Thunder rumbled in the night sky as the rain came down hard.
"Vareth'u la lae Omni-Born(find the Omni-Born)" One of the raiders growled as he threw a man off the balcony.
The man almost fell on Emrys below but he ducked in time and the man's body hit the ground with a sickening crack. The body lurched and jerked then went still.
He didn't know what the raider had said but he knew it had something to do with the Omni-Born and he was the Omni-Born.
He ducked and hid behind one of the neighbor's stack of metal rubbish. The same neighborh who had introduced him into picking up metal scraps and delivering to the warehouse factory.
Come to think of it, wasn't that the same man that had been thrown off the balcony?
"Meow!"
"Hissssss"
That was Betsy! He could recognize that meowing anywhere. Betsy's meowing had always been quite different from the other neighborhood cats. She meowed like she took great pride in doing it and dared anyone to stop her.
Emrys peeped from the stack of rubbish metal scrapes and saw her standing on the railings with her tail high. She was basically in the midst of the chaos.
A raider stopped beside Betsy and Emrys's heart almost came up into his throat.
That man, no that thing wasn't a man, it had claws,sharp dirty knife like claws. When it turned like it had sensed a presence, Emrys could see its eyes and half of it's reptilian-like face.
He would wait out a little longer,it didn't seem like it was too interested in Betsy, he would wait and when it went down the hallway,he'd grab Betsy and make a run to find his father.
The creature finally turned away,it's claws scraping the railing, leaving a smear of black residue as it slithered away. Emrys moved fast, snatching Betsy and holding her against his chest. The cat hissed,her claws digging into his skin but he barely noticed. His breath came ragged,his body shaking as he backed into the hallway if the building he'd lived his whole life.
The air was thick with smoke. The walls once gray and cracked but familiar,were now scorched black. Someone screamed two floors above,followed by a dull this. The smell of burned flesh and ozone was enough to make him gag.
He stepped carefully over debris, trying to keep Betsy quiet,as quiet as he could. Just get to father,just find him. He'll know what to do.
A door ahead had been torn off its hinges. That was their apartment. The sight made his chest tighten. He moved faster, slipping past the body of Mrs Irena from down the hall,her eyes wide open and glassy.
"Father!" he whispered,his voice trembling. "Father,it's me!"
There was no reply.
He stepped into the apartment,the flickeringight from the fire outside casting shadows over everything. Books were scattered everywhere..open, torn and some burning slowly at the edges. The old table his father always used for studying had been flipped over.
Then he heard it….a faint cough from the room.
Emrys's heart leapt in his chest. "Father!"
He rushed through the smoke, stumbling into the room and froze.
His father was there but slumped against the wall, his robe torn with blood dripping from a deep wound across his abdomen. His eyes fluttered open, cloudy with pain.
"Emrys…" his voice was a rasp, barely audible over the chaos outside. "You shouldn't be here."
Emrys dropped to his knees, grabbing his hand. "What happened? Who…"
"They came for you." His father coughed, crimson red blood spiling from his mouth. "The Sect…they know, they know what you are."
Emrys shook his head violently,tears burning his eyes. "I don't even understand half of it! You should have told me from the beginning!"
His father smiled faintly and weakly. "You were never normal,my son. You are Omni-Born. The last of your kind."
Another explosion shook the building. The celling cracked,dust raining down on them. Emrys flinched, clutching his father's shoulder.
"We have to go," he said desperately. "We can still make it out. Please."
"No…" his father wheezed, shaking his head. "I can't leave. My strength is gone..But you.."He grabbed Emrys's wrist with surprising force. "You must live."
From within his bloodied robe,he pulled out a small crystal orb. It pulsed faintly,like a dying heartbeat. "This is what remains of my Omni essence. The bond will find you when your power awakens. Until then,this will shield you."
Emrys tried to pull back. "No,I don't want it! I want you!"
"You don't get to choose," his father said with a soft, broken laugh. Then,b foee Emrys could react,he pressed the orb against his chest.
It sank into him instantly and white-hot pain tore through his body. Emrys screamed,his vision blurring as light flared beneath his skin,his veins glowing silver and gold. His hands clawed again his chest,his body convulsing.
His father's hands came up to cradle his face. "Breathe, Emrys…breathe. Let it take root."
The air shifted, warping around them. Emrys could feel his heart pounding like a drum,the walls vibrating as if reality itself was shaking around him.
Then the sound of claws returned and several of the reptilian raiders stormed through the front door,hissing in unison. Their glowing eyes fixed on Emrys's father.
One of them pointed a jagged blade at him and snarled, "Sva' krr la lae Omni-Born!(Get rid of the Omni-Born)"
Emrys couldn't understand the words…but someone it felt like threatening words
His father rose shakily to his feet,light flickering in his eyes. "Stay behind me," he said quietly.
But Emrys couldn't move. The energy inside him was still burning,twisting,expanding so much that he could barely breathe.
The lead raider lunged forward and his father raised his hand, chanting something ancient,words that shook the air. A burst of energy hit the creature, hurling it back into the hallway but the others didn't stop swarming in.
One of them struck him through the chest and Emrys screamed.
His father staggered,his blood spraying across the floor. He looked down at the claw buried in his body,then back at Emrys,his gaze calm despite the pain. "Run…"
"Father!"
The raider ripped it's claws free and threw his father to the ground. Emrys scrambled forward but his father lifted a trembling hand and a pulse of power—weak but enough…threw Emrys back, slamming him into the wall.
"Live," his father whispered. "For both of us."
And then his body went limp.
The light in the room shifted…turning dark and suffocating. Something in Emrys snapped,the marks long his arms ignited, glowing white-hot as power surged uncontrollably through him.
He screamed…raw, guttural and broken.
The ground split open beneath the raiders and light burst from Emrys's body,a violent eruption of Omni energy that tore through everything. The raiders shrieked as their skin blistered and melted,their armor turning to ash.
And then,from the fissures that formed, something else began to emerge.
Black mist,crawling tendeils,creatures without solid form—Eclipse spawn(Eclipse creatures). They slid up from the cracks like liquid shadow,their presence eating away at the walls,the air,the light.
They devoured the remaining raiders in seconds. The sound was horrifying—wet and sharp like bones cracking underwater.
Emrys stumbled backward, horrified. His power hand done this,his scream had called them from below the depths of the earth's core.
The creatures turned towards him next.
He picked and clutched Betsy to his chest, shaking violently. His legs refused to move. His mind screamed to run but his body stayed frozen.
The nearest Eclipse creature reached forward,it's fingers stretching like smoke…
And suddenly,the air tore open. A light…golden and violent split the space in front of him, forming a shimmering gateway
A hand reached out from it,gloved and strong and grabbed him by the arm.
Emrys barely had time to gasp before he was yanked inside. Betsy screeched in his arms as the world dissolved into a tunnel of light and shadow, spinning faster and faster until there was nothing left.
And just before the gateway closed,the last thing he saw was his father's body…laying still, bloodied and surrounded by the creatures his power had unleashed.
He would never forget that sight. Never!