Phantom Heart

Hey guys. Well, as some of you may know I’m taking a Creative Writing course at my college and one of the things we have to do is create a major project (I.E write a story) Well, I thought, “Hey, this is the perfect opportunity to write a story that’s been brewing in my head.” And ta-da Phantom Heart is born and I wanted to try it out on you guys before I try presenting it to my class. I’ll be working on it off and on, but I won’t be posting in bulk since I’ll still be trying to work on “Moonlight denial” That is my main priority. Well, I hope you enjoy!

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The city of Nile was burning. The numerous skyscrapers Nile was known for, ones so tall they were said to nearly touch the heavens, had red hot flames clawing up their sides, determined to tear them down.

The streets flooded with people. Panic stricken, hysterical people that screamed as they tried desperately to escape the flames, but that was not the only danger that threatened the citizens’ lives. Creatures were in hot pursuit of the fleeing people. Some resembled that of animals, others were in the forms of creatures from the depths of the most sinister nightmares.

The creatures were what the people called Beasts. Their origins were unknown, and Beasts were renowned for having great physical strength and abilities like nothing the humans could ever hope to posses. They were docile for the most part, but if they ever proved aggressive, the one at the end of their attacks had no hope in living.

Though strong, there were a few humans with very unique and special gifts that could control them. These people were called Invokers. They could bend the Beasts to their wills and command the creatures to do what they very well pleased. With such power over the Beasts, civilizations had thrived for years with the combined help of humans, Invokers, and Beasts, but now the people of Nile were reminded of the terrible power the Beasts were capable of.

Shrill cries filled the air of those that fell prey to the claws and teeth of the Beasts. Before all the citizens could be torn apart and devoured, the ground began to rumble. The soldiers of the army stormed in followed by a massive tank. The mass of people parted like a river for the army to get through and an impact, like a giant explosion, went off as the soldiers and the Beasts clashed.

High atop God’s Point – the tallest skyscraper in Nile – a man watched the escalating battle through binoculars with unbridled enjoyment.

“That’s it my beauties, that’s it. Crush them like the ants that they are,” he muttered with great affection. A smirk upturned his lips as the soldiers fired their guns at the Beasts, but the meager bullets did little before the men were struck down like rag dolls.

The man pulled away from the ledge and began to do a sort of waltz around the roof with the chaos and destruction as his music.

“Yes, yes, this is the magnificence I have been dreaming of, craving for. It’s more than I ever could have hoped for!” He was brought out of his joyous dance when the whole building shook. He stumbled, but was able to find his balance before falling over. “Now. Now. What was that?” he said. Pale fingers ran through ebony hair to clear the black strands from haunting, dark orange eyes, like the color of dimming ember.

The ledge of God’s Point was occupied by the man once more as he peered down at the carnage below. The tank had finally acted and blasted one of its rounds into the mass of Beasts, tearing them apart as if they were paper. It allowed a split second relief before a new wave of Beasts surged over their fallen comrades and attacked with fierce force.

“They’re just never going to learn,” the man said with a tilt of his head as the tank shot again, taking out a large number of Beasts as well as a chunk from a nearby building. “It’s almost sad.” He was drawn from the entertaining show by a new noise that reached his ears.

Do do do da do. Do do do da do. Do do do da do.

“Hmmm, now who could this be?” he said with a knowing smile as he drew a small cell phone out of his flowing black shirt that draped just enough to show a bit of chest. He flipped it open and held it delicately to his ear. “Hello, destroyer of all vile humanity speaking, how may I help you?”

“Zeno! You sick son of a bitch!” an angry male voice bellowed out of the phone. “Call off your Beasts! What the hell do you think you’re doing!?”

Zeno chuckled as he perched himself on the edge of the ledge.

“Think? I don’t think I’m doing anything. I’m just doing. That’s always been the difference between us, Thomas. And why do you yell at me so? You’re going to hurt my feelings, my old friend.”

“You are no friend of mine and at this point I’ll be damned if I believe you have any feelings whatsoever. Stop this madness. Do it now!”

“Mmm how abooooout…no.” Zeno smirked at the expletive that was shouted into his ear. He placed the binoculars to his eyes to check up on the battle and his eyebrows rose. “I hope you’re watching this from base, Thomas, it’s about to get exciting.”

A massive blue, humanoid Beast made its way through the others and headed right from the tank. It had gnarled fur that sprouted all over its body and its arms were as big as tree trunks. It hurled itself through the crowd of soldiers with a mighty roar, knocking them out of the way as it charged at the tank. It leaped into the air and the tank was little more than a tin can as the Beast landed on it, crushing the tank with its colossal body weight. It then proceeded to tear apart what little remained of the defeated vehicle.

“Ouch, well, so much for your tank. Pity, I know all too well how expensive those things are,” Zeno said casually as he watched the last few civilians run for their lives. “But, I’m sure a top notch general like yourself has the funds for another one, don’t you, Thomas?”

“You fucking bastard! If I ever get my hands on you, you damned Invoker, I’ll-I’ll–”

“You’ll what? Annihilate me with your advanced, superior technology?” Zeno interrupted, his voice taking a bitter tone, but a cool, sinister smirk quickly covered his look of disdain. “Unfortunately we’ll never be able to see just what you’ll do, will we? Because as soon as I’m done with Nile I’m coming for your base and then, who knows, maybe I’ll go for the next closest city, or go alllll the way across the Gilaec Ocean and destroy a few settlements over there. So many possibilities. It’s just too delicious, isn’t it?”

A tense silence followed his words and Zeno took the time to watch a near by building be completely consumed by flames and crumble to the ground below. He hoped none of his beauties had been in it vicinity. One question brought him out of his mulling.

“What do you want, Zeno?”

“I’m sorry, I was distracted. Can you repeat that?” he asked casually as he glanced up into the sky. It was a cloudless day and the sky was a beautiful light blue. So tranquil and peaceful compared to what was happening beneath it.

“What–Do–You–Want?” Thomas snarled, spitting out each word nice and slow.

“Don’t talk to me like I’m stupid,” Zeno snapped. One of his greatest pet peeves was to be talked down to. It was something he would not tolerate. “As for what I want, well, there’s nothing you can do for that.”

“What the hell are you talking about? We’ll give you whatever you want. Just name it and we’ll do it!”

A bark of sarcastic laughter left Zeno as he got up and began to pace about the rooftop. His skin crawled at Thomas’ offer. The nerve. The very nerve!

“You can’t give me what I want! Never! Not in a million years!” Zeno yelled, his calm demeanor slipping from his control. “You see the bloodshed that’s happening? The pain? The suffering? The screams? The fear? The carnage? That’s what I want! You can’t give me what I want because I’ve already taken it!”

Without giving Thomas the chance to reply Zeno snapped the phone closed then tossed it over the side of the building.

After huffing and puffing for a few moments he took in a deep, collective breath and settled back to his relaxed state of mind. Calmly he set his binoculars on the roof ledge.

“All right, I believe we’ve had enough of the foreplay,” Zeno said as he delved a hand back into his shirt. “It’s time to get to the main event.”

A silver flute was extracted from the folds of his top. It was perfectly smooth and intricate black designs riddled its surface. Zeno held it up until his lips were pressed lightly against the mouth piece.

A clear, piercing tune issued from the instrument. It filled the air and drowned out the cries and chaos coming from down below. The song was delicate and sweet yet sorrowful and heart wrenching at the same time.

As Zeno played the crystal sky began to darken and gray clouds began to roll in, swallowing the canvas of blue. Earthquakes made the ground tremble and shake violently before it abruptly went still.

An eerie silence smothered the area. Even the battle below had gone quiet. Then, off in the distance, the land erupted in a fiery blaze and a Beast of monstrous proportions shot up into the sky.

It was nearly half the size of Nile and it soared higher and higher with large, leathery wings that had a layer of feathers over the outer layer. Its body was as long as it was thick and four mighty legs equipped with golden claws tore at the air to help it climb skywards. A great tail whipped to and fro, slicing the sky with a blade like bone at the end of it. In the large jaws of the Beast were rows upon rows of razor sharp teeth that bared as it roared, making the space around it shudder. Its eyes were hidden behind a metal visor that turned into armor all along the length of its scarlet body.

“Yes! Yes!” Zeno shouted in triumph as the Beast flew over the city, its wing beats causing winds that not even a hurricane could hope to create. “This is my masterpiece! Rise and purify these wretched lands with your cleansing flames! My Beast! My treasure! My Phantom of Immolation!”

The Phantom of Immolation let loose an ear splitting roar and the shrieks of fear from below renewed and doubled at this new, frightening threat. The wings of the Beast flapped as its head reared up and a torrent of hellfire launched from its mouth and shot into the sky.

The stormy clouds swirled and thickened and turned blood red. Then the sky rained blistering, scorching fire. They hurled toward the ground and fiery explosions blossomed all over the city of Nile, but God’s Point remained untouched.

“Ooooh it’s so…I don’t even have words for it,” Zeno cooed lovingly. Pinpoints of light off in the distance made him lean over the edge of the building and squint his eyes. They were heading right for his mighty Beast. He smirked. Missiles. They had sent missiles. Launched from Thomas’ base no doubt.

They sailed across the sky and the Phantom of Immolation hardly had time to move its head, let alone dodge. Smoke and fire engulfed the Beast and it screeched at the impact.

Zeno held his breath, but released it in the form of a laugh as the Phantom ascended from the smoke cloud and, in a fit of rage, a stream of fire came from its mouth and a large part of the city was destroyed in the blink of an eye.

“There’s nothing they can do. Nothing,” Zeno said happily. He had won. He had defeated those who would stand against him.

“It really is a beautiful Beast, isn’t it?”

Zeno whirled around, alarmed by the sudden voice. How could anyone sneak up on him? His ember eyes narrowed as he took in the figure of a cloaked man. The cloak was as white as freshly fallen snow with pale blue embroidery along the edges and made any distinguishable features obsolete. His face was hidden by a hood that only allowed his jaw to be seen and it showed he was smiling.

Zeno carefully took a couple steps to the side as the man approached the edge of the roof and appeared to gaze up at the Beast hovering in the sky.

“The Phantom of Immolation. One of the Legendary Beasts. I never thought I’d see him with my own eyes. This is a glorious day to remember indeed.”

“Who are you?” Zeno demanded. There was something about the newcomer that sent chills racing through his blood.

“My name is of no concern to you, Master Zeno Caius,” he said, the smile ever present. “But I have been known to be called the Knight of Dawn.”

That made Zeno jump back, as if he had been burned. He knew that title. Knew it very well. The Knight of Dawn was a very powerful and very illustrious Invoker. A prodigy since he was a child. Zeno never thought he’d run into the man, especially at his hour of triumph.

“So, the government decided to send their top mutt after me. I guess I should have expected that, but I never thought they’d use the Knight of Dawn.”

“Yes, it came to a surprise to me as well,” the knight said. “I never thought I’d be pit up against the Opaque Saint. One of the masters of invoking. It’s such an honor to be in the presence of one of the greatest men in history.” He made a show of a bow, but when he arose his pleasant smile had disappeared.

“So, tell me, why has someone as revered as yourself turned against us? Why all of this?” he asked, gesturing to the devastation around them; the fire that fell from the sky, the terrifying Beast that towered over the city and the fighting army that had grown in numbers since the reinforcements had arrived. All fire power had been directed at the Phantom of Immolation, but it was a futile effort.

Zeno snorted in disgust.

“Are you blind?” he asked. “I’m doing this for us. For our kind.” He moved to the very edge and put his foot on the ledge to lean over and gaze at soldiers still fighting, still hoping they’d win. “These filthy, vile humans don’t deserve to live. There’s not enough room for all of us.” He turned to the knight with an almost crazed smile. “Think of it. A world of nothing but Invokers and Beasts. It would be paradise, don’t you agree? A true, blissful paradise and these revolting bugs are the only thing standing in our way.” He took a step toward the other and held out his free hand.

“Come, join me. With our combined forces we will be able to convince the other Invokers that this is the only way to paradise. Don’t you want peace?”

The Knight of Dawn did not reply and a deep frown was the only visible expression that hinted to what he was thinking.

“So, it’s true. You have gone insane. What a sad, sad waste,” the knight said quietly.

Zeno’s eyes darkened and his fingers curled as he drew his hand back.

“Insane? No, not so. I’m the only one that has seen the Truth,” he said, tapping his temple with his flute. “Everyone else is just blind. Besides, you’re just a child. You could never understand.”

“I understand that you need to be stopped,” the knight retorted. “That was the mission I was given and I will not fail.”

Zeno just laughed.

“Oh, really? And how do you plan to stop me?” he sneered. “You can’t have anything that could match up to the power of the Phantom of Immolation. You’re all bark with no bite.”

“I may not have the bite, but I may have something that does.”

To Zeno’s bewilderment the knight tilted his head back toward the sky and began to whistle. It was a beautiful, chilling tune and sounded as musical as if it had come from Zeno’s flute, a skill that he had to appreciate.

His appreciation dissipated, however when he realized a change had come over the sky. The clouds themselves trembled and the color turned from red to a bluish white. Then the clouds split open and a beam of light came down from the sky.

When the light dimmed a new Beast appeared. It was a radiant Beast in the form of a large white wolf and was only slightly smaller than the Phantom of Immolation. Great, spiked armor covered its back with a matching helmet with two spikes that looked like horns. Its eyes were a piercing, icy sapphire and held great intelligence and even without wings it was able to remain airborne. Just at its mere, awe inspiring presence the fire that rained down stopped and the flames that engulfed Nile extinguished.

Zeno could not believe his eyes as he beheld the Beast.

“The Hound of Heaven!? No! It’s impossible!”

“You are not the only one who has found the secret to taming Legendary Beasts, Master Zeno,” the knight said with an air of smugness. “You should never underestimate your opponent.”

As one both the Hound of Heaven and the Knight of Dawn attacked their enemies. The Phantom of Immolation roared in pain as the wolf’s teeth found its neck and bit viciously, but the bladed tail was quick to strike at the others vulnerable back.

As for Zeno, he was not caught so unawares. He leapt back just in time to dodge the sword that the knight had drawn. At the next lunge a clash of metal sounded as, with a twist of his wrist, a long blade shot out of Zeno’s flute.

“Looks like you wasted your element of surprise, Boy. You’re a fool if you think that would work on me.” The swords struck each other over and over as the two tried to gain an edge over the other.

“It was worth a shot though, wasn’t it?” the knight asked as the two locked blades and were face to face, pushing against each other, testing the waters of strength.

“Compared to me, you are nothing but a greenhorn. Taking “shots” will only get you killed.” Zeno proved his point by pushing the knight away and striking in an arc.

A slash appeared in the knight’s chest and blood spurted as he stumbled, but he recovered enough to jump away before Zeno’s sword could be plunged into his chest fully. The fight raged on. The Beasts tumbled through the air and tore chunks out of each other while the two men darted around the rooftop, trying to catch the other off guard for a split second in order to end the fight.

“Tell me, Master Zeno, tell me why you’re doing this!?” the knight demanded once more. He had many more cuts in him, but his hood had miraculously stayed in place.

“My breath will be wasted on you. You will never be able to see the Truth. They have brainwashed you to the point that my help will be wasted,” Zeno replied as he led the other man to the middle of the roof that held the great needle that pointed high up into the sky. A clang sounded when the knight’s sword barely missed its target and hit the needle instead.

Zeno was fairing much better than his opponent. The only mark he held was a slice in his cheek, but he was able to ignore it.

“Then try!” the knight insisted. “I want to know the reason! I don’t want to kill one of the greatest men in history without knowing why you are causing this madness. You are a great man. I looked up to you, strived to be just like you when I was in training. Please, I’m begging you! Tell me!”

“The Truth cannot be told, it must be learned!” With a mighty strike Zeno sent the knight flying. He smirked in victory, but that was where he made a grave mistake. He let his guard down and didn’t realize that while falling to the ground the knight had dropped his sword and drew a pistol.

The shots came quick. Blood sprayed from Zeno’s shoulder and both of his knees. His kneecaps blown away he crumbled to the ground as the knight flipped and landed on his feet, gun pointed at the other man’s head.

Zeno hunched over and quivered in agony, but he was able to lift his head to stare at the knight with eyes full of hate.

“So…this is how it’s going to be?” he asked.

“It appears so,” the knight said gravely, his hand trained and steady.

Zeno’s eyes lowered and he bowed his head with a heavy sadness.

“In the end my own kind has even turned against me. I have nothing. I’ve fought to set us free from our tyrants and deliver us into paradise, but I have failed.”

“Free us?” the knight murmured, finding the words odd. “Free us from whom, Master Zeno?”

“It doesn’t matter. As I see it there is only one thing I can do to save us.” His blade shot back up into the flute and he put the instrument to his lips. One long, evocative note sounded. It was low and a sense of sadness was laced into it.

The Knight of Dawn gasped. He knew the note. It was a tune taught to only the most skilled of Invokers. It was the song of destruction. Zeno meant to have the Phantom of Immolation kill them all!

“No!” His finger squeezed the trigger and a bang cut off the note as the bullet tore right through the middle of Zeno’s forehead. His lifeless body collapsed on the roof and a pool of blood cradled his head as his empty eyes stared up into the sky. It was too little too late.

The knight looked into the sky and his worst fears were confirmed. Even with its Invoker dead, the Phantom of Immolation was following its order. It had swatted the Hound of Heaven away and its mouth opened in attack. Instead of sending out a blast, the fire began to collect in its jaws for one, final surge that would be powerful enough to destroy the whole region.

He had to stop it. He just had to. He shouted to his Beast by its name.

“Hanelio! You have to counter its attack! Do it now!”

The Hound of Heaven howled before silver energy began collecting in its own mouth, similar to the other Beast. The two powers grew to enormous sizes, till the point they were almost too big for the Beasts themselves. What was left of dilapidated buildings was blown away as the attacks were launched at each other. The hellfire and the silver beam clashed and the two powers pushed and fought against each other. Then, to the Knight of Dawn’s astonishment, the energies swirled together into one and swelled before bursting from the force.

The buildings, the Beasts, and the people were swallowed up in the blast as it spread across the earth, across all the towns and cities, and even across the sea to far away lands. Nothing was spared from the devastation and what rang through the obliterating darkness was that one, last song. The song of destruction.

==============================Prologue End

You know, I didn’t expect to like Zeno as much as I did. He was fun, but a very damaged guy…doesn’t help that he’s dead now ^-^; Well, now that the prologue has set things up we’ll be ready to delve into the actual story next time around. I really hope you liked it. Opinions would be awesome! *Huggles and lickies*