The Seventh Spirit

by Adam-Clay Webb

  ***

  “Word has just come in,” Kaleb addressed, entering the room again after leaving for a short while. “It seems the enemy is divided into many, and will descended upon the earth like rain at sunrise tomorrow.” Chaos immediately ensued in the room. “Supreme General!” Kaleb called through the noise, “Mobilize our forces to welcome the enemy!”

  ***

  “Ka! If I only had my sword,” Blade muttered as enemies closed in on them.

  “Oh, that’s right,” Azar said, grinning cunningly.

  “What is it?”

  “I’m real clumsy to be just remembering, but there is a way I could get you your blade.”

  “All this time?! Make haste, then!”

  “A while back, when we were making plans to battle those fiery men, I made a swift and subtle move, and placed an invisible mark on your sword.”

  “What?!” Blade was confused and utterly stunned. “When could you have--”

  “I did it just in case… never mind that. The point is, if I get a bit of time, I can summon it here. It’ll take quite a bit of mana to transport it from another dimension, but seeing how fast my mana is regenerating--”

  “Well do it!” So all this time, he reserved the ability to confiscate my sword… Blade’s eyes widened as he remembered vividly Azar brushing his hand across his cased sword casually and seemingly unintentionally while addressing the group on the battle plans. Blade smirked a little in intrigue. Hm. Pretty smooth, princess.

  “But the second I start moving to perform the summoning, these beasts will attack.”

  “I myself am itching to attack,” Lex admitted, feeling coarse energy rushing through him. He even felt a bit chilly.

  “Make us a shield first,” Blade advised Azar, “at least one that can last ‘til you get me my blade. When that sword arrives, it will all be over quickly,” Blade assured confidently.

  “Anam Garadan!” Azar commanded, and put forward his right palm. Instantly, a red shield appeared around the three. With earth-quaking roars, the beasts rushed on to them from everywhere. Blade and Lex readied themselves to respond, but Azar’s shield held up impressively. The demons banged against it, but could not incur a crack or dent. This low class shield I built holds up against such force… Even Azar was surprised. The Magmalian lowered his right palm to face the ground at a slight angle from himself, and grabbed his wrist with his left hand tightly. He closed his eyes and red mana brightly glowed about him, making Lex and Blade shield their faces. He muttered some words from an ancient and sacred tongue under his breath.

  One of the mightier beasts wedged its metal-hard fist against the shield again, in frustration probably. It rippled a bit, and small cracks began to appear. Lex looked up alert, knowing the shield was weakening. The small space they were in was covered red in Azar’s radiance.

  “Trans-dimensional summoning!” Azar finished. There was the sound of spaceshifting coupled with a bright flash, and Blade’s great blade appeared in his hand. The prince smiled proudly. Blade grabbed his sword eagerly, even laughing a little.

  “Azar! The shield’s breaking!” Lex alarmed.

  The prince laughed. “I hardly find myself with enough mana and reason to perform this technique,” he said, then pressed his hand against the red shield. “Garadan Eralf!” he commanded, and there was a sudden brightness and a loud clash.

  “What the hell?! I’m blind!” Lex gave out, able only to see a blank whiteness. In a moment, his vision and Blade’s began to revert to normality. Azar laughed, looking around at the scattered, burnt, dead-looking beasts flung meters about him by an immense pulse of mana.

  “With this much mana, there is nothing I cannot do!” the man boasted, immediately summoning up more mana in his hands. He felt his mana regenerating faster than he could manage to spend it. With this much mana, I can now try out all those techniques that were before now only theoretical. They watched as the monsters rose up again, regenerating, putting on even stronger bodies.

  “Let’s go!” Lex blasted, his palms gripping powerful ice.

  “My blade will cut through them like butter!” Blade declared.

  “Providing I spare any for you two!” Azar said. With that, the three rushed out to meet their enemies.

  ***

  “I think we better call it a night again,” Star said, uttering a heavy sigh of tiredness.

  “Yes, no doubt tomorrow is coming with trouble of all sorts,” Kyle agreed. “Well, good night then…” he bade, but he seemed reluctant to rise from before her. Suddenly, obeying his impulse, he grabbed the woman and pulled her toward himself, hungrily feeding on her lips. Her eyes widened in fright as she realized what was happening. Kyle softly stroked the woman’s plush, reddened cheeks, still tasting her lips. Finally, he released her and pulled his head back from hers. The woman was totally dumbfounded. He was still looking at her like he wasn’t near ready to leave her tent just yet.

  “It’s mighty cold outside…” Star whispered to the boy, and moved closer to him. She pushed him down on his back and sat on him. He sighed and moaned, grabbing firmly her small waist.

  ***

  Though the enemies’ numbers weren’t heavily dented, the three fighters saw their victory in the distance, as the incredible vigour they felt gave them the sensation of invincibility. Blade bolted at another of the giant six-limbed beasts head-on, his sword tailing him. As he was right upon the enemy, he bent his upper body backward and his feet left the ground as he skilfully evaded the swing of the beast’s two left arms, moving between them. With his momentum, Blade skated toward the enemy forcefully, running his sword through the beast’s left leg. Blade stopped and turned as the beast toppled. With no hesitation, the Zakatian reached upon the beast’s neck with one jump and sliced its head off. Blade looked up quickly in amazement as he saw a massive beam of fire wipe through and consume a handful of the demons. He glanced over at Azar, who wasn’t even looking in his victims’ direction. Instead, he was focused on where his mana-gathering palm was aiming.

  “Anam Resal!” the man commanded, and quickly supported his active palm with the other, pressing against it to build mana concentration. Lex and Blade covered their eyes as the beam appeared to be brighter than the sun. No doubt, that one attack took down tens of the monsters. The prince laughed wildly, feeling no significant decrease in his mana. Imagine if the spirit were with me now! This power!!

  Blade hissed, standing again. He knew it couldn’t be easy to outperform Azar. He jetted off toward another of the beasts at flashing speed, his long silver sword, and equally long, similarly coloured hair trailing him faithfully. The very next second, he was skating on his feet, his back turned to the back of this monstrous enemy, which didn’t even realize that it was dead yet. Lex held out both his palms, sending swiftly moving ice beams at two enemies, quickly freezing them.

  “Abingush!” Azar commanded, flashing red mana at a fast approaching four-winged beast. There was a massive, red explosion, and the devilish bird, which wasn’t of flesh and feathers, was shattered to bits. Hmm… With this much mana… A confident smirk wormed onto his face. He quickly slammed his palms together, dropping his fingers between one another. “Flame Body Technique!!” Suddenly, a mass of concentrated mana cloaked his whole body. Then, a layer of high-level fire came over the red mana, which quickly evolved into flames of extraordinary destruction – blue fire. Azar grinned and laughed wildly. This technique was an original. He used both his bloodlines to create a body transformation that could topple almost any foe with ease. With this technique, I should be able to destroy everything in under a minute. Lex and Blade stared at the fire-making wizard.

  Blue fire? Lex contemplated, feeling the heat from where he stood, though he was quite some distance away and shrouded in ice energy.

  ***

  The era old looked around him in wonder. He was in a splendid meadow. He looked up at the sky and gasped in fright, seeing the huge ball of fire. “Why am I here?” he asked himself.
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br />   “Eden!” he heard a womanly voice call. He spun around quickly, his long, white hair flashing with his sudden movement. He saw before him a woman in a slender green dress. She had a ghostly appearance. Her feet were not visible, and it seemed she was hovering about a foot above the ground. Also, she wasn’t entirely opaque. The man stared in awe and silence. Then, just realizing who she was, he fell prostrate before her.

  “Mother of all things!” he acknowledged.

  “Rise, Sage of the Vine. I call your nation to war. Make haste. Go with all your people and defend the earth your seed will inherit.” The woman faded into nothingness before him. Eden jumped up from his sleep, his eyes going wild, sweat washing his face.

  ***

  Azar, with his extreme speed, moved toward another of the enemies, bursting right through it with a powerful roar, fist first. Blade sliced another head off, then jumped backwards off its shoulders, landing on another pair, quickly performing a similar beheading. Lex spun around where he was. He could hardly believe how dwindled the enemies’ numbers had become. He watched as the few that remained stepped back from the triumphant three in a reluctant but wise retreat. They uttered another vile cry, but the warriors were not frightened. Then, the monsters scattered themselves in many directions. Another bodiless head fell to the ground, followed by a headless body. Blade was victoriously standing on top of it. Azar panted heavily, then fell to his hands and knees. The blue fire turned red and then went out, then the cloak of mana disappeared. Though he was exhausted, and could finally feel a significant dent in his mana, a smirk remained on his face.

  “We did it,” Lex said, breathing heavily. The three converged.

  “Princess, my scabbard, mind getting it for me?” Blade requested.

  “You kidding me?!”

  “Don’t worry, Blade, I somehow doubt you’ll have a lot of time to keep that sword cased,” Lex said. He suddenly fell on his knees in loss of balance as the ground shook.

  “What is it now?” Azar wondered aloud. Blade looked about calmly, keeping his composure. The three men watched in puzzle as they saw something raise from the earth before them. What seemed like a doorway, around two meters wide, was erected from under the ground. The men covered their eyes from the bright light that shone from it.

  “This is it!” Lex gave out excitedly, “We’re going home!” Without hesitation, Lex darted toward the shining portal. “Come on!” The glad boy dived in and vanished from his companions’ sight. Blade and Azar looked at each other. They looked around at the gigantic beasts rising forth from the ground again, looking much tougher than the previous swarm.

  “Feel like sticking around here?” Blade asked.

  “Not really.”

  ***

  Electron looked into the resolute, golden eyes of his elder brother, a powerful and feared android that had blue hull that resembled Electron’s, but was far more developed and superior in every aspect. There was a golden ‘P’ on his forehead. His hand was rested on his brother’s shoulder.

  “Give me the coordinates. I’ll crush them with a thought.”

  “I’ll lead you to them,” Electron said.

  “These creatures are obviously beyond your strength, brother.”

  “But you are above theirs… I won’t get in your way.”

  ***

  Blade peered up before him. He was in what appeared to be a dry canyon. The landscape was rigidly rugged, and hills and valleys and piles of hard, sun-scorched rocks were everywhere. He quickly glanced to his left and right and behind him to confirm his situation. Then he quickly turned his attention back up to the top of a hill of stone a few yard off. Two figures were standing up there. Even given the distance and the glare of the sun that was right behind them, he quickly identified them to be his companions, Lex and Azar. He continued to peer up at the seemingly emotionless, unmoving men. “Something’s not right…” He gripped his sword more tightly.

  *

  “Hey! Guys! When’d you get up there?!” Lex bellowed over the distance, not seeing anyone else around.

  *

  Azar looked through narrowed eyes at the unmoving men that stood a few meters before him. They stood on a slight grade, and the sun shone vilely behind them.

  *

  “I see,” Blade said, already understanding, “so the more companions you travel with, the more difficult… the less possible this leg of the race is.” He hissed, staring still out at the grim-faced men ahead.

  Won’t they attack, then? As if the man looking to be Azar heard his thought and took offence to it, he stretched forth his right hand; it glowed red mana immediately. With threatening speed, the menacing Lex ran down the hill toward the swordsman. Lex’s arms were outstretched behind him, each hand carrying a sphere of ice energy.

  “Anam Resal!” a command rang out from atop the hill, and a beam of blinding redness shot down from his hand, flying over Lex’s head, moving directly toward the swordsman. Blade crouched quickly and made a powerful backward leap. There was a bright explosion of mana and dust as the beam hit the ground. Blade landed, his momentum pushing him back on his feet, his teeth clenched. His eyes widened as he saw Lex emerge from the bright cloud with the two iceballs. Lex swung one of his icy hands at Blade, already reaching up to him. The Zakatian bent his upper body back quickly. As the orb of ice held tightly in Lex’s palm nearly grazed Blade’s face, Blade flung his chest back up and swung at Lex, but not with the intent to kill him. Lex jumped back quickly with speed and force that made Blade wonder. While moving back through the air, the boy sent both spheres at Blade. Swift movements saved Blade from a cold death.

  “Esrever!” a familiar voice commanded from behind Blade. Blade turned around quickly, then raised himself from the ground with a technique that took him more than half his life to perfect. He spun ten times with rapidity, timing his revolution to make the incoming chilly spheres wrapped in red mana slide past his chest and back with less than an inch of space to spare. Blade landed with a slight crouch, providing potential for another dodge. His long, silver-blue hair fell on his back gracefully. Blade knew what had taken place behind him. Lex was frozen and a cloud of red mana had surrounded him, some of the redness trapped within the ice.

  Hmm. One direct hit from either of them and I’m finished. I’m pretty sure Lex won’t stay put for too long… and Azar’s sorcery… it is impossible to predict… Even with my blade, the odds seem to be against me… I have to subdue them without killing them… I need to engage Azar in close combat while Lex is frozen. Ranged fighting has no advantages for me.

  *

  The Blade that the real Azar was up against rushed him with a speed that was frightening. The swordsman swung at the prince’s neck. The average man would have been beheaded at that moment, but fortunately for Azar, he was not the average man. In a cloudy burst of mana, Azar spaceshifted a few meters back. What?! The wizard had to teleport again as Blade came at him without indecision. This time, Azar appeared quite a few meters back. At this rate… Azar still kept the unmoving Lex in his vision. And Lex is there gathering energy. “Recilsanam!” A red sword appeared in his right hand. Blade rushed off toward him with no reluctance. The prince guarded with his sword. Blade sent a heavy kick through the man’s guard, hitting him just within the ribcage. Before the force of Blade’s kick could take effect, Blade gripped the man’s right wrist and twisted it sharply, swinging at his neck meanwhile. Blade’s sword wiped though a cloud of red mana. The prince’s mana sword fell and disappeared.

  “Damn,” Azar said under his breath, just appearing behind a rock he had eyed just seconds before, quite a little distance from where Blade was, and even further away from the unmoving Lex. The prince clenched his teeth, holding tightly his hurting wrist. Mana glowed about his tightly gripped hand as damage was undone. What led me to challenge Blade in close combat? I need to subdue him from a distance without killing him… I’m not quite sure what’s going on yet so I must avoid doing anything that cannot be undone.
r />   *

  Lex’s eyes widened as he saw the man looking to be Azar vanish from beside his companion. Lex spun quickly. “Azar!” he belted, seeing he was readying to shoot a beam of fire from his outward hand. There was no expression on his face – no anger, no smirk, nothing. The Icemaker heard rushing footsteps behind him. He spun again quickly, seeing Blade rush at him with threatening speed. The Icemaker crouched and made a jump, barely escaping the rushing beam of fire. Blade sidestepped the beam and continued toward Lex. “Shit!” the boy gave out in panic. Without hesitation, Blade swung his sword at Lex’s head. With natural reflex, Lex raised his right hand to shield his face from the blade. Before the murderously sharp sword could strike his hand, ice seized it. Blade jumped back, letting go of the icy sword to avoid being frozen by the ice that quickly covered it. Lex turned his attention back to Azar. The emotionless man fired what appeared to be a lousily aimed beam of fire at Lex’s lower body. Lex easily evaded it, barely having to shift. Lex turned and saw Blade pick up the steaming, chilly sword, water dripping off it. The Icemaker hissed, not even knowing fully the frustration that was up ahead.

  *

  Blade rushed toward the dead-faced Azar again, not giving him much chance, even with spaceshifting, to keep a good distance from him. Blade swung at Azar’s head again. Again, Blade’s sword only cut through waste mana. Blade looked behind him to his left instantly. I see. He noticed a vague pattern is Azar’s teleportation. Azar, who was standing between Blade and the frozen Lex, summoned up mana in his hands again. In an instant, the bright, shapeless mana became two well-shaped spheres.

  Mana balls? Blade wondered.

  Azar held a hand out toward Blade, and the sphere shot off fiercely at him. Blade blocked the swift attack with his sword. There was a bright explosion and a cloud of mana and dust as the dense ball of mana struck Blade’s sword. The force of the impact sent Blade hurling back. Still moving through the air, the next mana ball was thrown at him with similar accuracy. With clenched teeth and almost no time to think, Blade threw his sword forward to meet the orb. There was a bright blast before him. Blade landed on his feet and slid back as he watched his sword fly over his head. It’d take a miracle for this fight to end well.