The Dark Archer also possessed great hearing due to the demon that resided within him. He had heard Auron and Lucius from over half a mile away and had been advancing silently through the trees to the pair’s location ever since they had started arguing on the forests pathway. The Archer’s dark cape flapped in the wind as he glanced from tree to tree. He landed on a branch high above them and drew his bow. He reached for an arrow from over his shoulder, where he had several stored. He didn’t place the arrow in the bow however when he noticed who it was that was below him. The Dark Archer had heard of Lucius of course as he was infamous within the realm, but Xavier was more interested with the presence of Auron within the forest. The creature knew Auron from a long time ago. The two of them were once allies. Indeed, there was a time he would have called him a friend. That time had long past and they were now the deadliest of enemies. The Dark Archer had long waited for the day he and his foe would cross paths once again.
The Archer also had no love for Lucius. Despite being banished to the realm of Underworld, he was originally of Alexandrian blood, therefore the Dark Archer had a natural hatred for the Underworld. In fact, Xavier had long dreamed of nothing more than returning to his beloved Alexandrian realm. Those dreams had long since died however as he knew this was impossible. Not only had Trenkenth forbidden his return, he was also an outcast in the eye’s of Zeris for his betrayal of the Alexandrian’s during the Great War. Little is know about why the Dark Archer betrayed his people, but their hatred of him had turned the creature bitter. He now only had pain and misery in his heart and seized anyone who dared to enter the forest, which he had chosen for his own prison. Very few had entered here since the Archer’s presence with the forests domain had become known.
The Dark Archer would have seized Lucius and especially Auron if they had been alone, however, he chose to watch silently as the pair prepared to fight each other.
Lucius, whose senses inside this realm were immaculate, became aware of the Dark Archer’s presence. “It seems we are no longer alone,” he said, taking a look up at the trees as he spoke.
Auron began looking frantically around the woods, searching for the enemy he had set out to kill. “Where is he? Where? Auron shouted.
“You’re not going to catch him by surprise shouting like that,” said Lucius very calmly.
The Alexandrian, who at this point had stopped listening to Lucius, sighted the Dark Archer in a tree high above over Lucius’ shoulder. “There you are traitor!” Auron snorted in an almost growl-like voice. He rushed quickly towards the tree, passing Lucius as he did so.
Lucius’ clenched his left fist together as Auron was about to pass him. Lucius unleashed a fierce punch towards the Alexandrian; who didn’t see it coming as he had his sights set on the Archer. Auron flew back several yards, landing flat on his back. Auron jumped up in a rage and aimed his sword at Lucius. It was an ancient blade, made of the strongest Alexandrian steel in the realm. He had won the sword in battle, gaining possession of it in a contest with his predecessor, the former champion warrior of the realm.
“I told you Alexandrian you are going no further,” snarled Lucius, who found great pleasure in bringing the legendary Auron down so easily to his knees.
“You’ll regret that Lucius!”
The time for talk now ended and the two proceeded to engage in battle.
The pair charged forward toward reach other. Auron threw several punches at Lucius, which found their mark. The blows struck the white haired-man on his stomach and face. They shook Lucius slightly, but only for a moment. Auron launched another assault, but Lucius countered the attack; picking Auron up and throwing him down the forest’s pathway. Auron, who was now angrier than ever, jumped straight back up.
Lucius began to laugh. He knew that due to the lack of sunlight, Auron’s powers were weakened and he began to mock his opponent. “Master Auron you disappoint me. I’ve heard the legends of how you’ve slain the Underworld armies of old single-handedly. However I feel the need to inform you that age is catching up with you old man.”
Auron pointed his sword straight out in front of him. The blade began to glow blow and a bolt of ice formed within it, firing from the blade in an instant. It crashed into his foe with great force, sending Lucius hurdling to the ground.
Lucius rose up on one knee. His arrogant demeanour had now all but vanished. He began to concentrate hard. The blade of his sword began to glow red. Heat began to omit from it and then suddenly, the steel caught fire. Lucius stood up and raised the sword quickly in the air. A ball of fire broke free from the steel of the blade and Lucius quickly struck the ball of fire with his sword like a baseball bat, sending it in the direction of Auron. The Alexandrian saw it coming, however, the speed and venom of the fireball took him by surprise and it crashed into the man’s chest. The Alexandrian was flung back into the truck of a tree with great force. The tree snapped apart as a result of the impact and fell to the ground.
Auron slowly rose to his feet. His face and hands were now stained with the red of blood and a great pain plagued his head. The draining effects of the Underworld on his powers had been greater than he had anticipated. If this was any other Alexandrian they would have been crushed by the blow, however, Auron was far above a regular Alexandrian and the knight rose to his feet once more. He raised his sword high towards the sky and summoned a healing spell from the heavens. Alexandrians possessed the wind elemental and Auron had mastered this ability to its highest potential. He combined this with a healing and empowering spell that the Warlock Rokk had once taught him.
A healing power soared from the heavens down onto the blade of his sword. The power flowed through the Alexandrian’s body, healing his wounds to a degree. The wind elements temporally boosted his strength and Auron knew he must act quickly if he was to take Lucius down. As the healing spell came to an end, Auron quickly fired a mini tornado from his blade towards Lucius. Whilst Auron was summoning his spell, Lucius had conjured up another fireball and both launched their spells simultaneously. Auron and Lucius crashed down onto the dirt hard, causing mini craters in the ground as they landed.
The Dark Archer, who had continued to watch the fighting below, crouched down on the branch on which he was stood. He put his bow down on the branch of the tree and took out his crossbow instead. Once again he didn’t reach for an arrow, of which there were several of on his back. Instead, he sat and watched the duel patiently, like a predator waiting for the right moment to strike.
Down below Auron and Lucius were trading sword blows back and forth. The sound of steel on steel echoed around the forest. At first Lucius was the aggressor. He was a master swordsman, having been taught by Kanto himself and he launched several ancient and skilful attacking combinations towards Auron with his blade.
The Alexandrian knight was more than a match for them, however. Auron’s knowledge when it came to sword techniques was unrivalled by anyone within the realm. He blocked Lucius’ attacks and then launched several of his own. Lucius was immediately on the back foot and struggled to defend the blows off. Auron disarmed Lucius of his sword and kicked him back, knocking him to the ground.
Lucius crawled back several feet and looked up at Auron. It seemed as if the tide of the battle was shifting and Auron was becoming the more dominant of the two, but Lucius gave a sinister grin. He crunched his right fist tight and whispered something. A green mist formed around his right hand and he punched the ground hard. In doing this, Lucius unleashed the Earth Elemental power possessed by all Underworld natives. The truly great Underworld warrior’s had the ability to manipulate the natural grounds around them with the Earth Elemental skill. Lucius jumped back as the ground broke all around him. Auron, who had begun to rush towards Lucius was caught unawares and fell down as the ground crumbled beneath him. Several trees around Auron began to collapse due to the disturbance of the earth and the Alexandrian instinctively rolled out of the way to avoid being crushed.
Auron rose to his feet, but he had
lost his blade in the fall. Now both unarmed, a fistfight ensued between the pair and they exchanged fierce blows. Auron took a quick glance up at the top of the tree where the Dark Archer had been watching from to see that the creature was now missing from the branches. Auron now turned his full attention towards Lucius.
As the fight drew on, both Lucius and Auron were becoming more enraged and it was looking increasingly likely that this would be a battle to the death. Lucius threw a right hand, which Auron blocked. The Underworld native threw a left hand, which the latter blocked once more. Auron now held both Lucius’ fists in his hands and a test of strength ensued. Auron was naturally the stronger of the two but due to the disadvantage he faced of fighting within the Underworld realm, Lucius overpowered him. Auron retaliated by head-butting Lucius in the face, which flung the General of the Underworld armies back several feet onto the ground.
The Dark Archer had now taken up a closer view of the action from a tree a few feet from Auron and he placed an arrow into his crossbow. He was set to fire the arrow right through the Alexandrian’s heart, but the knight had become aware of Xavier’s location once more. He picked up Lucius’ sword, which was at his feet and summoned an ice bolt, which glowed through the blade. He fired it at the foot of the tree the Archer was sat on which prevented the demon him firing the arrow towards him. Indeed, the tree had become dislodged from the impact and the Dark Archer jumped from it and into the cover of the trees behind him.
Lucius, who had picked himself up to his feet whilst all of this was going on, punched Auron on the chin with all his strength. Auron flew down to the ground, but this only sought to further anger the Alexandrian, who raised straight back up. The pair, who had begun fighting simply to mock each other to begin with, now fought driven by sheer hatred.
The Dark Archer rushed on ground level through the trees towards the two men, who were far too busy with each other to notice the demon’s approach. Lucius and Auron charged towards each other but the Dark Archer jumped between them and kicked Lucius whilst in mid air. Lucius flew back into a tree, smashing violently through the trunk due to the sheer force of the Archers kick. This time, Lucius didn’t rise to his feet. He lay face down on the floor, showing little sign of movement.
Auron, who was surprised by the ease in which Lucius had been struck down, looked around frantically for the Dark Archer, who had disappeared from view once again. I will kill him, finally… Auron looked around for a few moments. There was an uncomfortable silence in the air. The Alexandrian felt the demons large eyes watching him from the shadows. Auron looked around in every direction, high into the trees and low into the earth, but there was no sign of his enemy. The Archer suddenly reappeared directly behind Auron in an instant, almost as if he had appeared out of the thin air. The Alexandrian knight quickly felt the presence of the beast behind him but his reaction wasn’t quick enough and Xavier grabbed him with one hand around the neck and hurled him up against the trunk of a tree.
Auron, whose feet were lifted off the ground, struggled to breathe due to the demons firm grip around his throat. This was the first time Auron had the chance to see his former friend up close. He noticed that one of the Archer’s eyes was not quite…human. The entire left pupil of his eye was red, as red as blood. Also, the left hand that gripped him didn’t seem human either. The skin of the beast’s hand was dark and rough, certainly not the grip of a regular man. The half man, half demon being had a claw-like grip and the nails on his left hand were long and sharp.
Years ago, as punishment for his sins during the war, Trenkenth had altered the body of Vincent Xavier. He was more demon now than man. Due to the demon that lay silently within him, the Dark Archer was also immortal and ageless. He could be killed, but he would never grow old and never die of illness or disease. The Creator wished for the Archer to suffer the guilt of his treason for eternity and so he created this half-breed, a being that belonged to neither world.
The demon inside Xavier increased his strength levels far above that of any warrior from either realm. It was, for this reason, he was able to lift Auron off the ground easily using only one arm.
As the Dark Archer tightened the grip around Auron’s neck, a horse could be heard galloping away in the distance. Auron managed to turn his head slightly to see Lucius riding off on his horse in the direction he had originally set out on. “Come back…coward!” Auron shouted, struggling to get his words out as he choked against the tree. The demon took out a dagger from within his cloak and was set to pound it through Auron’s chest. Something stopped him, though. The demon heard something lurking in the distance from afar. As mentioned before, the creature had excellent hearing abilities and could sense that someone was headed in their direction.
The Archer released Auron from his grip, which resulted in the latter crashing to the ground with a loud thud. He began to look in the direction from which Lucius had galloped away. His eyes narrowed, almost as if he was looking right through the oaks of the trees themselves.
Auron, who had spotted Lucius’ sword on the ground several feet away from him, crawled over and grabbed it. He struggled slowly to his feet and turned around to where the Archer had been, preparing to fight him. Auron looked around in confusion as the Dark Archer was now gone. Auron looked in every direction, desperately trying to sight him.
“Come back here you foul creature! I’m not finished with you!” he cried out, but it was no good, the man once known as Vincent Xavier was nowhere to be seen.
“Master Auron!” shouted a voice from beyond the trees. Five Alexandrian guards emerged from behind the woodlands.
After Auron had set off from Alexandria without the king’s blessing, Zeris had sent men after him to stop his friend from doing something foolish. The king also feared for Auron’s safety after the knight had set off to Underworld alone. Auron had already guessed why the men were here.
“Master Auron, we’ve been searching for you for many days. We have been half a day’s ride behind you since you left,” said one of the guards. After a brief chat, the six men, including Auron, set off on the long journey back to Alexandria but not before Auron took one final look back into the trees to see if he could sight his foe. This isn’t over, thought Auron, who reluctantly departed the forest along with the other men.
As the group left the area, the Dark Archer looked on from the top of a nearby tree. He followed the group from the safety of the trees until they reached the outskirts of the forest, but he did not strike upon them. He let them leave the Dark Forest unspoiled. When he was satisfied the men were truly gone, he set off back into the depths of the forest without a trace.
Chapter 7: The life of an agent
In the two years since he had graduated into a government agent, James’ life had changed beyond his wildest dreams. He now lived in American, in the city of New York, as per request of the world’s enforcers. Each agent had a city and New York was his. It was his job to make sure the city was clean from corruption, from crime, and also to watch out for other specialised organisations activities. You see, the World Order had no shortage of enemies. While an agent’s job was to ensure that the world was secure from threat, other foreign powers were forever trying to take control. Some group’s craved nuclear wars for business whilst other’s wanted land or power.
The Order was formed to fight off threat on a global scale. The identity of the top people in the organisation, known as The Patriots, was unknown. The patriots decided exactly what the organisation would do and indeed what it would not do. In effect, the patriots controlled the planet, having agents scattered in every corner of the world. The agents had derestriction over their cities but when the World Order needed them to undertake missions, which tended to happen quite regularly, they would be sent off to carry out their task. This could vary from a rescue mission, to seize and capture, or even kidnapping in extreme cases. James wasn’t too keen on the latter but still did as his superiors asked. The kidnapping was used as leverage against foreign powers wh
en things got tough. As much as he hated that task, as long as it was for the greater good then James would continue to obey.
James had a seventh-floor apartment deep within the heart of the city. He also had the cover of a part time job so that on the surface, he seemed like a regular, everyday New York resident. Banking was James’ cover job and he hated it with a passion. Still, it provided him with details of people’s finances and he could easily identify any large cash instalments from abroad that may have been payment to possible foreign agents for accepting or completion of a job. James had good ties with an inspector at the police department, who would provide James with full details of any incident’s that took place within the city limits.
James did enjoy the power and responsibility that came with his job. He was, in a way, a silent protector of his city, as indeed all of the agents were. However, the job was a lonely one at times. He missed his friends most of all. He and Chad could not be further apart if they tried. Chad was allocated to Paris and he had lived there for the past twenty-two months. He had seen Chad only a handful of times since they were assigned to their cities and James missed him dearly. They talked on the phone all the time though. They talked about their mission’s on their own secure line free from ears dropping. They both discussed how their abilities had progressed. With each passing month, the pair was getting stronger, faster and more durable.
They kept promising to meet up, however, a mission always seemed to crop up or something else would always ensure they never got the chance. They only seemed to get the opportunity to meet when they were assigned to high-risk missions. Tasks when the World Order had the need to unleash their big guns. They would send in both James and Chad for such missions to pound the enemy into submission. They were the strongest two agents the World Order had. It hadn’t taken long for both of them to establish big reputations and earn the respect of even the most senior agents within the organisation.
Clash Of Worlds Page 13
