Chapter I V
Chapter 2 continued
Ephraim and Naressa, both, were frightened. The last time this had happened they had been severely wounded. Ephraim had become soaked with his own crimson wounds and Naressa almost had been exorcized from existence. This "King" character was quite troublesome for these two people. His minions always seemed to lurk behind them. Why? He had not known at the time. He had been following them ever since Naressa had barged into his quiet and peaceful, though boring, life.
He had expected to have an adventurous life. However, he did not expect to be branded with treason upon his name. The King never did have a positive connotation upon his name, but Ephraim did not expect him to be a murderous psychopath who would kill innocents to obtain what he wanted.
A few days after his encounter with Naressa, everything was explained to him through word of mouth. She explained to him why he was in constant danger and why he owned her. What he had to do to finally be free of this menacing foe, that had chosen Ephraim as his enemy, was retrieve several gems or stones with various, different powers. However, the power held in these elliptical rocks was far from small. The reason being because it was not magic, it was Life (or Death, rather). Spirits resided in these gems, and Naressa was one of them.
Ephraim had gotten Naressa from his Master. It was a graduation present of sorts, in a way. His master was a quite benevolent old man. He loved Ephraim like no other. He respected Ephraim, when no one else did. He treated Ephraim like a person while others treated him like an animal or outcast. Ephraim loved him just as much, if not more.
However, a tragic event occurred. He and his master were separated for all eternity. The King had killed him in his sleep, thinking that he was Ephraim. Through the King's many spies, he had found Ephraim to be a threat for he chose no side in the war between the two kingdoms present at this time. These two kingdoms were named Solaria and Lunaria. The present King was 'King' because of his victory over Lunaria. He was therefore, the King of both kingdoms, not just Solaria. The 'dark dust' showed the coming of his army, which is why it was a bad omen.
The blackish dust continued to advance, getting closer and closer every few seconds. The silhouettes of shadowy figures formed from the cloud of darkness. The dusty magic started to clear and Ephraim felt less oppressed by the atmosphere around him. Naressa readied herself as Ephraim transformed his weapon. "Scepter of Truth: Staff."
The scepter strapped to his back started to change dramatically as it presented itself into Ephraim's hand. A staff with many sockets lay on his palm. His fingers wrapped around the glowing weapon, the ribbons adorning the staff wrapping around his fingers individually.
The shadow-like figures were gaining quickly. Naressa started to glow as a slightly translucent light engulfed her person. She wore a gown of white and her sleeves were elongated at the end. Sorcery consisted of this type of clothing. She became much taller than her former child self. Her eyes were closed as if she was in deep thought and her hands were clasped together. Fans appeared in her hands, glistening with gold. The fan, itself, provoked a heritage of royalty, it consisting of feathers. A long string hung down from the end of the fan. A large sphere of crystal hung at the end of the ribbon-like thread.
The soldiers halted.
Ephraim, Naressa, and the girl next to them were surrounded.
The black figures finally seemed formidable. They seemed much more formidable than the formerly known 'black dust'. The knights held their pikes with great dignity and pride. A person shouted a command in Solarian and they lowered their pikes so that the tips were pointing directly towards them three. Naressa jumped holding both the girl and Ephraim. They soared through the air as if it were a cloud.
Naressa was an air sorceress. A powerful air spirit, actually. Ephraim was a summoner: one with great talent (and greed). He had summoned Naressa the moment he had received her as a graduation present. He was ecstatic… Naressa was depressed. Naressa, however even with her continuous complains and grudges, still stayed with Ephraim. She fought valiantly always, no matter how annoyed she was. Ephraim was her master after all.
She whispered inaudibly as her weapons started to glow. A gust of energy emanated from the tips of her weapons. The airy bolts sliced through at least ten of the soldiers with ease, impaling their way through them defeating at least ten more. Clouds of smoke started to form in each of the carcass' places.
Naressa sighed, "It's up to you now, Milord," as she then returned to her resting place: a crystal in Ephraim's staff. After she returned, Ephraim readied himself. His scepter transformed into a bow and arrow. He started chanting, the tip of his arrow pointed at his forehead. The pike men continued to jab as Ephraim continued to dodge with trouble. He was still tired from the long journey they had made from Paris to the remote city of Vinhara.
"From Truth (he dodged) comes Lies,
However from this comes (another dodge) Demise,
Show me your true Power, (a dodge)
And now (a dodge and a jump upward) Devour!
Pzah Czicn kahob Seob.
Mafodoz (dodge) pzah cneb kahob Lohebo.
Bnaf ho yaiz (dodge) czio Wafoz,
Uml maf (dodge) Lodaiz."
The arrow started to glow an eerie blue. Ribbons of light erupted from the tip. Each ribbon started to envelope around the pointed weapon. Ephraim fastened the glowing arrow to his angelic-white bow. He did not aim for any target, however. He aimed directly towards the sky.
The dark clouds immediately sucked in the glowing arrow. Fluorescent –blue lightning rained down from the low heavens. Each never missed a target, and the dark knights vanished into black cirrus-like puffs.
The lightning clouds that had appeared hung in the air, acting as if they didn't defeat all the enemies. Ephraim huffed and puffed as his lungs strained to continue breathing, his tiredness being from all the previous dodging and chanting.
"Naressa," Ephraim said apprehensively, "what is wrong with my 'Lightning Summon'?"
Naressa looked at Ephraim through her prison-sphere. She then spoke after a few seconds. "I'm not so sure, but the girl bears an aura and spiritual energy similar to mine."
The dark clouds in the air were immediately pierced with spears of light. Slowly, yet quickly (a 'slow quickness'… somehow…), the clouds were fed to the light. Each puff of Lightning makers was soon gone. Nothing was left except a circular pool of light underneath the girl.
Ironically, Ephraim had been so entranced by the lightshow he had forgotten to see where the piercing light was heading.
He turned his head slowly through the arid air (the mist being gone) of night as the moonlight showed its bright feelings. Tens of corpses stood surrounding him as he scanned the field. The blank and empty field brought an aura of hopelessness with and within it. Why did this feeling emanate from such a random town?
Ephraim then dared to look at the source of light. His eyes looked directly at the girl that he had rescued just minutes before. "Energies similar to yours?" Ephraim asked Naressa, "Interesting. Do you think she's one of you, Naressa?"
"I don't think," she replied, "I know."
The boy of fourteen gathered himself together through the apprehension and started to contemplate the situation correctly. "So if my calculations are correct, the spirit here is the one we've been searching for." He said as with an air of superiority.
Naressa, his companion, rolled her eyes in agreement (or so Ephraim took it as).
The boy's staff started to glow and the crystal he had found several months ago stumbled out of his pocket and started to float. A shimmering luminosity enveloped the girl and a vortex opened.
The sorcerer's bones felt as if they were going to stretch and tear the tendons holding them together as they went through the unending stitch in time. The pain continued until he could not take it anymore. At that very second, once he thought that he fell onto something hard on the floor.
The floor had a hard, chalky feeling to it. The air was oxygen-less, however, one could still breathe. Large craters were etched into the non-earthy ground. He pushed himself off the ground with ease. It also seemed as if the gravitational pull of this world was significantly less than Earth.
The light-blue, white-like crystal was still glowing with more power with every step taken towards a shimmering light.
"I challenge thee," a girl said pointing at him, the light slowly diminishing. "You hold my sacred Crystal of Wisdom, and I shall not let you imprison me!"
Ephráim smirked, that was exactly what he intended to do. "How will you stop m—" A great ball of blue light went past him interrupting his train of thought. He jumped away from it, flipping while in the air. "Pézo jüss," he whispered, flicking his staff sharply. A great fireball snaked its way towards the girl hitting her square in the chest.
Her eyes bulged as the pain sunk in, catching her off guard. However, there was plenty of fight left in her; Ephráim could see that, at least. He had to use Naressa if he wanted to capture her without difficulty.
"You cannot use your precious 'spirit'," she said laughing. She was no longer a girl; she was a woman, and a beautiful one, at that, as well. (Damn puberty to Hell) However, her appearance was deceiving compared to her true power.
"And why can't I, Selene," Ephráim asked, emphasizing Selene. There was a reason Ephráim did that. When a person knows a spirit's name, they have a certain amount of power over them. However, this did not work for guardian spirits such as Naressa and Selene. You had to defeat them to acquire them. Of course, they were significantly weaker in the testing area. If they weren't, what was the use for them? If you wanted a strong spirit to do something for you, wouldn't you want one stronger than you? These were the "Elite". The Elite were the guardians of the Elements and Nature. (Conceited, mutated, shriveled, and everything else unintelligible.) They kept the balance. If they were to fall into the hands of some 'Nobody', then who knows what would happen? (Well, there are many words for it) It would be chaos (Yes, that's a good word for it)! Physics has nothing to do with it.
"This is your test," Selene retorted, "and how do you know my name?"
"I read," Ephráim responded simply. My mistake, he is more conceited than the spirits. It's amusing at the least.
Selene smiled warmly. Of course, she did not want to be captured at any cost. However, this boy had saved her life! She owed him a debt of gratitude and that was Ephráim's most powerful weapon.
"What is your name," Selene asked mockingly as if Ephráim was a child (which he was; no doubt about that).
"My name is Ephráim," he replied simply, taking his glasses off and wiping and cleaning them on his robe, "however, that is not of your concern at the moment. Pézo jüss!" Ephráim screamed (well… not really, puberty and all) the spell with great gusto and sent a flurry of fire-like spheres towards the woman. The fireballs attacked their targets making smoke erupt from the all that were exposed to the onslaught. Ephráim's eyes kept themselves focused on the woman's location at all time. (Again… puberty.) He then waited patiently (Haha! Patience + Ephráim Death) for the smoke to clear.
Just then, a great ball of celestial energy surged through the smoke and pummeled him in the knee, making him scream in agony. "What the hell just happened!" he asked himself in terror (Well, he was too conceited to be terrified; he was more angry than terrified). The smoke then cleared and a volley of blue arrows sped toward him, making him react through reflex.
"Bnéösl!"
A great bubble-ball formed around him repelling the pointed sticks towards the ground, making them melt into the hard, porous rock below him.
"Use better attacks," Selene said cockily, "you one trick pony. You will never defeat me that way! (She loves herself. I know she does. Then again, I'm the writer, I know everything.) Of course, that's a good thing, isn't it?"
Ephráim right then started to boil his blood from within. The anger in his heart was so out of control he would have burst if it had not been for Naressa's warning before the battle. She specifically pointed out to Ephráim that he should not become angry or his blood will once again begin to boil from the heat within. A deadly curse; a hereditary curse. Such pain it had caused him in the years before. If it were not for Naressa, he would have died so long ago from torture in the kingdom of the Sun: Solaria. Such pain he went through. Even for the soldiers torturing him, it was not amusing. A child of eight, being beaten for information, and not giving in was not something they would be proud for. (Ephráim was. He became conceited after that incident.) The King may have been ruthless, however, the soldiers were still human, even though the King, maybe, was not human from his heart. Maybe the King had no heart…. It was a possibility. Shades gave away their hearts all the time to stop the feelings from mental infusion of spirits. However, Summoners were different. They did not let the spirits take over; they let the spirits host their bodies like parasites, sharing the body and feeding off each other and using each other; to each there own, I presume. (Well, not really… Ephráim has absolute control of their powers. They do not really have a say in the matter… at all. Um, yes, Ephraim's a summoner, if you were wondering.)
The boiling came to a stop and Ephráim began to laugh slightly. "If you want to not be captured, then you're going to have to be quicker when it comes to dodging wheelbarrow wheels. I bind you by the dirtiest trick in the book. (He had a spell book, and he was reading it.) Since you owe me your life that is precisely what I shall take."
"B—But," Selene stuttered know perfectly well what would happen next. "You wouldn't!" Her eyes were wide with terror that was against her nature (Really. It was, surprisingly).
"Ehwzebam," Ephráim said sending a string of solar light, imprisoning her on the spot. Selene struggled mightily, breaking the chains that bound her at times. However, the chains automatically returned. "Luck played a great role today, my dear Selene."
"Damn you, boy. You and your retched cheating are all a part of this injustice."
"This is nothing of the sort. This is powerful magic."
"Of course it is! That is why it is still affective in this dimension of mine. May you rot in Hell, you retched child!"
"ConfinementWith Obligation comes a Fee of Charge.
Come to me for my power is Large.
You come and see your happy siege.
I take from you what you owe to my liege.
Give me the life you do not own.
Come to me so you are no longer alone.
I take from you what you owe to me.
My first command be for you not to Flee.
KámpëmóhomcFécn Ajsequceám kahöb u pöó áp Knüzqó.
Káho cä ho páz hy wafóz eb Dúzqo.
Yái käho úml bóö yáiz núwwy béoqö.
É cútö pzáh yäi fnüc yái afó cá hó.
Qédo hö cnó sepó yái la mäc áfm.
Káho cä ho bá yái üzo mó sämqóz úsamö.
É cútö pzáh yäi fnüc yái afó cá hó.
Hy pézbc káhhúml jö páz yái mäc ca psóö," he said finishing.
Power surged through Ephráim's palm as the pure energy manifested itself in his hand (he liked it). Heat waves of power beat through the surface of the Moon making craters below him (yeah, that's about as powerful as it gets). "This Power, Selene. Do you know what it is?"
Selene gasped in horror as the chains wrapped around her becoming silvery-blue in hue. "I've only seen it once before, boy. When I was sealed in my prison, this same power surged through that summoner's palm. Vayu, that damned summoner, captured me in a spherical object that had been infused with ancient magic more powerful than Obligation."
Ephráim then took the sphere that had dropped and summoned them here earlier. "This object, Selene?"
Selene's eyes widened as she started to recognize the object before her.
"The Sphere of Wisdom. What will you do with that?" Selene questioned, obviously knowing it's purpose as The Containment of the Spirit of the Moon.
"You're mine now," Ephraim said dangerously, smirking wickedly.
"N—No!" A white light erupted from the ball as it started to float in front of Ephráim. The luminescence (nice word, eh?) impulsively rushed toward the woman before him.
"Ehwzebam," Ephráim sighed heavily, snapping his fingers. The light enveloped around Selene making her, out of instinct, fight back.
"Selene's Whim!" She screamed in protest.
Spheres of sky-blue combusted on the light. The white light, however, was Obligation, itself. Therefore, the woman could not do anything to deflect it. Well, she could have, per se, but she had to have been alive to escape it in the first place.
Moon magic, Ephráim thought. Impressive, however, it gives away the attack. What a foolish girl.
The light came dangerously close to her soon. However, Selene blocked with a shield.
She is fighting back awfully hard. Maybe Master Vayu did not treat her as I treat Naressa; therefore, she is afraid of me. (Yes, Ephráim, you treat Naressa very nicely. So nice, in fact, that she despises you beyond compare and does not respect you at all. Well… that is what it seems like.)
The light pierced through the shield, piercing the flurry of attacks that constantly were aimed for the Light.
She is powerful. She is very powerful. She knows that it is inevitable, but she does not accept defeat. That is exactly the type of spirit I need. She is the Moon spirit after all. She is higher class than Naressa even if they are the guardians. Damn. This could be quite difficult if she continues to fight like this.
Finally, Selene had used up all her energy. She could do nothing. The Light impaled her heart, her body started to stretch into The Sphere of Wisdom, tentacles of her body started to vacuum into it, and soon, she was all gone.