The Chronicles of Weyard
By Claviculae
Chapter 10: Confrontation
The memory of the vision came flooding back. Every moment of it was played back. The ship dropping off swarms of assassins, how they infiltrated the town, and how, when the order was given, they massacred the innocents. Men, women, and even children were put to the sword. Santur watched as the men grabbed whatever they could find and tried to defend the women and children. Some grabbed actual swords, some shovels, and others had only torches. Then, the bright light and explosive blast of fire. He also saw himself and his comrades killing the assassins. As he ran over it in his mind, however, he realized that the Psynergy that was flying throughout the battle wasn't completely accounted for. Of course he and his friends were talented, but even they couldn't blow off that much energy.
'That's too confusing,' Santur thought, looking down and enjoying the view. Never before had he seen a view from such an altitude. He had gotten a couple rides on small pet dragons, but they only went fifty feet or so off of the ground. Now he was thousands of feet up, flying at unbelievable speeds. He could see the continent of Osenia. He could even see the city of Alhafra, the place they were rushing to in the hopes of preventing a bloodbath. Jupiten whinnied and tossed his head. Santur cast Mind Read. 'Santur! Look down there!' Santur followed his horse's gaze down at the ocean. There, far below, was the ship that they so desperately wanted to stop. Santur considered swooping down onto it, but realized that there was no use in that: the ship had reached the shore. The fanatics swarmed out of it and into the city. Two minutes later, the battle cry was issued.
Jupiten swooped down and landed gracefully on the beach. Almost immediately, two fireballs hit the ground, exploding into a blaze. Out of the blaze rode Maror and Maris. A loud splash was heard as Mercurin jumped out of the water and landed next to Jupiten. Then, out of the sand leapt Venusit, carrying Brigg on his back. With all the horses and riders accounted for, Santur leapt off Jupiten. "Quick! Gandas and Goman, set their ship on fire!" Gandas nodded and held his hand up as a huge wall of fire came crashing into the ship. Goman held his hand out and charged up. He slammed the glowing ball of energy into the ground. At that instant, a searing flow of lava shot up from the ground beneath the water the ship was floating on. There was a hissing noise as the lava evaporated large quantities of seawater. The ship began to burn. Suddenly, Maris neighed and ran to the front of the ship. A glowing aura encircled him as he reared into the air. From the aura came a beam of intense heat that shot straight into the ship, radiating out from it. Santur suddenly realized were all the extra Psynergy attacks in his vision came from. The horses were Adepts as well!
There was a ground-rocking explosion as the heat waves hit the explosive propellant used in the ship's weapons. Aided by Goman's Eruption attack, a large part of the ship's midsection went flying straight up, burning brightly. The sounds of battle coming from the city suddenly ceased, leaving only the sounds of the living mourning the dead. Then, a cry of terror pierced the air as those who were occupied with merciless, pointless killing realized what was happening. The Gray Company assassins started rushing for the beach, not realizing that their ship was already demolished. Santur drew his sword and his friends followed suit. The horses all whinnied and an aura began to encircle them. "I wonder how they do that." Meron said, noting the deep-blue haze surrounding her steed. She walked up to Mercurin and touched the horse's neck, establishing a mind link. 'Mercurin, what is that aura?' 'What? You mean that they didn't teach you about that? Oh, I suppose we had to leave early and rush here. The aura is an improved type of Psynergy. Here, let us equip you humans with it.' Mercurin nickered at the others. They all walked up to their riders. There was a blinding flash as the aura from each horse encircled the rider. Then, as quickly as it had appeared, it vanished. But something was different. Brigg was the first to notice it. "Hey, I have an aura around me!" The others looked at Brigg. Sure enough, the golden haze was visible around him. Santur looked at himself. "Hey, me too!" They all looked at themselves. 'There, Meron. Now you're a true Adept!' Mercurin thought. 'Oh, and one more thing. Use your new weapons!' Meron relayed the message to the rest. Santur sheathed his sword and drew out his boomerang. "Time to test this." he said as the swarm of assassins rushed onto the beach.
He threw the boomerang at the crowd, then focused his mind on it. It swerved and circled a man's neck, the sharpened edge easily cutting the soft flesh. The man screamed and dropped as the bloodstained boomerang returned to Santur. He threw it again, this time guiding it around a man's arm, cutting it off. On the next try, he guided it much closer to the neck. The decapitated body collapsed as the head fell to the ground. He was getting braver. He threw it again, this time guiding it straight at a man's chest. It passed through, leaving the man looking suprised. Then, as the assassin noticed the blood pouring out of the slit in his chest, he realized what had happened. He grimaced, clutching at the bloodstained wound, then fell facedown on the ground. He did not move again. Meanwhile, Santur was learning more and more about his boomerang. He threw it at what appeared to be a leader, spinning it at the last minute so that, while the entrance wound was horizontal, the exit wound was vertical. The man yelled as he fell forward, staining the ground with blood. Santur was suprised at how fast the boomerang could move. He threw it in the air and watched as it flew straight above the swarm of killers. He brought it down on a man who was standing still, not sure of what to do at the sight of his ship burning. The boomerang came down and made contact. The man didn't feel it hit. Santur caught the boomerang and watched as the two halves of the man he had just killed fell in opposite directions.
Meron was experimenting with her special deck of cards. As a man came running towards her with his sword drawn, she flipped a card off the top of the deck and threw it at him. It swerved up, stopping at about ten feet. The man didn't see the card, nor did he feel the bolt of lightning that struck him. He merely fell to the ground, unconscious. The card returned to her and she slid it back into the deck. She drew another card and looked at it. It had a picture of bright red flames. She glanced around and targeted another man. She threw the card in the air and watched as it shot out a stream of incinerating flames, leaving nothing left of the killer save for a pile of ash. The card flew back and she returned it to the deck. The assassin next to the victim, having been seriously scalded, noticed Meron and charged. He was met with a cloud of gas. The gas shrouded him and his coughing was audible. The card that was spraying the gas returned to Meron's deck. The man, now completely confused and deluded, tried again to charge Meron. But with the foggy vision that he had, he managed to miss her by about three feet. He screamed as he felt numerous thorny vines grasp him. He was tangled in them, being poked everywhere. The vines vanished and the card returned. Wounded and bleeding, he ran at her again, only to be impaled by the numerous spikes of ice that were hurtling towards him, thanks to her Psynergy. As he ran forward, barraged by the pointed darts, he tripped and flew headlong into the stream of them. He fell down and didn't move.
Brigg was having fun with his hammer. Hydromin was correct. The hammer was light, but carried the momentum of a charging elephant. All he had to do was swing it at a man and he would fly backward about twenty feet. As he was swinging, bashing, and breaking, Gandas and Goman were trying their whips out. The long braided strands of leather were tough and had a bite to them. Once they were burning, they became instruments of destruction. They could wrap an enemy's neck and burn it open, or whip him to shreds, or wrap him up and throw him. Gandas and Goman fought back to back, whips in one hand and swords in the other. The horses helped out where they could. Jupiten and Mercurin stayed by their rider's side, trampling some and blasting others with their powerful Psynergy. Members of the Gray Company avoided them completely, knowing that the creatures could kill them instantly. Venusit, Maris, and Maror all wandered the beach, chasing down enemies and killing them. More than once was the bright light from their auras was seen flaring up as they sent their energy flying.
Suddenly, one of the assassins looked up in the sky and screamed. The rest looked up as well, but never saw it coming. The earth reeled as a massive meteor struck the group, killing a dozen or more of the assassins. Santur looked at the source of the attack. "Nice one, Gandas. My turn." He unleashed four of his Djinn, then held up his hand. A rainbow-colored circular outline appeared in the sky. It started spinning, then blasted down to the ground. There stood a massive human carrying a large stone hammer. He looked at the assassins then raised his hammer. Thousands of bright bolts shot out of it, killing some and stunning others. He vanished. Santur looked at Meron. "Go ahead!" he shouted. She nodded and unleashed four of her Djinn. She then held up her hand as the Djinn drained their power. Then, from the north came an incredible shower of ice slush that hit the assassins and froze. It built up into a small glacier before a glowing arrow came flying from the same direction and hit the block of ice. It shattered, leaving many of the assassins dead. But a full half still remained. And they were angry now. They redoubled their attack, becoming fiercer by the minute. Santur put his boomerang away and drew his sword. The others followed his example, ready for the final showdown. Santur assumed a defensive stance as they came rushing towards him. The killers stopped and stared behind him, a look of sheer terror washing over their faces. A large portal had opened behind Santur and from it came a flood of golden light. The wave advanced, passing through Santur without touching him. When it came to the assassins, however, there was an incredible crashing bang as the killers went flying.
When the smoke and dust cleared, all that was left was a pile of bodies. Brigg's Djinn jumped back onto him, resting after that surge of power. "Well, that sure went fast," Santur commented. Gandas nodded. "Now what?" Goman asked. Santur opened his mouth to answer, but froze in that position. Finally, he closed his mouth and shut his eyes. Meron quickly ran up and touched him. "Everyone! Get over here!" she hissed. They all gathered around. "Join hands!" she ordered. Brigg grabbed Gandas' hand, who grabbed Goman, who was holding Meron's hand. At once the vision came flooding in. There, standing in the darkness, were the two Mars people that had caused so much trouble. But they weren't just people. They were Adepts. Brigg gasped as he recognized them. "The victors from Colosso, several years back! What are you doing here?" he asked. "Welcome, Brigg. And everyone else. Let's see, I know everyone here, even you, Goman." the man answered. "Well, the reason we're here is to warn you. Watch your back. We're after you, Santur, because you're the leader of the pack. You may not know it yet, but you are destined to do a great harm to Weyard. A harm that we worked hard and almost died to prevent. We have to stop you before you commit that act." Santur looked confused. "What act? What have I ever done?" "Nothing, yet. But you will. And that's why we have to stop you." "Were did you become an Adept?" Gandas interrupted. "I know what you're thinking." the woman answered. "You're thinking that the Lemurians would never grant the title of Adept to people like us. But we have not been given that title. We were born with it." "Since when is anyone born with the sacred title?" Meron asked. "You do not understand, young lady. We do not come from the same world as you. We do hail from Weyard, but from a very different Weyard than the one you live in. In our home, Alchemy bairly exists. Very few people even have Psynergy. Its power is virtually unknown. In our home, we strived to bring Weyard into a golden age, and for a while it seemed our efforts were for naught. But then an unexpected twist of fate gave us the advantage. Our enemy switched sides and started to help us. With their help, we managed to break the seal. Alchemy was freed, and it did bring Weyard into a golden age. But now, our archenemy, the boss of the one whom switched sides, is at it again. He wishes to seal Alchemy again and bring Weyard to destruction. Even now, he is trying to use Santur to accomplish that goal." "Albert?" Santur asked, shocked. The man, seeing the look on his face, reassured Santur. "No, not Albert. Someone who has visited Santur a few times in dreams. If he can get Santur to seal Alchemy, then Weyard will wither and die. That cannot be allowed. We will stop you, Santur, if it costs us our lives." With that, they vanished, leaving the group standing there, not sure of what to do.
Santur looked around then noticed the ship. It had stopped burning when Meron had summoned Boreas. Some of the slush had hit the flames. "Let's go. Break the ship up and put the wood all over the beach. We're going to burn the bodies." He walked up to the ship and pulled out his boomerang. He threw it, then guided it around the mast numerous times, slicing it clean. The boomerang returned and the mast fell. Brigg walked up to the side of the ship and pulled out his hammer. He brought it back over his head, then swung it full force into the side of the ship, busting half the wall away. The others set to work hauling the scraps to the beach and spreading them out over the bodies. When they had reduced the ship to scrap and covered the beach with timber, Santur walked up to Goman. "You know that liquid used in burning weapons?" Goman nodded. "Drench this place with it. I'll help." They set to work drenching the beach in it. When they had saturated the whole beach, they climbed on their steeds. Everyone but Gandas and Goman on their horses retreated into the water. Maror and Maris whinnied as they dissolved into flame. As the fire hit the ground, there was a roar. The beach burst into towering flames that shot hundreds of feet into the air. The heat was incredible. The flames burned for several minutes before vanishing as fast as they had appeared, leaving only two patches of flame on the ground. From these leapt Maror and Maris, Gandas and Goman safely on their backs.
"Well, Santur, what now?" Goman asked. "We go into town and help bury the dead." Santur replied solemnly. They rode into the city and helped haul the bodies to the mass graves that were being dug. By morning their job was done, leaving time for a quiet service in honor of the dead. The death toll was ninety-two, out of a population of over ten thousand. If Santur and his friends hadn't intervened, the whole city would have been massacred and burned. They spent the day and night sleeping at the inn, then set off in the morning to return to Kalay.
Wow, sad chapter. Now I have to come up with a long ending message to make my necessary three thousand words. What did you think of it? I know that some of you have been waiting for this, and I hope I didn't disappoint anyone. Sorry that it's taking so long to update, but this has been my busiest summer ever and my parents don't let me get on a computer now until after 4:00. On top of everything I need to do, this doesn't leave too much time for fanfic. But I am trying. Note: If you haven't figured out who the two Mars Adepts are, you've either never played Golden Sun or you have the mental capacity of roofing tar. Oh, and one person has already figured out who Albert is. :^) Now let's see if anyone can figure out were the test battle between Santur, Meron, Gandas, Cuman, Guman, and Protan is from. To those of you who have been reviewing, thank you. To those of you who haven't been reviewing, I'm tracking your IP so I can attack your computer via email viruses and SPAM! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA! Please review. Pretty please. And please email me feedback. Pretty please with sugar on top. Thanx.
Claviculae
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6/25/03
9:54 PM
22 paragraphs
246 lines
3015 words