Part 8

Black smoke that reached the sky.

A destroyed village.

Certain death.

That was the feeling now.

His heart was beating rapidly.

His throat felt dry as he gulped.

Today.

The situation was far from what he was used to, as nothing could prepare him for this as he hid behind a large pile of rubble.

Alistair.

It was a simple scavenging mission to gather anything of value from the remnants of the village, but-

The worst possible outcome had descended upon the group as they stepped into the dragon’s den-

Literally.

“Hurry up and move your feet!” A voice shouted out which caused Alistair to peak through a small opening in the rubble.

Several dozen feet up ahead were a group of three men.

The three walked up to a large, heavy-set man who was sitting among the rubble.

Based on their appearance, he could tell that they were Dragon-borns, given their white uniforms, but the man that was sitting down was different.

Something about him-

His clothes had let everyone know that he was a member of The Dragon King’s Royal Guard.

His demeanor was clam, but it felt that the lightest inconvenience was enough to send him into a murder frenzy.

The man had a bald head, a braided beard and a protruding stomach with muscular arms. He was dressed in a white fur collared open shirt. The left sleeve of the shirt came down above his elbow, while there was no right sleeve, leaving the arm completely bare and revealing a dragon tattoo whose tail wrapped around his lower arm. He wore a large sash that covered his lower abs and white baggy pants.

Through his squinted eyes, the man stared at the trio before him.

He simply grumbled before placing a hand on his right knee and pushing himself up to stand.

Huge.

The trio took several steps back, in awe of the man's size.

Now fully standing up, the man loomed over the trio by several feet.

His large left hand rubbed the back of his head with a loud yawn.

He closed his eyes before sighing.

Tǒu Lóng of the Lóng zhī zhìxù.

This whole ordeal had seemed to bore the man beyond no end.

Searching for the rebel group.

“We found no survivors, no sign of the rebel group either.”

Tǒu did react beyond staring at the group before glancing away.

Turning away from the group, he spoke.

“There are other ways to search for vermin.”

Tǒu closed his eyes.

Inside his mind was black.

Within that blackness, energy signatures popped up as several small flames.

A few.

Nothing worth wild, but-

It was just for an instant, a quick flash, but one of the energy signatures had spiked.

Another energy signature.

Whatever it was, it quickly approached the group.

He quickly opened his eyes, and with his right hand, he reached behind his back, grabbing a handle.

A double-sided axe.

In a quick motion, he unclasped the axe and swung it down forward in front of him.

The axe slammed into the ground, causing the ground to split and tear open.

He blocked something with his axe, and as light as it was, he could feel it.

Slowly, he glanced at the area around him.

Floating ground.

The three men are trying to keep their balance.

His eyes glanced all over until he found what he was looking for.

It was a broken top half of a broken half of an arrow.

Now he was certain what this was.

An ambush.

(Amateurish)

He decided to activate his energy sense again, closing his eyes again. Just as before, there were several energy signatures. Some that he could read, some that he could not, but then-

Several small flashes popped up all at once.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

He opened his eyes in shock as his senses were overwhelmed.

According to what he had sensed, there were several people surrounding him, but-

Beyond himself and the trio of low-level soldiers, there was nobody.

Silence.

The man began to look around.

(What was that?)

There was something that caught the corner of his right eye.

The other half of the broken arrow.

At the end of the arrow was a small pouch that was ripping open.

Spilling out of the pouch were several clear marbles with a light blue hue.

The silver arrowheads from the broken arrows began to ignite with a blue flame.

Around him, the marbles began to glow.

It was a few seconds, but in that time-

The flames from the arrowheads quickly spread, engulfing the marbles surrounding the four men.

There was a ringing noise from the marbles before they began to crack with a white light.

BOOOOOOOOOM!!!

There was a large explosion of blue light and flames that broke out.

“Direct hit.”

Lara Cipriani

A young female with tan-colored skin, short shoulder-length black hair, bright blue eyes, and sharp eyelashes is covered in a hooded cloak.

Hiding over the cover of the forest, she lowered the bow in her hands as she watched the explosion several hundred feet away.

There were a few seconds of silence.

“Aura vortex ruentis explosio” (Latin transl. A blast of rushing whirlwind)

At the sound of her deep voice, her eyes widen in horror.

Behind her.

She didn’t look back on instinct or fear; she just leaped forward several feet. as a faint white light trailed her feet, dodging a downward axe strike that tore into the ground.

The woman rolled on the ground.

As she came to a stop, she quickly raised her head.

Her eyes moved toward the man as he straightened himself up, still holding onto the axe handle.

“A move that creates a volatile reaction when two or more energy signatures mix.”

The woman pulled out a small knife from the pouch on her waist.

“Each individual is entitled to a unique energy signature; discounting your own, there must be someone else here to pull that move off.”

Lara tensed up.

With his left hand, he began dusting off his right shoulder; small yellow flames flaked off his shoulder before falling to the ground.

His energy.

“No effect.” Lara said under her breath.

“I won’t disrespect your effort, no matter how minuscule it was."

There was a rustle of several leaves in the branches above Tǒu.

A woman jumped off one of the large branches, leaping towards the back of Tǒu.

Olivia Aeneas.

Like Lara, she was also wearing a cloak that was parted open as she descended closer to the ground.

Long black hair with blue eyes. She wore a black sleeveless shirt with black shorts and knee-high boots with several black straps.

With her right hand, she pulled out an arrow from the quiver behind her exposed waist.

Falling out of the trees, she moved to aim her bow and arrow at Tǒu.

As she did, a large blue flame surrounded the arrowhead.

"Lux Plavia" (Latin transl. Light rain.)

He readjusted his grip on the axe handle, pulling it out of the ground.

It was a quick motion; he swung it over his head, keeping his eyes on the woman several feet from him.

As he swung the axe, a massive flow of energy engulfed the axe. Tǒu tightened his grip on the handle, causing the outflowing energy to harden around the axe.

There was a loud squelching sound as the massive-sized axe bisected the ambushing women at her waist.

Slowly-

Lara's eyes widen in horror.

The two halves of the body fell to the ground like heavy sacks of potatoes.

The axe crashed into the ground near his right foot.

Silence.

Slowly, as she began to comprehend what had happened, a look of anger appeared on her face.

Her heart started to beat faster.

She gritted her teeth.

Her right leg slowly slid across the ground.

Her blue eyes began to glow.

Without a second thought, Lara rushed toward the man.

Energy had burst forth from her body as aura surrounded her.

VVVSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSH!

She vanished.

Using her enhanced speed, she appeared behind him.

No plan-

Just anger.

Perhaps it was because of that very blind anger and the position of his body-

It made it difficult for Lara to see that he grabbed the handle of his axe with his left hand.

Aura began to engulf her feet; it was just a single step that propelled her forward with a burst of speed.

She leaped towards Tǒu, thrusting the small knife forward at his back.

Closer and closer, the small knife got closer to the man.

Tǒu smirked

Perhaps it was because of that very blind anger.

Perhaps it was because of that very blind anger that her reaction time was heavily affected-

Tǒu dodged her attack by simply turning his body counterclockwise.

It was too late for her to realize her mistake.

The only thing she could do was watch as Tǒu swung the axe upwards with his left hand, aiming at her face.

Death.

She was certain of it now.

It was just for an instant, but-

Something had rushed past her, leaving a faint trail of aura in its wake.

KLANGGGGG

There was a loud noise that rang out before a shockwave tore through the area, kicking up fierce winds.

The violent gust of wind knocked Lara back, causing her body to bounce several times across the floor with a scream.

Tǒu eyes squinted.

“Well, isn’t this something…..” Tǒu said, chuckling.

The sound of a fluttering blue cape could be heard.

"...Huh?"

Something had blocked his axe swing.

A black sword.

“….There seems to be no end to you vermin, but that is good. It saves me the trouble of searching for you.”

Cassius.

He blocked the axe strike while holding the sword with his left hand, placing his right forearm under the sword to keep his body from being pushed into the ground.

Sword vs. Axe.

Light Born vs. Dragon Born

A faint blue with a white hue vs-

Yellow energy began to engulf the axe, causing Cassius to fall to one knee.

Cassius grunted as Tǒu brought his face closer to his.

“Weak, the lot of you….” He started to say before he jerked his head right to dodge an arrow from Lara.

Cassius’s eyes narrowed.

A was a slight opening, but it was better than nothing.

Cassius spun around counterclockwise, dragging the tip of the sword across the ground.

The tip left the ground as Cassius raised his left arm.

A simple sword swing and strike.

Nothing special.

So Tǒu raised his left forearm to block Cassius’s left elbow.

The two arms collided.

Nothing.

Staring at Cassius left hand, he noticed that his left hand was empty.

Before he had time to comprehend the meaning of this, the black sword pierced through Cassius’s cape, aiming for his head.

Tǒu quickly moved his right hand to grab the incoming sword, with a faint yellow light trailing his palm and engulfing his hand.

Both men stood at each other in silence.

Tǒu winced as blood from his palm dripped from the sword onto the ground.

Cassius wrapped his left arm around Tǒu left arm.

Suddenly, the sword began to glow before-

An explosive outburst of energy exploded from the sword.

The sudden outburst caused Tǒu to release his grip on the sword.

Cassius then spun around fully, facing Tǒu.

With both hands, Cassius raised the sword above his head.

One strike.

With his outflowing energy from the sword, one strike would be enough.

With a yell and all his might, he swung his sword down, but-

Tǒu, slamming his right foot into the ground and swinging the axe that was now covered in energy of its own in his right hand upwards.

There was a loud noise as both weapons hit each other, followed by a large shockwave that tore up the ground, splitting it.

The force of the shockwave knocked both men back, with Cassius bouncing off the ground several times and Tǒu crashing into the waves of trees behind him.

Cassius stabbed his sword and his left fingers into the ground to stop himself.

Silence.

There were several deep pants as Cassius wiped the blood from a cut over his left eyebrow.

Glancing away from the blood that was smudged on his right thumb, he brought his attention to the destroyed trees Tǒu crashed into.

Silence.

It had been a few seconds since the two clashed, violently pushing them apart-

Silence.

There was no reply from Tǒu.

Silence.

It was unnerving for Cassius.

What was he planning?

Where would the next attack come from?

Would he call reinforcements or…?

His thoughts were all over the place, but they were soon interrupted as Lara ran towards him.

"Cassius, I’ll hel-” Lara started to speak before Cassius cut her off.

“Lara, try to find Alistair and join up with him; I’ll handle this.” Cassius shouted out as he stood up, and with a grunt, he pulled his sword out of the ground.

Chipped.

"This one, this enemy, is different, and his control of energy is far beyond what we have encountered so far....."

Through the silence between the two, a yellow pillar of energy had risen from the trees.

Cassius, with his left hand, gripped the sword hilt under his right hand tightly.

"...We need to focus from here on out."

Deep within the forest of trees, a loud roar broke out as a shockwave shook the trees.

Chapter 9.5: END