Chapter 4
Asher arose early the next morning just before dawn. He stepped lightly past Kayla and the elf, careful not to wake them from their sleep. He walked away from their camp to be alone with his thoughts. He began to imagine the awful things those soldiers might do to his mother and sister. A cold draft from a gust of wind shifted through the trees. Asher hugged himself tighter, a failed attempt to keep himself warm. Despite his discomfort he still remembered his promise to his grandfather. He clenched the necklace his grandfather had given to him and whispered to himself.
“I will not fail you grandfather. I will rescue them.”
“Alby think stupid boy funny for talking to himself,” Asher spun around, startled at the voice that came from behind him. Asher saw Alby sitting cross legged on a giant rock just a few feet away. Alby hopped off the rock and crawled on four legs toward Asher.“Why is stupid boy crying?”
Asher could see the innocence in the elf’s giant brown eyes. Asher wiped away his tears. “First of all, my name is Asher, and second, it is because I miss my family. Their lives are in danger and I can’t help them.”
Alby nodded hurriedly, excitement and understanding lit up in his eyes. “Is that why Asher needs pretty necklace?”
Asher nodded. “Yes, I don’t know what it does but the people who are called the Awakened at the Temple Anin’nar can help. I don’t know how though.” He trailed off.
Alby scurried away from Asher and climbed upon the giant rock once more. He waved his hand beckoning to Asher to follow. “Come, hurry, Alby knows of a secret place.” And with that the elf scurried off the rock.
“Alby wait! We can’t just leave Kayla.” It was too late; Alby had already disappeared into the trees. Asher ran after the elf, dashing through brush and rock while ducking beneath large limbs.
Within minutes he finally caught up with Alby just outside of a clearing of trees. Past the clearing, there was a stone path that was lined with jagged rocks and descended into the darkness of the forest beyond. Asher noticed that the forest seemed much more quiet and still. The soft humming of night insects had suddenly ceased, all there was, was silence. Even the sound of wind rustling leaves seemed to have vanished.
Alby waved at Asher and beckoned him to follow. Slowly the two descended the rock pathway. After what seemed like an eternity, they made it to the bottom of the path. In the faint rising rays of the sun, Asher could see enormous monoliths of stone carved into the shape of warriors both male and female. The carved stone appeared to be part of an ancient structure that had long been broken and diminished with time.
Asher cautiously moved forward, taking care not to step on stones out of respect for the ancient structure. In the stones, he could see engraved writings of a language he did not recognize, he assumed that its interpretation had long since been lost.
“Alby, what is this place?” He asked peering about in wonder.
“Alby show Asher ancient building. Alby’s people tells stories of men and women with incredible power. We call them Shinan’nah. In the tongue of man, it means The Awakened. The legends tell that long ago, the Awakened had protected my ancestors against a great evil.”
Asher moved silently among the ruins, tracing his fingers across the rough cold stone. Asher felt as if he had stepped backwards in time, into another age. He imagined to himself what the Awakened warriors must have been like, he imagined the power they possessed.
“And these statues, are they of the Awakened?” Asher asked.
“Yes, yes, there was seven great ones among them. These statues are they. Seven great warriors for seven Artifacts of Creation.”
Asher continued to explore the ancient structure. He searched for any sign of who they might be, or if there was any indication if this was the Temple Anin’Nar that he needed to return the necklace to.
“I only had heard stories of the Awakened, I thought them nothing more than myths.” Asher said to Alby.
Asher continued to explore the structure. Weaving through arched doorways and broken walls of yellowed stone. At the center of the structure, was a piece of architecture which resembled a water fountain. It was cracked and covered with moss and vines.
Asher then returned out of the structure to speak with Alby. He expected Alby to be sitting on the nearby stone that was just below the rock pathway they had descended. Instead, all Asher found was dirt, trees, and bushes, Alby was nowhere to be found.
“Alby! Where are you?” He called out. “This is no time for games. We need to get back to Kayla.” He scanned the area about him, nothing. The elf seemed to have vanished without a single trace. Then something moved in the shadows of the trees.
“Alby? Is that you?”
Out of the shadows a dark caped figure emerged. Asher recognized the man by his gruesome mask, though he did not see it before as clearly as now. The man’s black metal mask, glistened in the emerging light of the dawn. Asher could hear the masked man’s mechanical breathing. Its sound hung heavy in the silence of the small valley. In both of his arms, the man held Kayla and Alby, each struggling to break-free. Anger swelled up inside of Asher.
“You are clever boy, but not clever enough to hide your trail.” The cloaked man stepped further out of the surrounding trees, his cape billowed softly as he walked toward Asher. “This is a perfect setting to take back what is rightfully mine. Do you know what this place is?” Asher shook his head ‘no’. “This was the place where I lost the remaining artifact and my soul was caste into the Forbidding by those who possessed the power of the pure bloodlines, the power of the Awakened. My brethren, those of the fallen bloodlines, did battle with them and pushed the Awakened to near extinction but not without their own demise. Now I Elixir, the Lord of the Fallen, have returned to take back what was rightfully mine. It is destiny that I should fall into possession of the artifact once more, in the same location where it was stolen from me and had led to my demise. Hand it here boy, or they die.”
Asher hesitated and exchanged glances between his friends and the masked man. His heart pounded in his chest, sweat already drenched his shirt. His mind raced through different scenarios of how he could rescue his friends. A quick glance around the surrounding area revealed that there was no route of escape, they were trapped.
“Come on boy, at least spare their lives. I will have the artifact one way or another.” A terrible energy emerged from the man, feeling the space about him with a dark hazy light. The energy hung heavy in the air and its effect was astonishing. To Asher, it felt like the very essence of death and decay, he felt his confidence slip to despair. The anger that swelled inside of him began to sway to the same feeling of powerlessness as before.
A hazy dark purple aura, emerged from the masked man’s being. It whisked about the man, as if it were a dark flame, and then the aura started to gather and funnel into the eyes and mouths of Kayla and Alby. Elixir dropped their bodies to the ground, where they began to convulse violently. Asher watched as their breathing was somehow hindered. They were gagging and choking, desperately trying to pull air into their lungs but to no avail. Their hands clenched their necks as they struggled to breathe and control their shaking bodies. Asher fell to his knees; tears ran freely as he watched his friends suffer. He looked up once more to the masked man.
“Stop this please!” He begged. “Here take the artifact, just spare them.”Asher tossed the necklace to the man and rushed to his friend’s aide.
“Asher,” Kayla muttered between gaps of breath. “What… have you done?” Asher saw the look of horror in her eyes.
“I had to save you. I had no choice.”
“Asher… I… would have rather died.” She choked out the words, still struggling to breathe.
“What do you mean?” Asher asked.
“She means, boy, that you have given me almost absolute power. With this artifact I will gain the power of creation. Once all seven artifacts have been collected, I will then gain the power of the gods.
Immortality will be bestowed upon me and then, I will resurrect my brethren, those of the fallen bloodlines....” He paused, his voice changed to a low whisper. “And then this world will burn.”
Suddenly a whir of shadow cut through the gray light and crashed into Elixir and knocked him to the ground. A cloaked man arose. He held a staff in his hands that pulsated with a blue light. Amid the pulsating light was delicate designs carved within the staff. The gray cloaked man turned to Asher and Kayla.
“Run!” He commanded. “Go now!”
Elixir arose to his feet abruptly; black energy began to pulsate more violently about his body. Fits of electricity arched across his frame.
“Gaphii’el,” Elixir said. “How is it you still breathe the air of this world? You should have died centuries ago by the hand of my brethren.”
The man smiled beneath the cowl of his cloak. “I guess your little cult are not as fantastic as you seem to think.”
With that, Elixir let out a vengeful cry and lunged forward at the gray cloaked man. Black energy gathered around Elixir’s closed fist. Just before he landed a blow, the energy exploded outward from his fist and crashed violently into the cloaked man, and sent him soaring through the air. Upon impact, he skidded on the ground from the shear force and momentum of the attack. Elixir leaped high into the air and then fell downward, leading with the heel of his boot aimed at the wind pipe of the man.
Gaphii’el spun out from under the attack, and jabbed forward with his staff into the gut of Elixir. Elixir crumbled to the ground with a grunt. Gaphii’el sprung to his feet and swung downwards with the end of his staff, a large wave of blue energy erupted from the staff and engulfed Elixir. Elixir howled from the searing heat of the attack, it’s strength pushed him sprawling backwards. Once more, Gaphii’el released a wave of blue energy which shot forward and crashed into Elixir, but this time Elixir was prepared.
Elixir held both of his hands in front of him to keep the energy at bay. It pulsated around him with a incredible ferocity, he struggled to keep the energy contained. Then he reached deep inside of himself and uncovered a hidden strength. Dark purple energy gathered once more about him accompanied by fits of electricity that arched across his arms. In a massive effort, he heaved the blue wave of energy away, sending it crashing into a nearby tree causing it to set on fire. Elixir then, countered by casting a sphere of purple energy at Gaphii’el. Gaphii’el rolled away from the energy as it erupted on a rock just behind him. Then, Elixir pounced and launched a series of furious blows. Gaphii’el tried desperately to duck away from his blows, but Elixir landed a quick knee into Gaphii’els diaphragm, knocking the wind out of his lungs. Gaphii’el slumped to the ground, bleeding and gasping for air. Elixir picked the man up by the throat. The haze of dark energy emerged from Elixir being once more and it seeped into Gaphii’els mouth, he began to choke and gag.
Asher, Kayla, and Alby watched in horror as the mysterious man struggled for his life. “I can’t sit here and watch this.” Kayla muttered to herself.
“Kayla, there’s nothing we can do to help him, we need to escape while we still have a chance.” Asher grabbed her by the arm to pull her towards the hill, but she pulled away.
“No, that man, Elixir …. He killed my parents when I was a little girl. I can still hear their screams when I sleep at night. My dreams are filled with memories of watching their bodies melt away to sacks of bones and skin by that man.” She turned to Asher. In her eyes, he could see her hurt and pain. The heir of strength and self-reliance she portrayed when he first met her in the forest, gave way to vulnerability and doubt. “He drains the life from his victims. He drained the life from my parents.” She continued. “I will fight or I will die, I am tired of running.”
Asher watched as Kayla rose to her feet. Her hands were out stretched, palms facing upwards. Suddenly a whirl of wind gathered around her, her hair rose and whipped about. Spouts of electricity danced around her slender frame, as it had with Elixir. A haze of white energy, erupted from her body. It pulsated like the flames of flickering fire caught in the wind. Orbs of white light emerged from the center of her palms and continued to glow brighter.
Elixir turned his attention from Gaphii’el, and watched the girl, she was glowing with a furious white light. The light, spurted and flared, she looked as if she were consumed by white flames that licked around her very being. He stepped back and released Gaphii’el. Gaphii’el struggled to keep his consciousness, he crawled away still choking. Rage grew within Elixir. “Impossible!” He shouted. “She cannot be one of them…!”
With a scream, Kayla let the orbs of light burst from her palms. The light erupted and crashed into Elixir and sent him sprawling into the ancient stone building behind him. His body struck with such force, that the ancient structure collapsed, and buried him beneath a massive heap of rock and stone. The light then dissipated from Kayla’s hands and she collapsed to the ground.
Asher and Alby ran from their hiding place to Kayla. Asher quickly felt for a pulse on her neck. It was faint but it was there. Gaphii’el hobbled over toward them. Blood and sweat masked his face.
“She’s barely breathing?” Asher said to the man.
“We need to move now!” Gaphii’el spoke hurriedly, glancing over his shoulder in the direction of Elixir.
“What about the artifact?” Asher asked.
“Leave it!” Gaphii’el said and scooped Kayla into his arms.
Gaphii’el pointed the glowing staff at Asher. In seconds, the staff disappeared into thin air. “You are a fool to think a couple of rocks will stop Elixir. He is among the Fallen, one of the most powerful bloodlines of the Awakened. He will rise again. Now Move!”
Artifact of Creation: The Awakening Page 5