RISE OF LIGHT

Chapter 8

Part 1

"Wake up mate. It's already morning time." Someone, close to him, said impatiently.

He didn't want to open his eyes because he felt very sleepy so ignored who ever was trying to wake him.

"I know you're ignoring me but it won't work this time." The same person said. There was humour in the person's voice.

Again he remained lying down with his eyes closed, wishing that the person would stop talking. He wanted to sleep some more.

This time the person, who seemed to have gotten used to his friend's actions, now shouted.

"Wake up Vertrexia!"

Vertrex opened his eyes, startled.

He lay still for a few seconds, feeling the slow beating of his heart as he calmed down. Then, as sleepiness went away, he sat up and rubbing his eyes he looked around. He was yet again lying on the same couch that he had sat in when he had entered Alex's house. As he was starting to stang up, Alex entered the room.

Vertrex turned quickly in alarm but realised it was just Alex and calmed down again. Alex, who had entered the room to check upon Vertrex, saw the instant change of intention in Vertrex's eyes and smiled.

"Morning time is not your time?" Alex said as he went to grab the blanket that Vertrex had been using to cover his body from the cold of the night.

"It never has" Vertrex said, yawning hugely "and will never be." He finished

Alex smiled. Then, blanket over his shoulder, left the room again but before leaving he said.

"You should clean up and freshen up." And he pointed in the direction of the bathroom.

Vertrex mumbled thanks and left for the bathroom. Alex, however, took the blanket and went to another room, where he threw it on top of the pile that was ready for washing. He then returned to the kitchen to found Kayla cleaning the dishes and Daniel drying the cleaned cutlery and Sophia putting away the cutlery that Daniel dried.

"You are all so good at this." Alex said as he took over the job of cleaning the dishes, giving Kayla a break.

"Vertrex's uncle thought me on how to do the cleaning properly." Kayla said as she took a seat at the dining table. "He said I shouldn't, when at other people's house, let the other person clean the dishes. Try and help as much as you can was what he said."

Daniel, who had been busily been drying a plate in his hands, nodded.

"Well" Sophia said "I was thought how to clean from my step-mother when she needed me to clean and since then she game me the job to clean any cutlery that were in the kitchen sink."

"She must be terrible to let you, as a kid, to clean dishes when you could've been studying." Alex said as he was annoyed at her step-mother's actions.

"She never wanted me to study." Sophia said in a matter-of-fact tone. "She wanted me to become a slave for her and her children."

"Well, you're no longer going to go back to that anymore." A voice said from behind them.

They all turned to see Vertrex standing in the door way, arms crossed as he looked at her smiling. Then he came and took the chair opposite to Kayla. Then as Daniel continued away with his drying, Vertrex continued.

"You'll never go back doing those kinds of things that your step-mother put you through." He said smiling at her again.

"But what I'm doing now-"she began but Vertrex cut her off in mid sentence.

"What you are doing now was your choice and your choice alone. No one is making you do the work you are doing now."

Sophia said nothing for a few seconds. Finally deciding she had nothing to say, she went back to putting the dried cutlery away.

Vertrex looked at and a small smile was etched on her face which made him happy. Alex got up to put some breakfast for Vertrex, as he assumed that Vertrex might be hungry from not eating dinner last night.

"Here you go Vertrex." Alex said as he placed a plate of food in front of Vertrex who, without hesitating, dived into it.

Alex smiled at how quickly Vertrex was eating away his food and was glad that his assumption was correct and was also relieved that he had put enough to fill an empty stomach, which had starved from last night to this morning.

After a few more minutes later, Daniel and Sophia took seats around the table, Daniel took the seat next to Kayla and Sophia next to Vertrex and Daniel turned to face Vertrex.

"What made you wake up at this time of the morning when you don't usually wake up till lunch time I think?" Daniel said, grinning at his friend

"Probably felt hungry and that's what caused him to wake up." Sophia supplied, also grinning as she watched Vertrex gulp away the food on his plate as quickly as she could keep up with her eyes.

Everyone around the table laughed except Vertrex, who had his mouth full of food, was unable to laugh with them but his cheerful eyes told them he would've laughed if he had the chance.

"Actually" Vertrex said, finally swallowing the food he had in his mouth. "Someone, in the dream that I was having, woke me up."

"Really?" Daniel said, not sounding curious. He thought Vertrex was denying the fact that he had woken up due to his hunger. Alex, however, looked curious.

"Who woke you up?" Alex said, sounding extremely curious. This surprised everyone, making them turn to look at Alex in a confused faces. Alex simply grinned at them as he waited for Vertrex's reply.

"Don't know." Vertrex said simply, laying his clean plate on the table and lying back on his chair in relaxation.

Alex looked a little disappointed but it disappeared as quickly as he had shown it as he persuaded t find out more about Vertrex's dream while everyone continued to look confused.

"Didn't you see him or her?"

"No." Vertrex said. "I woke up the moment the man shouted for me to wake up." Vertrex said as he closed his eyes, trying to remember the details of what had happened in his dream.

Alex suddenly looked gleeful at Vertrex's reply. "What are they talking about?" was all the others thought as they continued to watch this incomprehensible conversation.

"Do you remember what he said to wake you up?" Alex said, excitement almost bursting out of him.

"Um…" Vertrex began slowly, trying hard to remember. Alex looked hopeful while everyone wondered why Alex was looking all so hopeful about. They now remembered about Alex suggesting about asking Vertrex about the names of his family members that lived a long time ago about something Alex thought reminded him of something that he had in the history book.

After a moment of silence, Vertrex trying hard to remember what had happened before he woke up, suddenly opened his eyes and turned to face Alex and grinned.

"He told me to wake up but instead of saying my name he said someone else's name." Vertrex said, grinning at Alex.

Alex looked even more excited than ever before as he continued to question Vertrex.

"What's the name he called you? Can you remember?"

Vertrex fell silent again, the smile gone as he closed his eyes to try and remember what the person had called him. The dream now felt fuzzy as he struggled to remember what the name he was called to be woken with a start.

And he remembered. Somehow he knew the name even though he never heard of the name before. He looked up at Alex, whose face was full of excitement, and said calmly.

"The man said "Wake up Vert-"

BOOM!

Chapter 8

Part 2

The whole house shook with the sudden impact on solid ground from somewhere outside. The shock wave was so bad that Daniel toppled off his chair.

"What the-" Sophia exclaimed in shock as she looked around.

Alex got off his chair and rushed to the door just as everyone, Daniel getting to his feet, followed him. As he wrenched the door open, they saw a terrible scene before them. Buildings were destroyed or simply crumbling. Shops were crushed under the pile of rubble that has fallen off the building that had shadowed the shops before the destruction.

But what was causing more panic was not the destruction of the buildings. It was the people themselves, running around, screaming and crying in either agony or fear. Some were stuck under fallen rubble and were screaming for help while others ran around as they attempted to run away from the descending destruction.

"Who would do such a thing?" Kayla whispered into her hands as she hid her mouth behind them just as Sophia clapped her hands together, hiding the scream she had uttered.

Then they saw it. People; people in black robes, three of them, fighting what looked like two people who were avoiding the rain of attacks that the dark users were throwing at them.

"Those bastards!" Alex roared and started forward. Vertrex grabbed his arm, holding him back from taking any more steps. Alex turned around to look at Vertrex with enraged eyes.

"Don't you dare stop me!" Alex shouted at Vertrex, who was still holding Alex's arm firmly in his grip. "Look around you. Those bastards ruined this quiet and peaceful town!" Alex was yelling at Vertrex, tears forming in his eyes. "I won't forgive them for it. Never! Now let go of me!"

Alex screamed the last word just as Vertrex punched Alex squarely in the chest.

Alex's eyes widened in shock as he felt the raw power of the attack Vertrex had just unleashed at him. Alex's mouth remained open for a few more seconds, his eyes bulging in hes sockets. Finally however he fell limply onto Vertrex's arm.

Daniel, Kayla and Sophia were looking at Vertrex in shock and a little scared off what he had just did to Alex. The look on Vertrex's face was pure anger as he watched the fighting before him intensify. He was angry himself but unlike Alex, who had simply though about revenge without a single thought, was thinking on what to do next and as to how best to avoid the situation hey were in. Finally he turned around to look at his friends, finally decided on what course of action to take next, and he did so he found them looking at him with a frightened expressions on their faces.

"Let's get back inside."

The frightened looks in their faces suddenly changed into looks of shocked.

"What?" Daniel shouted over the loud noises.

"Yes" Vertrex replied as he swung Alex's limp body over his shoulder.

Daniel opened his mouth to object but they were lost when suddenly they were buffeted by another shock wave that came at them from close by. They struggled to stay on their feet as the wave pushed against them but miraculously the house wasn't blown away.

Vertrex, who had withstood the shock wave with difficulty, straightened up and shouted at his friends.

"Get a move on!"

Without any choice they rushed back inside and Vertrex closed the door behind them. Once side they still felt the same panic that was rushing through them like poison and weakening their senses.

Vertrex laid Alex's limp body on the carpet and rushed to the room where they had left their bags. As he went away, Sophia kneeled next to Alex's limp body and was staring at him with fear etched on her face and looking around; she saw that Kayla and Daniel were doing the same thing.

Then Vertrex came back, bringing the bags with him. As he came to sit next to them, Sophia looked up and opened her mouth to ask him a question she was burning to ask.

"He's not dead. I simply knocked him out." Vertrex said impatiently, not looking at her as he pilled things into each of their bag.

Sophia, Kayla and Daniel looked at each other. They were hugely relieved that Alex wasn't dead but were still unsure the treatment Alex received from Vertrex at that time was fair.

"You didn't have to hit him." Sophia said, still looking at Alex's face.

"You wanted him to join the fight then?" Vertrex snapped.

"No. That's not what I mean." Sophia said, looking a little hurt.

"Then, did you want me to talk sense into his already senseless mind?" Vertrex retorted.

Daniel shipped in, looking sternly at his friend's angry face.

"Stop talking to us like that."

Vertrex looked up. Vertrex looked very angry and said, pointing his finger at Alex.

"The great idiot thought about taking revenge on those dark users. It's just as simply as if you've just signed your death warranty. No talking will get into that thick skull of his at that point so I was left with no choice but to knock him out."

"But, if you had used more power with that anger of yours, you could've killed him." Daniel said, still eyeing his friend's angry face with his stern look. "You should've at least tried to talk to him or even convince him that fighting will not help."

Vertrex suddenly stood up, looking suddenly very frightening and they moved a little away from him as he pointed his finger at Daniel furiously.

"Open your eyes Daniel!" Vertrex shouted "You are being too naïve. Did you really think that could've convinced Alex to not fight? Did you really think that holding him back would've stopped him from going after those … those scum?"

"Of course not; there's no way he would listen to any one of us and there's no chance of us even attempting to hold him back to stop him because it will simply enrage him even further. He was blinded by his hunger for revenge. All reality gone, all thoughts about him or others vanished. All he cared was about revenge. He wouldn't have cared what he would've done next. All he cared about was to fulfil his revenge. With such thoughts like that, he's just as bad as those dark users, those evil users who don't care how many people they get rid off because they only care about the thing that they are after and they won't stop at nothing to get their dirty hands on it!" Vertrex finished.

Silence followed, a stunned silence by what Vertrex had said to them hit them with the force of a bullet. Then another shock shook the house, making them stagger as they struggled to stay on their feet. Finally Sophia said softly.

"Vertrex" She began but Vertrex cut her off with a wave of his hand.

"I know that Daniel wasn't meaning it that way" Vertrex said turning to look at her "but still … to suggest it that way to me when we're in the middle of a terrifying battle. I just couldn't believe him."

Sophia didn't know what else to say. She was too appalled at what Vertrex had shouted at them that she was having trouble making up her mind. As if reading her troubled mind, Vertrex stood up.

"What's happened has happened." Vertrex said "Let's just make sure we don't do the same thing in the next time. Ok."

Suddenly as if coming out of trance, they all straightened up and picked up their bags. Then they looked at questioningly as to what they were going to do from there. Vertrex turned to Daniel and grinned. Daniel grinned back at him nervously.

"I'm not angry anymore." Vertrex said, reading his friends thoughts correctly. "I'm just preparing to do what you all wanted me to do earlier."

"And what would that be?" Daniel said, starting to smile as he realised what Vertrex was thinking.

"Seeing that it's far too dangerous to stay here anymore" Vertrex said, his smile starting to widen as he saw the dawning comprehension on their faces. "I've decided it's time we leave with our dear slumbering friend."

Chapter 8

Part 3

Vertrex lead his party out through the door, Daniel carrying Alex's snoozing body. When they stepped out, they saw that the street looked more damaged and ravaged than they had first laid eyes on when they first came out a few minutes ago.

They jumped down the steps and ran, without actually discussing where they were going to head to, towards the forest. It was an instinctive choice for them as the forest would be the only thing that could give them total cover and keep themselves well hidden from the ranging ones that were attacking each other and in the process were slowly destroying this city.

They ducked behind a shed when an attack flew over their heads and stuck the clock tower. The clock tower collapsed under the weight of the attack that just hit it as its hands spun to the earth until, with a loud crash, they smashed into pieces. Dust started to rise from collapsed stone as more fragments of stone kept falling from the crumbling building that once was the clock tower.

They ran. Vertrex, followed closely by his companions, ran straight into the clouds of dust that was rising to hide them from anyone watching them. Once in, they stuck close to each other so as to make sure they don't get separated.

"Getting separated right now would been catastrophic" Vertrex thought as they made their way slowly forward, climbing over rubble or sometime covering their heads as a few bits of stone came falling down from above.

He continued to look back regularly to make sure that they haven't lost each other. Once free of the billowing dust, again they sprinted towards the forest as quickly as their legs would let them. Suddenly, an attack went whizzing over Vertrex's head, narrowly missing him and it smashed into the building. The building gave way but Vertrex neither heard the crashing sound of stone hitting the hard earth nor look back to see what happened. He realised that the fighters might be close and a look over his shoulder to make sure that his friends were right behind him.

They were running as hard as they can as all of them were showing signs of exhaustion. Vertrex wasn't doing well himself. He was sweating himself feverishly and he was breathing heavily like a bull on rampage. Sophia was sweating but she was breathing heavily as she continued to sprint, Kayla was clutching her stomach but kept on going and Daniel looked, if possible, even worse than Vertrex as the weight of Alex was slowing him down.

"Nearly there." Vertrex shouted over the loud bangs and explosions.

He thought they were lucky because they weren't the only ones running around like half-crazed maniacs. Many people were still attempting to escape the devastation and others were trying to find their relatives or a friend and all you could hear was only their screams of terror or fright.

Suddenly Vertrex felt a great lurch as the ground beneath him shook violently making him and everyone around him stumble and fall. Looking around he saw that his friends have also fallen due to the tremor. Vertrex quickly got to his feet but before he could move towards them he heard a rumbling sound and looking up, his mouth fell open in horror.

Whoever was casting that attack, it was a mighty one. It was a round looking ball that was larger than the size of the city. For a few seconds the ball just hung there, making that rumbling noise that would've made the back of anyone's hair stand.

Then the ball came soaring towards them. Vertrex started to run, ran harder than he ever had in his life. People rushed past him, clearly trying to get away from the incoming attack but Vertrex continued to run blindly towards his friends, who were clearly struggling to stand from their exhaustion. He knew that he won't make it in time but still he continued, desperate to save his friends, no matter what the cost was, the friends that he had come to call family after his uncle.

Realising he only had seconds, he shouted "Light Flash"

Vertrex disappeared for a moment but reappeared, standing in front of his friend, standing in front of the oncoming attack. Raising his hands towards the giant ball attack, he roared.

"Dragon Heart"

The impact of the attack against his life was one to remember but for Vertrex, he noticed nothing as the attack collided with his life power. For a few second the power behind the big round ball and Vertrex's life power struggled, shifting back and forth like a tug-o-war. Finally the attack vanished into nothingness, leaving behind a quiet that suddenly felt unnerving.

Vertrex collapsed to his knees from the struggle that his life faced when it blocked the attack. Vertrex was clutching his chest as he heaved deep breaths as he tried to get his body to work normally again. Fomr behind him, he heard Daniel shout.

"You idiot!" Daniel was shouting "Why the hell did you do that?"

"Well" Vertrex said between deep breaths, turning to look at his angry faced friend "if I didn't do that, then perhaps you've all been gone to another world which" he now said smiling "I wouldn't have been happy about."

Daniel didn't know what to say but continued to scowl at his exhausted friend. Daniel was angry, not because Vertrex saved them, but because he had used that power, "Dragon Heart". That power, which lets the user use his life as a shield to block off any attack, but the attack will drain the user of most of his power depending on how strong the attack that he's blocking using that power. Daniel knew about it from Uncle James as he mentioned about someone using that power and killing themselves as they over exerted themselves while blocking off a really powerful attack in order to save a felt guilty that he wasn't able to dodge that attack and was now more upset because his friend threw his own life in the way of that monstrous attack.

"It was worth it." Vertrex said insistently, as he knew what exactly his friend had thought just then.

"But-"

"No." Vertrex said firmly.

He suddenly felt an overwhelming evil presence right behind him and turning around, he saw a cloaked figure land a few meters away from them. There was nothing visible from the cloaked man except the fact that he was wearing the cloak which was the only proof that this dark user existed.

"Throwing away your life just to protect those puny friends of yours" The man's voice rang with malicious laughter "Oh, how I am going to enjoy this." Now the cloak moved up a little as the man raised his head to let out another roar of laughter, revealing the man was smiling at him with an evil grin on his empty face.

Vertrex stood up suddenly and from behind him he heard his friends shout his name but didn't look around at them. He wasn't going to lie around and listen to this twisted man talk about his friends like as if they were flies.

"You'll regret it instead." Vertrex said, looking at them man very seriously.

"Really?" the man said sneeringly "Make me!"

For a few seconds they just stood, glaring at each other. Vertrex felt a little weak from the sudden struggle he just went through but he was angry. He never takes it when he hears someone insult his friends in front of him. He realised that this will be a fight that he never faced before.

END OF CHAPTER 8