As the colossal wooden guardian roared in defiance, my sharp eyes caught sight of a faint, glowing core nestled within the creature's chest, pulsing with a vibrant energy that seemed to be the source of its strength. Realizing that this was our key to victory.
I shouted to them, "The core! We need to target the core!"
With renewed determination, I surged forward, maneuvering my spear through the air as I conjured flames that danced along its length. I launched myself towards the guardian, dodging its sweeping branches and striking at its legs to distract it while calling for the others to follow my lead. Speira swooped me into his back with her curved wind spell. I used thunder to temporarily paralyze him, but it didn't work.
Ursang, understanding the importance of my revelation, began channeling the earth's magic within him. With a fierce roar, he summoned jagged stone spikes that erupted from the ground, aiming to destabilize the guardian and create an opening for me to strike at the core. "Keep it off balance!" he shouted, his voice steady despite the chaos.
Eline, seeing her opportunity, gathered water from the surrounding forest. She unleashed a torrent that swirled around the guardian's legs, creating a slippery surface that hindered its movement.
"Now, Yacha! Go for the core!" she urged, her heart racing as she dodged a swinging branch.
Speira, harnessing the wind, propelled herself into the air. With her twin swords, she performed a series of acrobatic maneuvers, drawing the guardian's attention and buying me precious seconds.
"I'll keep it distracted!" she yelled, darting through the air with agility, her blades striking at the branches to create openings.
With their providing support, I leaped into the fray, channeling all my fire and thunder magic into one concentrated thrust of my spear aimed directly at the glowing core. As I drew closer, I could feel the intense energy emanating from it, almost as if it were alive. I pushed myself harder, summoning the last remnants of my strength, ready to strike the decisive blow.
"Together!" I called out.
knowing that we would need to combine our efforts for the final attack. With the guardian momentarily distracted and unsteady, we surged forward, determined to shake the core and bring the guardian down once and for all.
With a fierce scream, I thrust my spear deep into the glowing core, unleashing a torrent of fire and thunder that erupted in a blinding explosion. The guardian convulsed, its wooden frame cracking and splintering as it collapsed, leaving behind only a shower of glowing embers. But it didn't end.
I launched fire, letting it spread; Speira understood the assignment, and she took a sphere-shaped pocket from the bracelet. "Lock on," she said, pointing at the spies; the sphere absorbed them into itself. It's a dimensional pocket working as a captive device.
We start to run towards the way we came true, making our way through the trees and cutting the branches coming towards us. The moment we stepped outside Cedar Forest, the chaos stopped.
Mission complete. We walked away a few kilometers from the forest and set up a camp, deciding who was going to be on the watch first, going through ideas of progress, and studying this fight. We were not satisfied with our capabilities. A few hours passed, and Ursang sat looking at the fire.
"We are full of ourselves." He said initiating a conversation
"Uh ha."
"I felt a new attribute, you know."
"Your aura is shaping, a new color within it."
"I forgot you have this ability."
I smiled, leaning my head down, feeling a burn within me—too unlocked something new, an attribute, but I can't tell yet since I'm drained.
"I had a dream, Usrang. It's been torturing me lately."
Ursang's face lit up, focusing on what he was about to say.
I paused for a second and continued, "A woman in my dreams, times screaming to me to run away, and times blaming me for her death."
He's tired but trying to keep up; however, he's confused; he replies, "Death? She's dead?"
Chuckling, I raised my head, looking at him dead in the eyes. "I watched one of Seikens slash her head clean. She's covered in her blood, Ursang. Yet her head looks at me and speaks. Broken frames from a village appear as other seikens killing the villagers."
He didn't reply at the moment and kept silent for a few more moments. He slowly unsealed his lips.
"I... I have nothing to say, Yacha." a sad look on his face. He raised his head, looking at the sky leaning a bit backwards.
"You know our memories aren't sealed; they are wiped out, erased by a spell, so we don't have any recall of where we came from. Yet I believe that's a memory you somehow managed to remember, but I will tell you this. It doesn't matter where we came from.
Or the method that got us here, we will do the same to someone's parents. Focus on shaping yourself and securing your future." As he lay down, trying to sleep.
I didn't answer at all, but if that is indeed a memory, I can't just forgive it. If Ursang wants to be a part of the Seiken glory, I want answers not just about my past but, about this kingdom. I knew about the nine races and the story behind them, but we encountered a race that was not one of the nine we knew.
Early in the morning, before the sun rose, we reached the village where we kept our horse, going back to our headquarters. Ardran welcomed us with a straight face along with a woman. Speira handed over the sphere. "The spies commander, they are within the sphere," I said with a numb face, no emotions shown.
The rest headed back to the dorms to gather their belongings as we got the official statement. Each one of us got our own house, but we formed an official report of wanting one house for the four of us. We got it immediately.
I stayed back at the headquarters to report about the mission since I was the formation captain. The authorities responsible for the interrogation proceeded to confirm the mission was a success, and they were just poisoned by a sleeping venom the cedar trees use to haunt their target for later feasting.
After what felt like forever, they sent me to another bureau. The same woman from the first mission handed me this time a folder. Ardran is there negotiating with her to give us a different mission, yet she refused, claiming the orders came from above. As a watcher passed the info about our successful mission, meaning we need an even harder one.
I took the folder, not opening it until I got to our new home. I asked for a formal meeting with the rest. Ursang this time is the captain, as we agreed to pass the captain role to one another.
Going through the mission, this time it's against a human they specified as the governor of Skara Brae in the far western side of the continent as the main mission, a second mission that needed to be accomplished on the way there with a direct order of going through Hallerbos Forest via the sea, yet this time orders added a note the special suit, not the armor, for this mission is going to take months to finish, with only three days of rest.
Those days passed by so fast, we got ready, and we set to travel wearing normal clothes with our suits packed in the bracelet, getting our shit together for this journey, and promising one another to make it out alive. Yet the code orders us to die for the mission, not abandon it, but we refuse this one.
It took weeks for us to reach Hallerbos; no problems so far. I wish I hadn't said that; I do. The jinns guarding the Hallerbos forest. We walked through the road made by many travelers and asked for our reasons to enter. Before we answered, a sneak attack from a bow and an arrow shot directly next to the jinn's head, cutting off Speira's left ear, but she didn't scream.
Three other jinns showed themselves pulling a sword from within them.
"The bracelet assholes...?" The jinn in the lead said in a deep monster voice.
Another one added, "You will never make it out alive from here!!"
As they leaned forward attacking us in an unusual odd formation, taking turns attacking us, I raised my hand to form a fireball, but an arrow came in my direction, aiming for my hand. I jumped in a circulating way, making the fireball beneath and sending it to the direction the arrow came from. Fused with thunder long thread server as an accelerator, a collision happened; it hit the target, leading to an elf figure falling it, shifted back to its original form.
Angering the other jinns even more.
AUTHOR POV.
The jinns are angry for a specific reason but still had an order about the upcoming enemies, the elite Orionis division. They knew who they were.
An intel they got about them and their destination, in addition, paid fairly to kill them.
The battle heated, and Speira gritted her teeth as pain radiated from her left ear, blood dripping down her neck from where the jinn's blade had struck in a sneak attack. The creature's twisted silhouette of smoke and shadows had already shifted its form, turning into a massive, snarling wolf with glowing eyes. It circled, ready to strike again.
"Speira!" Eline shouted.
Her sword flashing as she parried an incoming blow from another jinn, this one in the shape of a hulking, armored knight. Water surged around her, forming a protective barrier as she blocked the attacks, but the relentless assault from the jinns kept her on edge.
Yacha and Ursang fought side by side, their backs pressed against each other as two jinns took on the form of serpentine beasts, their movements so fast they seemed to blur. Yacha's spear crackled with electricity, and with a sweeping motion, he sent a bolt of thunder ripping through the air. The strike hit one of the jinns mid-transformation, its body convulsing as it tried to reform. The creature hissed, its shape flickering between forms—man, beast, and wisp of smoke.
"Keep them at bay!" Ursang shouted.
His thick double-edged sword clashing against the iron claws of a jinn that had shifted into a monstrous bear. Earth magic surged from his feet, and with a roar, he stomped the ground. The forest floor erupted in jagged stone pillars, forcing the jinn to leap back, only for Ursang to charge forward with his sword, slashing through its smoky form.
Speira, her breath ragged from the pain, gripped her short swords tighter, wind swirling violently around her. The wolf-shaped jinn lunged, but Speira was ready this time. She spun, her blades cutting through the air with unnatural speed, carried by the wind she commanded. The jinn's wolfish form tried to dodge, but Speira's wind-enhanced strike was too fast. The blade sliced through its shadowy body, sending it howling in fury before retreating into the trees, its form rippling like disturbed water.
"More are coming!" Yacha warned.
His eyes darting to the tree line where the remaining jinns flickered in and out of sight, shifting between different shapes—some human, some beastly, all dangerous. His spear ignited in flames now, fire licking up the shaft. With a battle cry, he thrust it forward, sending a wall of fire racing toward the approaching jinns.
But these creatures were quick, their forms twisting and contorting as they dodged the flames, their laughter echoing hauntingly through the forest. One jinn, now in the shape of a raven, dove for Eline, claws outstretched, but Eline met it head-on. Water surged around her, and with a sharp cry, she swung her sword. A wave of water, sharp as steel, sliced through the raven's form, tearing it apart mid-air.
Ursang's earth magic pulsed again as he fended off another jinn, this one in the form of a serpent, its body winding around him. With a grunt, he slammed his sword into the ground, creating a fissure that swallowed the serpent's lower half. Ursang twisted, wrenching the blade free and driving it through the jinn's shifting form as it writhed in pain, trapped in his stone prison.
The mission was far from over.