The Blood Legacy (The Divine Elements Book 1) Read online

  Deciding to make a run for it, Calron knew without a doubt that there would soon be a downpour of heavy rain.

  The sky was now completely filled with grey clouds as streaks of light flashed within the clouds. Calron ran as fast as his tired legs could handle and after a few minutes, he could spot his humble hut within a few steps away.

  Just then, the rain poured down in a vicious frenzy and the clouds rumbled as bursts of light flashed above.

  Calron hurried to enter his hut, and panted with lack of breath until he found some water to gulp down. The loud rumbling continued outside as the sounds of the rain hitting the ground echoed within Calron’s hut.

  Calron collapsed on the straw mat as he reached the end of what little energy he had. Closing his tired eyes, Calron laid down uncomfortably on the mat while his thoughts kept coming back to his mother and father, and even the small baby sister that he would never get to spoil or play with.

  His anger at the city Lord increased every second, as he knew it was his father’s death that eventually led to the weakening of his mother’s health and combined with the pregnancy, she became too weak to give birth to his sister. Calron then looked down at his chest, as he noticed the piece of metal hanging there and clenched the rusty bird-shaped locket within his fist.

  This was the last memento of his family.

  Intriguingly, the locket felt a bit warm to the touch, but Calron figured it was due to the running and his body’s heat warming it up so he paid little attention to it. With the increased rumbling outside, Calron was worried for a brief moment, as he had never felt rain this powerful before and it sounded like the beginning of a really bad storm.

  He decided to stop worrying and let his exhausted body collapse back on the mat as he fell into a deep sleep.

  *RUMBLE*

  Outside, the rain continued to pour and just at that moment, the very first lightning struck the ground!

  The villagers were all terrified, and the sounds of small children crying could be heard in the vicinity while the parents tried to soothe the kids. Waiting in the protection and comfort of their homes, the villagers waited until the sounds of thunder finally stopped.

  After the first lightning, every few seconds another one would strike constantly as the sound of it crackling echoed in the surroundings.

  In his small hut, Calron kept uncomfortably turning around in his mat, as his clothes stuck to him under the sweat. Calron did not know what was happening to his body.

  He thought it was his awakening, but an awakening was not supposed to hurt and he still had a few more months of time until his eighth birthday.

  It felt like his blood was boiling and his muscles twitched every now and then. What Calron did not feel through all the pain, was that the once warm locket on his chest was now scorching hot and stuck to his skin, further increasing the torment he felt.

  Calron silently screamed as he felt the angry heat surging through his body, but the agony had no intention of going away.

  The sounds of thunder stopped for a brief moment, but if anyone had dared to look towards the sky, then they would have seen the most terrifying scene of their lives.

  In the middle of the clouds, a pale azure light slowly started to glow, as small bursts of blue lightning crackled around it.

  The world seemed to turn deaf.

  Even though the rain kept falling, there was no sound from it.

  It was as if time itself had frozen in space.

  *RUMBLE* *RUMBLE*

  *CRACK*

  A single bolt of deep azure lightning came crashing towards the ground, as it carried the power and might of the heavens.

  And if anyone had dared to look outside, then they would have seen that the place where the blue lighting struck was exactly above Calron’s small hut!

  …………………………….

  The pain never seemed to end.

  Calron felt like his blood would burst out from his veins, and with tears pouring from his small face, he kept silently begging for the torment to end.

  Just then, he felt something strike his body with the force of a small building.

  The pain abruptly stopped.

  Although Calron felt the force of something strike him, mysteriously, there was absolutely no trace of pain anywhere. Feeling around for where that mysterious force might have struck him, Calron swept his hands over his body and felt the bird-shaped locket on his chest.

  Rather than a locket, the metal was now firmly lodged into the middle of his chest, as the chain around it had long ago melted under the intense heat.

  Calron tried to remove the bird-shaped locket from his chest but it would not even slightly budge. Intriguingly, there was no pain from it. Calron looked closely at the locket in wonder and saw that it was no longer rusty and it seemed to emit a pale azure light.

  The bird appeared to be almost alive, but Calron figured it was just his mind playing tricks on him. He further noticed that the locket was in the same exact place as where his core would have been after he awakened to an element. Did he already awaken?

  He hesitantly touched the locket. It was just a whisper of a touch but just at that moment, a bright azure blue flashed inside the hut and Calron felt an intense amount of essence emitting from the locket. His blood boiled again, but this time the azure blue essence from the locket seeped into his blood and Calron felt a shock of lightning running through his body!

  If someone had seen Calron at this moment, then they would have seen a boy with bright blue lightning surging and crackling around him.

  He felt power.

  Raw, unfiltered power coursed through his veins.

  However, suddenly, he heard a voice. It was a soothing sound as if a whisper travelling through a cool breeze.

  “So, you’re the scion of his house, huh”

  Calron abruptly looked around, but could see no one.

  Even the rain outside had slowed to faint drizzle as the grey clouds slowly retreated.

  Seeing no one near him, Calron put it away from his thoughts and sat down to stare at his body. The locket had disappeared but Calron could still instinctively feel that it was still inside his chest.

  It had not merged completely with his body, as it still retained its shape, but from the outside, there was not a single trace of a metal on Calron’s chest.

  Calron gaped at his chest as he saw the elemental glow.

  He had awakened.

  As he saw the elemental glow on his chest, it looked no different than others, besides the fact that rather than the usual gold color of the lightning essence, the glow was a bright azure blue!

  Calron initially thought that it might have been the water element, but water’s essence was a light pale blue color and it had a gentle and soothing aura. In contrast, this azure lightning was tyrannical as Calron felt the violent bursts of lightning crackling around his core.

  Wanting to test out his new element, Calron raised his right hand, and concentrated as much as he could to will the lightning to appear.

  Nothing.

  Silence.

  “Pfft, what is with that pose? Are you trying to strangle someone?”

  Calron heard a snicker inside his mind, and he knew that it was the same voice that he just heard before.

  Stunned, Calron looked around his hut as he asked with a trembling voice.

  “Wh-who are you? And why can’t I see you?”

  No answer.

  Calron tried to release his lightning again, but just as he was raising his hand, Calron felt slightly embarrassed as he remembered the previous snicker of the voice, and he quickly withdrew his hand mid-air.

  “Kid, first release the elemental essence and then release the lightning.”

  There was no ridicule in the voice as it sounded sincere, so Calron tried to release his essence. Suddenly, an azure wisp of essence coalesced around him. Calron tried to release the lightning next, but it still would not come out.

  He clenched his fists and tried agai
n, but not a hint of lightning appeared.

  “Relax your body, kid… feel the essence coursing through you… imagine the lightning and will it to come outside.”

  The Voice abruptly spoke again, but there was a slight hint of amusement in its tone.

  Calron unclenched his fists and sat down on the floor in a meditative pose. Breathing deeply and closing his eyes, he pictured the Azure Lightning in his mind: a bolt of blue lightning crackling with unrestrained power and violence.

  *crackle*

  Calron opened his eyes and saw the blue lightning sizzling around his body. He smiled at his success but suddenly, Calron felt an abrupt shock of pain as coughed up blood on the floor.

  His tiny body trembled as both the lightning and the essence vanished into thin air.

  “Guess it’s still too early for you…”

  The Voice sighed.

  “What happened, why does it hurt so much?”

  Calron rasped as the pain racked through his body, and he momentarily forgot that he was just talking to air.

  “It’s the Azure Lightning, kid.”

  And then, Calron lost his consciousness.

  Chapter 2 – A Mysterious Voice

  Just as Calron woke up, he saw the sun’s light bore through the window as it pierced through his eyes.

  Scrunching up his eyes, Calron quickly got up as he remembered the events that happened last night. Looking around his small hut, he was surprised that it was still intact with only a few objects jumbled on the floor.

  Other than the mess on the floor, there were absolutely no signs that a lightning bolt had actually struck this feeble hut!

  Worried that it was all a dream, Calron attempted to release his essence.

  Wisps of bright gold light surrounded him as Calron sighed in relief knowing that he had finally awakened to his element!

  However, Calron was suddenly hit with the realization that his essence last night was a unique and azure blue color, and not the normal gold of other lightning cultivators!

  This gold essence felt a lot weaker than the azure essence Calron had experienced yesterday, as he remembered the feeling of unrestrained power that surged through him. Where did it go?

  Calron let out a disappointed sigh.

  “It went back into the locket, kid. The Azure Lightning puts a lot of pressure on your body, and if you had continued to channel it any longer yesterday, you would have instantly died! Just be glad that it protected you.”

  The Voice abruptly stated with a lazy tone.

  “Are you a ghost?”

  Calron asked with his voice quivering.

  He was in extreme pain yesterday, so naturally he did not pay much attention to the origin of the voice, but with his mind clear now, Calron’s childish thoughts could not help but remember the ghost stories that his mother used to tell him.

  “Haha, I’m not a ghost. But more importantly, why is the son of the House Raizel living in this dump, kid?”

  The Voice inquired in a peculiar tone.

  “House Raizel? What’s that, I’ve never heard of that name before…”

  Calron curiously responded.

  The name was unfamiliar to him, as only the most powerful families were titled by their house names, so why would a servant’s family ever have one? For as long as Calron could remember, his parents just had a single name.

  “Never mind”

  The Voice sighed. He seems to do that a lot, Calron inwardly thought.

  “I heard that!” The Voice exclaimed.

  “Wait, so you can hear all my thoughts?”

  Calron thought inside his mind, in order to test the Voice.

  “Yes, I can hear your thoughts loud and clear, kid”

  The Voice responded back lazily.

  “What’s your name?”

  Calron sent his thoughts to the Voice. He started enjoying talking to this Voice as it filled a lonely part of him that was empty after the death of his family.

  Although Calron could not listen to the thoughts of the Voice unless it intentionally talked to him, he could subconsciously feel that the Voice meant him no harm, and moreover he even felt a slight feeling of affection from it.

  “Well, for now, just call me Teacher!”

  The Voice said lazily, but there was a hint of excitement in his voice.

  “Why would I call you teacher?”

  Calron already called old Ronny his teacher, as she taught him history and numbers, along with the other village kids.

  Since his parents worked at the city Lord’s house, Calron had lots of free time to spend, so he usually tried to make friends with the other kids. However, despite Calron’s best efforts, the village kids always seemed to either ignore or condemn him.

  Calron saw no reason to call a voice in his head as “teacher”, and besides he hated Ronny, she always ridiculed him in front of other kids because he could not remember the dates in history, and he absolutely abhorred counting numbers.

  Calron simply did not like teachers.

  “Stupid kid, do I look like I want to teach you how to count numbers?”

  The Voice retorted in Calron’s mind.

  “I’m going to teach you how to cultivate your lightning element, so you can finally use that Azure Lightning in the future. And one more thing, kid: NEVER tell anyone about that blue lightning, alright?”

  For some reason, Calron trusted the Voice as he knew instinctively that his blue lightning was different from his father’s or any other element of the other cultivators for that matter, so Calron simply nodded in response to the Voice’s request.

  Calron wondered if the Voice saw his nod or if he only responded to his thoughts. Calron knew the Voice was a ‘he’ as no woman would ever have such a rugged voice that sounded like two boulders grinding against each other.

  “I can see just fine, kid. My soul is connected to yours so anything that you see I can see as well. By the way, the ladies back in my day swooned over my deep manly voice!”

  The Voice sulked before quieting down.

  Calron just smiled at the Voice’s behavior, but right at that moment, he saw them.

  ………………………..

  A trio appeared outside his hut and stared intently at him.

  Two of them wore the uniforms of a soldier, while the other one was an older grey haired man who stood in the middle of the trio. The grey haired man wore a simple light brown robe, but based upon his distinguished aura, it was clear to anyone that he had the highest authority amongst the three.

  With the city Lord’s insignia of a black bear on their chests, the older man stepped forwards towards Calron.

  He raised his eyebrows at the frozen smile on Calron’s face but choosing to ignore the boy’s expression, he simply said to the boy in a stern voice.

  “Come.”

  Calron knew that they would come sooner or later for him.

  He tried resisting by sprinting away, but immediately the older man counterattacked by releasing his elemental essence!

  A thick brown essence began to constrict Calron’s body as it exerted an intense pressure on his mind! With the muddy brown essence coalesced around the robed man, Calron knew that he was a cultivator of the earth element.

  Calron’s small body trembled under the pressure but he refused to give up, as he glared at the older man with his bloodshot eyes.

  What a tremendous willpower, the robed man inwardly thought and couldn’t help but sigh in pity, as he knew that this boy would soon be taken advantage of just like his father.

  Just then, Calron released his own elemental essence and the bright golden essence surrounded him as it warmed his insides and relieved the pressure from the older man. The constricting aura was still there but it was at a bearable amount for Calron.

  Surprised that the boy had already awakened and that it was to a lightning element, the older man felt giddy in his heart, and he knew that the city Lord would be ecstatic as well, especially after their previous lightning culti
vator died in their last hunt.

  Although the lightning element was the weakest of all, it was also the rarest, as not many children awakened to it. The chance of awakening to a lightning element was one in a thousand!

  “Go with him, kid. You are too weak to resist him for now, and it doesn’t look like they’ll actually kill you, so don’t worry. I’ll make sure you’ll get your revenge against them soon enough.”

  The Voice soothingly comforted the mind his latest young student.

  Calron abruptly stopped resisting and withdrew his elemental essence. Calron did not know why, but for some reason, he completely trusted the Voice.

  The robed man was astonished! He was sure that this boy would resist and eventually he would have to drag him by force, but the kid abruptly stopped resisting! Suspiciously, he beckoned the young boy to follow him.