"Blood."
Ethan said and stood on the roof of the building he laid on. He could sense darkness looming around the surroundings not by energy but by smell.
Ethan was still under the spell of the "mystery of the midnight hour." which Bryce had cast on him and just like how Elandra had explained, his brain could never realise he was under a spell and the world he was in seemed to be like a reality he was fond of.
"Another one again?" He asked himself rather coldly and yet made no attempt to move from where he was until…
"Ethan!"
The voice had come after he smelled the blood. His ears seemed to hear from afar as a boost from the senses of the lightning dragon.
Moreover, the voice wasn't an ordinary voice he'd be hearing when he was in class or outside; rather it was a very familiar one. A voice that could make his blood run cold when it sounded alarmed. A voice he heard only at home – gentle, scolding and full of love he never found anywhere else.
"Nothing must happen to you." Ethan said in an alarmed voice as he jumped from roof to roof looking for the direction in which the voice had come from. His heart seemed to have stopped instead of beating faster as he leapt from roof to roof praying that nothing happened to his loved ones.
Unfortunately, his prayers were left answered as Ethan stood in front of a house with its main door hanging wide. Everywhere was silent, just the cries of two people he loved drifted through the wind where they lay in a pool of blood.
In an instant,Ethan froze, his skin cold as the horror before him sank in.
"Why does this keep on happening?" Ethan questioned himself as he walked slowly to the bodies of his two beloved ones.
" Why? Why? Why can't I protect them?" Ethan spoke with a hint of sorrow though no tears came.
"You are quite a pathetic one." Ethan heard someone say from behind.
"Yeah, I know that very well." Ethan rose to his feet, his face void of emotions.
" You know," the man said, voice trembling with twisted delight. "I stabbed them in the heart and in their gut until I was content. Oh, and their faces… so full of sorrow as they cried for someone to save them."
He tilted his head, a crooked smile stretching across his face.
"I think you were the one they were calling for…uh… Brother Ethan, right? That's what the little girl shouted before just appeared."
"I see. You could've consoled her before she died, you know? And yet, you're still here breathing. I'll fix that." Ethan lifted his gaze slowly – cold.
Ethan stared for a beat, then snapped forward; his calm converted to motion. The wind was calm followed by the sound…
TZZZZZT-KRRRRZHHH-KRIIIIIIIIINNKKKKK.
A high pitched sound of about a thousand glasses shattering. At first Ethan ran past the man at full speed and in a split second he was right in front of the man.
Before the man could even react, Ethan's sheathed sword had already found its target – the man's chest. The lightning being pumped into the man's chest reflected on Ethan's eyes like shredded rays of blue light.
The man's eyes widened in disbelief as there was nothing he could do anymore, blood spilling between his trembling lips.
"I fixed what I told you I would, right?" Ethan asked coldly.
"A sheath as sharp as a blade I wonder how powerful the real blade will be. You really did well. This was all what I wanted you to do; go into battle without the knowledge of emotions. Emotions can sometimes be a hindrance to your sense of judgment" The man said.
Ethan pulled out his sword from the man's chest and allowed him to fall on his back. Then he turned towards his two beloved ones but before he could get to them he started feeling dizzy and then fell unconscious.
***
Ethan opened his eyes one more time but this time he was in the normal world, his eyes were still cold as if he could remember each and every detail of the nightmare he'd just been through.
"You did well in this one. Far better than I expected." Elandra congratulated him on successfully completing the first phase of the emotion training.
"Now that you've completed the first phase of the emotion training I'd like to pause for this one and then continue on to your next training. You've spent just a day here and you've got five more days for your holidays to be over. Rest for today we'll continue the rest tomorrow." Elandra said and hugged Ethan. " You've done well."
***
" It's been long Shawn."
A blonde haired man just about Shawn's age with visible muscles and height of 6.2ft said with a smile.
The man was Kael Denrag, Shawn's childhood friend. They'd both been trained as assassins by Elandra when they first awakened their Lexicon.
"Kael,there is a mission we will be undertaking." Shawn said as he walked towards the man who sat in his chair in his office at the military base.
"My dear friend." The man clasped his hands with Shawn creating a reverberating sound.
"Yh,I know you never lose your touch." Shawn said as they both laughed the way only friends who've been through the same pain would.
"But bro, I'm aching for one of our duels before this mission." Kael said with a funny but serious tone.
"I've been aching for one myself." Shawn also said with a wild grin in his face
"I think you guys should take this somewhere. We can't afford to damage the training facilities here." The masked captain of the archer class warned Shawn and Kael.
"And there goes our scary sister." Kael said jokingly, making Shawn also laugh.
" What did you just say?!" The masked captain yelled.
" Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to laugh but the joke was too funny." Shawn said with a scared face.
"Well Kael, let's go to a place where we won't be disturbing anyone." Shawn advised.
"Know this I'm not going to hold back. I am fighting at full strength." Kael warned.
" And who says he's going to be holding back." Shawn laughed.