Konna

~Chapter 25~

The moment I sat down, I began to shrink in size until I was the height of a needle. The surrounding leaves looked ginormous. The blades of grass surrounding me had become my new forest.

As I was about to scold the little dragon, the ground began to rumble. It felt like an earthquake was occuring. The mud around me rose up and formed into ancient buildings. Sculpted trees towered up into the sky. Life-like clay figures of humans were frozen in time. They wore kimonos with their hair neatly tied up. Women were adorned with beautiful accessories.

The original little dragon looked huge as it flew above in the sky. It created golden sparkles that drifted down slowly like a feather. As the golden sparkles made contact with the mud sculptures, life was breathed into the scene. Children were seen playing and laughing. Merchants, selling a variety of goods, were competing against each other for customers. Gorgeous men and women meandered across the streets. It was very peaceful.

Then the sky above turned blood red. People looked up in a panic at the unusual scene. The sun had begun to be swallowed up by a circular black object. It soon completely covered the sun, creating a solar eclipse. Then several bright shooting stars scattered across the sky. They fell down in different directions, creating a mesmerising beautiful blue-golden glow. However, the shooting stars had become increasingly larger.

"Run!" a young man yelled. He had come to a horrible realisation: the meteorite was heading towards their location. The whole crowd broke out into chaos. Children wailed for their parents. Individuals who had fallen over were mercilessly trodden on. Everyone ran away in different directions as fast as they could.

I rushed over to the children in the corner who had initially been playing. It was clear that their parents had abandoned them for their own survival. A little girl was wailing in fright. She was curled up into a ball on the floor, shaking uncontrollably. The other two boys were trying to comfort her and help her stand up. However, there was not enough time left for them to reach safety.

I stood in front of them and tried to create a protective shield with my anima. But I realised in horror that I was unable to. I watched helplessly as the meteorite flew down towards us. At the last moment, before the meteorite made contact, I was teleported away. However, my heart chilled when I looked at where I once was. A huge crater had formed under the impact of the meteor. The 3 children were no longer visible and silence permeated the air.

The meteor began to crack like an egg. As the dust settled and the rock pieces fell away, it revealed an army of terrifying demonic beasts. Pythons, boars, goblins, direwolves, birds and more exited the meteor. They all had bright red eyes that seemed to glow in the darkness. Different types of roars reverberated across the surroundings. I covered my ears in pain. I quickly hid and did my best to conceal my presence. Fear shook my heart.

The demonic beasts flocked in the direction to where the humans had run off too. Salvia drooled down from the sides of their mouths. A demonic beast turned the corner and ran through me. Unnerved, I looked down at my hands and realised I was semi-transparent like a ghost.

I closely followed the hoard of beasts. No matter how fast humans could run, it was impossible to out run the demonic beasts. As the demonic beasts ran, the earth shook creating the sound of a beating drum. In a short while the demonic beasts had caught up. Several humans, who straggled at the back, turned their heads around. One person, upon seeing the sight of the beasts tripped and fell. She let out a blood curdling scream before a wolf bit into her throat, killing her on the spot.

Soon a blood bath ensued. The once beautiful surroundings was painted red in blood. Humans, who were completely powerless against the demonic beasts, fell one by one. I watched as a man bravely sacrificed himself for a woman so she could escape. However the woman refused to leave and held her dying husband in her arms.

Several people ran into buildings to seek refuge. However, under the demonic beasts' rampage, buildings crumbled like sand. Several people were buried alive. I wept as I watched on, powerless to do anything.

In only a few minutes, mangled corpses had littered the streets. The stench of blood permeated the air. The once bustling city had been turned into a lifeless ghost town. The hoard of demonic beasts dispersed as they went to look for more food.

The scene began to change. I looked around to see a group of humans huddled together inside of a cave. It was rather cramped. Most of them had wounds of varying degrees. There were a few people giving out rations of food. The atmosphere was tense and a heated argument had broken out between an elderly woman and a young man.

"Let me go and find my grandson! He's the only family I have left," the elderly women wailed hysterically.

"It's too dangerous to go outside. Demonic beasts are everywhere. I won't allow it," refuted the young man.

"You.. You! It's all because of you that this even happened. How could you all nominate a child to go scavenging for food?" cried out the elderly women. She cast a fierce gaze at everyone in the camp. The survivors averted their gazes guiltily.

"We're running low on food. Someone has to do it. Plus your grandson readily agreed," replied the young man calmly.

"After you threatened him. Of course he'd readily agree after that," howled the elderly lady. She swung her cane at the young man. The young man easily dodged and grabbed a hold of the women.

The scene changed again. I saw a little boy fleeing for his life in the woodlands. On his back was a straw backpack. It was full of wild fruits and a chicken that had been freshly hunted. The boy was extremely agile and knew the terrain well. Behind him was a humongous snake slithering after him. The snake snapped several trees in half as it relentlessly pursued the boy.

As time passed, the boy began to struggle to maintain his speed. He was panting heavily and he was soaked in sweat. A tree root stuck up, catching the unprepared boy's foot and causing him to trip. As he fell he did his best to protect the backpack full of food. He then grabbed a knife that was tied around his thigh and bravely stood up to face the python. The python was a few meters away and hissed menacingly at the boy. It then swung it's tail. The little boy leapt into the air and successfully dodged.

I rooted for the little boy in my heart. He was extremely brave. The snake was almost 4 times his height.

The boy fought valiantly, managing to stab the python in the eye. However, as the battle progressed, the boy became riddled with wounds. Yet every time he was knocked down, he continued to get back up and keep fighting. Each swing of his knife became more sluggish. I closed me eyes, unable to watch any longer.

Then the entire surroundings froze except for the little boy. A goddess, resembling that of the statue from my elemental affinity awakening, descended. She had clear golden eyes and long dark purple hair that faded to gold at the end. Her entire being seemed to defy gravity as she walked barefooted in the air. Behind her were 6 coloured orbs that shone brightly.

She bent down and reached out to touch the boy's forehead with her finger. The boy closed his eyes. A golden sign representing six orbs appeared on his forehead before disappearing.

"You have been chosen to be the light that guides humanity forward. May you shine brightly as you defy fate," an ethereal voice sounded.

Then the white orb of light flew out from behind the goddess. It then entered inside of the boy's forehead. When the boy opened his eyes, his eyes had turned golden. They were identical to the colour of the goddess's eyes.

"W...who are you?" stuttered the boy in an innocent voice. "Am I dead?"

The goddess chuckled in response, giving the boy a brief smile before disappearing. Time resumed it's normal flow. Confused, the boy looked around but could no longer see the goddess. The only thing he could see in front of him was a fearful python. As if sensing a strong power from inside of the boy's body, the python retreated back.

On cue a gigantic white dragon manifested around the boy. It enveloped the boy in a blinding white glow, healing his injuries at a visible pace. The dragon then let out an earth shattering roar before unleashing a golden laser. The python disintegrated into dust.

Scared out of his wits, the boy plopped onto the ground. He shook in fear as he looked up at the white dragon.