“Zakashi Village, I am the man Lord Kabuja spoke of!” he declared. “I have come to protect and restore my village!” There was a sudden uproar.
***
Kyle, Clover and Star looked in the direction of rushing footsteps. They saw Lex quickly nearing with a gleeful girl on his back. Clover was speechless. “Zen, you’re okay!” Kyle rejoiced. As Lex reached within the tents, Zen jumped off his back. She ran to Kyle and hugged him tightly. “I’m really sorry, Zen. I tried to find you, but--”
“It’s alright, Kyle,” the smiling girl told him. She released him and went over to Star. Star hugged her with tears in her eyes, “You’re even prettier than I imagined,” the girl said, startling everyone but Lex.
Isn’t she supposed to be blind?! Clover wondered. More importantly, how is she still—
“Everyone, I can see!” Zen gave out in excitement, running around playfully, totally ignoring Clover. She grabbed Kyle again. “Wow, so handsome!” She looked over at Clover. “Hi Clover,” she greeted, frightening her, “you’re very pretty,” she complimented. Somehow, Zen’s friendliness toward Clover upset her unspeakably.
“What the hell’s going on here?!” Clover blasted in obvious displeasure.
“That’s amazing!” Star shared her joy, “It’s a miracle!” She grabbed up Zen and twirled her about playfully.
Clover, nervous with anger and disbelief, recalled Zen’s words clearly; ‘Only a kiss of real love would make me see again…’ “No… That’s impossible,” Clover told herself. Kiss?… Love?! She stared at Zen with fiery eyes. Zen saw Clover’s threatening glare and stood beside Lex, the only place she felt entirely safe and secure, even with her incredible mind-bending abilities. Suddenly, as Clover’s eyes grew fiercer, she clenched her fists tightly and green mana powered her capable hands.
“You little bitch! This time I’ll kill you for sure!” Clover blasted, unable to control or contain her thoughts. She ran toward Zen, her right fist drawn back with striking power. Lex quickly stepped before Zen, staring at Clover with even fiercer eyes than hers.
“You won’t lay another finger on this girl,” Lex warned her calmly and sternly. “And you best watch how you speak to her.”
Clover’s face crumbled, and the fierceness in her eyes disappeared along with her third grade mana. Tears welled up and fell down her face. Her tears pained Lex greatly, and softened the glare in his eyes. “I can’t believe you, Lex…” she cried, “I was foolish to think you really loved me back.” Those words pierced the boy’s heart like an impossibly sharp arrow. He could say nothing. A furiously threatening look came over Kyle’s face and he gripped his sword tightly. Lex glanced over at him, then back at Clover, now feeling terrible.
“Please… Let us be in one accord… Trium comes today,” Lex reminded them, then stepped away from before Clover. Zen remained for a moment, looking into the deep pain and disappointment on the witch’s face, the sadness in her tears. She turned from her, unable to bear the sight any longer. Kyle continued to glare at Lex with a fierce expression and unfriendly thoughts.
***
The entire Zakashi Village gathered around the meeting. Blade stood firmly on the soil that he used to play and train on in his childhood, facing the village chieftain. Behind the chief was a group of men in blue and green uniforms – his personal bodyguards and the highest paid men in the village (besides himself of course). He began slapping heavy taxes on the villagers the day he got into power.
“Blade, why have you returned to this place after the havoc that you wreaked nine years ago? Some nerve you have, even proclaiming to be some kind of hero and saviour to my people!”
“I’m glad we’re all gathered here,” Blade said. “Firstly, I apologize to my village for my absence for nine years… Today I have returned not to overthrow the government that you have set up… though that will be dealt with in due time.” The villagers became noisy at this.
“Dealt with?! Who do you think you are, child?!” Shaman blasted.
“Please listen to me for a moment,” Blade continued calmly, calming the villagers. Suddenly, there was a slight earth tremor, not big enough to create chaos. “People of Zakashi Village!” Blade continued, “I have come with a warning, and with willingness to die protecting my people!” he declared. “Trium of the legends is coming today!”
***
“So this is how you will--” Azar’s address to the sorcerers he freed from the prison was interrupted by a minor earthquake. The men and women crouched, a bit frightened, and began chattering. Azar looked to the heavens. The earth is trembling… It is near.
***
Those in Star’s camp stood still in silence as they felt the earth quake a bit.
They’re upon us, Maximo told Lex. Look up. They will be here in little time.
What kind of power is this that even the earth trembles? Lex answered in thought.
“Lex!” Star called out, just remembering, “Come with me!” she called with urgency. Lex and Zen were just walking toward his tent.
“Soon be back,” Lex told her, and went over to Star’s tent. His eyes widened and he gasped in surprise, looking down at the familiar vial made of the rarest metal in the world, the vial that he nearly killed Azar over, and Azar nearly killed him to keep. “Where’d you--”
“Azar came by. Forgive me for just saying. He told me to give it to you.” Lex’s eyes turned black immediately as the demon inside was excited.
I feel it! The other half is within the vial! The nearness of my brothers have clouded my judgement that I hadn’t sensed it, but being so close, I can feel it now! “Witch! Get aside! Get everyone away from here!” Maximo commanded through Lex’s mouth. Star stared at Lex’s black eyes, unable to move. “Witch! Don’t make me kill you!”
Star nodded briskly and obediently moved away. “Everyone, move away from the tent!” Star instructed, “Lex will absorb the other half of the spirit!” With that, Lex, his eyes black as coldness, rushed over to the vial and grabbed it up. He raised the heavy container up to his chest.
KLICK!
Without hesitation, Lex turned the upper half of the container and burst it open. Dark, swift, shadowy streaks burst from the prison immediately, some of it orbiting Lex at near light’s speed, eventually rushing into his eyes. The spectators awed as they watched a large sphere of pure darkness surround the tent. They heard a deafening, hellish cry, like all the demons in hell were screaming. Zen, Clover, even Star shook at the strange sight and sound. Kyle just stood and stared. Darkness continued to move from the vial and flow into Lex’s eyes, deep into his soul. In around half a minute, the darkness from around the tent vanished and the hellish sound and great wind ended.
Zen panted, like it was she herself who had undergone the horrid process. All at once, his four friends rushed to the tent he was in. Strangely, it was still completely intact. Kyle stretched his hand to stop the others, seeing Lex was sitting in a position of deep meditation and inner communication. His eyes were black, seemingly even darker than usual. Slowly, they surrounded him without going too close.
Zen stared at Lex’s eyes. “Lex…” she whispered. She wasn’t afraid, as she knew that Lex’s will would overpower any amount of darkness, and he would never in any way hurt her.
Again, Lex was standing in the realm that existed inside his soul. He looked out into the distance, seeing a familiar-looking man of darkness. “Maximo!” He called.
“I’m right here,” he heard a voice from his right, slightly behind him. He turned and saw his friend, who was identical to the figure he saw in the distance. “Look at yourself,” Maximo said. Lex looked at his hands, his legs, his feet. He gasped in fright and puzzlement.
“What’s going on??” His entire body was made of ice, or rather, ice energy.
“You here are a bodily manifestation of your ice-making power. I, of course, am the manifestation of your power of darkness. As you are now, you are in your ‘spirit battle mode’… Before us stands a foreign e
ntity, which is never friendly.”
“You mean your other half? But how?! Shouldn’t it simply be added to you?”
“I was divided into two equal parts millennia ago. As I exist as an entity, as a person, so does my other half. As I have a will and a character, so does he. As I am sure that I am Maximo… so is he who stands before us…”
“This is incredible… I never imagined it that way.”
“If he wins this fight, my essence will be added to his, and you will become possessed by him, and of course, if he decides to leave your body—”
“I will die.”
“Right. We should be able to defeat him though. He and I are equally matched, so regardless of how weak you are, we should have the upper hand.”
“Right-- What do you mean regardless of how--”
“Focus, Lex,” Maximo cut in, quelling the foolish feeling of insult. “If we defeat him, his power will be added to me, and we will have a better chance of taking my brothers down, especially if they come one at a time. With you – the ability of the Icemaker – and my other half, we might be able to match the power of each of my brothers. Of course, with your friends’ aid and the assistance of the world, if they strike one at a time, we should win.”
“Sounds good to me!” Lex sounded quite hopeful and optimistic.
“Well, this is all providing they strike one by one, and providing, which is highly unlikely, they haven’t gotten any stronger.” Lex’s expression changed as he pondered those variables, and his certainty was not very firm any more. “He’s coming!” Maximo blasted, seeing the shadowy thing rush on.
***
It was no easy task quelling the uproar of the villagers. “Everyone! Be quiet!” Shaman ordered. “Guards! Restrain the noise makers!” The noise quelled quickly.
“Where did you get this absurd news? From those madmen who call themselves Triumists?! People have come here with rumours of the same foolishness. Of course, they were quickly dismissed! Such utter rubbish cannot be entertained by the minds of sensible people!”
“Shaman, let us make a deal. If my prediction is right, you step down from the position of village leader, and if am I wrong, I will leave the village for good.”
“Are you an idiot?! You think I’ve come this far to gamble my status as chief? You think you can just waltz in here and take over?! You might be good with a sword, but you’re nothing more than a foolish coward who abandoned his village!” The villagers began again. Many of them supported Shaman, but there were those who would always be against him, even if being against him meant a threat to their lives.
There was sudden chaos and panic as a vile earthquake shook the place. People scattered in every direction, grabbing children and running into houses. The earth cracked dangerously and the buildings shook. Blade stood his ground, knowing it was pointless to get caught up in the chaos.
“My tower!” Shaman panicked, looking back at the unstabling building.
***
“Dammit!” Azar blasted. He and his sorcerers stood their ground until the quake ended. There were eighteen of them. Azar had gathered them on an open field. “They’re almost here,” Azar said, “so we move to our posts immediately. Team A, shift to your guard points. Teams B and C, come with me.”
***
Clover panted heavily in fright. Two of the tents had caved in the quake. “Brother!” she called, clinging to him in fear. He held his sister tightly. It had been a while since he felt like a big brother. Though his sister had the power to blow men to bits in a jiffy, she was still his fragile little sister. Star looked up at the dim, grey skies. Zen sat by Lex, watching him intently, seemingly unaware of the quake.
***
The Icemakers moved with a sense of disarray and frenzy as the snow beneath them cracked and caved suddenly.
“The quake is over!” their leader said, “Regain composure!”
Artaco grabbed on to Icilda’s arm. “Ice, is this really happening?!” the nervous boy asked, almost wetting himself. Icilda looked up at the skies. “Ice, whatever happens… please don’t die today.” Ice’s eyes were fixed on the skies.
***
“Mister Prime Minister! The tower is no longer safe!” one of Kaleb’s guards warned. “I’ll get you out of here!”
“Right! Grab and shift! Leave no one behind!”
***
With little effort, a massive beam of ice energy jetted out from Lex’s hands toward the swiftly approaching demon. The man of darkness jumped as the beam was an inch from freezing him. As he reached into the air, practically instantly, he transformed himself into a massive black dragon. The next instant, a huge black sphere was formed within the dragon’s mouth. The dragon fired the beastly bomb at Lex. It moved with great destructive power and speed. Lex felt a strong force push him out of the way. As he flew back through the air, the black ball blasted Maximo. There was a mighty explosion, and Maximo flew back with great force. He landed on his feet, skating back on the white floor.
“Careful, Lex! In this world, even shadow shells can be made in the twitch of an eye!”
***
As order was beginning to return to Zakashi Village, a cloud of red appeared. “Azar,” Blade greeted, realizing instantly that this meeting would have had immediate unwanted effects. Accompanying Azar were eight sorcerers, six men and two women, all of them looking to be in their late forties or older.
“The Magmalian Prince!” Shaman blasted, pointing at him with his proper hand. Swords left their cases immediately as Zakatians surrounded the ten. “So now you’re friends with the ones who salvaged our village and destroyed what we spent decades building?! Is your aim to attack this village again?!” Shaman raved, secretly glad that he could finally turn everyone against Blade.
“Please!” Blade responded, “Remember what I said about Trium! For now, the alien that will soon descend is the one we will call our enemy! Magma Town lends us some sorcerers to help us defend against Trium!”
“So you think you can pay for all you’ve done by lending us a handful of men?! Now you wish to attack the very pride of the village?! Leave this place! All of you!” The village roared in agreement.
“Oh boy. I totally forgot about that,” Azar sighed.
“Look!” a girl shouted, pointing to the skies. Everyone looked up and gasped in fright and fear and worry and wonder. As far as their eyes could see, tiny black specks dotted the skies.
“Black rain,” Azar whispered to himself. The dots grew a bit larger each second. “This is Trium!” Azar shouted. “Blade, I leave! Team C, come quickly!” Azar spaceshifted immediately, taking with him four of the sorcerers.
Azar and his men appeared at Lex’s camp. Star, Kyle and Clover were nervously staring up at the skies. Azar looked up, he and his sorcerers. Shadowy streaks were approaching from the skies as far as their eyes could perceive. “Where’s Lex?” the man asked, returning to his senses. Clover pointed in the direction of the tent, her eyes still fixed on the descending doom. “Come!” Azar commanded his men and reached to the tent with them. “Pull down the tent!” In a second, the tent was taken apart. “Who are you?” Azar asked the sitting girl.
Kyle ran up to them. “Her name is Zen,” he told Azar. “She has the power to create force fields and slice through men with her mind.”
“A mindbender?!”
“That’s right!” Zen answered, ready to do everything she could to protect Lex.
“Alright, I’ll leave my questions for later. Right now you’re perfect for this duty.”
“You are Prince Azar right?” the girl asked, just standing.
“Right. Listen. Your one and only duty right now is to guard Lex and these four with your very life. You cannot fail.”
Clover looked at them. “Sorcerers,” Star told her, sensing their high-level mana.
With business-like dispatch, Azar took from his garments a scroll. One of the sorcerers, the team’s woman, raised the vial, struggling to lift it. Azar spread the scroll under
it quickly. The woman placed the vial on it, exhaling heavily. The four magicians sat at the four corners of the large scroll. Azar took the top half from the vial and tossed it aside, fixing the bottom half on the scroll properly. “This should work,” he said hopefully. Each of the sorcerers lay one of their hands on the scroll and stretched the other out toward the vial. They began, simultaneously, to recite an ancient incantation from an ancient language.
“What’s going on here?” Star asked, watching the strange-looking process with deep interest. The vial glowed as red mana slowly and steadily streamed from the sorcerers’ hands and coated it.
“Out of all the captured magicians I had in my father’s special cells, these four are the most experienced, and are all able to read the language of this scroll. The incantation should stabilize the vial and draw suspended dark matter to it.”
“Suspended?” the intrigued witch asked.
“When Trium reaches, as he will in moments,” – he looked up to the skies again. The streaks were quite close – “he’s obviously divided into many more than three. No dragons are here, so I guess he’ll possess humans, using them to host his power. When a possessed human is killed, that tiny fraction of Trium will enter another human. With this plan, humanity would be completely extinct my nightfall, and Trium wins easily.” Star gasped, having never thought of any of that.
“With men like me around, such elementary plans won’t work that easily, though. With this scroll, my sorcerers and the vial, when dark matter leaves a killed individual, instead of heading into its killer or anyone else, it’s dragged straight to the vial, so no recycling will be done. Eventually, all of Trium’s power, bit by tiny bit, will be trapped in here.”
The Seventh Spirit Page 58
