by Ross Buzzell
Another Nelaka bursts from the water at Konner who is able to swing his blade at the air born creature. The weapon passes through the Nelaka with a muddled sploosh. Drops of its gelatinous body splash out away from the creature to no affect; unharmed the Nelaka dives back into the water. The gelatinous remnants left behind spark and fizzle out on the edge of Konner’s blade. He spins and keeps his eyes on the water. He did not notice that a drop of the Nelaka gel was left on his blade and was dripping down from the sword. The gel lands on his hand. A jolt of electricity surges from the gel into Konner’s hand. He drops the sword into the water, shaking his hand in pain. Kneeling, Konner reaches for his blade. Before his hand touches the water a bolt of electricity forms the outline of a Nelaka, as another stands guard over the young prince’s weapon. Konner pauses for a moment and backs up as the loud hiss of the monster catches his attention; he turns to see a three meter long Nelaka raised from the water, teeth glinting in the night’s sun. Weaponless, Konner’s senses are heightened; he sharpens them and focuses on his opponent. The young prince takes a deep breath as the Nelaka charges. Without hesitation Konner, reaches up and rips the remaining barbs from his shoulder. Fire courses through Konner’s body as pain rages deep within his shoulder before radiating throughout his arm and chest; placing four spikes in each hand, Konner throws a handful at the Nelaka. The monster snaps at the flying barbs devouring all four as it continues its charge. Konner winds up for a second volley. The Nelaka halts its charge and twitches. A roar leaves its jaws as it writhes backward. The beast howls and slams into the boulder doused with the Spinara venom. As it contacts the venom, the Nelaka’s gelatinous form dissipates killing the creature almost instantly.
Konner pauses for a moment in pleasant surprise that his makeshift weapon worked. Four more Nelaka leap out of the water at Konner; he scans the creatures’ flight path and throws the remaining four spines. All four find their mark causing the smaller Nelaka to die and dissipate almost immediately. Konner kneels and puts his arm up to protect his face as the electricity charged gel showers down onto him sending small surges of electricity through his body. With much more gel in contact with him than before the shocks pack enough energy to cause Konner to seize; as his muscles become rigid he is unable to move. The other Nelaka take advantage of their opportunity and leap out of the water. They dive into him sending bursts of electricity into the prince. Konner cries out in pain as he topples over into the water. Through the distortion of the water he sees Ti’Zellor and Ja’Sanfur charge forward, only to be stopped from assisting by Do’Zellor. The freezing water engulfs the stunned prince as it surrounds his body as the remaining eight Nelaka dive toward Konner. They are only visible by the flickering of their internal electrical currents. The eel-like monsters dive in to stun Konner unleashing all of their dormant electric energy. Each spark that strikes Konner’s skin feels like the Spinara needles puncturing his skin to the bone. The electricity surges throughout his entire skeletal structure. His vision blurs as his entire body becomes locks up once again. His lungs begin to burn as oxygen deprivation begins to set in. All eight Nelaka discharge the remainder of their energy into Konner in an attempt to render him unconscious before devouring their meal.
The fire within Konner’s skeleton continues to grow to a white hot level. The pain overtakes Konner as everything goes black and for a brief moment, hopelessness grips the young prince as he begins to accept the inevitable. Suddenly the pain goes away. It doesn’t dissipate, but is pulled inward. The electricity’s burn turns to energy. Feeling his body grow in energy; Konner’s vision returns. Opening his eyes, his azure pools flair with light blue electricity; the Nelaka continue their attack but to no avail. Slowly Konner pulls himself out of the now rapidly warming water. Looking up at the generals, all four are frozen, awestruck; Konner looks down at the water that boils around him. Sparks begin to fly from his body and into the arena’s walls and the aquatic floor. The water’s icy surface is quickly replaced with bubbles and steam. Electricity drips from Konner’s body as it overflows from his flesh. Within moments the water is completely boiled off and all that remains are the eight Nelaka twitching on the rapidly drying sand floor. Konner turns and faces all eight as the last of their power is pulled from them. This causes the Nelaka to lose the charge from their gelatinous bodies. They dissolve and evaporate with the rest of the water. The last of the sparks spit from Konner’s body, his electric hues gradually fade back to their natural azure color. Leaning down Konner grips the hilt of his blade; breathing heavily, he looks up at Do’Zellor with challenge in his eyes. Konner points his blade at Do and roars as loud as he can:
“Is that all you can throw at me general?!”
Do’Zellor pauses for a moment before he realizes that Konner was challenging him. Reaching forward he puts his hand on the pedestal once again. The other generals attempt to stop him but are unable to prevent Do’Zellor from activating the next wave. Konner takes a deep breath; the once hot steamy air is now replaced with the burning freeze attributed to the Training Grounds at night. The walls of the arena rise up and close in a dome over Konner. The far wall opens to reveal a tall alien with dark pink skin, an elongated body with limbs to match and only three fingers on each hand. His black eyes lock right onto Konner’s. An elongated skull protrudes from the back of his head which widens and gets flat as it goes back. The alien wears Boronian armor with the white cape of a Battle Master. No family crest is aglow on his chest, only damage from battle. The creature speaks to Konner, but not with a mouth. There is no mouth. The voice resonates from a glowing metallic box attached to his throat.
“Son of Lorian, you have succeeded thus far. Prepare for the third hour!”
Konner holds up his blade in front of him. He keeps his eyes on the Draronian Battle Master who places his hands up; he begins to make circles with each finger. Closing his eyes the tall thin alien lifts his head. His hands begin to glow with a black energy; a soft white aura radiates from the edges of the black energy and dances into none existence as it travels away from the Battle Master. The shadows being cast through the dome by the light of the night sun are slowly drawn toward the Battle Master against the ground. As they approach, the shadows begin to grow out of the ground and take shape. One transforms into a massive being with grey skin that is covered in cracks as if the ground of the desert were his flesh. His eyes glow with the Battle Master’s dark energy. The second shadow melts together with a number of others as it rises from the ground. As the darkness gradually fades, Konner recognizes the being he is about to face, it is that of his teacher, Ja’Sanfur. Her eyes glow black as well. Slowly the Battle Master’s summoned warrior draws her sword. The third and final summoned soldier pools to life from the Draronian Battle Master’s power. Do’Zellor takes form, Konner’s eyebrows stitch together with concern. A sinking feeling sets in his stomach as the thought dawns on him that this was the graduation test for the cadets who are twice his age.
Konner turns and looks at the generals in the observation deck, Ja’Sanfur covers her mouth with her hands as a look of horror is strewn across her face. Ti’Zellor punches his brother to subdue him then moves to deactivate the final wave, when Konner puts his hand up and shouts to his general as loud as he can:
“General, do not stop this, it must be finished!”
Ti’Zellor hesitates for a moment but the determination on young Konner’s face moves the general to remove his hand from the deactivation switch. With fear gripping him, Konner turns back to the third and final wave as he begins to slowly approach all three beings, stopping twenty meters away from them. The Draronian points his hand forward and the three begin to converge on the young prince. ‘A soldier must overcome fear and complete his task at all cost.’ This was Konner’s favorite passage from the book, “Way of the Warrior.” He grew up with this book and that line always stuck with him throughout his training and any task he’d previously been given.
Konner takes a deep breath as the three close in on him. T
he large middle construct strikes at Konner with a ground shaking punch. Konner roles out of the way of the massive fist and is knocked off his footing from the small quake. For the briefest of moments Konner does not realize he dodged toward Do’Zellor’s construct. A mace slowly forms into his hand. The young prince looks up just in time to see the mace being brought down upon him. Konner’s training kicks in and his arms move automatically without him having to tell them. He holds his blade in an upward defensive position and at a downward angle so the tip is on the ground. The mace smashes into the sword with a deafening clang, the shock from the strike reverberates through the sword and into Konner’s hands only to dissipate half way up his arms. The mace slides down the length of the blade and slams into the ground, Konner roles past Do’Zellor’s construct delivering a powerful blow with the hilt of his weapon into the construct’s stomach. The construct collapses to his knees briefly which gives Konner time to gain his footing. Heart pounding, mind racing, lungs burning from the freezing cold, Konner keeps his eyes locked on all three targets as they turn to face the cadet. Ja’Sanfur lunges at Konner blade first and delivers a powerful jab at the boy; having sparred with his teacher for countless hours he was able to deflect the attack. The construct engages Konner moving with just as much speed, striking with just as much strength and fighting with just as much ferocity as the original. The young prince is hardly able to keep up, parrying backward to keep distance between him and his teacher’s replica. A sudden chill rushes over Konner’s spine and fills his body to the bone with the frozen cold as he backs against the Training Ground’s wall.
For an instant Konner turns and looks back at the wall, then to his teacher. The giant and Do’Zellor begin to close in. The Battle Master is on the far side observing his work with pride. Ja’Sanfur pulls back for a finishing jab as Konner plants his feet on the wall and giving a hard shove Konner blasts off the wall like a rocket. With a quick spin he deflects his teacher’s stab and slams an elbow into her cheek sending her flying on her back. Blade pointed forward Konner drives it deep into the chest of the giant grey behemoth before him. This causes the behemoth to stumble back for a moment. He looks at Konner. Reaching forward he grabs Konner with one massive grey cracked hand that wraps around the prince’s body completely. With the other he pulls out Konner’s sword and drops it to the ground as the wound heals immediately. Konner begins to struggle against the giant as he feels his body begin to compress under the force of the massive hand squeezing him. He gives off a groan of pain. Clenching his teeth and closing his eyes as tight as he can Konner attempts to free himself. Turning his head Konner sees Ja pull herself off the ground, wiping blood from her nose, Do’Zellor holds his mace ready to strike when he gets within distance. With the behemoth’s grip tightening. Konner begins to struggle harder, kicking and flailing at nothing and to no avail; Do’Zellor winds back and begins to bring his massive mace down toward Konner’s head.
With all of his might Konner forces every last bit of energy he has into breaking free from the behemoth before the mace brings about a timely end for him. Konner feels a massive exodus of energy flood from his body as the electricity from the Nelaka explodes from him and into the behemoth’s hands causing him to drop Konner. The giant metal mace acts as a lightning rod channeling a huge bolt of electricity into the construct dropping Do’Zellor to his knees. Ja’sanfur’s construct ducks behind one of the boulders which blocks the electric discharge from harming her. Dropping to the ground Konner lands on one knee, his hand meets the hilt of his weapon and his fingers wrap around it. Looking up Konner quickly scans the hundred meters by seventy five meter colosseum to come up with a strategy to take all three down. His eyes catch the boulder that had been eroded by the Spinara acid. He shoves off the ground with all his strength and begins to sprint as fast as he can toward it. as Do’Zellor and the behemoth raise themselves off the ground.
Ja darts from behind her boulder at Konner swinging her long thin blade at the prince; the sword’s razor edge slices through Konner’s trailing garment but misses the boy by a hair. Charging the boulder, Konner leaps into the air as he closes in. Landing on the top, he slides down the back of the large rock and begins to push against it with all his might. Ja, not far behind prepares to leap over the boulder as well, just as Konner feels it give way slightly, then a lot. The boulder is uprooted by the young soldier’s incredible strength and it rolls forward. The cavity made by the Spinara venom collides with Ja’sanfur’s construct and slams down on top of her, trapping her inside the stone. A wide smile forms on Konner’s face as he backs away. The sounds of Ja’s construct yelling and trying to bust her way free make the young prince laugh with pride. His joy is short -lived as he feels the hot breath of a giant behind him. Slowly Konner turns around to see the mid stomach of the behemoth, he looks up to see the giants arms are outstretched and his hands open. Rapidly he brings his hands together to crush Konner but the boy is too fast. With a swift, fluid motion, Konner ducks and rolls under the attack and between his legs. The explosion of the behemoths hands slamming together echoes through the arena and is deafeningly loud to Konner. Ears ringing, lungs burning, heart pounding, the cadet does not miss a beat and with a single fluid swipe, Konner cuts through both of the behemoths Achilles tendons right above the heel. He falls to the ground with a shout as he collapses to the freezing sandy ground.
This victory too, is short-lived, for as Konner rotates to get a bead on his second opponent the steely cold sensation of a massive metal ball slamming into his chest forces the air out of Konner’s lungs in a puff of steam. The shock rattles through his system with an enraging force; the young prince feels the sharp stabbing pain of a rib giving way to the attack and crack in two. Do’s construct follows through with his strike which sends Konner bouncing across the sand with agonizing jolts at every skip and into the boulder which has entrapped Ja’s construct. The rock slides from the force at which Konner bounces off of it. Pain shoots through Konner’s spine. Slowly the injured prince looks up to see Ti’Zellor and the real Ja’Sanfur leap from the observation deck to come to Konner’s aid. Not wishing to fail Konner puts up a shaking hand. Trembling from shock and pain, the young soldier waves the two off, both of which could end the fight in mere seconds. Ja’s construct gets a finger under the edge of the stone and is able to begin to pry it off of her. Do charges in for the kill, mace held high with a warrior roar echoing from him throughout the arena. The sound of Do’Zellor’s roar does not strike fear into Konner as it is intended. Konner feels a swell of courage wash over him, body aching, bones bruised and broken inhibiting his bodies’ movements. The young prince grits his teeth, takes a deep breath and pushes the pain he feels out of his mind, forcing himself to be numb. Do swings his mace trying to strike Konner in the side but as he does everything begins to slow down around Konner. Forcing the pain from thought focuses Konner’s mind; sharpening it beyond what he had thus far trained for which causes everything perceived to be moving slower for the prince.
Moving almost faster than the eye can see, Konner leaps into the air and spins over the mace’s attack. Blade in hand, Konner swipes from left to right slicing through Do’Zellor’s constructs arms. His hands, still clutching the mace bounce into the sand dissipate into dark energy, and then back into the shadows. Konner’s senses are heightened and he hears the sound of the air being cut from behind him and growing louder. Konner spins and is narrowly missed by Ja’s construct’s jab. Her blade finds its mark in Do’Zellor’s chest causing the construct to dissipate into shadow once more as well. Completing his spin and with a single, fluid motion Konner swipes his sword across Jas constructs head slicing it from bottom right to top left. This causes her to vanish into a cloud of shadow. Konner limps over to the construct’s mace. He looks down at it. Feeling his blade slip from his hand and fall into the cold sand, he leans forward. Wrapping his fingers around the mace’s handle he gradually stands up. The mace is heavy and Konner is sore; he limps over to the behemoth who still
lies on the ground groaning and whimpering in pain. Konner winds up as the giant looks up at him. Feeling each disk in his back creek and ache from the fight, Konner forces the mace down onto the giant’s head which causes both the giant and the mace to vanish into shadows.
Slowly the injured prince turns and surveys the Training Ground. To his surprise he had survived, beaten and bruised but stronger for it. The Draronian Battle Master slowly retreats into the open gate and into the darkness as Konner’s vision begins to blur from fatigue and injury. The blinding pain in his side returns from the broken ribs as the adrenalin wears off. Looking over, he sees the blurry figures of Ti’Zellor and Ja’Sanfur sprinting to him. Konner begins to collapse but before his face hits the cold sand everything goes black. He hears:
