Of Eliksni And Ether: Part 9 - Fight Night

Alright, so this part is a special treat that I have been teasing for a while. I'll try and put out The Frontier soon, but I won't make any promises. Hope you enjoy this celebratory episode of OEAE. Scar awoke to the mutilated face of his old friend, Traecon. Only, his name was no longer Traecon. It was Shade. The assassin growled and lifted Scarkis up by his throat and started to choke him, pressing his saber against the chest of the kell. But he hesitated. The eliksni remembered a time where Scar and him fought together, played together, and were friends. Scar had told him how he would form his own house and rule over the fallen. Shade had laughed and said that he would help, him - they could be brothers together! That hesitation was all Scar needed. He grabbed the Hive cleaver laying on the ground and stabbed it into his former friend's chest. The assassin roared and fell on the ground, and Scar took his chance. He got to his feet, and thundered away from the monstrous Eliksni, running as far and as fast as he could while still limping from the deep cut on his ankle. Shade gritted his monstrous fangs and pulled it out. "Clever, aren't you, old friend. We'll see if that helps you when I get to you." He called a skiff to pick him up and disappeared from the cave. . . . A dreg leaned against a large crate. It had been a long day of scavenging and murdering - the dreg had killed a herd of cattle that had belonged to a community still away from the city, removing there only livelihood and greatest source of food. Then they had eaten the meat from the bones, and thrown the bones outside of the cowering villager's gate. Oh, how they had laughed. The dreg slipped off of the crate with a thump and hit the ground. Ether had been leaking from it's back and legs for a while now, as a hulking figure took sips and gulps of ether from a partially working servitor. Scar had slain the last of the devil crew, and was now taking Ether in smaller quantities, to heal his wounds and injuries. He could feel his muscle mass, height, and weight growing. He knew that he shouldn't take too much ether - the idea of becoming huge and strong became an addictive one for many eliksni - but he also knew that Shade was hunting him. Gravis is probably making him do it. he thought. Then, he paused. Then again, if he thinks I am responsible for his suffering, maybe it's a choice... Meanwhile, farther away, a group of city Militia escorted a vehicle full of civilians. Shadows played over the large, six wheeled truck as the sun rose into the sky. They were traveling past a collection of ruins from the golden age, and through a forest. Large, skeletal trees loomed overhead, and crumbling stone and rusting metal structures played their shadows on the metal shell of the armored vehicle. It puttered and climbed over every bump, rock, and obstacle in the road, it’s six wheels easily giving it tons of traction on the dirt road. The vehicle puttered up to a large dead tree, six wheels grinding the dirt, when all of the sudden a creaking noise was heard. The tree broke at the stump and thumped onto the road, blocking their path. One soldier turned to another. “Really, I don’t know why they didn’t send any of those guardians. What if we ran into trouble?” his companion stared. “I don’t know why you’re so worried. We have auto rifles, grenades, and even a rocket launcher in the back. Plus, there aren’t even that many fallen out here.” his friend said. The first one sighed and said “I should probably take a look at that tree, then.” he turned to the civilians huddled in the back. “It’s fine, just a minor inconvenience.” he yelled to them. “Trask and I will check it out, and Daken can guard you for now.” the other soldier nodded and made sure the safety was off of his rifle. It was. Trask examined the broken tree stump. “I say, Drake. This break doesn’t look natural at all. It’s almost like someone broke it…” He stopped and stared up at a blurred figure, and screamed. It grabbed onto his head with a huge hand and lifted him into the air as he struggled, a crackling, cloaked hand suspending him two meters above the ground. The monster stared directly at Drake, the other soldier and looked him in the eyes of his helmet as he squeezed Trask’s head. The helmet warped and cracked, and the soldier let out a piercing shriek as the four fingers crushed his skull. Drake took a step back, and another. Then, the figure went as far to lick it’s fingers, and Drake yelled at it, opening fire with his auto rifle and spraying it with bullets. He scored headshot after headshot, but it did nothing as the bullets just bounced off of the monster’s armored helmet. It hit him with a backhand that launched him through the air, and into the windshield of the vehicle. The civilians yelled, a baby cried, the body of the dead man slid down the polarized window and rolled off of the hood. Daken got into the driver’s seat, revved the engine and attempted to go in reverse, but the fallen just pounced forwards and put a heavy foot on the hood of the truck. It groaned and creaked in protest, and as Daken tried again to escape, a massive hand smashed through the bulletproof glass and grabbed him by the head. His muffled voice cried, and his body was thrown thirty feet away, to slump at the foot of a tree. Shade took both of his swords from his back and thundered towards the soldier with huge strides, growling in satisfaction at the thrill of the hunt. He put both swords over his head and cleaved downwards. But the stroke never connected. A second pair of shock blades blocked the first from cutting Daken to pieces, and they pushed Shade back. The soldier’s mouth gaped in shock as another fallen stood over him, blocking him from the blades of the first. It was… saving him? Scar stomped the ground and released a deafening bellow that drowned out every other sound. He had smelled Shade and heard the sounds of battle and had ran over as fast as he could. “Stay away from them, Shade.” the Eliksni bared his fangs. “You betray you own kind, Scar? You want to be a human?”. “No, Shade.” Scar said. “I’m saving them from you.” he hit the assassin with rapid strikes - a downward cleave, a strike to the left, a feint to the right, and a kick, all in the span of five seconds. Shade snarled and slammed his blades against Scar’s, making them ring, and then threw one of his shock blades precisely. Scar barely dodged it, but the sizzling sword still cut into his side and made him bleed. He groaned and shook it off, striking again at Shade, cutting into his defense with a rapid offense. Shade blocked most of it with only one blade and withstood the other cuts. He attempted to pierce Scar with a stab, but Scar trapped it with the hilts of his blades and disarmed him. Shade cracked his knuckles. “All right, you want it that way?” the assassin roared and tackled Scar, and cracked him across the face with a gauntleted punch. Scar dropped both of his blades and wrestled with his old friend, grabbing both of his fists and stopping him from punching him. Shade responded by headbutting Scar’s helmet. Scar stumbled from the force of the blow, and before he could stop Shade he was thrown into another tree, cracking it. Shade pounced on him and kicked him hard enough to break the tree he was leaning against. Scar struggled, and remembered who he was. What he was. He was the last kell of Scar. The last of his kind. The underdog. He would win… for his house! Scar grabbed the broken end of the tree behind him and hit Shade across the face with it. Shade fell from the force of the blow and Scar used it to his advantage, slamming the splintered tree into Shades chest. Shade screamed as the tree cracked his ribs and sent foot long splinters into his skin, through his armor. Shade groaned, and thrashed as Scar stood over him again. Before Scar could hit him with the tree again, however, Shade tensed up and KICKED Scar with both legs, sending him crashing back in front of the truck, in front of the civilians. Shade lifted the corpse of a soldier, grinded his fangs together, and bit down. Blood ran down his face and stained his sharp teeth as Scar grimaced. “You’re a monster shade.” the assassin responded with a terrible, toothy smile. “Yes, but I’m your monster.” He noticed the soldier still crawling towards the truck, his ribs broken, and picked him up. Tears flowed down the man’s cheeks as Shade dangled him in the air. “You want to stop me, Scar? Choose. Me, or him. One of your own kind, your brother, or a cold blooded killer.” Scar bared his fangs and Shade screamed at him “Do it!” Scar grabbed Shade’s own Sword and picked it up. He threw it. The blade took Shade through the middle and scorched him with Arc energy, searing his flesh where the sword had entered the wound. Scar stood over him. “You didn’t have to do this.” Scar said. “We could have been friends again.” Shade smiled weakly and said “You're right. I wanted to.” With that, he took out a small dagger and stabbed it deep into the flesh of Scar’s leg. Scar roared in agony and pulled out Shade’s sword. He took his blade and cut Scar’s stomach open. The sides of his wound were scorched and cauterized. Scar fell over, passing out, as his former friend let out his last breath. What an episode. Shade DID have some connection to Scar, and it was hinted at. What happened was that - well, maybe I should save that for the next chapter. I hope you liked this emotional chapter of the story. The Frontier WILL come soon, I just don’t really have much time to write today, so it might be coming out later tonight, or even tomorrow. Feel free to leave feedback/criticism in the comments below. See you later.