"M-MAELTA!?" I screamed as I realised what I had done. I had beaten my friend all the way back to the edge that Bolunch once slid down. And I couldn't find the strength to peer over the edge. I did not want to see it.
No... I had... Killed her. My friend. My dear friend was now dead. And it was my fault.
"I-I-I'm..." I couldn't even get out as tears began to flow from my eyes. But He would not let me weep or mourn. He just guided my head back towards the thunder-gold. The holy ore.
"Save them all." he told me with his usual, buzzing tone.
"Save them..." I repeated as my strength returned. And with hasty, erratic actions. I slid about before I made a clean sprint for the opening. Just barely coming to a stop before the electrifying ore. However, I did not know what to do.
So I tried to find Him, but he was nowhere to be found...
"Just take it." I told myself as I reached out for the ore. Keeping my hand on a forward path even as small branches of lightning began to worm about my arm. Cutting searing, charred lines across my skin until I grabbed it firmly. At this point, more than just lightning began to come to me.
My vision went white and I screamed into the air as I felt my hand stick to the metal. Despite how it may have looked though, I felt no pain. Instead, I felt an exhilarating rush that overwhelmed my senses. And I quickly collapsed to the ground with a shiver despite how hot my body now was.
The grass below me burned and fire began to form...
"Now I can..." I slowly let out as I stood up. Not even taking a moment to glance about at the parts of my body that I could see. Instead, I just ran as strange new strength pumped through me so clearly! It was as if I was trying to sleep, kept awake by the beating of my heart!
There wasn't even a sliver of doubt in me as I leapt from the high position. No fear as lighting shot out from me and dug deep into the earth around me. And rather than the shock of the fall crippling my legs. The mountain beneath me fractured and broke!
Like an old bed did it bend!
As I was not for focusing on this right now, I suddenly charged the 'machines' as Maelta called them. Tearing one apart so very easily. My hands just touched it and they heated to their melting point! From then, they just came apart like the sand Dad puts in his furnace.
And it wasn't just that first one I grabbed either! They all came apart like nothing had ever done before! I didn't even need to keep my hands there. Even a passing punch or swing melted right through it!
Whatever they attacked back with as well did nothing. It just burst on the lightning that branched out of me. As if it had a mind of its own. As if it was protecting me while I protected everyone else!
"I will save them all!" I let out excitedly as I started to think of Dad. Of how proud he would be when he saw me! How jealous the usually superior Bolunch might be when he saw how I won! The Festival of the Fallen Star was my victory!
For once, I had accomplished something meaningful... This crude amulet I had could finally change! It could finally grow! And all of them would know, they'd all see it!
"GET OUT OF MY HOME!" I roared in defiance to the things that attacked it. And with a tremendous leap that I didn't entirely mean to do. I flung myself out of the mountain and into the sky. With the world seemingly trembling and booming as I landed on the surprisingly frail rock.
As I stood there, I then caught sight of the flying objects from before. Those strange things that had Maelta worried for everyone. Her mother especially if her words from before meant anything... So I looked back.
"Mael-" I started to say before something far more powerful than the green lights from before struck me. For a moment, I was surrounded by smoke and possibly rubble. Yet, when it cleared. I became aware of how unmoved I was. And I glared at these things.
Letting this strange power build up in my legs as I slowly took a step off of the edge. Pushing down on the mountain and shooting forth towards the mass of red below. And with the fury of a storm in my fist. I struck the grassy field and listened out for the tremendous thunderclap!
When I stood up, however. There was no more red, no more grass. The machines were all gone. Only fire remained.
More green light then began to descend upon me. More harmless strikes tore up the earth further. The land had become unrecognisable. But I grasped it more so than this strange tingle that precisely travelled about me.
Something I couldn't help but focus on until my hand was seemingly taken control of. The clouds above seemed to be calling for me and the sky darkened as a dark grey, almost black mass rolled in. Fearsome thunder lagged behind the golden lances that now arced across the sky. It all called to me.
As if I could understand it as well as anyone from the village!
So I reached my hand out and stretched my hand out wide, as far as my fingers could part! And I kept it there as the storm above seemed to cheer me on. A single, golden bolt then struck out towards me. But it was so slow.
Almost as if I could just take it into my hands... So I did. Yet it struggled against me despite this inviting sensation it was also giving off. I didn't know what to do so I just smashed it into the ground as if it could tame it.
It only fought back more though, yet, this felt natural somehow. So I did it again, making sure to more firmly lodge it into the ground. But still, it resisted. So once again I slammed it down with all my might. And I stepped back as I clean snap suddenly let out.
"Solid gold?" I questioned, confused by the sight as the things above started to attack with increased ferocity. Some kind of green and red light then shot up high into the sky. But it never came back down. And I reached for the jagged, golden rod.
Growling as I was suddenly presented with an effort I did not expect. Everything had felt so easy up until this point but this rod was heavy! Heavier than anything I could've expected, but, eventually, as my feet dug in. I started to pull it out with a roar.
Somehow, though, a large, two-handed hammer was now in my grip. A solid gold handle shaft that looked as if it had no good spots to grab, yet, felt natural to hold anyway. Rather than a block of wood or bronze as well, the top was just a boulder that I had pulled from below. With veins of pulsating gold throughout.
"I can use a weapon." I remark as my chest swelled with confidence before I brought it back. Lightning crackled off of me and the land shuddered and trembled. I could feel the power swelling up within it. But it quickly overflowed and surged down at me, burning my hand with such heat that I hurriedly reacted.
A quick spin to knock the power out of the hammer. Yet, to my surprise, the earth rose with it as the spin ended. A sudden mountain surged out of the earth and it just kept on rising. Even as it clashed with the thing above it.
Which then went up in a magnificent fireball as I decided to charge. Power then flowed down to my legs as I ran once again. Although the weighty hammerhead trailed behind me, I did not feel slowed down. The mountain felt like nothing more than a brief hill.
And once I arrived at the top, I leapt for the nearest thing and landed on it. But I must've come down on it too hard. Because it was suddenly shuddering and the metal below me was creaking and bending. As if I was some impossibly heavy object.
"Machines!" I let out as flying versions of those red machines that were attacking the village suddenly came upon me. Their speed was almost incomprehensible and their strikes were sudden. But each one felt dulled and forceless. My counterattacks, however, were slow.
And they often escaped my attempts to swat them. Until I seemingly got lucky with an overhead drop that just tore through one of them and carried on into the big thing below. My blunt hammer had carved this thing apart like Bolunch would a boar! Now, however, was not a time to be amazed.
So I pulled the hammer back out and chucked it out towards what appeared to be the centre. And it suddenly vanished as it went straight through this thing on the way down. A powerful explosion then flew upwards into the air. So I knew at the very least that I had not lost the hammer.
Something then suddenly struck me, though. It was like one of the machines from before. Yet, there was something different about it. It did not creak or thud, but rather, it roared at me and it screamed.
It was alive...? This was armour?
"I BANISH YOU BACK TO THE FOUL PLACE YOU CAME FROM!" it roared in some distorted language as it bombarded me with sharp grabs. Knocking the orientation right out of me before he smashed a red light against me.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I screamed as great pain suddenly surged from my bare chest where it had struck. And before I could even recover from the great distance it sent me. That thing was back again to strike me with another such blast. Which it then followed up by grabbing my leg.
It treated me like a hammer before the storm above saved me. Giving me that brief, helpful moment to rise to my feet so I could face it. However, that saving grace had caused quite a bit of damage to it. And I saw the signs of something red beneath the cracked armour.
"So you can be hurt..." It let out with a half-normal, half-distorted voice. But I understood not one word that it spoke as it took up a fighting posture.
But maybe it could understand me?
"Why're you attacking my village? We've not caused any harm to any creature beyond the confines of our mountain home!" I explained to it as the strange creature continued to growl and snap.
Whatever it might've understood probably didn't matter. As it was quick once again to attack. And I recoiled from every blow its armoured fists delivered. The hard ridge it had for knuckles buried the force far deeper than expected each time.
Contrary to the skill it attacked me with, my blows were sluggish and unprofessional. There was no talent or know-how behind my swings. And doubt crept into me. How could I protect my home if this power was not enough!?
This thing was weaved past me each time and retaliated with blinding speed. Sometimes even, it would create more of those red lights to strike me down with. All the way until my back was to the mountain. Yet, even as my hands dug into the stone, his power did seemingly nothing to it.
Even the powder I was now holding in my hands was undisturbed. It just flowed out of my hands as I brought my arms up to protect my face and torso. Yet, my gut became easy pickings as a result. And my attempt to guard it left my chin exposed in turn.
"DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" it roared as I felt its right arm suddenly swell with power. And when it hit me, we went flying into the sky as it continued to roar. But the sky roared with greater fury. And as I fell, the lightning chased it off until I crashed into some trees.
A wave of fire accompanied me as I lay motionless on the ground. Exhausted pants escaped my lungs and then my mouth. The power I had been blessed with seemingly vanished as well. Eventually, though, I found the strength to move to my feet and I looked about.
All while the strongest rainstorm I had ever seen in my life poured down. Extinguishing the fires that had worried me so much. But the mist that followed did not help me and I tried to wave it away as something else rumbled about me. And as the power left me, worry came to replace it.
There was just so much smoke. It looked as if it was even able to push back against the rain, which was already potent! Then, as something cracked beneath my foot. I looked down at it.
Frowning at the charred animal that I had trodden on before I started to move. With one hand fanning out the area before me, I tried to find my way back. Stumbling occasionally as my legs found the debris hidden by all the smoke and rain. But this rain was also making a lot of mud.
And I often slipped up into it. Staining my skin black with the burnt soil as I struggled to get up. Even the trees I could grab onto passed on their dark scars. It wasn't long before I was just a walking mess.
"Anyone?" I called out once I finally found some solid, rocky ground. From which I then picked up the pace as the rain seemed to calm down and part. In fact, it lightened up so much that the few drops that did come were enslaved to the breeze. Their erratic paths sometimes went against my face, even.
But there was no one out here, so I kept on walking until I finally saw an outline. There was no way that I couldn't recognise the sight! Bolunch, Maelta and I have gone this way so many times! So I ran with haste before I...
"Where are you all...?" I asked when no one came out running to greet me. To ask for help or to just ask if I was alright. There was no one. Those strange men were gone too.
So I walked towards my home, hoping that I could find my family huddled up somewhere. Yet, I started to worry when I found a partially melted machine stuck against the front door. So with desperate strength, I tore it down. Stepping aside before it sounded out with a wet slap.
"Dad!" I called out, wanting only one thing as I slowly moved behind the counter. The charred wood and burnt walls made it all the clearer. I almost couldn't believe it when I saw only a hand buried amongst the rubble. So I dove down and cleared out the mess.
And I went quiet as I stared down at a pair of hugging bodies. Both were burnt black by fire. All accept for Dad's amulet, which still had a slight shine. Yet my filthy hands threatened to end that.
Silently, I then stood up and walked away. A cold, blank sensation filled me as I looked around some more. But still, there was no one. No crying, no anger or fury...
Just silence.
"Maelta!" I let out as I suddenly ran away from the village. A clear standard has been set for the place. I would find no one alive but I might just be able to find Maelta. Bolunch managed to survive that drop...
So maybe she did too...
I just needed to find that drop, but there was no light anywhere for me to retrace my steps with. Had I taken the light from the thunder-gold? Was that what all that power was? Also, what had happened to Him?
He was gone now too...
"H-Help..." someone then weakly cried.
"MAELTA!?" I shouted in shock as I suddenly ran towards the noise. It strangely sounded so clear to me despite the pain her words clearly carried. How she struggled to say them as well. It baffled but I did not lose myself in it.
"Th-Thurge!?" they let out before they started to cough blood from their spot on the ground.
"I'm sorry..." I told her with a tone that did not match my feelings for the situation. But, in a way, I was thankful for it. How could I really be sorry when I did that to her...? Everyone else had been killed by those machines and I...
"T... Thurge... L-Listen to me... Do not become... Do... Thunder... D-Don't become him. Please!" she begged as she suddenly clutched my tattered top. With more blood bubbling out of her mouth as she did so. And as I tried to pick her up to give it somewhere to flow. I felt the open wound her fall must've caused.
"I don't understand." I tell her, unsure of what she meant by that. Was that power related to it? Did He have any idea?
"P-Please... Don't..." she spat out as she suddenly became interested in the trees around her. It was just a small clearing, though. Was she just scared? I could see quite clearly that she was shivering.
"I'll... I'll try." I tell her anyway, although I did not understand. A sudden lightning bolt punctuated my promise. She did not care, though. She just kept staring at the forest around us.
"To think... To think t-that the grave... That I found... Was mine..." she laughed of all things.
"Maelta..."
"Th-Thurge...?" she let out with a different tone all of a sudden. And I moved her head closer so she did not have to strain her dying voice.
"A-Are my parents okay?" she asked as she looked down in confusion at her wounds. Her smashed up bones and bruised body.
"Y-Yeah..." I lied with a straight, unemotive face as she started to smile.
"G-Good..." she quietly whispered as she suddenly went still. And I did not move at all. I just stared blankly at her. I kept her body up and her face near me before it rained again. Oddly, though, I could only see it hit her face.