the first thing I noticed when  I woke up was the smell 

the horrible disgusting smell 

 that filled my nostrils made it so hard to breathe. my throat ached like hell and my head pounded as if someone had just beaten on me with a sledgehammer. the feeling made me feel nauseous, it didn’t help that I couldn't see a damm thing 

it took what felt like hours to visualise and activate my vision 

in hindsight, I shouldn't have done that 

as soon as I got my vision I noticed instead of the black and white grey sight I had gotten used it was red and black now 

the colours red and black filled my vision 

when I came to be able to see properly 

I saw that I was in a cave filled to the brim with scantily clad children 

Small  children no older than 12

there were two babies too 

held in the embrace of two little girls of different ethnicity 

there latest 60 or so if not more  they all looked so young and innocent that it broke my heart

I had seen enough movies and read enough materials that I sort of understand their situation 

these children had seen the worse side of humanity  and had been forced to go through it again and again 

This was their life

they lived in limbo, the same as the humans and were treated poorly

if you asked me

they would all tell the same type of stories about how their parents are either dead or dying if not they were the ones who sold them if someone was lucky they were kidnapped because for them their parents never abanded them 

I felt tears well in my eyes as I looked at the hopeless and life looks on their faces 

 it was as if they were crying out for help but they knew that it wasn't going to come anytime soon

"Mommy... daddy" one of them whimpered as she looked around, her face showing nothing other than fear and pain

I imagine inside every one of them 

cried and screamed and begged anyone to find them or just take them away 

I remembered Pollux's words

"you will know the sweet pleasure if the mines" 

the whimpering of the young girl had turned into full-blown sobs as her 

 cries grew more and more pitiful and heartbreaking

I wanted to go up to her hug her and tell her it was going to be alright 

but  before I could move

a tall bulky boy suddenly got up from the corner of the cave 

I hadn't seen him before he had a cold stone oval face with thick brows and a crooked nose his hair was short and messy with bits of sand and stones on the ends of his hair.

within seconds he reached the sobbing girl I sat back down thinking that dude mist have the same thoughts as me to comfort a girl in distress 

when he reached the girl he stood there towering over her like a giant he must have been 5 foot at least if not for his childish face I would have considered him older 

"I told you not to irritate me" he shouted 

and before I could even register what was happening he bent down and grabbed the sobbing girls hair  pulling her to look at him

he pulled harder making her cry even louder

"I said stop bothering me" he shouted at the girl with spit all over her face 

and 

 began punching her on the with such savagery that  I don't think I can ever explain

the scene was horrifying I now understood the phrase 

"it all happened so fast"

mother fucker 

I quickly got up to my feet and realised all of my acupoints 

I  felt the cool energy pulsate throughout my entire body as I charged at the man beating down on the poor girl

as the cool energy flowed inside me like a river I began feeling strong and fit 

the soreness and the pain my body had filed moments ago disappeared 

as I ran towards the boy 

 I could feel myself start to get angry

but I was on the other end of the cave 

I cursed myself to be too slow 

so I shouted 

"what are you doing? stop"

but the kid continued with his savage onslaught 

as I reached him 

I got my arms underneath his arms

grabbing his shirt and trying to pull him away from the poor girl

who was no longer making a sound 

as I began to pull away with the child locked under my hand lock to stop this from getting any worse

it was easy as the big child felt nothing to me 

I easily carried him away from the girl and tossed him aside into a corner 

I turned to check on the girl her face was now unrecognisable 

her nose was caved in there were hardly any teeth left in her mouth 

 her lips were cut and blood ran down her chin

I walked closer to her she looked so young

so helplessly vulnerable I didn't want this to happen anymore

I wanted the pain to leave

but I knew it wouldn't be quick 

she looked broken

and her eyes

 her eyes would haunt me till the end of my days 

they were vacantly staring into  space staring into nothingness

like she'd lost the will to live

no, no, no, no, no, no, ..........

the word kept ringing in my head like a chant

I knelt beside her reaching out to place a finger on her neck to check her pulse I felt none 

there was no pulse 

I didn't feel anything.

Nothing.

She was dead.

The thought almost brought me to my knees

how could it be? I'd been here less than a minute and I was already having an emotional breakdown

then I heard a commotion behind me but I ignored it 

"I said don't irritate big Ci" the childish voice of a young echoed in the cave just as something claimed into me and sent me tumbling 

I my shock I had stopped the appoints pulsation 

I reactivated the technique as I stood up 

I saw the boy breathing  heavily with snot running down his nose  and his mouth open snarling at me 

with a deep scowl on his face 

I felt disgusted 

the creature standing in front of me was no child 

 he was  a monster in human skin 

he let a howling scream as he once again charged at me 

I felt the rage come 

and rage felt good 

I sprang at him closing the half meter gap between me and him 

the idiot decided to lung at me with his fist raised high 

" don't anger big Ci" he screamed at me 

asshole 

I was close to enough to see the whites of his eyes  

unconsciously  I fell into a reflexive and instinctual routine 

the training sessions with pollux were not a waste of time as I had thought 

one punch to the right side another to the left bent down then hit with an uppercut to his jaw and finish with 

 a kick to his chest that sent him flying to the back wall of the cave

before jumping at his neck

I did a quick roundhouse sweep at his ribs with both legs  kicking him square in his groin

I had already adjusted the number of active acupoints to adjust my strength as to not kill the monster directly 

I wanted my time with him 

as the boy fell backwards  onto the ground

his eyes widened with rage 

he wobbly stood up and then he spotted a tooth along with a chink of blood to the ground 

"you hurt big Ci," he said staring at the tooth 

then he stared at me with anger

"big Ci kill you" and once again charged me 

I suddenly didn't feel like playing with the child monster 

as I allowed my strength to grow with more appoints being realised 

as soon he was in range I punched him straight in the guts and sent him flying 

he fell 3 feet away from me 

after some time later after all the coughing and wheezing, he slowly got 

I was surprised by the boy 

he looked terrified 

his face was contorted in terror

he scrambled back

he crawled further into the corner and tried to escape

I followed him, 

"no don't hurt big co, big co be a good boy now," he said trying to escape me 

I stooped for a second to look at the pathetic little sacred boy 

I realized  what I was doing 

 I felt a way of uneasiness and revulsion

I felt my rage die down 

This was just a child  I was just about to kill a child 

just a child

I was about to turn around and leave the child alone when the child suddenly jumped up 

he was holding large rocks in each hand 

as hurled one at me he shouted 

"no, hurt big Ci"

I felt a blinding rage come over me 

as I activated all my acupoints and charged him avoiding the flying rocks 

I cover the distance between me and him in a blink of an eye 

without hesitation, I punched his face with my full strength 

my fist went straight through his skull and he instantaneously collapsed 

 I stared down at the now-dead boy 

His face now had a huge gaping hole in the middle

that was where my fist went through 

I could see the brain matter splattered around me 

"I'm sorry"

was the last thing I managed to say

I felt sick to my stomach 

I looked at the dead boy 

for a second  I lost the will to live

"what's wrong with me"

"so much for avoiding my punches," I said to myself as I went over to his lifeless corpse 

and I picked up one of the rocks

the child was 200 % dead

I had slain the sacred boy 

the world began turning as I felt the pressure mounting up in my chest 

I suddenly lost the feeling in my legs and fell down

I laid there in the dust as the child's body slowly started to change 

it started to smoke and foam as I soon realised his corpse was rotting at a pace visible to the naked eyes 

I took in events as I sat there next to the now rotten corpse 

The children all around me were shifting away they were willing in groups in corners of the cave 

Starting at me with terror 

as they were horrified and unable to leave

after a few moments, all the children screamed 

I was not as frightened by this as I was bothered by what was happening

I was now questioning if I was even sane 

I felt the energy burn in me as I tried to close my acupoints

I got to my feet feeling full of regret for the wrong I had done 

Suddenly I heard a charming mature famine voice 

"Stop screaming, you are giving me a headache,"

I turned to see a woman dressed in bright red colour armour standing in front of the cave entrance which wasn't there moments ago 

she was standing next to the huge sword she had brought with her 

she looked like she had just awoken from a long sleep 

she stretched out her arms as if inviting me to help me 

a beautiful smile appeared on her face 

Come on children let's go 

The children stopped crying and screaming as if someone had hypnotized them 

They quickly got up and formed a single-file line 

The woman clapped her hands 

"Wonderful no one does today"

She said ignoring the rotten corpse of the boy and the fresh corpse of the girl

"Now let's go," she said as she turned and left the cave 

The line of children like caterpillars walked out of the room in complete silence 

What the hell I thought as I too joined the line 

where in the world did the bastards send me 

...…..........................................................

"Are you sure about this father?"

a very beautiful and very pregnant woman asked out loud in her sweet soft. voice 

old bu turns around to see his daughter starting at home with her big hopefully eyes 

he felt compelled, to tell the truth about the situation

the truth he felt guilty 

he felt disgusted with himself 

he looked away from his precious daughter

he's only 12 years old, how could he do that?  he thought 

but  he just steeled his heart and nodded 

"yes I am sure now stop asking me stupid questions"

they both were standing atop a hill gazing over the horizon of the sea of sand that was just a few feet below them. the sun is shining brightly up above them, its warm air gently brushing their bare skin and the slight breeze rustling the leaves of the trees on top. everything feels perfect right now. but the mood was too sombre to match this atmosphere 

the woman began petting her building belly 

"he will hate you know"

old bu just scoffed at that 

"let him I don't need him to love or like I just need him to be ready"

"he will hate her too," the woman said with the worry apparent in her voice 

old bu paused at that 

"I will make sure he never finds out my girl"

"but can't you tell him he is a nice boy he will help if he knows I am sure of that "

"no" old bu practically jumped up 

"you will do no such thing he is too soft right now to survive out in the world"

" I need to beat the softness out of him I need him strong focused and ruthless before I send him out"

"ruthless," the woman asked in shock 

"no ruthless man will take care of a baby father, you will destroy her chances.......

" shut up," old bu said his voice filled with power 

" I know what I am doing I don't need you to tell me" with that he took a wooden walking stick and began marching down the sandhill 

soon he was gone 

the woman angrily stomped her foot shaking the sandhill

"strip old geezer ruining the future of my daughter"

"I will need to do something," she said looking at the sky 

...............…...............................................

In a dark stone room 

two figures shrouded in darkness were huddled together  at the edge of a pool 

they were both intently staring into the water of the pool 

"He killed him," one of the figures said in disbelief 

it was an enchanting deep youthful feminine voice 

but the voice did not match the mouth it came from because the mouth was the face of an old crone 

"good kid" another deeply disturbing voice echoed 

it sounded as if two people were speaking from the same mouth 

"you approve," the old woman asked 

"We highly approve," the priest said in a high pitched voice 

"I don't believe this the child is being corrupted how can you approve"

" We approve because the child will learn to survive by doing so he will grow and learn"

the old women looked at the priest in shock 

" I will not let this continue"

the woman began chanting as the shadows around them shimmered 

the priest realised his staff and banged it to the ground

the ground shook and grey thick vines speculated from the ground and entangled the old woman 

"U shall not interfere," he said in a 

 menacing yet calm tone, his body turned towards the shadow which was slowly turning into a figure. the person's figure began morphing into a form that resembled a human but had snake-like appendages for limbs; its face was that of a beast as it morphed into someone who appeared to be a young male.

"Priest you have gone mad"

" We are already mad"

"Please let me help him "

"none shall interfere with his growth he needs this "

the woman began to song uncontrollably 

"you will regret this one day"

she said with tears running down her  face

the priest nodded 

"we will regret torturing him but if we do not do this we will regret his death"

the priest began to cry as he watched David falling to the ground 

he then threw a pebble into the pool of water 

disintegrating the image of the young boy

"but don't woody observer"

"The shadows shall not hurt she shall not kill him we will not allow them to destroy him"

"We promise this on our lives"

the priest then raised his staff and the shadows engulfed him as he disappeared 

leaving the old woman crying and sobbing on the floor installed in grey thick vines