chapter 9-The man that would summon Death

" Whe-where are they?" Ben asked as he frantically searched for the two Chaos Claws he carried at the bottom on his katana. " How could you misplace two massive claws?" Kenshi asked sarcastically. " I don't know. They were at the end of my katana and it would be impossible for them to just fall off?"

Ben grabbed the rope that held the Claws on his sword. It was a perfect slice. Someone cut them off with a blade. Arashi and Kenshi stood over Ben who knelt on the dirt floor.

" Clean-cut", Arashi examined.

" They didn't fall off", Kenshi explained.

Ben turned to face the others." Who would want two Chaos Claws?"

" Someone who understands their importance ", Kenshi answered.

For an hour Ben had sat in the dirt patch, thinking. Thinking he wasn't capable of serving Queen Lammè. Thinking about who stole the Claws and why. He was very ill-informed and it frustrated him to the point of exhaustion.

" We gotta keep moving Ben", Arashi said trying to comfort his friend.

Big Blue sat up from next to Ben and stretched.

" Ya. Let's go". Ben didn't know what he was doing or why he was doing it. He went off instinct. He didn't have outside help or influence. He just had to go off the little information he had: "Place each claw at the end of your sword to gain the powers of The Choas Claws. Journey to find all three and you will grow to your full power".

The words Queen Lammè spoke was the only information he had to lead him on his new journey.

" Queen Lammè said to get all three Claws and place them at the end of my sword. That's what she said, that's what I'm going to do". Ben's confidence returned as he leads a march to new lands. Although he didn't know where he was going, he did have a faint understanding of the Chaos Claws. He had the slightest pull to the Claws, like a bird towards the south.

Just about three hours of walking past before Ben felt the pull again. It led him to a cave at the base of a Butte. The cave outlooking an empty beach.

"It's here", Ben said faintly. " All three of them".

Kenshi unsheathed his Katana and Arashi pulled out his axe.

" We don't know what, or who took the Claws. High alert ". Kenshi said leading the trio into the Blackened cave. The spirit dragons had no regard for stealth since they just waltzed into the cave. As they got deeper into the cave a single torch hung from the wall. Below that torch was half a log that acted as a table.

On the table lied the three Chaos Claws." All three of them". Ben said grabbing each Claw and tieing them to his sword. " Let's go", Ben said turning around and heading for the entrance.

" Wait. If we can find what took the Claws from us we could find out what they are", Kenshi pleaded. Ben turned around and followed Kenshi deeper into the cave. A few feet deeper a cavern opened up.

The cold stone walls were stained with blood and the floors riddled with bones. A stray heart lied in the center of a circle of bones. Candles were lit around the circle of bones.

Kenshi ventured past the bone circle, to a table. A single book with burn marks and dirt stains lied on the table's edge. Kenshi gripped it and turned to the page that was marked. With the faint light, he couldn't make out the words. He knelt down on the stone floor and leaned close to a candle.

Kenshi's expression turned grim and disgusted.

" What is it?" Arashi said walking over to him.

Kenshi reread the terrifying words: "The Demon Dragons excellency can only be summoned with the sacrifice of three dragons. I've tried this once and realized the bones of the dragons were the strongest part of the beasts. I extracted their bones to create a circle. In the center of that circle will sit the heart of a human. As a way of welcoming the Demon into the new world, I splattered the victim's blood on the wall. The final ingredient needed to summon the Evil One is the Chaos Claws, in order to repair what he lost so long ago, and Metal of Demons, a way to strengthen his heart".

" This is a human heart?" Arashi asked sincerely. " And human blood", Kenshi added.

" Whoever stole the Claws killed three dragons and a human, to summon the Demon Dragon. An evil man rests here".

" Who's the Demon Dragon?" Ben asked.

" I'm not entirely sure who he is but my father told me of stories. He's the embodiment of evil and Hatred and once, long ago, attempted to take over this world. His henchmen still run rampant ", Kenshi explained.

" Those eyeless dragons with the black blood ". Ben said.

" Remnants of his evil", Kenshi explained.

He stood up, from near the flame. " Let's get out of here ". Kenshi put the book back and walked out of the cave.

" You have the Claws?" Kenshi asked walking to the beach.

" Ya", Ben motioned his hand over the Claws.

They made their way down to the beach and sat in a circle on the sands. His sword lied in front of him with each Claw spread out below the sword.

The words of Queen Lammè ran through his head. He had all three Claws and they were tied to the end of his sword. What was he missing? He ran his hand over the Claws, curiously.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, he entered this abyss of sorts. His soul had left his body and he stood in this black empty space. The sound of drums slammed into his ears. Three colors started to pop into the blackness. Gold, Pink and maroon. The three colors of the three Chaos Claws. The drums settled and a voice broke out.

" Your mind is abundant with confusion and frustration, boy. You mustn't worry about what you don't know, but what you do".

" Who are you?" The boy spoke strongly.

His voice loud, like an echo of a giant." I am no one of importance. I am only the messenger of information. Now boy, listen to me for your confusion must be ridden of". He paused for just a second. " Kings Blood. The Claw representing Respect, brotherhood, and strength. Queens Blood, it represents passion, love, and equality. Demons Blood, representing, anger, hate, and deception. Each Chaos Claw is a symbol of one of the three Royales. Now that you have brought all three of them together, they will be your understanding and the power of the Royales. Now take your power and use it gracefully ".

The state Ben was in disappeared and he appeared back on the warm sands of the beach. Not even a single second passed while he was in the blackness.

" Ben? What do we do now?" Arashi asked sitting in front of him. Previously Ben couldn't answer that question but the Claws gave him an understanding of what was to happen.

" The Chaos Claws are speaking to me. Like-like a whisper of the universe. They're telling me to go back to the Royal Island and speak with The King to reveal the truth". Ben spoke the words of the voices in his head.

" Do you want me to build a raft?" Arashi offered.

" You want us to sail to the Royal Island on a raft? That seems like a suicide attempt. The Royal Island is nearly halfway across the world", Kenshi argued.

" I have faith", Ben said confidently.

" If he has faith, so do I", Arashi said.

Kenshi slowly stood up and said," Someone should have logic in an ocean that big. Let's go".

Arashi had found a couple of logs and had the spirit dragons carry them over to the beach. He lined them horizontally in the sand. He used a fallen tree as rope for the logs. After Arashi finished the raft the sun had fell below the horizon.

The dragons pushed the raft into the waves of the blue ocean while they sat on the raft. The dragons jumped on before it reached too far out.

Ben put his feet in the calm ocean as he looked back at Gallomae, the world's largest continent.

" Woah. It actually floats", Kenshi said from the front of the raft. Arashi and Ben giggled. An hour later life started to show up beneath them.

" Look at the water!", Ben said excitedly. The water that once was dark now was vibrant with blues and greens. Like migrating butterflies, the water was bright blue and lime green. The pure bioluminescence the ocean threw up excited the trio. They had never seen such bright colors in nature before and it was extraordinary.

As if a school of fish, a wonderful and vibrant whale swims throw the colors of the ocean. Life had seemed to reveal itself to Benjamin for the first time since his birth. Ben sat back in the middle of the raft as the whale swam away and the bright colors faded back into darkness. With a smile on his face, he lied down and looked at the night sky. So bright and dazzling.

It amazed Ben at how much diversity there was. And he had yet to see even 1% of it. He thought to himself," I have much to learn. Much to see and room to grow. The next chapter has started in my life and more will come from it".

" I've never seen a whale before", Arashi said, still in a trance.

" Me either", Kenshi agreed." I once thought I'd seen everything and that the only thing left for me was to grow stronger than my father. Since the day I meet Ben, that ideology has been proven wrong again and again".

A smile had sprouted on Ben's face but the others didn't see it. Silence fell upon the trio.

" What's next?", Arashi said sadly." It seems like time is irrelevant. There isn't a group goal ahead of us at this point. I mean I have my goal, Kenshi has his and your goal of helping the creatures, but we aren't working towards that in any way at all". Arashi spoke worryingly and truthfully.

And with a stringy smile, Ben comforted his friend." Each waking moment of our existence is dedicated to the final moment, the final goal. Where we are at right now is the middle ground between one goal and the next. We shall wait for what is to come instead of worry about it".