by Luis Robles
“Bliss, she is dangerous,” Pah said in-between breaths.
Bliss had never seen Pah so overwhelmed by an enemy. Pah usually had the enemy down by a landslide. But not this time. This time, she knew that the enemy they were facing was powerful, far beyond anything they had ever faced before. Bliss got into a fighting stance as soon as she saw Pah’s condition. She put one leg behind her, the other in front, slightly bent at the knee. One of her arms was towards her body, and the other rested in front of her, parallel to the ground. Enormous vines and rocks rose all around her, breaking the earth that surrounded her. At that instant, Bliss looked fierce and powerful. She looked so powerful that Gemini took a few steps back and fixed their gaze on her.
Bliss knew that this was a battle where she had to be extremely careful, so she calmed her thoughts and communicated with Pah telepathically.
“Pah, what should I do? I have their attention now, but I don’t know what to do,” Bliss said, sounding soft in Pah’s mind.
“Aim to separate them. Concentrate all your magic in between and never at them. I will be able to strike them if they are separated. The one with the sword is strictly offense while the shield is defense,” Pah said in his mind with a drained voice.
Without any hesitation, Bliss sent all the vines and rocks towards Gemini, aiming right in between them. Gemini, in the moment, did not feel threatened or even compelled to block Bliss’ attack since they knew the attack would miss. Gemini began to smile as the vines and rocks simply slipped in-between them.
“I guess it was just a show after all. She can’t really control her magic that well,” Gem thought.
“Well, this is going to be much easier than we thought. I don’t even have to protect my sister if her aim is that horrible,” Ini thought.
As the vines slid passed Gemini, they each turned to face each other with a grin on their face. The grin quickly turned upside down when they noticed that the vines were getting thicker, and they could no longer see each other. Gem quickly turned towards Pah, only to see him crouching and with lightning building up all around him. Bliss concentrated all her magic into building up layers of vines and rocks in-between the two. In a matter of seconds, an enormous wall separated the two halves of Gemini from each other. Having close to no attacking skills, there was nothing Ini could do to stop Bliss.
“Sister! Hurry and cut the wall down, we mustn’t be separated!” Ini yelled with everything she had in her.
“Well, looks like you’ll have your fair fight after all. It’s time to prove yourself, Watcher. It matters not if I have my sister; the results will still be the same. We have already proven that you are tired from all that running, and I doubt that you will be able to keep up,” Gem said, feeling confident in her power.
Ini began to run towards one of the edges of the newly-formed wall in hopes of reaching her sister on the other side.
“And where do you think you are going?” Bliss asked as she walked towards Ini.
Ini fell to the floor when one of Bliss’ vines grabbed her ankles. As Ini fell, Bliss whisked the enormous shield away with a gust of wind.
“Please, let me go. I beg of you. I must go, help my sister,” Ini said with a broken voice and a frown on her forehead.
Ini’s pleading almost made Bliss feel bad, and just for a second, Bliss thought about letting her go.
“Snap out of it,” Bliss said to herself as she secured the vine tighter around Ini with just a hand motion.
Bliss’ anger then began to grow after hearing Ini plead repeatedly. However, Bliss’ anger did not grow towards Ini—it grew towards Gavril for creating her in the first place. She could only imagine the horrible things that Ini had to go through to get that powerful, although without her sister, Ini was only as powerful as a mere human. Ini was also incredibly innocent; Bliss felt no bad thoughts or negative feelings emanating from her, the exact opposite from Gem.
On the other side of the wall, the battle between Pah and Gem had already begun. The sword was every bit as sharp as ever; however, Gem’s attacks were less confident than before. Gem’s plans were quickly falling apart. She knew that she couldn't attack as openly as before because that will leave her wide open for any incoming attack. She had overestimated her power without her sister, and every second that she spent fighting with Pah brought her closer to paying the ultimate price.
“What’s the matter? Do you miss your sister?” Pah taunted when he realized that he was sure to win the battle.
In that same second, Pah remembered one of his very own rules, one that he told Bliss repeatedly: “You must not press your luck.” He remembered each and every time he had said that to Bliss—as she thought she could float far away from Pah’s back and fell, as she thought it was okay to pet a giant fish that looked nice enough but almost ended up eating her. As Pah remembered, Gem filled up with rage, and she grew stronger. Unlike Ini in that her power lied in protecting others from visible harm, Gem’s power derived from rage. The angrier she got, the more powerful she became.
“Want to see my real power, don’t you?” Gem asked furiously as she launched towards Pah.
Pah avoided Gem’s deadly blade but at a great cost. The blade wounded Pah severely across his back, making him an easy target for Gem. She knew that this time he had no escape, as he could not move away quick enough anymore.
“Let’s make this quick. I am tired of you, Watcher,” Gem said as she got ready to attack, holding the sword with both hands.
“Let’s make… a thunderstorm!” Pah growled.
Seconds after, the sky awoke in thunder that shot down from it straight onto Gem. The sky fully illuminated with the lightning storm then quickly turned back to dark. The thunder of the lightning echoed across the land for many seconds after the lightning was gone. The full extent of Pah’s power was shown that night.
Wounded and weakened by having exhausted all his power, Pah fell to the ground. As he lay on the ground dying, he turned over to where Gem was. A painful grin took over Pah’s face as he saw that Gem was no more. The only thing that was left behind was her unstoppable sword. The sword was floating in midair, in the same exact place she held it last. He closed his eyes and sighed in content knowing that Bliss would live another day.
On the other side of the wall, Ini’s face was covered in heartfelt tears for the loss of her sister. She was hysterical, and Bliss could not help but to share some of her agonizing pain.
“My sister, not my sister! I could have protected her. Why didn’t you let me protect her? We have lives too! Who are you to say what is wrong and what is right? Who is Gavril to send us on this mission that would end up costing us everything? Answer me! Originator of magic… Answer!” Ini cried as she tried to free herself from the vines.
“I didn’t ask for any of this, either,” Bliss managed to whisper, with emotions flooding her body.
When Bliss saw that Ini wanted to get free, she undid the vines with a single hand gesture. Ini quickly turned and got on her knees, sobbing with her face towards the ground. Ini struck the ground with her fist as if the ground was going to give her back her sister. Bliss’ big, round eyes got watery and a single tear fell down her face. Somehow, Bliss was blaming herself for everything that was happening in the world.
“I didn’t ask to become this thing. My sister didn’t ask to become who she was. Don’t you see? We were forced to obtain power; we were forced to change. Gavril forced us to become this monster he called Gemini. He said…he said…that if we brought you back, he would let our family go…” Ini said, sobbing.
Bliss’ heart fell to the floor when she heard that. She could not believe that there was such a thing as Gavril alive in the world. In that moment, she knew that she had to finally rid the world of Gavril, rid the word of evil.
“We’ll get your family back, Pah and I,” Bliss said with a cracking voice.
“Don’t you get it? Gavril has no feelings… He said… He said that our family would be dead the minute we failed. My
family is already dead,” Ini said as she faced Bliss. Tears rolled down her cheeks, and she began to disappear.
Bliss’ heart was broken. Not a single word came out as she watched how Ini disappeared from the world. Gem and Ini were permanently linked to each other; if one died, so would the other. Gavril linked them so they would protect each other as if their life depended on it, because it did.
When Ini finally disappeared into the nothingness, Bliss moved her right hand from left to right and said, “Return.” In a matter of seconds, the giant wall of roots, vines, and rocks returned to the ground. Pah was across the way directly in front of her, lying on the ground, not moving. Bliss immediately disappeared in a puff of violet smoke and reappeared in front of him. Pah lay still and unmoving; the wound that Gem inflicted ran all along his entire back and some of his side. It looked deep and deadly.
“I don’t think that you are able to fool me anymore, Pah. You will need to play much more dead than that. I can hear the beat of your heart and the breath of your lungs. You are strong, and it’s going to take much more than that to break you,” Bliss said with a slight smile and tired eyes as she kneeled in front of Pah.
Pah’s left eye opened slowly and focused on Bliss. Calm was visible on Pah’s face now that he knew that Bliss was okay. Bliss did not look wounded or overly worried for Pah. Instead, she looked calm but thoughtful as she got near him.
“It really does hurt, you know. It’s not like I stepped on a rose’s thorn,” Pah said as he squinted.
“I know… Let me help you,” Bliss said as she placed both arms above Pah’s extensive wound.
“I knew that you would be alright. You have grown far more powerful than I could have ever imagined,” Pah said as he rested his head back on the ground.
“Heal,” Bliss said with a soft voice.
Pah instantly began to heal, and his life, along with his resilience, was restored. After only a few seconds, Pah was back to normal. When Bliss was done healing him, he instantly got up and stretched as if he was awaking from a long nap. There was no sign of injury on him; he looked fierce and new. However, Bliss was not the same—she looked sad and flooded with guilt. When Pah saw Bliss’ face expression, his face changed as well.
“It’s Ini, isn’t it?” Pah asked, being careful with his tone of voice.
Bliss looked down and did not say a single thing. Pah had anticipated Bliss’ reaction to the events and even the plan she was forming in her head. Pah knew Bliss well, and he knew that he had to prevent her from going after Gavril. Bliss was so powerful that if she wanted, she could easily just appear at Gavril’s doorstep and use her magic to send Gavril, his castle filled with hundreds of the Rot, and his other creations, to the depths of the earth. However, until Bliss was eighteen years old and Gavril could no longer obtain her powers, Pah needed to prevent a showdown from occurring. Bliss falling into the hands of Gavril was something that the world would not be able to survive.
“As long as there is an infinitesimal possibility that Gavril could obtain your magic, you shouldn’t go after him,” Pah said as he picked up Bliss’ head with his right paw, only to reveal a face covered in tears.
“I hate this… I really hate this…Why is it us that have to bear the burden? Why does it have to be us? I never asked for this,” Bliss said, sobbing.
“Because we are the only ones that can. Because you are special, Bliss… There’s only a few months left between your birthday and now. Use this time to get stronger,” Pah said, almost squinting at his own words.
“You don’t mean that! How many more people have to die because of me? How many more will suffer at the hands of that monster?” Bliss said with a stiff body and a cracking voice. Magic escaped her body, causing rocks to float all around her.
At that moment, Bliss began to feel the effects of the third rule of magic: The experiences forged by magic would be never forgotten, and the scars that the magic user would bear would be the most painful of them all—for the wounds caused by magic to a user’s soul are permanent until magic stops flowing, or that user is no more.
The ground began to shake with small quakes as Bliss was unconsciously releasing magic all over. Bliss’ barely visible violet aura began to show more and more with each tear that fell from her face.
“See what I mean?” Pah asked as he reached out for a floating rock to the side of Bliss and showed it to her. “You can’t make these same mistakes with Gavril. If we go now, we would be at a severe disadvantage. Who knows what he is planning next? But as long as he comes to us, he will be the one at a disadvantage. Just wait a little longer, Bliss.”
Almost instantly, Bliss snapped back into awareness and let the rocks fall back onto the ground.
“Bliss, what is happening is not because of you. It is the complete opposite of you. You will get the chance to take him down, but not now. You have to be still for just a little longer. That very day that you turn eighteen, I will march with you right up to Gavril’s door and tear it apart,” Pah said, hopeful that he got through to her.
“And what do we do now?” Bliss said as she wiped the tears from her face.
“We go and talk to your friends,” Pah said as he turned over to where the army of Rot was, and began walking.
When they reach the battlefield, they noticed that the battle was over, and the powerful earthly dragons had won. There were no remnants of any of the Rot or Disgrace in the scorched field. The once green field filled with waist-high grass was gone, for small fires spread throughout the field. As Bliss and Pah approached the field, the earthly dragons gathered with the horned boy and waited for them. The horned boy stood up straight and proud that he and his fellow dragons had defeated an entire army by themselves. However, the boy soon began to tremble when he saw Pah and Bliss walking directly towards him.
“Compose yourself, boy, do not be a coward. You have no fear of the undead but when it comes to girls, you have no bravery left,” one of the dragons said in a commanding voice.
“It’s not because of her,” the horned boy said with a shaking voice.
“Oh…so I see. Hmm, I guess he could be intimidating. But then again you are a dragon. Raise your head, boy,” the dragon said as he shrugged.
With each step, Pah’s prowess showed. Pah looked as if he would be able to attack in any given second. However, that was just the nature of Pah; he did not pay attention to how he walked. When Bliss and Pah reached the clan of dragons, there was a brief moment of silence. No one knew what to say.
After a moment of hesitation, the boy finally said, “Well, we saw a lot of commotion from afar, and someone or something told me that we should come and help. It was as if I had a voice in my head… your voice,” the horned boy said as he turned and stared directly at Bliss.
“Thank you,” Pah said, immediately interrupting the horned boy’s gaze.
The brave horned boy looked everywhere apart from Pah’s direction. In a way, the horned boy thought that Pah could be overprotective of Bliss and that Pah would have his head for dinner if he so much as to touch Bliss or come within range of touching her.
“We are very fond of this boy—he is part of our family. It’s because of him that we joined the battle in the first place. Now tell us, if you may, what is it that we fought for?” one of the eldest earthly dragons said as he made his way towards the front of the group.
“You fought for her life and that of this world, have no doubt of that. The man behind the attack is hungry for power, and if he obtains her, he will have all the power he needs to make this world and everything we know come to pass, and he will bring about a new age, an age when only he is king, an age of darkness. His shadow, his army, has somehow followed us everywhere we go. We have only been in this field to avoid a confrontation anywhere there would be lives at stake,” Pah revealed the truth since he did not feel any sort of threat or danger coming from the clan.
“Sounds like we did the world a lot of good. We, earthly dragons, are a peaceful clan. We don�
��t know much of what's going on most of the time. We did our part when it was needed, but we have to be on our way now. I fear that if we try to do anything else, we will simply be in your way. But have no doubt that if the day comes again that we are required to fight to save this world, we will. We have a long journey in front of us,” the eldest dragon said with a wise voice as he began to turn around.
“Wait! We have to warn the girl of what we see,” one of the youngest dragons said as he made his way to the front of the crowd.
“For all we know, we could be wrong, there is no need to worry them,” the eldest dragon said as he looked at the younger dragon.
“Nameless Horned Boy, tell us what it is that they are saying,” said Bliss, with her full attention on him.
The horned boy’s face flushed as she stared at him. Bliss’ beauty sometimes overwhelmed him, making him feel things that he had never felt before. He could not keep his gaze fixed for much time and even considered staring at Pah instead. However, he did not think that was such a good idea, either. He settled for facing her head on, just like any brave dragon would do.
“Well?” Bliss asked with hands crossed and her brow raised.
“Well, we earthly dragons are in touch with the earth and all its currents. We feel the earth’s movements or any connections it makes. We can sense a stampede and sometimes a single animal hunting,” the horned boy said nervously, hoping that Bliss understood.
“Get to the point already,” a dragon shouted from the back of the crowd, trying to give the horned boy a hard time.
“Well, the point is that, you have sort of a trail leading out north from here. We believe it’s how whatever his name is knows where to find you,” the horned boy said as he scratched the back of his head.
“You are no good at explaining! If you are going to do something, do it right or don’t do it at all,” the same dragon shouted from the back.
“I will so get you later for this,” the horned boy said under his breath.
“What was that?” Bliss asked, leaning slightly in to hear better.
