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

symbol. It served as an efficient protection from melee attacks and arrows directed at my neck, when directly confronting.

Leather gloves with integrated steel plates, were given to me. As I slipped them over my hands they felt heavy, but also safe. I also picked a long, chocolate brown leather coat to protect myself from fire and other friction kind of damage. But I took it mainly because it looked very appealing.

"The last piece of equipment to be chosen is your weapon,” Jeik said and pointed at the stands.

As I peered across the armory, something caught my attention abruptly almost as if it called out to me.

It was a black sword, with a crimson colored leathery grip. The blade was slightly curved and likely only sharp on the inside of the blade. Black snowflakes shapes were attached to the cross guard.

Staeger followed my fascinated gaze as he rushed over, grabbing it before I was able to reach it. He carefully lifted it with his hands and examined it in awe.

"By Gyondir's Trident, what is Diabocida doing in a place like this?"
"Diabocida?"

Stager gave me a look that could kill.

"You fool. How can you not know what it is? It is the sword and a must within the arsenal of every single Nightwalker. It is called Diabocida, also known as Demon Slayer and it is made of Blacksteel, which is gained from black iron ore, the rarest of them all. It conducts raw Anima considerably well." he lectured me. 

I raised my brows in curiosity.
"Nightwalkers?"

  "They are specially trained assassins of the Ysoldian Task Forces. Only the best of the best are selected to be blessed with the title of Nightwalker."

Nodding my head, I returned back to the actual subject.

“Wait, so … there are metals which conduct Anima differently than other metals?”

The Lieutenant sighed, most likely in response to my lack of my general knowledge.

“Anima can be conducted by anything, really. There are certain magical enchantments that amplify the power and the stability of pure Anima. Blacksteel carries those traits.“

My hand reached out for the sword, but Jeik grunted and kept the Diabocida away from me in protest.
"This sword is too powerful and rare for a beginner like you", he said.
"I thought your Officer told you to hand me anything I want."

Jeik went red in the face and shook his head.
"I am very well aware of my instructions, thank you. I know what I'm doing. Here take this."

His hand reached out for another sword. It was a simple grey and smaller in length and width. I had no other choice, so I took it. It was a boringly-average iron sword with no particular attributes. I sighed. Why did it frustrate me so much?

"Beginners must start small, don't you agree?", Staeger added.

"Fine. Let's go save the Princess", I said while wandering towards the exit.
"Just a moment there, chap."

I turned around and shrugged my shoulders firmly at the Lieutenant.

"What gives? Ain’t we headin’ out to save Kiria?"

Jeik glanced over to Xodin, then back at me. He shook his head.

“Hmm. Never mind, let’s move out."

The march led us away from camp Dubach, back to the steppes. It felt like backtracking the whole journey. The horizon still had a faint orange glow in the distance. The forest fire hadn't been distinguished, since I passed out. Instead of turning south to the battlefield, where the trio found me, we headed north.

"What's the war about, Jeik?", I said. and remembered Nex Buothor mentioning the Great Nation War.
"That's Lieutenant Staeger to you, Bray."
"Oh, come on. Just tell me what's goin’ on. Where are we? Who are you? Who are you fighting against?"

Staeger stopped and turned to me. He raised his finger in a warning.

"First of all, you really need to be cautious about how you talk to me, since I am the one who saved you. It is thanks to me that you're here with us now."

I opened my mouth and attempted to respond.

  "And secondly; too many questions, insufficient time. Carry on."

As he turned back to continue, I shook my head. Xodin glanced at me for a moment and inclined his head at his officer. I was quite certain that he ordered me to follow our leader.

The dry and somewhat eerie steppes, during nighttime, ended as we lifted our heads to study the scenery. Spiky grey rock formations were ahead of us and in the thick of it, a narrow passage through the mountain chain led through them. Jeik had determined that as our travelling route. The moon trio still glared from between the corneous tips of the rockbergs.

As we trekked up the small path, the temperature kept falling. We all wore dark navy blue coats, knee-length. Cold resistance for one and stealth during nighttime the other. The more altitude we gained during the climb, the fiercer the wind blew.

We advanced further, where the pathway found its end of the line. I reckoned the height might have been around one-hundred meters and the fall would have been steep.

A pendant bridge was stretched across to the other side, where the route would continue. The condition of the bridge made me feel uneasy and my superiors must've felt the same.

Staeger waved us over, while the howling of the constant gust forced us to gather around closely.

"One at the time, I will take the lead. Xodin, you guard the rear."

His hands reached out for the handrail of rope. He grasped firmly and carefully stepped from one wooden plank to another. I followed his instructions and moved over to the edge. My hand reached out for the rope railings.

A projectile dashed past my ear in a loud hiss. I flailed around and backed away from the bridge. My hand rushed to the grip of my sword.

"Contact, right side!"

I glanced over, barely able to perceive three to five odd figures within a huge rift inside of the mountain. Another longish object hurtled towards me. Thanks to the strong wind, the projectile landed in front of my feet.

Xodin rushed to my position and picked it up. He tossed it to the side, cursed under his breath and pulled the large axe from his back.

The poorly built arrow fell into the abyss.

"Mountain Goblins!", he yelled.

Chapter Three

Another salve of arrows was launched. Sergeant Xodin Phoyas covered me up and his body began to illuminate a darker shade of blue. The aura started to surround the outlines of his body. The arrows bounced off his skin with multiple chinking sound, as if hitting a metallic surface. A faint flash gleamed every time an arrow had bounced off his magical ward.

This must be Anima. I thought to myself, and my eyes widened.

 

"Get moving", Xodin said.

 

I raised a brow, since I heard his voice for the first time.

Still dazed, I hurried to the bridge, grabbing the rail and jumped from plank to plank. Staeger drew his sword and raised his free hand, ordering me to stop. I halted immediately and peered at him, but my gaze went right past him. What I saw caused me to snort in dismay.

 

Dozens of Goblins had already covered the other side up, growling and screeching at our group.

 

They were much shorter than humans. Their skin was a tone of a dark gooey green and their ears were long and pointy. Their body posture was crooked and they seem like a hybrid between bipedal and quadruped. As armor, they chose to wear deer hide and leather parts, since most likely lack the physical endurance to carry iron or steel.

 

I slowly walked over until I was on the same level as Jeik Staeger. He seemed annoyed. The bridge had just enough width for the both of us to stand side by side in one rank.

 

Jeik swung his hand across and exlaimed.

 

"We cannot waste time with you wretched beasts. If you may have noticed, there is a war waging in these lands."

The Goblins burst out in malicious laughter.

 

"Give us your Silver and we might consider letting you pass", the creature with a skull helmet said. I assessed him to be the leader of the band.

 

"I shall act mercilessly, should you decide to interfere with our mission. You are indeed too dull to understand the situation", Jeik said sharply and pointed his longsword towards the leader.

 

The Goblin barked and bared his teeth at the Lieutenant.

  "Let none survive!" The creature screamed and motioned towards us.

 

Jeik straightened his pose and held his sword in an almost ninety-degree angle pointed upwards, probably a defensive stance.
I gripped the handle of my sword with both hands, bracing myself for the upcoming battle.

 

Three Goblins disconnected from the group, charging towards us. I wondered, why only that quantity of them decided to attack. As they moved across the bridge, it began shaking heavily. My thought answered itself. I steadied my balance and retook my posture. Jeik never exited his stance as he calmly gazed at the incoming Goblins.

 

One of the creatures lashed out with its unstable axe in a downward chop. My sword arm moved, positioning it horizontally above my head. The metal piece of the axe head bounced off the blade.
I swiftly repositioned my sword from the deflection and thrusted my iron blade into creature. My sword impaled its crooked small body, while it squealed in pain.

 

I pulled out the blade, only seeing dark brown blood dripping from the edge of my iron weapon. The short Goblin stumbled to the side, slipped off from the bridge and met his end at the bottom of the mountain. My eyes widened and my breathing became heavy.

It all happened so fast. My reflexes roughly coincided with my movements. I shoved more question to the back of my head.

 

In the meantime, I caught a glimpse of Jeik parrying a few strikes from his attacker with ease, before decapitating it in one movement. The same colored substance splattered in all directions. The lifeless body twitched harshly, until it finally fell over.

Behind the dead corpse of its comrade, the third Goblin already jumped Jeik. It was quickly sliced open by him, killing it nearly instantaneously.

 

Additional enemy reinforcements appeared to replace the dead Goblins, five this time. They seemed to have some sort of attack pattern. Or perhaps even they were too afraid of the bridge collapsing underneath their feet. I felt very uneasy, myself.

 

A foot soldier, armed with a shield and rusty sword, charged and slashed at my left side. I redirected his stroke outwards and riposted in a quick horizontal jab, only to be stopped by his shield. A second Goblin took me on. As he lashed out, I deflected it and from the corner of my eyes. I shifted my body and retreated slightly. His followed up swing missed me by a hair length.

 

The tip of a sword emerged from the unarmored Goblin's chest. It grimaced and shrieked, while its life was being eradicated.

 

Staeger pulled his longsword back out and stared at me. The lifeless body of the dead creature fell over.

  "Do not get too full of yourself just yet. There are still more to handle, Bray.”

 

The shielded Goblin struck out for the Lieutenant with its rusty blade. Jeik, who had his gaze still fixated on me, deflected and cut down the creature without even looking. Even their reinforcements were defeated easily.

 

I heard a dull explosion near the end of the bridge. A bluish blaze dazzled me and when it faded I saw Xodin, in the middle of the enemy lines. His ginormous axe vertically split one of the lesser Goblins in half. The rest were knocked over, due to the immense impact of his Anima channeled strike. Snow piled up from the strong gust of his attack.

 

"That is my idea of timing",