Leo sat up as the blue energy danced and changed around him. He looked at the Egon in awe, not fully believing the sight that was in front of him. How could a woman this beautiful and this incredible be sitting there with him? It didn’t seem possible. She was so strong and breathtaking, and he was so…meh. He half wondered if he had really died in the Forbidden Desert, and this was some version of the afterlife his mind had taken him to.
Finally, satisfied with her display, Diandra brought the energy back to her hands and then she gently returned it to the fire. The blue mingled with the dancing flames, and then quickly, it faded away, joining the fire and becoming one with it. The flames grew and danced higher, signaling its pleasure with regaining its missing part.
“…Wow,” was all Leo could say.
“Ya,” she said smiling, bashfully. “It’s pretty amazing, isn’t it? Energy is in everything. It takes different forms and has different emotions. Each type is unique and yet, is the same. It is unexplainable…yet it can be understood.”
“I think I’m starting to see what you mean,” said Leo, entranced by her. “So… ordinary angelics like Raphael and Michael can’t do that?”
Diandra shook her head, “No, they spread their abilities throughout their other eyes, so even if they only focused on the third set they wouldn’t be able to reach the ability of an Egon.”
“Could you teach me a bit about the angelics eyes?” asked Leo, trying to recall his history lessons on the subject.
Diandra looked at him, with curiosity. “You really don’t know a lot about angelics, do you?”
He shrugged and shook his head a little embarrassed. “The Royals avoided subjects that didn’t involve the ‘Glory and might of The King!’,” he said mockingly. “I know that Kahl created them, and gifted them powers. But to be honest, I have no idea what those powers are…sorry.”
Diandra smiled, “Don’t worry about it. It’s not the fault of the student when the teacher withholds information.”
“Wow,” said Leo, a bit taken aback, “That’s incredibly wise.”
Diandra looked off, her mind taking her somewhere else for a second. “It’s something my master once told me.”
“Do you miss them?” he asked gently, knowing the answer as he thought back to his own father.
Diandra was silent for a few seconds, and eventually just gave a couple slow nods as a response. Her eyes began to well with tears, thinking of the home she left. Leo moved closer to her and placed his hand gently on hers.
“I miss my family too.”
A few solitary droplets fell from her eyes and she looked at him. She took a deep breath in and then let it out, eventually finding her smile again. This time her smile, that melted Leo’s heart every time he saw it, was filled with appreciation.
“Thank you, Leo,” she said squeezing his hand tight, “You’re a good man.”
She let go of his hand and wiped away her tears, softly laughing.
“As my master would say, ‘enough of that’,” They both laughed at that, feeling the need to break the tension in the air. “So angelics…” Diandra sat back and took a moment to think before she continued. “I’m going to start from the very beginning…When Kahl found AzzaNation, there were already creatures living here. There were different species of animals, but all of them either feared Kahl or attacked him. He was isolated from all the other creatures on the planet, and he was incredibly lonely. One day, he was walking in the forbidden desert, and a demon from the Fifth Dimension attacked him. Kahl was taken off-guard, and he would have died—that is, if another creature hadn’t interfered. A large and powerful white-tailed hawk saved him, killing the demon and lending aid to Kahl when he needed it most. Kahl was so grateful, that he proclaimed the bird, along with all of its brothers and sisters, to be his guardians.”
“The white-feathered hawks made a pact with Kahl to join him and give him aid when he needed it, and to always remain on AzzaNation, as the planet’s guardians. Kahl in turn, transformed the birds into a humanoid race…the angelics. He gave them each five sets of eyes to use as their weapons. Each set was linked to a cosmic force and had its own unique abilities. The first set is their original eyes, which is what allows them to keep their wings. It is also linked with the physical realm, which helps keep the angelics strong and fast. It is believed that if an angelic cut off their wings while focusing on this set, they would either become a regular humanoid, or they might revert back to a hawk-like form.”
“Has anyone done it?” asked Leo. He glanced back up to the raven perched above them.
“Not to my knowledge. There hasn’t been a white-feathered hawk on AzzaNation for millennia. I doubt someone would choose the life of a bird over being an angelic.”
Leo smiled and gave a nod in agreement, before letting Diandra continue.
“The second set of eyes is linked with the visual plane,” Diandra continued, “It gives angelics a controlled and intensified sense of sight. Most angelics don’t train this set of eyes, so their abilities with them are very limited. However, if one were to train them—they could see through walls, see the temperature of body heat in the night. Theoretically, they could even see into someone’s body and brain.”
“Then there is the third set of eyes. These are the ones that you already know of as the energy eyes. Angelics use the third set for battle mostly, creating weapons and attacks using natural energy. The Egons—as you can imagine, were a group of angelics that believed solely in the understanding of natural energy—so they cut off their wings and chose the life of fallen. They believed in peace, and isolated themselves from the rest of the planet.”
Diandra took another moment to stare into the fire. Leo didn’t know what she was thinking, but he guessed that her people still occupied her thoughts. After all, they had chosen a life dedicated to peace and learning—instilling those values inside her. And now, she was fighting with a rebel group. It couldn’t be an easy switch to make.
“…Well, I’m glad that your people decided to join the fight,” said Leo, trying his best to reassure her of her choice. “We need all the help we can get.”
Diandra didn’t have anything to say in response. She just smiled, half-heartedly and gave a solemn nod, before continuing with her lesson.
“The fourth and fifth sets are the most powerful and the most difficult to use, let alone master. The fourth set manipulates time, and the fifth set is linked with death—specifically, the Fifth Dimension. The fourth set, while rare, has been mastered before, and the angelics who reach such a level can become a Sage—a master of time and space.”
Leo didn’t know the full extent of what a Sage could do, but his imagination took him to endless possibilities. If Sages could master time and space, then they could see the past, present, and future all at once. They could potentially travel through time and influence events, shaping the galaxy’s timeline how they saw fit. He thought that it was unlikely that they had that much control over time, but if it were true, then a Sage would have incredible power. They could change the past, work in the present and affect the future. Such a gift could not be taken lightly.
“Although like I said, the fourth and fifth sets of eyes are difficult to use. One has to be incredibly powerful—I have never heard of, or met anyone who uses them.”
“That’s not true.”
Jacob stumbled up from his bedroll, giving an exaggerated yawn.
“You know two angelics who use those eyes,” he continued, “Azrael uses the fourth set, and although he is not close to the level of a Sage, he has developed some very powerful techniques using the eyes of time.”
“That’s incredible!” exclaimed Leo. He looked forward to seeing Azrael use his powers in action someday.
“Who is the other angelic?” asked Diandra.
“Why…Michael of course. He not only uses the fifth set of eyes…he is a master of them.”
Diandra’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“You don’t mean he can ac
tually travel to the Fifth, do you?”
“Among other things, yes he can.”
“Th—That’s…Amazing!” she replied, after wrapping her head around the reality of Michael’s abilities. “I heard stories of angelics who would travel to the Fifth and attack demons in their home land—but I always assumed they were exaggerations.”
“Hold on,” interjected Leo, “What do you mean he can he travel to the Fifth Dimension?”
“Well you know that troubled and tormented souls travel there from our plane, when they die right?” Jacob asked Leo, who gave a confident nod before letting the man continue. “Michael can ride that pathway those souls take through the dimensions and end up there.”
“How can he do that?”
“You’ll have to ask him,” replied Jacob, “But apparently, that’s not even the hard part. The hard part is staying sane. Cause when a living being goes to the Fifth, they either die instantly, or eventually go mad and become a demon themselves…But here’s the craziest part of it all…Michael can not only travel to the Fifth and fight demons there—He can also bring back souls from it.”
“That’s not possible,” said Diandra flatly, “Once a soul has traveled to the afterlife, they can’t return to a living form.”
“Who said anything about them returning alive?”
“What do you mean? What else would they be if not alive?”
“Spiritual of course. I told you he can bring their souls here—I never said their bodies could make the journey.”
“That’s ridiculous! How would they do anything?”
While Jacob and Diandra argued over the semantics of Michael’s abilities, Leo felt a strange sense of danger nearby. He looked around, but he couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. He tried to dismiss his suspicion, but he couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that someone was there—watching them. As he looked around, he glanced up to the trees and noticed that the raven who had been watching over them, was now gone.
It’s probably nothing, he thought. The bird must have left to find food. Whatever these feelings were, they had to be formed from his imagination. He sighed to himself, deciding to let the matter go, but as he looked back towards his friends, he saw something move behind them. He focused in on the movement, and saw a shadow that wasn’t being cast by any of them. He could barely make out the shape, but it was there, slightly moving among the darkness. It slowly moved from the outskirts of their camp, and eventually made its way behind Diandra.
As if the shadow knew the speedster had spotted it—it reacted quickly and suddenly. The shadow looked like it was grabbing something, and at once, Leo realized what it was.
“Diandra! Duck!” Leo shouted urgently—but she was still arguing with Jacob and was too slow to respond to his warning. He anticipated this, and used his speed to jump over the fire to where she was sitting. He quickly tackled her and brought her to the ground, covering her with his body.
The speedster heard Jacob gasp and reach for his ELC pistol. A figure, in a dark cloak had appeared over Leo and Diandra. Their face was covered, but they held two sharpened blades firmly in their hands. The young speedster moved off his friend, and spun his legs, hoping to trip the mysterious person. But the figure saw Leo’s attack, and it jumped up, dodging the kick. When it came back down to the ground, one of their swords was lunging straight at Leo’s chest. The speedster quickly moved right, dodging the attack, and used his speed to land a blow across the figure’s face. The mystery person stumbled back, and they were about to retreat, when Jacob shot them with a low-powered ELC blast. The figure went limp and fell to the ground.
Leo got up and turned to help Diandra. Meanwhile, Jacob immediately ran to the assailant and disarmed them. Once they lost access to their weapons, Jacob grabbed some rope from his bag and tied it tight around the person’s wrists.
“Thanks…” said Diandra, getting back to her feet—still a little shaky.
“No problem,” said Leo, breathing heavily. He was relieved that he had managed to stop the figure’s attack in time. One second later, and Diandra could have been seriously injured…or worse.
They all moved around the mysterious person, and now that they were in the light, Leo confirmed that the attacker was a man. He wore a dark hooded cloak that covered his head, and a black mask that covered the lower part of his face, leaving only his closed eyes to be seen. Leo walked over to the man and removed his hood and mask, carefully. The man had dark grey skin which was dry and covered in scales. Besides the scales however, he had mostly human features. The major exceptions were the two horns on his head that curved back into his long dark-blue hair.
“What is he?” asked Diandra.
“No idea…He looks somewhat like a drake,” said Leo.
“His face is too human to be a drake though,” said Jacob.
“Could he be a shifter?” asked Leo, trying to figure out exactly who this man was, and what he was capable of.
“It’s possible, but I’ve never seen a shifter turn invisible before,” replied Jacob, equally dismayed and baffled.
“Well why don’t we wake him up and ask him?” asked Diandra.
Leo and Jacob exchanged a look, and they each gave a shrug, neither having a better plan. Diandra walked over to the unconscious man and placed a hand on his wound where Jacob had hit him. She gathered energy into the wound, closing it—and suddenly the man’s eyes opened. He stared at the Egon with a cold intensity. Diandra looked up at the man, after healing his wound, and was startled to see him staring at her. She got up, and quickly retreated to her friends, not saying a word. The man kept his gaze on her, not moving or trying to break the rope Jacob had restrained him with. Leo, Jacob and Diandra looked at each other in an awkward silence until finally Jacob broke it.
“Who are you?”
The man switched his gaze to Jacob and answered him directly, “Ravez.”
“Okay…Ravez. Next question…what are you?”
“Be more specific.”
“What do you mean, be more specific?”
“Do you want to know what my occupation is or what my species is?”
“…Both, I guess.”
“I am a mercenary and a feral being. I was left in the woods with no family. So, to answer your question, I do not know my species.”
“If you’re feral, how can you talk so well?” asked Diandra, now curious and gaining some empathy for the man sitting in front of her.
Ravez switched his gaze back to her, “My partner taught me. But now that I have answered your questions, I hope that you will answer mine.”
“Sure,” said Diandra. Jacob and Leo looked at her, with concern, and she shrugged, indicating that it couldn’t do any harm.
“Who are you? And I specifically mean who do you fight for? I know that you are soldiers by your equipment, but I also know that you are not from the Royal Army.”
“And how exactly do you know that?” asked Jacob.
“Well first, you just confirmed it. Second, you do not know who I am.”
“What, are you some kind of criminal?”
“Before I answer any more of your questions, you have to answer mine.”
Jacob paused. Leo could tell by the expression on the lieutenant’s face, that he was thinking carefully about whether they could trust this man. He finally looked back at Ravez, smiling, “We fight for the Brotherhood of Light.”
Ravez’s eyes lit up, and he grinned. By this man’s demeanor, Leo couldn’t tell if he was excited exactly, but it seemed to be the closest thing to any emotion the man had shown.
“So, you are rescuing Zane?”
Jacob turned to Leo and Diandra with anger and shock. Their mission had been completely classified. There was no way that a random mercenary like this could know their plan.
Ravez seemed to see this concern in Jacob’s face and quickly answered his unsaid worry. “Zane is my partner. We have been companions since we were young. I followed the prison convoy to Fort Koivisto and I
figured the Brotherhood would try to rescue him again.”
“So, why did you attack us?” asked Leo. Everything Ravez was saying was making sense, except for that fact. If Ravez was seeking allies to help him and Zane, it would make no sense to try and kill them.
Ravez immediately switched his gaze to the speedster, “I had to be sure the Brotherhood sent strong soldiers. I am glad that they did.”
“Well I am so glad that we have your approval,” said Jacob, sarcastically.
For the first time since they had been conversing with him, Ravez didn’t switch his gaze to the person talking. Instead, he kept looking straight into Leo’s eyes.
“Me too,” Ravez paused before continuing, “My plan requires you to be the best.”
Jacob laughed. “Your plan? Listen buddy, you might be friends with Zane—but I’m in charge here. What makes you think that I’m going to listen to a guy who attacked us literally minutes ago?”
“One. I am smarter than you,” said Ravez. As he stared at the group, his cloaking ability activated, and he began to disappear.
“Oh—very funny!” laughed Jacob who was getting annoyed, “Even if you cloak you can’t escape my restraints!”
“Um Jacob…the restraints have been cut,” said Leo, knowingly. He knew exactly where Ravez was, but his gut told him that they had nothing to fear. So, Leo crossed his arms, smiled to himself, and decided to see how this would play out.
“And two,” said Ravez, now appearing on a branch above the campfire. He had put his hood back on, but his mask was left down, so they could all see his face. He had a small grin, which Leo guessed was Ravez’s equivalent of a mocking laugh.
Leo also noticed, sitting on Ravez’s shoulder, was the raven that had been watching them from before. As Ravez and the bird stared down at them, Leo locked eyes with the raven once again. Just like before, he felt something special about this particular bird—a presence of some kind. A special and inquisitive mind, who surveyed the group with careful consideration.
The Chronicles of AzzaNation: Dawn of a New Age Page 18