I cursed as the sword was knocked out of my hands again, backing up swiftly at a swing that would have caught me in the side. My opponent kicked the fallen sword back, My eyes darted to it. I tried to think of a way to reclaim it, to spin us so that I could make a run for it. Looking at him now. He didn't give me much time to think about the disadvantage I found myself in before he stepped for. I nimble dodged a blow that would have taken off my head.
I darted to the side, ducking under his next swing. It took him a brief moment to reset from the failed attack, and I took full advantage of it. I dashed forward, driving my fist into his stomach before darting back out of range. I rocked on the balls of my feet as we circled one another. I felt more comfortable without the weapon in my hand, but the lack of the weapon had me more vulnerable to his attacks. I glanced back towards my weapon.
Somehow, I was even farther away from it now.
The sword he was using was meant for swinging, not stabbing. It was something that I had figured out quickly, but the knowledge was useless to me at the moment. He was far more skilled with the weapon than I was, and I wasn't used to defending myself against someone that was used to using a weapon. It hadn't taken him much to disarm me, and I knew that he wasn't half as easy to disarm.
My eyes traced his form again, carefully searching for any openings in his guard. There weren't many, and the ones that I could find he closed before I had time to exploit them. I narrowed my eyes, anything I did, I would have to be quick otherwise I would lose my neck. I feigned to the left as he took a step forward, immediately twisting to aim a blow into his side. He had been expecting the attack.
He caught my fist in his free hand, yanking me closer towards him. His knee slammed into my gut before I had time to prepare myself, nearly knocking my breath out of me. I didn't allow it to stop me as I threw my weight into him, throwing us both unto the ground. His hold on my arm broke for a split second as we fell, rolling for a moment. I grunted he landed on top of me.
Before I could make a move to flip out position, his sword appeared at my throat. The elf wasn't even breathing hard as he looked down at me, "The only reason that I didn't stab you as we fell was because I was trying hard not to," Milo scolded, "You need to keep a better hand on your weapon. You can't stab someone without it."
I pushed him off of me, getting to my feet with a low groan. I stretched, feeling my bones pop at the action. I could already feel the bruises that were swiftly forming, Milo only pulled his blows so much, and thus far, he had hit me far more than I had hit him, "It would be easier to stab someone if the sword was more comfortable. It feels awkward. Why can't you just give me a gun?"
I had been trying to convince him to give me the more useful weapon for hours.
Acilia and Kam were sparing far enough away that I wasn't worried about them overhearing us. We had been traveling for hours already, we had decided to take a break for a few hours. Which to Milo apparently translated to kick us all into shape in sparring. It had been amusing when he put both Kam and Acilia into the dirt, but he swiftly turned his attention on me, declaring that I needed far more training before I faced anyone with a weapon.
At the rate that we were traveling, it would take a little over two days to reach Aaron. I wasn't worried about him leaving the lake. Something told me that he was waiting for us to arrive. He knew that he had cut me, knew that we would have no choice but to find him if I wanted to live. We were playing into his plans. Milo had agreed with me when I mentioned it to him. Neither of us had any illusion that our arrival would surprise the demon. I stuck by my opinion that they were a terrible plan.
I self-consciously ran my hand over my arm. The black mark was now covering half of my forearm. I tried not to think about the fact that if this failed, then I would die. I couldn't let myself think about that. I tried to push the rapidly spreading curse out of my head, thinking of anything else in place of it. Milo had done his best to keep my attention off of it on the way up here.
He had given me a brief run-down of how powers worked while we walked, using his powers to the others from overhearing. Neither of them knew that I wasn't born in this world, that my ideas were more basic in theory than common fact. Milo took the opportunity to refresh my knowledge, clarifying things that had previously been murky. According to him, there were different levels of creatures.
Shapeshifters were the first level and the ones of the least power. That category included creatures like werewolves, vampires, mermaids, any creature that could turn into something else. They lacked the elementist powers that many of the other creatures held. Their difference from humans was mostly in their physical aspect. They only had the powers that every creature in this world possessed from birth, the ability to heal themselves quickly and teleportation. There were other powers scattered depending on the species, but overall they were mostly powerless.
The second level was the elementist. Those were creatures like Kam, ones that were the personification of the element they wielded. Their powers came directly from the earth, wind, fire, water, or metal. Each of them wielded one specific element based on what they were. Wind spirits, like Kam, that control the air or dwarfs that represented the earth. They were considered of middle power, above the shapeshifters only because they were able to summon their elements.
Acilia was part of a different category, one that was neither elementist nor shapeshifters. Creatures like her were few and far between, enough where there wasn't a name for their level. She was a mix between an elementist and a shapeshifter. She wielded the fire that she was born in, her body crafted in flames. She was fire, like an elementist. But she was also a dragon, able to summon on the form with the ease of a shapeshifter. She was something outside of the category, and as Milo explained, one of the few remaining. According to them, those creatures were hunting into near extinction in the beginning of the world.
The highest level of power was those that could invoke magic. Creatures such as warlocks and gods that lived with the power of the universe inside of them. They could manipulate the ways of the world to carry out the tasks that they needed done. It explained why Milo was able to see easily send Acilia to the core of the earth, his magic was twice as powerful as her element. It was why Milo had to be the one to track Aaron, he was the only one with the power to do so.
Milo figured that I would fall into the magic category if I could figure out my powers. Being able to mimic the abilities at will would make me easily as powerful as anyone that I came across. I had grimaced at the thought. The only good thing about figuring out how they worked would be that I would know how to keep myself from ever using them.
"Guns don't exist in this world," Milo told me as he flipped to his feet. He leaned on his sword as he regraded me, "Even if you did use one, these worlds don't have long-ranged battles. It's close combat and regardless of how powerful of a gun you have, it won't be powerful enough to keep everyone away from you. Someone will overtake you and you will be more likely to survive if you know how to stab them when they do."
"Machine guns work wonders," I told him flatly. He gestured for me to get back in position as I picked up my fallen sword. The first thing that Milo had shown me was the proper way to hold it. The first time that he had ordered me into position, I had ignored him out of spite. His response was to lunge at me, not partially caring that the action sent us both flying into the stream. After that, I took care to be ready when he was.
Milo moved toward me rapidly, swinging his sword just fast enough for my eyes to track. I swiftly dodged the blow, before aiming one of my own at him. I was expecting him to block it easily, which he did, but the movement gave me the opportunity to kick out at his upper shin. I grunted when his sword slammed into my side; I hadn't even seen him move the weapon, "Even a machine gun won't do you much good against a creature that can't die."
His words were emphasized by the clashing of our weapons. His weapon slammed into me more times than I could count, though regardless of how hard I tried, mine never got anywhere close to touching him. I tried to keep my hand on my weapon as we spun around each other, though Milo was determined to make me drop it, "What's your problem with Kam?"
My handle on the sword only lasted five minutes before Milo had it knocked out of my hands. We had been at this for over an hour, the weapon had never remained in my hands for over five minutes. Once or twice I had managed to pick it back up, that wouldn't be happening this time. There was an audible splash as it landed in the stream, "What makes you think that I have a problem with Kam?"
"I'm not blind. You don't trust him. Why?" I ducked a blow that would have taken off my head, grunting when Milo slammed his foot into my chest. I stumbled back a few feet but found my footing quick enough to step out of the way of his next strike. An idea formed in my mind as I watched him, the scene playing out behind my eyes as I stepped to the side, "Is it his cowardness?"
"I trust him, it's what he's up to that I don't trust," Although his words confused me, I didn't stop to puzzle over them. I have made that mistake once and earned a hole in my arm to show for it. The healer was not a very lenient teacher, much to my surprise. He had no problems causing injuries to teach a lesson and then taking care to heal them afterward.
He swung his sword at my side. Rather than trying to dodge it, I braced myself for the blow and stepped forward into it, raising my hands in the same motion. I knew that I only had a second with his weapon behind still enough for it to work. The moment that the blade slammed into me, I slammed both of my hands against the one Milo was using to wield the sword, one on each side of his wrist. I gasped at the hardness on the strike, though relief flooded me when my move worked.
It was a disarming technique that Janus had shown me years ago, intending it to be used against a knife. I tweaked the move slightly due to the way that we were positioned, but in the end, it worked. The force of my hit broke his hold on his sword, sending it spinning out of our way with enough force that I knew he wouldn't be getting it back. Somewhere to the side of us, I heard Kam exclaim out in pain.
I didn't give Milo a chance to think about the latest development before I spun around in a roundhouse kick, the blow catching him in the chest. He didn't stumble as I took a step away from him, feeling more comfortable now that we were both weaponless, "You should keep a better hand on your sword," I told him mockingly, "What do you think that he is up to?"
I didn't wait for Milo to make the first move this time. I moved toward him without a second of hesitation. We went blow for blow, far more even in our technics now. Sparring with Milo was like sparring with Janus, I could tell that I was inferior, but not enough where it was blatantly obvious. At least not went it was hand to hand. It was more work for him to gain the upper hand. Even when he managed to get us onto the ground, it took him longer to pin me.
In the end, his knee pressed into my back as he yanked my arm back behind me, threatening to break it if I didn't tap out. I hesitated before doing so. Milo released me with a shake of his head, "You're getting better with the sword," He told me as he held his hand out for me to grab, "Your experience in hand to hand is aiding you."
I ignored his hand and pushed myself to my feet. Milo snapped his fingers, my sword appearing on the ground by my backpack. Originally, Milo wanted me to spar with the weight of the bag, saying that I needed to be used to fighting with it. He changed his mind after the second time that I broke his nose by slamming the bag into his face. It wasn't the only time that I had broken his nose in the past few hours, after the fifth, he didn't even bother fixing it. Realizing that we got distracted before he answered my question, I repeated it, "What do you think that he is up to."
"I will tell you when I know.' Milo's eyes moved to watch Kam and Acilia for a brief moment, his eyes accessing their techniques, "We will head back out in a few hours. You should get some rest, humans need more of it than the rest of us and I'm sure that you are long overdue."
He was right. I could feel exhaustion pooling in my bones. I didn't doubt that if I tried to force myself to go any longer then I would end up collapsing. I hesitated though, before raising my main concern, "My dreams have brought me to Aaron in the past. What if they bright me to him now?"
"What happened last time you dreamed of this place? Does it normally put you in Aaron's view or far away?" He asked, crossing his arms. I had filled him in somewhat as we walked, keeping most of the details to myself. I was hesitant to tell him more, I only trusted Milo to a certain extent. He was hiding things from me, it was evident in the way that he refused to walk about Kam. Something told me that he knew more about Aaron than he was saying as well.
"Last time I woke up in Aaron's custody," I deadpanned, unwilling to tell him any more than that. Even now I could feel the phantom pain from the claw marks he had dug into my chest, I could feel the burn as he separated my flesh from my bone, "Most of the time I wake up close to Kam and Acilia."
Milo grimaced, looking lost in thought for a moment, "I don't know what exactly this power of yours is," He admitted, "I don't have a way to stop it, but you can't go without sleep. Your body is only human, regardless of any wanderer's influence. You will just have to try to sleep and hope that you don't wake up in a tight situation."
He didn't look happy with the answer even as he said, not that I blamed him. I could wake up in Aaron's grasp, it could ruin whatever plans that we were making. If Aaron got away now then we would have to waste power getting to him again, power that might mean the difference between beating him and turning into scrambled eggs ourselves. I hadn't expected another answer so accepted it with ease.
It didn't take long for Milo to alert the others that we were going to rest. Acilia volunteered to take first watch, she would watch up Milo after a few hours to switch off with the elf. I threw a rock at her when she made a comment about how women always did the hard work while mean slept. Milo stopped us before it could turn into an all-out rock fight.
As exhausted as I felt, sleep refused to come easily. I laid on the ground, staring at the black clouds slowly making their way over us. Kam had sworn that we wouldn't have any rain, but the clouds seemed determined to prove him wrong. The guy was about as accurate as the other meteorologists. My mind raced through the events of the last few days as I laid there. I hoped against hope that when I opened my eyes, everything would be back to normal. That I would be back with Janus on Earth, that this was just a strange dream.
My eyes finally slid shut.
The boy's arms are pulled taut above him, his feet barely touching the ground as he teetered in place. His red blood was a sharp contrast from his pale skin as it dripped out of numerous wounds. He didn't seem very concerned with the wounds on his body as he raised his gaze to meet the eyes of the man standing across from him.
There was no expression of pain on his face, though he had to have been in agony. There wasn't a spot on his body that stood scar-free. Burns covered his torso, chunks of skin clinging to his body by only a thread. There were parts of him that looked as if he had been slashed with acid, his skin bubbling as it slowly melted away. He breathed in deeply, his shredded shin quivered as it did its best to hold itself together.
It was enough where a human would have been dead long ago.
His gaze calmly met his tormenter as the creature took a step back, wrapping the barbed wire whip around his knuckles as he did. I had to blink as I stared at the creature, his form was wavering, flicking in and out of existence as if he wasn't there. He didn't appear much older than the person tied before him, perhaps late teens or earlier twenties. He was wearing a long white robe, not unlike the one that Milo wore, but he was covered in the blood of the creature standing before him. His eyes flashed an electric blue as he stared at the creature before him.
Djinn.
His species name flickered into my mind, how exactly I knew what he was, I wasn't sure. I couldn't imagine the blood-soaked creature as the friendly blue gaunt from the movies, but I supposed that it was because he got passed up for the role. He certainly didn't look like he was willing to grant anyone any kind of wishes. Unless that wish was for a slow, painful death.
The djinn made a gesture with his hand, two women moving to stand on either side of the captive. They gripped the creature lightly, their eyes locked on the male djinn. Although they were all of the same species, the woman moved differently than the male, a lack of fluidity in the movements that he carried. There was a sparkle in his eyes that was lacking in the females. I frowned.
The male djinn walked forward, wrapping his hands around the bit that had been nailed into the captive's mouth. He didn't flinch at the man barred sharp fangs at him, nor did it stop him from ripping the metal out of his mouth, chunks of flesh sticking to the object. I winced back, expecting the captive to cry out with the pain that it must have caused. The creature did nothing of the sort.
Blood poured from his mouth, dripping down his chin. His expression never changed, he never flinched or did anything to acknowledge his newest wounds. Instead, with his eyes still locked on the djinn, he swallowed the blood that was filling his mouth, his adam's apple bobbing in the movement. There was no fear in his eyes as he stared what had to be agony in the face. Instead, he somehow managed to look as if he was in complete control of what was happening.
I stared at the creature that had been haunting my thoughts, that had pleaded for my help only hours before. I stared at the blood running down him, the flesh piled on the floor. He was strong, but even the strong would break eventually, "Who are you?" I whispered to myself.
His eyes turned off of the djinn for the first time since the scene had appeared. No one else in the room seemed to notice me as his mismatched eyes met mine. Locked inside the depths of his eyes, I could see the pain that he was hiding from the djinn, the pain that was never-ending. He didn't speak, instead mouthing once more, 'Help me'.
The scene changed.
The male was on his knees, the weather around him screaming with his pain. The wind was powerful enough to make me take a step back, but he didn't seem to notice. His hair was plastered to his face by the rain pelting on him, coming down hard enough where I could see the red marks on his skin from where it hit. He didn't seem to notice the chill in the air as he sat, the weather finally matching his inner turmoil.
He slammed his fist down on the earth, not seeming to notice the crunch of his bones with the force that he punched it with. There was a wild look in his eyes as he looked around as if he was trying to figure out how he came to be where he was. How everything managed to get so wrong. He searched the horizon for something that he didn't seem to be able to find, something that he needed but no longer existed.
Tears streamed uncontrollably down his face as he sat there, it was the first time that I had seen any real expression on his face and it was one of hopelessness. He looked lost as he sat there as if his very life was ending. He slammed his fist down again, this time a flood of energy rushing out. The earth trembled, the life on it falling to death as the energy wave killed everything that it touched.
I strained against the wind in an effort to get to him. He looked so broken sitting as if the world was crumbling down all around him. Every bit of strength that he was carried was gone, turned into nothing more than a depression that he couldn't begin to fight. His world was crumbling down around him and I could nothing other than watch as he suffered.
Not a sound left his lips as he sat there sobbing. I was beginning to think that the creature was mute. I tried to move forward to him, but the wind refused me to get any closer. I was stuck as an observer as all of the bottled-up pain he kept inside snapped, keeping him on his knees. He wasn't aware of anything but his own pain. Wasn't aware that the world around him existed, that there was still something left for him.
Not even of the figure coming up behind him, a sword raised.
I tried to call out a warning, but my voice was lost to the wind.
The scene changed once more.
All traces of his former pain were gone from his face as he stood in a room beside another male. I couldn't make out his features, as if who he was wasn't meant to be revealed yet. The male that I had been following looked different than he did before. His expression was more open, his eyes softer. The pain that he hid inside of him had faded away. He had survived. The knowledge brought me more relief than I was expected.
He cast a look back at a door, a bow appearing in his hands. I frowned, noting the serious expression on their face. His partner carried a small handgun, the handle rimmed with a color that I had never seen before, but couldn't begin to describe. Something about the way that the partner held himself felt familiar, but I couldn't quite place my finger on what it was. He looked over towards the other man, "This is the end, isn't it?"
His voice was soft, a robotic tinge to it that told me that I wasn't hearing his real voice. True to his nature, the original man didn't answer his question aloud. Instead, he made a gesture with his free hand, the motion fluid as if he had done it hundreds of times before. After a moment, I recognized the gestures as sign language.
Unlike spoken languages, sign language did not translate in my mind. Wanderer abilities only went so far it appeared.
His partner looked grim at whatever it was that he signed. Moving the gun to his other hand, he took the other man's hand gently in his own. There was a gentle look in the original man's eyes as he stared at his friend, a look that I had a feeling was unique just to him. The new person smiled sadly, "I love you, Elm. Whatever happens, I love you."
Elm smiled gently back at him. They didn't have time for anything else before the door to the room was kicked open, a redheaded male standing tall in the doorway. Much like Elm's partner, his features were blurred to me. Elm instantly raised his bow, though he didn't fire it even as the male took a step inside the house. The newcomer looked grim as he stared between him, "Stand down," He commanded to the both of them, "I am not here for either of you."
The couple stood strong, both of their eyes narrowing, "If you want her, you will have to go through us." Elm's partner's voice was hard when he spoke, his gun glinting maliciously in the light, "This is madness. She is your best friend's daughter, nothing more than a child. She doesn't deserve death."
"She is a child today, but she won't be that way for long," The redhead didn't look surprised as he looked between them. A weapon flickered into his hands, a sword that glowed golden as he held it, "If you won't move then I will have no choice but to charge you both with treason against the realm, conspiring to destroy the world that we have come to know. An offense punishable by death."
"The only person here that is destroying the world is you."
The scene shifted for the final time.
I stood in the same room as before, only this time the spotless walls were covered with blood, the furniture that had been so carefully arranged shattered into hundreds of pieces. I swallowed as I turned around. Laying on the ground was Elm's partner, his head nowhere in sight. Elm's hand still laid in his. I nearly puked. It was just Elm's hand, cut jaggedly at the wrist. The rest of his body laid scattered around the room. His necklace was still hanging onto what was left of his neck, his wedding ring shining with his blood.
A pit formed in my stomach as I recognized this scene.
I moved through the house, taking care to not trip over the limbs scattered throughout. I finally came across the majority of Elm's body. He looked as if he had been hacked away, chucks were missing from him everywhere. None of his limbs were attached to his body, his organs falling out of his stomach. The only thing that he had over his partner was that his head remained attached.
His mismatched eyes looked around the room desperately, still somehow alive. There was a pit in my stomach as I kneeled beside his dying figure. I didn't expect to be able to touch him, but my hand fell against his bloody hair. I wasn't surprised when his eyes met mine. He opened his mouth, I expected him to mouth 'help me' once more, but for the first time, words escaped.
His voice was dry and scratchy, the words that he was speaking unclear and jumbled together as he tried to use muscles that he had never used before. Somehow, I knew what it was that he was saying as he said it. The remnants of his grey power surrounded him as he forced himself to say the spell with his dying breath. He could have lived, his power would have healed him, but instead, he gave the last of his life to the cause that he swore to protect.
With every world, his breaths grew more shallow, his voice weaker. I could see his life force fading away from him every second. He would die before he would be able to finish. He would die for nothing. I swallowed as he grew too weak, too tired to keep going, his rough voice going silent once more. The words that he was saying swirled in my mind, the unfamiliar language becoming clear to me.
I didn't know what I was doing when I started to speak the chant, the words far clearer than what Elm tried to say. His grey power swirled together with orange, the colors interweaving until there was no distinguishing which color was which. My voice broke when Elm went limp, his eyes staring off into nothing, but I didn't stop chanting. I would complete the spell that he gave his life for. I had to make his death mean something.
I woke up in tears.