บท 12: RUN !
STREETS OF ZENARLI, VENDARYA.
Meanwhile....
Not everyone got what they wanted. Not all wishes come exactly true. Wish to lose weight, then you might lose an arm. Wish to be rich, what if that money got you killed? Wish to be free, then you might as well be free of your body and die. The essence was that one had to wish specifically and be precise with one's wishes.
That was the crossroad that Adriana met herself, she had wished to escape from Antioch and be free of its restraints but she hadn't wished clearly for all its problems to remain there. Kali had sorted out her housing at an inn, he had promised to see to her affairs and she was having a close conversation with Kali, and suddenly the sky was lit with fireballs, Adriana had thought it was the demon but a bird's eye view from atop a building had gotten rid of that notion.
Anlai was here and he had found her.
Now thirty minutes later, she was maneuvering through the congested crowds, moving fast towards the Cascade Palace, with Kali taking the fore lead. She was well and conscious of the fact that if Anlai caught her, there would be no escape and that her execution would be arranged as fast as possible.
" Stop!" Adriana yelled suddenly, causing Kali to stop in his tracks and face her with a look of confusion.
" What?" He asked breathlessly. Running without rest would do that to you.
" We can't go to the palace," Adriana replied equally short-breathed.
" Why? The king's army is already on alert and barricades are already in place. The palace is the safest option we've got," He stated, his chest heaving as he spoke.
The safest option? For him maybe.
Considering Anlai's connection with the supernatural, she doubted Hattori's human forces would be able to stop him. For her to survive, she would have to escape from Vendarya and lay low in another neighboring kingdom.
" You and I both know, that no army can stop what is coming," Adriana replied, her eyes turning dark.
Kali knew that what she said was true. He had seen for himself the strange inky figures that glided towards Vendarya, conjuring fireballs in the air and attacking Vendarya, with nothing more than a flick of their wrists.
All controlled by a not so strange figure that glided from behind with a similar inky dark skin, grinning maniacally. The same person that had burned his former life to the ground, all with a single command.
" So what do you suggest?"
" I know who Anlai is after," Adriana began. "And I know he won't come after you"
She got that right. Kali thought grimly but paid attention to her nonetheless.
" We need to find another route away from here" Adriana said in a mocking tone. Telling Kali to leave her was out of the question, he was just too stubborn to leave her there.
"We?" Kali questioned, his eyebrows furrowing in mockery.
" Of course you dunce, " Adriana replied, her lips tugging at the sides, forming a smile. " Or are you gonna desert me...again" She added, her tone becoming serious.
Kali stared at her with an amused expression, taking in her appearance, drinking the vibrant orange hair on her head, her slightly tan skin. He moved closer to her, almost closing the gap between them, he watched as her breath hitched when he placed one of his fingers under her chin, tipping it to look him in the eye.
He was about to draw closer when a bright ball of fire hit the ground some meters away from them. Both of them jumped apart, glancing at the disintegrated flame.
" Follow me!" Kali looked at her, giving her a flirty wink before he began running in the opposite direction, diverting away from the palace's route. Adriana stared at his running behind for some seconds, before catching on to the situation of things and shooting right after him.
....
THE BREAK OF DAWN...
Location: The In-between.
Meanwhile, Abaddon was fast approaching his destination. After casting a spell to teleport himself to the In-between, his soul bond appearing some minutes after, he was venturing deeper into the heart of the In-between.
And so far so bad, Abaddon had sensed several red flags that served to arouse his suspicion further. The energy in the air was stale and the scenery was devastated and destroyed, since the last, he visited.
The formerly pale moon was now a bright and vibrant red moon in the sky, full and threatening. The trees could best be described as tall stumps, charred and devoid of any plant life, the formerly thick canopy of trees was all ashes on the ridgid soil, even the energies in the air were stale and unmoving. Abaddon found it too subduing for his liking, the whole area looked and felt dead.
He could feel revulsion in Cifaro as furious as a tsunami. Irrespective, he trudged on, his eyes scanning the environment for anything that might give him an explanation as to what happened here. He was only going upon his demonic instincts, towards the last place that he hoped nothing had gone wrong.
Abaddon stopped short. His aura was flaring beneath, he could sense a great amount of seismic energy in the air, coming out in waves, hitting him with full force, and his head began to ache. It felt like he was in another dimension.
Theoretically, he took some steps back and the energy died down. He looked at the ground. The energy flow was moving forward, he was in a kind of region that housed the energy, only that this energy wasn't what he could easily control, it was unyielding.
" Careful," He called out to Cifaro, who was sniffing the ground behind him. Ahead, some meters away from Abaddon, was a pillar laid erected solitary in a clearing. A thin crack defiled the smooth surface of the stone pillar.
" Cifaro, I need your help," Abaddon called out, turning to see his soul bond at alert, his ears perked up like a dog called for a bone.
" I need you to lock onto the energy signature around this place and tell me, what do you feel?" Abaddon continued, his eyes fixed on the crack in the stone pillar.
He had to be sure.
Without hesitating, Cifaro stalked towards the stone pillar, entering the force field of energy that repelled his master. Hissing as he felt the thick energies in the air, Cifaro ramped up his defenses in the form of a golden force of energy that circled him, repelling the unyielding force of dark energy. Upon reaching the stone pillar, Cifaro placed a paw on the cold stone, and tendrils of golden energy shot out of his paws and began to seep into the cracked line on the pillar. For some seconds, nothing happened, then as Cifaro probed further, the ground began to convulse and the pillar began to tremble, the moon's blood-red glow retired into a deep black moon as if ink poured on the surface, the whole area was plunged into darkness.
If not for the golden sheen around his soul bond and his demonic sight, Abaddon might not have been able to see. The ground suddenly began to quake and then slowly thin cracks appeared on the surface of the earth until it cracked wider and the stumps began to seep under. Abaddon immediately levitated as he saw what was happening.
His instincts began flaring and Abaddon turned just in time to see a large charred tree fall towards him. Before the tree could smash him into the ground, Abaddon shot a ball of fire, sliced through it and it fell at both sides not harming him.
Whatever force was at play was destroying this realm and Abaddon guessed it was to bury the evidence. Returning his gaze to Cifaro whose golden energy was fading slightly.
His soul bond couldn't hold on much longer and they were yet to find out what was going on. Knowing Cifaro, he would probably wait to see it through but something told him that this realm might be gone by the time that happens.
" Cifaro!"
Cifaro turned to glance at his master. He could sense the growing concern in his master.
" I am almost there, I can feel it. " Cifaro growled a reply over the raging winds, the In-between was disappearing now. From behind, the ground was warping into a black hole that was sucking everything immobile thing. It was only a matter of time before it swallowed them into it, to gods knows where.
" We need to leave now! " Abaddon yelled telepathically, he could see that Cifaro's defenses were crumbling. Once it crumbled, there would be nothing stopping the black hole from swallowing them.
Just as Abaddon was considering using his powers to coerce Cifaro into submission, another whirlpool of darkness appeared near the pillar. Fear hitched in Abaddon's chest at losing Cifaro but before he could voice out a warning, he saw that the whirlpool became purged of darkness, ,and in place of darkness was... someone.
Someone was plunging a scepter into the pillar ... What was this? Abaddon thought confused, but as he stared hard at the moving figures in the whirlpool.
Moving figures... It was a vision.
Someone in the vision approached the pillar that Cifaro stood beside, only that there wasn't a crack on it, the person plunged what looked like a short black staff, with a glowing redhead. The figure was immediately consumed by blue light and then the vision continued... A bargain, the vision rolled on with the figure talking with another being. Suddenly, the vision broke open to reveal the clear image of a strange girl with vibrant orange hair, and the other being collided with the figure.
A contract.
Realization dawned on Abaddon, but as he was about call onto Cifaro, he saw that the vision flickered out, the vision ending and his eyes immediately darted towards Cifaro, who was knocked out cold, with no defenses, the black hole behind was fast pulling his soul bond away. Abaddon jerked into action and electric vibrations snaked their way around him, he drew energy around, and with a determined snarl, he shot forward and flew over to Cifaro, and chanting the spell, he teleported away from the In-between just as he was about to be consumed into nothingness.
As Abaddon cradled his unconscious soul bond to his chest, he could feel a dark weight on his chest. He now knew where his former contractor had disappeared to and what he was up to.
A new evil had been released and this evil was a being from his nightmares...The Nefaris had been released. Fear and apprehension washed through him like a tidal wave and he knew that things were about to get nasty, but first, he had to find a particular orange-haired girl... And fast.
ความคิดของผู้สร้าง 
Sunus_Writes
Sunus_Writes A soul bond is synonymous to a pet in the human world. They exist to serve their master and are extremely valuable in the battle field. Soul bonds are demon pets only with a whole lot of power.
บท 13: FISTS UPON FISTS
Location: STREETS OF ZENARLI, VENDARYA.
*Demons are great energy conduits and their soul bonds are equally powerful in that regard.*
The weather had turned dark in a matter of seconds. The bright scorching sun was consumed by dark clouds, ridding the sun of its previous glory, the winds came into play, blowing feather-light covers and dust particles into the air. The fireballs in the sky had long stopped, replaced by dark threatening storms.
Adriana knew the weather change was no slouch, Anlai was probably ravaging the city, with whatever demons he commanded at his beck and call. She was in no mood for a rematch, judging by the amount of firepower he now displayed, she knew that no matter what skills she had, it all paled in comparison to the forces on his side.
Today was a day for running. She would run, to fight another day. Yes, that was the only way to survive... But how long before they caught up to her was the real question.
Unfortunately, Adriana didn't have time to dwell on avoiding Anlai. Upon turning a narrow alleyway, with Kali taking the rear, she was met by three men standing opposite them, barring their escape from the alleyway, causing them to an abrupt stop.
"Where do you think you are going?" One of the men says drawing out a baton.
Kali recognized them, the whole lot of them, notorious gangsters, that acted as bounty hunters more than anything. Only the gods knew what they were after this time. But he had no time for that now, so he pulled out his trump card.
" By order of King Hattori, I command you to leave or face bitter consequences." Kali shouted over the winds, his hair was blowing in his eyes and he constantly had to push them behind his ears.
The men exchanged amused gazes and re-enforced their glares. Maybe they didn't hear him. Kali thought.
" By order of King Hat-"
" We don't care," The one in the middle growled, his hoarse voice cutting through Kali's.
"Give us the girl and you are free to go," The man on the left spouted, his red hair pulled in a short man bun.
" Or we can take her and hurt you," The man on the right said fingering an axe, his eyes dark and calculating. " Either way, we get the girl,"
" I'm above negotiating with bounty hunters" Kali whispered to Adriana.
Her eyes widened. So that was what they were. Bounty Hunters. For whom? Anlai? But he was here already and with an army of the Unseen ( a group). No, it couldn't be, Anlai was far too obsessed to leave his work to petty bounty hunters. Then who?
Adriana chanced a glance at Kali, he was staring hard at the three men that stood at ease waiting for their response. The hunter on the right was staring at her hard and ever so often his eyes would flick to the sky before darting back down to her.
Something about the upward glance geared Adriana to do the same and she noticed movement atop the buildings. Of course, if they decided to run back, they would be cornered. It seemed Kali knew or guessed.
Either way, she couldn't wait any longer, if these lowlife bounty hunters could find her, who knew how long before Anlai did.
" So, what's it gonna be? " The man in the middle growled once more, pulling out a club strapped to his back.
Adriana and Kali shared a knowing glance, the muscles on Kali's mouth twitched as he stared back. Lightning flashed across the dark sky and thunder followed with a deafening boom.
In response, Kali crouched into a fighting stance and for some seconds, Adriana stills herself in the acceptance of Kali's determination to help her, before mirroring his stance.
" We were hoping it didn't have to get to this," The man in the middle sighed. With a snap of his fingers, the dude on the left drew out his weapon, a baton.
A teardrop of rain splats on one of the men's faces, another on Kali, another and another, until the rain began in earnest, the howling wind accompanying its onslaught. With that, the brawl began in earnest.
Without warning, Kali shot forward towards the man in the middle. The leader of the hunters to his credit, reacted fast and swiped his club towards Kali's head. Ducking, Kali dove and tackled him to the ground, rainwater splashing all around, Kali delivered a punch to his face and they tossed around trying to topple each other, sending punches and kicks at each other.
Seeing as their master had taken a punch to the face, the other two men jerked off to help him but Adriana was two steps ahead and had them by the scruff of their clothes and pulled back with all the strength she could muster.
The result wasn't what she had expected, both men were stout and their musculature balanced their fall, so they only managed a stumble and in the process turned their bodies to face her, before regaining balance to face Adriana.
A bounty hunter with an axe drove forward, his axe coming down on her head, with a sidestep, she avoided the fatal swing only to be hit in the stomach by a baton.
Of course, they wouldn't okay fair... Two against one.
The wind gets knocked out of her for a moment and Adriana gasped, her back hitting the cold slimy surface of the building wall. A yell of anger caused Adriana to look up and double over in time to avoid another deadly swing that would have decapitated her head.
In her bent position, Adriana chanced a glance at Kali, and her breathing stills. Their leader had him in a chokehold and Kali was desperately trying to pull away the thick hand grabbing his neck but to no avail.
Taking a calculated risk, Adriana lashed out her leg at the closest to her and was glad her heel connected with the man's legs, knocking him off his pedestal and onto the wet ground.
With a messy start, she pulled upright and directed a clean uppercut to the axeman, who was then distracted by his fallen partner.
Without waiting to see whether the axeman had fallen down or not, she gathered a spurt of energy, propelled by the adrenaline rush in her veins, and charged for the leader who was by then on the verge of ending Kali.
But before she could reach Kali, a blur of movement drew her attention, and before she could think to avoid or duck. A spinning kick to the head knocks her down to the ground, her face drenched further by the falling rain.
" Nice fighting girl, but you are no match for us," A gruff voice states, and one of the men pulled Adriana by the hair before she could stand up, her hair damp and soggy beneath strong hands.
With a last furious attempt at escaping, she jerks her elbow back into the "house" of the man behind her and it connects and the man groans upon impact, clutching his lower abdomen, falling to the ground. On her left, the guy with the axe was rising and he was not happy to have had been clouted in the face.
With a snarl, he sends his axe swinging fast at Adriana, with only some seconds to spare, she threw herself down, the axe whirring past overhead and lodging itself in... Kali's leg. Kali screamed and fell to the ground, blood spilling red and tainting the transparency of the water.
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Sunus_Writes
Sunus_Writes
Hello everyone, so in case you didn't notice, I have been changing point of view for you to better understand the characters better. Now at this point of the story, we are about to delve into the real world I have created. This world of Antioch, Venderya and other nations unmentioned(for a reason*winks*) is just a precursor to the real world but you all needed to understand this world before I moved on.
I'll greatly approve of any sort of constructive criticism and pls vote, comment & share..ty
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