by Brian Nyaude
37
“Been a while Riyo,” a familiar voice said in a soft manner. “You have grown in more ways than one since you left here.”
I opened my eyes and saw a man sitting on a rock with his flute in his end. Everything around me was yellow again, nothing but yellow. No! No! Why was I back in this place? Spending a decade with Ebi in this yellow world was the most intense thing I had ever done. The first years I went practically insane from boredom and frustration. Nothing made sense at all, it felt like I was trapped in a spinning bottle of madness. I still could not understand how Ebi managed to live here for so long without losing himself. Although he did have his enchanted mirror which let him view anywhere in the outside world. With that perverted mind of his, I could guess what he was looking at.
“Why am I here?” I asked him trying to understand my situation. “I am pretty sure I was fighting Katarina Fox in the real world. Tell me already! If I don’t hurry up and leave this place Katarina could capture or kill me.”
I quickly stood up and wiped some sweat from my face with my right hand. Ebi did not answer or appear fazed at all. His stance was perfectly still like he was in a trance or something. What was going on inside his mind that he wasn’t willing to tell me already? Time was critical to be keeping secrets, at any moment Katarina could capture me or destroy my body. For some unknown reason, he didn’t look worried at all and he barely made any sudden gestures. I watched him get off the rock and move swiftly towards me. Without warning, he raised his right hand and smacked me in the back of the head with his annoying flute.
Ow! The pain was intense as usual, not something anyone could get used to. It was a miracle that I had not destroyed it in the decade I spent here. I really hated that thing with a burning passion. But why did he hit me? I eased the pain by gently rubbing my hand on it while looking at him straight in the eye filled with frustration.
“Your irrational decisions to rush into enemy territory will get not only you, but every one of your friends killed. Honestly, I didn’t expect you to make it that far Riyo,” Ebi commented looking me back in the eye. “Why didn’t you leave with Showe and the others? A weak person like you can only do nothing, but become a burden on others. You put yourself in harm’s way because of your own selfish ambition.”
Senile old man, he could have just told me that instead of hitting me like he did. His brutality to me was something I should report to authorities, not saying that anyone would believe me. Even now, my friends hardly believed he was real, living inside this world made by the gauntlet.
“But I am quite impressed you managed to dispel all your anger and negative energy in form of that red blast sphere. That is good because it means you still have a chance to win”, Ebi continued with a smile on his face.
What? I didn’t even know what how he was talking about. Somewhat annoying, Ebi had a tendency of speaking in riddles, nevertheless his words were important.
“Are you for real?” my curiosity peaked after hearing his words. “If it is possible please tell me how I can.”
Just one tiny kink, I had no idea how I did it. I mean it just happened, I was just consumed by my anger that I barely knew what was happening. However, I remembered the sudden impulse, the urges, and the gruesome frustration I felt at the thought of losing my motivation in life. Now that I had let Daphne go, I felt empty and alone. She had been the most important thing driving me forward through all the hardships. And now I was lost. Ebi suddenly coughed to draw my attention and I gazed at him.
“The technique you used is called Rujor and it is the reason why the Rogueans are a feared bunch. But you already know that don’t you Riyo?”
“No! Not really!” I shook my head and looked back at him.
“Is that so? Well in time, I will reveal it to you and teach you how to use it. As you are now, using this technique again would only reduce and eventually consume all your life force.”
He stopped talking and sat down next to me without looking me in the eye. The expression on his face had changed dramatically, it was almost poetic. I mean I had never seen him look so caring and so kind.
“Riyo listen to me,” Ebi spoke softly which was something he had never done before.
He put his flute down surprisingly and looked up into the yellow sky. “You might not believe it yet, but you have the potential to end this reign of the Rainku. I have seen your growth and strength over the past years we spent together here. I taught you almost everything I know, and I know you are far from ready. But there is still a chance you can survive this mess you are in. Just be wary of Katarina Fox’ true power once the sun hits her skin.”
True Power! I was pretty sure I had been facing her at her full strength or had she been playing me the whole time? And just what happened once the sun hit her skin? Tilting my back, I looked back at him filled with curiosity.
“Ebi what is Katarina Fox’s true power,” I asked him, he had to tell me at least one clue.
Ebi giggled and blushed weirdly before laughing out much louder. Convinced, I looked away fully aware of his one true weakness. Ebi’s was powerful, but he was a lecherous man at the same time, meaning I had found a clue as to what her power might be. I looked up and saw the yellow clouds that constantly floated up in the sky, wondering what my next plan was. She had already defeated me once and it was unlikely I would get another chance. Hated to admit it but, the fourth blast was not powerful enough to stop Katarina. My only chance lay in unlocking the power hidden in the fifth blast. I still had a few incantations left, but I doubted they would be very helpful in the end.
“I might have failed to stop them in the past due to my own flaws; however, you can and will succeed where I failed,” Ebi reassured me with a gentle pat on the back. “You unlocked the fifth blast technique when you dispelled all your anger and hatred away. You could never do it before because your heart was clouded by darkness and regret.”
Well in a way, it made sense or sort of did. Even with that kind of power, Katarina was not going to be someone to easy to defeat. To make it further difficult, she was not alone. She had her daughter and a battalion of minions to aid her.
“Ebi I don’t think I can do this alone,” I said looking him in the eye like a lost child. “Are you sure you picked the right person for the task? I’m just a banished prince and an outcast thief and not a hero or anything.”
“You sound pathetic Riyo,” Ebi laughed, making me feel even more vulnerable.
Leave it to Ebi to know how to put me down. Honestly, I was expecting him to say something inspiring and heartfelt, instead of calling me pathetic.
“You are the right person because the gauntlet chose you as my successor. Life is unpredictable, I would have never thought there was a Roguean in existence with the mental power to control their rage like you can. Remember child, you are not alone. There was always someone with you the whole time, all you have to do is listen. Look towards your friends and they will never leave you in your darkest hour. Fight with the power of courage and faith and you will never lose. Riyo remember this! It’s not the choices we make that determine who we are, but the reasons behind each choice. Besides if you lose, the gauntlet will consume your soul and leave you in this place until another gauntlet bearer comes along.”
“What seriously,” I asked.
That was something I feel like he should have mentioned in the beginning. Definitely, I could not afford to lose no matter what. Being stuck with Ebi was far much worse than being in the same room with a wild manned lion. He snored in his sleep like Dashe and had a severe sleep disorder that made him attack everything in his sleep. The last six years of training with him had been truly a nightmare both at night and during the day. No way, defeat was unacceptable. With that motivation in mind, I felt a need for victory. It was a burning sensation within me, a great need to defeat and vanquish this evil that had haunted me for far too long. Something suddenly came to mind and it was the most important question I could ask.
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“Ebi I have a question,” I began after a long hard thought on it. “If Katarina can see through to the future then doesn’t she already know what will happen and the outcome of our battle?”
“Good question,” Ebi chuckled and adjusted his weight to seat more balanced. “She can’t, not while you are wearing the gauntlet of destiny. Every choice you make will alter your destiny which means there more than a million possible alternative endings far too much for her to see foresee and fight at the same time. All you need to do is believe in the thought of winning and you will conquer.”
I felt the ground vibrate a little followed by a faint static movement in the sky and ground.
“It’s time Riyo,” Ebi whispered and hugged me which sort of spooked me a bit.
I would have never thought in a million years he would ever show me any human compassion and yet here it was. Tilting slightly, I placed my arm on his back faintly, hugging him in return.
“You cannot lose, trust in the power of the axion armor and the gauntlet. They are two great powers that will assist you dearly. Go now child and show Katarina Fox your light.”
Upon hearing those words, I saw the yellow world start to disappear all around me. Ebi let me go and smiled, disappearing into the fragment of the world I hated dearly. My mind was being returned back to the normal real world, well sort of normal for me.
Wait!
What did he mean that there was someone always there with me? Did he mean himself? Since he was already gone, that question was going to go unanswered for a while. I smelled rusting metal and opened my eyes. There were chains on my hands and legs, binding me to a wall. Yeah, I could only take one guess. After my defeat, Katarina had taken me and shackled my body in this dungeon room. To my left, I felt the bright rays of the sun penetrate through a small window above me. It seemed I was no longer below ground, but somewhere in the castle, trapped in a dark room. Fortunately, I still had all the parts on my body intact. And get this, I was still wearing the silver coat or the axion armor as they called it. But why hadn’t she taken it if she was after it? She could have also have taken the gauntlet by cutting off my arm and yet hadn’t.
“Hey Rid,” Paul moved from the other side of the small room. “I had really hoped you wouldn’t do something as stupid as what you did. This has got to be by far the worst idea you have ever come up with, I mean who goes and infiltrates a castle all by himself? Now look, we are both her captives in this castle, she will probably come back and torture us till we cry like babies. Don’t get me wrong Rid, you were right about one thing. We should have listened to you and turned back away before we robbed that Rainku caravan. Tye said the same thing too before he was taken away.”
For a second, I jolted back when I heard him speak. I had been under the impression that I was alone in this room. It was strange that I had not sensed Paul inside here with me. I mean he was a few feet away from me and yet it felt like he was not there. I shrugged in my chains before realizing that I wasn’t going to break them. As I had feared, Tye was no longer here. Could things get any more complicated? Lying on my back, I bit my lip and closed my eyes in anger.
“Where is he?” I asked Paul in a demanding voice. “Where did they take him? I came all this way to free you guys from this castle.”
Paul suddenly looked down with tears in his eyes, “he was taken by another Rainku member, I don’t know whether it was a he or her because they had a long hood on. So, he is not in Okaya anymore. I was left here in order to lure you into this castle Rid. I’m sorry things turned out this way.”
“Me too Paul,” I replied him instantly looking towards the sun. “All we ever wanted to do was to leave Yogo and spend the rest of our lives doing whatever we want. You know, I even dreamed of having two kids one day when I returned to Rogue. But the girl of my dreams is now possibly married to my stepbrother James.”
Paul chucked, “Oh man that’s harsh Rid. I want to say there are plenty of fish in the sea, but honestly I can’t. Actually, I have never seen any Roguean girls ever in my life and I am pretty sure you won’t find them anywhere around. You are going to have to accommodate your tastes my friend otherwise you will die alone.”
“Paul! I seriously can’t believe you just said that. However, you might be right. I do have to move on with my life if we do manage to survive this mess.”
“But, anyway what’s our next plan?” Paul asked putting his back against the wall, his eyes drawn towards the light from the sun outside. “I hope your plan doesn’t involve doing something stupid and reckless as usual.”
“Good question,” I replied him, unsure of what to do.
The whole time we were talking, I had been trying to gather up my energy to activate my forth blast. But in doing so, I only made the chain cuffs’ bind me much tighter and harder. I think these chains were magical and enchanted, unlikely to break so easily. I looked up, noticing everything inside the room. It was not very big, no doors, and only one window up by the left, facing the sun. There was nothing else inside besides us and a very well polished floor.
“We are getting out of here Paul,” I said, getting up to my feet to try and break them again.
To my further surprise, I could still control my strength and energy completely. Given all of that, nothing I was doing was working. In fact, the more I struggled, the heavier and painful they got. Was there anywhere to get out of this?
“Well this might take more time than I thought,” I said to Paul in a nervous laugh.
But still, why would they take Tye elsewhere? What did they want with him? And who had taken him?
“Paul what happened? How did you guys get caught by Katarina?” I asked him, finally giving up and sitting down next to him.
Constantly straining my muscles to break free was very tiresome. It seemed there was no way to get out of the chains without outside help. Sighing out loudly, I placed my back against the wall and closed my eyes.
“Well,” Paul began, adjusting his back carelessly while being bathed by the light from the sun. “I somehow met Tye on the road to Okaya. We slowed down a little to give you a chance to catch up, but things didn’t go according to plan. The sky turned dark and it got really cold. Above us, a hooded figure showed up and attacked us. We battled her; however, we never stood a chance, she was just too powerful. The objects you gave us resonated and bond themselves to us without our consent. I mean it was incredible, the power they offered us was short-lived however. And the rest is history from there on. Somewhat glad you didn’t catch up to us because you would have ended up in the same situation. Hey, I have something to show you.”
As always, Paul had a tendency of staying off subject. He just couldn’t stay on one thing at a time which sort of annoyed; however, I never told him that. Upon finishing his sentence, he raised his hands and they transformed into the color that resembled the chains he was bonded to. Both of his arms changed like that of a chameleon, completely imitating the shackles down to the last detail.
My word, it was incredible. But what kind of power was it? What sort of power did the gloves of Hoken grant him? These objects were amazing. How could that old geezer have lost when he had the power of all three objects? Looking at Paul, one question bothered me above anything else.
“Paul! Why did you stay in this place? You could have easily escaped if you wanted to right?”
Why was he keeping himself here when he had the power to escape? What was he hiding from me? Paul bit his lip and looked down for a while in a fazed manner. He didn’t reply, instead his hands reverted back to their normal tan color as he looked down in sorrow. Perhaps there was a good reason he hadn’t and maybe it had been not a good idea to ask him.
“I had faith, I believed and knew you were coming Rid so I waited in silence,” he finally replied without taking his eyes from the floor. “If I went alone to find Tye the same thing would happen again. Thanks to the power of these gloves, I managed to harden my body for as long as I could wi
thout giving her any information about any of us. Trust me, I underwent days of torture; however, I never gave into any of her deals. But now that you are here, we must escape while we can. I don’t sense her energy or presence nearby.”
“So you can sense people’s presence and power too?” I asked a bit confused.
“Yeah I can, the power of the gloves of Hoken gives me the ability to absorb the power of anything I come into contact with. I learned how to use it the first time Tye and I first faced Katarina Fox. All my time here, I kept practicing to control its power, waiting for the day when you would show up. Remember, when you found me in that room, I accidentally absorbed some of your power which is how I can see and sense things now.”
“Oh ok why didn’t you say so in the beginning?” I laughed out loudly to ease some tension.
“You seriously have a messed up sense of humor you know that right?” Paul growled and kicked me in a playful manner. “Now let’s get out of this place while we can.”
That was easier said than done. These chains on our bodies were much tougher than I could have imagined. Still, I was glad Paul was in good spirits. He had gone through severe tortures that I couldn’t possibly have imagined and somehow managed to survive it with his spirit intact. On top of that, he had stayed in those hot fiery dungeons below on purpose, waiting for me to arrive. I truly had found good friends that I could depend on. In the end Ebi had been right, with people like him on my side, no power was too great to conquer.
“Well how are we going to escape?” I whispered looking for any signs of the enemy. “Any moment soon Katarina Fox will come back and we will most likely suffer. Do you have a plan or something?”
Paul smiled maniacally and broke the chains easily. He got back to his feet, rubbing both hands slowly. How did he do that? I had no idea he was even that strong and powerful. Turning towards me, Paul walked up to me and bent down on one knee. Grabbing both my shackles and breaking them apart before getting up and walking towards the window. What was he truly up to? He was obviously a different person, far much stronger than me in terms of brute strength. On his left arm, I saw two tattoos which almost resembled mine.
“Get up Rid,” Paul whispered beckoning me towards him. “It’s time we got out of here. Look over there, I think I found our way out.”
As I stood up, my arms and legs tingled irritably, feeling like I hadn’t used them in a while. I walked across the floor and stopped next to Paul, peering through the window in the direction of his finger. We were very high up in a tower, in the tallest building of the castle. Below the tower, there was an opening hardly visible to the normal eye except to my own and possibly Paul’s. Okay this was getting a little weird. How much of my power had Paul absorbed and how would it affect me? Not that it was important anyway since we were both about to escape. No, my thoughts collided. I couldn’t leave this castle, not without defeating Katarina Fox or at least trying. I had promised Ebi to try as well as the people in the dungeons.
“How are we getting out of this room Paul?”
There seemed to be no way out of the room as it was enclosed in walls. The window was too small for us to fit through, given our body size of course.
“We destroy the walls,” he immediately replied switching his hardened metallic hands into what looked like lava fire. “I’ve been saving this up for a while. Stand back Rid, this might get a little melty.”
Melty! I don’t think that was even a word. Clearly, his time in silence down in the dungeons hadn’t helped him come up with better puns. I could only hope his jokes had gotten better. One other thing also bothered me more than anything else. This had been bothering me for a while since I woke up in this room.
“Paul! Can I ask you a question? Why didn’t Katarina take the axion armor and the gauntlet from me when I was unconscious? I mean I was out cold for a while and she could have taken it in that time period without any trouble. And why are moving much well than you were before?”
Paul laughed and looked me back in the eye, “Rid you haven’t changed at all, as usual you always ask too many questions.”
Paul placed his burning hands on one of the wall and melted the wall easily. The air brushed in through the opening, followed by light from the sun. Shielding my eyes, I took a few steps back and sighed in slowly. Freedom was within my grasp. But first, we had to get out and fight our way through the soldiers below. I looked at Paul and smiled. As long as we had each other, no army would be too great to conquer.
Paul looked at me, “she couldn’t take that coat off and I don’t know why. There was a strange color resonating from your body that deflected their hands whenever they tried to remove it from you. So instead she had guards tie us up and lock us up here since you destroyed the dungeon. After that, she left saying she was going to get something that would help her retrieve the ultimate treasures from us.”
He paused and smiled lightly.
“Oh ok,” I said truly unsure of what to think.
“You’ve grown a lot stronger Rid and your hair is crazy long. The first time I saw you I couldn’t even recognize you. And sorry I took the last pills from the bottle I found while I was searching in your clothes and that’s why I feel better.”
“Both pills?”
Oh yeah, Paul had moments when he was a complete glutton. Nevertheless, I was glad he was back to his former self. And also pleased, he had answered all of my questions quite wonderfully. Looking slightly down, the tower was way up high. I could barely make up the people below us.
“Okay Rid it’s time you used that mysterious power of yours and get us out of here,” Paul said getting out of the way.
Right, I nodded and took the lead, jumping out of the tower with my feet down. Paul followed suit, leaping right behind me. As soon as he was next to me, I grabbed his left hand and closed my eyes. I thought of flying and hoped the axion armor would respond to my request. To be honest, I had no idea how it worked. It usually just happened without me really doing anything about it except when I lacked energy. How strange!
Something wasn’t right. I couldn’t get enough leverage or focus enough to fly. We were still falling, descending down towards the castle grounds. Tilting to my right, I swerved to my side, hoping to slow myself somehow.
“What’s wrong Rid?” Paul screamed at me nudging me relentlessly. “I hope this isn’t one of your prank jokes because if it is, I’m not laughing.”
Sadly, I wish it was. But unfortunately this was the real thing happening to us. Why was this happening? Why was my axion armor not responding? And why were there no walls besides this tower? On second thought, it wasn’t a tower, more like a room floating in the sky. Okay Paul was right, I had so many questions and it seemed more piled up on top of others.
“What now?” Paul hissed grabbing my arm even tighter. “I didn’t break out of our prison just to die a pathetic death okay?”
Me too! But what could I do about it? Focusing harder, I tried once more to force myself to fly; however, it didn’t work. It was like my energy was being blocked, as if something was stopping the connection from going though.
“Brace for impact Paul,” I warned him as I quickly closed my eyes not to see what would unfold next.
Wait! There was still a way I could stop our fall. Reaching into my pockets, I took out the weird string and pointed up towards the clouds. The string stretched up into the sky and latched onto the one of the floating clouds. We stopped falling, dangling up in the sky on a mere string. The expression on Paul’s face changed extremely like he had seen a ghost or something out of this world.
“Do I even have to ask?” he commented as he stared at the string. “I thought you were weird before, but you’ve gone beyond super weird now. How are you doing that?”
Good question, even I had no idea how I was doing it. All I had done was aim it towards a cloud and wished for something to happen. In my opinion, it was best not to ask, just be thankful.
“Right now, that no
t important,” I replied him, grabbing his hand tightly while looking down.
Beneath us, the castle looked quiet and spooky. I spotted a few soldiers walking around through the tower alleys; however, they didn’t seem to notice us. We were within range to jump down and land on one of the building beneath us.
“Paul I want you to do me a favor,” I spoke looking further up. “We can now jump and land from here. I have to try and stop Katarina Fox. But I want you to go and free the other prisoners in this place. Even if we escape, Katarina will track us down and find us no matter how far we are. Honestly the best choice is to make a stand right here and right now.”
“Are you insane Rid?” Paul screamed at me twisting my hand with brute power. It felt like he was going to yank my hand off any second. “You tried once and you lost so let’s escape and regroup.”
No! There was no turning back from what I had to do. I could not run away from destiny, the only choice I had was to face it and change it.
“Listen to me Paul,” I roared to him with a menacing voice. “Trust me please, this time I know what I am doing so please go.”
He didn’t reply, but only looked at me with a concerned expression. I truly hoped he wasn’t thinking I had gone insane or something although I did sound it. Now what? Beyond the castle, I felt a familiar presence converging to our location. The sky was turning dark, feeling up with thunder and lightning. It felt like something was about to descend from the skies. This feeling, I knew it all too well. It was Dashe’s white water mist power. That idiot!
What was he doing here? The last time he had used this power, we had all almost been killed.
“I feel energies outside the castle,” Paul mumbled as he looked towards the castle walls. “Are they your friends or new castle reinforcements?”
“Unfortunately they are my new allies,” I sighed pulling the string away from the cloud. “Paul let’s get down now. Something dangerous is about to drop down from the sky.”
