Gaiden of Darkness [Prequel to Legend of the Five Knights]

Gaiden 17: Previous Wielder

*Takeshi*

Sebastian chuckled. "Great to see ya determined all of a sudden," he said, pointing his hammer at me. "Now come, Shi! Show me how strong ya truly are!"

I took a deep breath and covered Aventine with the shadows surrounding me. I took a step back and positioned my sword horizontally.

Sofia's older brother smirked. He vanished once again. I spun around, slashing the air around me. The blade, though, only cut through empty air. My eyes shifted toward my left, but I was too late. Before I could process it, I had been knocked over to the edge of the battlefield.

I held onto the corner with one hand. I gasped as Sebastian's hammer came flying at me. I ducked and watched as it vanished into the darkness, only to spin back around like a boomerang. Luckily, it passed me.

"Ya're pretty good at dodging," he said, laughing.

I sighed. I was still doing it... Was I good for nothing else but avoiding?

I pushed myself up and raised my arms over my head and chest. *Boom*

I grimaced as I stumbled on the edge.

Sebastian's eyes widened.

I smiled. "Didn't expect I'll be able to take a hit, huh?" I asked. I raised my sword and slashed diagonally. He dodged, but the edges of his loose robes sliced off.

He ripped the tattered parts of his robe off. "True, I didn't," he said, grinning. "But I welcome the surprise. Both from you and Anis!" He held his hand out. A cold wind blew across the battlefield. Tiny particles of what appeared to be ice formed around him. The stuff spread across the ground until it made its way over to me.

I jumped before it could touch me. My black wings spread out of the slits on the back of my t-shirt.

The ice rose, forming ice spikes in various spots, some of which grew up to three-feet-tall!

I gathered more dark mana around me and flew downward. "Level 3- Dark Spiral!" I yelled, slicing the ice back into particles. Some of the fragments struck my face, wings, arms, and legs as I made my way toward Sebastian.

Sebastian smiled as he stood his ground.

 My wings suddenly froze up, literally. A two-inch layer of ice had encased them completely.

I spun around once more, but only a few chunks were flung out of my body, and soon more filled their spot.

Gritting my teeth, I continued to spin toward him. "Darkness Wave!" I yelled, striking the ground with the tip of Aventine repeatedly. Waves of purple mana spread outward from where my blade had hit the floor.

Sebastian jumped up and threw his hammer at me.

I raised my sword, narrowly blocking it. A scream escaped my lips as my left arm struck the frozen floor. Ice quickly ran up my arm and covered the rest of my body.

"Now it's over," Sebastian said, smiling. The ice around me dissolved into light blue particles. He knelt and smiled as he held out a hand. "Here."

I stared at his stretched hand and smiled back.

"Thanks," I said, taking it. I stared at his tattered robes. "Sorry about that..."

He waved his free hand. "Don't mention it. I can fix them up later."

"Takeshi!" Anis yelled, jumping down from Sofia's throne. She flew over to me.

"Ya okay?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yeah. What about you?"