Chapter 19

Cyrus 2.1

After exiting the cave Cyrus decided to stop in front of the Weirtress. Their white barks were wrinkling onto themselves and the bald branches rustle with the hard, cold breeze. As he came out they move and swung with a rhythm that was almost intangible to his ears. He tries to understand what they meant as he knows that these trees were the ancestors of the Godswood. Their Barks had these eerily morph like faces that had long stretch out mouth as if they were ready to engulf any of whom draw close.

Their eyes were perfectly carved but a red sort of liquid, dry as it may be, travel down their faces. The vibrant red was in clear contrast of its dead pale body and anyone who laid their eyes on them will know a fear that wasn't meant to be there.

Nightshade, Devour, Stonequake and Frozenfire stood a step behind him and also stare at the trees with him. They were clearer than him on the knowledge of these lands as they may have inherent some knowledge thanks to their ancestry. But Cyrus didn't ask, he wanted to find clue on them by himself. No matter how much he lust for knowledge what gives him pleasure and satisfaction is unlocking the truth by himself, especially when he knows that these trees were in constant reaction to his presence.

"It's weird though?" Frozenfire spoke, "Every time we come here these trees seem death, with no movement whatsoever with their thin, stifling branches following the cold winds. But when young lord arrive I can swear that they become more animated, as if they are welcoming him." Devour had his long thin black blade on his hands as he was always grasping it, caressing it, he looked at the trees and say. "I have also realized that."

Stonequake can have an obnoxious mouth in most cases but now he was serious and his voice was quite deep, "I learned that once in an ancient far past my people worship trees like these. We sacrifice humans children to appease the spirits in the trees." This wasn't anything knew to Cyrus as he have say this thing more than once already.

Cyrus continue looking, not with his eyes though as he didn't have colors in his world, he could only feel and know what are they made out with his senses. What is shown in his dark world is towering trees that look directly at him, their mouths open wide and move as if talking to him but Cyrus could hear no sound. Cyrus felt as if he could understand their feelings and that their message were almost there for him to grasp but sadly he couldn't reach.

The Monoliths that he once saw in the Catacombs spoke of the middle man of the Old Ones. Who these Old Ones were Cyrus at that moment didn't know but after spending almost a year in Valleyfall and learning about their beliefs and culture he came to know that maybe these Old Ones are actually the old Gods that the men of the north worship.

Cyrus didn't understand what happened to them, but actually no one truly knows as they were once worship throughout the whole continent but now only the beliefs of the Nine Divine are the new spread out religion.

What makes a God is something Cyrus never care about. It was alien to him, he didn't understand it nor did he felt them. His question always revolves around about if they truly exists. Are they in this earth? Or are they out in the starry skies? Maybe there are other lands were these Gods end up taking roots, because he felt none in his presence.

Cyrus left the foot of the mountain and look back at the stretch of wall that travel from east to west. Their peaks hidden in the dark and swirling heavy clouds with billowing winds and snow. The forest he stands on could say to be a white frozen forest, with sparse trees here and there but the ice that cover their bodies shimmer with the light of the twins. Their glow was the testimony of their magical heritage and the clues of this Wonderland. A land infected by magic.

Cyrus was like a black spot in this world of frozen grey and snow cover grass. His long starless black hair swallow the lights around him producing a black hue that looks like a crown around his head. He took a deep breath and relax, if the Frost Giant descend, this land will hold them off. It would continue to work as it was meant to be. Cyrus firmly believe that these unnatural mountains that stretched like a wall was built to stop those creatures for coming into the human lands.

The Noble Heroes of the past sacrifice their Bloodline to secure a peaceful land for the rest of the humans who took root in this continent. Even at the cost of their descendants losing the abilities that their ancestors cultivated so hard for their offsprings.

Just as they were going to head down south towards Valleyfall Cyrus smell a pleasant odor. Not only him but the four behind him were also the same. "Is this..." Nightshade said beside him, "an evolution." A smile warmth up her face but even though it was cool and calm, the lust for blood couldn't escape Cyrus. She wasn't the only one, the other three were the same as her.

"Let's go." They all turn into blurry afterimages that split the snow at their trail, leaving behind long, dragged out shadows.

Not long after they started sprinting, they found a small piece of the forest with cluster of trees together. Theses trees were towering dozens of meters above ground with thick, long roots that sprang out of the frozen hard ground like coiling black snakes. Their branches may be bald but their overwhelming number still obstruct anyone of their vision of what was deeper within.

Cyrus and the others stood outside of these cluster of trees and even though normal eyes couldn't look directly behind the long, thing like bald branches that fell to the sides of the trees they still couldn't stop Cyrus and the others from looking deep into its dept.

A creature stood squirming and rolling on the snow. It's body was releasing hot air and was creating steam that rose up towards the treetops. The mist was illuminated by the twins light and it was slightly tainted by a pinkish-red color.

Looking at the creature, Cyrus saw its bone split outside of its body and skin peeling itself off. It was a furred creature but Cyrus couldn't pick up it's form. The crackling sounds came especially ear piercing in this quiet and barren forest. The more the creature roll on the snow, the louder the sound of its bone reverberate in the quiet of the night.

Stonequake look around and scoff at the other beasts who were also making their appearance. He release his Aura and the deep Dark Green power engulf the whole cluster of trees in the forest. Just as he added, the air quake at extremely high frequency and the beasts who were slow got rip in a gory act.

Beside the disgusting bone moving sounds, his heavy voice laugh out loud and he went towards the closet beasts that was all but alive. With it's mangled flesh and hot blood forming pools he quickly took off the coat and started feasting on its bone and flesh.

Cyrus capture all of these even though he wasn't looking at him. These Beasts of the Ancient Races were more savage and bloodthirsty than the normal beasts the humans normally interact.

Stonequake took a part that surrounded the cluster of trees while Frozenfire also move to take action. He also release a Monstrously huge Aura that wasn't any weaker than Stonequake and engulf the whole cluster of trees. Their Aura climb out almost hundreds of meters outside their bodies and he also aim to a part that was completely opposite from the ones Stonequake aim. His Aura was a mix of Red and Blue with his Hot and Cold attributes creating a mist that almost overshadowed the pinkish-red of the evolving beast.

The beasts that manage to escape Stonequake attack still got frozen in a misty cloud of blue Aura but not soon after they boil and bubble from the inside out. Their flesh and bones acted exactly as how liquid is put to a boiling point.

Their flesh and blood as when they were about to splatter out got again frozen. Forming grotesquely unbiological figures that their heads couldn't be make out with naked eyes. Figures that appears to grow out bubbling limps and blood that was boiled to the point of almost looking burn black.

"What a beautiful sculpture! Master what do you think?" The blurry figure of Frozenfire appear beside an ice sculpture of grotesque form and was marveling at its own creation. Cyrus didn't look at him nor did he answer him but he could feel the pleasure and excitement he was feeling towards the frozen beasts around him.

This is their tendency to violence, Cyrus knew that these Ancient Beasts were terrifying, horrifying creatures by nature. Their abilities all lean on the destruction of their enemies, but what was more terrifying was their supreme level of intellect. This wasn't a case of been similar to humans but they were entirely above some, their capacity for learning was extremely high and they could learn their language and art in a couple of days time. Of course if we talk about the arts, then Frozenfire learned in his own twisted way. The only thing obstructing them for their learning capacity was their beasts like bodies and their inborn instinctual savagery that left them have a primals way of thinking.

Cyrus said, "Go, Devour have your fill before these two left you with nothing." Devour was like a true guarding. He will always stay close to Cyrus and never leave his shadow. The only way Cyrus could ever travel to Valleyfall alone in the past couple of months was only because he beat him in a long drawn out battle. Out of the four he was the strongest and also the oldest in terms of experience. One of the reasons that he managed to hold so long while withstanding the suppression of blood was because of what he came to now learn about, Battle Consciousness.

He nodded and disappeared behind him, his speed was also the fastest of them all. Cyrus look at Nightshade that was staring at the rolling beast and he grabbed her hand. "Come, let's get closer. You must know that this already happened to you right. The difference was that you were sleeping and that you didn't feel any of the pain and agony." They step into the cluster of trees and weave through the falling branches that work like curtains obstructing their path.

Cyrus misunderstood something about the Ancient Races. He thought that Nightshade may have never Evolve because of the state of their Genes were in the metamorphosis but after he came to start his plan to make all the surviving beasts go through their physique change, it was then that he realized how they Evolve. He saw how the Gene Sequence move and morph inside their blood and change them from a substructure level. It was a similar process as how human Cultivate, the Force that they summon and revolve around their bodies was slowly but surely changing what he came to know as Genes. Genes are these little micro organisms that live inside ones blood, flesh and bones. It's what back up a Lifeform and everyone has them deep inside.

What happen to the Ancient Races was a similar process but with no change or drastic transformation. They enter into a deep sleep state and consume the magical properties of the atmosphere surrounding them. When he first transform Stonequake, Frozenfire and Devour he thought that they may had never Evolve, because they didn't have any major differences from their baseborn species. They didn't have an extra limb or an extra organ, they look the same as how they were born and all this time he thought that he was the one who helped them change and Evolve but he couldn’t be more wrong.

Is just the beasts that lives with the humans have different biological attributes than the Ancient Beasts that lived in the Icy Plains. That's why he told nanny Marilee that Nightshade never had Evolve and that he was surprised by her innate strength.

It was just a misinformation on his part but he didn't care. Taking Nightshade into the middle of the cluster of trees Cyrus found something he wasn't expecting.

Behind all of these trees there was a small tree that Cyrus was incredibly familiar with. It wasn't even four meters tall. Compared with the towering tall trees these lands forests like to grow, then this one could be compared to a grass surrounded by bushes.

The tree was just like the Godswood in the back of Castlely Ash. But this one was small, the face wasn't like the ones in the foot of the Broken Mountains but the same as the one in the Godswood. Cyrus was at first surprised but later on he started to get confused. It was because even though everything was the same, he found a problem, and it was that the red leaves were visibly losing color and that white as jade bark was becoming dryer and crevices started to form on its smooth skin. It didn't stop there because after the crevices continue, it later became wrinkle up.

Cyrus stare at the beasts that was having it's bones cracks and skin peel off, he realized something also. It was too long. He has seen his fair of Evolution in the Black Forest, they were always impactful and quick, leaving the creature in a weakening state. This always happens to the Beasts of the Wild, when they evolve they would attract a pack of beasts that would want to consume their flesh and only two path is left for such creatures; one is succumb to their demise or second, evolve with superior strength and consume their enemies. That's one of the reasons why beasts evolution are rare to see in the open and the ones who do so are because their evolution are extremely high and strong, they completed in a fast momentum and consume their enemies to replenish their lost Lifeforce. But this one was going on for a long time.

Not long after, the creature stop rolling on the snow, the sounds of bone breaking and flesh squirming ended. By now the center of the cluster of trees was color of blood-red and nothing inside could be seen. Soon after a figure stood up and Cyrus was now visibly shock with an open wide mouth. With the billowing of the cold, harsh northern winds. The mist disperse and a humanoid silhouette appear behind the still dispersing mist. With one last blow of the northern winds the remainder of the mist disappear and her figure laid bare before him.

Her hair was the color of silver with a hint of blue just like the moon above. Soft, smooth Silver fur cover her forearms and calves. Her nails were long just like a beast's claws and her pupils were deep blue with a silver scar in the middle.

Cyrus was petrified, an Aura equal to his own engulf him. She stood naked in front of him but he wasn't paying attention to that, it was that smell, that familiar scent, a smell that he already became accustomed to. A Wolf smell! Cyrus was about to say something but he stop, because he found a face that he will never forget in his entire life. Jirald Ventress!

Her eyes were also on him and she only scoff, "It seems you also discover the power of the Old Gods-" Before she could continue three Aura swallow the place.

Devour appear behind her and swung his pitch black blade. Lightning cover his body and his physical appearance was squirming as more power erupted from his physique. Stonequake wasn't the fastest out of everyone but still reach faster than Frozenfire. He punched the air in front of him and a Vibration Shook the air and created hair thin like white cracks that travel towards Jirald Ventress.

The last one was Frozenfire and he became so furious because of his carelessness that the horns on his head that were almost hidden away under his hair grew forth longer and thicker, the ball of Red Fire exploded with a brilliant light that release a heat wave that consume everything in its path. His Aura became a dome of sort that expanded outward and burst all the trees into fire and evaporated the snow for hundreds of meters around.

Jirald Ventress was still staring at Cyrus and didn't bother to look at the three attacking figures. She swiped her nails in the air and destroy any and all attacks. Devour that was the one who got closer to her got blown away and Frozenfire who was releasing raging flames got his flame frozen by ice. He was partially shock and momentarily stood dumbstruck. Stonequake hair thin like cracks that he Create on air were split apart.

Stonequake receive a shock through his body and couldn't help but take several steps back. Nightshade also erupted into power but because her hand was being grabbed by Cyrus she couldn't move. Jirald Ventress look at her hand and smile at Cyrus. Later she disappeared with a sway of her body.

Not long after he look around him and realized that the cluster of trees that they were on disappeared without a trace. The snow was melted and only stones stood here and there. How did she do it? How could she do that? Jirald Ventress was an enigma in Valleyfall. The only thing the people knew was that she came from the eastern continent. That land wasn't the same as this continent. Here the land is governed by the Seven Kingdoms and twelve High Noble Households. But there…

Free cities make the human settlements and rich merchants who are adept at selling spices and ore rule the lands. Cyrus once hear that there were two Empires warring in the deeper area of the eastern continent but because they were far away from the merchants and aristocrats who made trades with the Noble Households of the Seven Kingdoms, no one knows about them.

One of his goals is to set foot in that continent but first he needs to discover his motherland and from there expand to other regions.

Devour body turn back to normal and his horns grew smaller that he could hide them under his hood. Frozenfire was the same but now he was trembling. He appears in front of Cyrus and kneel down in front of him, "My Lord please punish me. I momentarily got careless and put you in danger." Cyrus looked down at him and laugh. He uses his knuckles to hit his head and said, "done, hah. Don't overreact you did nothing wrong but true, you did get distracted just because she froze your flames. That was pathetic, hahaha." Cyrus laugh at him and turn around walking off with his guards close at his heels.

After passing the snow cover trees they soon enter the northern part of the Black Forest and in front he felt something familiar, the smell came to his nose with a sweet aroma. A blur darken his already dark world and stood fidgeting beside a tree. It was short and the closer he got the clearer the image of the girl appear in his mind.

"Blair?" She jumped up when she heard his voice and ran towards him. Her speed was incredibly fast and left Cyrus flabbergasted with an open mouth. There were hundreds of meters of distance between them but she cross it in an instant and not only that but the after shadows she produce dragged behind her in a surreal way. It was a speed that normal Humans shouldn't have, that only Master Warriors utilizing some Battle Skills could perform such speed. When she was a couple of steps away from him she fell face first with the fault of a root coiling out of the ground.

Cyrus step towards her and help her up, he felt her skin cold as ice and looking closer to her she was paler than what he remembers. When she looked up at him he found strands of blood red hair coming down her head. So vibrant that it could compare with the red moon in the sky. Not only that but her eyes shimmer with a red glow that could only be seen in the night.

Cyrus capture every single change the moment he held her up. He was so surprised that the words he was about to say got choke in his throat. "Lord, hmm, am scared... Huhuuh!!” She started bawling in tears in front of him and her tears came out of her eyes like fountains. He didn't know where to start. "Calm down girl, first sit down." He sat her on an arching root that was big enough to hold five people and let her take short but deep breath.

"What's wrong?" Just as the words left his mouth Cyrus felt pairs of eyes looking from above the trees. The eyes were bright red, just like the crimson moon above. He looked up and he found three blurry figures in his dark world. They came down and landed like feathers dropping from the sky.

"Lord Master!" The three were faces he recognizes, one was the youth that Blair bit into this morning the other was Faust the Butler of Castlely Ash and the last one was a woman. He remembered her as being one of the helpers of Nanny Marilee around the Keep, Nancy was her name.

Their Aura was practically none existence and the life signs were all gone. Only the heart was beating but in an inhumane slow rhythm. "What's going on?" He ask that but the answer was already in his mind.

Faust took a step forward and look at him with a difficult expression, "Lord Master is us who need to ask what's going on? What have you done to us? We experience a change, but we don't know how or why? Please give us an explanation." Faust was a man that has lived for the Ashcold all his life. Bethran was his young lord when he was younger and they both grew up in the same castle. He was also a secret master, one that wasn't any weaker than the four Great Masters of Valleyfall but he didn't take nor care for the title.

Belia once introduced him to Cyrus and briefly told him about his past. He wasn't all that interested in the man and he lived a quiet life overlooking the castle with nanny Marilee, while silently cultivating. He didn't have any family and didn't have any achievement of his own. As such Cyrus was uninterested in him and didn't pay him attention.

"Explain? What's to explain? This is a bad accident that now you have to deal with." Cyrus sounded cold but what he says was the true. His uniqueness made him one of a kind in the whole world and now he came to know that he can spread his... what can he call it? Sickness? He didn't feel it to be a sickness but knowing how humans are, they would deem this as such. "Can't you change us back? We are hurting and thoughts not of our own keeps coming into our mind. We couldn't stay in the valley anymore, the smell makes us nauseous." Faust was trembling and his knees hit the ground. " Please! Lord Master, we don't want to hurt anyone, please just make it stop."

Faust was crying, Cyrus was thinking why and he asks. " How many have you all feed upon?" Faust eyes were red not because of the hint of change in his pupils but because his eyes were dripping with tears. "I, try but I couldn't stop them. They couldn't control themselves..." Cyrus figure much. He knows that pain, that abyss that form in the pit of his stomach, the feeling of weakness. He didn't know to what extent their hunger will take them but Cyrus knows clearly his own and gauge from that, he could clearly understand their pain.

The woman called Nancy spoke with dry tears in her eyes as if she already succumbed to crying her eyes out and has now calm down but still with a somewhat troubling face, " I don't know what happen, one moment that little girl bite me and the next I was overcome with hunger. I just couldn't stop. Why was it like this, my friends and family were ripped apart, I came to realize that something was wrong when I was overcome with power, when I ripped a person limbs off, the exuberant feeling came like a drug and I couldn't stop. I felt happiness birth in my heart and that sweet voice was cheering me on from inside my head and, how come I unleashed such power? I have never trained in my life but I ripped my husband to shreds and consume him." Her voice was choked and tears mark her face, but she wasn't crying anymore, she was demanding answers. And he sure wants to give her some but he couldn't, is not even something he himself understood.

Cyrus look at the boy that was around his own age and saw him biting his lips but he didn't show any remorse in his eyes, his fist was clenched hard and the way he looks at Cyrus was that of a look of worship. "And you? What do you regret?" The youth step forward and kneel in front of him but he wasn't like Faust, that was scared and was crying while holding his hair, he was kneeling as one would to a king.

"No! Am grateful for Master Lord for giving me this gift. Without it I would only be a servant for the rest of my life. I yearn for power all my life but I was born with a Forceless Body, I couldn't get strong and I always dream of becoming strong to travel these lands. If Master Lord didn't spread his gift to Master Blair I wouldn't have the opportunity to be bitten by her." Cyrus lips curl in a hidden smirk and look at Nancy now, she had short dark brown hair with blue eyes, she was beautiful and tall.

"And you, do you regret?" She was standing and looking at Cyrus with her blue eyes. Cyrus wanted to find hatred but he found none. That was weird though, even though he didn't do it, indirectly he was the cause of the death of her family. She stood forward and kneeled beside the youth, her face was looking down and she spoke, "no I don't regret." Cyrus was surprised and step closer to her. He squatted down in front of her and lifted her face, "so you would want to eat your own family to acquire power?" She shook her head and said with straight eyes, "what's done is done. This must be a bad joke from the old Gods and am no one to go against them. I also hold a Forceless body and was marry to my husband because he was a master in Valleyfall. We live together for years and dependence was born through work but no love was birthed in my life." Nancy eyes were so calm that Cyrus was mistaken by her.

It's true what Lanier said about the women of the north, they are strong willed women that will search for strength if they have the opportunity to. They will follow the saying of the old gods, 'No humans are born equal but we will give them opportunities to be equals.' The women in Valleyfall search for these opportunities as they want to be like the men of the north, they want to travel Beast infested forest and claim their own food, they want to hunt beasts for the best furs, they want to learn about the beasts bodily biology, they wanted to uncover herbs and minerals. In a sense, they have an adventurous heart that yearns to fly across the sky without worry.

The women would think beyond than just fighting, if they are as gifted as the men are in battles they would want to learn more, explore different areas and would forge ahead with a straight, calm face. Belia was the same, she had a talent for battle just like her brothers but she always dwell in the knowledge of the different types of flowers and herbs that grew under rocks and small crevices in the Forest. She likes to spend time in the Black Forest not to battle beasts and upgrade her powers but to communicate with those creatures that humans call fairies.

Cyrus had never seen one before even though he has spent more time in the forest than all the siblings combined but he didn't care much to see them. He learn anything he needs to learn from Belia.

"Faust have you feed?" Cyrus didn't need the answer. He could feel how weak he is. But it was surprising that he could hold on until now. That's a Master for you. Their will power is something that normal Humans can't compare.

"Go and find someone for him to feed. Nightshade you are the only one who has ever been to Valleyfall. Right now there are a bunch of people living in houses made of clothes close to the cliff wall. Capture one and bring it here. Remember to make sure to not let anyone see your appearance. Devour follow her as there are a lot of strong humans in those areas and after you capture one bring it here." Nightshade nodded and a black Aura with hints of swirling red inside coated her body.

Becoming a blur she sped through the dark, mist fill forest. Devour was the same, a dark grey Aura coated his body like a cloth and lightning flicker around his limbs. He follows Nightshade and split open the mist that cover the dark, humid forest.

"Cyrus, please no! Don't do this, I beg you, just kill me. I wanted to be killed rather than to consume human blood!" Hearing that Cyrus grabbed him by the neck and said, "Now hear me, you are one of my kind, do you think I’m going to let you die just like that? Sure I can kill you but that would be such a waste. You are a great master at the prime of your life, how can I let that go? You don't need to kill the person if you don't want to, you can just drink his blood to satisfy your hunger but be sure to remember, that person may have a probability to be turn as well. I will leave that decision in your hands."

There was one thing that Cyrus realized, it seems they couldn't go against his words. Just like Blair, in one moment she was bawling because she was been scared and all but after he told her to calm down and sit down, she did just that. And as he figure, Faust had this painful look on his face and his body was trembling as if he was having a seizure but no rejection could be felt from him. He was just in denial.

Cyrus look at Nancy and at the youth, he ask first at the youth. "What's your name?" He quickly stepped up and said with a stutter, "I, I, am, name Raymond." No last name? Maybe a bastard from some noble family. Cyrus didn't ask because he truly didn't care. Bastard were all around the world and most were treated like slaves and all die as servants. The lucky ones could become Sell Swords and travel from place to place to sell their expertise.

"Go and have a round of battle. I want to see what power the... hmm, I like how Raymond call it. I want to see what the gift has given you." Nancy nodded calmly and Raymond was nervous. "I have never fought before, but am good at running." Raymond said.

Cyrus chuckled at that and wave his arm saying, "that problem will take care of itself with time. Now I want to know how much did the change of the gift bring you to your body." Nancy and Raymond look at each other and separated, making some distance from one another.

Raymond was the first one to attack and he leaped with inhumane speed towards Nancy. His body didn't produce an ounce of Force nor did his heart accelerates. That meant that he wasn't like the tribesmen of the southern lands. His blood didn't turn like galloping beasts and gave him immense power. It was an abnormal phenomenon.

Nancy side stepped stretching her hand—she twisted—while grabbing him by the wrist. Torquing it in mid-air a crack was soon heard, she broke his wrist, it was because she still couldn't control her power. The leg she use to pivot her weight and throw him on his back was too much that by the time he was in mid air she exerted too much strength. Now her calm face change to nervousness, but it was already too late *BANG!*

Raymond body hit the ground and a human shape pit was dented on the hard grass. Nancy step forward and squatted in front of him, "am so sorry I still can't control my strength." Cyrus stepped forward and look down at the broken wrist. He realized that the bones were out of place but didn't pierce flesh.

But it was at that moment that when Cyrus thought the boy was going to scream and roll in pain, that with a clunking sound as if two heavy metal plates were falling in place, the wrist heal itself. Cyrus took a deep breath and a smile that later turn into a roar of laughter escaped his throat. "Hahahaha the same, we are all the same Hahahaha am not alone anymore, Hahahaha!!." Only his voice reverberated through the darkness of the forest. The euphoria of this discovery would be the fuel that would change the lands. The Harbinger of Stained Bloodlines was form within the outskirts of the northern part of the Black Forest.