Villain Awakening: Rising to the Strongest Dragon God-Chapter 56: Hidden Passages

Whoosh..

Auryn froze in place, his right leg suspended mid-step as the unconscious body of a man flew across his field of vision.

His eyes moved towards the direction the body flew to. Quickly closing them as a wave of dust blew his way with the unconscious body crashing into the root of a tree. Definitely breaking something.

Swiftly, his now opened eyes darted towards where the body came from and before his vision could discern anything. A sharp shrill pierced his ear drums. It was more a hiss than a screech.

The sound caused Auryn’s face to contort in quiet pain. His head felt like his brain was being stapled.

"What’s that?" he turned, biting his lower lips, when his eyes finally saw it for the first time since he arrived.

Demon..., he spoke inwardly.

The entity looked blurry with black fumes emitting continuously from its pores like a chimney.

"Hold it down..." a commanding voice echoed. The giant of a man who spoke stood like a mountain between Auryn and the demon.

The demon hissed again as several men in brown leather armor held it in place from different directions.

The men flanked the creature which on closer look was like a mutated and oversized tarantula with a ever-smiling face on its back facing the sky.

"Hold it like your life depends on it," the giant spoke even while he held a baton in one hand. He moved to the closest man who seemed to be struggling.

"Do you wish to let it go?" the giant whispered in the man’s ear.

"No sir," the man tried his best to respond between strained breaths even as his sweaty fingers lost friction by the second.

"That’s what I thought," the baton danced on the giant’s open palm even as the demon struggled to break free.

Auryn looked over his shoulder to the left. Where his company was.

"What’s this supposed to be?"

"Training," Castor responded as his grey beard shifted slightly.

"Training with a loose fiend," Auryn asked with a bland face and yet a worried mind.

Afterall fiends were the equivalent of a drake amongst demons but they were a notch more sinister if his novel memory served him well.

"Of course," Castor answered. With hands behind his back, he walked across the field without a care in the world even while the fiend had begun thrashing around with renewed strength.

"If this men cannot survive a simple subjugation then they’re not fit to protect—

Castor turned, facing the giant and simply nodded. The giant of a man acknowledged Castor with a rather warm smile.

—-or ever fight when it mattered," Castor finished.

Auryn’s gaze never left the creature while he followed Castor. He understood what Castor meant.

The giant who drilled the men screamed again with intensity.

"Show me your grit, pork chops," he slammed his baton against the men, one after the other until he got to a lean, shady looking man, whose grip was loosening.

The man grunted and his fingers opened up. Shady’s eyes widened while he tried desperately to retrieve the chain but it was already too late.

One of the six appendages held back was now free and was coming directly for shady who had slipped while trying to retrieve the chain, falling face first.

The creature screeched again, but the giant of a man smirked, even as his body blurred and he grabbed the loose chain with a single hand.

The chain crackled even as thick worms that carried blood threaded across the massive biceps of the giant’s right arm.

Auryn was shocked but Castor didn’t even flinch. The fiend’s initially free leg was only a few inches from shady’s head when it stopped.

The giant who held the creature in place looked down at the man who he’d just nearly killed or in his own eyes, saved.

"You’re not fit to defend," he paused while he looked at the other men who still managed to hold their ground.

"You’ve all passed," he yelled with a huge grin.

Auryn was still trying to wrap his head around training with a living fiend. One of these would easily wipe out a small village in hours if unchecked and yet...

They must be crazy he thought while he kept escorting Castor who showed him more of Valir Keep out of obligation.

They had barely left earshot from the training area when an explosion ensued and the dying hiss of the fiend could be heard across the space.

"Tsk" Auryn muttered underneath his breath.

—-------------------------

Meanwhile, earlier that morning. Claudia slipped through the hidden passage she’d discovered months ago—a path from the hall corridor that led beyond the castle walls into the lower district.

Within a small library that smelled of burnt paper and old timber, Claudia could be seen in the midst of five other teenagers gathered in a backroom.

Claudia sat on a worn cushion between two bookshelves. Knees tucked under her skirt while she listened to the girl with ponytails read a piece of poetry aloud.

"Duty chains the heart that soars after freedom,but freedom dies where duty must be."

The words hung in the air of the cramped space even as the teenagers whispered approval between themselves.

A short raven-haired boy watched Claudia closely. Lorian, the Count’s third son, sat across from Claudia with barely concealed adoration.

He’d been attending these gatherings for months, though everyone knew it wasn’t the poetry that drew him.

"It’s too sad," the ponytail girl said, closing the volume. "Why does love always lose to duty in these poems?"

"Because that’s reality," another girl answered. "Love is luxury. Duty is survival."

Claudia said nothing. She swallowed hard, holding her book even tighter. This was her escape from the grip of the castle.

Where she and her companions could be free to express themselves openly through love poems, philosophy and even dark history without getting the brunt of their various families.

Ponytail girl’s eyes brightened suddenly. "Oh! Did any of you see the convoy arriving yesterday? Rumours say the Third Prince was visiting."

Claudia’s chest tightened. She opened the book in her hand and pretended to read.

"Really?" Another girl leaned forward with interest. "What’s he like?"

"I heard he’s ruthless," an elf girl added. "Took the Northern District from the Duke."

Ponytail girl turned to Claudia. "Your father’s the duke. You must know something. What’s the prince like? Tell us," she said excitedly.

Everyone suddenly looked at Claudia, who had her face buried between empty pages.

Behind the pages, Claudia hesitated for a moment before her lips parted as she spoke slowly.

"He’s..." The word came out before she could stop it. "Very knowledgeable. He knows things most people don’t.."

Her voice became more excited unbeknownst to her.

"He even knows about the savage kingdoms. We were discussing the other day."

There was a brief silence in the room as eyes turned from left to right even while Claudia spoke.

Ponytail girl’s eyes went wide. "Wait. How do you know so much about him?"

"I—" Claudia’s face flushed. "I met him at dinner."

"You had dinner with the prince?" Lorian asked worriedly.

"What’s it to you?" ponytail’s narrowed eyes stared at Lorian.

Then the truth slipped out. "I’m betrothed to him, so yes, we had dinner"

A moment of weakness or was it some form of ego? Claudia didn’t know but the words escaped her faster than her lips could seal itself.

The entire backroom exploded into noise.

"WHAT?"

"You’re marrying the third prince?!"

"Claudia, that’s—oh my gods—"

Ponytail girl grabbed her arm, excitedly.

"When? How long have you known? Why didn’t you tell us?!"

"It’s recent. It’s the triarch council arrangements."

Claudia pulled back slightly, overwhelmed by the sudden attention.

"It’s duty to my family. I don’t have a choice," she said, hiding her red-hot face..

"Wait, arranged marriages still happen?" The young elf asked.

"It’s always been that way for nobles," Claudia said quietly.

Lorian hadn’t moved since the news. Just stared at her with his expression cracking like glass under pressure.

Then he suddenly stood. Voice low and filled with determination to a point of feeling dangerous.

"I’ll challenge him," he said. Slamming his fist on his chest as a sign of defiance.

Every eye in the room turned to him.

"I’ll challenge the Third Prince for your hand."

Claudia laughed, seemingly flattered, then realized he was serious. Her stomach dropped.

"No..., don’t"