BEYOND THE BLAZE

Akirion shot an ice arrow at Haruto’s leg, and that made him lose his running strength and he crashed to the ground. He started crawling on his stomach like a snake , with every inch a battle towards the gate. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Meanwhile.

The place got dark in Kragg’s eyes as if his eyes were closed. Surprisingly his buttons were wide open but he saw nothing. ’ Any last words??’ Those words resonated in Kragg’s mind but only a shook saved him.

"Anything wrong, warrior? " Akirion asked from curiosity.

"Shut up!"

"Ohh, okay, I was trying to be....."

"I said shut up!"

"Okay then, I thought maybe you will have some nice and sweet last words, but it seems like you will die angry."

That time, the blackness in Kragg’s eyes thinned, revealing fragments of reality like shards of shattered glass.

"Shut up you little.... Who do you think would die quiet, by the way, what did you do to my vision.?"

"What? Me? I didn’t do anything!" Akirion’s eyes clouded with puzzlement , his words stumbling like uncertain footsteps.

"Don’t be dumb! (Sighed) Just forget it, I’ll kill you now, as long as I get a glimpse of your shadow, I can finish you."

"Ohh, guess who’s up for a fight with a 10 year old, isn’t that embarrassing?"

"Just shut up!"

Kragg charged forward, with his sword slicing the air with a deadly intent of finishing Akirion with a single blow.

Akirion fiercely smiled, staring at Kragg who was seen as slow as a tortoise.

"{Sup? Why is he that slow? He’s a fast person but now his super slow, haaa, what’s going on, and his wierd question about his vision, I did nothing, but I feel like something is wrong.}"

"With this speed, I’ll get him for sure!" Kragg pumped his fist as he charged towards Akirion in a speed of a cheetah but in Akirion’s eyes, he was slower than a chameleon.

Akirion thought of charging against Kragg to make the final blow. Kragg’s eyes caught a glimpse of Akirion’s swift motion and Akirion’s sword cried in agony as it sliced Kragg’s arm.

Kragg got astonished by the flashy movement he saw. "Whoa, he’s fast! And, my , my ARMMMM!" Kragg’s voice yelled in pain as he saw his arm bouncing on the ground, covered in blood.

"Ohh, I missed! Sorry to cause you pain before you die, I’ll try to be quick, please close your eyes."

"{ Wait is he really a kid? The way he’s moving his tongue it’s like an old man but he’s just a ten year old just like he said.} W w who taught you to be heartless kid?"

"What."

" You heard me. For someone at your age should be scared of killing, but you..."

"But me?? Just forget I asked, you are the ones who taught me."

"What?"

"You don’t get it? Okay, I was my parents’ good boy, but that good past got shattered like a mirror when my parents left, so I can’t even see my good self in that mirror anymore, only a lot of pieces of me that I can’t combine. So I told myself that I’ll protect my loved ones, and that includes slaying all my and their enemies and I guess you are included."

Kragg gasped in fear, watching Akirion’s eyes clouded with hatred and blazed with anger.

"W w what do you mean...?"

" I’m sure you have a question mark in your head but it’s easy to understand."

"What’s the meaning of that?"

" You should be begging for your life, but it’s obvious that I won’t hear your sorrows. So, you should be spitting out your last words." Akirion’s footsteps thundered towards Kragg, his sword sparkling in the dark, piercing the air and the bitter chili wind howled around them heightening the tension.

"Now it’s time to face your end , ready or not, hear I come!"

"Grrrrrrrr, you! Do you think that you can put an end to Kragg the gr....." Kragg’s voice turned into silence , his head divided into multiple pieces falling like coins into a beggar’s tray. The neck sprayed blood like a farmer watering his garden.

"{Wow, his sword skills got better, he finished a warrior just like eating dinner?! I should be careful around him too, cause he turned into a complete monster. Wait what is he....?" Thaneiros witnessed Akirion shooting his firearrow at a lifeless body.

"All done, only you..." Akirion scarily mentioned, staring at Haruto with a scary glowing blue eye.

Haruto gritted his teeth forcing himself to stand, despite all the pain he was feeling in his leg. He put all his strength into being on his feet, running away from the scary Akirion. Akirion felt some people around the gate and he let Haruto bump into them without separating his body and soul.

Meanwhile,

"{Wait a second, I’m not feeling any pain, really? So I was laying here for nothing? No!}" said Thaneiros. He had a flashback of the time when Akirion dodged Kragg and jumped to him.

After realizing that his old body was no longer screaming in agony, he stood up on his feet and watched Haruto bumping onto the soldiers, the RPU soldiers.

Those soldiers saw Akirion and Thaneiros’ eyes scarily glued at them. They feared to say a word cause Thaneiros was a well known scary man around Elysia, even though he wasn’t attacked. So after being attacked he would be unstoppable. So they got scared that he will mix them up with the attackers and they will be in hot soup.

They only checked the house’s status and the surroundings and saw Kragg’s lifeless body burning as if it was fueled before getting burnt. They embarrassingly turned back and held Haruto captive and went with him.

Akirion heavily sighed and dropped on the ground, his eyes heavy with fatigue. Sleepiness flooded his eyes and his strength was also consumed during the fight cause using arcana is the same as using energy so it left him utterly spent.

Thaneiros chuckled , feeling proud of Akirion for ending the war and also fulfilled his words of protecting his loved ones.

Thaneiros took Akirion inside.

The air was chilled and relaxing as the sun casted a golden light on the landscapes. Akirion livened up, as always and did his morning run. That time he was back to be a commendable boy. He passed through the ashes of the burnt bodies. And his mind was flooded with ruminates. Thaneiros got out of bed too, with an intent of cleaning the yard. He didn’t want Akirion to see the cremains but he was astonished by seeing Akirion doing his morning run.

Akirion pretended as if he didn’t see the cremains but his heart was screaming. The uncontrollable tears filled his eyes and he was forced to stop running. His knees shook under his body and crazy memories flashed into his head but he told himself that he was protecting his loved ones. He got rid of the ruminates and his heart calmed down and he was better.

Thaneiros saw the scene when Akirion was bent down. He left his work of getting rid of the cremains and rushed to the ruminating Akirion.

Thaneiros found him calm but tears all over his cheek. Akirion felt happy when he saw his master, that’s when he hugged him. Thaneiros took him inside.

"Master, there’s something I want to tell you." the master sat down and listened.

"Yes, tell me, what’s the problem!"

"I’m sorry for yesterday, I was well taken by my own thoughts , I don’t know, maybe I even lost my feelings."

"It’s okay, I understand where you are coming from, but you don’t really need to plead for forgiveness. You said you were going to protect your loved ones, and I guess I’m included ..."

" Of course you are master".

"Okay , then that surely means that you were driven by anger, after you saw what they did to me. The cold that was rising by a second was trackable straight to you."

"That’s why I’m pleading for forgiveness master, I did wrong, I let my feelings consume me and I was definitely swallowed by anger."

"It’s okay, just like I said, I understand where you are coming from. I forgive you if you want me to forgive you."

"Thank you Master, my heart feels at ease." they both had a warm chuckle in their faces and heart.

Akirion’s smile turned into sadness. Thaneiros caught a gaze of Akirion’s smile fading. He got curious...

"Are you okay."

"No master, I’m not okay. (The air barely got through Thaneiros’ throat. His eyes got wide open and he thought that Akirion was still haunted by the memories of the last night. He thought maybe his head was echoing with horrific reminiscences.) I’m totally confused. Remember last night, when that warrior guy said that I was messing with his vision? (Thaneiros nodded like nonverbal person.) I didn’t do anything, but he showed that there was something going on in his head, the way he shook his head totally came with the same idea that the guy was suffering from brain effect."

"I see. And I’m going to go along with the guy".

"What?!"