Novels2Search

Chapter 19: Ushama 2

Narvari had thought that those magic guns — no, savaz — were the strangest thing about the vanquishers. But, no. She had just stepped out of a freaking portal. She gaped at the blue door until it disappeared in seconds.

Narvari looked around her curiously. Wow, the portal had actually sent her straight home. These people had gadgets that opened portals to any part of the world. Why did they call themselves an ancient order? Nothing about them was ancient at all.

She sighed. She was back home now. Back to normalcy. Hopefully, no one had seen her walk out of a portal. Well, they didn’t have neighbors so that was unlikely. Narvari had expected to see shattered windows. But there was no such thing. She narrowed her eyes. Now that she thought about it, the hedges were trimmed, the grass mowed, and the pavement cleaned.

She quickly ran inside the house. She gasped. Not one thing was out of place. Not one thing was broken. It was like nothing had happened and she had dreamed up the whole thing. There could only be one explanation for this. Someone had come in here to put everything in order.

From room to room, she went. Everything was intact. And those things that had broken the night of the attack had all been replaced. The furniture, the TV, the flower vase. Not one thing was displaced. Maybe the people of Sharmandi had come to clean up. It wasn’t strange that they would come to take care of Anana’s house.

Anana.

It dawned on her that she would never see the old woman again. She would never see Jimbaga again. Was it even a good idea to come back? This place only held bad memories for her. It took her a while to realize that she was in her room. Lost in thought, standing before the TV, she couldn’t help but remember the last time she and Jimbaga were here playing video games.

She clenched her jaws, her eyes stinging with tears.

Not yet, Narvari. Not yet.

She shut her eyes, inhaling and exhaling slowly. She needed a clear head to think about how to find Stein. A cold shower would do the trick. Now that she thought about it, she had probably not showered in a week after being in a coma all that while. Without wasting any time, she took off her clothes.

----------------------------------------

Narvari took a look at herself in the mirror. She felt a lot more refreshed, more kempt, but no less enraged.

Stein. She balled her fist. Who was this Stein the wraith lord had spoken of? There were two things she remembered.

First, the wraith lord referred to Stein as Master. That meant that the demon had attacked Sharmandi on Stein’s orders. Second, the demon said everything was about the four-tusk elephants. That meant that Stein was the one who had sent those mercenaries and poachers to raid Kirriba Plains.

If he had that much power it was no wonder he had made Dorbenese border patrol to give him access to Kirriba Plains. Narvari narrowed her eyes. Her instincts told her that Stein was the ‘dangerous man’ Tsalaga had warned her about. How much had Stein paid Tsalaga that the minister would try to convince her to betray her own people? That greedy bastard. They would all pay. All of them.

The deep-seated fury surfaced dangerously to the surface. She balled her fists so hard that the blood circulation within her fingers halted. She punched right through the concrete wall, leaving a deep dent, and yet her rage was not in the least bit pacified.

Black mist with a red halo emanated from her arms. What is this? She looked at the dent in the wall and then stared at her fist. Had she just punched through concrete? Was it because of this thing coming out of her body? This must be what Trixan called sacred energy. Her sacros.

Narvari’s eyes widened when she saw her reflection in the mirror.

“What the…”

She leaned closer to the mirror to take a better look at her eyes. Her previously honey-brown irises were now a deep purple color. But in mere seconds, they changed to brown. The transformation had been so swift that Narvari had almost believed she had imagined the whole thing. But she knew this was no imagination.

The sacros around her disappeared. Still, Narvari could not help but feel that something had changed about her. When she used her sacros for that brief moment, she felt far stronger than she ever had. Did she have the potential to be a vanquisher like Trixan said? Could she really summon magic guns…savaz?

Wait, her savaz. Where were they? The last time she faced the wraith demon, she had summoned them. How did she do that? Could she do it again?

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

A name. Yes, she remembered now. Someone or something kept insisting she called out a name. What was it again? Narvari rubbed her forehead as she tried to recall that name. Her eyes lit up. Ushama.

“Mistress,” a boy said in fluent Kirriba.

Narvari spun, cautiously looking around the room.

“Who’s there?”

She had never heard a voice like this before. It was as young as Motongo’s, but she was certain it was not Motongo.

“Mistress,” the boy said again. “Over here.”

Narvari frowned. “Over where? Whoever you are, I’m not in the mood for games.”

“Forgive me, Mistress, but I can’t reveal myself right now. You can only hear me in your head.”

“What?”

“I’m in your head, Mistress.”

“Huh?”

Narvari looked back in the mirror. All she saw was her face looking back at her in shock. Was the voice really coming from her head? Was this what insanity felt like? She thought things would return to normal once she returned home. Instead, here she was, losing her damn mind. Yes, she really was insane now.

“No, Mistress. You are not insane.”

What the hell? You can read my thoughts?

“Of course, Mistress. I’m in your head, remember?”

Narvari paused thoughtfully. Well, she had fought demons, met demon hunters, and traveled through portals. Hearing voices in her head was relatively the most usual occurrence among them.

“Who are you?” Narvari asked. “And why do you keep calling me Mistress?”

“I am Ushama, your vaz.”

“My what now?”

“Vaz, Mistress. For now, I am merely in savaz form.”

Savaz form? Narvari narrowed her eyes. The Elder didn’t mention that savaz could speak. But she had indeed mentioned that savaz would be offended if called guns. Narvari had assumed it was a mere figure of speech but clearly, it wasn’t.

Her savaz was communicating with her and it… he sounded like a child. They probably had feelings. Now it made sense why Trixan had lost her temper when Narvari made fun of savaz getting offended.

But what did Ushama mean by being in savaz form? Was savaz a form of vaz? Did that mean vaz had more forms?

“I will be more than happy to explain what I know, Mistress.”

Oh god, he can really read my mind.

“Yes, I can, Mistress.”

“My name is Narvari Shar.”

“Yes, Narvari Shar.”

“So what do you mean when say you’re my vaz?”

“It means I’m your armored companion. Since you’ve only awakened basic sacred energy, I can only manifest in savaz form.”

Basic sacred energy must probably mean sacros, Narvari thought. Trixan did say it was the first form of sacred energy.

“Your awakening was so powerful it triggered a partial union,” Ushama continued. ”This is why we can communicate. But it’s not enough to see my true form.”

“Your true form?”

“Yes, Narvari Shar. Unfortunately, my knowledge is still low because I’m too young and weak. But if you continue to order up, I will grow older, stronger, and wiser. That way I will be able to teach you a lot of things about my power, and eventually, you may even see my true form.”

“And I have to order up to do that?”

“That’s right,” said Ushama.

“But what does that even mean?”

“To order up is to simply raise the order of your savaz to become more powerful,” Ushama said. “You awakened a fifth-order savaz. This means that you can use me to easily vanquish any demon of fifth-order or below. To vanquish higher-order demons, you will have to get stronger by ordering up or awakening the more powerful forms of sacred energy.”

How was she supposed to do any of that when she didn’t even know the first thing about vanquishing? Wait a minute. Did Ushama just say there were demons more powerful than the wraith lord out there? Azmel, Pheera, and Yanvirrak together had had a hard time against that wraith lord.

A chill ran through Narvari’s spine. What powerful demons were out there? Were they here on earth causing mayhem like that wraith lord?

Narvari tightened her grip. If there were demons out there more powerful than she was, how could she protect her home from them? What if demons more powerful than the wraith lord attacked her home again? What if Stein was a demon far stronger than the wraith lord? How could she protect her home from him? Did she have to order up? Awaken more powerful forms of sacred energy? How would she even do that? She didn’t even know what the other forms of sacred energy were.

“I’m sorry, Narvari Shar. But I have no idea either.”

“What the hell?” Narvari jumped back. She had completely forgotten someone was living rent-free in her head.

Ushama laughed. Yeah, the savaz actually laughed. “Sorry about that.”

Narvari shook her head. “Do you know how to summon my savaz… I mean summon you… I mean you in savaz form… okay, for the love of guns, how do I get you out?”

Ushama giggled. “Our minds are joined now. As long you need me, I will be there.”

“Really?” Wait, why was she talking to a gun like it was something normal people did?

“I’m not a gun, Narvari Shar. I’m a vaz.”

Narvari’s face heated up in embarrassment. “Sorry.”

Damn, this thing could really read her mind. And he did sound offended for being called a gun. She had to be more careful with her thoughts.

“So if I call your name you will be out?”

“Yes, Narvari Shar. But you don’t need to call my name out loud to summon me. As I said, our minds are joined now because of our partial union. I know all your thoughts and desires inside out, just as much as you know mine. Once you need me, I will be there.”

“Hmm.”

This was scary, to be honest. She would put it to the test.

Ushama.

Suddenly, Narvari’s sacros appeared again and in that same instance disappeared, transforming into two long revolvers in her hands. The revolvers were both black and red like her sacros and they were so light that it seemed as though she was not holding anything at all.

Narvari closely studied the savaz. She had handled many guns in her lifetime but these were the most exquisite ones she had ever seen. Okay, she needed to get used to calling them savaz and not guns.

“So both of them are you?”

“Yes, Narvari Shar, but only in savaz form.”

“This isn’t your true form then?”

“No, Narvari Shar.”

“Did you-”

The doorbell interrupted her. The savaz disappeared. Strange. She had not actively asked Ushama to leave but it was something she unconsciously wanted. It seemed Ushama knew her deepest desires.

Narvari sauntered towards the door. Who could it be?