Elpis

by Aaron McGowan

  Before the Brotherhood member could fire at Areo, Kitoh appeared from behind the building, his neck apparently healed from Augurc’s ice Nexi attack. The woman turned, but Kitoh bashed her off the building with his wing before she could fire at him. Kitoh flew from the building toward Augurc, who launched all his vines toward the dragon. Before his wings could get entangled in the vines, Kitoh diverted himself toward the many Shire soldiers continuing to force their way into the city. He released a giant blast of fire at the soldiers, breaking up their ranks and giving an opening for more Fiefs soldiers to attack.

  Borely turned back to Augurc, who still appeared unfazed despite the great deal of Nexi energy he had surely expended. The web of ice was expanding more slowly, and the icicles were not growing as far as they had before. Areo turned toward Augurc from the side, slicing her way through the web of ice shards. At the same time, Borely continued toward Augurc from the other side. To reach Augurc, he would have to break through some of the tangled ice shards. He activated the orange Nexi in his left fist and plowed his way through, keeping it powered only the slightest bit. There was just enough energy for him to punch through the ice with one long, continuous punch.

  Augurc was still bringing his vines back from his attempt to entangle Kitoh. He looked from Borely to Areo, then back to Borely—perhaps trying to decide who to attack. In an instant, a large, thick icicle emerged from Augurc’s right palm. Borely was just a few steps away.

  Without warning, Augurc turned back to Areo and thrust his spear of ice at her. Areo was faster than Augurc anticipated. She was already past his attack, and clawed up and down Augurc’s chest with two swift swipes.

  Augurc stumbled back—straight to Borely’s other fist. Borely used the energy of his right fist’s orange Nexi to power the attack, landing a solid punch into the side of Augurc’s head. Augurc took the hit and stumbled to his left, turning toward Borely in the process.

  It didn’t knock Augurc out, incredulously. The large man just took a punch powered by an orange Nexi straight to the head. To Borely’s astonishment, Augurc held his ground and looked back at Borely, his eyes utterly void of emotion. Before Borely could even react, Augurc thrust his ice spear into Borely’s chest.

  What... was all that came to Borely’s mind. He was too weak to move, too exhausted to scream. The frozen weapon remained in his body, the pain unbearable—and yet Borely could do nothing.

  “Borely!” Areo screamed. She jabbed her claws toward Augurc’s face.

  Augurc turned in time to release his hand from the icicle that grew from his palm. He stepped back and ran, clutching the deep, bleeding wounds across his torso.

  Borely fell to his knees, but Areo knelt down to keep him from collapsing. She quickly pulled the icicle out of Borely’s chest, and this time he screamed from the pain. It simply took his senses a few seconds to realize just what had happened.

  He was dying.

  The icicle had punctured a lung, and perhaps cut into his heart as well. It was difficult to tell—all Borely could feel was the unbearable pain of the deep wound, burning all the way through to his bleeding back. Areo looked over Borely’s wound, frowning deeply.

  “It’s a fatal wound... but I can still save you,” Areo said, her voice trembling. It wasn’t like her to get nervous.

  It took a few seconds for Borely to realize what Areo meant. “No. Don’t do it.”

  “This will be extremely painful,” Areo said. “And it will take a lot of effort to adjust...”

  “No! Don’t do it!”

  Areo bit into Borely’s neck once more. She sunk her fangs in and injected her blood into Borely’s body.

  Unbearable pain flooded through Borely’s entire body, as if all his blood had turned into acid. For perhaps an entire minute, Areo continued to transfer more of her blood to Borely’s body.

  He was changing. His very being was transforming from the inside. Borely screamed, visions of his past flooding his mind.

  In his mind, he was a child again. A child who lost everything all at once. His parents. His home. His way of life. His very innocence. He was a child who had to kill his own brother.

  An insane, bloodthirsty vampire.

  Borely’s vision slowly grew darker. He could see Areo lifting her head from Borely’s neck, but he could feel nothing but the agony of his transforming body.

  Areo looked down at Borely, blood dripping down the side of her mouth. For a moment Borely thought she was crying, but the moment passed quickly. Vines wrapped tight around Areo’s body all at once. She was lifted into the air, then pulled away violently, unable to move any of her limbs.

  Borely’s vision went out entirely, and his limp body fell flat against the bloody stone street. He could still hear the rage of the battlefield around him.

  “Save for my brother, you are the one person who has ever scarred my body,” Augurc said. “You will make a valuable test subject, vampire.”

  Borely wanted to curse Augurc. He wanted to curse Areo. He wanted to curse himself.

  But before he lost consciousness, a singular thought formed in the center of his mind.

  Living will be worse than dying.

  Terico stared up at Delkol, unable to move as Delkol’s demonic figure transformed further. Thick black horns emerged from Delkol’s whitened hair—a large one curved upward from the left side of his head, while a smaller one curved downward from the right side. What looked like giant teeth emerged from his shoulder guards, while his arm guards unraveled, his light gray skin forming long, jagged spikes. His armor emanated a darkness that clashed with the swirling white patterns glowing within, and a tattered silver shroud emerged from his back. In a way the strands were shaped like feathers, but the wind circling around Delkol showed they flowed more like hair.

  Delkol gazed down at Terico, his eyes entirely white. “My control of the Elpis is greater than yours. Victory against me was impossible from the very start.” He pointed his sword toward Terico’s face and filled his blade with sparking white Nexi energy. The light blinded Terico, forcing him to shut his eyes. It was too difficult to move on his own—he needed to use the Elpis to get him to move.

  His whirling mind accessed the tan Nexi energy within the Elpis. Delkol released a bolt of lightning just as Terico caused the earth beneath him to erupt. Terico flew in the air, and the lightning passed into the mass of earth he lay on. His sword lifted forward, Terico crashed into Delkol, who barely managed to avoid Terico’s blade.

  They both fell to the ground, Terico’s hand grasping Delkol’s face.

  Terico remembered one of the Nexi stones his mother used when fighting Delkol. The clear Nexi, used for transferring abilities from one person to the other. If it was impossible for Terico to reach Delkol’s level of Elpis control on his own, Terico could simply take some of that power.

  He accessed the clear Nexi energy within him and forced as much of Delkol’s power to flow into him as he could. For several seconds Terico found his mind clearing, gaining a better understanding of the Elpis. His vision improved, his limbs strengthened, and the many forms of agony flowing through his body lightened a little bit.

  I can still fight, Terico thought. And I can still kill you, Delkol. I know how you fight, and I know what you want. I will kill you!

  Screaming from the pain of the transfer, Delkol swung his sword at Terico’s side. Terico caused a thin wall of silver feathers to materialize between him and Delkol’s blade, blocking the attack. Delkol gritted his teeth, his face contorted with rage. His body glowed the gray light of the poison Nexi, and Terico immediately let go of Delkol’s face. Terico flew back a few meters, a reinvigorated force building up within his very soul.

  He felt his body transforming in a way similar to Delkol. His hair lengthened, extending nearly a half-meter backward. Two thin horns curved upward atop his head, and swirling black flames breathed in and out of existence amidst his hair. His armor glowed black, and filled with white spirals that pulsated with a shaky, metallic echo
. Terico’s arm guards turned to ice, forming sharp, jagged protrusions down their entire length.

  Delkol pushed himself off the ground and floated to the same height as Terico. At first Terico thought he was going to say something, but Delkol simply stared at Terico with empty, ominous white eyes.

  A massive section of earth blew out of the ground, at least fifty meters long. Delkol slammed his sword down into it, then released a shockwave of purple Nexi energy to break the earth into giant chunks. Terico flew back from the exploding earth, avoiding the hardened dirt and stones that collided and broke apart around him. Delkol pointed his sword at Terico, exerting the tan Nexi power to send hundreds of rocks toward Terico.

  Terico enveloped himself in yellow Nexi energy, protecting himself from the stones that flew into him. The chunks of earth battered him back and forth, and once he spotted an opening he sent himself flying toward Delkol, sword raised for the kill.

  A sphere of fire encircled Delkol, then blew out in all directions. Terico caused water to surround him, then launched a series of vines from his sword once he passed the wall of flames. Delkol caused the air between him and Terico to freeze, forcing Terico’s vines to turn to ice. Terico immediately accessed the light blue Nexi energy, and used the frozen vines to cause icicles to extend toward Delkol. Before the ice could reach him, Delkol charged his sword with orange energy and beat apart everything Terico sent at him.

  Delkol’s blade swirled with dark blue and gray energy. Terico cut through his vines and flew down toward Delkol, waiting for his attack. Delkol fired a giant stream of pallid gray water, which Terico barely managed to avoid. From the water emerged vines covered in thin silver feathers, reaching out for Terico. At the same time, Delkol caused another massive portion of the earth to burst up from the ground, and even used red Nexi energy to melt the rock—effectively creating a stream of molten lava under his command.

  Terico covered himself with yellow Nexi energy and created a series of barriers made of earth, swamp, and silver feathers. He deflected the majority of the vines, hacking away at those that slipped past his defenses. Delkol redirected his jet of poisonous water, which Terico was simply unable to avoid, as the stream of lava reached for him from every other direction. Terico flew through the water, using the silver feathers to deflect the majority of the poisonous energy. The water quickly wore down the glowing yellow barrier protecting him, so Terico forced his mind to access the purple Nexi energy. He created a shockwave around him to blast away the water, then flew as fast as he could, escaping Delkol’s barrage of poison before it could weaken Terico.

  But before Terico could fly to Delkol’s location, several more bursts of lava erupted from the ground, all flying toward Terico far faster than he could keep up with. He encircled himself with several layers of ice. As soon as the lava impacted the barriers, Terico rocketed out of the sphere of steam that ensued, avoiding the chunks of molten rock that followed.

  If he kept having to defend against constant attacks from all sides, Terico knew he’d wear himself out quickly, even with the power of the two Elpis fragments. The pain within his body was steadily growing more and more torturous, but he kept from screaming. He had grown so used to the pain, that it seemed to simply be a part of who he was—it was almost as normal a function as breathing.

  Accept the pain, Terico thought. It was pain that brought me to this point. This is my driving force... This is what I have become.

  I am agony.

  He flew toward Delkol, charging his sword with red and green energy. At the same time, Delkol launched himself toward Terico, filling his sword with light and dark blue energy. Their blades clashed, unleashing the elements against one another. They each covered themselves with protective energy, then turned the yellow glow into a blinding white light. With every swing of their blades, they whittled down each other’s strength and power, little by little.

  Delkol screamed, causing his cloak to expand and create hundreds of silver feathers. Terico floated back a few meters, watching as the feathers began vibrating, their hue turning to a violent gold. Terico immediately accessed the power he felt most heavily amongst the Elpis energies flowing within him.

  Black flames enveloped his entire body.

  Delkol’s golden feathers launched for Terico, too fast to even see. The blurs of golden light exploded around Terico, the feathers melting the instant they came into contact with Terico’s black flames.

  Accessing this power drained Terico considerably, and it suddenly became difficult just to keep himself flying in the air, and keeping his sword lifted up and steady. As soon as Delkol’s golden feathers were expended, Terico cut off access to the black flames, which resumed to flickering sporadically in his hair.

  Sweat dripped down Delkol’s face, and Terico could tell he was breathing heavily. There was no way Delkol was going to relent, however.

  Delkol swung his sword repeatedly, flinging a series of icicles, rocks, and jets of water at Terico. They were blind attacks driven by rage, but it was difficult to keep avoiding the projectiles. Terico was hesitant to use the yellow Nexi energy any more than he already had, knowing that every move he made from this point on would be vital for his success. It wouldn’t be much longer before the pain of the Elpis overpowered Terico’s determination to kill Delkol—there was only so much the body could withstand, and Terico had accessed the fragmented Elpis far too much over the past few days.

  While flying back and forth between Delkol’s attacks, Terico focused his mind on the Elpis energies within him, searching for the teal Nexi energy. As soon as he felt access to it, Terico stared down at Delkol and focused as hard as he could on the words he wished to communicate to him.

  You are a disgrace to the Shire family line.

  From the very beginning, you were a failure, Delkol.

  We are ashamed you had ever been born.

  With descendants as hopeless as this, there is no chance for regaining our rightful place as rulers of the Fiefs Kingdom.

  Terico projected these words into Delkol’s thoughts, filling Delkol’s mind with the vague, shadowy voices of his beloved family line.

  “No!” Delkol screamed. He stopped firing projectiles at Terico and gripped his head with his free hand. “I’m the one who learned of the Elpis! I’ve given my entire life to reclaiming the throne! I won’t stop! I won’t stop now!” As he shrieked, a whirlwind of silver feathers circled around him, keeping Terico from attacking.

  The fact Delkol was able to maintain such power even while screaming at the voices in his head was unsettling. It meant Delkol’s control over the Elpis was still much greater than Terico’s. Strength and determination wasn’t going to be enough for Terico—not when he was in this much pain, and with so little energy left to spare.

  “I’m not a failure!” Delkol yelled amidst the flurry of silver feathers. “Every day of my life, I’ve worked toward this point! You will accept me! You will all accept me! You will be overwhelmed with pride when you see me, Father!”

  As Delkol screamed, Terico shot himself down to Delkol and exerted all his strength to covering his body with yellow Nexi energy. Upon reaching the spinning barrier of feathers, Terico released a burst of purple energy, pushing away enough feathers to create a brief opening. Terico flew in, but the speed at which the feathers flew still caused some of them to fly into him. Most deflected off his yellow barrier, but a few sliced through his armor and scraped his skin. The beating of the Elpis energy within him filled the gashes with stinging pain, but Terico instead focused on his sword, filling it with orange and white Nexi energy—just as his father had when fighting Delkol.

  Delkol heard Terico breach through the barrier of silver feathers, and turned just as Terico swung his sword at him. Delkol shot backward, his remaining swarms of feathers following to either side of him. Still swinging, Terico released the white energy from his blade, and sent it flying with the added strength of the orange energy. The orange-glowing bolt of lightning shot straight through Del
kol’s torso, leaving a gaping, bleeding hole the size of a fist.

  “No!” Delkol screamed, falling toward the ground. Terico flew after him, intent to keep attacking him.

  Delkol released several vines from his sword, forcing Terico to slow down to hack away at them. At the same time, Delkol’s wound began to heal—he was flooding his body with the healing energy of the Elpis.

  He’s weakening, Terico thought. I have him!

  Terico forced a giant arm of dirt to emerge from the ground beneath Delkol. Before the hand could smash him, Delkol flew to the side and sent himself upward once more. His wound was almost entirely healed, and even his armor was beginning to piece back together somehow.

  Delkol flew higher, and Terico pursued, following Delkol toward the city. Still flying backward, and his sword pointed toward Terico, Delkol bellowed an order at the top of his lungs.

  “By the royal blood flowing within me, I command you all to rise and destroy my enemy!”

  All at once, hundreds of white glowing lights appeared from the ground below. Terico looked down to find figures of people—ghostly apparitions—flying straight toward him.

  The spirits of the Shire soldiers slain in the battle below.

  Terico found Delkol glowing with indigo light—the energy of the soul catcher Nexi. Delkol was able to control the souls of those under his command.

  Hundreds upon hundreds of souls flew up to Terico, their ethereal weapons raised and gleaming. They chanted Delkol’s name, their voices distorted and distant, despite how quickly they drew near. Fighting Delkol’s fallen army would be suicide, Terico knew—he would quickly run out of energy to fend them off. The only option was to kill Delkol.

  Immediately.

  Terico blasted himself to Delkol, who raised his sword with an expression of pure satisfaction. The soldier spirits were quickly gaining on Terico, encircling him from all sides. Terico ignored them and forced himself to fly faster.