Heritage (Under Revision)

Chapter 64: Ethan

My eyes slowly open to the bright light of an examination lamp. I squint hard at it and feel around, grabbing hold of it and pushing it away from me. I allow my eyes to adjust to my surroundings and begin to study them after the blurriness fades. I notice my shirt has been removed and that there’s an area that has been stitched closed, a red line and black thread tracing its path.

A hard fist of pain punches me in the chest as I start to sit up causing me to fall back down on to the table. I try again, taking it slow this time. After finally being able to sit up, I lightly hop off of the medical table and walk around the room.

I see a set of clothes with a note on top of it sitting on the counter on the far side of the room. Making my way over, I pick up the note and read it ‘Ethan, put on some fresh clothes and come up to the bridge. –PH’

I put the note aside and get dressed, doing what the note says. I climb up a steep set of stairs to the floor above and walk through another door at the rear end of the room. The door takes me to the bridge where I see Peter flying a ship. I study the open area of space before walking up and taking a seat beside him.

“Where are we?” I ask.

“We’re in Sekrid space. Turns out the UEDF found the wormhole near Hyperion,”

“Wormhole? What?” I ask confused.

“There’s a wormhole very close to that planet just ahead. Earth’s forces used it to commence an assault on Argalia,”

“You’re kidding me. Wait, that means Leon...”

“I know. Why do you think we’re going there? Among other things,” Peter says nonchalantly.

“What do you mean among other things?”

Peter shoots me a glance and sighs deeply like he doesn’t want to tell me the answer to my question.

“Peter, what do you mean by among other things,”

“Long story short, Tal’Vira acted like an idiot,” He blurts out.

“What did she do?”

“I’m not sure you want to hear the whole explanation to this Ethan,”

“If it has to do with my son, you’re god damn right I do,”

Peter breathes another frustrated sigh and places the ship on autopilot and turns to me.

“Ethan, do you believe in the supernatural?”

“You mean like, God?”

“Well...yeah, partially. But more specifically, do you believe that there are things out there that are beyond our understanding? That there are things that we can’t even fathom to try and explain?”

I think hard for a moment. The thoughts of Katie and the infection and all of the lingering effects I’ve faced over the years come back to me. I’ve always felt that it has been more than just PTSD.

“After everything I’ve seen...yeah...I think I do,”

“Good, that makes this part easier then. So that thing you’ve discovered...Crinza. It’s more than just a giant space monster. Sekrid writings are the only thing anyone has ever found that describe things like her,”

“Her?”

“Why do you think she appeared to you as a female?”

“Well...I suppose that makes a lot more sense. Wait, what do you mean ‘appeared’ to me?”

“That infection wasn’t just a hallucination of the virus, Ethan. There are physical effects of the virus, yes, but that’s only one part of it. See, the virus only transforms you if Crinza wills it to,”

“But Crinza is dead,”

“Only in body. And I’m getting to that part, but there are some things I need to run through first. The other part of the virus, which I’m sure you figured out, is that it runs on a hive mind, which is directly linked to Crinza’s mind herself. This is where the supernatural bit comes in. I need you to pay attention to this. The Sekrid got their hands on a prophecy. No one knows where it came from or who wrote it. The original was written in a language that no one speaks. But it came with a codex to decipher the letters and translate it,”

“What does this prophecy say?”

“It details the end of life in this galaxy, all worlds being consumed by death. In order for the prophecy to come to fruition, a catalyst needs to come forward to trigger it. We think your son is that catalyst,”

“What? That’s insane. There’s no way in hell my son would do anything that evil,”

“People do many nonsensical things when they’re broken,”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean, Peter?”

“I don’t want to have to tell you this, Ethan, but your son is not in the right frame of mind,”

“I entrusted my son to all of you. So, you better start giving me an explanation for that statement Peter,”

“The prophecy says that the catalyst will be the first born of a marked man. Who will, in turn, be marked himself, inheriting that which his father did not accept. Ethan, you were supposed to be the one to embrace Crinza. But because you didn’t your son has now taken on that responsibility. And he is not as strong-willed as you are,”

“So, you’re saying that this is my fault?”

“Yes, Ethan, I am. If you had just given in to Crinza then...what am I saying? How could you possibly have known? All I’m trying to say was that if you failed to fight her off, the prophecy would have been broken. It was one of the stipulations placed on it. If you embraced her and loved her, then there would be no death. But no one can blame you. Because you had no idea that this was even possible,”

I lean back in my chair stunned, the guilt beginning to overwhelm me, causing tears to form in my eyes.

“What...what have I done to my son?”

“Blaming yourself isn’t the right path to take on this, Ethan. I’m sorry I said it was your fault. That’s not what I meant. To be honest, it’s going to be Tal’s fault,”

My eyes snap to his “What do you mean?”

“There’s one more stipulation that will allow the prophecy to be broken. It states that the catalyst will find his true half and become one with her. And that this other half will banish all remnants of Crinza from the soul of the catalyst. The problem with this is...if this stipulation is put into action and fails...then there will be no stopping prophecy from coming to fruition,”

“So, you’re saying that Leon...and Tal?”

“Precisely. It’s not something any of us anticipated, Ethan. Not even Tal’Vira herself. It just kind of...happened,”

“So why didn’t Tal follow through? It’s not like I don’t know who she is as a person. And what I know is that once Tal is certain about her feelings, she never goes back,”

“That was true until she met your son. This prophecy is the only thing I’ve ever seen that puts the fear of God in that woman. And unfortunately, it blinded her to the truth,”

“Tell me what happened Pete,”

Peter takes a moment and stops talking. He breathes a deep sigh, obviously frustrated at the things he’s about to tell me.

“You should know by now that when Sekrid women have physical contact with someone, they can end up creating a mental link with them,”

“Of course. I learned that with Tal a while ago,”

“Well, Tal chose to make that link one day when Leon was explaining some things that were happening to him. The way it was relayed to me, was that he had been seeing Crinza periodically. In order to gain full understanding of this, Tal thought it would be a good idea to link with Leon. From what Rin’Gal told me she saw...it was horrible. Absolute death and carnage. And the worst part was that she saw Leon at her side. The thing is though, what she saw was the mind of Crinza herself. Her hopes and dreams, if you will. This led to an encounter with Crinza. During this encounter, Crinza gave her own premonition to Tal’Vira concerning Leon. Part of it was true, but part of it was made up to make Tal fearful. Crinza told the truth when she said they would fall for one another. What she was lying about was that Leon would end up turning on her. So, for some time Tal resisted her feelings towards Leon and from what I hear, he refused to do the same,”

“Hold on just a minute here. That doesn’t sound like Leon at all. He’s with Stella,”

“On that subject, Rin’Gal relayed to me that Leon spoke often about how he knew that Stella had moved on from him. No one really asked why he felt that way, but from the way it sounded, he was absolutely sure of it. So, he let Stella go,”

“That’s...strange,”

“A lot of things are strange when it comes to this subject Ethan. To continue the previous subject: Leon must have the charm to melt a heart trapped in an iceberg, because Tal eventually gave in to her feelings. Now, I won’t go into detail, but I’m sure you can assume what happened. From what I know, when Tal woke up the next morning, she was scared out of her mind at what just happened. All she could think about was what Crinza told her. In turn, she ended up causing the one thing that could prevent this prophecy from happening to fail,”

“What did she do?”

“Without any notice she...had Leon taken away and placed in prison. Tal wasn’t able to stop the things they’ve been doing to him. My assumption is that at this point, Leon is not in a good place both physically and mentally. I know for a fact that Crinza is going to play on this,”

“Jesus, Peter...This is...”

“Insane, I know. Look, I know that you must have some anger going on underneath all of that worry because of what Tal did. But I just want to tell you now that she was face to face with a cosmic entity that embodies death,”

I put a hand up to stop Peter “I don’t...blame her. I just want my son to be okay. I have to protect him from this,”

“That’s exactly what we’re going to do. That’s why we’re going through that wormhole to Argalia. We might still have a chance to prevent the prophecy. Thing is...you have to be willing to sacrifice something,”

“This is Leon we’re talking about. My only child. No sacrifice is too great for my boy,”

“I’m glad you see it that way. Hold on to your seat then, here we go,”

Peter retakes control of the ship and accelerates forward. In a sudden flash of light, it looks as if space itself opens up and swallows us as we begin to cascade through a seemingly endless tunnel.

“It took the UEDF roughly twenty minutes to get through to the other side. Considering the size of our ship, we should make it there in roughly a quarter of that time,”

“Good,” I say as I lift myself out of the chair, ignoring the daggers of pain that strike my chest.

“Where are you going?” Peter asks.

“You have gear in here right?”

“Of course,”

“Then you know where I’m going,”

I leave the cockpit area and walk through a door on the opposite side of the room, traversing all the way to the back of the ship. Inside the rearmost room is an area filled with various pieces of tactical gear, gadgets and weaponry. I suit myself up in tactical padding and a vest with various pouches for ammo, grenades and any utility items I may have.

I choose a standard military rifle from the rack as well as a pistol of the same breed, ensuring I have plenty of extra ammunition. I pick up a pair of HUD glasses and turn them on. A tactical display appears on them that provide real time calculations for enemy combatants, shot ranges and paths, and vital signs. I return to the cockpit of the ship.

As I sit down, Peter hands me an in-ear communication device.

“Put this in, I have a little surprise for you. We should be exiting any second,”

I grab the ear piece and place it in my ear and no sooner did he say that, we burst out of the wormhole to a hail of artillery fire. Peter weaves out of the way as a shell just misses us.

“This is one hell of a warzone,” I say bracing myself in my seat.

Peter takes this opportunity to accelerate hard towards the planet. With some quick thinking and maneuverability, we make it through the fire without taking any significant damage.

After entering Argalia’s atmosphere, calm settles over us even though I notice that there’s a large amount of small arms fire and infantry fighting below. It seems they’re too wrapped up in the fighting to even notice our ship is flying overhead.

“By the way, Ethan, that earpiece isn’t so we can talk. I figured you’d want to hear Elena’s voice before we get into it. It’s directly synced with her TAPs,”

“Really? I...I really appreciate that, Peter,”

“Don’t mention it,” Peter says as he stands from his seat and begins to walk out the door.

I follow behind and catch up to him as he’s opening the entry door for the ship. The ship is coming to an automatic landing in a large forest. The canopy of leaves is so dense that the sun is hardly able to shine through, leaving the forest floor cool and comfortable.

I activate the earpiece as I step out of the ship and scan my eyes around the area. There are a few beeps before a frustrated voice answers.

“I want power diverted to forward shielding immediately! Take out that god damn warplane swarm!”

There’s a small silence “Hello!” She yells over the TAPs device.

“Hey baby,”

“E...Ethan? Hold on a second. Captain, the bridge is yours, I have to take this!”

I hear a few loud foot falls before she talks again.

“Are you okay? How are you contacting me?”

“That’d be a little piece of technology courtesy of Peter,”

“Does that mean you’re free?”

“Yeah Elena, it does,”

I hear a gasp and the sound of Elena stifling cries of happiness.

“Elena?”

“I’m here...I’m here. That’s great news. Where are you now?”

“Well...that’s the complicated part. I’m actually, kind of, right below you on Argalia,”

“You what?! Ethan, that’s a war zone, you have to leave there now,”

“I can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because, I need to help Leon. Look, it’s a really long story, but Leon is in big trouble right now. I’m his father; I need to get him out of it. I need you to trust me on this, Elena,”

There’s a long pause.

“Okay, Ethan. I trust you. Promise me the both of you will come back safe,”

“You have my word. I have to get going now. I’ll contact you again as soon as I can,”

“I love you, Ethan,”

“I love you too, Elena,”

The call hangs up and I feel more determined than ever to save Leon from the thing that was meant for me. Peter silently begins to walk towards something. I don’t care to ask questions, I know he’s leading me to Leon. For the next half hour, we walk silently in the woods, both of our minds contemplating the outcome of all of this.

It’s an alien feeling realizing that everyone has come to this. I mean, sure I’ve taken on big threats before. A space station full of monsters, countless skirmishes with enemy combatants, all-out war with the Sekrid, and persecution by the government I used to hold to such high esteem that I wouldn’t even think about turning against them a year ago.

But this...this is apocalyptic.

If I can’t save Leon then...I lose everything. More importantly, he’ll lose everything.

I hope he’ll do the right thing.

My thoughts are severed by the sound of rustling leaves in the quiet forest. I snap my rifle to my shoulder and aim at the shrub it came from.

“Ethan, it’s a bush,”

“Have you heard anything move out here in the last thirty minutes?”

“Good point,”

“I have a firearm trained on you. Come out slowly, and I won’t hurt you,” I speak to the unknown behind the bush.

I spot a face that I know as she slowly lifts herself out of the shrubbery.

“Stella? Is that you?”

“Ge...General Blake?”

I see an overwhelming joy overtake Stella as she nearly trips through the foliage to reach me. I’m nearly taken to the ground as she wraps her arms around me and gives me a hug. I sling my rifle over my shoulder and hug her back. Stella lets go of me after a few minutes and stares at me with bright eyes and a wide smile.

“You have no idea how good it is to see you,”

“I think I do actually, Stella. It’s really good to see that you’re okay,”

I tap a finger on Stella’s arm patch “I see you made it through flight school. Though I’m guessing something happened to make you not be flying a plane right now,”

Stella stares at the ground, embarrassed “We were shot down some time ago. Oh right! I apologize; I completely forgot to introduce you to my co-pilot. General Blake, this is Richard Grayson. We graduated together,” Stella says, awkwardly pointing at the nervous kid behind her.

I reach a hand out to shake his.

He timidly takes my hand and shakes it “It’s...it’s an honor to meet you, sir,”

“There’s no need for formalities here, kid,”

“Right...for the record, I never believed those things they said about you,” Richard blurts out stiffly.

I can’t help but let out a chuckle.

“Well I appreciate it, Richard,”

I give him a pat on the arm “Settle down, kid. I’m just as much human as you,” I say with a smile.

“General, what are you doing out here? Given the circumstances of things, you shouldn’t even be here, let alone in the actual battle,”

“Well Stella, I’m here for my son,”

“Can we get a move on, Ethan? We don’t have a whole lot of time,” Peter says behind me, becoming annoyed.

“Who’s that?” Stella asks looking passed me.

I see her eyes light up with intrigue as she stares as Peter’s arms.

“Stella, I’d like you to meet Peter Hall. Dante’s brother,”

“Dante had a brother?” Stella says walking by me to get closer to him.

“I didn’t know Dante had a brother. It’s nice to meet you. Your prosthetics are amazing, by the way,” She says holding out a hand to shake his.

“Uh...thank...you...” Peter says confused.

He looks at me.

“Ethan, we really have to go now,”

“You’re right, Peter. They’re coming with us though,”

Peter raises an eyebrow at me, and then looks at Stella.

“You’re supposed to be Leon’s girlfriend, right?” He asks her.

“Oh...um...yeah, how did you know,” She answers shyly.

Peter looks back to me “Do you really think it’s a good idea to bring her, Ethan, given the circumstances?”

“I think she can help. Don’t worry, they won’t become a liability,”

Peter rolls his eyes and keeps walking. I wave a hand for Stella and Richard to follow. It’s well into the night before we reach our destination.

With no concept of time, it feels like we had been walking forever in an endless sea of trees. Peter brings us to a stop in front of a large, lone rock formation that’s sitting in the middle of the forest. He walks to the face of the rock and places a hand on it.

“So, what exactly are we doing here, Peter?”

“Patience is a virtue, Ethan,”

Peter then draws back a fist, a charging begins in his arm. After a moment, Peter strikes the rock face with lightning speed, shattering a large area of it. There’s an opening left where he hit.

Peter motions a hand towards the opening “This is where we’ll find Leon,” He says.

I look at Stella for a moment, pondering, and then walk over to her.

“Stella, I’m going to need your help on this,” I say to her.

“What do you mean?” She responds with concern on her face.

“It would take too long to explain now, but Leon is in a lot of trouble down there. He’s not in a good place. He needs us, more importantly, you, to show him that we care for him. He loves you...and I think you can bring him back from what’s happening,”

“O...okay. I’ll do everything I can,”

a smile forms on my face and I give an approving nod before walking towards the opening and enter through, the rest of the party following me. The passageway becomes increasingly claustrophobic as we descend down further and further. I notice that the path actually has steps carved into it. We finally reach a spot where the light of the moon no longer shines in. Our light source is replaced by intricate paintings on the walls of the passage, created using a strange lambent green paint. What the paintings depict is disturbing to say the least. I begin to feel the heaviness of the place we’re descending to weigh on my mind.

By the time we reach the bottom of the passage, we’re sidling sideways through a narrow area. Just when we think we won’t fit anymore we finally come out to a large, open chamber.

I scan around the area as I dust myself off “Hey! It’s Leon!” Stella says excitedly as she begins to run towards him.

I catch her by the arm and pull her back. “I don’t think that’s a good idea Stella,” I explain to her.

“What? Why not?”

“You’re about to find out,” Peter says strolling passed us towards Leon’s direction.

I trot ahead so that I’m walking next to him. As we reach Leon’s position, our brisk walk slows to a creep and we finally stop. The four of us stare at Leon, unsure of our next move. Leon stands in front of what looks like an ornate jar, unmoving, with what seems to be a dagger with an oversized cross guard on it.

He’s gripping it so tightly his knuckles have turned white. The lot of us takes a moment to glance at each other, wondering who’s going to be the first to speak. I come to the realization that they want me to speak first. It’s only fitting that I do anyway.

I clear my throat nervously before speaking, and then take a step forward.

“Leon...Leon its dad. Can you hear me?”

“I can hear you just fine, dad. I heard you walking up here from a mile away,”

“Can you talk to me for a sec here, son?”

“We are talking,”

“I know...but I mean, so that I can see your face, Leon,”

Leon slowly turns to face me and the sight of him makes me want to break down and beg his forgiveness for not protecting him. His skin is pale and his face is beaten badly. The swelling has subsided, but there’s dried blood stuck to his face from wounds that start on his forehead. His bottom lip is split and I notice there’s bruising around his left eye.

He wears a short sleeve shirt and I notice that there are cuts down his biceps and forearms with more bruising splotching his flesh. I take a few steps closer to him.

“My God Leon,” I say as I can’t hold back the tears any longer, looking at the broken-down man that my son is, standing before me.

“I...I am so sorry you’ve gone through this,” I say to him, barely able to form the words.

Leon stares down and I can see the pain all the way down to his core just by looking in his eyes.

“I...wish you had just taken me home that day,”

“I should have, Leon. I should have taken you home that day. You’re my son, and I failed to protect you,”

“Yeah, dad, you did. She was always there for me though...when nobody else was,”

“Who, Leon? Who was there for you?”

“Crinza was, dad. You shouldn’t have rejected her dad. She’s not as bad as you think,” Leon says to me, a pained smile forming on his lips.

Out of thin air, I see a hand wrap around his shoulder, and then a woman step out from behind him, smiling at me. As I look in her eyes, that same chill comes over me as every other time. She walks over to me and runs a finger down my cheek and under my chin.

“I have to apologize to you Ethan. I had no idea how to go about wooing somebody back when I tried with you. It turns out what I prefer to look like sometimes isn’t exactly what’s attractive to you mortals,”

“I don’t want anything from you Crinza. I just want you to go back in your hole and leave my family be,”

“No can do there, sweetie. It turns out I have much better chemistry with my loving Leon here,”

“Damn it Crinza!”

I step back, regaining my composure.

“Why do you have to do this? This is my son Crinza. Don’t take him from me,”

Instantly, she’s in my face, those same black eyes staring into mine “This would never be if you had just accepted me for what I was, Ethan Blake. You were special to me. All I wanted was to be cared for like you cared for that base woman,”

“You have no idea how the mind of a mortal works, Crinza. It’s not that simple. You don’t even understand that what you did was wrong,”

“It was not! I...am the harbinger of death. I balance the natural order of things. Sometimes, mortals need to be exterminated to keep that balance,”

“The difference is...you enjoy it,”

Though I don’t show it, fear grips me as Crinza tightens her jaw and stares at me with fury.

“You enjoy it, Crinza. And that’s why the prophecy exists. You want to destroy everything, and you need Leon to do it,”

“What?” Leon speaks up.

For the first time, I see Crinza become scared as she turns back to Leon.

“Don’t listen to him, Leon. He’s lying!” She says, panicked.

“I think not,” Peter says, stepping forward and tossing a book at Leon’s feet.

Leon lifts the book from the ground and begins to read. I see the anger on his face grow with every word that he reads as he pieces together the big picture. He slams the book shut and throws it to the ground as he stares at Crinza with balled fists.

“You’re a liar! You don’t care about me at all!” He yells as he begins to step away from Crinza’s prison.

Stella’s voice then calls out to him.

“Leon...” She says as she walks closer to him.

“You stay back!” Crinza screams and points.

“Stella...? What are you doing here?” Leon says, ignoring Crinza’s cries of resistance.

“I think I’m supposed to be here, Leon. I have to be honest with you, I have no idea what’s going on here, Leon. I don’t know anything about a prophecy or supernatural creatures or any of that. But what I do know is that for some reason, I ended up crashing down in just the right area, so that I could be found by your father, so that he could bring me here to see you again. I’ve missed you Leon, so much,”

“All this time, Stella, I’ve felt like you had given up on me. I felt it in my very core that you were gone,”

“I can’t give up on you, Leon. You mean too much to me,”

“Oh really?” Crinza cut in to the conversation.

Crinza steps over to Leon and places a hand on his shoulder, a devious smirk creeps across her lips.

“Then why don’t you tell dear Leon here what you’ve done. Better yet, why don’t you let the person you did it with explain for you,” She says as she playfully points towards Richard.

I take a step forward “Leon, son, don’t listen--,”

“What’s she talking about, Stella?”

I see fear and guilt plastered on Stella’s face.

“Leon, please, just come with us and we’ll talk,”

“We’ll talk right now. What...is Crinza talking about?”

Stella’s eyes fall and she stares at the ground as guilt overtakes the expression of fear on her face. I quickly walk over to Stella and place arm around her.

“Leon, Stella loves you. You know this, son. Why do you think she’s here? Stella has no idea what’s happening and yet she’s speaking to you, against something she has no understanding of to show you that you aren’t alone. Please Leon, stop letting Crinza influence you. Show some of that stubborn independence that you used to show your mother and I,”

I see Leon stare at the dagger in his hand, look at Crinza, and then drop it at his feet as he begins to walk to our side of the chamber.

“Leon, my love, please, don’t go,”

“I know who my real family is Crinza, I’m sorry, but I can’t come with you,” Leon responds without turning back.

I watch Richard step forward with an expression of nervousness.

“I have something to say,”

Leon stops and stares at him, confused.

Peter quickly walks over to him. “Boy, if you know what’s best for you, you will shut up,”

“No! I’m sorry, but I can’t keep silent anymore,”

I see the evilest of grins stretch across Crinza’s face.

“Stella and I are...were...together,” Richard blurts out.

“You what? Stella...is this true?” Leon asks, stupefied.

Stella closes her eyes, sending tears trailing down her cheeks. Leon takes a step back.

“It...it is true isn’t it? I...was...right all along. I felt like you were gone because you were with him,”

“I was going to tell you...I really was...I just wanted you to know that I loved you first. I wanted you to know that I still choose you...”

“You shouldn’t have had to choose, Stella!”

“Can’t you even understand a little how I was feeling? You jumped off into the bullets without a second though. I know what I did was wrong. I know that I shouldn’t have done it. But couldn’t you at least try to see what I was feeling?” Stella pleads with Leon.

I speak up “Leon, please listen to her. I know you’re angry. I know it hurts right now. But please try to see reason. Think about it, son. You know what happened with your mother and I on the Zeus. Where would I be if I decided to forsake your mother when I learned that she lied to me?”

“It’s not the same thing! She didn’t have a relationship with someone else!”

It’s then that Crinza comes to Leon’s side and moves mouth close to his ear and begins to whisper unknown things. I see Leon’s eyes grow wide and his mouth drops. His eyes become saturated with tears, overflowing down his face.

“You...you didn’t...tell me you didn’t do that,”

Leon clutches his head in hands and doubles over “Tell me you didn’t let him touch you like that!” He screams.

Stella starts to sob uncontrollably.

“I...I’m so sorry, Leon...I’m so sorry...please, forgive me...”

Fear takes hold of me. I look over at Peter and see the same fear in his eyes. Leon slowly steps backwards, going down to one knee with a near lifelessness in his limp arm. He picks the dagger back up, and with his head hanging low, walks over to Crinza’s prison.

Crinzas is instantly at his side, consoling him with her wicked words. I watch as Leon raises the dagger, the blade pointing directly down.

“Leon...son...please don’t. This isn’t the way...you have a better choice than this. Come with us Leon, please just come with us,”

“What you don’t realize dad...is I don’t want the better choice anymore,”

With a swift motion, Leon brings the blade down on top of the urn, shattering the jewel set in the top of it. The urn explodes into pieces, sending a wave of energy throughout the entire cavern, knocking everyone off of their feet, except Leon.

The strange metallic drops I had noticed dripping from the ceiling are redirected to the walls of the cavern due to the force of the blast. There’s a sharp ringing in my ears and an irritation in my eyes from the flash. I shake my head left and right to try and relieve the disorientation as I slowly get to my feet. It’s when I’m finally able to see clearly, that my eyes bear witness to a black mist surrounding a large area.

Leon is the only one completely engulfed in it. The mist then starts to collect together and form a shape. It starts as a large, condensed cloud and then shrinks down into the shape of a person, then finally solidifying until it forms the shape of Crinza’s chosen avatar.

I see Leon turn to face her. She smiles at him.

My anger finally boils over and I raise my rifle, firing a few well aimed shots at Crinza. My rounds stop dead in the air as she raises a hand in front of them. The bullets fall to the floor as she lowers it, never taking her eyes off of Leon.

I lower my rifle, in shock of what I just saw.

“What...what have you done?” I hear behind me.

I swiftly turn around and see Tal’Vira standing there. She walks to my side and stands there, stunned. I watch as Crinza places a kiss on Leon lips. As she releases I see the same black mist transferring into Leon’s mouth. Crinza’s essence then turns back into its original form and flies upwards, going through a hole in the ceiling and leaving the cavern.

It’s then that Leon begins to scream in agony, falling to his knees and clutching his head. He starts pound his fist into the ground and with each contact, I notice the floor of the cavern indent, further and further down. All it once, Leon’s pain stops and as he sits on his hands and knees, panting. As he lifts himself from the floor and faces our direction, I can finally see what Crinza has done to him.

His eyes have turned black with bright red pupils. His skin is pale and white. Dark green veins show through his flesh. He bears the same fangs that Crinza had during the confrontation. Leon looks from side to side, scanning all of us until he affixes his eyes on Richard.

“Richard...was it?” He asks with a sinister tone.

I watch the terror overtake Richard as he begins to step backwards, nearly tripping over his own feet. A dark grin forms at one side of Leon’s mouth.

I step forward “Leon...don’t,” I say to him.

He turns his head towards me.

“We’re done talking here, dad. I think it’s time you went over there,”

It’s then that an unrelenting force grips my body and thrusts me backwards thirty feet. I come crashing to the ground with a hard thud and roll to a stop. The wound on my chest screams at me as I lift myself off the ground.

“Anyway,” Leon says, returning his gaze to Richard.

“So, you like to screw women who are already taken?”

“N-n-n-no. That’s n-n-not it at all,” Richard says, fumbling over his words, his hands lifting in front of him, trembling.

“Then please...explain the present situation to me,”

I see Stella step in front of Richard.

“Please Leon, it was me. It was my fault all of this happened. Not his. Don’t hurt him,” She pleads.

With a flick of his wrist, Stella is forced aside by an unknown energy. She manages to catch herself before falling over.

Leon raises an eyebrow “Well? I’m waiting, Richard. Tell me all about it,”

“I d-d-d-didn’t m-m-mean--,”

“You know what? I don’t really care anymore. As a matter of fact, I think I know what the problem is here. The problem is that I have to look at you,”

Without warning, Leon snaps his fingers and Richard’s body explodes like a balloon, staining those close by with blood and gore. I watch as Stella brings a hand up, wiping the blood from her face and staring at it in shock. She then lets out a blood-curdling scream and fall to her knees on the ground.

“Leon...stop this...please,” Tal’Vira finally speaks up as she walks towards Leon.

I see the fear gripping her tightly and watch as she pushes through and walks close to Leon.

She places both hands on his face “Leon, don’t do this. This is my fault. I know what I did to you...how I hurt you. This...this isn’t who you are. You are kind and strong. And most importantly, you know who you are and who you want to be. Don’t let her steal that from you,”

I take the time to close the distance to Leon as Tal speaks her words. I see Leon’s eyes fade to a gentler expression.

“Please Leon, forgive me for the pain I caused you,”

I see the tears well in Leon’s eyes as he stares at her. Tal wraps her arms around Leon’s neck and hugs him tightly. I see a tear fall from Leon’s face as Tal embraces him. Leon wraps the arm he’s not holding the dagger in around Tal’s back.

“I forgive you, Tal,” He says, barely audible enough for me to hear.

I hear Tal give a sudden gasp and her arms fall limp from around Leon. He releases her, and she slides off the end of Leon’s dagger to the ground. The shock overtakes me so intensely that I can’t make out any words as I stare at Leon in horror.

Leon gives me one last stare in the eyes and I realize finally, that my son isn’t my son anymore. I watch as he looks up to the ceiling and give a wave of his hand. A massive chunk of it shatters off, allowing light to flood in. I walk underneath the hole as Leon floats upwards towards a dark shadow as it begins to eclipse the warm light. Elena’s voice pierces through my stupor as I try to fathom the massive creature.

“Ethan! What the hell is going on down there?! Something just showed up! I think...I think it’s Crinza! Ethan?! Ethan, answer me!”

Barely able to form the words, I respond.

“He’s...he’s gone, Elena...Our baby boy...is gone,”

TO BE CONTINUED