Ascent of the Beast King

The Bestiary

The sword stopped again. Li Dan wiped his eyes and looked around. The ground was glazed over, a forest of trees surrounded the clearing. There, in the middle, was a door. Beside it was a small stump. The sword set him down and then rose up before stopping, it hovered there. "Okay, okay, knock on door, take out ring. Oh wait!" he reached for the pouch on his waist. "Dinner first. I'm hungry." He reached in and took the orbs out, taking a moment to admire their beauty. As he looked into their depths he could almost feel a roaring vibrate through his soul. Two distinct roars, ancient and powerful and militant. He was feeling dizzy... he shook his head. Snap out of it! He threw them both down. Right, what was next? Door. Oh yeah.

Suddenly, a burning erupted in his chest. It felt tight. He couldn't breathe. He fell down clutching at the door, gasping for air. What was happening? He could feel his whole body burning up and even the beads of sweat streaking down his forehead and torso felt like molten lava. He closed his eyes, and suddenly it was morning and the Sun was burning golden over everything. Aargh! He snapped them open and he was back on the mountain but he couldn't stop them from closing a second time. His body hit the ground convulsing. The sword flew towards him and tried to pick him up but some unknown power seemed to have deterred it. It slowed down and then was sent flying back.

The Sun was blazing brilliantly. It was blinding at first but in a matter of moments his eyes had adjusted. He saw two massive forms before him. A tiger, black all over with purple eyes and huge wings. Opposing it stood a lion of similar stature but pure white with deep, blue eyes. He had heard of these creatures but surely they couldn't be this big, right? The ones they had paraded through town in last year's festival were at least only slightly bigger than a human. These were the size of his house! He fell back as he tried to get as far away from them as possible. The two beasts turned to stare at him.

Back on the mountain peak, the door opened. A wizened old man stepped through. He was short with a small round face, Asian. He gave off a gentle aura, calming. He looked at the boy twitching on the floor and his eyes furrowed immediately. Picking Li Dan up, he walked to the door before turning to acknowledge the door. He sent it off with a gesture and stepped through the door. It closed behind him leaving no trace that any of the three had been present except a scorched patch of grass where Li Dan had been lying, surrounded by a field of frost.

When they stepped through the door, the old man entered a long tunnel way illuminated by burning torches running along its rocky walls. Two burly men stood guard. Their eyebrows rose when they saw the young boy in his arms but they said nothing, instead hanging the heads as a sign of respect. The little old man did not take notice of them as he marched onwards muttering.

"It's a wonder he survived so long. He really is his father's son."

Both of the beasts stood still, staring at this tiny human before them. Li Dan found himself backed up against a tree. He wanted to look around to see where he could escape but he had the feeling that, in the split second it took, both beasts could kill him multiple times. Having sensed no threat from him, the two turned back to each other and leapt. As they fought, Li Dan could feel his chest ripping apart again as though his lungs were bursting out. He turned to run but just at that moment there was a blinding flash of white light and everything went dark. Once his eyes had adjusted, he saw the two beasts lying on their sides having been thrown in opposite directions. What had just happened? Lightning?

Li Dan rubbed his eyes. It was only now that he noticed the old leather tome hovering mid-air. He turned to run away but the book had already appeared behind him and with a thud it slammed into his back before... wait what had happened? He turned around but the book had disappeared. He had definitely just felt it hit his back. The two beasts were stirring now, still woozy, but gaining their bearings. It was at this moment that Li Dan felt his eyes opening, he could feel something soft beneath him, his vision was blurry but wherever he was it was dark. Suddenly, he was pulled back into the vision he had just escaped from.

He leaned on thetree. Two massive figures loomed over him. He recognised them, it was the tigerand lion. He could feel their breath, heavy on the air as they gazed down athim. He couldn't escape anymore.