Exbelua Calling For You
Part 1
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I made my way carefully down the scaffolding that was just outside into the darkness from the slightly less dark cave that I had been excavating in. I had been digging in the newest cave in the cliff face for almost ten hours. Another one of the archeology apprentices was supposed to relieve me almost four hours ago, but he hadn't shown up. So I had stayed and dug. My hands were red and blistered from the effort. Fortunately, I had brought my lunch, and it was large enough to hold me over for the entire day. I was pretty used to working long shifts, and I needed the Gald to buy my dog a new tracking collar. He kept getting out of the house, and he didn't know the streets well enough yet. He was a new puppy, I had just gotten him a week or so ago. I was glad he had been housebroken before I bought him.
Growing up as an orphan really made it important that I kept a pet. I confided in my pets, and they were really the only ones who I felt close to in the village. I had had a cat, but she had died about a month ago. I was done crying about that.
I was so deep in thought that I almost looked up too late. But I heard a noise in the street behind me, and I turned to look upon the most horrific thing I had ever seen.
There is nothing in the world, at any point in my life that scared me more than when I heard it say my name. It possessed a terrible voice, void of emotion. But I couldn't tell if the sound was made in my head, or if the creature actually spoke. I went cold. I literally felt my body temperature drop. I knew at that moment that I was going to die. But I wasn't killed. I was saved by a pink-haired girl.
With one powerful swing, she severed the monster's arms, and she severed its head in a back swing. Blood flew in a wide arc, soaking the street at my feet. I blinked, and stared open mouthed at the now dead creature.
"It is safe now." The girl moved under a streetlamp, and I could see that she was about my age. She was wearing a long black robe and was holding what appeared to be a mage's staff with a steel axe blade protruding near the tip. It was topped by a bright white gemstone, held in place by a curve in the wood. The girl's most noticeable features were her beautiful pink hair, and her piercing eyes. They had the look of great knowledge in them.
"Don't just stand there, we need to get moving. More of them could be here any moment." She strode off towards the residential area of Asgard, my home.
I was thoroughly confused, as well as terrified. What had that thing been? What was going on? What did she mean there were more?
The girl moved very swiftly, and I had to run to catch up with her. I tried to speak, but she motioned for me to be quiet. We peered around the corner. Two more of the creatures were walking away from us. The girl grabbed my hand and led me past the creatures quietly, and we slipped into a dark path behind a house. She checked to see if her route was clear, and then she guided me to the Vortex Inn, down a dirt path away from the ruins. She knocked quietly in some secretive way, and the door slipped open long enough to allow us entrance.
Only candles lit the room, I assumed this was because the girl didn't want to attract attention from the monsters outside. The candlelight fell upon two other people in the room. One had deep black hair, and he seemed to be older than anyone else. He wasn't old enough to be called a man, but the sword he held made him even more intimidating. He was wearing a rather ornate black and red dress suit. The other person was a girl with golden hair flowing down to just past her shoulders. She was dressed in a blue and golden cloak. She had bright emerald eyes, and I imagined that she would look very pretty if she smiled. Nobody was smiling however.
"I was right, he was at the newest cave. It is a very good thing that he stayed in there." The guy spoke in a voice that didn't seem friendly. She sat down in a chair across from the other two at the table.
The golden-haired girl spoke, "Wouldn't the exbeluas have been able to get at him anyway?" she sounded a bit confused. She had a gentle voice, one that matched her appearance. I saw that she shared a strong resemblance to the last of the Chosens.
My rescuer shook her head. "The only way to get to the cave is by ascending the scaffolding along the outside. I doubt that the creatures know how to climb, and they mightn't have even known about the cave. It is puzzling as to why he had been in the cave for so long, however," She then turned to me and asked, "Why were you in the cave for so long?"
I found that I couldn't speak. I was dumbfounded. All of this was happening o fast, and I had so many questions. I blurted out the first question that came to my mind. "Who are you?"
The guy with black hair rolled his eyes. "Didn't you even tell him your name?"
The pink-haired girl blinked. "No, I just realized that myself. I am Ozeta, and this is Brent," She gestured at the one who had just spoken, "And this is Razena," she pointed to the other girl, "You might know her as the daughter of Colette, the Final Chosen."
"I'm Hinto," I mumbled quietly.
"We know. That's why we're here." Razena pushed out a chair using her feet from the other side of the table. I realized I was still standing next to the door. I slowly moved to the table and sat down next to Ozeta.
"This guy is probably getting a headache from the confusion. Enlighten him, won't you Ozeta?" Brent leaned back in his chair, and put his feet on the table. Razena looked at his hiking boots with disgust.
"Two things, Brent. One, those boots go terribly with that suit. Two, keep your feet off the table, it isn't yours. You're just intimidating Hinto." Razena shoved Brent's feet off of the table with a sweep of her hand, resulting in him being knocked from his chair.
"Hey!" Brent sprang back up and shoved Razena lightly. She just grabbed his hand and held it. I saw that there was a relationship between them.
"Ignore those two dolts. I'm about to explain something to you that will change your life forever." Ozeta stated in a flat voice.
That got my attention. I looked at her with rapt attention. A clock in the next room struck ten o'clock PM.
"These creatures that are infesting the village? They used to be the village. They are called exbelua. They are mutant creatures that can be formed in three ways: One, thru use of an exsphere without proper maintenance and a key crest. Two, they can be formed thru force by a high amount of physical energy exerted solely on the transformation. And three, they can be manifested by a certain dark ritual."
What? The whole city was now monsters? Why? Who would do something like that? I used an exsphere myself! Was I in danger? I did have a key crest…
I choked on my words for a moment and then said, "Is there a way to… fix them?"
Ozeta shook her head solemnly. "Regrettably, there is not any easy way. If these exbeluas had been created by one of the first two methods, they could be saved using a technique that Razena's parents and my parents discovered sixteen years ago. But this last method is far more powerful. The ritual used to create them is capable of being performed only by the best magic users in either world. My father is one of the few that knows of the technique. According to him, the spell is not reversible unless the one who performed the spell dies. That is one of the other reasons we are here."
I let this sink in for a while, and then said, "You plan to kill the person who cast this spell? Why do you need me?"
"Notice how you were immune to the spell? It was an area spell, it should have affected you. But you have something of value that protects you from the spell, and those who you extend the spell to. That exsphere you have, it was given to you by your archeological professor, correct?"
"Yeah?"
"What do you know about it?"
I found my voice and said, "All I really know about exspheres is that they enhance strength and agility, and things like that, right? I had never seen one before I was asked to help with excavation. I was skeptical about it at first, but it seems to work."
"What you don't know is that exspheres are made from human lives."
"Ozeta! Don't tell him that!" Razena blurted. "He has enough to cope with!"
"He ought to know anyhow." She turned back to me. "And that exsphere you posses is different. My scholar, Raine, calls them Dyre Exspheres. They are illegal counterparts to exspheres, but share the same appearance. Some of them were made in secret and sold on the black market. They protect the user from most dark magical attacks. They are very powerful, but very lethal. The first time you put it on, you have a one in ten chance of dying outright. I believe that your archeological professor mistook that for a regular exsphere. The Dyre Exspheres have one other trait; you can extend the area of their affection, just the dark protection part, to as many individuals as you posses the mental strength to connect to. For example, if you establish a connection with me, I would be protected from dark magic, but my strength would not be enhanced. Connecting causes a great amount of mental strain, but you can be trained to hold connections even when hundreds of yards apart or during battle."
I tried my best to not look confused when I asked, "Did anyone else survive?"
"Still concerned about the villagers? As a matter of fact, yes. There was a girl who had the same kind of exsphere as you. She is in the other room, sleeping. I've already explained everything to her."
I racked my brain trying to come up with the name of a girl in the city who had an exsphere. I couldn't think of anyone. Of course, I really didn't keep close tabs on the other people in the city. It was then that I realized that everything that I had known was gone. My heart stopped for a second, and Ozeta brought me back to the conversation.
"She cannot use the Dyre Exsphere like you can however. It still protects her, but she cannot extend the range simply due to the fact that the Dyre Exspheres were designed to be used only by men."
"So you want me to…?"
"You must accompany us on our journey to destroy Nicadomatage, the powerful warlock who cast the spell. He has plans to use the ruins here at Asgard to summon a powerful demon, so he can destroy the peace of the two worlds. He has been corrupted by power that is nearly beyond even his grasp. Your ability to extend the range of your exsphere is quite powerful, and we have need of it."
"How do you know so much about me, about all of this? And why is it just us? Shouldn't we bring an army or something?"
"I knew the kid would ask that," Brent stood up. "You see kid, most of the major armies around have been massacred by lesser demons. Nicadomatage struck fast and critically. It only took about three hours for him to take out most major threats."
"As to how we know about you, I have an ability to locate anyone that I have met before, if they are not trying to hide. I did meet you once, when the swordplay semifinals were held near here, remember?"
I realized that I had seen Brent before. I recognized him as an incredible swordsman from a competition that I had attended. After the match, he had accidentally bumped into me while leaving, and dropped his case. I had helped him up and handed him his lost item, and he had thanked me. Brief, yes, but quite apparently it was important.
"And we know about your exsphere and professor because the girl told us. You probably know her, does the name Ginseng ring a bell?"
It did. She was the daughter of the proprietor of the Vortex Inn, where I stayed whenever the archeological building was used overnight for a meeting. I didn't know that she had an exsphere. "Yeah," I answered simply.
"The three of us were sent to search for any survivors of the spell. It appears to be the two of you only. Hinto, I'm afraid you don't have a choice in this matter. We need your exsphere. We need you."
"I- I- I have nowhere else to go. I suppose you are right. I will accompany you."
Razena looked at me. "I bet that you are really tired. You can sleep on the way to Hima. We are leaving immediately. There is a horse-drawn cart hidden just outside the city."
"Stay low and stay quiet." Stated Ozeta as she walked to the next room to wake Ginseng.
We waited a moment for everyone to get ready, then we snuck out and into the street. There were no exbeluas in sight for the whole trip, and we silently boarded our escape vessel. There were pillows in the back, and I spread out on them. Ginseng lay down next to me, and Razena sat just behind the driver's area. I double-checked that the back was latched so I wouldn't tumble out, and I pulled a blanket up to my chin. The back of the cart was open to the air, and I took note of the vast amount of stars covering the sky.
Ginseng fell back asleep immediately, she was very tired from today's events. I was considerably more exhausted than her, still dressed in my excavation gear, but I couldn't get to sleep quite so quickly. I recanted all of the events of the day in my mind, and I wondered how my life could have changed so dramatically in such a short time. I finally drifted into an uneasy sleep.
Back at the Vortex Inn, The clock struck eleven. The door buckled in on itself as an Exbelua broke the door down mercilessly. But the Inn was empty.
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-GangstaZombie