Beyond Souless

Chapter 7: Fight for your light

     It's been 2000 years since I first heard the name Miles. Zeverous Miles; the God's runaway mistake. He's the reason I was approached for this life I now live. Before him, I was much more than a silent spirit bound to a child. I was destruction incarnate. The boy is innocent, but this isn't the afterlife I desired; I had good karma, a bright child, a lovely wife, a promising future. If I had denied the gods the dragon soul within me, I'd have lived a nice simple life. But I wouldn't be here now. The weight of my mission weighed heavy on my soul as we stood standing against my eternal duty. So long as Miles stood, I was bound to keep hunting him. Perhaps my hunt could end here and I could leave the future to the boy. But nothing is ever so easy.

    At the meek age of 18 I was a prodigy in the world of martial arts. I faced masters, I faced monks, I faced beasts, and lastly I faced Yokai. Yokai were the greatest challenge. Millions of different types of spirits, millions of different styles of combat, millions of weapons and [even more] arts to them. Yokai weapons and magics in the palm of my hand. I became a master of hundreds of yokai weapons and magics at age 24. That's when I discovered my true destiny. I was approached by the gods of the afterlife, and given a choice; become the leader of my old village and train a village of yokai slayers, passing forth my guardian spirit to each new leader.

                                                                                  Dull.

     My second choice? Become an immortal spirit; infinitely training 'til i was paired with a partner and pit against an evil that can never be tamed. Me up against an infinitely powerful entity and an eternity of glory? How could my hot headed arrogant young self truly deny such an offer?

      I agreed to the idea of being their vanguard, their great and grand protector against the almighty evil. I had to live a grander life and raise an heir to my mighty spirit, create teachers capable of teaching my heir how to do combat. I had much work to do, but I was more than happy to do it. I returned to my village a proud and mighty monk of yokai power. I created a temple, I married a beautiful geisha, raised a strong child; all the while I began to have a fear. A fear of my own mortality. I knew I would be a great and powerful guardian spirit, I knew I'd defeat whatever lurked in the shadows. But what of my wife? What of my child? What of this life I had built? At some point I would pass on into infinity while my loved ones disappeared into the beyond. They would die and go on to the afterlife while I was without anything that I had built up over the ages. First I wanted to blame the gods, but I knew that was wrong. The only one who made this inevitable future was me. I had to learn to accept that I would one day be the catalyst for a safer world. A world for my grandchildren and for all my descendants. The knowledge that I would safeguard them all one day made me confident in my twilight years.

     I was a mere 60 years old and had a great deal before me. I was a grandmaster in the temple I had made. My wife was a mere 4 years behind me and our child was in his 30's.My son had become a master in my teachings and despite his many deeds,he carried himself more humbly than I could ever have been. My dynasty was secured and my family was healthy, I had a good life to live and I could spend no more time wasting it by dreading my past decisions. I headed out to look over my wife's garden, it was springtime and thus the flowers were beginning to bloom. I saw her, Himiko, a gentle flower in the breeze, the sun that shattered my infinite dark. I approached her calmly and hugged her tight. In the coming days my family came together more than ever and I wish I could say I just died and they vanished into obscurity.

     7 days after I accepted the consequences of my arrogant youth, he arrived. In a fog of yokai and pure darkness, he strode into my village. His yokai army decimated the village. My monks could not contain such a great force. Before long they were gone, either devoured or slain.The last one standing was my son. He attacked the monster himself only to be slain in a single swift moton. He took no prisoners and even as I tried to rile the horses to see if my dear HImiko could escape...I heard her screams. I rushed to the central house to find them. Miles had stuck his hand through her chest before casting her aside. He looked at me, darkened eyes and a soul of pure malice. In my old age I could not even imagine trying to kill him but I still rushed forward in a rage unlike any other.

     I awoke an hour later; my body was cast aside in the fires that were once my village and family. I saw the spirits of the villagers rising, even my son, but not my wife. I wasn't foolish; I knew what had happened. He had devoured her soul. He had come and devastated everything and it took him a mere moment. That was what I was to face? That THING was the coming darkness I had to stop? How? What chance did I have? Arrogance had led me to believe I would be a hero, my own willful ignorance kept me from ever questioning what this demon was, doubt had consumed my focus, and even my own happiness kept me from ever finding out what I was to face. My legacy was a burning village and destroyed people, my great glory was my own charred corpse roasting in the pit of my failure. Pain was all I knew now, loss was my only ally, despair was my bride. I sat in the wreckage of my village for months. Looking around I came to a new resolve.

     I would kill that creature that so casually destroyed my life. Zeverous Miles would die by my hand.

     After all these years I stand with a new family; this time we stand together. I would give a great deal to end the life of the creature before me, but my goal was different now that I had made [it be for 2000 years]???. I would fight not just for vengeance, but to protect all I had now.

     I won't allow him to take anyone else from me. Not 'til my soul was shredded and my eternity destroyed. He would not take from me this time. 

               Never again.