November 5

The visage was almost too jarring, blinding in the sways of the many

shades of the moon light bouncing off of the hills. The view looked as if the

world was hit by a massive meteor and we were sitting nearby barely safe from

the impact.

There was a mixture of jeers, cheers, screams, verbal promises, and

regrets. I can already see the tears on the side of Elsa’s face as she stood,

frozen in time, while she only repeated one word, “Why? Why? Why?”

Indeed, why? Why here? How did they get in so easily?

I felt Kyo’s grip stretch behind and let go of my hand. I looked back

and saw that I was quickly fading further and further away from her. Until I

felt a sudden rush of energy as I looked before me and saw a Tealwoe almost ten

feet in front of me.

The only logical conclusion is that Kyo must have sent me out to

attack anything that isn’t Alfertain or Ushia. That must mean that she can

control my actions because never did I tell myself to run or even attack. But

in the time that I had finished that thought the Tealwoe was lying on the

ground with his left arm and right leg detached.

I didn’t feel pain or sadness as the dagger I held before me blazed

with a burning yellow light and extended before planting itself next to the

creature’s head. Words started to appear out of my mouth that I would never

normally say if not for the rage, all of us combined, forced them to.

“I have the ability to envision and resupply you with the limbs that

I have taken and I will be just as kind as to cut them off again if you do or

say anything that raises suspicion. This can all be avoided by telling me why

the Tealwoes did this!”

I was roughly a foot from the side of the being’s neck as it spoke,

barely struggling.

“We only do… what we are told. We were told to kill… so we did. We

don’t ask questions and we enjoy killing.” I could see in its eyes that it did

not fear my blade nor did it show any remorse for what it had done.

My vision went dark and my mind went blank as my body moved on instinct

and finished him off with a swift stroke of my already laden blade.

I fell to my knees as my vision returned and I gained control of my

former self.

I instinctively fell backwards. Scared, saddened, remorseful, but

still angry. My hands, legs, and arms were shaking with enough power to detach

them. My eyes grew wide and I only felt the pressure build in my chest as I

realized that the life that is laying a few feet away is gone.

I started to laugh as if to calm myself down. It was pressured but

soft. It seemed to last only a minute but still worried Kyoko and Elsa.

“So this is how it feels, huh? Why is it so easy to do but so hard to

stand it afterwards? I now know how it feels, Elsa. I… I… I just… Yes, I had

to. I had to protect them. I…” I felt calm but my heart beat was thumping

faster than I thought possible.

I felt warmth spread around me as I was snapped back from my episode.

Kyoko pulled me in close and placed my head on her chest with her arms wrapped

around it as if a mother trying to calm a crying child.

It did make me feel a little better as she said the words, “you are

strong, you can fight through this, it will be all right” then silence but she

rocked back and forth to comfort me.

We sat like that for a minute before she looked me in the eyes and

gave me a quick peck on the head.

“Are you calmer now? I wondered why you attacked that Tealwoe so

quickly. I only alerted you of its presence and you just attacked, faster than

I thought possible. It is truly impressive with that power and hate. It amazed

but scared me because you were leaving an evil aura and I don’t want to see you

like that. I don’t want to see you like me when I fight.”

“Yeah, I feel… better, thank you very much. What is this about you

having an ‘evil aura’ when fighting? Is it because of that one time with the

After Bringer? It was necessary because it was the best possible choice in a

fight against that beast. It is the sword with the evil intent behind it not

the wielder. You shouldn’t believe that it was you who was evil when fighting

with After Bringer.”

She spoke three quiet words as

she stood up, pulling me along with her. “You will see.”

I didn’t want to ask her about it because I would rather see it for

myself later.

Elsa stood on the top of the hill overlooking the city with her eyes

closed. She was focusing on the sounds of the town as her small pointed ears

twitched ever so slightly to even the smallest echo or whistle in the wind.

At the drop of a pin, her eyes shot open and she started running again

towards the village. Kyoko and I did not need a seconds thought to chase after

her. She was intent on getting wherever it was first, even we could barely keep

to her sides.

“Aster and Shia are in trouble.” Those words were all it took for Kyo

to rush ahead of us, way quicker than before.

I felt a hard thump to my chest again as I was already in the air

falling down holding my dagger hammer fisted aiming downward at another

Tealwoe.

Elsa saw that I was going to handle it and understood the situation,

so she kept on running. I swung down with all my might as I saw Elsa

reluctantly run after Kyo.

As soon as my blade struck the shielded forearm of the enemy in front

of me, I knew that it wasn’t enough. At a second’s notice, I was thrown aside

as if hit by a tree trunk to the stomach with his other arm.

My vision started to blur as I was thrown back about twenty feet. Luckily

landing on my left knee and barely holding my balance with my right foot.

That did not stop me from coughing to try to get my normal breathing

pattern back. I looked down towards the ground to find a small amount of blood

sitting in a pool in front of me.

“Well played, my friend. You know that you will pay for that, right?”

I wiped off the small amount of blood that was left on my chin as I showed

challenge and a fierce grin on my face.

I held the dagger outright and brought my body together into a

straight upright position. I tried my best to narrow my now stable breathing as

the energy started to flow from my chest to my hands to the dagger in front of

me.

The handle of the short dagger started to become elongated as my hand

traveled further from its original place. I took what I knew about myself and

what Kyo mentioned before about my attack style to choose what I made my blade

into. I am not a close range fighter, I am also not meant for strength and

outright damage but I am meant for speed and knowing enemy’s weak points.

The weapon in front of me is reminiscent of a mix between a lance and

a quarterstaff. The front of the lance is frayed outwards a little but only

enough to be wide bodied but still joined at a sharp point. The blade has a

black rounded symbol for dark on one side and a white rounded symbol for light

on the other while two lines from each converged to the main staff edging below

it. The staff itself is made of a blend of carbon fiber and steel, which made

it light and easy to hold but durable and strong. There is also a button just

above where my hands would normally be positioned that can launch the blade on

the staff almost two meters away from its base connected by a steel chain. This

makes the weapon more effective and even deadly if aimed right at nearly four

meters.

Even with that, I feel it needs color and a symbol to give it an

identity, even if it is inanimate. The weapons staff turned black and a symbol

of a white face that was hazed over with no features rose above the surface. I

decided that the name of this weapon will be named after what I was haunted by

for most of my life, The Dark Veil.

All of the forming of the staff had taken only a minute but the

process was enough to stun the enemy before me. The staff is laying in my open

palms waiting to be used in battle. I quickly twirled the staff underneath my

right arm and pulled back slightly as I quickly thrust towards my enemy.

He was not as stunned as I had thought because he managed to dodge

the attack, which resulted in him only being nicked by The Dark Veil. He didn’t

even flinch as he lunged towards me with his armored fist in full swing. I used

the mid length of my staff to block the attack. I tried to retaliate against

him to gain the higher ground with a kick to the gut but it had no effect.

Damn.

He chose to try the same strike and against my luck, his attack,

although slower, connected and threw me back about ten feet onto my back.

He took advantage of what he saw as an opening and punched the ground

on which I had landed. I had taken advantage of his slower attacking speed to

roll myself to the right, barely dodging his attack.

This time I made sure that I wouldn’t miss to make substantial

damage. I connected with his shoulder joint and quickly hit the switch on the

staff. The blade shot through the other side of his arm and then returned to

its rightful place.

I saw him fall to the ground but he still did not show his pain even

though his arm went limp, he stood back up growling.

“I can see that you are higher up than the other Tealwoe that I had

faced. Why attack a village that did nothing but live peacefully? Is murder and

violence the Tealwoe’s life goal?” I yelled at it hoping that it will be more

submissive now.

“We only do what we are told. We were told to kill, so we did. We

don’t ask questions and honestly… we enjoy killing.” The monster said through

the hate in his voice and the sting to his glare made me feel the emotion

behind it.

“That’s what the other one said, almost to the letter. I have one

question for you before we finish this. Who ordered you to attack this village

and why?”

He gave a sharper glare this time but I was not intimidated, actually

maybe I was unfazed by what is happening.

“King Jol Wara Azuraine. He ordered us to attack the village as an

effort to draw out his daughter and bring her back to Xerces.”

“The king ordered this? Why does he want Kyo back to Xerces?” A wide smile grew across his face.

“For her execution.”