With my senses maskeded, I was a little handicapped. Eventually, I arrive at the two large campsites, which makes up an even larger camp. “Mizreth,” I call.
“Yes, my lady.”
“Energy Signature count.” I proclaim.
“On it.” Mizreth declares.
Even as he rushes through the protocols and all the tiny codes, his answer comes back as quick as it left. “There’s three thousand four hundred and twenty-three soldiers—both male and female.”
“Should I be merciful?” I question.
Mizreth laughs, “Not a chance.” In my camouflage mode, I was indestructible. Though, I had no idea how to produce the camouflage mode in my Nefaliem form—instead, I rely solely on this suit which was pretty sad. I creep down the slope of land and sneak into the camp, to carry out my plan. Three bombs are timed and set ready to go off. I swipe my PCP on my forearm and watch as the camp blows up here, there and on the far side.
Several die while many rush out of their tents or from their posts, away from the reigning explosions. Once the detonations die down—the surviving men and women work faithfully to hunt me down. I slip past the tents and head towards the far end where I saw the largest tent at the far end of the second camp. Inside, I know will be the commander of this large battalion. So instead, I slip inside the tent and watch as several other men are positioned around a table—I could pick out the commander by a single glanced. “We’ll need the front line here,” the commander comments and moves a wooden man across the large map laid out on the table. “The second line will need to be further back to ensure the enemy doesn’t slip through our defences.”
Too late, I think.
With a nod of the commander’s head, the men disappear while the commander motions to follow after them only to stop and sniff the air. I cautiously regard him, aware that his nose may be a little more sensitive than some humans. As a result, I know I had to be a bit more careful and because of this I had to make sure that I make it out of here alive, after all, my people depend on me. “I know you’re in here,” he grumbles with a toothy smile. “I could smell you.”
No, he couldn’t, I think. He’s only a Spartan. I know you’re bluffing.
“Come out, come out where ever you are.” he sings.
I roll my eyes, that’s so lame.
“Commander!” a man calls, he pops into the tent and rushes in once he saws the Commander. “There’s a line of soldiers at the far east side of the ravine.”
“What?” he questions. “How many?”
“Five.” The lieutenant declares. I could tell he’s a lieutenant by the rank on his left arm, he carries a wide round bronze shield on his left hand and a sword at his waist.
The Commander laughs. “Five puny little creatures—we are Spartans. Do you think any race could defeat us?”
“That’s the thing, one the scouts were able to get close enough and recognise their uniform.” the lieutenant utters, swallowing he continues, “And the uniform they wear isn’t from just any race.”
“What race?” the Commander questions as he turns over his shoulder to eye his second in command.
“The Nefaliem, sir.” the Lieutenant declares.
He picks up a two-way and saids, “Battle stations, Code red.” He storms out of the tenant with the Lieutenant at his heels. As they rush from the tent, I take my time and examine the tent, sawing something at the opposite end.
Outside of the tent on the far side of the hill stands Dante, Shika, Zeanna, Asashin and of course Volvomich. They’re ready to fight—ready to take out whoever needs to be taken out. They stand proud and tall before the Spartan forces on approach. “There they are!” the commander yells. All of the men line up and eventually with a sinister smile he whispers, “Take them out.”
I rush from the tent, my helmet tuning into the frequency of the Sibyl nearby. Several men and women rush towards my allies as they haste towards the Spartan soldiers. It isn’t even a match, Dante, Asashin and the others fly through the swarming crowd. Several may take them on but I was surprised—their power truly was terrifying once sawn at this level and the problem with this was that I could tell they’re holding back. I rush towards the commander where he sits at the back of the line. I felt my camouflage mode ran out. I rush into the back of the line and beginning striking down anyone who gets in my way; a roundhouse here, spin back kick there followed by a tornado kick to knock the spear that a man on a horse attempted to stab me with.
There’s nothing as dangerous as the battle of this pre-war. In it, I was both deadly and alive—I couldn’t explain it but I could also understand why I was like that at this very moment. I couldn’t help it then as I mount a horse, I rush through the soldiers. Several soldiers rush out of the way—others are trampled by my horse. I leap from my horse and push the commander from his. We roll along the ground and I saw that the commander rapidly crawls to his feet, his red Spartan cloak sits around his shoulders and sways in the wind.
I hastily pull myself to my feet and bring up my fists at the same time as the commander does—we both know what’s going to go down and we both know that it’s going to be a close one. “Bring it princess. Show me what you’ve got.” He quirks a small smile.
How did he know who I was? I shockingly think.
It’s a dangerous fate we face as soldiers and yet it’s the most thrilling. There’s nothing else I’d rather be than a knight. Even though he knew my true identity—I know it won’t waver me. “I’m rather pleased you know who I am.” I tease, “Not every man knowsthat—well not ones that hang around the royal family.”
“I’m a man of many talents.” he smiles.
“Good.” I said, “Show me.” He lunges at me and pulls out his long broadsword. The blade comes down on me and I bring up my forearm guards to protect my head. I push it from me and he continues to swing his sword while I dodge the sharp blade. I backflip away from him and watch as he stabs the weapon into the ground of where I was. He pulls the blade from the ground and chases after me.
He swings his blade from the right, I block. He swings his blade from the left, I block. He swings the blade at me once more and this time, I block it with both wrists before stepping in and slamming the back of my hand with his skull. He stumbles back as blood pools down the side of his face. “You forget,” I said aware he’s going to fall unconscious, I did strike him in the temple after all. “I’m a Nefaliem. I was a lot stronger than I look.” I proudly said with hands on my hips.
I notice that the lieutenant saws what has happened to the commander. “Retreat!” he calls. The men quickly fall back and I let them take their wounded comrade with them. Once they disappear from sight and return back to their camp—I notice several more men and women all of whom are unconscious lay at our feet.
“What did you guys do?” I asked once they’ve moved over to me.
“Nothing much—,” Dante saids.
“—just showed them who’s boss.” Zeanna puts in with a smile, leaving Dante a little unhappy. She later apologises and shrugs, “like she didn’t know”.
“Spartan camps had been piling up everywhere.” Asashin begins, “They’re on the side of the Dark Cartel. We had no choice but to deal with them—after all, this was our home and no one’s going to invade it and survive on our clock.” Those are brave bold words. Asashin. I think with a smile. He loves his home as much as I do.
“Well anyway,” Volvomich declares, “Whoever it is—whatever it is. It will not last—this was our home—our land and our people they’re fighting. No matter what nation they’re from or what part of the world. We must work together to save as much of our home, preserve as much of our culture and protect as many people as possible.”
“That’s great and all,” I begin, “But what’s stopping them from tossing another meteorite on our planet.”
“To be honest, I didn’t know.” Volvomich declares.
“Maybe we should find out their plans before we start making confident remarks,�
� Shika announced, eyeing Volvomich very carefully who shrugs at her statement. Shika shakes her head and sighs, “Perhaps we should start by picking up that commander you so heavenly knocked from his horse and interrogate him. The lesser soldiers wouldn’t had a clue as to what the Gratticould and the other members of the Dark Cartel are planning.”
My mind starts to tick, “That may be a good idea.” I said, beginning to think a little more deeply about this plan. I had to make sure to seal my mind off otherwise the others will no doubt read my mind. “Alright, we’ll wait until nightfall, then we’ll strike.”
Nightfall quickly approaches, leaving us stalking the camp. As we enter the surrounding area of the forest. I notice Volvomich leads us. With a few given orders, we surround the camp and the enemy forces remain unknown to our presence. Within the shadows, we hide waiting for our prey. I felt the presence of a line being connected and because of that, I hear Volvomich’s next words through my earpiece. “It’s time.” he proclaims. I nod and like that Asashin beside me moves closer to the camp, making sure to stay within the lines of the shadows stretched along the tall grass.
There are many soldiers on patrol and because of this, it makes it a little more difficult to break through their line of security. Asashin, however, has plans of his own, he summons his dragon and I watch as it transforms from a dragon to a black panther, with pale blue eyes. “Alright boy, it’s time to play,” Asashin whispers as he pats his head.
The panther moves through the long grass and I find it hard to face what happens next. The panther leaps high into the air and slices the throat of one man before biting the ankle of a nearby soldier. Rifles fire at the panther, which I notice, was too quick for their rounds. “By the heaven,” I whisper in surprise.
“That’s Mizako. The dragon of the South.” Asashin declares as we watch the panther tear apart the men like an animal but cunningly like a dragon. The dragon transforms into another animal, this time, a gorilla. It picks up one of the men and tosses him into the trio of men. There’s a big commotion going on and I saw that Mizako takes the rest of the soldiers’ attention. “Let’s go.” Asashin declares.
I follow after him aware that I’ll need to be careful once we head into the camp but I also know that I could also kick butt when the need arises. “Okay,” I said as I follow after him. We enter the campsite and we make our way to the commander’s tent once more.
Asashin pulls out a dagger and slips into his ‘camo’ mode—his invisibility mode. We enter the camp, stealthily. I regard the interior was empty and I sense something here. “Do you felt that?” I question.
“Yeah.” Asashin declares, “It feels like a Codex of Innocence.”
“What could they possibly want with a Codex?” I wondered out loud.
“Probably the same as everyone else who possesses it.” Asashin affirms, “Power.”
“Why does it always come down to that?” I question.
“Simple, everyone craves what they didn’t have.”
I plant my hands on my hips, “I didn’t crave anything.”
Asashin rolls his eyes, “That’s because you had it already.”
Asashin searches the tent and I stand staring after him, “Oh yeah,” I said and begin to search for the Codex. Finding what we needed to find we exited the tent and glancedd at each other with a single nod, we went our separate ways. As I ran, I notice that the sight before me becomes blurrier and blurrier. There’s something strange about this sight and I was fearfully aware that I was being pulled into Paranella—the world that borders Hell.
There are demons in this world that had nothing but death crawling from their fingertips. As the world around me, changes I saw a good hundred metres from me stands a clown. It’s not the kind of clown you’d saw at a circus—no. This one was different; this one was deadly, that much I could tell. Long white bandages cover its body while its pale face was caked and cracked. I could saw that it stands there staring at me through its long orange hair. It’s blood red eyes continue to stare at me and his lips pull themselves into an unforgettable smirk. “Lookie what the cat dragged in,” it teases. “A Nefaliem scum.”
I summon my sword.
The monster I saw it, it sways its bandaged arms back and forth almost as if it’s swaying, mimicking the ocean waves as it swats the sandy beach. “What do you want?” I question growing impatient.
“I want to dance with the champion of the Nefaliem,” he laughs. “Why else would the Jokester drag you here?”
“I’m not the champion anymore.”
“So you’ve been defeated?” he askeds.
“Not exactly.”
“Then what was it and why has your title been passed onto another?” he wondered s as he smiles. I remain silent. “Well . . . aren’t you going to answer me?”
“Do I need to—you could figure it out on your own,” I reply and he’s not happy about my response. It’s not like I care anyway whether or not he’s happy or not was none of my concern. There’s nothing more dangerous and deadly at this point in time than this demon as I was aware he’s no ordinary demon.
The ground beneath me shatters and because of this my hand automatically extends on its own. This leaves me hanging over the edge of an endless drop. “What’s the matter? Scared Princess?” he teases.
Before I could begin to pull myself up. I felt his skinny feet jab into my fingers. He stomps his feet repetitively and I begin to slip. If this were a daunt doing this I’d felt nothing but because it’s a demon—there’s no denying the pain. As I felt the pain, my fingers begin to lessen until eventually they let go and I was falling. I couldn’t help but scream as I continue to fall; I saw there’s nothing but darkness around me. And as I fall, I realise there’s no stopping. Falling headfirst doesn’t aid in my fear but before I could scream again—I stop.
I hear his laughter echo all around me and before I realise it, I saw an orange orb before me. It gives off a faint light enough so that it edges the shadows of darkness. There’s nothing but darkness surrounding me that much I could saw and because of it, I realise the danger I face isn’t as dangerous as what’s in it. There’s nothing more deadly than that orb that much I knew. As I float in mid-air I knew I tapped into my power of flight.
There’s this monster after me and before me. “I’d be careful if I were you.” the Jokester declares. “That’s not exactly an ordinary orb.” Inside of it, I saw something I never thought I’d saw—my grandmother.
“How was this possible?” I demand.
The Jokester flips in front of me and smiles as cashmere smile a smile that stretched all across his face. “It’s possible because she isn’t really dead.”
“How could that be?” I asked in shock. “I was told she died.”
“And you never askeded how did you?” he prompts with a raised brow.
“I thought you wanted to fight,” I said trying to change the topic which ultimately backfires.
“I want to fight the champion of the Nefaliem, not some woman.”
That strikes a nerve. “Some women I’ll had you know—” I was soon cut off.
“Calm your farm princess,” he saids with a small smile revealing his sharp fangs that all demons possess. His red eyes grace me and I regard the sight of my current reality right now in shock. I never thought I’d had a conversation with a demon. He glares at me, “Not all of us are bad you know!” he barks. “More often than not we like to leave Daunts, Outlanders and anyone else alone and mainly battle each other for power. However, when you guys interfere or sometimes do stupid stuff that involves calling on us. It really ticks us off. So we play the killing game.” He laughs.
“A killing game?”
“Yeah, it’s like haunting, we play a game with you guys as there was no real purpose to our existence on the Ethereal Plane—the land of the world of any planet. And because of that, we enjoy what comes our way, whether it be possession, hauntings, trapping a soul, you name it. It’s our game but there are some that didn’
t play a game—they rather kill for a distinguishable desire one that will further their status and purpose in the Underworld.”
There’s this thing in his eyes I saw, it isn’t humour I saw in his eyes instead, I saw the sadness that he suppresses. “You didn’t hunt humans do you?”
He’s quiet before declaring, “No.”
“And why was that?” I asked.
“It’s none of your damn business!” he yells, “Or do you want me to kill you now?”
“I know you won’t do that.” I said, “You’re too kind for a demon.”
“No, I was not!” he barks.
“Yes, you are,” I said and place my hand on the side of his face. “And you’re not that scary either.” I release my energy and saw that his facade was removed. Revealing a humanoid man with black scales, black hair and black eyes. With grey armour, he stands tall as a Knight.
“How did you know?” he askeds.
“You gave yourself away.” I proclaim and smile. “Saw you’re not so scary.”
“You better hurry your grandmother doesn’t had a lot of time,” he saids as he backs away from me. “You need to move quickly.”
“Why?” I asked, “Where was she?”
“Where you are, Paranella.” he declares and as soon as he does a loud shrieking sound echoes around us and I saw the Jokester pulls out his large sterling silver sword engraved in the demonic language of Heltic. “Hurry they’re here!”
“Who’s here?” I asked.
“The Custodians. Hurry Ran!” He rushes into the shadows and I glanced around. Where do I ran? I soon hear the sound of clashing steel and saw light flashes of light as the sword enchanted by energetic majic clashes with other swords of the same calibre. I regard the orb and to my surprise the surface ripples.
Crimson Blade (Crimson Series Book 1) Page 19