The Godsfall Chronicles

Cloudhawk engorged himself on food and drink, using the nutrients to help his wounds recover faster . At the current rate he figured he’d be back to normal in three days . While the panacea certainly helped, his rapid recovery was mostly due to his own regenerative abilities .

In the midst of his meal Cloudhawk could hear boots approaching .

A lithe and beautiful woman appeared, short of hair and stature but very well proportioned . She wore no armor and her chest was concealed by nothing more than a tube top that left her enticing abdomen bare to the eye . The ample protrusions in front caught many eyes, as did her leather-wrapped rump . Her pants were skin tight and outlined every curve of her powerful legs – not long, not short, but well sculpted .

Artemis wasn’t as beautiful of face as the Bloodsoaked Queen, but the demonhunter had been born in the elysian lands . Her family was respected and affluent, and she had been given the best growing up . Artemis, on the other hand, was a wild woman from a wild place . She was a wastelander, through and through .  The two ladies had led very different lives, and from the eyes of a wastelander Artemis was a rare and incredible specimen .

“Well, well… I didn’t think little brother was going to make it – or that he could eat like this . No wonder I have an eye for you, eh?”

She wrapped him in a hug .

One might expect a hug from a beautiful woman to be a pleasant experience, but she s.n.a.t.c.hed him up with all the force of a grizzly bear . Far from appreciative, Cloudhawk’s eyes nearly popped out of his skull and his neck nearly snapped . He slapped her arms, entreating mercy . “Let go . Lemme go!”

“Sorry, sorry – I got excited . You alright?” Her words were apologetic but her face told a different story . She released Cloudhawk and pressed a hand to his cheek . “I want to tell you some good news . From now on I’m the leader of this outpost!”

The news surprised him . “What about Hydra?”

She rolled her eyes at his stupid question . If Hydra was, alive how could she lead? Speaking of Hydra, she was reminded of something the Bloodsoaked Queen had ordered . “Are you full? Come with me, we’re taking a visit to the dungeon . We’ve got to let someone out . ”

As they traversed the fort – and in fact the whole outpost – Cloudhawk could hear the sounds of battle . Everything seemed chaotic, and neither the Queen nor Mantis were anywhere to be found . Presumably they were out dealing with those rebelling against Hydra’s replacement .

Artemis wobbled unsteadily as they walked the streets, favoring her bandaged leg and shoulder . She couldn’t help clean up the rioters in her condition . Instead they made their way to the dungeons and stopped in front of one of the cages therein .

When Cloudhawk saw who it was he was both perplexed and curious . They gradually gave way to astonishment . “This is Leonine? What the h.e.l.l happened?”

The last time he’d seen him the slaver was a bearded, stalwart veteran, deadly as a lion . The man before him now was completely different . His eyes were sunken and dull, his hair had all gone white . He sat there like a husk, with no spirit to speak of . He seemed to have aged forty years overnight, and the man in the cage looked like a walking corpse waiting to rot away .

That tenacious, stout warrior had completely disappeared . The person he was now was all-but a lifeless corpse .

Artemis approached him and unlocked his shackles . “Sorry, I guess I forgot you were in here . I’m sure you already heard that the demonhunter killed Hydra . So, you’re free – off you go!”

Leonine’s legs were mostly useless .  Hydra had severed his tendons, turning him into a cripple . But even if he was completely healthy, all reason for him to live had been taken away . That made him no different from a complete cripple . He lifted his withered face and stared at the two of them as though through a haze . A hoa.r.s.e voice croaked through his mouth . “My wife? My children?”

Thirty minutes later…

Three grave mounds had appeared in front of the outpost . They’d been made with dirt and stone, humble resting places no one would recognize . But they were the product of Leonine’s own hands, and the effort turned his already mangled appendages into b.l.o.o.d.y messes . He didn’t seem to feel pain – or feel anything at all . His face never changed all throughout the process .

Three unrecognizable bodies were interred within .

Cloudhawk remembered a pa.s.sage about funerals from the ancient books . He found three candles and placed one before each body . Their tiny flames flickered valiantly in defiance of death . Their tiny rebellion was touching .

Leonine knelt before the graves, staring dumbly at the lights .

The candlelight fought off the encroaching darkness, like a border between life and death . In their dim light Leonine thought he could see familiar figures, hear familiar voices .

“Daddy, you said that I’m a man . I have to protect my mom and my sister!”

“Brother and mommy are always being bullied by bad men . You have to stay, daddy . ”

“I don’t feel bad . Honest I don’t…”

“It doesn’t matter what happens… I believe in you!”

Leonine’s face twisted into strange expressions, somewhere between wanting to cry and laugh . He muttered to himself, face covered in tears, unable to separate the real from the imagined . He’d lost his mind .

“Look at that poor b.a.s.t.a.r.d . He’s gone nuts . ” She could hardly look at him, and though she made no effort to keep her voice low Leonine didn’t seem to hear . “He helped make me leader . We should help . ”

Cloudhawk knew what she meant . He thrust out with the sharp end of his exorcist staff and pushed it through the back of Leonine’s neck . The drill point slipped out from the base of his throat on the other side and his steaming blood spilled out over the graves . Their spray extinguished the three tiny candles .

A few minutes later a fourth grave had been dug .

It was situated in front of the other three, like a staunch protector against the wind and rain . Leonine would protect them in death as he tried to do in life . Cloudhawk and Artemis had left, leaving the graves alone with no markings or tombstones . No one would remember them or the torture they’d suffered .

Leonine had been the definition of a wastelander .  Countless graves marking countless stories like his were strewn across the blasted lands . The world was like a callous and indifferent bystander, watching the tragedy that was life and humanity play out its sad stories .

Artemis hobbled back toward the fort and asked, “Do you think people need faith?”

“Of course!” Cloudhawk answered her with a serious expression . He looked at her . “Everyone has faith . I do, the Queen does, even the sweepers . It was the same for Leonine and Hydra . It’s how we know we’re alive, you can’t survive without it . ”

“So what do you believe in?” She asked . “Can you tell me?”

Cloudhawk had nothing to hide . “I have faith I’ll leave the wastelands . I want to see the rest of the world, find a place where there isn’t any killing or pain . I want to find a paradise somewhere without schemes . ”

Artemis clicked her tongue . “Is there such a place? Quit f.u.c.kin’ dreaming! I never had my head in the clouds, is that living? People like you are just senseless, you need to get over yourself . ”

Cloudhawk was in a sour mood . He didn’t bother with her anymore .

Three days of recovery pa.s.sed . By now Cloudhawk’s wounds were mostly healed and he could get around without any pain or impediment . The young scavenger thought about his near-death experience, the power he’d found within the stone that was funneled into him .  

Unless he was mistaken, he should be stronger than ever now .

He began by practicing the postures of the demonhunters that the Queen had taught him . He’d managed to get to number twelve before having to stop . This confirmed his guess that the stone hadn’t improved him physically, only mentally . The next question was how much had his psychic energy developed?

Cloudhawk covered himself in his invisibility cloak and channeled his psychic energy through it . Almost immediately he resonated with it, summoning its powers . A vibration thrummed and spread out through the area, causing the light to warp . Then he disappeared .

It was different! Completely different!

Using the cloak now didn’t feel draining to him at all, even after maintaining it for more than ten seconds . He also sensed immediately that he was faster and more buoyant .

Extrapolating by what he’d experienced, Cloudhawk figured he’d been using twenty percent of what the cloak could do before . Now maybe it was closer to forty percent . Whereas before the longest he could stay hidden was twelve seconds, now he could maintain the relic for several minutes .

Judging from how the Queen used relics – especially the phoenix gourd – one could understand how a relic worked . Specifically, they relied on the power of the bearer . The more psychic energy the Queen poured into the gourd, the more powerful was the phoenix she summoned . When she was weakened the phoenix was correspondingly weaker .

That was the relations.h.i.+p between demonhunters and their relics .

In the hands of the legendary demonhnters even the simplest relics could summon earth-shaking power . Give a rookie demonhunter the mightiest relic in the world and he wouldn’t be able to use it . He’d be better off with an exorcist staff .

Cloudhawk could see that his psychic powers had improved considerably .

Note : Please download the sponsor"s game to support us!