novelxo Chapter 7: Confrontation
“Kazz, are you ok?” Hanako asked me. “Yeah. I just remembered something, something that I forgot many years ago... I am a Flameborn, someone born with the power of a Phoenix.” I told her. She seemed shocked and I couldn’t tell if she believed me or not.
“N-no way!? Phoenixes went extinct almost a thousand years ago, and Flameborns were eradicated during the Great Flame War!” Hanako said to me in disbelief. “Do you even know how to use your abilities?”
“No... No, I don’t, but I don’t care! As long as I can help others and defeat this creature!”
Tarquin then spoke. “Kazz, I hate to do this, but I am leaving you in charge of my stuff. I have to pay Aaron a visit.” He told us as he went away. “Wait Tarquin! What the hell are you doing!?” I yelled out to him but to no use.
What was Tarquin thinking? This wasn’t going to go well. “Damn that idiot! Come on, let’s go! We can’t have him going alone. He will probably do something stupid or worse, get killed.” I said as I followed him.
The others followed behind me as we went after Tarquin. After a few minutes of running, we came to a stop. “What the hell are you doing here? I told you to stay behind!” Tarquin said to me and the others. “We couldn’t have you go alone. Plus, we didn’t want anything bad happening.” I told him bluntly.
“I don’t care. This is between me and Aaron.” He said to me as he turned around and slowly walked away. That was when all 4 of us saw the king, limping.
“There you are brother.” Tarquin said in a bitter tone as he looked down at the heavily wounded, King Aaron. “What do you want Tarquin! Haven’t you caused enough damage!” The King said, coughing up blood. “I want one last thing from you. Give up your massive hoard of Mana crystals!” Tarquin said to the King. “What!? You bastard! I am keeping them for a reason!” The King said, defensively.
“Oh really, and what reason is that? To better your own life! You have been saying ‘fuck you’ to the entire kingdom for around a decade! You’re a fraud and a traitor to all of Othania!” Tarquin said aloud in rage.
“Tarquin! This isn’t the time for this! We have a kingdom to defend!” I said to Tarquin. Hanako and Varen both agreed with me however Tarquin wasn’t having any of it.
“I understand! Which is why I told you three to stay behind! I have important matters to attend to, by myself. Go, now!”
“No Tarquin. We are part of a team and I refuse to have you die just because you leave the group! We’ve had too many people die already! I refuse to have you join Skaro and Drakel.”
“What about Drakel!?” Varen said, in surprise. “No, no, no! No way! Drakel is not dead! Your lying!” He slowly backed away from us in denial and disbelief. “Varen... I am not lying. I tried to save him but...”
“Shut up! You, you’re the reason he’s dead! If he hadn’t helped you, he would have been alive! You know what, I don’t even need your help.” Varen said as he ran back to where we were where all of the creatures were.
“Great! Just fucking great! First, we have you going off on your own to do what, yell at your brother for being a dick? Next, we have Varen going off alone because of what happened to Drakel!” I yelled out! “I thought we were a team, but as of lately, it feels like were always on uneven terms! I’m done! Goodbye. Hanako, are you coming with me?”
“Kazz, what has gotten into you!?” Hanako asked me in mild shock.
“Oh, what has gotten into me!? I don’t know, first my home gets destroyed, then my best friend dies, and now your all being morons! I’m sorry if I am a bit angry! Actually, no! No, I am not sorry! I have every goddamn right to be angry!” I said as I walked away from Hanako and Tarquin.
“Come on Nora! Let’s go.” I said as I pat Nora on the side, signaling her to move. After a few minutes, I told Nora to stop. I found a nice place to set up camp for a while.
“Damn it all to hell! Why, why did this have to happen! I never wanted any of this!” I said to myself as I laid down on a sleeping back, I set up.
“Agh!” I yelled out as I punched the floor. The ground then caught on fire and my hand started to glow. “The fuck?” I said looking at my hand! I quickly put out the fire. “What just happened?” I thought to myself. “Did I do that?”
I wondered what just happened. I had never really been this angry before. I didn’t understand at all. Was that an ability that Flameborns have?
I quickly left the tent that I set up. “Nora, stay here!” I said to her as I headed to the library. “There might be something on Flameborns there, saying the library isn’t already destroyed.
I headed over to the direction of the library and after a while I found it. It was quite ruined, but the books inside were still alright to a degree.
“Let’s see.” I said to myself as I searched for the book. I then went into the basement section. After a while of searching, I found a book titled “Kindling the Flame.”
I grabbed the book and then headed back to base. That was when one of the creatures attacked me. “Die!” I yelled out as I punched it in the face, setting it on fire. “Wait, that’s what happened earlier!” I murmured to myself.
After the fight, I gained speed and ran back to the camp. It was getting very dark, so I decided to rest. As I lay back down, I started to read the book.
Unfortunately, most of the book was burnt or torn and I could only make out one of the pages and the part that might have been usefull was torn.
“Damn it to hell! Of course the page just has to be ripped!” I said as I closed the book and marked where I was. I could feel my eyes becoming heavy and soon, I was asleep.
As I slept, my mind wandered, thinking of what may come. After only an hour or two, I woke up. Something bad was happening and I needed to be there. I got out of bed and ran into the city.
Even more creatures were here, and the Koldryth Beast was right outside of the city. I unsheathed my sword and knew that I had to fight against the Kell.
Multiple of the weaker Koldryth spawn attacked me however I was able to easily defeat them. Unfortunately, 3 Kell then attacked me. I thrusted my weapon into one of the Kell, knocking it backwards. The other 2 then lunged at me. I struck the first one in the head and stabbed the second one in the chest killing one of them.
The other creature shrieked in pain and attacked me a second time. Luckily, I parried its attack and cut through it's neck. The last one was weakened, and I was able to easily defeat it.
Panting, I sheathed my blade and took a short rest. After the break, I got up. It was at this moment that I was attacked by the Koldryth Beast. The beast slammed one of its tentacles into my stomach, pushing me into a wall.
“Damn it!” I coughed as I tried to stab the creature’s arm but to no use. I then grabbed my staff however I couldn’t activate it because of how weak I was.
I saw my life flash before my eyes. In fact, I thought I was going to die. Then, I heard someone running along with a familiar voice. “Come on, hanako! You attack the creature while I'll get Kazz!” Said the voice.
The creature then screeched in agony and let me go. I fell to the ground. I realized who the person was. It was Tarquin! “T-Tarquin?” I said, croaking in pain. My nose was bloodied, and I probably broke a few bones.
“No more Kazz, were here to help.” Tarquin said. I saw that Varen and Hanako were their too. My eyes went cross eyed, and I fell unconscious.
After God knows how long, I woke up in someone else’s bed. “Your finally awake!” Hanako said as I woke up. ’I’m... Sorry. What I said was wrong. I shouldn’t have run off.” I told her honestly.
“It’s ok Kazz. It really is.” She said as she sat down next to me. ’Oh, by the way. You might want to see something.” She said to me as she handed me the book, Kindling the Flame. “I thought you might want this.”
“Thanks, Hanako. It means a lot.”