Yay, another chapter! It would be nice if more people reviewed my story...
I now present Nexus: Part 3
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Continuing from the last chapter…
"Your brother sent me to find you," said Jae.
"My brother? I thought he died in the explosion," said Asural.
"No, he is still alive. But that person was not your brother; he was a spy sent by those five to watch you in case your real brother or I showed up. Luckily, they do not share information with Galbatorix, which is why we are here now," laughed Jae.
"Then where is my brother?"
"He was captured by them about 3 months ago, and he somehow escaped a few weeks afterward. Although I haven't seen him since, I know he's out there somewhere." Jae trailed off and started gazing into the emptiness of the dark forest.
When she spoke again, sadness filled her voice.
"Tial and I had been traveling together for nearly 2 years. It was a peaceful night when they appeared. They ambushed us; there was nothing either of us could do. They are powerful magicians, and their sudden attack caught us off guard. We put up a good fight, but in the end it didn't matter. We slipped away and hid in an abandoned house, but they easily followed and soon had us cornered. As they were about to strike, Tial turned to me and said, 'I'm sorry, we'll see each other again soon.' He waved his hand toward me and I disappeared, reappearing in a forest hundreds of miles away. I haven't seen him since."
After a while Asural asked, "But who are 'they'?"
Jae glanced at him, and he could see that she was crying.
She sat quietly for a moment, before audibly sighing and saying, "They are only known as 'Doruin'. No one knows who they are or where they came from, they just appeared one day. And after witnessing their powers, Galbatorix made a secret alliance with them. Very few have seen them, and even fewer survive the encounter."
"Why are they coming after me? I haven't done anything."
"They're after you for two reasons; the first is so they can catch powerful members of the resistance."
"And the second?"
Jae smiled weakly and answered, "The second reason is that if you were to awaken, that is if you were to unlock the magic in your mind, you would pose a much greater threat to them than both Tial and I combined."
"Why is that?"
She looked up at the night sky as she said, "Who knows, all I can say is that it just is. Its one of the many mysteries of magic that no one will ever figure out."
"How can I be able to use magic?"
"There are a few people in the world who can use the Nexus, you happen to be one of them."
Asural was even more confused now. "What's the Nexus?"
Jae continued to look at the sky as she said, "It's another type of magic in this world. The most common type of magic, Gramarye, the one you know of, uses specific words to direct energy to do what the spell caster wants. The Nexus, however, has no spoken language and relies on the user's concentration. One might say that the two magics are opposites of each other."
"Opposites?" Asked Asural.
"Yes, the Nexus is centered around melee combat; whereas the other is primarily magic based. When used against each other, the two cancel each other out."
"I've never heard of any other type of magic though. How do I know if it really exists?" Asural asked, still having doubts about Jae.
Jae glared at him. "Fine, see for yourself," she then pointed a finger at a fallen tree and it erupted into flames.
Asural raised his arms over his head to shield himself from the sudden heat.
"Okay, okay. I get it; put it out before the whole forest lights."
The flames disappeared instantly, leaving Asural slightly dazed. "You're telling me that I can do that?"
"You still don't believe me. Then, are you ready?"
"For what?"
"This." Jae leaned over and touched Asural on the forehead with the tip of her finger. He fell over the instant her finger touched.
-
A flood of images flashed in front of Asural's sight. It lasted for what seemed like a minute, but when he opened his eyes, the sun was setting.
He looked around and the world seemed to have different feel. It was as if he was looking at the world clearly for the first time.
"Oh? You're awake." Said Jae, who was still sitting in the same spot as the night before. "Strange, it usually takes at least 30 hours for someone to come back from that, perhaps I didn't do it right."
She touched him on the forehead again but nothing happened. "I guess it was completed in such a short time." Jae started muttering to herself.
When his head finally cleared, Asural asked, "What did you do to me?"
Jae laughed as she answered, "That was the awakening, and you can now use the Nexus. We would normally start training from the ground up, but thanks to your military training, part of it is already done."
"Which part is that?"
"You've already been trained to use a sword, right? So what still has to be done is teaching you to use the Nexus and honing your swordsmanship."
Asural tried to stand, but he didn't have the energy.
"Oh, and try not to move. You're body is still recovering from the spell, but you should be fine in the morning. We can't do anything else today, so get some rest."
When he awoke, he was still a little weak.
Jae was still sitting in the same spot as the night before.
"Good, you're awake." Observed Jae, she was in a pretty happy mood this morning.
"Why are you so happy today?"
"It's because I finally have someone to talk to and train; even if you are a novice, it'll be fun." She started laughing. "At least for me."
That morning was spent discussing the basics of the Nexus, the spell structure and the symbols.
Around midday Jae suddenly stood and said, "That's enough for right now. This part is important if you wish to survive long."
A dozen swords appeared in the air and stuck in the ground.
"These are the basic designs for a sword."
She began pulling them one by one out of the ground, explaining a few things about them, and then releasing them. They disappeared right away.
After she was finished, she said "Now is the time for you to choose your weapon."
She took a short metal rod out of her cloak and dropped it at Asural's feet. It landed sticking straight up, and stayed there.
"Pull it out of the ground." Said Jae.
Asural bent and pulled it out. As soon as he grasped it, the metal changed into a hilt and as he drew it out, a blade appeared.
It was a single-edged blade, was a little over three feet long, and was slightly curved. It felt more comfortable than the sword he had used during his years in the army.
"This is the blade you will train with, I expect you to take good care of it."
She pulled her sword out of the air and said, "Don't worry about slicing each other to ribbons, the blade is rounded where the edge should be."
They stood at eye level with each other and took their stances.
I'm shortening the training part of the story to preserve my sanity and your interest.
Please Review!