Kai woke up gasping in pain. His entire body felt like one big scab, and for some reason, it seemed to be throbbing in rhythm with his heart. He could feel a liquid covering him, and he opened his mouth to ask what was going on.

He sputtered and gasped as the metallic taste of blood entered his mouth, and so he tried to spit all of it out.

A few moments later, he felt the cold chill of water splash all over him. It took them a few buckets of water, but Kai was finally able to wipe enough of the blood from his eyes and mouth to open both of them, at which point he realized the silence that permeated the air around him.

He looked up and saw that it had been hours since he’d sat down in front of the Seer, and that the first rays of dawn had already started appearing over the horizon. And yet, the crowd of villagers that had surrounded the clearing when he’d gone under was still there. Every single one of them was standing there, watching him in grim silence.

There had never been an occurrence like this in the village during a Naming Ceremony. The worst reaction they had ever seen from someone was the intense shaking that had occurred with Mera’s Naming right before. Kai was full of pain and covered in blood. He could only imagine what the villagers had seen while he was being Named.

He tried to stand up, and was able to push himself to his feet, before a sudden bout of weakness hit him, and he started to tip over. Suddenly, two lights flashed and Cohen and Hunter were on either side of him, supporting his weight.

In the next second, Mera had also run up to Kai, and was standing in front of him with a concerned expression.

“What happened?” Kai asked in a hoarse whisper.

It was Mera who answered. “It was scary Kai. Everything was normal for the first bell, except for the fact that it was taking so long. Of course, we were all concerned about that at first, but then both you and the Seer suddenly started shaking. It ramped up to the point where it looked as if both of you were going through sitting seizures. And then, almost as quickly as it started, both of you stopped moving. A couple bells passed, and then you started shaking uncontrollably again and blood started pouring out of every single one of your pores. I was so afraid, but you’re ok right?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” is all he could say, not able to convince even himself.

He heard a commotion on the other side of the stage and saw that some of the council members were supporting the Seer in the same way Hunter and Cohen were silently supporting Kai.

However, the old woman barked at them to get away from her, and was finally able to convince the members to let her stand by herself. Emboldened by this, Kai himself pulled his arms away from his supporters and tried to stand on his own. He teetered dangerously for a second, before rebalancing himself and standing straighter.

He saw the Seer look out over the crowd for a few seconds before turning to Kai.

“This child,” she said pointing at Kai, “has lived through more tonight than most of us will experience in our entire lives. He has persevered and come out victorious. He stands there bloody, but unbowed. His name, his new name, will be Mordekai Eritos, meaning ‘the unbowed strength of a warrior.’”

And then, in a soft voice, one that Kai somehow knew could only reach his ears, the Seer said, “A name that one day, will force you to earn the right to use it. Through the fires of eternal wars, you must rise, and become the name Eritos.”

***

A beautiful humming sound could be heard through the thick forest. It seemed to be a soft, almost casual hum, yet the Aura it gave off increased in strength as one traveled closer to it.

The trees rippled in the pleasant wind, almost dancing to the rhythm of the beautiful sound. The grass seemed just a little greener and the animals inhabiting the forest, just a little more energetic because of the humming.

Following the humming would take one to a clearing, where a heavens defying beauty was washing clothes in a small stream. Even though she was only wearing a simple white dress, and her dark hair was tied back into a messy ponytail, any Mortal that chose to even glance at her would have their eyes burnt, through no fault of the woman’s, however. She was just too pure, too full of power and beauty.

Without turning, she called out in a melodic voice. “C’mon love. You know it’s impossible to hide from me. At this point, I wonder why you even try.”

A chuckle emanated from a shadow at the edge of the clearing before it solidified into a man seven feet tall, and rippling with muscles. He wore only a black robe and his dark hair fell across his face, obscuring his features.

A sudden flash brought him to kneel right behind the now standing woman, where he then nuzzled his face into her neck.

“I had to try, love,” he said. “It is a game we’ve played for centuries. Why stop now?”

The woman turned, placing both hands on her husband’s chest as she suddenly changed the subject.

“You felt it too a few hours ago, didn’t you? A slight ripple in the fabric. Someone has taken the Name.”

The man’s face hardened, a quick 180 from the playful expression he had before.

“It won’t matter. The Abomination that calls itself Fate will eventually wipe them from the Mortal Plane, no matter what they try to do.”

The man realized how he’d messed up when his wife glared at him. However, her face fell after a few seconds.

“All these years later, any my sister is still under the command of that filth,” she said. “In the end, we failed her, and everyone else.”

The man reached up to her face, cupping it between his hands.

“Do not despair, my love. Maybe he’s still…”

She pushed away from him, spinning around to try hiding her oncoming tears.

“No, do not give me false hope. We saw him get blasted into Oblivion. Him along with our two allies.”

The man grabbed her and turned her back to him. She hadn’t fooled him. He wiped her tears with the sleeves of his robe. She then buried her face into his chest, craving warmth that, through all of her years of living, only he’d been able to give her.

Looking out at the trees that seemed to weep with the couple, he said, “Sometimes, hope is all we have.”