The Challenger

by Harlon Banks

  "That's fine." Liariana responded; her voice casual and monotone.

  Once again, Jonath was stunned by how easy that was; looking in her eyes and watching her simply turn back to hacking out brush for them to move through. The glowing golden hummingbird chirping twice and fluttering in the breeze on its way again.

  "Well... That was easier than I imagined. Alright then." Jonath said much less anxious about dealing with the red-eyed woman. He figured this was the best time, before they arrived to their destination to ask some questions about Liariana and in particular what made her surname hold so much value to several people he's met since waking up on this eternal darkness of a continent. "Since formalities are out-of-the-way, you mind if I ask you what exactly does you being a Yelkath or whatever have to do with the orgasms everyone's had so far when they see you?" He asked rather crudely in his choice of words yet showing not even the slightest concern about it. Hands moving back to his pockets as he picked up the pace to catch up, pale eyes periodically looking around as she cut vegetation in this dense part of forestry.

  "I don't want to talk, sorry." Liariana responded in a glassy tone. Sword slicing air and branches; another clump of brush slumping to her boots as she overstepped it and kept moving. "There's no reason for us to talk outside of emergency or necessary co-operation." She finished. Jonath immediately eye rolling and shaking his head at her with a snort.

  "Well, they say if it's too good to be true it probably is. Go figure." He sighed exasperate; deciding to just go back to daydreaming as they walked. Liariana glancing over her shoulder one last time to him, and then not looking his way again for the rest of the travel.

  Though he couldn't see it, Liariana's expression for the briefest of moments looked solemn, and then it was gone as quick as it came.

  What felt like an eternity walking in purgatory soon passed, each passing step making Jonath more and more irritable. His eyes straining showing his irritation as his hands began to fidget in his pockets. Glancing here and there among a forest of glowing shades and thick greenery, no signs of any ruins in sight despite having followed this bird for what he pretty sure was an hour. He wanted to say something, maybe even ask how much longer till they reached the damned place but quickly realized he'd only waste his breath. Liariana clearly wouldn't be able to answer and the bird itself obviously couldn't talk. Sighing heavily, almost tempted to turn take a five-minute break and chill at the base of a nearby tree stump; Jonath stopped walking when he suddenly saw Liariana perk up and look around. Red eyes narrowing as they glared past bangs of black hair and her entire vibe grew colder; features tensed like a cornered animal about to lash out at an approaching figure.

  Jonath raised a brow, glancing at the golden hummingbird which immediately died down in its glow and flew underneath the confines of the Yelkath's overlying cloak to hide away. Her sword quietly lowered, obscuring itself under the fabric as she side-eyed Jonath. The amnesic blinking, and looking in the direction she was now, off to the left only to see nothing. Was she looking at a beast? A person? Multiple of either? He turned his pale hued gaze back to her, a tingly feeling swelling in the back of his eyes that made him suddenly feel as if he were watched by something extremely antagonistic. This feeling could only be described as his body warning him that something, or someone, wanted to cause him harm.

  Wait... when was he able to sense stuff like this? Could he always do that?

  "... Two... Five... Eight..." He counted in his head, looking here and there around the forest simultaneously with Liariana now as the woman backed up. Jonath turning his back to her, sensing the bulk of them were behind him and the two now standing back to back. Tensed and quiet; Jonath's left hand slowly descending to the knife sheathed on the side of his left combat boot, gloved palms twitching over the hilt at the woman behind him made no noise whatsoever.

  "Well well well..." A man's voice, deep and baritone boomed out from the sea of glowing forestry from the direction Jonath were staring. "You all are pretty alert to my surprise... You found out we were stalking you right before we made our move. You both randomly appeared a short distance away from me and my buddies lil camp back over yonder, like out of nowhere... You wouldn't be headed to those warded off ruins would ya?" The voice asked, neither Jonath nor Liariana able to pinpoint exactly where these figures were hiding in the dense brush; but that feeling in his eyes intensified... As if it were a meter that were slowly climbing higher and higher to the point it started to ache a bit. Like an intense burning sensation eerily similar to when he'd first awakened in this place.

  "Eh, I guess it doesn't really matter does it now? This forest is no man's land territory anyway; I could just kill you both, take your stuff and go on about my day and nobody would have any power to stop me now would they?" That voice chuckled deeply, tone laced with bad intentions. Jonath twitching when he heard Liariana's feet shift behind him, that sensation in his eyes now blindingly uncomfortable to the point he felt like he were about to cry. Something was about to happen, something really bad was about to happen and his body was firing off all kinds of warning signals to his brain to get ready.

  "Kill them." The man ordered.

  Jonath's vision suddenly saw everything in an inverted grey scale... He could see an arrow flying right towards him and then the gruesome image of it piercing his skull through his nose if he didn't move..

  What the hell...

  Jonath suddenly side-stepped the arrow that flew seconds later right as his vision returned to normal while Liariana pivoted around him dodging as well; the projectile ruffling his hair with the after breeze and planting itself firmly in the bark of a tree. His eyes widening in utter astonishment as he spaced out a bit in disbelief...

  "Did I just see my own death...?"

  Knife quickly yanked from its sheathing and swirled revered grip into his right hand Jonath brought up the dagger and braced himself. Eyes scanning the area around him, Liariana doing the same as she crouched ever so slightly as if about to pounce... The two carefully watching and waiting for the slightest provocation to move again. A slow clap echoing all around them in the cool night air of the forest.

  "Whoa now we got a couple of Nightborn out here now do we?" The man chuckled from his hidden place, rustling coming from all around them as the assumed eight attackers got into a better position. The air tensed and still, the chirping of birds and crickets having all gone silent as the full moon above loomed over the scenery before it like an all-seeing eye unable to penetrate to the forest floor with the thickened canopy blocking its way.

  "You're bandits, aren't you?" Liariana asked in an eerily calm and unintimidated tone. Her intense red eyes glowing softly among the glowing crystal shades all around in the tightly packed forestry. Her stare sharper than normal... honed like a hawks, as if she were slowly pinpointing where everyone was despite not being able to see them conventionally. Jonath's hand tensed on his dagger, his breathing to his shock was ominously... calm. He didn't feel nervous at all, in fact he felt what could only be described as 'ready'; as if his body instinctively entered combat mode without his authority or knowledge. That tingling feeling in his now turning into a subtle throbbing sensation before dissipating completely. A single stream of blood leaking down the left eye as he shut his right from the burning feeling that throbbed one last time before it faded away indefinitely.

  "Ay, we are; and you're our prey. Kill em both and loot their corpses." The man replied before several more arrows went flying from all directions towards the two...

  Move...!

  Jonath's pale hued eyes flashed brightly with a discharge of powerful ethereal energy as everything slowed down around him. That grey scaled vision returning instantly and his sight-seeing multiple arrows moving towards him in a sort of illusionary veil before the grey-scale vanished as quick as it came. Then he didn't even know he possessed, his body simply acted; dagger twirling through his fingers fluently as he swiped the air multiple times sparking against several arrows and divertin
g them from lethal spots on his torso as he fluently dodged the rest. Liariana having jumped up into the air as silent as a panther, her supernatural physiology as a Nightborn just as clear as Jonath's as she vaulted on top of a branch several meters in the air and back stepped effortlessly into the brush concealing her from view. Standing among broken arrows, Jonath raised his arms up in a combat ready pose yet again; eyes softly glowing as he scoured the landscape with calm breaths unknown of the fact that his eyes had transformed again. Those crescent-shaped bright ghostly pupils emanating a sharp glow amongst Melissaes of pale.

  "What is going on with me?" He muttered confused to himself within his thoughts. His body staying vigilant despite the inner confusion that plagued his consciousness; as if he were almost completely detached from his body as it entered an autopilot defense. Everything felt... slower to him, as if the world around him were moving in slow motion when those arrows flew towards him. His stare narrowing, he rotated on his feet; ready to defend himself again from these attackers in the brush.

  "Find out where that girl went! Don't let her get away!" The presumed leader cried out angrily and temporarily ignoring Jonath. However his words met with a shrill scream followed by the gross noise of flesh being cut and blood spilling in a splattering spray. Jonath veering his head to the right just in time to see Liariana cutting down another attacker who'd been kicked by her out into the small area where he stood. The middle-aged man's features clear as day now, blonde shaggy hair and green eyes with fair skin dressed in animals skins and furs. His hands grasping the slash wound dealt across his throat and chest that cut deep severing the windpipe. Blood pooling around him as green eyes lost their light and then he laid still. Liariana flicking blood off her eastern blade before she hopped backwards into the brush vanishing to continue her hunting.

  "Ah shit the bitch killed two of our men already! Find her and kill her all fucking ready!" The main bandit growled out from cover as Jonath's eyes burned again suddenly. That peculiar vision taking over once more as he foresaw another arrow zoom towards him and pierce the back of his head killing him instantly, taking that image and promptly pivoting around right as the arrow grazed his raised shoulder cutting a small piece of his jacket. Dagger twirling through his fingers Jonath retaliated by throwing the small blade with surprising force and accuracy into the brush; a small gurgling noise and then a collapse following when said dagger hit its mark for a lethal blow. Stumbling a bit, unable to adequately sync with his own bodies automated actions Jonath fell into a roll on the ground before quickly getting back on his feet as another arrow was dodged. This one digging into the earth right where his left leg was a second or so earlier.

  "Shit! Shit she's here aahhhhhh!" Another man's voice cried out before he were silenced by Liariana's sword taking his life. Another collapsing noise echoed from the bushes followed by a rustling noise and a very brief sight of the woman jumping with supernatural agility back up into a low hanging tree. Jonath more astonished by her actions than his own as his eyes watched her figure vanish as quick as it came. Finally wiping the tear of blood from his face before he suddenly yelped and cradled his face again in pain.

  "What the hell is wrong with my damn eyes!?" He cursed! His eyes feeling as if they set on fire, having no possible idea why this pain was so clear again. A loud, angry growl meeting his ears as the bandit leader at this point had enough of the bullshit. Baritone voice booming out as he spoke in a thundering command laced with ire.

  "Is it really that fucking hard to kill a couple of young people!? You all are fucking useless! I'll kill the boy my damn self than handle the bitch since you all can't do it. Go die!" He barked as noises were heard from behind Jonath. The young man pivoting around with bloody eyes and blurred vision, right hand cradling his right eye as his left squinted with glowing pale gaze at a large man stepping out. Facial features unable to be distinguished, his sight was too blurry; but he could without a doubt make out the size of this one. This man walking towards him was big and burly, easily a third larger and much more robust than Jonath was. The groaning amnesic staggering back as his eyes strained to force some type of clarity; this was bad!

  "I can't see... My body stopped moving too..." He thought hectic to himself with extremely blurred vision as more blood tears streamed down his eyes; right closed and bloody left failing to see through parted fingers and silver bangs. He saw the gesture of the man raising his arm, a large object in his possession ready to hammer down on Jonath's now paralyzed with pain body. Even standing a few feet in front of him, Jonath couldn't make out a single feature of the dark-skinned man about to kill him. Legs locking up as his entire body suddenly felt as if it were pumped with lead, he sucked his teeth in hesitantly as he tried to move, defend himself, do anything!

  "Move! MOVE DAMMIT!" He barked in his head as the blurry bandit leader chuckled darkly.

  "End of the line kid! I can't wait to count out your val-"

  "Stop talking." Liariana said monotone...

  Blood splattered over Jonath's face...

  His eyes widening as red smeared his hair and clothes, and the blurry figures arm dropped; a clanking sound meeting his ears as the weapon hit the ground and the corpse stood up a little longer. Just as this happened, Jonath's vision snapped back into crystal clear clarity and all the pain in his eyes faded away immediately as he saw a gruesome sight.

  The man who had prepared to kill Jonath was now standing still, as if still in shock at what just happened. His onyx eyes and ugly features peering down at the end of a dagger that had pierced his neck from the nape and was protruding though his throat, damp with his life. Jonath hitching a breath in his throat... that was his dagger...

  Liariana lowering her right arm, fingers once flexed from the throw relaxing as softly luminous red eyes ceased to glow and she watched with a hollow expression the body fall lifeless to the ground. Her left hand holding a blood drenched sword yet her attire didn't have a spec of blood on it. Jonath staring at her, unable to speak or do anything as their gazes met; the Yelkath flicking her sword and freeing it of the red liquid before sliding it back into its sheathe beneath her cloak and walking to and later passed Jonath as if nothing ever happened.

  Did she just... kill all of those people by herself and even save his life?

  Jonath snapped out of his awe and disbelief, his mind calming itself rather fast as he looked over his shoulder at her. The woman pulling the wire bird out and following it without a word and expecting him to follow as well; he was at a loss for words...

  "So that's a Yelkath..." He thought to himself as he watched her walk away; shaking his thoughts away as he retrieved his blade from the bandits throat without much care for the blood himself and wiping it off on the animal skins the corpse like dressed in. Sheathing the weapon, he stared down at the body for a moment. Wiping with his right thumb remnants of blood that leaked from his eyes and standing there in thought with glassy eyes. So much just happened in the span of a few quick minutes, it was hard to believe...

  The image of Wren staring at him and the comments about seeing potential within Jonath flashed through his consciousness again... Jonath vividly remembering how he dodged those arrows and even accurately threw his dagger into the brush to kill that bandit as well. Mind now a sea of even more questions than there were ever answers available, he pushed the thoughts to the back of his head as he turned to run and catch up with Liariana who had disappeared into the thicket. As he caught up, he cast his gaze off to the side with a concerned expression focused only on himself...

  So many questions... too little answers...

  After a couple of more minutes, the wire birds golden glow flared up catching both of their attentions. Eyes of pale and crimson watching it quietly as it led them to an open clearing void of any trees for at least half a mile in ever direction except from where they'd come... Tall grassy land and wide open space greeted them with a stronger than normal breeze that ruffled the trees. The moonlight shining brighter than ever as the
two Nightborn laid their eyes on what at long last they had come to see...

  A giant stone temple, aged and overrun by moss and weeds lied broken and crumbled amidst an open clearing hidden among the towering trees that surrounded them... a powerful distortion in the air surrounding it, trapping it within like a bubble that barred off uncleared entry. The mystical essence permeating the air, almost humid to the skin.

  It was time... For it all to truly begin.

  Road to Mystery

  The Challenger Chapter Fourteen - Road to Mystery

  "So this is where those students ventured and vanished without a trace inside?" Jonath said verbally though not exactly to the woman at his side; looking over to see her simply staring at the mystic barrier surrounding the ruins in a distorted veil. His own ghostly pale eyes turning back upon the large ruins; his eyes squinting slightly as he stared with varying impressions about the temple. They looked old, centuries old even and untouched; the stone eroded and aged by wind and vines and the cracked and mossy staircase leading downwards at the mouth of its base implied a larger part of the ruins lie underground.