Heir of the Elements

by Cesar Gonzalez

  Keira breathed heavily as she ran up the stairs. She had the feeling that she was too late. Her sense of dread intensified when she saw that the doors to the royal palace were closed shut.

  “Knock it down, Raji,” ordered Keira, glad she had brought the massive warrior with her.

  The ever loyal Raji ducked and drove forward, elbow first. His frame slammed into the thick door, sending it swinging open.

  For a long moment Keira stood motionless as she took in the sight before her. She blinked time and time again, trying to make the scene disappear. It didn’t.

  A massive woman, matched only in height by Raji, was standing on the balcony. Her legs alone had to be the height of Keira’s entire frame. The woman was holding the mangled corpse of Latiha. Her face had been beaten beyond recognition. Keira only knew it was the empress because the corpse wore a white gown that had been painted in blood. As if she hadn’t caused enough damage, the empress’s killer was now tying a rope around Latiha’s neck, as if to further defile her.

  The sight stirred a hate inside Keira she had reserved for her deceased uncle. She clenched her trembling fists. “Let her go!”

  Seeing that his master was in obvious pain, Raji moved in to retrieve the corpse.

  The woman dropped the body and brought up her hands. Both massive warriors clashed time and time again. Neither tried to dodge or feign an attack. They stood toe to toe, swinging and punching each other into oblivion. Each attack seemed to send shockwaves, and Keira wondered how either warrior was able to take such raw punishment. Both fighters stepped back, breathing heavily.

  Keira noticed the corpses of two Rohads lying on the floor, and her anger rose. It was in this adrenaline-filled state that she sensed the same feeling from before. Oh, no.

  Someone else, using the same cloak as before, was leading a small army under the tunnels of Missea. Before she’d met Aya, she would have never been able to make a reading from so far away, but her friend had pushed her to new limits. She was sure there was no mistake.

  “Stand down, Raji!” ordered Keira. “I need you to leave and deliver a message for me.”

  Raji, who had hardly spoken and had never questioned her orders looked back at her, confused. “Leave? I cannot abandon my empress in such a dire situation.”

  “There is no time to argue. I need you to deliver a message to Aya. Tell her that the enemy moves through the underground tunnels. If you don’t, she and the Misseans will surely die.”

  The warrior who had not once in his life failed to follow an order found himself struggling to form a bow. “Yes, Empress Keira.” Somber faced, he ran out the door, not once looking back.

  The purple-skinned woman smiled, a large grin that only made Keira want to beat her even more. “Yer be an empress. That be good. Today be the day I be cementing my legacy as Melousa, Queen of Orians, and murderer of empresses!”

  Melousa rushed forward, grinning widely.

  Keira took one last look at Latiha, the woman she had admired her entire life. She hunched in a defensive position. “Come forth!” she screamed fearlessly. “I will teach you what happens to a queen that thinks herself an equal to an empress!”

  ~~~

  Falcon stood beside Aya, Faith, and Albert. He sensed the surge of power once more coming from below. He tried to ignore it, concentrating instead on the army that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. They had formed in long set of lines. From this distance, they looked like an indistinguishable mass of black and white.

  “What is it?” said Aya, noticing his distracted look.

  “Nothing. I thought I sensed movement coming from under us, but it’s probably just my imagination.”

  Aya and Albert shared a concerned look.

  “Aadi gave you strong energy readings,” said Faith. “If you’re sensing something, it’s worth looking into.” Falcon was about to dismiss Faith’s suggestion, but that changed when Raji showed up and spoke of Keira’s warning.

  “This is too much to be a mere coincidence,” said Albert. “Someone has to check it out.”

  “I will,” said Aya. “If they’re using cloaks, there’s a chance Selene is with them. I have to see her.”

  “I’m coming with you,” said Falcon.

  “Me too,” said Faith.

  Albert nodded. “Fortune be with you. I will stay here and lead the Missean army.”

  “You’re leaving?” asked Laars as Falcon took off after his friends. “The men need their bloody leader.”

  “They have a leader,” answered Falcon, not breaking his stride. “The unit is under your command now.”

  Laars features stiffened in determination. “I won’t let you down!”

  Falcon followed Aya, not really sure where they were headed. There was a part of him that felt guilty for leaving the army behind when they needed him the most. The other half knew that this was something he had to do.

  “This way,” said Aya, turning the corner into an empty path. The streets were devoid of people. The men were out in the battlefield. The women and children hid in their homes.

  They passed countless eerily quiet homes. The usual glowing lights flowing from their windows were absent. The soft tip taps of children’s footsteps as they raced over the creaky wooden panels were gone, replaced by a muffled silence.

  “Where are we headed?” he asked, hungry for some sound besides their clattering footsteps over the rocky road.

  “The Golden Wielder had a sandworm, remember?” Aya didn’t wait for an answer. “Well, the worm, along with its family, made the land under Missea its home for some time. Many of the tunnels they created are still there. There must be many entrances and exits spread throughout the city, but the books only spoke of one.”

  As she finished speaking, the trio exited through the southwestern gate. They ran down a dirt path that circled a pristine blue lake. A pair of ducks floated above, oblivious to the battle that was about to ensue.

  Beside the lake was a small green mound, and in its side was a hole. Wordlessly, Aya pointed inside.

  A shadow flickered over their heads.

  “You!” Falcon spoke with fury, eyeing the chaos wielder who had landed directly before them.

  “Who were you expecting?” asked Volcseck. He wore the same dark cloak he always wore, except this time he hadn’t bothered to cover his face. “It is I who is destined to take the holy emblem, and this time there is no one who will get in my way.”

  “Falcon,” whispered Aya, “we don’t have time for this. The Suteckh could come out anywhere in the city. If they flank the Misseans in the middle of the fight, they’ll be done for.” Falcon knew what she was going to say before she said it. “I have to go on ahead on my own.” She reached out for his hand and gave it a hard squeeze. “I know you want to come with me, but you’re needed here.”

  “But—”

  “No buts. You have your duty.” She looked over at the circular entrance. “And I have mine.”

  Before Falcon could object, Aya took off in a sprint. As Falcon had suspected, Volcseck made no attempt to stop her. She wasn’t his target, after all.

  Falcon’s heart sank as Aya entered the cave. It didn’t take long for her frame to turn into a dark silhouette. An instant later, she had been engulfed by darkness. Heart pounding, Falcon turned to Volcseck. This man had been responsible for so many deaths, and now he was standing between him and Aya. It was time for him to die. The familiar anger rose from within. He closed his eyes and thought of the two people who he cared for the most: Aya and Faith. He didn’t try to choose between them; doing so would only have caused his mind to dwell deeper in uncertainty. Instead he saw them both as two separate entities, each guiding him in different paths of his life. Aya: courage, determination, and loyalty. Faith: compassion, friendship, and kindness. Together, they personified everything he strived to be.

  He opened his eyes. Despite the small feeling of holy, the chaos was still bubbling within him. He clutched his chest as both energies struggled f
or supremacy over him. Gritting his teeth, he fell to one knee.

  Volcseck’s laugh was audible over his inner struggle. “Why do you fight the power that is chaos? You have been granted a gift. Instead of accepting it you reject it as if it were a disease. Pathetic.”

  “He has been granted a gift,” said Faith. She took a few steps toward Volcseck. “It is the same gift you were granted once, but were too weak to accept.”

  “Me? Weak?” Volcseck smiled slyly. “Chaos has made me all-powerful.”

  Faith looked sadly over at Volcseck. “You’ve spent so many years wasted. Searching for something you always had. I pity you, chaos wielder.” She brought up her arm, showing off the holy emblem on her hand. “This is what you always wanted, right? Come take it. I hope it finally gives you the peace you’ve been looking for.”

  The only thing that ran through Falcon’s mind as he stared at her was Faith. What are you doing?

  There was the slightest flicker in Volcseck’s arm, and Falcon knew he was about to teleport.

  “Watch out, Faith!” He took off after her. A moment later, he bounced back, falling on his back. Too late did Falcon realize that she’d put up a holy bubble around him. From behind the multicolored specter, he watched in horror as Volcseck appeared in front of Faith. Falcon’s face pinched with fear as he noticed the long organic sword in Volcseck’s hands. The sword’s loud beats were only drowned out by Falcon’s own pounding heart.

  Faith stood still. Her eyes were closed. Her hands rested by her side. A faint smile spread on her lips.

  Volcseck drew his hand back, and with a firm thrust he ran his weapon clear through Faith’s chest.

  Chapter 32

  The bubble that had surrounded Falcon burst in a silent pop. In fact, everything around him had grown silent. The only things he could hear were Faith’s soft moan and his own pounding heart that seemed to be beating in his ear.

  Volcseck, who looked extremely pleased with himself, took Faith’s emblem and clutched it in his hands. A teleportation later he was gone, taking with him the artifact that had eluded him for an eternity.

  Clutching at the spot where the sword had penetrated, Faith fell to her knees.

  “No!” yelled Falcon, feeling his entire world crumble. He flung himself across the floor. His arms wrapped around Faith, catching her before she hit the green pasture. He knew from the distinctive shallow breaths she was taking that he was losing her. He also knew that Faith couldn’t heal herself, not without her emblem.

  “I’ll heal you.” He tried to move her hands away from her injury, but as soon as he moved her hands, blood poured out. It ran down her white dress, turning the pink flowers on the cloth into a deep crimson.

  “W-what do I d-do?” he stuttered, swallowing hard. Think, Falcon. You have holy. You need to use it.

  “Shhhh…” said the sweet honeyed voice he had gotten so used to hearing. She looked up at him with glassy eyes. “There’s nothing to do anymore. This is the way it has to be.”

  “No, n… no, no!”

  Weakly, she brought her hands to his lips. “You did a great job at getting rid of much of your anger.” She coughed a few times and closed her eyes.

  “Faith. Faith!”

  Her eyes snapped open, and for a second she looked lost. A few blinks later she seemed to have returned to normalcy. “Y…y—” A loud swallow later she said, “You were given an unfair amount of chaos energy, much more than any human was ever meant to have. You alone cannot control it. It is time I do my part in this.”

  Falcon felt as if someone had just delivered a wielding blow to his chest. The air in his body escaped him as he realized what it was that Faith had been doing at the library all those days. At last, he understood why she had been so intent on knowing everything there was to know about Aadi’s unique ability to hold earth energy without an emblem.

  “You figured out how to hold energy within yourself?” said Falcon. As he spoke he barely registered the dripping streaks of rain that had begun to drum on his back. “But the ability to do so costs your life, doesn’t it?”

  Faith’s warm smile was all the answer he needed.

  Falcon’s looked down at his trembling hand that was settled over Faith’s wound. “I can’t. I’m not ready.”

  “With both our holy energies, you will be able to do things before thought impossible. Please tell Aya and Hiromy they have my thanks for being my friends.”

  “You can tell them.” Falcon kept on hoping for a miracle, something to wake him from this nightmare.

  “We both know that can’t be.” A tear dripped down Faith’s cheek. The color drained from her once pink face. “I’m glad I met you.” Every word she voiced was a struggle as the last of her energy left her. Slowly she caressed his face and ran her hand through his hair. “I love you, Falcon.”

  She pulled him in.

  Shaky breaths of pain, regret, and denial coursed through him. Even the simple act of talking was painful. His eyes burned as tears welled up. “I love you too, Faith. You’re the person I’ve always strived to be.” Their lips met. The scent of peaches and wet dirt coursed through the air.

  As they kissed, a surge of warm light travelled from Faith into Falcon. He felt it move through his body and settle in the pit of his chest.

  When their lips parted, her emerald eyes, which had been full of life hours ago, were cold and lifeless.

  “Faith?” He shook her. His voice cracked with a pain he had never felt before. “Faith.” Tears and raindrops traced down his cheeks. “Wake up, Faith. I need you. Please wake up.”

  But the holy wielder did not wake. And as Falcon closed her eyes and held her tightly in his trembling arms, he knew that he was never going to hear her beautiful laughter again, never experience her warm touch, and never take her out dancing as he had planned to.

  Faith, his better half, was gone forever.

  Chapter 33

  Hiromy and Sheridan raced down the empty streets. The serene silence the homes provided was a welcome change from the usual voices booming in her head. Ever since she had found out she was going to die, the voices had grown unusually silent. She only wished that her mind was clearer. Her thoughts remained mostly obscured by a muffled cloud, a constant reminder of her duel with Dokua.

  “We’re almost there!” cried Sheridan. He had at first been apprehensive about letting her go into the battle. She convinced him, however, that she would rather die on her feet, fighting alongside her friends, than cowering in a room.

  She closed her eyes and staggered as a wave of pain suddenly assaulted her cranium.

  “Are you okay?” Sheridan leaned down, looking concerned.

  She stood up slowly. “Y…yes. I’m fine.”

  “I need to get you back to the inn. You’ll only get hurt out there.”

  “I said no.” She stood. “Aya and Faith need me.”

  Sheridan gave her the same defeated look he had given her back at the inn when she had announced that she was headed into the battle.

  “Let’s move, then.”

  Move they did. They ran at a determined pace. The silence that had been the norm minutes ago gave way to the sound of clattering weapons and screams. Once in a while there would be a thunderous clash, and she knew that someone had just used a wielding attack.

  “About time you two got here!” called a familiar voice when they reached the first Missean lines. Before them spread a wide open field where a climactic battle was taking place. Behind the Suteckh lines, which looked like a mass of black, spread the ocean as far as the eye could see. The Suteckh ships, which all had black and silver sails, were exchanging cannon fire with hundreds of pirate ships. Leading the charge were the ships Hiromy recognized as those belonging to Captain Armeen and Redclaw.

  “Professor Dunn,” said Sheridan. “What is going on over there?”

  “What do you think, you worthless fool? The pirates have come to our aid. Without them we would have been overrun. They are holding back the Holl
ow clansmen of the sea. Pirates hold allegiance to no one. I don’t know why they are doing this!”

  Hiromy smiled, thinking of Faith.

  “What can we do?” asked Sheridan.

  “You can help by not asking stupid questions and getting into the fight.” The short man turned to Hiromy, and his voice took on a much softer tone. He bowed slightly. “Princess. Always a pleasure to see you.”

  “Leotris!” called a man Hiromy had never seen before. He had the same handsome features as Falcon. He wore a wind emblem on one hand and a space emblem in the other. Hiromy got a sudden urge to jump on the man and listen to his heartbeat. She was sure it had to be the strongest she had ever heard. She took a breath and drowned out her emotions. Her training with Faith had served some purpose after all.

  “Yes, Albert!” said Dunn.

  “I need you to reinforce the Master’s battalion.”

  Hiromy looked over to where Albert had pointed. In the middle of the skirmish was Laars. He was wielding earth pillars, trying to keep himself and a group of men safe from a giant creature coming down on them.

  “At once!” Dunn took off into the battlefield, screaming atop his lungs.

  “Oh, no,” said Sheridan. “What in the world is that?”

  Apparently the Suteckh were done messing around. To the right end of the battlefield, a Neikan Demon had emerged from a dark portal. This one was not the usual green. It was a deep crimson. It had to be three times the size of its counterparts. Its tusks at the end of its mouth snarled as it swung the chained mace it carried, bringing it down on a group of screaming Missean soldiers. Behind it, three dark creatures had emerged from a similar dark hole. A group of wielders, each flicking water and ice at them, rushed to meet them. The attacks bounced off the tar-like bodies as if they were simple specks of rain.

  The largest of the dark creatures morphed one of its hands into something that resembled an oozing black sword. Its yellow eyes flickered to life as it swung its makeshift weapon in a circular arc. A few water wielders managed to crouch under the attack. Three of them weren’t so lucky. They were severed in half in one fell swoop.