“For you, I cross the borders of death into life.”
I
The atmosphere was still when the wind died out. Then, Christine watched curiously the small stones on the ground shaking lightly. It was distant when they first felt the earth tremble. The four Yamists and Messengers rose and prepared for whatever it was heading their way. The trembling of the earth magnified ten times, throwing some people off their feet.
The black-green tower of fire suddenly erupted from within into a bright golden light, blinding everyone. The aura of the light swept past those who were in the circumference. It was an overwhelming experience to be enveloped by such radiance. When the magnificent light lessened, permitting the eyes to see, Christine saw a figure in the midst of it, like a phoenix rising to its rebirth from its death.
The witnesses gaped in awe as the Prince who was thought to be dead just minutes ago stepped out from the centre of the light. The radiance gradually disappeared, leaving behind in its grace, Raviex Katelion.
“This can’t be…” muttered Hidaka in disbelief.
Raviex smiled warmly at Christine, as if he had never left this world at all. He stopped a distance away between the site of the vanquished fire and her. She held her breath, not daring to hope, pondering if the person in front of her was just a ghost of him.
“Will you ever be able to forgive me, Ryn?”
At the sound of his voice, every strand of her doubts vanished. There was nothing else holding her back to break into a run for him. Surprised at her sudden rush for him, Raviex blushed as he caught her in his arms. He was convinced they shared the same grateful and blissful feeling to be able to be in one another’s presence and life again.
This time, her eyes were wet with tears of joy. His serenity and warmth was real. She was holding him in flesh and bones. It was the only thing she needed on that moment, nothing else. She finally understood how deep she did not want to part with him just as they had years ago. Feeling his arms around her, she wondered if he felt the same way too.
Lorenne, Sonia and Kyoden grinned at the sweet scene. They too, gathered around the duo and gave a group hug. Their friendship was brought into a whole new level. Aiko and the rest of the Himeans could only be glad for them. The sacrificial act of the Prince had made them repent for all they had done for the past two centuries. They knew their judgement would come and it was time. They had lived too long in any case, breaking the nature of the Ancient Law.
An ominous rumble in the sky disrupted the group’s reunion. A face formed in the wisps of clouds, lightning illuminating it. The lips moved and spoke like thunder, “Interfering with my games is not what I would have liked you to do, Calith! If that’s what you’re trying to do, protecting your little believers, I will wipe out their existence with pleasure!”
Maya Hidaka let out a horrific screech as her body began to alter. “I do not show mercy to those who fail me, High Priestess! You and your people will pay heavily for failing to deliver me the sacrifices on the promised hour!”
“M..aster… let me r..edeem… mys…elf…” pleaded Hidaka. Her body was almost complete of the transformation and her human voice was starting to sound like a growl.
“Junnosuke!” Aiko called out sadly.
Kyoden turned to see the caller. “Aiko!” He watched in shock as she, along with the other Himeans, reduced to dust.
“Find it in your heart, if you can, to remember me…”
Sonia grasped his arm as he tried to run to her. “Kaneshiro, there’s nothing else you can do for her now. If you really want to help her, then fight this monster!”
The Haikenese looked at her intensely before he inhaled and calmed down. It wasn’t the time to argue or lose a temper. She was right at any rate. He felt his spine tingled as he stared at the beast in front of them.
Hidaka was now a full-fledged monster. It stood twenty feet tall with a murderous aura circulating it. It acquired the head of a wolf with horns, a pair of bat-like wings which lined from its hands to its heels. Its massive claws looked capable enough to finish the set task without the help of its gnashing fangs. Its colossal body portrayed the physical power it held in the body.
“Wow… I’ve never seen an abstract masterpiece as enlightening as this one here,” Raviex quipped nervously. Sonia smiled grimly as she started drawing out a strategy for the condition
“Look at the ring of circle below it,” she told the group. They nodded. “If it remains in that area, we’d never finish it off even if we fight it continuously for ten years. You can put it as the sanctuary of the monster. That’s why, all of us except Lorenne will be in charge of tricking it out of the ring. Lorenne, you know what to do.”
In response, Lorenne summoned for a sorcery staff, one that none of them besides Sonia had seen before. It was almost as tall as her and its weight was expected to be heavy as she was forced to hold it with both hands. Raviex couldn’t help but stared at it sceptically as it did not appeal to him as ‘powerful’ for it had the appearance of a large burnt-black wood.
“Whatever we do, we have to figure out a tactic to lure it out of its sanctuary and occupy the monster long enough for Lorenne to cast her skill. Raviex, your Radiance-based skill will have the advantage against it. Remember, conserve your Sacred Energy. We might be fighting it for quite an extent of time,” advised Sonia, like a coach pep-talking to her players before a game.
“Spread out!” she snapped when she caught sight of the beast swiping its claws at them. Instantly, six gigantic claws were aimed at them. Raviex snatched the black staff from Lorenne and leapt away. She was close behind him. If they hadn’t been quick, they would have been pinned down to the ground by the claws.
“Thanks,” said Lorenne, taking a breath as she received the staff back from Raviex. He knew she wouldn’t have been able to make it while carrying the staff by her own.
“I don’t know what you’re going to do but I trust you and Sonia. Find somewhere safe while we deal with the upfront attacks,” he said, giving her a confident nod. With that, he hurried to join the others at the front line of the battle.
“Blazing Eagle!” commanded Christine. Her two daggers were inflamed, powered by her Sacred Energy in the form of the Fire Element, also known as the Fire-based Sacred Energy, as she commenced her attack. She jumped into the air and began slashing at the enraged monster. An illusion of a fiery eagle was seen as she performed the move.
The monster defended itself by using its forearms, reducing critical hits. It swiped its claws at her, its right wing causing air turbulence. Though she had managed to avoid any severe injuries, the force had caught up to her and flung her backwards violently. Christine held out her hands just in time to avoid landing on her head and heaved her body upwards to flip over in order to land on her feet.
Continuing her attack, Sonia called for ‘Severed Assault’. Her spear enlarged and lengthened a hundred times with the effect of the move. She pierced at the enemy’s torso in quick jabs provokingly. As the monster attempted to grasp at her spear in infuriation, she lowered her aiming at its two huge flat feet.
Deceived by her, the monster howled in agony as she pierced through one of its leg at the ankle. Kyoden saw the chance and launched into his attacks as well. Sensing his mental command, the titanium crossbow on his arm shone an aggressive red as it received his Fire-based Sacred Energy like Christine’s daggers.
“Flame Shots!”
Exactly seventy-seven flaming arrows burst from the crossbow simultaneously and found their ways to their target. The monster roared tremendously; various parts of its body were burnt, injured and bleeding after the endless assaults. Just when Raviex thought that victory would be soon to come, dark energy flared up from the circle. It gave it restored health and healed all of its injuries.
‘Curse that vexing ring,’ he swore.
The monster didn’t seem too pleased with the fact that it had been on the defending side all the while. Seeking revenge, it crushed its two gigantic fists on the ground. Raviex, Christine, Sonia and Kyoden instinctively withdrew for the earth had suddenly awakened and would drown anyone or anything within its grasp.
“Raviex, Christine, cover Lorenne! Hurry!” yelled Sonia, fearing for her sister’s safety. She was exposed to danger when casting a time-consuming spell. If interfered, she might take damage to herself from the incomplete spell. Lorenne had not mastered the art of instructing two separate skills at the same time. The mentioned two was dashing for the Yamist of Wisdom already even when Sonia shouted.
“Angel’s Freedom!” Christine aimed the skill at Lorenne, giving her a temporary shield of light which could deflect almost any attack and in addition, give her a boost of strength. Lorenne concentrated entirely on conjuring the spell, feeling the power from Christine’s skill. She had no choice but to depend on the others to protect her as she held the staff more firmly now. She couldn’t do it herself even if she wanted to. She ignored her surroundings, focusing only on her task, even as the shield formed and then shattered above her after a huge rock collided into it.
“Terrain Dragon!” Raviex stabbed Letaikno into the ground ahead of Lorenne. Enormous stalagmites shot from the ground to block off the incoming wave of earth and conveniently headed for the monster itself.
“Way to go, Raviex!” cheered Kyoden. Terrain Dragon had steered the monster out of its sanctuary.
“Don’t get too happy just yet, the tough part has just begun,” warned Sonia sombrely. “Now that it has lost its invulnerability, it’ll definitely struggle harder.”
The monster had taken notice of Raviex, Christine and Lorenne. Sonia knew it had realised Lorenne’s weakness and it would unquestionably aim for her. She sprang forward and yelled, “Hey, Ugly!”
Kyoden was evidently alarmed at her stinging provocation at the beast as he gawked at her. It was a reckless act which seemingly could have only been done by him and impossibly by her.
She’s out of her mind!
The monster turned its hybrid wolfish head at her, insulted and mad. Compared to its bulky body, Sonia was much quicker. “Voltaic Shock!” She slammed the blade of her spear on the earth at its direction. A flash of lightning charged from the tip of her blade and charged at it like a tornado of electricity. The monster howled painfully as it was zapped.
Sonia was yet to be finished with it. “Terror!” she commanded. Bolts of lightning snaked down from the dark night and shocked it from head to bottom. Kyoden gaped at her in amazement. His nose whiffed the air and smelt burnt flesh. He realised the monster’s movement had slowed down after her first attack and it looked confused and weakened after the second.
“What did you do to it?” he asked the fiery warrior.
“I never said I am one without what you call ‘magic skills’. After all, Lorenne and I do share the same master. I learned this trick from Master. It’s a status-inducing magic, much like poison,” explained Sonia briefly, holding her spear and supporting it behind her back.
“Can you teach me?” asked Kyoden, his girly eyes wide open and fluttering. Sonia frowned in disgust before pushing him away as the monster swiped at them again, but missed.
“This isn’t the time or place!” she yelled. “Get going, Kaneshiro!” The young Haikenese archer could only scoff before firing more arrows towards the monster’s head.
An hour had passed. It was evident that the four warriors who fought at the front line were tiring out. Their stamina was on the losing side when compared to the monster. Sonia saw it and she was worried for the group.
Lorenne felt all the events happening as she continued casting her spell. She willed the speed of the spell to be completed to quicken. Three quarters of the bark from the end of the ordinary-looking black piece of wood had peeled off to reveal brilliant bronze beneath it.
If only I could just finish transfiguring this Mighty Staff…!
Suddenly, victory slanted towards the monster. It stomped its foot, causing the ground to shake. Sonia stumbled on a few stones and lost her grip. It saw the opportunity to slay one of the four. Her eyes widened as she saw its arm swung at her. Everything after that happened in a blur. She saw a dash of long, black hair and felt someone hold her and push her away from the monster. A muffled groan of pain escaped beside her ear as she fell onto the ground.
“Aqua Dragon Dash!” yelled Raviex in rage. Ice projectiles conjured as Letaikno changed its glowing aura from gold to light turquoise for a few seconds. He hurled them at the monster with his sword where some of them found their mark and some of them missed.
“Kaneshiro!” cried Sonia, horrified, discovering what the weight on her body really was.
Kyoden moaned as he felt the cuts afflicted by the monster’s claws. He was fortunate the cuts were not deep enough to kill him. He thanked the Light for the mercy as he gradually picked himself up.
“For the love of Kaisen,” he said weakly. “Woman, you should know how to take better care of yourself!”
Sonia said nothing but gave him a brief hug. Kyoden was stunned for a little while, and yelped when he felt her press on his wounds. She brushed away her tears and clutched her spear. Raviex and Christine who rushed to them breathed a sigh of relief as he was alright.
Distracted by Sonia and Kyoden, the four had failed to notice that the monster was approaching Lorenne. When they turned to attend to it, they were shocked to see a humongous wave of earth rushing towards her.
Lorenne was as pale as a ghost, facing the wave of earth as it shadowed her. She had lost sight of her companions. No one was going to be able to save her. Even if she chose to cancel her spell, she had nowhere to run. The wave was already swallowing her. Yet, while she stood, staring at death in the eye, every conscious part of her was only thinking and calling one name.
Calith… Calith… Calith… Calith!
She closed her eyes and was prepared to surrender her spirit in the hands of the Light. The moment her eyelids closed, she experienced a gentle thug which caused her eyes to flung wide open.
“Calith!”
“How… how did she…?” muttered Sonia, bewildered. The others were baffled as well. They were pretty sure the wave had swallowed her but the next thing they knew, she had appeared on the opposite side of her original spot.
The last of the black surface of the new-borne Mighty Staff finally fell off. A white crystal nested at the tip of it. Torn between duty to her friends and her desire to find Calith, she stood motionless for a while. But she knew she couldn’t let her friends down, not after their gruesome battle with the monster. Lorenne held the bronze staff with both hands skywards steadily.
Elemental sorcery would not be enough to take down a monster filled with Hate of this size. The world consisted of five primary elements; which were fire, earth, wind, water and lightning. The only secondary element known to the believers of Light was life, which came from the combination of wind and water. There was another, used only by the Lundea of Darkness, namely poison, which came from the combination of fire and earth.
Lorenne pursed her lips together as she continued holding the staff. There was a tertiary element which came from combining all the primary elements of Light - including life - Holy.
“Holy Atonement!” she screamed as she finally finished casting. Holy Atonement was an extremely difficult yet extremely powerful skill mastered by those who already conquered all six elements within themselves, and mastered the appropriate Holy-based spells. Besides, Holy was an element which came from the goddess of Wisdom, Jerusyn. However, only certain sorcery staves could be used when dealing with Holy-based skills and the Mighty Staff was the lowest requirement.
A bright light engulfed the enemy. It roared savagely as it started feel the effects of the skill cast by Lorenne. Its body was reducing into nothing. Unfortunately, the skill did not take immediate effect as Lorenne and Sonia had hoped. Her Sacred Energy wasn’t mature enough to bring out the maximum result.
“All together now!” screamed Sonia. They had to steal time until the monster was fully reduced to dust. At the time being, it was still as dangerous as before. Its level of desperation might very well increase its struggle.
“Blade of The Lion!” shouted Raviex, before crescent projectiles that glowed a faint gold appeared and sliced through the beast as it was still engulfed in the light of Lorenne’s spell.
Christine dashed around the enemy in a circle gracefully, releasing feathers that hovered in the air as she moved with the speed of Angel’s Flight. “Wing Strike!” she yelled. The feathers that once were a faint blue turned a light purple shade as bolts of lightning shot through the beast using the feathers as a medium.
“Deep Dive!” chimed Kyoden as well, feeling Kaisen’s smile upon him as he shot seventy-seven arrows just like before, but this time, the arrows glowed a faint aquamarine and froze the monster’s limbs upon contact.
Sonia, the self-proclaimed leader of the team did not miss out on the action as well, as she struck the spear into the ground with sheer force. The spear shone a faint orange. “Impaling Point!” she yelled, before a large stalagmite erupted from the ground beneath the monster and pierced it from below.
They watched as the monster was still struggling even though everyone gave their all. Lorenne forced herself to sustain, lifting the heavy bronze staff. But she was out of breath from that last spell and exhausted as she watched the monster climb out of the prison of white light. She grasped her staff ever more tightly.
Calith…I know you’re here…please help us…
As if the skies heard her plea, a powerful gust of wind shoved the monster back into its cage. Everyone, except Lorenne, instinctively clung onto the nearest object which could prevent them from being lifted into the air along with the wind. In order for Holy Atonement to complete its task, she was compelled to hold the Mighty Staff in her hands. She let out a frightened cry as her feet lifted from the ground. But before she was more than a foot off the ground, she felt a presence holding her back down firmly on the ground.
Her heart thumped wildly at the familiar scent carried in the air. She saw no hand holding hers on the staff, but she knew he was holding her, supporting her from behind. Her skin tingled at his touch. She could feel his presence, one with the wind, embracing her as the wind around her blew on. All her nostalgic memories with him replayed without her willing to.
This is how it feels to be held by you…
Her eyes widened slightly upon hearing his faint voice in the wind, like a reply to her own thoughts.
And this is how it feels to hold you…
A light, brighter and more magnificent than the light brought by Holy Atonement shone unto all, as though daylight had arrived earlier for certain. Everyone in the group felt strengthened, their exhaustion and weariness were simply blown away from them by the wind and light. Kyoden’s wounds healed miraculously, leaving no scars behind, only his ripped and blood-stained sleeveless overcoat on the back.
The monster gave one last defeated howl before Lorenne’s spell vanquished it. The Holy Atonement spell was completed. The winds and light vanished along with the monster. Smiles caressed the faces of the young heroes as they prevailed triumphant. They all ran towards Lorenne, who was on her knees, her large green eyes wide open.
“Lorenne!” said Sonia, kneeling down beside her. “Are you okay?”
Lorenne nodded. She was fine physically… but they had no idea how much her heart ached as the presence which had given her strength and courage was gone with the wind.
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