by Ross Buzzell
Xero takes a step forwards. The proud stone stands strong beneath his footfalls. Ja follows suit. The quiet air is filled with the scrapes of their boots as each step slides into place on the stair above the last. In no time at all both of them find themselves in a massive hall of polished marble so finely hune that the entire surface behaves almost like a mirror. Ja looks around in wonder at the magnificence of the structure, a small smile forming on her face. Without a word Xero keeps his eyes on the captivating woman before him. There is something about her that enthralls him, which draws him in like a moth to the flame. An ever so slight ‘whoa’ escapes her lips. The sound echoes throughout the empty building as the Boronian night sun peers between the pillars. It fills the great hall with dancing beams of light that reflect off of the floor and illuminate the structure around them appearing as if under water.
Not taking his eyes off of her as she slowly spins through the columns of light giving off a slight giggle. As he does she turns to Xero, who has not let his gaze separate from such a graceful, beautiful being. Slowly he makes his way across the stone floor, each step echoing through the halls. He curses the sound of each footstep as it drowns out the echoes of Ja’Sanfur’s laughs. As he approaches her side she gently bites her lower lip then glances to the massive wall that stands above the two. Xero follows her gaze as he looks up at a picture carved into the stone of one of the ancient great dragon riders. After a few moments of silence with only the sound of their breath cutting through the still night air Ja speaks, her voice soft as if being carried by the wind.
“I may not ever become a Cryptea but one day I want to be on these walls. I want to have actions worthy of remembrance throughout all of time as the great dragon riders have.”
“One day Ja’Sanfur, I promise you will be on these walls and future generations as a great soldier, a wise leader and a dragon rider.”
At the proposal of being a dragon rider Ja lets out a boisterous laugh, one that echoes just as loudly as if it had come from Ja herself.
“Dragon riders are even rarer than the Cryptea. What are there five chosen for each generation?”
“That is correct. There are four in service right now which means there is a spot open for you!”
Xero gives her an agreeing nod as he takes her hand, the two slowly walking in the dimly illuminated building. Reaching back he takes her hand once more. Instinctively she wraps her fingers around his as he leads her into the bowels of the building. Xero scans the massive monolithic tributes to the greatest Boronians in history. After a few moments Xero stops. He looks back at Ja and smiles at her. Her response is one of confusion.
“What is this?”
“Look! It is an empty monolith; this is where they will put your story, right in the center of the building so that every being that passes through will see your story.”
“You think so?”
her voice is hopeful as a wide smile fills her face; the young prince looks over at her and gives her a confident nod. Something in his gut tells him that his words would one day prove true. Ja makes eye contact with Xero, although they had grown up together, played together and even flirted with each other for some time there is a look in her eye Xero had never seen before.
Xero hesitates for a moment as Ja glances away. His heart begins to pound in his chest once more as she begins to make him grow nervous. The spark is there. Neither one could deny it for at this point it had become an adolescent game of chicken to which Xero loses. Xero takes a deep breath as he uses a technique to calm himself that was taught to aid in concentration in battle. Gaining his composure he steps forward, closing the gap between the two. Without a moment’s hesitation Xero coils his right arm around the small of Ja’Sanfur’s back pulling her taunt, armored form toward him. Instinctively his free hand brushes into her hair. Gently he holds the back of her head as he presses his lips against hers tenderly yet with the vigor of youth. Without a moment’s hesitation Xero feels Ja’s arms coiled around his shoulders as she returns his passionate kiss. After a moment Xero slowly breaks the kiss, both reluctantly pulling away from each other, yet their hands finding the others; the teens give off a slight chuckle. Ja is the first to break the surprisingly not awkward silence.
“Wow… that went…”
“Better than expected?”
Xero finishes with a bit of a nervous laugh. With a smile that bares all of her teeth Ja nods in agreement with laughter exiting with her words.
“Yeah! I mean you hear horror stories and how it is supposed to be awkward and terrible for everyone involved but that was really nice.”
With an awkward pride swelling in Xero’s chest he smiles and nods to Ja who laughs and gently shoves him. Xero plays along and staggers back. Grabbing her hand the two continue their private tour of the judicial building talking about everything and nothing at the same time. The two talk as time passes. To Xero it seems to be no time at all since they arrived at the marble wonder and now the morning sun begins to rise. Having found their way to the steps along the back side of the building, they watch the sunrise together and bear witness to the silence and peace of night succumb to the bustling of everyday life. As the teleportation portals begin to open and the once empty structure begins to fill with people. Xero gives Ja a slight smile as he glances over at her.
“The day has come. I have to report to the Cryptea now and forge my armor to begin my training.”
Xero turns and begins to walk toward the portals. He feels Ja’s hand reach out and grasp his. Stopping in his tracks he turns back to the young woman he had been experiencing feelings for, for years and only just acted on them hours before he would have to leave her.
“Can I come and watch?”
her voice eager, wanting to come with him but not pleading to do so; Xero shakes his head reluctantly.
“I am sorry. This is something I have to do alone but I promise I will come and visit every opportunity that I have.”
Ja pulls on Xero’s hand and the young prince yields to her. Leaning forward he shares one more soft kiss with her before reluctantly letting go to fulfill his duties. Leaving Ja to return to the Sol’lor Academy, Xero makes his way to one of the electron displacement portals. Arriving before one whose far side appears to be the inside of the palace, Xero lets his gaze scan the outlying flaring light that emits itself from the hole in space. With a commanding tone Xero calls out.
“Xero Lorian, reporting for duty with the Cryptea. Open to the training facility.”
The voice command registers and the portal before him shifts from the palace to that of an onyx courtyard. Slowly Xero walks through, passing through what he likes to refer to as the ‘infinite void’ before exiting on the Cryptea courtyard. Xero looks around in confusion. It was tradition for a new prospect to be greeted by the entire squad, especially their commanding officers, and this is not the case.
On the far side of the courtyard Xero notices a piece of metal about half his size that is so black it seems to pull the light from around it into itself. Slowly Xero makes his way over to the element. He knew something like this could happen. His father had warned him as much. His father’s words echo in his mind as he gradually approaches the lump of Energynium. ‘Since the dawn of their formation the Cryptea never accepted anyone under a certain age. You are by far the youngest to ever be accepted into the academy. Do not expect to make friends. Do not expect them to take time training you like they do the others. You will have to watch and learn. To keep up you will have to push yourself further than you would think possible but I have faith in you my son.’
He knew that to forge Energynium into armor he was supposed to have access to the Forgers’ Armory, something that only the High Council or the leader of the Cryptea could grant access to. As the High Council was off world on a diplomatic mission and the leader of the Cryptea clearly was not coming, he knew he would have to find his own way. Xero places his hand on the black element before him, gently running his fingers over the metal. It was so smoot
h that it felt like it was not even there. Gently Xero places his hand on the sharp corner of the element; pressing down with all his might, he slides his hand across it gouging a deep laceration into the flesh of his skin.
Xero gently places his hand on the metal as he imbues it with his blood in an effort to become one with the element. With his eyes closed he stands beside the metal as his blood flows onto it only to be absorbed into it like a sponge. After standing still for what seems like hours Xero slowly raises his hand, there is not a scratch on it. As Xero pulls away from the element the daytime sun now stands high in the sky above his head. Observing the metallic properties closely, Xero notices that the Energynium is still independent of himself. Having heard of others imbuing the element through meditation and fasting as well as other methods, the warrior prince climbs on top of the metal cube. Sitting down he closes his eyes and allows his mind to go blank.
Xero sits in silence, the still air around him gently kissing his skin as it occasionally blows. He does not need to have his eyes open to know that the day sun had begun to set as the night air begins to grow brisk this high in the mountains. Having run sprinting drills with Ro for years in the mountains, the thin air causes him no trouble as his breath fogs up the space just before him. Without moving, keeping his mind clear Xero continues to sit on the stone, meditating to transfer just a fraction of him into what would be turned into his armor itself.
As the temperature begins to rise once again the morning sun begins to beat down on the prince. Willfully not absorbing the energy provided by the sun as well as not having eaten anything for over a full day. Xero’s stomach begins to hurt as a way of telling him to eat. Xero ignores it; he pushes the discomfort out as he continues to focus on pushing himself into the Energynium. This goes on for another full day, he stays motionless, he eats nothing, drinks nothing. Through an act of sheer willpower he has not moved in three full days. Slowly Xero opens his eyes. Hungry and tired he goes to push the smooth metal but feels nothing. Immediately Xero opens his eyes and looks down. To his shock he floats a few inches off of the element as waves of heat are emitted from his body and being absorbed into the Energynium. It turns the element from black to red hot.
After a brief moment of floating clarity, Xero drops onto the element, catching himself as he does. The young prince’s hands make contact and hold him from making full contact; a sizzling sound fills the air along with the stench of burning flesh assaulting his nostrils. An intense freezing pain fills his hands and with a quick shove Xero throws himself from the Energynium and onto the ground. Xero looks down at his hands which are blistered and bleeding. With a groan Xero pushes himself off of the ground and to his feet. Part of being a Cryptea was pushing through any pain and obstacle that befalls you. This is one obstacle he is not going to let stop him from fulfilling his dream. Leaning forward Xero observes the Energynium once again. He tries to move it and bend it to his will but to no avail. His ware withal was not broken but frustration builds within his gut and in a moment of agitation, Xero strikes the metal with his bare hand as hard as he can.
Xero expects pain but feels nothing. He looks at his hand curious to see if there had been nerve damage but instead part of his hand appeared to be healing. As Xero lowers his hands he notices something, something that, to his knowledge, had never been done before. The Energynium had bent under the pressure of his bare hands. A small smirk forms on Xero’s lips and without a moments hesitation he steps forward and slams his hand into the metal once more. This time part of the metal breaks away. Xero picks up the piece of metal and looks around; he sees an anvil not a few yards away from him. Setting the element onto the anvil Xero begins to slam his hand into it over and over again as if he were a living hammer. Each blow did two things: one, the metal would surrender and form gradually to his will; and two, his hands would gradually heal themselves with each decisive and powerful blow.
As Xero hammers away with his bare hands at the Energynium, he begins to absorb the energy of the sun once more, reenergizing him and temporarily staving off the pain of an empty stomach. Each powerful thrust of his fist shapes what is to become the breastplate. With his powerful fingers Xero smooths out and makes the piece of armor even before moving onto the next one. Using the rounding end of the massive, solid anvil, Xero begins to form two separate pieces to protect his shoulders. Within minutes each shoulder protector was forged. Next he broke off numerous pieces to be segmented plating for around his torso that could bend and flex with him. As the final two hunks of unforged Energynium are brought to the anvil, Xero, with unparalleled strength and dedication, forces them into the shapes of boots to be used by him.
As the armor finishes up, Xero picks up each piece and places it atop of his ‘training armor.’ In a bright wave of light the Energynium fuses with his training armor becoming one with it. This causes the Energynium to take on more of a smoky appearance than black as before. Any part of his body that was not covered by armor begins to be covered by a dancing blue light, the same color as the day sun that slithers over his body and covers any vulnerable spots before becoming solid and forming into Energynium.
Fully armored Xero looks at himself with pride, having done something that, to his knowledge, had never been done before, and it is actually working. His body is kicked back by an unknown force, jerking him from behind. Xero catches himself, scanning the area immediately to ensure that there were no threats around, to which there were none. Xero slowly realizes that he had not taken his sword off of his back.
Ever so slowly Xero reaches up. Wonder flutters within his gut as his fingers touch the hilt of his sword, which he had forgotten to remove. There was something different about it. It was slightly warm. Ever so slowly Xero pulls the blade from its cradle on his back. As he holds it out before him a wide smile forms on his lips as his old blade was given a significant upgrade. Now being fused with Energynium, Xero’s weapon was nearly indestructible. Upon further inspection, Xero notices engravings in the hilt of his blade that read ‘For brother and honor.’ A reminder to always be fair and just. As Xero clenches his fingers around the hilt of the blade, a humming noise fills the morning’s ever warming air. With a buzzing sound, a blue light flicks itself over the edge of the blade.
A wicked smile forms on Xero’s lips. The other Cryptea would have just an Energynium hilt that would project hard light constructs of whatever weapon they would imagine using. The energy was stored within them. If they were used too much or too often the weapon could drain the stored energy too much, thus leaving the Boronian vulnerable in battle. This on the other hand is different. By generating a hard light blade edge, Xero had a weapon that was just as deadly. But with only taking a fraction of the power to use, he could fight longer in combat before needing to re-charge. Even then, he still had a weapon meaning he was never defenseless.
“Power levels 100%.”
A robotic voice rings out in the courtyard. Xero ducks, rolls and with his back to a pillar looks around in anticipation of an attack.
“Who is there!”
he calls out in a demanding tone.
“Electron displacement and Energynium computer placed within the element before you forged it. I help with Cryptea tactics, energy distribution and storage and intel on anything from the Boronian archives that you might need.”
Xero pauses for a moment. Spinning his blade, he puts it back in its sheath on his back. Xero scans the area for a moment, slowly walking toward a large black door which opens with a sliding motion and a soft ‘hiss’ as he approaches.
“Armor, run a scan for Cryptea members in the facility.”
Almost instantaneously the armor responds.
“No Cryptea are currently in the facility. They are all off world on an escort mission with the High Council. Should I find you something to do?”
For a brief moment Xero looks around the black hallway illuminated only by floating glowing light. He begins to make his way down the dark hallway, his footsteps clanking and ec
hoing with each step.
“Where is the training room and tactical information stored?”
The robotic voice rings out once again, but oddly, unlike Xero’s voice, the computers does not have an echo that comes back to his sensitive ears.
“The end of the hallway on the right hand side is the entrance of the training room. There you can access all of the tactical information and training strategies offered by the Cryptea.”
Without a moment’s hesitation Xero begins to run down the hallway, his cape flapping behind him. Each of his steps offers a loud echo back to his ears as each foot strikes the ground. The corridor is long with a gradual curve, each floating light passing him faster than the last as he picks up speed. In a flash he passes the barracks which appear to have had no one live in them for years, next the laboratory, cafeteria and briefing room. In only a few moments Xero slides to a stop in front of two massive doors. He pauses for a moment; the doors do not open. He waves his hands, nothing. With a frustrated grunt Xero hops and waves his arms, still nothing. The young warrior places his hand on the door, the computer voice echoes from the sheath of his sword.