What was the only thing common between his master’s embrace, and his master’s touch? Peace. And the darkness was willing to provide him with peace. An eternal peace that would never leave him. His master would never leave him… She—
Alnea woke up from pain of the dagger stabbing into his left palm. He would have stabbed it into his thighs, but that would have hindered his movement. As for the wound on his palm…
“Hiding in the breath of all things alive…”
Stomping on the head of the Dark Devouring Snake, trying to lure him into its Devouring world with the help of the traps laid around him, Alnea pulled out his dagger form his palm, and stabbed it into the head of the snake, before splitting it down the middle.
“Seeking the warmth of her evergreen shine…”
With blood splashing on their leaves, the Blood Sniffing Grass trembled in excitement, and released more hallucinogenic agents in the air, trying to dull his senses even more than before. Unfortunately for the raven, it chose exactly that moment to dive in towards him. Having already lost all its sanity to the toxins that Yuri had released, the raven posed no resistance against the traps, and became defenceless, tumbling down towards the ground.
“I beseech the seeds hidden in the Origin…”
Grabbing the raven by its neck before it fell, Alnea spun, and threw the bird towards the vines rushing in towards him, just as he stepped away from the domains of the grasses, doing his best to dodge the jets of water shooting towards his head, only to be confronted by even more Oren Beasts rushing towards him. Two Dark Wind Wolves… That was a rare sight. What kind of unnatural mix of toxins did Yuri release in the canyon?
“To bequeath unto my hands the Green Touch of Life.”
Dark Wind Wolves were not too difficult to take down… but only if he could use his Arcanas. And yet, he did not have the leisure to waste his Spirit Power. After all, the Dark Wind Wolves were just the beginning. He could see a pack of Green Wind Wolves behind their cousins. And then there were the Rock Eater beasts behind them. Two boars, and three turtles… How were the turtles running so fast?
Throwing his dagger at the Shadow Mole that popped up a couple of feet behind him, Alnea healed his hand, as he rushed towards his sword. Though he was proficient in hand to hand combat, he was not proficient enough to take down so many them with his bare hands. However, the beasts had no intention of letting him have his way. Especially the beasts hiding in the stream. Forced to dodge another jet of water, by the time he regained his balance, the wolves were already upon him.
Cursing the several generations of the beasts, Alnea shifted in his stance, and adopted the Turbulent Current Style, using the momentum of the wolves to send them flying towards the restless vines. However, the wolves were not as weak as the raven. They flipped in mid air, and stepped on the vines rushing towards them to jump back at him. And this time, they were smart enough to start with their wind blades.
Meanwhile, the Green Wind Wolves, as if they had reached a tacit agreement, chose that exact moment to send a flurry of wind blades towards him. Even the Rock Eater Turtles urged the ground beneath their feet to break apart, and shoot at him as pieces of rocks. Coupled with another jet of water, and the vines coming for his head, Alnea found himself trapped from every direction. And for the first time in a while, he felt the breath of Death. He felt—
Forcing his Heart to calm down, Alnea urged his Aspects to change their flow, and adopted the Turbulent Lightning Style, an Intermediate Grade Martial Style, with obvious flaws, and restrictions. But he did not care. After all, a few broken bones were much better than being cut into pieces.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Concentrating the lightning flowing in his veins, in his muscles, and bones, to their limits, he jumped to avoid the blade aimed at his legs, only to crouch in mid air to avoid the jet of water aiming for his head. But there were even more blades cruising towards his waist. And so, he twisted his body, and passed in between those blades, landing on the ground with a roll.
And yet, the attacks had no end. They came at him once again, with even more force than before. And so, he jumped once again, this time, rolling his body in mid air to avoid the vines trying to stab his back, while barely avoiding his nose getting slashed off by a passing wind blade. The breath of Death… it was getting thicker. And he still did not know if these beasts were the last wave or not. Just avoiding their attacks was not going to get him anywhere. If things continued as they were…
Landing on the ground with another roll, Alnea reached out with his hands, and grabbed onto the purplish black hilt of his sword, pulling it out of the ground with the momentum of his roll, before slashing it towards the skies, embodying it with the essence of ‘Great Mourning of the East’, infecting even the winds with grief.
However, just grief was not enough to stop the winds. And so, he shifted his grip, before swinging his sword down, ‘Tearing the Skies’, in the process. Not literally, of course. Even Mystic Wanderers were not capable of tearing the skies. But the Sky Tearing Style did have the potential to sunder the winds. At the very least, it made all the wind blades gravitate towards his blade. And that was all he needed.
With all the wind gathering around his sword, he shifted his stance, and rushed towards the Dark Wind Wolves, swinging his sword with the ‘Howling Winds’. But the wolves were too cunning. They were enraged, and without any shred of sanity. Yet they still somehow had enough sense to avoid confronting his sword head on. Unfortunately for the wolves, Alnea had already expected their reaction.
Shifting his grip on his sword once again, he twisted his right foot, and pivoted on it to send a ‘Crescent Slash’ at the wolves. And when they were busy dealing with the remnants of ‘Howling Winds’ piercing into their bodies, he followed up with ‘Crying Wind’ to end their lives. Before he could truly put an end to their lives though, another barrage of wind blades from the Green Wind Wolves, and water jet from the annoying beasts in the stream forced him to retreat towards the vines.
Tens of vines, thrashing around with the winds, came rushing straight at his face, as Alnea hurriedly called forth the ‘Raging Waves of the West’, while quickly backing away from the stupid wolves. He did not even have to look at them to know what they would next. And as he had expected, in just a couple of moments, the breath of Death that he was feeling became thicker once again. As did the darkness gathering around the wolves.
The stream? Alnea shook his head. The beasts in the stream were too treacherous. Diving in there would put him in even more danger. The Rock Eater Turtle? It would serve as a good hiding spot, but why would the insane beast help him guard against the Dark Winds? As for the group of boulders, he would have to cross the source of the Dark Winds to reach them. But then, what would he do about all the traps that the canyon had prepared for him?
Darting his eyes around himself, Alnea quickly came to a decision. Gritting his teeth, he rushed directly into the mass of the vines. Into the bed of plant type Oren Beasts. They looked a little like Bone Rotting Plants, and were just as bloodthirsty, but the Bone Rotting Plants did not have such long vines. In any case, the plants were his only retreat at the moment.
For the plants though, he was just their food. A very enticing food that was making them lose all their inhibitions. Thrashing in excitement as they finally saw him step into their lair, the plants sent even more vines to tangle him. To tie him, before they could tear him into pieces, and share amongst themselves. They did not care to bother about why their prey was not resisting. They just wanted to—
Darkness surged from the distance, and spread like flood, drowning everything in existence. Even the stream. All that was left in the world was Dark Winds, battering everything, trying to destroy, disintegrate, and assimilate all that tried to resist their advances. Even the Oren Beast. In the end though, the Dark Wind Wolves were only at the initial phase of their Adolescent Stage. Even if they released their desperate attacks, at most, they just managed to injure the other Oren Beasts. Including the vines holding Alnea.
Tearing apart the broken, and partly destroyed vines off of himself, Alnea rushed away from the plants before they could regain their senses. However, he did not forget to cut through the plants in his way. And neither did he forget to finish off the beasts lying down on ground, whimpering in pain. Be it the wolves, or the Rock Eater beasts, none of them were in the shape to fight. And yet, their insanity forced them to fight till the end. Till the only beasts left were the remnants of the plants, and the beasts hiding in the stream.