Realm Of The Forbidden

Perfect Sixteen

The air grows cold as rain begins to fall from the heavens as if to wash away the young warriors' sins. The bone-chilling rain and the blood from their gashed open bodies mix with the soil beneath them. The ground now turning to mud beneath their bodies, Nephest attempts to stand. At the moment he stands to his feet, lightning explodes into the earth, and the screams of innocent lives being taken pierce his ears. Time seems to stand still as Nephest looks at his dying friends trying to stand and fight with him. The sky lights up, and in that split second he could feel his heart drop into his stomach, as a gargantuan-sized being breaks out a grin so vile, it causes bile to rise into the back of Nephest's throat.

"I'm sorry everyone, please forgive me, please," Nephest cries out as his knees buckled into the ground.

Thunder explodes in the sky, brightening the world for just a moment, but all too soon, darkness falls onto the earth again. Once more, Nephest tried to move but was too exhausted, and now had the monstrous-sized man standing over his broken-down body. Nephest's face is now consumed by a cold colossal hand, seeing only two soulless vermillion eyes through the spaces between the fingers. The man's mane barely moved from the small of his back as he launched his inferior. When Nephest hit the ground, he bounced across the muddy area like a pebble skipping across a lake. The man looked over all the destruction he had wrought and raised his arms high above his head in celebration. Seeing the man in all his arrogance, Nephest mustered enough strength to stand again.

"You have come to a small defenseless village and destroyed everything. You're nothing but a coward and a bully! You only target people weaker than you and those who have less than you!" Nephest yelled as he dashed towards the man in a crazed rage.

closing in on the mountain of a man, he slid to his hip and snatched a jagged rock off the ground, all while dodging a swift high kick. He then jumped into the air and, with his left hand, slammed the jagged rock into the side of the man's face, sending him stumbling backward. Blood gushed from the crescent moon-shaped cut around his right eye and poured down his face and neck. The kid's jaw muscles began flexing, and his fist shook from how hard he had them clinched. He pivoted on his right foot in an attempt to kick the man in the face. However, his kick was caught with ease. Nephest thrashed and squirmed, trying to break the grasp around his ankle.

He was now gasping for air as his ribs were being crushed by the force of a single kick, "Nephest!!! You're a pathetic waste of space. You and all these little ingrates are less than the mud beneath my feet. My air has been wasted on your pathetic excuses of life. I am the fear in every heart, the God of chaos to you, I am..."

"Neph, wake up now!" Nephest hears as he leaps out of bed only to realize he was having a night terror.

"I'm up, I'm up, what do you need?" Nephest asked puzzledly.

"I need you to get out of bed and come with me to see what mom and dad got us for our sixteenth birthday." Nephest brother said happily

"Nikawa, what do you think they got us?" Nephest asked as he began throwing his clothes on.

"Man, I hope they get us an easy entry into the top ranks of the Primal Guard," Nikawa said happily.

"Nicawa, we may be legacies, but you know we should try out like everyone else. Besides, you are the son of the greatest warrior in all of Meyaka. Becoming warriors is our destiny. There is no need for a free ride." Nephest replied.

"You forgot he is also the king. Anyways, that doesn't even matter. What do you want for our birthday.'' Nikawa asked.

"I was talking about mom being the greatest warrior. You know she created the Primal Guard and saved Meyaka from several threats before she retired to have us. To be honest, though, I haven't thought about a gift. I just want dad to help the other nations that are being conquered by Alazar." Nephest replied.