Annastaria flees with Oden and Bastillina to find the magical artifact, hoping Annastaria can use it to regain her mastery and defeat Ryker’s mutant master, Jorum. Can Rolek hold the mad master off long enough for Annastaria?
Jorum disappeared after having killed or incapacitated almost all of Elise’s men. Her heart thumped as she searched to and fro for him, afraid to move from the open area she was in. In all her years, no foe sent a shiver through her like this. It was too quiet, apart from the airships overhead. He was here, like a prowling jaguar, hiding in the shadows and pouncing whenever he caught his prey in his grasp. She and Dylen, with only four other officers remaining huddled together, and had only the hovering airships overhead to give them hope from an overhead view. So far, no report came in from them.
“Stay in the open.” Dylen said, “He can’t hide from us there.”
The group felt as though they were surrounded by a single, large snake that taunted their consciences as it slowly constricted itself upon them. Still, the air remained cold and weighty with emptiness.
“Something isn’t right.” Elise said, continuing to observe how the entire warehouse front entrance area was still.
A group of footsteps were heard coming from the warehouse, drawing Elise and Dylen’s eyes to it. Their guards were softened to see it was the other team of officers coming from the warehouse. “No one left inside.” said one to Elise, “At least no one still alive. Found bodies, hard to tell who is who, but something definitely went down in there.”
Elise’s stomach turned at the statement. “Was there an elf among them? A girl?” She felt a wave of relief come over her as the officer shook his head; Erene was still alive, but nowhere to be found, yet again.
Dylen looked up and saw the airships moving towards the hills where Gerdan and his men were, and gunfire begin to erupt in that direction. Only a few seconds later, the radio was heard, “We’ve spotted two suspects converging on the western flank; one of them the pale, shirtless master. Anyone copy?” Dylen and Elise looked at each other, as though to confirm to one another that they heard what they heard.
“It could be Ryker and that other master.” Elise said.
“They’ve broken off from attacking us.” Dylen added, “And if they did that, they found something worth breaking off for.”
Elise’s heart began to pound, or at least, she was now just being made aware of it. Erene must have been out there somehow, and Ryker would surely find her. “Gather the survivors!” Elise ordered as she broke formation, moving west, “And get reinforcements down here now! We got men down and need help searching the woods! Ryker still has a master–repeat, Ryker still has a master that must be approached with extreme caution!”
Lance shoved one of his own men out of the way as he himself went to start the engine of the boat, while still taking fire. Two more of them were shot and dropped. One by one, Lance’s men were dropping all around him. Finally, he got it started and fired off the engine. The boat seemed far too slow, but it left the port, leaving Lance with only two survivors of his crew. Ryker was nowhere to be seen, but by now, the bloodied and battered Lance, now missing half his own tongue, didn’t care. The elf was gone, and even her he didn’t care about anymore. All that mattered was getting away free, and alive.
“We can’t let them escape!” Gerdan shouted, running back outside with his men to call out to Kelvin on the hill, who faintly heard Gerdan’s repeated echoing and signalling him down. Kelvin looked and once he spotted Gerdan, he saw him practically using his whole body to point towards the river. Kelvin stood up from his position.
“The river!” he said, drawing up his men with him and they scrambled to the northern part of the hill, running about twenty feet before they saw through a multitude of tall trees on the hill, the river and a boat fleeing, with a trail of disturbed water leading to the warehouse. He didn’t know who it was, but someone was in the boat that could not be allowed to get away.
“Everyone put fire on that boat!” Kelvin ordered, and his men dug in again. The boat itself was at least a hundred feet out by the time they were ready to open fire, and even worse, the trees obstructed a consistent view that would otherwise have made it a sitting duck. But they fired their rifles on it anyway, while Rolek and Oden helped Annastaria over the hill and past them, going back down and away due southeast. Her stomach still cramped from Lance’s violent kick, and she felt as though something was in her throat where Lance pressed his thumbs to crush it, causing her to cough. But worst of all, her mastery was yet again paralyzed, even though she was finally free from her bonds.
“Where are we going?” Bastillina asked.
“Anywhere but here.” Rolek said.
“We will not get far.” said Annastaria, “I am slowing you all down, and Ryker will surely be searching for me–and Bella, and I cannot have her here when he finds me.”
“He won’t find us if we keep moving.”
As they came down the other side of the hill, a burst of ground and dirt startled them, and they nearly tripped and fell down the rest of the hill. They stopped and looked up at the top to see a screen of dirt falling from the trees; Kelvin’s men followed, like ragdolls flying down the hill towards Annastaria and the others.
“It is Jorum.” Annastaria said, observing the approaching airships as well, “He has found us.”
“We gotta keep moving!” Rolek said.
But Annastaria ripped herself away from his grip, and Oden’s. “No!” she snapped, “We cannot run! He will find us!”
“And what do you expect us to do?” Rolek argued back, “You’re in no condition to fight! And I sure as hell can’t beat that guy on my own!”
Annastaria took a deep breath, looking to the hill as gunfire erupted, and magical explosions were heard. She knew Jorum was on the other side, and would quickly cut down Gerdan’s men and come for her next. She looked at her right hand then. All her sworn oaths swelled in her mind. She was not ever to use her prime power, under any circumstances. It was too risky, and it would give her away.
Only days ago, she would have no trouble with such orders; it never crossed her mind to violate the oaths and creeds. But she was not prepared for what would confront her in the coming days. Standing around her were living people who pushed her, whether they intended or not, to throw those oaths away. If for nothing else, to be prevented from letting this power fall into the wrong hands, which surely her people could not allow over anything. Surely it was right to use her power for good, to protect the power, whether creeds said so or not.
“The artifact.” she said, “Give it to me.”
“What for?” Rolek asked.
“We have no time to explain it! Just give it to me–now! I will use it, and restore my power.”
“How the hell is an ancient artifact going to restore your power?”
“Once I merge it with my prime energy, it will energize my magicka. But I need it now!”
Rolek was silenced by the words, but Oden paid them little attention. “Uh,” he began, “about that.” Rolek was snapped out of his trance and looked at Oden, along with Bastillina and Annastaria. Oden looked at each of them with hesitation in his eyes; a sign Rolek didn’t like.
“Please tell me you have it.” Rolek said.
Oden paused, trying to formulate how to begin. “Yes and no.” he said. Rolek sighed, throwing up his hands in frustration. “It’s not far away!” Oden quickly defended himself, “It’s just a little ways from here, where we came from, behind a big rock. I put Erene’s bag there to keep it safe.”
“Unbelievable!” Rolek blurted out, “Way to come through in the clutch!”
“Hey!” Oden argued back, “You were the one giving Bella and me crap about bringing all of the things Ryker wanted right to him. So, when we took a quick breather, I thought I’d fix that problem by making sure at least one of them didn’t get back to him.”
“There is no time to argue!” Annastaria interrupted, “I need the artifact. If we wish to ensure Ryker cannot have it, it must be with me.”
Another burst of magic came over the hill, drawing their eyes to it. One of Gerdan’s deputies came tumbling over the other side towards them, bloodied and beaten. And then, as though coming out of the ground itself, Jorum emerged from the other side, standing up top and staring down at them. His stare could almost have energy beams blasting down to them; his gaze from the top of the hill alone pushed them back a few steps.
Rolek shook off the fear, and took a deep breath before stepping forward. “Go.” he said, turning to Annastaria, “Get that artifact.”
“What about you?” Bastillina asked.
Rolek turned back around to Jorum, beating back his stare with his own. “I’ll keep him busy.”
Annastaria hesitated, and part of her tried to keep her there to fight with him. But it was a temptation she knew she had to push down. “Be wise.” she said, “Move hastily, and do not be caught still… Get him to activate his enchantments.”
That last statement was enough to get Rolek to break eye contact with Jorum, turning back to Annastaria to make sure he knew what he heard. “You wanna run that by me again?” he asked.
“I know it is a grave risk. But that state is unnatural, and it is poisoning him. If you cause him to activate it, it will increase its destruction to his body.”
“You’re leaving out the part where he becomes ridiculously more powerful and faster.”
“It is only a suggestion. Either way, remember to continue moving. I know you prefer the strong stance, but he is able to break through that.”
“I’ll be fine.” Rolek said, turning around again, “Just get that stupid rock everyone’s killing each other over.”
Annastaria nodded, and with Oden and Bastillina’s help, continued their retreat into the woods. Jorum watched them limp away, calculating his plan of attack. “Hey!” Rolek snapped, forcing Jorum to look at him, “You keep your eyes off them and on me, big boy!” Rolek began stepping up the hill, with his arms open in taunt, “Because you ain’t gettin’ to them until you go through me!”
Jorum said nothing, and only stared coldly at Rolek. As unsettling as the look was for him, it was better than Jorum looking at Annastaria, Oden and Bastillina fleeing. The pale master took a step forward, which seemed to Rolek slow and heavy; he didn’t know how he was going to fight this master one on one, and while he was willing to take some punches if it meant keeping the others safe, he had no intention of being killed by this master. Annastaria had a key point to make about Jorum’s special ability being activated, but that didn’t null Rolek’s desire to avoid that. If he could keep moving, it was his best chance. He was only buying time, after all.
Before he could contemplate further, Jorum bolted from his slow stride down the hill, charging at Rolek like a violent boulder. But he sent no magical attack at Rolek, who barely caught the flight and ambush to dodge a wide, right hand strike from the pale master. Rolek felt as though he dodged a train, but he knew he was not out of danger as Jorum continued to display his lengthy body did not slow him down as he continued to send a flurry of strikes.
Rolek shifted backwards, and slowly moved to the left, trying to get an angle on Jorum’s right flank, but ate a left fist from Jorum to the jaw. Rolek was stunned and fell back, but rolled to regain his footing. Jorum was on him again, but this time, Rolek ducked, noticing how Jorum stuck his lead leg into Rolek’s area so comfortably. As Jorum’s lead leg pressed on the ground for his strike, Rolek dodged the blow, and with a fire-based magic technique–the fire grip–he pressed his open palm on Jorum’s flexed thigh. Jorum immediately reacted with a vicious backhand that knocked Rolek several feet away.
Rolek quickly regained his footing, shaking off the daze from the blow and wiping his mouth of blood. Jorum stammered backwards, a sight Rolek never thought he would see; there was a break in Jorum’s stoic look. The skin still boiled, even as Jorum attempted ice manipulation over it. Though he quickly put out the burning, the smoke of burnt flesh and shredded gray pants filled the air with a ghastly aroma.
Rolek smirked at the sight, hoping to further instigate the pale master, who for the first time, gave a facial expression; a faint breaking of his coldness into uncertainty. Rolek felt emboldened, and knew that Jorum’s primary frontal attack was severely crippled, with his lead leg significantly injured. It was time to go on offense.
Rolek went into formation, building up magicka and sending his hands out, with his feet dug into a powerful stance. A blast of several tremors flew out at Jorum, who now had to defend himself with his alternative leg, building up magicka to respond, and ploughed his magic-filled fist into the ground, shielding himself from the tremors exploding in front of him, settling them, and the broken-up ground seemed to calm. From there, Jorum leaped up with his own magic attack, sending a flurry of ice shards made from the water in the air at Rolek, who threw out chunks of the broken ground that obliterated the small shards, causing Jorum to jump and dodge the projectiles hurling towards him.
Rolek kept the pressure on, with more rock mastery and closing in on Jorum, who was forced on his heels. Despite his injury, Jorum showed an impressive retreat defense that blunted Rolek’s boldness; he realized after the first two slashes, combined with a fire blade that Jorum not only anticipated the devastating blows, but dodged them cleanly.
Rolek had to retreat; this pale master was either preparing for a counter-attack, or Rolek would wear himself out too soon. Neither possibility was acceptable. The two took several more steps back to regain themselves. They locked eyes again, unable to take them off each other even to the disturbance of the airships that continued to circle overhead.
Rolek looked carefully, hoping to find any break in Jorum’s confidence, but nothing came. His cold stare had returned, and though he had sustained an injury, Rolek felt like he was back at square one. Jorum turned to a bladed formation, but now with his alternate lead foot, his right leg; whatever was coming, it was likely going to hit Rolek on his right.
Jorum crouched down, and twisted his upper torso clockwise as he went down, until his back was almost entirely facing Rolek. Every motion, to the staring at Jorum’s muscle-ripped back, shook Rolek’s nerves for what he was to expect. Jorum paused, but in a blink, flung both arms out counter-clockwise, unwinding his twist. It was fast, but Rolek caught his hand motions; his left hand, out-stretched, was open, the forearm twisting inward with his left palm open, while his right arm that followed, was clenched.
But his technique wasn’t finished, and he leaped up from the unwinding into a butterfly twist, with his legs coming off the ground and his body spinning in the air. An airburst came out by the left-hand formation, followed by a fire blade that stretched far from Jorum’s proximity, spread open at least twelve feet, larger than any Rolek had ever seen, and the butterfly twist sent out a torpedoed airburst. A three-part elemental combo attack that Rolek never thought he’d see, roared at him.
Rolek leaped back in a panic, dodging the first airburst, and rolled backwards as the fire blade whipped past him, and warped off the second airburst, but only barely as it still struck him, and knocked him back, tumbling to the ground.
He could hear Jorum’s feet rapidly approaching him, seizing the opportunity for an attack. Rolek dug his clenched right hand into the ground, and pressing his magicka through his arm and into the ground, turned his dug-in right hand clockwise, creating a massive tremor that surrounded himself, and a proximity wave burst out from his vicinity, breaking up the hardened ground all around him.
The potency of the pressure wave produced by the maneuver forced Jorum back, and avoid the devastating power of the pressure that could burst both his ears and even lungs. What Jorum was forced to absorb was already distorting enough; like he had been punched in the chest, and someone clapped their hands on his ears.
Jorum paused, and admired Rolek’s adept skill in rock mastery, but saw Rolek was breathing more heavily. It seemed he knew adept techniques beyond what his body was able to handle. Like a cannon, Jorum blasted off from his position again, with inhuman strength towards Rolek, who prepared a stance that would allow him to use his rock mastery, as well as defend himself physically. Jorum came at Rolek with a zig-zag approach, keeping Rolek from being able to plant his feet for a firm defense. The next thing he knew, a vicious right hook was coming at him, but he ducked and rolled to his left from the attack, knowing he couldn’t allow Jorum to force him to go right, or his left flank would be exposed; Rolek needed to move against Jorum’s momentum; it was clear the pale master was trying to push him to a direction.
But Rolek’s perception didn’t phase Jorum, who swung the same right hook back, barely missing Rolek with a whipping backhand. But the slash by Jorum set him up for a flying left knee, which Rolek barely blocked with his forearms. Still, the blow smashed against his arms, sending a shock through his whole body as Jorum came down with his right fist again that struck Rolek on the left cheek. He was almost entirely on his heels, trying not to fall to the ground as Jorum beat him back with vicious combo attacks, before he blasted Rolek with an airburst that sent him through the air, tumbling to the ground like a ragdoll.
Like a lion to pounce upon its fallen prey, Jorum leaped and seemed to fly at Rolek to deliver a devastating blow. Rolek would not be so easily beaten, and not only met Jorum’s fist with his own, but with more magicka, absorbed more sonic power that blasted outward, sending Jorum stumbling backwards. Rolek went on the offense then.
“Come on, big boy!” he pushed out with a tiring breath, “Ole Rolek’s got some fun and games for ya!” Just as the last words left his mouth, Jorum reached out and grabbed Rolek’s missile-like right fist; he panicked and threw his left in an uppercut, but Jorum caught that one as well. The two were locked in a game of shear strength, one Rolek was quickly at a disadvantage in height. He was taller than Oden and Annastaria, but not taller than Jorum, who stood almost straight and used his elevated position to push down on Rolek’s strength.
The pressure of Jorum’s arms, sweat dripping down onto Rolek’s own arms, and the grinding teeth, mostly by himself. Jorum showed signs of agony to Rolek, but not nearly as much as Rolek was. The pressure was too much, and Rolek was forced to take a step backwards to maintain his balance. Not much longer he was forced back another step and then another, and both arms, especially in his bicep and tricep muscles, began to burn.
A shot was heard, and both Rolek and Jorum turned their heads to its source as the ground burst just to Rolek’s left. Jorum let go of Rolek’s fists, who stumbled backwards at the sight of Elise, Dylen and a handful of officers, aiming their weapons at Jorum. “Hands in the air!” Elise shouted, “Both of you!”
“Get out of here!” Rolek shouted back, “He’s gonna kill you all!”
Jorum stood silent and watched them as they came down the hill towards him and Rolek, and when they were distracted by the rocky descent, he threw his right arm out at them, and ice shards formed in the air, pelting the officers. Even Elise and Dylen felt the small, but blistering pricks from the ice, striking them in the head, forcing them all to take cover wherever they could. Rolek lunged out, wrapping his arms around Jorum’s waist, slamming all his weight into the pale master, strong enough to force him to withdraw his ice shard attack and focus on Rolek, who got a few feet into Jorum, before he caught his footing, grabbed Rolek and threw him aside.
Rolek tumbled a few feet, picking himself up to catch his breath and saw the pale master stride towards him with his cold stare. Rolek stood up and readied for another fight. Once more, Jorum led with his right foot, stepping forward with it and launching a left-handed strike, but he twisted it inward, creating a punch and airburst attack just at the very end of the strike; Rolek saw the transition into air only barely, and threw out a warp to block it.
But it still caught him off guard, and he was knocked back, stumbling to be kept from falling yet again. Jorum pressed on, and prepared to deliver another set of devastating combos, when he felt a jolt in his right abdomen that forced him to abandon his entire technique and stumble to the ground, just before a gunshot rang out. Rolek stumbled backwards at the shot, trying to catch his breath and footing, and saw blood quickly begin to pour out of Jorum’s right abdomen.
He turned and now showed visible signs of anger in his face at the officers closing in, them having now shot him. He turned around and thrust forward multiple tremors at them before charging ahead. The tremors knocked Elise and her surviving group off balance. Jorum closed in for the kill, quickly striking one of them with a single blow, knocking him unconscious and turning to the one next to him, knocking his pistol away before he could open fire on Jorum point-blank and throwing the man to the ground.
Dylen and Elise turned to get a clear shot, but the sheer presence of Jorum and his speed panicked them; everything around them seemed to fade away, even each other, and the next thing they knew, they were flying in the air by an airburst, blasting them with leaves and dirt. The moment she was in the air, it felt like the world went tranquil for Elise, gravity-less, and then the ground smashed into her. The initial impact blew the air out of her lungs as she tumbled and tangled with the dirt and leaves uncontrollably. Once again, all went still as the dirt fell like ash, trickling to the ground with leaves flying every which way. She looked up, and saw Dylen hopelessly trying to stand and fight Jorum, who approached slowly, tauntingly, and ready to end him for good.
Dylen took a deep breath, putting up his arms for a fight. He felt cornered, boxed in, unable to move, before Jorum even raised a fist towards him, but Dylen wasn’t going to let that stop him from his duty. He threw a fist, and another, and then a kick; Jorum dodged the first two, and blocked the second, grabbing Dylen’s kick and throwing him to the side like a large rock. Dylen stood up as fast as he could and now Jorum was delivering punches, and then a feigned attack that Dylen realized too late and took a vicious jab to his rib cage. His body crumbled up at the shock of the blow and now he was at the mercy of this evil, pale master.
Dylen tried to stand up to keep fighting Jorum, who now towered over him, but he looked up, just in time to see a human leap on Jorum’s back, wrap their arms around his neck and pull him backwards. Jorum began to teeter left and right, falling on a knee even as he panicked to pull Elise off his back. She screamed and held on as hard as she could. Her grip was firm on his neck now, and Dylen struggled still to get up from his throbbing rib cage.
Jorum stumbled again, and almost fell back; his left leg still burned and seethed with pain from Rolek’s fire grip. Elise kept screaming, and refused to let go as Jorum managed to get his footing, run backwards and slam Elise between himself and the trunk of a tree.
Elise’s vision blurred, and her lungs were paralyzed with the impact. He reached for her arms, gripping them tightly, prying them off and throwing Elise over himself and slamming her into the ground. She coughed and choked for air, and her vision was still dispersed. But focus somehow gripped her, if only for a moment as she saw Jorum’s pale fist come down as a mallet to crush her face and she rolled out of the fist slamming into the ground.
Using both hands she pushed herself back up on her two feet, trying to regain balance as Jorum hoped to prevent it with a quick backhand from the same fist that tried to crush her. Elise barely saw it in time to avoid the terrifying blow that was so fast and vicious, it ripped apart the tree it struck, sending flakes of tree bark flying in all directions, some in her own face.
She was finally able to square with the pale master, but it gave her little comfort. He was bloodied and bruised, and even shot, but his very presence still gave her no hope of beating him. Still, she was not going to leave her friend to die. She picked up a large stick on the ground, waving it in front of Jorum, as if it were on fire. “Come on!” she said, “Let’s see what you’ve got!”
She tried to show herself more frightening than she clearly was, but Jorum kept stepping forward towards her, unhindered by her attempts to scare him. Worst still, she kept taking steps back as he stepped forward. She stared into his eyes once more, and grinding her teeth, she poured all her strength into cocking the large stick back to her right side, and cried out as she swung it at him. Jorum reached out with his right hand and snatched it. Elise gasped, and before she could let go and flee, she felt the jolt of his left fist pummel her liver. She fell, nearly paralyzed completely as the pain jolted through her entire body. She gave out a loud grunt to drown the pain out and saliva spilled from her mouth as she crumbled to the ground, feeling Jorum standing over her, who could finish her at any moment.
Dylen pulled himself together and charged at Jorum for a rear ambush, but his desperate move Jorum heard easily and the pale master turned, grabbing Dylen’s right hook and threw him to the side, tumbling down a small slope. Jorum turned and was struck by Elise, who screamed as she threw the blow, and she threw another that struck him, but did little to phase the pale master, and as her right hand came back for another vicious throw, Jorum reached out and grabbed it like it was just a butterfly coming towards him. Her chest went in and out as she struggled to breath, trying to pull her hand away from this monster. Suddenly, he began to squeeze.
Elise screamed. “Stop!” she pleaded, “Agh! Stop!”
But he would not stop; his grip tightened, and tightened. Elise screamed even louder, and felt a crack in her arm, and another crack, and several more and she squirmed, crying out for him to stop but he would not, and he prepared to finish her off at the sound of one final and blistering snap in her arm when a rock the size of his chest pummeled into his right shoulder and face, forcing him to let her go. Elise gasped for air, and cried a silent scream as she beheld her crushed right forearm, crawling away as fast as she could.
Jorum stood up, stumbling as he did, sensing the magic from where the rock came from. It was Rolek, recovered, stubborn as the rocks he threw at people. Jorum also felt the pulsing pain in his right shoulder and nose, and a stinging pain in it. He felt a stream of warm fluid come down from his forehead and nose, and raised his left arm to touch it. As he looked at his left hand, blood was covered over it.
He heard Rolek laugh then, drawing Jorum’s eyes to him. “You don’t look too good there, big guy!” Rolek taunted. He then pointed to his own nose to indicate to Jorum, “You got a little something hanging off the side of your face there… Oh god… That’s your nose! How embarrassing!”
Jorum’s cold stare shifted, and Rolek could see the unsettled attitude in Jorum’s bloodied eyes. He wiped his face of blood and set himself on Rolek, whose smirk only grew. “Come on, big boy.” Rolek taunted further, “We ain’t done yet!” He looked over and saw Dylen picking himself up. “Cat man!” Rolek called out, “I’ll hold him off! Get your boss-lady out of here–now! And don’t come back till you got a freaking army with you!”
Dylen nodded, and didn’t think twice, seeing Elise huddled up, holding her right arm. He dashed towards her, even running behind and past Jorum, who paid Dylen no attention. Dylen dropped in front of Elise, and nearly cringed at the horror himself, seeing her arm bend as it ought not to. He helped her up and the two began limping away, leaving Rolek to face Jorum alone. This time, Rolek hoped that the severe blow he delivered to Jorum’s face would be enough to give him a fighting chance.
But what Jorum would do next, Rolek dreaded. He took in a deep breath, and only a few seconds later, the system of tattoos over Jorum’s body began to glow. “No!” Rolek shouted, charging at Jorum with a flurry of magic attacks. But Jorum threw open his eyes, and both irises were blooming with a kind of dark white, their gazes alone pushing Rolek back. It was like Jorum had transcended himself, as a different creature, the one from before, was staring Rolek down. The wounds Jorum endured seemed nonexistent now.
“Erene.” Rolek said to himself, “Hurry the hell up!”
Oden aided Annastaria as they stammered through the woods, hearing the battle begin behind them. She looked back once in dread of leaving Rolek to Jorum alone, but couldn’t make out the sight of the fast fighting, with the trees, the rain and the stammering of her own walking. There was nothing left to do but look ahead if she wanted to help him.
“The rock is just up ahead.” said Oden, managing his breathing from both helping Annastaria in haste, and his own anxiety.
“I’ll run ahead and get it.” Bastillina insisted, and she bolted ahead of them.
“Bella, no!” Annastaria reacted, but it was too late; the girl didn’t listen.
“It’s probably a better idea.” Oden said, “She’ll be fine. She’s faster than us both right now.”
Annastaria and Oden stopped then, resting somewhere in the middle of the tall trees. The silence was unsettling, and now they heard the airships and the fight faintly behind them. Oden turned back to the sounds, and thoughts raced through his mind. He looked at Annastaria, who anxiously tried to control her breathing, and her tolerance of the pain she was feeling. He felt like he didn’t know her anymore. But he also wanted to get to know her, the real Annastaria sitting next to him. “So,” he began, somewhat slowly and hesitant, “you… really are a zealot?”
Annastaria paused, scared and ashamed. But she didn’t know where the shame was coming from. For a moment, she hesitated to answer him clearly; her nature attempted to react by denying his claim. “I am.” she said.
Oden smirked, “It’s no big deal though, right? I mean… You aren’t here to kill anyone… Are you?”
Annastaria looked up at him then. “You are far too trusting, Oden.” she said.
Oden paused, and didn’t know how to take the statement. An embarrassed chuckle came out of him. “Maybe.” he said, “I like to think I just never had a friend as interesting as you.”
“You wish to be friends with someone like me?”
Oden shrugged, “Why not? All my other friends are jerks.”
“I lied to you, Oden. And I used you to help me through the cities.”
“True… But none of the others saved my hide as much as you did… And none of them confessed to me that they lied to me like you.”
Annastaria looked at him, almost stunned at what she was hearing. “So you are okay with being friends with someone who not only betrayed you, but belongs to a world that hates yours?” she asked.
Oden shrugged again, “If your people hate me, but you’re chill, that’s fine by me.”
Annastaria had no words to offer in reply. They stared at each other, and the air lightened; a piece of the calm they both had from last night seemed to return as they both looked warmly upon each other. Annastaria couldn’t help a smile that infected his face. But the moment turned too awkward for them. “So,” Oden said, sighing, “Annastaria, huh?”
Annastaria’s cheeks almost immediately burned red, with a smile big enough to bring the sun out. “Yes.” she confessed, “That is my name.”
“It’s a very nice name… Honestly, even if you were going to just pretend to be someone else, you could’ve still used your real one.”
“That would be nice, if my name did not stand out so much.”
Oden smiled as the conversation drifted away.
“When we get out of this,” Annastaria said, almost giggling, “You will have to tell me all your strange sayings. I do not know what it means ‘to chill’.” Oden chuckled at her confession.
“How lovely.” said a voice that stiffened Oden’s back, and made Annastaria nearly fall over. They looked to the source and saw Ryker seem to appear out of the dark of the trees, with a revolver aimed at them. “An aenman and a zealot making nice friends!”
Annastaria’s mind sank into fighting mode, but every scenario she plotted ended poorly, knowing she didn’t have the physical strength to keep up with Ryker in a physical fight, and she didn’t have the magicka to match the gun in his hand. She stood still, but remained plotting whatever she could.
“It’s over, Ryker.” Oden said, “Your whole crew’s torn to bits. And the authorities are more than aware of you. Not to mention Lance left you.”
His words only made Ryker smirk, a familiar one Annastaria detested. “You forgot something.” Ryker said, “Jorum. He’s taking all your friends apart right now, as we speak. Even that pestering, worthless bounty hunter. He might be able to stand toe to toe with Jorum in any normal fight, but Jorum’s no normal master, you see.”
“No, he is not!” Annastaria interrupted, “He is poisoned and his body mutated by your vile experiments!”
“Tell me, my dear, if you have the power to make men more than what they are, would you not do it? The power to transcend even what it means to be a master?” Both Annastaria and Oden were silent, trying to understand what Ryker was saying. He looked at Annastaria’s enchantments again.
“Fancy way of saying you’re killing a man slowly.” said Oden.
“Don’t act like you wouldn’t use such technology to your advantage, Oden.” Ryker snapped back, “And don’t act like you didn’t know what we were doing all along.”
“I’d never use any ‘advantage’ that came from sick experiments like what you do.”
Ryker’s smile was only emboldened by Oden’s passion. “Is that so? And when you discover just what she is, what will you do then?” Oden went still, as did Annastaria. “She hasn’t told you, has she?”
“That she’s a zealot?” Oden challenged, “Yeah, she did. And I don’t care.”
“Oh, not that.” Ryker replied, “I’ve no doubt she can’t hide that any longer. I mean what lies on her arm, there.” He looked at Annastaria, who now had both his and Oden’s eyes on her, yet again. She only looked sourly at Ryker. “You would tell them your name.” he continued, looking at Annastaria, “They know who you are… Do they know what you are?” Again, Annastaria remained silent, swallowing her anxiety before him and Oden. “And who can blame them?” he added, “After all, you probably don’t even know what you are. You don’t know where you came from. One thing I’m rather certain of, my dear, is you were not born a zealot.”
“What would you know of anything about me?” Annastaria whipped back.
“More than you think threatens your better good, I can assure you that. It’s a pity those blasted elves out there in the wild poisoned your mind as they did. Such a person like you hides many secrets–especially a prime. You have no idea what the power you possess means to so many people.”
Annastaria felt a strange temptation to know more about what he was saying, but by now, a tremor in her mind screamed at her that he was a heretic, a babbling, lying, thieving snake. In any case, she didn’t have time for him anymore. “You are right about one thing.” she said.
“And what might that be?” he asked.
She looked at Oden again, and her eyes were soft towards him. She turned back to Ryker and stood off the small rock she was resting on. “I am a prime.” she said, “And I will end your threat here and now.”
Ryker’s fading smile grew again. “And how do you plan to do that?” he said, “You haven’t blasted me already, so that means your magicka system is still paralyzed. And you’ve already been half-beaten by that savage, Lance–I do truly apologize for that by the way. And the artifact? Nowhere to be found.”
“I would not be so certain of that.” she said.
Ryker turned just as soon as he heard footsteps coming quickly behind him, and saw Bastillina like a wolf pounce on him with a battlecry. She grabbed his gun hand before he could aim it at her, and she pushed Ryker back, who stumbled to regain himself from her ambush. Oden sprang towards them before he could overpower the girl, who began kicking and kicking and kicking Ryker in the shin, until finally his leg gave in and he fell on his knee. But he continued to push his gun towards her, freeing a hand to strike Bastillina just as Oden wrapped his arms around Ryker’s back. Bastillina stumbled to the ground as Ryker fell on Oden, pulling himself from Oden’s poor grip and throwing an elbow back to bat him in the nose. Oden was dazed, and rolled over to hold his nose.
Ryker stood back to his feet, with his revolver pointed at Bastillina and Oden. “Stay where you are!” he ordered, and the two froze, “The next person who moves gets a bullet to the chest!” Oden continued to hold his nose, while Bastillina raised her hands submissively, but with a death stare towards him. It became quiet, and a strange wind howled through the trees.
Suddenly, a bloom of light appeared behind Ryker. It gave a strange warmth to it, and for the short moment it appeared, he was frozen. He turned around to see what both Oden and Bastillina were seeing, where the white light was coming from. Only a few feet away, Annastaria stood, holding the artifact in her right hand and it was glowing.
Only a few seconds later, the gears on her arm began to glow white, and the enchantment on her right hand with them. A pulse and then a surge of energy, warm and yet troubling, raced through Annastaria’s right arm and throughout her body. She felt this before, and it never got comfortable, but she knew it had to be done. There was no other way to ensure Ryker did not get the power in the artifact. She closed her eyes, embracing the strange feeling, taking in careful breaths as she did.
She turned her head towards them and her eyes seemed to burst open with a bright light. Her own irises could hardly even be seen. To lay eyes on her was straining, blinding; she was a new creature, something more than even just a master. She appeared like an angelic being from the great legends of old. Ryker wanted to shoot, but he knew doing so would kill a prime; he kept his revolver pointed towards Bastillina. The wind was blasting out from where she stood–sheer power was coming from her, illuminating the dark forest with the energy that engulfed her.
Like Oden and Bastillina, he didn’t know if what he was seeing was believable. Though her irises could barely be seen, he knew she was looking at him with those angelic eyes. Then he noticed the gears on her right hand were shifting, moving on her arm. She was up to something. He turned his pistol to Oden then. “I’ll shoot!” he shouted. But Annastaria didn’t appear to listen. Oden was so struck with awe that he wasn’t even paying attention to the loaded gun aimed at his head. Ryker panicked and pulled the trigger. Oden flinched, but no shot was heard, and he was still alive. He looked up, and the gun only clicked and clicked. He raised the gun, and dust particles poured out of its cylinder.
Ryker popped it open and saw all his bullets were turned to metallic dust. “My god.” he said, his voice shaking and his eyes turned back to Annastaria, “You’re more capable with your power than I even thought.”
Annastaria raised her right hand, with the gears still glowing, and she clenched her fist as they turned and the entire gun disintegrated in Ryker’s hand. He watched his gun vanish before his eyes, before he turned to Annastaria again. The two locked eyes, but she didn’t speak. Bastillina stumbled as she tried to make her way to Oden, while still unable to take her eyes off this new Annastaria.
“What’s happening?” she stuttered. Oden couldn’t even close his own mouth because of what he was seeing.
“You will stay here.” Annastaria said, with her eyes still locked on Ryker. He said nothing and made no move, and she turned and went towards the fight. Ryker, Oden and Bastillina watched her walk away, their eyes and mouths still open to the sight.
“I never thought…” Ryker said, “I never thought I’d actually see a prime activate their power.”
“A… prime?” Oden said, “You mean… the legends?”
“The very thing.” Ryker turned to them, “And they aren’t legends. You just saw one turn my gun into dust.”
“And she’s going to take on Jorum? What if she needs help?”
“Believe me, boy.” Ryker said, now turning to where the battle was, “It’s all over now.”
Masters of Eldreon 