TRAGEDY
As the crowds receded and the village settled into sleep, Tsi, sitting on his windowsill, looked up at the night sky. Looking at the stars comforted him. It let him take his mind off of his training and reminisce upon all of the fond memories he kept with him while living in that little village of Myet. It reminded him of the times when he used to live at the orphanage, the stories he heard of his parents, and the day he began living on his own. He liked to dwell on these memories. They put him at ease whenever he felt sad or lonely, and they comforted and cradled him until his soul was entirely at peace.
After taking one last look at the stars, Tsi turned his head to check his clock.
"11:30," he calmly said to himself, "Time to get to bed."
As Tsi lay there in his bed, he looked out of his window and could see the moon. He had heard many stories about the moon and how its powers were supposed to be as mysterious as the moon itself. He had always wondered if the stories he heard were true. As Tsi gazed at the moon, he could feel himself drifting away. He kept a very watchful eye on the shining sphere before him until his eyes became too heavy to keep open, and he slowly drifted off to sleep.
There's so much light. An entire world illuminated in a soft, pale glow. A child runs toward two silhouettes basking in the light.
"Mommy! Daddy!" the child calls.
"Here, Tsi!" his mother calls.
"Over here son!" adds his father.
The child runs toward the two silhouettes, smiling, laughing as he goes.
"Come on sweetie! Come to Mommy!" says his, holding her arms out wide.
The child still runs to his parents, never missing a step. He nearly reaches them, and then suddenly, an enormous fire engulfs the two in a great blaze. The child watches in horror as the they burn amidst the flames, able to do nothing but listen to the screams of his two burning loved ones. The boy screams in terror, and finally, Tsi awakens from his dream.
"No!" Tsi shouted as he sat up in his bed. Tsi looked down at his hands as they gripped the covers. He shut his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Relax," he said to himself, "it was only a dream."
Tsi slowly climbed out of his bed, went to his window, and looked up at the stars.
"Mom, Dad," he began, "I wish I could remember you. I've heard so many stories about you guys from the Shaman, but… I just wish that… I just wish you could've been there today."
Tsi looked up into the night sky and thought, "I wonder if they're watching me right now."
Tsi's thoughts were abruptly interrupted, however, as an enormous explosion erupted from the town square.
"What the Hell!" exclaimed Tsi as he saw the village instantly ignite.
Tsi quickly retrieved his sword from his bedside, leaped from his second-floor window and dashed toward the burning houses immediately after landing. As he came to the source of the chaos, Tsi encountered a badly wounded Terrian crawling on the ground.
"Noah!" Tsi called out as he bent down to hear the wounded Terrian, "Noah, what happened to you?"
Noah could not speak, for he was already near death. All he could do before dying in Tsi's arms was point toward the flames. Tsi looked into the inferno and witnessed a terrible sight. The villagers were being attacked and killed by a vicious horde of demons as the rest of the Terrians tried to hold them off. He saw his companions being slaughtered by these creatures and a great rage began to run through his blood.
Suddenly, a demon with a murderous look in its eyes leapt from the flames and set its sights on Tsi, screaming madly as it attempted to pounce on him. Its body was covered in black scales, it stood on all-fours, and spines lined it's shoulders, and down its back to the end of its tail, decreasing in size as they grew closer to the tip of the tail. The demon also had two long, curved horns protruding from its skull, many razor-sharp teeth, and blank, golden eyes that seemed to only harbor a savage hatred.
Tsi quickly unsheathed his sword as he charged toward his opponent. He leaped into the air, and with a furious look in his eyes, decapitated the demon with a single slash of his katana.
Tsi looked around anxiously to see if there were any other demons preparing to attack him, but instead caught eye of his friend, Gill. Gill was fighting off a small group of demons in the distance. Tsi was about to call to his fellow Terrian, when he noticed a movement in the flames behind Gill.
Tsi shouted out, "Gill!" but Gill could not hear him.
"Dammit!" exclaimed Tsi as he ran toward the flames with his sword in hand,
"Oh no" he continued, "I'm not going to make it!"
Tsi made one last attempt to reach his friend, "Gill! Behind you!"
No sooner did the cry escape Tsi's lips that another demon leaped from the flames toward the young fighter, Gill. Gill heard the cries of his friend, and without a single moment to spare, turned to his backside, and drove the blade of his katana through the top of the demons mouth and out through the top of its skull. He rolled onto his back, gave the demon a kick to its chest, and sent it flying off of his sword.
Tsi, relieved, came to Gill's side.
"Gill," he said, "what's going on? What happened here?"
"Not a clue," answered Gill, "all we know is that there was an explosion and now the place is crawling with demons."
Gill's attention quickly shifted to something above Tsi. He shouted, "Watch out!" and Tsi quickly turned around to find another demon airborne over his head. Tsi immediately took to his sword, leaped into the air, and as he landed, so did the two halves of the demon's body. Tsi and Gill stood ready, back-to-back.
"Where are they all coming from?" asked Gill.
"This is bad," responds Tsi, nervously, "we're surrounded."
Indeed they were. An eight-demon circle began to slowly close in on the two Terrians. Gill looked around and saw that all of his fellow Terrians had been killed by the demon horde.
"We're the last one's, Tsi," said Gill as he turned his head toward Tsi, "any ideas?"
Tsi made a low growl before answering, "Half for you, half for me, I guess."
Gill smiled and replied, "Right."
The demons surrounding them were now no more than a sword's length away from the two fighters. Suddenly, as the demons were clearly preparing to pounce, they all hesitated, and then backed off. They moved their heads around as if they were searching for something, and then they scuttled away into the burning village.
"What happened?" asked Gill.
"I don't know," answered Tsi, "but they looked like… they were scared."
"Scared?" asked Gill, "What could possibly be gruesome enough that it would scare those monsters?"
Gill's question was answered immediately when both he and Tsi heard a deep growl come from within the bonfire burning next to them. They tried to see through the blaze in hopes to discover what was making that horrid sound, and they did. The two warriors looked on in aw, as slowly, sinisterly rising from the flames was a creature the likes of which they had never seen. It hissed loudly as it set its sights on the two youths.
The beast greatly resembled the demons that Tsi and Gill were fighting earlier, except for its size must have been at least fifty times that of the other demons and the protrusions on its body were much more exaggerated. Tsi and Gill would also find that, unlike its smaller counterparts, this demon could breathe fire.
Both Tsi and Gill, jumping in opposite directions, dodged the first fireball just before it landed. The demon turned its attention to Gill and attempted to crush him with its massive tail. Gill dodged the attack and saw the earth shatter beneath the demon's tail as it was slammed into the ground. Tsi shouted out to the demon, "Hey! Dragon breath!" and the demon made another loud hiss as it quickly turned its head toward Tsi. No sooner did the demon lock its gaze on Tsi did the Terrian warrior slash the air before him, emitting a blur of sheer force from the blade of his katana. Though his attack was a direct hit, the demon remained unshaken.
"What!?" exclaimed Tsi as the demon opened its mouth and shot another fireball from it. Though Tsi could not dodge the attack in time, the fireball still did not strike him, for his friend, Gill had intervened to take the attack in Tsi's place. Gill was blown backwards into Tsi's body by the impact and it sent both of the two fighters flying. Both were slammed into the ground as they landed.
"Gill!" shouted Tsi as he sat up, but he could not tend to his friend, for the demon was attempting another attack with its tail. Tsi took hold of Gill as he leaped into the air in order to dodge the attack and placed his friend on the ground after landing. He armed his sword, and then turned to the demon.
"Gill," said Tsi, "can you still fight?"
Gill's voice was strained as he answered, "Sorry, Tsi. He hit me pretty hard."
"It's alright," replied Tsi, "you just rest my friend. I'll take it from here."
As Tsi ran toward the demon, sounding his battle cry, the demon shot another fireball from its mouth. Tsi countered the attack with the blade of his sword, but to his great dismay, it seemed as though the demon may really had been too strong as Tsi witnessed his blade come in contact with the demon's fireball, and then shatter. Tsi was knocked off his feet and onto his back.
"Oh no," said Tsi as he looked at his broken sword. He didn't know how he was going to defeat this demon without a weapon, and as he tried to contemplate a plan, that same demon had already launched another fiery attack his way. By the time it caught Tsi's eye, it was too late. There was no way he could dodge the attack in time. As Tsi looked up into the hellfire that would surely seal his fate, only a single thought was able to enter his mind, "No."
Suddenly, as the demon's fireball nearly hit its target, it exploded, and a bright flash of light, forcing Tsi to shield his eyes, took its place. Tsi lowered his arms to discover a strange Broadsword emitting a radiant glow suspended in the air before him. Tsi took to his feet, and then slowly reached out to take the sword. As his hands gripped its handle, a single word, without any thought or provocation, escaped Tsi's lips, "Stratos."
Though Tsi would have liked to try and contemplate what was happening, there was no time, for the demon had started toward Tsi, the ground shaking beneath its feet. It opened its mouth and attempted to capture Tsi in its enormous jaws. Tsi dodged to the side of the demon's head, looked it in the eye for no more than a moment, and then took his sword to it. The demon screamed in pain as its blood spouted from its eye. It reared up, and the very earth quaked as it fell onto its back.
Though Tsi obviously had other things to worry about, he couldn't help but notice how unbelievably light the sword was.
The wounded Gill looked on at the battle. "Tsi…" he said, astounded, "this is unreal."
The demon struggled back onto its feet. It directed a furious look at Tsi with the one eye it had left and hissed at him. The demon launched another fireball at Tsi and the blood running down the side of its face was blown off of the demon's black skin by the sheer force of the attack. Tsi slashed the air with his sword, emitting another wave of energy. The two opponent's attacks collided and dissipated simultaneously.
The demon then attacked again with its tail. Tsi jumped up onto the demons tail and began to run along its back. When he got up to the demons head, Tsi looked into the remaining eye of his opponent and firmly said, "You lose."
Tsi then lifted his sword and drove it into the top of the demons skull. A bright light shot from the wound as the demon screamed and thrashed wildly. The demon let out one last roar, and then finally fell to the ground, dead.
Tsi, his opponent defeated, turned to his friend Gill, but had no time to tend to his wounded comrade. As soon as Tsi turned his back on the fallen demon, he heard a voice come from behind him.
"Well done, Terrian," said the voice.
Tsi turned around and saw no one there.
Gill shouted, "Tsi, above you!" and Tsi looked up to see a masked being wearing a bone-white, hooded cloak with torn edges, suspended high above him.
"So, your name is Tsi, is it?" said the hooded man, "Quite impressive that a mere boy such as you could slay a demon of this caliber. However, I'm afraid you will not have such luck while fighting me."
Tsi armed his sword and addressed the hooded man.
"Who are you!?" he asked, but the hooded man said nothing. Instead, he took one hand out from underneath his cloak.
Tsi thought to himself, "What's he up to?"
Then, suddenly, a small light took the shape of a sphere in the hooded man's hand. A single strobe flashed from it, and then a blurred wave of force, so powerful that it smothered the very flames that had engulfed nearly half the village, bombarded the two warriors. This wave made an unbearable, gut-wrenching sound as it shattered the earth beneath Tsi's feet.
Tsi cried out in pain as the waves of energy crashed down upon him. As hard as he tried to resist, it was no use. His body became heavy, his muscles grew week, the sheer power of the attack completely overwhelmed him, and then finally, Tsi passed out.