Oryx vs. Cadence
Oryx looks all about him and feels the breezes on his face. He looks across at his opponent and smiles. Many scars from many battles inner and outer. Oryx takes the sapphire and raises it to the sky, facing it into the light of the upcoming moon. As you look the light fragments and you see many Oryxs' and many Cadences'. Each are of a different time and place, all of karchan. Oryx speaks ' the River of Changes runs in one direction, yet many. Oryx begins to move and you see him all about you running as not one but a hundred oryxs come forward each wielding a dagger, reaching out to slice you into ribbons, even as you feel yourself being drawn into the river of changes your spirit threatening to lose itself to both the past and the future, leaving no cadence in the present
Cadence oohs and aahs at the Oryx and Cadence kaleidoscope. Watching in awe for a moment, he almost forgets that he is in danger. Pulling three twigs from his hair, Cadence sharply snaps one in half. Everything freezes in place as time itself stops. Looking around he chooses the Oryx that he thinks is from the current time. Deciding that it doesn't matter if he isn't right, since what he does to one Oryx will inadvertently affect all the others, he begins his standard attack. Taking the two sticks together Cadence slowly sounds out the rhythm of a heartbeat. The one Oryx, still frozen in time, but now somehow conscious, can feel the synchronous heartbeats. Gradually, Cadence speeds up the beat, Oryx's heartbeat following along. Now, this would be fine if all was normal..or at least not a huge problem, but as it is, only Oryx's mind and heart are moving in normal time, while the rest stays frozen. Bodies aren't meant to work like that, and hearts that beat thousands of beats in no time at all are very likely to explode.
Oryx watches as the River begins its work and smiles. He moves forward through the myriad of Oryxs and Cadences, his blade seeking to strike true. As he hears a twig snap he feels upon him the weight of time as it freezes him in place, as well as all the cadences but one. His mind awake and his heart beating faster as cadence plays with a furious beat. Oryx reaches into the back of his mind and remembers the current principle. When faced with a fast moving current slide with it, not against it. Oryx looks at his opponent through frozen eyes and slides with his mind into the River. As he looks behind him he sees the younger Oryx die. This is the chance he as been waiting for as he flips over in the river and returns to the frozen body he beats upon the chest, using a faster rhythm than Cadences. The heart begins to beat and He feels himself drawn into the river as he opens his eyes watching himself go. He stands tall and firm upon the soil once more. He begins to circle Cadence as he speaks the ancient tongue of his forefathers and mothers. From his hands spring Flames of many colors, each hotter than the next. He sends forward a cascading overflow of flame after flame, reaching out to over Cadence and burn his twigs at the same time
Cadence eeps and acks and runs for cover. As he scrambles around looking for a safe haven he remembers something about fire. Fire dances. It must move to survive. And if anyone around here knows how to control dancing, it's Cadence. Stopping and turning to face the flames, he begins a most delightful fast-paced dance. Within moments the flames are dancing right along side of him, but still a little too close for comfort. Dancing faster and faster, the flames whirl about him to some unheard rhythm. As quickly as it started, the dancing stops. The flames flicker once...twice..and then slowly melt down into nothing but embers. Cadence sighs a big sigh of relief. With that he turns and ponders at his opponent. Snapping his fingers with a sudden idea, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a handful of seeds. Running around in a circle around Oryx, he sprinkles the seeds along the ground. Grabbing his slightly scorched sticks, he begins to beat a new rhythm, one of life, one that comes straight from the heartbeat of the earth. Clouds begin to pass overhead, and rain falls down. Within a few moments the sky is completely dark. Less than a minute later the sky is bright and clear. A soft tremor hits the ground, but lasts for only a few seconds. Cadence is controlling the subtle rhythm of time. Only he seems to be unaffected. The seeds sprout before your eyes, growing quickly into big mango trees. The trees enclose you, thick trunks and branches full of ripe fruit. You realize that your body too has been affected by many years. For a moment, you have to wonder if you will have the strength to get out of this. Then, the beating stops and time slows to its normal pace. A harsh wind comes ripping through the land, the trees rustle, and the fruit looses it's grip. Hundreds upon hundreds of mangos come hurtling down toward your old and weakened body. If the impact doesn't kill you, your humanly weakness to mangos might just make you eat until you pop!
Oryx looks as the flames dance until they die. He watches as Cadence begins to run a circle around him. Seeds and Rain fall and tremors rock the earth he stands upon. Roots, trunks, branches grow as time speeds up, fruit bulging as he feels his body become frail. He rides the current once again and smiles as his wisdom grows as well He speaks a spell that he knew not when he was younger, some moments ago. The mangos begin to rain down until they reach just above his head when the spell of the aged one begins to work. The mangos themselves grow older and fall, until only a shower of seeds covers Oryx. The trees themselves growing older as well. Oryx watches with delight as the trees begin to fall over in a criss cross pattern creating a jail cell of wood for Cadence. Oryx speaks once more and Cadence is drawn into the river of Changes to when he was a young boy, trapped in a forest, scared alone and hungry. Oryx watches as the mango trees become Cadences long lost forest and Cadence looks like he will start screaming for his mother....
Cadence looks around in confusion. There are no forests like this in TalZia. Cadence wonders where he is. Hoping that this isn't an Orendian trap, he begins to chant the sacred spell of Gerson. Foreign words and sounds fall from the young Cadence's mouth. As the chant comes to an end, Cadence vanishes. For a moment you wonder what could have happened to him, but then you find yourself drawn with him, across land, country, continent, planet, solar systems, and galaxies. Suddenly you find yourself soaring through the air of an unfamiliar land. You see animals and colors and elements that you could never even have imagined in your dreams. Then it dawns on you; you have been called to Cadence's land with him. Something about the inconsistency in time and the use of the magic has brought you along too. You notice Cadence flying ahead of you, and for a moment you glimpse a village inside a huge bubble. Then as Cadence reaches the edge of the bubble, both he and the village of Gerson disappear. You cannot fly anymore. You begin to sink downward, but your momentum carries you toward the shield of Gerson. For some reason, you know you cannot pass through the shield. Any common sense within you would tell you that you do not want to touch the shield. But as you look down, you see what must be the TalZian equivalent of water....you are not sure you want to try to swim in that either. A fleeting memory passes through your mind of Cadence saying that in his homeland, people were tortured and killed for using magic too. It might be wise to find a way back to Karchan before you touch TalZian land.
Oryx looks on in delight as Cadence vanishes, raising his hands in victory, only to realize he has been drawn into another River of sorts. Flying just behind Cadence two things come to his eyes. One is a shield, of some magic unknown to him, the other what could be water, this is his Land the land of the Burners, not unlike his parents land. As he falls he thinks of Karchan. He thinks of its Blue Mountain, flowing rivers and the waterfalls. He draws from his pocket the Sapphire and places it into the face of the Blazing light of the Shield. The old man he has become faces death with dignity as Oryxs from all time periods appear before him. He dives into the River of Changes and watches as the old man hits the shield burning up. He opens his eyes as a younger Oryx holding the Sapphire in one hand and a dagger in the other, looking around he sees Cadence and asks him okay shall we begin the duel?
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