THE ENCOUNTER

“That’s enough!”

Guess who it is who cries and makes her stop. It’s Lady Cristina, “Let’s not kill them, let’s preserve our grace. “Uncloak, binding water blade.”

A silver water floods the three enemies. They are still breathing but half dead. They are restrained by the silver water. It’s her specialty. She can bind anyone. It’s indestructible water, that’s what she is known for, binding enemies.

An hour had passed. It looks like no more enemies parading up today, huh? And the grace container is about to reach in a full tank. And we have the other grace container that the lightning guys own. So we can bring a lot of grace. I’m pretty sure the king will be proud of us.

The grace container stops absorbing. It means it’s now full tank.

“Finally we can go home now,” the commander says with a yawn and his cold breath hissing against the heat. Our grace container sizes of a 5.5 cubic foot. He reaches his hand to the handle, and he’s the one who is going to carry it.

His hand though, before it fingers on the handle . . . a shock-wave snares him, and he gets blown away like he is a twig in my direction!

What was that!? Everybody is on their guard and want to find out what happened! Is it coming from the hovering grace? Is it an attack?

The commander yet is still able to land with his own two feet as if he is a gymnastic. What an amazing guy!

A dark circle materializes, seems like a black hole. There’s no way! It’s a teleportation! Legionnaires from another different kingdom are about to come! Here we go again! I guess we have to fight them so that we can go home now.

There, a single shadow could be spotted. It’s about to show up. But why only one legionnaire? And the looks of this kind of legionnaire . . . it’s different. I’m not sure if I’m the only one who gets this feeling of such a sinister swelling from this shadow.

I am about to ask the commander . . . “Lord Fritz, this legionnaire,” it seems that he didn’t hear me because at the same time he cried . . .

“Get away from him!’ That’s a command!"

I knew it! He scented it too! Right away, I lope back as far as I could to a secure distance. But my eyeballs shake, and I get despaired when I saw that not all of us jump back. It is only me who obeyed the commander! What are they doing?

“Oh, commander? What’s wrong with that command?” Lady Christine says. “I could crush this insect to the ground in a mere second.”

“It’s an order! You should follow your commander!” he yells while his gaze locks in front of the shadow.

Commander is in the shape of begging, his face in a terror or something. “I got this feeling that I’ve met one of this kind of legionnaire! Don’t you feel it? The sinister vibe that this guy is unbinding!”

It looks like they are ignoring the commander!

Then the brothers said something, first is Willie: “We got it, Commander! Leave this punk to us.”

“You don’t have to worry. There’s nothing strange from this dude here,” Wilson adds.

Lady Kathleen turns to the commander, “Oh, darling. It looks like you ain’t fitted as a commander. You are making us look fools in front of a single enemy that is about to die.”

I got a vile feeling about this. Though these are monsters and elite legionnaires, why is it that they can’t feel what commander and I feel? Am I only feeling off or something?

As soon as I’m about to calm my nerves. Commander turns unto me with a blue grimace and shouts, “Don’t ever lower your guard, Zinvul! You are the only one who felt their presence right!”

After he said that, the shadow completely emerges. And the black hole melts, and there he appeared under the sun. I’m confused he seems a tall man but his stature is just like mine. Clad with dark armor, with a cloak on his shoulder with dark metal spikes on it. The air is filled with terror and sinister, though he is alone, his presence is pure evil and heavy.

He begins to step forward. He pushes his cloak up, clanging the metal spikes and with his hands are dark wires sort of. In a blink of an eye he drops out of sight causing the sand to be blown away on where he is standing.

No one among us is prepared for this man! What’s with his speed? Where is he? Where is he? I am squinting my sight to look everywhere as I have a distance to see the whole field. Left, right, and above.

As soon as I turn my sight from turning right, my breath halts for a second—the four monster sisters are out of sight! What in the world is happening?

The brothers are dumbfounded and looking all sides of view, “Where did they go?” Willie asks with a little concern.

My goodness, how could he not care that much! Then they thought to skip toward us with the commander with a little bit of awareness now. I look at Commander Fritz’s reaction. His mouth is open but not so wide, and he’s breathing uncomfortable. He can’t utter a word.

“Commander, this is not the time to be freaking out, but it’s crazy, I know. Where did they go? And the spiky enemy too?” Wilson asks.

And something rings a bell in my head as what I see in a second erelong when he pushes his cloak back.

“Lord Fritz, I figured it out just now . . . it was a type of power with a cherub sword. I have a sharp eye, I saw it, his sword nailed to the ground, and spreading his cloak was only a diversion. It was a time lap. I’ve read it in the omnibus in Bibliotheca. He stops the time with his own hands for a few seconds and kidnap the four ladies,” I say.

“I saw it too. It wasn’t a time lap. For us, it only took a few seconds, but we were trapped in an illusion for that mere instant, and he preyed on it. It was an illusion sword,” Lord Fritz says with a furrowed eyes.

“But why?” I ask in puzzlement, “Aren’t they after the grace that we absorbed?”

“He could have killed us with that type of power, but he didn’t” the commander says.

The four of us left. We’ve got our eyes widened when we heard a lightning shock. Echoing as stingy as it is to our ears as we are in a terrified mode.

The wind begins to blow, and it brings our flesh to be shaken with a most dreadful fear. I knew it! It’s at our back. Another enemy is about to show up! This time, all of us that are left are in an alert mode hiding to ourselves with our own fear.

But something bothers me as the portal is unfolding in a distance as we turn around. It’s not like the previous one which was dark flashing. This one is a flash of stark pallid lightning, and my feelings are off again. This teleportation is warm, a square beacon shining around it.

This time, their presence isn’t that overwhelming, and not sinister. Here it comes, seven people that we beheld emerge from the portal.

As soon as the smoke disappears from their teleportation, their radiance is familiar. It takes me more than a minute to have my brain system evokes what I want to remember!

Their white garments, cloaks, and underneath is a shining silver armor. I know I’ve read it somewhere! Come on! Please brain! Remember it!

One of them at the back catches my eyes. The way he carries himself, though his head is half unveiled as it is being covered with a hood. And his mien and the massive amount of grace he possesses is reaching me to where I am standing. Seems like it’s their commander! He wears a large robe among them, a type of linen gilded with gold and silver, and it reaches beyond his knee. And there my eyes are sure of what I’m seeing! Even with a small skin revealed on his face, that crest crafted on the left side of his forehead! The Fish Eye! He pulled down what is veiling his head. It is a piece of clothing. His robe doesn’t have a hood. He is an old man I could tell with his face. The other six still have their faces hidden.

Another one I eyed among them, it’s in the arm wrist where it is crafted!

These are the Paradesian Legionnaires! Though they are releasing a warm and friendly grace!

We convince ourselves that these guys are faking their ambiance! This is the worst of the worst! Are we gonna die here today? They are the most brutal compared to other kingdoms. We are taught back in our kingdom to avoid engaging them no matter what and the only option is to retreat!

I ask Commander Fritz with my voice behind my teeth, “Commander, how do we retreat?”

“That’s a problem. We lost contact with Lord Commander Alvin. Our communication and nexus have been dissevered,” he said.

This is bad! And I’m confused too. Their warm presence is fake? How is it even possible? I’ve forced myself to look at them as menacing and atrocious. And my perception ceded somehow. I can feel their killing intent now. All thanks to remembering their dreadful tales!

The ground begins to tremble nearby where they are standing. Unbelievable! By their presence alone, the ground is shaking. I knew it, they are about to make a move!

Two legionnaires dash outside from the left and right side. And they have already drawn their swords. They made a stance and point their blades towards us.

We are prepared of what assail they are about to do . . . but nothing happened. And they stop doing anything as well! But their swords are still pointing towards us. What the hell are they up to?

It’s been a couple of minutes now. Our sweat is dropping cold though we are in the middle of the heat of this dead dessert.

Without a heads up, the brothers couldn’t keep themselves, and they make their move. Dashing towards them, unleashing their brother combo as what they are famous for. It is explosive and powerful. I’ve never seen the Blaster Sword and Lightning Sword makes such great release of power up close.

It’s the Paradesian that we are against now though. The sand was blasted like there iss a bomb that explode. I am speechless of what they did.

All of a sudden I heard Commander Fritz cries, “Legionnaires!”

At the same time, Wilson said something, “Commander, I guess the rumors aren’t true.” With a smirk in his face mocking the enemy’s defeat in a second.

And Willie adds, “Paradesian ain’t that worrisome after all.”

Then the commander cries to them! “Look out behind you!”

It is a fraction of a second. I see it, but it is fast. One of them bustled to Wilson while he is looking towards us. Swung the sword through his neck like it is a candle. I know what’s next, his head will fall. And it does. As soon as Willie turns to look after Wilson . . . the Paradeisian with a quirky speed already passes through him. A hiss through his body is heard! It is a sharp swoosh! It is too late for him to react. He already cuts him as I can see a blood tainted on enemy’s sword.

Willie’s body is torn into half and his upper weight drops to the ground! He’s still alive as I can see him moving, trying to push the ground. He doesn’t even know that he’s been cut into half.

Then my stomach feel sick, and my mouth swells in saliva. I couldn’t endure more of what I see. I want to puke! My flesh has gone cold of what I’m looking at! I don’t know what to do. I’m about to freak out too, but I held myself up, this isn’t time to be puking!

But with all that I can see with my good eyesight, yet, they are still uncaging a warm and friendly presence. I’m so confused. So this is what makes them brutal and deadly, by playing with their enemy’s feelings or deceiving them. But I’ve never been wrong with my senses towards others! I could discern if their grace is telling a lie or truth. But this . . .

I lose the grip of my sword and drops it, seems like my soul left my body and has already given up life itself. And I don’t want to fight anymore. I’m weird out of everything.

I can see that he is coming towards us. And with every step he makes, the ground quakes, and it makes them spine-chilling even to stand before them . . . but his grace, it’s still warm.

“What are you doing, Zinvul?” the commander yells at me as he noticed that I have dropped my sword to the ground.

I got so dizzy, and my eyesight is fading, Am I dying out of fear? Or did he cut me without me noticing like what happened to Willie?

My eyes closes, darkness covered my mind and lead me to a deep sleep. This could mean a death sleep.