The Nefaliem's Duty (Ordinal Novella, 1) (2 page)

“What . . . and
you think
I
want to fail.” I demand. I want to be a doctor
as if I’d waste my time failing. “Last time I checked, my grades
are on average—higher than yours.” I hear his friends beside him
tease him and snicker at my comment.

“Burn, John.
Looks like she got you!” Andre laughs, he’s the taller muscular one
with a bit of a rotten personality—how he managed to get a
girlfriend was beyond me. The thought of dating him is
unimaginable.

“Whatever. Just
make sure you don’t wag.” he remarks.

I glare and
watch as he moves over to his table near the glass window. “As if
I’d skip class!” Andrew remains quiet and I glance over at him to
notice he’s quick to innocently smiles at me, as he devours his
chips I didn’t notice he had. It’s almost as though he’s seen a
good movie.

“You know I
thought you were all about education is the key to everything.”
Andrew mutters before swallowing his chip and saying, “You’re . . .
so into him.” I glare.

“Mind your own
business.” I retort and vacate the cafeteria aware of Andrew
following after me. He’s still my best-friend even though he enjoys
tormenting me. Having a strong belief that education and knowledge
is everything, is a bit of a battle when my crush insists on being
so tempting.
He probably has a girlfriend.
I remind myself
and hope for it, even though the thought of it makes my heart
ache.

I sit behind
the desk not too far away from John. My eyes continue to glance
over at him and I’m stunned but not surprised by the amount of
girls throwing themselves at him. I know without a doubt he would
be a hot soldier, one day. Given that I knew that’s what he wanted
to be, from what I heard from Andrew. He could be wrong—John may
end up changing his mind. He sits two rows in front and three rows
to the right, providing me a perfect view. “You might as well give
up.” a girl beside me declares and I glare.

“What are you
talking about?” I ask, I’ve never met this girl but I knew her.
She’s the new foreign exchange student from France. Her English is
okay but not perfect, with a strong accent she does well with the
guys. It’s the least I could say for myself—which is a little sad.
Then again, I’ve been told that I have my whole life for that type
of stuff. So in the end, I don’t really mind.

“He’s out of
your league.” she says, “No offense.”

“That’s totally
offensive.” I retort and she shrugs her shoulders. From what I
remember her name is Bernadette.

“Only if you
take it that way.” she muses and glances at the front of the room.
Maths begins and the class swings by rather quickly, than to my
surprise, I’m off to next period. I saunter down the breezeway and
head towards the
bubbler
(drinking fountain) not too far
away and the only reasonably tasting one. I take a sip and stop, I
see Bernadette heading towards the bathrooms. I’m quick to hide
behind the corner because that’s pretty much what I’m trained to
do. That and she did look suspicious. Glancing over her shoulder
once again she heads inside. I’m tempted to follow after her but
realising that I may be causing more harm than good, I refrain from
such a thing and watch as the day flies by.

It’s home time
and I’m knackered. It’s funny though not many Australians use the
term knackered—it’s a word I received from my step-dad because he’s
from England, someone who was with my mother for a long time, who
eventually didn’t want me, so he took on the responsibility that is
me and started looking after me because I didn’t have any blood
relatives in the city. It may not be recognised by the courts but
he’s still a good man and tries to make sure I have what I need and
tries to make sure that I’m safe on top of everything else. I wait
for his car to pull up and I see he’s black glasses through the
window of the Mitsubishi Triton, it’s a a white Ute pretty much. I
watch as he pulls up beside me and I hop in, aware I had said
goodbye to Andrew a while ago when his mother came and picked him
up. “How was school?”

“The worst.” I
reply.

Our car moves
along as other parents line up their cars to pick up their kids.
“It can’t be that bad.” Peter announces.

“Are you
kidding me? Go back to school than tell me how it
can’t
be
that bad
.”

“You’re over
exaggerating.” he declares.

“I know.” I
reply. “How was work?” I ask, aware he can’t tell me much. He’s a
soldier, a special forces officer and I can’t see him ever telling
me anything more than what needs to be said. I know the feeling all
too well. No one knows that I travel from planet to planet almost
every day.

“It was busy.”
he deflects. I internally sigh and glance out the window as we
leave the college grounds. Peter regularly drives me home to my
foster parent’s house who have no problem with him being like a
step-father to me. He even drives me to my Karate classes which I’m
thankful for. Speaking of which it’s something I have later
tonight. “Remember, you have Karate.”

“I remember.” I
reply, “Grading’s coming up shortly.” Grading is often a test to
determine if a person is able to move up to the next belt, I’ve
nailed my forms and techniques not to mention my self-defence
tactics.

“How soon?” he
asks.

“The end of the
year.” I announce.

“That’s far
away.”

“I know.” I say
and to my surprise, a man stumbles onto the road and Peter slows
down.

“Bloody
drunks.” Peter honks the horn and calls out the window, “Get off
the road!” I sink in my seat a little, aware I see Bernadette
behind us in her little silver Toyota Yaris. Peter gives an
apologetic sign and Bernadette I see in the rear view mirror
responds understandingly. I’m surprised by this and hear Peter say
once the man stumbled off the road. “When you get your licence
you’ll have to deal with stuff like this.”

“I know and my
test is next week.”

“Just remember
to keep your eyes on the road and your mind alert. There are both
good and
terrible
drivers on the roads.” We cackle and soon
enough I’m home. My practical assessment for PASA is at the back of
my mind at the moment but I knew later tonight I would have to deal
with it.
The joys of living a double life . . .

It isn’t until
after Karate and that I pretend to retire at home, that’s when my
real mission begins. I step out of a portal and into a forest. I’m
aware of where I am, Washington State, USA. I saunter through the
forest and head towards the blinking lights of Seattle in the
distance. In my Nefaliem Form, my blue gleaming scales and silver
hair shines under the rays of the full moon. I’m alone as I wander
through the forest. It took a couple of hours before I stumble upon
the suburbs. I stalk through the suburbs and head for the main
city. It takes a long time but I somehow manage. It’s midnight by
the time I arrive at a tall glassy building. From where I stand, I
glance up, in my Idol Form—my
Human Form
. I wore a brown
leather jacket to keep me warm from the cool air. “Up we go.” I
mutter to myself and head towards an alleyway.

It’s a good
thing our practical was postponed earlier today. I really didn’t
want to face John after the way I acted but at the same time I
couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to be with someone
like him. All thoughts aside, I focus on entering the alleyway.
Once I do, I scan left and right, both ways down the alleyway and
when no one is seen, I transition into my Nefaliem Form of blue
scaly skin with weapons, armour and a silver cloak. I fly to the
top of the building and once I land on the top of the building, I’m
quick to race over to the glass window that sat in the middle of
the roof, providing skylight for the building within. I search for
a hatch and notice it’s locked. I smile, “Too easy,” I announce and
pick at the lock. I open the hatch and float down inside. I use the
power of invisibility—our camouflage mode and bypass all the CCTV
devices throughout the building until I make it to ground
level.

I glance
around, peering through the darkness around me and watch as the
shadows engulf me. I move through the darkness with my invisibility
mode on. What I searched for was something that wasn’t exactly in
this building but rather under. I headed to the stairs at the far
end of the room with an ‘exit’ sign above the door.

As I enter the
exit. I search the darkness with my senses—using it to guide me
through the maze of concrete white corridors that guided the halls.
I cautiously move down the halls aware that what I’m searching for
would often be guarded by spirits and demons. I glance at my
Personal Computer Pack on my forearm—my armour shines a sterling
silver as my PCP initiates, revealing a silver AI. I notice the AI,
hovers above my forearm from his chest to his head. “My lady.” he
greets.

“Mizreth.” I
greet. “I need a scan of the interior.”

“On it.” he
declares, his voice sounding more computerized. I glance around as
I walk, keeping my forearm in front of me where I could clearly see
Mizreth. It’s amazing that our AI’s didn’t have a short time period
like they did centuries ago. However, they live the lifespan of its
assigned partner. So for Mizreth that would be me. He would stay
with me until the day I died. “The complex is clear. I’m not
picking up any energy signatures.”

“Not even
spiritual?” I question.

“No. The
spirits may be silent tonight.” he assumes and I know if he keeps
doing that he’s going to cause us problems. This is my first real
mission and the second time I’ve ever really need to use Mizreth.
Often our AI’s are used on missions as three things: recorders,
intel gathers and guides in the most hostile situations. In a way,
I recall being told that was why the AI’s were created. There’s
often too much unpredictability when it comes to battles and war
zones.

As I continue
to saunter down the darkness of the halls, with the only light
projected from my AI. I’m aware of the dangers that will be fall
me. A couple of more minutes of searching the halls, I head towards
the basement only to find it’s locked. “Really?” I wonder out
loud.

“Perhaps you
should break it.” Mizreth offers with a smile. I don’t say anything
and kick. The door flies across the room and smashes against the
far wall opposite me. “Don’t you think that was a little much?”

“You said I
should break it.” I reply.

“But I didn’t
mean you should make noise.” Mizreth counters. I glare. “What? It’s
true. You could have the security guards down here in—”

“Who’s there?”
a male voice calls though the shadows and I realise that it’s not
just shadows that’s behind me but a source of light from a
torch.

“Too late.
Hide, my lady.” Mizreth whispers as he disappears from my PCP. I
summon my power from my central core and focus it on my skin.
Invisibility becomes me. There in the distance the security guard
approaches. He’s a tall man dressed in a blue uniform. The security
guard stumbles upon the doorway without a door and regards the
hinges. They’re bent and out of shape. I watch as his fingers trace
the hinges, his light lands upon the sight of bolts along the floor
that flew out when the steel door was forced away. I’m aware of the
connections he’s making but I’m also aware of my need to control my
breathing—he’d hear me if I’m not careful.

“What on
earth?” he mutters as I see his light spotting the metal door
locked into the wall several hundred metres away from the door. He
moves towards the door but also scans the darkness around him. I
notice his free hand moves to the gun on his belt and I fear he’d
shoot me if I startle him. So slowly, I walk towards the centre of
the room, what I need is just below this room. Though, I freeze in
place. The air around me chills several degrees and I’m aware of
something deadly is present with us. The security guard continues
to move to the door and regards it closely. His hand trails along
the bent metal of where my foot dented the door. “How the hell?” he
continues to speak to himself as more connections are formed.

I stand not too
far from him, staring at what stared back at me with a smile. The
security guard doesn’t notice but the demon that’s standing in
front of him regards the security guard. I summon my metal crossbow
and fire. Green sparks glitter in the darkness, a reminder my arrow
was fired. The security guard ducks before spinning around pointing
the gun at the shadows. The demon moves from the human man and over
to me. I stand ready as it leaps at me. I grasp its shoulders and
grind along the ground with my feet sliding along the floor. The
security guard I notices begins to panic. The demon remains silent
and disappears but I sense where it’s headed—it’s after the
human.

I’m quick to
use my
warp majic
and travel over space and distance.
Connecting my knee with the demon’s chest, I save the human in time
before he’s attacked by the demon. The demon flies away from me and
shatters against one of the metal containers that sat in this room.
I didn’t have time to question why there were containers in this
room but I also didn’t have time to protect this human at the same
time. I stand behind him and wait for him to turn around. His light
lands on me and I see the fear in his eyes. I bare my dragon fangs
and he takes off screaming.

The demon in
humanoid form drops to the ground, it’s ash black skin makes it
difficult to be seen in the shadows but it’s fortunate for me that
my Nefaliem blood makes it easier to see in the dark. I can see
everything in the darkness as clear as day and watch as the demon
runs at me with its claws dragging along the ground. I warp and
hold out my arm in time. I feel immediately the neck of the demon
connect with my armoured forearm and watch was it flips backwards
into the air. I summon my sword and move over to it, without any
further delay I pierce the chest of the monster and send it back to
Hell. “Now it’s best we find that relic.”