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He Who Bears the Empty Crown

wesay_
7
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The average realized release rate over the past 30 days is 7 chs / week.
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Synopsis
He wakes up drenched in blood he never shed, haunted by a face he’s never seen. And the world still calls him normal. Rio Kaelen was never supposed to matter. Just another student at the Great Academy. No titles, no bloodline, no miracles. But the dreams won’t stop. A man with no name. A rainstorm that never ends. A voice whispering from the dark: “You were never meant to be here.” Strange powers start to awaken. Old gods stir in silence. And the more Rio digs the more the world starts to unravel. There was once a throne above all creation. Now it’s empty. Waiting. They say history forgets the unworthy. So why does the past keep chasing him?
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Chapter 1 - Prologue: Wake Me Not, O Nightmare

Drip.

Drip..

Drip...

Hmm? Are those water droplets that I hear….? Why is it so dark? Where am I? Last thing I remember was falling asleep in my room…., So I'm dreaming again, the same dream that I have been having. The same nightmare that has been haunting me for 16 years of my life.

Slowly the darkness that was supposedly my dream suddenly lifted itself to reveal the same old dark rain clouds above where I would lay within my dreams. But in spite of my frustration.... of this recurring dream.... no, I could not move my body like all the other times I was in this nightmare. My body refused to move, it felt weak and sluggish almost as if I was paralyzed from head-to-toe, by the looks of it, it was once again going to be a stormy night. The cold winds hit my body but oddly I didn't feel cold. No… I felt warm, with great effort I realised my own condition again and realised that I was in sea of blood that was surrounding my body I moved my eyes to locate its source and not to my surprise it was none other than me. I was laying on a pool of my own blood just like all the other times I have had this same dream.

I suddenly felt a great pain in my head, which disoriented me a little. It felt like someone had hit me. When I opened my eyes, I saw someone's foot stomping on my face again and again and again... Suddenly, the stranger struck me so hard on the head that my face landed on the blood-soaked ground. My vision was blurred, blood covered one of my eyes, but my vision was still clear enough to make out a large figure hovering above me. It was a man with a sadistic smile on his shadowed face as he continued to stomp on my head with his feet. He seemed to have spoken few words to me, parting words perhaps. I could never tell, even when I tried to read his lips, I could never hear or say anything each time this dream occurred. I could only watch as this man humiliated me and continued his seemingly never-ending assault.

 

I could feel all the hits, but what I felt wasn't pain... Instead, I felt a growing rage inside me every time this man hit me. I wanted to fight back, to defend myself, but my body wouldn't let me. I was completely at the mercy of this stranger, with no chance to escape or defend myself. My anger continued to grow like a burning fire, ready to explode, but the dream never reached that point. The dream always felt incomplete, but I couldn't see why... As the man continued to do whatever he wanted to my body, I heard more water droplets falling, and as always... It began to rain heavily, and my blood mixed with the rain, creating a horrible pool of mud around me. My vision began to blur, but I couldn't forget the smile on the man's face as he continued to kick me. I could feel my vision getting worse and I felt like I was going to pass out again.

 

Even though darkness had fallen over me, I had to ask myself why I was going through this. Who was he and why did he want to kill me so badly? More importantly, would I ever get out of this nightmare and return to safety?

That's when I heard an almost angelic voice calling to me... a voice that seemed so familiar... Suddenly I saw light in the darkness that was my nightmare, a way out perhaps? I tried desperately to reach out to that light. I could feel it's warm aura calling to me. I heard that voice again!

"Rio, are you awake?" I heard the distant voice again.

Almost there, I told myself. I can almost reach that light! That warm light and that voice calling to me.