by Oxford, Rain
Krael released me to reach for his sword and I rolled over the other way to get to my mine. It was still slightly glowing, but when I touched it, it lit bright and angry again. I swung the sword towards Krael’s shoulder, but he turned and blocked. I pulled my sword up and started for a strike to his back; however, as he started to react, I redoubled over the front with a blow to his chest. He was thrown back and landed with a sound that could have been a groan or a growl. I hadn’t meant to hit him that hard.
“You have to hurt him to defeat him,” Ronez’s voice sounded in my head.
“But I don’t have to kill him.”
Krael didn’t stay down for long; he quickly reappeared on his feet with his sword in hand. He swung his sword up and I blocked it, but then my jaw burned with pain before I even realized he had punched me. I damn near let go of my sword. He then pulled his sword up again and connected with the lower part of my arm. My sword fell from my hand but was suddenly in my other hand. I was right-handed, but it felt no different in my left. If this surprised Krael, he didn’t show it.
We kept attacking and blocking, faster and faster until I had no idea if I was attacking or blocking. I very quickly adapted to Krael’s punches and kicks, and then I could block them with my sword, so he stopped using those tactics. Although I had little actual idea of what he was doing and couldn’t predict what he was about to do, my body did.
I slid the base of my blade into his sword’s hand guard until his and mine connected and then pushed forward. His handle slammed into his gut and he grunted before pushing forward, which was the natural thing to do. I used that leverage to push up on his sword with mine, swung mine back down to the side, I stepped to the right, and I brought the sword across his chest. He fell back again. I was being so violent, but it didn’t seem like I was; it seemed like he was just getting easier to fight.
Krael seemed to be drawing his energy from determination alone. I didn’t know where I was getting energy from, but I still knew he would wear down sooner than me. Krael’s strikes became less damaging and less energy-draining as he sped up. I needed to make him attack harder. I couldn’t step forward because that would give him the advantage the moment I did. If he had less room, he would have less space to swing his sword, so he would make up for it by striking harder. He wouldn’t step forward until I stepped back, so I needed him to think I had stepped back. Just like his little twitch at the beginning, I moved so slightly to the left, with every intention of taking a step back and going to the right. Krael instinctively reacted to my trick. He stepped forward and I used the same strike that he would have used on me if I had stepped forward. With full swing, I slammed my sword across his chest with all the power in the point as it hit its mark; his solar plexus. As I did, his sword came down on my shoulder.
There were a couple of minutes where we both tried to recuperate. Krael had struck as hard as he could and I was fairly certain he had at least cracked the bone. However, what I did was worse, and he was having trouble breathing. Even as I tried to assess the damage on my shoulder, the pain faded away. I don’t know which of us started to stand first, but we were suddenly both upright before we were ready. He wouldn’t attack first because that would completely expose his weakness. I had definitely thrown him off. I struck while he blocked. We somehow ended up in a sword lock, my sword to his neck and his to mine. Neither of us could afford to give any ground. Without letting go with my left hand or even knowing what I was doing, I punched him in the nose. At the same time, his fist struck my nose. My eyes instantly watered and my whole face burned. I couldn’t see, but neither could he. I tried so hard to hold onto my sword, even as he was bringing his down on my injured shoulder.
I still knew where he was and how he would strike. He swung up and I blocked, allowing me to strike his leg. However, it allowed him to strike my left arm with the great force of his right. That was fine by me; I switched the sword back into my right hand, which was no longer hurting. He was not expecting that, so I used my arm to block while I thrust the handle of my sword into his solar plexus. Although it wasn’t hard enough to knock him off his feet, it did knock him back since it was my second strike to the sensitive area. It was enough.
As he used the extra room to strike me across the chest, I used it to strike his right shoulder. I could feel the damage, but his strike wasn’t at full strength. The edge came up onto my exposed chin. That disoriented me even more than the strike to my nose and then he slammed the dull edge into my stomach. I thought that I wouldn’t be able to move and was done for. I couldn’t see, couldn’t breathe, and both my arms were numb. But my body had other plans. I was on my knees, and I still held my sword. He struck me across my back. My sword came up just in time to block his from striking across my throat. After blocking, I was able to throw it off, swing up, and then back down to strike his right hand. Naturally, he dropped the sword and caught it with his left hand. Without the gracefulness of his right hand, his swing was off by a tiny amount. He moved to my left and kept his injured hand at his chest.
When I swung upward into his chest, I struck so hard that I almost lost my grip on my sword. His feet left the ground and he landed with a gasp. I raised the sword again. Ronez was in control again, and he was going in for the final blow. I wanted to stop, but I didn’t. Krael’s sword was on the ground several feet away. I took a step back as he tried to sweep my feet out from under me. He looked from his sword to my eyes. He must have seen my move because instead of getting out of the way, he put his arms up to his head. He wouldn’t have been able to get away quickly enough and attacking me would have left him completely open. My sword swung down with all my strength towards his neck. His arms would have provided some cushioning, but not enough. I didn’t want to do it. I really, really didn’t.
“Stop!” I yelled in my own head. The sword froze merely an inch from him and I could feel myself regain control.
“Alright,” Ronez answered. I sheathed my sword as it grew black.
The release of energy as Ronez retreated made me realize how much pressure it was. It made me feel light, empty, and weak. On reflex, I drew in lots of energy until my body stopped shaking.
Ronez stood in front of me. “Are you okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine.” I looked down at Krael. “Consider yourself beaten.”
He gaped at me with something between fear and respect.
“Before we go, tell him that his sister will be his again and that he is forgiven.”
It sounded like add odd request, but I relayed the message. Krael’s eyes filled with awe and sorrow. Without waiting for a response, I started walking down other halls. “Thanks,” I said after a few minutes.
“No problem. I’m sorry for getting enthusiastic. I’m used to fighting. I’ve been in a lot of wars.”
“Oh, no, you aren’t gonna tell me your war stories and tell me what life was like when you were my age, are you?” I asked. He laughed and shook his head.
I could sense my book, but only barely over the feeling of Edward, Ronez, Divina, and Vretial. I must have gotten used to the energy, because I could distinguish between the emotions and power of Vretial, Divina, Ronez, and Edward. I focused on Edward’s thoughts and emotions for a moment, just to be sure he was safe.
“I just realized something,” I said. “We’re gonna win.”
Kiro
Dylan finally took off. He sure was stubborn. There was no way to really explain to him what I needed to do; he didn’t know the bond of twin brothers that has strengthened and developed for more than two thousand years. It wasn’t about revenge, I needed to fight back as my brother would have; I needed to finish his fight.
I didn’t know what happened that caused fate to unravel as it did. I had felt my brother’s stress and disorder. Even worlds apart, we were eternally part of each other, but I could also feel that he didn’t want to talk to me. Perhaps it was that we were so close that we couldn’t stand to be civil for too long, and so our arguments were nothing to wo
rry about. Now, however, I wondered, as I will for the rest of my eternal life, if there was something I could have done. His life was unfinished and his death was too easy; too abrupt. My shock was more like a hole, but not completely an empty one, for my brother didn’t seem dead, only missing.
Then I met Dylan, the human man who was a child to me. He sounded and acted like my brother so that I burned with emptiness and was soothed with familiarity. I could see my brother in the stubbornness of his eyes. He was far more powerful than he should have been, and would be far more powerful than my brother and I by our age. Even with his power and his unfortunate “luck,” he was a humorous, happy person who would find his strength best under fire, and still retain his juvenile joy.
I turned back to the table and stroked my hand across the sword at my side. The man’s shadow fell across the floor, just short of me. Dylan was gone, but someone powerful would follow him. If he needed help he would find it. “My brother’s killer. Where is he?”
“I can take you to him. You’ll have to give me your book, but if you don’t, we’ll send someone else after you. You won’t be able to keep us all away. We’ll take your book and you’ll never get the chance to attain revenge.” He wasn’t young. Despite the youth in his voice, his words and tone were those of someone quite old, though still nowhere near as elderly as myself. Unlike Dylan, who was true in everything he did and said, this man was too general and uncertain of how I would react to his words.
“You’ll take me to the person who killed my brother, I will fight him and he can try to take my book then.” I turned to look at the man in my doorway. He was the young man from my Guardian vision, but his body wasn’t real; he wasn’t alive.
“Okay. That sounds fair enough.” He turned and walked outside. I followed and shut the door behind me. The man stopped, held out a small metal disk, and threw it at me. I caught it and held it for a few seconds as it burned before tossing it back at him. It was probably the foulest thing I had every touched, so unnatural and sinister.
The ground started to shake and split open, releasing a shield of bright light. The shaking ended and I walked into the light.
* * *
I opened my eyes and found myself in the cavern from my vision. Standing several feet away to my right was the man, now in his solid body. Five feet in front of me was Vretial, emanating enough power to make even me sick. He was the most powerful of gods. His body was no more than energy so strong and condensed it was corporeal. He had dark auburn hair and light brown, luminous eyes.
In my two thousand plus years I had never once believed I could fight a god, but Vretial was one I couldn’t even imagine dying from. For the first time in centuries I felt hopelessness, deep down and buried in countless, meaningless battles. It should have been the other gods fighting Vretial, but even the gods didn’t want to face him. There was nothing I could do, but I couldn’t do nothing. Discarding my book would be impossible with Vretial right in front of me, and even if I could, he could get to it before another Guardian could protect it. I really had hoped that I would find his weakness by fighting his minions.
“Don’t look so forlorn, Noquodi, you don’t have to fight me,” Vretial smiled. “Just give me your book and run off to play with Shio. He’s the one who murdered your brother. You’ll know it’s him because he’s wearing your brother’s body.”
A violent wave of nausea hit me. “What?” My voice had a hint of unsteadiness in it. Not only did he kill my brother but he had the nerve to use his skin. I didn’t want to fight Vretial; I wanted to destroy my brother’s murderer.
“I know. I never cared for Shio, he’s a real brute. Unfortunately for you, he’s busy at the moment, so you’ll have to wait in the dungeon. Now, you can either hand over the book and live to fight Shio, or you can refuse me and I’ll make you hand it over, then kill you. You’ve lived a long and honest life and have learned many things, but have you learned how to lose?”
I slowly pulled my book out of my bag. I didn’t want to give it to him, but it was stupid to think I could fight him. My sole job in life was to protect my book, but if I died before I could destroy my brother’s murderer, then my brother’s life was unfinished. After that, I was free to throw my life away trying to protect my book. How foolish of me, to give up my book for my brother’s serenity, then to give up my life for my book.
Funny… the monks never taught us how to set priorities.
“I think I will learn how to lose… In a few hundred years.” I held out my book and felt its power recoil at Vretial’s aura. He took my book.
“Very good. Now, if you’ll follow Krael to the dungeon to wait.”
Krael started walking away and I slowly turned to follow. It felt so weird and wrong. For the moment, the dark god kept his word and didn’t kill me.
The cave grew dark and I felt the floor become smooth. The darkness faded after a few minutes and we were in a long maze of hallways, all exactly the same and lined with torches. It was a short walk and no words were spoken between us. I was let into the dungeon, a dark cave-like room with no light, and chained to the wall. I didn’t fight Krael; he wasn’t worth the energy. He left soon and I could only wait.
This world had gravity almost as weak as Earth, but the radiation was greater; the world was probably closer to a sun. The energy magnified my senses, but also made everything fuzzy. I could still feel Vretial’s power, but it wasn’t so overpowering of everything around him. I could feel Krael, and several other people who seemed to be trying their hardest to stay out of the way. After a few minutes, Krael’s presence disappeared.
It was ten minutes later that I felt Krael, Divina, Dylan, and two other people appear. One of the two people was the twisted, dark, and angry little girl, and the other was worthless slime; he must have been Shio. I waited for a few minutes until I felt Divina move away with Vretial, and Krael and the evil one leave together. Dylan and Shio started heading in my direction. I didn’t like that scumbag being with my apprentice. Dylan didn’t like him, but he wasn’t highly distressed. It didn’t matter; I wasn’t going to wait any longer. The rusted chains broke easily.
“Kiro, wait.” I heard Divina’s voice in my head. “It’s not time. Dylan can take care of him. You need to follow Krael; he has Dylan’s book. You’ll get your chance with Shio later. Trust me,” she advised.
I thought for a moment. Divina sounded like she knew what she was talking about.
I didn’t answer her; I just felt the wall to the door and left, searching for Krael. I went through hallway after hallway until I was only a minute from Krael. The evil one had separated and seemed to be wandering around aimlessly.
“Go, now to finish off Shio,” Divina said.
“I haven’t gotten the books yet.” Suspicious.
“I know. Not now. Now is your chance to kill your brother’s murderer,” she urged.
I sighed and started back down the halls. I didn’t know if Divina was literally trying to waste my time or not, but my trust in her was wavering under the weight of suspicion. A few minutes later I stopped and changed direction.
“No! Dylan is taken care of! Let him handle it!”
The evil one, with her murderous objective, was with him. “He’s my apprentice; I’m not letting that thing kill him.”
“Have faith in him.”
“It isn’t about faith! He has barely had any training. I don’t care about timing or faith. He’s my apprentice and my brother can rest uneasily for a few more minutes for me to protect my apprentice.” No one had the right to touch him, especially someone as violent and hateful as that girl.
“He’s taken care of! If you interfere now you’ll make things more complicated! Let him be, I swear she won’t so much as scratch him. Trust me!”
I slowly came to a stop. “Why?! Why should I?” I asked. She didn’t answer, so I sighed. “When this is over, you will explain to me how you know what you do and why I should trust you.”
“By the time this is over, you
will know.”
With great frustration, I turned back to my original direction. It felt like a long path to get to Shio. It was startling how easily I was able to set aside my brother’s revenge to protect Dylan, but my brother was already dead; Dylan needed me. With every step, I debated and questioned the decision to trust Divina instead of finding Dylan.
The internal dispute was so great in fact, I nearly ran right into my death. To die because I wasn’t paying attention would have been a miserable way to go. It was the scent that stopped me; I knew Ronez’s scent. Immediately I thought it was Shio, but a sudden gust of wind picked up. I looked from one end of the hall to the other. Where did the wind come from? It felt like my brother’s magic.
Before I could shake it off and continue, I saw a small beam of light, only a few steps in front of me. Waist high and no wider than a finger’s width, the light streamed from one wall to the other. The holes in the walls from which the light shined were too perfectly round, and the light was too perfectly focused to be created by nature. I studied the ground to find similar holes in neat rows, including under myself. After stepping far enough away that I wasn’t standing above the holes, I tossed my sword across. The moment the blade crossed the light, metal spikes shot up from the ground.
“Dylan, there are traps! If you can hear me, watch for traps!” There wasn’t even the slightest response. He didn’t hear me.
I had to get this over with and find him. I lay on the stone ground and scooted under the light, easily avoiding the trap. At the end of the hall was an odd indoor stream, where I found Shio lying unconscious on the ground with very little physical energy in him. Just as Vretial had said, it was in Ronez’s body that Shio was walking around in. Shio was a disgusting, horrible creature and seeing him there made me wish I had hours and hours to torture him for what he did.