Prologue 2. Cerulean

Another howl from the mountains filled the blue-lit night sky.

Salika crawled on the floor and headed towards the broken window, peering her head out to see the sky-blue pillar of light from before.

"Impossible..."

Just then, a series of loud banging on Salika's door was made.

"Lady Salika, did you hear those noises just now!?" Silva shouted. "I saw some things outside my window—I believe trees and boulders were flying in the air! I'm afraid staying here might be too dangerous!"

Silva was unable to be heard from Salika. She was too deep in thought.

"Hey, are you okay in there!?" Silva shouted, banging on the door harder.

After more and more knocking, he began kicking down the door. After a few unsuccessful attempts, he finally broke it open and spotted Salika with her head just slightly above the window sill.

The ceiling began to shake from the door being forced open

"Lady Salika, what's going on!?" Silva shouted.

Salika turned her head slowly from the window, her eyes still in awe from what she had seen. "You should've seen it... In the mountains... It was so beautiful-"

Suddenly the impact of a flying tree was felt as it came crashing on top of Salika's room, shaking the entire inn. The beams holding up the roof creaked, unable to handle the impact, and caved in.

Salika looked up, watching as the ceiling came crashing down on her. The sound of a raspy cough suddenly filled Salika's ear. She felt drops of blood falling on her face, and looked up.

"Euh..." Silva groaned in pain. "Are you okay... Lady Salika...?"

To Salika's surprise, she was lying on the floor. Her untrustworthy servant was on top of her, protecting her from the rubble that would have otherwise crushed her.

Silva's mouth was wide open, trying to catch his breath. He slowly got up, lifting the large pieces of fallen rubble off of him. He looked down at his stomach, finding a large wooden stake trapped in his abdomen.

"Are you okay, Lady Salika?" Silva said, ignoring the piece of wood in his body. Adrenaline was surging through him, causing his body to ignore the pain.

Salika was breathing heavily as well but kept her composure. "I should be asking you that, you idiot servant."

Silva looked down at the wooden stake that stabbed his body again and grabbed it. He pulled it out of himself, causing blood to gush out from the wound.

He quickly opened his right palm, summoning a small black orb. The black orb started to spin under his orders, releasing green waves of magic into the air that began wrapping themselves around his body. It effectively patched up the open wound, stopping the bleeding.

"I'm alright now, so I'll ask again," Silva said. "Are you alright?"

"What does it look like," Salika said, lifting herself from the floor. "I'm perfectly fine, thanks to you..."

Silva smiled awkwardly. He felt as though it was the first time he had made Salika proud, ever.

"Get that stupid smile off your face, you dumb servant. Don't lose track of what's important right now."

Silva's smile quickly disappeared and he made a serious face. He held out his hand for Salika. "That's right Lady Salika, we must get out of here!"

Salika lifted her skirt slightly, carefully moving her feet over the rubble and avoiding Silva's helping hand. "That's correct, let's move as fast as possible."

Silva lowered his hand in disappointment. "You're still unwilling to receive help from others, aren't you?"

The two left the dangerous room and hurriedly ran down the wooden stairs to the ground floor. Other parts of the inn began to finally cave in as well, causing echoes to fill the entire place. As they moved past the clustered tables to get to the door, Salika suddenly stopped in her tracks.

Silva stopped. "What's wrong? We need to get out, now-"

"My medicine," Salika said. "I forgot to get my medicine from my room!"

She turned her back from the exit and began running towards the stairs. She was stopped however as Silva grabbed her arm.

"I'm not letting you out of my sights again, Lady Salika!" Silva exclaimed. "It's my job as your servant to protect you, and going back up there is wishing to die!"

Salika ignored Silva's words and ripped herself out of his grasp. She began running up the stairs, jolting to her room.

Upon arriving at her room, her heart began to pound. The large pile of rubble was probably covering the medicine and would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

Salika shook her head, ridding herself of any doubtful thoughts. She walked into the room and sat on her knees in front of the rubble before digging.

"You have to be in here somewhere!"

Just then, as Salika was pulling and throwing pieces of wood across the room, she unearthed her pouch of medicine with the string still attached to it. Some of the medicine was spilled on the ground but was for the most part retrievable. She hastily put any pieces back in the pouch.

Salika let out a sigh of relief and tied the bag whilst also leaving a long piece of string to stick out. She grabbed a piece of sharp wood and stabbed her skirt twice, creating two holes next to each other. She then used the long piece of leftover string to tie the pouch to her skirt.

Something dripped on Salika's head. Was it raining?

Suddenly, she heard the slow panting of a creature coming from the ceiling.

Staring down at her like a rabid animal was a slim, pale, shirtless boy with black and unkempt hair. He had glowing cerulean eyes and markings under each. Equipped on his forehead were two curved and thin blade-like horns that emitted a pulsating ocean-blue glow, illuminating his crazed face. His bulging veins ran across his entire body, glowing as well.

"No way, it came here of all places!?" Salika thought to herself, panicking. "It really is a Cerulean!"

She opened her right palm, preparing to summon her wand but was suddenly stopped as the boy let out a deafening screech. Salika's ears began to ring intensely, causing her to become disoriented. She wobbled around in place before falling down on all fours.

The boy jumped down from the hole in the ceiling and into the room. His body hunched over Salika, and he opened his jaw to reveal his sharp fangs.

Salika felt the boy's hot breath getting closer and closer to her neck. Her mind still hadn't recovered from the incredibly loud screech. In fact, it was starting to get worse. Her eyes began to flutter, before finally shutting. Her body collapsed onto the ground, just barely avoiding the boy's lowering mouth.

"To think it'd end this way..." Salika thought, falling unconscious shortly after.

"Heed my call, virtue of nature!"

The boy looked up from Salika and turned his head in the direction of the sudden voice. Standing outside the room was Silva, with a burning fire in his eyes. His black orb was spinning, and green waves of magic appeared in his right palm.

"Concentrate your magic, let it spin mix inside the orb to make it malleable," Silva said in his mind. "Take that magic and transfer it to your free hand, and create a boulder from thin air."

Silva stuck his right arm out at the boy. The waves of magic in his palm began forming into a boulder that grew exponentially. Once the boulder had reached a large enough size, he shot it, causing his arm to recoil.

"I'll kill you if you don't get away from Lady Salika!" Silva exclaimed.

The boy quickly jumped in the air trying to dodge but wasn't fast enough. The boulder ended up being a direct shot against his entire body and just barely missed Salika on the ground. It sent him flying out the window, creating a large hole in the wall.

Silva quickly rushed over to Salika.

"Are you alright Lady Salika?!" He shouted. He felt a pulse signaling that she was alive, and let out a deep sigh of relief.

Silva picked up Salika and carried her on his back. He made his black magic orb float beside him, hurrying out of the room and down the stairs before finally leaving the inn.

"Do I just leave the village and head to the outskirts, or should I head to the carriages and escape via the horses?" He thought to himself. "If the locations of the village were on a clock, we'd be at the digit 6. The direction that the monster was sent would be toward digit 12, and the carriages would be at the edge of digit 9. If I get to the carriages, I can guarantee Salika's safety and get far away—I just need to be careful and avoid any places that might be dangerous. But, if I choose the latter, I won't have to worry about any of that..."

Silva looked back and forth between the village and the outskirts. He took into consideration the dangers there could be at night without a carriage and opted towards the decision of going for the carriages.

He tucked his elbows in and secured Salika on his back, running into the village.

The corpses of men and women were scattered everywhere, leaving puddles of blood on the stone road.

"That monster must have done all of this, didn't it?" Silva thought to himself. "It killed all of these people in such a short amount of time before coming to us...?"

Silva kept running and running, passing by dozens of more corpses until he was halfway toward the carriages. Suddenly he felt a sharp pain, causing him to take a break in an alleyway. The stab wound he sustained earlier was coming back to bite him. He put Salika down and sat her against the wall.

"Damn it, maybe I should've just run out of the village with Salika when I had the chance..." He said regretfully, holding the front of his stab wound.

The screams and cries of civilians became more apparent. Silva looked to his right and saw bleeding men and women running for their lives past the alleyway.

"Think Silva think," he said. "That monster is probably still recovering from taking the direct shot of my magic. If about five minutes have passed since, it's probably knocked out, dead, or still nowhere near us at this point."

He looked down at the unconscious Salika and pulled her in closer to him. He knew that the injury he had received back in the inn was going to cause some problems getting to the carriages, and couldn't get rid of that fact in his head.

Silva shook his head and took deep breaths. "I'll protect you at all costs, Lady Salika."

Silva got up on his feet slowly. The pain in his torso was becoming more of a disturbance for him, but his goal of protecting Salika overcame it.

He picked up Salika from the ground and made her lie on his back. He lifted her legs up and began to carry her once again. He tried running out of the alleyway but was stopped by an intense, stinging pain.

"Toughen up Silva!" He scolded himself. "You're just proving that you aren't fit to be Salika's servant! If you can't deal with this pain, how will you carry on living in the future!?"

Silva leaned forward so he held Salika better and began to sprint out of the alleyway.

"Euuuueeeeeh... Agghhh..."

The eerie groan suddenly caught the attention of Silva. He turned his head, spotting the blue glowing monster holding a man by the neck, tearing their arms off with its incredibly sharp teeth.

The monster's ocean blue horns suddenly began to pulsate intensely, as if sending and receiving a signal.

"It can't be..." Silva thought to himself. "How did that monster get over here so fast? How did it even survive a blast from close range!? Was my thinking wrong?!"

Dozens of questions began pouring into Silva's already distressed mind. He began to panic at the sight of the monster but continued running to the next alleyway.

The monster's thin blue horns began to pulsate even more. The monster turned its head away from its former victim and took a glimpse at Silva. It remembered that he was the one who hurt him.

The carriages were still a little less than halfway from where Silva was. As he kept sprinting, he began to pray the monster didn't notice him.

Just as he was about to disappear into the next alleyway, in the corner of his eye, he spotted the glowing monster pouncing toward him.

The monster, with its sharp claws, slashed Silva's calves, causing him to trip and drop Salika on the ground.

Silva got up quickly and used his black orb again. He concentrated his magic into it and released a wall of gas out of his palm.

"This is the only thing I can think of right now!"

The gas diffused in the tight alleyway. It created a tall thick barrier of green smoke that eventually solidified into solid stone.

Silva crawled back from the wall. He had effectively blocked off and separated the monster from him and Salika.

"That was... Way too close..." He panted. He looked behind himself and saw Salika on the ground. Quickly, he got back up on his feet, lifting her up, and carried her on his back again.

As Silva ran out the other way of the alleyway, a smile appeared on his face. After successfully blocking off the monster and stopping its way from getting to him and Salika, he couldn't help but laugh out loud and celebrate.

"That'll teach you to not fuck with royal Kratian servants, you deranged creature!"

His celebration was short-lived. Moments after Silva exited the alleyway, a shadow appeared from above him. He turned his sights to the sky, seeing the glowing monster in the air, grinning like an excited child.

"Impossible... It was able to jump over the wall...?"

The monster landed on its feet a couple of meters away from Silva and stood up straight. Steam exhausted from out of its mouth, along with drool dripping.

Silva pivoted back. His face looked stressed because of the situation he was in. He was completely trapped.

He kept eye contact with the monster as he slowly let Salika down, resting her on the floor.

The monster bent its knees and tightened the muscles in its legs, preparing to launch itself.

Silva gulped, taking note of its actions. It caused his heart rate to almost triple at once. Just as he had finished resting Salika on the stone floor, he gently spun his black magic orb again, encasing his master in an oval stone barrier.

"In my current condition, the most I can do right now is get this thing away from you..." He thought to himself.

Silva spun his black magic orb one more time.

"Have at it, demon."

Suddenly, the monster lifted itself off of the ground, causing the stone underneath him to break. It began flying straight at Silva like a missile.

Silva froze for a moment, barely being able to process the speed of the monster. Before it could get any closer, he motioned his free hand up, summoning a yellow wall out of the ground in front of him.

"RYAAAH!" The monster roared.

The monster had crashed and broken the yellow wall that Silva had summoned, but fell on the ground, flailing and rolling wildly.

"So, it's capable of breaking my stone walls anyway." Silva thought to himself. He spun his magic orb again and sent more waves of his magic to the barrier shrouding Salika. It became reinforced.

Silva quickly began to run to the outskirts of the village. He couldn't risk wasting any more time. Getting it away from Salika took priority.

The blue-glowing monster became even more furious and unleashed a near-deafening roar. It got on all fours and began chasing Silva.

Silva turned his back, noticing the monster getting closer and closer to his tail. He spun his magic orb and summoned a fist made out of stone from the ground, hitting the monster.

The stone fist summoned by Silva unleashed an immense amount of force upon contact with the monster, causing it to get launched up into the blue night sky.

As the monster fell back down to the ground, Silva let out his own roar and summoned another fist out of the ground. He curved the fist and struck the monster again, causing it to get sent flying across the road where it would find itself in a bakery. The bakery collapsed, adding more damage to the monster.

"Did I win...?" Silva said, breathing heavily. The pain from his torso came back to him, causing him to fall to one knee.

Silva stared at the bakery in front of him, praying to the gods that the monster wouldn't get back up.

"My special ability..." Silva thought to himself. He remembered that he was working on his own special ability, though it was risky to use it as it still needed further polishing. "With my special ability 'Parallels,' I can get out of here with Salika..."

He gripped his black magic orb and transferred as much magic as he could into it, almost causing him to pass out. Thankfully, he caught himself before falling unconscious and smashed the stuffed magic orb on the ground.

A large smog of Silva's green magic began to spread itself all over the road, spreading to everything nearby.

"With this, I can create dozens of doppelgangers of myself... The smoke created by my ability will let me find time to get mixed in with the doppelgangers."

Just then, through the thick smog, Silva spotted the rubble in the bakery moving. Coming out from the top of the rubble came a long thin horn, still blue and glowing.

"Perfect timing," Silva said, smiling through the pain. He got up slowly, standing with his knees bent and trembling. "The main drawback of my special ability is that it splits my consciousness into each doppelganger I create, but I'll create as many as I can so they confuse the monster. Then I'll get out of here with Salika..."

The waves of magic in the smog released by Silva began to weave themselves together, creating dozens of clones. Each clone was spread out in different parts of the streets, adding to the randomness and confusion.

"It'll be impossible for you to find the real one," Silva said under his breath. "Do your best."

The monster finally climbed its way out of the rubble and witnessed the dozens of Silva's spread out across the road. It looked around frantically, but couldn't seem to find the real one.

"And now we run-"

A sudden realization appeared in Silva's head. Although he created all of these clones, there was one thing he forgot to take into consideration.

He was bent over because of the pain from the stab wound. All of the Silvas would be moving normally, that is all but one. The real one.

The monster's eyes fixed on the injured Silva in the middle of the crowd. It smiled again, and let out another one of its intense roars.

"Fuck!" Silva shouted in his head. He turned his head to Salika who was covered in the barrier made out of reinforced stone. "I need to have my clones carry her to the carriages at the very least! Salika knows how to control horse carriages; she can manage from there!"

Silva undid his stone barrier and made all of his clones run in separate directions. One clone in exception ran over to the vulnerable Salika, carrying her and heading towards the direction of the carriages.

"MY FINAL ORDER!" He shouted, closing his eyes. "DISTRACT THE MONSTER AND GET SALIKA OUT OF HERE AT ONCE!"

Without Silva realizing it, he felt another stabbing sensation like the one from the inn. He slowly opened his eyes and found himself face to face with the monster's large and beautiful cerulean eyes.

He looked down and saw that the arm of the monster had pierced straight through his stomach.

"It doesn't matter anymore; I've already given my clones their orders..." Silva said in his head, slowly becoming more and more drowsy. "They'll get the job done..."