Chapter 28: Draven 3

Buildings were in flames when Draven approached. “Tim!” he called as he trudged through the wreckage and burnt corpses. “Tim!” he called again but there was no answer. “Shit,” he reached into his bag and pulled out all remaining soot and manifested beasts of burden to help remove the rubble. He worked throughout the night but his movements were limited by the flames.

By day break the flames had finally died down enough for him to search the area that supposedly housed the weapon, the area where Tim should’ve been. He dug through the rubble. A part of him wanted to stop digging, to stop searching, it didn’t want to see the inevitable. Eventually Draven found corpse, scorched beyond recognition but unmistakable. He stared down at the boys body and emotions riled deep within him. Hate, pain, grief emotions that all but broke him, in that moment his world went back.

“Don’t move!” a group of soldiers approached Draven, a group of soldiers were never again seen alive.

#

Corin stood in the conference room of the Icarus City town hall, something bothered him. In that moment the doors flew open and in walked a near unrecognizable Draven. His hair hung in his unshaven face, and his bloodshot eyes spelled murder. “Draven,” Corin called out to his friend as suited officials whispered in each others ears. He approached him slowly. “Draven, I thought you cared about him.” Draven’s eye’s widened.

“What,” he said with trembling lips.

“We know what you did in Innan,”

“What. I. Did?” Draven’s words grated the skins of everyone who heard. His eye’s gazed over the faces of everyone in the room, and slowly his hate grew. They finally came to a stop at the Colonel, and his hate leaked out. In that moment Corin felt the weight of Draven’s pain. It is known that majick is communicable, and those trained for that specific purpose can sense the intention of an individual through it. But you didn’t have to be specially trained to feel the sheer pressure of Draven’s hate, The Colonel didn’t need that ability to know hat he was about to die.

Draven reached into his pouch of soot and emptied it’s contents. Corin lunged forward in an attempt to stop him, but he was too slow. The massive plume of soot began to take form. And the creature was vile. Like a reflection of his soul, his creations took on a form that were perverted parodies of they were meant to be, and were truly horrifying. This caught Corin off guard who was promptly swept to the side by an indescribable beast.

It jumped forward and crushed the Colonel in it’s newly and temporarily formed jaws. “Draven! Stop!” Corin cried but the creature continued, devouring the few unlucky enough be caught in it’s path before Corin was able to halt it’s movement with chains.

“Corin! This doesn’t concern you!” Draven roared.

“It does!” Corin returned. With one hand still holding unto the chains, he flashed the other in Draven’s direction, and a larger one with a purple glow slapped Draven into a wall.

“You wouldn’t be helping them if you knew what they did,” Draven said as he rose.

“I only know what you did,” he responded.

“What I Did! You think I dragged Tim his!? It was them! Using us like they always do, to cover their tracks!” Corin hesitated for a moment.

“I’m sorry, but as it stands you’re the enemy,” Draven’s eye’s softened for a moment, but quickly refilled with rage.

“Fine,” he said through his teeth a soot gathered around him, birthing another monstrosity. “FINE!” The creature lunged forward, As did Corin, who was now surround by the upper-half a titanic avatar. It broke through Draven’s monster with ease, and it’s hand it’s fist went forward, slamming into Draven, forcing him back.

He rose, covered in blood ready for another swing when he noticed more maestros arriving. The soot encased his body and a pair of ash grey wings burst out of his back. “I’ll show you, I’ll show just how evil they all are, and then I’ll free you.” Those were his last words before he took to the sky. The last words Corin would hear from his friend, for a long time.