The Awakening: Artifact of Creation (5 page)

A hazy dark purple aura, emerged
from the masked man’s being. It whisked about the man, as if it
were a dark flame, and then the aura started to gather and funnel
into the eyes and mouths of Kayla and Alby. Elixir dropped their
bodies to the ground, where they began to convulse violently. Asher
watched as their breathing was somehow hindered. They were gagging
and choking, desperately trying to pull air into their lungs but to
no avail. Their hands clenched their necks as they struggled to
breathe and control their shaking bodies. Asher fell to his knees;
tears ran freely as he watched his friends suffer. He looked up
once more to the masked man.

“Stop this please!” He begged.
“Here take the artifact, just spare them.”Asher tossed the necklace
to the man and rushed to his friend’s aide.

“Asher,” Kayla muttered between
gaps of breath. “What… have you done?” Asher saw the look of horror
in her eyes.

“I had to save you. I had no
choice.”

“Asher… I… would have rather
died.” She choked out the words, still struggling to
breathe.

“What do you mean?” Asher
asked.

“She means, boy, that you have
given me almost absolute power. With this artifact I will gain the
power of creation. Once all seven artifacts have been collected, I
will then gain the power of the gods. Immortality will be bestowed
upon me and then, I will resurrect my brethren, those of the fallen
bloodlines....” He paused, his voice changed to a low whisper. “And
then this world will burn.”

Suddenly a whir of shadow cut
through the gray light and crashed into Elixir and knocked him to
the ground. A cloaked man arose. He held a staff in his hands that
pulsated with a blue light. Amid the pulsating light was delicate
designs carved within the staff. The gray cloaked man turned to
Asher and Kayla.

“Run!” He commanded. “Go
now!”

Elixir arose to his feet abruptly;
black energy began to pulsate more violently about his body. Fits
of electricity arched across his frame.

“Gaphii’el,” Elixir said. “How is
it you still breathe the air of this world? You should have died
centuries ago by the hand of my brethren.”

The man smiled beneath the cowl of
his cloak. “I guess your little cult are not as fantastic as you
seem to think.”

With that, Elixir let out a
vengeful cry and lunged forward at the gray cloaked man. Black
energy gathered around Elixir’s closed fist. Just before he landed
a blow, the energy exploded outward from his fist and crashed
violently into the cloaked man, and sent him soaring through the
air. Upon impact, he skidded on the ground from the shear force and
momentum of the attack. Elixir leaped high into the air and then
fell downward, leading with the heel of his boot aimed at the wind
pipe of the man.

Gaphii’el spun out from under the
attack, and jabbed forward with his staff into the gut of Elixir.
Elixir crumbled to the ground with a grunt. Gaphii’el sprung to his
feet and swung downwards with the end of his staff, a large wave of
blue energy erupted from the staff and engulfed Elixir. Elixir
howled from the searing heat of the attack, it’s strength pushed
him sprawling backwards. Once more, Gaphii’el released a wave of
blue energy which shot forward and crashed into Elixir, but this
time Elixir was prepared.

Elixir held both of his hands in
front of him to keep the energy at bay. It pulsated around him with
a incredible ferocity, he struggled to keep the energy contained.
Then he reached deep inside of himself and uncovered a hidden
strength. Dark purple energy gathered once more about him
accompanied by fits of electricity that arched across his arms. In
a massive effort, he heaved the blue wave of energy away, sending
it crashing into a nearby tree causing it to set on fire. Elixir
then, countered by casting a sphere of purple energy at Gaphii’el.
Gaphii’el rolled away from the energy as it erupted on a rock just
behind him. Then, Elixir pounced and launched a series of furious
blows. Gaphii’el tried desperately to duck away from his blows, but
Elixir landed a quick knee into Gaphii’els diaphragm, knocking the
wind out of his lungs. Gaphii’el slumped to the ground, bleeding
and gasping for air. Elixir picked the man up by the throat. The
haze of dark energy emerged from Elixir being once more and it
seeped into Gaphii’els mouth, he began to choke and gag.

Asher, Kayla, and Alby watched in
horror as the mysterious man struggled for his life. “I can’t sit
here and watch this.” Kayla muttered to herself.

“Kayla, there’s nothing we can do
to help him, we need to escape while we still have a chance.” Asher
grabbed her by the arm to pull her towards the hill, but she pulled
away.

“No, that man, Elixir …. He killed
my parents when I was a little girl. I can still hear their screams
when I sleep at night. My dreams are filled with memories of
watching their bodies melt away to sacks of bones and skin by that
man.” She turned to Asher. In her eyes, he could see her hurt and
pain. The heir of strength and self-reliance she portrayed when he
first met her in the forest, gave way to vulnerability and doubt.
“He drains the life from his victims. He drained the life from my
parents.” She continued. “I will fight or I will die, I am tired of
running.”

Asher watched as Kayla rose to her
feet. Her hands were out stretched, palms facing upwards. Suddenly
a whirl of wind gathered around her, her hair rose and whipped
about. Spouts of electricity danced around her slender frame, as it
had with Elixir. A haze of white energy, erupted from her body. It
pulsated like the flames of flickering fire caught in the wind.
Orbs of white light emerged from the center of her palms and
continued to glow brighter.

Elixir turned his attention from
Gaphii’el, and watched the girl, she was glowing with a furious
white light. The light, spurted and flared, she looked as if she
were consumed by white flames that licked around her very being. He
stepped back and released Gaphii’el. Gaphii’el struggled to keep
his consciousness, he crawled away still choking. Rage grew within
Elixir. “Impossible!” He shouted. “She cannot be one of
them…!”

With a scream, Kayla let the orbs
of light burst from her palms. The light erupted and crashed into
Elixir and sent him sprawling into the ancient stone building
behind him. His body struck with such force, that the ancient
structure collapsed, and buried him beneath a massive heap of rock
and stone. The light then dissipated from Kayla’s hands and she
collapsed to the ground.

Asher and Alby ran from their
hiding place to Kayla. Asher quickly felt for a pulse on her neck.
It was faint but it was there. Gaphii’el hobbled over toward them.
Blood and sweat masked his face.

“She’s barely breathing?” Asher
said to the man.

“We need to move now!” Gaphii’el
spoke hurriedly, glancing over his shoulder in the direction of
Elixir.

“What about the artifact?” Asher
asked.

“Leave it!” Gaphii’el said and
scooped Kayla into his arms.

Gaphii’el pointed the glowing
staff at Asher. In seconds, the staff disappeared into thin air.
“You are a fool to think a couple of rocks will stop Elixir. He is
among the Fallen, one of the most powerful bloodlines of the
Awakened. He will rise again. Now Move!”

Chapter
5

It was late into the afternoon
when Gaphii’el decided it was safe to rest. They cleared the rim of
the forest and rested in a field of tall grasses and sage. To the
east the mountains rose majestically above the land, in hues of
purples and blues, their peaks scraped the bottom of the
sky.

Gaphii’el set Kayla on the ground,
her breathing was shallow but stable. Asher studied the soft
features of her face. She was young like he and in their short time
together, he had grown strangely attracted to her. Somehow her
smile dulled the ache of losing his family. Her presence replaced
the void within his heart with hope. And after watching her
mysterious power overtake the masked man, he soon realized that
there was a way to defeat Elixir and save his family, if it wasn’t
too late already.

Asher watched Gaphii’el walk away.
The man produced a mysterious orb from within the folds of his
cloak. The mysterious orb was glowing with yellow light. Gaphii’el
seemed to stare into the orb intently. Then Asher’s attention was
turned to Alby, who scurried on all fours next to him. Asher
returned his gaze to the man, the glowing had vanished and
Gaphii’el returned the orb into the folds of his cloak.

“
Alby wants to know who that man
is?” Alby asked. He gently rubbed a long crooked finger over
Kayla’s hand and wiped away a tear that trickled down his cheek.
“Alby’s heart aches for my Mistress, she is Alby’s only family.
Will Mistress be alright?” Alby looked at Asher expectantly, hoping
for some form of reassurance, a reassurance that Asher could not
give.

“
I don’t know. But I think we can
trust him.” Asher said. “He saved us after all.” The elf nodded its
head and returned his gaze upon the unconscious girl. Asher watched
the elf for a moment before continuing their
conversation.

“
Alby, have you seen Kayla use
those powers before?”

Alby shook his head. “No, Alby has
never seen such powers before.”

Asher was not surprised. By
the look of how Kayla had handled the mysterious power, he expected
that was the first time she had used her powers, she probably had
no idea that she was capable of such things. Asher left Alby and
approached Gaphii’el, he stepped lightly, the dry ground crunched
beneath his leather boots, as he approached. In the light of the
fading sun, Asher could distinguish strange insignia’s on the back
of the man’s traveling cloak. The cloak was a deep grayish blue,
and the designs, seem to swirl and spiral about the man’s broad
shoulders. Asher recognized the designs to be the same engravings
on the man’s staff.
Odd,
Asher thought to himself.
I wonder what they mean?

“
I could hear you from a mile
away.” Gaphii’el said. The man turned to face Asher, his hood was
still drawn about his head. Asher could only see the bottom portion
of the man’s face. There was fierce insignia’s tattooed across the
man’s jawline and wrapped down the visible portion of his neck. His
presence was forbidding and intimidated Asher. “What is it you seek
boy?”

“
I want to thank you.... for
saving us.” Asher said timidly.

Gaphii’el turned his back to Asher
and stared off into the distance. Finally, after several minutes of
silence, the man sighed. “I was merely a distraction. She is the
one we should be thanking.”

Asher glanced over his shoulder at
Kayla. Her condition had not improved but it also did not worsen,
which was some measure of reassurance. “Will she be
okay?”

Gaphii’el shrugged. “She obviously
has some latent power within her, she used some measure of her life
force to energize her attack. It was brave, but incredibly stupid,”
Gaphii’el said and pointed to a large cliff face that jutted from
the valley below them. Atop of the cliff face, was a lone building.
“I fear if we do not get her to that temple, the Temple Anin’Nar,
by nightfall she will lose her life.”

The possibility of Kayla dying had
never truly sunk into Asher’s heart until now. The thought of
losing another person that he cared for was almost too much to
bare. But whatever feelings of hopelessness he felt, Asher buried
them, instead he chose to rely on the strength of hope.

“
What did that masked man mean
when he spoke of pure bloodlines and the Awakening?” Asher
asked.

Gaphii’el continued to gaze into
the valley, he watched birds fly above the tree tops below them.
“It’s clear you do not understand the legends from the old-world.”
Gaphii’el folded his arms in front of him and turned back toward
Asher. “Long ago this world was inhabited by another race of
people, our predecessor race. According to legend, these people
were a highly advanced civilization who were able to alter their
physiology in such a way that they could control and manipulate
various forms of matter and energy. This new power became known as
the Awakening.”

Gaphii’el reached within the folds
of his cloak and produced a small leather bound booklet, laced
together with fraying twine. He thumbed through the booklet and
stopped on a page with a sketched design of circles and connecting
lines. He handed the booklet to Asher.

“
This is the Codex of the
Awakening.... It is a map of all the known bloodlines of the
Awakened. It was written by our predecessor race and translated by
the order that I belong to, the Druid Order. The symbols you see
are the runes of each bloodline. If one uses the power of the
Awakening, then a rune will glow on the user’s skin. Through the
ages, each insignia has been recorded and preserved along with its
specific usage and power.”