The dragon leaned its head back from Terico a bit, surprised by the power emanating from Terico’s body. “These pests... Kill them all!”
At Ganto’s command, the twelve council members raised their daggers, split into three groups, and ran toward Borely, Kitoh, and Areo. The dragon then turned to Jujor, who wearily raised his sword and a dark blue Nexi.
Terico suddenly needed to be at four places at once. He flew to Kitoh, the one closest to the mindless council members. Terico raised the Elpis toward the four eigni and blinded them with a burst of white light. Without stopping, Terico flew on to Borely’s position, and with his sword charged with dark blue energy, Terico swung a violent wave of rushing water against the four councilors. Terico immediately flew back toward the long council table, slamming through the four blinded eigni near Kitoh in the process.
Before the four remaining councilors could reach Areo, Terico held the Elpis toward them and blasted a torrent of brown swamp material at them, stopping them dead in their tracks—and covering them so they couldn’t use a Nexi against Areo. Terico instantly turned to Jujor and shot toward him. Ganto snapped his teeth at Jujor, who stepped to the side and slammed his sword into the dragon’s right eye. Terico expected the beast to lean back, roaring in pain.
Ganto leaned his head down and bit off Jujor’s head. The dragon sank his teeth all the way to Jujor’s chest, tearing down to his heart and severing off Jujor’s left arm.
Screaming, Terico bashed his sword into the side of Ganto’s head, charging the blade with all the orange Nexi energy he could muster. The dragon still didn’t cry out in pain. Ganto thrashed his neck back and forth until he managed to throw Terico off of him.
Terico kept a firm grip on his sword, and managed to keep afloat in the air. He could feel the Nexi elements starting to erupt all throughout his body. At one moment it felt as if his organs were melting from a great oven, the next moment his insides felt frozen, and the next moment he felt wound up in vines forcing the very breath out of him. Terico fought back the torment and flew back down for the dragon. Most of the red-robed eigni were back on their feet, but so were Borely, Areo, and Kitoh—albeit shakily. Terico needed to kill Ganto immediately. This would all end with Ganto dead.
“I will find your weakness!” Terico screamed. He forced white sparks of light to emanate from his sword, powered by the lightning of the white Nexi.
Ganto turned and exhaled a gigantic ball of fire. Terico dove beneath it, then blasted straight for Ganto’s chest, his sword raised straight forward. Like a strike of lightning, Terico shot for Ganto’s heart. The sword pierced through the dragon’s scales, but Ganto still didn’t cry out in pain.
The beast clawed at Terico with his long, thin arms. Terico ripped out his sword and dodged Ganto’s attacks.
Have to kill him, Terico thought, his entire body engulfed with blinding, ravenous pain. Have to kill him now!
Screaming, he forced his sword to turn silver. Feather markings shifted rapidly within the blade, and Terico felt the jagged tips of the feathers tearing apart his insides—slitting open his esophagus, thrashing apart his intestines, scraping against his bones, clipping his muscles into pieces. His head pounding and his eyes streaming with tears, Terico sunk the silver-charged sword into the dragon’s neck.
Ganto roared, but began thrashing about once again. Before Ganto could grab Terico with his decrepit clawed hands, Terico released purple Nexi energy into his sword. The blade vibrated furiously, tearing deeper and deeper into the dragon’s neck. Terico shoved the blade left and right, in and out. The sword screeched against scales and released torrents of blood as it dug through layers of thick muscle.
Terico avoided Ganto’s swipe and continued swinging the vibrating purple sword further into the dragon’s neck. With one last burst of Elpis energy, Terico reactivated the silver Nexi power while continuing to pour purple Nexi into every jab of his blade.
His head felt like it was going to rip apart in an explosive headache, but Terico pushed his blade through the other side of Ganto’s neck. Screaming in agony, Terico swung to the right, tearing through skin, muscle, and bone. While still powering the blade with silver and purple Nexi energy, Terico swung back to the left, slicing through the rest of the gigantic dragon head.
Ganto’s severed head fell to the ground, and the rest of the dragon’s monstrous body fell to a heap behind it. The madman’s staff slid out of the dragon’s open jaw, the two Nexi stones still glowing bright.
Terico fell down as well, dropping his sword but keeping a firm grip on the Elpis stone. Though the transformation he went through had dissipated, he couldn’t stop shaking. Couldn’t get himself to stand back up. Couldn’t see. Couldn’t move on his own. Couldn’t even breathe. He could hear Borely, Areo, and Kitoh continuing to fight the eigni councilors. But why were they still fighting? With Ganto dead, they should be back to normal.
At last Terico’s blurry vision returned to normal, and though he was still trembling uncontrollably, he managed to get on his knees and grab the hilt of his sword, which was back to its normal color.
Terico looked to Areo, finding her clawing away some vines released by one of the red-robed eigni. Kitoh leaped atop the back of another one, and Borely blocked the thrust of another eigni’s dagger.
Each of the councilors dropped to the floor simultaneously, blood rushing from their mouths. They gagged on their own blood, and in seconds turned silent and still. They all simply died, seemingly for no reason at all.
The door behind Terico opened. He turned to find a tall, hooded figure in black armor stepping into the wrecked council room. The man wasn’t eigni—he was human.
“They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery,” called a familiar voice. “Though I have to say, it is amusing to see you killing others with the same skills I used to kill your parents, and everyone else in that shoddy cathedral.”
Delkol.
Terico widened his eyes and leaped to his feet. He raised his sword and gripped his Elpis fragment tight.
The man who murdered his parents, destroyed his village, and brought an end to everything good in Terico’s life. Delkol Shire stood just a few meters in front of him. The man flipped back his hood, revealing a thin, all-knowing smile. Staring at this man replayed the entire tragedy of Edellerston in Terico’s head.
It all came down to this.
“First things first,” Delkol said, raising a green Nexi stone. Vines shot across the room and into the open neck of Ganto’s dragon corpse. Terico considered running over to cut apart the vines, but within seconds they squirmed through Ganto’s insides and ripped out what Delkol was looking for. It was a small, golden Nexi stone—sometimes called path finders, thanks to their ability to lead people to what they were seeking. Terico only knew it from tales of legend.
“Perfect, perfect.” Delkol caused his vines to slide back into his green Nexi, zipping the gold one straight back to him. He clenched both Nexi stones and dropped them into his pocket. “All those eigni, and that inner Nexi energy they mentally possess and generate. From the civilians that supply the energy, to the councilors that refine the energy, and on to my puppet dictator, who never even realized I had this gold stone growing inside his body, powered by the eigni of an entire city...”
He turned to Terico and grinned, unable to contain his sheer glee in the situation. “Likewise, thank you for doing everything I’ve intended for you to do, Terico. My golden Nexi is already leading me to the remaining Elpis fragments, and in my mind I can see it as clearly as I see it now, resting right there in your clenched fist. You’ve been a very helpful boy, Terico... But your usefulness has finally ended!”
He held up an Elpis fragment, causing shifting colors of light to glow all around him.
His eyes turned entirely black, save for small white pupils—staring straight at the Elpis piece Terico held.
7
Hatred and Hope
The entire council room filled with light—a glow that c
onstantly changed color. A whirlwind engulfed the chamber, and Terico struggled to keep from falling back.
Accessing the power of his Elpis fragment, Delkol transformed into a demonic personage. His skin turned light gray, while his hair and scar turned a blinding white. His clothes and armor also changed in appearance—first they turned black, then gained thin, swirling white patterns.
It was an imposing sight, and Terico didn’t like the idea that he looked similar to this when he used his own Elpis fragment. He was going to have to access its power once more though. This was, after all, the very reason he had gone to all the effort of finding the Elpis in the first place. It was time to use its power to destroy Delkol.
It was time for Terico to have his revenge.
He forced the energy of the Elpis to flow through his body. Though it strained him to access the power again so soon, Terico wasn’t going to let himself back down now. In an instant, Terico felt his body shift back to the painful form he took when he fought off Ganto. It felt as if something was clawing away at his throat from inside, and for a couple seconds his body felt entirely drained of life, nearly sending him to his hands and knees. He barely managed to keep on his feet though, and to keep his sword gripped in his hand. Terico pointed his blade at Delkol focused all his thoughts on killing the man who destroyed everything his life had entailed.
Delkol laughed. “You can hardly even stand, and yet you wish to oppose me?”
“You killed them,” Terico said, his voice louder than he expected it would be. “My parents. You killed them right in front of me... You didn’t notice, but I was there.”
“Ah, but I did notice!” Delkol yelled. “I left you alive on purpose. Your father knew where the Elpis fragment in Edellerston was, so I thought perhaps you might know too. And if not, I knew that old man assigned to watch over you would probably help you find it. My Brotherhood was struggling to locate the Elpis there, so I decided to set up a little back-up plan... And just as I hoped, you came straight to me as soon as you obtained it! It will only be a matter of days now before I have all four pieces of the Elpis!”
Terico swung his sword at Delkol, releasing a blast of white lightning. Delkol instantly caused a barrier of earth to emerge from his Elpis and protect himself. The lightning burst the dirt wall apart, and Delkol walked toward Terico, completely unfazed by Terico’s attack.
For a second it felt as if Terico’s entire body had filled up with squirming worms, and he stumbled back from the strange, sudden torment. Before he could recover, his Elpis fragment began to burn his hand, as if Terico were gripping a white-hot coal from a fiery furnace. He screamed and nearly dropped the Elpis on instinct, but he forced himself to keep a firm grip on it. There was no way he was going to let Delkol steal it from him.
“I can make the same deal I tried to make with your father,” Delkol said, continuing to walk casually toward Terico. “Give me the Elpis, and there will be no need for me to kill you or your friends over there.”
Terico glanced back at Areo, Borely, and Kitoh, who had gathered a few meters behind him. They were in no condition to keep fighting, and really—neither was Terico. But he couldn’t just run away. He couldn’t just do nothing. Not again.
Ignoring the pain pulsing through his body, Terico ran toward Delkol. With the flick of his wrist, Delkol caused a long lance made of silver feathers to slide out of his Elpis stone. It launched at Terico, who accessed yellow energy from his Elpis to create a protective barrier around his body. The tip of the lance deflected off his forehead, and Terico swung his blade to erupt a wave of flames toward Delkol.
Delkol immediately flew upward to avoid the fire. A large blast of water shot at him, which he barely avoided. Terico turned and realized the water came from the Nexi stone in Borely’s headpiece. Delkol tilted his body and dived away from the thick jet of water, unknowingly heading straight for a formation of dirt quickly shifting into a giant hand. Delkol spun in place at the last moment and swung his silver-glowing sword through the earthen fingers encircling him. Vines from Kitoh’s Nexi stone rushed for Delkol’s feet, and for a couple seconds Delkol stumbled through them a bit before slicing them apart with silver feathers jetting out of his blade.
Terico sprinted toward Delkol again, and watched as the man struggled to keep to his feet. Delkol groaned as about a dozen silver feathers tore out of his flesh at random points, releasing tiny streams of blood to flow across the pallid floor. He was suffering from the Elpis as well.
For a second Terico felt as if his body was cracking apart like broken glass, and it surprised him that he didn’t fall straight to the ground. But he kept pushing forward, while Delkol fell into a strange, high-pitched coughing fit.
Screaming from the surge of energy emanating from his body, Terico forced his sword to glow orange, then charge with sparks of white light—just as he saw his father do. He leaped toward Delkol, flying several meters in the process, and swung his blade with all the power he could possibly contain within it.
Delkol stood straight again at the last second, his eyes entirely white and searing. A sphere of dark purple energy burst in all directions from Delkol’s Elpis, flipping all the chairs and the massive table behind him, and sending Terico flying back all the way to the far wall of the building, several meters past Ganto’s dead dragon body. The blast knocked Terico’s sword away, but he managed to keep a firm grasp on his Elpis stone. Terico fought to stand up again, but his limbs felt light, immaterial—as if his body didn’t even exist. He knew he couldn’t stop using the power of the Elpis as long as Delkol still wielded his own Elpis fragment—but Terico knew he would die if he went on much longer.
I’ll keep going, he thought. I can’t stop now. I’ll kill him, even if I have to die in the process!
Areo, Borely, and Kitoh ran to Terico’s position, while Delkol fell to his hands and knees. Delkol screamed for several seconds at a time, his body enveloped in a crackling, purple steam. Borely helped Terico to his feet, while Areo turned to Delkol and raised her tan Nexi stone.
“We have to leave,” she said. “The Brotherhood may already be over-running the city and port. You can get the Elpis from Delkol later.”
“No!” Terico screamed. “Delkol is... weakened!” He shoved Borely aside and stumbled toward Delkol, raising his Elpis as best he could. His vision turned blurry, and for a moment he felt as if he would throw up all his insides at once. Terico groaned and fell to his knees, then fell to his face before he could find the strength to move his arms forward.
No, I can’t stop here, Terico thought. I have to kill him! Now!
Terico pushed himself back to his feet, and looked up to find Delkol floating in the air again. Hundreds of silver feathers circled around Delkol continuously, as if he were surrounded by a whirlwind. Thick tendrils of purple light slid out of his Elpis stone, and pockets of loose purple energy snapped at random points around him, growing considerably louder with each crack.
“It’s no use, Terico,” Delkol said. “You may have the blood necessary to use the Elpis, but you lack the will to use it well!”
Kitoh ran past Terico, raising a staff in the air—it was the staff Ganto had used.
“Kitoh, wait!” Areo yelled.
Indigo and pink light enveloped the small boy, shrouding him completely. The mass of light shifted, growing larger and larger—a sight Terico had just witnessed when Ganto...
Just as Terico realized what was happening, he found himself staring up at a massive blue-scaled dragon—much like the one Ganto had turned into. Apparently, when the right Nexi stones were involved, an eigni could turn into such a creature. And if Kitoh was powerful enough to fend off the power that turned the rest of the city into mindless Nexi suppliers, then it made sense the boy would be capable of this kind of transformation as well.
Kitoh blew a torrent of fire at Delkol, who sent all his floating feathers rushing straight for the massive dragon. The fire breath melted away all the silver feathers, and Delkol fell back to sen
ding tendrils of the vibrating purple energy flying for Kitoh.
The dragon beat away several of the tendrils with his long, bony arms and wide, batlike wings, but Delkol produced many more tendrils, and began pummeling the giant beast with snapping strikes of energy. Kitoh roared and nearly fell back, forcing Terico to fly out of the way before the dragon would step backward onto him.
Delkol tried creating more of the violent purple energy, but floated down to the ground, dropping his sword and clenching his head with both hands. He still held on to his Elpis fragment, but yelled uncontrollably from a terrible pain infecting his mind.
Terico grabbed his sword off the ground, then rushed back through the air, flying straight for Delkol. It was too difficult to place any Nexi energy into his sword, so Terico simply swung the metal blade at Delkol. Just before Terico could connect with the man’s head, Delkol forced a large wing of silver feathers to burst out the side of his sword, blocking the attack. The wing bashed Terico in the side, knocking him back several meters.
Areo and Borely ran past Terico, sending a wave of hardened dirt and blasting a jet of water at Delkol. Flying backward, Delkol avoided the attacks, then turned toward the exit when Kitoh leaned down and released another wave of fire.
Delkol fell to the ground and ran for the exit, groaning in pain from his Elpis use. He cut off his connection to the intense power, undoing the effects of his grotesque transformation. He pocketed his Elpis fragment and ran into the hallway before Terico could get back on his feet again.
No! Terico thought, fighting to stand back up. He was exhausted—far more exhausted than he had ever felt in his life. I can’t give up... I have the Elpis!
But it was only a fragment. It wasn’t the whole thing. That was the problem, he realized. He needed more of the Elpis. The power was too difficult to control well when it was broken apart like this. That was the point. Nobody would be able to do too much damage to the world while it was still fragmented. Even Delkol struggled to use the Elpis to its full potential.
Elpis Page 17