Project Un: The Fall of Abal

Abal could feel darkness. It was not an emotion nor was it truly a sensation. The lack of touch blinded Abal as his callus hands gripped the Aexian blade. He missed the cool smoothness of the grey steel. He longed for the subtlety of texture in the leather grip. Yet the darkness of his nerve calluses gave only the indication of pressure. Abal stared at his knuckles watching them go white with tension. Pressure. That was all he could feel; that feeling like the building tension in his aging bones. 

Abal grunted. This was the curse of Polancy and reckless youth. His eyes were as sharp as a hawk. His sense of smell was near inhuman. Yet with the darkness of touch, confidence fled from him. With unsteadiness in his heart, Abal turned to his companion. Hilan sat clutching his gut. The bald man had the silver robes patterned with the inter-spiralling triangles of the Ord. A smithy to some, an armorer to others. In truth, Hilan was a creator and a destroyer. Twice as important to Abal as the Aexis flowing in his own skin. 

“Bloody Purge,” Hilan muttered between groans. “Is he trying to kill me?”

“It’s an uneven road,” Abal said as the waggon rattled over loose stones. Hilan glared at Abal who stifled a smile. 

“Oh really?” Hilan said scowling. “I didn’t notice!”

Hilan gripped the sides of his seat and writhed like a worm in sunlight. The path was unorthodox. The half paved route led under the cover of ashen trees. The scarlet leaves formed a veil of red between them and their destination. Glimpses of a dark tower loomed above the Audon forest and Abal grimaced at the sight. 

“Nearly there,” he muttered much to Hilan’s relief. The wagon driver nodded beneath the earthen cloak. The horse trodded along without missing a beat. Hilan made more noises of discomfort as the group continued along. Abal could feel the tension inside him build. This whole contract had him unsettled. A traitor among the lancers of Tril hidden in the Forbidden Tower. Too clean of an accusation. Abal shook his head to clear his thoughts. He shifted the Aexian blade to his left hand and reached over the side with his right. His hand brushed through red leaves. Once he had been able to see the veins, to feel the life pulsing through the trees. Yet now he felt them like a child catching the wind. 

The wagon stopped at the edge of the forest. Dark soil of fertile ground stretched to the base of the tower. The horse snorted impatiently. Abal dropped out of the wagon without a sound. Hilan mumbled and grumbled his way off. The driver cut loose the wagon and mounted the horse. With a ‘good luck’ whispered, the driver rode back the way they had come. Abal exhaled slow and quiet. Silence would be their ally in this endeavor. 

“Poor man lost his cart,” Hilan muttered with mock sympathy. And we might lose our lives, Abal thought. He retrieved his Aexian blade and unsheathed its twin. The dual guardless swords felt sturdy in Abal’s skilled hands. They were symbols of course. One edge, sharp for the swiftness of judgment, the other firm for defense of the innocent. Two blades as there is always two sides to justice. Abal tested his strength and pulsed with Aexis. The energy flowed into the blades giving them a faint glow. One steaming with shadow from the negative charge, the other sparking with light from the positive charge. The Aexis pulled the blades closer together and Abal strained his muscles to keep them apart. He held them apart until the Aexis faded from the blades.

Both his strength and his Polancy were potent. Abal then felt the sting of numbness trickle from his forearms. He grimaced. Perhaps too potent. If he did not get a handle on his unsettled emotions, he might over extend his power. Abal did not need more callus nerves.

Hilan had sat down and remained still. Abal did not bother him. As vital as Hilan was, he had been through three days of purging in preparation for the coming moments. The man’s face contorted in pain. Hilan had once said the flow of Aexis was interpreted as fluid in his body as opposed to energy. Men had the tendency to overuse the Ord, preferring inflamed limbs and toxicated death rather than the daily pain of unuse. Yet the women of the Ord had no issue with this. Some even rumored that purging only happened once a month for them.

Abal never understood the pain Ordmancers had to go through during a purge. The Aexis in his body sparked like adrenaline waiting to be used. There were the waves of exhaustion when he did not use the Aexis, but that was nothing in comparison to the removal of Aexis fluid by the body in a purge. 

“Ready,” The words brought Abal back from his distant thoughts. Hilans eyes opened in tired relief. Abal fingers danced on his hilts. Hilan stood up and his skin turned silver. Abal dragged cloth over his nose and mouth. A cloud of Aexis billowed from Hilan. He stretched out his arms and the cloud began to flood the forest. It filled the field and clouded the view of the spire. 

Abal sent pulses of Aexis through his feet. With a scattering shadow behind him, he flung himself in a polantically charged leap forward. The inhuman speed pulled on his body like gravity doubled. He landed near the base of the tower. He crouched low and ran with blades ready towards the tower. The Aexian stonework was as smooth as a polished diamond. Abal rounded the Tower base at incredible speed. He hardly noticed he had returned to the start until he saw his footprints in the dirt. 

Abal frowned. There was no entrance to the Forbidden Tower. He looked back towards Hilan. Hilan cocked his head, but gestured upward with his head. Abal nodded, but gestured for Hilan to come close. Hilan approached still with arms out, now pushing the cloud of Aexis upward and around the spire. The man’s arms were as red as fresh blood. Hilan met Abal’s gaze with a twisted grin. To the end, Abal thought. Abal gestured upward with his head and Hilan nodded. 

Abal leapt feet first towards the wall. Aexis pulsed in his veins and down his legs. His feet steamed shadow and as his feet hit the wall, it too darkened where he stepped. Crouching low on the tower side, Abal began to run upward against gravity. Shadowed prints faded behind in his ascent. Behind him, Abal heard the rush of fluid. He dared a glance to see Hilan walking beside him. The man stepped into a flowing wave of silver that coalesced into a solid stair. Hilan walked as he spread Aexis in a wave of fluid before him. Every step solidified the Aexis into solid and as his foot left the step behind would melt back into a silver fluid. All the while, Hilan kept an arm raised to push the grey Aexis cloud further upward in a spiraling shroud.  

Abal reached the top of the tower and leapt inside. His eyes darted here and there, but saw no one. Hilan approached behind him. He let the cloud fill the room and the fluid swirled inches above his palm in a condensed ball. No one could be seen. 

“Hello Abal,” A voice said. Abal snapped his attention to the figure who spoke directly above him. The man dropped towards him and Abal caught a glimpse of light reflecting off metal. Within a blink, Abal sent Aexis pulses through him and charged himself and Hilan. 

They flew back as the man struck Aexian blades onto where they had stood. Abal took in the black uniform of Polancy and the matching blades. The dark hair of the man drifted above him like shadowy serpents. His eyes glinted with passion and sparked with Aexis. 

Target: Kayne. Traitor to the Lancers of Tril. 

Kayne flared with Aexis, charging at Abal. Abal met blade with blade in a rapid succession of parries and repostes. Spikes of Aexis flew towards Kayne, who deflected with one blade and slapped the ground with the other. A pulse charged Abal’s legs and he had but a second before Kayne switched poles on his blade. Abal’s footing was blasted away as his legs shot backwards. As Abal fell, Hilan covered him with a barrage of Aexian fluid. Abal tumbled to the right. He caught his footing at the edge of the tower and watched as the fluid formed half plate armor around him. 

Abal looked up to see Kayne leaping at Hilan. The Ordmancer didn’t move. The cloud solidified and created a wall that Kayne smashed into. Dazed, Kayne blinked hard at the wall in front of him. Abal crashed into him a moment later, blade piercing the man’s chest. The blow was off center and ended a near glancing blow. Kayne slashed Abal’s right arm before slamming his blades together. The resulting blast sent Abal flying back. He dug a blade into the ground to slow him and sent Aexis charges to create a blast of his own to still him. Kayne leapt to the side to attack Hilan again, but Abal’s blast caught him a moment later in the air. Kayne flew off course and Hilan took quick advantage of it. The Aexis cloud became a river that covered Kayne who lay on the ground. It solidified and mixed with the Aexian stone of the tower to create a pure prison. 

Abal approached with a grin behind his cloth mask. Kayne stared at his eyes with a deep hate burning in them. Abal pointed his blade at Kayne’s throat. Abal then felt the numbness overcome him. The blades fell from his hand as his arms went fully numb. Overextended, even his legs gave out. Kayne’s eyes went white as Hilan reached out to his companion. Kayne sent a blast of energy that destroyed the Aexis prison. Splinters flew in a circle around him. One splinter drove itself into Hilan’s eye and he dropped to the ground in a scream.

 Abal blinked as his vision swirled. Kayne stood above him. Then there was a wave of silver and Kayne was on the ground again. Hilan stood above him with a grim expression and one hand to his head to staunch the flow of blood. With a shriek, Kayne leapt at them. Hilan’s attention turned with a hand outstretched as a greatsword appeared from the cloud of Aexis. Kayne could not slow down and it struck him in the chest. Kayne slashed with his twin swords and the silver robes of the ord grew red with blood. Hilan stumbled back with his other hand to his chest. Abal could hardly feel anything, but he knew there was Aexis inside him. Hilan fell to his knees and gave one last look towards Abal. He mouthed one last word. Friend.

Hilan's eyes glazed and he fell forward dead. Kayne dropped his blades and ripped the sword out of his chest. The greatsword fell at Abal’s feet. As Kayne clutched his stomach, Abal could see the man would most likely die. Abal rolled to his feet. He couldn’t stand for long. He pulsed Aexis through his body to keep him up right. He charged the ground with Aexis until the Aexian Greatsword glowed white. Abal switched polarities and the blade leapt into his hands. Abal aimed the blade at Kayne’s neck. A blade flew to Kayne’s hand as well. Abal snarled and let loose every ounce of Aexis in his veins. The greatsword shone like the sun and Abal switched polarities for the last time. The blade left his hands. 

Abal glowed like an angel and the blade plunged itself into Kayne’s neck up to the hilt. Inches of flesh were left on either side, just enough to keep Kayne’s head from rolling. Kayne’s face of shocked horror was the last image Abal saw before his world faded to black. With the satisfaction of vengeance, Abal felt the nerves in his spine, the ones he could never endanger, go callus.