Axton woke up in a world of darkness. He looked at his hands; the same calluses he had gained over the years scarred his palm. He looked around—no horizon or up or down.
“Over here.” Drac's kind voice called.
Axton turned to the left. A light shone in the vast darkness. It pulled on his senses. Wanting to run there, he could finally feel the ground. Pulse steps bring him closer. The light became green. He could see grass around a large tree and a bright blue sky behind it. A figure stood under its shade. A man with a short, dark afro. Dirty overalls. Dark skin like his.
“Took you long enough,” said Drac with a grin.
"What... is this place?” Axton was in awe of the place. He peeked at the world of darkness behind him and turned back at Drac. “Where is this place?”
“Our mind.” A cold voice appeared behind him. The world of darkness vanishes, and a room of books appears. Gold lines bookshelves. A crystal chandelier hung high, and the many bookshelves almost reached it. A meticulously leather chair seated a man in dark clothing. The long jacket Drac wears. Long locks dropped from his head and were tied behind him. Gold on the tips of the locs accentuated the hair. Between the locs, sharp eyes stare at Axton.
“Our home.”
“I have a theory,” Drac spoke from under the tree. "This place protects our minds from breaking.”
“Break?” Axton asked.
“Yes. Many decades of experiences and lives lived. To merge it all may cause damage to our psyche.”
“The pain we get from combining could be linked,” Hood said.
“So, we are still different people?”
Drac nodded “Yes. Other than a few glimpses and residual emotion, we are separated. But our body is a different matter. I gained none of your and Hood's skills, but I gained the body to learn the skills.”
“Wait… So I was facing Drac the whole time!?”
Hood chuckled, stood from his reading chair, and came close to the swordsman. "You lost to a farmer who had just started to learn to fight less than two months ago.” The hood taunted Axton with a large grin. Axton's eyes widened. He saw Drac shrug his shoulders.
“Facing me is a whole different game.”
Hood flared his awesome aura.
“How many times have you won against me, Drac?”
“Damn, too few to be proud of. Although, I am getting better.”
Hood gripped his Heilong and slowly unsheathed it.
“Wait! I need a sword.”
“Aren’t you already holding one?” Drac pointed to Axton’s hand. His practice sword materialised in his hand.
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“And don't worry, Axton,” said Drac. “No one can get hurt here.”
Axton starts shaking with excitement, and he explodes in laughter. “FINALLY! I CAN GO ALL OUT!”
A magnificent aura engulfed Axton’s body and sword, and he went for the first strike.
The midday sun shone high in the sky as Drac played a sultry tune on his violin.
"Gosh, that sounds horrible!” Marina covered her ears.
Drac kept playing his tune. The large dog barks at Drac.
“Haha! Ok, ok, I will stop.”
“Why did the old man give you an instrument you can't play?”
“Axton can play. But he is... preoccupied at the moment.”
“Give it here,” Flida said from across the caravan while she brushed the wolf's black coat.
“Sure.” Drac handed the violin and bow to the tracker. Her fingers got into position. The old violin rested on her shoulder and under her chin. The bow glides over the strings. Fingers moved fast and technical, but there was soul and passion in her fiddling. Drac and Marina move in closer to her playing. The wolf on her lap relaxed. The two copies stop fighting in Drac's head.
Flida jerked and stopped playing. Her wolf perked up and sniffed.
Why did she stop?
She is fantastic.
Flida placed the violin down slowly and looked out the window.
“Demons” She rushed to the front end of the Vardo and knocked on the wall, telling Bob to stop.
I don't sense anything.
Her power of detection is greater than you can imagine. Just like the old man, she sensed the enemy outside the cave.
I am going to kill my first demon!
“Marina.”
She smiled. “I know, I know.” A blue dome of Murus encapsulated the caravan. Drac pulled his mask and hood and ventured out of the barrier. Dense woods grew beside the path and low on a slope.
I feel evil energy.
Drac unsheathed his sword and flared his aura. A creature crept out of the wood. Large bug eyes. four legs on a dark abdomen. Its exoskeleton was as dark as night, and its limbs were long and sharp. The creature’s size almost made the caravan look small. Razor arms sharpen themselves.
A praying mantis? That's a demon?
No, it's a minion.
The mantis crouched down.
It is coming.
It launched itself into the air and slashed down on Drac. Drac sidestepped and, with his reverse grip, sliced off a leg. With three more, it landed and ran after Drac. A razor slice diagonally from the left. Drac weaved. And pulsed-stepped a slice to his thorax. The minion screeched and attacked once more. Using pulse, Drac diced the insect into ribbons until it was limbless. A last slash separates the head from the minion's body.
“Drac! There is more! Much more!” Flida shouted from an open window.
Great, that was too easy!
Drac agreed.
Drac split into four.
A horde of insects came out of the woods. Ready to feast on the travellers.
Amazing! So many to kill! HAHAHAHA!
Axton's excitement was infectious. With large smiles, his copies rushed into battle. Levitation floated Drac over an attack, and he cut into a mantis head while spinning. Another Drac tuned Ignis on his fist, punching burning holes into giant beetles and ants. A third Drac cut a scorpion's tail with an aura wave. He jumped with aura and stabbed deep into the insect's head.
Drac pulled his sword from the corpse and humanoid figure and attacked from behind.
Drac summoned the last copy, and it kicked the assailant's sword aside. The figure dropped back into a stance.
That's the demon.
The demon stared at them with no emotion. His skin was grey and moulted. The few hairs on his head were hard and spiky. With no shirt, muscles bulged and were covered in a thin exoskeleton. Bug eyes reflect many Dracs.
So ugly.