Chapter 34 - Harbingers Of Death

As I recited the incantation, the chrysalis started cracking. A crack ran up the centre and only grew bigger as I recited the chant. The light also grew brighter and brighter. Toward the end, I was forced to close my eyes to avoid getting blinded. When I was finished, the cocoon burst with a bright flash and immense energy flooded out of it. Aurora and I both covered our eyes as the giant crystal burst with a "boom"

When he looked back, we saw an enormous lizard-like dragon that was comparable to the size of a mountain. It was Gaia. She was at least ten times bigger than Volt and had a very reptilian like appearance. She had no wings, seemingly incapable of flight. However, her structure was massive and very strong. She had rock-like pads with crystals on each of her legs. Her head was adorned with a crest in the shape of a crown of crystals. Her back was lined with fluorescent rainbow crystals and there were even some on her extremely long tail. She was massive, and she was beautiful.

I could not help but look on mouth agape, staring into her eyes. Her expression seemed much more kind, gentle and benevolent than Volt's, who was always serious. I swear I could see her smile as i stepped closer to the edge of the platform. the chrysalis that was once here was not completely gone, Gaia alone could almost fill the whole cavern. "Gaia? You are beautiful…" I said, still in awe.

The dragon moved its head closer to me, it was not right in front of me, staring at me. Usually, something like this would be menacing, to me I felt warmth. "I am elated to see you once more, my king. I cannot thank you enough for setting me free from those vile wretches. I will serve you to the best of my ability." I nodded. I now had two of my avatars.

Gaia's body lit up and transformed into a brown orb, the orb flew onto the platform we stood on. From the orb, a woman with pale skin and greenish-brown hair stood before us. She wore an elaborate dress with a ribbon flowing from behind. She curtsied to me gracefully. This must be Gaia's human form. Gaia then turned to Aurora, staring at her, then tilting her head, seeming interested. "Have we met before? You must be master's accomplice I take it."

"Yes I am, though I do not think we have met prior to this. I was there when Master first made contact with you. I am Aurora." Aurora answered promptly. Gaia nodded, seeming a little disappointed, but I could not tell.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Aurora. I must say, I could have sworn we have met before, your aura, is rather, comforting, familiar." She said with a slight edge of sadness. "No matter. I must first apologise for all the destruction I have caused," The woman apologised, bowing deeply. She raised her head once again and continued, "Bring me to the surface, I shall repair the damage that has been done to the land."

I smiled and raised my hand. Sparks gathered in them like a vortex. Aurora looked to the sky, dazzled by the sight before her. Gaia on the other hand only smiled, I guess she knew the extent of my power. In a flash, I brought them to the surface. I scanned the surroundings. My heart broke seeing the numerous collapsed buildings, the rubble and debris left behind by the calamity. Street lights fell over, cars overturned and pulverised, the ground uneven and cracked. Gaia did the same, her face torn and on the verge of tears. "I never wanted this…" I heard her mutter faintly.

With that, she bent down on one knee and touched the ground. She closed her eyes as energy gathered in her body. Her hair long hair started being blown upwards. When she opened her eyes, they were purely brown in colour, with no trace of her iris or pupils. The ground around as began to shake and Aurora and I tried to stabilise ourselves. The shaking was violent, I panicked a little feeling it. However, I observed as the dishevelled ground started to fold in on itself, returning to a uniform layer. The scattered pieces of earthen debris moved backwards as if being rewound by time. Everything went back to how it should be.

Most astonishingly, the fissure, the giant hole we were still standing next to, quickly began to close up, like it never existed in the first place. I was speechless, left dumbfounded by this scale and power. So this was the power of the Avatar of Earth.

In a matter of minutes, aside from the destroyed buildings, the ground became as smooth as a baby's skin. The only traces of the cataclysm would be the destroyed infrastructure, which hit the North Ourannos the hardest. With that, it was over, we saved the country from this potentially unmitigated disaster. I smiled, feeling proud of myself.

"Thank you, Gaia," I turned to Gaia and thanked her. Instead, she bowed and shook her head.

"No, thank you, Master, and you Aurora." She said with full sincerity in her voice. I heard the whirring of wind above us. Perplexed, I looked up, seeing at least 5 helicopters. I just remembered we had to not be noticed, and we had a flight of our own to catch. I needed to act quickly. Time slowed as I recalled Gaia and summoned Volt. Clouds gathered and the sky darkened once more. A mighty bolt of lightning struck where we stood and we took to the skies on Volt's back. To the naked eye, I would look like we had vanished in a flash of light.

We jetted toward the airport once more and landed just in front of the stairs to the jet and landed. Aurora looked around and blinked repeatedly. Her confusion was the most entertaining thing ever. I giggled a little and she stared at me. I felt her gaze and I stopped instantly. We quickly ascended the steps and saw our parents sitting down, talking and laughing. It was good to see them like this, happy, enjoying themselves.

"Hey! We are back!" I announced. They whipped their heads around to face us so fast, I probably could have seen it in slow motion. Just as quickly, my dad jumped off his seat and checked my face.

"You alright? We waited for an hour! Are you okay now?" My dad was frantically asking, he must have been scared. I could not help but laugh and feel warm inside. I looked at my mom who had the same concern written all over her face.

"I'm fine dad, don't worry," I reassured him. Aurora's father got off his seat and walked to us in a casual way.

"I tried to tell him that, but your old man is as stubborn as ever." He sighed. He then went over to Aurora and slung his arm around her shoulder. She did not react, but she did not look particularly happy either. However, when I looked at her and smiled, she did too.

Aurora and I took our seats next to each other, toward the back, away from our parents. We had a television in front of us. She turned it on as the plane started to take off. Coincidentally, the news was playing. "This just in: the calamitous earthquakes threatening to destroy the whole of Ourannos has suddenly stopped. Experts are unaware of the OmegaQuake's unnatural behaviour and are unable to deduce any possible reason as to why it has halted. In addition to that, the land that has been razed by this earthquake has strangely reverted itself, the fissure from earlier has also been closed, despite appearing about one hour ago. This miracle warrants further study."

Aurora grabbed the remote and muted the television. I looked at her questioningly and she only smiled. I chuckled and she did too. "That's enough drama for one day." She yawned after saying that, leaning her head on my shoulder. There was an armrest with seat controls and cup holders between us, even so, she was able to comfortably lean on me. I was shocked when she did and stiffly looked down. I was sweating profusely and did not know what to do. "Um…Aury?" I tried to inquire.

"zzzzz" She was snoring. Rather loudly too. She must have been exhausted. Frankly, I was too, but in this situation, I was afraid to fall asleep, if my arm went numb, and her head fell… I shook those thoughts away and looked at Aurora sleeping. Staying like this actually isn't that bad. I looked out the window, wondering, when will I get to find the other avatars?

****

12 hours later

In a relatively big room, in the Wraith Corps central headquarters building, Captain Axios opened his eyes. He was in his barracks room. He panned around the blue coloured room to see his precious possessions. His closet had all his gear. His signature twin knives, his sniper rifle, his armour, his unique helmet which has an anchor on the forehead and his signature cloak.

A buzzing sound was heard as the door to his room was opened. Soft footsteps of shoes could be heard walking on the metal floor. The room was dimly lit and the entrant was clouded in shadow. However, Axios recognised him instantly, he got on one knee and bowed, never looking up. "First Reaper, sir." He said sharply.

"Captain Axios, 9th Reaper, I see you are doing well." He said in a condescending and dangerous manner. The man who spoke seemed to be rather young, he was not incredibly tall like most soldiers but was still well built. He voice constantly had an edge of danger, like a knife.

"I am grateful that you came to my rescue, sir. I am ashamed that I was unable to complete the mission." Axios said hastily, his eyes closed, expecting punishment. The 1st Reaper sighed, expressing his disappointment.

"I was disappointed as well. However, seeing the power of that young man. I realised that there was nothing you could do, even if you used your synthetic darkness."

"That kid is inexperienced in combat. I should have gone all out, I would have killed him!"

"Perhaps. But that is not something we can say for certain as of right now."

"But sir!" Axios audaciously voiced, looking up. What he saw immediately made him look down and away. What he saw was the devil himself, the man worthy of being called " The 1st Reaper" His eyes were deep crimson, soulless, heartless, brimming with mal-intent. There was not an ounce of mercy in this man. Other than his bright red eyes, everything else was still cloaked in shadow, and he was not even wearing his cloak.

"That cloak, that mask, they are the signatures of the Reapers of the Wraith Corps. It is a sign of our power. While it is true that we are strong, it also must mean we must know when to pick our fights. This youngster may not know his limit. One day, he will bite off more than he can chew. When he does, we will be there to kill him and send him knocking at the door of death itself. You had your shot, for now, we will bide our time." Axios obediently bowed before his superior. "I will contact my father. He will not be pleased."

The 1st Reaper finally left the room, shadows following him like a cloud as he did. Axios collapsed on the ground out of fear. The aura of that man, was like that of a god. It brought fear to anyone who saw him. The door opened once more and he was once again at attention. However, seeing who entered, he relaxed immediately relaxed and went to the dispenser to get water.

"What? So I don't warrant the same respect as the 1st Reaper?" A person, with the stature of a little boy, asked playfully. Axios gulped down a cup of water then turned to face the boy in his room.

"Of course not, 7th Reaper, Coronacht" Axios said condescendingly. "Not even close."

"Well…that is to be expected. After all, all the other reapers are on equal footing, only the 1st must be referred to by sir. We don't even know anything about him, only his codename." The boy complained, sitting jumping and sitting on the countertop.

"Thanatos? Right?" Axios asked, feeling slight chills just from saying it.

"Right…Death incarnate. Aptly so. He kills anyone in his way." Coronacht said in a hushed tone.. "Also because his father owns the Wraith Corps."