I have started writing a new book that I will update as frequently as I can under the weather. please add *Of Blood and Magic*
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What is it with her and fate putting her in its direct firing line while expecting her to not only protect herself but also protect those whose lives depend on her efforts. Must be a pun which she found no humor in but the universe for some twisted reason, actually dug on her misery.
The old man said something about an exit being blocked before nocking her to the ground . . . what was that even about? She couldn't muse on mundane thoughts whose answers were going to reveal themselves to her anyway, sooner rather than later. Now her priority was making it out of the peaceful turned violent place- Alive!
She whipped her head up seeing the dust arising and looked to the old man for a signal on what to do. She saw him tilt his head in a direction and he raised his three fingers and Dana figured it was a signal to say 'on my count'. He started mouthing the numbers from three descending to one and they sprinted to the exit. Dana tripped and fell but the old man got him before her face kissed the ground and they made it out just in time before the portal closed.
"How did you find me?" Dana asked the first question that came to her.
"You shouldn't bother with asking if its not the real question that you want to ask"
Dana formed an 'oh' with her mouth before she remembered the old man's principle about asking questions.
"I am actually curious about how you found me . . . were you following me?" she tried again.
"When you try to intentionally change the cause of the natural order of things, you trigger the butterfly effect so I was here to save you from eternal hell"
There he goes with riddles instead of answering her plainly!
"I am not following" she was still in a glum mood but she tried to summon whatever little strength and patience she had forth.
"Until you are in full possession of your power, only then will you stop hearing the whispers of darkness haunting your soul. They had lured a trap for you, distracted your father so he may be in an accident and paint the blame on you. If their plan had prevailed, your sould would've been thrown into the abyss and left to watch humanity crumble to its knees while you remain trapped, tortured alone in the darkness"
Now she was sure of her cause of death: heart attack.
Everything in the universe wanted a part of her and she could only give to a certain extent. The darkness could reach her in as much as the light had access to her soul and that was just plain unfair. It seemed that the universe was playing a dirty trick on her and gambling with her life against the high stakes.
"Teach me" she blurted out and she was still trying to calm the disarray in her mind.
"Teaching you I will Princess as it is my sole duty" he seemed pleased as if its something he had been waiting to hear, "you can't go home now without endangering a lot of lives so I shall take you to a safe place" he said after a long pause.
"But I can let them know of my whereabouts and that im okay, right?"
"No, if I followed your scent here then the Lord of Vengeance could too and if they trace it to your family then there is no telling of how many fatalities we'll be counting"
So he did follow her, or her scent to be precise . . . whatever that means but it was clear that going home was out of the question right now.
"Fine, I will wait until its safe for me to go home. I can't afford having someone I love get hurt because of me"
The old man hummed and took both her hands from her sides and they were gone. The next time she blinked she was in an open forest that seemed farmiliar yet vague and she shook her head to rid herself of the unwanted confusion.
"Welcome to the breaking ground Princess. You will learn everything you need to know here and hopefully most of your questions will be answered in due time. This is the unveiling. Come with me" he said turning around to head north east from where they stood.
"Are we the only people here" Dana said assessing her surroundings swiftly and admired the landscape in its beautiflly conserved state. From the lush green of the neatly cut grass to the tall trees that seemed to sing a melody of their own with the gentle breeze sweeping amidst them to the lone cabin that seemed to be made from a rare wood she had never seen before and she felt like she had stepped into a different planet. Everything was too clean . . . dare she say too perfect to be on earth.
"You have stepped into Ultra Princess, the land of magic and phantoms. Do not touch anything unless instructed to and you will have a peaceful as well as productive stay here"
Oh-kay, creepy much?
He pushed the wooden door aside to make way for them to step inside and she was entranced from the sight before her . . . all types of weapons were decked infront of her and she was already giddy. They all looked like high prized artefacts and she felt like she had stumbled upon an ancient museum. The cabin was spacious inside with different stages as if it was a performance ground or a hall, she couldn't tell as of yet but the aura inside was very strong it made her wonder just how much this old man knew that he wasn't telling.
"Pick any weapon of your choice" he said indicating towards the table infront of them with his hand.
She walked around the table, touching and feeling each and every weapon. Weighing them and squinting her eyes to examine the sharpness from the pocket knives to the long swords and while she went around feeling and touching, a certain short sword nicked at her middle finger and she surreptitiously withdrew from touching it but the old man noticed.
"A sword can be a friend if possessed accordingly but a formidable foe when in possession of an enemy nomatter if its short or long"
Was that an indication of something or a warning? She couldn't tell but then she decided to put the former to the test and wielded the short sword in her right hand. Its handle fit snuggly in her hand as if it was crafted with her hand's measurement in mind. She smiled.
"Interesting weapon of choice" he hummed in agreement with her weird intuition and she returned the smile, " We were told that swords dance at their wielder's will when faced with an enemy . . . that the wielder could whisper commands and watch it fullfill the command like a servant to its master"
Now that was interesting. She could already imagine only having to wield a sword that instinctively knew what to do . . . is that even possible! She will wait and see.
The old man called her to an open area that seemed like a mini arena and taught her to pose in a stance that was suitable for a sword fight. She looked to him for further instructions and saw him bow so she followed suite.
"A courtesy that is granted in an arena for a sword fight, normally for entertainment reasons but for what is about to come . . . there isn't a need for courtesy" he said after a short contemplative pause.
"How big is the oncoming battle?" she asked to try and calculate her odds.
"As big as your subconscious tells you it is but worry not Princess . . . you have all the help you need to come out victorious. Always follow your instincts, they will guide you to the path of righteousness"
Back to being elusive.
She sighed internally seeing that the old man's sharp eyes were trained on her every move and her breathing.
"We will start slow with attacks and deflection. You will attack and I will be on the defensive"
How hard can that be, right? Well almost an hour later she still hadn't managed to land a single strike on a man who was defending using only a single hand. She was exhausted and out of breath but the man looked no.less to someone who just took a shower.
That bad huh? You should've been here to understand!
"I can't do this" she let the sword make a clattering sound as it hit the staged arena, she wiped her sweaty face with her arm and let out an exasperated sigh, " I haven't even done anything other than sweating and falling more than twice on my butt . . . how the hell am I supposed to protect a single soul"
"The trick is not to win against your opponent Princess . . . it is not even about how many striles you landed. Its all about the journey, you have to love the journey to be able to come out with something out of a challenging situation. What do you think you did wrong?" he tried to engage her.
"What is it that I did right? Nothing . . . absolutely N O T H I N G!" now she was hyperventilating and she knew it wasn't fair on the old man as he was only trying to help her
"You did not let yourself get hurt" he said plainly and Dana's eyes shot up in surprise. Was he joking? Her ass hurt like a bitch and here was this old man telling her about not being hurt.
"You think your back hurts but you're wrong Dana. Physical pain is a curtain, a certainty that the soul is still intact but the moment someone or something pull your soul to shreds, only then will the curtain be shifted because the soul holds permanent scars. You didn't let such a thing happen to you"
"That's only because you were not fighting back. Would you be saying that if we were actually at equal odds?" for some inexplicable reson, she felt taunted and that enraged her.
"My point exactly Princess . . . our odds are not at equal standing at all. I have had years of practise with the swords until I mastered the art of swords amd you just came in contact with them today . . . you need to-" his words came to a halt as he felt the shift in the air.
"You need to learn to control yourself Dana" his voice now stern and authoritative but he knew what could be unleashed if the girl failed to reign in her emotions.
Maybe today was not a good day after all.
"I am tired of all this . . . I try to be patiemt and understanding . . . I try to push myself but it seem nomatter how hard I try, it just won't ever be enough" she flinched when the energy surrounding her turned a bright blue and cackled which caused the ground to shake. She felt the energy around her grow as if feeding on her surroundings. She knew this was bad but she only knew how or what triggered it and stopping it was not only a mystery but an impossible one so far.
"Make it stop" she looked pleadingly to the old man but the next time she blinked, the desperation and vulnerability had no trace of its former existence in her eyes.
The old man muttered something under his breathe and Dana saw someone burst through the door at lightning speed and she blinked to try and soften the surge but with her mind registering the third presence, her soaring heart seemed to fuel the raging surge even higher.
He chanted in a strange language she couldn't register but she felt herself calm down with every chant. She fluttered her eyes trying to hold on to consciousness which was holding on to a thread . . . she saw him again, her saviour from her time in the forest.
Who was this guy?