Mark of the Chosen

Chapter Five

~Kao~

Dust and darkness concealed each of the fierce warriors in the pit as they quickly mastered their skill securing their survival. Kao ripped through the last beast and was catching his breath even its body collapsed in twain. It was official; he had conquered the pit like a true dark warrior.

“Reveal yourselves!” Bahrell commanded, anxious to see what fruit he’d borne. The herd of newlings, though thinned from the exercise and liberated from the confinement of the pit, stepped from the darkness at their leader’s command.

Kao didn’t feel any different, but his brothers in arms had changed in the midst of battle. Mirena, an illustriously-scaled seductress, pulled at his every desire even standing in the middle of the broken, battered, and decapitated collateral damage; Garro, with thick skin and slanted brow, now donned the head of a boar adorned with razor sharp horns, disjointed legs, and hooves of a bull all joined together by the torso of a man, and culminating into a level of unpredictable rage bubbling just below the surface.

The array of forms emerged, each declaring their clan lineage. Winged instruments of torment taking the form of lust demons, rage demons, and everything in between stood revealed, solidifying their submission to the Unknowns and the clan for which they had been claimed. All except Kao, who stood with flesh unchanged, not visibly claimed by any clan or for any purpose.

Grumbles spread through the onlookers like the wave at a sporting event.

“Come forward!” Bahrell roared. His voice cut a path through the newly transformed demons and singled out Kao.

Bahrell examined the flesh covered demon standing before him. His skill could not be questioned, as he had survived all that was thrown at him. He placed his hands firmly on the shoulders of the enigma as if verifying that Kao was in fact real and standing there.

“This cloak of flesh, this gift, will either render you weaker or stronger than those around you. Only time will reveal which burden you bear,” Bahrell offered to a confused Kao and more confused witnesses.

Unsure of what the future held for him, Kao still managed to climb out of the pit a superstar to some and a reminder to others of what they would never be. Both extremes held the potential to be equally as dangerous under the circumstances.

~Mirena~

Mirena peered up at the creature, towering over her with its tattered wings and sharp talons.  She dodged its angry swats, but its claws slashed her arm. But she was still no easy target.  She darted around the beast whose glowing red eyes burned with rage at the cat and mouse game.  It landed several blows that knocked her to the floor of the poor trying to regain her footing.  But she was still no easy target.  Her opponent kneeled close, so close that its breaths tousled her hair.  She ceased the moment plunging her hands in to the unsuspecting targets chest and prying its insides out with her bare hands.

THUD!  The limp and lifeless body tumbled to the ground. The blood evidence marked her victory. Although she was often underestimated because of her beauty, her validating victory set her apart as a fierce competitor, just as any of the others survivors standing beside her.

Her body temperature shifted between burning heat and ice cold, and her transition was complete. The desires of all those around her felt like tiny pins and needles all over her body.  But more importantly, she could sense the most powerful being in her midst, pulling at her like a magnet. The attraction was uncontrollable and it drew her closed to its source and she had to have him.

The calls of the claimed and even the commands of Bahrell did not interrupt her exploration of her senses. An immense source of power gnashed at her senses, but she couldn’t determine its origin. The magnitude and force with which it called to her almost tore her apart as it played on her even more intense desire for dominion.

 It drew her to the center of the unnatural silence that had filled the pit. There stood Bahrell, Garro- clearly claimed of a clan— and to her surprise, an unchanged Kao. Surely being in the midst of these powerful wards of the darkness had set her gauge off.

Only newly claimed, Mirena, had already discarded the rules of sticking to her own clan. After all, she was beautiful, alluring, and her gift from The Unknowns had just made her more dangerous than imaginable. Not only could she read desires and seduce, but she could easily identify the most powerful targets. Being a girl in the legions of the dark just got a whole lot more interesting.

~Garro~

Reaching up as the creature of the depths, with massive fangs and jowls, heat-radiating skin and two port holes for eyes, tried to swoop down and attack, Garro used his might to rip his opponent from mid-air. He took the abomination firmly in his grasp by its elongating teeth until they were spinning freely like a merry-go-round, then suddenly let go. It shrieked in pain as its body crumpled against the wall of the pit. The beast tried to stand which only resulted in a few staggering steps and head nods aimed at clearing the haze that resulted from its impact with the wall. It was clearly stunned, but Garro didn’t give it time to gain its footing. He leaped onto the dazed beast, planted his feet firmly on its chest, and pulled its screaming head from its body.

The ultimate warrior, Garro emerged from the pit a victor, transformed by his bond to The Unknowns. Those who failed to survive lay motionless at his feet. The power and fierce fury coursing through his veins culminated into a deafening roar, inciting the calls of the other survivors in his midst. But the calls of the claimed were quickly swallowed whole. The celebrations stopped, replaced with stillness following Bahrell’s call to one the standing.

Garro’s eyes followed the clearing that appeared like a red carpet leading directly to an unchanged Kao. Farwell “friend”. Garro took delight in what was surely the end of his unwitting rival. He scanned those who had conquered the pit at his side, feeling superior at his stature in comparison to theirs.

His mental inventory was instantly interrupted when his eyes fell on Mirena, sleek, sinister, and the very definition of seduction, but to him she hadn’t changed much. Powers of The Unknowns aside, she was always a source of great vulnerability for him. In contrast, her greatest desire, even more than the lure of the forbidden, was strength and power. Both of which Garro had been graced with by his submission to The Unknowns.

 Although his claiming was effortlessly overshadowed by Kao, Garro felt more than a little bit of an advantage over him. Not only was his claiming marked by transformation, but he was now in a position to claim all of the victories that had eluded him before. And this time, Kao would not stand in his way.

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