Bray Hyrian, Kivi B. [best summer reads txt] 📗

Chapter One

Our swords collided against each other, sending shockwaves in multiple directions. The leaves on trees and bushes rustled loudly, as the strong gust of wind spread out. Anima, the Life Force energy, was released from both our weapons. Unleashing their fury to overpower the other, causing another blast which sent us flying back several metres. My body twisted in mid-air before I regained my balance and landed on my feet, lifting my weapon back into combat position. A visible purplish, bright aura surrounded me and the edge of my sword.

There was a rift of Anima in the sky, it seemed to be absorbing the energy of whatever it was able to reach out to. It drained my body and that of nearly anything in its shadow.

My hands, wrapped in leathery gauntles, intensified the grip around the two-handed broadsword which I called the Daemorius, or Spirit Assassin in our tongue. It spanned a length of about 1.40m. There was no crossguard, just one giant hunk of metal, a cleaver. Its hilt was long enough to provide enough maneuvering room for hands to adjust to the situation. Just the inner side of the blade was sharpened, while the other side displayed razor-like jags.

"It is already too late. The gates will soon be opened and Inanis will fully consume us all."

The voice of my opponent was heavily distorted and I grunted in dismay, as I peered over to him with contempt.

"Well, in that case I gotta' make sure that I send ya' there first, before anythin' nasty gets outta' there, huh", I mocked him.

"Such an arrogant brat. What possible odds do you possess? You will not be able to stop the inevitable end of this world."

My opponent wore a full black-steel plated armor and was about twice my height. His helmet covered his entire face and two spiral long horns emerged from his scalp. Several steel spikes were attached to his entire full-body protection. His sword was even longer than mine and a black Anima aura surrounded him and his weapon. It was twisted and sent shivers down my spines by just looking upon it.

"It is time. I shall send you to the abyss", the raspy, distorted voice said.

His ginormous sword was lifted above his head while dark energy manifested and multiplied in size. Even creating a black hole like state, absorbing the Life Force energy out of every being and object.Trees began to wilt and stones simply began vanishing piece by piece, all transforming into tiny pure Anima particles. The earth quaked as my own purplish Anima started to build up.

"Bring it on", I sneered and brought my sword into another pose.

I slowly swung it from the front to the back on my right side, before small, purple orbs began to float towards the metallic surface. But my energy didn't absorb other objects

His channeling of Anima had ended.

"Contralux", his demonic voice said.

The tip of his large evil sword was pointed directly at me, before he released a black, arched beam that disintegrated everything in its path.

My Daemorius glowed in such a brightness, from all the energy storing for my final magical attack.

"Lunascindo!", I cried out with every fiber of my vocal chords.

The edge, which was loaded with a severe amount of my own Anima, released a purplish beam, caused by a harsh diagonal swing. The beam swiftly changed its form into a crescent moon.

Both of the magical attacks collided and caused an explosion of an unimaginable scale. I covered my eyes with my arm and quite rapidly, my vision went blank.

 

My heavy eyelids slowly opened.

The first thing I managed to identify was a visage staring into the void. There were several bloodstains scattered across the face. Throughout the blurry vision I finally began to realize, that it was a young woman. Her attire was torn and shabby.  It struck me that she was dead.

Was it a dream I had, or a memory?

The foul stench of dried blood and smoke rising from blazing fires, made me feel slightly ill. Frequently, there were dull but intense noises near my position. My body even picked up vibrations from the impacts through the earth. My visual angle was restricted, probably blocked by bodies or just due to the fact that I was lying on my stomach.

“We are advancing to gathering point Beta, follow me men!” an itchy voice yelled in the distance, which I failed to recognize.

Advancing? Gathering point? My thoughts echoed within my mind.

Heavy steps passed by, to my left and right.

I suddenly felt a strong pain coming from the side of my torso, before my body started rolling down a grassy hill. There was nothing I could do to prevent it, for some reason. Someone must have tripped over me, I thought to myself. I noticed changes to my view of the scenery, as soon as I stopped rolling. What I saw made me cringe on the inside.

Arrows, glowing projectiles and giant stone bricks were raining across the fields. Two distinct, massive  crowds were clashing into each other down below. One side had a bluish toned coloring, in the midst of their masses, and the other red. Screams and faint clanking fulfilled the otherwise peaceful night.

The three moons glared a crimson red and the burning fire in the background prevented me from seeing the faint light of the stars. Vague silhouettes of forests and mountains were only barely perceivable.

My gaze lowered to a footpath next to me. Three figures approached from the right side. Two of them seemed to be carrying heavy plated protective gear. My unmoving body was noticed as the person in the middle stopped, before turning to face me. His facial features displayed mild surprise as he pointed towards my direction.

He kneeled beside me, while the pair in the background stepped closer. The coloring of their armor was optically well balanced between silver and blue. A beautiful reflection of the moonlight shined upon my face, being caused by the steel parts of their set.

The man on the left had an unnatural body height and held an axe, comparable to an average human body in size. The kneeling man carried a silver toned longsword, sheathed on his belt. A golden lion’s head was the shape of his sword’s pummel.

Another person followed the both of them. A young woman wearing a noble corset, covered in robes. She held a rod with some impressive embellishments in her right hand.

The crouched man eyed me before speaking.

“My name is Jeik Staeger. I am the Lieutenant of the Second Ysoldian Task Force. What may thee name be?” he asked with an annoying intonation. The woman next to him face palmed. He grunted and peered over his shoulder, shrugging at her.

“What?”

She waved him off and nodded towards me. Jeik Staeger turned back to me.

I took a deep breath and attempted to speak, resulting in failure. It literally felt as if a knot tied my throat tightly together. 

“He’s most likely under Mesmerism”, the young woman said.
“Are you able to reverse it, Kiria?” Staeger looked up to her. 

Her long blonde hair gleamed as she nodded. Her sky-blue eyes flicked across my face and body, before her facial features changed, pointing her rod at my face afterwards. A white orb manifested at the tip, then a thin beam penetrated the skin of my throat. It burned briefly, as if swallowing a piece of burning coal. It caused me to gasp for air, followed by intense coughing.

“Now. Let us try this again. What is your name?”, Jeik Staeger said, while his face moved closer

“Do you always introduce yourself that way?”, I suddenly busted out loudly, causing them to show signs of relief. Jeik raised a brow at me, mildly annoyed.

“I … don’t know my name.” I said quietly and frowned in confusion.

The Lieutenant glanced at me, clearly expressing his bewilderment. His stare wandered to my top until it fixated a spot on the left side of my chest.

“Bray”, he mumbled, “your name is Bray.”

I followed his eyes to the name tag which was sewed on. The name Bray was written in well readable Sensylai letters, the basic language.

It was in that moment, when I realized that my attire and the dead woman's from earlier were identical.

“Might be a bad concussion. Would explain his loss of memory”, Kiria said.
“What? No way! I can clearly remember that-“ 

I cut off in the middle of the phrase, attempting to recall anything. I was only to be confronted by the void coming from my memories. The only thing that might've been a memory, was the vision from earlier. I didn't feel like sharing it, though. A gap opened up between my lips, while staring back at her.

“Can you walk?” Kiria sighed, before asking with a heartwarming smile on her face.

Astonished, I peered into her eyes. Just her smile was sufficient enough to replenish my soul in a soothing manner. Nevertheless, my body still remained in an impossible condition to move. I barely managed to shake my head slightly.

"Xodin, prepare this boy for transportation."

Jeik rose to his feet, dusting off the fabrics of his armor set.

The overly sized man nodded. His large hands grabbed me and swung me up to his shoulders, letting my body rest across them. On his level of height, I noticed that Xodin was perhaps two meters tall. Or perhaps even exceeding my estimation.

"Very well, then. I believe we are falling behind in our schedule. We must regroup at the gathering point. Let us depart", Staeger said.

Both of them replied with a nod as the group started to move.

They transported me downhill of the footpath until we reached the base of the mighty hill. The scenery changed from the mountain area, where I regained my consciousness, to dry steppes where a great battle took place.

This must’ve been the field of the skirmish, which caught my subliminal attention. My eyes picked up countless corpses and arrows, which were scattered across the entire field. The stench of rot and ashes invaded my olfactory nerves and I nearly hurled. Our journey continued away from the lying dead.

"Have any lost memories returned to you?"

I raised my head and stared at the young noble woman who smiled back at me.

The entire vision from that odd battle was replayed inside my mind. Again, I felt that it was irrelevant for sharing, since it might've been a dream.

I bit my lips and shook my head in disappointment.
“Nnnhh. It’s no good. Can’t remember a thing.”

She sighed and tapped my hanging arm. I followed her with my eyes while she caught up with their Lieutenant, using quick but elegant steps.

Jeik Staeger seemed older than her and taller by a head. His black shoulder-length hair swung as he peered at Kiria. The tall man carrying me, Xodin, appeared to be even older than the Lieutenant. He was bald and his skin tone was darker. Solely his appearance was ensuring an effective intimidation.

Minutes, even hours passed until the moving group was brought to a halt. Out of the corner of my eyes, I spotted robed figures holding the same kind of rod, like Kiria. They were patching up injured soldiers using the same healing energy, which was used on me earlier. Fear and dread was literally written on their faces. We arrived at the gathering point. It was crowded, hectic and surrounded by tents and camps.

We entered a structure made of canvas. Folding cots were carefully positioned for maximum space usage. It most likely appeared to be a medical tent.
Xodin placed me on soft and comfortable surface and the three of them eyed me quietly.

"Rest, young man! Thou shall be safe here", Staeger said while placing a hand on his chest, using the same awkward intonations as earlier in the night.

I rolled my eyes.

“Will you stop this old-Sensylai nonsense?”, Kiria snapped at him, although it seemed more in a playful manner.

My vast exhaustion mixed with the bed's comfortableness. All the voices dullled and I fell asleep.

My track of time was brought to an absolute standstill. It was still in the dead of the night when I next opened my eyes. However, it felt as if it