Shudders: Retribution

Chapter 12 - The Map

Art by Emma Drew on Artstation
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     Yama angrily huffed out a breath after hearing everything (Y/N) just told him.

     There's some demon running around with the name Zankora?! The Elitists are supposed to be what Zankoku's kingdom once was?! Was this all some sort of joke?!

     After the King was put down, all of the problems should've stopped there. The majority of his kingdom despised him and wanted to be set free. But from what (Y/N) remembered during her time under their control before she escaped, the Elitists all seemed loyal. They didn't dare talk bad about Zankora and were all just as obsessed with her as she is about (Y/N). The poor girl inherited Zankoku's abilities and with the Elitists being the loyal remnants of his kingdom, it's no surprise why they want her back so badly.

     But who even was Zankora? Zankoku never had children and even if he did he would have never pass his power down to anyone. Even in death.

      Was Zankora supposed to be some sort of copycat? Trying to live on what Zankoku planned but in the form of the Elitists? The only difference is that they didn't call her the Demon Queen.

      They called her mother.

      That was all (Y/N) knew about Zankora and the Elitists from what she could remember between phasing in and out of consciousness at the time. They were a cult of demons rampaging around and attacking human communities, forcing the residents to drink that blood. Regardless if they died or not. Yama knew they were trouble but not to this magnitude.

      (Y/N) could tell how furious he was about this information. Hearing Zankora's name had awakened her mind from that dark place she was in. She clutched the strap of the duffel bag with the rifle and bullets inside. Her community wasn't the first one to be ravaged by them and certainly won't be the last...

"My love... My King..."

      The girl shook in fear from those whispers she faintly heard. So cold and raspy, like the wind in an icy cave.

"You come back to me..."

      Her body was still in the middle of transformation and it took a lot of energy from her. She was barely awake for most of the time.

      But she heard them talk. Their awful plans, their sinister laughs. It was a miracle she managed to get out when she did. But even then she doesn't know how she did it. She couldn't remember a thing about that.

"Do you remember where they kept you?" Yama spoke to which she shook her head. "I don't know..."

    They were walking over a break that stood over a creak. Yama was making sure to avoid the roads and paths they took getting here to keep the Elitists thinking but this only meant that he'll have to wing it making his way back home. It did provide him with more of a layout to later memorize in his notebook but it also meant that they'll be going in blind to certain places.

     (Y/N) thought hard to try and remember where the Elitists kept her. She remembers seeing wooden walls and feeling old straw on the ground when they forced that blood into her. But then later she remembers being kept in a dark and cold room for the rest of her memories until she woke up in that mall. She could've been anywhere.

      The only place that Yama could think of was the asylum. It's where Zankoku was based and if it's still standing there could be a chance it's where Zankora is too.

      But he wasn't planning on going back to that horrible place to check. He may want more information about those demons but he wasn't suicidal.

"If they think I'm that Zankoku guy, what if they don't stop coming after me?" Her voice trembled. "If they find us again-"