Soon, milky white energy materialized at the tip of Zark's fingers. Sparks flew off as the small seedling kept on growing, gathering more and more of the elder's inner power at the edge of his fingertips.

Despite the buzzing source of the soon-to-be apple-sized ball of energy that crept closer and closer to being ready to be unleashed and fired, its intended target, the masked high priest stood in silence, with an uncanny calm in his stance. It was as if he wasn't afraid of the incoming attack at all. His leaned back stand suggested deep content, resembling an entity that stood above of all this filthy rabble.

He even folded his arms in front of his chest, as if visually taunting, urging the maddened elder to finally completely lose it and rebel just like he should have years ago.

Annoyance, anger.. but at the same time, despair, sorrow, sadness filled up the last bits of Zark's heart and at the same time, mind. The man standing in front of him, was the Chosen One, the direct representative of the oh so holy god's, the Ancient One's will. Even if he could never really stand up to an entity at that level, he could direct his resentment on the one standing in front of him.

After all, he was still of mortal flesh, even if his soul have been connected into the Godly Consciousness, he could still destroy the husk, the container, and feel just that much better.

"[Reptilian] Aargh.. Die you B*stard!" Zark roared in a face twisted with all the overflowing emotions. Tears escaping from the corner of his large deep yellow slanted eyes, he unleashed all the power he gathered up to this point.

The white apple-sized energy ball suddenly shot out, transforming into a literal beam of light as it traversed the short distance in an instant, defying the laws of nature itself.

Yet, the old man, the high priest still didn't seem to be bothered by the attack at all. He kept his leaned back, casual posture, the glimmer in his eyes that could be seen from the sockets of his mask, flickered with a dangerous golden glimmer as it looked ahead.

As the attack reached the critical distance, suddenly something happened, causing the Archbishop, Zark to finally wake up from the haze that was cast over his mind. Invisible currents sent ripples traversing across the seemingly empty space when the beam of energy collided into the barrier protecting the High Priest.

The ripples, distorting the space formed a small globe surrounding the old masked skink from all directions, not allowing any attack, or ambush to reach its destination.

Suddenly, the smirk, the posture full of contempt, and the mocking glimmers in those disgusting eyes of his.. all suddenly made sense. It wasn't just mere confidence, the old man knew he couldn't be harmed, he knew he was protected.

"[Reptilian] What? H-how?!" Zark muttered, disbelief still painted on his face. Though deep inside he already realized the futility, the stupidity of his actions, of the way he simply played into the hands of his most hated enemy.. He knew it was too late.

As the trambling barrier slowly returned to its calm state, the High Priest clicked his tongues and shook his head, taking slow, measured steps towards the stunned archbishop.

"[Reptilian] Tsk, tsk.. My dear friend, Zark.. Come on, you know that there is no point to this, do you?"

He chuckled once again, clearly enjoying his dominance, all the power he was basking in.

"[Reptilian] I am the chosen representative, the one He decided to place above our people. I am the one carrying HIS will, I am the one hearing his whispers!"

He stopped at the other side of the altar-like desk.

"[Reptilian] Let me tell you a secret, just for old times' sake.."

He put his hands over it, and leaned closer to the shivering, trembling Zark. A wide smirk could be actually felt stretching to a dangerous degree, as he slowly uttered each and every word that came next.

"[Reptilian] He can't wait for your daughter to reach the appointed age.."

He sneered as he leaned back and straightened his back. His words were like hot knives melting more and more of his heart and soul with each strike.

"To be the one to bear the next generation, the one to carry the 'torch' after me. Oh, the irony of it!"

As the vision came to an end and slowly faded back into the void, Aiden could hear the High Priest's taunting guffaw for quite a while. Only when the scenery changed did the bastard's voice vanished from his mind.

—

"[Reptilian] Do we need to really leave, Papa? Where's mommy? Won't she be worried if she can't find us when she comes home?"

Tugging at the side of his robe, the little girl asked as the two skinks stood in front of their own house.

At the innocent-sounding question, Aiden could feel a deep, sharp pain surging. Similar to the taunting jibs from the High Priest before, the question was a sharp, hot knife pushed deep into the old man's heart.

Still, he took a moment to calm and collect himself before responding with a forced cool in his voice. He had to stay focused, he couldn't mourn his beloved, not yet. Not until they escaped to safety.. not until he had his vengeance.

"[Reptilian] Mommy is.." He gulped, trying to swallow all the emerging pain, and sorrow back down, letting it prickle at his heart instead. "..She is busy, she can't come. She is.. at a safe place, don't worry. But, we are not, we need to go, or the bad guys will hurt us and take you away. Be a good girl and stay strong for mommy and daddy, okay?"

Listening to his papa, the little girl silently nodded and only sniffed. She either was much more intelligent than what she was given credit for or on the contrary, she did not understand what was going on.

She squeezed her father's hand she was holding onto tightly, allowing him to take her away.

Understanding her silence to be acceptance, Zark didn't linger any longer, and quickly rushed away, outward of this humongous underground ancient city, towards the caves he and the small man and women he gathered in the recent weeks, since his first clash with the High Priest.

As they reached the end of the street they lived in, they both stopped for a second, taking one last look at the home they spent their lives in. Emotions swirled once again in Zark. He tried his best not to let the pain, the suffering, the torment show on his face even if it was an incredibly hard task to do. He wanted to show a strong front to his daughter, he needed to be her support.

As he finally turned away and was ready to leave, she missed the flickering sparks in her little daughter's fierce, cold gaze as she shifted her gaze. Turning her head away, it slowly wandered away from the dull-looking stone building, to the darkness in the distance..historical

---

AN: Hey there Readers!

Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods!

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/shaele