Monsters Within

Chapter 2

Everyone was asleep when suddenly, two creatures started growling and destroying the village. The quiet place turned into chaos when the two killed everyone on the spot. They pierced their head off, cut the bodies into two, and ripped their hearts off their cage.

Two monsters with an ice body, a dragon-like monster who could kill anyone with its ear-piercing scream, was Archaic. At his back was Jaxus who lost his consciousness after giving in with his emotion.

The other one was in the form of an innocent child with brown eyes and long brown hair. She was wearing a white dress with a pink hem, and beside her was an unconscious Yuuki following her.

Yuuki's eyes were white. It looked blank and dead while walking. She was staring at the emptiness and was just following the kid like a loyal pet.

They both attacked the village with their masters beside them. From the forest, the houses, and the races– they killed anyone who stood against them.

Archaic had several abilities, such as the Storm, where he could summon them by creating icy wind, which extended in the sky above, causing storm clouds to gather overhead. Thunders and earthquakes killed everyone the moment they touched the ground. Everything on its path just cracked, killing everyone standing on it.

While Gravis, Yuuki's monster, had considerable physical strength. She could use her body with enough force to create a massive crater upon impact.

"Help! Please, do not take my child away. I am begging you." A middle-aged mother went on her knees to beg for her child's life.

She was hugging a small body into her arms like she did not intend to give it to anyone. Her face was filled with tears while looking at the monsters, begging to at least spare her child’s life.

But the monsters did not falter like how they did when Yuuki and Jaxus were the ones begging to them. They even smirked in front of the mother like it was mocking her.

Using a tiny stone, Gravis hit the mother's heart together with the child. Blood splattered at the ground as the two monsters shared with the victims' hearts. Then, they started walking away to find another victim to eat as if the hundreds of creature’s hearts they had eaten were not enough.

They felt strong every time they kill. The power inside them overflew like blood circulating their body. It was like an energy that fueled them and made them stronger, and hungrier.

The monsters felt their masters' sufferings, and they did not intend to make anyone who caused this escape. All of them caused pain through actions and words. This was the only way to avenge both of their masters.

On the other hand, Jaxus and Yuuki wanted revenge on the other races. Even though they did not know it to themselves, their hearts could not lie, and the two familiars felt it. So, Archaic and Gravis would do everything to fulfill their masters' wishes.

The dwarf's race wanted to talk to Jaxus and Yuuki, but they did not know how to do it. They tried to apologize for what they had done, but they knew it was too late now. The monsters already overpowered their masters. No one would listen to them at that moment.

"Get out of here while you still can! We must ask for help from the higher-ups. We can't take the two of them with our abilities alone," Dwarfino shouted while trying to help the other escaped.

But then, Archaic let out his freezing scream, which caused the others to stop on their tracks.

They covered their ears, but it was useless. They could still hear its scream like it was just going through their hands. No matter how much effort they put, they could still not move on their spots.

On the other hand, the Sacho of the Dwarves, Elfred, stood up on his seat abruptly after hearing the news. He slammed the table in front of him and shook his head in disbelief. He could not believe that this day would come and this soon.

He did not blame Jaxus for what happened years ago. But this time, he would not let the same thing happen again. Even though he knew that Jaxus did not have anything to do with the incident before, this time was different. He had something to do with everything that was happening right now.

"Send every first rank heishi to capture Jaxus. But do your best not to kill him," he instructed Froilan, his right hand, then sat at his chair and massaged his temple.

He did not see this one coming.

He knew Jaxus' grandmother even before she died, and she was against brutality. Jaxus was not the type to do this, just like her grandma, for he was against anything brutal and harassments.

Sacho Elfred assumed that all of these happened because of Archaic. This was the only reasonable explanation to what was happening, and he could not be wrong when it came to that monster. That’s why he was going to do everything to stop him and save the kid, Jaxus.

Archaic roared as fire energy light from cannons hit him. He tried protecting Jaxus because the kid was the only reason why he could still become a monster and move like this. Jaxus' death meant the same for him.

Sacho Aka Manto sealed the monster, and only the one who possessed the former sacho's power could take him off Jaxus' body. And in order to control Archaic, the same power as the sacho was needed. But at this moment, Jaxus was still too weak to face him.

"Fire!" Hamil, the head heishi, instructed as he eyed Archaic.

He was not afraid to hit the fire energy light at the monster because it was made purely for sealing someone's power. But because the monster possessed an incredible amount of it, they needed to hit him with more light.

It was a great weapon to nullify powers from creatures like him. It would not get the ability, but it would somehow lessen its damage little by little until it was harmless.

Fire energy light was only one of the weapons they invented for this kind of situation. But because this was the only weapon that was effective right now, they did not use the others yet. They needed enough time to test its effectiveness or Jaxus would die.

Some of the dwarves sighed a relief after seeing the heishi doing their jobs. They thought it was the end of their lives. They thought this was the last time they would be seeing the full moon that was shining brightly in the sky.

After witnessing the bloody killings that the monsters did, they could not think straight anymore. The only thing that filled their minds was how to escape and run away from the monster. And as they watched the scene in front of them, they knew that it would forever be engraved in their minds and hearts.

Archaic tried to break free from the lights, but he failed. He went back inside his master's body after hours of struggling, and that was when Jaxus woke up.

Half-awake, he saw the dreadful state of the kingdom which sheltered him, and the place he grew up with. Although the other creatures did not accept him, the fact that they did not kicked him out entirely was still a good thing.

He could not help but cry in disappointment with himself. He let the monster won inside of him because of the pain and fear from society. He let the thing he hated the most ruin the place he grew up in.

The place was half-destroyed. There were no trees or leaves left in the forest, and the houses were already burning. The townsfolk were crying and shouting in agony, for they did not know where to go now and that they would not be seeing their loved ones anymore.

There were also corpses lying on the ground, faceless and unrecognizable. They did not know whether the bodies were strangers, or they were already family members.

Jaxus' eyes landed at Yuuki and Gravis, who were dodging the energy lights. Because of their tiny bodies, they could quickly jump from one place to another. And because of that, they managed to kill more civilians.

It looked to him like they did not have any plans on stopping until they killed everyone. They did not intend to stop until the sun rises.

He tried to call for them, but they would not listen to him. They already set their minds to kill everyone. Even Jaxus was helpless now and no words could stop them.

"Fire the lightning! We do not have any choice but to do this," Hamil said with sympathy.

"No! Please, don't!" shouted Jaxus. "Anything but that."

"We do not have a choice." Hamil eyed Jaxus with pity. "If we won't kill them, they won't stop."

Jaxus tried to convince him, but when Hamil saw them killed another one, he instructed the others to prepare it. No one stopped him anymore. All of them watched as they lighted the machine that was emanating with lightning.

A few seconds later, the clouds rumbled, and the rain started to pour. The ground shook, and for a moment, there was nothing but light.

Jaxus closed his eyes because of the light that almost blinded everyone. The rumbling of thunders followed and made them cover their ears. Then, it was silence.

The lightning struck Yuuki first; then the thunder roared once again.

"Yuuki!" Tears came rolling down Jaxus' face as Yuuki's body fell, dirtying her clothes with mud.

Before the lightning could hit Gravis, Yuuki called its name. It transformed into a sword, another ability that monsters possess. She reached out for Jaxus even though they were miles away from each other.

Gravis flew in his direction like light dancing in the air and landed on his right hand.

"I give you my power, Felix-kun." Jaxus heard someone spoke inside his head.

He looked at the sword in his hand and saw it glistened for a moment. When he glanced back at Yuuki... she was gone.