Roaring Thunder

Chapter 3: A Shadow's Revelation (Part 8)

________________________________A Taste of Defeat_____________________________________

The ground is painted in red... with blood. My hands and knees on the ground ; My vision blurry and my lips damped, I look down to my own pool of blood. I can see my reflection in it. A reflection of my battered and worn out self. A loud sound next to me turns my attention to it.

A face staring at me, streams of blood trickle down his forehead, Dane lies on the ground. Tears escape his eyes, his lips mumble some words drowned by the growls from the wolves in the vicinity. Somehow, I can make out what he is trying to ask me. 'We lost?', I translate. It hurts to admit it but still I bravely reply, not sure whether it reaches him.

'Yes.'

A hand reaches out to me from behind and tugs at my hair, lifting me upright and off the ground. My arms swinging slightly in the air, the broken bones screaming in pain from within. My eyes shift to the side, trying to get a final look at the man who defeats me. I can't. Damn it! If only I could move my arms, if only my arms are not broken, if only I was wiser.

That's right. Even in my last moments, I can still see it clearly in my half-closed eyes. Everything from the beginning till now.

It was only about two hours ago, when we first arrived in Terra. I was about to step past the village entrance, comprised of two pillars standing on my both sides, when Dane grabbed my shoulder and halted my advance. 'Something's odd here.' He said softly as I followed his stare to the feet of the villagers. There was no shadow.'Looks like he's here, alright.'

'Ale eh?'

'So why sh-' Dane was halfway speaking when a little girl came over and tugged at my shirt. Her face chubby and her hair tied into pigtails, she looked up at me with those big, round eyes of hers. Dane stepped forward and wanted to slap the tiny fingers off my shirt but I held his hand in time. 'She's dangerous.'

I replied to him,'Let's give her a chance to prove herself, shall we?' Immediately, I turned my attention to the girl without waiting for Dane's response. 'So what can I help you with, kid?'

'Are you guys travellers?' She innocently asked, her eyes glimmering in the sunlight.

'Why ask?' I replied.

'Well... there's not many travellers who came to our village.' She looked down at the ground with a sad look on her face. I looked at her sympathetically then patted her head.

'Why not show us around then, kid?' I requested when a man in plain tunic approached us and interrupted our pleasant conversation.

He said,'She's still young. Follow me, I shall be your guide for the day.' Scanning him from head to toes, he looked like an ordinary man with his brown hair messily combed. I looked at Dane who was still unhappy with my action, then turned back to the man and nodded in agreement. He smiled before walking away from the entrance and gestured us to follow him. Before we left to join him, I caught one final glimpse of the girl. She was not smiling and her eyes were filled with sorrow and disappointment.

'So where are you guys from?' The guide asked.

'Our place are none of your concern, I'm afraid.' I replied in a polite tone.

He simply put on a smile in return. 'Oh, here we are!' We stopped before a bigger than normal cottage building. 'This is the hall where our religious events are usually held in.' He stepped forward and pushed the wooden door inwards, revealing the interior of the building. A bare ceiling above, long tables and benches furnished the floor and, old pillars standing tall at every corner of the hall. A statue stood at the front end of it. I decided to step inside, my right foot a few centimetres from the floor in front of me, when Dane crossed my path and with a dark shadow shaped into a blade around his hand, he plunged it into the guide's chest.

And oddly, there were no blood smeared onto me or him. The guide grabbed hold of Dane's hand tightly, his white portion of the eyes turned black. Then, he opened his mouth to release a dense black smoke that slowly entered Dane's nose and ears. When it has completely invaded his body, the guide's body dropped to the ground like a lifeless doll. I turned around, expecting the villagers to stare in horror at us. Unfortunately, the sudden turn of event was much worse in reality. The villagers advance towards us, their feet scraping the ground. I turned my head to the hall's entrance and watched Dane fell onto his knees with his hands wrapped around his neck as if he was choking on something. The shadow in his case.

'Dane?' I asked with panic in my voice. 'Dane!'

There was no answer. He kneeled there, grabbing his throat tightly. Every second mattered with the advance of the zombie-like villagers. Their eyes completely black. I took a step backwards, facing them. 'Come any closer and I will show no mercy!' I shouted. They continued moving like my voice was not heard. 'I dared you.'

My arms were covered in electrical currents, I stood next to the troubled Dane while facing the oncoming wave of the villagers. Should I end it with death? Or should I run away? I shook my head. No! The latter would not be possible without harming them either. 'Aargh!!'

Casting away my hesitation, I punched the ground with my fist in a concentrated ball of currents. 'MUST I DO THIS?!' I screamed louder than ever before as my punch shook the ground where the entire village was constructed on and cracked it, causing most of the villagers stabilising themselves. 'Thunder Fist!' And streaks of light escaped the cracks, expanding before drowning the villagers in a blinding flash and destroyed them completely. No remnants of them remained. I breathed in and exhaled noisily, my power mostly spent on that one strike. My head turned to look at Dane and to my surprise, he was already standing on his feet before me, so close that I could never have imagined as to how he managed to sneak up to me without me noticing. But that was not what I was totally bothered about. It was the same shadow blade that stabbed the guide, now in my abdomen, that caught my attention. That and those black eyes looking into my eyes. 'Dane?'

Red liquid escaped the stab wound. It was deep, undoubtedly, but not so deep that it could kill me in a matter of seconds. 'Dane? Answer me...' I coughed. I could feel my breathing getting harder with my blood constantly exiting my body. And that's when the sound of hands clapping roused me from the pain of simple inhalation and exhalation of air and diverted my eyes to it.

'To think that you fools would fall into my trap just like that.' A smirk traced across his lips. 'To think that you are such weaklings.' He was the same person who encaged those shadows within me. Without realising it, I was already putting on my angry expression, glaring at him and biting my teeth. 'Mad? Don't blame me for your own foolishness?'

'Y-You involved those innocent men,women and children in this battle.' I said.

'But you are the one who killed them, no?' He replied with a question.

'You..' I realised that his words were the truth. But some part in me was not prepared to hear it, to face the sin I have done. Emotionally controlled, I drove a fist into Dane. 'Forgive me.' I uttered softly. He staggered backwards and his hand slided out from my wound before succumbing to the pain and returned his consciousness for a while. Immediately, I sprung to action and ran towards the man, my arm in the air and my fingers clutched tightly into a fist. My arm straightened out into a punch aimed at his face but he dodged it just in time. With a shift of weight added by the speed of my lightning, I vanished momentarily before reappearing behind him with another punch. 'You shall taste my rag-'

'Is that all you got?' He interrupted and a massive black palm shot up from the ground and intercepted my attack, wrapping its fingers around my body. The grip tightened with the time, crushing my bones within it. I screamed in agony. MY ARMS!!

Satisfied with the look on my face, he gestured the arm to toss me aside.

That's right. That was how I end up like this.

'You can stop hiding there.' He said, looking at the corpse of the guide. The supposed-to-be corpse. 'Reveal yourself, Hex!' The hair of the guide stand upright, flinging gracefully in the air as it the brown slowly fades into silver. The body stretches to a taller height as he lifts himself from the ground and stands. His eyes sharpen at the ends and the tunic he dons becomes blurry and reveals a silver armor.

'Cut me some slack will you, Ale? I was having such fun watching the battle.'

Ale shakes his head and turns to me. 'You spell trouble for me, Dios of Trueno.' He aims his hand at me and says, 'My shadow shall devour you... bits by bits.' He laughs hysterically as Hex leans against the wall of one of the cottages and looks on.

'Goddamn it!' Hex shouts out of nowhere then, draws his sword magically from the air. The sword is pointed at the sky.

'What are you scheming, knight?' Ale asked cautiously.

'Just a slight betrayal, that's all.' And with that, he swings his sword downwards.' Release the arrows!' A portal spins into sight before him and hundreds of arrows shoot out from within at the opposite direction towards Ale who gasps in surprise. 'I cannot afford losing someone who is worthy of becoming my strongest rival.'

'You traitor!' Ale replies with hatred in his voice before disappearing into his own shadow. The portal closes and the arrows planted into the ground.

For some reason, I feel like a sore loser. Being saved by a knight, someone from the palace whom I have been actively running away from, is suffocating for me. I...

I feel pathetic.