CHAPTER: Awakening

Tunde watched as Thorne crashed into the bone gate with such force that he felt the vibrations all the way back where he and Elyria stood. Stabilizing himself, Tunde observed as Elyria flicked her metal hand, sending one of the blades behind her soaring toward a savage poised to skewer Thorne from above with a bone spear. The blade blew the savage's skull apart, leaving Tunde in awe of her precision. Elyria turned to him.

“Stay here,” she ordered.

Tunde wondered where else she expected him to go. He watched as she extended her metal hand toward the blade embedded in the wall. A force pulled her to it at pure speed, Elyria landing on the wall only to be immediately attacked by a group of savages, some armed with bone spears. His gaze shifted back to the gate where Thorne, having finally shattered it, flicked his hand as if it were sore before dashing inside. Torn between following or staying put, Tunde glanced up at Elyria, who was fully engaged in battle, her face a mask of concentration.

He knew he couldn’t disturb her, but he couldn’t stand idle either. For all he knew, some savage might see him as easy prey. Summoning his courage, he ran forward, pushing through the gate only to step into a scene of carnage. Thorne, an unshackled force of nature, fought against a horde of savages, each blow releasing vibrations that shook the very air around them. Tunde wondered how they had ever managed to capture Thorne and Elyria if they were this formidable.

Wincing as Thorne, surrounded by his red and green aura, skewered a savage through the throat and used the body to deflect two bone arrows, Tunde hid behind the bodies, his eyes scanning the battlefield. He spotted a savage with a bow, aiming once more at Thorne, who was oblivious to the impending attack.

Fighting an internal battle of his own, Tunde began to sneak toward the brute, who was grumbling in a harsh tongue that bordered on the common language. He was close enough to lunge, but he knew he’d have only one chance. This was not an intimidated savage like the one Thorne had subdued in the cave; this one was strong—perhaps as strong as Elyria.

He could now discern the difference by observing the Ethra coursing through their bodies. Elyria’s Ethra manifested as tiny motes of shimmering energy fog, while Thorne’s was different entirely, with pure red and black thin lines of light flowing through his entire frame. These were the only ways Tunde could explain what he saw, but it gave him a vivid understanding of his foes. Judging by this, the savage he was stalking was either an initiate or close to the Disciple level that Elyria had reached.

He waited for the brute, with muscles carved from rock, to draw the bowstring. Its entire attention was focused on Thorne, who was nearly finished with the Disciple savages he faced. The brute had no idea that Tunde was closing in on him. When it finally drew the string, whispering in its guttural language, Tunde sprang.

His sight glowed with the light that revealed his target—the creature’s eyes. As the savage’s eyes widened in surprise, Tunde drove the blade through them and into its skull with such force that he emerged behind its head. The creature managed to land a glancing blow on his side, sending pain tearing through his body, but Tunde bit back a cry and followed the collapsing body to the ground.

Shutting his eyes against the pain, Tunde took shallow breaths, feeling the Ethra within him slowly mend whatever had broken or bruised. He hadn’t noticed this during his first fight with the initiate in the tunnels, but Ethra did heal—albeit slowly. A pang of sorrow hit him as he wondered what might have been if his people had access to it. Perhaps they could have survived the journey here. Perhaps his sister wouldn’t have died. Shutting those memories away, he reminded himself that dwelling on them now would do no good.

“I told you to stay still,” Elyria’s voice snapped him back to reality. He opened his eyes to see her standing over him, her gaze shifting to his side where the pain was centered.

“Had that blow connected fully, you’d be missing half your stomach,” she continued.

Breathing shallowly, Tunde winced as he pushed himself off the body, struggling to his feet. Elyria helped him up, her own body stained with blood as she pursed her lips.

“This is madness. Thorne’s insistent on wiping out their entire settlement,” she said.

Tunde turned to where Thorne had decimated the force against him. The man picked up another bone blade, and the flesh power within him seemed to coat the blades, leaving them with a pale green glow and pulsing black and red veins. Tunde looked back at Elyria.

“What now?” he asked.

She shrugged. “Whoever runs this place hasn’t decided to grace us with their presence. And knowing Thorne…” she trailed off, watching as the man gripped the blades tightly.

“He’s about to go knocking,” she finished.

Thorne swung the blades down with pure force, sending a dark green light toward the bone building in front of them. The light felt so lethal that Tunde couldn’t even move. A bright red light accompanied by a roar answered, crashing into Thorne’s attack. The force sent Tunde crashing to his knees as Elyria winced, eyes wide. She grabbed him and blasted backward, his mind swimming, limbs weak, and blood growing hot. They landed a few meters away, and Tunde finally felt the pressure lessen, allowing him to speak.

“What was that?” he asked, fear evident in his voice.

“Thorne just picked a fight with a peak Adept with blood Ethra,” she said grimly.

The figure that blew its way through the bone building was a giant. If the savages were brutes, this was the creature that sent them to bed. It was human, but that was all Tunde could say to describe the hulking monster that landed in front of Thorne. Clad in bleached white bone armor, its head adorned with the skull of some large beast it had no doubt killed, Thorne stood at its midsection, staring up at the man. Red veins ran through its entire frame, and it held a large bone weapon with red-colored power coursing through it.

The creature’s presence made Tunde want to cower, to hide away, but he glanced at Elyria and saw her grit her teeth in concentration. He turned his eyes back to the large figure, who stared down at Thorne.

“Remember me?” Thorne asked, his voice reverberating through the air.

The man chuckled, his red eyes glowing through the animal skull on his head. He raised his weapon, and Tunde groaned, feeling his blood churn with every movement the being made. Elyria gripped him hard.

“Concentrate. Breathe. You need to still your blood or suffer the consequences,” she whispered harshly.

Tunde nodded, though he was unsure what she meant. The clash between Thorne and the giant blew around them, and Elyria grabbed Tunde again, the two of them flying backward, Tunde limp in her hand. They landed a few meters back, the echoes of the battle still blasting around them. If Thorne could match up to that thing, did that make him an Adept as well? Tunde guessed so. And yet, here he was, unable to do anything. Breathing slowly, the manacle on his hand pulsing softly, he looked up at Elyria.

“How do I do it? Break into the rank of an Initiate?” he asked.

She glanced down at him, lips pursed. “Usually, we find a strong item with the element of your power, nothing too powerful. But light Ethra resources are scarce on this continent. If we were back home…” she trailed off, shaking her head. “The Silvershade Continent is brimming with resources and items to use. It’s one of the most common Ethra paths there.”

Tunde was about to speak when the manacle pulsed again, and he felt his body constrict. Eyes wide, Elyria gripped him, watching as black lines passed through the manacle into his body. His heart began to pump faster, constricting and pushing, the pain growing by leaps and bounds until his sight dimmed. Then, in a rush, it exhaled, power circulating through his body. Tunde felt his eyesight sharpen, his limbs grow stronger, and his body begin to purge a black tar-like liquid that filled the area with a terrible stench.

Elyria shifted back; her eyes wide. “Really? You advance to Initiate now? How?”

Blinking as he stood, feeling both light and sturdy, Tunde turned his eyes to where Thorne and the giant were battling with such force that it shook the buildings around them. The bone structures began to crumble. Nausea gripped Tunde as he dry-heaved, his sense of smell heightened. Trembling, he looked to Elyria, who kept a safe distance.

“You just puked out decades’ worth of impurities within your body. Pretty much sums up what you’re feeling right now,” she pointed out.

A loud roar came from where Thorne was battling the giant savage. The large bone weapon tumbled from its hand, crashing to the ground. The man fell to his knees, and Tunde saw clearly that Thorne’s blades had pierced the savage chief’s chest, leaving a wet thud as the heart hit the ground.

The savage chief tried to speak, but all that came out was blood—black and bile, almost the same shade as the impurities that had covered Tunde’s body.

Tunde blinked, watching as the colors that once littered his vision vanished, then blinked again as they returned, bathing the world around him in a myriad of hues. The sands glowed faintly, and lines of different colors spread as far as the eye could see.

His companions stood out as singular colors, except for Thorne, who burned with two bright lights. Feeling newfound energy coursing through him, Tunde moved toward Thorne, his legs pumping faster than ever before, closing the distance in no time.

Thorne turned in a flash, his eyes widening as he jumped backward, gagging—a reminder to Tunde that he reeked from the purge. Thorne eyed him with a mixture of surprise and curiosity.

“Advanced to Initiate? How?” Thorne asked, incredulous.

Tunde shrugged, dangling the manacle in front of Thorne. “Whatever happened, it came from here,” he said.

Thorne examined the manacle briefly before discarding the two bone blades he had been holding. Elyria appeared next to him in a heartbeat, though this time Tunde could follow a bit of her movement. She stared at the body of the savage chief, which had begun to desiccate, shrinking rapidly.

“Now can we leave this place?” she asked, her tone exasperated.

“We didn’t come together. You might as well leave,” Thorne replied as he began walking toward the now-destroyed bone building. “I’m not leaving until I loot this place.”

Elyria sighed. “What could a bunch of cannibals have that would be worth it to an Adept like you?”

Thorne didn’t respond, continuing his walk. He paused and turned to stare at Tunde. “Keep up, and stay a safe distance from me—at least until we can get all that gunk off your body.”

Tunde nodded, feeling both left out and confused. Between learning that Elyria and Thorne weren’t a team and his recent initiation, he wasn’t sure what to do next. This was a whole new reality for him. He was stronger, faster, and certain that if he were back home, he’d be leading his entire settlement. Hearing Elyria sigh as she walked alongside him but kept a few paces away, he decided to ask her a question that had been nagging him.

“You two aren’t together?” he asked softly.

“By the Hegemons, no,” she said, furrowing her brows. “When I was captured, I met him there, all chained up.”

Tunde kept silent after that, unsure if he had the right to ask her for more details, and she didn’t offer any, so he let it go. The entrance to the building had been destroyed, with stone and large bones blocking the way. Thorne turned to Tunde.

“Clear the entrance,” he said simply.

Tunde glanced at the blocked entrance and then back at Thorne. “Those rocks and bones are huge,” he replied.

The bones were massive, probably taken from some large creature the savages had hunted. The rocks were entire boulders stacked on top of each other. Thorne nodded.

“You’re an Initiate now. Not sure how you managed that without a Light Ethra fruit or item, but you’re one now. These are nothing for an Initiate.”

Tunde hesitantly stepped up and gripped the first of the bones. Elyria raised an eyebrow at Thorne.

“You do realize he hasn’t taken any strength-enhancing elixirs or food, don’t you?” she asked skeptically.

Tunde was about to ask what those were when he lifted the first bone—a piece large enough to serve as a pole beam—and threw it aside. Breathing a little heavily, he glanced at Thorne, who nodded.

“You feel it, don’t you? The power running through your body,” Thorne asked.

Tunde nodded with a smile, grabbing another stone and attempting to throw it. But as he did, he felt his strength begin to wane, his legs wobbling, and his breath coming in harsh gasps.

“And there, my very ignorant friend, is the limit of the Initiate rank,” Thorne said, stepping forward. With a brief flex of his fingers, he crushed the rock into fine dust and carved a hole through the debris.

“Initiate rank barely opens you and your heart to the Ethra around you, allowing you to draw on it in short bursts. That’s why Elyria and I were able to carve through the runts that came at us in the cave. One swing of their weapons, and they were powerless, relying only on their slightly enhanced bodies, fortified with the bones they absorbed.”

Tunde nodded dutifully as Thorne turned and walked down the path into the building proper. “I get first pick of any good things in their base,” Thorne called out.

Elyria snorted. “Doubt they have anything worthy—filthy bone Ethra users,” she said.

Tunde followed behind, staring at the clutter of useless junk like bone armor and other makeshift items. Junk to people like Elyria and Thorne, but much-needed protection for himself. He began to pick up pieces—a chest bone piece, a skull shaped into a helmet, and two sharp bone knives. Elyria watched him with amusement.

“You do realize that without following the path of bone Ethra, those trinkets won’t last long, right?” she said.

He paused, unsure what she truly meant. Elyria sighed. “Drop them. Come along. We’ll probably find something better in the nearest frontier town.”

“Oh, okay,” he said hesitantly, though he kept the bone blades.

Together, they made their way deeper into the tunnels, lit only by large flame torches that lined the walls. They could hear Thorne up ahead, his footsteps growing more distant.

“Are we sure there aren’t more of their kind in these tunnels?” Tunde asked.

Elyria shook her head. “They’re roaming savages practicing Ethra paths that are more or less frowned upon.”

“Frowned upon?” he asked.

“Blood, flesh, poison, and pain Ethra users are considered vile. No doubt you understand why,” she explained.

Tunde pursed his lips, turning toward the direction Thorne had gone. The path was littered with broken rooms, evidence of Thorne’s passage strewn everywhere—nothing but human carcasses and clothing. Elyria noticed where he was looking and spoke.

“Something about Thorne is different, though. Usually, followers of the Undeath Ethra are on agreeable terms with blood Ethra users. The fact that he’s actively hunting them and was captured speaks to something else going on,” she said softly.

“Tunde!” Thorne’s voice echoed through the tunnel.

Glancing at Elyria, who nodded, Tunde jogged toward the sound of Thorne’s voice, feeling his strength returning. Pumping his legs moderately, he reached a large room that had clearly belonged to the savage chief. Slowing as he entered, he saw nothing but a large bone chair with animal skins laid on it for comfort. Large sacks lay by the throne, and Thorne was pulling out items, tossing them aside.

Tunde willingly activated his sight, marveling at the pure Ethra that filled the room. Some items glowed a healthy green, others in a myriad of colors. He approached Thorne, who was holding a large fruit in his hand.

“Eat it,” Thorne said offhandedly.

Tunde picked up the fruit, one of the healthy green-glowing ones, and his body reacted instantly to its proximity. He bit into it, feeling a rush of energy as his heart absorbed the fruit’s essence. He shuddered slightly, savoring the taste as it filled his mouth. Opening his eyes, he saw Elyria next to Thorne, both of them rummaging through the sacks. Thorne straightened and wrinkled his nose at Tunde, tossing him a piece of cloth.

“Go find water and scrub that filth off your body. You’re an Initiate now—a ranker. Look like it,” Thorne said.

Tunde caught the cloth, threw the remaining piece of fruit into his mouth, and, for the first time in a long while, smiled. Things were finally looking up.