The Challenger

by Harlon Banks

  "The one who hates her lineage possesses the most sinister powers of them all! How fate loves irony."

  Sucking her teeth, Liariana left her room and headed towards the ground level with haste in her step. Stepping out into the courtyard not long afterwards and headed towards the busier section of the city. As she passed the courtyard she'd glance over at two homeless, a man and his child, giving her the stink eye. The kid tensing up and moving closer to his father with both fear and hate in his eyes. The stigma of Nightborn came even this far out into the masses. It was always an unpleasant reminder, regardless of how some organizations with Nightborn had power like the Groups or Royal Guard. Paying them nothing more than a passing glance, Liariana continued on her way.

  "That woman is going to bring us nothing but trouble. Stay away from her son." The dad whispered to his child as they got up and walked in the opposite direction. Jack was becoming more and more of a blessing every time she thought about it.

  Either way, it was time to see if her suspicions were warranted or not. That would need a bit of investigating first-hand. As she walked through the back alleys and side streets of trash, homeless and unnerving sorrow, Liariana couldn't help but feel a growing chill coming down the nape of her neck.

  Things were getting more dire every day. She hoped her growing suspicions were nothing more than that. She hoped.

  Meanwhile... Back out in the Luminous Forest...

  Jonath stayed to the shadows and moved deftly silent. Pale eyes looking around a glowing crystal forest with sharp wits and tensed senses. The slightest movements drawing his attention and the subtleties of noises thoroughly noticed. This was it; a game of capture the flag so to speak. Get the artifact and return to base without getting captured or knocked out and he won. Sounded simple enough, in Thrainry he supposed. Actually pulling that off though was a different story all together. Whatever, he didn't need to think too hard about that. Dashing through a small thicket that resembled a natural pathway as he moved forward. Eyes darting around taking in his surroundings while his other senses stayed ever ready.

  "Stay out of sight and keep moving. Melissa wanted to disappear off on her own so I guess she want to do things by herself. Fine with me." He scoffed under his breath. The farther away from her he was in a time like this the better. In case she ever decides she wants to try killing him again and blame the wildlife for it.

  ...

  "Well that's the confirmation to start hunting." Thrain stretched with arms in the air, huffing when they fell back to rest on his waist. Crystal blue eyes moving to rest on Kelgard; the spiky black-haired Nightborn calmly resting against a tree with eyes closed and apathetic demeanor. "You just going to sit there? I mean that's a good plan to just sit and wait but that's kind of defeating the purpose don't you think?" He scratched his chin looking away in thought. Kelgard not responding at first, but eventually getting around to it when he popped his neck and exhaled.

  "You talk to much, Thrain."

  Thrain chuckled amused with a shrug. Watching Kelgard casually hook his arms behind his head and slump down on his rear to take a nap. The glowing hues of the forest illuminating his visage and creating a peaceful scenery to take it easy. Crickets were chirping, owls were hooting and gentle breezes were blowing warm air all around. It was like a paradise, in a sense. Though, Thrain couldn't help but feel his partner wasn't keeping the spirit of this all in stride.

  "You uh, expecting me to do all the work?" He asked scratching the back of his head awkwardly looking behind him in the direction Melissa and Jonath started. "Because I mean, I could but uh... A bit unfair don't you think?" He quipped. Kelgard very calmly opening one eye to look his way. Crimson gaze locked on sapphire blue for a passing second.

  "You haven't seen either of them in action so I'll warn you, don't underestimate them." He said in a smooth, deep baritone that just emanated his nonchalance despite his warning. "A setting like this is perfect for that Ylrah girl. That other one also is one you can't let fool you. He's got a bit of power in him." He trailed off closing his eyes again. Thrain mulling over his words with a blink, and then giving the thumbs up.

  "Sounds like a fun challenge! I'll be sure to keep that in mind. Though, I'll probably let one slip past me to give you something to do so stay awake alright?" He chuckled and then walked into the brush with a hum to his step. Kelgard sighing, right hand moving to run through his lightly spiked hair before falling back to his sides. He didn't seem all that concerned about losing. Taking a light nap while he waited, nothing else to do.

  The stage was set, the players in motion. Only time would tell how this examination would turn out!

  First Encounter - Black Night Stalker

  The Challenger Chapter Sixty: First Encounter - Black Night Stalker

  Hoot... Hoot... Hoot...

  The forest sways with the wind, oh so gently. Shadows dancing across the ground with blotched, irregular motions when the light of the glowing crystals casted over.

  Ribbit... Ribbit... Ribbit...

  A small green frog splashes into a half circle shaped pond nestled under low brush. The wind whistles through the canopy yet again.

  Ambience all around, the full moon above so prominent with its eternal luminescence. This forest having long adapted to a life under the forever night of Kynerva. Such a beautiful and vibrant place, holding so many deadly and dangerous creatures.

  Not all of them were beasts, however.

  Melissa walked nonchalant and with no fear through the glowing crystal forwards. Along a beaten up natural pathway that curved and cut through the forest floor with gentle curves. Her arms casually swinging at her sides, left holding her Karambit knife with lax tension in a reversed grip. Cerulean blue hued gaze looking around at all the scenery, and all the shadows. Her half-hidden stare talking it all in, not hindered in the slightest despite her right eye being obscured by raven black hair. How calmly she walked in a forest brimming with creatures both large and small. Jungle predators and bandits no doubt called this place home.

  Disinterested expressions constantly painted her beautiful features while apathy saturated every step she took as she walked towards her goal. Every now and then she'd think about Jonath and her past interactions with him. He was her teammate now on this exam yet she highly doubted he could be of any use. Still, that power that she sensed back at the facility that drove her to want to kill him just to get rid of the chill she felt wasn't her being over the top. That man's energy when he released it made her...

  That gruesome image of blood painting walls while she were curled up in a corner flashed in her psyche. The images of a frightened child so unnerved to the point that she were shivering, coloring her thoughts. That dark expanse of nothingness that inked out everything else but that small corner of her home, taking over again. Blood... So much blood...

  They all began that day. Those insufferable nightmares that she experienced every single fucking night of her life. Seeing that aura Jonath had released in his fight with Kelgard, triggered an even worse onslaught of nightmares that plagued her all over again. At this rate, with how hard it was to get any sleep the past couple of days coupled with the very likely account she'd feel that energy be released again if Kelgard and Jonath fought (or Thrain in the former's place)...

  Melissa cupped her face with her right hand as she walked, chuckling ominously under her breath in grim humor. Tone low and sing-song while her eye emanated an eerie blue glow just as solemn as her gaze in color. That low, soft chuckle in dark revelation lightening up a bit more in final acceptance of it all.

  "I'm going to lose my sanity again..."

  Suddenly Melissa stopped walking, her mystic sight picked up something strange. This followed with her stare narrowing ever so slightly and her entire posture becoming visibly, yet subtly, alert. A very slight discharge of cerulean blue hued aether streaking from her left eye, right foot sweeping backwards. Staring down the path with a sharpened glare, she suddenly backstepped and vanished in a dyi
ng wisp of energy. Vanishing without a trace in a forest of night and crystals. It was already time for the first encounter to kick off, for Thrain's visage soon appeared over yonder from the pathway, strolling down the thicket and looking around attentively with crystal blue eyes. His pacing rather leisurely and his body language relaxed.

  Melissa slipped up, having allowed herself to be sensed when her attention faltered with the thought of those nightmares. Thrain finding her this fast though was a bit of a surprise. A visible look of exasperate annoyance marring her features before she'd disappeared. Simultaneously, Thrain was a bit wary that she'd managed to vanish without a trace as soon as he got near her. It felt as if she'd completely erased her presence in an instant. What a dangerous ability to have, especially in terrain so thickly shrouded with thicket and shadow. Stopping at around the same spot Melissa stood a few minutes before and looking around with wide, curious eyes, Thrain stayed motionless. Not doing anything for a full minute even. Just standing there.

  The forest looms over him, no trace of his enemy.

  Eventually, he released a swelling breath that had saturated in his lungs. Eyes closed and posture slumping momentarily in silence. This was going to be more difficult than he imagined.

  "No good... I can't even sense her even with all my attention." He mulled in thought. No wonder she was already considered a label black contender. That ability to snuff out detection even from advanced sensory abilities was something else. Though, he didn't seem to wary of an ambush. After all, he'd heard of how her fight versus Wrain went. Long as she had to attack, her presence had to be revealed. Whether she'd attack or try to slip past him and grab the artifact though was a different story. Though he couldn't help but sense something strange at the back of his neck. Sapphire eyes opening and narrowing nigh simultaneously at the air before him.

  That eerie feeling of being hunted caused the hair on his head to ruffle a bit, the mood of the air suddenly shifting. Right as this change of atmosphere put his senses on high alert Thrain suddenly swayed his head back casually. A sharp whistle of air trailed after a wickedly curved knife shaped like a scythe's blade. Melissa having went directly for his throat with her Karambit knife, her eerie blue hued eye staring up at Thrain as he snapped back with and attempted grab for her shirt not a second later. Although he only managed to grab a handful of air, the woman as quick to avoid danger as she were to attack him. Hopping backwards away from his arm that had threatened to seize her, Melissa landed on her feet with nigh zero sound. Thrain calmly lowering his hand and pulling his head back forward to level his standing posture again. His expression rather unmoved by the sudden ambush and instead bearing a slight smile of impressment.

  "You don't waste any time do you? You know if I hadn't dodged you could have literally tore out my throat and killed me in cold blood, right?" He asked with a tone that showed despite a clear attempt at murder, he wasn't all that offended by it? What a strangely calm and casual man he was. Idly dusting off his violet colored shirt and blue jeans a moment. Melissa leisurely tossing her dagger up into the air with a spiral before catching it by the hilt on its descent every time. The young woman watching him with the same nonchalance he showed her.

  "If you were to die from such a straight forward attack like that then I'd have done Min a favor by taking you out here. It'd have been an embarrassment to have you in the same league as me too." She casually insulted him with a straight face. Thrain whistling at the bite her words carried, not really bothering to respond with the same venom to his words. No instead he glanced around a moment in sudden concern. Occasionally looking her way again while he did so.

  "The silver-haired one isn't with you? I thought you two would be working as a team to reach your goal?" He asked with a furrowed brow of disbelief. Melissa still tossing and catching her dagger, half-hidden stare looking at him with a clearly unamused and monotone image. Her response coming with a few seconds of delay as if she really couldn't believe he'd bother wasting her time with such a question.

  "You know the saying of leading by example if you want to get a point across?" As she asked this in a calm yet apathetic to his answer tone, her dagger was tossed a bit higher than usual. Thrain keeping it in his peripheral but at the same time mainly focusing on Melissa. The woman continuing on with her brief commentary, her mystic eye flaring brighter in its glow very subtly with more aether.

  "It's only you and me here. I'm pretty sure Kelgard is staying at the relics side while you most likely already knew from the get go Jonath wasn't around me. I get Min thinks you two are above us and we're supposed to be vying for your approval but please..." Melissa trailed off, the next time the dagger hit her grip she threw it directly at Thrain's face with the speed of an arrow! Her physical strength was nothing to laugh at despite her modest appearance... Thrain raising his hand up, intending to catch it between his fingers right before contact with no effort until the dagger suddenly flickered light a phantom. That very subtle, almost unnoticed detail, caused him to abandon the idea of catching it and raise his guard up. However it was already too late at that point.

  The dagger vanished with a flare of dark blue energy, a seamless streak of color failing to touch Thrain's raised arms before a deep slash wound tore across his back. Blood streaking into a painted splatter over the grass and dirt, the man stumbling forward with shell-shocked eyes while Melissa' image faded away before him. Hitting the ground with a hard thud, that clean slash across his back staining his shirt s deep red as it bled. The woman appearing again in a haze on top of a tree, tossing that same bloody dagger up in the air while back rested against tree trunk. With her left foot supported by the thick branch beneath her and right casually dangling, she gazed upon the bloody man with disappointment.

  "Your first mistake is thinking you're better than me. Even if you think you aren't underestimating me I know all to well how bullshit like yours works. Whether you have that happy-go-lucky and carefree attitude because that's genuinely how you are or there's some underlying holier than thou complex you have under it all... It makes me no difference." She scoffed towards him, her eye discharging another streak of energy with a blink before she caught her knife again and simply held it. Watching his motionless body with quiet appraisal born mainly out of annoyance.

  "Don't come walking up to me like you can take me down anytime you want. And don't give me that friendly ass attitude either because I don't want to be your friend. Now get up; I know I barely managed to even hurt you." She spoke with clear disdain in her icy words. Her antagonism having a very noticeable spike all of a sudden.

  "I strongly suggest you get serious though, because if you don't you're going to have a rude awakening."

  With that said she faded away into the shadows again without a trace. Moments later, Thrain grunted as he pulled himself off the ground. The wound on his back having already begun to heal. Although his head hung a bit lower than normal and his happy attitude dampened considerably. Taking a deep breath, rolling his shoulders in silence while another gentle breeze blew his long, lavender colored ponytail in the wind... He exhaled.

  "Sorry to hear that, Melissa." He responded, tone betraying his quieter demeanor by still having that friendliness to it. Chuckling next as a hand reached up to brush through the bangs of his forehead while he gathered himself. "I want to apologise, I didn't think me just walking up to you would be seen as such an insult. I meant no harm by it, honest." He said lowering his hand to tap his chest in assurance. Shimmering blue eyes looking around vaguely at the surrounding forest while his senses returned to high alert. Times like these he were grateful for reinforcement and healing magics. That cut would have been a lot deeper had he not tempered his body before even beginning his search for the two.

  The lack of a response from Melissa told Thrain all he needed to know. She wasn't planning on coming to equal terms with him even as friendly enemies. Her goal was to take him down and continue on her way. While he knew that sneaking away would probably be much more effe
ctive and efficient of a tactical move for her. He also could in hindsight see how staying to fight him was just as effective as a plan. Calmly and slowly, kneeling enough to where his right hand would reach down to the cuff of his pants and slip under it to grab something from his sneaker. Eyes ever watching and senses always sharp for another attempted ambush.

  "However if I may so boldly deduce, I think you have a bigger goal here than just taking me down. If I recall correctly Jonath isn't much help to you against me and Kelgard, given your earlier reaction to my question on his whereabouts." He trailed off, almost hesitating to continue with his plan.

  Thrain pulled from his shoe a bizarre tool now with slow movements. It was a simple paintbrush, colored black with golden etchings across a pencil thin handle that looked to be made of a tough metal composition. The paintbrush having a black brush with a purple tinted tip that now began dripping every so often what looked like wet paint. Despite there not being any of said paint around for the Nightborn to wet his brush with. Spinning the brush through his fingers and streaking it once across his left palm, fingers tightly shut immediately afterwards and he parted lips once more.