Everett

‘Dammit, what on earth happened. I was sure that they were hardly compared to my strength. I should have easily been able to beat them so why…’ 

“Shing,” The sound of clashing steel screeched in my ear as I was flung into a cold concrete wall.

“You’re distracted Everett,” a deep beckoning voice called out amidst the ringing in my ears. “Tisk” I snarled, darting towards the towering man and rolling under his greatsword.

“The battlefield is no place for your greed,” he bellowed. “The moment you fall to arrogance instead of logic your swordplay will revert to that of a child humouring a stick,” he taunted whilst effortlessly parrying my blade. 

‘Is this a memory’ I pondered. ‘If so then who on earth is he? Not even a moment after the thought crossed my mind his gigantic sword swung over me at a speed capable of slicing a boulder let alone my head.

I grasped a small Ether crystal from a neatly engraved pouch on my belt that I had no recollection of, before shattering it on the pavement. Channelling its power into my legs in order to triple my strength, as I slowly crouched deeper compressing from the knee I could feel my past self's intentions before leaping forward in a matter of seconds. 

That was when I realised. I have no control over my own body. ‘This memory. It's like I'm watching two other people fight through one of their eyes. Although I’m certain that this is my body, only much shorter than I am now. So this must be one of my memories right, but why now,’ I pondered internally. 

With ease, my body breached the range gap set by our vastly different choice of swords as I slashed across his large chest plate but it was to no avail. 

He twisted to the side perfectly predicting my strike and returning with an attack of his own only a fraction later. I flung backwards into a deep lean barely managing to dodge the tip of his oversized hunk of steel as he sliced at my handguard in an attempt to disarm me. 

Swiviling on his feet he stepped back a few paces as if to reset the fight. Although it wasn't for his sake but more so that he could make sure I was still able to continue which only served to infuriate me even more. 

I glanced across his towering figure as if to spot a weakness or maybe it was to plan my next attack when I noticed small shards of iron glancing up at me from the arena floor. 

My rapid slash from earlier. He definitely dodged it however my sword had still managed to catch his amour I realised as I followed the trail of cracked iron up from the ground.

I can almost see what I’m thinking just judging by my actions during this fight which is why I know. The anger of having no chance against him had clouded my mind and I couldn't see it then but it was obvious that he had intentionally let himself get hit. 

I felt my body prepare once again with the remains of the ether crystal. Once again my body directed the powder towards my legs, as if the same attack would work once again.  However, to my surprise, as I launched my attack his sword was instead sent flying into the arena wall. I knew even then that my opponent intentionally loosened his grip, which I could only assume was to give me praise for my movements although for some reason it only seemed to piss me off.

“Very good,” he shouted whilst expanding the gap between us, as I knelt on one knee gasping for air.

“I’ll take it, that's all the zoi you can channel, I guess that is to be expected for a boy without the will of a spirit,” he sighed as his grin widened. I gazed up at his face with eyes blurry from both anger and fatigue.

“Even still, this fight is far from over. Most swordsmen are taught a thing or two of how to fight without a weapon,” he continued, making me unsure if he wanted to boost my ego or completely break my spirit.

I shattered yet another Ether crystal on the ground. Despite merely reliving the memory I could still feel the pain of absorbing more zoi than the body can handle. Continuing with the motion I repeated my previous attack for a third time. For him to parry it once again even without a weapon and with one hand behind his back.

‘How on earth can a single unarmed old man be so bloody strong,’ I praised internally.

Focusing the remaining zoi in my body towards my elbow in order to perform what I could only imagine being an all-powerful near-instant strike. My only thought was why on earth my stoic tower of an opponent had left himself wide open even reaching his hand out to the side. 

I gazed with confusion through the eyes of my younger self. Despite the disadvantageous position he was in, he still held his cheerful smile and remained completely unfazed with total confidence.

The more I looked around at my surroundings despite my dreamlike state I began to recognise every inch of the arena I was in. Despite the abundance of cold white stone that formed the circular array of stairs or seats around me the place still sent a warm sense of relief up my spine. It was a place that I had been desperately searching for in the back of my mind.  

‘Even in the heat of a battle, here I am thinking about where I am in the memory and why I felt so relieved to be here,’ I scoffed at myself.

Within the next fraction of a second, my arm had extended faster than my eyes could realise, and my sword was sent pelting towards my opponent's chest. Consequently, my body was positioned into a deep stride as I was carried behind the force of my attack.

Defying all time and logic an enormous amount of zoi congregated around my opponent's hand with enough power for the glowing red aura to even be near blinding to look at. As if I was staring straight into a wildfire.

Shortly later a vast shadow was cast over my face, as if a giant wall made of steel had been conjured between us.

His sword warped into reality before me as it disappeared from the arena wall. My past self thought he had miscalculated considering that a portion of his weapon was lodged in the ground. But after a moment's notice, it was clear that it was all part of his plan as the large hunk of steel instead acted as an un-moving shield. All that could be heard in the seconds to come was a deafening screech and a sound akin to that of shattering glass. 

As my eyes slowly fluttered open, I peeked over my shoulder, gazing down at the glimmering view of shattered metal that was scattered around us.

‘You’ve got to be joking,’ I thought, in both my present as well as my past mind. My sword was completely shattered and ‘how on earth did he make that giant thing teleport over thirty feet before I could even land such an outrageously fast attack?’

“It was a battle well fought my son,” He peered down at me with his hands on his hips, as pride engulfed his face. 

‘That's right, this impossibly strong man who I’ve never been able to even imagine defeating, is my Father.’

I gazed up at his bearded and scarred face as memories of my home slowly flooded back into my mind. Until his face began to contort and spiral beyond recognition. ‘No, the memory, it's fading,’

“NO FATHER DON’T GO,” I howled as I desperately strived to hold onto the thought, of this place that I call home.

“Don’t worry,” His raspy voice called through the flashing and warping colours around me. “Everything will be ok, My son, and remember, just as though you can't comprehend defeating myself there are people in this world that I too cannot even fathom the bounds of their strength,” he warned, as his face came back into focus. 

My eyes had completely hazed over as my father's oversized smile slowly shifted into a malicious grin. Teeth sharper than blades smiled down at me as my blurry eyes bore holes into the clouded colourless face only inches in front of me. 

‘The reason why I was so sure I could defeat them was because of that man. My father, he’s the only real monster I know. And if there are people out there even stronger than him, then that would make these pathetic footsoldiers of the Abaddon…

“Your nothing more than fucking rats,” I spat, tearing the creature's oversized claws from my neck as my voice screeched across the battlefield. 

My eyes focused as I peered down upon the vast army before me through a lens of green light. I stared into the eyes of the many Abaddon dogs as their uncertainty grew. The Abaddon clasping my throat must have been the first to realise it. The beast released its grip on my throat dropping me to the ground before slowly pacing backwards out of sheer terror.  

Slowly but steadily reality began to set in. A shift in the tides. “It seems that fate has forsaken you,” I erupted in a brief chortle of laughter. 

“All of you…” I paused. Holding my arm up, with my palm pointing in the direction of the ocean of shadows. 

“FUCKING DIE,” I shrieked as the world detonated into a sea of Emerald green and my eyes fell shut once more.

Cayden Dragomir 

‘It was like nothing I had ever seen before,’ I stumbled to my knees. For a moment Everett's body seemed to float mid-air as an unknown force of zoi poured out across the land dispersing into it, like a loom weaving fabrics into one another until they were indistinguishable. However, at the very instant that Everett’s zoi had truly moulded with that of the land, a colossal shock wave was transmitted across the vast sky. 

A heartbeat of blue light thumped waves across the stars. Lighting up the land as if it was midday. Its presence was dense, as if it filled the very air making breathing exponentially more difficult. It was almost as if my body was absorbing the pulsating energy. Just like that of an Ether crystal. 

“Impossible…,” my grandmother heaved as she fell to her knees at the tower's edge. “It's been 500 years since…,” she paused exploding into a coughing fit. “What is it, grandmother? What is this light? It kinda feels like a…” 

Scoffing, she interrupted my words with a basket of laughter as she climbed to her feet. “Like an etherium crystal?” She replied finishing my sentence. A small grin grew on her face accentuating her wrinkles as she gazed down upon me. 

“This power the world has been deprived of for half a millennium.” she continued her gaze shifting to her still shaky hands. “Mythicos Zois,” She roused in excitement, brushing over her frail knuckles as if wishing to be young once more.

“That name, but it can't be…” I quaked.

“The stalemate between the great kingdoms is no more,” she began her eyes still glazed with delight.

“As it was written in fate…”

“A legendary etherium crystal has been born once more.”