“How dare you?” Boltrick said, and Aadi knew by his tone that Boltrick was incensed with rage. “I am an all-powerful being. Who do you think you are?”
“A simple man who will fight if he has to.”
Boltrick made a sound as if he were spitting, though no liquid came out. “Well, I am a man who rules with fear and power!” He reached for his half-destroyed robe and pulled it away, tossing it to the ground.
What is that? A shocked Aadi thought. Boltrick’s entire body consisted of hard, silver bone. There was no human skin or hair to be seen. Dark lines zigzagged across his chest, legs, and arms.
The necromancer’s head jerked wildly as an ashy smoke protruded out of the holes at the center of his face. The smoke drifted quickly forward.
Aadi shifted to a defensive position. The smoke flowed all around him, limiting his visibility. He shook his head, smiling to himself as he felt the attack attempting to breach his defenses. Obviously, his opponent didn’t know that his armor protected him against any aerial attacks. He also had no need for physical visibility. His ability to read energies meant he was never blind.
Sure enough, Boltrick moved in with a sword attack. Aadi stood in place, feigning being paralyzed by the smoke. At the last possible second, he moved to the side. Boltrick shot past him. Aadi threw a punch; at the same time he ordered a block of rock into Boltrick’s chest.
Both attacks landed, though the result was not what Aadi had expected.
The necromancer remained in one piece, his eyes burning with vengeance. “I will not be stopped by you. You hear me? Never!” His voice was erratic now as he stuttered his manic words. “I will kill you and get my revenge against Xe—”
Aadi held up his hands calmly. “Don’t bother informing me who you have a death wish against. It is of no importance to me.”
“Why you insolent—”
“I wasn’t done speaking.” For a moment Aadi did not move, as he let Boltrick take in the seriousness of his words. “Surrender now and I will let you live as a prisoner.”
“The great Boltrick is no one’s prisoner!” He brought his swords over his head and rushed at Aadi.
I’ll take that as a no. He knew that with a regular sword, there was no way he could cut into Boltrick’s hardened bone. But he had a plan for that. He wielded his earth energy into his sword, infusing it to make it one hundred times more powerful than any regular weapon.
Boltrick brought his weapons down. Aadi didn’t bother to parry. His sword arched from the ground to the top, leaving a magnificent golden wave behind it.
Aadi felt a slight tug, and then nothing, as the weapon easily ripped through Boltrick. His body crashed to the ground, clanking as it fell.
Breathing heavily, he dissolved his armor and looked down at the man who had caused so much grief in Va’siel. The necromancer now lay in two different parts. Half of his chest and legs to one side and the other side crumpled in a mangled heap. A twisted expression of shock and agony remained on his face, a constant reminder of the pain he’d endured in his last seconds alive.
Suddenly, he felt someone embrace him from his side. It was Ishani. She ran her hands though his hair as she planted kiss after kiss on his face. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I was so scared.”
“You were scared?” said Aadi, finally feeling fully relieved. He had actually done it. “I was terrified for you.”
Their lips met as they shared one long kiss. Off in the distance, the rumble of the creature’s battle died out. They broke apart and headed toward the giants.
“Well done, Dharati,” said Aadi as his worm snaked her way behind him. He ran his hand over her rocky skin. “Are you hurt?” A stern shake from his companion was all the answer he needed. She was tired, but unharmed. “Go rest now, girl. I’ll be sure to visit you soon with some food.” Dharati screeched excitedly and dug her hole into the ground. Seconds later, she was already miles away, no doubt heading toward a resting place.
“What’s going on, Ghora?” asked Aadi. At first he hadn’t noticed it. But now that things had calmed down a bit, he sensed a void in the air. Even though Boltrick was no more, the elements had still not fully returned to Va’siel.
Ghora’s gazed at Aadi with sad eyes. “Don’t you see, Golden Wielder? All twelve elements reside in me now.”
“How?” asked Aadi confused. “You had only fully taken earth?”
“Exactly. Earth I had fully taken, by as soon as I landed on Va’siel, I began an irreversible process of taking all the energies. Fire and water are almost fully taken. The rest of the elements I only contain fragments of, but soon enough I will have them all.” The centaur stared down at the ground in obvious shame. “Killing me is the only way to stop it.”
“But you said that killing you will release all the elements too quickly and destroy the planet itself,” mumbled Ishani. Fear was registered on her face. “Are you saying that there is no way out of this?”
“I’m sorry,” Ghora said. His voice was low. “I’m tired of living, I want nothing else than to die in peace. But I never intended to bring such pain to you.”
“We can’t give up yet,” said Aadi, though he himself was having a hard time coming up with any ideas.
The cave grew quiet. Aadi ran every possible scenario in his head. The minutes trickled by, but nothing came to mind, though, he refused to simply give up. There had to be something he could do to save his planet. There was no way he was going to come this far to simply let all the energy from his planet dissipate.
“Energy!” cried Aadi, excitedly. His heart pumped with nervousness. “I got it!”
“What is it?” asked Ishani.
“I have a way of reading and controlling large amounts of energy, which means I can transfer that power out of you, Ghora. I can hold it. The energy will slowly return through Va’siel through me until the day I take my last breath. This way it will not be all at once. It is the only way.”
Ghora did not appear as excited. “I can read energies as well,” he said without much vigor. “And though I’ve never met a being with your levels of power, not even you can contain this amount of raw power.”
Aadi frowned, knowing that Ghora was right. But he wasn’t about to give up. “I will create a stone that will hold your power in place here. And when a person is born who has enough capability to control all the powers, it will transfer to them at birth.”
Ghora did not look too convinced. “Whoever inherits the powers of all twelve elements will have to have an extremely large pool of energy. It’s highly unlikely that such a being will ever be born. If that never happens, then after years the stone you create will dissolve, and your planet will be destroyed.”
Aadi knew the risks, but he also knew he no longer had a choice. “It is the only way.”
For the first time, Ghora seemed to smile. “Seeing as this is your planet, it is only fitting that you, and not I, make the choices for it. Please. Bring peace to my tired life.”
Aadi offered him a smile of gratitude. He extended his hand and created a stone, ready to engulf all the energy at once. With his other hand, he drove his sword into Ghora’s chest.
Chapter 21
The songs of birds filled the air as Aadi waited nervously atop the palace stairs. Off in the distance, he admired the green leaves on the trees as the wind blew their branches from side to side. Lush jade grass and lively bushes decorated the garden.
Even now, three months after those fateful events, he couldn’t get over how quickly Va’siel had returned to normal. The land was fertile again and food was plentiful. Though, he’d be lying if he didn’t admit that he’d rather have a bowl of mana over any other food.
“Please stand for the bride!” ordered Latiha. At once, hundreds of people in the crowd below stood at attention. They gasped with admiration as a beautiful woman, donning a long white dress made her way down a long, golden colored carpet.
Aadi’s throat went dry as he stared at Ishani. He still couldn’t believe suc
h a beautiful and kind woman wanted to spend the rest of her life with him.
She reached the top of the steps.
Aadi leaned into her ear. “You look beautiful, my love.” His voice was a bit shaky. No matter how much he tried, he simply couldn’t get rid of the jitters.
“You look very handsome yourself.” She took his hand.
They both turned to Latiha, eagerly waiting to say their vows.
~~~
A hard pat landed on his back. “Congratulations.”
He turned to find his friends Linius and Zoen staring back at him, large grins plastered on their faces.
“Thanks.” He gave them both a hard hug. Around them hundreds of people drank and ate in loud celebration. Kids ran, chasing each other. Men and woman danced to the sound of lively flutes.
“So, what will you do now that you’re tied down forever?” Zoen laughed.
Aadi stared over at his wife, who was lost in laughter as she danced with the empress. “If being with her is all I ever accomplish, I’ll die a happy man.” His heart skipped a beat.
“I’m so glad you found happiness.” Linius patted his back again.
“How about you two?” asked Aadi. “Surely you have a lot in your mind.”
Zoen grinned. “Actually, I’m thinking about heading over to Ladria. I am a mind wielder, and they are the mind capital city, after all. They have a mercenary academy called Rohad, and I’m planning on joining it.” He motioned toward Linius. “Linius here is going to stay here as the new Master Record Keeper of Missea.”
Though Aadi was sad to hear about his friend’s departure, he was also glad. Zoen needed to make his own life. As a mind wielder, he was certain he would go far in Rohad. “I’m glad for you, Zoen.” He faced his other friend. “You too, Linius.”
“Don’t say bye to me just yet.” Zoen took three glasses of wine from a passing servant. He kept a glass and handed one to each of his friends. “I’m still going to stick around for a few years. There’s much work to do to return the library to the standards Frode would have wanted.” He held his glass up in the air. “For now, let us simply celebrate life.”
“To life!” said Aadi as he took a sip of the strawberry wine. It left a sweet, tangy taste on his lips. As he lowered the glass, he caught sight of Arajakata headed his way. “Can you excuse me for a bit?”
Zoen bowed slightly. “Surely.”
Aadi walked over to Arajakata, who did not appear to be taking part in the celebration. If anything, he looked a bit more pale than usual. His lips, too, were dry and cracked.
“Are you okay?” asked Aadi, concerned for his friend.
Arajakata waved his arms. “Me? I’m fine. I think it’s just that I’m a little homesick and need to head back to my land of birth.”
“Home?” Aadi realized that he had no idea as to where Arajakata called home. He didn’t ask, though. If his friend didn’t offer the information willingly, then it must have been for a reason.
“Yes. I think I won’t be seeing these lands for quite a while.” He extended his hand. “Thank you, for everything.”
“Thank me?” Aadi asked. “You’re the one who taught me what I could be. Without you, I would still be a prisoner at Kilead Keep.”
“Trust me.” Arajakata grinned widely. “By returning the power of earth, you did more for me than you could ever have imagined.”
Aadi studied Arajakata with suspicion. There was something about his smile, something about the way he spoke that Aadi didn’t like. For the most fleeting of moments he sensed a power within him, a power that he’d not heard about in a long time.
Trying to mask his suspicion, he smiled. “Well. Make sure you visit from time to time.”
Arajakata nodded. “I will.” With those last words, he turned and walked away, disappearing into the crowd of people. As Aadi saw him go, he decided that perhaps Ishani had been right. Perhaps he was going to need to look into Arajakata’s past and see what he’d find.
~~~
Aadi’s eyes snapped open. Beside him Ishani slept quietly, her warm breath caressing his chest. It was their wedding night and, after all the celebration, no doubt she was exhausted.
He gave her a soft kiss and tiptoed out of the bed, careful not to wake her. Slowly, he walked out of the large room and onto the balcony that was attached to it. A fresh breeze blew past his shirtless chest, but he didn’t mind. He rather enjoyed the fresh air.
He gazed up at the stars, thinking of the future.
Ghora had said that perhaps a person who could control all the powers would never be born. But that was pessimistic thinking, and Aadi was an optimist. It was that attitude that had gotten him through his turbulent life, and he wasn’t going to abandon that way of thinking now. He wanted, no, he needed to believe that such a person would be born.
The energy stone had enough endurance to go on for one hundred and thirty years.
Sometime in the future: one, ten, thirty, fifty, one-hundred years from now, a savior who would master all the powers as one would be born. He only wished he’d be alive to experience such an event, to experience the power of the one true—Element Wielder.
Epilogue
The chaos wielder, Shal-Volcseck, was quiet as he entered the empty cabin that rested atop the mountain. It was so deep in the frozen planes that he doubted anyone would ever find it; nonetheless, he kept his belongings hidden.
He kicked the only furniture in the cabin, a half broken chair, aside and stomped his foot on the old wood. The panels of termite-ridden wood shattered into a dozen pieces below his heavy boot.
He reached in and took out the heavy box. The thin lid was tossed aside, revealing a dark emblem with deep red cracks spread throughout. With a satisfied grin, he took out the chaos emblem. The polished stone felt smooth in his hands. He snapped the chaos emblem on his glove. Instantly, life breathed back into his chest. His pale skin returned to a healthy pink. His muscles surged with energy.
He gazed down at the emblems he’d collected thus far. There was one for each of the basic elements, except for the brown earth emblem.
He had been a fool to not take an earth emblem when they were plentiful. He hadn’t anticipated the scorch that would befall Va’siel. He had to take drastic measures to make sure earth energy returned back to the planet. It wasn’t easy leaving his emblem behind. Pretending to be Arajakata, a powerless buffoon, proved even harder. More than once his true identity had come close to being compromised, especially when that woman, Ishani began to suspect him. He was lucky the farmer was close enough for him to possess, and therefore divert suspicion from himself.
He took a calming breath. That was no longer of importance. All that mattered was that the earth energy he’d felt coming from Kilead Keep all those years ago proved to be correct. Aadi had been the key to everything. True, unlike normal wielders, the Golden Wielder did not carry an emblem. No, he carried his energy within him. It was an ability that was rarely seen, and one of the few things that even he had no answer for.
Of course, it proved to be for the best. In the ten thousand years he’d been alive, no one had ever come close to matching his power. Armies had fallen to his abilities. But Aadi…. He hadn’t expected that the young earth wielder would become as powerful as he did in such a short amount of time. As much as he hated to admit it, a duel with the Golden Wielder had the potential of ending with himself as the vanquished one.
He sneered at the thought. He would have thought that if anyone could ever prove a match for him, it would have been a wielder of an advanced element. Space, poison, or maybe even another chaos wielder. But a basic element wielder? It was almost too much to bear.
Unimportant. Soon enough, Va’siel would be full of earth wielders. He would kill one and add their emblem to his collection. Then he would be one step closer to having an emblem of each element. And when that happened, his grand plan would finally come to fruition.
Of course, there was still the holy element that had eluded him for
centuries. He’d waited long enough for a pure-spirited individual to be born, but it seemed that such a person would never come.
That all changed, however, when he discovered the ruins of the Maki people, the same people whose scrolls foretold the future.
One of the last scrolls they’d written before their disappearance mentioned that a female holy wielder was to be born in the farming village of Asturia in one hundred years’ time.
His mouth practically watered with excitement at the thought of ramming his sword through the holy wielder’s chest and taking her emblem. If the scrolls were to be believed (they had been wrong before) he would have to wait over a century for her, but that was fine with him. He was a patient man.
He’d waited over ten thousand years; one more century would make no difference.
Soon he would have the holy wielder in his grasp. Of that, he was certain.
The Wielding Adventure continues!
Here is a sneak peek of Book One of the Void Wielder Trilogy:
Element Wielder
(Available on Amazon)
CHAPTER 1
Despite the soothing morning breeze, Falcon’s heart beat faster as his brother, Albert, marched into the large arena to commence the last fight of the day. The suffocating smell of old mold was stronger than he recalled. Of course, it had been over a year since he last set foot in the coliseum.
Falcon grabbed the long green-hilted spear and ran into the arena. “You forgot your weapon.”
“Thanks,” said Albert, turning and taking the spear. Usually his brother’s blue eyes were filled with a serene happiness, but today they sagged with sadness.
“Are you feeling well?” asked Falcon, concern in his voice. His brother always got like this on the anniversary of their parents’ murder.
Legacy Of The Golden Wielder: A Novella Prequel to the Void Wielder Trilogy Page 13