Jaival followed the order. Blue flames surrounded the area between him and his Dark Side, acting as a barrier against outside interference. Jaival looked at his other half. Its pitch blackness and demonic red eyes shot into his – an unspoken warning of the demon he could become. The moon elf readied his sword and raised his shield. The doppelganger followed suit.
Jaival pushed his lingering pain aside and struck for his dark half with a horizontal swipe. The apparition flipped over the attack and countered with an aerial vertical slash. Jaival raised his shield to block the vicious strike. That’s when he quickly came to a distinct realization. This opponent was unlike anything he ever faced. He was equally cunning, no, he was him. The fight continued in this manner. Both sides using cunning and agility to outpace the other but gradually ending up either blocking or missing by mere inches. As the fight went on, the shadowy elf seemed to draw on Jaival’s deteriorating state. The dark side was doing what Jaival did best – learning and adapting. It grew stronger each blow they traded and found new ways to outsmart Jaival, and force the moon elf to lose his ground.
“This isn’t fair, he is injured! I can’t stand by and watch this idly.” Arya asserted.
“You must, lest you wish to lose our trust.” The old one retorted.
Jaival and the apparition locked blades, the shadow half’s strength now clearly above its counterpart. Desperate, the moon elf headbutted his counterpart. The apparition stumbled a few steps back, surprised by the sudden savagery. Jaival charged again with a flurry of strikes, forcing the shadow to lose ground until it was inches away from the barrier. But the apparition was no regular opponent. It saw through Jaival’s plan, waited for an opening, and floored the moon elf, then lifted its blade high and prepared to deliver the deathblow.
There would be no taunting. No mockery. Jaival knew himself better than anyone else. He was an opportunistic combatant, and his dark side was no stranger to the trait. If it had the chance to cut him down, it would do so without second thought, and without word. And so, it did. Then something unexpected happened. Dark Jaival’s blade was held by back by the moon elf’s bare hands, inches away from his chest. Jaival slowly rose to his feet, holding the blade back from thrusting as his dark side pushed with all its strength, hellbent on stabbing him. A fire scorched in Jaival’s eyes. He was determined to best his opponent; determined to defeat the dark side.
He saw something in the apparition that unnerved him beyond abled composure. It was not only of a possible future but of a past long haunting him. All the losses, all the regret, the pain, and the missed opportunities screamed at him as he stared into those demonic eyes. The apparition did not falter. It pushed with all its might through Jaival’s blood soaked hands until finally, it drove the blade through the moon elf’s chest.
“Nooooo!” Arya howled.
Was this to be the end?
Defeated by the darkness?
A deep current surged in Jaival. He grabbed the apparition’s blade and pulled it further into his chest so the two were as close as foreheads away, then, he lifted the shadow off the ground, glaring into its hellish eyes.
“You are not me,” he gritted his teeth. “You never were!” Jaival began spinning his dark side around, gaining momentum from the whirl. “And you never will be!” he flung the apparition into the blue flames, disintegrating the dark half into ashes. The flame barrier soon died and Jaival dropped to his knees. Arya ran toward to him and held him as he coughed up blood. The sage followed.
“Well done.” The ancient one said.
“Now, be a man of your word.” Jaival spewed.
“Please, you must help us!” Arya pleaded.
The sage looked over them carefully. He was certain of the moon elf ‘s defeat, so when the hero outdid the expectations, the old wizard had no choice but to allow their passage. He held his hand toward the Starlight Blade and shot a beam of energy at it. Other projections of sages long past, materialized and joined him, holding their hands out and firing similar energies.
The barrier holding the unworthy from the Star Blade ceased, then the sages pointed their energies at Sorata’s statue. Little by little, the statue began melting. Soon, the statue was hard no longer. It became organic. It became flesh and blood. At last, the Ancient Witch was released from her seal. No longer having need of projections or manifestations of her consciousness, Sorata rose to her feet and breathed in Star World’s air.
“Mmmmm, that’s much better” The sorceress moaned with pleasure.
She looked no different from the way Jaival saw her during their first encounter.
The sages grew tense. They were uncertain if she’d attack.
“Oh, look. It’s you.” Sorata pointed her gaze at them.
“You have only been allowed out of your sleep for the greater good, Sorata.” The lead sage said.
Sorata took three, alluring steps forward, testing her long-dormant physical body.
Her beauty hadn’t faded one bit, neither had her luscious curves.
“Is that so Forseti? Have I been reawakened for more of your petty duties?”
Forseti, the lead sage, would’ve gritted his teeth if he had any left. The old sage knew it was a bad idea to awaken the old trickster.
“Sorata!” Jaival extended his arm pleadingly to the witch.
Sorata peered over to him, her heart nearly sinking when she realized his condition. She moved toward him with haste. The sages gave way as the sorceress drew closer, eyeing her with the utmost suspicion, ready to put her back in slumber if necessary. Arya’s eyes met Sorata as the witch kneeled and observed Jaival’s condition.
“Can you help him?” The princess asked.
“There is not much time, he’s drifting away quicker than I anticipated.” Sorata replied.
An eerie silence crept into the room, alerting one of the sages.
“Do you feel that?” The sage closest to the elevator asked.
The others looked her way. Indistinct screams could be heard from above.
“He’s here.” Arya bowed her head.
“Then you know what you have to do. Do not expect these old fools to intervene.” Sorata said.
Forseti wrinkled his nose underneath his headdress, annoyed by Sorata’s underhanded comment.
“It is true. Our time serving this world is over. We cannot provide you any more assistance.”
Arya nodded. She trailed her hand on Jaival’s rugged face one last time.
“Promise me you will take care of him.” she demanded.
“You have my word.” Sorata nodded.
“Arya, wait!” Jaival felt her grip slipping away.
The princess scuttled to the elevator, doing her best not to look back. She couldn’t. It was too hard.
“Arya!” Jaival shouted for her again. Sorata held him back.
The elevator doors opened and Arya walked in, taking one last glance at the moon elf.
Don’t go! Jaival’s face screamed.
Arya held her palm on the elevator’s clear-glass door.
‘When you are healed, come back to me. I will be waiting.’ She spoke into his mind.
Jaival groaned as he tried to find strength to chase her. “They will kill her! What are you doing?! Why are you allowing this!” he pleaded at Sorata and the other sages. “Let me go! I must protect her!”
Sorata waved her hand over his face. The moon elf’s eyes rolled to the back of his head and he instantly fell unconscious.
“I will take it from here.” Sorata said to the other wizards while glancing at the Starlight Blade.
***
The elevator arrived upstairs, the doors opened, and Arya walked out. There, at the entrance to the shrine, the princess was met with the slain bodies of the Verian guards. In the distance, black smoke coiled into the air as fire rampaged throughout the village of Veria. Women and children could be heard screaming and running from sinister forces. And the culprit to the madness stood before her. Baldr, Magnus, and a small Void Order party of four.
“I see you’ve found no aid from the old relics,” Baldr grumbled. “I would know. I did ask for their aid once when I was misguided into thinking they were on our side.”
Arya drew upon Pure energies to create a spectral blade from her arm.
“Again, you raise a weapon at me, even after I come to you like this – with mercy?”
“Spare me your drivel, demon. I will give no ear to it.”
Baldr scoffed. He was impressed by Arya’s bravery, even though the odds were against her.
“I have no desire to kill you, dear sister, but you are doing everything to point me in that direction. All I ask is that you tell me where the Starlight Blade is and I will show you mercy.”
Arya pointed her energy sword at Baldr.
“Death would be a better option than your mercy!”
Magnus and the other troops rallied. Baldr signaled them to stand down.
“If this is the only way,” Baldr unsheathed the Void-Star Blade. Shadow energies swirled around the mighty weapon, warning Arya what she was about to face. “Then I will do what I must.”
Both siblings angled their weapons at each other. A gust of wind swept by, howling an elegy for the two siblings. Arya couldn't help but think of Jaival one last time as she clashed with the one she used to admire.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Memories
WEEKS PASSED SINCE THE TIME in Veria. Jaival had been taken off world, back to Star Moon, in Shadow Temple where Sorata worked night and day to soothe his affliction. He lost consciousness during his stay – subject to a comatose state. Sorata had him encased in an ancient bio-tank machine, filled with liquid and wires. It was through her twilight power and the mysteries of the old technology that the hero had a chance. He slipped so far to the other side that his recovery seemed all but a fool’s hope.
Jaival…
A tender voice echoed to him during deep slumber.
Jaival…
It called again.
Wake up, you must wake up. There’s not much time left!
The liquid in the bio-tank began draining and the case slid open.
Please tell me you haven’t forgotten me. Tell me you are still out there.
Jaival slowly opened his eyes, groggy and ditzy.
Star World needs you. I need you. You have to get up.
The moon elf detached the wires from his almost nude body and slithered out of the tank. Wet and dazed, he pulled himself off the ground to observe his new surroundings. Shadow Temple seemed different. It wasn’t in ruins and covered in blood. It was partly rebuilt, clean, and with all the lights and luminescence about, alive.
What is this? Jaival wondered to himself. Where am I?
“It seems you’re awake.” Sorata called.
Jaival glanced around. She didn’t seem to be anywhere in sight.
“Hahahahaha! How adorable,” she teased. “Looking for me, are you?”
“Sorata?” Jaival slurred.
“Not quite the Shadow Temple you recall, huh? That’s because I’ve reinstated its former glory. Shadow Temple, like its counterpart on Star World – Light Temple, and the Temple of Gates were once Stargates. Use and understanding of their technology faded over the years, lest it be used by the wrong hands.”
“I don’t.” Jaival held his head.
He didn’t feel like death, the way he did back in Veria.
He felt stronger but his body was still adjusting from its long slumber.
“Yes, yes, I get it. You’re out of it. Walk through the central doors ahead of you. I’m waiting in the other room.”
Jaival followed her command. He went through the doors which automatically opened upon his arrival; a stark contrast from the way he remembered the temple’s integrity. He entered the new room, which was formerly the main hallway, now a large opening of technological wonder filled with glowing hieroglyphs and floating runes. Sorata waited for him in the middle of the chamber. Runes floated around her, acting like sight and voice projection systems to parts of the temple.
“Sorata?” Jaival weakly called to her.
The Ancient Witch faced him.
“Ah, finally. You’re awake.”
“What is this place? What happened? Where am I? Where is-”
“Slow down. You hurt my head, already. I’m sure you have questions, but first, I will need you to take this.” Sorata walked over to Jaival and offered him what looked like a red bean.
“What is this?” Jaival asked skeptically.
“Oh, you know, venin. Once you take it, your ears will explode, your bowels will know no end and your brain will be fried in seconds.”
Jaival’s mouth hanged. Are you serious woman?
“I see your sense of humor hasn’t left you,” Sorata rolled her eyes. “It’s an antidote. It’ll make you feel better.”
Jaival took the bean and was about to place it on the tip of his tongue.
“I take it I can trust you.” he eyed her for confirmation.
“I don’t know, can you, Jaival? After all, it wasn’t me who took care of you for the past two months or anything.”
Fair enough. He swallowed the bean.
Seconds later, the moon elf felt a rush from his brain to his toes. He instantly felt better.
“Wow. It worked. I feel much better.” he felt his body.
Sorata rolled her eyes and moved from him, expecting him to follow. “Let’s get you dressed.”
***
Sometime after Jaival clothed himself in ancient knight wear, a pair of comfortable trousers and a harness with shoulder pads and boots, Sorata guided him around the temple to bring him up to speed.
“Things have changed since you went under,” The witch spoke as they walked along the hallways. “Eira Citadel became a new stronghold for The Order of the Void. Anyone they haven’t killed has been either enslaved or turned into mutated abominations, forced to serve Baldr’s will.”
“What of Arya?” Jaival asked.
“Our dear Princess, or I should say, Queen of Eira, has become an unwilling servant to her brother.”
“What do you mean?”
“Baldr knows better than to kill Arya. Arya is the final key to empowering the Twin Blades. Without her, there can be no portal to Malstrife. She was the one who granted you the Avatar of Light during your second encounter with the brat prince. She has the ability to harness dimensional rifts. It’s the gift of her spirit lineage.”
“Spirit lineage?”
“You still haven’t figured it out, have you? Arya is the reincarnation of the Goddess. The same spirit that inhabited the old star traveler resides in her. That’s why she’s always had a natural inclination to this mess. She was destined to be bound by it. And you,” Sorata glared at Jaival. “Have you figured out your role in this yet?”
Jaival shrugged.
Sorata folded her arms and placed a closed hand on her chin.
“Hmm,” she thought aloud. “Tell me, do you remember an encounter before you were cursed?”
“An encounter? Like a vision? Or a dream?”
“Yes, something like that. Did any of those things happen?”
Flashes of the time Malstrife entered Jaival’s head rushed back to him.
“Yes.” he blurted.
Sorata quirked an eyebrow, expecting more.
“Yes? Okay, details then – what happened?”
“He came to me. I remember it, but very little. Malstrife came to me.”
“Ah, so he did after all, just like he did to me. And what did the Dark Lord say?”
“I don’t remember. All I remember there were all these armies across multiple worlds. They looked like they were suiting up for something big. War.”
“Hmmm.” Sorata folded her arms again, locked in deep thought.
“Sorata, what does this mean?” Jaival’s eyes widened. “I still haven’t figured it out.”
“It means you were supposed to become The Dark Lord’s chosen champion. That’s what he doe
s when he marks one worthy. It was the same thing he did to me.”
“Is that what happened to Baldr?”
Sorata scoffed.
“By the stars, no. Baldr went out looking for Malstrife. Big difference.”
“Then where does that leave me? Why has he showed me these things? Why am I drawn to Arya – why have I always been drawn to her, and the blades? Even now, I cannot help it. I want to go save her, and I want to hold the Starlight blade again.”
A distilled look came to Sorata’s face.
“Because the spirit that rests in you is the same spirit that walked with the Goddess, tens of thousands of years ago.”
Jaival turned to stone thinking on her words.
“Not very bright, are you, boy? Jaival, you are the reincarnation of the Ancient Titan. The reason you’ve always been drawn to Arya is because she’s your other half. Always has been, always will be.”
Jaival remained stumped.
Could this truly be?
“…this is also why both of you have suffered the occasional power lapse, especially Arya. Your powers have come to you both in times of great need; sporadic. You must learn to harness them once more.”
Jaival was still too caught up digesting everything Sorata was throwing at him.
“Jaival?” she noticed his distress.
“All this time. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because you weren’t ready. It would have made no difference. Look deep within. Am I telling the truth?”
Jaival halted his feelings from getting the better of him. He allowed his mind to go blank and his intuition took precedence. Memory of an ancient advent came to him, a time over 60,000 years ago. He saw himself in another likeliness. He was a mighty god that purged Star World of its corruption. Jaival felt the power of his former self calling to him. It was intoxicating just as much as it was dangerous.
“You are,” The moon elf admitted. “It’s always been there all my life. I just couldn’t accept it.”
“It’s what kept you indifferent during your time on the Moon. You were right, Jaival. You never belonged there, you belong to the stars.”
The moon elf squeezed his fists. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t want to run away to the stars. I want to save Arya.”
Xenosaber: Fury of the Stars Page 15