Lyrexs is just eating this up. I’m starting not to like him.
“Hey! Why don’t you shut your mouth and help me train him?”
He puts his hands in the air and takes a few steps backwards. Not necessarily the best response but good enough.
“Okay Zarvick that was alright,” then from there, I summarize what Lyrexs said just without his little commentary.
Of course, he smiles and does a similar bow to what I did. If I didn’t like him, I’d wipe that smug look off of his face. I don’t even care if it makes him look cute; It’s pissing me off.
“Let’s go! Round two!” I shout.
In a split second, I recreate my bar and I charge forth with high velocity, gliding across the rugged ground. Rapidly, a large jagged blade forms on one end of the staff; with a swift movement, I swing the blade and he dodges it. I twirl off of the attack, allowing the other end of the pole to become a hammer once again. I come in for another uppercut but Zarvick sees it coming; with a palm strike to the hammer, a wave of air blows outwards from his counterattack. This knocks me back, yet I manage to regain my balance.
This time it is Zarvick who strikes first. He kicks his leg through the air, hurling sand and wind towards my face. With a little glow of energy around my hand, I slash it through the air, dispersing the gust. Nevertheless, that is just what he wants; Zarvick comes in with a mighty punch. Oh, if only he remembered that I was trained by Genu. I evade the attack; grab his arm, slam into his chest, kick his leg out, and then (using a little momentum) toss him over me. When he is on the ground, I drive the blade head towards his chest; He claps his hands together summoning two stone pinchers that clamp onto the blade head and shatter it like glass.
Instantly, he throws his hand towards the ceiling causing a stone spike to shoot out from the ground. I dip out-of-the-way just in time; rebounding from the attack bringing the war-hammer down upon him. He quickly places his other hand on the ground above his head and, with a speedily shove, another gust of wind pushes him out from underneath the stone pincers. My hammer smashes the earth, I deconstruct it back into the energy bar and it hums with my rage.
“Trying to kill me now, are we?” Zarvick asks.
“If I was trying to kill you, you’d be dead,” I reply with a pleasant smile.
“This is quite the fight. He seems to really be enjoying himself, however, he hasn’t actually used any real fighting talents. Just his powers.
Take that away, force him to use some type of weapon or hand-to-hand combat.” Lyrexs sounds a little impatient but he certainly is right.
“I won’t take his powers away, however, I will force him to use other means. You do realize that you are here to assist me with training him not to take over and try to relive your guardian days, right?”
Lyrexs just nods and steps off to the side. I tell Zarvick that he needs to start using other means of fighting like what he did with Genu. He smiles and says, “am I too good for you now?” What an asinine child he is on the inside. Of course, you're not. I’m too good for you. Men.
Zarvick turns his head over to the river; he begins moving his hands with the current, causing a sphere of water to form on the surface of the stream. It plops its way along the air, into his hands. The water swirls around with a mischievous purpose. Rapidly, his fingers flick outwards, bouncing the sphere a few inches above his palm. His other hand, now in a fist, strikes the water causing it to explode into small water droplets; the droplets fly straight through the air and right at me. During mid-flight, the water droplets become ice daggers.
I raise one end of my burgundy pole; a shield expands out, covering most of my body; when the daggers hit they pierce into the shield, luckily, none pass through it.
Quickly, I swipe the shield to the side, shaking off the daggers. This just exposes me to Zarvick’s next attack. He comes crashing down from above me, wielding a rather large ice axe. I easily evade (as if I have to try), rolling into a standing position a few feet away from him. The shield end of my pole morphs into a blade. With that, I charge him ready to give him a real fight. I swing the blade end towards his face, he counters with his ice axe. Surprisingly, he swings at the center of my pole, cutting it in half. Zarvick spins off his attack—copycat—and comes in for another. I turn the two pieces of my construct into swords.
Expectedly, his ice axe comes rushing down for my head. Crossing my blades I stop the axe, feeling the sheer force of his swing. I tense my muscles to keep me from dropping to my knees.
That’s when I realize, “Zarvick your strength…it’s growing!”
“What do you mean by ‘growing’?”
What do I mean by growing?
“Say that you meant it as his strength is starting to grow to the level it should be through training,” Lyrexs says.
Of course, he comes in with the saving words. Idiot.
“That’s what I meant—I mean, that your strength is starting to grow into the power that it should be. Like mine,” that wasn’t slick.
Using my own strength I push myself into him, pressing his axe into his chest and shoving him backwards. Next, I combine the blades into a glowing ball; I fling my hands towards Zarvick. The orb flies into the axe, vaporizing the ice into nothing.
“What did you just do?!”
Zarvick’s face is priceless but the thing is I don’t know what I did either. Guess we are both growing through this wondrous training session.
“Don’t worry about what I just did,” I smile, “worry about what I am going to do.”
I kick the side of his knee causing it to buckle under foot. As his body comes down; I knee him in his gut, give him a good uppercut to the nose, next, a right hook to the jaw, then I bring my other foot into the air, and smash the back of my heel down upon his head. Zarvick’s face and body slam to the ground. I almost feel guilty for beating him up so bad but it’s for the best.
How else will learn to defend himself if I go easy on him? I inform myself.
A sharp pain filled moan escapes Zarvick’s mouth as he stumbles to his feet. The pain is mutual, however, it is a different feeling for me. I almost want to run to him, embrace him with all my love, and make sure that I never let anything happen to him. I refrain myself from doing that; it’ll be highly unethical to do so. With the addition that it’ll give him the wrong idea so early on in our friendship.
“Is he alright?”
“He’ll be fine, Lyrexs,” hopefully.
Zarvick sits back down on his heels. He looks very worn out, almost as if there is nothing left. I know he won’t be able to go on but I can’t help him either.
“I believe we should take a break,” Lyrexs speaks.
“If I were Reaper, I’d wouldn’t give Zarvick a second to breathe. It’s for the best, he will have to push his limitations,” I respond.
Great, now I really am Genu.
An electrical current emerges around him after I speak.
“He has nothing but limitations. No matter how hard he tries he’ll never be as strong as he should be. There is nothing he can do.”
I angrily ignore Lyrexs’s comments, “Zarvick get up! Don’t just sit there, stand up! Get to your feet! Push yourself!”
My words seem to have more power than I predicted, he practically jumps to his feet. The electricity becomes disobedient, discharging in a sphere around him. His amethyst eyes fill with soothing anguish.
“I-I won’t back down!!!” He yells with all of his might.
As his voice is cast through the cavern, energy statics between his teeth. Instantly, all of the lightning is absorbed into him. His fingers clench to form fists, his arms retract to the sides of his body, and he closes his eyes. After a deep breath and a quick thrust of his arms, a lightning bolt surges from within him as it explodes to the surface. Racing across his skin and through his fingertips, then becomes a flash as it rushes through the empty space between us. The attack strikes me with a ferocious shock.
I feel the lightning's power fl
ow into my veins, it’s stronger and far more painful than I anticipated. It’s like millions of hot pins pricking you all at once, with a side dish of hornets stinging the absolute hell out of you. I obviously had high hopes of proving Lyrexs wrong and Zarvick didn’t disappoint me. Not one bit.
Forcefully, my arm pushes through the electrical current; I extend it completely outwards until my hand is taking the full force of the lightning. Zarvick tries to push more energy into his attack but fails. A small gleam of burgundy light emits from the center of my palm. This expands to a shield construct, deflecting the lightning. To finish everything I flick my fingers outwards, thus, causing the light to shatters; it erupts in a flash that dispels Zarvick’s power.
“We should take a break,” I say catching my breath.
“That’s…probably…best,” he replies with each exhale.
“However, there are matters that need to be discussed,” Lyrexs adds.
I roll my eyes, “fine. Zarvick, you—”
Everything around us trembles under a forceful shockwave. I assume it to be a sudden earthquake until I sense a menacing presence. Its aura envelops my mind with plaguing thoughts.
Reaper…?
“We have to get out of here, now!” I yell.
I race across the training room; sliding along the stone surface, moving at exhilarating speeds. I reach an open spaced wall within seconds; frantically, I begin searching for a switch, knowing that beyond this door is the armory.
“What…are…you…doing?” Zarvick even more breathless than before after catching up to me.
“I’m looking for the hidden switch that opens the secret door that leads to the Genu’s armory,” I respond in slight panic.
Zarvick pushes me out-of-the-way and swiftly raises his hands. His fingers bend as if he is grabbing ahold of something invisible. With much effort, he moves his body sideways, swinging his arms with his movement as if to toss that invisible item. This causes the wall to crack and vigorously launch itself to the other side of the room. Afterwards, he drops to his hands and knees from exhaustion.
“Th-there is your door switch,” he chuckles.
I rush into the armory, grabbing my bow and quiver. I look over to see a suit of leather armor resting upon a manikin. I know exactly what to do with that but Zarvick is too weak to stand up straight. After I strap on my quiver and place my bow on my back; I run over to him.
When my hands touch him, energy flows from me to him. I let the current continue until he has enough strength to stand up by himself; next, I bring him into the armory to help him put on the leather armor. Some of my panic fades when he strips to his undergarments. His muscles are very defined and toned. Once I get over the blushing sensation, I speedily put the armor on him.
“Helmet?” I ask.
“No,” he responds.
“Don’t like them either,” I toss it behind me
Zarvick gaze then falls upon something. This room is a quarter of the size of the training room; it has spears, axes, hammers, swords, etc.. Yet, he seems fixated on just one weapon. It’s not until I move closer that I see the very item that he stands before…the dragon glaive. A weapon with immense power and the very weapon that his mother, Delphine, was using to protect him back at the Sacred Forest. I was going to comfort him, however, a sharp pierce into my soul got my undivided attention.
“My soul dome! It’s been shattered!”
“My lady, Crystalline, you must—” Lyrexs appears at the armory entrance, “you must run.”
Before I could even ask what he meant, shadows tear through him. His essence becomes tainted, corrupted, and morphs into an unholy form. Without a moment to spare, I pull out my bow and draw an arrow.
Lyrexs’s eyes are pure evil, “the master wishes you dead, so it shall be done!”
His dark voice makes everything easier. “Sorry.”
My fingers release the string, the arrow glides along the bows surface; as it spins through the air light shines through the diamond shaped steel arrowhead. Piercing into Lyrexs’s body. Once he is purified little orbs of white light ascend and dissolve.
“...Zarvick…we must hurry.”
When I turn to face him he is holding the glaive in his hands; I sense a powerful tide flowing between him and the weapon. Before I could do anything else, another earthquake happens, however, this time it is far stronger than before. Everything begins crashing down on us. I grab a black cane off the wall as the ceiling starts caving in; when I turn back, everything falls apart.
“Crystalline!”
Chapter 6
(Genu)
Wind propels all about me as I dive off the edge of the garden; falling hundreds of feet to the forest below. Miniscule sounds escape from my landing. My ivory cape reforms into an emerald colored cloak; almost instantly, my entire wardrobe follows its lead. Within moments of pulling the hood onto my head, I blend remarkably with the forest. As if we were one. One step at a time, I begin a rather long journey to a dear friend.
As I walk, I sense vibrations beneath the earth. The very essence of nature shivers as I wander by; wishing to rip itself from the soil it’s bound to. Dead leaves encage me from a gentle breeze. Nevertheless, I continue my pursuit forward; as I anticipated, they follow in perfect sync with my every step. Her presence is revolting to my very being.
“I am assuming that you have a certain distaste for me,” I kneel down, “however, you will soon learn that all of your efforts will forever be in vain.”
With a single bound, I am above the treetops. Leaping from branch-to-branch, escaping the grasp of mother nature. With each jump, my speed excels to new heights until I am gliding on the wind. Within seconds, I am feet away from the edge of the forest. I descend below the branches, landing back on the ground. Before I leave twigs, branches, and roots entwine before me. Blocking my escape. Leaves swirl around once again but this time they are alive; coming together to form the silhouette of a woman.
“I know all, beast. Secrets are never completely hidden. Reaper may attempt to destroy me but it will not succeed in the end. Their destiny cannot be ignored; fate is a river that repairs the ripples in its current with time.”
I gaze into her flower eyes, “that may be so. However, as of now, you are messing with the wrong ripple. Stand aside!”
“So be it,” she responds calmly.
The leaves blow away, the trees dissemble from one another and I press forward. Right before leaving the forest I turn my head back towards the castle.
All within time… I think.
I continue my pursuit; I must regain the time that I have lost. Any more interruptions and I won’t get there until nightfall by foot. Leaving the forest’s perimeter causes my garments to camouflage to a variety of colors until I am completely invisible from the naked eye. As I walk through the open grassland I see: mountains peering over the horizon, smell the sweet fresh water air, hear the scattering of animal footsteps along the ground, and I feel out of place from it all. I am a freak of nature. Completely different from all other living things. Half living and half dead, a deformed creature of two separate animals, of two separate worlds.
How can vampyrs and kaines be amongst the most powerful of beings, if we cannot survive without the elves? That’s all I ever think about.
Over ten thousand years ago, Elvendora was growing increasingly over populated with both animals and elves. This imbalance caused great distress to the entire universe. The all so mighty angels and demons decided that it would be great to forge new beings to restore balance. Thus, a bolt of lightning shot down from the Overworld striking a large pack of wolves; forever turning them into savage beasts. On the other side of the world, in a cold damp cave, that held home to a large nest of bats. The ground beneath them broke apart as flames from the very depth of the Underworld engulfed their lives; mutating them into demonic monsters. After decreasing the population greatly, evolving themselves, balance was almost restored.
However, these new creatures began
to dominate. Easily they overpowered the mere elves; after all, they possessed pure immortality. This lead to the angels and demons altering them: kaines developed a mortal form, vampyrs grew new weaknesses, however, the first generation of these beasts weren’t as affected. It was only those that they infected that felt this plague.
Through time, of course, they were hunted down and killed by the mighty ones. Some managed to survive and through their limited existence; they decided to band together. My parents were among those who lived, they were also among the strongest of the first generation. Within a few short years, my parents fell in love. Half way through the vampyr and kaine existence; I was born. Without a single explanation of how this happened, I learned to accept my new life. Stronger and smarter than the rest, I became the best.
When my thoughts realign to the present; I grow tired of walking. Knowing that it’ll take days to get where I am trying to go on foot, I leap into the sky. My cloak unravels into large bat-like wings, all while still remaining invisible. In a single flap, I am sent soaring through the clouds. I should be across Elvendora within a few minutes at my top speed. Although, there’s no need to rush. Not like anything is going to happen.
* * * * *
I arrive at a swamp covered in a white mist; floating ever so slowly above the murky water. The trees are shaped in gloomy manners, yet all of them seem to be full of life. I swiftly land on an oddly formed hill a few hundred feet away from the swamp. I focus my mind on the reality around me, with a single thought, a telekinetic wave ripples through the air. The ground cracks beneath it as my power surges through space; blowing through the mist, it creates a large gaping hole.
At the center of the hole little sparks of energy ignite. They rapidly flare together in a wide mixture of colors. A large colorful orb forms from the sparks; a little flick of light flashes, then it’s zipping through the air. I jump high into the sky as the orb rams against the hill, exploding with such force that bolts of energy shoot out into multiple directions until they connect.
Dark Form_Book 1 of the Shadow War Trilogy Page 6
