Crimson Blade (Crimson Series Book 1)

by K. L. O Johnson

  I regard the sight of the dragon and felt the power it wields. A majic circle forms around its mouth and that’s the cue for us to move. Asashin and I turn our heels and ran. Asashin begins to fly and I continue to ran not exactly remembering how to fly. It’s been a while. Asashin holds out his hand and my hand wraps around his, he pulls me into the air, in time, so that the flames from the dragon licks the ends of the of my heels. We soar into the air and bloodthirsty dragons soon surround us.

  The sight of it was scary, their sharp teeth gleam under the midday sun, their scales dance slickly against the wind while their wings powerfully flap through the air and towards the remains of the giant. It’s a shame I didn’t know his name; I could had given closure to his parents. Even though, they might had me for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Depending on when, I’d reach them. “That’s a lot of dragons,” I whisper, feeling the air of the raging winds brush around me.

  They leap onto the carcass of the giant and begin devouring him. Though the strangest part is, the dragons didn’t go around us, instead, they fly into us—or begin attacking us. Asashin dives towards the ground, aiming to lose the dragons soaring behind us. Several pitch fireballs from their energetic majic circles that surround their snouts. “Damn.” I hear Asashin curse. Barely.

  “In there!” I point, calling over the storming winds.

  There’s a cave in the distance, small enough for us to fit into but too small for the dragons. It’s carved into the mountainside and I felt Asashin twist and turn in the air as we avoid the forest of trees.

  The short distance from the cave was giving me a sense of security and peace. The problem with this was that the dragons, swarm around and block our path. I saw passed the flock and saw that several smaller dragons sit around the edge of the cave. “How did they know?” I question.

  “Telepathy. They must had caught wind of our thoughts.” Asashin declares.

  There’s this dangerous aura in the air and I know it’s Altair’s lingering presence and I wondered at the same time if it’s because of his lingering presence, the dragons are acting the way they are.

  Being surrounded doesn’t help us at all.

  There’s something in the air and I saw the dragons line up and fire. Asashin twists around and takes the blazing impact. He screams in pain and we fall to the ground. Fearing I’d lose him, I wrap my hands around his head and hold him while we fall head first to the ground. The closer we get the more I begin to believe that the dragons will roast us alive. Fire from anything else couldn’t harm us but a dragon’s fire. Their fire burns and scorches our scales. Sometimes the damage was unrepairable even by our technological advances.

  We hit the ground hard. A crater forms and I push Asashin from me and watch as the dragons fly towards us. Their majic circles activate and I shield Asashin’s unconscious body from the flames. I fear the impact. Though when the flames rage around us, I notice that I was not burning. Instead, the fire was absorbed into my body and I saw it shift beneath my scales almost as if it were swimming in an ocean.

  The dragons of different sizes and shapes surround us.

  I felt this undeniable fear rush through me. I hear the fear in Dante’s voice and I look up to saw Catalana and Dante fall towards us and land on the ground beside me, creating semi-craters beneath their heeled feet. The dragons sit tall and stare at the sight.

  The air surrounding us was dangerous.

  Too dangerous for comfort. It reminded me of something from a war zone. Then again, was this what it was . . .a war zone?

  In the eyes of the dragons we are food, I couldn’t quite understand what it was that makes the dragons act the way they do. Until, I eventually realise, it’s not Asashin they’re after . . .but rather—me. I didn’t know why or the reason but they soon attack and my hunch was confirmed.

  Their target was me.

  Several, latch their jaws around my forearms and legs. I scream out in pain—dragons are the only beings on the planet that could harm us—the rest could be done by fortix. I hear the others call out to me but it’s too late an explosion erupts and the dragon are tossed aside. I felt heat radiate through my body and soon enough—my hands are flaming in fire. Majic circles are wrapped around the bottom of my hands and shift when my palms shift. So when I hold my hands out as I do now—I saw the majic circles move to face the dragons. “Sweet,” I smirk. “Time to rock.”

  The dragons launch themselves at me once again and I butterfly flip out of the way, my feet catching fire. I kick them away and saw that my power was much stronger—as was my strength. Several more dragons fly towards me and I elbow one in the face—fire wraps around my elbow and burns the dragon who screeches out in agony.

  “Dante!” I hear Catalana call, “Follow Kal. Use your element.”

  “On it.” I hear Dante reply. I soon saw ice puncture the chests of the impending dragons. Soon enough, the dragons begin to fall one by one. I saw Catalana ran, her arms are concealed in water and she whips all the dragons that come to her, slashing their chests wide open. I felt Asashin’s energy levels rise and notice he’s waking up as he pulls himself to his feet as we all fight to keep the dragons from tearing him to shreds, even though they’re after me. They won’t hesitate to attack and devour an unarmed man.

  I roll over my shoulder and kneel beside Asashin. “You okay?”

  “My head was killing me but other than that I was okay.” He takes in the sight around him and his eyes are dark. “Where was he?”

  “Gone.”

  “Shit.”

  “I know,” I said and stand. I hold my hands out and fire erupts from my hands and soars towards the dragons. They fly away from the fire while several throw fireballs back at me. I didn’t know how but my body acted on its own. I fluidly flung aside flip in the air with no hands, catching the fireball and sending it back to one dragon, I land on the ground and sweep, fire flares along the earth and several dragons take to the air.

  “You remember!” Asashin cries over the beating wings of the dragons.

  “Barely!” I reply. Another fireball was thrown towards me and I dive out of the way and send an axe kick into the air, fire fumes from my feet and towards the dragons. “This was so cool,” I said and realise I was panting and my muscles ache. I take a moment to catch my breath.

  My grandmother, was beside me, in an instant, “Kal?”

  “Grandma.” I managed and felt as though I was about to collapse.

  “Dante! Asashin!” she calls, “We need to retreat!” Catalana wraps my arm around her shoulders and heaves me to my feet. Something which I was grateful for.

  “But I was having so much fun.” Asashin proclaims until he glanceds over my shoulder and takes in my condition. Asashin I notice gathers his energy and Earth slides up from the ground causing all the dragons to move out of the way. We make a break for it once Catalana hands me over to Dante who insists on carrying me in his arms. Asashin cuts down all other dragons that threaten to attack us while the empress fights to protect Dante. Once we’re far from the dragons we hide under the roots of a fallen tree. “You’re always pushing yourself aren’t you?” That’s rhetorical. I could tell.

  I said nothing.

  “And because of that . . .look at what happened,” Asashin announced.

  Still, I said nothing.

  “Leave her alone, Asashin.” my grandmother growls. Dante remains silent, his eyes never leave me and mine never leave my left arm. The design of the surrounding dragon was pulsing but I didn’t notice it until several moments later when I scream out in agony. I hear the others scream out in pain, the attacks from the dragons are now taking its effect.

  Pain sears through me, I felt it scorch and blister against my scales. My throat burns as I hear my voice ricochet above and around me. Bouncing off the cave walls as does everyone else’s. It isn’t until later that the pain subsides. We all lie on the cold stone ground, motionless. That’s the power of the dragons; their attacks will harm us during a battle and after. I
hear something—footfalls in the distance.

  It hauntingly approaches us.

  I saw them but from what I saw, it’s nothing other than big black silver blurry figures. A hand reaches out for me and before I know it. Darkness consumes me and the pain becomes nothing but a memory.

  *.*.*

  I wake with a start. I hear the sound of beeping unsure what it was but all I know was that it reminds me of those monitors on Earth. The ones that monitor your heart beat. I glanced to the left of me and saw it built into the wall. The room was silent and stagnant. There would be times when I could hear my blood pumping through my ears. Fluttering gently in time with my heart. I regard the surrounding sight, feeling strong enough; I force myself slowly out of bed.

  As I do, I notice the painting at the far end of my room. There was a woman sitting in a chair beside a vase of blue flowers, her skin was golden brown. Her eyes are bright blue and her hair was a pale silver. Her lips are crimson and glossy and I recognise the four claw marks gracing her features, two on each side of her high cheekbones.

  She’s a noble.

  Her blue gown flows around her, sitting nicely. While her armour lines her body and I saw on her forearm that she has resting in her lap was the mark of the Nindo family. She’s a woman from the Negati Islands, betrothed to the house of the Nindo.

  My mother.

  “Mum.” I longingly whisper.

  I hear voices outside my door and I saunter towards it. Pushing open the door and peeking through the gap, I saw two guards walk away from my room. Whispering a conversation, they obviously didn’t want anyone to hear. I slip outside my room and realise the ground was cool beneath my feet. I glanced down.

  Skin. I saw I was in my idol form. I must had used up a lot of energy to cause a degeneration of my Nefaliem form. It’s something that happens to Nefaliem Hybrids and that’s what I am. A hybrid, not Nefaliem not even Human. “Why does my body had to be so weird?” I whisper and wander down the halls.

  As I saunter down the halls, I pass many open breezeways and stumble upon luscious rich gardens, surrounding beautiful marble fountains. Marble graced the entire castle except for the ground. I could tell I was in the castle by the way this balcony over looks Central Citadel. “My lady.” I hear a familiar voice quip.

  Glancing over my shoulder I saw Eva. “You should be resting. Your injuries-” I hold up my hand.

  “I’m often injured. This isn’t something new.” I said. “I’m pretty tough to handle the amount of beatings I’ve had.” Eva smiles.

  “You are tough.” Eva clears her throat. “Sorry, that was uncalled for.”

  I smirk at her uneasiness, “It’s okay.” I glanced around, “Where did you come from?”

  “From around the corner. I was on my way to your room when I found out you had disappeared,” she confesses.I recognise that there’s this menace in the air, I could sense it but I was also aware that Altair was out there. Somewhere. Causing all kinds of trouble. That’s something I know for a fact, I could never let it go. He’s out there—ruining lives. That’s not something I could let happen. Though, I was aware I was in no condition to do anything about it.

  Not right now.

  There was a darkness in this world that I could fathom, it’s out there somewhere and it’ll be my job in the future to hunt it down and remove it from existence. Though, I wondered , was it even possible to remove darkness where there was light after all a shadow was darkness—just in a different form.

  There’s nothing but darkness surrounding me. I didn’t know why; I just know that it’s out there. “My lady?” Eva questions. I pull my gaze from the distant ocean horizon.

  “Yes?”

  “You’ve spaced out for quite some time. was everything okay?” she presses.

  I shake my head, “No everything was not alright.” I confess, “But it’s something I had to learn to deal with—on my own. If things get too hard for me, I’ll be sure to tell you.”

  “Promise?” Eva questions, going above and beyond what was required and expected of her.

  “I promise. I’ll be heading back to bed now.” I turn my heel and do as I said, heading straight to my room, I climb under the covers and allow the somnolence of the night to devour me.

  When I wake the next morning, I rose to the rigorous sound of booming. As I jump in my bed, I saw my windows are black. The ground shakes under the shattering sound of an attack. My door was thrown open and there was Dante with a woman. I’ve never met her but the close proximity she’s standing to Dante tells me everything I need to know. That two-timing scoundrel. I think.

  “Kal. We need to move. We’re under attack.” he ushers, and I brush passed him and the woman who insists on giving me daggers. If she’s not careful, I will do something I may regret.

  “By what?” I demand.

  “Dragons.” he declares.

  “How?”

  “They followed the recovery team through the portal. Nerelda was servely injured because of them.” the stranger informs.

  I turn my heel and sprint down the hall, one thing on my mind. “Where’s my grandmother?”

  “She’s in the war room.”

  “Where’s the war room?” I demand.

  I force open the door and it crashes against the wall. Everyone in the room looks at me with distaste but I didn’t care. My grandmother was the only family I had left and I am not losing her.

  “Grandmother.” I enquire.

  “Yes.” she saids as I enter and walk passed many men and women who regard me with resentment. It’s not acceptable for a young uncoroneted Nindo member to enter the war room without the proper clearance. I confidently enter the room without caring. I had the power to wipe everyone out but with my grandmother in the room—it just may be a little more difficult as she so far was the strongest in our family until I regain my true power. I confidently enter the room without caring. I had the power to wipe the lot of them out but with my grandmother in the room—it just may be a little more difficult as she so far was the strongest in our family until I regain my true power.

  I confidently enter the room without caring. I had the power to wipe the lot of them out but with my grandmother in the room—it just may be a little more difficult as she so far was the strongest in our family until I regain my true power.

  The thought of it alone annoys me. I mean seriously? Varden gets kidnapped, the Emperor and Empress of this world then gets assassinated and to top it off we’re under attack. How much more of this could one person take? And if all of this has to do with the Dark Cartel—they’re dead.

  There’s no doubt in my mind that this group of people would put me on a humiliating display for the whole planet to saw. “What do you want child?” the old man enquires.

  “Have you not heard what’s going on?” I demand, glaring back at him. With his long silver beard and silver hair he reminds me of an emperor, with his fine blue gold and red throbs, colours of the royal advisory council. His blue eyes lock onto mine and I glare back.

  “We know it’s the exact reason as to why we are having this meeting.”

  “Could your meeting be any slower. People are dying outside!” I growl and point past the door. “Couldn’t you smell the blood in the air?”

  “I could and it’s because of that our meeting will continue. It’s better to sacrifice a few to save many.”

  “You did not just said that.”

  He falls silent.

  “You’re a monster.” I turn my heel and leave calling over my shoulder, “If you won’t do anything then I will.” I felt my energy increase-my power to transition will come into play shortly. Though, pain ricochets through me and I fall to my knees.

  The pain was excruciating and in that I couldn’t help thinking about that fight with the dragons. Then I remembered, the dragons in the distance flew in a particular pattern, only if I could remember what type of pattern then I would understand. “What day was it?” I asked Eva.

  She’s shocked
but confused.

  “It’s Suronday.” she saids. Our calendar was different to the Earth calendar, something which was the Gregorian calendar, it became universal after the twenty-first century. I had to think about her answer for a moment or two, as my mind was so use to the Earth calendar of Monday, Tuesday; etcetera. The Nefelian calendar known as Gusthough it was known to had eight days instead of seven with longer hours. So that means, today, was the last day of the week not the start.

  “When does the starlight festival finish?” I frantically question as I leap to my feet and grasp her shoulders.

  Eva was quiet and calmly removes my hands, “The starlight festival finished five days ago.”

  “How long had I been out?” I demand.

  “Two weeks and three days.”

  “So who’s the champion?” I question, strongly feeling something’s wrong. Eva’s quiet. “Who’s the new champion? Did Dante keep his title?”

  She’s silent for a moment before softly declaring, “It’s Altair.”

  I felt my muscles glaze over in shock. “Al—tair?” I managed.

  She gravely nods.

  I growl wondered ing, “How could this be? He’s banished.”

  “He’s still a Nefaliem and as far as the rules allow—anyone was allowed to participate.” she whispers, “But it wasn’t a game or a fair match. He slaughtered them all, ascertaining the power of Liquan—the sister sword to Prevail and Muthana the sister shield to both weapons.” I freeze. Having one weapon was bad enough but ascertaining one plus its sister shield—the wielders power will increase tenfold.

  I felt the council members plus my grandmother exit the room and huddle around me—no doubt picking up on my imminent stress. “Kal.” I hear my grandmother said as she places a hand on my shoulder. I swipe it away.

  “No!” I growl, “He’s a monster. didn’t you remember what he did? To me? To us?”