2 The End is Just the Beginning

Massive trees surround me reaching higher than skyscrapers. Thick branches with layers of leaves provide shade from the sun; leaving the temperature cool. Rays of sunlight peek through the leaves, and the clean smell of wet grass and blooming flowers hangs in the air. Exposed roots are reaching as high as two men stretch across the forest floor; having grown twisted around each other. Making traveling through them impossible for anyone of low birth. Thankfully, gravity doesn't affect me in Asteria. I glide over the tangled obstacles without issue. I'm closer to the edge of the forest where the trees begin spreading out. If I continue outward they'll get smaller and become sparse; transitioning into the grassy plains of the neighboring kingdom. Closer to the heart of the Bloody Sea, the trees become densely packed leaving little more than a crack separating one from another. When considering the number of deaths that occurred in the forest to receive its name, I shiver.

There's an explosion of noise and the ground tremors.

/I wonder what that noise is all about?/

Following the uproar, I'm standing in a clearing when people explode out of the tree line with asura whipping through the air; purple wind and red flames battle against green trees. A handful of men dressed in raggedy patched clothes come at me. I don't move as some pass through me in there scramble to run. Unaware of my existence. They're relying on goras for manifestation. A gora is any spelled item. These, in particular, are spelled with nathis, which assist in the absorption, channeling, and manifestation of asura. One is a Spirit Mage, and as he runs, one of his thin chipped bracelets lit up with purple Asura of Spirit. The asura moves from his left bracelet to his right and flows into his hand. Small purple orbs pop out his palm. They rotate into cyclones. Without looking, he throws the Spirit Asura behind him.

"Die, dogs of Miota!" he yells.

The cyclones act like spinning blades of wind cutting into trees as they attack the three pursuers astride pleos, massive four-legged creatures with a long oval face, slitted snout, and long floppy ears. They also have a long body and foot long shaggy hair. Deceptively cute, until you get close enough to notice a mouthful of short pointed teeth and paws the size of saucers welding wicked claws. Their long legs make jumping from root to root easier.

I recognize the three as Irvin, Andri, and Lark. Men from the Elite Unit 13, one of the many Elite Units working under the King's direct orders. Irvin dodges yelling, "Lark!"

"On it," he replies while touching a tree in passing giving it the green tinge of Asura of Mind. One of the trees thick branches reaches down swatting away the cyclones. Another scruffy man, also using nathis spelled bracelets, throws red flames from the Asura of Chaos. The flames miss, landing on nearby trees but don't spread. Instead, slowly shrinking leaving blackened wood behind. None of the men slow as the chase continues. Periodically throwing asura at one another. The colorful lights flash as trees are cut and burned. Showcasing how destructive the pure energy, few can manifest, can be. When used, it's perceived in different colors. Asura falls into the categories of Land, Soma, Spirit, Mind, Chaos, and Order.

My psychiatrist tells me getting hit with "asura" is my mind attacking my body. My mind so strongly believes, my body reacts as if hit. It's why injuries appear when I get hit with asura during a schizophrenic episode.

Or it could be some bullshit psycho-babble he spouts out in between his shots of alcohol. It's hard to tell.

With nothing better to do, I follow behind watching the action unfold. The poorly dressed men's fear and desperate struggle to escape are little more than a passing moment of interest. To keep what little sanity I cling to, I've long since stopped empathizing with others. By having so many schizophrenic episodes featuring violence, I had to stop caring or else I'd stop functioning. So when bandits attack a poor village. The women get raped, and the children become slaves while I watch. Unaffected by the cruelty.

Before long the raggedy men start to slow. Getting through the Bloody Sea is done by leaping from tree root to tree root. It's possible to climb each root, but the forest is vast. It would take enough years that it's more reasonable to walk around the forest instead. It's why people who enter are typically mages with enough asura to support the effort. People also ride mounts bred for running in the forest but only nobility can afford them, and the noble class consists of mages. The escaping men are Novice Mages; requiring goras for both asura channeling and manifestation. As the lowest and weakest level of mages, their energy is draining fast. The chase goes on for roughly thirty minutes, and I could see the exhaustion wearing on the men. They put in a burst of effort when we come upon a large clearing with men rushing around in madness. From the looks of it, they knew an unwanted company was coming. Seeing Irvin and his unit coming at them; they dropped whatever they were in the middle of grabbing, turn tail and scatter. Few charges at the unit in a vain attempt to fight. Raising various weapons, they give a battle cry and come swinging.

"Kill them!"

"We can't fail Master!"

"Quickly, get her out of here!"

"Hold them off!"

Voices shout out randomly among the chaos.

The unit put in a sudden burst of speed after them. Irvin and Andri pull out a sword from their belts. Andri uses an Asura Sword, and it glows orange with Asura of Soma. They cut down whoever gets close enough. The smell of blood quickly stains the air along with their dying screams. Lark jumps off his pleo and places his hands on the ground. A green hue envelopes the clearing as it violently shakes. A deep chasm cracks open in front of the escapees swallowing the less asura inclined who couldn't avoid it. Shutting close after a moment preventing escape. A few managed to grab a pamsin, a creature with a round head and flat ears coming to a pointed nose. The body is 'S' shaped with the chest dipping down to create a place to sit. The lower body is curving upward to accommodate large, powerful legs similar to a kangaroo, allowing them to leap large distances. Using the smaller front legs to navigate.

My attention is drawn to the bound and gagged woman in a dirty blue dress. She struggles against a man shoving her onto a dark brown pamsin. Her face, an exact copy of my own excluding the scar running over her blind milky left eye, is twisted in anger. She is Nadia, according to my psychiatrist she is the personification of all my "evil" thoughts. Judging from the actions of Unit 13, they're here to save her. When she sees Irvin, she fights harder. Shouting incoherent words into the gag. Her struggling caused her to fall off right as the pamsin jumps. She hits the ground, unfortunately, into the path of another oncoming pamsin. There's not enough time to react as the sound of bones snapping rings out. Everyone slows at the realization of what happened to Nadia. Lark capitalizes on this chance. Capturing as many as possible by entrapping them in roots or having the ground swallow them up to their necks. Andri, ignoring everyone else, runs to Nadia. Judging by the amount of blood loss, Andri's Asura of Soma can't save her. The best any Soma Mage can do is accelerate the healing process.

Drifting closer, I can see the damage. Her body is a mess of bloody flesh and gleaming bones. The taste of pennies hits the back of my throat from the thick layer of blood in the air. Her ribcage is snapped with the jagged edges sticking out her chest. Dying nearly upon impact. In death, her face still held so much hate. Her wide eyes stare into mine, and I look away. Unsettled from staring into the same amber eye as my own. Andri pointlessly looks her over. Nobody speaks before he says the final verdict.

"She's dead."

A heavy silence descends.

Panic falls onto the faces of the captive kidnappers. They stare with gaping mouths, lost at how to proceed. In the middle of their turmoil, Nadia's body is suddenly lit up with by a blinding light. Startling everyone into backing up. It's the last thing I see when I'm hit with a wave of dizziness, knocking me out.