I felt scared

  I experienced the coldest chill run down my spine

  I felt the cool sweat running down my face

  I felt as if

  The dark shadows around were creeping closer to me

  They seemed to be reaching out their hand to grab me

  I didn't want to be here I wanted to run

  once again in my short life I was helpless

  this seemed to be the norm of my life

  weak and helpless

  I felt the atmosphere change as if the people around just now noticed one of them was dead

  with a three-foot spear protruding from her back t

  There was something in the air

  Something that I can't put a finger on

  something that didn't feel right

  I tried to get up and find the woman who was this boy's mother in my dream

  but once I found myself unable to move

  fuck this dream or whatever this was

  my gaze never left the foot of the altar

  where moments ago stood the terrifying

  goddess with black gem eyes sprouting something at me

  now just in a blink

  Poof, she was gone

  Replacing her was the man who was scaring the carp out of me

  Pollux stood there with his predatory smile starting right at me

  I had no doubt it was at me he was smiling so viciously

  I could see the evil glint in his eyes

  then Pollux began to walk sideways away

  from the statue never breaking his sinister smile

  his evil grin grew wider until it almost reached his ears

  his gaze never breaking eye contact with me

  ll the while I like a fool just lay there on the floor staring at him in unexplainable horror and fear for no reason

  I had no idea why I was so scared

  when Pollux was quite a distance away from the state he stopped and turned his head away from me breaking our intense eye contact

  then he joined his hands as if he was praying

  he closed his eyes and bowed his head slightly

  I saw another very bizarre scene

  a blood-red aura began to engulf him from head to toe

  there was also another red glow surrounding him and around the place where his feet was planted

  it became darker and darker

  the darkness began to swallow the area around him

  I couldn't breathe

  My chest tightened and tightened

  tears were welling up in my eyes but I couldn't stop them from pouring out

  I started hyperventilating

  all I ever wanted was to live a normal life

  and murder some assholes not be stuck in a horrifying nightmare

  suffering a fate worse than death

  the feeling of pure terror overtook my body I screamed trying to scream

  my throat raw

  I didn't care how loud I screamed I just wanted out

  "POLLUX!" I cried and shouted his name desperately

  but it was all in my mind

  I wanted out I needed to be free

  but no sound came from my mouth

  the darkness around Pollux kept on growing

  flooding the white marble floor in a perfect circle until it was completely covering a good portion of the floor

  weren't the people all around me going to do anything

  weren't they going to arrest this man for killing one of their own

  mercifully my head began to move and look around

  I was petrified

  there were black clocked men were standing everywhere holding a black red square box emitting the same blood-red glow from them

  all the people around me were looking at them with a terrified expressions

  good

  they had a similar reaction as I did

  then I wasn't the only one who could see them

  not understanding why they were not reacting the way I hoped

  the looked as if they were they began to panic

  so why weren't they doing something

  if they were panicking couldn't some do something at the very least they could run away from here but

  I looked closely at everyone and soon realized

  the crowd wasn't moving I mean at all no breathing no eye lashing no nothing

  they stood there as if turned to stone unmoving with the terrified expression plastered on their face

  "WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!" I screamed in a desperate tone in my childish voice

  the boy actually spoke

  good maybe I could get some answers

  I was beyond scared and confused

  but

  no one responded to my outburst no one spoke a word no one even moved an inch

  what was happening I asked myself over and over again

  I was losing my mind

  I wanted to shout the question again hoping to get an answer this time around

  but once again no voice came from my mouth

  I felt my head turn and Pollux was once again in my vision

  I was surprised

  right in front of me where moments ago there was nothing

  stood a massive horrifying black statue of a bald faceless man with 12 arms protruding from his body from his back like wings of an angle

  and he was surrounded by a very large demonic red glow

  His face like the faceless men had no eyes his mouth had no mouth

  his ears were like the faceless man's ears

  his torso, arms, and legs all had no joints

  where you look at him it seems like he was floating

  it looked as if his legs were sprouting from his torso as if he was becoming a creature from the abyss

  Every single one of the 12 hands of the state held a different object

  one held a spear

  one held a burning torch

  one held a cage

  another a red dagger

  one held a ball that was half-filled with water

  one held a huge scythe

  one held a sword

  two held different colour gems

  one held a hoe

  and one held a helmet

  while another held a head of a creature I had never seen such a terrifying sight

  The statue looked alive somehow

  Pollux suddenly let out a shrill scream of pure terror

  the man's shoulders became wide and six illusionary red arms appeared protruding from his back

  time stopped

  when suddenly he opened his hand in the direction of the statue

  Poof his hand burst into a black hole

  The ground where the man stood started to quake as the black hole in his hand grew larger

  And

  out flew a black gem from the hole

  He grabbed it with his other hand

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  the gem in his hand began to glow in a dark blood-red colour.

  The Blackhole disappeared leaving a bleeding gushing hand that was healing rather quickly

  He then got back on his knees as if praying and repenting

  My attention went back to the statue

  the black statue was so black it looked like liquid darkness was flowing under its skin

  A heard a shout before I could figure out some more details

  I looked at Pollux

  He was standing up with the blood-red aura dancing around him sticking to him like a bubble of hot tar

  he began to growl as he looked at the statue the statue's head was engulfed in darkness

  pollux's aura burned brighter as he growled louder

  The next thing I knew the man was looking back at me

  I watched as Pollux raised his arm and pointed his spear at me

  when the fuck did he get a spear

  the spear was the same charcoal deep dark black as the statue

  I felt like I was being ripped apart inside I wanted to scream

  I wanted to get help

  help! I screamed

  someone, please help me I needed to run but

  I felt paralyzed in my place

  my mind was blank I had no control over my body

  The Pollux began to speak it wasn't the same

  the voice that I had come to know and associate with Pollux

  The soft yet hard voice that belonged to Pollux

  This voice was deep

  almost a metallic voice

  "oh no," I thought to myself

  This was not the same Pollux I knew

  I tried to stand up but felt as if someone was pushing me down again

  "By the will of the true light, I come before you"

  "To bless you to soothe you to help you"

  Pollux was shouting at the top of his voice

  Making me deeply uncomfortable

  "Open your hearts lost souls as the light has been brought to you"

  "Let the grace of the light shower upon the unworthy"

  "So they might see the true path of light"

  "The light always preserves the honour of the worthy"

  "Light has fought darkness for our sake from the beginning of time"

  Then Pollux rose up into the air the

  Held the spear in one hand while the other held the gem

  Any damage to his hand had disappeared

  "Brothers and sister I bring you the light"

  "For you have forsaken it"

  "We are the children of light"

  "The messenger of death cannot touch us for we are the children of light"

  He was interrupted before he could go on about his weird speech

  "Sterculius what are you doing?"

  It was the same melodious intoxicating voice of my mother

  The woman in question also rose up in the air she was still naked not bothering to put on a robe or something

  She flew or rather floated toward Sterculius

  The man began to laugh maniacally at the sight

  "You fool of a woman can't you tell?"

  My mother had no expression before sterculius spoke she was calm cool and collected

  But now her face turned dark and ugly from anger

  She looked at Sterculius with disgust "I don't care about any of you Sterculius you and your group has been a nuisance in the order for a long time, so if you want to lose your head keep talking like this"

  Sterculius skilled even more happily at her comment

  "High priest of Karana I the high priest of light in the name of Sobroe challenge you for leadership of the order"

  My mother froze for a second

  "Sterculius have you renounced the will of Karana," she asked shock evident in her shaky voice

  The man in question just smiled seemingly pleased with himself

  "Karana is not a kind master nor is she my deity anymore"

  "So I don't fear you woman"

  " I only came to this dammed place with my fellow members to fulfill my free will"

  he said like a schoolboy trying to score marks

  "We only came here to seek our true place in this world"

  My mother was shaking with anger now

  "You have gone mad," she said with gritted teeth her hands now clenched into fists

  "Hahaha, you foolish priestess"

  "Doesn't our beloved doctrine say as there those above there those who are below and none shall claim superiority"

  "You of all of us have gone mad," she said

  My mother didn't raise her voice I knew she was close to the breaking point " the doctrine can't be violated"

  "I am not violating the doctrine" sterculius shouted in anger

  "I am following the doctrine just a little differently"

  "You and your people have used the doctrine to suppress us for so long"

  "Tell us, priestess, where is it written in our beloved doctrine that my people have to live like cattle"

  "Where is it written that we have to be miserable and wretched ?"

  He said shouting "we aren't allowed even the most common basic decency"

  "Our sick are not allowed even the least comfort"

  "We have no right to love as humans do, we are stripped of our right to love"

  "And of course we cannot exist in any kind of respect or freedom"

  "We are treated like pets our women taken from our homes to pleasure your people our children serve as slaves in your home and our men fight your wars"

  "We do all that yet we aren't allowed even basic decency and decency is the most basic and most basic of all the tenants of your doctrine"

  "Go ahead and tell me where it is written"

  "You tell me this just because your people say we are below you, then we are?"

  "Do you even know what you are talking about?"

  she was angered more and more now her face getting harder with anger

  "What are you talking about!"

  " Are you so blind priestess to the cruelty of your people?"

  My mother didn't answer

  "As there are gods above there are gods below what was up now shall be down"

  Sterculius shouted with anger and rage I was too familiar with

  I began to have the distinct impression that I was having a conversation with an insane person, but yet he was speaking quite lucidly

  But from what I could understand I wasn't seeing the whole picture

  She paused for a second to let her anger catch up with her "You are wrong about all of that, we do not..........

  "shut up" sterculius shouted

  He raised his hand holding the gem

  "No longer shall we be the people down below for we are superior"

  The gem rose from his hand and began to spin turning white

  My mother backed away in a second. Putting on a fighting stance

  " let the children of light be blessed in your grace"

  Sterculius began to shout

  "For these self-willed lost souls have no faith, no grace and no light in their life"

  "They are filled with greed, self-interest, pride, cruelty and lust"

  "Purge them of their sins"

  "Let the light shine brightly in darkness"

  Then together as one the faceless men in black robes and Sterculius shouted

  "Let there be light"

  The faceless men in black robes got down on their knees and began chanting in a strange yet familiar language

  I could have sworn I had heard it before somewhere but I couldn't tell from where

  The gem doing above sterculius head began to shine brightly emitting such a strong light that I was completely blinded

  Soon the blinding bright light devoured everything in my vision

  I felt a wave of heat engulf me soon my I felt intense pain and being dragged away I thought I was going to die soon

  A strange smell of burning charcoal attacked my nostrils

  But soon I felt a cool sensation rise up from my legs to the rest of my body elevating the pain

  I soon relaxed even though it lasted only a few seconds I understood something I was being burnt alive

  Soon the pain stopped and I opened my eyes

  What I saw can only be described as horrifying

  Everyone had been burnt to death

  there were only bones and ashes left

  Slowly I raised my head and saw Sterculius now turned into a red coloured version of the monster statue

  "What have you done?" My mother shrieked

  "What have I done?" He asked

  "Insanity" she was weeping with her face turned towards the molten stone now all red

  "The same thing you did with her child?"

  Sterculius asked with hatred in his voice.

  My mother looked confused years were running freely from her face along with snot and blood

  "What are you talking about your monster?"

  "You killed My child and everyone else including your kin and race "

  The man turned monster just laughed

  "What of her child?"

  "What child what are you talking bout you mad man" she shrieked

  "The child of your beloved husband"

  My mother froze up

  "Yes, now you remember the woman whom you had killed"

  " my sweet wife "

  Now his voice had lost the deep metallic tone it had in the beginning but turned soft and tender

  "She violated the doctrine she copulated with the high race"

  My mother said to my shock

  "She was raped" the monster screamed

  "He raped her he was supposed to punish not my wife and certainly not her child"

  My mother was shaking

  She gave a weak smile

  She had stopped crying

  Then she straightened her back

  "You have violated our sacred doctrine sterculius we are the people of love and compassion you have forsaken the path of Karana"

  The monster flicked his spear and pointed it at her

  "Where was your love when you sentenced her to death by ripping where was your compassion when burnt her child alive "

  "You people were the spawn of darkness who did nothing but indulge themselves in debauchery"

  My mother did not answer just shook her head

  "You will pay for your crimes "

  Monster tilled his head amused

  "Oh, will I now?"

  My mother closed her eyes and a pink fog came to her

  She seemed to be dazed

  But soon she opened her eyes again

  "I have a gift for you sterculius" she said

  A bright golden laughing buddha appeared behind her

  The monster backed away raising his spear

  "The gift of death," she said as she charged towards him

  The red aura around the monster also flared and he too charged my mother

  They seemed to be a dance of knives and swords

  I watched with horror as the monster of a man and my mother clashed

  Pink and red colours sparked

  In my perception all, I could see was my mother and monster would clash then back away then clash again

  It seemed as if I was watching firework

  I had thought that as soon I began to cultivate I would never feel hopeless defences and scared

  But here I was once again in the very same place

  The fireworks continued each clash causing a shock wave strong enough to push me around

  The waves had already destroyed what little bones were left completely earning any trace of the people that were here moments ago

  My mother backed away once and instead of clashing again she began to chant

  "My soul is shackled"

  "The key is my mind"

  "Through peace, I will gain enlightenment"

  "Through enlightenment, I will free my will"

  "My will shall awaken my mind"

  " and my mind shall break my shackles"

  " allowing my soul to break free from this prison"

  " allowing my will to rule my soul giving me control over my desires and emotions "

  Then the translucent buddha behind became real and saw a golden beam of light like a laser launch toward the monster

  The monster desperately dogged the ray of golden light

  "I will kill you" my mother shouted

  The monster while dancing in mid-air avoiding the ray of golden light began to chant to

  It was the same way the faceless men were chanting the same strange and familiar language

  It sounded like chirping insects

  Soon the tell hands behind sterculius detached from his back and transformed into

  6 blood-red dragons pounced toward my mother

  She dodged the first three dragons but the fourth was too close for her

  It clawed her arm the sickening crunch reverberated across the forest

  "My soul is shackled," she said as she crouched

  And the golden beam of light hit the 5 and 6th dragons it slowed them down but did not kill them

  My heart was pending madly

  While my mother was busy dealing with. The dragons

  Sterculius stood in mid-air watching the scene with a smirk on his face

  I saw another dragon bite at My mother's leg and she continued to dodge

  She looked behind herself and one by one the dragon's were falling to the ground dead

  Without me noticing she had at some point taken out a white silver axe that pierced through the dragon skin like a hot knife going through butter

  Then sterculius also flew towards her attacking with his spear along with 4 reaming dragons

  My mother opened up her palm and a pink lotus sprouted and devoured another dragon soon the 4 dragons became 3 and before long the whole dragon group were pouncing on my mother desperately

  Sterculius thrust his spear when she was distracted and pierced her stomach

  "No!" I shouted in my brain

  My mother backed away as the buddha appeared in front of her taking the brunt of the attacks

  As soon she got a little distance between her and sterculius and the dragons

  She made a hand symbol and began to chant

  Soon a massive bronze bell appeared behind

  She used her axe like a baseball bat and hit the bell toward the groups of dragons Sterculius and the buddha

  The bronze bell fell on them and crushed and decapitated the dragons

  Somehow sterculius escaped and was running away

  She jumped backwards and shot a blast of energy at sterculius

  She made another hand sign the bell flew toward the man as he was distracted by the earlier attack the bell easily caught him off-guard

  Sterculius was backing away with the buddha and heard a faint shriek come from my mother's lips

  His eyes widened with fear

  He turned around and ran toward my mother

  He drew out the spear and parried my mother's attack with an axe

  As he backed way the bell came out of nowhere and fell on him

  There was an eerie silence after that

  Then a blood-curdling scream that was trapped within the bell echoed out in pain and rage

  All the dragons that were crushed during the attack began to appear attacking the bell but to no avail

  Soon they too disappeared and silence once again returned

  The bell began to shrink from a size of a bus to the size of a bike

  Suddenly I felt the warm embrace of my mother who was hugging me tightly

  I turned to look at her my body back in my control

  "Thank the goddess you are alive"

  I looked at her she was not in good condition

  Her left hand was missing along with her right eye and her right ear

  There were cuts and buses all over her body

  Her hair was tangled and torn but she was still breathing

  considering the big hole in her stomach

  I tried to speak but she put a finger on my lips

  "Be quiet my son and listen I don't have long"

  "I don't want to see you go through the same nightmare I went so you will leave this place and forget all about it"

  She used her mouth to remove a silver finger groom her hands and shoved it in my hands

  I looked at it

  Holy shit it was the same ring

  The ring that formally belonged to Granny Yu

  I felt tears forming in my eyes

  She began stroking my hair

  "You must run my son otherwise your father will find you"

  As she spoke she began to cough up blood

  "I will give you everything you need to survive"

  "I am dying child so listen well there will be no life without inner peace and there will be no peace with love and compassion"

  Before I could say or do Anything she place her index finger on my forehead

  Then I felt a great intense pain in my head

  I looked toward my mother to ask her what happened but she was no longer there

  "Oh you are in trouble again child," said a very angry voice

  I turned toward the voice and saw a young boy standing in front of me wearing a strange black robe

  "You should come quickly the heart waits for you"

  Then charged at me hitting me square then face I saw a blinding light. I felt a searing burning sensation in my eyes and face.

  And when I opened my eyes

  I saw the concerned face of sam the ghost

  "took you long enough to wake up I thought you were dead"

  What the fuck was happening to me