Yeah, well, I wasn’t originally going to post it here, since it’s going to be thought of as an Inuyasha ripoff(as it already has)…but, yeah whatever. I have about 5 chapters complete, so I’ll just post one a day or something… anyway, here it is.
Prologue…
Lightning streaked across the sky in such brilliance that even the darkest shadows were illuminated in the flashes. Grey, dismal, evil clouds stretched and billowed thin across the endless sea of darkness above, releasing rain like grapeshots onto the land below. The drops of water hit with the force of bullets, splashing wildly at each strike. The earth was swiftly transmuting from cold dirt to wet, thick mud, and puddles of rain turned into miniature streams which zigzagged through the ground, carrying a disgusting shade of green with them.
Only one being traveled the wilderness that night. His footsteps left large, deep prints in the sea of mud below, and a grotesque noise of the gurgling of the wet earth broke out with each step of his black boots, but it could barely be heard over the smash of rain and crack of thunder. The young man was soaked. His dark brown, nearly black, hair was stuck to the flesh on his forehead, and sharp green eyes that usually gaze venom were red and hazy from the amounts of water in them. There were black, archaic symbols below his left eye upon his clean, chiseled face, which dripped continuously, adding to the wetness on his black jacket, which flowed seamlessly into his loose black pants. A long silver chain hung around his neck and ended in a crystal sphere containing a bright emerald, and encased in a silver wing, dangled in front of his black shirt which bore silver symbols.
Finally, the young man stopped walking, and looked up. There it was, towering in front of him, the black behemoth. It was a gargantuan black tower, a few hundred feet or so tall, and several feet wide. It was not cylindrical, but roughly rectangular. There were no windows, and only one door, a great oak one set in the front of the structure. A red, swirling cloud, like gaseous blood billowed from the tower’s summit, pulsating with black lightning. The cloud hung like red fire, rotating clockwise, and each bolt of lightning it discharged set a crack of painful noise through the air. Noise that would make the knees of the bravest quake. Noise that would make the teeth of the even the strongest humans chatter.
‘I have...been here before...’ the man said to himself, his brain clouded and his thoughts askew. Could he find his answers here? Could this vile, black fortress hold the inforamtion he so desperately seeked? ‘I must be on my guard...’ he said to himself once again.
‘Yes, that would be smart,’ a different voice sounded in his head. ‘Wouldn’t want yourself getting killed now would you?’ The second voice laughed.
‘No but if I did i would finally be rid of your silk tongue,’ he snapped. The second voice laughed once more.
‘Do not forget, without me you would no longer be alive, so my tongue is worth far more than your own,’ the voice resounded.
‘Shut up.’ He shook his head, water spraying from it, and resumed his trek towards the door. When he reached it, one touch of the knob sent a vibration of cold throughout his body. He shook once or twice, and twisted the knob, only to find that it would not roatate, and the door remained closed. A few steps back, and then a devesating kick, that’s all the man needed to get in. The door splintered and flew into the building, collapsing onto the floor and sliding, releasing the sound of metal grinding against stone.
The man’s footsteps tapped against the stone, and each step removed the caked mud from the soled of his shoes. The water he had so thoroughly collected still ceaselessly fell from him, leaving a glistening trail of wetness on the stone floor. The interior of the tower was dark, perhaps even darker than it was in the everburning night outside the walls. Then the green eyes of the man started to spin, and then they reracted into the white of his eye, and were replaced by a black ring that emerged back out. The darkness around him turned to the interior of the structure, though all in black and white.
‘See, without me you would not even be able to see in here,’ that vile second voice said, and laughed once more. The man tried to ignore it.
The room was old, decrepid, and haunting. Cobwebs draped over the entire ceiling, and down some of the walls. In the corners there were the msot, and sacs which contained the eggs of the arachnids that would soon walk these webs sat nestled in the sticky threads. These webs were not at all normal, for they were large and strong, and they had to be to meet the needs of their seven foot creators. A large fireplace sat at the opposite wall of the room, it’s stone mantle broken, cracked, and chipped, leaving sharp stones around it on the floor. Spider webs even found their way into the hearth of the fireplace, where ancient ashes spilled. Candles, with the wicks corrupt and usless, sat motionless on the mantle. There was an old crystal chandelier hanging askew many feet above. Most of the crystals had fallen to the floor, where their shattered remains still dwelled. The black-clad young man set foot to the spiraling staircase which, was too, made of stone. The banister that accompanied the steps had falled, it was battered and chipped from where it hung. Each step the man took made a light tap on the stone which echoed faintly through the stairwell. The ravaging storm outside could now be just heard, but the wind which now traveled through the doorspace below whistled around, and the young man had the strangest feeling it was following him...laughing at him... He shook the feeling as he continued up through the steps for several minutes, for there had to be hundreds of them. Old paintings, torn, bloodstained, and moth-eaten hung every few feet as he drew nearer to the top. The figures in the paintings were unclear, for every head of each portrait was torn out.
‘Look out’ that second voice sounded again within his head. He was about to respond, but he then felt his legs give, and he tumbled down the steps. He caught one of them, and was able to stop himself from falling down too far. He had hit his head, and it was slightly trailing a bit of blood, which he found from the redness on his hand after he touched the wound. He sat up, and rubbed his left temple. Ready to stand up again, he began too, but he was stopped by the very loud sound that resembeled a heart’s beat. He looked up to see that the faces on all of the portraits had returned, though they were not at all normal. The faces were twisted, disfigured, stuck with looks of anguish and horror. All of the faces had their mouths open, and within seconds, from each mouth, there started to emerge, a steady flow of the blood. The blood trickled out of the mouths and down the front of the paintings, dripped down the dust-clad, broken stone walls, edging over bits of spiderweb and rubble, until they finally met the edges formed by the meeting of wall and floor. After the first drops hit, the blood began to pour from the mouths like fountains, and the young man soon found himself being washed with it. He swiftly got up, only to find himself slipping again on the slick red beneath him. He then stopped all motion as he heard a slight rumble. He turned and looked up the stairs, and around the bend, a roaring wave of blood started to descend like a waterfall. He then quickly turned and started to hurry down the stairs, dripping now with a mixture of water and blood. He found himself falling again as he slipped, and tumbled down the steps. He caught himself once more, and stood, his own blood mixing with that already on him, and faced the waterfall that was following him.
‘Help..me,’ he said.
‘Oh, now you wish for my aid?’ the second voice asked. It laughed again. ‘Pitiful... your lucky that I’m here.’
‘Shut up, and just do it!’ He yelled. Finally, he felt a warmth spread through him. He stretched his arms out in front of him, and a sheet of glowing blue light appeared in front of him. The wave of blood crashed up against it, not able to get through. He then started to run, pushing the invisible shield in front of him as he went. The blood on the other side of the barrier was bushed back up the steps further and further until it dispersed on both sides, flowing away. He had finally reached the top of the steps. Trodding through the lake of blood beneath him, he made his way to a door a few yards ahead of him. When he reached it, he grasped the handle with both hands and pulled as hard as he could, pulling the door through the sea of blood, and it opened, giving him access to a hallway. He progressed into it, and closed the door behind him. The short corridor lead to yet another door, which he opened and closed behind him.
The red rings in his eyes sunk back into them, and his pupils returned, activated by the light in the room. Several candles sat up on wooden ledges and mantles of fireplaces. Their wax was black, and the candles let off a green glow. The room was clear of cobwebs, and had four fireplaces, one on each wall, which emitted a green glow as well. Thee floor was bare, as were the walls and ceiling, just black stone. Yet in front of him, back turned, there stood another being, with a very long black cloak which was draped around him and the hems collapsed on the floor. The being turned around, and the young man who entered gave a jerk of surprise. This other being was a wretched sight to behold. His skin, if you could call it skin, was the color of the whitest bone. There were holes in his skin, which revealed nothing but blackness, and the occasional insect crawling out from them. His face was vile and twisted, his eyes a bright amber color, with small holes in them as well. Long, greasy, mangled black hair hung down, half concealing his face, but showing the gruesome look that his thin lips made as his teeth were bared. The only other part of his body revealed were his hands. White and having holes, his fingers were long, bony, and ended in black, sharp nails.
“Tigrez...” the being said in a low, exhausted, raspy voice.
“Y-you..!” replied the young man, Tigrez, who had taken a step back.
“You expected to find answers in this forsaken place...havent you..?” he said, following up with a laugh that sounded more like a cough. “But you’ won’t... Filthy half-demon. You don’t deserve answers...I made sure of that...” he laughed again, and it was only then that Tigrez noticed the small mound of corpses piled in the corner. Their skin was a pale grey, their necks obviosly snapped, and their faces twisted, leaking a thick yellow liquid.
“What did you do to them!?” Tigrez yelled. He was sure that those people could have given him some sort of answer...some sort of advice...something that would give him a clue...
‘You’re scared,’ the second voice said.
‘Shut up!’ Tigrez yelled at it. ‘Don’t you remember him?’
‘Of course...now...’ there was a pause as Tigrez was blessed with a warmth. ‘Kill him.’
‘I...I can’t..he is too-’
‘KILL HIM NOW!’ In a flash, Tigrez had his sword drawn. It was a very unique weapon... a black, thick hilt, with a large, circular, bright red gem at the end of it. The wickedly sharp blade was also black, but at certain spots held a hue of violet and the darkest green.
“Wan’t to play?” the other being said. He held out his hand and a red beam went right under it, and he grasped one end of the beam, and it instantly transformed into a transluscent red blade. The two charged at each other, and their blades clashed. Tigrez slashed from above, only to be parried and attacked from the side, which he just nearly blocked.
‘Faster, stronger, kill, rip, death!’ the demon presence within Tigrez’s head shouted. Tigrez fed off of this, more eager to kill...rip..tear..
“Uh..g!” the vile being who Tigrez was fighting looked down to see the half-demon’s blade through his stomach. Tigrez had a maniacal look on his face as he pushed the sword through so far that only the hilt remained in front of the enemy. The sword’s blade, which had gone all the way through the fiend, was covered, and dripping, with a yellow-brown like ooze. With a low roar, the enemy flung his free hand forward and clutched Tigrez's neck. His sharp, black fingernails just dug into the skin..Tigrez growled in a mix of anger and pain...mostly anger. The monster then threw the half-demon several feet away from himself, and grasped the hilt of Tigrez's sword with his left hand. He slowly writhed it and pulled it out of himself, and held it up to his vile face. He gave a low cackle, and opened his thin-lipped mouth, revealing that his canine teeth extended much further than any normal person's should...even if he wasn't 'normal.' A long black tongue slithered out of the foul beasts mouth like a serpent, and gently lapped the edge of the blade, taking ion the abysmal taste of the liquid on it. "You are a pitiful fighter..." he said.
'He is right, you know,' said that second voice. 'You're pretty bad.'
'Shut up, dammit!' he roared internally at the voice. 'Saying that I am bad is saying that your are bad too, so why don't you actually use some of our power, you have been holding back!' The voice inside of his head growled.
'Fine, let us show him who is the terrible fighter...grah!' the voice yelled within him. A great surge went through Tigrez's body, and his stood up. The evil he was fighting raised the area where his eye brow would have been if he had them.
"Silent assassin...lend me your claws, panther strike!" Tigrez muttered the incantation, and flung his arms forward, releasing a sphere of black light from each hand. They flew forward at the enemy, and spun around him a few times, and then both struck him and convered, creating a small explosion of black light, and sending the beast flying backwards. As this happened, Tigrez ran and grabbed the hilt of his sword as it was sent airborn from his attack, and dashed at his opponent. The creature recovered swiftly, and held his crimson sword out, but to his surprise, Tigrez leapt straight up into the air, doing a flip in mid jump, and all the while muttering another incantation in a different tongue. As he descended from the air, his sword was glowing in a silvery-blue color. The monster looked straight up, and right before he was struck, his body split into what first seemed to be little black pieces, but in fact, they were small black bats. The winged mammals dispersed from their location and Tigrez hit nothing but the ground, piercing the stone with his sword, and as he did, a silver burst of light emitted all around him. Tigrez growled at his failed attack, and looked behind him. The bats were coming together now, and as they last of them melded, the vile monster stood again. He caught Tigrez slightly off guard, and thrusted his arm out, releasing a crimson colored phantasmal claw which tore through the air and grasped the half-demon, who howled in pain. He felt a sensation which seemed like there were billions of white-hot needles within his body, and they were trying to get outh through his skin. He screamed again as a ripple of red light traveled across the arm like appendage attatched to the claw, and entered him.
'This guy does know a few tricks!' the voice inside Tigrez's head said again. 'Oh well, I guess we can end toying with him, let's finish the job, eh?' Tigrez nodded and clenched his teeth. He slowly opened his right hand (his arms were pinned to his sides) and his sword came into it.
"Spring of life..." Tigrez started, trying with all his might to activate the attack through his pain, "fade into blood and silence..." he summoned the might to get this far...he had to finish it.. " and break! Ruined Chaos!!" he roared. He flung his arms out and the claw dissipated. his blade was swarming with silver light, and he grasped the hilt with both hands, raised it high above his head, and slashed downward. The silver light was flung of the blade and ripped through the air, and then took vaguely a form which seemed to be two serpents spiraling around one another. The attack collided with the enemy, and discharged sparks of silver around him. He screamed uncontrolably, and then a flash of light blinded the area.
Within a few moments, the light faded, and Tigrez could no longer see his opponent. The stone beneath the spot where he had been standing was charred black. Tigrez breathed a bit heavily, and returned his sword to it's black and silver scabbard. 'Whew..' he thought. He took one step towards the door when a bellowing laugh filled his ears. 'No...' Five feet in front of him, a black light emerged from the floor in a column, and it took the form of the monster. "Why won't you just die!!" Tigrez ran at him, emitting a roar.
"Goodbye!" the creature said, and in that instant, a crimson blast of light rammed into Tigrez sending him against the far wall, which crumbled under the impact. Tigrez flew into the ravaging storm and the darkness outside, the blast obliterating him into darkness.