Chapter 15. The Hero's Perdition.

A few years back in time.

When Bopo and Gaena welcomed Prince Dorba back in Paso Caol, it was difficult for them to recognize him. His appearance was the same as always, but his behavior was far from usual. There was no sense of humility and empathy, which characterized him so much. Instead, there was a pedantic man with an irritable character who refused to listen advice even from the woman he loved. It was not necessary for him to give them a mission report, Bopo knew immediately that the assignment was going well, because he could feel that there was much more Goan in him. Bopo and Gaena tried to learn the ins and outs of the journey, but it was difficult to talk to Dorba, because every answer was always condescending and abrupt. Both were very surprised with this new attitude of the Prince, since he was not a person who would allow his judgment to be clouded by having more power. Gaena thought that maybe that behaviour would dissipate the next day, so she attempted to overlook it. Unfortunately, Dorba's conduct did not change in the days to come, a situation that Bopo became concerned about, given a hypothesis that he began to generate. After a long time of analysis, the old man called Gaena and told her his conclusion:

-I'm so sorry. It's all my fault. I realize that I not only made him absorb other people's Goan, but also their personality traits. I just ruined your husband.

-What are you saying, Bopo?! -Is there any way to reverse the process?

- Maybe, but we'll have to hurry. The more time he spends with those despicable personalities fluctuating within him, the more his body will assimilate them. I can only think of one logical way to reverse it, by having him get rid of all that Goan before it mixes more with his spirit. But I don't know if we can afford it, we need that power in order to stand up to Moal. 

-What do you mean we need his power? You are the original transmitter, you could replenish him immediately without problems and help him face Moal.

-It's not that simple, my power is nearing its twilight. Nowadays I can feel that Moal is more powerful than me.

Gaena was dumbfounded after hearing that confession from the original red Goan heir. 

-If Moal continues to widen the gap with others, the world will be doomed - the elder added-. There is only one other option that comes to my mind to purge that Goan inside Dorba, but it is very complicated and there is no guarantee that we will be able to achieve it in time.

-What is that option, Bopo?

-Dorba finding the blue Goan. With it he could give up all his Goan and replace it with that version that is much more powerful, managing to eliminate in the process all the negative charge that is added to his current Goan. 

-All right, we'll do anything to save him. We are leaving to try to locate the blue Goan today.

Gaena attempted to convince Dorba to initiate the search for the precious blue resource. She insisted that she was going to do it on her own anyway, so the protective instinct still present in Dorba did not allow him to leave the woman he loved to do that mission alone. They began traveling through towns and cities, with the only reference in mind being that they knew that the Goan "was located in the being where they would least expect to find it", as Rioya mentioned to Dorba before. In the midst of the journey, it was noticeable that they were no longer the perfect couple, the daily coexistence with that new man was complicated for Gaena. In his periods of lucidity, Dorba was still the more charming and loving one, but at times he had rude and inconsiderate outbursts that ended up hurting his spouse. She decided to tolerate those occasional mistreatments in order to prioritize the search for the blue Goan and thus preventing that those rudenesses would end up becoming the norm in their relationship. They visited the villages with the strangest races in the world, believing that perhaps no one would ever expect to see the blue Goan deposited in a small forest elf or in the millenary water fireflies of the mountain. They failed over and over again in their search, but instead ended up discovering something they wished they had never found. 

Inside a dormant volcano, while inspecting the area with the Goan detector that Bopo helped them build in the pocket watch, they saw the crystal glow the most radiant red color they had ever seen. The Prince's eyes brightened, realizing that an immense source of red Goan was located there, which could make him much more powerful. Gaena didn't think it was a good idea, the priority continued being finding the blue Goan, any red version discovery was not what they were looking for. Dorba ignored that, trying to find the power inside the volcano. Behind a huge boulder that he had to push to unblock the path, a giant sword radiating reddish color was lying. It was stuck to a large block of stone, as Dorba approached it, he felt an emptiness in his stomach, knowing that all the Goan was deposited in that weapon. Before he could take it, Gaena pushed her husband away, because she began hearing a message in her head that kept repeating: 

-Applied in large doses this resource proved to be the plague for us. Do not repeat our mistake, reject the temptation. 

She wanted to get out of there, not liking the warning that kept flowing in her mind. She tried to convince Dorba to retreat, but her husband's obsession with matching Moal's power did not allow him to abandon that opportunity. The Prince took the sword and began absorbing the great power contained within it. In an instant, the discharge generated began becoming unstable and got out of control, a massive beam of red aura was projected towards Dorba's abdomen, causing a terrifying wound that pierced his skin and muscles, leaving some of his viscera exposed. Gaena rushed in panic to heal it with her regenerative Goan; however, the wound was very different from any she had seen before. The progress in healing it was miniscule, she could only gradually see results. That intensive therapy was interrupted when a violent explosion erupted from the stone block behind the two of them. The dormant volcano split in half and a gigantic being broke free from the bottom of the earth.

Dorba and Gaena stood in front of a reddish, elongated, fish-tailed creature that radiated Goan from all sides. From its huge body with a slimy consistency, two large eyes stood out, which rolled to the ground making eye contact with the humans. The being then released a loud growl and tried to kill them by emanating a great flame from its mouth, Gaena carried Dorba and jumped agilely to avoid being incinerated. They survived the first attack, but were far from safe from the fury of the beast they had just awakened.  Dorba knew he was responsible for the situation, so despite his scary wound in the abdomen, he managed to stand up and was willing to fight the monster to protect Gaena and make up for his mistake. He asked her to find a shelter and decided to unleash the Goan inside him.

The Prince tore his shirt and it was possible to see four Goan amplifiers he had strapped on his body. From the first one, located on his chest, he released a layer of aura that covered his wound to protect it. He used the second, located on his back, to sprout two Goan wings, while from the amplifiers on his arms he released a shield and a sharp sword of the red resource. Dorba initiated his flight and prepared for a frontal combat against the enemy. He made slashes, jabs and accurate thrusts at the being's body, but only succeeded in momentarily separating its composition, watching the pieces fuse together once again in moments. His attacks were as useful as trying to split the water with a sword. He had to find another way to hit his opponent while having to dodge the constant flashes of red aura that sought to bring him down. 

The aggressions kept increasing in intensity and turned into powerful bolts of lightning that were becoming harder to evade. In response, the Prince created two large Goan fans in his arms and tried to dismember the creature's body, scattering it in millions of drops all over the surface. For an instant it seemed to work, but quickly the creature swarmed again and increased its fury. The hostile monster concentrated an immense power in a discharge that was about to hit Dorba's body full on, had the Prince not managed to launch a lightning bolt to counteract the projectile. With much effort, the human's charge was conquering centimeters of space; nevertheless, Dorba began sweating and soon got exhausted. At that moment, he became aware that the creature was stronger than him. It was time to plan a retreat and get Gaena safely out of there. He urged his wife to leave the place, but could not convince her because she refused to leave him behind. The Prince then tried to direct the creature's attention away from his wife. He ran to the opposite end, when suddenly the being disintegrated itself into minuscule portions to reassemble itself abruptly in front of Dorba. The Prince could only provoke a loud Goan detonation, with which he struck the creature and for the first time seemed to have generated some kind of damage in it. However, that action was not enough to repel it; the being resisted, opened its mouth and engulfed Dorba inside. Gaena lost sight of her husband and feared the worst, until she saw him come out of the creature's interior with a transversal cut that managed to split it in half, while the Prince was covered in a thick layer of Goan that managed to protect him. 

Dorba made one last effort to escape, he flew towards Gaena intending to carry her and escape from the place, but he was intercepted again and had to battle frontally against the slimy creature. The attacks went on for a few more minutes, until in a direct clash of lightnings, Dorba prevailed and expelled the reddish creature several meters back. The Prince had a short breath of relief, although he had already given everything... he fainted and became defenseless against the creature that was coming back. Horrified, Gaena made a desperate attempt to rescue him, she ran and lifted his body, carrying him as fast as she could, but realized that her speed while bearing the weight of both would not be enough. She looked to the side and found a small cliff where she decided to throw the body of her husband in order to save his life, then she made her best to move the creature away from there and tried to escape herself. 

Gaena accelerated with all her strength because she knew that she did not have the same power level as Dorba, she could not fight the reddish being that was chasing her. She sprinted swiftly, feeling the heat at her back from everything the creature was burning in its path. Her escape lasted so long that the terrain around the volcano changed and they arrived at the entrance of the forest, she placed one last hope in trying to get lost from her pursuer's sight between the leafy foliage of so many trees. She swung among them and kept changing direction, but never succeeded in distancing herself from the fiery creature. Her breath began failing her, but she did everything she could to not slow down, until she failed to hold on to a branch and fell abruptly to the ground, landing with the left side of her face on the surface. What happened next was brutal, the being reached and devoured her in instants, incinerating and eating her skin with astonishing ease. Gaena's body was unrecognizable and her life was over in a matter of seconds. Her physiognomy ended up shattered, leaving intact only the area of her face that remained in contact with the ground. Just that characteristic green eye was preserved as an evidence of the woman she once was. 

The creature kept going and ignored the insignificant human being it had just killed. The forest continued suffering the ravages of an uncontrolled being with no set course, until two unprecedented occurrences took place in the following hours. In an event that no one knew how to explain, as the monster moved much deeper into the forest, it ended up completely exploding and painting the sky in red. The second prodigious event was when at the place where Gaena was incinerated to death, the power of the regenerative Goan within her seemed to be so abnormally great that it battled to bring her back to life. Her organs healed, her existence was restored, though she was unable to rebuild her appearance. Gaena awoke disconcerted and frightened upon seeing her new physique.  She did not recognize herself and went into a mental shock that did not allow her to accept the reality. She ran away into the forest to start a new life in solitude, where she had to learn to survive practically as a wild creature, suffering attacks and wounds that ended up scarring and wounding her. She would rather live that hard life than let her Prince see her in that state.

Gaena's wish was granted, Dorba was never able to find her. When the Prince woke up and became conscious after three days, he was confused about what had happened next. He searched worriedly for Gaena everywhere, following the trail of destruction that the creature had left in its path. He ended his route in a huge circle of explosion where the red being disappeared; he hovered around the area for days hoping to have better luck, but all was in vain, failing to find her. The Prince could never forgive himself for having lost the woman of his life because of his own irresponsibility, his spirit became much darker and he completely lost the empathy and charm that always characterized him. To make matters worse, as tragedies sometimes tend to come doubly, soon after, Dorba learned about the death of his great friend Rioya at the hands of Fyrod, who was ultimately recruited by Moal's forces. Dorba redirected all his anger and sadness into one single goal, defeating Moal no matter what it took.