MARKED BY DRACONIC OVERLORD

Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Blood for Blood

Kael walked in a daze, the day's events replaying in his mind like a tape stuck on loop. Just thinking about it made him grit his teeth and clench his fists. Then his phone started buzzing, nonstop.

"What now?" he groaned, pulling it out. What he read made his eyes go wide with shock.

[ALERT! ALERT!! ALERT!! All citizens in Creek Core District are urged to seek underground shelter immediately. A Red-Class rift break has occurred in the area. Any nearby awakened individuals are urged to assist. God help you all. Amen.]

Dread washed over Kael's face. One disaster a day should've been enough but a rift break, of all things? A Red-Class one, no less.

The same fear spread across everyone around him as the warning sirens began to wail through the district.

Panic broke out instantly. People scattered, running for the nearest underground shelter, cars abandoned in the street as it became every man for himself.

Kael stood frozen for a moment, his mind racing to catch up.

"Wait! Elisa and her friends will be right up ahead." The thought hit him like a punch to the gut. He looked toward the horizon and saw black smoke rising in the distance. She was headed straight into it.

He watched the crowd flee past him, knowing the choice in front of him would decide everything, go after her, or run.

There wasn't really a choice at all.

"To hell with a Red-Class rift break. Elisa, I'm coming," he said, clenching his fists before sprinting straight toward the danger everyone else was running from. Phone calls weren't getting through, and there wasn't time to wait and see.

Meanwhile, loud music blared inside Kelvin's jeep as they sat stalled in traffic.

"So, Elisa, your brother's awakening was today, right?" Zoe asked.

"Yeah," Elisa answered.

"That's incredible," Zoe said, impressed.

"Hey, Elisa, you should come to the party at my place Friday," Kelvin said with a grin, his eyes lingering on her a bit too long.

"No, I don't think so," Elisa said, the loud music adding to her discomfort.

"Come on, it'll be fun, trust me," Kelvin pressed.

"Don't you think the music's a little loud?" Elisa said, sidestepping the invitation entirely.

"I think she's got a point, Kelvin," Zoe cut in.

"Nah, it's perfect, one of the best phonk tracks out there," Mike said from the front seat, nodding along to the beat, a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes.

"See, Mike gets it," Kelvin said.

None of them noticed what was happening just ahead, explosions rocking the street, cars flung through the air, fireballs the size of boulders slamming into buildings, an army of orcs and goblins tearing through anyone in their path.

A trailer blocked their view of the worst of it, and between the conversation and the music, even the emergency alerts buzzing on their phones went unnoticed.

"So, Kelvin, you're really throwing a party at your place?" Shelly, the third girl, asked.

"Yep. At the mansion. You and Zoe are both invited, it's a shame Elisa's gonna miss it," Kelvin said.

"So, Shelly, what'd you think about my offer?" Mike asked, and Shelly blushed.

"Ooh, I smell something," Zoe teased, grinning at Shelly.

"Doesn't it seem weird that traffic hasn't moved at all?" Elisa asked, cutting through the small talk.

"Yeah, actually," Zoe agreed, frowning.

Elisa pulled out her phone and finally saw the alert. Her pupils shrank as she read it.

"Kelvin, I think the party's going to have to—"

Before she could finish, the front passenger door where Mike sat was torn clean off its hinges.

"What the hell!" Mike shouted, scrambling back.

Standing outside was an orc, green skin bulging with muscle, clad in iron armor from head to toe, mist curling from its snout as it growled, its eyes locked on the teenagers with pure bloodlust.

Every face in the jeep went pale with terror, frozen in place.

In a split second the orc launched the spear in its hand towards Mike who was frozen in fear.

With a piercing sound the spear went through Mike's chest and Mike's pupils constricted in shock as the attack was lighting fast. Holding the spear, the Orc grinned and twisted the spear which was currently stabbed in Mike's chest and he let out a painful dying scream and he vomited blood.

Shelly let out a scream of terror as they looked at the brutal scene before them, Kelvin was trembling with fear and sweating that he even peed on his pants, Zoe and Elisa were unable to even scream as the scene they just witnessed was far too brutal.

Gripping the spear tightly, the Orc used the spear to pull out Mike from the car and his blood spilled on everyone as he was pulled out forcefully and with a swing the orc used the spear to launch his body in the air and Mike's lifeless body landed on a vehicle nearby.

Elisa was frozen with shock as she looked at the scene before her as it was something she never believed she would get to experience and Zoe trembled in fear as she looked at the orc.

Suddenly another orc smashes the window of the driver's seat with its hand and grabs Kelvin by the neck.

Kelvin began to gasp for air desperately as the orc gripped his neck tightly even to the extent that foam began coming out from his mouth as he was choked and with a powerful pull, Kelvin's head was separated from his body with brute force and his blood spilled all over.

The girls watched in horror as the orc tore off Kelvin's head and blood pumping non-stop from his neck and staining their uniforms.

This was taking the front row seat in a horror movie; Elisa was in complete shock as she witnessed this grim scene.

Zoe screamed, pulling Elisa back as more goblins closed in around the vehicle, yanking open doors and dragging the girls out onto the street.

"Let go of us!" Shelly shouted, fighting against the goblin gripping her arm.

The goblin backhanded her hard enough to split her lip, and she stumbled, blood on her mouth.

"You'll learn to keep that mouth shut, human," the goblin sneered.

"To hell with you," Shelly spat, glaring through the pain, refusing to look away.

The goblin's face twisted with fury at her defiance. Without warning, it drove a blade into her side. Shelly gasped, her body going rigid before she collapsed to the ground, unmoving.

Zoe screamed, tears streaming down her face as she watched Shelly fall. Elisa froze, unable to breathe, unable to look away.

"You monsters, doesn't our lives mean anything to you?" Zoe shouted through her tears. The goblin holding her yanked her back by the hair, and she cried out in pain.

"Elves have always had sharp tongues, even in this world," the goblin commander said, sizing her up. "We'll keep you for other purposes. But her" he pointed at Elisa, "she's outlived her use the moment we're done here."

Elisa's eyes went wide with horror.

"If I'd just waited for him... maybe none of this would've happened," she whispered, tears spilling over.

"Elisa, I'm so sorry, if you'd just waited for your brother, you wouldn't be here," Zoe said, sobbing.

"Don't blame yourself, Zoe. No one could've known this would happen," Elisa said, even as the goblin holding her forced her down to her knees, a blade pressed against her throat.

Then

"You bastards, get the hell away from my sister!" Kael's voice tore through the chaos as he came sprinting toward them, fury written across his face.

He leapt at the orc nearest Elisa, flames wrapping around his clenched fist as he threw a punch with everything he had.

Bam.

The orc barely flinched, catching the blow without effort. Elisa's shock at seeing her brother arrive was matched only by Kael's own shock that his attack had done nothing though deep down, he'd expected as much. Someone who'd just awakened stood no chance against creatures from a Red rift.

"You dare strike me? Insolent human," the orc growled.

Kael stumbled back, but before he could react, the orc was already behind him, arm raised.

Wham.

The blow sent him flying into a wall.

"Kael!" Elisa screamed, watching him crash into the brick.

"Is he even still alive?" Zoe whispered, horrified by the force of the impact.

The wall cracked where he'd hit it. Kael pushed himself up, coughing blood.

"Damn... that hurt like hell," he muttered, still barely believing the strength of these creatures. Red-rift monsters weren't a joke.

Spotting a metal pole on the ground beside him, he grabbed it his fists clearly weren't going to cut it. He pointed it at the orc closing in, flames igniting around his free hand, his eyes burning with resolve. No matter what it cost him, he wasn't backing down.

He charged. The orc met him at blinding speed, catching the pole with one hand before Kael could land a hit, wrenching it uselessly in his grip.

The orc's fist slammed into his ribs a second later, sending him crashing into a parked car, glass shattering around him.

"Big brother!" Elisa screamed.

Kael groaned, his vision spinning as he forced himself to stand, blood running down his face.

"I'm not going down without a fight," he snarled, and the defiance in his voice only enraged the orc further—this human wasn't backing down, wasn't begging. It charged again, faster than a bullet, and swung the hilt of its spear into Kael's stomach before he could react.

He doubled over, vomiting blood, sent flying into the air. The orc appeared above him a heartbeat later, slamming the spear's hilt down and driving him into the ground.

Kael coughed blood onto the pavement, his organs screaming in protest, pain radiating through every inch of his body.

"Please, stop! Just stop hurting him!" Elisa cried out, unable to bear watching her brother beaten half to death. Zoe squeezed her eyes shut, unable to look.

"You'll watch everything that happens to him, human girl, and then you'll be next," the goblin commander said with a twisted grin, and Elisa felt terror settle into her bones at his words.

These creatures didn't value life, theirs or anyone else's. To them, every other being was a plaything to be broken.

Kael's whole body trembled with pain, bones fractured or broken outright, his clothes soaked through with blood. And still, he refused to stay down.

Groaning, he forced himself back to his feet, coughing up more blood, his body screaming at him to stop.

The orcs and goblins watched in disbelief as he rose again after a hit that should have ended him. It only made the orc angrier.

Seeing her chance, Elisa wrenched free of the goblin's loosened grip and ran toward her brother.

"Kael!" she cried, sprinting to him but a goblin caught her from behind, slamming her down to the ground. Elisa cried out in pain, and Kael's rage exploded.

"Get away from her!" he roared, forgetting his own injuries as he lunged forward.

Slash.

Pain tore through his leg, and he screamed, collapsing to the ground. His severed leg lay beside him, blood pooling fast beneath him the orc's spear had found its mark.

But even that didn't stop him. Ignoring the agony, he dragged himself forward, crawling toward Elisa, blood trailing behind him across the pavement.

"Even with a leg gone, he still won't quit. Pathetic," the goblin commander laughed as the orc stepped in behind the crawling boy.

The orc raised its spear and drove it down through Kael's shoulder. He screamed, the pain white-hot, as the orc twisted the blade and lifted him off the ground with it.

"ARGHHHH!" Kael's scream tore through the street as the orc wrenched the spear free and slammed him back down to the pavement.

"Kael, NOOOO!" Elisa sobbed, forced to watch every second of it. He could barely move now, lying in a spreading pool of his own blood, every bone in his body broken.

He was at death's door, dragging in ragged, shallow breaths.

"I'm sorry, brother, if I'd just waited for you, none of this would've happened," Elisa cried, still struggling uselessly against the goblin's grip.

Kael fixed his eyes on her, fighting with everything left in him to stay conscious, to stay present, even as sleep threatened to drag him under.

The orc stood over him, spear dripping with his blood, and turned its gaze toward Elisa, held down and helpless. A cruel grin spread across its face as it took a step toward her.

But a hand caught its ankle.

The orc looked down. Kael was gripping its leg with a bloodied hand.

"I won't... let you... touch her," he managed, every word a fight against the darkness closing in. The orc's expression twisted with annoyance that this human simply wouldn't quit.

With one swing, it severed Kael's hand at the wrist. He felt it, but no sound came out anymore his vision was already fading, the world blurring at the edges, and all he could do was watch as the orc turned back toward his sister, the goblins around them grinning at his helplessness.

Is this how it ends for me? No story, no next chapter just closed, with no happy ending? I couldn't even protect her. Is this it? Will I just have to watch?

Kael watched the orc close the distance to Elisa, the goblin holding her down tighter, and Elisa's eyes filled with pure terror.

So this is how it ends. A weakling who couldn't protect the people he loved, forced to watch and do nothing.

Is this really it? Everything I worked for, gone. I'll never see Mom again. Never see Bradon again. No. I refuse to accept this. All those nights praying, all those years hoping, I can't end like this. God, I refuse to give in to death.

Darkness crept further across Kael's vision, everything going hazy and dim, and still the orc advanced on his sister, and still Kael could do nothing but watch, rage burning through what was left of him even as his body gave out entirely.

The crimson crystal pendant around his neck, soaked through with his blood, began to glow faint at first, then brighter with every passing second, until a red light swallowe

 him whole.

'What the?' Even Kael was startled by the light enveloping him.

Then his vision went black.

BOOM!