Ascension: Quest For Revenge

Chapter 8: The Twins (Part 1)

While unconscious and on the verge of death, Axel had a nightmare; the same one he’s been having for the past five years.

He dreamt about the Great War on Bluegate. Axel had taken cover behind a wall to shield himself from extremely hot energy rays.

He looked around and saw various other nonhumans taking cover as well; some crumbled on the ground, their bodies immediately turning black and breaking down in the form of dust.

Once the rays had stopped, Auremians charged with their clubs and maces, and fought the advancing enemies. Some elves climbed on small buildings and together let out a barrage of arrows. Others shot magical projectiles; shards of ice, fireballs, energy blasts. Axel aimed his staff at the army of mages and soldiers. His parents from far away did the same. The ground below the enemies started glowing. The three then raised their staffs, and the sky turned red. Giant red beams of energy shot directly below on the ground towards the enemy like dense pillars. The soldiers and mages were instantly vaporised.

“It’s a straight shot from here to the throne room!” Axel’s father, Holden Brooks told the nonhumans army. He had a scar on his right cheek, black hair, brown eyes and a circle beard, and he wore a hood. His robes were blue with black lines and had a large collar.

The sky turned normal again. “We have to go through that door-” He pointed straight ahead towards a huge door that separated the outer grounds from the throne room, “-to get there!”

“The clouds are unstable!” Axel’s mother, Mabel Brooks warned. She had long, golden hair, and violet eyes. Her robes were almost identical to Holden’s, apart from the red colour. Her hood hung behind her head. “Move in a single file!”

“Remember, the king will be prepared!” Ender said. He had a long stubble beard, black eyes and hair and robes that were black and brown, without a hood. “I suggest defence first, and flyers for support.”

“Alright!” the commander elf said. “Single files! Shields first, mages second, the rest behind them! Be prepared for attack!” She looked far behind at the dragon riders. “The remaining recon will fly over the gate and provide support!”

Everyone followed her commands. The troops arranged themselves in straight lines and charged towards the gate, through the shimmering red columns left due to the attack. The dragon riders flew off the ground and headed over the gates straight into the large fields in front of the throne room. Many mages, including the Brooks family, flew along with the riders to provide recon and support to the army. Even higher above them, giant golden birds and magically summoned flying beasts soared in the sky, heading towards the throne room.

As they flew, they immediately spotted a giant boulder hurling towards them in the air. The mages were quick enough to dodge in time, but the dragons weren’t so lucky; the boulder crashed straight into one of the dragons. The dragon and its rider died instantly. Axel looked towards the sender and saw a Giant; an enormous creature twenty feet tall covered in huge armour and helmet that hid his entire face. Axel knew he was the reason why the clouds were unstable, and that he knew he had to kill or at the very least distract the Giant so that the troops can head to the throne room.

Axel continued to relive his painful memories: the Giant badly injuring The Brooks, the magic cloud fracturing and breaking up due to the enormous creature falling on the ground… He remembered barely hanging on, in vain, while the entire ground beneath him fell apart. Ender walked up to the three who were holding on for their lives, shouting for help.

He distinctly remembered Ender using his telekinesis to lift the Giant’s body in the air with one hand and push the ground further down with the other, destabilising the cloud even more; until the cloud below no longer provided support.

“I’m sorry,” he said to them in a low, grim voice. “But you’ll just get in my way.”

That entire large chunk of ground Axel and his parents were lying on plummeted down towards Rayfort. His parents were already injured and bleeding after battling the Giant; they used all the remaining magic inside of them to create a dense red shield to protect Axel while he begged for them not to do it. It took all they had; their bodies slowly faded away, and all that remained were the robes and the staffs. Axel continued diving towards Rayfort, protected by a powerful shield, with enormous debris around him. As he landed, the shield exploded, creating a big crater on the ground and obliterating the surrounding debris.

Just as he landed in his nightmare, he woke up.

Axel immediately sat up and raised his arms, which radiated white.

“Calm down, Axel,” someone said. He tried to regain his senses. He was sitting on a bed, with a bandage on his arm at the spot where he got the poison. He was in a small room lit by a candle nearby that was filled with medical equipment lying around on tables. On his left beside him were the two twins; the man had a clean shaven face with short brown hair, and grey eyes. He wore light armour with white glowing crystals attached to his gauntlet. The woman also had grey eyes, long black hair, and pale skin. She wore some kind of grey suit with a unique fabric. Both were of the same height.

“It’s alright,” she said. “I’m Luna Colt.”

“And I’m Jack Colt.”

“We’re the ones who’ve been contacting you, remember?” She held a Blue Emerald in her hand.

“You blocked me out,” Axel said. He felt groggy, and his entire body hurt as he tried to get up.

“Lie down,” Jack told him. “The neurotoxin is gone, but you’ll need rest to regain your strength.”

“We received information that the Royal Assassin was after you,” Luna explained. “The one who attacked you. The guard presence had also tripled. We had to act quickly to get you disguises and take down sentries.”

“A little more discretion on your part would’ve been appreciated,” Jack said. “You made quite a mess down there.”

“Where am I?” Axel quickly looked around. “Where’s Belle?”

“She’s on a mission,” Luna explained. “To retrieve weapons from a blacksmith who went dark. She’ll be returning soon.”

Axel put his hand on his forehead. His head hurt badly. “How long was I out?”

“About fourteen hours, I think,” Jack said.

“What?”

“You needed sleep mate, desperately. How long has it been since you last slept?”

“About… A week.”

“A week?” Both Jack and Luna were shocked. “What, you’re trying to become nocturnal?”

“You won’t understand.” He again tried to get up, but still couldn’t.

“Axel, rest, please,” Luna said. “You’re safe in our hideout, and it will be a while until our next raid. Collect your strength. You’ve been through a lot. We’ll explain everything in time. We’re just glad you’re OK.”

“Thanks to me,” Jack said.

“Yeah, you mentioned that.”

“You never thanked me.”

Luna walked out of the room.

Jack sighed. “You see that vial beside you?” He pointed to Axel’s right. There was a vial with pink liquid in it. “Wait for ten minutes, then drink that potion. It will reduce the pain. Once you feel better, come out and meet us. We’ll tell you everything you need to know.”

“I hope so,” Axel said. He closed his eyes and put his head down on a pillow. Jack walked out of the room.