Names, to all folk and fauna in the realm, they are important. It’s a part of them, a shard of their existence, a fraction of their being. But to some? This same shard is not a part, but the entirety. I am one of those folks. Born as the son of an old one, I lived with valour and Vigor in my blood. The spirit of combat, the rule of battle. They were my lifeblood. Among the ancients, my Sire was an old servant of the lord of battle and in his grandiose image our line was born. If so, you might be asking, why am I bleeding out in the rural suburbs. Perhaps, If I lived another day, I could tell that tale, but for now, Im mostly focused on getting myself out of here.
Instinctively, my limp body began to move. The pain rushed through my body, protesting against my will, but for once in ages, I could call upon my own blessing. As I chanted the rythms of war, my body shone, and I could feel my mind clear away. I could hear the call, it was forcing me; guiding me, it made me revolt and yearn at the same time. Like a damning parasite, I couldn’t disobey, and I didn’t want to either; but I knew I should, and I hated to do so. As I stood up completely, I saw the body of my adversary rise and start reflecting an ethereal light. “The Smell of the Roaring Sea, I didn’t think you’d use it in such a time; don’t you already know the outcome of this fight.” I tsked, trying my hardest to resist the power radiating from her body in waves.
“You were always a fool, but I never took you for a betrayer. But I guess that is to be expected of something less than dogs of the empire.” I feel blood in my mouth as her words ring out, in a hurry to end this, I lunge forward, spears materialising behind my back as I command them. Like limbs of a whole, they moved seamlessly; tearing the boundary of real and unreal as the world becomes my arena and everything shifted into monochromatic red. Around me, I felt the water rising. She also called forth her own battle ground. plunged into the depths, I saw the world change colour, her lagoon blue and my crimson red surround us as the Arena of water forms. “Come” I shout, my voice spreading across the now water filled arena as I take in the scenery. “Let us recount a fight for the ages, let us recount the tale of BellumKrieg!”
I didn’t hear any response; all I could see was her cold stare. “You forsook yourself the moment you took the oath of war, do not curse me for the fate that shall befall you.” Our Arena’s merged, a lifeless magenta forming and replacing each of our powers. I rushed in, my spears piercing her torments. Ripping their seams as my power let me; the gears of war turn in the Favor of valour. I felt my spear connect, as her cheek was ripped open, revealing sharp straight teeth which seemed to go on for so long that I felt my mind go dizzy. Instinctively I jumped back. Only to see a pit form right where I used to be. Before I could regain my footing, a water string pierced my arm. I laughed, as it dissolved after impaling me. My blessing already got to healing the wound; however, I wasn’t the only one who was almost healed. Her cheeks had already returned to their natural place as she pulled out her true armament.
“Killing an old disciple without my armament; well, I’ve done harder” I muttered, as I prepared another series of spears; God knows It would have been easier to kill her if I had my true spear, but no; I couldn’t have that, obviously. From now on, this fight was gonna get a lot harder; a simple slash of the sea breaker; and my power stops working for a while. A last measure among our masters should a situation like this arise. I guess I hate their foresight more than anything. As if noting my hesitation, she pounced, weaving in and out of the battleground as she started preparing for an attack. Closing my eyes, I let my power loose and dodged to the right, only to feel my body colliding with a fake double that dissipated when I approached it.
Her sword shone in the darkness of the depths as it lunged for my heart and head. I simply dodged all of them, biding for any gap between her relentless strikes; her attacks rained on me endlessly; she would either fade into water or hide in the shadows before pouncing once again. We fought on and on; I didn’t take note of my surrounding much while dodging, but I could certainly say that the area around us had darkened by the time I found any opportunity to counterattack. My spear pierced her lung as she stepped forward a bit too much. “you’ve gotten sloppy!” I said, trying not to revel in this sensation too much. While this confrontation was not what I wanted; I couldn’t stop myself from enjoying a good fight. She stood there, panting while holding her side. My spear dissipated, and reappeared in my hand, ready to shed blood once again.
“Im sorry, Im sorry that we didn’t see it, that we didn’t help.” She said, and I finally noticed the tears in her eyes as she lunged at me again. “We knew, for how long oh ancestral lord did we know what you were forced to do.” She faded into a stream which started spinning around me, creating a vortex. “We knew, but our indifference cost us, and you, everythign. Im sorry, Im really sorry.” I stood there; confused but wary, but the fight was already over; I felt the power of my blessing take over, as my mind clarified even further. I could see it, all of it, every movement, every though, every idea and every outcome. She plunged from beneath, and I simply sidestepped her before driving a spear in her back. I could hear her hissing as she dipped back into the water.
“Are you apologising after losing? Don’t you have no shame?” I screamed, anger taking over as the sight offended all I considered to be important. “You are the only Disciple of an old one; do you dare beg and apologise just for the sake of your life.” I roared as she tried and failed to land a strike on my side with her blade. In return, another spear ripped her wrist apart. Just before she dipped into the stream again. “You knew you couldn’t beat me; We both know the ocean. its rage a tsunami that consumes all. But it also needs a lot of preparation, the waves need to be prepared, otherwise, they are nothing but puny waves? But war? valour? War of gods is but a brutal and savage life; in glory and in strength we prosper. Mortals fear losing a war, but the lord of war never loses.”
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She jumped from beneath. I let her form crash into mine, as it dissipated into drops. And held my hand to the right, where her neck was just emerging out of the water. I stopped her hand with a sword which was aiming for my ribs and threw her sword away, before lifting her body outside of the water. Instantly, the magenta surrounding us dissipated and I could feel my body’s strength return as the water in the arena dissipated. “In this holy duel, I have achieved victory, for that; I shall have your name, for the rules of the divine dictate it so” I felt the world start shifting, as I felt the blessing of the sea start coursing through my veins. I never wanted to do any of this, but I knew there was no other way to deal with him.
From where I held her above the air, I could hear her laugh a manic laugh as she kept murmuring something over and over again. Certain that she wasn’t going to be able to do anything, I let her body fall on the ground as I tried to focus on the changes that were happening to my body. I could feel it, the air, the sky, the sea. Just like the call of war, I could hear their sweat songs. That blessed promise. It was, Truely different than anything I ever experienced. Like opening my eyes. My mind was sharper, faster, and more sophisticated. I felt unstoppable. I couldn’t help but ponder; how did the lord of origin felt; the ancestor of our ancestor; the creator of reality, and the concept of concepts. The Sire to our Sires, the master to our masters. Perhaps, after I was finished, I could know.
A sound suddenly dragged my attention, it was dull, like a grey colour that entombed my mind; I looked down to see it come from the dying figure of Thalia. “Im sorry, I thought there was another way, I didn’t want to believe it bu-” frustrated to listen to any more, I screamed “But what. What did you want to achieve here.” I felt my arena also crumble, as the high of battle wore off and my body returned to normal. “I didn’t want to fight you, I never did; but you showed up first, why did it have to be you.” I said, as I laid down to at least be close to her during her last moments. I put my body over her quivering body. It felt empty, hollow, wrong and I despised that. I never wanted someone else to experience the same as I did.
“They said, there is only one way help you, but I could do it; I couldn’t give up.” She said, as her body slumped down, folding onto itself. Suddenly I felt the terror like never before, as if the reality of the situation finally kicked in: “what did they say? Who said it? Was it the others?” I asked, panic seeping into my voice as I picked up her shivering body and starting walking towards a tree. Seemingly unaware of my own panic, she just continued on. “I didn’t want to believe it, so I ran, I picked my blade and ran. Before finding you.” She sobbed. “I didn’t want to do it; believe me, I didn’t.” all the while, I kept confusedly asking, what it was that she didn’t want to do. As I slowly ley her in the tree shade; I felt her face come closer to mine, before I could feel her lips on mine.
“Im sorry, Im so sorry; I’ve loved you for decades, but never did anything to be deserving of your love. Im sorry, I hope, you won’t hate me.” I stood there, gobsmacked, completely in shock. Nothing she said made sense. But I didn’t resist, her. She was my closest friend among the disciples and the closest person I ever knew. As our faces parted from one another, she ley there tired; and seemingly half satisfied. Before I could say anything, she added. “Im sorry. All I can wish for, is for you to be able to live happily, maybe in a world without me, after ages have passed. All I hope for, is for you to remember me.” she gave me a small smile.
I tried to answer her, but I felt no power in my body. Suddenly a horrid realisation dawned on me. I called for the oceans call; but nothing, I called to the call of war, nothing as well. I slowly looked down; and an ornate staff, made from steel and magma, had pierced my lung. “Pride of emberforge” I also laughed, finally understanding what the fuss was about. “They gave you another true weapon.” I laughed and laughed and laughed. Madness was not enough to explain what I felt. Betrayal, rage, sadness: I could almost feel the call of battle even without being able to answer due to the weapon. “But you should have gone for the heart, if you were gonna get rid of me, it was foolish of you to take mercy!” I shouted in her face. She just looked back ay me, smiling.
“They wanted to kill you.” She spoke. A coy smile appearing on her face before she pulled something out of her clothes. I felt the colour drain form my face; The seal of Exile “I never did.” I tried to take it out of her hand. But it was too late. She opened the tome and I felt my body drag away from her with unimaginable speed. A hexagonal formation formed under my feet, and instantly, I lost all access to my ancestral powers, neither war nor sea. I cursed, finally understanding his plan. He pitted me against her, waited till I take her power, and took both from me; and now, she was going to seal me.
As she spoke the tongue of old. I could feal my lifeforce changing, my body started crystalising, and reforming. Knowing there was nothing else I could do, I decided to be at least a bit cheeky. I called upon my trusty Spear, and struck it to the ground, before taking a pose and letting the seal take effect. As it crept up my body, I looked at her. Already at deaths door. I shouted to her “Hey, I loved you too, Im sorry things turned out this way. Maybe, in another world, we could have been happy.” As I finished that, the crystallification surpassed my lips, and I lost the ability to talk. I saw her face, smiling at me. As the midnight moon illuminated her face a beautiful silver sheen. I felt the darkness take over my eyes, as the last of my body turned to stone. But before I slumbered, I heard her one last time “than if you could; find me, and be with me. That is all I ask.” I could no longer answer her; but I promised. I felt darkness take over my mind, and so, I conceded. The world faded away and my life ended.
-fin.