Seeing the room illuminated by the light emitted by the teleport the instructor let out a sigh of relief. His happiness was short lived however, as soon as he saw the number of kids that had actually made it back the sigh of relief turned into a sharp gasp of shock. Only 7, 7 of the 32 kids that had been sent on the trial had made it back alive. If they could even be called alive. They sat there on the ground defeated and covered in the dark crimson of dried up blood. Grey lay there on the ground collapsed and unconscious, Mist was rocking her body back and forth mumbling below her breath, tears flowing from her eyes into the cup of her hands.

Oak, Snowflake Tatt’s and Luniera just stood there around Grey trembling slightly and unsure of wat to do. The girl with the sling had lost all power over her legs and just rested her behind on the cold stone. The instructor turned his head to look at the elder. The elder was seething, the instructor could almost see his murderous fury floating around him. He was pretty sure the air around the elder felt heavier. It was getting hard to breathe and his feelings where being oppressed by the raw fury emanating from the elder.

“What has happened?” The elder asked them his voice without even a hint of emotion.

The group looked at each other but none of them really seemed willing to talk about what had happened. Surprisingly it was once again the young girl with the sling who was the first to react. She told him everything that had happened to them. The loss of nearly the entire group before Grey and his friends had even arrived. The stone she had fired at the monster and the charge it had done. The timely arrival of Oak and the vanguard to intercept the monster. The screaming of their friends souls trying to break out from their fleshy confinement. The attack of Sansieri and her brave sacrifice soon after. The brave act of selflessness from Six that had sent Grey into a murderous rampage. The sword that ate the monster alive leaving only those few that remained to be staring at a distance as the bloodthirst between the sword and the monster battled it out to the death.

“ A Ghul, They sent a bloody Ghul for the kids first fight.” The instructor whispered in horror.

The expression on the elders face turned even darker than it had been. “ They did not even want a fight this time, they wanted a slaughter.” Those cold words caused the kids to shiver. “ Honestly it’s a miracle any of you kids are still alive.” The elder added softly looking over them a soft look in his eyes.

Suddenly there was a burst as the door to the room was knocked of his hinges by the brute power that had rushed through. The Forge master had appeared with a panicked look on his face. He saw Grey collapsed on the floor and ran over as fast as his bulky body would allow. He picked up the collapsed youth and a glimmer of wetness could be seen shining from the eyes of the horned giant. Holding the young man ever so gently he picked him up and started walking out the room.

The instructor rushed to stop him “ Where are you taking him we need to get him looked after!” he was hurriedly told.

“ Let him go” The elder spoke curtly. “ The forge is probably the best place for that particular youth right now.

The Forge master nodded in agreement and ran of the sound of his heavy footsteps echoing throughout the hallway. The rest of the group seemed to have regained their senses while Sling had told her story. Mist had stopped her rocking and was now wiping away the tears from her eyes and following the forge master out of the room.

The group just let her go it was obvious that she needed some time to herself. The others stood there with the elder and instructor in silence no one moving or speaking for a while. After a few moments of silence Tatt’s asked the question that all of them had but none of them had wanted to ask.

“What was that monster, that Ghul you spoke off?” The question was asked hesitantly although he had asked he was still unsure if he even wanted to know the answer.

“A Ghul” The elder stated. “Is a monster created with the bodies of the dead and the souls of the tortured. Nothing sentient really remains except the need to kill, to grow and to cause pain. A Ghul can absorb the bodies of those it kills to grow new limbs, heads or even organs. Aslong as there are bodies remaining in the Ghul it cannot be killed. Usually anyways, there are a few exceptions. It’s a monster that should have been way beyond the level you kids can handle. Even the instructor or the forge master could not have killed this creature. Not without severe wounds anyway. You were lucky that the youth had created such a strange sword. That sword is the reason any of you are still able to breath.”

Letting this knowledge sink in the rest of the group just sat there in silence. The memories that had made today would need a lot of time become less painful. Less raw than it felt for them now.

Grey awoke to the familiar sound of a hammer hitting steel. He sat up and looked around only to find himself in the forge in which he would normally feel so comfortable. Not far from him the Forge master was hammering steel with even more power than he usually would have. Feeling the raw emotions of the day creeping up on him Grey swiftly let himself be swallowed up by the beating of the hammer on the red hot steel.

Loosing himself to the pulses the hammer created he stood up and walked to his own little corner smithy. He picked up his heavy icy blue hammer and gathered steel from the storage. He heated the steel and started creating weapons he started with a hatchet. The same style hatchet that Six had wielded before he died. Hammering away on the weapon of his now lost friend he focused on removing all imperfections from the weapon. These weapons would be memories of the people that they had lost to the monster. Memories that he swore to himself to never forget. To remind himself of the real enemy. The enemy he would never forgive.

And so he forged. For how long he was forging he himself had no idea. Lost in the pace of the hammer he continued to swing his arm onto the anvil again and again. Every time he had finished a weapon he would gently put it away before gathering steel for the next weapon. After some time his arms grew tired from the work but he refused to stop, refused to let his arms rest until he had finished this last duty towards the ones they had lost. The ringing of hammer on steel would fill the air of the underground for days to come.

Forging a weapon was not a task one could do quickly. And these weapons where unlike any he had created before. Every time he made a weapon he would picture the lives, and faces of his friends in his mind’s eye. He would create the weapon to be flawless, Filled with personality. Each weapon unique in their appearance. As an anthem to the dead weapons where being created one at a time. Created with a perfection that would make even a master smith look over his own weapons with shame. He worked tirelessly, slaving away at the weapons until he had finished the final one. Collapsing in a pool of his own sweat Grey once again lost his consciousness.

Mist stomped her way through the hall tears gone from her face and replaced by a fierce look of determination. Her sister had been taken from her, the link the two had shared forever severed by the hands of those who had turned them into slaves which would be used for nothing other than bloody entertainment of this with money. She had already decided, she would have her vengeance. She would not stop until the streets flowed with the blood of the guilty.

She took the knife from her belt and grabbed the hair on the side of her head. She would need to change for wat she had planned. Tougher, stronger, faster. She would need to move without hesitation without sound. She would become mist, a bloody red mist that would devour those who stood in her way. Making up her mind she put the blade to her scalp. Hair hit the floor while she stood there, fierce reptilian eyes staring back at her from the mirror.

The guilty and the cruel shivered from a sudden sensation as soon as her first strand of hair softly touched the floor.

Sorry but my house had a power outtage so couldnt post anything! :D, I went to my grandma's house with my folks for christmas so im using my lil bro's laptop (even tho its actually my laptop but hey) This will be the finishing chapter for the first arc. Dont worry im not anywhere close to stopping. I will post a few more chapters untill im back behind my own computer. (i will be at my parents untill the 2nd.) And one im behind my own computer again i will redo everything so please forgive any mistakes ive mad so far for they wll be corrected! As always Love you guys for reading :D