Kindles of War

by Nicol Terra

  He cackled, hacking again, spitting on the ground. “I will enjoy breaking you.” It filled his tone with malice and sadism. She did not feel intimidating.

  “You didn’t break me before, and I am stronger than I was then.” Illevetar said.

  The man rushed forward, Illevetar felt the rain slow him as if time was halting further and further to a stop. She felt her eyes widened; it froze time as the rain continued, and she was not frozen with it.

  “W-What is this?” She asked, quickly darting her eyes to the side to side as she saw time frozen. The sky was motionless, the surrounding soldiers frozen, matching blade to blade. Blasts of the elements stayed frozen, only for them to inch quicker and quicker. Illevetar was frozen, because of her confusion. She did that? Was this a blessing?

  Then time started again as Miguel rushed at her. She ducked and stabbed the man, pushing her blade into his stomach. He yelped and screamed in pain. She rose her sword and lifted him the air. She drove flames into the blade. He grabbed it

  “So what, you think you are superior than me, you snobby brat?“ Miguel howled.

  “No, but I think this world can do without you.”She frowned.

  “So what are-” He said

  “I will erase you,” Illevetar started, as she grabbed her sword as she felt a sharp pain inside her mind, her mind tore briefly in two as that blade of flames roared like a blue star. With the power of the sun, Illevetar felt her blade touch Miguel as he was erased from existence, leaving nothing left to burry. She felt the rain clear up, a bolt of lightning breaking apart the storm clouds. She looked at her blade, the droplets of water no longer coating her sword with a wet liquid. She smacked her blade, a rainbow light swinging and reflecting across the metallic surface. The light reflected and scattered across the ground beneath him. Sprouts of grass rose. Plants and life sprouted around her, the swampy landscape was merging and melding to a small pocket of grassland around her. She tilted her head, in confusion.

  Illevetar four years ago saw a sight she never once believed, Alexia when she creates a blade of flames, slashing at her enemies and not killing them. A strange mark covered her enemies, thousands of her enemies were ‘cursed,’ unable to hit her and those who tried died instantly. It was a strange, horrific thing.

  “What is this?”Illevetar asked.

  “It is… my curse.” Alexia frowned.

  “If that was your curse, then this is my blessing. I promise, I will shine brighter then even the stars.” She said, looking onward to see no soldier around her, the battle was nearly over.

  The suns peaked as soldiers frantically rushed from point to point in the camp. The army showed up, and they were splitting the camp in half. Rachel shot a bolt of lightning in the air and pointed her fingers at a few soldiers and shot an explosion of electricity around them. Soldiers rushed past her as they set fire to the camp. Further back, two battalions met in combat. Rachel then found herself surrounded by a squad of people as a hundred soldiers met her.

  "Rout them!" One of them said. Hundreds came stomping forward. Rachel spun her knife around with her right hand and lunged forward with her squad.

  She met a few in combat, parrying, blocking and dodging each slow sword swing as she moved forward. In a millisecond, she darted a meter, then jumped through two blades coming at her and then jumped upward momentarily with her lightning. As she bolted upward, she gathered all of her electricity and wind into both of her hands and thrusted the energy outward. One second later, half the army was blown away as her beam shot a kilometer through the camp and piercing a mountain, vapor pouring up from the ground and into the sky. She looked onward.

  "Huh, Didn't mean to do that." Rachel said. Then, she felt a punch knock her aside when she wasn't looking as she was knocked a meter back into the field. Just before she can ready her next attack, a blast of light shot through the soldiers from behind. She swished the blood inside her mouth and spat it out. Tom burst through the camp as the remaining soldiers fled from Rachel.

  “Rachel!” Tom said, rushing at her. Rachel turned around and smiled. "You look terrible."

  Rachel sighed as she crackled electricity. "I am running at roughly fifty percent energy, I am tired, man."

  "Well, I got you a present," Tom said

  Rachel tilted her head. “Oh?” She asked inquisitively

  Tom pulled up his Holosphere and showed Rachel a map: a single moving dot in the camp. Rachel smiled.

  “One kilometer north, heading eastbound.”

  Rachel cracked her neck in place and smirked proudly.

  “Don’t worry, tracking him was the easy part. Just win.” He said.

  “Thanks.” She said, planting her hands and feet in the ground and dashed forward. She bolted forward. Microseconds passed, as she felt time dilate slowly.

  In her casual jog, as hundreds of microseconds brushed past her.

  "So this it." She thought. "This time, I will beat you, Xin. So that way you can never bully anyone here ever again."

  In five milliseconds, she bolted a kilometer and ran in front of Xin. Rachel's body was crackling with electricity. Xin white flushed face turned crimson as he then laughed.

  “Oh, it's you Crystal Girl! I thought you were someone worth my time.”

  Rachel smiled. “Oh, trust me. I will be.”

  Rachel grabbed her crystal and floated upwards in the sky. The first time in two weeks she used it seriously, and she spat out beams of electricity from her hands, shocking forest and trees, vaporizing them in an instant as she fell to the ground again.

  “I see you finally used it,” Yas said, walking behind Rachel. Rachel turned to Yas, then she grumbled.

  “I…didn‘t feel right using it.”

  “You use only electricity?”

  “Pretty much, I only use Water or Wind in specific circumstances.”

  The man laughed, shaking his head. “You are limiting yourself.”

  Rachel shot her gaze to the ground, only for Yas to walk around her to hold her face.

  “You can be so much,” Yas said, letting go of her as he pointed his hand at a dozen trees and froze them in an instant, withering them away. These trees then turned into dust. The trees around the city faded into complete decay and later death. All life was drained in a square kilometer, within an instant. Rachel turned to Yas as the Earth around his feet was pitch black.

  “How.” She asked

  “Did I do that?” Yas interrupted. “Yes I did, and surprising how much my power is weak compared to yours.” He said.

  Rachel rolled her eyes. “Any tips on how I can do…something like that?“

  Yas let out a wry smile “The Eight Elements all have unique effects on reality. Sometimes, what we see is not what we can use. I used Earth to manipulate ‘Autumn.’”

  “But that makes little sense!” Rachel pouted.

  “Think, Elements have reactions, right? You might not predict them with immense precision, but you know fire is hot and earth is stuff on the planet that is solid. Earth has three advanced applications, I used Autumn to bend reality.”

  “So… because of that, you drained all life

  Rachel raised a brow, confused.

  “Light is both a particle and a wave. I can go on, but how about I show you, something else?”

  Yas extended his hand outward again, as he ‘pulled’ space and in an instant, a log teleported in his hand. The wood froze in an instant, and it was disintegrated.

  Rachel raised her hand in compulsion. “How did you…pull space?”

  Yas smiled. “I used Darkness and pulled it. All the Elements have these unique effects on reality.”

  Rachel tilted her head and then she touched her crystal, rubbing the stone surface. She swung her head around at the new pile of logs and burnt leaves in front of her. She created a vacuum of wind in her hand and ‘grabbed’ the air around the log, lifting it up.

  “One new effect, did you ever think of that before?”

  “No,” Rachel admitte
d.

  “Do you have five minutes? Lemme show you some things about fighting Aura users.”

  Rachel cracked her knuckles. She took a few steps backward, separating the two by a dozen feet. Xin cracked his neck and shot a jet of Water at Rachel. Rachel ‘pulled’ herself from the side with the wind. Xin shot his head around, tracking her movement and tried again, only for Rachel to bolt upward in a somersault.

  Xin blinked and snarled an angry glare as he pulsated a massive wave of fire. The camp around him incinerated, stretching to the northern forest. His body was engulfed with Red Flames as he shot them outward in millions of directions. Rachel darted from side to side, pulling herself with Wind upward, downward and to the side. Her wind guided her any direction she needed. She then saw a giant explosion move at her. As her eyes widened, she jumped a few hundred meters back as she dodged the blast. The environment around her was scorched with black vapor clouds. Xin then bolted forward as Rachel widened, as he flashed Red Aura and shot it in front of her face.

  "Checkmate." He said. Rachel rolled to the side, dodging the beam and being thrown a few thousand feet upward in the sky. As she was sent flying upward, coddled by the blue sky, she saw the suns shine a light on the remaining soldiers, the battle looked over as Xin's army was scattered. Rachel spat some blood, caught by the headwind of the blast. As Xin appeared behind her, she darted to the side and behind him, kicking him down from the sky in a flat second, her kick sending his body knocking down to the ground. As he fell, a giant crater of dust billowed outward, knocking trees aside and tents crumbled. Rachel lunged downward with a gust of wind as she formed a current of air around her. Xin growled as he created two flowing tentacles of water with his hand, as his Blue Aura flushed through his hands to fuel his power.

  “Aura users specialize in short to medium range combat. If you can't overpower them, create distance and dodge until you see an opening.” She remembered.

  Her body flowed from side to side, dodging blasts of water whips with ease. She jumped backward, extending her body weight to the ground and extending her hand out

  “Come, let's see who has more raw power,” Rachel smirked. Xin cocked his head, clapping his hands together as a giant ball of water formed around him, easily a kilometer wide and a thousand feet above his head. Eventually, the water grew as far as she can see and Rachel decided to play copycat. Rachel followed, creating a giant ball of water. She threw it as Xin threw his, the two sloshing and cutting the ground itself, pushing against each other. Rachel’s wave ended up swallowing Xin’s and thrusting the stream of water and absorbing Xin in the center. Xin hands extended outward, freezing the giant sphere and shattering the new glacier into tiny pieces, all in a few seconds. Xin stumbled, as Rachel smirked and sparked forward, punching him. His eyes grew more glazed as Rachel bolted back, hitting him again.

  Xin released a blue color, with Rachel's eyes widening as she jumped backed again. She spun her knife and pointed it at Xin. Xin panted, then he stomped on his feet on the ground. Rachel shot him a glare. Blue Aura, its ability is a complete understanding of Crystals, Aura or Magic. She can't use her Lightning anymore; he knows its weaknesses, and he can shatter her crystal by seeing through her weakness.

  Cautious, Rachel inspected the man, a single streak of blood marred his left cheek. Rachel had a stream of blood rushing down her right side. She couldn't regenerate it, all because of his Aura and becoming Lightning is impossible. At least her crystal was tough enough to resist being shattered, mostly because Rachel had more power for now. She stumbled on the ground as Xin let out a hearty laugh.

  "Oh ho ho." He panted and started to wince his eyes together. "Looks like the fatigue is getting to you."

  She spat on the floor as she shot him a glare, clenching her dagger harder. "Shut up."

  Rachel ran in a circle, swishing the surrounding air in a vacuum. She gasped, taking her last breath, holding it as she ran harder and harder. Despite being ten times slower without her lightning, she created a small cyclone of wind, a thousand meters wide and tall. The tornado spun a rotation quickly, knocking up the tents and forest around them. The mini hurricane grew to be a kilometer wide, wrapping and clocking faster than sound itself, snapping a full rotation quickly enough that Xin started to get cuts of wind slash across his cheeks.

  Xin threw another giant ball of water at Rachel, only for the cyclone to spin the water around and shoot it in the air. Rachel stopped, the water droplets fell as tiny droplets of rain, showering the two. The rain continued for a solid minute, pouring the now desolate battlefield with rain and water.

  Xin grimaced, he rushed at Rachel, only for Rachel to dart backward once more with a tunnel of wind.

  “Stay fucking still, you slut!”

  “Aww, that is such a mean word.” Rachel cooed, and she listened. She stood still the tunnel of wind, flipping around him. She was a few meters from him, as she released a blast of air, shooting his body into the ground, cracking the ground as Xin smacked his face head first in the field. Rachel kicked him before she fell, kicking him a mile in a second as he slammed through a building, rock, and dirt, rolling on the battlefield. Rachel darted again, catching up to him in a microsecond and kicking him from behind, knocking him into the ground and creating a small crater.

  Rachel felt her power inch as her crystal grew more powerful.

  “Is he out?” Mookaite said.

  Rachel rolled her eyes. “No wait, give him a minute.”

  A minute later, Xin's fingers twitched as he slowly got up, his bones cracked and creaked. His eyes were blurry, and he fell to the ground again, vomiting a geyser of blood.

  “Actually, yeah, he is out.” Rachel said, leaning on a nearby wooden shack.

  “You…” Xin said once more, this time lumbering up as he turned to her. His chin was painted with blood. His eyes were weakened, his muscles ached and tore. Rachel's eyes lowered.

  “Leave now.”

  “What?” Xin said. “What did you say?”

  “Leave. I am sparing you. Don't come back, or else I will have Illevetar kill you,”

  Xin's eyes grew more life as his blood-soaked chin dropped slightly. Then he laughed, his legs trembling and his hands spastic.

  “You… dare.” He said. But she swung around to walk away from him.

  "Are you just gonna let him live?" Mookaite said.

  "No, but I am hoping he takes the bait." Rachel thought.

  Rachel swung her head back as the surrounding area froze. She felt the nearby environment grow colder. Rachel saw her breath, frigid and chilling. She could move, but she didn't. Xin just walked dangerously close to her, still laughing, but his giggle petering out and slowing down from his lungs weakening.

  “You think, that spoiled brat can kill me?” He said, take a pant and pause, his face growing red.

  “I don‘t think so, I know so. You beat me. But I am stronger. And poor Illevetar, that pompous princess will always be a better person than you."

  “You believe that?”

  Rachel scoffed. “I have a personal grudge against you, leader.” Rachel said.

  “You…” Xin squinted.

  “Illevetar is not like me. She is a ruler, organized and educated. And unlike me.” Rachel said, turning around to walk away. “Unlike me, she is not afraid of killing assholes.”

  Rachel heard a groan and then a series of loud footsteps.

  “Do it,” Mookaite said.

  “Well, first time for anything.” Rachel said, creating a blade of wind, turning around and smacking a blade of wind in Xin’s stomach and pulling it out. Xin coughed a spurt of blood as Rachel swung it out in an instant.

  She turned back around as rain dripped. The dropped as she felt drop after drop land on her skin. She felt energized as the water had a tinge of life in it. Then, the rain poured, covering the camp and snuffing out the fires below. She looked to see the suns, high in the sky, being entirely shrouded by the black clouds. She then looked above as she felt familiar energy.


  "Illevetar?" She thought for a moment. Then, she saw in the corner of her eye as a spatial hole grabbed Xin. Rachel saw Raza pull his body in the void in space. Rachel winced as Xin was taken away. The rainstorm from earlier was probably from Illevetar. Rachel smiled.

  “Alright Ahn, you get last dibs.”

  Erudite woke up early in the morning, the eight moons still high in the sky. She slipped on her uniform, grabbing her gun and left to wait at a train stop. The underground train station had blue and green lights line the stone sidewalks. Each of the sleek walls was made of chromium, giving them a silver shine. The train tracks were a metal, rectangular slab charged with electricity. The train shot through, floating above the metal track as it gave off a faint whirring sound. Maglev trains, the most reliable form of transportation in Alatorem, complete with a solar panel on top and the ability to break the sound barrier.

  The ‘Silver Bullet’ and the ‘Gold Bullet’ trains can cross the width of the continent in four hours. The inside each train was the distilled form of a personal paradise. There are thousands of seats of and a Holoscreen for each chair.

  Breaking: Gates 5-8 were recaptured by joint forces, as many former refugees move back to the inner city.

  Breaking: Avacyn moved to the inner wall: “I will never let anyone else set foot inside this city.”

  Poorlings struggle to adjust to a more affluent society as homeless shelters are filled to full occupancy

  Erudite raised a brow, “Even with refugees moving back. Homelessness is becoming a big problem?” Erudite frowned, sliding the image to the right as the train bolted out of the tracks, rushing to right and left. She pressed a box on her Holosphere, pushing the ‘Float’ app. She saw her picture and her previous train trips. Under that was three windows: Food, Drink, and Holonet.