Roaring Thunder

Chapter 3: A Shadow's Revelation (Part 3)

_________________________Sub-Chapter: Encounter

The last knight fall to the ground legs first then his entire body. Now all is left is but one knight, I thought. But when I realise that instead of a solid-built man in armor, a girl( since I look older than her.) with twin tails is standing before me. Her hands gripping the end of the axes on her back, she pulls them off the string tying them to her back then down to her sides. Two Roman Pick Axes in her hands and a dagger under her waistbelt. She's different from the rest, I can sense it.

'I have waited long enough for a strong warrior other than the Great Holy Knight...' Her words tail off with her dashing a few metres forward towards me as she drops two powerful axes onto me which I barely manage to block with the pole of the lance I am carrying on both ends. She forcefully pushes her axes down onto my pole that stops its motion but then, pulls back then follows up with another strike almost immediately. The strike and run-away pattern can allows the user to attack and defense at intervals. An attack follows up by a pull- back then returns to an attack. Although it is a good pattern to use when fighting, it is not practised by the knights in the war for time is of the essence which clearly contradicts the pattern which slowly torments the enemy until he or she falls. To think that a practitioner of it will be facing me in a battle of death.

She strikes and she retreats constantly, repeatedly with me blocking her attacks. During the onslaught, she says something that triggers the worn-out soul of a knight within me. That is...

'Too scared to move, u piece of junk?'

With her next attack which again I manage to block due to its similar motion to the previous one, she closes up to me and utters softly to me.

'Knights from the past must be terribly weak if this is all one can offer to me.'

This is it, I thought.

'You are dead.' I reply. So dead, I add in my mind.

I summon my strength and break away from her strike which I have blocked then I thrust towards her with my lance. All of which are dodged effortlessly by her. Just when I thought that I have gotten her, the lance's tip's close to touching her skin, one of her axe comes chopping down at the lance's pole. The pole splits apart with me holding one half of it and the other falling to the ground. She doesn't waste a second to give any thought to my weaponless state. Less so, my shocked expression. With her wide swing of her right axe, it slices through the air above me as I duck it but that is not the end of her attack. The miss has allowed her to gain a momentum for her left axe as a backchop of the axe in her left hand comes at me. I am forced to pull away from my ducking position and step backwards. Alas, my retreat is slower by a second. The edge of the axe cuts my nose. And blood streams out from beneath the wounded skin. But that doesn't halt her motion.

After the left axe hissingly slices passed me, it is directed downwards and is swung slantedly for her next strike. A diagonal chop with her right. The spinning torrent of attacks keep me dodging to the sides and to the back for the entire time, unable to find an opening to step in. The hissing sound from the yaws fills the surrounding. In the midst of them, unrealised, I accidentally slips on a wet portion of the ground and lose my balance. She notices it and using the momentum she has been building from the past swings, after her swaying of the left axe, she lifts herself to the air with a hop as she crashes downwards upon me with a chop from the right axe. Along with her body weight, down comes the death blow aimed at me. I am still falling down, in the middle of the air. My sight is fixed upon the axe's sharp edge. Time seems to pass so slow before me. My fall and the axe moving down at me seems to take a lifetime for them to happen. After what feels like eternity, my right fingers finally touch the ground below me. And reflexively, I plant my fingers into the surface and with my full strength, straining every muscle tissue in my dominant arm, I place my hope on this next move. I pull myself to the right to dodge the oncoming axe. But it fails.

The strike cut open a deep wound across my left arm. I am able to land steadily on my feet and step hurriedly backwards. Despite having survived the deathblow, my left arm is now seriously injured while my right arm is filled with pain at the muscles. The remaining chop from the weapon crushes the ground on which it lands. The Earth is shattered and the dusts are scattered in the air. Raisha stands upright after pulling out the axe from the ground. She sets her glare at me.

'You are saved by mere luck this time. But the next won't be the same again, I assure you.' Her face red and her eyes are filled with rage and impatience, she paces towards me as she toys with her dolabras by swirling them around. What shall I do to face her? To gain an upper hand in this battle? The only answer I can think of is... I do not know.

My hearts are racing faster by the second. My head is aching by the thinking. And my arms are throbbing with pain. I feel that there is no hope left for me. Is this it... My consciousness suddenly fades away; My sight slowly darkened. Why am I...

I fall to the ground, face first.

Raisha stares at me lying on the ground. Blood flows out from beneath my body as she watches me sinking into the pool of blood. Sinking and slowly disappearing from sight. It is then that she notices that I am not in fact, sinking into my own blood. Instead, my body is being pulled into my own shadow. To save an enemy is definitely not to her taste but to let someone else stealing her opponent is something she shall not let to happen. She starts to increase the speed of her pace and within seconds, she is already running with her axes in both hands, ready to cut down whoever or whatever is behind the shadow.

The pair of eyes looking at her from below glimmers slightly in the dark as the beast bares its fangs, ready to strike too when its prey is within range. One meter away, three quarters away... Raisha is advancing in a fast pace when suddenly, she stops in her track. Not by herself but by something from below. Inside her shadow, another set of eyes are looking into hers. The feature of the hidden beast is revealed as it surfaces from the shadow and behind her presently stands a dark, furry wolf salivating and craving for fresh blood.

'No... no... I shall not die!' I speak as I regain my consciousness. Struggle as I may, I cannot escape the strong force holding me from below. Raisha looks at me as I muster whatever strength I have left to overwhelm the force and stand up. 'I...I.. shall not..'

It is as if I have been sucked into another dimension in a flash. Moments ago, I was in my own pool of blood and now, I am lying on a cold, hard ground with a familiar scene surrounding me. This is the Valley Of Lightning! But, why am I here again?

' Rex...' A voice sounds in my head. 'Rex...' A voice drowning in pain and a voice muffled by the owner's own breath. I stand up, seeing that my wounds have somehow disappeared. 'Rex... To your right.' I turn around only to find myself looking at a lion with its mane flashing bolts of lightnings and its eyes' closed, displaying the scar sliding across both his eyes diagonally hence, bearing an X with the intersecting point being in between its eyes.

'You are the lion I saw that day.' I say. The lion lying down, slowly lifts itself up to a sitting position and open its eyes, revealing the red eyes behind the lids. Its voice speaks in my head again as the lion open its mouth. 'I do not know what you are saying, young man. The time is passing as we speak, and I am not spared with much to discuss minor matters with you. So...' The lion howl in pain as it flinches halfway in its line.

'You kill her, didn't you?'

'That is not important, Rex. So, regarding the...'

'Not important? Are you kidding me? She... she... I love her!' I shout in response to his reply. Sadness once again fills my heart; drowning my thoughts in the past. Where my hands are smeared with blood and her dying smile directed at me. 'And you...' Then,as if a realisation strikes me, I mutter. 'No, I killed her. Yes, I killed her.' The lion assumes that a tinge of madness has been aroused in me and so it says.

'Yes. I killed her. She's a plant witch and she's a threat to your life. At first, that was. To not notice the change in heart of that woman is a flaw on my part, I'll admit. '

' A threat... I see. She's evil. And you're trying to protect me right? Yes. I must be correct. You are my true friend !' I sound even madder than before as I seemingly try to suppress the sadness and hatred from resurfacing completely. A lie, the lion thought, to convince myself that she dies fro a reason and not becasuse of anyone's fault. A lie to ease my wounded heart. The lion looks at me with an unpleasant expression on his demeanour.

'I see that you are still weak mentally. Perhaps, it is not time yet.' It says in my head as the lion slowly turns around to leave. A fault cannot be undo when it has been done and remain it shall. With me out of its stereoscopic range, it advances with its back to me. The beast has loosen its guard. It has just taken a few steps forward when suddenly, a fist lands onto its body. It roars loudly at the punch and turns around to find me with my fist still there, touching the targeted part of its body.

'Now that I have taken my revenge, what shall I help you with? ' I wear a serious look as I look back at the lion glaring at me.

'Revenge? That's all? You cannot fool me, human! (It roars again.) I have known you for twenty years, since the war has ended. Your mental fortitude is only slightly stronger than the rest of the human.' This time, I can hear a laughter. A laughter that belittles me.

'You only know my former self and not my current self. But now, you know.'

The lion glares at me for a while before it speaks again, indirectly.

'Very well, Rex. I shall trust you on your words. That you have develop yourself both physically and mentally. ' It howls. Then, in its mouth, a ball of electric currents is formed and with a thundering roar, a stream of currents lashes out and hits me. I am lost into an outburst of electrifying currents.

My surrounding turns white and bright. Blinding my sight, I slam my eyes shut tight with my hands shielding them. I heard its voice. For the final time as I know it from its words.

'Farewell, Rex.' And the words gradually become softer and fade away.

In an instance, I am back to my wounded self, lying face down on the ground with the wolf pulling me downwards into my shadow. Even Raisha is having trouble to escape the force stopping her from moving within her shadow. However, this time, I can feel hope reaching out for me for the surge of power within me, I can feel it. The confidence in my eyes have returned and my mind is no longer hazy. This time, I shall survive.

I summon the lightning-like currents by imagining them flowing around my body. Crawling against my skin while shocking those that touches it except for me. That's right. I am imagining a power that belongs only to me and that can be wielded only by me.

'Spark.'

Currents begin appearing from nowhere little by little and shrouds my body in them. I smile, knowing that I have learnt to summon them fairly well. I look over my shoulder then below me to identify the wolf's whereabouts. And there I see it. Its tails curling around my legs. This is it. Within seconds of imagining it, an outburst of currents is unleashed outwards from my body. And everything other than me that so much as making contact with it is electrocuted to dust. Including the wolf with its tail holding me down. Its existence fades away amongst the light.

Struggling, I raise myself up on my feet. Currents streaming along my skin and my eyes flashing as bright as lightning. My cloak torn and battered, and my arms swaying lifelessly as I move. Wind blows past me, the end of my cloak is swept to my right. The wolf notices my advance and growls with its furious eyes set upon me. It turns itself into a black pile of smoke and surrounds Raisha. It is threatening me not to come any nearer. But, its action bears no disadvantage to me for...

I already have the preparations for my next move set. Above it, in its zenith, dark clouds are swirling into a point. Sounds of thunder clapping can be heard across the sky with bright light switching on and off about the point. I walk slowly to the front and to my target. Impressive, I thought, to not show any hint of fear in its eyes. Nonetheless, that will not last long. Your courage... I shall smash it into pieces.

'Strike.'

And in an instant, a lightning zaps down from the sky and towards the spot where Raisha and the wolf is standing at. The lightning hit them and the ground below is blasted with such ferocity. Dusts and sand in scattered in the air, blocking the view of the struck area. Seconds later, Raisha is seen still standing with the axes in her hands. Her eyes blank and her body burnt and covered in dusts, she crashes to the ground in front of her.

The currents shrouding my body within begins to disperse and disappear from sight as I too, being overwhelmed with fatigue, fall. The village somehow has became a battlefield between a former knight, a Holy Knight and a pair of wolves. The land has somehow became a place to be cherished in memories.

The place has inevitably became the starting line for my troubles in the days to come.