Ele'a Ra Ala'e <solo>

[Vasiner]

Rated R for violence, mature situations including rape, cutting off limbs, some profanity, extreme torture, and everything young folks enjoy! Perspective/writing style flips, so pay attention to the subtitle in bold, and for bloody sake, PM me with comments and constructive criticism... or not.



Ala'e

We all had longed for a body, longed to be physical once again. We had all grown so tired of being mere spirits, locked away from all pleasurable sensations as the body can experience. And so, when the Ele’a called us from the heavens and offered us bodies of flesh and blood, we took what was offered. For what can possibly be greater than the sense of touch, of hearing, of sight and smell in a vibrant world as this? The bargain these still-living people made was this – in return for sharing their body, they would use our powers in their war.

The temptation of course was too much.

Yet as we merged with the bodies and the minds still inhabiting them, we sacrificed fragments of our memories. Most can’t remember why they chose their hosts, though they knew that it was not a random decision but one made with care.

I, however, remember. I remember why I chose this weak body, this boy who attracted me from the skies. This one called Vasiner.


He is easy to control. Most Ele’a can control us, the Ala’e. Slave-gods, they call us. But his will is weak and mine is strong. Often I need to push him aside to protect his fragile body, despite his constant complaints and useless whining.

Everything about him is poor. Even his eyesight. He uses mine to make up for his near-blindness. He is weak, physically and mentally. He asks too many questions. Worse, he is compassionate even to his enemies, people who have tried to kill him. He is gullible. Innocent.

And it is for these qualities that I chose him, instead of those who were obviously worthy of me.

It is night now, and I am walking the grasslands. I usually leave him to do what he wants in the day, but thanks to me, and the power that I have that is now innately his, his body does not need to sleep much. As his mind sleeps, I control his body without having to endure his chattering.

I have no idea where we are. Most Ele’a have decimated themselves with their foolish wars. I’m sure my fellow Ala’e are pleased that their bargains were so short. Leaving that bloody land was probably the single good choice Vasiner ever made.

But now we’re lost. And I know there are still a few of our enemies left. Others who have learned to call down spirits and take their powers for themselves. That’s why we’re out here. We’re running.

I step quietly, one hand raised and resting upon the hilt of my broadsword, the other balancing my body. The moon is bright, and the starlight plenty; I see no one. For now.

I draw the blade anyway and sit upon the crest of a hill, overlooking the lands, ever watchful. Setting the blade between my knees, I rest my hands and chin on the flat pommel and relax. The night air is fresh and clean, filled with the taste of miles of grass and empty wilderness. Filled also with the musky scent of the leather armor that guards this fragile body. The coppery scent of the steel of my sword and the iron of my knives bound to my legs and arms.

I find it hard to believe that the Ele’a rarely notice how much they can taste in the air.

Tilting my head, I stare at the many constellations decorating the sky, eventually falling on my back. I name the constellations as they glitter and wink above me. Men and women of legends, creatures of myth, all floating beside one another in fantastical peace. I smile to myself. Ala’e came from those stars. Some of them incarnations of those very figures of legend. They left that beautiful celestial plane for this earth of dirt and bloodshed and violence… all for a body. Just that. Only that. The irony is laughable.

Am I happy with the choice?

Perhaps I – ah, but he stirs. Because in his dreams he notices at the same time I do – the figures that approach slowly from the distance. Five dark, brisk silhouettes.

Wake up, Ele’a, I whisper as his eyes flicker open. They are black, like onyx chips. They are like this when I am in control – when he is, they are green. Wake.

He moans softly, and I smile once more and fade to the back of his mind, leaving him to move as he wills. I will control him again soon enough.

Because all Ele'a are nothing without us. We are their slaves. We are their gods. We are aptly named.

[Vasiner]

Vasiner


Since I had been born, a sense of ever-focused awareness had been hardwired into my brain. Even when I slept, I was constantly intent on my surroundings. It was no different now. In fact, the anxiety of being in a strange new land only sharpened my instincts; I was desperate to let no movement, no activity, go unnoticed lest it endanger me.

Thus my eyes opened and I did not start or make a sound as I listened to sounds behind sounds. There – in the distance, to my left. The soft sounds of approaching footsteps, of leather on grass, of soft, stealthy breathing.

They’re not far away, a familiar voice whispered in my mind. I realized I was not lying down, but rather sitting, sword before me. I felt the fresh alertness of my spirit. Apparently, my Ala’e had been awake for a while. What do you want to do, Ele’a?

I wanted to run. With my Ala’e’s speed, it was quite possible I could outdistance them, but how long until they found me again? How many nights would I have to continue to sleep in fear?

Besides, though it asked me, I knew my spirit would do only what it wanted to do. Asking was formality; my consent was nothing. He wanted to fight – and, I guess, in the end I would have to fight anyway. My pursuers never rested, and neither could I.

And so I gripped the handle of my sword and stood, facing the five shadows that crept toward me.

I imagine we look quite intimidating, my Ala’e chuckled. You and I, a single dark figure on the crest of a hill, sword in hand. A pure killer. Beautiful.

“You are the killer,” I whispered. My eyes followed the figures as they pointed at me, crying out to the others in incomprehensible words. I did not move as they began to rush towards me.

Whose hand wields the sword? Not mine. Yours. Look, here they come. Do you want to deal with this, or shall I?

I made a mistake then. I hesitated, and suddenly, it felt as though my mind split in two. My emotions separated, my thoughts became halved, and I was pushed back, far back into the deepest recesses of my mind. I was suddenly trapped in a shell of flesh and blood that no longer belonged to me, but was controlled by another entity entirely. I watched and felt myself smile by another person’s will. I felt myself move without my command, and I heard myself think thoughts not my own. My green eyes burned away into deep black.

“Scared, are you?” my voice mocked me. “Fine then. Don’t worry, I’ll protect you,” he said in a cruel, high-pitched voice.

Suddenly I was stalking forward, taking long strides towards the very men who were only too obliged to meet me. Even in the night I could make them out clearly, more so as they came closer and closer. All of them were garbed in leather armor, and I could see that each had a blade. One of them stopped apart from the others, and I could see him notch an arrow to his bow.

“How exciting,” my Ala’e hissed, and my step broke into a run. My hand swept back, making a long silver arc with my broadsword. I swung it forward and heard the crack of a shot arrow snapped in two, and then another and one more. Broken shafts fell to either side of me.

Undeterred I ground to a halt. My arms pulled back, gripping my sword hard, bringing it forward in a vicious curve. My knuckles were white around the handle as it sliced the air. A clash - a shower of golden sparks rained over me as I met the steel of another man’s blade, sending stinging reverberations up my arms. Beyond this I analyzed the movements taking place around and behind me - I tilted my head back and felt the whisper of another blade miss my neck by a mere centimeter. I dropped to the ground, ducking another strike as my leg swept out, knocking one man from his feet. I rolled away from my attackers and leaped up, making a mad dash toward the archer who was again aiming to take my life.

I felt my body twist to one side, my hand whisking down to one leg, drawing a single iron dagger. It was off, glimmering in the pale moonlight even before I myself realized it, lodging into the man’s throat. He stumbled backward, clutching at himself and the arrow shot wild. It found its way into of my enemy’s shoulders.

I turned, and what happened next I tried closing my mind to.

I delved into the four remaining men.

My sword whistled and sang and cut through the night air. I could see only the light glinting upon its keen edges, dancing among streams of blood sloughing through the air. It split open armor and bit sharply into exposed flesh. I felt only the slightest resistance as the steel touched bone until it cut through that as well. Against me, such things were as weak as stalks of grain. Leather, iron, steel - they gave way like bits of paper before my sword.

My Ala'e went silent as he fell into the hypnotic dance of battle, taking me with him into a world where only I existed, where only I mattered, where dying was not an option. My body became a thing of pure and absolute grace. Time ceased to exist; the last moments of these men's lives would pass in a blur.

I cleaved limbs from bodies and crushed skulls with the pommel of my sword. I split ribs and snapped arms – one disarmed man tried to grapple with me and I gripped one arm, heaving him over my head, slamming him onto his back before plunging my sword through his chest. Another, I remember, tried to run. A second dagger found its way into his lower back. His legs gave way and he dropped heavily to the ground.

The other two? Dead, bleeding their life out onto the ground, gurgling a few last moments before their eyes dimmed. It was over in minutes – no, in seconds.

I was not even breathing hard.

“Boring,” my Ala’e sighed. He scanned the bodies, and turned at a low moan. The man who tried to run was still yet alive.

No, don’t –

Shut up, Ele’a.

The grass was red and slick underneath me as I stepped to the wounded man, much older than me, yet still in his prime. I knelt beside him and my Ala’e spoke. He liked to speak to the near-dead.

“Like all the others, you made a mistake.” My lips curled back from my teeth in a sneer. “You threatened me, and look at you. Writhing on the ground like a worm.” My hand reached down to the dagger protruding from his back. It had severed his spine – that was what made the injury truly fatal. I wrenched it from him and settled the edge lightly against his throat.

“You listen to me,” I whispered, placing my lips close to his ear. My voice was soft, almost soothing. It terrified him. The tales about my Ala’e were coming true for him. They were true. “I want to know… how many more are chasing me?”

Silence, then a scream as the dagger slammed through an elbow. “Well?”

The man stared up at me in hatred, his eyes flashing from terrified brown to seething black. “You… monster,” he hissed. “Don’t you dare torture my Ele’a!”

I tilted my head. “I wasn’t going to… but… now that you mention it, it sounds like fun.” The words sickened me.

This man’s spirit wanted to protect his host. I wish mine was the same, but all he cared about was killing.

I traced the edge of my dagger from the man’s collar bone up to his chin, drawing a thin red line. The man recoiled, shaking as I slid my tongue up across the cut, tasting the blood, tasting the power in it. ”Aaaah, you were strong,” my Ala’e sighed. “What was your name?”

“Let my host go,” the Ala’e hissed. It sounded almost like pleading.

“That’s rude,” I chastised. I withdrew my dagger and slammed it down again, severing fingers from knuckles. “I asked your name.”

Tears seeped from the black eyes. “K-keening Blade Elzakel…”

“Oh. Weren’t you supposed to be brave? No, I see,” I tapped the dagger against my teeth, the smile never leaving my lips. “You were trying to protect him. You loved your Ele’a. Heh.”

“Unlike you,” Keening Blade Elzakel hissed. “You who won’t even tell your master your name.”

“See, that is where you are wrong. He is not my master. I am no slave to him. Now… I am going to sever you from your host. Then I’m going to kill him, slowly.”

Elzakel’s eyes flashed. “No! Let him go. Don’t hurt him.”

“He’s already hurt. Bye.” My teeth bit into the man’s neck.

This was against all custom, all honor. An Ele’a rarely died alone; his Ala’e was always with him, comforting him, telling him stories about the beautiful life after death and how it was not so bad. Dying alone was the fear of every Ele’a, and to deny him the company of his spirit was cruelty.

It was dishonor, especially if you are the only one with the power to do it. I am the only one who has the power to sever the spirit from his host

I felt a wave of power gather, compressing in the center of my being. A sudden release, and it struck the man hard. He cried out, in a voice comprised of his own and the deeper voice of his Ala’e, until the latter faded, until I was left with only a powerless man.

Ele’a Ra’ Ala’e no more.

The black eyes bled into horrified brown, meeting mine. The hate was nearly palpable, the silent scream deafening. I only laughed.

“Let’s get to work, shall we? I’m thinking of skinning you.”

“Before you do that,” the man whispered. “Shall I tell you?”

I paused. “What?”

The man did something I had no seen in my entire life. Without his Ala’e, he smiled. He smiled, through his pain and coming death. “There are more coming for you. From every direction. You are not going to escape, Ele’a Vasiner Ra’ Ala'e Unknown.

My eyes narrowed. “You lie. My people and yours decimated each other near to nothing. You only came after me to –”

“To kill the most powerful of our enemies? We came after you to kill a dishonorable coward. You are a living sin. Half your people were traitors… because you were one of them. A disgrace. An affront to all your cherished ways. Far less were killed than you thought.” The smile grew wide and twisted. “Maybe they’ll explain to you once they seize you. I’d run if I were you.”

My Ala’e stared as the man laughed, laughed until the dagger slashed across his throat.

I stood. And I sensed it. It wasn’t possible, yet it was. There were more coming. More than before. Instead of five, instead of six, instead of even ten – far more.

I remember the time I had arrived home, clearing the Strait of my people’s rivals. I had come home to a land filled with chilled corpses and burnt flesh. A massacre. No one was alive. Half of them, traitors? Impossible! I had searched my land – there was no one. I had ventured to the border. No one.

“It doesn’t matter, We’ll figure it out later. We need to get out of here. Now!”

I already saw the figures emerging from the night. “How…?”

Run, you fool!

I ran.

[Vasiner]

Ala’e


What happened that day? That day when we had returned to find a graveyard? I replayed the scenario as my Ele’a raced across the ground. What had happened?



Do not attempt to control me, Ele’a, I whispered.

Slowly, he obeyed, releasing all remnants of his weak control. As he did so, I cemented my place in his mind. His vision split; thoughts separating. Emotions, once harmonious, became chaotic until they too were cleaved in half. The change took place in his body too, slack muscles tensing, blurry eyesight sharpening... his uncertain movements shifting into a deliberate, graceful stride. My stride, not his clumsy gait. Such a walk carried me forward until my eyes, no longer my Ele’a’s green but my deep black, stared down at the cowering man. Like an intense heat I felt the anger in my own stare. The man shrank from me. I smiled. It was always delightful to see them cower.

“It was a mistake,” I said, enjoying my deeper tone. Unlike my pathetic host, I knew no fear. I was strong, and I made it known even in my voice. “It was a mistake for you to come here. To assault me. To threaten me.”

The man’s eyes shifted back and forth from hazel to black. I knew his own two selves were arguing, and I knew what they were saying. He was trying to apologize, to run away, to beg for forgiveness. His Ala’e was trying to instigate a more violent reaction out of me... but it was already too late either way. It’s always too late.

I knelt beside him and leaned close, placing my face near his neck. I felt him shudder, tensing as my breath drifted cold against his skin. I was in full control now, pushing my Ele’a further and further aside to do as I wished.

Stop, Ala’e! he cried silently. I didn’t respond. He tried to regain control, to shift my eyes back to green.

Idiot, I growled, and I gave a mental shove. I wasn’t going to let him handle this situation. My lips part, twitching into a small smile. My teeth grazed the neck of the man and my tongue flicked out, running over his flesh. I felt the man’s fear and his Ala’e’s utter disgust and building hatred.

“I feel your pulse,” I whispered. “So quick. So gentle. I feel your blood. So warm.” My arms wrapped around him, pulling him close. He cried out as his shattered bones crumbled against themselves. Such a fragile body I had destroyed! Inwardly, I laughed.

Why did you choose me? I never wanted you! He just wouldn’t shut up.

”What have you to say for yourself?” I asked the man.

His eyes flashed to black. “Let him live,” he hissed. “Kill me if you want, but let my Ele’a live. Let my host go.”

I laughed. “I can’t do that. You collaborated. You worked together. You are both at fault. I do not discriminate, you see.”

”You are unnatural,” he snarled. “What does your host think of this?”

My lips twisted into a contorted grin. “My Ele’a’s thoughts are irrelevant in this.” My teeth tightened around his flesh. I felt a jolt of my Ala’e’s power run through my veins, severing the connection between the Ele’a and the Ala’e. The latter, no longer attached to his host, died. The black eyes faded into hazel, leaving nothing but the man to deal with.

Heal him. Let him live! No. Such words belonged to a fool.

My fingers pressed hard over the man’s crushed ribs, my knee sinking into his bleeding abdomen. He moaned in fear and in agony as I tortured him, as my Ele’a stupidly begged me to stop. He didn’t understand. If only he knew the pleasure I felt… then he would know.

It was not too long before the man died, suffocating in his own blood, giving me a last glare of hate tinged with the terror of dying - dying alone, without the comfort of the Ala’e that had been with him for much of his life.

Leaning back, I stood, looking down at the corpse. “Soon the body will grow cold, whiten, and begin to decay,” I murmured. I smiled to myself, envisioning my words in my mind. “The skin will shrivel, the flesh will be torn away by scavengers, the blood will nourish the worms in the earth. Only the bones will remain, some to chewed to the marrow by hungry animals, others left to be swallowed in time by the earth.”

Why didn’t you heal him? He would have been harmless without his Ala’e! You could have healed him!

”Using my power uses your strength,” I replied. I sneered. “Do you want me to exhaust you to save such a worthless life?”

You don’t care, he said bitterly. You only care about my being alive, no matter what shape I’m in, so you can stay alive

”I care. If your body is too exhausted, how am I to use it to defend myself?” I scoffed, then laughedas I suddenly relinquished my control, leaving him to scramble before he could fall on top of the body he had just killed.

You’re too compassionate, too soft, too weak, I said contemptuously as he clumsily regained balance.

”Better that than to be like you,” he muttered. He turned around, not wanting to look any longer at the slaughtered, mutilated body. Not wanting to look at my work, squeamish as always. It had taken him a long time to turn away without his knees shaking, without feeling dizzy and nauseous. He picked up my broadsword, made truly dangerous when used by my power, wiping it free of gore on the trampled grass before sheathing it on his back. It had tortured many people, cutting off their limbs and slicing out their eyes before ridding them of their misery, saving us many times. I knew my Ele’a hated feeling it on him, but I didn’t let him throw it away.

Besides, foolish as he is, he’s never in the mood to die.

”Where should I go now?” he asked. “Home? Further along?”

We were only ordered to clear the Strait, I sighed. With this dog’s death, we’ve done that.

”You’ve done that,” he snapped.

It’s not my hands I use, it’s yours. So, go back and tell them of your involuntary success.

He squinted at the trees, trying to see which way we had come. His eyesight was terrible. I laughed and his eyesight sharpened, making everything crisp and clear. He didn’t even thank me. He simply made our way through the forest, slipping down the trail, passing bodies we killed before.
As we strode down the cleared path, I tried, as I always did, to enlighten him.

Someday, I said, you’ll end up killing us both. You will feel sorry for an enemy, you will let him go, and he will turn around and kill us without a thought to your foolish mercy.

“You’ll control my body before I could do any such thing,” I growled. “Just like you do now, as if it’s yours.”

Oh, but it is mine, I laughed. My voice lowered and I felt him wince as I hissed into the corridors of his pitiful mind. You knew what you were getting yourself into when you joined the Calling. You just didn’t expect to have a slave like me.

Ele’a Vasiner Ra’Ala’e. Vasiner, Master of a Slave-God. His name, his curse. He, like the rest of his people, are bound to us forever… thinking that they can control us like dogs.

Sure, we got our promised flesh and blood bodies. We let them use our strength, letting them think they are above other men and women. But it all turned against them. The broken bodies we walked past testified to that; the Ele’a split into two, and now they had brought this unnatural war into this earth. Serves them right.

“Spirits are meant to be at peace,” Keshelin Ra’Ala’e had said. Like most of the women she did not fight, but led the Ele’a with wiser words. “Learning to call them from their rest is wrong. Offering them a new life even more so. Using them is a crime.”

Maybe she was right. But she was always viewed as strange; her Ala’e was said to put strange thoughts into her head. The smartest are never listened to, after all.

Her slave is not a fighter, I said to my Ele’a. She is a thinker, a writer, a philosopher. Of course she is strange.

“Who? Keshelin or her Ala’e? And how would you know?”

One spirit knows another, I chuckled. My Ele’a sighed and continued to walk, trudging through dirt and grass and blood. Though he tried not to pay too much attention to the destruction we had wrought, he couldn’t help it and started to feel sick. Hopeless.

Eventually though, the number of bodies dwindled into nothing, giving way into an almost pleasant walk through a silent woodland. Sunlight filtered through heavy boughs of redwood, the warmth of summer present even in the darkest shadows. Colorful vegetation poked through here and there, ivy and wildflowers and all manner of weeds and bushes.

Looking like this, it’s hard to believe it is also a battleground. Many of these flowers and plants would soon be trampled underfoot. If I didn’t know this, I might want to enjoy the scenery. I can’t afford the luxury of relaxation though. I have to keep an eye out for my body.

I drew nearer and nearer to the camp where the rest of Ele’a Ra Ala’e were stationed, but already, I senses something wrong. It was too silent. There were no birds chirping. No words spoken. I heard only my own footsteps, my soft breathing. I urged my Ele’a to walk faster. He sensed it too. He’s stupid, but not that stupid.

The trees separated into the clearing, and we were nearly forced back by the stench of blood.

“Oh god! No!”

Shut up!

Bodies. Everywhere. Blood. Everywhere.

Men and women lay slaughtered, in the gruesome fashion only Ala’e could manage. Limbs lay severed from their bodies, heads departed from their shoulders with eyes and mouths open in eternal shock. Most were mutilated so that I could not make out who they were; some were mere pools of gore and shattered bone, at once meaningless and full of meaning. Some of the women, and even some of the younger boys, had been raped, lying naked in the blood-strewn grass.

When we had first seen it, we didn’t think much about it. We just saw our people murdered, and the war lost.

But now I remember. Things about this massacre that I had not noticed then.
There were no children killed. There were no children at all. Those too young to have their own Ala’e were not present. There were only those who had been at a Calling.

And there were not enough bodies. Not enough blood.

Everyone, except the children, had swords. But none were drawn from their sheaths. Despite the heightened sense of awareness that every Ele’a Ra Ala’e had, they had been too obviously caught by surprise. And there was no way that could have happened…

Unless their own had turned against them.

But I didn’t realize it at the time, and neither did my Ele’a. I didn’t stop him as he slowly stumbled into the midst of the slaughter, trying to search for his sister and his parents among the destruction.
He didn’t find them. Which meant –


“No! That’s not possible!” my Ele’a yelled. “My people would not kill each other!”

Do you have another explanation? I demanded. If so, tell me. I’d love to know.

He didn’t answer. There was no time. Ahead of me, I saw them – more figures. Stop! Turn around! Go left!

But to my left there were even more. We turned right. Even more. Vasiner was starting to panic; I had no choice. I shoved his mind back and took over, and for once, he didn’t complain. At the moment, he needed me as much as I needed him to survive. For the first time I slipped into full control with ease. I clenched my sword hard, peering into the darkness.

I didn’t need to see to know that Keening Blade Elzakel spoken true. I was surrounded. Slowly, I turned around. They’re everywhere…

"We can’t kill all of them!"

So now you talk of killing.

[Vasiner]

Vasiner

There was no counting them. It was impossible to tell how many there were, or where they had come from, or how as much as why. I was confused, afraid, and I even sensed some part of worry in my Ala’e. My fearless, cruel Ala’e, worried. That in itself was terrifying.

Every muscle in my body stiffened painfully, ready for the strain it would soon endure. It couldn’t be – was he planning still to fight against all these men and women, surrounding us? Fully armed, while we had only a sword? Strong as we were together, the thought was absurd.

A few of them stopped, making an all too familiar gesture. Several of them had bows. The rest drew only a few strides closer, barely enough for me to see the details of their shapes. Apparently, they planned to shoot me down before closing in.

“Cowards,” my Ala’e hissed, his fury seething through me like a storm. “Afraid to get close to one person?”

Are you really surprised? I’d say they just got smart.

“If you weren’t my host, I’d kill you myself!” We twisted around, trying to find a way to escape that was not covered by the threat of an arrow. There were none. Again there were the sounds of strings being pulled back, swords being drawn, and whispered commands.


Ele’a Ra’Ala'e


There are times when one mind is not enough. The truest power of the Ele’a Ra’ Ala’e comes when both sides join in harmony. When the astral power of the Ala’e combines with the physical perception of the Ele’a. Focus and concentration is doubled. Strength is enhanced. All flaws of the body mean nothing then. This is what makes us so strong and feared among those not of us. This is the power we used to decimate ourselves in our own war.

This is why tears are rarely seen among us, because in this state in which we so often die in, we fear nothing. There is only anger, only savagery. I am not Vasiner, nor am I Ala’e. Our minds join to form something completely different, something unnamed and unnatural.

With eyes that shift back and forth from green to black, we watch and listen to the faint movement and sounds of those intent to kill us for whatever reason. My muscles are taut and painful under the strain, the grooves in my sword’s handle carving rifts into my gauntleted hands – but this tells me I am still alive. It will be my only sign of my survival soon enough

Why are they waiting?

Something is wrong. All too late, I realize what it is.

THE SUN.

Behind a great row of my pursuers the sun rises, the harsh yellow glare filling my eyes. My enemies vanish before it and I cannot see. In the midst of this evil light, I hear the arrows unleashed in a black storm.

I lunge to one side, hitting the ground and rolling. In the same moment, a force compresses within me, tightening and then releasing, surging outward in a blast that deflects the arrows that would otherwise have struck me. Shafts splinter and blades snap as I roll to my feet. The Spirit Surge has taken strength from my body, but it doesn’t matter.

Go!


Vasiner


It’s easy to collapse once the Spirit Surge has been used, but I can’t afford any weakness now. My body pushes itself onward, dashing forward in an effort to get closer to my enemies, in hopes that those who hide in the sun’s glare will not fire for fear of shooting themselves. I hear the shriek of more arrows released behind me as I run; my body spins, and my sword lashes out to sweep cleanly through a rain of shafts. I spin around again, breaking more, barely saving myself.

But my would-be killers are as undeterred as I was, and they string their arrows. They are all going to shoot at once.

Brace yourself!

I barely have time as the arrows fire again, and I am running as my Ala’e utilizes another Spirit Surge… then another… and another. With each one, pain shudders through my body and my mind, but I can’t stop him, because he is in control, and I want to live as much as he.

“Half your people were traitors… because you were one of them.”

Them? Who is my Ala’e?


Ala’e


This body isn’t strong enough. Even under my control I have difficulty pushing it beyond its normal stamina. It feels sluggish and slow, and I can tell that my enemies know it too. They can see it as well as I can feel it. They fire again. With the weight of the sword, I can’t move my arm fast enough to deflect all of them, so I have to use another burst of power. I myself still feel strong, but the body almost falls to its knees. I spit a curse.

It can’t move anymore.

I feel my Ele’a’s mind shaking, fading in and out of blackness. My teeth clench. Ele’a, one more time.


Vasiner


I’m… not sure… what’s happening. My entire being hurts.

Ele’a, one more time.

No…

Another hail of arrows. The early dawn sky turns black.

I… am sorry. This is the first time he has ever apologized to me.

The Spirit Surge always is painful, but as it bursts through me again, already used too much… it’s agony. It feels like I’ve been shot with every arrow I deflect, and I scream –


Ala’e


I feel an impact in my right shoulder and another in my side as two arrows make it through. The impact quickly turns into pain and a gasp passes across my lips. Normally this would have been nothing. Normally, two arrows wouldn’t have found me. It’s because of this damnably weak body that they have.

I can’t move my body, and I fight to stay awake as it tries to drag me down into unconsciousness. In the back of my mind, I hear my Ele’a crying. I told him he was too weak, I told him he was too soft – !

Footsteps. So my enemies finally approach. The cowards… they never gave me a fucking chance…

I’m not surprised to hear her voice as she speaks. I’ve already figured it would be her… she was too smart to get herself killed, and the memory of her words gave her away.

“Elzakel’s sacrifice was a shame,” Keshelin sighed as she stood over me. “Nevertheless, it was worth it.” Slowly she circled around and knelt in front of me, her brown eyes staring into my black. In them, I imagine I can see her spirit slave, laughing. I wanted to lash out and rip her ugly face open. I try, but my arm only manages a pathetic jerk. She laughs in my face.

“You, helpless. Imagine that.”

I remember my Ele’a used to like her voice. Always soft, always soothing. It still is, but it is now the voice of a demon. Does he like it now? “You planned this all along… you planned to drive me out here and surround me. You killed hundreds of your won just for this?”

No! That’s not possible!

She sneered as she stood up. I hear the laughter of others surrounding me.

Is that enough answer for you, Ele’a?

[Taskmienster]

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