The Dawn of the New World

Hao Xuan's raging screams echoed back and forth in the empty valley.

The silver grass herbs trembled and many hid underground upon sensing the copious amounts of killing intent leaking from his body.

He punched the ground repeatedly shaking the entire valley down to the core.

"WHY IS EVERYTHING GOING WRONG?! HUH? WHY? WHY IS NOTHING WORKING OUT?! WHY....is there so much death..."

He wanted to cry but no tears came out. He was too angry to feel sad, his heart felt like it was doused in molten lava.

After spending a few minutes rearranging the valley floor he stood up listlessly intending to return to the settlement but a row of silver grass herbs were blocking his path.

"What? What do you want? Is there more that I need to see here?" he asked through gritted teeth.

Their leaves swayed back and forth gloomily while pointing to the very edge of the valley. In the small area where Black and White's stone heads met, there was a cavity underneath that Hao Xuan had missed.

But now that it was being lit up by a couple of herbs he could see it clearly.

"What the hell is this...?" he indignantly inquired while walking towards it. And as he came close the answer was revealed to him in the shape of an egg.

It was about the size of a chicken, pitch-black and scaly. But the top half of it was 'caved in' since he could see something moving inside.

"What is this thing?" Hao Xuan whispered while trying to get a better look. He could smell a familiar scent on it but it was very weak.

He reached in and carefully scooped out whatever was hidden inside. It felt slightly cold to the touch but completely weightless.

When Hao Xuan pulled back his eyes widened upon seeing a black flame flickering in the palm of his hand.

"Nidhora!" he exclaimed spiritedly, "This is her power, I can feel it! But...it feels a little off..."

He tried a few different things from inserting some of his own Qi into it to trying to absorb it but the only one that worked was when he tried to examine it in more detail with the spiritual sense.

The second the spiritual threads came into contact with the black flame his consciousness was pulled into it.

Hao Xuan found himself standing in a desert where even the sand was black. There was a starry sky above but most of it was blocked by Nidhora's previous form, the same as he remembered it from their first encounter.

His lips quickly arched into a toothy smile, "Nidhora! You're alive!"

Nidhora was looking right at him but her eyes barely held any light.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt? Why do you feel so weak?" asked again.

Her gargantuan maw dipped down, [You are late, human. Much time has passed]

"I know, I'm sorry. I didn't know this would happen. I would have come earlier if I could-"

[Your armies are no longer. There is no one left to govern your kingdom]

"The Orcs...yeah I just found out about them. I would have never expected Arthur's son to do something like that. But at least you are still here."

She stared at him in silence for a moment before answering, [I am not. My previous form could not handle the pressure of living in this small world for so long. It had to be discarded. I attempted to create a new form, weaker but something that could live for much longer]

"And? Did it not work?"

[No. I realized it would be pointless either way. Without your help I could not hide from my enemies. So I chose to wither away than be taken in]

[Your serpents met the same fate as me. They grew too powerful for this world and could not live here without damaging it. Choosing to fall into hibernation they waited for you but after so many years it became enduring. They faded into the ether]

"...."

"So you are-"

[Dead. This is a small fragment of my consciousness that I left here for you. After all the hard work the Orclings did, I thought you would want to know]

Once again Hao Xuan's spirits were uprooted and shredded into a million pieces.

"I know...I already know what happened," he mumbled weakly, unable to even look at her anymore.

[No, you do not. It was not as you have been told, the Orc kind did not betray you. You are being decieved. That is the reason why I summoned you here, so 'it' could not listen to our conversation]

"What...?"

***

Sometime later Hao Xuan awoke back in his body.

*Beep*

Baracus spoke up immediately.

"Changes to the host's spiritual energy have been detected."