Vince's elongated hair continues to grip and squeeze the rider tightly. "You don't need those hands," Vince says, his voice echoing.
Part of his hair splits and hardens; its tip sharpens into a long razor-sharp spike. As it rises into the air, it swiftly swipes downwards with furious speed.
"AAAAH!" the rider screams out in agonizing pain.
Blood spurts every direction as Vince's pointy hair makes contact with the rider's hands.
"You will obey me," Vince mutters.
Suddenly the scream subsides, and what follows is pure hysterical laughter, the rider's hands begin to regenerate.
"You are not at that level yet, this is why you are to return back to the motherland with us. Sven will teach you all you need to know, and you will become a force of nature. Your Emperor's Meraki is a dull blade at the moment," the rider says whilst laughing uncontrollably.
Vince begins to grind his teeth. Immediately another part of his hair hardens and forms into an identical long razor-sharp spike.
In succession, a barrage of quick devastating strikes, puncture holes in the rider's thick armour. It digs deep into him, causing the holes to appear from his chest all the way to his back; blood drips slowly from all the holes.
But in the same way Silas and Esmeralda's wounds close and stitches itself up, the rider's wounds do the same, with a speed even quicker than theirs.
"What a nuisance," Vince says in a disgusted tone.
-
"Vince… what the hell, this can't be you," Chris whispers to himself.
Malik begins to slow his sprinting pace down to a jog, "That isn't the Vince you know. He is in a realm known to all Meraki users as the abyss. This is why we had to get a hold of him, because he is too deep in the abyss due to his ability," he says.
"What do you mean he is too deep in the abyss, what the hell is that?" Dean inquires.
Alana begins to step closer to Boz, whose gaze is still locked onto Silas. She picks him up from behind. As she does this, she begins to speak whilst looking at Malik, "In core training, we were told Meraki is taboo, we were told that it is what dark arts and witchcraft can give birth to. That inherently makes Meraki users witches," she says.
"Meraki is not a learned art or a blessing. It's a curse that those born with have to nurture. That's what the Skulldem want to do, find all Meraki users and nurture them, if we don't do that… impending doom is what awaits us all," Malik rambles on whilst walking to the side of the group.
"Malik, I'm glad you are okay. We need to get Milan and Estrella, we got to get out of here, those unconscious soldiers and Silas won't stay like that for long," Boz says whilst quickly turning his gaze towards Malik.
"Silas…," Malik lets out a soft whisper. "It can't be little Silas from the orphanage. Before Milan sent me to make sure everybody gets to escape route safely, I had a feeling I had seen that face before; but there is no way!" he shouts whilst turning his entire body to face Silas.
Boz steps side by side with Malik, "It's him, I could tell straight away. They've done something to him; his strength is different. I don't know why he is just standing there, but I am keeping an eye on him,"
"Milan can't be happy. One of those he couldn't save has resurfaced and made into a robot," Malik mumbles.
"Shut up Malik, go get Milan and Estrella now! They have their hands full with Esmeralda," Boz replies.
Malik nods his head and begins to sprint but then quickly halts, "Sorry, did you say Esmeralda? This is a family reunion no one told me about," he sarcastically says
"Go get them now!" Boz screams out.
Malik continues his sprint towards the outside of the camp, where Milan and Estrella reside.
"Oi where are you going, I want to hear more about Meraki!" Dean shouts out.
"We need to get somewhere safe and gather with the rest of our people. Once we do that, Milan can tell you more," Boz replies.
Chris walks ahead of Boz, Dean, and Alana whilst intensely gazing at Vince, whose hair still grips tightly onto the rider. "First things first though, we have to get Vince out of that state, or else I am going nowhere!" he shouts out straining his voice.
Alana takes a step right behind him, "I am with him on that," she says.
"Are you all okay? Alana, you do know most of the entire core are here, not to mention, the damn obsidian cavalry riders! Oh, did I forget to mention, the Sven is here too! I think my argument outweighs both of y'all's," Dean says with his frantic tone.
-
Malik, on his way towards Milan violently vaults off the shoulder of a charging core soldier, driving his boot into another's chest before sprinting through the wreckage of the scrap-metal gate.
BANG!
He bursts out onto the red dirt outside the camp, he spots Milan standing over an unconscious Esmeralda, with Estrella sobbing quietly beside them.
"Milan!" Malik shouts out whilst gasping for air. "We need to get out of here; the situation is honestly getting worse!"
Milan quickly snaps his head towards him, his expression intense and rigid simultaneously. "Is everyone safe? Did everyone make it through the escape route?!"
Malik hesitates, his chest heaving, his heartbeat quickens. "I… I got most of them out. I tried…"
Milan steps forward, his eyes blazing with a sudden terrifying fury. "What do you mean? What do you mean you tried?! Did everyone get through safely or not Malik! It's a yes or no question!"
Malik begins to visibly tremble, struggling to find the words, but their conversation is instantly cut short. It isn't Estrella's sob that interrupts them.
It is a mechanical hiss.
In slow motion, Milan, Malik and Estrella turn their gazes back into the camp. Even Silas, standing motionless in front of Boz, slowly shifts his head toward the terrifying sound.
Rows of Core soldiers stand in formation amidst the ruined dens. In synchronized movements, they grab translucent tubes from the rectangular packs on their backs and insert them directly into their heavy guns. The Spinealls load up and instantly lock onto their spines. A vibrant purple light begins to creep up from the bottom of the devices, surging through the tubes and charging their weapons with an ear-piercing, high-pitched whine that drowns out every other sound cue around the camp.
Within the core, a soft muffled voice shouts out "Open fire!"; although the individual strains their voice, the high-pitched whine swallows their words whole.
A merciless barrage of purple energy beams decimates all remaining running civilians inside the camp. The Skulldem's pets -rabbits, chickens, cats, and dogs from the small camp farms – are instantly obliterated, their innocent blood splatters and gets absorbed into the red dirt.
The horrific chaos of the massacre shrieks through the entire camp causing Vince to slowly look over his shoulder. He watches as people of the Skulldem drop like flies left and right. His pitch-black eyes slowly pan back onto the Obsidian Cavalry rider, and his elongated hair grips onto the man even tighter, causing certain bones to begin cracking.
Inside Vince's head, the pressure is immense and suffocating. The dark whispers of the Abyss overlap in a heavily disorienting, aggressive chant.
'Stab him. Kill him. Stab him. Kill him.'
The voices warp and distort, changing into a heavy devil-like command.
'SQUEEZE HIM!'
Despite the crushing force, the rider simply continues to laugh hysterically, his mangled armour and flesh still regenerating.
"Vince! Snap out of it, are you trying to kill him?!" Chris screams whilst sprinting at full speed toward him.
Without even glancing back, a section of Vince's elongated hair snaps back, hardening instantly into a sharp pointed spike. It viciously swats Chris from the side, launching him hard into a heavy plank of metal scrap. His body aches, as he slumps to the dirt, groaning in agonizing pain.
"Chris!" Alana shouts, her legs carrying her incredibly fast as she slides into the dirt to check on him.
Sprinting behind Alana, Dean mutters, "I told you to leave them alone, didn't I."
Through the dust and carnage, Boz is left standing entirely alone with Silas. But Silas isn't attacking. He stands perfectly still; his eyes gently closed against the continuous explosions and slaughter behind him.
"What is actually wrong with you?" Boz whispers.
The behaviour of Silas throws Boz off. It sends an eerie, terrifying chill straight down his spine.
Slowly, Silas's lips part.
"Aah, the music…" he mumbles, his voice entirely hollow and detached from reality. "It guides and speaks within me…"
"What are you rambling on about? Can you not fight it, Silas? Whatever they've done to you, can you not challenge it!" Boz yells out.
Silas's tear ducts begin to fill up with tears, and with his eyes closed as he lifts his head up high, the tears slide down his cheeks.
He begins to slowly walk, and step by step, Boz trembles and moves backwards.
"Don't let me get serious Silas, I will kill you if I have to," Boz says.
Silas ignores his threats and marches onwards causing Boz to bump into Vince with his back.
Whip!
Vince's elongated hair instantly rises and swipes Boz onto the dirt. Vince looks over his shoulder, "Be still!" he says in a soft but harsh tone whilst looking at Silas.
Silas seems to not listen and continues stepping towards Vince, his eyes glaring with a certain intensity as the tears dry on his cheeks.
The same strands of hair that swiped Boz and Chris away slowly rise, waiting to act swiftly.
SNAP!
Vince, without turning to look back at the Obsidian Cavalry rider part of his hair grips onto, uses another strand of his hair to briskly snap his neck.
"The bane of my existence," Vince says as he drops the unconscious Obsidian Cavalry rider onto the ground to fully face Silas.
One final step forward, and Silas drops onto his left knee. "My Emperor," he states as he lowers his head, tears beginning to glide down his face once again.
-
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING! WHERE DOES THY LOYALTY LIE! YOU WERE SENT TO BRING THEE TO ME, NOT TO LOWER YOUR HEAD BEFORE THEE!" Sven lashes out, which causes the remaining core soldiers using their Spinealls to pass out with black ink spilling out of their mouths and ears.
"FROM THE GUTTERS YOU WERE BORN, AND FROM THE GUTTERS YOU WANT TO RETURN? SO BE IT!" he continues to shout outside the camp. His voice echoes even louder than Vince's and causes a dust storm which covers the entire camp.
Milan and Malik continue to stand in awe at the slaughter they just witnessed.
"Who the fuck do you think you ar…!"
Whip! Thwack! Sizzle! Stab!
The male rider on the horse with a dark blue base and gold swirling pattern masquerade, whips with an unbelievably long lasso made of prestige silver fibres. The male rider on the horse with a black base and gold swirling pattern masquerade, shoots a prestigious silver arrow. The female rider on the horse with a purple base and gold swirling pattern masquerade, swipes their hands with silver nails backwards which releases a sizzling green like acid. And Karagoz, the male rider who sits on top of the black skeletal horse slowly inserts an all-black skeletal-looking sword right into the centre of Milan's back.
"Reel in agonizing pain, you traitor!" Karagoz whispers in a soft manner, his voice blending in with the whistles of the dust storm.
Milan drops onto his knees, all the damage done to him leave brutal dents in his flesh.
"Cowards, I was born in pain! Fight me like the true Obsidian Cavalry you claim to be…" Milan says as he stiffens up and falls sideways onto the ground
END OF CHAPTER
THEORIES MERAKI – IT SEEMS THERE IS NO END. EVERYWHERE IN THE CAMP IS RIDDLED WITH CHAOS. WILL VINCE BE THE SAVING GRACE? OR ARE THE SKULLDEM, VINCE, CHRIS, ALANA AND DEAN BOUND FOR DEATH WITH SVEN'S LASH OUT?
NEXT CHAPTER – TBD