Savain Yelenta: Strangely enough, I felt absolutely nothing as Geon flew me into the stratosphere and slammed me into the earth. I felt myself get pelted through the clouds and air rushed through my ears as I hit the ground with so much force that a massive crater obliterated everything for as far as the eye could see. Everything in my body broke as blood flew out of my mouth and nostrils. It didn’t hurt, I didn’t feel panic or rush, and I didn’t feel any fear. I just felt empty, so empty…. I had betrayed her, I had hurt her, I had made Emmie cry…. I didn’t want her to cry or to get hurt but—

Geon fist came smashing into my skull as I felt myself blink in and out of consciousness. I felt the impacts crush through my head into the ground as red mist covered my eyes, nose, and hair. He spoke in a strangely cold and emotionless voice, “That’s it? Come on.” He grabbed me by my ankles and the world started to all blur together as I was spun around like a sack of potatoes. Geon threw me into the distant sky as the wind tore into my scars and into my ears. He seemingly teleported behind me as he slammed his fists into the small of my back. A giant crack reverberated through the air as I felt a weird tingly sensation erupt over my body before I lost all control of my limbs. I was slammed forward into the tree line but before the forest could swallow me whole Geon flashed before me again and kicked me in the face with immense force. I felt my face break from the impact as I was once again blasted back into the distance. He appeared above me in the air and slammed me down with both of his fists, he flashed behind me and kneed me in the back which sent me flying upwards, he teleported above me again and slammed me down back to the earth, and he teleported under me and uppercutted his fist through my entire body as I was being slammed towards the earth at unimaginable speeds. His fist, red and bloody, was protruding through my body as he looked at me with anger. Iron tendrils burst out of the earth and grabbed my arms, legs, neck, and torso as Geon levitated above me. “Fight back,” he threw a heavy right cross at my face which connected and sent several of my teeth flying. The cool, calm, and collected expression on his face started to fade away as anger crept onto his face, “Fight back,” he threw two punches which both connected with my face and sent blood splattering onto the ground beneath me. He shouted with fury, “FIGHT BACK!”

Punch after punch smashed into my skull as I felt my life start to slip away. Right cross, after left jab, after left hook, after right cross, after uppercut hit my face with immense speed as blood slowly painted the ground like a violent, ruby, painting plastered onto the ground. Geon shouted in between hits, “FIGHT BACK,” an audible crunch sound reverberated through the air as his fist connected with my jaw, “You need to pay for what you did! YOU DON’T GET THE EASY WAY OUT!” One, two, three, four, five strikes connected in the blink of an eye, “You need to struggle and die for what you did! For what you did to us and to her!” He pulled back his fist and threw a hard cross to my face. It sent my head flying backwards as more blood splattered onto the ground. I coughed and tried my best to respond, “Do–do–don’t bring her into–into this.”

“It’s you who brought her into this! You lied to her, manipulated her, and destroyed her. That’s why you can’t go out easily like this! You–” He paused for a second before looking into the distance. His expression returned to its naturally cold and emotionless state as he spoke in a calm and collected voice, “Whoever you are, put her down.” I looked at where Geon was looking and my heart began to race. It was Jem and Pohan–the leader of Raga’s first division. Pohan was dressed in his blood red and black battle vest and Jem was dressed in non-combatant clothes. Both of them looked calm but I could tell something was off–Pohan never showed up anywhere by himself unless something really urgent was happening. Jem replied in a dry and cold voice, “We are here to retrieve our soldier. The one that you have kindly…… captured.” Geon looked at me,

“Nice friends,” more iron tendrils sprouted out of the ground and wrapped around me like evil, steel vines. Geon levitated higher into the air, “I have orders to kill him and I don’t intend to disobey those orders. I can’t let you have him. Leave peacefully and I will not harm you.” Jem scoffed,

“Harm? Please, our allies and we ourselves have already surrounded you. Tell me what you can do right now?” Geon replied quickly,

“I can kill all of you and then take care of all that other stuff. You don’t believe me?” The ground started to rumble as Geon held up his arms. Pohan spoke for the first time,

“How old are you, boy?” Geon replied,

“Fifteen, why?” Pohan scoffed,

“So young but so strong. What a blessing and a curse–tell me boy, how many good things have you experienced in your life?” Geon took a while before speaking,

“Enough.” Pohan nodded,

“The strength of a warrior is determined by what kind of decisions they can make in times where others would simply crumble. So, how strong are you?” Pohan held up his hands as Emmie levitated into the air in front of us–seemingly choking on an invisible hand. I tried to move, to scream, to do anything but nothing was working. My body was completely paralyzed and I could barely breathe. I let out a faint scream as Geon, for the first time in forever, looked at me with concern. He spoke with a hint of worry, “Let her go–what does she have to do with you?” Pohan spoke,

“Savitar has taken a liking to her and because of that she has an extremely large base of intel on him. She knows nothing about our military or nation of course, but she knows his tendencies, his habits, what he likes, doesn’t like, what he usually does, and what he usually avoids or doesn’t do. All of that is valuable information when trying to find out what he will do next. Savitar is quite precious to us so you understand that we need to protect him by killing her.” Geon replied,

“No, that logic is pretty stupid actually. Give her back. Do you think that Savain will be loyal to you if you kill his girlfriend in front of him? Use your brain.” Pohan laughed,

“That’s an excellent point. I’ll kill his lady in front of him and it will revert him back to what he should’ve been–a cold warrior–not a soft, wallowing, child who loves people and cares for them. Geon scoffed,

“Good luck. He’s a big softie now.” Pohan prepared to attack,

“Aren’t you trying to kill him? Why are you defending his people? Why are you trying to save this lady of his? Why haven’t you killed him yet? Why are you defending him? You don’t make much sense Geon Leventen.” The ground shook with an incredible intensity as both Pohan and Jem started to lose their balance. The vibrations and rumbling made the forests, the mountains, the very ground itself start to topple as fissures and cracks formed in the earth and entire forests and mountains in the distance started to topple over. The sound of the earth shaking was deafening as the planet seemed to be crying in pain. Geon stared at them with a calm, cold, hatred and spoke in a solemn and serious voice,

“Fuck him. But at the same time, he’s my friend. It’s weird and complicated but whatever. Screw it.”

The whole earth opened up as a massive chasm appeared in the ground beneath us. Pohan and Jem quickly retreated to safety while Emmie was dropped down into the pit in almost an instant. Geon went flying after her as he scooped her up and put her down onto the ground. He raised his hands and encased her in a mystery metal as he spoke in a gentle voice, “Your boyfriends a real dick but I can’t let you see him die. I don’t think either of you want that.” Geon blasted off into the sky as he collided fists with Pohan. The impact sent a shockwave through the air which leveled a large clearing of trees and sliced the top of a faraway mountain. Geon lifted up his fist but Pohan held out his hand in front of Geon’s chest. He was blasted into the distance as a giant boom echoed out through the air. Pohan constricted and twisted his hands as Geon’s body flailed wildly in the air. He flipped backwards before a giant shockwave reverberated through the sky as Geon regained his balance and control. He blasted towards Pohan as he looped and raced through the sky like a giant, deadly, human torpedo. Pohan held up both of his hands and Geon was once again stopped instantly in mid-air. Pohan waved his hands to the left and to the right and Geon went flying out of control. Pohan slammed his hands down to the ground and Geon was thrown from the sky into the ground with immense force. I expected a crash to sound throughout the air but the earth opened up right before Geon collided with the ground and it seemed to gladly accept him with open arms. The earth closed back up and everything went silent as Pohan maintained a calm but alert expression on his face. He frantically scanned his surroundings and began to inch closer to the spot where Geon had been swallowed up by the earth before he stopped in his tracks.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Pohan just barely put his hands up before the earth below him exploded in a flash of lava, fire, and earthen debris. He quickly stepped onto a piece of falling volcanic rock before hopping onto another falling piece of hot, molten rock. As soon as his foot touched the debris it clasped around his leg like a giant, living hand and Pohan was pulled into the fire. A hand came flying out of the molten lava shower and grabbed Pohan’s head. Geon emerged from the molten lava completely unscathed as he slammed Pohan’s head into his knee. A giant crack rang out through the earth as Pohan was sent flying into the sky. His face filled with concentration and anger as he spun around and steadied himself in the air. Geon spiraled his way towards the floating Pohan in an instant as white trials of fury followed behind him. Pohan lifted up both of his hands and tensed his shoulders and arms Geon’s charge started to slow down little by little. He was pushing Geon back with all of his might—trying to buy himself some time.

Pohan slowly started to fall back to the ground as he reached the apex of his flight and Geon’s face filled with concentration. Pohan struggled immensely as Geon grit his teeth and started to speed up. Pohan let out a loud shot as he quickly started to fall back towards the ground. He still had his hands up in front of him and was trying to push Geon back but it was no use. Geon flew right above the rapidly descending Pohan and flew faster and faster and faster. He brutally bashed his way through the invisible force that Pohan was casting upon him as he shot forward into him like he was propelled by a rubber band. A sonic boom sliced through the air as Geon’s fist landed clean on Pohan’s chin. Pohan was propelled into the ground within the blink of an eye and the very earth beneath him seemingly tuned to dust as a mega-crater opened up right where he had landed. Geon landed onto the ground with a big thud and took deep, heavy breaths. He turned around slowly and began to approach the crater. The silence seeped into the air as everything seemed to go quiet.

A giant crash reverberated through the air as huge spiral shaped cuts bore themselves into earth’s soil. Geon jumped back but he was quickly pulled in as Pohan grabbed his collar. Pohan threw an overhand strike which was blocked by a tendril of iron rising out of the earth. Pohan threw Geon back but he was instantly wrapped in massive metal tendrils as soon as he let go. The earth opened up beneath him in order to swallow him whole but Pohan broke out of the metal-tendril chains and jumped towards Geon. Geon blasted a column of white-hot fire at his face but Pohan held up his hands and deflected the fire-column away. Geon immediately rushed in and grabbed Pohan—shoving him back down to the ground. A huge fist made of rocks, various metals, and earthen soil shot up from the ground and launched itself into Pohan’s back. Geon shoved Pohan into the giant, earthen, punch as he was sandwiched between two gargantuan strikes. The earthen fist shattered as Geon pinned Pohan to the ground. He raised up his hands and struck him twice as Pohan’s head collided with the soil. Pohan turned his head sideways and avoided the next strike as he grabbed Geon’s neck and shoved him off of his body. Geon regained balance but Pohan had closed the distance. Pohan quickly swiped to the left as Geon’s feet were swept cleanly off of the ground. At the same time Pohan threw a well timed roundhouse kick which caught Geon on the head. The strike made an audible impact but Geon quickly recovered as he threw a spinning back fist as soon as he landed on the ground. Pohan ducked it and pulled Geon towards him. Geon rocketed towards Pohan’s elbow strike—which landed cleanly on the chin. Pohan made Geon lean right as Geon was thrown into a clean right hook. Pohan threw another four punch combination which cracked Geon’s impenetrable defense and sent blood splattering onto the charred soil. Pohan threw a huge right cross but Geon saw it. He slipped the heavy punch and countered with a metal-arm left hook which smashed the jaw of Pohan. Pohan responded with an uppercut and another swipe of his fingers—which swept Geon off of his feet.

This time Geon was ready.

Pohan threw another head kick while Geon was falling but a metal tendril came out of nowhere and blocked the strike. The very earth around Pohan all clasped onto him like angry tentacles of doom as Geon dropped to the floor and spun around—performing a sweep with a metal blade attached to his leg. The strike sliced cleanly through Pohan’s lower body as he dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes. Geon breathed heavily as he looked down upon Pohan’s leg less body, “I win.” Pohan didn’t say a word. Geon kept breathing heavily as he tried to talk normally, “I’ll let you—“ a black obsidian blade suddenly pierced itself through his chest as Jem quietly stood behind Geon,

“Good work. Savitar wasn’t lying—you are strong.” Geon’s expression remind strangely calm as he continued to speak without a hitch in his voice,

“Yeah–thanks for the compliment. The fact that you put a blade in my chest kinda negates it though.” Jem twisted the blade sideways and tried to shove it out from Geon’s ribcage. He yanked and yanked and yanked but the blade wouldn’t come out as it seemed like Jem was trying to pull his blade out of a steel stone. Geon looked down on Jem with an eerily cold look, “You still gonna stand there?” Jem’s face filled with shock and fear as his eyes went wide. He let go of the blade and tried to run but Geon grabbed Jem’s arm. Jem pulled and scratched and tugged to get away from Geon’s grip but he didn’t let go. “You’re not very bright, are you?” Geon snapped Jem’s arm off as he let out a pitiful cry of pain and fear. Geon tossed Jem’s arm away and shoved his hand through Jem’s chest. A splash of blood splattered onto the grass as Jem was lifted high into the air by Geon. His mouth filled with blood, his eyes turned bloodshot, and he clawed at Geon’s arm with his one good hand. Geon spoke calmly, “I need you to tell me what exactly happened at the Youth Championships. The empire is telling us that Savain did it–that he blew up the liquor pipes underneath the arena. Is that true? Or is there something more to it. Something tells me that there is a lot, and I mean a lot, more to it. Do you know?” Jem stammered and blood came splattering out of his mouth. Geon titled his head and turned his fist in a circle while it was stuck inside Jem. Jem screamed in pain but his yells of terror and pain were muffled by the massive amounts of blood in his mouth. Geon spoke, “So….. are you going to tell me? Yes, no?” He turned his fists even more and high pitched, muffled, screams of terror echoed out from Jem’s voice. “That’s not an answer.” Geon slammed Jem down to the ground and stepped on his face. Jem’s head started to creak and crack as Geon slowly pushed down on his skull, “I’m going to crush your skull if you don’t tell me.” Jem’s chest rapidly rose up and down as he started to hyperventilate from panic and fear. He scrambled to try and get free but Geon flicked his finger and a metal vine rose up out of the ground and sliced Jem’s legs off. Jem screamed in pain but Geon kept pressing down on his skull. “Tell me now.” Jem’s eyes rushed everywhere in panic but he couldn’t get out of Geon’s grasp. He held out his hand and his obsidian knife came rushing towards him. Geon quickly encased his legs in metal to protect himself but Jem didn’t stab at him. He looked up at Geon, “Do you care for that girl?” He flicked the knife at Emmie in the blink of an eye as the obsidian blade glinted black and purple in the evening light. Time seemed to halt and the world started to tick very, very, slowly. Geon’s eyes went wide but mine went wider. Emmie’s metal shield that had been erected for her had been blown to bits in the midst of Geon’s battle and she was currently lying unconscious on the grass. Geon seemed to reach out his hand in slow motion as I kept hearing that strange ticking sound go off in my ear. I watched the blade glide and turn towards Emmie. Tick. My fingers twitched, electricity danced along my fingers, and my senses were kick-started. Tick. I turned my body and forced myself to move off of the metal spike I was impaled on. Pain seeped through my body but I didn’t really feel it as I took my first step on the rock hard earth. Tick. Electricity raced off of my eyes and body as I teleported to Emmie’s body—the entire world stood still. Tick. I picked up Emmy, placed her down on the ground, and ran towards the flying blade–smashing it in half. Tick. I slid to a stop as I stood before Geon and Jem–stooping down in pain and fatigue but still standing. The entire world started to move again as I heard the smashing of the blade echo off into the distance and the ground tear up at my feet. Jem’s bloodshot eyes filled with shock as Geon also seemed to be surprised. I looked at them both, “Stop bringing Emmie into this. Also Jem,” I dashed towards him and wound up my leg as his face filled with fear, “Fuck you–for absolutely everything,” I punted his head as it splattered into a thousand pieces and scattered all over the ground. I slid to a stop as my chest rose up and down. I turned around and Geon stared at me,

“I need you to tell me what really happened at the Youth Championship that night. I need to know the answers. Savain, please.” I looked at him with anger,

“So what? What if I tell you? Are you going to believe me? I don’t know myself. You’re here to kill me right? I have literally nothing to lose anymore but at the same time I don’t want to die to you. Fuck you.” Sparks flew off of my arms and my body started to glow with red electricity as I tried my best to ignore the giant hole in my chest. “Kill me if you can.”

Geon’s eyes fell, “You need to pay for what you did, but at the same time I don’t want to kill you. I don’t care if it's ordered–it’s not something I want to do.” Anger rose in my chest,

“STOP! How many times do I have to tell you that we’re not friends! It was all fake! All of it! Stop feeling sorry for me! Stop! Fight me! I’m ready now! I wasn’t before but I am now! Fight me. FIGHT ME!” Geon didn’t move. My voice shuddered and I whispered in anger, desperation, and confusion, “Why? Why?” Geon looked at me with a sad expression,

“I’m not gonna change my mind, Savain. Let’s go–let’s get on with it.” He put his hands up and concentrated as a determined expression dawned upon his face.

“Fuck off.” I charged towards him as a massive shockwave rang out into the night.