he slept with her, to them being good friends. It had all been a lie, she was an agent doing on a mission. He quickly retrieved the rest of the paper and put them in his pouch.

Morpheus picked her up and placed her in the closet. He boarded it up with a desk just in case the undead managed to climb up stairs. It wasn’t that he didn’t care for Rose, he would be sad if she was killed.

Morpheus took a final look back before closing the door. He stepped over the dead guards and jumped out of the window, he sprouted his wings to look over the city. Chaos was the only way to describe what he saw. An army of the undead piled up in the streets.

He looked over the north gate and there was a huge pile of undead pouring over it. All climbing on top of each other. Behind him was the palace, people all pushing each other to get inside while hordes of the undead followed. Soldiers and adventures were all in the mixture, some being mauled to death others tearing into the horde.

His wings began to flap and he headed south, he flew around the palace and headed for the mountains in the distance. He didn’t look back, for the young chimera experienced the reality of Arios.