DISTRICT DARK“A vurhan and the dark bender working together. I never thought I would see the day. One thing I know is that the keepers of the covenant and the Vurhans are sole enemies, and no matter the situation, one would never be willing to work with the other. I am guessing you are not fighting me willingly, are you… dark bender?”Tyndale asked, walking slowly towards the duo. With each step, the mud below his soles boiled. Daito twitched his eyebrows a little. The words seemed to be getting through to him“A vurhan and the dark bender working together. I never thought I would see the day. One thing I know is that the keepers of the covenant and the Vurhans are sole enemies, and no matter the situation, one would never be willing to work with the other. I am guessing you are not fighting me willingly, are you… dark bender?”Tyndale asked, walking slowly towards the duo. With each step, the mud below his soles boiled. Daito
Drom looked into her eyes, they aged well. It was surprising how far she walked despite being her age.“And what about me, I am a man. Why does she help me, you said it yourself, her father made her despise men.”“She has been through a lot my boy. That is one thing you have to understand, and I have lived with her long enough to know that she wants to change, she just didn’t have the right motivation. And I know that when she looks at you, you remind her of someone, someone who used to care for her. You should not let her suffer. You shouldn't close her out like that. Give her the embrace she yearns for. She is looking for comfort that she has missed all these years and she knows in her heart that you can provide it to her, so do it.”Drom thought about those words for long. Even when they were aligned, receiving miracles that would help them survive their short journey through Free state, he recalled their last encounter. Melody promised that she would retrieve the dagger and help h
Asobi walked around the room, lighting up candles. At the very center sat Alicia, resting her mass on a rag rolled over the cold floor. She tried hard to do whatever it was she was told to do in order to begin her jaunt. Words floated in her mind as she attempted to fish the instructions out of her sea of imaginations.“Focus on something, you have to create a spiritual link between you and the white canvas. You have to envision yourself as a painter, holding a brush over the canvas, as you stroke your brush over the canvas imagine yourself drawing a map, a walkway.”As hard as she tried nothing worked, all she was doing was imagining if the painter was a male or female, or what color of paint was he using rather than focusing on the canvas itself. At that point, she knew the time to quit would be ideal. Asobi finished lighting all the candles then walked over to where Alicia sat cross-legged, folding her eyebrows and trying hard to envision and canvas.“Stop.”She opened her eyes and
DEATH VALLEYReene was not so lucky, the other Vurhan’s hand scraped across his rib cage, tearing through his breastplate and stripping skin from his abdomen. He winced in pain when they both landed on the mud.Alicia quickly got up and crawled over to him. The Vurhan tumbled uncontrollably on the wet ground before regaining its footing. She looked towards the rest of the cavalry as Vurhan upon Vurhan piled up on top of them. Ripping their arms off and throwing them into the air while other Vurhans jumped acrobatically and caught them mid flight. There was nothing she could do to save them.In her mute cry for help a distant memory flew out of nowhere and crashed into her dissarayed thoughts. She awkwardly remembered Lora’s story of how Daito rescued them from the Vurhan in the forest and wondered why that memory could come to her in such a time, until she figured out why. With her trembling arms she clung on to Reene w
"Run! We will hold them off! The rest of the people are waiting for you outside of the gate!" one of the slaves shouted at Thomas. Thomas knew what they were doing, engaging the saints ready to sacrifice themselves in order to save their families and friends."What about you! We promised not to leave anyone behind!""YES! But what good is a revolution without its leaders! Now go before they get to you! We will do our best to hold them off!"The Saints intensified their attacks. They swung their weapons with intent to kill, pissed off with the gang of slaves that had interrupted them. A taste of their own medicine was handed to them and they did not like it one bit, the slaves were doing were doing nothing but slowing them down and preventing them from advancing towards the three men.Thomas Xermia and Sigrid hobbled away, into the forest. Inside the monstrosity at the center of the town Ladzgery lay on a platform inside the isolation chamber. His wounds were slowly closing. He had not
Lora and Jrue were lost in the woodlands, limping through puddles of mud, occasionally stumbling to the ground and taking forever to get back to their feet. Their bodies had been broken, Lora’s left shoulder was heavily swollen and her ribs made breathing one painful task. On the other hand, Jrue's leg was also not looking as good as her sister’s. He broke his fall with his lower body and twisted his right knee, the rips on their faces dripped blood that was washed away by the falling rain. They searched the woods, finding no traces of the escapees, it did not take them a while to realize they had been left behind.“I should go help them,” Daito said.“No. Not yet. If Lora sees you now it might ruin the entire plan. I shall go down there and assist them instead. You begin following the escapees. I shall meet up with you and slow down Tyndale’s army in the process.”Arni said. He began his ascent, parting ways with his brother who set a course ahead, following the wandering group. Temp
“I have told you a thousand and one times I am not going to hurt her! She is part of my deal for the exchange of information, besides don’t you know where I’m from. I made a vow with my mistress never to hurt women.”“And after we bring her here what next?”“Then we can begin the deal. Have a little faith!”Alicia reluctantly nodded to Robert Townsdy, he stepped out and a few moments later he came back pushing Martha on a wheelchair. Once they entered the rest of the soldiers outside surrounded the house.“I will tell you what I know. About the plans of the Heads. The fact is, their plan is not over yet. The invasion was just the beginning of it.”“What are they planning to do?”“They seek to remove obstacles along their way. Obstacles are people who are strong enough to foil their plans. Either you join them, or they eliminate you. That is what they did to the two strongest people from this kingdom. The dark bender joined them, the king refused, and he was to be killed. They wanted t
DEATH VALLEYThe blast left an indelible trace, and the dry and fragile scales that were burned up by the blast began to fall off its limbs one by one. The vurhan charged for another blast with a barbequed hand. Slejj leapt in front of the girls and Daito, throwing his hands in the air, conjuring up yet another distortion in their path. It spewed specks into the air, forming a massive barrier.Daito had a hard time opening his eyes. Blood clots beneath his eyelids made it painful, and his eyelids rolled up, snapping and dropping the dried blood to the ground. Uncontrollable dizziness resulted from the pulsing pain coursing through his brain.When he glanced up, he saw the two young ladies. A stream of blood poured into his mouth as he turned his head, covering the tip of his tongue. He was enraged; he had killed the most powerful vurhans on the world, and all it took was a lump of dirt to put him to sleep. He licked th