Our Legacy - Episode 7

Fear had become an uncommon emotion among the Demigods. It existed but to a certain extent. A Demigod didn't fear death when they all already lived longer than the average Human. They didn't die from natural causes. There was no such fatality. A Demigod's life had to be taken by force. No one could begin to imagine the set of events that had to take place for Humanity to fall into such an abyss. Those lucky enough for a God Particle to bind with them have the fortune of living like a half-God but the misfortune of inevitably ceasing to exist because of a world-wide war. A world-wide holocaust.

"Everyone is just killing everyone." said one of the soldiers as they were sitting around a campfire waiting for further orders and hopefully reinforcements. It was a man of Indian descent who had spoken. "After this war there will be another and then another. Mark my words." He shook his finger at everyone. "Who knows who will win this war, eh? But one thing is for certain, there will be a power vacuum. Already there is in-fighting among us."

"This Necromancer isn't someone fighting for his own cause." said another, a Nigerian woman with completely white eyes and cornrows to match them. "He is pure evil."

"And evil exists in every side," the lieutenant added. "No country or organisation is ever pure of heart. In war our purpose is to survive by any means necessary... In a respective manner of course."

"Respective, sir?" asked the Indian.

"We cannot allow ourselves to lose our humanity. A life without it is not life at all. We are not barbarians."

"And it is disrespectful to raise the dead to do your bidding." The Nigerian finalised.

"We are facing true evil here. A powerful evil." The Lieutenant stood up and dusted off his uniform. "Going to see if there's any progress."

Maha and Keyla were snuggling on the other side of the fire, watching the dance of flames.

"I have a question for everyone..." Keyla said while changing her sitting position. "What's more difficult to defeat? A hundred Demigods... Or a Demigod with the strength of a hundred?" There was instantly chatter among the soldiers.

"When it's just the thirty of us?" asked one over the noise.

"Yes." she simply replied.

"One Demigod!" the same soldier replied. The chatter ceased as everyone began to listen.

"Why?"

"Easier to gang up on one target."

"Yes, but can we harm such a Demigod to begin with?" The soldier, a young man, sat back as he continued to think about scenario.

"Well, we all know we can easily defeat one hundred Demigods if it's the thiry of us." said the Nigerian from across the campfire. "We have the training to fight off thirty already. One hundred should be easy." she said with a confident tone.

"Yes, but this was just an example. We aren't facing a Necromancer who just sucked in one hundred God Particles. That number is probably in the thousands."

There was an uncanny silence. Fear settled in their hearts. Everyone shared a lost focus in their stare, no doubt questioning their mortality and imagining the wrath of such a Demigod. The Lieutenant was walking back from the recon post they had set up and was curious about the mood that was circling around the fire. Klaus was catching up behind him.

"Everyone well?" The Lieutenant asked.

"Sir, what do you think?" Keyla turned to him. She could see that he was still irritated by her behaviour earlier. "Is it easier defeating a hundred Demigods or a Demigod with the strength of a hundred?"

"A hundred Demigods." Everyone was now looking at their elected group leader. "We are all equal to some degree when we face each other. We all have one particle, do we not? And imagine the amount of pain we can endure. Now double that if you had one extra particle. You can fight on for twice as long and fight off twice as many. And then another particle.. and another." The Lieutenant took a deep breath before continuing. "A Demigod with such power is then only limited by what they are. We call ourselves Demigods... Half Gods... But a Demigod with the power of hundreds and thousands... Are they still half a God? Do we dare even face such an opponent?"

"Klaus survived the Necromancer..." Maha inserted lightly. Klaus chuckled at the comment.

"I was a mess from just one hit which came out of nowhere." he said.

"Plus, Klaus's powers mainly focus on his physical toughness and strength. He can take on much more than the most of us combined." The Lieutenent assured. "I have only seen Klaus in such a state in one other occasion and never again. So if one hit can do such damage to him... I'd advise all of you to be very cautious when we finally face this demon."

A sound barrier suddenly broke in the distance, coming from the north. A dasher came speeding towards them and was instantly in front of the Lieutenant. The speed Demigod had scars all over his face and cuts at the sides of his mouth. Many dashers were prone to scars such as his. He had short cut hair, as was advised, with a slim pale face.

"Lieutenant Wauter?" he asked with an out of breath kind of voice.

"That's me."

"Arcadeus sends his support."

"Really?"

"But he requires visual confirmation by me before he sends aid."

"He doesn't trust our word?" He suddenly found himself pacing after the dasher who had started to walk towards their recon post.

"I wouldn't venture closer than five kilometers." Klaus warned.

"Yes, I've been advised. Thank you for your concern." The dasher made no eye-contact with anyone but stood still and stared directly where the clouds still had a green residue. It was night but the green was highly visible. "I believe I can come close to one kilometer at this hour."

"You really don't want to, trust me."

"I am not so much a big oaf as you, mister. I am a mouse compared to you." Klaus wasn't sure if he should have been offended.

"I can crush mice without trying..." he uneasily stated for safe measure. The dasher turned around with a smile to look at him.

"I will take your word for it."

"What's the name?" Lieutent Wauter asked.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Your name."

"My apologies. I'm a man who likes to get straight to the point." The dasher extended his arm towards Wauter. "I am Yrmun Tala. Now if you'll excuse me... I have some work to attend to."

Yrmun Tala was instantly gone and running fast towards the realm of the Necromancer. The brothers equipped a pair of binoculars and tried to keep up. All they could see was a blur. The dasher never stayed in one place as he observed the fortress the Necromancer had built. He had a camera built into the chest of his suit, capturing everything he faced. Yrmun had seen enough and ran back to the group of thirty. He had his finger on his earpiece when he arrived. There were orders coming in.

"Understood, General." he said at last. Everyone was suddenly excited.

"What's going on?" The Lieutenent asked.

"Sit tight Lieutenent Wauter, the cavalry is coming."

Back in Paris, in his fortress, General Arcadeus punched a hole in his wall. Otho, his friend and advisor, was staring with his hands behind his back.

"We should have expected such a Demigod would exist at some point." He said calmly.

"I should have wiped the whole place clean in Denmark. No one should have seen the possibilities behind merging." Arcadeus growled as he took his place in front of a window and stared into the streets.

"You couldn't have known. It wasn't a priority back then."

"We have to fix this."

"We will. We're the most powerful.."

"Otho... you don't understand... that Necromancer... is more powerful than I am..."