A Dance with Darkness and Light: Re-Origination

28: The Labyrinth II

Bazuul had already wasted two hours in this maze within the mountain yet; he hadn't found anything of value or challenge so far.

As for Ran, Bazuul didn't think about him anymore. It had already been an hour, and he was sure that his corpse had already turned cold. Well, at least his body wasn't the only one lying there. Kun and Yun would keep him company.

He raced through the cave-system, creeping within the shadows. To his luck, he wasn't traveling by foot. Because if he traveled at this tempo, it would be quite risky. Even more so if one considered the dim lighting, marshland, and bog underfoot, also, for some time now, deadly lightning traps had also become a constant. Within other paths he traveled, many corpses lay around those traps, but none piqued his interests.

Bazuul was eager to find two individuals; both of them had earned themselves the right to be taught a lesson by him. For one, his third brother Karon, and the second would, of course, be Hugo Dias. The latter was too arrogant for his own good, Bazuul felt he had to beat him to a pulp. Karon, on the other hand, his false pride and arrogance coupled with his cowardice could become troublesome for Bazuul's newfound home, the kingdom of Ralun. It was necessary to...well, also beat him to a pulp.

The path in front of him kept on twisting and turning but suddenly stopped as he passed the next corner and a vast open space unfolded itself. In contrast to the maze-like paths, this area was rather well lit. Below him, he could make out people standing further away in front of some sort of platform. A sort of stone grave was on top of it.

He closed in on them as he flowed through the shadows of a naturally formed column.

To his surprise, among the people there were also a couple of Ralunians, such as Tarek Rashad, Shu Huang and of course, his brother Karon. Out of the three remaining commoners he took with him all seemed injured. In fact, apart from Tarek, most Ralunians did look like they had been through a couple of battles.

Hylion Luminair was also there, but his little sister wasn't with him this time. He currently seemed to be in the process of attempting to open the grave. Bazuul didn't bother with that for now and lightly chuckled out of the darkness, "Aaah brother, contrary to your companions you look completely fine! I bet you hid well behind them, just like you did before the first trial began!"

Everyone became alert the moment they heard the chilling chuckle reverberate but were unable to determine from where it came from. Most of them, after all was said and done, started to relax for a bit. They didn't hide behind someone, and the voice didn't sound familiar.

Bazuul fell out of the shadows like a drop of ink and landed on the ground with a splash before standing up. This left the onlookers shocked. Never before had they seen something like this. Before they could think more about it though, the figure started to walk toward them, and it seemed this person was here to cause trouble.

Finally, they could clearly see who it was. Bazuul Ylvazad from Ralun, the brat with the overbearingly strong talents. That would mean that the brother he was talking about would be the fat prince to their side. Once they realized this, the assemblage of people made some space and prepared to watch a good show.

Karon could clearly feel the excited gazes from the people around him. Even more so, he could feel the intention with which his little brother came here. He asked whilst almost stuttering, "Little Zuul, what is the meaning of this?"

Bazuul snickered slightly, "Well, I told you, didn't I? Back at our eldest brother's dinner, I told you I would make you squeal like a pig!"

"Bu... but..." Karon stuttered, but soon his meaty throat trembled in anger, and he roared, "BAZUUL, HOW ARE YOU TALK..." before he could finish his sentence Bazuul appeared in front of him, jumped up and unleashed a powerful cross chop right on his face. Karon landed on his butt, disoriented and wailing in pain when he could suddenly feel himself being carried back up by the hair. He opened his eyes and right in front of him were two orbs of amber looking back. Unable to react with his still befuddled mind a hard fist landed on his face, and he exclaimed in pain.