The air grew thicker with each passing moment. The reality of the situation was like night and day, and no amount of plans eased Cyphers mind.
Run? Impossible
Surrender? Foolish, I've already killed two noble descendants. Who's to say they won't find out.
One last thought swirled in his head, somewhat plausible but equally likely to send him to the afterlife.
For a moment, he looked up towards the cold damp ceiling and breathed in the cold thick air, savouring it.
While Cypher didn't feel any fear towards death, it would be a shame to leave this world so soon. Aslong as his heart kept beating, he would remain as steady as the universe itself.
With slow deliberation, he finily turned around to face his fellow weaver.
The two made eye contact, with the weavers blue irises flashing with annoyance.
The man was lean, standing at six foot five and having a relaxed but equally alarming posture with hands in the deep pockets of his black straight pants. It was clear he viewed Cypher as no threat.
His attire was different of the other weavers of the cult, with a black finely stitched robe that only tretched down to his waist. It had a small opening in his chest, leaving a gap where he could easily remove it if need be. The hood of the robe covered his curly brown hair, though not hiding the sharp but slightly feminine features beneath. As is common with Dreamweavers, he was not an ugly individual.
Gathering his thoughts, Cypher calmly smiled blankly, emotionlessly and harmlessly. He needn't put on a flashy show of begging or even through insults at the man, for that would only anger the man.
With a childlike tone of interest, he opened his mouth ,"Can I get your name? It's unbecoming of a noble to not offer a formal greeting."
"I suppose it would be barbaric if I didn't."
"Then what is it?"
"Elie Trent. Remember it your next life."
'This isn't working at all' Cypher gritted his teeth and grasped the cold steel of his dagger with his free hand. If a clock had been present in the room, the ticking would undoubtedly slow to a crawl.
Cypher didn't have any advantage in this fight, or at least not yet. To him, if he didn't have the advantage at the start a battle, he would get it during the battle or die. This was one with the later being more likely, as is the unavoidable wrench in fate, whatever can go wrong will go wrong. There is no smooth journey in life and it is only a matter of time before something outside of your control comes for your head.
"Hmm, have you chosen when to die already?" The hawk like vision of Elie, now fully emersed in the thrill of a fight , targeted the area Beneath Cyphers robe. More specifically the protruding gleaming of metal.
Cypher was fast, extremely so, but even now - as his dagger left his robe and floated through the air leaving a slight afterimage behind its path - he could not compete.
In this small confined room, one would expect him to dodge the blow or maybe even deflect it.
Elie did the opposite, letting the blade cleanly slice through the air and , with a sickening squelch, he lifted his slender hand in its path with a flat palm. Blood droplets splatted through the air as the blade lay stuck and wedged in his palm and sticking through the other end, pointing directly at his unit rested face.
Instead of acting straight away, he simply lowered and tore the dagger from his flesh without souch as a flinch. Eyes moved around the room at supernatural speeds searching for any extra variables before landing back on the gray haired boy.
Cypher, who ran forward to attack, also noticed this much to his dismay and continued running forward. His legs coiled like springs before, with a leap, he attempted to land a straight punch.
"Why do you even bother," Elie scoffed and his figure distorted into a blur.
"Wha- argh" Cypher barely registered the movement before he found himself in a tight vice grip latching around his neck. The grip left him suspended off the ground and desperate choking. His legs kicked while his hands
The dagger that had originally been pulled out of Elie's hand and tossed to the ground now finally hit the floor with a clang. The whole sequence of events happening in less than half a second.
"Now then, " Ellie's hand began to stitch itself back together at an astonishing rate while he spoke ,"I can give you a chance, and I'm being very, " His grip tightened, drawing blood in the boys skin ,"Very generous. Either you surrender and come back to the Kingdom with me, ofcourse, with an explosive slave collar. You'll be investigated and standing trial to have your memory erased and serve us. As for the other option, you already know what it is don't you."
Absolutely not!
Cypher had a look of abject disgust despite the chance to live.
Losing one's memory is a fate worse than death. A soul without memory is a blank slate. It is a slave to be manipulated like a child without experience. The prospect of this slavery was, in essence, a near unbreakable cage that he wouldn't even realise he was in.
Cypher gathered soul power in an attempt to form a spike directly below Elie, however it was of no use. In such close proximity, the aura of a rank three could suppress his soul power. This was a handy tool in preventing anyone from impaling you directly or setting you on fire immediately. If you wanted to use a technique, you would need to materialise it close to you, similar to how Cypher formed sand in his hand.
My hand!
Immediately ceasing his clawing against Ellie's wrists that held him in a choke. Cypher used the hand containing the sand. With a quick motion the small grains flew out like small knives.
These grains, while they looked like sand, were actually not. They behaved more like psychicly connected particles of solid matter. Not only this but they also had another property - their hardness.
With this close of a proximity, Elie didn't have much time to react. In time, he managed, to barely shut his eyelids and shield the sensitive organ beneath...or at least he tried.
The white sand hit his eyes like a truck, smashing into the thin skin and tearing directly through.
This was incredibly unlucky! Unlike his thin eyelids the rest of his body was fine as the thick skin negated much of the damage.
The same however could not be said for his now bleeding retinas.
"You! Ungrateful waste of life!" The stinging was immense as was the blurry field of vision. With a surge of unbridled rage through his partially impaired eyes he launched Cypher's small into the far stone wall across the room like a ragdoll.
The power behind his throw was immense, cracking the stone wall as soon as Cyphers body made contact. It didn't end there as Cypher's body continued to pass the solid cold surface and breaking it completely.
Like this, he found himself assaulted by the cold air of the outside world. The golden moon glow dyed the horizon while Cypher's mind reeled as he looked up through a concussion and found himself...flying?
Without mercy, Cypher had been mercilessly tossed through a stone wall and put the other side, eventually falling from the talk height of the gatehouse's upper floor and on a trajectory toward the hard ashy floor of the castles main courtyard.