Birth of Hellhound

Claimer:  This is an original from my own brain.  Therefore, I can claim it.  Sweet, huh?

A/N:  This was written for the “Sacrificial Spring” Contest. 

o-0-o-0-o

Life was simple back then before the war.  There were border squabbles and bandits a plenty to worry about but nothing seriously bad.  Nothing world-ending bad.  The people of Gea lived in a world that had never seen true evil.  The laws of the Great One had kept them from wondering too far into the darkness. 

Hadrian Halstrom, a dark haired, fair skinned boy of eight, was the son of a successful merchant who had dreams of Hadrian taking over the family business.  They sold all manner of things from household items to seasonings and spices.  Hadrian’s father ran one of the merchant lines and brought his family on many of his trips from city to city collecting and selling their wares. 

Hadrian was taught many things about the business and how to deal with other cultures.  He had rode on the backs of tamed hawks – the kind that were as big as fighter jet – through the turbulent currents of the Kee Mountains.  He had played with the children of the Elemental Isles, who normally stayed away from “outsiders.”  They had taught him how to charm the elements: earth, air, fire, water, thunder & lightning, and metal.  It was beginner stuff, which entailed only how to move and shape said elements.  Hadrian was grateful none the less. 

He had even fought many battles with his father against bandits that tried to steal their goods.  This was not handled well by his mother.  She was always fearful of loosing either member of the family.  His father was proud of him.  Said it was proof of his son’s inner strength. 

It was a rich and adventurous life that Hadrian had…Yet, it seemed that the beloved laws wasn’t enough to protect them forever.  Hadrian was ten when Xenophon and his army of the undead, wraiths and other creatures of the darkness turned Hadrian’s life into a living hell.  Xenophon was a powerful dark lord who’s evil magic was unstoppable.  He had the capability to travel through magical portals to different realms.  He had conquered his own realm and sought out more.  The more he took, the more he wanted.  Gea had become his next target.

Xenophon’s armies were able to tear through city after city, killing all that stood in their way.  Not even the magnificent masters of the elements were able to resist them.  Those who were captured were put into slavery and scattered to the multitude of realms that were in Xenophon’s bloody grasp. 

It wasn’t long before Hadrian and his family were in the middle of the bloodshed.  Hadrian wanted to fight with the other soldiers despite the fact he was only twelve. His mother and father refused.  They wanted to sneak away to someplace safe.  They hid Hadrian in a box and sent him along with other families fleeing the carnage.  They had promised to meet him later after they had a chance to help a few other families leave. 

Hadrian stayed in the box, as his mother had told him, until all was safe.  He waited with the other families for his parents to come for him.  They never did.  Determined to find them, Hadrian slipped away and returned to the last city his parents were in.  What he found would haunt him forever.  The city lay in ruins.  The captured slaves were being hauled through miniature movable replicas of the magical portals the people of Gea had come to loathe.  At the demolished entrance to the city was where Hadrian found his parents.  Their bodies were put on display outside the city walls along with all those who opposed Xenophon’s rule.  Their rotting carcasses were being plucked clean by the vultures. 

Frightened and grief stricken, Hadrian wandered back to the straggle of survivors.  His whole life had been snatched from him.  He wished he could have died with his parents and been spared the pain of living without them.  Out of his grief grew hatred.  Hadrian knew that there had to be a way to stop Xenophon and return his beloved realm of Gea back to normal. 

The search began.  Hadrian followed every rumor and half truth until he had found a group of mages from another world.  They too worshiped the same Great One as he did.  They knew of a way for the Great One to bestow awesome power to someone that the Great One deemed worthy.  The cost was his life and anything attached to it. 

Hadrian’s anger had grown to the point that it overshadowed all logic.  Without hesitation, he offered himself.  The mages told him that he had to wait while they prepared for the ritual.  They would have to hide him in a realm that Xenophon hadn’t reached.  Again, he agreed without pausing for thought. 

He was given a charm that was a dragon on its side in a circle where it’s teeth held it’s tail.  In its claws in the middle of the dragon circle was a small round moonstone.  When it was time to return, the stone would turn from it’s milky white to blood red.  A mage guided him through a portal that closely resembled a puddle of water on the floor.  A chill unlike anything he had experienced in his life gripped him to the core.  He blacked out and awoke in a new realm vastly different from his own.

The realm known as Earth.

o-0-o-0-o

Hadrian Halstrom was the hottest boy in his high school.  His dark hair, fair skin, and toned body had most of the girls in his school flaunting themselves for his attention.  He was the best at any sport he had ever tried.  Any trophy that was available was proudly displayed in either his home or the school’s trophy section. He had a magnificent foster mother and father, who cherished every breath he took.  They bragged about their perfect son with unashamed pride.  And, to top it all off, he was the most wonderful student the teachers had ever seen.  Never once had he received anything lower than an A. 

None of it mattered.  There was only one person who made him regret leaving Earth:  Elexa Eliza Ellington.

She was small girl with short wooly black hair and milk chocolate skin.  A strict upbringing made her very polite but short tempered when it came to foolishness.  Hadrian had called her a little lady with an old soul.  She never objected.

The two of them met when they were freshmen.  Hadrian had no intention of befriending Elexa but couldn’t help wanting to be around her.  Her no-nonsense attitude reminded him a lot of his mother.  Her tactful negotiation skills, which got her out of several fights with the school bullies, reminded him of his father.  By the end of their sophomore year, Hadrian had given into Elexa’s charm.

Elexa was the only one who didn’t treat him like he was something special.  She always saw him as her friend, her best friend.  Hadrian had never had a friend in the Earth realm until her. He had grown to respect her and even thought of ways for her to join him in his home realm.  None of them would have been permitted.  He had chosen his path long before meeting Elexa.  Perhaps there would be a way later if she could wait…  No.  He couldn’t ask her to do that.  No one knew if all would go well or even if he could come back. 

Ironic, then, that it would be Elexa who noticed the moonstone turning red one day in their senior year during science class.  Hadrian avoided her questions about it saying it was suppose to be like one of those mood rings.  The normal routine was for him to walk her home but the sudden color change in the moonstone curbed all that.  He slipped away without Elexa noticing to meet the mage at the rendezvous point.

Doubt and fear had gripped him.  Hadrian didn’t want to leave Earth… or Elexa.  It had been a long time since he had made the agreement with the mages.  He was beginning to like his life in the Earth realm and his parents weren’t that bad.  And Elexa…  There were so many things to be said to her like the truth about who he was and where he came from… and what he felt for her. 

All this was expressed in great despair to the mage waiting to take Hadrian back to Gea.  The mage closed his eyes and said nothing for a long time.  Hadrian knew the mage had to be communicating with the other mages about his dilemma.  After what felt like forever to Hadrian, the mage opened his eyes and told him he had until midnight to handle his affairs.  Grateful for the chance to say good-bye to Elexa, Hadrian rushed back home. 

Hadrian spent the better part of the evening hanging out with his “parents” before they went to bed.  He felt he had some obligation to them for posing as his parents even if they had no clue as to where he was really from.  The time was spent like any other night so he wouldn’t alert them to what he was doing.  As soon as he heard his “parent’s” snoring, he sneaked out of the house to Elexa’s.  She was already asleep in her bed.  Her short fro was puffed about her head like a dark halo.  Hadrian chuckled as the song “Afro Angel” by Will Smith played in his head.  He kept a weary eye on his wrist watch as he watched her sleep until he had five minutes before time was up.  Slipping a good-bye present under her pillow and stealing a kiss from her beautiful lips without waking her up, he left with a heavy heart.

At the rendezvous point, Hadrian met his guide, who was standing in a black pool of water, draped in a cloak, and holding a lamp with blue flames inside.  He motioned for Hadrian to join him in the pool.  They sank into it.  A familiar chilling sensation soaked him to the bone.  He blacked out.

When he woke up, he found himself stripped of all his clothes and ropes suspended him upright in the air.  The room, which was empty at first, filled with hooded mages.  Some of them carried jars and boxes filled with various parts of animals and people.  These were needed to attract the Great One’s attention.  Others had knives, whips, needles and inks in a spectrum of colors.  They signified the three levels of pain, which would also feed the Great one.  If the Great One had feasted well on the offering, then the Great one would grant Hadrian’s wish.  Those with ink lined up behind him.  The ones with needles filed behind those with ink.  The boxes and jars were placed at points in the intricate circular design, which was a summoning circle, on the floor under Hadrian.

Harmonious notes of the mage’s chanting began.  The first wave of pain also began.  It was the whips.  Hadrian held back any cries that formed in his throat.  To cry out would be a sign of weakness and a great dishonor.  The Great One wouldn’t visit him if he did.  There were no windows or any other way to judge how much time had passed between the first and last licks of the whip.  Really, Hadrian didn’t care much.  His whole body was red with welts and cuts.  Sweat ran into the cuts, amplifying the pain.

As the next wave of pain started, the knives, Hadrian closed his eyes and thought of Elexa and how she looked sleeping.  So peaceful…  So beautiful…  If only he had met her before he had made his oath, then he wouldn’t have to go through this.  Then he remembered just why he was going through all this pain and suffering.  Having his original life snatched away from him when the war started had him filled with rage.  The mages felt he was perfect for sacrificing his life, or what was left of it, and turning himself into a weapon with the only purpose being destruction of the very thing that started it all: Xenophon.  His home realm would be safe, other realms wouldn’t fall pray to the evil that ruled them, and Elexa would never learn the horrors it had caused him.

Blood flowed from his cuts to pool on the floor beneath him.  The intricate design was glowing and pulsing to his heart beat.  His vision was blurred.  Each of the mages had become big, dark blobs with red eyes.  The chanting had risen in volume.  The pain was mind numbing but slowly ebbing away.  It was being replaced with a soothing chill.  The rhythm of the pulsing design and the chanting was slowing down. 

The third wave of pain, the needles and ink, began.  The pain was localized into one spot at a time.  Hadrian had to grit his teeth so he wouldn’t cry out.  A mage explained the tattoos he was receiving.  The fist, which was placed between the shoulder blades, was an exact copy of the summoning circle below him.  This meant it took a long time for it to be completed.  The purpose for it was to serve as a gateway between Hadrian and the Great One. 

The second tattoo was his house symbol.  A circle of a red dragon on it’s side with it’s wings fanned from it’s body and it’s tail represented the unending strength of the family.  In its claws was a crescent moon with a four-point star in the middle if that.  The crescent moon came from his mother’s family.  The four point star was the business’ symbol.  In the event that Hadrian was accepted, all his memories would be attached to this symbol.  If it was ruined in any way, it would result in total loss of his past.

The third and final tattoo was the mages mark.  A staff with rose vines wrapped around it and a circle of light behind it was placed at the tail bone.  It was more of a signature for all to see … if anyone would be able to get that close to him. 

So tired was he from restraining his cries that he slumped against the ropes.  The end was near.  Hadrian could feel it…  The needles had become a nagging nuisance.  The chanting was a low hum.  The design had stopped pulsing and remained a steady glow.  The mages suddenly stopped chanting and lined up along the edge of the design.  The ropes were cut.  Hadrian crashed to the floor.  He didn’t feel it or even think about the sudden change.  All had gone black, silent and still.  Something spoke to him form deep in the darkness.  It asked him why he was there.  Hadrian explained what had happed to his family and his world.  It wanted to know why he was seeking its help.  Hadrian answered with the first thing that popped into his head: to protect what was left of his world.  It pondered this for a while before agreeing to help him.

The darkness flashed to bright white.  Pain encompassed him once again.  It was stronger than any pain, physical or mental, he had ever felt.  The pain became all he could think about.  His voice echoed throughout the room.  Then it was all gone. 

Lying on the floor gasping for air, he watched as a mage walked up to him.  The mage asked if he knew who he was.  He took a few moments to mull it over, then answered with a no.  He could recall the ceremony but not why he went through it or even who he was.  The mage smiled and told him to rise.  Only the tattoos on his back were all that remained of the ritual.  The blood, boxes and jars with various parts of animals and people and the intricate design had vanished.  He was draped in a cloak as the room was emptied of the mages.  The voice in the darkness spoke to him again.

“You are Hellhound, my servant.  Prove yourself worthy of my affections and I will give you all that your heart desires.”

And what was it that Hellhound’s heart desired?  Only one thing: the destruction of Xenophon.  Obey and be rewarded.  This was an agreement he could enter.

Hellhound dropped to one knee, bowing his head.  “Thank you, my lord.”

o-0-o-0-o