The hallway was dark—with the sounds of chains being dragged along the cold, hard floors and grunts from a person. Clanking metal echoed through the corridors leading to where one knows.
" Move it!"
A stern voice swallowed the echoes of the chain and a body slumped forward, crashing onto the floor from the force of the clanking chain that was applied. The guard wearing silver armor with a two-winged falcon on his back turned and looked at the young man who had fallen to the ground. "Tsk! I said move it trash,"
Caius coughed and struggled to his feet. His hands were swollen from the cuffs around them, his face bruised and battered, with stains of blood visible. His once black hair, pigmented red from his blood and his lips were cut open—his open eye stared at the guard and he coughed from the dryness of his throat before continuing with the command he was given.
The two silently walked through the hallway, between the sound of the boots, the clanking of the chain on the floor and the sound of barefoot touching the cold floor, neither of the two said anything.
Two large, brown double doors came into view and the knight pushed them open—straightaway, Caius toes curled and his breath hitched in his throat and he swallowed with difficulty; hidden behind the doors was a room that Caius knew very well, and once in this room, there was no going back.
He failed to see the guard circle around him until he felt his body being pushed forward into the dark room—he stumbled onto the center and candles flickered to life, illuminating the area around him.
Caius could feel the overwhelming magical presence within the room, it was crushing and he could barely withstand it, with a barely developed magical core himself and in the state he was in, Caius was at odds—the strain of having to shield himself from the crushing pressure caused him to bleed through the mouth.
"Caius Thorne!" A domineering voice came from above him and Caius craned his neck, squinted his eye to see who it was, but he didn't need to guess long as the red eyes peering from the darkness told him who it was.
It was his father; Reinherdt Thorne, the most powerful knight within the kingdom and leader of the Holy knights.
Caius' lips thinned. "Father."
He spontaneously regretted saying that as the aura within the room tenfolded, the red eyes illuminating like that of the devil and Caius was forced to his knees, his face crashed on the wooden floor beneath him and he coughed out more blood staining the tattered robe he was given.
Reinherdt glared down at Caius. "Don't you address me as father, you are no son of mine." He spat and lowered his aura as it was affecting all the other advisors alongside him.
Caius' lone eye widened as he heard that, his mind couldn't understand what his father had meant—he knew in his family no one liked him, they didn't bother to hide it. He was a pariah to them, a talentless person who couldn't draw enough mana; a disgrace to the family name Thorne, but his father always remained indifferent to him, barely acknowledging his existence. "What…do you mean father."
Reinherdt's jaw tightened, he had done it again; he had called him father again. Closing his eyes, Reinherdt cleared his throat suppressing the boiling hatred within him. "Caius, from today onward, you shall be stripped of your right as heir to the Thorne family, your marriage to Eirene Bloodwyn, the crown princess has been annulled and you are to be sentenced to death."
Annulled? Sentenced to death?
Caius could barely understand what was going on, every word his father said sounded like a hammer being slammed on his face. He got to his feet, his chained hands barely doing enough to get him up. "Father… what did I do," he pleaded.
A sickening crushing sound echoed in the room and Caius fell to his knees, and an ear piercing scream escaped his cut lips, filling the room—the guttural sound made even the cold-hearted bystanders look down, to avoid staring into the panicking and pain-filled eye of the boy.
The cause of his pain and screams was Reinherdt who had disappeared from the chair above and came down to step on Caius' feet breaking bone and tissue in the process. He glared down at Caius. "For your transgressions against the kingdom of Aridth, your forceful nature on the crown princess sister and for being born your punishment of death shall be as follows," He turned to the knight and nodded.
A short while passed, but to Caius it felt as if it was an eternity. The words of his father thumping in his ears like a broken record—he forced himself on the crown princess sister? He would never do such, however, his words could barely come out as the pain lodged them in his throat.
The knight returned holding a small pillow with a black jewel ontop of it. The jewel radiated massive amounts of mana so horrifying, some of the knights within the room passed out.
Reinherdt held the jewel in his hand. "Caius your punishment is this! Death by the Core of the Elderwood mana beast core implant," he placed his hand ontop of Caius' head and mana Letters spread along Caius' body restraining him and opening the mana channels within his body.
The beast core came swiftly.
Caius curled up in a ball and started to thrash left and right—his body twisting in ways that should not have been humanly possible; blood escaped from every orifice and his screams were drowned out by the blood he was gaggling on. He could feel his mana channels expand and contract as the beast will within the core activated and flared to life.
Boy!
In his mind, Caius could only hear the menacing words of the beast within the core.
His eye rolled to the back of his head and he slumped forward in a pool of his blood—the twitching of the muscles slowly fading as with his hearing. He could barely hearing what was happening outside, his could barely hear his thoughts, his heartbeat was fading and a tear slid down his cheek.
If he could get another chance, they would all pay for what they did.
But little did he know that, his prayer would be answered.
[Beast will suppression successful]
[ Candidate selected]
[Welcome Magic Overlord]
Caius was woken up by the monotonous voice he heard and he opened his eye; he was in a dark void surrounded by flickering blue screens and around him was a massive dragon staring down at him with sharp, blue eyes.
He took a stepback and accessed where he was. "Am I dead?" He asked The dragon.
You should be, but your soul was pulled here.
"Where is here? And what would happen if I leave this place?"
This is the foundation of your spirit itself. The root of your existence and where you are tied by my fate oh young lord. To leave you have two choices, accept me and live or die.
Caius' lips thinned, the ultimatum of his conundrum was getting to him, he knew there existed people with forbidden magic that could revive the dead, play with the souls of those that had passed and resurrect them, command fate but returning to life without a necromancy resurrection? Something was not adding up. "Whats the catch?"
Perceptive young fellow. The dragon chuckled; Its chuckle causing the darkness to violently shake. Return to my homeland and bring peace to it. That is all I desire.
Return to the dragon's home? For a chance to go back?
Memories of what had happened earlier returned—with their return so came the pain he had endured When the Elderwood core was implanted in him, and his declaration.
Caius dark eyes glowed menacingly and he looked at the dragon, his resolve unwavering.
" You have a deal."