by Nicol Terra
“Okay, I am screwed.” He said.
He could try bluffing. Ariel and Duran set aside two cards as D.J set aside only one. Ariel dealt out new cards, Duran picking them up in a flash. It was an Ace and a nine. He smiled, He set his cards down, turning to D.J. Duran then flashed Yellow Aura for a moment only for Ariel to smack him upside the head. Duran felt a small sense of shame. It didn’t hurt, at least physically. Mentally, it hit its mark. Trying outsmart Ariel was like trying to weave a needle through a hurricane.
“No cheating,” Ariel said. D.J flashed a look at Duran, looking away, whistling to himself. He swung his head around slowly to look at D.J, that stupid smile still swiped on his face.
He snapped his fingers at him. “Hey, my dude.” D.J said. Duran winced back. “Maybe the bluff will work?” He thought.
D.J shook his head and went back to his cards. He sighed.
“I ain‘t got nothing. So I will fold.” Ariel said, knocking her cards away. Duran turned to D.J, shaking his head.
“You folding?”Duran asked.
“Why would I?” D. J said. “Because I know you can’t beat my hand.”
Ariel wooed at D. J, smiling and then sighing. “Woah what even is your hand?” She said.
D.J shook his head. “Would that matter? I won the last seven last games.”
Duran let down a single drop of sweat. “The odds may not be in your favor.”
D.J sighed. “Call then. Let's see that straight of yours.”
“Fuck.” Duran laid his head to the table, laying his cards to the table as he slammed his head on the table. “I fold.”
“Good, because I didn’t have shit,” He said, dropping an assortment of random elements.” D.J said with a coniving smile. Duran lifted his head, and then his middle finger.
“Fuck you too.” Duran shot.
“He bluffed us.” Ariel sighed. “He got us good.”
Duran smiled, shaking his head. “I guess so, how did you get so good at games?”
D.J eyes sparkled for a moment. “An expert of games if an expert with people.” He said. Ariel pondered for a moment and then nodded.
“That…actually makes sense. So no wonder Eraz was the one to get you to bribe the previous army.” Ariel said. Duran shot him a smile.
“Yeah, you only lost a small lump sum of a billion.” He said.
“Yeah well, I traded it for two best friends, so I say it worked out.” D.J said. Duran and Ariel let out a collective blush and awe.
“Docking on Island in five minutes, prepare for departure.” The computer spoke again.
“I guess I will get ready.” D.J said
“Agreed,” Ariel said. D.J turned to pick up all the tomes, T.V, and a Holosphere. Ariel's vein popped as he D.J darted out of the room, Ariel in hot pursuit. Duran shook his head as he already got ready. His armor was metallic, flowing and melding in nature, as it looked no different from clothing. It was however harsh, over ten hundred thousand times stronger than steel. The metal was also a memory metal, and reshaped at any damage, even able to regenerate if the metal is somehow blown off. It was also an Aura conductor, allowing him to magnify his power with his armor. He had no swords and wore black gloves.
He saw his Holosphere fly to him, revealing his news feed to him.
Battle of the Minor Sea: Over fifty ships mobilize against the Maplesworn Fleet, which contains forty ships.
He raised a brow. “Faeries vs. Malditions? That is not a great sign.” He said. He then swiped the image right.
Pirates raided Royk.
Duran nodded to himself. “Royk, huh? I wonder if any poor fool is on that continent.”
Duran swiped once more, he bit his tongue a tad, as if reading it was a poison to his ears.
Eraz wipes away ten ships away with a spell, protecting a surprise invasion force led by the Mithral and the Tenth Legion.
He swiped left instantly, turning off his Holosphere. He then went outside to the open dock. He saw the continent in all its ‘glory.’ The near-complete desert of Sosrow, with dark and twisted tree lines, devoid of life itself. The continent was immense as Duran looked above from over forty thousand feet in the air. Sosrow was 90 percent, mountainous desert, according to previous records written by Riha. The few trees that sprinkled the continent was twisted, dark and choking with skulls of dead animals and dead fungi that covered the ground. It was utterly lifeless, no life. It was a perfect continent for war, however, with tens of wars fought here, either to conquer or to find Calamity Stones. No technology, no civilization, just a lifeless continent. The small airship floated down on the solid land below, with Ariel and D.J following behind him, he turned to see them. Ariel wore a thicker armor than the three, but D.J had two swords strapped to his side. The three nodded.
“Enter Security Mode Level Three,” Duran said. The ship started blinked three lights as turrets and lasers formed around the boat.
“Will..that keep thieves out?” D.J asked
“What is there to keep out, if this continent is deserted?” Ariel added.
Duran released a Yellow Aura that formed a dim light around him. He felt time freeze around him as he saw tens of thousands of futures lined up in front of him. Each prospect was a winding road, crossing and turning with one another. These white roads of light held events he saw with great clarity... It went on for days, then a week. The further he saw into the future, the more vague it got. The furthest he felt though, was in four to five weeks, he will face the toughest challenge he experienced in decades.
“Oh wow, your Yellow aura is monstrous. Can you see our future?” Ariel asked.
“Yes, I can see around a month into the future.”
“Third Calamity that brought down an empire is a scary person with scary abilities,” D.J added.
Duran nodded in agreement. His aura also got stronger the closer in time it was. In five days, they will reach an underground city. Then twenty days later, he will fight someone, someone 'powerful.' That is all he knew. The only person to have ever beaten him was Eraz, over fifty years ago. This time, however, Duran felt he had a fair shot of victory. He shook his head, however. What Duran cares about was the journey.
“Let's go.’ He said.
He purposefully weakened his Yellow Aura as he continued on the walk. D.J shivered, the black fog releasing a cold chill. The cold chill felt like it choked his soul. The blackened fog was not deadly; however, he felt a tinge of Darkness and Water combined together. Duran intensified his glare, this was clearly the energy of a crystal user.
“Damn’ it is cold as fuck here.” D.J said. Duran nodded, as he slid up on his right armlet. His armor started to heat him, keeping him at stable body temperature. Ariel soon followed and then D.J
“Oh, shit forgot Chief Commander Armor does that.” D.J said.
Ariel facepalmed. “Really? You are a Chief Commander of Kulso, and you didn’t know the basic functionality of your suit?”
D.J. scoffed. “At least I didn’t cry to tears being promoted to Legion Commander.”
“I am a higher rank than you, and only seven other people have my position, I say I am proud of that.” She retorted.
“The gap between Legion Commander and Chief Commander isn’t that big, probably by a factor of two in strength, maybe three.” Duran chimed in. “In all honesty, I would love to see you two spar out here.”
Ariel slammed her fist to her hand. “I wanna kick your ass right now D.J.”
“Bring it.”D.J shot back.
Duran giggled. “Not maybe later. If you two fought, it would go on for three days.”
“Three days? I only need three minutes to clock him.” Ariel said.
“I will only need two to clock yours in.” D.J retorted.
Duran couldn’t help smile. “I am serious. Three days. You guys are more close than you think you are.”
“How come?” D.J inquired. Duran shook his head.
“I can’t explain it, but your skill sets counter each other.” He sa
id. Ariel grumbled.
“He is probably right.” Ariel whispered.
“I guess I can see your point, Duran. You can see the future.” D.J said, which Ariel merely nodded.
Over a few miles in, the dark, twisted treeline was covered with a vast fog. He looked around to see D.J and Ariel ahead of him, Ariel shivered.
The forest was vast and devoid of elemental energy. There was a faint sense of Dark or Water in the fog, but for the most part it was vacant. It rippled out to the treelines, black and warped trees wrapped with blackened fungus. This forest was over six thousand years old, created accidentally by Riha when she created Storm. Duran did not know this, however, the drained land did feel like time froze and life was gone.
Elsewhere, however, this continent held an ancient secret. It is only a matter of Time.
For now, however, Duran saw the cave. The cave to Argatha. The outside mouth of it looked like the jaw of a monster, with spiky stalactite and stalagmites reaching up to the roof of the cave. The blackened spires of rock looked ominously corrupted with Darkness. Something he caught, but when he used Blue Aura to figure out what was wrong, he saw nothing. Maybe the Darkness was gone? He shrugged and made his way to the front, waving his hand into an excited D.J and a scared Ariel.
"Ladies first," Duran said.
Ariel grumbled as she slinked on to her bag and marched inside. D.J followed in next, and Duran followed in last. As the minimal light echoed outward and dimmed inward, the three made their way to the ancient city in complete darkness.
Illevetar grabbed Rachel’s unconscious body as she walked through the snow, up the mountain peak. Her body was shivering, her clothes partly torn from all the climbing she has already down. There even was a hole in her pant leg that snow dripped in, it was freezing her to the bone. Illevetar’s cheeks were crimson, and her eyes were filled fatigue. She climbed, each and every step felt like lifting concrete blocks a frozen up climb where you don’t even know how close you are to the peak. Illevetar shook it off, now was not the time to think about her heavy legs and frozen feet.
“Come on Rachel. I will get you to a doctor!” She said. Rachel quietly groaned, unconscious and in pain. Illevetar continued to climb, her legs becoming heavier and heavier and her body getting more and more frozen by the second. She then saw a mile tall wall of ice, which had smoke coming from the top. She smiled; she found it. She then looked to see that there was no pathway up as she silently cursed to herself. How the hell was she going to climb up a mile of ice? She was going to climb that wall, and save her friend and herself. She wrapped a small red whip of Aura around her waistline and attached it to Rachel like a cord. She grumbled. She then created two picks of energy with a red aura, solidifying the energy to something solid. She stuck the right pick first, then the left pick up. She started to make her climb up the mountain peak. She held up Rachel’s body with a torrent of Red Aura. She smiled a little.
“You owe me something for this, Human.” She said. She started to pick up and up, the taste and smell of snow slamming against her back. Each time a foot would try to grab onto the ice, it would slip off as she dangled helplessly on the mountain peak. She continued.
The more she climbed, the more hours she felt on her body. Green Aura started to exhale from her body as her stamina started to be drained little by little. The ice began to shift in front of her, sometimes becoming thicker that would require two or three whacks to get the pick inside, or being so thick that one whack goes through the ice and hitting solid rock. Illevetar much rather have it be too thin than be too thick, mostly because it used more energy to pick inside the ice. The wind started to pick up, splintering her skin and opening wounds. Illevetar felt her leg suddenly lose feeling as she wiggled it awake.
“Oh come on; Don’t give up on me yet.” She said. She continued to pant as she picked her way up the top. She whacked further into the ice as her leg slipped. In less than a second, she regained from her fall as she smacked her pick inside the ice again. She felt her heart race as she checked to see Rachel dangle against the side of the ice wall.
“Hope you are doing well down there.” She asked. Rachel groaned. “She is fine.” She said.
The further she climbed she remembered this one, strong memory regarding her childhood. Erus was the city just north of Agall, a new, symbiotic relationship formed between the two cities. While Agall was known as the City of Culture, Erus was the City of Prosperity. Even more massive skyscrapers that raised twenty kilometers high in the sky, housing the rich and affluent. The Queen of Mysen, her mother, lived here. As well as the Arabica and Sol Families lived here. These three wealthy and powerful entities made up nearly a tenth of the entire continent trade regarding stocks. Erus thus built around this long line of stability have lead to it being the Finance Capital of the Five Great Nations. Thousands of Businesses held trillions of dollars in wealth. The Sol family owned ‘ The Nile,’ ‘Tau’ and ‘Gilease,’ three large creditors for the industries of Nuclear Fusion, Mineral Mining, Construction, Holonet of Things, and Transportation. Thousands of Airships flew in and out of this hub, and the largest ship of all, the ‘Grand Crucible,’ over fifty kilometers tall and floating in the sky. This was Illevetar's home, inside this metal ship in the sky. Her room was in the most massive balloon, with a kilometer vast mansion. This mansion was at the highest point of the crucible, or the symbol of Mysen and her lineage. The memory of her in her room, a wooden room and the smell of cinnamon filling inside were her earliest and most influential memories. Every day, she would slip on her white gown walk past her Holocube and staring at the wall.
It was her first usage of Aura. She was only five then, tender and frail. She was not the largest Elf as a child, just two feet tall. He created pulsating orbs of red energy around her hands. She then threw them outward to create a burst of red energy that filled her room, shooting a hole in a wall, vaporizing the wall. She smiled. She then remembered her father walking in on her. She inched away as she gave a playful smile.
“Sorry dad, I made another hole,” Illevetar said. Her father smiled as he rubbed her head. His pointed ears were twitching as he gave her a gentle swoon. His flowing gold robes and his gentle smile made him seem like a light of guidance.
“It is said Aura is a rare ability for Elves. It is mostly a Human or Chisean ability. It is a physical ability. We are not exactly physically inclined.” He said, he created a ball of water that he bounced from hand to hand. “This is magic. What you did was Aura.”
“I wanna learn how to use Magic too!” She said. Her father gave her a gentle smile.
“Well… I can schedule private lessons.” He said, scratching his chin. He then turned to Illevetar. “How about you do something for me?”
She let out a small smirk. “What?”
“Create a fireball. I wanna test the fire system.” He said.
Illevetar blinked as she waved her hands in the air. Her right palm extended outward, flowing outward and then inward, swimming it closer to her chest as she let out a deep breath. Her left foot swung around like a crescent as she felt a faint ball of flames appear in her foot. Her father showed her this movement multiple times; the control of fire was a precarious one. The first few times, she burned herself, one time it was so bad she almost turned it charred black. As she finished, her circling foot stopped, as both her left palm spun around in a full circle. The mass of flames stretched outward, shattering the room itself and exploding it out in all directions. The outside sky was warm and inviting, but Illevetar couldn't help but think she used too much power. Moments later, the pieces rewound to their typical place within seconds.
“Mom’s magic must have done that.” He sighed and smiled. Illevetar let out a small giggle as the sprinkler system started to put out the fire, with her father rubbing her head.
“Yeah, I'll make sure to get someone good for your private lessons.” He said.
The next day, Alexia showed up to her life. All elves don’t age, Alexia was forty in age
, but she looked as she was in her twenties. Her slim body and her gorgeous smile was something that all Elves knew about her. She wore a simple cloak that she hand enchanted herself, something that she used to defend against and keep her mobile in battle. As a child, Illevetar looked up to her. Next to her was a Holocube that she brought in.
“Hello, I am Alexia. I am your teacher.” Alexia’s first words were as clear and crisp as the first time she rode a bicycle or read a book. It was a thrill you couldn’t explain, her silky smooth was enough to catch anyone off guard. She showered her with attention as she taught her the basics of magic, and its combat uses. Illevetar never wanted to fight, more interested in the study but her Father encouraged Alexia to teach her ‘practical magic’.
“So magic blooms when you are near death, like Aura and Crystals.” She said. Alexia said, creating balls of fire that engulfed her hand. “When you challenge your body, crystals, aura, and magic are brought to their maximum capacity. It is said those close in strength, those with the countering ability will likely win.”
“Countering?” Illevetar asked. Alexia nodded.
“Think about it like this. Aura beats Crystals. Crystals are like objects, and they can be broken. Since Aura is entirely physical, it breaks them, forcing them to regenerate in the owner's soul. Thus Crystal users of equal strength would likely lose to an Aura user. Crystals beat Magic. They absorb all magical, elemental or not energies into their being. Some can even become this energy, shifting their body intangible. Crystals absorb magic easily if the element is compatible with their crystal and may struggle if the elements are the opposite of the Crystal Pair.” Alexia explained.