Kao's pulse raced as he enjoyed the vengeance he'd so desired. But he only had a vague taste of victory when he realized what had really silenced everyone around him. Still basking in the white hot flame that freed him from the clenches of his enemy, he fell to his knees as The Fallen One and Seth stood before him.
"I accept my punishment." He bowed his head in surrender.
The powerful demons stepped behind the warrior poised in full submission. The Fallen One placed his massive hand on Kao's left shoulder. Seth followed suit by placing his hand on his right.
The crowd was prepared to watch Kao torn apart before their very eyes and. And Kao expected to meet his demise. But as the three connected, the Unknowns began to tremble more fervently. Pieces of the surrounding walls fell and cracks appeared all about them like lines on a road map.
The crowd was startled by the volcanic forces erupting in the room. As thy dodged debris, an outbreak of panic ensued. Their mad dash for the exits abruptly ended with Kao's gut-wrenching cries.
"Witness!" The Fallen One commanded of all those in the room.
Kao's eyes and mouth opened, his head jerked up; from its bowed position as he relived his assembly with the Oracle.
"Do you know the prophecy of The Reckoning?" The inquiry of the Oracle haunted Kao.
"Everyone knows that story; it's supposed to start when Seth's Omio is revealed, creating the balancing trinity in The Unknowns."
"Ah, you do know the prophecy," the Oracle replied with a hint of surprise. "The revealing of the Omio will occur by the shedding of his own blood, and when an innocent of the Unknowns is sacrificed."
"There are no innocents in the unknown!"
"You are mistaken. Look a little closer. But be warned, it's a chain reaction. Once the revealing is set in motion, it cannot be stopped," the keeper of knowledge cautioned.
"I still don't understand why I'm here."
"You are one of the three keys of the Unknowns trinity. But whether you are the innocent sacrificed, bloodshed of blood, or the Omio revealed, I cannot say. Just know that the uprising is upon us when three begets three." The answer rang out in familiar, sing-song riddle. Summoning the words of the conversation that was unspoken but planted deep within him, he understood everything just as Mirena had in her last moments. His body temperature, still white hot following his battle, continued to surge until it surpassed the heat of the damnation all about him. And he knew what was next.
"Neither the blood of a brother or the blood of an innocent accused can keep destiny at bay," the Fallen One declared.
Kao's eyes rolled shut as a black muzzle pushed its way through his taught bronze skin which shredded into no more. Wings, once beautiful and regal, punctuated by razor sharp talons stretched out into the shadows. The massive cry of a bird of prey erupted from his core, escaping into the roar of a panther with the flick of a serpent's tongue as the finale against his now ferociously feline features.
Standing between Seth and The Fallen One, Kao's was no longer cloaked in human form. Now he was serpent, panther and vulture. His true form was undeniably what the prophecy called Seth's mirror image.
The triad had been unleashed, igniting the rise of the Unknowns.
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Mark of the Chosen
ParanormalKao was more than just a Dark Warrior, his kills and success rate put him on the fast track to becoming a legend in the Unknowns. So when he received orders to eliminate a potential threat to demon-kind, he was up for the challenge. But in his attem...
