by Justin Parks
Chapter 27
Prelude to Chaos
The next morning the group sluggishly awakened. It had been a fun night and they had all gotten to bed late. They left the inn sometime in the afternoon and got on the road back to the academy.
The atlas gate leading home came into view. They were all chatting and strolling along until someone walked up behind them. The five began to hear clapping and turned to see a strange man wearing a black-hooded cloak. They all just stared at him, waiting for him to say something. His clapping came to a slow end. “Hello there,” he said. “I saw your fight back there. You three are pretty skilled and you have some interesting abilities. Shame I didn’t get to see you two fight, though,” he said, pointing to Sky and Jin.
“So who are you exactly?” Sky asked. He got a bad feeling from this individual and didn’t trust him.
“If you must know, they call me Coyote. So are you two the senior apprentices?” he asked.
“Yes, we are,” Jin replied.
Coyote smiled. “So you two must be rather strong; but how strong, I wonder?” he asked.
“Enough! What do you want?” Sky asked
Coyote just shook his head. “My, you’re awfully impatient aren’t you?” he said, cocking his head. “No need to be so hostile. We’re brothers after all,” he said, raising his right sleeve. He revealed a core imbedded into his upper forearm. It was different from a normal core. In the center was a strange black nucleus that stemmed out from the center.
“That still doesn’t explain what you want,” Sky said.
Coyote shrugged. “I guess it just comes down to one thing. Do you desire strength?” he asked.
“I don’t understand what you mean,” Sky said.
The man let out a sigh. “I don’t know how to make it much clearer then that. Do you want to become stronger?” Coyote asked.
“Obviously, there’s more to it than that. What’s the catch?” Sky questioned.
Coyote began to laugh. “Yes, I suppose there is more to it. If you want to become stronger, join me and the other chosen. And if you want to do that, all you two have to do is kill those three and destroy their cores,” he said, pointing to the three apprentices. Sky and Jin move into a defensive stance in front of the apprentices. “If you destroy their cores, you get their special abilities. It’s actually pretty cool,” the man said trying to persuade them.
“You three run! Get back to the academy as soon as possible and tell them what’s happening here,” Jin commanded as the three apprentices ran.
“Ahh, so it’s like that, I guess,” Coyote said with a sigh. “Can’t say I’m too disappointed though; more powers for me,” he said as he spread his arms, creating two large bladed rings of energy. He flung his arms forward, sending the rings rolling toward the two.
They side-stepped and dodged the rings, but they began following them. During that time, the man created a large ball of energy in his hands. He then clapped them together, causing it to diminish and disappear.
“What did he just do?” Jin asked as they continued dodging the rings.
“I’m not sure, but watch yourself,” Sky cautioned.
Suddenly, there was an explosion by Jin’s foot, throwing him back into the ring. He was shocked by the energy before it also exploded, throwing him to the ground.
“Invisible mines,” Sky said, realizing what his attack was. Sky jumped up allowing the blade to roll under him. He then pelted it and the ground with a barrage of exploding crystals. The crystals destroyed the ring and any mines that blocked his path. Sky landed on the ground, formed a large crystal blade in his hand and charged the mysterious man. Sky stabbed at him.
Coyote swatted the crystal, shattered it, and tapped Sky on the wrist before jumping away. Sky’s arm felt weighed down. He could barely lift it. “What!? What did you do to me!?” he asked.
Coyote laughed as he turned his palm toward the ground. A large earth spike emerged from the ground aimed at Sky. He turned and dodged it, but it ripped a hole in the back of his robe, revealing the core imbedded between his shoulder blades. “So that’s where it is,” Coyote said to himself.
Coyote began to move toward Sky. He was halted as Jin appeared, attempting to hit him with an energy palm. Coyote saw him coming and caught Jin by the throat. “Well, if you’re in such a rush!” he said, grabbing Jin’s chest with his opposite hand. He could feel Jin’s core in his hand and began to squeeze, shocking Jin with energy as he tried to crush his core.
Things began to get blurry to Jin. He tried to fight, but he felt the energy being drained out of him. He couldn’t do anything. Jin’s life was slowly slipping away when, all of a sudden, he was released and Jin fell to the ground.
Sky appeared, slashing at the Coyote’s face. His hood fell back, revealing his face and the huge gash Sky had cut into it. The man had yellow eyes and light brown and white hair. He turned and hit Sky away. “Fine, enough messing around!” he said, aiming his palm to the ground.
Jin inched up in just enough time to see it. A large spike impaled Sky through his core. Time seemed to stand still for a moment. The world fell silent as Jin watched helplessly. Sky’s body fell back lifeless as he looked over to Jin. Blood dripped from his mouth. “Jin, run!” Sky managed to say before the life left his eyes. His body began to turn into a bright light, much like a kami, but different as well. Sky’s body disintegrated first and then his core slowly cracked apart, becoming energy that was absorbed by Coyote’s core.
At that moment, the silence was broken as Jin’s screams tore through. “Noooooo!” he yelled. His fists were clinched in anger. Eventually, his body began to quake as he was slowly losing control. The air around him became thickly charged as red energy began to pulsate from his body. Jin slowly lifted his head, revealing his glowing bright red eyes.
Jin turned his gaze upon the man. He lunged at the man from all fours, like a beast, grabbing his chest and slamming him to the ground. Coyote kicked him off. Jin moved in and began slashing at the man. Coyote continued to dodge, as Jin’s power surged in rage. Finally, the man knocked Jin back.
They both stood facing each other. Jin stared at the man, but realized that he could see more. He could see the man’s energy running through his body, and there was also a energy that stemmed throughout his body. Jin looked around him. He could now see the remaining mines around him; he could see magick.
“Those eyes? No you can’t be… They’re all supposed to be dead,” Coyote said shocked. Jin dashed at him. Various stone spikes appeared from the ground. Jin saw them coming and was able to dodge them easily. He moved forward, hitting Coyote in the stomach. Jin grabbed his core with his other hand and began to pull on it, attempting to rip it from Coyote’s body.
Coyote’s face lit up with surprise and desperation. He formed a large ball of energy in his hand and fired it at Jin close range. It exploded, shooting Jin back down to the ground near the gate.
Jin was badly wounded. It was difficult, but he could still move. The front of his robe was torn, revealing his core. “Now let’s see; how should I kill you?” Coyote asked, inching toward him. “Yes, I know I’ll use my new power. Let’s see how it works,” Coyote said, raising his hand. A crystal began to form.
As Jin saw it, he remembered Sky’s last words. Sky wanted him to run; he wanted him to live. As much as Jin wanted to get revenge, he knew he wasn’t strong enough and now wasn’t the time. At that moment, the crystal formed by the man exploded into a flash of light, blinding him. Jin turned and ran to the atlas gate.
Coyote grabbed his eyes. He regained his sight to see Jin nearing the gate. “No!” he yelled, aiming his hand to Jin and firing three crystals at him. They each hit Jin, stabbing him in the back, but he made it up to the gate and jumped through. Jin hit the ground on the other side and turned, firing a blast at the gate and destroying it.
Jin had escaped, but he was in bad shape. His breathing began to slow and his body began to go numb. All that happened next was
just flashes to him as he recovered and was taken back to the academy.
ToC
* * * * *
Epilogue
It had been a few weeks since Jin nearly escaped death. The west academy’s masters had gathered together in a meeting room. “So far, we have seven confirmed KIA and thirteen confirmed MIA,” Ares explained to the group.
“Do we have any reports on the enemy?” Odin asked.
“According to the intelligence we’ve gathered, the apprentices were all attacked by ayos with tainted cores,” Thoth explained.
“Does anyone know where they came from? Or how many there are?” Isis asked.
“No one is certain. It doesn’t make any sense. There’s no way this many tainted ayos could have gone unnoticed this long,” Thoth explained.
“Unless this was all planned,” Ares added.
“So it has begun. We need to gather the apprentices as soon as possible and lock down the academy,” Odin explained before looking to Khronus. “Khronus, what is the status on Hyperion’s heir?” he asked.
“Jin’s alive. He finally stabilized last night. According to the debriefing, his powers activated during the fight,” Khronus explained.
“So his powers have finally begun to awaken?” Odin responded.
“Yes, but there’s a problem,” Khronus said as his head sank down.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Odin asked.
“Well shortly after he was discharged, he . . . Jin’s gone,” Khronus responded.
ToC
###
