Mt. Ohm - God Slayer, K. van Marshall [little bear else holmelund minarik .txt] 📗

tight he yanks at the ribbon, pulling Sabo towards him.

 

Smaaaaaack! He reeled the unsuspecting Sabo into another blow, it lands hard in the sternum of Sabo, sending him crashing to the hard stone floor, again. Like a fish on a hook Sabo was immediately pulled up by his ribbon binding, and once back on his feet - his face is met by the furious foot of Kumi. The kick was sharp and clean; it rendered Sabo unconscious without delay.

 

“Do not lie to I!”, fumed Kumi.

 

Looking down at the unconscious Sabo - Kumi fumed, he let his anger get the better of him - now he would have to continue the rest of the journey dragging the pheenome behind him. Luckily they were not far.

 

The Knights temple is crafted from an elegant black and white marble. The pyramid shaped roof is held high in the sky by four wide columns. Many believe it to be some some sort of religious building, some citizens even believe it to be a relic from a bygone era. However, it was purposefully crafted thousands of years ago.

 

Kumi walked into the courtyard dragging his prize behind him brazenly. Confidence is a state of mind that Kumi needed no practice to attain; although Denaarless he planned to brag about his exploits and blag his way off the hook.

 

The trek to entrance was a task only to be challenged by the fit, hundreds of steps cascade upwards. It took Kumi a good while to climb the steps to the summit, pulling his gift up the sharp stone steps. Kumi exhales heavily as he reaches the summit, the opain has almost burnt out of his system. He looks up at the marble columns that line the perimeter, each are draped in golden depictions of nature, gods, demons and mortal races, each decorated to represent the cycle of life and death.

 

Knackered Kumi enters the main building, dragging his bound captive behind him. He stops at a solitary chalky white table, it sits dead center of the wide empty room. He grabs the two black stones stationed at either end. Then places the smooth stones in the center.

 

“Goku, Speed of sound Sonic, Nightcrawler, Kumi D'Hono enters”, Kumi spoke softly and swiftly, igniting a mantra on the surface of his palms.

 

A purple fire flickered and burnt just above his hands - passing them over the stones he transfers the energy to them. The flames pranced upon the stones, stamping down; mushing and melting the two stones until they became liquid. Flattening and then spreading out; the pure black liquid stretched to cover every part of the tables surface.

 

Kumi steps back, giving the table top space as it separates from its block base and lifts into the air - floating upwards then turning to stand upright. The table became a doorway. Kumi walked towards the rippling black mirror - in the mirrors reflection, a black tinted version of himself walks back at him. Tugging the rope, he dragged Sabo along as he stepped into the mirror door. The black liquid slowly enveloping him until completely absorbed, he disappears leaving behind the red ribbon attached to the captive. Seconds pass before the ribbon is pulled tight, dragging Sabo across the cold smooth marble floor and through the doorway.

 

The world faded to a pure green for several minutes, before light and vision returned. The black mirror was another gateway a static warp cord through the green space. Kumi and his captive were now outside surrounded by giant walls of rock and mountains. Within the basin location, paradise was abundant. Waterfalls and beautiful architecture dominated the knight’s hidden city of Sluipsmoor. Kumi looked around at the familiar settings, and allowed himself to relax, finally he was home.

 

“Welcome Kumi D'Hono, you seem to - to - to have returned from your travels… Bzxkt... Denaarless… Bzxkt... Where is is your Denaar?”, screeched a duppiette, hovering slowly towards Kumi.

 

The large egg shaped government officials are wrapped in a white dusty cloth and wear a golden mask for a face. The duppiettes are the Sluipsmoor's servants, teachers and disciplinarians all in one. Created by the king’s researchers to facilitate and watch over the city of knights, and secretly all of Quorth; they are the eyes, ears and peacekeepers of the King.

 

“Shut it, when can I get an audience? I need to show the King this”. Tugging the red rope to the unconscious Sabo. “A pheenome”, states Kumi. Jabbing a thumb behind him to the captive as evidence.

 

“The King... Bzxkt... Re-re-request acknowledged he-ho-he... Bzxkt... Head is, is interested in knowing why you returned, demon-less, and... And Denaarless... Request submit-t-t-tch”, screeched the duppiette again.

 

“Are there any other duppies about? When was your last routine check?”, demanded Kumi. The only way to save himself, and title, was to show the King what he found, however this duppiette did not seem okay - all that screeching filled Kumi with no confidence. To meet with the Knight commander before the King could lead to a fate worse than death.

 

The face of duppiettes alway has a simple,  unusual smile, but this one was odd. Its sly smile quickly twisted into a grimace as it turned and flew off into the sky. Duppiettes rarely show emotion, however Kumi had clearly managed to annoy this one.

 

“Hey! Take this to lock up”. Kumi yelled as he watched the duppiette float away. “Forget it”, he shouted, exasperated. He looked down at Sabo. “Guess we are roommates”.

Chapter 14 - Missing

Over half a month has passed since the tragedy on Venzeca. Smouldering bumps of debris and scars of battle still cover the once gorgeous face of Lonston. With walls, gates and canals hastily patched up, some semblance of normal life has returned to the city. Still a solemn mood hangs over the island. Since the traumatic events many funerals have been conducted - it took a whole week to rescue trapped citizens and excavate tombs of those crushed to death. The eventual head count revealed thousands missing, although this was expected - the violent energies wielded by the invaders were not forgiving; many individuals had been blown to particle dust.

 

It will be the 25th day tomorrow, since coming home to this destruction. I've spent half a month digging through impact points and questioning anyone and everyone, you must have... Where can you be? I can’t bring myself to believe you, Knoah released a long sigh.

 

Wearing a suit of pure red silk - Knoah sat dejected, his back arched and head low. His non-stop frantic searching had left him exhausted and overwhelmed.

 

So cold and deep was his grief at this moment, that Knoah would give his soul to the Great Wheel in exchange for being reunited with his sparring partner. To the outside world he and Sabo shared a love hate relationship, a typical sibling rivalry, but in truth their brotherhood would 'push them beyond the stars', that’s how Sabo described their relationship, and now without his brother to share life's adventures, everything seemed less vibrant to Knoah.

 

Crouched, knees tucked to his chest, Knoah sat on the edge of the veranda balcony of his family home, observing the world whizzing by beneath him.

 

Hypnotically high, the grand Oda mansion looks down on Lonston, from its top canopy, penthouse position. The peculiar sphere shaped structure sits upon one of the larger branches of a sequoiabab tree - the massive branch bases are used as the foundation for the more luxurious tree homes in Lonston.  

 

Below, like fleants, the citizens of Venzeca meander left and right in a dizzying haze, attempting to continue with their simple lives. Zipcarts squeak along at a painfully slow pace and hummers whiz the important to their destinations at a nimble pace, and life generally carried on in a slow and sombre manner.

 

A warm southern wind blew through the veranda - the gentle gust woke Knoah from his malaise - raising his head, he took in the scenic view of the horizon; today it was magnificently colourless.

 

From this height, over the top of yellow tree leaves, a good chunk of Venzeca is visible. Flowing down from the eastern mountain, the clear green river Wei majestically snakes its way through Venzeca to the distant southern sea. The river is a crucial part of island life - the glistening emerald lifeblood of Venzeca continues right through the middle of Lonston and down into the western seas; linking all the major cities of Venzeca.

 

Knoah starred at the river, lost in the rainbow reflections dancing along the water's surface - the beauty had no effect on him; his surroundings were a stark contrast to his sour mood. Although lost in thoughts of his lost friends and family, deep down Knoah knew he was lucky; many had lost much more in the tragedy.

 

It’s mad, half the Lonston Zulons died during the attack. The last time the island suffered such a tragedy we lost our father, thought Knoah. Remembering how much he and Sabo admired his father; his heroic death served to motivate the their ambitions.

 

Knoah’s father was a proud warrior that served in the Yardguard - a branch of Zulon that specialise in homeland security.

 

Uncle once said; ‘He always harboured aspirations of joining the legion’, but he never seemed dissatisfied. Sabo even asked Ginan once: ‘Why didn't dad make it?’, didn’t you bro? What did she say again... He wasn’t able to pass the requirements, khaaakhaa. But that’s just her way right, Sabo. It's more probs - how'd you put it: ‘He just didn’t want to leave us since ma’. Knoah did not know much about his mother's life, there are a lot of secrets in the Oda family.  

 

Knoah looked around and acknowledged the one bit of luck he could claim. The Oda household, his family home, is located in one of few areas untouched by the battle. At the end of every day he has been able to slip into the tree lifts to the upper canopy, and crawl into bed. Not many have that luxury, the initial intrusion resulted in much of the residential districts being destroyed.

 

A heavy uneven shuffling of footsteps behind him broke Knoah’s silent contemplation - scraping loudly the back door crawled to a stop. It was ginan, his father's ma’s ma. He had been avoiding her, but she had finally managed to corner him.

 

“Hey geegee”, said Knoah, greeting the tiny old woman with a nod.

 

“Don’t hey me”, she scowled, the wrinkled lilac skin of her face folded over as she frowned. “Where you been hiding?”.

 

“Nowhere”.

 

“My foot, bout nowhere, tsssshhhhht”.  Kissing her teeth, she hobbled a few steps forward and stopped beside Knoah.

 

Slowly, she lowered herself to the ground. Her legs seemed to be made of wood, creaking wearily as her knees bent.

 

Lucky she’s got a mini hummer, thought Knoah.

 

When she was close enough to the ground, when it was safe, her knees gave way - sending her tumbling onto her backside. Knoah made no attempt to help - he would prefer to be left alone and wasn’t about to make her feel comfortable - instead he just watched his frail ginan land gracelessly.

 

“What’s up geegee?”.

 

“What? I can’t come and