Aihl has confronted me. I cannot leave without first beating him in a dual. His care for Yolonda is now wasting time I could be using to prep for the trip. I already don’t like that she is tagging along and now I have to fight for her to come. 

“I have five days to find Fantasia,” I say. “I don’t have time to play with you.”

The pain from Aihl’s initial attack surfaces and I rub my stinging chest.

“Does this look like a joke to you?” Aihl asks. 

He holds the end of the staff vertically and bangs it against the floor. A gale of wind nearly blows me off my feet. 

“But sense there is no way you’ll beat me, how about this…” Aihl says smugly. “If you land one good hit in an hour and I’ll let you go.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I say. I get a firm stance on the ground in case he tries to blow me off my feet again. 

“Nope. One hit. That’s all,” he says.

I rush at him as fast as I can, the Seed making me faster and lighter. I reach him and throw a punch. My Seed allows me to move faster than he can even react. I feel myself slow down as my fist flies through the air. Instantly he moves his bo staff hitting my arm down then landing a devastating blow to my face with the same end of the staff. The hit sends me falling to my left side; I regain my balance and place my hand on the ground to do a backflip away from Aihl.

He relaxes his stance moving the staff around his body once again. He smirks as he plants the staff vertically on the ground. 

“Did you really think it would be that easy?” he asks.  

“To be honest, yes,” I say. “But that was a weak hit.”

“If I were trying that would have killed you,” he says. “Maybe I should make this fair though. Sasha, item 30A-14.”

“Sorry,” Sasha says. “Item is restricted to Dr. Genome onl…”
“Override code 83-1gamma,” Aihl says.

“Command confirmed,” Sasha says. “However Dr. Genome will be informed of the private item being used.”

“Whatever, Sasha,” Aihl says. “Just get the item.”

The silo opens halfway and a single case emerges. The electrical impulses move the slim, long metal box over to me then drop the box at my feet. I look up to Aihl and he motions for me to open the box. I bend down unhooking the straps that holds the box shut. My heart sinks when I see the object inside—a golden handle beautifully crafted with the head of a horned demon. I would remember this weapon for the rest of my life even if I had never seen it again—Reaka’s damned Sword of Souls.

“Pick it up,” Aihl demands.

With my right hand over it I hesitate for a second before grabbing the sword firmly. I feel its power course through me synchronizing with my Seed. The sword feels different than the first time I held it. My body recognizes the weapon as if I had trained with it for years, though this is only the second time I have ever held a sword. I smile but only for a moment before throwing the sword as hard as I can towards the wall. The sword slices straight into the solid metal wall becoming stuck as it sinks in.

“How many times do I have to say it? Don’t compare me to Reaka,” I yell.

“This isn’t a comparison,” Aihl says. “Without that sword you will not pass this test. For you see there are four types of Black Seeds—attacker, defender, enhancer and finally the libenon, one with no attack or defense.”

“What are you talking about?” I ask.

Aihl continues, “You have a libenon type Seed meaning your Seed has no attack or defense functions. Whenever you throw a punch, kick or whatever you will always lose your acceleration and slow down. The libenon can gain the attack and defense functions by wielding a Black Technology weapon or shield. You won’t have the capability to go in to your supersonic acceleration state wielding a weapon though.”

“I’ll be just as fine without that sword,” I say.

“That sword is also electrically charged when in the hands of a master Libenon. A deep cut or stab will deactivate a Black Seed temporarily. It will kill a normal person with a scratch. Reaka was talented with that sword but her mental instability kept her from becoming a master of the sword or her Seed. I don’t want you to be like that useless wretch of a woman.”

I run forward towards him again and jump up high into the air. I swoop down over him and try to bring my heel down on his head. He recoils to dodge me and stabs the end of the bo staff at my neck. As I land I spin to the right to avoid the hit then take a couple of quick steps forward punching towards him. He throws his staff in the air and captures my fist mid-swing and lunges kicking me in the face.

The kick cause me to nearly fall backward but I catch myself as he clasps his bo staff and swings around sweeping my legs out from under me. As I fall the bo staff moves up then down on my chest completely knocking the wind out of me. The bo staff guides me to the ground hard. As I hit, the metal dents from the impact. A sudden weakness runs through my body disenabling me to move a single muscle as he stands over me.

“You lose, Kai.” Aihl says. 

He raises the bo staff above his head. A searing heat rises as a calm blue energy wraps around the end of Aihl’s staff.  I take a moment to regain control of my body after I realize I have been saved. I roll out of the small crater my body formed and get up to my feet. 

A knight’s armor appears around Aihl to protect him from the heat. The armor is translucent and ghost-like as is the bo staff. I then look over to Yolonda who is still on the ground reaching out her right hand that the blue energy flows from. Her hoody sleeve has already caught fire because of the heat from the blue energy. 

“What are you doing, Rachel?” Aihl asks. “This is a test for him alone.”

“I’m not Rachel,” she says as the blue energy retracts into her hand. “If you want to test his strength, you should also test mine!”

Yolonda stands up and throws off her flaming hoody before the rest of her clothing catches fire as well. 

“I have to make sure he can protect you,” Aihl says.

“I can protect myself. You trained me, honey,” Yolonda says. “Besides, if Kai gets attacked we will be together so we should take this test together.”

“No,” I say.

“None negotiable,” Yolonda says strictly to me.    

“Fine,” Aihl says reluctantly. “But we will only use acceleration. We don’t want you accidentally cutting Kai in half.”

“Kai, get the sword or you’ll only be in the way,” Yolonda says.

She rushes to Aihl at incredible speed starting the battle as soon as she reaches him. He is far more serious with her than with me. Her skill is unreal for her age but I guess age doesn’t matter when dealing with a Black Host. Anyone endowed with the power of a Black Seed is capable of being a killer. Our power is one that rivals the spirits of creation and demons of destruction from the most ancient of Aidoshian mythology. If children can master this power so can I.

I run over to the sword; as I pull it from the wall a vortex of dark electrically-charged mist envelopes me and I cannot move. The handle becomes a hand that is inflexibly grasping onto my own. The warmth from it fills me. The blade becomes an arm and the mist a female form. She is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. She is Aidoshian in complexion with slightly reddish skin. Her presence is divine. A black thorny halo gathers around her head from shadows in the room. Her long, black flowing hair stretches almost to the floor. She stands as a giant to me nearly nine feet in height and looks down on me with a smile. She is adorned with silver jewelry and a flowing black silk robe that accentuates the curves of her body.

“Kestrel has sent you to me,” she says in a voice that resonates beautifully. “Your fate through me turns the Wheel… the Wheel turns this world to its recreation. Kestrel has signed away your soul to be the Cause… the Cause is the trigger, the outcome is the Awakening!”

She reaches out her hand to me gracing my cheek as black wings extend from her back opening to the full magnitude of their length.

“O’ glory, glory. Death to the Oracle,” she exclaims. “I’m Uvarea; the tarantala, like you we must all bow to fate.”

 

Suddenly I find myself in the air over Aihl with no recollection of how I got to this point. Yolonda jumps out of the way as I slash the sword down at Aihl. He dodges and backflips over Yolonda. She tries to grab him while he avoids my attack. As I land, I remain stuck in place. Was that apparition of Uvarea real or does the Seed cause delusions. Reaka went insane while she was the Host of this Seed. Maybe she saw things as well. However, Uvarea mentioned Kestrel and called herself a tarantala, a demon, while Kestrel calls himself a cosmial, or angel.

“Look out,” Yolonda yells as a hand yanks me backwards. Aihl’s foot flies by my face. “Stop zoning out. I can’t beat him alone!”

“Got it,” I say.

“So are you finally ready to get serious,” Aihl says.

“Yolonda, follow my lead,” I say. 

I rush forward slashing the blade at Aihl. He only dodges each strike by inches. This time I am not slowing down while I attack, making the fight not so one-sided. Aihl manages to come in close enough to latch onto my arm after dodging a slash from my blade.

“Yolonda,” I yell.

“Gotcha,” she says.

  She hoists herself over my shoulder kicking forward into Aihl’s face. He is forced to let me go to avoid her. She lets loose a fury of powerful kicks. I run around to flank Aihl as he outmaneuvers her. 

“Yolonda, get down,” I say as I throw the blade as hard and fast as I can.

Yolonda jumps out of the way as the sword flies towards Aihl’s back. He turns around and grabs the whirling claymore in his right hand by the handle and spins it into the ground.  I activate supersonic acceleration and arrive next to him instantly. I grab his hand so that he cannot let go of the handle of the sword. I make sure the sword is secure in the ground so he can’t move away. I begin my attack using my free arm and legs. Now that I have pinned him, he is forced to block most attacks. I soon find myself overwhelmed. He is too fast. It becomes a test of endurance, if I let go of his hand we won’t have a chance to restrain him like this again.

Yolonda appears attacking him from behind. He blocks and dodges both of us not having the opportunity to throw a single punch back our way. It moves on to a stalemate wasting the few minutes we have left before the hour runs out. Even with both off us bombarding him with all our might we have yet to lay a solid blow on him.

“We aren’t getting anywhere like this,” I say.

“Keep going,” Yolonda says. “We have to wear him down.”

“No. I got this back up,” I say.

   I jolt the sword towards me throwing him off balance and loosen the blade.  I let go of his hand and spin around grabbing the sword pulling it out of the ground. I slash upward towards him. Electricity charges the blade as I swing it. He dodges to his left but not fast enough. He is cut deeply on his shoulder. 

“We did it,” Yolonda yells.

Aihl quickly puts pressure on the cut. “Yeah. Looks like you have. Kai, Yolonda, you have my approval to go on this mission. If you can manage this against me then you are more than enough against anyone, as long as you are together that is.”

I have trained for five years in the Aidoshian’s most deadly assassin’s martial art Thai Pan. I devoted myself to its practice every day, yet I could not hold a candle to Aihl alone. He is more than a super soldier; he is a monster.

“Kai,” Yolonda says as she gives me a hug. “Let’s go kill that Great Oracle now, okay?”

Aihl vanishes into thin air and just like that, he’s gone. 

“Babe, don’t be a baby about it,” Yolonda says as she runs after him. “Come on. At least give me a good luck kiss before you go!”

I jab the sword into the ground and kneel on one knee. This is my vow. Fantasia will die by this damned sword.