"What do you people think you are doing?" Abe acted bravely and asked. "This is the territory of the Western Empire! You aren't welcome here" the young prince tried to talk him and his friends out of their predicament.
"Oh? So where are we welcome?" one of the black cloaked men asked. Unlike the others there was no sword symbol on his cloak. Instead there was a red colored scar in the shape of a sword that run across his face and over his left eye. It signified that he had the greatest authority amongst the Dark Kingdom wielders here. It was proof that he was at the peak of the mortal realm.
"That…that…that" Abe stammered as he struggled to come up with a reply to the intelligent question that caught him off guard.
"It doesn't matter whose territory this is, Young Prince. What matters is who is here now" the leader coldly snorted.
Abe looked startled that the man knew who he was. He was initially planning to use his status to weasel them out of this situation. However, the man knew who he was and didn't seem to care. And why would the leader care? Although the world didn't know about the true workings of the Dark Kingdom, he did. He was at the peak of the mortal realm yet he was still in the 'lower' rank of the hierarchy. The only ones behind him in the ranking were those who hadn't broken into the high stage of the mortal realm. All those below the 7th stage of the mortal realm – both those in the low and middle stages – formed the 'lowest' cast of the Dark Kingdom. Those at the high level of the mortal realm – from the 7th to the 9th stage – were part of the 'lower' cast. It was only after one broke into the above-mortal realm that they would become part of the 'low' rank in the Dark Kingdom. As for the divisions of ranks higher up the hierarchy, the leader didn't even know. He had to break into the above-mortal realm first before he could find out.
'We are so powerful yet we hide in the shadows as though we are afraid of them' the leader thought silently. How many times had he gone on missions and met pompous nobles who threatened him with the names of their empires? He had lost count. He didn't understand why the Dark Kingdom had so much power – enough power to crush the world and build it anew – yet didn't take any action. It was almost as if their elders were afraid of something. It was almost as if they were terrified of someone.
'I don't know what secret this place holds, but it must definitely be extraordinary' the leader was convinced that the only reason the Dark Sword hadn't started a war was because it was cautious of something – or someone. And maybe one day he would find out what it was.
"Your father loves you dearly" the leader smirked coldly. "And you boys too. Both the prince here and your friends have very loving parents" he continued and waved his hand to one of his subordinates. The subordinate in question nodded his head and disappeared into the village. He returned with eight men. Three of these men were from the Dark Kingdom for they wore the same robes and carried the same symbol the others carried. The remaining five men weren't. They were beaten black and blue and were unrecognizable.
"I believe you know these men" the leader smirked and asked. As he watched the faces of the young boys twist in fury, and their earlier fear dissipate, he was greatly satisfied. Since the boys were from very good homes, they always had guards watching over them. Even when they run away from class and sneaked into this village, their guards didn't stop them. After all, they were tasked with protecting them from the background; disciplining them wasn't their job – it was the job of their parents. They were all at the peak of the middle stages of the mortal realm – peak 6th stage mortal realmers – yet they had been captured relatively easily. By now they must have regretted not preventing the boys from running over to this place. Normally their power was more than enough to deal with any threat that came their way, but this time they had been largely outnumbered and outclassed.
"You wish you could kill me, don't you?" the leader gazed at the boys coldly and asked. They said nothing, but their gazes displayed that they didn't fear him any longer. Their gazes answered his question: Yes, they would have killed him if they could.
"For your rude and disobedient gazes, I would have to punish you" the leader stated and gestured to his subordinates holding the guards hostage. Abe had a bad feeling about that hand movement. And that feeling was proven right.
*puchi*
Five heads came tumbling down. One of them rolled all the way to Abe's feet. He looked down in horror to see the face of one of the Royal Guards. This man had watched Abe since he was little. He had even taught Abe a movement technique when he was five and joked that since Abe couldn't wield any energy now, he could use it to dance. He promised to teach it to Abe properly when he grew older. But now he was dead.
"I will kill you!" Abe roared furiously and dashed towards the leader.
*bam*
The Western Prince was easily swatted to the side. The leader didn't show any mercy. His slap didn't kill Abe, but the power of a peak mortal realmer was strong. At least he had broken a few of Abe's bones. Jake and John were just as furious as Abe. Three of those guards were their father's men, and they loved them as well. They also rushed towards the leader carelessly, undaunted by the fact that Abe had failed.
*bam*
*bam*
The twins faced the same fate as Abe – each of them was sent flying in different directions. "How are they able to wield at such a young age?" the leader was startled by the energy he felt from the boys. All three were in the first stage of the mortal realm! He may have considered that they were older than they looked if he didn't know their actual backgrounds. They were only 6! So how did they possess inner energy?
"I will kill you!" a battered Abe picked himself up from the ground. Even though he had several broken bones, he still dashed towards the leader. He wanted to rip his head off for killing people that he loved. He didn't even realize that was the first time he had seen someone die. And neither did the twins. They both stood up and joined Abe in his charge. None of the other wielders from the Dark Kingdom interfered. Without receiving any orders from their leader they couldn't act on their own. Besides, their leader didn't need any help.
*whack*
*bam*
*bam*
*whack*
*bam*
*whack*
*whack*
*bam*
No matter how many times they were sent flying, they kept coming. Admittedly after finding out that they were able to use inner energy at such a young age, the leader had restrained the power of his slaps. The children were much more valuable than he thought.
'The Elders would be pleased and would help me break into the above-mortal realm', he thought excitedly as he sent Jake tumbling onto the ground with another slap.
"Round them up. We are returning right now" he ordered. But before his men could obey his order they heard an immature voice scream
"What did you do?!"
The leader turned to the source of the voice and saw a young boy with yellow hair and blue eyes glaring angrily at him. The boy's gaze sent chills down his spine but he quickly calmed down and mocked himself for being scared by a little boy. However, he soon noticed an anomaly and exclaimed in shock
"3rd stage of the mortal realm!" That's right. The little boy who looked no older than the Western Prince and the sons of the Northern Empire's Grand Marshall was giving off an aura only belonging to those at the peak of the initial stages of the mortal realm. This little boy was Mane.
"The gods must be smiling on me today! Hahaha! Another talent! Wonderful. Bring him to me" he ordered.
"I'm not going anywhere" Mane replied. The leader was startled by his voice and it wasn't because Mane refused to come along. It was because it wasn't immature and childish like it was initially. It was a baritone voice full of authority. Before he could understand the situation, the Dark Kingdom wielder who had gone to apprehend Mane was sent flying by an outburst of powerful aura. The wielder wasn't simply sent flying; his boy was sliced into countless chunks midair, killing him.
"What is happening?" the leader wondered fearfully. The little boy was still giving off the aura of a 3rd stage mortal realmer, but the power he radiated was insane. The winds stirred and the earth rumbled at the sheer power of the boy. His formerly yellow hair had become silver white and his eyes looked like melted bronze. His hair swayed to and fro and cracking sounds rang out from his body. But amongst all these changes none stood out like the symbol on his forehead. It was a lightning brand which was as blue as the vast ocean.
"Let it be undone, what has already been done" the same baritone voice resounded in the leader's mind. Even though he didn't see Mane's lips moving, he heard his voice. He watched in horror as his men screamed in agony and rapidly reduced in age. That's right – they reduced in age. They all became babies and then disappeared as if they were never there in the first place!
"What power is this?" the leader screamed in fear and tried to escape. It was said that the Dark Kingdom had no fear, but this time the leader was terrified. He didn't fear death, but he was mindful of how he would die. Dying this way – not knowing how you even died – was terrifying to him. But before he could travel far he felt a strong suction force.
"NO!" he screamed as he was pulled towards the one he wanted to escape from. He was so terrified that he didn't even draw his sword. He watched hopelessly as he flew towards Mane's outstretched arm and opened palm. He didn't know how, but the boy was levitating over the ground. He struggled to breathe as Mane squeezed on his neck.
"You won't die from this. It would be too kind" Mane 'spoke'. Again, the leader didn't see his lips move but he heard the voice in his head.
"P.l.e.a.s.e" he pleaded. He wasn't asking to be spared. He was begging to be killed swiftly. But Mane wasn't having any of that.
"Fall" he ordered. The clouds darkened and the sun was slowly pushed out of the sky, giving its stage to the rumbling thunder and flashing lightning.
*Boom*
*Boom*
*Boom*
*Boom*
*Boom*
Several bolts of lightning descended upon the deserted village. Most of the lightning fell on the leader who was still within Mane's grip. He screamed in agony as he was basically fried alive. Finally his cries ended yet the lightning still fell.
"Come!" Abe commanded and held the hands of the twins. Although he was severely injured, he still tried to pull them out of this place. Several bolts of lightning descended close to them but they were lucky every time.
"Mane!" Jake tried to reach out to their friend, to the cause of the storm. However when he turned to face them, they were terrified. His gaze was cold and unfeeling. He wasn't the Mane they knew. He looked at them like they were ants waiting to be trampled upon. They were like mere insects to him. He quickly disappeared from their scope of vision and reappeared right in front of them. Before they could say anything he tossed the charred body of the leader onto the ground and reached out for Abe and John. He grabbed their necks and hoisted them into the air.
"Mane!!! What are you doing?! They are your friends!" Although Jake was afraid of Mane, he was more afraid of what would happen to his brother and Abe. Because of the drowning sound of thunder he had to scream out. Mane's expression grew twisted. He looked like he was struggling. Abe felt the grip on his neck loosen.
"It's working!" he exclaimed
"This isn't you! Wake up Captain!" Jake continued when he heard Abe. The lightning slowly faded away and the thunder ceased. The sky regained its tranquility and the winds ceased their howling. The sun happily took its place once again and finally, Mane fell to the ground with Abe and John.
"He has fainted" Abe cautiously checked Mane's breathing.
"What was that?" John asked, terrified at what he had just experienced.
"I don't know. It was almost like it was someone else" Jake huddled with his brother and responded in a shaky voice.
*************************
"It must never happen again" Abe's recollection ended.