[Teddie]

004 – Ravine

As the ax made contact with the ground, the force of an earthquake rocked the town. Khule and I sprinted outside to see what occurred. The results of the attack were devastating.
A massive ravine cut down the road, extending from Gareth to the large shop at the end of the street. The gash in the earth hadn’t lowered the earth however. The attack, Klyfta, as it was called, split the earth in two, pushing the two halves of the earth, as well as the surrounding the surrounding land, at least ten yards away from eachother. The screams of the bikers, still falling toward the core of the earth, resounded, slowly fading. Slowly, Gareth brought his hands together, and as the ravine closed, the screams intensified briefly, before stopping altogether. Only a thin scar on the land remained, as well as a massive gash in the shop at the end of town. Slowly, everything went deadly silent.
"Gareth. . ." Khule started.
"Lavernius, we’re leaving."
"Gareth, what was that?" I asked.
"That was Terra. We are going. Now."
I didn't hesitate, seeing as this was the first time Gareth had raised his voice. I started grabbing Ephesus, but as I began to turn away, from the road, a scream resounded from down the street.
"You! You monster! What have you done?"
All three of us turned to see a crowd of people gathering around the wrecked house. The attack tore the house in two, and when it was pushed back together, the house couldn't handle the strain, collapsing.
"You ruined our home!"
"What is wrong with you?"
"There were people in that house! You're damn well lucky that no one was hurt!"
"We ought to kill you for that!"
Gareth backed away, and something slightly resembling fear entered his eyes. "I . . . I am terribly sorry. Please forgive me."
"Like hell we’ll forgive your sorry ass!"
As the villagers began to walk towards us, the roar of motorcycles echoed behind us.
"You killed my men! I’ll get you, you government ;););););)!"
Gareth and I turned, and noticed another horde of bikers coming towards us. I began to step backwards, but Gareth grabbed me on the shoulder.
"Lavernius. . ." Gareth began. "I want no more trouble to come to this town. You have to help me take these horrid men."
"Gareth. . ."
"Lavernius. I trust you."
Those three words sent chills down my spine, but the good kind. Without a word, I began laughing almost maniacally, drawing Ephesus. "This oughta be good."
I began sprinting towards the oncoming bikers. The first biker drew his sword, but as he neared me, I launched myself into the air, landing heavily on his front tire. The biker flipped up on its tire, and as a look of surprise grew on the man’s face, I stabbed Ephesus through him. I launched myself off the bike, and as it crashed, I saw four bikers coming towards me from the ground.
"Stiga!" screamed Gareth.
Massive spikes of rock jutted up from the earth, perforating the four bikers. I jumped from spike to spike, as more spikes sprouted from the ground. I flipped into the air, slicing an oncoming bike in half. Bikes drove recklessly between the spikes, and Gareth clapped his hands, blowing up the spikes, drilling the bandits with bullets of stone. Two bikes made it through the explosion, driving headlong towards both of the dark skinned men. Gareth drew Garm yet again, swinging it in an arc to the right, hitting the first biker with the flat of the ax, knocking him into the second driver, and as their bikes became locked up, Khule ran forward, ripping the sword out of the biker's hand. He sprinted forward, sliding next to another biker, quickly stabbing the underside of the bike while rolling out of the stabbing range of the biker. The two intertwined bikers were decapitated by one single swing of Garm, and the bikes rolled to a stop in front of the crowd of villagers.
"They. . . they're all monsters!"
"Insanity."
"Unreal."
Khule obviously heard this, as he stuttered in his run, and was clipped by an oncoming sword, gashing his arm. He fell, but as he did, threw the sword, stabbing through the back of the biker who drove away. I continued running, jumping onto a building wall, sprinting, before flipping back onto the center of the road, kicking a biker off his bike, who was promptly run over by one of his comrades. I turned the bike with my hips, and began driving. The controls were easy enough, and with one hand on the accelerator, I began bobbing and weaving between spikes which continually jutted from the ground, slashing opponents and stabbing everyone I could. Those who weren't taken out by either of had their necks cracked by the pelvis of Khule, who promptly took their swords to use as projectiles. I drove forward, and I finally saw the leader in the back, who was wearing an eye patch and a thin black trenchcoat. He flew towards me, spinning a spear above his head. He threw it, smiling.
"Here you go, pretty boy!"
The spear flew forward, and before I could turn, punctured my front tire, sending my bike flipping around. I was almost crushed underneath my bike, but as the turning righted, I got up, and ran with the movement of the bike, and as I closed the gap between the leader and me, I launched myself into the air.
As I flew, I tightened my grip on Ephesus. As I began to flip in the air, the leader brought out his sword. As I began my descent, a weird feeling came over me, like a power coursing through my veins. I screamed the first two words that came into my head, and our blades clashed.
"Ephesus Fall!"
Our blades collided, and for a tenth of a second, I stayed suspended in the air. Everything moved in slow motion. The wind rustled both his hair and mine, and I noticed his eyes widen in shock. Then it happened.
His blade shattered.
I fell through, still in slow motion. Shards of metal flew by me, skimming my face as they past. One cut me, and cut took the shape of a V on my face. It cut deep, but I barely felt it. I fell, and drove Ephesus through the leader’s chest. He looked up at me, and mouthed, "What the hell?" as he fell off his bike, blood spurting from his mouth. The town looked at me shock.
"He. . . he really is a monster"
"He shattered that man's sword! How did he do that?"
"Get him away from me! That cannot be human."
The town turned, running into their homes, leaving the three of us standing on the streets, amid spikes of stone coated in blood, and a reek of death.
"I guess I should take care of them," said Gareth. He closed his eyes, and slowly whispered a single word. "Grav."
The bodies and heads slowly began to move, as the ground below them began to shudder, sinking down, creating holes for each body. Dirt collapsed inward, filling the makeshift graves, leaving the street as it was, with the exception of the house on the end.
"Lavernius... we should go."
"Yea. See you Khule," I said, thanking him for the blade. We slowly and sullenly walked out of the town, Khule staring at us as we left.
"Wait!"
We turned, and Khule sprinted towards us.
"The town will never forgive me for harboring you. There's no future for me here anyway. I'll just come with you and take up life in Makai."
"Khule... I'm terribly sorry for causing you all this trouble."
"Nonsense Gareth, the business was terrible here anyway. Besides . ."
We turned back towards the town, as a pillar of smoke curled towards the sky. The flickering lights indicated a fire, which sprouted from the approximate spot in town where Khule's shop was.
"Khule. . ."
"Gareth, if you apologize I will hurt you. You did what was right in protecting their town. I tried my hardest to get you to stay with my brother, your father. I promised him before he died that -"
"You will not speak of that man. You may travel with us."
"Thank you Gareth."
And so we walked. The blood dripped off my blade as we walked, and I felt the weight of what I had just done come down on me. I collapsed to the ground, and was instantly picked up by the strong arms of Gareth. I fell into a sleep.
For the first time, thankfully, it was dreamless.

~

I lay half awake by the fire.
"Gareth, how long are you going to hurt yourself about the past?"
"As long as it takes for God to forgive me. He has yet to forgive me, so I have not stopped feeling pain."
"It wasn't your fault, and you know that. The power was new, and you had no idea how to control it."
"Lady Fate entrusted it to me. It is my fault."
"Well what about the boy? If she gave you such an important mission than you cannot be too far off the path of good."
"The boy. . . We don't even know if he’s truly the one. You saw that power back there. How can he have such a power without meeting Lady Fate?"
"It's the strength of his soul embodying itself in physical prowess. It's not something unheard of. Look at yourself!"
"It is not the same Uncle."
"But it is!"
"This is the end of this conversation."
And it went silent. I began to drift back into sleep, when suddenly Gareth spoke again.
"You have a question, Lavernius, so ask it."
How did he know I was awake? I asked myself. I rose up, propping myself on my elbows. "Gareth. What those men and women said in the town, about you being a murderer. Is it true?"
Gareth sighed, and closed his eyes.
"Did you really kill your whole family? And drink their blood?"
Gareth opened his eyes, and looked at Khule, who looked away, tears brimming in his eyes.
"Yes Lavernius. Tis all true.
"I am the worst sinner on the planet."