“Execute?” Khai echoed, snorting at the idea. “Your position as King is respected here, but you don’t wield the authority to execute anyone. Don’t overstep your boundaries, human.”
“I’m well within my boundaries, savage.” Naadi spat, completely dropped the regal tone; he was tired of acting regally; it wasn’t getting him anywhere. “Your people have thwarted my revenge just when it was in my grasp; you owe me answers. First off, what’s the name of the warrior that you sent after me?”
“We couldn’t have sent anyone after you, Naadi. We were out in the forest the whole time.” Alci chimed in cooly. So then the warrior that got in Naadi’s way must have been sent by The Master. Alci realized.
“But even though we had nothing to do with it, we are well within our rights to prevent you from getting your revenge. I don’t know what The Master told you, but it is Alci’s solemn duty to end the Locket-bearer’s life.” Khai said, crossing his arms.
They don’t know about the game. Naadi realized; if he killed Alci and Khai right here, he could go on ahead and kill Urn and the warrior that had whisked him away before the Epe Clan could do anything about it. The only question was if he could actually do it; Khai was tall and muscular, his body bursting with intense magical energy, and although Alci was slimmer, he could sense a quiet strength locked away within him. And I’m running low on magic energy too.
“Naadi.” Alci called out, bringing Naadi right back into the moment. “If you’re done, move out of the way already. Your vendetta? It means nothing to the people of this forest. I have to be the one to do it.”
“What are you talking about? You said you wouldn’t get in my way so-“
“That’s not possible anymore. I have to kill him, you get it? So just get out of our way.” Alci said, taking a step forward threateningly. He was done talking; he’d resigned himself to his duty, and if Naadi kept getting in the way, then fighting would be inevitable. Khai outstretched a hand, flexing his fingers as his nails grew into claws, and Naadi lifted his blade off the ground, pointing it at the two.
Naadi, taking in deep breath, mustered up all the magic energy he had left and focused it, streaming it through his sword. The energy rolled down the sword, condensing at the tip in the form of an orb; and Naadi flourished the blade, cutting cleanly through the orb, and bringing forth a great gust of wind that ripped through the forest, blowing Khai clean off his feet and deep into the forest, yet Alci stood still, rooted firmly in the ground.
Struggling against the onslaught of continuous wind, slowly but surely, Alci was being pushed back, his feet leaving marks in the ground as he was driven backwards. Glaring through the thick gale of wind at Naadi, Alci saw Naadi not as a person, but an obstacle in the way of what he needed to do. Deep inside him, a foreign anger swelled up, an anger so intense it felt almost inhuman, and Alci’s magical energy immediately shifted from a gentle blue to a murderous red.
Naadi, widening his eyes at the strange change, watched as Alci pushed back against the blast of wind, slowly inching forward. Digging his feet into the ground, Alci let out a bellow, the energy around him intensifying as he fought against the cruel winds, outstretching his hands and pushing them back… before sweeping both hands to the side, dissipating the wind Naadi had conjured in a single movement.
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Alci lowered his hands, his eyes fixated on the dirt below his feet as he gasped for air. Naadi, equally exhausted, let go of his sword, the blade vanishing into thin air before it could touch the ground, and tried to make sense of what had just happened; how had Alci brought up the strength to not only fight against his wind, but to completely dissipate it?
He’s a completely different guy from yesterday. What happened to him in such a short amount of time? Naadi thought, staring at his hand and trying to bring out a spark of magical energy; yet not even a drop of magical energy was left in his body. He’d made the wrong call.!
Alci, still panting for air, slowly raised his head, glaring at Naadi through his thick, long black hair. “Do not cross me!” He spat, the energy around him flaring intensely, growing by the minute. It spread like a fire, creeping towards the nearby trees and shrouding the grass in its intensity.
Naadi, hesitantly, stepped away from the wildly flailing aura, gritting his teeth in frustration as Alci slowly closed the distance in between them, walking as if he were going to collapse under the weight of the aura at any moment. Whipping around, Naadi tried to make a break for it, yet a tendril of energy extended from Alci’s aura, winding itself around Naadi’s leg and dragging him through the dirt towards Alci.
“Bastard!” Naadi cursed, placing a hand against the ground and pushing himself into the air, kicking at Alci with his free leg. Alci ducked underneath the kick, grabbing Naadi by the ankle and thrusting a hand towards the King’s che-
Not yet, my sweet child. Come to me before anything else; I have something important to give to you. A voice echoed throughout Alci’s head, and instantly, the terrible anger that had arisen in Alci vanished, the aura around him shrinking and shifting back into a cool blue. Alci let go of Naadi’s ankle, backing away from the King in shock. What…was that?
“A message from the Master.” Khai said, emerging from the shadow with a content expression on his face, not a scratch on his body. “It looks like the Master has to give you something before you kill the Locket Bearer. So we’ll head back now.”
I almost killed him. Alci thought, an uneasy chill passing through his body; he nearly ended someone’s life. Just the thought of it was horrifying. Nodding his head, he stumbled away from Naadi, heading into the forest without another word.
What was that? How does he have that much power stored away? What is he? Naadi thought, trying to stop his body from trembling; the experience was nothing less than humiliating . He’d lost to Alci; not only that, but he had to run from Alci. If Father could see me now.
“The Master specifically committed we should leave you alive; count yourself lucky. Go ahead and chase after the Locket Bearer if you want. I’m sure he’s long gone by now.” Khai said, putting his hands in the pockets of his warrior's garb, and then left, leaving Naadi standing, stunned in the middle of the clearing. Closing his eyes, he tried to feel out the energy signatures in the area; this time, the energy signature of any animal life was almost completely gone, making it far easier to scour through the forest. And yet, he couldn’t feel the Locket Bearer’s energy signature in his third eye’s field of view; he was long gone.
Just like that, I’ve let my Father down again.