CHAPTER 7

LETHAL

Hikaru knew immediately, somehow, someone found them. Dashing out of his chair, he made a passage to Antarctica, frantically motioning for Amber to hurry through with his hands. She ran inside, and Hikaru followed her, shutting the portal as he stepped out onto the vast frigid white land. Temperatures measured below freezing, and chilling winds were high, rapidly whipping against Hikaru’s flesh, causing him to shiver while he wrapped both arms around his body, desperate for warmth. He used his hakq, skillfully flowing it all around his skin, and to his amazement, this technique worked, keeping him cozy as though he were wearing an impenetrable coat wrapped around his entire body. Amber watched Hikaru, then mimicked him, using her hakq for heat as well.

“This is crazy!” she yelled over howling winds.

Hikaru materialized two pairs of ear plugs and handed one set to Amber.

“Put these in,” he said loudly, popping the others inside his own ears.

Amber placed each ear plugs in without really understanding why she’d been told to do so. She gazed at Hikaru with worry while he kept his eyes fixated on a spot where he could feel another passage opening. Amber looked forward also, carefully watching the portal as it slowly expanded. After the passage became whole, a mysterious figure came pacing through it, closing the entrance behind him. He stood, wearing long black robes that stretched only inches away from touching his white boots. The stranger’s garbs exuded mystery, covertly shielding all facial features, neatly covered by a white veil that concealed his entire head, while only allowing his black eyes to peer through a small slit above his nose. As this lone fighter’s loose fabric blew in the wind, Hikaru felt as though he were face to face with an ancient Arabian warrior that had gracefully ridden through desert moonlit skies to arrest him. He placed his arm in front of Amber, gently moving her behind himself, but to his annoyance, she struggled, determined at staying by his side.

(Damn stupid girl!)

Amber halted with her persistence and eyed Hikaru angrily. (Jackass, did you just call me stupid!)

Her thoughts combed through Hikaru’s mind like a rake gathering leaves, allowing him to absorb and feel every insulting gesture. He glanced at her for a split second in surprise, realizing what just occurred.

(Come on you pair of newbies, what’d you expect, you leave your minds wide open to telepathy, which is a dangerous mistake when battling within the storm.)Hikaru heard the veiled opponent’s silent words run through his mind like a loud thought. Panic froze him; he knew it foreshadowed a major disadvantage being incapable of blocking out his thoughts. The veiled warrior stood mischievously while taking in everything. (Yes, you are at a huge disadvantage unless you can close off your telepathy,) he thought arrogantly. (Astute though, you’ve put in ear plugs to protect yourselves from my powers.)

Hikaru retorted through telepathy while trying to stall.

(Yeah, great idea, wasn’t it.)

(You’re pretty clever, but obviously not clever enough— my power isn’t just sound— it’s vibrations.)

Hikaru replied nonchalantly. (I really don’t care, I’m more interested in knowing who you are.)

(My name’s Amir Abbas if you must know, and your name’s… Hikaru. Well, now that the introductions are finished, lets begin.)

Hikaru turned for Amber. (Hurry and leave.)

(No,) she replied stubbornly.

In a rush to get Amber away from danger, Hikaru grabbed her arm and shoved her. (I’m not playing around with you, stay away! ) Shaken up by Hikaru’s actions, Amber stared in disbelief.She almost softly refused, but didn’t. Turning away from Hikaru, Amber ran off through snowy terrains. After Hikaru watched her get far enough away from the battleground, he turned his undivided attention toward Amir, eyeing him with caution.

(Now that weakling’s out of our way, so we can finally get started,) Amir thought.

They stood in strong enveloping wind currents, each having full visibility of one another’s hakq while both flared up. Although Hikaru tensed up nervously, he still felt more confident than at the start of any previous battle. There existed a logical reason he’d decided on fighting in the barren icy lands of Antarctica— this time, he had a legitimate plan.

Amir continued. (I honestly tried waiting for you to pounce first, but since you’re hesitant in doing so, I’ll spark off this battle.)

Hikaru focused his setting control, raised both arms, and used his power to lift twenty huge chunks of hardened snow from the frozen surface, each the size of a small vehicle. He caused every summoned glacier to revolve clock-wise around himself like a rotating gate in hopes that it would serve as a shield with multiple large lumps of snow orbiting around him tightly knit, one after another. Raising up more snow, Hikaru created four more upper stories of ice rocks, each circling ten feet higher above the others, making a forty foot tall rotating cylinder that appeared much like a giant building with large gaps of space between organized orbiting rings.

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“Yes,” Amir mumbled, an intensity of excitement entering his voice. “Show me what you’ve got!”

Hikaru wielded a huge ice boulder from the second row, and hurled it at full speed. He saw Amir throw a punch at the fast approaching ice, and immediately, Hikaru stopped all rotation of the first row of frozen rocks, and set one large boulder down in front of himself. Amir’s powers impacted, and a tremendously loud blast echoed through barren tundra, causing exploding shards to fly wildly in every direction. The veiled assassin came charging through this chaotic demolition. Hurriedly racing outside of orbiting glacial boulders, Hikaru extracted another large frozen mass from packed snow, and placed it in front as Amir collided into more ice in attempt to make his way inside the cylinder. Hardened chunks shattered like glass, sending more fragments airborne while Amir infiltrated the center, searching for Hikaru.

(Why can’t I sense the boy’s plans anymore,) Amir thought. (Has he learned how to close his mind… only thing I can sense is that he’s obsessed over protecting that girl.)

“Great!” Hikaru yelled, stepping out from behind his stationary ice rock. “Right where I want you.”

Amir turned to his right and found Hikaru standing outside the huge rotating circles of hardened snow. Hikaru waved his hands, motioning three large icy rocks to drop downward from the highest orbiting wheel. Gigantic frozen chunks plummeted forty feet from the top row to inside the midpoint where Amir stood. Hikaru could hear ice crashing through his ear plugs as chunks rained down on Amir like three huge comets striking earth. Hikaru again ducked behind a grounded ice bolder, but this time, larger frozen shards came flying outward like bullets, smashing into the thickly frosted crystalized boulder that shielded him, nearly breaking it apart. Hikaru looked toward the direction where he previously witnessed Amber run off, but failed making out anything through lingering hazy fog from the explosion. Remembering his sensitive ability, he delved into his power’s depths, pulling out his sixth sense. He felt Amber’s warm breath on frigidly cold wind far away, and became relieved, knowing that she’d made her distance by fleeing.

(Keep your eyes on the prize kid,) Amir thought, popping out from behind. He raised his open palm, then pressed it against Hikaru’s back. (The end.)

With quick thinking, Hikaru shot himself several feet into the atmosphere by using hakq to pull up another slab of ice, forming it beneath his feet. Levitating high into the welkin on hardened ice, he felt a huge vibration through his bones as Amir shot off enormously powerful surges that ripped a long trail through icy grounds below. Hikaru peered downward, trying to see what just occurred; to his disadvantage, he couldn’t make out anything below while a second huge foggy mist swept through white scenery with roaring, howling winds.

Hikaru used his sixth sense to survey the landscape, and located a huge path that had been blasted through solid tundra. He then harnessed his supernatural awareness to estimate the trail’s length, and found that it stretched nearly one hundred meters long. Hikaru could only hope that Amir’s range stopped at the trail’s length with him only being three hundred meters above ground. Using extra senses to find his enemy, he felt a strong vibration ripping through the atmosphere, spearheading straight for him. Before Hikaru knew it, Amir cannoned from meters below, launching upward like a rocket after blasting off from hard sheeted terrain. Hikaru leapt off the floating ice piece as Amir pierced through the object at super speeds; flailing around while descending rapidly, he couldn’t think clearly with fear’s grip on his psyche. Then, without warning, his hakq flared on its own, greatly slowing his spiraling descension by thrusting against gravity’s pull. Hikaru landed, but as soon as his feet touched solid ground, Amir came down by his side.

“Die,” Amir yelled, throwing his finishing punch.

Realizing that he couldn’t defensively react, Hikaru closed his eyes instinctually. Feeling his body being repelled back, he fell over, which caused one of his earplugs to fall out onto the snow. He heard intensely loud thumps of something pelting violently against metal, and opened his eyes to find himself still alive. Getting back on both feet, his sight instantly met up with a five foot thick steel wall, floating between himself and Amir. The veiled warrior and Hikaru simultaneously gazed over to discover Amber, who’d managed blocking the blast. Standing with both arms raised, she continued holding up her shield. Amir raced around the ten by ten foot wall. Jumping back as his opponent threw a low kick, Hikaru dodged an enemy assault, narrowly avoiding white boots that came inches away from striking. Hikaru felt enormous pressure on his lower leg and fell to the ground screaming in pain as his shin fractured.

Amir smirked. (I imagine that’s very painful,) He jeered. (Guess it slipped my mind to warn you—it isn’t a requirement that my feet touch you either, very much the same as with my hands.) The veiled man stood over Hikaru, about to finish him off. (Now, you die.)

As Amir raised his hand to end Hikaru’s life, Amber intervened once again; she stepped between them and covered both Hikaru and herself with a thick metallic dome that anchored into the tundra with large hooks attached at its base. Still in excruciating pain, Hikaru gazed up to see her sitting down beside him inside the barrier. Loud thuds clanked against Amber’s metal shield, knocking small lumps on the inside.

“No,” Hikaru said weakly. “You should get out and save yourself.”

Amber began expanding the dome, which forced Amir to pull away as it threatened colliding with him from outside.

“Amber,” Hikaru called out more intensely. “Eventually, he’ll break through this shield.”

“And I won’t leave you,” said Amber. “We’re a team, remember.”

Hikaru saw his partner’s tender gaze as he peered up at her face. She appeared to have the utmost concern for his well being, which made him happy about each and every moment he risked his life saving her; but at the same time, Hikaru couldn’t allow Amber to do the same.

“This isn’t hero time, okay.”

Amber stared down at Hikaru’s worried disposition. She smiled adamantly. “Throughout my entire life, I’ve never been a hero— even now I’m afraid— and that’s been my story since I can remember…”

With those few words, she dissipated the barrier around them, then stood to face Amir.