Starseeds: The Broken-Winged

| 27 | Blade (pt.1)

Noelle's eyes widened as Valac's wings flapped, his feet abandoning the floor. I drew out my gun and aimed at Valac, firing. The Nether only descended by an inch, and the bullet flew above his head, hitting a tree.

The dragon raised its' tail and whacked us to the side. I banged onto the floor, Noelle landing on top of me and inadvertently thumping her head on mine. I moaned.

"Ryker! Noelle!"

It was Uncle Davis, materialising from the shadows with Aqua and Jayden beside him. Uncle Davis heaved into a stop, taking in the sight of Valac and his humongous pet.

"What is that?" Aqua demanded, her eyes amplifying.

"Valac," said our uncle. "A fallen angel with a dragon sidekick. Follower of Lucifer."

Luc . . . the Demon boy was referring to Lucifer.

"Satan told you to eat me?" Noelle asked, horrified. She hauled to her feet, pulling me up.

"Yes. Luc said after I'm done consuming you, I can consume the mortals."

"Not gonna happen," I said and moved to stand next to my sister.

Aqua had her dagger clutched in her hand. Regardless of his injury, Jayden seemed determined to have a conflict. Uncle Davis had nothing but his hands, and Noelle decided to follow Uncle Davis's actions.

Noelle slammed her hand on the rigid ground. Our legs throbbed along with the juddering floor as bulky stems busted out of the earth, slithering towards the Nether and its' dragon. Noelle's stems grabbed onto them, wrapping around the monsters and squeezing them tightly. Valac wheezed and the dragon bellowed, wriggling for liberty.

Noelle's stems weren't strong enough. The dragon broke free and performed another roar, glaring down venomously at us. It's skeletal tail slapped across the stems tightening its' master. The stalks fractured and Valac fluttered into the air.

Valac bared his teeth as his dragon thrusts' its tail towards us. The movement wasn't rapid enough. We scattered away from each other, Aqua and Noelle with me, Jayden with Davis.

How can we destroy them? Noelle's voice popped into my head. We can't use our weapons. The dragon is too big and I have a feeling Valac is too strong.

We got to use our powers, Jayden replied.

Yeah, but how?

Let's just use our powers and kill them.

They all nodded in agreement. Davis focused on the dragon, leaving Jayden, Aqua, Noelle and me to deal with Valac.

Noelle fluttered her eyes closed and raised her hands. The ground trembled again, and suddenly, the trees came alive. Their branches elongated and elongated until they captured Valac. His wings were compressed to his back and his emaciated figure crunched at the grasp.

"Blade!" the little boy cried. "Blade, help me! Help us!"

Blade budged inside me, contemplating.

"Why are you hesitating?" Valac demanded, narrowing his coal-black eyes. "Are you . . . on their side?"

Jayden opened his left hand. The Nether suddenly began wheezing, desperate for air. I realised that Jayden snatched the oxygen from the Demon's lungs, interjecting Valac's words. Clever. Very clever.

Aqua raised her hand and clenched into a fist just when black blood spluttered out from Valac's mouth. She managed to make all the Demonic blood overflow through Valac's body, pouring out of his mouth like a baleful waterfall.

My hands conflagrated, and I hurled the raging balls at Valac. Flames exploded on his bones, and Valac hollered in vehemence and pain as the fire tangoed, roasting his cleaved and tattered flesh and bones. I compressed my hands into balls in order to make my fires more insufferable, and the monster roared even more.

Davis was assaulting the dragon with his prevailing flames, shouting cusses and anything to express his antagonism. The others were fatigued from the effort they put into their abilities. Noelle slid down to her knees. I saw sweat trickling down her face.

Using your powers drains your energy –

Valac groaned, his cooked wings flapped a little, though they were weedy and unable to ascend. He muttered profanities and glared at us with a toxic spark.

We need to kill him. Fast.

I considered about the dark energy. I considered using my darkness to kill Valac and the beast. However, the thing is: I don't want the others to know that I'm a monster like Valac and his dragon.

I recalled to the moment when I saw my own blood for the first time. It was black mixed with gold. Angel and Demon blood fused together. I'm a Mix. Uncle Davis knew that. Dad knew that. Aasim and his team knew that.

If I use it, will Aqua and the others continue to trust me? If I use it, will I have to explain everything to Aqua? And if I do, will she still trust me more than the others?

It's worth a try. It's worth a risk.

Blade? Blade, I need your help.

And why should I help?

Because I'm going to let you control me again. Isn't that what you wanted? Control?

Blade's hums echoed in the back of my head. Control, indeed.

The thin snakes of darkness that always skidded across my skin, warped my arms and hissed beneath my clothes, hissed louder. I could feel them biting on my flesh, tugging on it, and licking it with their poisonous tongues.

I felt light-headed.

My vision hazed momentarily.

The eyes of the Evitual noxiously glowed.

"Davis!" I shouted.

Davis fired two more spheres of fire that attacked the dragon, and hastily glanced at me.

"Run!"

His eyes analysed the murky, glowing snakes. Their heads slipped out from beneath my clothes, their tongues flickering, their razor-sharp teeth glittering brighter like the stars. Except these type of stars only guaranteed nightmares. Not dreams.

Nightmares.

"Ryker –"

"Run!"

Davis wanted to protest, though when my body blistered, when I felt my eyes changing colour, trepidation crashed on my uncle's face. He teleported to his niece and grabbed her hand along with Jayden and Noelle's, and together he teleported into non-existence.

Control, hissed Blade just when my mind turned blank. 

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