Ulmir’s Domain, Four Seasons: Second Day of Hunt.

Rain kept pouring down. The water on which Zedd relied had become unimportant. The skeletal beast looked at Zedd with its strange vacant face; a pale skull with one eye and a gaping mouth with four fangs. “You should’ve aimed for the head!” Drake repeated. The cut-off leg wiggled in the ground while another was reconstructing.

“I’ll keep him busy,” Zedd turned around and held the big bear by the shoulder “You look for an opening, grab that sword then aim for the fucking head!”

“Got it!” Cane shouted back.

Zedd dashed towards Drake then showered him with a flurry of sword swings. The beast’s backbones suddenly stretched then attacked Black Eyes. Each bone countered Zedd’s swings. They moved about like snakes then lunged at Zedd from all angles.

Black Eyes was fast. This was the first time he’d taken a fight seriously in years. The Faery Vaneel he’s fought before was also strong, but Zedd had excess Essence to use before it all dispersed. He went all out against the king of Faeries, without the need to think of his reserves.

While he was exchanging fast blows with Drake, he was feeling his energy dropping. The exertion from keeping the lightning elemental coating on the sword was beginning to weigh on him. “Show me how strong you’ve become Stalwart!” Drake’s metallic voice rang through the hills. The monster extended its arms outwards then roared.

The metallic roar forced Zedd back. He put his arms forward as he tried to resist the sound wave but was pushed even further back. Drake stopped roaring then jumped at Zedd. If he went on defending, the beast would soon gain the upper hand and finish him off. Besides, his sword could only take some successive blows before it broke. He coated it with lightning to provide extra elemental protection. But it didn’t seem to work.

Usurper, Zedd’s sword, had three forms.

Zeus summoned the lightning element. Zedd could coat the sword with it to attack for as long as his Essence could hold. He could also, with extra energy consumption, shoot lightning arrows.

Discord relied on Life Force to attack and directly hit the target’s vital spots. Life Force was a fickle matter. It can only be extracted from dying or recently dead bodies. Zedd had found the best way to harvest it long ago. While forging Usurper, his only thought was to utilize Life Force as an element.

But the task proved to be more difficult than expected. And with all the “Tsk!” he’d been hearing, he just went for a plan B. He’d extract the Life Force into a precious stone (in his case a diamond), then inject it into the sword. The process takes some time, but the results were incredible.

Fuujin, on the other hand, summoned the wind. Zedd refrained from using it since it usually went overboard. The element would suck his Essence with no restraints as soon as he released it. But Drake was coming at him in full speed. He couldn’t defend forever.

“Fuujin!”

The sword suddenly howled as wind enveloped it. Drake’s bones landed on Zedd sword. Every strike from Drake’s whip-like bones was swiftly swept away. The blows didn’t even land on the sword. They were simply blown away. The energy expenditure required to keep the wind element stable was high though. Zedd never mastered the element completely. The wind he activated was like a wild mare, difficult to break.

‘Only in the hardest of times should you resort to this,’ his master’s voice rung through his head. ‘Perhaps it could save your life. Perhaps it could kill you.’

Zedd was in a bind. He felt his sword getting heavier. It won’t be too long before he’d make a mistake.

‘It’s at that moment, that you should push your limits. Break that barrier that always nags and nags: You can’t! It’s over!’

Zedd pushed on. He was fighting two enemies: The unstable element that surrounded his sword, and the bones that constantly whipped him. He needed to stabilize the Essence Flow that was being devoured by the element. ‘Once you activate it again, I won’t be there to save you,’ the voice went on. ‘Be sure to master it or die trying!’

Zedd reinforced his legs and stood his ground. He had to win the element over. It was either that or lose the Fragment to Drake. He wasn’t about to let the thing that transformed his life get taken away. Zedd closed his internal eyelids and fixed the beast’s whips.

With those lids closed, Zedd could see and sense all life signals and Essence prints. He needed to find an opening. Drake was very fast, relentless. If he kept this up, Zedd would soon lose his life. He felt the energy being drained from him. He had reached a point of no return, so his eyes observed.

His arms moved where he sensed an increase in energy. Drake was manipulating and shaping his bones to attack in that sort. ‘Only about a minute left,’ Zedd thought. His arms started feeling heavy. His legs gave sings of fatigue, they’d soon start shaking. Zedd deflected the attacks. Each deflection was accompanied by a gust of wind that pushed the bones away.

“You can’t keep this forever,” Drake’s metallic, hoarse voice spoke. “I can sense you’re getting tired. Why don’t you accept and give it up?”

With great difficulty, Zedd managed to send an order to Silver. He needed a fraction of a second to execute his plan. Silver flew over the ten foot tall beast then landed on its bony forehead. The oldest trick in the book fooled Drake. The monster stopped for a second to check on the fly that dared land on him.

Zedd thrust his sword forward and poured all his Essence into it. Wind whistled as a spear shape shot out towards the skeletal monster. The sharp wind hit the beast in the chest. It sliced the pectoral muscles and broke ribs, revealing its beating heart. “Now!” Zedd shouted.

Cane threw the golden sword at the open heart. It was only a matter of seconds before the wounds would close again. The sword whistled through the air then hit the target. Vaneel’s corruption activated and the heart was the first organ to be affected.

“Soul Trap!” Zedd shouted before the beast fully succumbed to the corruption. A dark, smoky substance left Drake’s body then flew towards Black Eyes. Zedd took his diamond out again then directed the energy towards it.

As the beast’s body melted due to the corruption, a shiny fragment floated in the air. “Discord!” Zedd shouted then swung his weapon up in the air. A dark shockwave was sent to the air and the wind element was replaced. Zedd let out a long sigh. ‘Damnit,’ he thought after a while. ‘That was a close one.’

Black Eyes fell to his knees panting. The Fragment that floated in the air suddenly started moving then flew towards him. The fragment hit him head on then embedded itself on his forehead. Zedd started writhing on the ground. It seemed he was resisting the shock that resulted from the thing that attacked him.

Cane ran to his friend. He knelt next to him then held him up in his huge arms. They’d won a tough battle, but it didn’t seem to be over for Zedd.

“Oy! Black Eyes!” he shouted. “What’s gotten into ya.” He slapped the man, trying to awaken him from his state. Then something hit him. Cane felt like electric currents had been activated all over his body. If felt like he was being electrocuted. But there was no pain. In fact Cane felt reinvigorated, stronger.

After what seemed to be an eternity, the seizure stopped. Cane had fallen to the ground. He was panting, laughing. He never felt stronger. It felt like his body had been remade. He felt his body with his hands. His body was unaffected by the electric attack, but he felt different. He could move every muscle, control their intensity and the way he wanted them to contract.

The big bear stood, walked for a little while then punched the ground. Earth shook then started cracking.

“Incredible!” Zedd’s voice commented. “You’ve got one too!” Black Eyes stood up then looked at the cracks on the ground. “That’s why I sensed something in you, it was a Spirit Fragment!”

“Say again?” Cane asked.

“You have,” Zedd started. “Or rather had,” he corrected, “a dormant power.”

Cane raised his eyebrows and shrugged.

“The shining thing you saw floating in the air, remember it?”

Cane nodded.

“It’s called a Spirit Fragment.”

“Spirit?” Cane asked. “Like a soul?”

“Pretty much,” Zedd said. “The Spirit Fragments are part of ancient souls. They belonged to a long forgotten race. Nobody knows who they were or why they disappeared.”

“What’s it do?” Cane asked.

“If you’re lucky, it’ll grant you power beyond measure,” Zedd answered. “If you’re unlucky, it’ll kill you.”

“And I didn’t die,” the big bear pointed out.

“No you didn’t. Not because the Fragment I absorbed didn’t want you to. It was because the one you carry rejected the attack.”

“What d’ya mean?” Cane asked.

“You’re a strong man, and a skilled warrior. How was training when you were but a child?" Zedd asked.

Cane hated Black Eyes for always changing the subject when important matters were being discussed. But there was no arguing with the man with black eyes. He’d keep pestering him with questions; completely unrelated to the subject at hand. The big bear heavily sighed then answered. “Same as fer everyone, tough.”

“Didn’t you receive some kind of special treatment?” Black Eyes emphasized the last two words.

“My master liked me,” Cane said.

“And so he should have. You had a Spriti Fragment that allowed you to comprehend things, see what the others cannot. And you were fond of fighting I presume, you wanted to be a great hero, a famous hunter.” Zedd said. He was smiling, the kind of smile that spoke of mockery.

“Don’t start Black Eyes,” Cane warned.

“I’m not trying to provoke you friend,” Zedd interjected. “I’m merely showing you what your master should’ve seen long ago.”

“I’m listening,” Cane said.

“You’d better take a seat, this should take some time.” Zedd invited his friend to sit inside the Mobeel. Both of them walked towards the rolling sphere.

“What’d you do to get that beast to drop its guard?” Cane asked as they walked back to the Mobeel.

“I almost sacrificed a dear friend,” Zedd answered. “Luckily, I landed the hit quickly and you thoroughly finished the job. Silver thanks you!”

“Who’s this Silver?” Cane asked.

“She’s my Familiar, a creature I made long ago to serve and protect me,” Zedd answered.

“Where is Silver now?” Cane asked.

Zedd mentally called for the Alfa Fairy. The butterfly-like creature landed on Cane’s shoulder. The big bear, frightened, almost slapped the little creature away. “That’s Silver,” Zedd said, holding Cane’s arm. “Don’t hit her, she’s exhausted.”

“It’s a she?” Cane asked.

“It must be difficult for you to recognize their sex,” Zedd retorted, amused. “Yes, Silver is a female. She’s my trusted Fairy. She always obeys orders and watches my back. And she’s the reason for our great victory today.”

“We lost the beast’s body though,” Cane noted.

“It’s fine.” Black Eyes waved his hand in the air, as if dismissing Cane’s remark. “We’ll get another monster. Let’s get inside shall we? We need to get to the Garden.” Zedd urged Cane to get inside the sphere. Black Eyes sat at the piloting station then started driving towards Ulmir’s Garden.

“So what’s a Fragment?” Cane asked as he sat next to Zedd.

“Those souls,” he started, “as I said, belonged to ancient beings. Let’s call them Ancient Gods for the sake of simplicity.”

“Older than ours?” Cane asked.

“You can say that,” Black Eyes answered as he directed the Mobeel towards the Garden. “They were ancient, powerful beings.

“Nobody knows why, but they mysteriously vanished, one after the other. All people know was that the Ancient Gods just disappeared one day. Although they were immortal, rumors started spreading that they’d actually died.

“Centuries later, people noticed that some individuals were granted superhuman powers. It didn’t take scholars long to start studying the phenomenon. That time was called the age of Gods. People started popping up all over the four continents. They were strong, and had powers close to those of the Gods legends speak of.

“Some became powerful warriors. Others were legendary wizards and witches. Then there were the kings and emperors. Over time, their tales were exaggerated until people started venerating them as actual Gods. The Fragments granted a person power. And it was up to them to develop it into something extraordinary. Those exceptional people developed into mighty individuals, hence the title of God.”

After Zedd finished his speech, Cane sat beside him in silence. He pondered at Black Eyes’ words before he commented. “So yer saying that our Gods, even Ulmir who created this realm, were people like us?”

“It might be difficult for you to accept it but yes,” Zedd answered in his usual nonchalant way.

“I don’t believe it.” Cane looked at Zedd, a defiant air about him. “Ya sound like those pagan witches and sorcerers Black Eyes.”

“I’m merely telling you a story. Whether you believe it or not is up to you.” Zedd turned to look at his friend. The rolling sphere was heading towards the Garden at full speed. “I never expected you to believe me anyway. But perhaps what you’ll see at the Garden, and later in the castle, will change your mind a little.”

“Whatever you say Black Eyes,” Cane said, dismissively. “I don’t like you after all.”

Zedd heartily laughed at the big bear’s words. “Very few people do big guy, very few people do.”

The two rode towards the Garden in silence after that. Cane couldn’t stop thinking about the new power he just discovered within him. He couldn’t believe Black Eyes’ words, but what he’d seen with him pushed him to question things.

In all his life as a hunter, the big bear had never seen transforming monsters. Hell, he’d never seen beasts change their attack patterns mid-fight either. Perhaps by sticking with Black Eyes, he’d find answers to what happened to his master.

The sky was getting darker when they arrived to the Tall Trees of Ulmir’s Garden. “We’ll have to split up once we get to the Garden,” Zedd announced.

“What for?”

“There’s a monster here that I’d like you to hunt.”

“What will ya do?”

“I’ll draw it out for you,” Zedd answered with a smile. “She’s the biggest monster in the region, and the heaviest.”

“Stronger than that big pile of rock and clay?” the big bear asked, worried.

“Yes and no. Drake had good defenses, this one doesn’t. But I have to warn you, she packs heavy punches. Try not to take too many of them.”

“How’ll ya draw it out?”

“I’ll kill as many of her children as I can,” Zedd answered. “Once we’re inside, Silver will guide you through the dense forest. Once she stops, you sit and collect your strength. You’ll know when Queen Mushroom comes out for dinner.”

“And after I defeat her?”

“I have something I must do in the Gardens,” Zedd explained. “Once she’s down, Silver will let me know and I’ll come to you. We’ll take the fallen body and deliver it to the Altar.”

“Ya won’t fight with me Black Eyes?”

“I think you can handle that one,” Zedd replied. “I’ll need my full strength once we get to the palace. I trust you’ll enjoy discovering your newfound strength.”