Chapter 2

Doors came off their hinges, cupboards ripped off the wall and holes were made in drywall. He couldn't stop himself. He tried but he was an observer of his own life now, a beast driven by anger. He had no idea how long he had been at it. His knuckles were bloody and he was exhausted but he never stopped.

He destroyed the house around him until he collapsed from exhaustion. His anger wouldn't even let him pass out so he just laid there seething.

"I'm sorry this happened to you." A voice rang out and pierced through the furious haze Rex had succumb to.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this. These intruders have done something unfortunate." Rex glanced around wildly, unable to even move his head. They eventually walk into view after letting him panic for a bit. She appeared human but had coverings over her eyes the looked like tiny wings, 4 arms with all her hands clasped in front of her and a spear poking out over he left shoulder. She wore a white dress with a thin leather belt. Over top of this she wore a bronze breastplate the covered her from collar bone to waist. She stood imperiously over Rex but it was off set by the light smile she gave him.

Rex looked at her with anger filled eyes and something amounting to awe. Then he burst from the floor and lunged at her, trying to tackle her to the ground and pummel her like he had rabies.

"No child, that won't do." she gently swatted him away, sending him sprawling across the floor.

"I'm here to help you. The Lord of this dominion sent me and granted me his authority to assist just one local. And I have chosen you." She walked over to Rex who found he couldn't get up. It was like he was vacuum sealed to the ground. She placed one of her hands on his head and one on his chest. She sat there for a moment making slight adjustments to her finger placements. After a moment her brow seemed to furrow but then she smiled at Rex, "Nothing a little hard work can't fix."

The four armed woman then took a huge breath in and dragged out a dark red mist from Rex's pores. She inhaled the mist with a satisfied look. "Don't expect me to bail you out like that again. I am here as mentor not savior." She stood up over Rex and extended her lower right hand to him. He took her hand and hoisted himself up.

While Rex felt calm and completely refreshed he also felt completely ashamed of his behavior. He looked around the room now that he had his senses back and couldn't believe what he had done. Smashed pictures, no window was left untouched and his blood was everywhere. Apparently he had more than just bloody knuckles.

"Th-thanks. And sorry, I don't know what came over me." Rex mumbled and tried to look the woman in the eyes but her blindfold made it awkward. "I'm Rex."

"And I'm [[Riasha]]. Your world has changed and you must change with it Rex. These are very abnormal circumstances but the boss has let me pick a champion and I choose you. Lucky man, if I do say so myself. Any requests or questions before we get started?" Riasha looked expectant as she waited for his response.

"No?" Rex responded, genuinely not knowing where to start. He absolutely didn't trust this woman but she might be his only ticket out of this madness. "Actually," Rex looked at the stairs, feeling heavy guilt about leaving his parent's bodies upstairs. "yes. Can we bury my family first?"

Riasha let her mouth hang open, she was caught off guard by the request. She was new to this guide thing but in her vast experience prior to that, the dominions created self interested assholes who would sacrifice their own children for a glimpse at power. This was her first uninitiated world and Rex's attitude completely shocked her. Even the primitive worlds within her dominion were selfish beyond belief. The only people who would get a proper sendoff would be leaders and the extremely powerful.

"Burial isn't on the table. These people that have infested your world would use them against you eventually."

"Oh, alright. Then I guess let me say goodbye." Rex turned to go upstairs.

When he made it to the room he felt the rage begin to bubble up again. It wasn't fair this happened to them. They did nothing to deserve this. He began to tremble until a hand landed on his shoulder. His anger faded with her touch.

"It's ok Rex, that anger isn't yours yet." She looked at him through her blinders, "And I didn't say that there wasn't anything we could do. Burial is just a bad idea."

Riasha walked into the room and stopped when she saw the bodies. She wasn't shocked or horrified, just observing. She looked down between her feet and cocked her head. She knelt down and grabbed something. When she rose, between her hands was an marble that swirled with white gas.

"The puppet you killed was the one who killed your parents?"

Rex nodded. "As far as I know."

"That bone has your mark all over it, is that what you used?"

Rex nodded, "I didn't know, I was just trying to find something to..."

"It's good. Before I can help you with this and even begin to explain more about the real world, we have to make a pact."

Rex froze in place. She said she was a guide but he didn't think that there would have to be a deal. He was just hoping she would help him survive. He should have known better that to trust this thing. She wasn't from here and was clearly not human.

His anger began to resurface.

"Let me explain before you lose it again." Riasha had turned around and tilted her head while placing her bottom hands on her hips. "The non-initiated can not know about the truth of the greater universe. They have a hard time understanding the scope of the universe they think they understand. Imagine trying to explain this." She gesture to herself and then the world in general.

"The fact that you didn't freak out more when I showed up indicates that the invading energies that came with the intruders have already affected you."

Rex's stare softened slightly. "I don't want you controlling me or something. I keep my autonomy."

"Of course. I do not participate in heresy. But by connecting to me I can explain everything you need to save this place. Like why you are such an angry little guy. And what this thing is." she held up the marble. "Through me, you can connect to the true universe and to my dominion Lord. This also ties our fates together. My power is greatly constrained here but if you die, I am crippled for the rest of my life."

"What do you get out of this whole arrangement? Everything you say is about my benefit but you must get something out of it." Rex retorted with more venom than he intended. He was still having trouble controlling himself.

"I can't share that with you but I guarantee you that it is in my interest that you succeed."

Rex felt a brief moment of fear and distrust but it immediately transmuted itself into anger. He looked at the bodies laying in the room with them and the anger rose higher. He wanted to believe her but it was all so strange.

After a few minutes of Rex trying to get himself under control and consider his options, he decided to trust her. What did he have to lose? Monsters were outside, his family was gone and if Riasha wanted to she could easily kill him. "Fine. Let's do it." Rex paused "What now?"

Riasha smiled and gestured for him to go downstairs. They went to an open area in the living room, somewhere with the least debris.

"Sit and focus on my words." Riasha instructed. She sat also and clasped her bottom hands while pulling a scroll and some sort of sharp bone tool with her top. She began to chant in a language he couldn't understand and his vision began to swim. He kept his focus on her as well as he could but he started to slip away.

"Do you accept to be my Apprentice?" Riasha's voice brought him back from the edge as she held out the bone tool to him.

Rex grabbed the tool which couldn't really been called a pen and said, "Yes and do you accept to be my Master?" Rex barely managed to get out, how he knew what to say was beyond him.

"Yes. The heavens celebrate the coming of their new champion."

Rex opened his eyes to see the bone tool and scroll evaporate into a bright golden light between Riasha and him that coalesced into golden chains connecting them by the naval. Rex didn't physically feel any different but mentally he felt much more calm. He felt like the things happening around him weren't as horrific anymore.

"How do you feel?" Riasha was smiling at him. Her dress was now a light pink.

"Good. Strange. More in control."

"You are closer to truth so, you are more in control. Shall we?" Riasha held out the marble that came from the puppet Rex had killed earlier and gestured to the stairs with her head.

Rex smiled back and nodded, heading upstairs. When he walked into his parent's room and saw their bones, he wasn't shocked like before. He was actually able to feel sorrow. He sat on the bed and looked from bones on the floor to the family portrait they had on the wall.

"You know, they can still help us. You won't like it though." Riasha was staring at the bones.

"I'm not resurrecting them."

"Of course not. Time for your first lesson. Look at these two bones." She points at a pair of femurs. "This was the one you used in your mania to smash the puppet. It's your father's. This is your mother's. Can you see the difference?"

"My Dad was a big guy. So it's bigger."

Riasha shook her head. "Well, yes but you need to use your immaterial senses along with your material senses. Hold your hand out and image projecting a bubble from it. Send that bubble to the bones and command it to analyze the them."

Rex looked at her strangely and shook his head with a chuckle. He did as she suggested and it didn't change what he saw.

"Keep trying." She said with an intensity in her eyes that reminded him on the intensity he saw from drill sergeants in war movies.

Over the next hour Riasha forced Rex to train his inner senses until he finally saw what she was talking about.

When he looked at the bone now, it glowed a faint red that resonated with something within him.

"I see it."

"Good. That's you. When you used this to smash that puppet, you left your mark on it. And with this, " Riasha holds up the marble "we can make them stronger." She gave Rex a disturbing smile before she completely shifted to a sorrowful look. "I would understand if it would be too much for you. It is a bit...morbid."

It didn't seem as morbid now to Rex as it would have before the pact but it was still a bit much for him to handle. There was a feeling deep underneath the disgust. Using his parents as weapons against these things did have a nice ring to it. Sounds something like justice.

Rex ran his hands through his hair and sighed. Rubbing his eyes the heels of his palms and holding them there a moment, he nodded.

"Fine. Let's do it."

"Yes! You won't regret this Rex. I promise." Riasha picked up one femur from his mother and the imbued femur from his father and handed it to Rex. She seemed to be in a rush. "I can't do it for you but I can guide you and hand you things." She then handed him the marble. It felt cold and heavier than he expected.

"Put the bones on the bed as close to each other as you can. Now crush the marble and spread the dust as evenly as possible over the two bones."

Rex struggled to crush the marble. It didn't matter how hard he squeezed the thing, he couldn't crush it.

"Really? That's it? Where's that anger! That passion!" Riasha goaded Rex on as he struggled to crush the marble.

Rex's anger made another appearance but it felt different. It felt more focused. He tried to direct it like he did when identifying the bones and it worked. The marble began to crack and after another minute of focus it turned completely to dust.

"Now use that focus and squeeze the dust into the bones. Instead of the loose bubble you used to observe the bone, tighten the bubble as much as you can. You want it to be like you're attaching skin over it. Use your anger as fuel." Riasha was so excited about this that she was screaming. She seemed to be in a manic state.

Rex did as instructed and projected the bubble over the bones and compelled it to compress. He began to sweat and his head began to pound. He was gritting his teeth until they bled and started trembling with rage. The bubble became tighter and tighter.

Riasha stared at Rex with unmasked joy, smiling and nodding as he pushed.

Rex's arms went numb, followed by his complete collapse. He woke up 5 minutes later to Riasha standing over him again.

"I can't believe you actually did. Just a new born and you create a bound ancestral weapons. I had faith in you but you actually delivered. I knew I chose right. I mean look at them!"