Chapter 66: A Grim Reminder

As I was basking in this euphoric feeling, an ash colored creature, the size of an average dog with red colored stripes slashed all over him, tackled me to the ground and began purring cutely.

Bellerophon had changed greatly in the past year.

His wings, a testament to a young Chimera leaving behind his juvenile faze and entering his adolescent one, were ash colored and large for his age, already he could use them to slightly glide through the air, though full on flight was still a distant dream, since they were still too weak to carry his weight properly.

But that was not the only difference, as a few tufts of hair around his neck began to thicken, the obvious foundation of his inevitably glorious mane, as well as four little, yet prominent bumps that had already emerged on the top of his head, the beginnings of his future crown of horns, the greatest tell tale sign of a Chimera King.

Wrestling the mischievous beast off of me, I begin to playfully try to pin him instead, which he obviously wouldn't so easily accept, causing us to roll across the floor like two careless children.

Our lively match only ended when the frustrated Bell, who couldn't completely manage to securely hold me down, instinctually wrapped his serpentine tale around my neck and dug his blood red claws into my black imperial attire, causing me to instantly release a small burst of divine power as I sternly warned "Enough!"

Realizing his accidental mistake he immediately leaped away from me, before lowering his head with a quiet whimper in a rare show of submissiveness from the usually proud being. Seeing this I placed my palm atop his head in a sign of forgiveness, as I smirkingly muttered "Silly boy."

It was at this moment that my bedroom door swung open to reveal the bowing figure of Kira, as she calmly announced "Everything is prepared, my liege."

Nodding, I quickly stand up and straighten my disheveled clothes, before quickly securing Dark Majesty on my hip and striding out my room with the steady footsteps of Kira, Horus and Abraham echoing behind me, as we headed into the depths of the Imperial Palace.

Within only a few minutes, we had already reached our destination, an isolated corner of a forgotten section of the massive Imperial Palace, where a large black iron gate, made out of twisted and unnaturally contorted thick metal poles, barring the way to a lightless, motionless darkness; like the still water of a silent lake on a moonless night.

Quickly entering we begin our descent into the pitch darkness of the stairway, until we finally reached the stairwell, where we beheld a gargantuan, yet simplistic hall with thick, undecorated, smooth black columns, whose surface glittered against the few lit torches and chandeliers illuminating the space, like polished black marble.

And at the end of the hall lay an ordinary looking door with absolutely no embellishments or ornaments on it what so ever.

But despite missing all the trade mark signs and clues to this being anything other than some worthless door that only led to some abandoned warehouse, that same run-of-the-mill looking door held one of the most secretive and important locations in the entire empire; the emperor's private training chamber.

Despite me not damaging anything bar the clothes I wore when I unlocked my first gate, the same couldn't be said as I continued to progress through them, and that was primarily due to the continuously increasing amount of hell fire I would allow into my body.

Which is by far the most feared type of divine flame in existence.

But this dread and notoriety was mainly due not to it's destructive potential, which should never be underestimated, since only a single spark of it was able to completely cremate my flesh and boil my blood in my veins.

No, the two chief reasons why it's so feared is because of it's nasty ability of amplifying the amount of pain you would feel regardless of the severity of the damage done to you, so even the faintest of burns you suffered from it could cause you torture so profoundly inhuman, that most people lose all that they are, and are only left with the instinctual need to stop this crushing pain, which more often than not causes them to immediately and unblinkingly seek to end their own lives.

Beholding the familiar massive round room with a dome like ceiling, that was lit with four large braziers and multiple candles scattered here and there, while a massive pool filled with ice water stared back at me, I couldn't completely hide my smile.

I turn towards Horus and hand him Dark Majesty while Isaac helped take off all my outer wear, leaving me with only the bear minimum.

Resolutely entering the chamber, I lock the door behind me and quickly make my way to the pool, where my breath hitched the instant I touched the frigid water, but I persisted nonetheless until the water reached my waste, then I quickly sat down in a lotus position and quickly began channeling my power to drive the frost away.

Black engravings quickly slithered their way across my skin and with it the chill that had been making it's way to my bone began to recede, until even the water around me began to steam, but that was only the beginning.

Taking a few minutes to make sure I was in optimal condition, I slowly circulate the spark of hell fire inside of me across my whole body a few times, and then I clear my mind of all distractions before beginning the process of unlocking my second gate.

Tracing my connection to the second gate through my bloodline, I effortlessly find it, since I've done this before, and instantly begin hammering with my power to unlock it.

After three pushes I feel the gate finally begin to give way, and with one final assault after gathering my power once again the gate flung open with a boom of explosive power flooding every inch of my body.

The tattoo like engravings began to writhe like living snakes upon my skin, before suddenly beginning to expand and grow more complex and enchanting, crisscrossing their way up and down my body in a mesmerizing ritual of abuse, since as they were performing their hypnotic dance across my flesh I was sealing my eyes shut as hard as I can, as I suffered with the sensation of barbed whips and blazing knives cleaving my flesh in twine wherever the markings made their way to.

Minutes devoured seconds veraciously until they became hours, on and on the mind numbing pain persisted until it finally abruptly stopped, finally allowing me to open my eyes, only to see a heavy fog replacing half the water of the pool, which was now devoid of all and any ice that might have once resided in it.

Smiling at this, I stretch out my right hand with my palm facing upwards, and channel my power to it until a black flame the size of a candle's fire threaded by silver streaks, emerged hovering slightly above my palm.

The still steaming water instantly began bubbling like boiling oil, while the few fires that still stubbornly illuminated the chamber with their light after all these hours, suddenly dimmed as if they were too fearful or too embarrassed to show themselves before this divine flame between my fingers.

Seeing this a content smile emerged upon my lips, as I happily drowned in the intoxicating feeling of power, but as if sensing my feelings, the hell fire began to slightly sway, which shocked me, since even if there was even a slight breeze in this closed hall, which it didn't, since the chamber had only one door that something could enter through, and it was currently locked.

But even if it weren't closed, a divine flame from the depths of hell would never be affected by something as mundane as a gust of wind.

Focusing on the flame that continued it's swaying from side to side, I caught a glimpse of something among the streaking silver veins shooting across it, something I couldn't believe initially, but the more I focused the more the image I saw kept getting clearer and clearer, and just as I was about to see it perfectly the divine flame that thrived even in the bowels of hell suddenly vanished, leaving me staring at my empty stretched hand for a few seconds in disbelief.

But as if a sudden switch was suddenly flicked on in my brain, a mighty and furious roar rung out in my mind, causing my divine blood to react with the same intensity, causing all the light to scatter away, leaving only my haunting eyes flickering in the darkness alone.

Hair as smooth as silk, cut just below the neck line and as white as freshly fallen snow. Two cold, pale blue eyes. And a broad sword whose hilt is adorned with dazzling sapphires tied at his waist with golden threads. Only one person, in my many centuries of memories matches this description.

"Nicholas!" I growled with hateful malevolence.