Ayos: The Heir with the Crimson Eyes

by Justin Parks

  Chapter 23

  Ascension

  A while had passed and Jin had gotten back to his normal schedule. At least it was normal for a while. Something bad had happened to one of the apprentices on a mission. There were random whispers going throughout the academy, but no one had the whole story.

  Eventually, Jin was summoned to meet with the master scribes. He entered the room to see that Sky, Liz, and Saga were already there. “Good, now that you’re all here, we have something to discuss with you,” one of the master scribes said.

  “I’m sure you’ve heard all the commotion in the academy. Well, that’s why you’ve been called,” Another scribe said. “There was a problem on a recent mission. Three apprentices were sent to investigate a few strange sightings. There had been no attacks reported, but we decided to send someone to check anyway. The apprentices were all two-star apprentices. Apparently, the kami was much stronger then we expected. It managed to seriously injure one and kill the other. The third apprentice was able to retreat, carrying his injured friend back,” the scribe explained.

  “That’s terrible,” Liz said.

  “Yes, and that’s not all. The kami not only killed the apprentice, but it consumed her core. You’ve all never heard of this before, but if a kami manages to kill an ayos and eats his core, it ascends and becomes an abomination. Abominations are much stronger then regular kami, and if left unchecked, could become a major problem. That’s why you have been gathered here. We need to deploy a team immediately. You are all four-star ranks and have had team fighting experience, so you’re the best team we can send on short notice.”

  “So where are we going?” Sky asked.

  The scribe handed Sky a black envelope with the mission details. “The abomination was last seen in the forest next to a village called Mura. You need to make preparations and move out immediately. You are dismissed and good luck,” The master scribe said as the four made their way out.

  They each went back to their rooms and made preparations. Jin and Saga were gathering supplies. “So you haven’t been on a mission since our last one; are you up to this?” Saga asked.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll be there to hold your hand if you get scared,” Jin responded jokingly. “But seriously, I’m good,” he replied. They finished packing and met up with the other members of their party.

  Once everyone arrived, the group set out toward Mura. They made their way up the road to the atlas gates and passed through one. “So we’re fighting an abomination? They didn’t give us many details about it,” Jin said.

  “Yeah, you’d figure they would have taught us about them at least,” Liz added.

  “They probably figured we’d never have to or at least they hoped we’d never have to,” Sky said.

  “Or they didn’t tell us because they thought they didn’t want us to know. I mean would you be so driven to fight if you knew something like that could be created? Would you fight if you thought you could lose? Yeah, I’m sure they had their reasons one way or another,” Saga added. “All I know is we’re going out uninformed and unprepared,” he continued.

  “So the academy’s lying to us?” Jin asked.

  Saga turned to Jin. “Yes, but if we asked, I’m sure they would say they were protecting us or simply that we didn’t need to know yet,” Saga said, but Jin could tell what he was implying.

  “Yeah, you’re probably right,” Jin responded, answering his underlying question.

  They continued down along the way. It took them a while to get there. They made it to the village later in the day. As the village came into view, the group halted. It had been destroyed. All the houses were crushed and burning. They continued into the town, and there was no one left alive. It was empty.

  The four began to search around, sticking together. They walked to the opposite edge of town. As they came around the wreckage of one of the final houses, they saw something. They moved back behind the wreckage and peeked out at it. It appeared in the shape of a woman. The body was a blue green color and gel-like. It was just standing there with its back to them. It seemed so gentle in its movements. It put off a very creepy vibe.

  “Is that it?” Liz asked.

  “I think so, but a bit less threatening then I imagined,” Jin whispered.

  “Yeah, I was expecting something bigger,” Sky added.

  “What are we going to do?” Saga asked.

  Jin stepped over onto a small piece of wood. It snapped under his foot. He gritted his teeth, looking back to the group. They all looked to the abomination. It didn’t notice. Jin began to let out a sigh of relief when Sky threw a large crystal at it. Jin’s jaw dropped.

  “What? We had to start fighting sometime,” Sky said.

  The crystal stabbed through it and became lodged in its stomach. It turned calmly and faced the group. It had eyes but no face. The eyes were more like outlines of eyes. It was all made of gel except for the dark green blue core in its chest. It pulled out the crystal leaving a massive hole. The hole closed as the creature threw the crystal to the side. “Hmm, that’s not good,” Jin said.

  The abomination took notice of the group as its hair rose up as it went into a rage. It screeched and fired a beam from its core along the ground in front of them, triggering an explosion. They all moved back and took cover from the explosion. “Okay, so that didn’t seem to work,” Saga said to the group.

  “We need to spread out and find a way to hurt it,” Sky said.

  “Okay, go!” Liz said as the four moved out of cover and created a perimeter around the abomination. Saga attacked, sending a wave of shadow toward it. Spikes shot out of the shadow penetrating the creature. It turned and fired a beam at Saga. He jumped back form the explosion. The shadows diminished and once again the holes closed.

  Sky spread his hands as many small crystal shards began to form. “Okay, let’s try this,” Sky said as energy sparked through them. He fired the shards at the creature in multiple waves. They exploded on contact. The attack seemed to hurt the creature. It was still able to regenerate, but it was much slower. The creature dashed up to Sky. Its arm stretched out and wrapped around his throat. The creature was powerful. It lifted Sky off the ground with ease.

  Sky struggled attempting to break free. Liz moved in and slashed her whip down, cutting through the arm. It jumped back and Sky pried its arm off and threw it to the ground. It turned to liquid and crept along the ground back toward the creature. The abomination absorbed it and began to grow its arm back. Jin used the opportunity to charge up and hit it with an energy palm. Its body began to twitch and contort. It turned and smacked Jin away.

  Shadow tentacles reached out and caught Jin before he hit the ground. The fighters regrouped. “Energy attacks seem to have an effect on it,” Jin said.

  “Yeah, it seems to piss it off,” Sky said. The creature’s arms stretched out. It began to whip them frantically at the group. The group retreated back to cover.

  “Did you see how it reacted when it was hit though? It was like it couldn’t stabilize its form,” Saga explained.

  ToC

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