Game On Level 1.6

Game On Level 1.6

Kern did his squatting with me on his shoulders for about twenty minutes before the motion sickness got too much for me. However, he was still pumped up and ready for more.

“Man, this amazing! I feel like I could take on a pack of bears,” he said, flexing.

“Easy there, Hercules,” I said, with my hand over my stomach.

I sat on the bed and there was a small knock at the door.

“Yeah?” called Kern.

The door slid open and Bal poked in. “Ashi told me your where still here, Alison. Oh,” he looked at Kern. “You’re the Second, right?”

“That, I am,” Kern smirked, feeling very proud of himself.

“Ashi asked me to tell you that he’s waiting for you in the study. He wanted me to take you there,” said Bal, with a strange red flush on his face.

“Sure,” I said, walking towards him.

“I’ll catch up with you later,” Kern waved as we exited the room.

Bal scurried ahead of me with his head down. I skipped a little in order to keep up with his pace. When I looked over to him I noticed that he kept his gaze away from me.

“Um,” I said, rubbing the bride of my nose. “Are you okay? You look a little flushed.”

“I’m perfectly fine!” he said quickly, before giving me a bad attempt at a reassuring smile.

“Um, o-okay,” I said, not wanting to pry.

We reached a room which was a good five minute walk away from Ashi’s bedroom. The room was tiny but cluttered. Tall bookshelves were pressed up against the walls; a sturdy wooden desk stood proudly dead centre and there was a small window just across from the desk. I peeked up at the window for a moment. Stars. That was all I could see. Before I could completely become baffled by the thought that I was traveling through a starry ocean, Ashi spoke.

He was sitting, with his feet on the desk, reading a leather bounded book. He closed it loudly when we entered.

“Ah, Alison!”

He took his feet off the desk and gave me a deep warm smile, the type of smile you’d see a proud parent hold whenever their child did something great.

“I apologise if I took you away from Kern so suddenly,” he said, clasping his hands on the desk.

“Oh, no. We were ju-just relaxing for a moment,” I stammered.

“I am glad then,” he said, gesturing for Bal to ebb closer to him. “We should just get right down to business. You see my nephew here has taken a shine to you.”

I looked over to Bal who was giving Ashi a bashful scowl. “You make it sound as if taken her as my betrothed.”

Ashi laughed and stood up. “I do not mean it in that way.” He looked towards me with a beam of joy swelling in his eyes. “You see Bal’s a-”

“A Seraph.” Bal looked away from me, ashamed at something.

Puzzled, I looked at Ashi. “What is that?”

Ashi was taken back at my remark but then opened his mouth. “Ah, of course…you have lost your-” He stopped. “A Seraph is a being born from a mystic – but with no powers of a mystic.”

“My-mystic?” I stuttered.

“Someone who can use magic naturally,” Bal said, looking at me.

I nodded along, putting the pieces together in my head.

“He should have been a mystic himself.” Ashi looked over to his nephew. “But these things happen.”

Bal knitted his eyebrows together and looked down at the floor, clearly offended.

“I don’t see anything wrong with him, should I?” I asked, wearily.

Ashi held back a smile and tried to remain serious. “Bal is actually older than you, most likely.”

I scrunched up my face in confusion. Bal looked around the age of twelve with his smooth skin and infant features.

I heard Ashi snigger. “Bal is actually in his fifteenth year.”

“No way,” I said, without thinking.

At my remark Bal looked up with surprised and hopeless eyes.

“Great,” he said, slouching. “Now she thinks I’m a freak!”

“I never said that-”

“But it’s all over your face!” he yelled.

I tried to convince him otherwise but all that came out my mouth was a series of stutterers.

“Maybe this isn’t such a good idea, Ashi,” mumbled Bal.

Ashi sighed heavily. “You’ve already decided, Bal,” he said softly. “Do you really want to show her? It is entirely up to you, this is a big step after all.”

“W-what are you talking a-about?” I asked.

Bal bit his lip before nodding towards Ashi.

“Well then perhaps it is better if you explain it to her yourself, Bal,” said Ashi, with a small smile lurking on his face.

Bal took in a deep breath and let his hands drop to his sides. “While I don’t excatily have magic abilities I still have one particular trait.” I noticed that Bal’s hands started to tremble. “What I can do is…’link’ myself to someone and well…b-become their protector in a sense.” Bal turned towards Ashi who nodded at him reassuringly to continue. “I don’t know why but I-I.” He took in another deep breath to steady himself. “I want to protect you.”

I swallowed away my stunned feeling. “You mean-”

Ashi spoke up. “You’ve seen how Resse is with me, right?”

I nodded.

“He too is a Seraph. And he chose me, what it means is you two will be at your best together,” he explained. “You’ll share emotions – both happy and hurtful. Also, if either one of you is hurt the other will be able to feel it, no matter the distance.”

“We’ll understand each other in a way no one else can explain,” Bal said suddenly. “But it comes with a price.”

“What is that price?” I asked, as a sudden chill made my hair stand on end.

“If one of us should die the other will be left…hollow in a way,” he said.

“You mean if one dies so does the other?” I asked.

Bal shook his head. “No. It’s not like that more…uh…how can I explain this?” he turned to Ashi.

“It will be as if the living party is void of emotions. While they will still have their personality and their life, they will be unable to feel. It will be as if their emotions died with the other person.” A frown crossed Ashi’s face.

I looked down and gave myself a second to take all the information in. Eventually I looked at Bal and asked him something.

“That does sound like a heavy price but t-there must be benefits, right?” I asked.

Bal nodded, seemingly relieved. “We double in strength, speed and stamina whenever we are together. And with our link we’re able to take on some of the damage if one of us gets hurt badly.”

“Do you really want to do this? I mean, isn’t there someone else who could use this better?” I asked.

Bal looked away and scratched his head. “There is but…”

“This decision isn’t something which you can mentally make,” said Ashi. “It’s a gut feeling which hasn’t been explained. If Bal feels strongly enough to you then consider it to be an honour, Alison.”

I looked at Bal’s eyes. They mirror my own emotion: fear.

“If this is what you want, Bal. Then go right ahead,” I said, confidently.

Bal couldn’t contain his glee and a grin stretched across his young face.

Ashi loudly clapped his hands cause both Bal and I to jump suddenly. “Great! Then let’s get this over with.”

Ashi reached behind him and to my horror he pulled out a small spotless sliver knife.

I don’t like where this is heading. Little Alison finally spoke up.

I took a single step back as Ashi walked towards me.

“Alison,” I looked towards Bal who was still smiling. “It’s okay, it’ll only hurt for a second. One quick slash across our hands.” He stuck his plam towards Ashi.

Ashi held Bal’s wrist and with one fluid movement he sliced Bal’s hand. A single moment of pain flashed across Bal’s face. He made a fist and blood dripped down from his knuckles to the floor.

“This is how the link is made, Alison,” Bal said, as Ashi strolled towards me.

I shook my head. “You didn’t tell me-“

Ashi took my wrist and held up my hand. At first I tried to struggle but then I looked towards Bal who had walked right beside me. We exchanged a glance and a calming sensation washed over me. With my free hand I held Bal’s clean left hand for comfort.

“Ready?” asked Ashi, lightly pressing the blade to my plam.

Turning away my head I muttered. “Hurry up…”

A stinging sensation quickly sprang from my hand as the blade made its mark. Ashi dropped my hand and I quickly grabbed it again as pain surged through my fingers.

“Ow..nh…this hurts,” I mumbled through gritted teeth.

Ashi put the bloody knife down on the desk before walking out the door. “I’ll leave the rest for you to do alone, Bal,” he muttered before leaving.

Jittering with sheer excitement, Bal – with his bloody hand – grabbed my own wounded palm. I whimpered as the forced irritated my hand.

“Sorry,” Bal said, relaxing his grip.

Slowly he moved his hand so it fit comfortably in my own. Our blood dripped all over our fingers and made a mess on the floor. With every movement Bal made the slash in my hand cry out in pain. With great difficultly I managed to keep a straight face.

What is this? Some kinda witch ritual? Oh, will we strip naked soon and dance around a pentagram? Little Alison said, mockingly.

I mentally shh’d her and she went back into hiding in the depths of my mind.

“For the link to be made our blood must be shared,” Bal informed me, still moving his hand within my own. “Ow! By Nival this hurts!” he winced. “I’m almost finished.”

A few more movements later Bal pulled away his hand. I gasped in pain as his finger scraped against the throbbing wound.

“I’m sorry,” Bal quickly said, holding his own hand. “I’ll find us some bandages.”

He scurried to the desk and began pulled at the drawers. Exclaiming in triumph, he held up a roll of white cotton bandages. He bounced happily back to me as I out stretched my hand. Bal unravelled the bandages and tore off a small fist full piece. He used that piece to wipe away some of the excess blood. I couldn’t help but take in a sharp breath every time he neared the slash. Once the blood was mostly cleaned up, Bal wrapped the soft cotton around my hand. The throbbing sensation dulled marginally and I let out a small sigh filled relief.

“I’m sorry we scared you,” said Bal, cleaning up his own wound.

“No, I understand. If you had told me right out about this ritual I wouldn’t have agreed,” I said, somewhat ashamed.

Bal wrapped the bandage around his hands. “There is one more thing.”

A flash of red went straight to Bal’s checks as he set down the bandages.

“You might want to step back a little.” He waved his hand at me and I took a few paces backwards.

Bal looked down at the floor as his face scrunched up in pain. His back started to arch and his mouth opened. He bit back the urge to scream as his face became even more scarlet. He began to double over and held his elbows. The pain grew too much for him and he let out a blood chilling scream. It was then I noticed that he wasn’t arching his back – something was pushing out.

Two lumps started to push at his shoulders. I took a step forward fearing that the lumps would tare through his skin.

“Don’t…” Bal struggled to speak. “Stay there…”

I looked at Bal’s face. Veins looked as if they were about to explode for his temples and his cheeks were hot scarlet. Just before the pain seemed to grow too much for him he let out one final screech.

I felt part of his pain too. It wasn’t a lot, just enough for me to make a mental note of it. I felt two sharp pains dig into my shoulder blades. The uncomfortable feeling caused me to bite down on the inside of my cheek. As quickly as the pain started it stopped.

When the pain seemingly stopped for Bal he lifted up his head in reliefe. A wind like force caused me to stumble backwards, the same force – I thought – caused the books to go flying off the shelves. When I was able to look up properly at Bal my breath was whipped from me.

Stretching from Bal were two snow white, pure, angelic, wings.