Our Past, Present, and Future

The Eye

Ragnor

Well, all I could say was that I had no confidence of victory. None, whatsoever. I thought I'd die, honestly.

Now then, I thought while barely fending Silver off, what to do. Usually, I would just try to intimidate whoever I was going against, but... Well, I think you get the idea. Anyway, I dodged and held my arms in front of my face to protect myself. Not to mention, I could feel Dindraine's eyes burning into the back of my head and, to make matters worse, I could almost hear her muttering to me in her head C'mon, I know you've got a lot more than that. Well, sorry to betray your expectations. At the time, I was too focused to think of anything else; recruiting, provisions, all that. Nothing mattered anymore, joy filled me. A smirk rose to my mouth, it had been a while since the last time I was in a fight out of my own will. Silver didn't miss the small movement. Abruptly, he leaped back, away from me. Back hunched, he glared at me with pointed eyes. He must have suspected something about me, something I haven't realized... Yet.

"So," I started up a conversation, "Silver. Is that your actual name? Honestly I doubt it."

"What does it matter to you?" he replied instead. His voice was young but husky and low.

"Fine, be like that." I raised my arms in exasperation. I lowered my upper body, ready to charge and make do. Silver blinked, barely visibly, but I was certain he was flustered. In a blink of an eye, I was right in front of my opponent, ready to strike. Quickly, Silver's eyes moved to see me, and I understood then, I would need to be even faster. But nonetheless, I raised my fist. There was a crack, but my clenched hand didn't connect with Silver's jaw. His hand hovered over where my fist was. Now, he didn't look at me with surprise, all he had in his eyes, as far as I could tell, was fear and acknowledgement.

"You," he mumbled quietly, "you're not human, are you."

It was my turn to feel surprised. Most people couldn't tell I'm not human. But I guess Silver could tell that this strength wasn't on human levels. A bigger smile creeped up.

"Who knows," I answered happily. This is so amusing. I thought with satisfaction. Nothing will ever beat watching people wonder about things. Especially if it's about me. We continued sparring, this time with Silver struggling. He must have been pretty flustered for his performance to decrease so drastically. He may have already noticed who I was. It wouldn't be a first, some people can recognize others based on how they fight, speak, walk and whatnot. And it's happened several times; apparently the way I speak and stand are... Different. But all of them couldn't put their finger on what was so different about me. Not that I cared. Without a warning, I felt a sudden darkness from my right, directly from where Dindraine was standing a few seconds ago. And it was apparent Silver noticed too. We both paused, and turned our heads slowly, which the audience soon caught on and followed our gazes. What we saw stunned us all; Dindraine had her sword unsheathed. She held Durendal in her left hand loosely, in fact, her entire body was completely relaxed. Except the dark atmosphere that was getting emitted was on a complete different level of any bloodlust or killing intent I'd ever felt.

"Alright, everyone," I called cautiously, "back away slowly."

Surprisingly, the audience listened to me, and started to part away so only Dindraine stood. Her hair covered her eyes, so I couldn't tell what she was feeling. But something told me she was starting to loose control over something. But just what dwelled within her that she'd need to suppress.

"It's been a while," she mumbled quietly. Silver and I blinked at the barely audible words. Then, Dindraine finally looked up to us. Her head tilted up slowly and revealed her unfeeling face. Her eyes had changed, now, they were dark, icy black that held no meaning. I felt a shiver run up my spine.

"So, Silver, wanna team up?" I asked nervously with a corner of my mouth upturned.

"Why not," he answered cautiously, keeping an eye on Dindraine, "and it seems that would be the only mean of survival."

My voice wavered when I laughed, Which is exactly the reason why I asked.

"Brats," Dindraine stared at us icily, "you dare stand before my master?"

The voice wasn't Dindraine's, hers was far more young, but this one sounded ancient. Suddenly, a gush of familiarity flowed through my veins. The voice was uncannily nostalgic. I racked through my mind to remember why. And I did.

"You're the Eye of Adriel," I said. The Eye that took over me when I was a kid. Silver flicked a glance to me, and turned his attention back to Dindraine immediately.

"Release her. There's nothing for her that could possibly satisfy you." Well, I tried to convince the Eye of Adriel. But trying and actually succeeding are two completely different things.

"...Screw you," I heard Dindraine mutter angrily. This time I was sure it was her, the words were way too rough for the Eye of Adriel. As soon as she spoke, the dark curtain was lifted. Her eyes slowly changed back to their usual, rare colors.

"So," I started, "care to explain?"