“After several weeks of vigorous training with my master, the Avatar of Life, I slowly began to view my powers in a new light. With a a new flare to my magic and the knowledge to unlock the true potential in Heaven’s Flare, I no longer feared the presence of the blightfire assassin. I now head out of my home with my eyes towards the sky. Cloud City is my next destination now that spring is beginning to show, then Omurai and I shall go to Maeltryst, and our next big adventure.”
~ Asher Vasquez
Asher waved goodbye to his family, who stood at the entrance to Vandehka. Chastine and Halberd also nodded their goodbyes. The fire adept looked up at the volcano just before he left, knowing that Niamh was likely watching him leave. With his new garbs marking him as a High Guard, Asher headed back down the road to the land below.
After walking for quite some time, Asher slipped off the road, hitting diagonally down the mountains towards Sol City. The crunch of snow and the howl of the wind were all that accompanied Asher. Gradually, though, the crunching of the snow picked up a new beat, sounding more like two sets of feet. That’s when he realized…he was no longer alone.
Asher stopped suddenly, grinning as his suspicions came true with a second halting of pace behind him. The alchemist turned around, swinging his full blade down to his side as he did so. Sure enough, there stood the assassin, a grim expression on his darkened face.
He had long, blond hair that faded into brown at the tips, with eyes that shone like the blightfire Asher found. His cloak was long and heavy, with white fur around the collar for added warmth. His left sleeve was made of a metal-like material that seemed platted together much like cloth, his arm hanging limp under it.
“So, you’re Asher Vasquez, the protégé of Vandehka,” the assassin said slowly.
“Protégé? Don’t humor me. I know who you are…assassin of blightfire,” Asher replied confidently.
That brought a smug smile to the assassin. “Don’t be so humble. The wielder of the unyielding, star pupil of the Avatar of Life, and a skilled alchemist to boot.”
“Sounds like you did some research on me, yet I know only that you are able to use the rare blightfire. I suppose it doesn’t matter, though,” Asher said as he untied his heavy bag of possessions from the handle of his full blade, “Because it’s obvious you’ve come for my life.” With that, Asher gently lowered his pack to the ground and readied Heaven’s Flare.
“The name is Das…” the assassin suddenly declared, planting his feet in the ground and holding his right hand wide from his side.
“No blade? Come on, let’s get this over with, I have things to do,” Asher grumbled.
“I’m an assassin, boy…we fight when I say so,” Das snapped. In a blink of an eye, Das leaped at Asher, a blade of pure blightfire forming out of his right hand. Asher slammed his blade up to block the assassin’s leap.
The crafty Das, however, would not be stopped there. Swinging his feet under Heaven’s Flare, Das wrapped his legs around Asher’s waste. Das rolled backwards and then kicked out, launching Asher behind him.
Das continued rolling backwards and came up with a sweep of his sword, which Asher barely managed to dodge by twisting his body out of the way, then tumbled to the ground. Asher came up on the defensive, blocking the insisting strikes from Das. Asher pushed back the strikes and spun out, his blade held wide, to get some distance between himself and Das.
Asher activated the flames burning in Heaven’s Flare and leaped up, turning the blade in his hand as he jumped, and slammed it straight into the ground. A trail of explosions erupted from the ground, slamming into Das, who merely held up his left hand. The explosions all came together in a final blast that melted the snow in a large radiance. Asher peered through the smoke, knowing Das had survived somehow.
Sure enough, there stood the assassin with his left arm held forward. A dome of blightfire covered Das like a shield, heat radiating off it. Das’ left sleeve was glowing a bight orange due to the heat generated by it. The shield dissipated and Das reached over to unlock three buckles that held his special sleeve to the rest of his armor. The metal-like sleeve slammed to the ground, revealing a horribly burnt arm with hundreds of tattoos marked all over it.
“You’ve got some power there, Asher…but you just don’t have enough to stop me. You see, Asher…you’ve got to make some sacrifices in life if you ever want to achieve anything,” Das said calmly, walked out of the heated area. “Power…power did this to me. It’s alright, though…I don’t feel anything in my arm anyways, and I’m unstoppable with it. Are you willing to sacrifice?”
“You’re crazy. Thrift and perseverance are what produces power. What you have is folly,” Asher replied with a smirk.
“Fine…I’ll just have to show you how real this power is,” Das said. With that said, Das held up his left arm, hid hand aimed open at Asher. A beam of blightfire shot out from his hand.
Asher held up his sword, which blocked the beam completely. The force of the blow shoved Asher backwards, though, and he tripped to the ground.
Das leaped at the prone Asher with his blade baring, but the fire adept was up quickly his full blade smacking aside Das’ blade. Now off guard, the assassin had to fight toe to toe with Asher, his magical shield-creating hand working furiously as his blade jabbed and slashed to no avail. Asher spun around with a heavy swing, but then stopped and turned the other way, his blade turning vertical as he did so. He batted the tricked Das in the side with the flat of his blade, throwing the assassin several feet away.
Asher ran towards Das and leaped into the air, preparing a powerful strike to finish him off…just as Das wanted. Up came the burnt left hand, which released a disk shield that shot out and slammed into Asher’s gut, knocking him backwards and onto the ground with a heavy thud. Asher sat squat, his arms wrapped around his stomach in pain.
Das took the time to close in on the fire adept. The assassin leaned close to taunt Asher, only to have the fire adept snap his head up, cracking Das in the chin. Asher opened his mouth to let a waft of fire engulf Das. The assassin tumbled away, rolling in the snow to extinguish the flames.
The angered assassin leaped up, death in his eyes. “Alright…enough playing around,” she snarled. Out snapped his right hand, energy coursing down his arm. Asher held up his sword on the defense.
In a blazing display, Das began swinging his hand like a sword, giant blades of blightfire rushing at the alchemist. Asher did well to block the blows, but there were just too many to keep up. The top of one blade tipped over the edge of Heaven’s Flare and slammed into Asher’s shoulder. Asher’s new robes fought off the blightfire, but the blow set Asher off balance, and the next blade struck hard, knocking Asher over. Worst of all, the blade crested over Asher’s sword to hit his right eye.
The fire adept squirmed on the ground, shouting in pain and slamming his fist into the ground. The screams softened to a low growl as Asher endured the pain.
“Hurts, doesn’t it?” Das said, moving in slowly once more, his smug smile returned. “The thing about blightfire is…it’s probably the most agonizing thing you’ll ever feel as the dark flames lick at your flesh…not only that, but it drains your energy. Suddenly, adrenaline doesn’t matter. Don’t worry, though. I’m a quick killer” Das said as he summoned his blade once more.
To Das’ surprise, Asher’s blade came swinging around anyways. Das tried to leap back but still took a slash to the chest. The assassin clutched at his torn torso and gasped in surprise. Asher slowly rose to his feet, his one good eye staring down the wounded assassin.
Infuriated, Das raised his right hand, creating a large orb of blightfire. Asher held his ground, his eye trailing off into the distance behind the assassin. Laughing, Das tossed the massive orb at Asher, who turned his attention to it just in time. In a single motion, Asher collapsed to the ground, creating a wall of fire over him as he did so, and used the wall to roll the orb over him and slightly beyond. The fire adept was up in an instant, plowing right into Das as the orb stuck the ground in a large explosion. With a quick heave, Asher tossed the surprised assassin over his shoulders and kept on running. As soon as Das hit the ground he was running after the fleeing Asher.
The fire adept charged on towards his pack, slamming his sword into the ground as he came near his target. Asher slid into the pack and instantly began digging in it. By the time Das caught up with Asher, the alchemist already had his pack tied around his waste.
Das grasped the handle of Heaven’s Flare as he ran past it, expecting the blade to slip out easily…but it didn’t. Das’ arm snapped back as the blade didn’t give way, flipping the assassin head over heels. Das landed on his head, bringing a laugh from Asher.
“It’s not called the unyielding for nothing…” Asher said matter-of-factly.
“It matters not. You have no weapon to fight with and your fire doesn’t burn me,” Das said, recomposing himself after the embarrassing fall.
“You did your research on me, I’ll give you that…but you obviously don’t know about my alchemical skills,” Asher said, a grim expression coming over his face as he held up his hands, four vials between his fingers in each.
“So, you’re going to beat me with some little potions?” Das asked incredulously.
“Yeah…I am,” Asher said with a weak grin. With a flick of his wrist, Asher snapped the only white concoction vial into the air and slapped it to the ground. An extremely bright flash of light erupted from the vial, blinding Das. Asher leaped up and over Das, throwing the remaining 3 vials from his right hand down on the assassin. Each exploded in a fiery show as Asher landed on his feet. Off he went to easily pluck Heaven’s Flare out of the ground and press onward, gaining distance between himself and the assassin he knew hadn’t been finished off.
Just as before, Das stepped out of the alchemical flames unharmed, his shield wafting away as he started running. The assassin leaped into a fury of strikes, which Asher stepped away from each time. Finally, Das gave a heavy down slash. This time, Asher spun around Das and tossed two more vials into the air between himself and Das. With a swing of his full blade, Asher slapped both vials into Das’ back. Bolts of lightning erupted from the vials, launching the assassin several feet. Das hit the snow in a roll and quickly ran at the fire adept, his blightfire blade held wide.
Asher tossed a third vial at Das, this one merely smacked away by a swat of Das’ shielding arm. Growing concerned, Asher threw Heaven’s Flare aside and tossed his final vial into the air just as Das prepared to gather energy once again.
“Cannon Fire!” Asher roared, his right fist becoming engulfed in flames as he punched out. His fist hit directly on the vial, causing it to explode in a massive flurry. When Asher opened his eyes, there stood Das, his left hand gripping Asher’s fist, all the energy of the explosion contained in an orb in Das’ palm.
Asher could feel the heat building around his fist and saw too, Das’ blade sweeping down at his left side. Up came Asher’s feet, one planted on Das’ sword arm, the other in the assassin’s stomach to kick free.
Asher scurried for Heaven’s Flare as Das build is own energy into the orb containing Asher’s The fire adept slammed the blade into the ground and planted himself behind it just as a massive wave mixed of blightfire and fire rushed passed him, clearing all the snow around him. Slowly, cautiously, Asher raised from his defense.
“That’s one mighty blade you’ve got there…but it can’t save you now,” Das said with his taunting smile showing. Asher’s one good eye widened as he realized that he was on the edge of a cliff. Moving quickly, Asher rushed away from the edge, but it was too late. A quick beam of blightfire sliced the cliff edge right off, taking Asher with it.
The fire adept struggled to keep hold of his full blade as he twisted to dodge falling rocks. The last thing Asher saw was the rushing water, then there was only darkness.
**********
Asher awoke to find himself in a bed. The sound of water was all around him, so he reasoned he was on a boat. Pain seemed to emanate from his left shoulder, so Asher slid his black shirt down, expecting to see some gruesome scar. Instead he only saw a slight redness with black marks on his skin where the blightfire had hit him. He rubbed his right eye to realize that he could see out of it again. Upon further examination of the room, Asher spotted his bag and robe resting on a chair nearby, but no Heaven’s Flare. Panicking, Asher leaped out of the bed and rushed out of the room, just to run into a woman as she entered the doorway.
The woman had long and wavy blue hair with ocean blue eyes, which were widened in surprise.
“Who are you?” Asher asked, raising a curious eyebrow.
“Oh, you’re awake! Do you feel any pain? How is your shoulder? What about your eye, can you see out of it?” the woman asked in a fast, melodically voice.
“Huh? Oh, no; fine; and yes,” Asher answered, a baffled look on his face.
The woman seemed a little eased by Asher’s answer, but still had a troubled look. She placed a gentle finger on Asher’s right eyebrow then ran it down his cheek. “I’m so sorry…we couldn’t completely heal your eye, though.”
“What do you mean? I see just fine out of it,” Asher said, as if that would put the woman at ease further.
“Yes but…there is still a slight scar and it’s yellow,” the woman said, reaching for a mirror on a nearby table.
“Yellow?” Asher asked incredulously as he lifted the mirror to his face. Sure enough, where his eye was once a burning red it was now a glimmering gold-like yellow, with a faint scar running through his eyebrow and down to his cheek. “Hmm, now how weird is that? Must be some kind of side effect from the blightfire…” Asher said, sounding more intrigued than disturbed. He continued to examine his eye from all different angles, mumbling to himself with awe.
Seeing that Asher wasn’t devastated, or even worried for that matter, the woman sighed with relief. “Ah, so it was blightfire…no wonder it was so hard to heal up.”
Asher seemed to not hear the woman as he kept staring at his eye. Finally, as if it finally hit him, the fire adept looked up and nodded. “Blightfire is hard to heal, yes. It also hurts like nothing else. Either way, thank you for saving me and healing me. But…you still haven’t answered my question.”
“Oh, how silly of me! My name is Reala Mei, and it was actually my husband who pulled you from the water,” the woman said.
Suddenly remembering, Asher became extremely worried. “Did he find a larger sword with me?!” He demanding, his hand grasping Reala Mei’s shoulders.
“You know, that’s the strangest thing…when we found you….you were resting on the sword like a raft. We pulled you out of the water with ease, but when we tried to move the sword after we took it out of your hands…it was so heavy! It should still be on the deck above,” Reala Mei said with a puzzled look.
“That’s the one!” Asher said, instantly elated. The fire adept bolted up the stairs, but ran into a blue haired man, and the two tumbled down.
“Oh, now what was that?!” the man growled, wrapping Asher in a tight grapple.
“Honey, he’s not trying to escape, you can let go,” Reala Mei pleaded.
“Yes…I just…wanted my sword,” Asher managed as he tried squirming out of the hold.
Realizing his error, the man released Asher and helped him up. “Sorry about that…you just startled me.”
“My fault…I should watch where I’m going,” Asher apologized equally.
“Wevin Lo here, and how about yourself?” the man asked, offering his hand.
Asher accepted the shake with a smile, “Asher Vasquez, thank you for saving me.”
“No problem. We were just wandering by. So, how’d a fellow like you end up in a river?” Wevin Lo asked with a chuckle.
“A…cliff fell while I was standing on it,” Asher lied.
“I see, what kind of luck is that?” Wevin Lo replied.
“So, where might you be heading, Asher?” Reala Mei asked.
“Sol City, I suppose. That’s the only way to Cloud City, right?” Asher answered.
“Well, your luck has changed for the better! We’re just about to port in Aeromast. I came down here to tell Reala Mei when we had our…meeting,” Wevin Lo said with a laugh.
“And Aeromast is about a two day’s walk from Sol City…” Asher added, a grin widening on his face.
“Well, get yourself dressed and meet us on deck I suppose,” Wevin Lo said, already moving up the stairs. Reala Mei followed her husband up, and Asher hurried to get his robes back on.
Once on deck, Asher quickly found his sword, resting near the edge. Easily lifting the sword from the ground, Asher swung it around a few times just to be sure nothing was wrong with it. This display dumbfounded Wevin Lo, who stood staring with his mouth open.
“How do you even lift that thing?” Wevin Lo demanded.
“It’s a magical weapon. It allows only the owner to wield it, becoming too heavy for anyone else if they try picking it up. I can change the weight of it at will,” Asher explained, casually placing the blade over his shoulder.
“You’re full of surprises,” Reala Mei said with a smirk.
“Indeed. When was the last time we had such curious guests?” Wevin Lo agreed.
“It’d have to be the Guardian of Light and her company,” Reala Mei suggested.
“Oh, you guys know Kara and Faux, eh?” Asher said while he checked all his gear.
“I think we should be the ones asking you that. How do you know Kara?” Reala Mei asked, surprise on her face.
“I helped them beat the Bladenheart Army,” Asher answered calmly, this time shaking one of his vials in curiosity.
“So you’re the fire adept that joined the banished nobleman of Altem Tier in the Battle of Tier Bastion?” Wevin Lo asked, finding it hard to believe.
“You guys heard the tales to, eh? Yeah, that’s me,” Asher laughed.
“Wow…we sure do get a lot of celebrities,” Reala Mei said.
“We’re coming into port now!” Wevin Lo announced, breaking the moment as he steered into the port city of Aeromast.
“I suppose this is your leave, then,” Reala Mei reasoned.
“Yeah, I promised I’d meet ‘the banished nobleman of Altem Tier’ before spring,” Asher said, a wry grin on his face as he quoted Wevin Lo.
“Well, perhaps we’ll meet again someday, and if the two of you are interested in going to Leeando in early spring, you can find us here,” Wevin Lo informed. “Until we meet again, good luck to you!”
“Thanks, you too,” Asher replied as he slipped into the busy streets of Aeromast.
The fire adept quickly made his way through Aeromast and onto the road to Sol City. After about two days of marching he came across the eastern gate of the City of Glowing Towers, Sol City. Asher remembered his last visit here, when Omurai and he went their separate ways outside the northern gate, but he hadn’t been inside the city since the fight with Voyse, where Asher had wounded the assassin’s right ankle. Now here he was moving towards the giant tower of energy that reached up into the sky in the middle of the city, the only known portal to Cloud City.
It was well known that all could enter Cloud city through the portal, but it wasn’t guaranteed that you’d be permitted into the city. Asher was hardly daunted by this, knowing he had connections above, literally.
Into the giant beam he stepped, slipping on his goggles as he did so to guard from the light, for he wanted to see this spectacle in full. However, the light was still too strong, and Asher had to blink. When his eyes opened again he felt light headed and stumbled out of the light…and into a group of guards armed to the teeth. Asher slowly removed his goggles and smiled.
**********
Omurai made his way down the market, his hand wresting on his recently fixed katana. Just as he cleared the busiest section, a soldier came running up to him.
“What is the matter, solider?” Omurai asked, concerned.
“There’s trouble at the portal gate. A red-headed man with a large sword is causing grief for the guards. He says he knows you…” the soldier explained.
Omurai’s face brightened at the news, and he began making his way towards the portal gate, completely ignoring the solider. The nobleman weaved through the bustling city towards the center, where the portal gate resided. Once there he instantly recognized Asher among the group, arguing with the head guard.
“Asher, about time you arrived!” Omurai shouted, breaking up the crowd.
“You know this man, Lord Failyn?” the head guard demanded.
“Yes, he accompanied me on the surface. I assure you, he is all bark. Now if you’ll excuse us, we’ll be out of your way,” Omurai explained, moving beside Asher and shoving the hot head along.
Once the two were alone, Omurai took a long look at his friend. “You’ve certainly changed. I like the new garbs, but what happened to your eye?”
“What a lovely welcome party you have there…” Asher grumbled, ignoring Omurai.
“They’re just doing their job…especially when someone shows up with a giant sword,” Omurai explained.
“Yeah, my new robes mark me as a High Guard of Vandehka…” Asher said, changing the subject with a silly smile.
“Ah, but what of your eye?” Omurai pressed.
“Someone sent an assassin after me,” Asher said bluntly.
“Do you think it was Voyse?” Omurai asked anxiously.
“No, if Voyse wanted me dead he would have done it himself,” Asher replied, and Omurai had to agree with his reasoning.
“So, you defeated him I assume, but not before he got your eye?” Omurai figured.
“No…he beat me. Luckily, though, he knocked me off a cliff and into the river below. I would have drowned if this ferry couple hadn’t saved me,” Asher said.
“Is the assassin stronger than Voyse?” Omurai asked.
“Of course not. I was just overconfident,” Asher said with a shrug.
Omurai seemed relieved to know that much. “Well I’m just glad to see you’re alright.”
“Yeah, so how have you been?” Asher asked.
“Oh, quite well. I just got my sword fixed and enhanced,” Omurai informed, slightly lifting the large katana from its sheath to reveal a green blade that shone with crackling energy.
“Nice! So, have you been practicing lately?” Asher asked.
“A little…” Omurai said, somewhat ashamed.
“What’s the matter?” Asher said with a worried look.
“Well the truth is…I really haven’t practiced a whole lot. I spend most of my time with Rinze,” Omurai explained.
“Rinze…who’s Rinze?” Asher demanded with a smirk.
“My girlfriend,” Omurai declared proudly.
“Well, I think I’ll need to see this Rinze person. Is she pretty?” Asher said, rubbing his chin.
“But of course! The most beautiful woman you’ve ever seen!” Omurai proclaimed.
“Well…I don’t know about that. I’ve seen an immortal, and they’re pretty easy on the eyes,” Asher argued with a grin.
“Bah! Nonsense. Come, you shall have to see for yourself. I was planning on having dinner at her house this evening anyways, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind throwing in another plate,” Omurai said, equally amused.
Once the two hand reached the home of Rinze, Omurai casually opened the door and walked inside. Asher looked at the doorway, surprised by Omurai’s rudeness, shrugged, and walked in himself, hardly in a mood for manners.
“Rinze! Good news! My friend Asher has arrived!” Omurai shouted, walking into a back room. Asher curiously followed his friend, peering into a room filled with hundreds of plants and flowers. Off in the back of the room stood Omurai, waving towards Asher to come in. Asher moved through the artificial garden and stumbled next to Omurai. Standing with a pot of water in a simple dress stood a very beautiful young woman with white hair and black highlights.
“Oh, well hello! Omurai has told me so much about you! You look just as I had imagined,” Rinze said with glee, wrapping Asher in a welcoming hug.
“Ah! Well, yeah…I’m pretty easily described,” Asher said, surprised by Rinze’s hug.
“You’ll have to excuse Rinze, she likes to hug people,” Omurai said with a laugh.
“So you’re the lucky gal who my friend fancies?” Asher said with a raised eyebrow. “Well she is good looking, I’ll give you that much, my friend.”
“I bet you’re tired from your long journey. Come, let’s go sit down on the patio,” Rinze offered, moving through some glass doors nearby.
The three sat at a table with a beautiful view of the cloudy sky expanse.
“Will you be joining us for dinner, Asher?” Rinze asked.
“I…guess?” Asher said, not quite sure.
“Of course he is. He’ll be our special guest. You’ll be staying until spring, correct?” Omurai asked.
“Well yeah, when we leave for Maeltryst I figured,” Asher said with a shrug.
“Asher…there’s something I need to ask of you,” Rinze said, suddenly serious.
“Wha…?” Asher asked, confused.
“Promise me you won’t let anything happen to my Omurai while he’s gone…promise me!” Rinze said.
“Oh! Well sure of course! He’s like the brother I never had…I’d not let anything happen to him,” Asher said proudly.
“The same goes for me,” Omurai said, slapping Asher in the shoulder.
“You two make an odd group of adventurers…” Rinze said with a giggle.
“Odd, but effective. There is a method to our madness you could say,” Asher replied with a grin.
That evening the three enjoyed a well cooked meal, by Rinze of course, and talked about their tales and of things to come. Through the next few weeks, Asher and Omurai would spend time training and preparing for their next journey. Come Spring, the two would be more than ready.
