Dark Soul Rising

Ch.15 All Time Low

THE PAST: Emma POV

"Again," the headmaster calls out. He paces the outskirts of the empty training ring, sweating like he's the one in the center. Most students have stopped coming here altogether since Zion's powers were revealed. Escaped demons dwindle to nothing as word spreads about whose waiting on the other side. It wasn't until years later they learned the cost of Zion's powers. Slowly eating away at his soul, his reaper seal had faded to mere outlines.

I look around the ring counting a number of deceptive colored balls, cute enough to decorate a child's bedroom. After all my training I should be able to dodge them but today my thoughts are elsewhere.

I've been looking more into the first, the last king known to carry a flame as strong as Zions. If our king followed the same path, it was only a matter of time before he too would be locked inside the tides. Only a matter of time before we would have to run from the circle.

In between classes and worrying, the headmaster and I train against Nadaro creatures he deems safe enough for capture. There's a new urgency to our schedule, a desperation on my part to fulfil the promise of my power. If I can't save Zion when he falls, he'll take the tides down with him. Our guardian are strong, but we wouldn't survive the loss of our king.

I practice into the late hours and early morning pretending not to notice how often these training have almost killed me. The headmaster and I reach a strange truce based on silence. I hide how far Zion's gone and he pretends not to notice. No one talks about the reason everyone avoids the west dormitories. Why the elders spend more and more time on campus.

"Focus," the headmaster warns as they come closer.

I turn back to my least favorite creatures I've nicknamed pixie dust. They have no eyes or face, but they manage to find me well enough. The scorch marks along my arms pay tribute to just how volatile they can be. Remembering my training, I keep to the edges hoping to buy myself more time.

Reaching deep, I find the well of energy I've always avoided. I picture the ice growing, swallowing my body until I'm encased in its crystals. A year ago this seemed impossible but now it's as easy as holding my breath.

I let myself still as my body becomes the impossible, a doorway between this world and Nadaro. The chill builds and the world around me dulls into shadows of blacks and greys. It's disorientating and ominous but now I can see their true selves.

In this world, their soft fluffs glow in hues of blues and greens, their light hovering just outside their form. One by one I reach out pulling them towards me, practicing holding the gate open.

The first couple I handle easily but it takes more and more effort to keep the gate open and shove them through. By now my whole body is shaking, wacked with chills that make lifting my arms never mind aiming practically impossible. As agonizing as the cold is, it's not the worse that can happen. As I work, the world around me continued to dull, shades of greys deepening into black. Every second I spend here pulls me deeper into the void I created.

'Closer,' a voice commands. The urge to sink deeper grows and I know it's the firsts influence by the force of its persuasiveness. The worse Zion gets the stronger he becomes. It's the closest I've ever heard it, but this is the furthest I've dared to sink. I can feel its excitement, it still needs me to destroy this world.

Adrenaline kicks in and I shake off the compulsion in time to realize just how far I've let the gate swallow me down. I give up trying to send the pixies under and reach for the gun I keep at my side. The greys world fades as I let go of the void to shoot the dust one by one. They'll appear elsewhere later but I've done as much as I can without leaving this life entirely.