Ascension - (Alarian Warriors)

Taking a moment, she steadied and steeled herself. Pushing away the feelings as best she could, she stood and forced herself to focus on anything else.

This wasn’t why she was here right now, that figure from before had wanted to her to show her something. Making her way to the throne, she took a deep breath.

She’d had these dreams before, her mother had prepared her for these events, this was how the gods and goddess contacted the royals. These were the memories of the figure that led her here.

Turning to face the rubble and decay of the entrance, she slowly sat herself down in her father’s seat, forcing herself to relax. Once she had opened herself completely to the dream state the room shifted.

Ghostly figures appeared; she recognized what she was seeing. She watched herself scream at her father as he stated she was to be banished. Her mother died before her eyes, a second time and the events continued. The day she only wished she could forget.

Taking several deeper breaths, she forced herself to stay calm and continue to watch the scene unfold. Her ghostly body hit the floor shortly after her aura had been removed, she watched as the guards stripped her bare in front of the entire kingdom. Her ghostly self was thrown through a fissure, her limp body flung through the spinning portal of essence, like a rag doll.

Her father ordered the room to be emptied and his form moved toward his throne. She stood in a slight panic, not wanting his form to pass through her, he sat with his head low, the room empty and cold.

Wishing she could wrap her hands around his neck, she clenched her hands into fists, but she couldn’t touch him. He studied her aura in his bloodied hand. A figure materialized behind the king; her father’s head turned toward the presence that was obscured by darkness.

“You did well.” It was a male’s voice. Deep and menacing, it sent chills down her spine.

“Lord Ashera, I do hope you’re right. Perhaps now, order will be achieved.” That was her father. “I still cannot believe that Aveyon, of all people, would kill the Goddess.” He shook his head. “Thank the heavens you were sent in the goddess’s place. Our Kingdom would be doomed without your guidance.”

Ashera? She thought. She tried to get a better look at him, but he was wearing a hooded cloak. He wasn’t there in person, she realized; he had projected his astral body to her father. Was that because he couldn’t enter Alarious?

She found that quite strange, most of the Gods could come and go as they pleased. The only beings not permitted to enter would be demons and their lord, a God of the realm called Terramore.

Her eyes widened in realization. Her father had started seeing this Ashera as a god, but he must be the lord of the demons. What a stupid fool, she thought.

The images faded as she tried to investigate the figure more, soon to be replaced by another scene entirely. Her surroundings filled with fog swirling around her until the shape of the vault emerged. Now standing inside the familiar room lined with shelves upon shelves. On each shelf lay small boxes, inside auras rested safely.

The king appeared suddenly, she was not prepared for it, his ghostly figure walked right through her. She shivered at the odd sensation.

She watched as he placed her aura in a crystal case on a pedestal, in the centre of the room. Intriguing, she hadn’t known that her aura had been that important. Only the very first of its kind was placed in that spot. As her father left the room the dream did not change. There must be more to see in here, she pondered.

Then Anzel’s ghostly form appeared, and she could already guess what was about to happen. “No...” She whispered to herself.

He rummaged around, hastily looking through the boxes on the walls. Only stopping when the aura in the centre of the room let off a soft glow. It was helping him. Taking hold of the box he smiled, not taking his time he began to open a fissure. Her mouth fell slightly open as she watched, he had tried to come for her.

The fissure was only half open when the King burst into the room. A battle broke out. Aveyon couldn’t make out the whole ordeal as the ghostly figures clashed, but she could see their swords exchange several blows as the two men fought.

The king wasn’t as experienced a fighter as Anzel, but he had the upper hand. He was aiming heavily for the aura Anzel was trying to protect.

It slipped from Anzel’s hand; he dove for it, catching it before it hit the ground preventing it from shattering. This opening allowed the king to slide his sword easily through Anzel’s heart, ending the battle as quickly as it had begun.

Aveyon’s hands flew to her mouth, the fight had been so fast and already it was over.

Anzel’s eyes filled with horror, turning his attention to the aura, he used what little time he had left to through it into the half-open fissure.

She watched the king scream in furious protest. But as Anzel died the fissure slammed shut preventing the king from going after it or even tracking its location.

Anzel’s lifeless body lay at the king’s feet, a grin on his face as his last breath escaped his lips.

In the King's frenzied state, he took his frustration out on all the auras in the room. Smashing, every, last, one.

Ah, so that’s why he destroyed them all, typical. She thought, shaking her head.

The images vanished, leaving Aveyon in a room of vast white emptiness. It appears that was all there was to see at this time. But to her surprise, these events gave her a great deal of ambition. She now knew that at least one aura, her aura, was on earth somewhere. With any luck, she was going to find it.

Thinking she had seen all there was to see, she was attempting to wake herself from the dream state when she was rather violently sucked from the current dream into another.

An invisible force slammed her into the hard ground. She struggled to breathe as the impact winded her. Someone else had taken control of the dream and forced her to a new scene. Standing, she hunched over as she tried to stay focused, everything was becoming fuzzy and flickering in and out of vision. She barely had enough essence left to stay in this state.

Her eyes locked onto a glowing form, it was pure energy shaped like a man, the features unrecognizable as it appeared to be made of light. It lifted a hand and pointed to the right.

Following the direction, she stumbled forward and saw a half-formed fissure spit out an aura.

That must be mine. She felt relieved.

It bounced lightly on the ground, and she cringed as it cracked. Rolling to a stop the same dark-hooded figure she had seen with her father bent down and went to pick it up.

The moment his fingers touched it a blinding light ripped through her vision, she shielded her eyes and strained to see what was happening.

She heard a sound, like glass splintering, she knew what was about to happen. Her heart sank. Instead of falling into the wrong hands it had self-destructed.

The orb in his hand had shattered. Thousands of tiny little lights shot into the sky and with tremendous speed. The figure cussed and bent down picking up the few glass-like shards that remained.

Falling to her knees she could no longer stop the surroundings from breaking apart. The images around her cracked and crumbled apart just like her aura. She needed to get out of this dream now, or risk being stuck in it forever.

She closed her eye, and focused as best as she could to force herself awake, coming back to the waking land with a sharp gasp.

A wave of dizziness overcame her, her head spinning. She found herself in a heap on the floor cradling her head in her hands, a painful headache taking hold.

The dream had taken a great deal of strength, of which she had only just recovered. She would need to be careful, if she had another dream like that without replenishing her essence, she may not wake up so easily next time. The sooner she could get to elves, the sooner she could, maybe, go back in to find out more.

Soft snoring caught her attention, she remembered that she had drifted off in Riku’s room. Waiting for the room to stop spinning, she then pushed herself up, she needed to find Erosvent and Vincent now! She had information that would be of great use to them.

Hastily exiting the room, she headed for the stairs, rounding a corner, she came face to face with a huge man. Instantly her body froze, her breath caught, and the anxiety hit hard.

Get a grip! She told herself but it really wasn’t that easy.

He towered over her... but oddly he smelt of wet dog. He blinked and stared down at her for a moment, the recollection of who she was showed on his face in an instant.

“My Lady!” He quickly took several steps backwards. “So sorry, I didn’t see you coming.”

The distance helped but her stomach was knotted so tight she began to feel nauseated. Would these feelings ever pass?

He must have noticed her fear, because he continued to retreat, forgetting about the stairs behind him. His foot moved backwards only to find air, the shock on his face made Aveyon realize what was about to happen.

The determination in her rose high in that moment. She didn’t care for herself, however, if this man were to be hurt, it would be because of her own cowardice. No! She couldn’t let that happen. If he fell from the top of the stairs there’s no way, he would come out of it unscathed. Before she could think, she reached for him, their hands locked but he was far too heavy, they both began to fall.

Closing her eye tightly she wasn’t sure what happened next. She felt her body fall through the air and land on something soft. When she was brave enough to open her eye, she found herself at the bottom of the stairs, uninjured and lying on what appeared to be a large soft fur rug? That hadn’t been there before... She pressed her hands into the fur to push herself up.

She let out a shocked scream as it moved under her hands and growled. The man was nowhere to be found only a beast in his place. She scrambled away from him, but as it tried to move, she could tell it was injured.

“HELP!” she yelled as loud as she could. Not sure if she meant it for herself or for the beast.

Several people came running at the sound of her screams. She shot to her feet, stepping away from the growling mass of fur.

“Oh, my goddess!” Erosvent skidded to a halt, Vincent on his heels.

She ran over to them panicked, pointing to the animal on the ground. “A man...he...we fell...then...fur!” She couldn’t talk probably, let alone put a sentence together. Was she going crazy?

The heap of fur rolled over, revealing a rather fluffy-looking Lynx. It made a grunting sound as it sat up and shook its head, then began licking its paw.

Aveyon noticed that it was hurt in several places, but the wounds were slowly closing on their own, disappearing beneath its fur.

“Samuel, what happened?” Erosvent asked, looking at the unusually large beast.

Vincent picked up the ripped pieces of clothing lying around the floor, she hadn’t even noticed them.

“I fell, being my usual clumsy self, but Lady Aveyon tried to reach for me to catch me, and in the end, we both fell. I moved to shield her by transforming but I fear I may have scared her more.” The beast’s voice was low and husky sounding, nothing like the man’s from before.

Looking again at the large cat, he was quite beautiful, his cream fur had black dotted patterns all over.

“Are you hurt? Are you okay? What are you?” She blurted out all at once.

His deep laughter filled the room. “I heal much faster in this form, my true form. I was born a lynx and learnt to take on a human appearance.” He explained.

She reached her hand out, lightly touching the side of his face. He leaned his muzzle into it as she patted him.

“I like you better in this form.” She commented. “I have never met a shapeshifter before.” She was quite fascinated.

Erosvent laughed and she snapped her hand away feeling embarrassed. “I did not mean to be rude.”

“Not at all my lady, I take it as a compliment, however, it is easier to move through the buildings as a human, I will shift back.” The cat replied.

She watched in amazement as the lynx’s form began to shift into a human. The cat appeared to shrink in size and the fur reseeded into the body leaving skin behind. She could see the bones changing under the surface of the skin, moulding themselves into a different shape until a normal body took form. Only then was she able to take in the man’s features.

He was quite lean, and his hair was the same colour as his fur, almost sandy blond with tips of black. His eyes were a shade of yellow, he refused to meet her gaze as though he was ashamed. He took the rags that Vincent had collected and wrapped them around his waist, his naked form no longer exposed.

Shyly glancing at her he asked. “Are you going to be, okay? You looked a little shaken... when we bumped into each other.”

She nodded. “Just a little shocked, I am okay now. And thank you for breaking my fall.”

She was about to continue and mention the dream from earlier when her head suddenly exploded with pain. Her hands clasped tightly around her head as her vision blurred. She could feel someone trying to break through the defences of her mind, she struggled to keep them up. She already had no energy left thanks to that dream. Erosvent and Vincent were at her side in an instant, Sam looked shocked and wasn’t sure what to do as he watched on.

“Aveyon! What’s happening?” She could hear Erosvent calling her, but it seemed so distant.

“Someone...” She gasped dropping to her knees as it felt like a knife was being slid into her ear. “...Is forcing themselves into my head.” She had no choice but to give in and stop fighting the invasion as her strength drained.

Her vision exploded and was replaced with what the invader wanted her to see. Erosvent, Sam, Vincent, Zero & Emerald, they were dead. Their bodies were impaled on huge wooden stakes. Blackened blood oozing from their mouths, ears, and eyes. Their eyes had been sewn open; she couldn’t look away. Their soulless stares burning holes into her very being.

“This is the fate that awaits those who help you. You can’t protect anyone. Give up now and join your mother, before I take you to her myself.” The threat came from a voice she had just heard recently. Her father had called him Lord Asheria.

The presence let go of her mind and her vision turned black. The invasion had used what little essence she had had left to project the horrific scene to her. She collapsed and lost consciousness, unable to hold onto any semblance of strength. Her mind entering a deep dreamless slumber to protect itself.