Chapter 1: Esasban
The girl, her dark hair streaming behind her, fell off the branch and on to the back of the Core creature. It squealed, like a hog, and the weird thing of tentacles and jaws sent a shock of black magic along its body to the girl. She was barely unfazed as she drew her sword and did the horrifying mass in. It didn't bleed. There was almost a look of surprise as its body faded out, dropping a few blackened crystals onto the forest moss. The warrior sighed, then snatched up the crystals and slid her long sword back.
Another day in the life of those destined to only fight the weakest evils...
The man already had a beard that stretched to the floor. The sad thing was that it had been a day since he had shaved and the beard ended in several long colored stripes. A small bush also happened to be growing in it. He snapped his fingers. Two small leaves appeared in midair and cut the excess hair away. He controlled them, using his mind, clipping away like airborne scissors. He ended with a tiny "dapper" moustache. Well, he thought it looked "dapper". The man then pointed a finger at the mess around his knees and it vanished, including the damn bush. He glanced outside and sighed. A dozen dark clouds filled his view. That and a few trees.
Well, fine, quite a few trees. Quite variably, more trees than sky. There just wasn't a nearby desert or mountain, so he had to do his little hermitage in a forest. He was getting sick of trees. But that didn't matter, his research is what mattered. His research practically mattered even more than anything in his life did.
She stopped and waited, sitting on a branch. She wasn't Naroom by even fourteen generations, but she had always liked trees. She liked anything if it kept her out of this rain.
The storm wasn't stopping the dream energy from coming. White, lighting-like flashes came with the real flashes. With every Dream flash, a creature could be seen appearing. People only ever thought of Dream Creatures when they thought of forests. Why? Her glance came down on a group of hares that were sitting under a large log to get from the rain. There was a flash and two Eebits; like larger, frumpier hares; appeared, cuddling with them. A small glow appeared and a third Eebit nestled in with them. Dream Creatures attract more, basic rule. She watched for a few more seconds until the Eebits evaporated into glows. It was rather sad that some Magi didn't even know about this.
The rain began to patter off. She slipped off the branch, fell a few feet, and took out her map. It was slightly soaked and falling to bits, but the image of a tiny hut but two miles west of the river was all she cared about. She seemed to be on the right track. Just earlier today, she had gone past the dead tree, taller even than one of the trees Naroom people made their homes out of (or on, she considered). She'd had lunch in it's shadow, like sitting next to an enormous ivory tower.
A sudden, loud noise as the rain stopped made her look up.
It was a shrill, almost acidic noise as the awful Grax appeared, seeming almost to step out of a shadow. It was what she liked to call a burst of Dark Energy, but this was a basically incorrect idea, as the man with the moustache would say.
She hated the Dark Energy. They had begun appearing since 'the great Kyros had showed up in the east', in the great city of Vash Naroom. And the shadow geysers with him. Now what was once like happy fireworks as magnificent beasts had appeared and disappeared was now a dirtied thing. An awful feline beast called a Chaos Jile had killed a child. Some Dream Creatures themselves (REAL Dream Creatures, she called them) had become wild at different bursts. A hyren, one of the great Flame Hyrens that dance over the Cald lava pits on thermals, had even attacked a wandering magi. He had been pushed into a lava pool and burnt halfway up. He would never walk again, they hadn't gotten to him quick enough.
And she would stop this. She would kill these awful things, even though she could only stop the ones that appeared in the wilds. But it would help. That was what she told herself.
The Grax made weird screeches, clawing the air. It seemed to be waiting for a Dream Creature to be summoned. It seemed to say, Give me a challenge. She didn't doubt for a minute that the Grax and other Core weren't smart enough to boast. They were. But she didn't Dream anything. No rings adorned her fingers, like captured fireflies and beetles. Instead only a long, thin blade; no curvatures, ornaments or enchantments; was drawn.
She seemed to throw her self at the thing, getting the element of surprise. It toppled backwards; losing an arm as it went under her tackle. It recovered and hit her with a black wave of energy. For a minute, she felt sick but she recovered enough to keep it down.
She had been too slow still. What seemed to be a small spark of black electricity suddenly became a second Grax. She swore.
Jumping off of the first Grax she had wounded, she sliced at the newcomer, anything so it could not use any of its power. By luck it was actually killed, falling from its slight float and fading out. She turned back and got hit by the second wave of Core energy from the first Grax. But this Grax, no matter how powerful it appeared to be, was now drooping. She finished it off with a careful blow. She didn't even bother with their animite; she had enough money and had no interest in Core creatures. No dream creatures at all, in fact.
Setting her long sword into the leather frame on her back, she turned to the west. The rain was gone. Another day in a futile fight. But it might be the day she met the one she seeked...
Her name is Esasban and she has no magic.
The girl, her dark hair streaming behind her, fell off the branch and on to the back of the Core creature. It squealed, like a hog, and the weird thing of tentacles and jaws sent a shock of black magic along its body to the girl. She was barely unfazed as she drew her sword and did the horrifying mass in. It didn't bleed. There was almost a look of surprise as its body faded out, dropping a few blackened crystals onto the forest moss. The warrior sighed, then snatched up the crystals and slid her long sword back.
Another day in the life of those destined to only fight the weakest evils...
The man already had a beard that stretched to the floor. The sad thing was that it had been a day since he had shaved and the beard ended in several long colored stripes. A small bush also happened to be growing in it. He snapped his fingers. Two small leaves appeared in midair and cut the excess hair away. He controlled them, using his mind, clipping away like airborne scissors. He ended with a tiny "dapper" moustache. Well, he thought it looked "dapper". The man then pointed a finger at the mess around his knees and it vanished, including the damn bush. He glanced outside and sighed. A dozen dark clouds filled his view. That and a few trees.
Well, fine, quite a few trees. Quite variably, more trees than sky. There just wasn't a nearby desert or mountain, so he had to do his little hermitage in a forest. He was getting sick of trees. But that didn't matter, his research is what mattered. His research practically mattered even more than anything in his life did.
She stopped and waited, sitting on a branch. She wasn't Naroom by even fourteen generations, but she had always liked trees. She liked anything if it kept her out of this rain.
The storm wasn't stopping the dream energy from coming. White, lighting-like flashes came with the real flashes. With every Dream flash, a creature could be seen appearing. People only ever thought of Dream Creatures when they thought of forests. Why? Her glance came down on a group of hares that were sitting under a large log to get from the rain. There was a flash and two Eebits; like larger, frumpier hares; appeared, cuddling with them. A small glow appeared and a third Eebit nestled in with them. Dream Creatures attract more, basic rule. She watched for a few more seconds until the Eebits evaporated into glows. It was rather sad that some Magi didn't even know about this.
The rain began to patter off. She slipped off the branch, fell a few feet, and took out her map. It was slightly soaked and falling to bits, but the image of a tiny hut but two miles west of the river was all she cared about. She seemed to be on the right track. Just earlier today, she had gone past the dead tree, taller even than one of the trees Naroom people made their homes out of (or on, she considered). She'd had lunch in it's shadow, like sitting next to an enormous ivory tower.
A sudden, loud noise as the rain stopped made her look up.
It was a shrill, almost acidic noise as the awful Grax appeared, seeming almost to step out of a shadow. It was what she liked to call a burst of Dark Energy, but this was a basically incorrect idea, as the man with the moustache would say.
She hated the Dark Energy. They had begun appearing since 'the great Kyros had showed up in the east', in the great city of Vash Naroom. And the shadow geysers with him. Now what was once like happy fireworks as magnificent beasts had appeared and disappeared was now a dirtied thing. An awful feline beast called a Chaos Jile had killed a child. Some Dream Creatures themselves (REAL Dream Creatures, she called them) had become wild at different bursts. A hyren, one of the great Flame Hyrens that dance over the Cald lava pits on thermals, had even attacked a wandering magi. He had been pushed into a lava pool and burnt halfway up. He would never walk again, they hadn't gotten to him quick enough.
And she would stop this. She would kill these awful things, even though she could only stop the ones that appeared in the wilds. But it would help. That was what she told herself.
The Grax made weird screeches, clawing the air. It seemed to be waiting for a Dream Creature to be summoned. It seemed to say, Give me a challenge. She didn't doubt for a minute that the Grax and other Core weren't smart enough to boast. They were. But she didn't Dream anything. No rings adorned her fingers, like captured fireflies and beetles. Instead only a long, thin blade; no curvatures, ornaments or enchantments; was drawn.
She seemed to throw her self at the thing, getting the element of surprise. It toppled backwards; losing an arm as it went under her tackle. It recovered and hit her with a black wave of energy. For a minute, she felt sick but she recovered enough to keep it down.
She had been too slow still. What seemed to be a small spark of black electricity suddenly became a second Grax. She swore.
Jumping off of the first Grax she had wounded, she sliced at the newcomer, anything so it could not use any of its power. By luck it was actually killed, falling from its slight float and fading out. She turned back and got hit by the second wave of Core energy from the first Grax. But this Grax, no matter how powerful it appeared to be, was now drooping. She finished it off with a careful blow. She didn't even bother with their animite; she had enough money and had no interest in Core creatures. No dream creatures at all, in fact.
Setting her long sword into the leather frame on her back, she turned to the west. The rain was gone. Another day in a futile fight. But it might be the day she met the one she seeked...
Her name is Esasban and she has no magic.
