Young Writers Society

Colorful lights danced around as the sound of blades striking at one another echoed. The air was filled with dust and debris and the summoning room was nothing but rubble. It was hard to see what was going on with all the ethereal smoke around me, which was a big disadvantage for what was coming my way as its pungent smell burned my nostrils. Jetting towards me was a beam of blue light, which I dodged but not before feeling its burning touch graze against my right leg. The pain subsided, but the irritation remained. I landed back on my feet and raised my sword. Turning to my right, I saw Grimhilda holding her mallet up and slamming it to the ground, sending out a three-way wave of rigid stones to burst out of the floor and straight towards her five opponents. She called that move the “triple-wave cataclysm”, which fit the attack perfectly.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to hit them as one of the councilmen raised his hand and generated a force field that protected them from the dwarf girl’s attack.

“Oh, come on! You got to be kidding me!” shouted Grimhilda. Raising her eyes, she stared in bewilderment with her arms falling and her mouth agape.

They quickly retaliated with one of them summoning a whip from thin air and striking Grimhilda against the side of her face. They sent the dwarf girl flying as she landed five feet away from where she was standing. her war hammer was knocked out of her hand and had the air knocked right out of her.

I wanted to run towards her and lend her my assistance. Just then, the sound of static appeared behind me. I spun around and stopped to see Keya waving her staff as she tried to summon her power. However, with lightning speed, one of the councilmen dashed towards her and slammed his fist against her abdomen. She gasped with her eyes widened. She fell to her knees and coughed while making a retching sound.

“Keya!”

My heart sank at the sight of it. Seeing her graveling in pain was unbearable to while hearing her gasping for air made it even worse.

“Seriously?! Is that all you’ve got?! I thought you, elves, were the masters of magic, but here I am fighting an amateur little girl!” Swaggering up to her was the burly councilman who knocked her down. His tall stance towered over the petite elf girl as he extended his large hands wrapped around her head. Lifting his leg, I writhed at the sight of him slamming her face against his knee, knocking a tooth out of her mouth while droplets of blood spilt all over the floor.

The sight made my blood boil. kicking my heels, I dashed right at the guy with my sword raised and ready to strike. The guy took notice of me and dropped Keya hard on the ground. I slashed by blade up, but my eyes widened when he blocked my assault with the side of his arm. There wasn’t even a scratch on him or any sign of blood dripping.

He snickered with his brows narrowed. He grabbed the back of my head and brought it close to his face. “Did you really think it would be that easy to hack me up! My combat magic allows me to shield my body from any oncoming threats, and even if someone like you was capable of inflicting any damage, then it would be no different from a mosquito bite!”

The man mused, which was very unnerving. Seeing my sword baring grazing the guy was like trying to injure Achilles. Cocking his hand back, he threw me across the room with all his might and I landed on top of something small and skinny. I leaned back up and rubbed my head. it was throbbing and the landing might have given me a concussion. I placed it in front of my view and cringed at the sight of blood on the palm of my hand.

Suddenly, a groan alerted me. I looked down and was shocked at what I saw. I had landed on top of Leni who was completely out cold with her clothes ruffled up and the blades of her daggers scattered all over the floor in pieces. I got up and helped the Halfling girl get back on her feet. “Leni! I’m so sorry! please, wake up!” I attempted to shake her awake, hoping that she would snap out of it, but the only thing that came out was a painful moan.

This was a nightmare. Everywhere I turned to, all of my friends were getting pummeled to the ground and we were about to be massacred with ease. I underestimated these councilmen and the power they possessed. Suddenly, my body tensed when a maniacal laugh appeared behind me.

“Do you see the difference of power you have compared to the awesome might of the council?” I snapped my neck around and glared. Representative Kar sauntered over with his hands grasped together. the grin on his face was wide and terrifying, which was befitting for the fat slime ball. “the plan was perfect. You got into the suit, we take control of your body, and you herald a new age for mankind in Ashura. When you think about it, everything that has befallen onto your friends is all your fault.”

I scowled while I gritted my teeth. I wanted to punch him in his sorry face and knocking out all of his teeth. However, the more he talked, the more I was starting to think he was right. if I had just complied, then none of this would be happening to my friends. Knock it off, Akio! Don’t let his words get to you! He’s just trying to gaslight the situation just to make you feel guilty! I clenched my fists in anger and hissed.

Representative Kar reached down and offered me his hand, wanting me to take it as a gesture of compliance. “Now, why don’t you surrender yourself to the council and I swear we will spare your friends’ lives.”

I looked him right in the eye and from the glimmer I could see the deceit. That was the final straw. I quickly swung the back of my fist directly at his face and watched him tumble aback while he placed a hand on his face. The widen grin he had disappeared and was replaced with a toothy frown, which was much more disturbing than his smile.

“You little bastard! You’ll pay for that!” he threatened. Raising his wand, it bgan to glow as it charged. Then he pointed it at me and fired a beam.

I braced for impact as it came right at me. Suddenly, a voice appeared from out of nowhere. Shield yourself, young fool. Don’t let that corrupt bureaucrat best you in this battle. It was coming from the sword and, out of desperation, I complied and followed its’ orders. I raised the sword up to my face and watched as the beam bounced off the blade, ricocheting away and colliding with both sides of the room.

The blade glowed blue, having absorbed a partial of the energy. That’s it, boy. Now, focus on the blade and give that bloated pig a taste of his own medicine. Where the hell was this voice a couple of days ago, during that zombie attack was what I thought. Watching the representative taking a step back, I could see the fear in his eyes.

“No1 that’s impossible! Someone of your caliber isn’t supposed to master the sword’s absorption technique!” Sweat began to fall from his brow. He was losing his composure, becoming intimidated by the power I had shown.

“You used deceit and trickery to bend me to your will, and you even sunk so low as to endanger my friends.” I strutted over with my blade grazing onto the floor. Sparks flew of the metal from the friction against the stone. Baring my fangs, I glared right at the fat bastard and raised my sword. “Just who the hell do you think we are?!”

I horizontally slashed my blade, watching a wave of energy emit out of it and striking the councilman right at his abdomen, sending him flying straight in the air and slamming him onto the wall where the patio stood. The battle ceased as the councilmen and my friends stopped and turned their attention towards me. I smirked coyly while I stood straight up with pride.

The rubble started to move. rising out of the debris, Representative Kar stood up and staggered. “You, insolent peasant! How dare you lay a hand on a noble like me! You’ll pay for this, I swear!” He was bruised and bloodied with his robe ripped and tattered from the impact. However, I could tell he was still capable of fighting from the way he retained his battle stance. He wasn’t the only one who was miffed. The other councilmen were already coming at me and, with their combined might, they were able to do me in with ease.

I gazed at the blade and saw that it was still glowing, albeit faintly. There wasn’t enough energy left to fight them all. So, an idea popped into my head. pointing my blade upward, I concentrated with my brow furrowed and my breathing slowing down. The light of the blade began to glow brightly and it fired like a pistol, blasting a blue ball of energy up into the air and turned to my friends.

“Keya! Shield your eyes!” she immediately complied and closed her eyes. since the other two were knocked out, I didn’t have to worry.

I covered my eyes and a loud explosion appeared followed by a series of screams and wails.

Once it was over, I uncovered my eyes and looked around. All twelve members of the council fell to the ground while they wreathed in pain.

“I can’t see!”

“My eyes!”

“What’s going on! All I see is whiteness!”

“It’s that damn brat’s fault! When I find him, I’m going to wring his neck!”

Taking this opportunity, I ran over and helped Keya up.

“Keya. Are you okay?” Her face was swollen on one side with blood trickling from her lips and her right eye turned purple. I saw a tear trail down her cheeks, which she wiped off before wincing from touching her bruise.

“Y-yeah, I’m alright. come on, let’s get the others and get the hell out of here before the councilmen recuperate.” I grabbed Grimhilda while Keya grabbed Leni. Then we sprinted out of what remained of the summoning room and straight down the hallway. We didn’t where to go as we turned to the first corner we saw. if we had a map of the catacombs, then it would have been easier to find our way out.

Up in front of us was a fork in the hallway. We didn’t know whether to go left or right “I think it’s this way!”

“You think or you know!” Keya retorted.

“Can’t you just give me a little faith! I’m sure that this is the right one on the left!”

“Hey! I’m not the one who got us right back to the summoning room after turning to the right corner!”

“Give me a break! Anyone could make that mistake!”

We were so determined to escape that we started getting frustrated by the lack of results. It wasn’t easy moving around when you’re holding a dwarf girl in your arms like a baby while had her war hammer tied to your back. Keya was no different either as she had Leni on her back, giving her a piggyback ride as she carried her around. Luckily, the bickering came to an end when we heard voices coming from behind us.

“They’re down here! I can hear their voices bouncing off the walls!”

“Hurry up and capture them before they escape!”

putting aside our argument for later, we both took a right and ran as fast as we could through the halls.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

30 minutes had passed and we finally found our way out of the catacombs. We stopped to catch our breath as we stood outside at the tower’s entrance way.

“Are you good?” I asked.

“Yeah, I’m good.”

Keya nodded. The bruise had open and blood started to trickle down her face. I needed to get her away, so that we could treat it before it got infected. Getting back on our feet, we continued on foot and nearly reached out the city. Sadly, it wasn’t going to be that easy. A howl emanated from the distance and the two of us halted. Behind us was a large pack of parere wolves counting by the hundreds and with their eyes glowing blue, they were ready to advance as they growled furiously. Then we heard a maniacal laugh in the air. Our faces became pale as we saw representative Almas standing on top of the skyscraper’s balcony with a shiner on her face and a missing incisor.

“You fools didn’t think you were going to make it out here that easily, did you? Now you will know why they call me the ‘wolf queen’.” She blew her fingers to a high frequency and all the wolves charged at once. We were too weak to fight. So, we ran away as fast as we could.

Passing through the fence that surrounded the city, the two of us spotted a dark opening within the trees. We dashed through the woods, a mile away from the city and didn’t stop for a breather. Zig-zagging throughout in hopes of finding a good hiding place. The barking got louder and louder, telling us the wolves were getting closer. We examined the vicinity, but couldn’t find any cover to no avail.

“Akio. What do we do?”

“I don’t know, Keya. I seriously don’t know.”

Finally, our prayers were answered. We sprinted to the left and jumped. The sound of water splashing appeared while we submerged ourselves. Opening my eyes, I was surrounded by a large body of water and, fortunately, Keya was floating beside. We held our breaths and waited for the wolves to overlook us and leave five minutes went by and we need to ascend to the surface before we both ran out of air. Luckily, the pack left and probably returned to their mistress. Getting out of the lake, we staggered back on dry land and inhaled the sweet, sweet oxygen around us.

We looked at one another and laughed. “That was a close one. I thought for sure we were about to get mauled.”

“Well, at least we can put this whole ordeal behind…” Just then, a cough was heard. Keya and I gasped at the sight before us.

Grimhilda was gargling on the water that she had inhaled and was spurring erratically. Leni was the same as well, and we were frozen in place on what to do. The two were still unconscious and while they could still breath, they were completely oblivious to their surroundings. We gingerly lowered the dwarf girl and the Halfling girl onto the ground and was about to perform CPR. The only knowledge I had was from television, which might not be the best source, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

Prying Grimhilda’s mouth open, I took a deep breath and exhaled it between her lips. Then I softly pushed against her chest to get her lungs working again. Over and over, I kept on trying, but she didn’t wake up and throughout the process, a wave of guilt struck me like a freight train. This is all my fault. I wasn’t strong enough to save any of you. Keya was saddened by the sight of my tears as she frowned.

On the fifth try, Hilda coughed and spat out the water in her lungs. Her eyes fluttered open and she weakly reached out for me.

“Akio? Wha…what happened?”

“Oh, thank god! You’re alive!” I cheered while I hugged the dwarf girl. I was waiting for her to push me back. Instead, she returned the embrace.

A few minutes later, I did the same to Leni. Grimhilda’s eyes widened in confusion, but when Keya informed her that I did the same thing to her, her face turned red and crawled under while she laid on the ground in a fetal position. Right after I placed my lips onto her for a third time, I noticed her eyes were open as her body began to jerk. I moved away with a shocked expression and felt the sting of the Halfling girl’s hand smacking against my face. “W-what do you think you’re doing?!”

“S-sorry! This isn’t what it looks like!” I said while I rubbed the side of my face. Waving a hand nonthreateningly, I did my best to calm her down as she motioned away with her fists barred. “You drowned and I was trying to save your life!”

“By taking advantage of me while I was unconscious?!” I could see this was not going anywhere. Fortunately, Keya and Grimhilda (who was still embarrassed) stepped in and defended me. The elf girl and I filled the two in on what happened and both of them were dumbstruck. Leni turned her attention back at me and thanked me for saving her life.

Letting out a deep sigh, Leni grimaced while she pursed her lips. “So, what are we going to do now?”