BLOOD MOON

CHAPTER 9

(S/N for this world, the language the demons speak is Tagalog. The first language of most Filipinos with more than 50 million speaking it in the Philippine Island and 24 million speakers worldwide. But for convenience, I shall write it in English.) 

Edward's eyes opened slowly. He was submerged, butt naked, in a clear liquid thirty feet into the ground. It felt warm and soothing. He could gradually feel his energy being restored. His severed limbs and lower body had regrown. He was in nirvana at this point when he heard voices.

"Pull him out." A female voice ordered. Thin layers of clear energy swirled around the liquid in multiple directions as they lifted both the liquid and Edward up to a ledge. It dropped him on his knees, and he let out a deep breath. He looked upwards and saw a person in a hooded cloak. Four gnomes walked with clothing.

"Here are human rags," they said, as they dropped them on the ground.

Edward looked at the 'rags,' which were a clean turtleneck with a denim jacket and jeans.

"Your energy is unstable, so this is all you have to cover up." She snapped her fingers and two giant orcs with butcher Knives walked up behind her. 

"Bring him to the main court in an hour." She ordered as she took her leave.

"Tchh..." Edward hissed. The orcs grunted at him. He sighed and wore his clothes. They chained his hands and feet. The chains were draining out his energy slowly. They worked in such a way that the more you tried to resist, the faster the drain. The orcs began leading him through a dark hallway. 

After walking for about thirty minutes, they came out of the dark hall and into a large silver-glass castle. Source energy ran through every wall. He looked to his left; he could see the brownish sky outside. The air flowed in and lifted his hair gently. He took a deep breath as nostalgia began to hit him. They walked till they came across a large wall. The ground below them attached to the wall, glowed and began to rise. Edward's eyes glanced downwards as he could see the barren lands spread down to the horizon. He felt frustrated. His mind drifted back to the stories his parents would tell him about a time when the world flourished.

 Their species, called the Heilimaw, are beings born as a clear core, much like an egg. The difference is that their bodies begin to form around the core during an incubation period of three months. Once they awake as offspring, the core chooses the best place in their bodies to absorb source energy. After a year, they gain the ability to wield source energy. They used it for technological advancement, clothes, research and power development, agriculture, and military advancements. They had a monarchy system with multiple royal houses and an incumbent general ruling house. Each royal house had its people segregated into two main classes. The Mga Heilimaw, the higher echelon who mostly emit the colours of red, white and black(said to be blessed by source and usually of the royal line). The Mababang Heilimaw, the lower echelon consisting of those who emit the colours blue, green, and yellow. The colours also signified strength and by law, strength determines the ruler. This led to occasional wars to usurp power from any incumbent ruling house. The segregation also spread into the types of jobs, the types of land to be owned, who forcefully gets conscripted anytime the royals wanted to dethrone each other. Aside from occasional wars, the land flourished greatly, in fact so much that those who were treated "unfairly" from the lower echelon would still be living lives comparable to millionaires in the human world. Then came a problem. The issue of Awakening.

It began in the lower echelon, people awakening into colours of those in the higher echelon. At first, it was thought to be a blessing from source to reward the lower echelon for their uncompromised loyalty and hard work. But then it happened, an event in history that would bring their world to the brink of destruction. Someone from the royal house awakened. From the colour black to the colour of pure source energy that flows through their world. The colour brown. By law, his house was meant to be the ruling house, but the other royal houses refused and banded together to get rid of his house completely. Not only had they gotten an awakened black source, but they had been the house that had ruled the most and was known for their cruelty. Their war ravaged the world in a few days and most of the royal houses were destroyed due to the power of this new awakened alone. The surviving royal houses surrendered which was meant to end the war, but the new brown source had a god complex. He decided to break the ruling house system and made everyone completely subservient to his power.