(Cat-eared author sips milk from a teacup)
Ohayo, min'na-san! (bows)
A quick update! Be amazed! This is my quickest one next to when I first started and posted the prologue and Chapter One at the same time.
Anywho… (flips open fan showing the kanji for 'heart')
I was so happy to finish Malik's first Chapter that I sat down just after posting it and started working on Chapter Five (thus this page, duh). This one is with the Four Swordsmen, Rafael, Almelda, Valon and Mai (I know she's a woman, but I don't think she minds being referred to as a swordsman).
Now, another surprise awaits. Please enjoy yourself. (Bows as the curtain falls)
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Chapter Five: Four Swordsmen…
Amelda stood in the aerie as he stroked his tired eagle's brow, the other great birds that he cared for calling out their welcome for his safe return. He stepped out of his mount's den, with his jacket draped over his arm—without it one could see that his fingerless gloves went all the way up to the pit of his arms—he headed towards the main stairway.
His trip was interrupted, however, when a red dragon with a chain dangling from around its neck landed in the aerie with a 'boom!' Amelda turned his silver gaze to the dragon's rider as she jumped down in a wave of gold hair against a violet garb; his eyes narrowed into a glare when the woman was soon joined by three Harpies.
"Do you have to make such a racket?" He asked. "I'm willing to put up with your giant lizard since birds are one of the two relatives of dragons, but those sky whores upset my birds every time they breathe!"
Mai's violet gaze narrowed to match Amelda's. Petting her three harpies to calm their hissing as well as her own boiling temper, she brushed some stray blonde hair back over her shoulder haughtily. "They can deal with it," she said. "My girls don't cause any trouble unless they feel threatened."
Such an incident had occurred when Mai had first joined them, and it resulted in the death of one of Amelda's great birds. Since that time, the red-haired youth had not thought highly of or been on the best terms with the Harpy keeper.
"Well, let's hope they've gotten braver since they were last here then," Amelda retorted.
Mai's eyes flashed dangerously and she reached for her sword. "I dare—"
"Knock it off, you two!"
The two looked back toward the sky entrance of the aerie as Rafael landed by Mai's dragon and was soon joined by Valon on the last of Amelda's eagles. Mai's Harpies forgot their anger toward the caretaker of the aeries as they caught sight of Rafael and his great white wings, but their own keeper quickly ushered them away to their own den further up and they reluctantly complied.
"Save your bickering for a time we can afford it," the man went on as his wings disappeared and a series of left over feathers fell to the ground around his ankles. "Amelda, Valon needs your treatment."
The redhead snapped to attention and rushed over to his fellow swordsman, Mai in reluctant tow.
Valon clambered off the bird's back, hissing as he leaned against it and held his injured arm. "It's nothing, 'Mel," he smirked. "Really, I'm okay."
Amelda was usually one to disagree with Valon on a lot of things, and upon seeing the multiple cuts and gashes on his comrade's arm he wholly disagreed that Valon's injury was nothing. "How did this happen?"
Sighing, Valon took off his glove and elbow pad. "I formed a gauntlet and that king kid blew it apart," he replied.
Hearing that, Amelda looked his arm over, checking for shards of metal; finding none, he pulled a small jar of slave out of his belt pouch as well as a roll of bandages and proceeded to apply first aid. Once he finished binding Valon's arm, he looked over the smaller injuries that decorated his comrade's epidermis and caught sight of his right glove.
Seeing the middle piece was missing, his silver eyes widened and he looked back at Valon. The brown-haired youth snatched his hand back and held it in his bandaged one in heavy silence.
"What is it now?" Mai snapped.
"Complications," was Rafael's only reply as he pulled on his dark purple jacket and turned towards the stairs. Pulling his own black jacket back on, Amelda followed after him and then came Mai and Valon—though the first tried to stay a little ahead of her walking companion.
Together the four left the aerie and descended the spiral stairway, passing into a cold darkness. Mai shivered as her eyes refused to adjust to the thick blackness and Valon touched her shoulder in reassurance, but she quickly slapped it off.
They made it to the base of the stairs and continued down the torchlit hall, the statues of snakes lining the way. After a short while, they arrived at the end of the hall and met a pair of stone eyes glowing with fire carved into the wall at the top of a small stairway. Stopping at the base of the stairs, the four each dropped to one knee.
The figure standing before the burning eyes turned to face his four swordsmen, and none could suppress the shiver under his unseeable gaze.
He was over seven feet tall; his hair was the color of drying blood and went down to his hidden ankles. He wore black robes covered by dark violet armor and a black cape; the only skin you could see belonged to his clawed hands which looked as though they had been burned.
His face was sealed behind a half featureless mask; on the right side it was pure white with only a blue line trailing down from the brow, while the left side appeared to have been sewn into place and was the same burnt-skin color as his hands with black lines forming a circle around a pure gold eye that was frequently seen in the desert regions of the world.
This was the High Priest Akunadin.
"You have returned." His voice was like a whisper echoing in a tomb.
"We have, Master," Rafael, as leader of the Swordsmen, spoke for all four.
The dark creature known as Akunadin held out his right hand; the green stone embedded in his gauntlet began to glow and the same array that had appeared for each swordsman's mission formed inside it. One by one, the stones in the palms of their gloves appeared hovering in the priest's hand.
All but one.
"Valon…" The black-clad priest hissed dangerously.
Mai's violet eyes widened and shot to the younger swordsmen on her left, whose slate-blue gaze was centered on the ground.
"Where is the Pharaoh?"
The fist resting on the ground tightened. "Gone…"
Akunadin's left gauntlet shone faint gold and Valon cried out as the gold ring which held the blue-green stone began to burn.
"How?"
Valon gripped his hand as he leaned forward; he became vaguely aware of his comrades wach resting a hand in his back. Focusing on the feminine hand touching his right shoulder, he forced himself to speak. "I was…attacked…!" He said. "A kid…took the stone…and smashed it...!"
"One of the Four Swordsman under my command was unable to deal with one boy?" As Akunadin spoke the burn of the gold ring intensified.
"He…wasn't…normal!" Valon screamed. "He...he cracked…the sssseal barrier!"
At that, the three other swordsmen jerked and Akunadin ceased in his punishment. "Speak."
Valon took as short a moment he could to catch his breath, lest he anger his master again, and raised his slate-blue eyes to meet the expressionless mask. "He made cracks in the Seal of…Orichalcos…" the youth panted. "And made 'em…spread when he…took a sword to it… I got the Pharaoh…before he could break it…but then he attacked me while…I was in flight…and the stone fell…breaking apart…and it disappeared…"
Akunadin took this information in silence, no sound or movement was made to indicate what he was thinking. Finally, after a short while that stretched for hours, he spoke. "This boy… What was his appearance?"
"Regular dark skin…" Valon replied. "But, his hair…it was a weird, sandy-blond color…and his eyes were purple…"
Akunadin fell silent again.
Rafael chose to take this opportunity to voice his own experience. "Master, may I be permitted to speak?"
The half featureless mask turned in his direction; taking that as a 'yes,' he proceeded.
"A similar event occurred when I was sent to the Black Dragon Kingdom," Rafael said. "A young woman with hair like fire damaged the Seal as well."
"With me also," Amelda interjected. "The second prince of the royal family did the same thing."
All eyes then turned to Mai; her only reply was a curt nod.
"Who was the assailant?" Akunadin inquired.
"Some guy with silver hair," the woman replied. "He has one eye, though; Scarlet made sure of that."
Letting silence reign again, the Priest turned with a rush of his cloak and stalked off into the shadows without a word. After a few minutes of waiting, the four swordsmen left the hall, Rafael supporting Valon.
As the four walked, Mai felt Valon's eyes on her and she turned to find him managing a weak smile at her. The blonde woman huffed, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "I should've figured that you would screw things up!" She said. "You never cease to fail, do you?"
Valon just shrugged weakly, his smile never faltering.
Scoffing, she turned her eyes back to the front, but then glanced at Rafael out of the corner of her violet eye. "Hey, Raf…" He tilted his head in her direction. "That girl you said you fought with…what happened to her?"
The man shrugged. "I left her alive, but whether or not she recovers from attacking the Seal is another story."
"Hm…" Mai quickly tossed her hair again, this time hitting Amelda right in the face.
"Would you quit that!"
Huffing, Mai quickened her pace and disappeared as she took a random turn.
"I really hate that woman!" The wine-red-haired youth looked back at his injured comrade to see he was still smiling. "What do you see in her?"
Valon shrugged. "Myself…?"
- - -
Akunadin stood in a spacious room, the dim torches circling the room revealed the floor, walls and ceiling to be made of slabs of stone, each decorated with a different victim frozen in terror.
He then began chanting in a venomous language with sharp edges that would cause pain to any who heard it, and cause some to kill themselves to be free of it. The small torches exploded and the flames wrapped around him.
When he next took note of his surroundings, Akunadin found himself in an enormous cavern. The walls were lined with statues of giants sitting on their own thrown, each without a face. In the very center of the cavern, seven columns inscribed with ancient symbols surrounded a great pyramid lit up by the hundreds of torches placed around it. However, the main light source originated from a red circle of strange letters surrounding a six-point star with and eye in the middle.
Standing at the base of the enormous stairway leading up to the pyramid, Akunadin fell to one knee. At the sign of submission two lights appeared before him, the first was blue-green and rippled like water while the second was like a ball of flame, red lined with dark purple.
"Great Masters, a threat has come to my attention."
/Do not come with concerns to your own life, Priest/ the red-purple flame reprimanded. /Your only purpose is to serve and awaken us./
/Souls…/ the blue-green light hissed. /Must feed… Must wake… NOW/
Akunadin held out the three stones containing the Black Dragon prince, the White Dragon heir and Red Dragon queen.
/Gold…/ the rippling light hissed. /Gold light… There is none…/
"Hence my coming to you now, my masters," Akunadin said humbly. "Those who can break the Seal of Orichalcos and strengthen your chains have appeared."
/Treachery/
"One whose mane is the undulating flame, one whose eyes surpass the blue of the center sky, one who sees with a single eye through falls of silver…and one bearing locks of the desert sand." The Priest said. "As the ancient text foretold time and time again."
The blue-green light writhed and rippled violently, hissing with rage and fear, while its counterpart burned brighter.
/They who bound me to the burning earth—not once, but twice/ It snarled. /They return again/
/Hate…/ The other hissed venomously. /Hate them…! I…hate…them/
"You must preserve your strength," Akunadin urged. "Your time of awakening and revenge in nigh, but you must be patient a little longer."
/Too long…! Been patient to long…/ The green-blue light snarled. /Hate…! Kill…/
The red-purple flame turned back to Akunadin. /Deal with the transgressors, priest/ it said. /Find the gold light and set us free./
Akunadin bowed. "It shall be done."
With that, the two lights vanished and the priest was alone.
- - -
Shadi gazed into the pool, even as the two poisonous lights faded and the water turned black again. The danger was far greater than he had first predicted, for it was not one but two demon gods seeking to wake again.
"Master Shadi…"
At the meek voice, the blue-eyed man turned to find a young woman standing behind him. She appeared to be about sixteen; her skin was the same dark color as Shadi's, but her eyes were dark brown and her hair was a sunshine-blonde. She wore a sleeveless dress the same color as the man's robes with a metal headband.
"Mana. Did you need something?"
The girl cast her eyes down to the water surrounding her ankles. "It's coming, isn't it?" She asked softly. "The Great Serpent…?"
Shadi did not respond and instead held out his arm, allowing her to take shelter against him and under his cloak. "Where is Mahaado?"
"Gazing," Mana replied. "He can feel the disturbances too…"
Nodding, the man fell silent.
There was nothing more he could do but wait. It was up to the chosen ones now to come to him.
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Hah! I bet you thought it was gonna be Dartz! You did, didn't ya! Haha!
For anyone wondering who the heck Akunadin is, he was one of the Seven Priests under the Pharaoh Atem; he was also Pharaoh Atem's uncle and Priest Seth's father. He was taken over by the dark forces and turned all cool-creepy as he released the evil creature known as Zorc.
Now you're probably wondering where Dartz is, right? Well, I'm not gonna tell you.
The Pyramid place that Akunadin went to is from a screen cap I found from one of the Playstation Games.
A few other things, the "Scarlet" Mai spoke of when talking about Pegasus would be her red-haired harpy. I know she doesn't have scarlet-red hair, but I couldn't come up with anything else. Hmm, maybe I'll call the other two "Cobalt" and "Ember." Yeah.
As for the Swordsmen, I always felt that they had a sort of brotherhood amongst each other. Of course they got into squabbles, but who doesn't? I always thought they got along well and were pretty happy together since they had each suffered a cruel fate.
Now a small headsup, the next couple of chapters will focus around the Gold, Red and White Dragon kingdoms' current handling of their loved ones' strange conditions, and then Black Dragon Kingdom in a difficult situation before I start combining the characters in their chapters.