Alex knelt down in front of the entrance of the tower shaken, the sight in front of him was one he never expected he would see and it had chilled him to the core. But beyond that it was not the just the chill that got to him, it was the sudden heavy feeling in his chest, the way the air seemed to have become heavy and it seemed as if he would pa.s.s out the very next second. Alex had to wonder if this was what h.e.l.l on Earth felt like, if this was former and anguish and horror all wrapped in one. He"s seen it, been told about it, but this was the first time he"s had to truly feel it. He may not have spent as much time with them as most would expect but this was still his subordinates, even worse this was his family. And here they were in front of him, dead and their bodies made a mockery off in the most grotesque of display. Alex wanted to cry, he absolutely wanted to just break down and cry, they were his responsibility, his friends and his family. It was up to him to keep them safe, he failed.
In front of Alex an eight foot pole was stabbed into the ground, and hanging on it were the heavily mutilated bodies of Zhang Ming Su, Zhang Feigu and Zhang Xuelan. They had been in the Orcon forest training and completing some missions, yet here they were; dead. This was a message to Alex, the fact that there was a banner hanging off the pole like a flag with barely dried words written on it was more than enough proof, that this was no random killing. After their bodies were stabbed through, and left here to for, this was a harrowing experience for Alex, death had never been this personal before.
It was in that moment a gust of wind blew, signaling the arrival of elder Zhang Wuxi, who surprisingly enough had Alex"s uncle in tow with him. They were just as shocked, but their arrival caused a draft that unfurled the banner and left it exposed to Alex"s piercing gaze. The words on it were written in blood, their own blood and it had not even dried off yet. This was not just a challenge, it was a warning for Alex.
"Bury Your Head In The Sand!"
Nothing else needed to be said, this was war, and it was especially bad when the opponent knew who Alex was, but Alex had no idea just who the person after could be. But there was one way to deal with this problem, one way to at least find out who was responsible for the death of these three and hunt him or her down for answers, and for revenge. They wanted Alex to hurry his head in the sand, impossible! Even if Alex could not be considered a Dragon, he was very much a Lion. And Lions never tower!
"Devonte get me a cask of sea salt and water, and Louis! Find me something Alive, full of life and very much ready to die!" his words were chilly, cold, straight to the point and filled with power that the very air vibrated when he spoke. It was not as heavy or as imposing as one would expect, but it was there, and Victoria who was standing besides Anya and Xiao Mei with her hands over the shoulders of both grief stricken girls was surprised. It was like a universal rule that till now could not be explained. Only men and women with royal blood would be able to speak with the power of Authority.
Not that it was an extravagant power or anything, but this was the universe"s way of recognizing that you were a royal, a leader and a king. There were very few people capable of using that on Earth, heck as a whole there are only six of them. And now Alex, someone that until a few months ago was completely inconsequential now had the same ability. It was baffling and quite frankly it was quite scary, give Alex enough time to grow and even her father would be no match for him.
After giving his orders Alex ignored everyone else and pulled out his spear, then he smashed the pole, and stretched out his hands to hold the broken part, the blood of the now deceased Zhang clan members staining his hands. Yet he was able to hold all three bodies aloft, as he fought to show any other expression other than grief on his face. He removed their bodies from the pole and arrange the three of them in a wheel like manner with their heads touching each other and their bodies facing three different directions.
He threw the pole away as he picked up his spear and began to draw on the cobbled street. He had infused the spear with spirit energy and every movement he made dug deep furrows into the street itself, as slowly but sure a circle came to life with occultist symbols and an incomplete pentagram missing it"s center. The lines weren"t joined in the middle, but instead met a smaller circle that was drawn around their bodies. It didn"t take Alex anything more than ten minutes to be done with it, and by that time, Louis and Devonte had already returned.
No one knew what Alex was up to, but even then none of the could stop him. By this point they already had quite a few people watching, there were even elders from the academy but none of them could interfere. This was a personal matter of the Zhang clan and their tower, if this had happened on the academy grounds itself, then they would have be inclined to investigate and give the Zhang clan a proper answer, but for now, this was all on Alex. And quite frankly the young man was grateful, he really wouldn"t be able to stand and interruptions as he was right now.
Taking the salt and water from Devonte, Alex mixed them both together, using his spirit energy to stir the big barrel of salt water, before making sure that enough of his energy had saturated the liquid. Then he poured it onto the ground, letting the salt water fill in the grooves he had drawn on the ground, it took a few seconds for everything to be completely filled, Alex dropped the cask in his hand and then bent down to place a finger in the salt water filled grooves on the street. A tiny wisp of his spirit energy rushed into it, causing the entire circle and the pentagram to light up in a bright flash.
The salt water rapidly crystalized, forming an exquisite symbol on the ground or rather it crystalized into the ritual circle Alex had just drawn out. He stretched out his hands to Louis, and very much like a few days ago, a baby cat was given to him. It looked no different and less innocent than Geb when he was first given to Alex to be used for a ritual. But this time Alex didn"t hesitate.
He took off his clothes and shoes, leaving his upper body bare and his feet touching the earth and feeling the energy of the earth itself as it seeped up from underground and burrowed into Alex"s flesh and bones. Giving him the energy required for this ritual, it would have been a whole lot better if Alex had a Ley-Line to work with, but those were rare, and highly coveted by mages. So there"s practically no undiscovered Ley-Line on Earth. Either way Alex stepped forward and raised the cat over his head, and then much time the shock of everyone, pulled it"s head off it"s body, it"s blood showering over Alex and the symbol beneath his feet.
Alex threw the drained body of the cat away, as the pentagram, circles and symbols drawn began to glow a full red. It was as if the blood had spread over the salt Crystals and turned something that previously seemed to pure, into something extremely ominous and terrifying. It shook most of the people there, but Alex did not look like he had any intention of stopping. The blood on his body began to wiggle, slowly forming symbols, and that"s when Alex began to chant.
"Spirits of the fallen need my call, beyond life and death, last the veil of spirit and the confines of mortality I summon thee!
Spirits of the unjustly departed need my call, your walk on this Earth not yet done, of smoke and bone, salt and earth, I summon thee!
Souls of the departed of my flesh and bone, need my call, the commands of my will. Hunt the living to placate the dead, hunt thy killer to placate thy souls.
Souls of the forgotten my family you be, Xuelan Of the Zhangs, Feigu Of The Zhangs, Ming Su Of the Zhangs. Listen to the voice of your king and rise this night for the hunt!
"
(Resurrection Ritual: Primal Wraiths Of Vengeance)
*Boom!*
And so the earth shook and lightning danced across the skies in anger, in fury, but what exactly it was angry about no one really knew. The winds picked up and the chills in the heart of many intensified as they became subject to a miracle...no, not a miracle. They watched as the grief and anger of a spirit king, gave birth to horrors the likes of which has never been seen.