Crossover

Crossover

By Sayahn Mudd

            My name is Chad Stryker and I’m a Tevalda. I know that now you’re thinking, “What? Why did I even pick up this book in the first place?” Well, I’ll tell you: It’s because you recognized that this story is the only one that’s actually true compared to all the other fiction books. So before I get started let me tell you something: Everything you know is a lie. I’ll explain more in the story but chew on this for a moment. There is an alternate reality, which is actually reality. In short, all of you are living in an alternate reality. Kind of like the Matrix. I’m one of the special ones. I can switch between worlds.

So I bet you’re wondering what a Tevalda is. Well it’s a name that goes back to thousands of years ago. Well, in a chapter of humanity that was erased from history, we stumbled upon something called a Dragongate in Northern Africa. This particular Dragongate had the ability to bestow great power on anyone that defeated its champion, the Dragon-Man Kalakoz. Now the Dragongate’s avarice was insatiable, so before the challengers went into battle they had to offer up a sacrifice. Now this sacrifice was different from the others, it was an ornamental sword and the entity controlling the Dragongate had never seen anything like it. It was as if there was a shortage of swords that’s how the Dragongate treated this gift. This was truly something special. The natives there only used primitive swords and arrows. It finally had found someone worthy of its power. It repeatedly resuscitated the adventurers until they wore down Kalakoz and banished him to the Dark Zone. When the adventurers approached the Dragongate bestowed upon them supernatural powers. They became Tevalda literally it means Dragon Warrior. So yeah, I’m a Dragon Warrior, I’m a direct descendent of the first man to touch the Dragongate, Charles Stryker. So yeah, now to the story, my problems all started on the morning of my 14^th birthday…

Chapter 1: I Get a Special Gift from Grandpa

I groggily woke up in my bed and took a look around. Yep, still my slovenly room. I never have actually cleaned my room. I let my powers do the work. I was always made aware that I was special, but other than that, their descriptions were infuriatingly nebulous. I torpidly rolled out of bed and picked my way through the disaster zone that was my room. It literally looked like a bomb of stuff had gone off. My sister Talia had a birthday party last night, (she’s older by 12 hours) and things had gotten interesting as the party spread all throughout the house. It had even hit my room when the guys and I played Super Smash Bros Brawl until 2 AM. I had made the astute decision to have that as the only game we played. I don’t like it when my games are lost because I played too many. I poked my head out of the room cautiously and looked for any signs of my family. They always ambushed me on my birthday and this year I knew I had to get past them. I dashed back into my room and grabbed 3 things. My NERF gun, NERF sword, and night-vision goggles. It was completely dark in the hallway so I flicked on the goggles. Sure enough at the end of the hallway, was Talia. I silently moved towards her and raised my blaster. She looked puzzled for a second and then I let loose. The gun pelted her with darts and she screamed, backpedaling quickly as my parents rushed in. I slid between them and banister slid down the stairs blocking rapid strikes from my father and mother. I made it downstairs and that’s when Talia made an egregious mistake, she grabbed her own sword and attacked me. With the help of my powers I did a triple back flip and then disarmed Talia. I tapped her three times with the sword, once on the head and once on each shoulder. Then I gently said in a mocking tone, “You’re out.” The shocked expression on her face was priceless, but I didn’t have time to celebrate. I had to get to kitchen before my parents got to me. I sprinted towards the door and performed what we call a Kaldi, literally Unseen Step.

I Kaldied between my parents and slid into the kitchen yelling “WHOO-HOO!”

Talia Kaldied next to me just to be pretentious and hugged me, “Good job bro! Now I don’t have to keep beating you up every year!”

I gave her a playful punch on the shoulder, “You have to admit, that was an amazing move I used on you.”

My mother, Alexa walked in, “Chad that was very impressive. You’ve been practicing.” I beamed at the adulation, cause my mom doesn’t do complements very often.

Suddenly the door opened and I saw my grandpa, my father Darrell’s dad, Steven, “Alexa? Darrell? It’s time for the Awakening. The twin’s powers must be activated before… Well let’s hope it doesn’t happen.”

I was extremely puzzled but nothing shocked me more than my father pulling one of the candles down like a lever and a secret basement opening up. Before Talia or I could say anything we walked down the steps. We emerged in a huge circular cavern and there was a weird design on the floor. It looked like a dragon holding an ornate sword pointing downwards. Suddenly we were pushed into the circle and my grandfather instructed us to hold hands and we complied. They suddenly began to chant, “Freco disae moardenu. Paldin shotin nucardis mecardina.”

They chanted this over and over and on the third time a red line of smoke appeared out of nowhere and wrapped itself around us. To be more succinct, there was a red, smoky snake slowly beginning to constrict us. It lifted us into the air and that’s when I lost control of my body. I couldn’t move and I was just dangling like a rag doll. It felt like my veins were on fire but the feeling was evanescent, soon to be replaced by a rush of power. Our bodies absorbed the smoke and then we were slowly lowered to the ground. I landed and looked at my hands as they seemed to glow. Talia was checking herself out as well, and my grandpa looked pleased, “Point your hand at the wall and think of destroying it.” I was again puzzled but did as he said, immediately red energy shot out of my hand and burned the wall. I laughed, “Whoa! So boss!” My dad finally spoke, “The more determination you have, the stronger the beam. If you really concentrate, you can completely destroy the wall. Don’t try now. We’re sending you to the real world. Don’t be alarmed by what you see. Just close your eyes and empty your mind.” Talia closes her eyes and suddenly with a bright flash of blue light, she’s gone. My mother smiles, “Better get a move on son.” I closed my eyes and thought of absolutely nothing. Suddenly I felt a tug on my lower back and I spun around and around. Then in a bright flash of red light I disappeared.

Chapter 2: Kalakoz Version 2

I felt a breeze on my face and opened my eyes to find a drab, gray landscape. There were yellow-gray clouds in the sky and there was absolutely no vegetation. I see Talia standing next to me and she said, “There’s a giant temple up ahead. Let’s see if there’s anybody there.” We took off running and suddenly I saw a giant yellow beam head for us. I yelled,

“Dodge!”

And we Kaldied away. The beam slammed into the ground and exploded. We appeared a few meters away from the blast and see a man floating in the sky. He had a skull mask on and all black clothes like us. On his chest was a skull with snake winding through it. The man laughed and then fired more beams, which we dodged. He Kaldied next to me, and my eyes widened. He swung his sword at us and the yellow wave of energy slammed into me I went flying and but flipped in midair and skidded to a stop on my hands and knees. That’s when I noticed my sword. It was all black with a gold guard and silver pommel. I pulled it out of a sheath on my back and blocked another slash. Talia leaped in with twin swords of identical coloring and attacked cutting him twice. I slashed at him with the full intention of destroying him and a wave of red energy flew from my sword. It hit the man full on and he went flying. We landed but he came at us again and our fight resumed. He managed to block both of us and we were attacking from all angles. I charged up and aimed another beam of energy at him. It hit him again and then Talia got him with another blue beam. He got up slowly but I rushed in and stabbed him. He disintegrated and suddenly we were surrounded. Talia and I went back to back as they attacked. They were all cut down and I have to say, I felt pretty badass. We sprang apart as another beam of black energy flew at us. It followed me and I tried to out fly it. I ended up turning around and firing another red beam at it. At first my beam was small but slowly it began pushing the other one back. I poured more effort into it and finally killed my opponent. Another attacked me in midair. We slashed and stabbed at each other until I Kaldied behind him and stabbed him. Another leaped at me and I slashed her in half. The final one leaped at me and I slashed for my life. I spun away, defending with everything I had. He was too powerful for me to meet his strikes. I flew away and he followed, launching energy at me as fast as he could. I managed to block all but one. It hit me in the chest and I went flying. I hit the ground, flipped and landed in a crouch, skidding to a stop. I charged him again but he leaped over me. I parried behind my back and disarmed him. He leaped into the air, grabbed his sword and came down again with a vicious slash. I dodged, slid under one of his sideways slashes, and flipped over him when he tried to backslash me. On my descent I cut him in half from head to toe. I sheathed my sword and we ran on. In the distance the Temple rose up like a beacon from the ground. We sprinted down a trail to get to the bottom but more enemies waited for us below. They leaped at us with war cries and we slashed through them. Again the final one was the obvious leader. I had to use my arm to help to block his strike. Talia leaped in and tried to hit him but he blasted her away with telekinesis. I pushed him away and blasted him through the wall of the temple. He clambered to his feet and flew away. I quickly ran to Talia and helped her up. We saw the Dragongate inside and I walked over and touched it. Suddenly, I heard a rumble and I looked up. Perched on top of the Dragongate was a dragon-man. He leaped down and pulled out a black katana. His scales were a shiny red color and the glare from them was almost blinding. I quickly backed up as he leaped at me and I blocked his attack. Talia attacked and he pulled out a second sword. She parried his rapid strikes and I leaped in as well. He slashed at her head and she leaned backwards and ducked. He slashed again and she ducked but he kicked her in the chin, sending her flying. I slashed at him and he dodged and retaliated. He chopped and spun like a whirlwind. I leaped backwards and fired a beam of energy. He absorbed it and I landed, surprised,

“Who are you?”

He laughed,

“Mortal, I am KALAKOZ! Through determination and power I have returned to guard my Dragongate! No one else will ever best me!”

He suddenly began dueling Talia who rose to her feet shakily and quickly overwhelmed her. She tried to Kaldi away but he followed her. He charged up for a massive attack and swung. A gigantic wave of black energy slammed into her. She crashed through the wall and lay there, limp. I screamed,

“TALIA!!”

I felt rage deep inside and let it take over. Suddenly I saw red energy start to leak from my body. Without knowing what I was doing I screamed,

“Zakadi! FIRST RELEASE!”

The energy took the form of a dragon-man just like Kalakoz and he looked surprised, “You have mastered your release this early? No matter, prepare to die!” We ran at each other and I dodged to the side, slashing him. He looked at the cut in astonishment. I was already charging again and he spun to the side. I followed slashing and stabbing. I cut at his legs and he jumped into the air. I took off as well, my “wings” flapping like his. We slashed and stabbed all throughout the main room of the temple and Kalakoz began to tire slightly. He flew away from me, firing beams of energy as he went. I blocked all of them back at him and he absorbed the energy. He then released it at me in a beam of black energy. I blocked it and attacked him again. I hit him with another beam of energy and then slashed one of his arms off. He fell to the ground and I landed a few feet from him. I strode up and was about to stab him when his arm grew from the stump and he blasted me with a huge beam of energy.  My eyes widened as I realized I couldn’t Kaldi away. It hit me with the force of a bomb, and trust me, it didn’t feel good, and I flew back through the wall into another chamber but recovered quickly as he tried to stab me. I disarmed him and to defend himself he had to create swords of fire. I slashed and stabbed with vicious abandon but he managed to parry my attacks with little difficulty. Suddenly another dragon-man attacked Talia. They began dueling but Talia was seriously outmatched. Her strikes were slow and the other dragon-man blocked them easily. I don’t know how she did it, but she was able to release a blast of energy at him, which he couldn’t block. I flew at him to strike the finisher, but Kalakoz Kaldied in front of me and I was forced to defend myself. I grew even angrier and began to score more hits on Kalakoz. It seemed to do nothing and I grew even more frustrated. Suddenly a voice in my head said, “Use Banshudo.” I was surprised but I was also getting used to it. When you have awesome powers you get lots of sage advice. For instance, I’ve gotten A’s on all of my Math tests because my little inner voice. I slashed and a powerful wave of energy smashed him into the ceiling. I passed him as he fell to the ground and put my free hand on my sword arm aimed the sword at him and screamed,

“Banshudo!”

A huge red beam of energy flew from my sword and hit Kalakoz full on. He was smashed through the wall of the temple and he hit the ground outside and stayed down. I landed and sprinted to Talia, the other dragon-man was slowly backing her into a corner. I leaped into the air and slashed at him. The wave of energy was strong enough to completely obliterate him and the wall behind him. I helped her up and she was shaking. I was shocked,

“What did he do?”

She shook her head, “He had the power of fear. He showed me my greatest fear, you dying.”

I hugged her tight as she trembled, “I don’t plan on dying anytime soon.”

Suddenly, to make my day worse more of the masked people appeared with the leader I didn’t get a chance to kill yet. He looked down at me and said,

“Well, here’s a sight! One of the two prophecy-children beaten to a pulp and the other trying to act tough! You’re sitting ducks and all we have to do,” he raised his hand and a swirling black ball appeared, “ is shoot.”

Chapter 3: Preliminary Exams

I picked up Talia and we Kaldied away to a ledge as he blew the space where we just were to bits. I blocked a second beam with my hands and the man seemed confused, “With your bare hands? Impossible!” I charged at him and slashed through several of his henchmen. He Kaldied away as I tried to stab him and I was hit by his beam. I shook it off and charged again, as he tried to dodge I cut him on the shoulder. He force of the slash spun him but when he came back around smiled evilly, “Banshudo.” The massive energy beam smashed me into the ground and kept going. I was digging a furrow in the ground as I went and I was in extreme pain. Suddenly the beam stopped and I lay there, barely conscious in my human form. The leader appeared next to me and raised his sword for the kill. I closed my eyes when he brought it down but was surprised to hear the rustling of robes and a clash of metal. I opened my eyes to see Talia standing in front of me with her sword blocking the leaders’. She pushed him away and he landed lightly a few yards away. She glared at him and said,

“Don’t touch my brother! See if you can take this! Kansade! First Release!”

She erupted into blue energy, which also took the avatar of a dragon-woman. She leveled her sword at him and he charged. She blocked his strokes with ease and dodged a power-slash that sent energy at me. She Kaldied in front of the wave and blocked it with one hand. Again he was impressed,

“Your power is prodigious, but it is not enough. KANSHI! FINAL RELEASE!”

He disappeared inside a swirling black tornado but Talia was unfazed. She unleashed a power she called,

“Gentura Tenza!”

A swirling blue ball of energy raced at the tornado. But it ended and we saw a hooded figure that looked like the Grim Reaper with wings. He blocked the energy but Talia was on him in a second. I staggered to my feet and fired a wave of energy at the reaper. It hit him head on and Talia rushed in and slashed him. It was a fatal blow to his neck, but he somehow recovered from it and launched himself into the fray again. Suddenly it seemed as if, he had overpowered her and was about to strike her down. She dodged two strikes and recovered magnificently by kicking him in the face as she flipped backwards. Suddenly with a flash of green and purple light my mother and father appeared cloaks billowing as they hovered there. They attacked the reaper and even his final release couldn’t stop him from being overwhelmed. They did a combined Banshudo and it hit the reaper head on. He did a body-plant like I did and it didn’t look pretty. He clambered to his feet, smoking and laughed,

“You may have won this round Stryker family, but be warned. War is on the horizon, and the Order of Supreme Chaos is rising once more. This time, we will have our revenge!”

Then he disappeared. Again, right when he left, we were surrounded, this time by 100 enemies. There was a flash of pink light and Grandpa Steve appeared right next to us. He nodded and we all charged. I didn’t even have time to say, “Pink? Really?” I activated my First Release and completely annihilated everyone in front of me. It seemed like no matter what we did, there were always more. Suddenly Grandpa summoned a swirling whirlwind of energy that swept through the forces and gave us time to regroup. My father and mother did the combined Banshudo and then swept the new enemies away. I looked up and saw a portal in through which the people were coming through. I Kaldied between the incoming enemies and destroyed the portal with a quick slash. I heard a crash of steel and looked up to see my Grandpa blocking some kind of ax-sword. He pushed the wielder away and attacked. The ax-man retreated and then as Grandpa wound up for a massive strike, Kaldied away. Grandpa followed the ax-man and actually scored a hit on him!  Grandpa turned and yelled,

“Back to the house!”

We all began to Kaldi and ax guy threw his weapon. I heard someone cry out but I couldn’t place it. Suddenly we were back in the chamber below the house but when I turned, I saw Grandpa Steve with that weird weapon sticking out of his chest. We all gasped as he staggered to the wall, pulled it out and then collapsed. My mother rushed to his side and he pushed something into her hand as he expired. Mom looked shocked but quickly said,

“They need to go to the Kangandi. We can’t train them here. There will be too much energy.”

I looked up,

“Where and what is and Kangandi?”

My father locked eyes with me,

“It’s a training center for new Tevalda. Just crossover again and we’ll take you.”

I nodded and boom: we’re back. This time we began running immediately and in the distance I saw mountains. More enemies attacked but we cleared them without a second thought. We Kaldied to the highest summit and I saw a giant fortress in the middle of the four mountains.

Talia whistled and my father nodded,

“Yes. It’s majestic isn’t it? It was made 500 years ago. Go, we cannot enter until the war begins.”

Talia and I leapt down and landed in the courtyard in a cloud of dust.

We saw a man in golden robes and he motioned to us, “Welcome Tevalda. Before you may take your place here at the Kangandi you must pass a preliminary duel. Because of your reputation, you will duel our two best cadets. Kuyo! Zora! Draw your blades. You may use any technique necessary. Death is not necessary but is allowed.”

I looked at Talia and her eyes betrayed the emotion her face would not show; if I died she’d go ballistic.  The man shifted his weight,

“Begin!”

Suddenly, two people flew at us from out of nowhere and we barely blocked. I pushed my opponent away and went on the attack. He fell back under a blistering barrage of strikes and we seemed even. Talia and I both kicked our opponents past each other and we suddenly switched. I attacked the girl with relentless abandon and she kept retreating. I saw the boy knee Talia, disarming her, and prepare to drive his sword through her. I fired a beam of energy from my hand and it hit the guy head on. I then kicked my own opponent away and went after the boy. He recovered quickly and slashed me twice on each arm and it was painful just to hold my sword up.

He disarmed me and said,

“You lose.”

Then just to make my day terrible, the dude killed me. Literally he blasted a huge hole through my chest with Banshudo. I fell with a shocked expression on my face as everything faded to black. Suddenly, I was before a sealed gate and two glowing yellow eyes were looking out from behind the gate.

A voice in my head rumbled,

“YOU FOOL! I HAVEN’T EVEN GIVEN YOU MY POWER AND YOU HAVE GONE AND GOTTEN KILLED!!!”

The force of the voice brought me to my knees and I struggled to rise,

“Who are you? Why are you in my head?”

“I AM THE SPIRIT OF THE DRAGONGATE. I AM ZEL-NAMA! I AM THE BEING THAT GIVES YOU YOUR EXTRORDINARY POWER. I AM WHAT MAKES YOU A PROPHECY CHILD. I AM THE ETERNAL--”  

“OK OK OK. I get it. You’re some ultra-powerful being that has sealed off my power.”

I raised my sword, which had materialized in my hand,

“Now give it back!”

With a mighty slash I broke the seal and power rushed into me,

“This should be enough to bring me back. Never seal my power away again!”

With that I disappeared from my consciousness. I began to glow as Talia flew into a shock-induced rage and activated her Second Release and became even more powerful. I glowed even brighter as the kid backed up with a terrified expression on his face. I rose and faced the poor guy. I looked at myself and saw that I had transformed into an actual dragon-man. I was red with black tattoos all over. I laughed, called my sword to me, swung it in a salute and the wall behind me was destroyed and I didn’t touch it. I charged at the kid and slashed. He tried to dodge but was forced to block. The blast of energy was blinding to him but I kept going. He released his form and transformed into a green dragon-man but he wasn’t as cool as me, at least in my opinion. I did an overhead slash and he swung his blade as he dodged. I fired a large blast of energy at him and he did as well. The explosion was deafening but I charged right through the smoke and in my rage ripped his arm off. I wasn’t even conscious of my own actions. I just had a lust for blood. He looked shocked as I kicked him into the ground. He reformed his arm and attacked again. I blocked his slash and as he strove to push my sword backwards let him go. He stumbled forwards and I sliced one of his wings off. It reformed as well and we slashed all around the courtyard while the students looked on in awe. I advanced on him, slashing and hacking while he put up a valiant defense. I Kaldied behind him and stabbed him. He pulled himself off of my sword and turned, blood dripped to the floor and he was wheezing.  I did a power slash and the energy sent him flying. Talia had unlocked her dragon form and was blue with white markings. Her enemy was blue with black markings but she was getting systematically owned. I felt a punch to the face but spun and kicked the kid into one of the mountains. He flew towards me for a final blow. I simply grabbed his supercharged sword while the momentum carried beyond me, creating a giant windstorm and almost completely destroying every building behind us. I laughed and he froze, shocked. I leveled my sword at him and smirked,

“My turn. BANSHUDO!!!!!”

He was smashed into the ground by my beam and everyone winced. He tried to rise failing in the process, and the teacher pushed him back,

“I shall deal with this upstart.”

I laughed my head off as Talia’s opponent was dispatched as well,

“OH YEAH OLD MAN? BRING IT!!!!! I BET YOU WON’T EVEN TOUCH ME!!!” He released his dragon form and I saw a heavily muscled golden dragon with those mustaches and facial hair that you normally see with the Chinese Dragon celebrations. He drew a golden sword and stalked towards me. I sneered,

“Heh, here he comes sis. Let’s get ‘im!”

I raced downwards at him,

“I’M COMIN’ ATCHA!!!”

He blocked my downward stroke with little effort and then gasped as Talia fired Gentura Tenza at him. It hit him head on and we saw him silhouetted against the ball of energy. The energy dissipated and he launched himself at us. Talia combined her swords and made a double-sided one, quickly spinning it to deflect his rapid strikes. He came at us again and we had to use all of our strength to block his slashes. We strained to push our other’s swords back and I began to win the contest. He grunted,

“This power! It is unlike anything I’ve seen before! Unless…”

I smirked,

“You ready for more? ZAKADI!!!”

I was enveloped in a swirling pillar of red energy and I began to laugh like a madman. This time the energy stayed around my form as I slashed and stabbed like crazy. Talia had also gone on overdrive and several students had to rush at us to try and stop us but we plowed through them, knocking them aside. I charged up for a combined Banshudo and released it at the peak of our power. It hit him but it didn’t seem to have an effect on him other than knocking him to the ground. I charged with Talia as he looked up. Suddenly he raised his hand and a wave of pure force hit us. We reverted back to our human forms and stopped up short in shock. I realize he had immense power and immediately kneeled. Talia followed my lead yet was more surly about it. He nodded to us and said,

“You have considerable power.”

Talia elbowed me and I shook my head,

“Thank you Master Edal, for the training session, but now we must get back to…wherever we live.”

Talia Kaldied back immediately and I winced,

“She’s gonna be sore about Kuyo killing me for a while. Yeah, so thanks.”

 With a rush of wind and a bright flash, I Kaldied back to the alternate world.

Chapter 4: First Strike

I appeared back in the chamber and the first thing I noticed was the clock on the wall. It said 7:00 AM! SCHOOL STARTED AT 7:45! IF I DIDN’T GET THERE BY 7:30 I WOULD BE LATE! I dashed up the stairs and luckily breakfast was already on the table. 5 scrambled eggs, 4 pancakes, and 4 beef sausages, was what my mother laid out for us. I sat at the table thankful for her thoughtful gesture. I wolfed down my breakfast, and then dashed upstairs to take a shower and get dressed. I picked out a yellow, green, red and blue plaid shirt and some blue jeans. It doesn’t look as bad as it sounds. I dashed down the stairs and leaped into my front yard. I looked around for the car but it wasn’t there. I suddenly remembered that this was the day where we had to get to school by ourselves. Talia was a full block ahead of me and I began to sprint. Suddenly I saw a girl I had noticed at the Kangandi named Sam turn the corner and run to catch up as well I looked around to see if anyone was looking and then Kaldied next to them.

They acted as if it was no big deal but Sam smacked me,

“Don’t take risks like that!! What if you’re being watched? My house is being monitored by the enemy 24/7. I actually had to fight an assassin last night.”

The school came into sight as we ran up a hill. I leaped to the top and they followed my lead. We ran through the gates at 7:29 and I sighed in relief. We had made it. I had forgotten Sam went to our school. She sat near me in Art, English, and History.

I didn’t’ pay that much attention is school. I was too busy passing notes to Sam. One of them went like this:

Me: Yo

Sam: What?

Me: When did you get to the Kangandi?

Sam: I’ve been going everyday after school since I was 12.

Me: WHAT?!?!

Sam: Yeah, I’ve been going for 3 years.

Me: And I thought you had no life…

Sam: YOU BASTARD!

Me: Heh heh heh.

Sam:  I’m gonna get you after school.

Me: You wish.

           After this little episode, we went to gym class. Our current unit was basketball so I was able to lower the basket to about 8 ft. We played and I started dunking (I’m about 6 ft tall). The other kids watched as I leaped into the air and slammed it down in my best friend, Paul’s face. The basketball team leaped to their feet as I came back down. We slapped high fives as the period came to an end. After that, everything else passed by in blur. Before I knew it, the time was 3:15 and I was walking out of school with my friends. Suddenly a purple beam of light flashed through the sky and seconds later, part of the school exploded.

          I was thrown to the ground but got up quickly thanks to my new powers. I looked up and saw seven girls in the sky. They all had purple hoods, purple cloaks, purple shirts, purple pants and basically everything else was purple.

I looked at Talia and Sam,

“Hold down the fort.”

I summoned my sword and my outfit and shot into the sky before everyone’s stunned eyes. I engaged the first girl in combat while the other 6 charged up another beam. Sam and Talia created a shield that blocked the beam but I knew it wouldn’t hold for long. Again the voice in my head, Zel-Nama, said,

“Use Gentura Sensho.”

I dodged another swipe and charged up,

“Gentura….” The red energy coalesced at the tip of my sword and I slashed downward, “SENSHO!!!!!!”

The wave of energy slammed into 4 of them, sending them flying into the ground. Their life force was extinguished quickly and I slashed and stabbed at the others. Another fell and the others activated their first and second releases. I didn’t have time to use mine because they were on me in milliseconds. I had to slash and block with everything I had from all directions and then, just when I thought it wouldn’t get any worse, my sword broke in half under the strain of one of their blows. I stared at the stump in shock and anger as the girls laughed. I was too slow to see one of them sneak up behind me and used Gentura Tenza to slam me into the ground. With my clothes torn and my body bleeding, I slowly rose up from the crater the blow had made and I saw the other half of my sword. It made me angry all over again.

I yelled out “ZAKADI! FINAL RELEASE!!!!”

The energy erupted around me again in a swirling pillar and I went back to my dragon-man form. I held out my hand and the other half of my sword flew to me. I combined them again and swung my sword in a salute. The forest was swept into a windstorm behind me as I took to the sky. I closed quickly with them, a roar springing from my lips. I slashed and stabbed and blocked like crazy. They retreated before my onslaught and I managed to take on all of them at once. I dodged another Gentura Sensho and slashed one of their hoods off. I was shocked to see my classmate, Emma! She laughed and the others took of their hoods. I saw Kylie and Ava, the twins, as well.

I readied my sword for another attack and they obliged while Emma screamed, “Chaos will reign and this world will burn!”

I slashed, weaved, stabbed and blocked between the three of them. Emma was dispatched first and as she fell tossed her sword to Kylie. I got Ava with Banshudo and then it was just Kylie and I. We slashed and stabbed with everything we had, my sword doing double duty against her two swords.

She cut me and I laughed, “Come on! IS THAT ALL YOU GOT!”

I charged up for a massive strike, “GENTURA SENSHO!!”

It hit her full on but she got right back up and launched herself into the fray once more. I laughed while blocking her rapid strikes although some got through, “You’re tough.”

I landed on a tree and she landed across from me. We leaped into combat again, energy flying from our hands and swords. After a particularly brutal set of blows I skipped out of range of another slash. She glared at me and formed a ball of energy in her mouth. A beam launched towards me as I blocked. The smoke cleared to see her right on top of me. I hissed in surprise and Kaldied away, looking around for her telltale purple aura.

She raced at me through the smoke and I grinned, “Gotcha!”

I quickly made several complicated hand-signs, “Banadak Gentra! Deadly Vine Slash!” My left arm formed into a vine with a deadly poisoned tip and I flicked it forward, stabbing at Kylie as she raced towards me. She dodged but didn’t think about my arm coming back around and stabbing her through the back. She gasped in pain as the poison raced through her. She fell to the ground and I descended as well. Suddenly another purple dragon-woman appeared and I readied my sword. My arm was back to normal but she used the technique that Master Edal had used back at the Kangandi. I reverted to my human form and she rushed in and began punching and kicking me around. I couldn’t defend myself because she was so fast. I cursed in my mind and tried to activate my release but was unable. Suddenly the shield went down, presumably so Talia or Sam could help me, and she flew in and grabbed this girl named Camille, taking to the sky in a flash. Talia dashed upwards and activated her final release, turning into a blue comet, which slashed the newcomer in half. Camille began to fall but yet another purple dragon-woman grabbed her. Talia attacked again, but was intercepted by even more people. Sam flew up to help and killed even more enemies. I saw another portal open and more enemies poured through, by this time kids were screaming and running away and the purple dragon-women raced over them shooting energy from their mouths and even killing some of them I watched in horror as kids were mercilessly cut down. I charged up again,

“GENTURA SENSHO!!!!”

The wave of energy killed all of the new dragon-women and I then wheeled around and fired a Banshudo into the portal, the ensuing conflagration ripping the clouds apart. I turned as Talia danced between her attackers making for a dragon-woman that was flying away with Camille.

I dashed in, grabbed Camille and leveled my sword at my opponent, “You touch her again and I will kill you.” Camille’s eyes widened and the other dragon-person laughed.

My eyes narrowed and I growled, “SHUT UP!!!”

I Kaldied right next to her and slashed her across the chest. She went flying but I Kaldied in front of her each time battering her around the airspace.

I charged up and hit her with a massive, “GENTURA…………… SENSHO!!!!”

The blast destroyed a huge swath of the forest we now called Dragon Pass. When the smoke cleared I saw her standing weakly supported by her sword. She took two steps towards me and then collapsed. I collapsed as well and the last thing I saw was Camille running to my side from where she had jumped down after my last blow. Wait, she jumped? I didn’t even have enough energy to register that the drop was 150 ft. before I passed out.

Talia’s POV

I saw Chad pass out on the ground and Sam flew to cover he and Camille. I faced my opponent who happened to be one of my classmates and my crush Joshua Davidson. My face was impassive as he charged, a sneer on his face and malice in his green eyes. I blocked his strike and pushed him away, slashing and cutting. Part of me wondered what I was doing trying to kill him, but the other half was urging me to keep attacking because it was he or I. I kicked him in the side and sent him sliding backwards. He transformed into a black dragon-man with white tattoos and green eyes. Our swords crossed again and we glared into each other’s eyes as we flew higher and higher. I fired a beam of energy from my mouth and I hit him head on, sending crashing into the ground. Suddenly a huge wave of black energy hit me and I carved another gouge in the forest. He charged towards me and I jumped over him, turning quickly to block his forthcoming strikes. I drew my second sword and combined them spinning around him and striking from literally all angles. I slapped him with my tail as I flew by him and then Kaldied in front of him. I proceeded to pound him into the ground and watched as he shakily climbed to his feet. I now had no affection for the boy that used to be Joshua Davidson and I waited as he Kaldied behind me. I spun my sword behind my back and blocked his strike. His eyes widened as I spun and slashed his left arm off. I then kicked him into the ground. Another wave of energy flew towards me but I sliced it in half. His eyes widened as I charged up,

“Let’s finish this. Gentura…SENSHO!!!”

The wave slammed into him and when the smoke cleared, he fell to the ground. I saw a convoy of ambulances drive into the school and Chad was loaded into one. I followed at a distance and landed on the hospital roof, transforming and walking through like I owned the place. No one was going to stop me from getting to my brother.

Chad’s POV

I woke up at the hospital and all of my family plus Sam, Zora, Kuyo, and Master Edal were around me. I was still in my costume and the upper half was all ripped up but the lower half was fine. I looked for any evidence of the fight, but all of the scars and slash marks were gone. In its place was an 8 pack that I never knew was there. On my arms were the tattoos that I had in my dragon form. I changed back into my school clothes and left the hospital. The doctors were baffled about the instantaneous healing but they had guessed that I was otherworldly. When we got outside Master Edal took us back to the Kangandi. When we arrived he made us begin training immediately. We sprinted through obstacle courses and sliced through training dummies. He even had Talia fight me. We faced each other in the courtyard while everyone piled into the stands to watch. I drew my sword and shifted into a charging position. Suddenly she charged and I did as well. We closed in seconds, our swords flashing and cutting at each other. The sound of metal on metal dominated my mind for half an hour as we whaled on each other. At one point we both disarmed each other, and we used supercharged punches and kicks.

Suddenly she leaped away, combined her swords and began to twirl them, “Megetera!”

A grid of energy appeared in front of her sword and fired a beam of energy at me.  I dodged and fired Banshudo at her. She dodged as well and at the same time we both realized that we were too quick to be hit with energy. She raced down at me and I launched myself at her. We met with the force of a small explosion and the wind from our strikes made everyone put up their hoods. I managed to get in the first strike as I flipped over her, swept her into the air and blasted her with energy from my hand.

I put my hand on the tattoos on my arm and said,

“Enough playing. Let’s go! ZAKADI… FINAL RELEASE!!!”

She smirked,

“KANSADE!!! FINAL RELEASE!!!”

My inner voice said, “Banshudo Megetera!!!” I leveled my sword at her and a grid appeared, firing off thousands of energy beams as she did as well. We charged at each other and slashed so hard that we broke each other’s swords. The explosion threw both of us backwards. We both recovered at the same time and went to good old-fashioned fisticuffs. She got in plenty of strikes but I managed to dodge most of them at the last second I called my sword to me as I punched her into a wall. My sword reformed and I went after her slashing and stabbing. She dodged every time by weaving and ducking and sliding under and over my slashes. She grabbed her sword and we went back to our sword battle.

I held my sword back and dumped all of my energy into it. I charged, she charged as well and we swung at the same time. I barely managed to beat her as I broke her sword and slashed her across the chest. She had stabbed me but I barely felt it. She went flying, skipping across the ground. I fell to the ground while I healed. Talia healed herself and got up rolling her shoulders and smiling at me. After making sure she was ok, I changed back, stood up and suddenly noticed Camille training with a rather bulky kid. I stared as she skipped gracefully out of the way of his blows and brought her elbow down on his head, slamming him into the ground. He got up and charged her, yelling wildly. She had a totally serious expression on her face as she dueled with him across the courtyard.

She kicked him away and after that I turned away and began to walk towards Master Edal, “Chad, that was quite a display. Does your spirit-release always cause you to loose control?”

“Yes. I never notice it though,” I respond, “my mood always changes to rage and anger or just plain overconfidence. I don’t know why.”

He cleared his throat, “When you met your spirit-self, what did it say its name was?”

I was scared to speak but say “Zel-Nama. Its name is Zel-Nama.”

Master Edal stiffened, “Zel-Nama, did you say? Then you are one of the prophecy children… We must make preparations to go to the Spirit World. You must meet Aldavor. He is the one who defeated Zel-Nama 2,000 years ago and sealed him inside the Dragongate. Did you touch it?”

I nodded again, “Yeah, I defeated Kalakoz as well.”

Master Edal chuckled, “You wouldn’t be here if that hadn’t happened.” We suddenly passed a hall filled with pictures of famous people dressed in my uniform.

I saw Shane Battier, Tom Cruise, Lindsay Lohan, Sasha Barron Cohen, and,

“Magic Johnson?!?!?!? He was a part of this too?”

Master Edal nodded,

“Tayshaun Prince was as well. Even Charlie Sheen. He got his winning slogan from when he beat 70 students in a row. After he was done and we asked him what he was thinking when he was fighting he said, “Winning! DUH!!”

We passed through the hall into a vast map room where Master Edal outlined a route for my sister and I to take to get to the portal that led Spirit World, “You must go through the Forest of Beasts, over the Arch of Angels, across the Sea of Demons, through the Valley of Bones, and find the hermit called Manuma and defeat him. Upon his defeat, he will open the portal. If you ever wish to return to the Spirit World he will automatically open it for you. Although, I don’t think that you’ll ever need to.”

I nodded, “I have one question. How am I using all of these techniques and I have never heard of them before?”

Master Edal turned serious, “That is the influence of Zel-Nama. He is causing you to remember spells that he has used and have been used on him in the past. Unfortunately he also knows the Ultimate Destruction Spell as well.”

I shivered inside but nodded and he bowed, “Good luck.”

Chapter 5: A Change of Perspective

I went outside and saw Camille, Kuyo, Zora and Talia all standing in their uniforms. They had backpacks on and Talia held one out for me. They were filled with all sorts of stuff including water and emergency materials. I stopped up short, “You guys are coming with me?”

Kuyo snorted good-naturedly, “Of course, idiot!”

Camille laughed, “We can’t let you have all the fun!”

I smiled and we all walked towards the mountain entrance. I grabbed some cloaks and we filed out of the gate. I looked around, scanning for enemies and seeing none, began to run. We ran for a full hour without stopping but when we reached a forest, stopped to drink water, and consult the map. The map labeled this forest as the Forest of Beasts. I drew my sword and after everyone else was up and had followed my lead, we plunged into the foliage.

We walked through several clearings until we came to 3 paths. I consulted the map and we took the middle path. Suddenly, spiders with bat wings descended from the trees firing their bristles. Zora deflected them all and we backed up into a circle as more came down and began to surround us. Several landed in our midst causing us to scatter and begin fending them off desperately. One leaped on me and I held it off with my sword. Its creamy white eyes stared at me, full of rage and malice. I ended its life with a quick blast and gasped as several began to overwhelm Camille and I who happened to be taking the brunt of the attack.

They swarmed me and I put my hand on my tattoos, “ZAKADI! FIRST RELEASE!!!”

With a bright flash and a slash of my sword, I cleared them all off of me. Camille had done the same with her silver energy, and we fought in tandem. The others also transformed and we ran through the forest fending them all off. Their dying screams mingled with the screams of even larger bat-spiders flying all around us, firing their poisonous bristles. Suddenly the Queen dropped from the skies with an egg sac on her back. Camille leaped towards the Queen, silver sword flashing, as we all formed a defensive circle to fend off the descending creatures.

Camille’s POV

I had never felt so alive when I charged the Queen. She hissed at my boldness and her pincers and razor sharp legs were stabbing at me. I fired a Banshudo but it was blocked by some kind of force field. I dropped to the ground in surprise but continued my attack. I rolled to the left as she stabbed the ground where I was and then I flipped backwards firing off balls of energy as I turned through the air. Suddenly I had an idea, I sprinted towards her egg sac slicing it open and then blasting energy into her weavers. She and her offspring exploded and suddenly a man sprinted out of the forest and attacked me. I parried his blows as fast as I could and he fired a point-blank lime-green Banshudo at me. I barely managed to Kaldi away. Suddenly I felt his fist hit my face. He slammed me into the ground and I did a running faceplant.

I kicked him off of me and activated my second release, “Tandoshi! Second Release!!!”

He smirked, “You are so naive. I will destroy you, and then your friends.”

His voice was gravelly and reeked of evil. I charged him, a yell springing from my lips. He blocked my strokes easily and looked surprised when I nailed him with Gentura Tenza. He skidded backwards and used his sword to steady himself. I rushed him and suddenly he stabbed at me faster than I could react. Suddenly Chad Kaldied in front of me and took the blade in his back.

His intense expression never faltered, “You had better kick his ass for me…”

The man withdrew his blade and telekinetically threw him into a tree, “What a waste.”

I could feel my rage building as my spirit-self, Kai-Dela urged me to activate my final release. In a bright flash of silver light, I transformed into a gleaming silver dragon-woman and readied my sword. I roared at him and the energy blazed higher. Every time my sword struck his, and bright flash of light exploded from the point of contact. He fell back from my attack and I slashed him three times. I then fired Banshudo Megetera at him and he dodged most of the beams. A few hit him and he grunted in pain. I ripped his arm off and he screamed in pain. My rage made me form an enormous ball of energy in my mouth. It flew at him and sent him flying. I turned and saw Chad on the ground with Talia trying in vain to heal him but it seemed like a lost cause.

I walked up and transformed into my human form, “We need to move. I don’t know him that well but I don’t think he would want us to stop for him if there was a way to save the world. He sacrificed his life for me. I shouldn’t be here, I’m sorry Talia.” Suddenly Chad flashed crimson and he came back to life, his wound healed.

He rose and said, “Well, Camille? “

I nodded in shock, “S-Se-Sen-Sent him flying.” He nodded in return and set off without a word. I stared at him while the others followed him eyes wide with disbelief.

Chad’s POV

After the giant spider incident and Zel-Nama resurrecting me again, we encountered no resistance. I sliced through the last part of the forest and before me, saw the Arch of Angels. There was a stairway running over it and I ran to it and began jumping up. The rest followed me, and halfway to the top, we were attacked by angel-like figures.

Zora leaped in front of me, “Megetera Zendo!” The energy net shot out and ensnared the angels trying to stop us.

Then Kuyo fired off a giant, “BANSHUDO!”

Camille simply danced between her attackers, cutting them down like grass before a fire.

Talia leaped into the air, “GENTURA TENZA!!!”

I jumped as well, “Banshudo…MAGETERA!!!”

The energy beams slashed into the attacking forces but when we landed, a lone, heavily armed and armored angel stood. Camille charged him but was knocked back by one of those weird ax-sword weapons.

She gritted her teeth and charged in again,

“Out of my WAY!”

Her second release activated and she slashed and stabbed, the angel actually backpedaled and we rushed to follow her. She swung her blade but the angel caught it and pulled her towards him. He kicked her as she went past and she went flying back down the arch, landing with a crunch at the top of the stairs. I leaped in and slashed at him but he whipped out a diamond-like crystal and yelled, “Seven Seals of Amaroth!” Suddenly a series of spasms racked my body and I dropped to the ground in extreme pain. Zel-Nama screamed as well, using my mouth and the screams mingled. The angel placed seven wax seals on my body the last one nearly knocked me out but it took most of his energy. His pausing allowed Talia to stab him and throw his body off the arch. Camille staggered to her feet but there was blood streaming down her face. She healed herself but the blood stayed. I slowly clambered to my feet and saw the marks on my skin. The circular signs were burned into my skin. Three were on each arm and one was on my forehead. I tried to reach down into my inner power to heal myself, but was stopped from getting too deep by a mental barrier. The diamond was on the ground, glowing with red energy.

I picked it up, looked into it and saw Zel-Nama’s red and black eyes, “Go to the Sprit World! Quickly! I detest this prison of crystal!”

I nodded, “Guys, we need to go. Now.”

They nodded and Talia took the lead, “Come on, I see the Sea of Demons!”

We leap off of the Arch and hit the ground running. We reach the shore in short order and find that it’s a sea of molten obsidian. I try to absorb the heat, but the seals stop me from absorbing too much. Suddenly demons made of obsidian leapt out of the liquid. We spread out and went the attack.

I laid a hand on my tattoo’s, “Zakadi! First Release!”

The energy blazed up around me and slashed through the enemies. Suddenly more and more began to crawl out of the obsidian and I leaped back to avoid the encroaching arms.

I put my hand on my tattoo’s again but Zel-Nama said from the crystal, “You don’t have my power. Your Second Release will not activate without me.”

I laughed, “Bullshit. Zakadi! SECOND RELEASE!!!” 

I waited for the massive surge of power, but nothing happened, “Zel? Can’t you remotely lend me your power? Like, an energy bond or whatever?”

He laughed as I killed even more demons, “I wish I could. We would be halfway across the sea by now and closer to my freedom. I hate this prison, and I must rest. Do well, don’t get killed, it’s in both of our best interests if you stay alive.” I motioned to everyone, “Everyone to the sea! They probably can’t fly!”

We take flight, our wings flapping but to my surprise wings grow out of the backs of the demons. Talia glared at me, “Hey, I said probably.”

Kuyo picked up the pace and flew lower to the sea. Pillars of molten obsidian shot up and we had to maneuver between them. I almost brushed up against one, and felt the heat on my face. Suddenly one shot up in front of me and I had to pull up sharply and I almost grazed the pillar again. I saw the shore and yelled for everyone to make a beeline for it. Balls of molten obsidian flew up at me but I batted them all away.  Suddenly a huge monster rose up and swallowed me, “Crap.” I said as I fell through to its stomach.

Kuyo’s POV

As Chad was swallowed Talia spurted ahead, “CHAD!!!” Camille and I rushed to cover her as Zora kept the demons off our tails. I cleared several demons with Megetera and Talia became a comet of energy slicing through everything that came her way. Zora flipped and twisted to avoid the balls of flaming obsidian, causing them to hit the demons chasing her. Talia sliced right through the monster and Chad floated to the ground, “About time you got here. We’ve arrived at the Valley of Bones.”

We looked at a mile long indentation in the ground filled with bones. We walked down into the valley and saw swords, crystals, and Tevalda robes. I stepped on a sword and the bones began to rattle, Zora examined a ruby and the bones began to form a person. Finally when Talia examined a Tevalda Monk’s sash the bones erupted. They surrounded us and we instinctively drew our swords. The bones formed a huge, six-armed skeleton with giant swords for hands and claws for feet. My Dragon Spirit, Del-Menzo, growled in anticipation.

I ran at it,

“Gendaga! First Release!”

I erupted into green energy and attacked the monster. It fended off my attacks with little difficulty and I fell to the ground in anger, “Second Release!!”

The energy flared and the others attacked as well. Suddenly everything went wrong: Zora, Talia, and Camille were all cut down without pause and reservation. Suddenly the beast stabbed me as well. Chad was the only one left. He started twitching and glowing brighter. Suddenly, one of his seals disappeared and he began to shudder and scream, in a bright flash of light he appeared as a half-man, half-dragon. He had scaly, red skin on one side, and his regular skin on the other side with horns on both sides, he had also regained his wings.

It appeared that he had lost his mind or that Zel-Nama had gained control, for he laughed maniacally,  “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! THIS IS MORE LIKE IT!!! COME GET SOME!!!!!!”

He charged the monster and slashed and hacked as fast he could. He forced the monstrosity backwards as we lay there weakened. He hacked off two hands and then fired off the most powerful Gentura Sensho’s I had ever seen. It carved another hole into the valley. The monster was completely annihilated. More soldiers rose to attack him but he ran around slicing through them like butter. He flipped, slicing one in the process, spun around 3 others and hacked them to pieces. He fired a ball of energy as large as one of the swords that the monster used: it was 50 yards wide. He launched it and it ripped through the skeleton forces. He saw that we were wounded and in a flash, was by our sides, fending off the skeletons. I stared in awe as he cleared away foes by the hundreds with every swipe. He radiated energy and through this effect we were healed. Another, man-sized skeleton beast appeared and began charging up for a massive strike. Chad-Zel-Nama charged up as well and the energy spiraled through the clouds. When his sword met the sword of bone the skeleton was shattered. Chad-Zel-Nama roared at the sky and then began to charge up for another massive strike that probably would have destroyed everything in the valley. Camille was barely able to stop him by stabbing him. He returned to normal and fell to the ground with a clatter of bones. He flipped himself over and stared at his pocket, where the crystal was glowing with new power.

Camille and Talia ran over to him, “Are you alright?”

“What happened?”

“What was that? You went, like, beast mode!”

Chad shook his head,

“Zel-Nama used the shock of seeing you all wounded and took control. I had a backseat view while he hacked and slashed away. He would have destroyed the valley if you hadn’t stabbed me Camille.”

He looked troubled,

“Come on, we’re almost to Manuma’s hut. All I can say is, I’m not fighting him.

I don’t want to kill him.”

Chapter 6: BIG Explosions

Chad’s POV

I rose and walked off towards the end of the valley, which was littered with bones. While we traveled I was having a heated conversation with Zel-Nama in my head, “You shouldn’t have taken control like that! You almost killed my friends!”

“Bah! That blast wouldn’t have gone towards them, I would have stopped it before it harmed them.”

“Nevertheless, what the hell were you thinking? I feel like I just ran 30 miles without stopping!”

“I saw you taking no action so I saved our skins and used my power to break the first seal. Aldavor will have the ability to break the others, but if he doesn’t the I can use my Ultimate Destruction on the magic surrounding us and break the seals, it might destroy you though…”

“Only use that as a last resort. I read something in Master Edal’s library about the residual energy going to only your allies. They could use the boost.”

“Fine.”

We walked single file towards a mountain where a huge gate was set on he summit. I Kaldied up the mountain bit by bit until we reach the top. In the way of the path to the gate is a single hut.

A wizened man came out of the hut and said, “Which one of you will face me? Perhaps you blue dragon, or maybe you silver dragon? Whichever one it is, I will defeat you quickly. Only 6 people have ever beaten me, and they were much stronger than you.”

Talia stepped out, “OK old man. I’m sick of you. I challenge you!”

Manuma laughed, “So be it.”

I hugged Talia, “Be careful”

“I always am.”

Talia’s POV

I drew my swords and Manuma held out his hand. A double bladed staff appeared and he twirled it and slammed it into the ground. With a slight shift of my foot I revealed I was about to charge. He brought his staff up to block as I leaped towards him and slashed at his head. I held the position for a second and then spun to attack his legs. He leaped over my cut and slammed his staff down. I skipped away and lunged at him. He brought on a flurry of strikes and backed me into a corner. I Kaldied away and we circled each other before diving back into battle. He slashed at my head and I ducked but he then slashed at my legs. I did a mid air back flip and then Kaldied right behind him. I wound up,

“GENTURA SENSHO!!!”

The energy slammed into him and he flew into a rock face. I flipped back and made a series of hand-signs, “Enama Frecis! Arm of Nucoth!”

A huge molten arm replaced my real arm and I punched Manuma smashing him deeper into the rock face. I set my hand on my arm, which returned to normal, “Kansade! First Release!”

The energy flared around me as he charged. I expected my strike to overpower him, but he began pushing me back instead.

I grunted and yelled, “SECOND RELEASE!!” and tried a new technique called Madama Senfu. I slammed my swords into the ground and rock spikes flew up at him. Manuma flipped over them backwards and I was on top of him in seconds. His eyes widened as I hit him with a power slash. He went flying and slammed into the gate. He began to charge up and yelled,

“GEN-NAGA! FINAL RELEASE!!”

He turned into a white dragon man with 6 wings and spikes all along his back. His energy spiraled up and he charged at me. Suddenly a bright flash of golden light appeared in front of me and stopped Manuma in his tracks. The energy and dust cleared and I saw Sam standing in front of me with her arm outstretched, having caught Manuma’s staff.  I stared in shock as she pushed him away.

She looked at me, “Let me deal with him, I have score to settle.”

She dropped into a defensive stance and waited for Manuma to charge. He obliged and she Kaldied behind him and actually wounded him. He spun and kicked her but she recovered quickly and slashed his chest as well. They slashed and stabbed at each other for what seemed like half an hour but was actually only 7 minutes. Suddenly Manuma stumbled and Sam disarmed him, his staff flying into the ground at my feet. My eyes widened along with everyone else’s and Kuyo whistled,

“Dang! She didn’t even use her Final Release! That was only Second Release!”

She picked Manuma up by his neck and made him face the gate, “Open it. Now!”

He winced, “Tenda!”

The doors slowly opened and Sam began walking towards them, throwing Manuma to the side where he glared at her. We quickly followed and before we knew it, were staring into a black portal. Sam backed up, got a running start and leaped through. I looked at Chad, who shrugged,

“Let’s go!”

We all leaped through and dropped down into a dark abyss. We came through a hole of light and emerged on a cliff. I saw a huge cityscape that looked like it came from old Israel. Sam was standing at the edge,

“Welcome to the Spirit World.”

Chad’s POV

An explosion lit up the cityscape and everyone winced except Sam, she merely Kaldied down into the city, hands in the pockets of her cloak. We followed her as she flitted from place to place, explosions going off randomly we followed until we found the source. In the sky, were 6 black-clad figures that were firing off beams of energy. I recognized them as members of the Order of Supreme Chaos. Sam drew her sword and we all followed suit, taking to the sky and stopping the figures from shooting more beams. I slammed my elbow into the stomach of my opponent. She grunted and drew her twin swords. I slashed at her but she Kaldied behind me. I turned and blocked her double sword strike. She growled and leaped away before attacking again. Sparks flew from our swords every time they met. I spun away and leaped at her slashing downward. She sidestepped to the right but I had anticipated it, and lashed out, hitting her with a wave of energy. She charged up and yelled, “DENTAI! First Release!” She grew bat-wings and black energy flared up around her. Being unable to activate my Second Release, I charged her and she dodged my initial slash, but was caught by my Banshudo. She charged at me and we hacked and spun and slashed at each other until I finally stabbed her. The others had dealt their opponents and we followed Sam to a large castle on a hill, passing scenes of people running around dodging the fires. We saw a man on the balcony and we landed next to him. Sam actually broke into a smile for the first time in about 12 minutes. Kuyo jumped, “What? The fearless warrior has a soft side too?”

She ignored him and hugged the old man, “Uncle Alda! How are you?”

I turned from the balcony, “Uncle Alda? Aldavor is your uncle?”

Aldavor nodded, “Yes. Don’t you see the resemblance?”

I stared long and hard at them and saw the gold flecks in their eyes, the thin eyebrows, the slightly protruding chin and the way they moved their bodies was identical. We moved into the interior of the castle and Aldavor took me by the shoulders, startling me,

“I’m going to break the seals. Your friends will have to defend us as I do this for if you move you will destroy yourself and me as well.”

I gulped and nodded. He began chanting and almost immediately more of the Order of Supreme Chaos attacked us. Sam and the others leaped into action and cut down scores of them. Even so, it wasn’t until they activated their First and then Second Releases, that they were able to make a dent in the enemies. Sam’s face was a mask of determination and the others were full of righteous anger. I felt the three left seals burn away and as they did the pain increased. I fixed myself in place through sheer willpower and when Aldavor finished, let out a mighty scream that disintegrated every enemy within a 50-yard radius. I looked at my right arm and said, “Why are they still there? Can’t you deal with them too?”

He shook his head, “The crystal has to be broken by the Sword of Chaos. Only Lord Razor has that. You must travel to the Shadowlands or lure him to you.”

Suddenly the door exploded and Chaos acolytes attacked. I drew my sword and activated my first and second releases. I slashed and stabbed between them, their cries of pain mingling with the sound of steel on steel. We fought our way to the main hall where Aldavor’s soldiers came to our aid. I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my side as a sword sliced me. I healed myself and sliced the guy in half. I spun, stabbed another guy and blasted others with energy. Aldavor finished off the last two and turned to us, “You have to go back to the Kangandi and tell Master Edal to send a small force to Demon Mountain. Then—“

Suddenly a blade sprouted from Aldavor’s chest. He gasped and fell to the ground as Sam screamed. Suddenly the guy I had seen at the Dragongate appeared behind him and laughed. I yelled in pure hate and rage. I reverted back into my half-man and half dragon form willingly and let Zel-Nama take over.

“Kill him. Make it very painful.”

He rushed at the man and hissed, “So you have the Sword of Chaos, Lord Razor. It does not matter no one will ever best Zel-Nama!”

He slashed at him and I fed him power from the well. He fired off a huge Banshudo that sent Lord Razor flying through the castle. Zel-Nama Kaldied in front of him and kicked him back into the main room where Sam, having transformed into her dragon form attacked him. She was outmatched but had the element of surprise on her side. She kept him on his back foot the entire time and never gave him enough room to fire a spell without harming himself. Talia was desperately trying to heal Aldavor along with Zora but he was trying to tell her something. She nodded tears streaking down her face.

She turned and yelled at Zel-Nama, “You may use the Ultimate Destruction Spell! Stage 1 only!”

He smiled evilly, “SAM! GET EVERYONE OUT OF HERE!! MOVE!!”

After she did he made a series of complicated hand signs and placed his arm in the Banshudo position, “KAIDEN SEDAKA! FORM 1!”

Aldavor chuckled weakly as a huge beam of energy wiped Lord Razor from the face of the planet, “I always knew you still had it in you. You remember it has 3 forms right?”

Zel-Nama nodded, “Yes. But you realize that Lord Razor isn’t dead. Since he claimed the Sword of Chaos he has nine lives. That spell just erased 6 of them because it was fueled by righteous hate and fury, which made it even more powerful.”

“Now you must travel back to the Kangandi you have business to attend to and I fear they will strike there next. Good luck to you…”

He closed his eyes and only then did we realize that he was dead. Sam knelt next to him and began crying. I put my arm around her and she bawled into my shoulder. Talia stumbled to the balcony and Kuyo went to try and comfort her. Camille looked miserable and Zora was back to her stoic self. Suddenly a flash of black and purple light appeared and an 11-year-old African-American girl appeared in the garb of a Tevalda. Her morose purple eyes stared at me mournfully and I stood up, realizing that she’s no mere Tevalda. Everyone drew their swords but I held up my hand,

“What is your business here?”

“I am Brianna, the Alpha Tev-Demonata.”

Sam rose,

“Alpha Tev-Demonata, First Dragon-Demoness. Why are you here?”

“The time has come for me to test the Prophecy Child.”

I stared at her, her mournful eyes betrayed power. I maintained a slightly disbelieving face. She didn’t look that powerful. Briana waved her hand and suddenly we were back at the Kangandi in the middle of the courtyard. Everyone froze and Brianna drew her sword, a pure white katana. I stared at her incredulously but she was on me in a second. I saw her sword swinging in slow motion and hissed as she cut me when I dodged. My blood splattered the floor and everyone gasped. I drew my sword and made a backslash. Her sword lazily blocked mine and her expression changed to ridicule when she said,

“Surely you are more powerful than this. Come Chad, show me your true power!”

She rushed in and attacked again but this time I was ready and stopped her in her tracks. She smiled coldly as if this what was supposed to happen. I pushed her away and she landed lightly. I charged, disappearing and appearing by her side at the last second. She turned and kicked me with surprising power. I flew backwards into the wall. She leaped towards me sword outstretched. I leaped into the air and activated my first release as she pulverized the wall where I was standing. I flew towards her and slashed, a huge wave of energy hit her but when the smoke cleared she had cut the wave in half with her hand. I landed and Kaldied next to her again, throwing a fake punch sweeping her off of her feet, and kicking her into the wall. She wiped blood from her mouth and laughed. I roared and charged her again, raining blows on her sword. She flipped away, kicking me in the face at the same time. I activated my second release and I finally cut her. I leaped over her slash and Zel-Nama yelled in my head,

“MOVE! SHE’S GOING TO RELEASE!”

I Kaldied away as her purple energy erupted and threw me into the highest tower of the Kangandi. I peered through the smoke and saw her Second Form, she had a purple body with black armor, purple demon wings and a purple, spiked tail. I leaped down and fired off energy from my hand, watching it hit her and make her stagger. My sword clashed with hers and we battled again. I began to overpower her when she activated her second release. I dodged another slash and began a loose pattern of blows: Up, down, up, left, right, down, left, right, down, left, down, up, left, and so on. I slashed her a few times and she began to tire. Suddenly she disarmed me and I dodged another slash by sliding under it and kicking her in the back with all my strength. I watched in satisfaction as she was actually hurt by the kick. She glared at me and suddenly was right in front of me. Her hand moved at blinding speed and stabbed me. I coughed up blood and it began seeping past her hand and down my uniform. My vision began to fade as she withdrew her hand. I fell to the ground and was back inside my inner world again. Zel-Nama’s red eyes looked at me,

“Do you enjoy dying? Because you do it a lot.”

“Shut up and lets do this.”

“Right.”

We both screamed and my body blazed to life with an explosion of red energy that smacked Brianna through 3 walls. I reverted to my half-dragon form and called my sword to me. I surveyed the battle, standing up from my kneeling position. There was a circle of wounded Tevalda on the ground including my sister, Sam and Camille, and my anger rose like a righteous fire for my brothers and sisters. I realized that this was Zel-Nama thinking about the dragon-spirits inside them and I attacked with him in harmony. I was beside her in a quarter of a second and slashed her in the back, feeling Zel-Nama roar in pleasure and rage as well. She hissed in anger and I attacked again, overpowering her. Zel-Nama yelled into my mind,

“YES! ATTACK! STRIKE WITH RIGHTEOUS VENGANCE!!!!”

She frantically defended herself but with every cut Zel-Nama tried to override my control. Finally I let him loose and Zel-Nama used Banshudo, Gentura Tenza, Gentura Sensho, and Banshudo Megetera one after the other. She was still standing but with a huge, bloody, ragged hole through her side and chest. She coughed up blood and I laughed and leaned in next to her,

“Well that was easy. Bet that doesn’t feel too good does it?”

Sam stared at me, “Are you ok?”

I reverted back to my old form and stretched,

“Me? I’m fine. Brianna isn’t but she will be in a few seconds.”

Sure enough she fell to the ground, reverted back to her regular form and healed herself. She gave me a respectful look and asked,

“Did you feel the harmony with your Dragon Spirit? That’s called Delana Senca: Perfect Synchronization. It is when you have the same mind frame and are using the same moves. You are seamlessly intertwined with each other’s thoughts. This is the first thing I wanted to teach you. It would only work through pushing you to your limits.”

“What’s the second?”

“Speed.”

Suddenly 1000 dummies popped up,

“Destroy these as fast as possible without using any spells.”

“HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO DO THAT?!?”

“Just focus, you’ll figure it out eventually.”

“Yeah, right.”

Chapter 7: Training

Camille’s POV

As I watched Chad flit between the dummies hacking and slashing Brianna came up next to me,

“I can sense you already know how do to this. Will you show him how it’s done?”

“Well, I don’t want to make him feel bad. I mean, I kinda like him so I don’t want to crush his ego.”

Brianna looked at me like I was speaking another language, “It would make him respect you even more. Go.”

She pushed me into him as he came back,

“Umm. Brianna wants me to show you how to do it.”

I released the flow of energy into my veins and felt Kai-Dela funneling her energy into me as fast as possible. My ponytail was flying upwards as I leaped towards the resurrected dummies. I slashed through them, Kai-Dela making my steps huge but fast at the same time. Within seconds I was finished. I landed beside him without a sound and saw his mouth open in shock along with several other boys, who looked at me like I was the goddess of beauty,

“THE FUCK WAS THAT?!?!?!”

Brianna slapped him into the ground, “Watch your mouth.”

“Shut up! You’re not my—ow!”

“Now, watch your mouth.”

I stared at them, the adrenaline and energy fading from my body,

“Chad. All you do is let the energy flow through your veins and use the harmony you just learned to make your steps longer and faster.”

He pushed Brianna off of him, “Alright then. ZAKADI! FIRST RELEASE!!”

The energy swirled around him and I was astounded by the power he gave off. Then the energy exploded and sent everyone flying. Brianna smiled,

“This was two lessons in one, speed and how to harness your frustration.”

He set his feet, smashing the ground around him, and growled,

“Watch this!”

He flew towards the dummies slashing and hacking through everything in his path. His sword was a blur, and the dummies looked like they were sliced by nothing. He was 5 rows past the first dummies when they exploded. When he finished it took 5 seconds for the final dummies to explode. Even Brianna was shocked,

“That was incredible! You have achieved perfect harmony with your Dragon-Spirit. My Demon-Spirit, Ragnora won’t go past a certain level of activity unless I push her to her limits in battle. That looked easy for you.”

Chad stared at himself,

“It was.”

I looked at my watch and jerked back as I saw that we had 2 minutes to get to school. Grabbing Chad before he could say something else I yelled at Talia and Sam,

“Time for school!” I Kaldied back to the real world and literally dragged Chad down the street. We got a bunch of strange looks and people were pointing at us. Sam sprinted past us and pulled me along as well.  Soon we were through the gate and in class. After more note passing we went to lunch.

Chad’s POV

The crowds parted before us and we go to our normal table. I sat down and said, "OK so I'm guessing that people haven't exactly forgotten about what we did."

Sam snorted, "No duh. They think we're gods."

She then proceeded to lean on my shoulder and I saw Camille glare at her. Sam stuck her tongue out at her and I raise my eyebrows.

    Talia chuckled and said, "Chad. I suggest you don't go out with anyone, ever."

    I began to laugh, but then I happened to look to my left. My blood grew cold as the Order of Supreme Chaos walked in the back gate.

Sam hissed and Camille groaned, "Can't they leave us alone? They never run out of plans of attack. It seems like they are always two steps ahead of us. There's never a break and the result is always the same. They get their butts kicked!"

Suddenly they spotted us and began walking purposefully towards us ignoring the laughs of my classmates, which is a pretty hard thing to do. In seconds they were beside our table, but we're already on the roof, leaping into the air. Suddenly a blast of black energy hit Talia, sending her flying. I rushed our attackers, cutting down two and engaging the rest. Sam and Camille covered me and Talia brought up the rear. I felt Zel-Nama's familiar presence but he's subtly guiding me, making me dodge and attack quicker. Camille began to glow and her energy formed a glowing whirlwind of energy. She activated her Final Release, but then yelled, "FINAL RELEASE SECOND FORM!"

    I gasped in shock as she grew in size, and spikes appear along her back. She has also gained horns. She roared at the sky and her energy flared up around her. As we all looked on she annihilated everyone in her way with a single blast of energy. She landed next to me and reverted to her human form as I stared at her and softly asked,

    "W-what was that?"

    "Yeah that was amazing Camille!" Talia gave her an appraising look, "We barely had to do anything!"

    Camille shrugged, "I've been training with Kai-Dela and she's taught me a bunch of cool stuff that was one of them. Kai-Dela is the Dragon of Justice and she teaches me to be calm in battle, which is how I activated my final release. She’s also telling me that we need to get to class.”

I groaned sarcastically, the last thing I needed is a goody-two-shoes dragon-spirit that’s not even in my head telling me what to do. I playfully pushed her and began to walk towards the school building. Suddenly Lord Razor himself appeared in our midst, grabbed Talia and Kaldied away.

“TALIA!”

“CHAD, HELP ME!”

I rushed after her, but two enemies attacked me. A portal opened and Razor stepped through. It began to close and I saw him turn around. I slashed to the left, dodged right and slipped past one, racing for the portal but the other one Kaldied in front of me and I growled in anger. He struck and I flew backwards from the force of the blow. I flipped around, and sped back towards my enemies who had called in reinforcements to deal with the others. I attacked, swiftly overwhelming one but the second was hardier. I disengaged from him and flew of to deal with several others, seeing an alternate route. I slashed and stabbed through the Acolytes and launched a spell at the portal, but Lord Razor blocked it with his hand. I watched dumbfounded as he stopped it with one hand. The energy pulsed and them as his closed his fist, dissipated. Suddenly the Acolyte who I had ran from before, appeared in front of me and swung. I was smashed against the ground again and I shook my head and pushed off the ground. I spiraled up towards him, striking and slashing but he parried everything with his huge scimitar. I Kaldied behind him and dispatched him with a single thrust. I saw the portal close faster and, swung my sword,

“ZAKADI! FIRST RELEASE!!!”

My energy flared upwards, but Lord Razor stayed there watching, holding Talia who was squirming. I raced forward hacking through six of them but another one nailed me with a fire attack. I put out the fire and activated my Second Release. My energy exploded and I slashed right through that Chaos acolyte, continuing on towards the portal. I put on a last second burst of speed and Talia stretched her arm out. I reached desperately and...I missed, going right through the empty space where the portal was half a second ago. If only I was faster! I could have Kaldied into the portal! Now my sister is gone, in the clutches of Lord Razor and might be tortured, even killed! This sunk in to the full depth and I fell to my knees and bellowed into the sky, “TALIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Camille’s POV

I watched as Chad was just completely rocked by the fact that Talia has been kidnapped. Sam went over and wrapped him in her arms and he placed his head on her shoulder. My jealousy flared and Kai-Dela took control of my limbs and hurled me into the air, so that I didn’t reach out and beat her. Kai-Dela’s calming influence settled over me and I meditated in the light from the sun. As I returned to earth the kids scatter. Suddenly, Chad’s parents appeared and descend quickly, wiping the minds of the children and sending them to class. They then turned to us,

“Where is Talia?”

I looked at them both square in the eyes, “Lord Razor kidnapped her.”

“Then Paula and I must get her back.”

“But Mr. Stryker--”

“No, you must train so that when the time comes to defend the Kangandi, you must not be overrun, for then all will be lost. The Tevalda are there and they are just waiting for you to lead them, but to lead them you must first be trained.”

I swallowed my flippant answer and nod,

“Come on guys.”

We appear at the gates of the Kangandi and Chad stumbled in immediately, obviously impatient. We saw all the students from another Kangandi mingling with our friends but Chad ignored everyone. He conferred briefly with Master Edal and Brianna, who immediately cleared the lounging students. Master Edal drew his golden sword and Brianna drew her white one. Chad pulled out his pure black sword and swung it, clearing the early morning fog with a wave of energy. I realized too late that they both are going to fight him and leap to try and stop them. Chad put out his arm and the force of the telekinetic blow sent me flying into Kuyo, who caught me and set me down. Kai-Dela allowed me to see what she sees and Chad appeared as a swirling and pulsating red typhoon. Brianna is a raging purple fire and Master Edal is a swirling ball of pure golden energy. This was one fight I didn’t think he could win. Chad put a hand on his tattoos and his energy began to gather around him, swirling by his feet. Suddenly Master Edal and Brianna disappeared. Chad continued to charge up but suddenly the duo appeared behind him and launched a combined power slash that slammed into his sword. Chad went skidding backwards, his feet digging huge furrows into the ground. He grunted and dug his hand into the ground to stop himself. Brianna and Master Edal leaped at Chad cutting and stabbing. He put both hands on the grip of his sword and blocked their blows with determination, but eventually he slipped and Master Edal cut his cheek. Chad was cut across the chest and on his legs and arms as well by Brianna. After a surprise cut from Master Edal who swept at his legs but then got his face, he leaped backwards and lands panting in a crouch. I blinked in surprise, for Chad looked tired, but satisfied.  He wiped his cheek with his sleeve,

“I figured out how you fight Brianna.”

He leaped at her, past Master Edal’s outstretched sword, and slammed his sword into hers. He then swept her off of her feet and hit her with a power slash. He rushed her and prepared to deal what would be a crippling blow, but Master Edal placed his hand on his arm and bellowed,

“Banshudo Megetera!”

Chad was hit full on but Brianna had Kaldied away in the nick of time. He hit the ground with a mighty crash and Kai-Dela switched back to her eyesight. Chad’s life-force was nearly gone but with a huge effort he activated his first release and attacked. Master Edal and Brianna defended his unwieldy blows easily and Chad backed off to rest. He began to just dodge the blows and slashes, absorbing the excess energy to help him. He yelled,

“SECOND RELEASE!”

Chad began to use hit and run attacks, never letting them get enough room to fire off an energy attack. After 6 minutes of this he looked fine and Brianna looked close to losing it,

“Master Edal. I suggest you step back for a little.”

He did and Brianna, having already activated her first and second Releases in an attempt to stop Chad, activated her final release. Her energy detonated and washed over him, bathing him in a thick smoke. The smoke cleared and once again Brianna was in her demon form. The kids who hadn’t see it before gasped and tried to move backwards but they couldn’t since they’re in stadium style seats and Kuyo and Zora were preventing anyone from taking to the sky. I realized that I was shaking along with Sam and I whispered,

“Be careful Chad.”

Chad’s POV

I saw the amount of energy Brianna was giving off and I had to admit that I was impressed. She looked really angry and her sword was literally glowing. I had to get to her before--wait. Where’d she go? I heard a swish of metal and I blocked the sword coming at my head. The force of the blow sent me flying and my arm felt like its on fire. I switched to my left and prepared for another attack. She kept attacking and I fell back under a rain of blows. The kids were silent as we dueled back and forth. I resorted to having to Kaldi away and activated what I now call my Half-Release. The kids lost it and Kuyo and Zora had to create barriers of energy to block the stampeding kids. I used Brianna’s momentary distraction to heal my arm and yelled,

“GENTURA TENZA!!!”

The ball of energy barely missed Brianna and we leaped at each other and went into a saber lock, our swords pushing against each other. She growled at me,

“Come on, where’s that power you showed me before?”

I pushed her off of me and attacked. In a rage Zel-Nama yelled in my head,

“She wants power? We’ll give her power!”

I roared,

“I will do whatever it takes to get my sister back. SO IF THIS IS WHAT THE BATTLE WILL BE LIKE, BRING IT!!!”

With that, he gave me most of the energy stored in my well and Master Edal, sensing the danger rushed to stop me. I dumped all the energy into my sword, “GENTURA SENSHO!!!!!!” and swung. She blocked it but her sword shattered and I slash her from side to side. Black blood gushed from the wound and the energy blasted everyone back. In a flash Master Edal was on me slashing and stabbing in his Final Release Final Form. Having absorbed the excess energy, Zel-Nama kept me more than supplied with power. Master Edal managed to disarm me but I grabbed his supercharged sword. He was obviously disturbed as I laughed and threw him. He landed in a crouch and sheathed his sword. His hands glowed and I raced down at him laughing maniacally,

“COME GET IT!”

I reared back and punched him but he blocked it. I was undeterred and kept punching as he blocked me. He lashed out with a kick but I Kaldi behind him,

“Gotcha!”

The punch connected with enough force to send him skidding backwards through three walls. He shook his head and took to the skies. I began to throw balls of energy at him. He deflected them all and swept in at me. His first punch nearly knocked me out He kept battering me and I stumbled backwards slowly having the life beaten out of me. I suddenly heard Camille’s voice,

“Come on Chad! You can do it! Do you want to save your sister? I know you can do it ‘cause believe in you!”

Those words were enough to snap me out of my stupor. I summoned my sword and as Master Edal drove a supercharged knife-hand towards my face, I caught his wrist when it was seven inches from my face. The momentum carried beyond me and completely destroyed the new barracks. The kids gasped as I turned my head to him and say,

“Sorry Master. But it ends now.”

With that I slashed him from his right shoulder to his left hip. He went down with a cry and the students cried out as well. I returned to my normal form and healed Master Edal. Brianna was on her feet, supported by a bo-staff. She nodded,

“You’re ready for your true training. As soon as Master Edal recovers, he’ll teach you that hand-to-hand combat technique, Baldrios. With that, if you happen to be disarmed, you can still beat the daylights out of your opponent as Master Edal did to you.”

“When can we save my sister?”

“As soon as you and the others learn Baldrios.” With that, she turned and goes to the main building and shuts the door.

The energy barriers around the stand collapsed and the kids come streaming out. Few come near me and they actually part when I walked towards Kuyo and Zora. A girl flinging herself on me suddenly halted my progress. I turned my head and saw an African American girl, slightly smaller than me, crying,

“Chad, you have to help me! It’s my brother Ralph, he’s in the Spirit World and I was forced to leave him on a retrieval mission. You have to help me save him!”

I was torn between my training and saving Ralph but my gut told me to help the girl so I said in a low voice,

“What’s your name?”

“Tamica Jones, Tammy for short.”

“What do you need me to do?”

Chapter 8: Ralph

Minutes later I was trekking through the Forest of Beasts with Tammy by my side. Her orange eyes were scanning the forest for the spider-bats. Suddenly that guy who stabbed me the last time I was here stepped out,

“I see you have returned, brat.”

Tammy drew one of her two silver rapiers , “I’ll take him. I haven’t beat the crap out of anyone in a while.”

I stepped back and she attacked him, moving like water, one move flowing into another. I was astonished by her speed and power and so was the man. Her energy flared orange and she yelled,

“Den-Hazo First Release!”

The energy nearly blinded me and I staggered away. She rushed him cutting and slashing as he tried to retreat. Eventually he hit a tree and is forced to Kaldi away. He scowled and fired off a huge beam of lime-green energy at her but she dodged. Suddenly I saw his trap. I was directly behind her and the beam was flying at me. She turned, gasped and Kaldied in front of me, blocking the beam with her bare hand. Rocks began to levitate because of all the energy that was being used. I turned away as Tammy took to the sky, sending the beam back at him. He dodged only to be sliced in half by Tammy and dissolving into shadow. Suddenly the forest came alive with all the monstrosities lurching out of the darkness and flinging themselves at us. We were about to be overwhelmed when a yellow lightning bolt struck the ground and killed everything around us in a 17-yard radius. I witnessed Sam diving towards the ground with Kuyo and Zora in tow. They landed and Kuyo yelled over the screams of the incoming beasts,

“Who’s your girlfriend?”

“She may be attractive, but she’s not my girlfriend.”

“Heh, so you want her to be?”

“No I didn’t say that!”

Tammy brought us both back to reality by roasting several incoming spider-bats. She glared at us and proceeded to massacre everything in her way. We joined in, clearing the forest and when we reached the end, Kuyo gave us both cloaks,

“Number one rule: always look like a badass. Especially in front of the ladies.”

Before I could retort, he disappeared with the other two and Tammy shook her head, her brown hair glimmering in the soft light.

“I don’t like that guy.”

“Kuyo? He just has a huge ego. He thinks he’s hot stuff because he trained under Master Edal. It’s like, his life goal to become the strongest Tevalda ever. He killed me once in a training duel, but I came back and kicked his ass.”

“Serves him right.”

“He’s not all bad though. I’d trust him with my life in a fight.”

Tammy just snorted and we continued to run, our cloaks billowing out. Suddenly Chaos Acolytes attacked us and Tammy was forced to use both of her rapiers. She flitted between the enemies slashing and stabbing, felling them by the dozens. Someone fired a beam of black energy at her and I blocked it, stepping behind her. We looked at each other she nodded. I activated my second release and leaped to intercept the Chaos Acolytes. They fell before me and I turned to fire off a beam of energy at the others with my mouth. As I let it go, something hit me from behind slamming me into the ground. I shook my head and looked up. There was a giant metal golem towering above me. I sprinted towards it and leaped into the air, twirling my sword. I came down but it blocked me with its arm. I ran along its arm and leaped into its head. I dodged cogs, gears and bots on my way to the brain. When I reached it I stabbed the frontal lobe and yelled,

“BANSHUDO!”

The bolt of energy came out of the back of his head and I punched another hole through the top of his head as I jumped out. Tammy was already near the top of the Arch of Angels and I Kaldied next to her. We flew across the Sea of Demons and through the gate to the Spirit World. We dove towards an area where lances of black and purple energy were flying. I landed in the middle of the street and begin deflecting the energy beams. I killed two in this fashion but had to take cover from a Banshudo Megetera. I saw the source of the purple energy and made for it: a nearby 1-story house. I tucked and rolled the last few meters and came up just inside the doorway. I saw Tammy’s brother Ralph. He was about 5-foot 4 and his sword was a rectangular medieval one-handed claymore. I introduced myself,

“Chad Stryker. I’m here with Tammy.”

At this he looked up and nodded,

“Thanks.”

We moved as one, sprinting and vaulting over overturned crates. He took the lead and I covered him by taking out the Acolytes on the roofs. Ralph sliced and slashed through our opponents and I rushed after him. Suddenly he stopped up short and yelled,

“FIRST RELEASE!”

I covered my face and thought to myself,

“He didn’t even say his power word!”

The energy swirled around him and he leaped forward. I saw whom Ralph was attacking and realized that one of Lord Razor’s Generals had arrived. He was wearing a mask made of bones with a visor and his robes were indigo. He whipped out a scimitar and blocked Ralph’s strike easily. I leaped forward, activating my first release as well and attacking. The General pulled out another sword and blocked my strike as well. Ralph and I backed off as Tammy came flying through in her final release and she punched the General in the face so hard that his mask almost shattered. She spinning kicked him into a wall and I followed up with an uppercut, which Ralph used to ground pound him.  He stood and to our astonishment activated his second release and the shadows in the street were drawn to him. They swirled around him and exploded hurling us backwards. He now was dressed in all black and has wings with a tail and horns on his head. He leapt at us and Tammy blocked along with Ralph. I leaped over them and brought my sword down, but he Kaldied away chuckling,

“Come now little Tevalda. You’ll have to do better than that.”

Then he attacked Ralph, never letting him get enough room to counterattack. I rushed to his aid but was smacked by a telekinetic hand. Ralph activated his second release and began to fight back. The General was still on the attack, but now he was getting off fewer strikes. Ralph lunged and the General sidestepped and tried to catch him with a backslash. Ralph spun and blocked it, jumping in to attack again. The General stabbed Ralph and just as he raised his other sword to execute him he seemed to remember something. Suddenly he looked at the sky and laughed,

“Well the assault on your precious Kangandi is in full swing now. I’ll see you there.”

I rushed to heal Ralph as Tammy tried to stop the General from leaving. The General smiled and disappeared as I finished healing Ralph. He got up and asked,

“What’s the Kangandi?”

Tammy looked at him,

“Home.”

We grab Ralph and raced back towards the Kangandi and see the smoke. Chaos Acolytes had surrounded the Kangandi and began to descend under a hail of energy from others above. I saw Master Edal and the others ready to defend but the Kangandi was already burning. Tammy gasped,

“We’re running out of time.”

I shook my head and swallowed,

“No. We’re out of time.

Chapter 9: The Prophecy

Sam’s POV

As soon as I saw Chad and the other two Tevalda appear my heart did flips. He looked so calm and collected in the midst of this disaster. Suddenly he disappeared and about 100 Acolytes fell from the sky. I gasped and the Acolytes turned as Chad’s bloodstained sword was thrown through a hundred more of them. He attacked again and the Tevalda took to the skies. I followed and struck 17 Acolytes from the sky before shadow energy blasted us all away. I saw Lord Razor and Chad and I leapt at him. I went low and Chad attacked with a high blow. He sidestepped Chad’s attack and blocked mine. I flipped backwards and kicked him in the chin but he grabbed my foot and slung me into the wall. He then dove at me with his sword outstretched but Chad intercepted him. Lord Razor and he began dueling with Chad who was in his Second Release. As Lord Razor began to gain the upper hand he whipped out the crystal bestowed upon him by that angel who sealed his power. As the Sword of Chaos hit it Chad smirked and power exploded, throwing all to the ground. I rushed at Lord Razor and attacked, thinking of Uncle Alda. His face was the constant image in my head. I cut Lord Razor with a power slash and he went flying into a tower. Suddenly Brianna intercepted him, slashing and stabbing with grace and ease. Suddenly she sliced off his arm and kicked him into the ground, firing off a Gentura Sensho as well. She turned and flew off winking at me while cutting down more enemies. Lord Razor’s two red eyes glared at me from out of his helmet while he began to regrow his arm. I attacked again, slashing to the left and spinning to the right. He parried both blows but my third strike clipped him. I leapt forward and rained blows from overhead and the side, but Lord Razor regained control of the duel and began to press me backwards. He leapt at me, initiating a saber lock, pushing back. I was skidding backwards with Lord Razors face inches from mine. I roared and pushed him off me. He recovered and dove at me. Suddenly Brianna appeared again and spinning kicked him into a wall. He charged me again after shaking his head in anger. We passed each other and as I stopped, blood spurted from his arm. He turned quickly as I attacked again, getting him with the element of surprise. As I stabbed for a killing blow, Razor grabbed my sword and threw me away. Just as I was beginning to wonder where Chad was, he came in and saved me, grabbing Lord Razor’s sword and kicking him in the face. Chad attacked again, his black sword sweeping through the air with increased strength. Lord Razor forced Chad to his knees and I sucked in a breath. Chad blocked his next strike with more power and began to push against Lord Razor. I let my breath out as he snarled and yelled,

“Gentura Sensho!”

Razor flew towards me and I said,

“Gentura Tenza.”

Suddenly Lord Razor redirected my blast and attacked Chad. Chad struggled to block the strikes and I rushed to help him but was hit by Lord Razor’s backhand and then a Banshudo Megetera. As my vision faded to black I whispered, “Good luck Chad.”

Kuyo’s POV

As Sam went down I saw Lord Razor’s Baldrios activated. It looked like two black swirling typhoons around his hands. He charged Chad who blocked his punches with increased frustration. His sword was holding up well against Razor’s powerful blows until it was knocked out of his hand and Razor began to pummel him. He took Chad’s head and slammed it into the ground. Suddenly Master Edal just appeared behind him without using the Kaldi and sliced him. Master Edal began to duel with Lord Razor, their golden and black swords flashing in the light. Master Edal kicked Lord Razor and Razor grunted with pain. He winded up and growled,

“GENTURA SENSHO!”

Master Edal cut it in half with his hand and the two sides of energy went flying into the mountain. Razor activated his first release and he grew wings. Master Edal activated his first release and his golden energy skyrocketed. The two clashed again and Master Edal was constantly moving, flipping and slashing and spinning around Lord Razor. Lord Razor tried to slash Master Edal but he Kaldied behind him and slashed his wing off. Lord Razor fell to the ground, reformed his wing and as if on silent consent they both activated their second releases, dueling again.  Master Edal called out,

“Lord Razor. You were foolish to come here. We are at our strongest, and though my prophecy will come true, know this: I will be avenged. FINAL RELEASE SECOND FORM!!!”

I stared in shock as he transformed into an evolved form of the final release with spikes, horns and a larger body. He roared, “IT END’S NOW!”

He dashed down towards Lord Razor and they began to fight again. Lord Razor activated his, “NIGHTMARE FORM!!”

He disappeared in a cloud of swirling black and red smoke. Red lightning began to flash and everyone looked around. I saw claws and wings inside the smoke and gasped at what I thought was Lord Razor. When the smoke was blown away, everyone, including Razor’s own men, backed away in terror. He was a terrifying demon with 6 wings, 4 horns, and spikes all along his back, and red and yellow eyes. He roared and displayed a mouthful of deadly canines. Green poison dripped from them and hit the floor, hissing like acid. Master Edal readied his sword and leapt forward. I gasped as they duel, for the amount of energy forced everyone backwards. I struggled to raise my head as they fight back and forth. Master Edal was quicker, but Razor’s Nightmare Form was more powerful. Each time their swords connected, light blared from the connection point. Suddenly Lord Razor fired a beam of energy from out of nowhere. Master Edal blocked it with his hand but he was forced to one knee as the beam gained strength. He suddenly roared and pushed it backwards, slamming it into Razor’s hand and sending him flying. Master Edal and Razor dueled again and Master Edal elbowed Lord Razor in the face and then went for the kill. Lord Razor sidestepped and stabbed Master Edal in the back. Master Edal went down with a crash and I heard myself scream, “NO!”

Every Tevalda, injured or not attacked Razor, including myself. He swept his hand and a huge wave of energy hit every one of us. Causing an explosion that scattered us throughout the Kangandi. I was right in front of Lord Razor and he looked down at me calmly, “It’s over Kuyo. Give up. Your master is dead. One prophecy child is dead, and the other is almost one of us. Pledge yourself to me and your friends will be spared.” I glared up at him,

“Bite me.”

He opened his mouth,

“With pleasure.”

Chad’s POV

I woke up inside my Spirit World. It’s all lush and green, with vast hills and valleys everywhere. I still had my sword in my hand so I sheathed it and begin to walk. As I passed through the forest I heard a peculiar sound, it’s Talia and she’s crying. I dashed through the forest to reach her but suddenly, she stopped. I turned around, trying to locate her again when someone said,

“If you go after your sister, you won’t be able to help your friends.”

I turned and saw a young African man with red robes and red eyes, who was seated on a rock. He had a haughty/crazy glint in his eyes, and I immediately realized this to be Zel-Nama. I shook my head,

“They can take care of themselves. I have to reach my sister!!!”

I bolted forward but Zel-Nama Kaldied in front of me and blocked me. I drew my sword and yelled,

“OUT OF THE WAY!”

With a slash, I released a wave of energy but he deflected it with my sword. I realized that we both have MY sword. We faced each other and our energy flared. I leapt at him and he blocked my strike. I tried to flip over him but he grabbed me and threw me back to the ground. I growled, forming arms of energy. I flexed and the energy chased after him like ghostly arms, destroying trees and obliterating everything in its path. He flew weaving his body between the trees like water. I charged up a ball of energy in my hand and threw it. The shockwave hit Zel-Nama and flung him into the air where I grabbed him and slammed him into the ground. He got up shaking his head and popping his bones into place. He smirked at me and launched a Gentura Sensho. I tried to cut it in half but it exploded and sent me flying. He suddenly disappeared and appeared behind me. I turned and slashed at him. The resulting explosion hurled me backwards, further injuring me. I saw him coming for me and yelled,

 “BANSHUDO!”

He sliced it in half, punching and kicking me into the air. After his final kick I landed on a tree headfirst. Realizing that I’m where I want to be, I turned and leapt form branch to branch towards the sound of my sister. As I reached a clearing, Zel-Nama descended upon me from above,

“NO!” As he landed, the rocks and ground were pulverized, “YOU MUST NOT GO!”

“IT’S MY SISTER!!”

“I will not allow you to go yet. You must WAIT!”

On that word he launched a huge wave of energy that smacked me back to the place that I woke up at. I fell to one knee and panted,

“Damn it!”

Zel appeared and I stood, readying my sword. He knocked me backwards and I carved a furrow through the ground. I stood and charged leaping into the air, spinning and slamming my sword down. I scored hit on him and he hissed as he skidded backwards. I followed that up with a pair of stabs that he dodged as well, but I then kicked him in the chest and sent him flying backwards. He caught my hand as I tried to punch him and he threw me to the ground. I leapt to the side as he landed where my face was a few moments ago. I landed on a branch and made a series of hand-signs,

“Enama Francis! Arm of Nucoth!”

My molten arm hit Zel-Nama and he flew backwards smashing several trees. I stalked towards him and he sprung to his feet, kicking me in the face. He then slashed my chest and sent me flying with a spell. He waved his hand through the air and said,

“If this does not convince you that you should not go, then we are lost.”

I saw an unbelievable sight in the air. Master Edal was dead and Kuyo was trying to fight a black monster with 6 wings, 4 horns, spikes all along his back and red/yellow eyes. I watched as the monster decapitated Kuyo and ate his head. My eyes widened and I sunk to the ground, but Zel-Nama picked me up, “I have showed you the future. If you return, you will prevent this.”

I turned to him, “But what about my sister?”

“All in due time my friend.”

“And what is the prophecy?”

Zel took a deep breath,

“In the days of old the Tevalda ruled/But over time their fire cooled/The violent among them thirsted for blood/While others fought and died for love/The son of demons shattered the truce/In a deadly quest for truth/Now his offspring must mend/The fractured land and make amends/But heed this warning Son of Dragons/If you cannot defeat your kin by the Eve of Drall/In eternal slumber the world shall fall.”

I had a billion questions but Zel-Nama held out his hand.

I clasped it, “Let’s do this thing.”

Camille’s POV

            I struggled to rise as Kuyo faced Lord Razor. Suddenly as Lord Razor was about to execute him waves of red energy began rippling out from Chad’s prone body. We saw him lifted into the air with his head lolling downwards. Suddenly he lifted his head and we that he was covering half of his face while he was healing it. His stare was bone-chilling as he looked at Lord Razor, who took a step backwards. They glared at each other for at least a minute and I could tell that Chad and Zel-Nama were conversing.  The sun glinted off of Chad’s sword as he swung it in his salute. He didn’t even say anything but his energy exploded as he transformed into his Final Release! He roared at the sky and rushed Lord Razor sword outstretched, and their two black swords met. The energy detonated and threw everyone further back. I covered my face as they dueled back and forth. It seemed that Chad and Zel-Nama were in further harmony because he moved flawlessly. Each strike was a killing blow and Lord Razor was having a hard time blocking them. Chad knocked Lord Razor’s sword aside and punched him in the face. All of this seemed like it was in slow motion but then it went back to regular speed. Lord Razor’s teeth on the right side of his face were knocked out. I cheered as Chad pursued him. Razor suddenly Kaldied next to me but Chad stopped his slash with his hand. He then slashed Lord Razor from his right shoulder down to his left hip. Chad then kicked him into a wall and just glared as Lord Razor struggled to rise. Chad charged up, 

             “This is for my sister. GENTURA…SENSHO!” The energy coalesced and when he slashed it looked like an unbreakable wall of destruction. The Chaos Acolytes tried to stop it but they were all wiped from the face of the earth. When the smoke cleared, Lord Razor was gone. The Sword of Chaos, which was on the ground, disappeared and Chad cursed then turned to the rest of us,

           “Are you all ok?”

Before we could answer, Master Edal stirred and we all rushed to him. Master Edal coughed up blood and propped himself up on one elbow. I gasped and pushed people aside to try and heal him. Master Edal looked at Chad,

“Did he tell you…the prophecy?”

“Yes Master.”

“Then you must be the new leader of the Kangandi.”

“But I’m not –“

“You were born ready! This was your task from the beginning. You must find your sister. She is in grave danger of becoming one of them. I know where she is, but you must get there and prolong the prophecy. Take my cloak and wear it at all times. It is the symbol of your authority. Go well Chad, do what you were supposed to do.”

He gave Chad his cloak and I watched numbly, knowing that as soon as he put it on, he will die. With a heavy heart, I watched Chad slip on the cloak and Master Edal nodded. Chad took his hand,

“I will not fail you Master.”

With that, Master Edal took in one last breath and expired.

I heard a choked back sob and Zora rushed from the sky where she and two other Tevalda just appeared from the Spirit World. Grabbing Master Edal’s robe and burying her face in it,

“FATHER!!”

“What?!?”

At this Kuyo said,

“Yes. He was her father.”

Chad set his shoulders and laid a hand on Zora’s shoulder. His voice rang out,

“Prepare a funeral pyre.”

I heard a voice say,

“Yes Master.”

It was Ralph. He made some wood appear and then lit it on fire. Zora and Kuyo, with tender and loving care, lifted Master Edal and set him on the pyre. I watched fascinated as a nimbus of golden light shone from Master Edal and a golden Dragon Spirit flew up from his chest. It roared joyfully and spiraled into the air. We all saluted with our swords and stuck them in the ground, kneeling for a good 5 minutes. Finally Chad rose and then the rest of us. Everyone dispersed, either to comfort Zora, or to discuss what had happened with Chad’s resurrection. As I walked away I saw Chad still standing there, mourning over the burnt remains of Master Edal’s body. I said to myself,

“Oh, Chad. Your future is so dark. Why must you face it alone? I'm here for you. Sam is here too, why don't you open up?"

"Because he's truly alone." said Sam, "No one can bear the burden of the Prophecy Child, but he and Talia, and she's captured. We'll just try to do the best we can.”

I nodded at this explanation, but said to myself,

“We’ll do more than try.”