The Past: It’s one of the very few things in life that no matter how much one wants to change it, how bad one wants it to go away or forget it all away, cannot be changed. The past is something that will remain with us forever and will ultimately decide who or what we become in the future, be it good or be it bad, the past will never change and will forever remain present. Pain, Love, Death, and Betrayal, Alister has conquered them all but when a past best forgotten mingles with the present a battle is waged, a story is told, and feelings become anew.

Remaining Past

By: Sifredo Quijaja Jr

“I win!” Destiny says as she touches the front door to her house with a triumphant smile on her face, “so now you have to tell me what you were about to tell me before.”

“Is that so?” Alister says with a gin on his face, “If I remember correctly, you were supposed to catch me before we got here. Since we’re already here, that means that you have failed and because of that….I don’t have to tell you a single thing.”

“Oh well, you don’t have to tell me now if you don’t want to and since I have my ways to make you talk, I could always ask you some other time.” She says with a coy smile on her face.

“Ways to make me talk….? Whatever, what matters now is your cure.”

“Right,” she then turns to the door and starts knocking loudly, “hey mom! Let us in!” Moments pass and the door is left unopened.

“The old hag probably can’t hear you, you know how people’s hearing worsens with age.”

“…..You do know that if she had heard what you just said that you would die one hundred times before you hit the ground, right?”

“Destiny…”

“Yes?”

“….What you just said made absolutely no sense at all….”

“…Your point being?” She says with annoyance in her voice.

“None at all,” he then walks in front of the door and begins ganging the door with his fists, “you probably weren’t knocking loud enough.” Seconds pass and the door slightly opens. “It seems that she left the door unlocked, lucky us.”

“No…in all my life she has never left the door like this, I’m worried that something might be wrong…”

“Because of a slightly opened door?” he says rather confused.

“Not that…something seems…different, like something doesn’t feel right or is out of place. The thing that frightens me the most is that I can’t feel her presence…” the look of dread and horror suddenly appear on her face, “she’s hurt!”. She then runs into the house with Alister quickly following behind. They go from room to room searching for her and sure enough once they enter the fourth room they find Aika –Destiny’s mother- dead surrounded by a pool of her own blood. “Mom!!” she runs towards her now deceased mother’s side and checks her pulse finding none, “she’s dead…” her voice is suddenly filled with fierce indignation, “what type of monster would do such a thing!? Whoever did this, I promise that I will make them suffer the most painful and excruciating death possible!!”

“Monster? Isn’t that term a bit too harsh?” a figure dressed in pure black appears out from the shadows standing between Destiny and Alister.

“That voice…” Alister whispers to himself in disbelief, “it can’t be….”

“After all, we did give her a quick and painless death once we had learned what we had wanted.” A second figure dressed in black appears standing right next to the first.

“Who the hell are you people?! And what are you doing in my house!?”

“Ah, you want to know our names? Then let me introduce myself,” the first figure says, “my name is Dresden.”

“And as for me,” the second one says, “my name is….why don’t you ask Alister?”

“Her name is Cassandra,” Alister says without taking his eyes off of them, “I assume that you two came for our stones, am I correct?”

“Clever as always I see,” says Dresden, “and by the looks of you, I see that you’re as weak as before.” He says in a provoking tone of voice.

“Who are these people…?” Destiny says, confusion temporarily overpowering her anger.

“You mean he’s never spoken of me or of Cassandra?” After all, she was his f-“

“You say one more word and I promise that I will kill you were you stand!” Alister says, anger quickly overpowering him.

“Quick to anger? That’s not only a sign of a weak mind but of a weak body as well.”

“Weak you say? We’ll see who’s the weak one after I kill you.” Alister then brings out his sword and points it at Dresden’s neck. “But if you leave now, I promise to let you live.”

“You? Kill me?? Don’t make me laugh! A weakling like you cannot even lay a scratch on me, let alone kill me!”

“Enough talking, time to die!” Alister then lunges at Dresden swinging his sword wildly.

“What bad aim,” Dresden says easily dodging Alister’s attacks, “your eyes are clouded with hate, you’ll never be able to kill me at the state you’re in.”

“Shut up shut up shut up!!! I don’t need your guidance now and I never did!” Alister then swings his sword at Dresden’s head.”

Dresden quickly ducks, “Enough playing around.” He then lands one solid blow on Alister’s chest causing him to double over in pain. “You couldn’t beat me then and you sure as hell can’t beat me now, so why don’t you just die!?” He then rams his knee to Alister’s stomach with tremendous force.

“Ugh” Alister coughs up some blood and collapses unconscious on the ground.

“Alister!!” Destiny runs towards his side

“Not so fast.” Cassandra appears between them, a red aura surrounds her fist as she punches Destiny’s chest. “You made him weak, so why don’t you just die along with him?!?” She then picks up Destiny’s unconscious body and flings her to the opposing wall.

“Cruel as ever I see,” Dresden says with delight in his voice, “just remind me to never get you angry at me, ok?”

“The next word you say will be your last if you don’t shut up, let’s just get what we came for and leave.”

“And them?” he points to Alister and Destiny, “Are you sure we should leave them like this? After all, when they wake up they will come after us seeking revenge and the stones as well.”

“You think I care?” she says with annoyance, “let them come, all it means is more fun for us.”

“You have no heart, you know that?

“Your point being….?”

“I think I’m falling in love.”

She laughs, “Well come on lover boy, let’s get the stones and leave. We’re already late as it is and you know how Drago gets when we’re late.”

“Oh crap…let’s get out of here.” He then takes the stones from Alister’s and Destiny’s pockets and carefully places them in a box. “Earth, Fire, Aqua, Light, Darkness, and Wind; we have them all.” He hands the box to Cassandra, puts a map in Alister’s pocket, and disappears along with Cassandra.

Five hours pass and day has turned to night. A fire roars besides the house as Alister finishes Aika’s grave. “That’s the last stone,” Alister says while whipping away a bead of sweat from his forehead. “It’s a pretty crude grave, but it’ll suffice.” He then stares at Destiny whom is still unconscious.

She slowly arouses from her prolonged slumber. “What the hell happened to us…?”

“We got our asses kicked, that’s what. Not only that, but they took all our stones too. Don’t worry, they were so arrogant that they gave us a map that tells us where they are, their arrogance will prove to be their downfall so don’t worry, we’ll get our stones back.”

“Not that, take a look at you, you’re a mess.” She then points out that he’s covered in dirt.

“What? You don’t like the look?”

“It’s not that, it reminds me of when we found you passed out by the river, remember? It was only me and mom back then.”

“Of course I remember, that was the day we met…and the day your mom knocked me out for 3 whole days.”

“You called her old, what did you expect?”

“Not that, that’s for sure. I never knew the hold hag would be so fast, strong too.”

“’What did you call me!?!’” Destiny says imitating the voice of her mother perfectly. “That face of yours when you heard that was priceless!” She then starts looking up at the stars.

“Are you kidding me?? She scared the hell out of me!” he says and then starts gazing at the stars as well.

“Hey Alister…those two people…”

“You mean Dresden and Cassandra?”

“Yeah, them….do you know them…?”

“….You could say that, we’re more like old acquaintances/friends. The three of us were together before….”

“Before in your old life, right?”

“Yeah, before we met.”

“Alister….”

“Yes?”

“Can I ask you something?

“You can ask me anything, you should know that by now.”

“I’ve never asked you about your old life…but I’d like to know about your past. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want too, I’ll understand.”

“No…it’s okay. I’ve been meaning to tell you for some time now, but I never got the chance. From where should I begin?

“The beginning.”

“Right.” He then gazes into the fire and takes a deep breath before he begins his tale.

Alister: Age 8

I was as happy as can be. With my father and mother with me always I had no care in the world. But that was until that fateful day when my life went askew.

A furious war was being waged and we were told to move many times. “The war is thousand’s of miles away” my dad always said, so we saw no need to move. After all, the war was so far away and we couldn’t get hurt, right?

We were wrong.

“All you who are in there, come out now!!” a voice from outside the door demanded.

“Hide in the secret passageway” my dad said as he looked at me and at mom “I’ll take care of this.”

“Okay, just take care of yourself.” She kissed him and then turned to me. “Let’s go Alister, it’s not safe here.”

“But mommy, I wanna stay here with daddy and if anything happens I’ll make sure that everything is okay.” I said pleading with mom, not wanting to leave my dad’s side.

“Do as she says Alister and afterwards we’ll all go out for some ice cream, okay?” He said smiling at me

“Promise?”

“Of course, promise.”

“Let’s go mommy, it’s not safe for you either.” I said leading her to the passageway.

“No, you go ahead. I’ll come in a little while, here, play with your toys while you wait.” She then hands me my favorite stuffed bear and closes the passageway.

Moments passed and all I heard is talking. After a while I heard loud voices; three or four people were yelling at my parents. Seconds passed and I heard gunshots and feet racing away from the house, I quickly realized that my parents are hurt. “Mom!! Dad!!” I screamed as I opened up the passageway and ran towards them.

“Alister,” said my dad while putting his hand on my head while messing up my hair a little, “keep your voice down, otherwise you’ll wake the neighbors.” He then covered his wound in his side were his life was slowly slipping away.

“Listen to your father and one day you’ll grow up to be like a great man like he is.”

“Forget about them, we need to get you some help!” I said realizing that no help would come in time.

“Are you kidding? We’re just fine.” He said slowly getting up and then collapsing to my mother’s side, his blood flowing more violently now.

“It’s only a small scratch” she said and started coughing up tremendous amounts of blood. Their respective pools of blood slowly started to mix into one.

“If…if either of you die then I’ll never forgive you!” tears started to flow freely from my eyes.

“Stop saying such foolishness son,” dad said having lost all feeling in his body, “and grow up to be strong and proud.”

“I….I will! Just wait and see!! Just don’t leave me…”

“We’ll never leave you, we’ll always live in here,” she gently put her hand to my aching heart, “and in your thoughts, in there we’ll be there together forever.” She said breathing her last breath as her heart slowed to a complete halt.

“We love you son, you’ve made us proud.” He said, his heart beating no longer. I threw myself at their lifeless bodies and cried like I’ve never cried before, and after I had no more tears to shed I fell into a deep slumber. What happened afterwards was a bit hazy; all I remember is being found by a nice old man and later being taken to an orphanage thousands of miles away. A river flowed a few feet away from it; never did I know that that same river would one day carry me away from here.

“What’s this?” I said to the old man as we left his vehicle.

“Oh, you mean this?” he said as he pointed to the cold, white substance that was falling from the heavens. “This is snow; you’ve never seen it before?”

I shook my head and touched some; it was hard and very cold.

“You’ll get used to it because it snows here all year long.” He said with amusement.

“What is ‘here’?”

“This is a place for young children like you who lost their families,” he said while lifting me up and putting me on his shoulders, “I may look weak but I’m as strong as an ox!” He said with a smile on his face.

“What’s an ox?”

“Oxen are really big, brown-“he then saw the confused look in my eyes, “never mind that. Come on; let’s take you to the headmaster to see if you can stay here, he’s an old friend of mine and I’m sure he’ll take good care of you just like he does with all the children that stay here.” He then walked towards the building and climbed up its many stairs to the top floor.

“Who is it?” a kind looking man said as we entered what looked to be an office.

“Hey Drago! How’ve you been?”

“Cold as hell, you?”

“Pretty good, I found this young one who had recently lost his family on my way back here, by any chance can you let him stay?”

“All are welcome, and your name might be?” he said looking up at me.

“My name’s Alister” I said while gazing into his gentle looking eyes.

“Hello Alister,” he said while shaking my hand, “how might you be today?”

“Cold….”

“Cold?” he said as he laughed a little, “I’m sorry young Alister; you’ll have to get used to it because it’s this cold year round.”

And thus my first day at the orphanage began. Four years passed and I eventually got used to this weather; also during these four years I have made no new friends.

Alister: Age 12

Drago called me so I quickly hurried to his office and knocked on the door.

“Who is it?” he asked through the door.

“It’s me, Alister. You wanted to see me?”

“Yes, come in and have a seat.” I entered the room and took a seat in front of his huge desk.

“Alister, I’ve been observing you for some time now and I’ve noticed that you seem quite distant from all the other children, anything wrong?”

“They don’t speak to me, and I don’t want to be a bother…”

“Is that it? You know that to make friends you have to speak to them, right?”

“But...”

“No buts abut it, you heard about tomorrow’s talent show, right?”

“You’re not going to make me do it…are you…?”

“That’s not a bad idea…but I was thinking on making you one of the judges.”

“Why…?”
“That way you’ll have to speak with the other judges and people will notice you.”

“But...um…ok”

“That’s the spirit! Don’t worry, it’ll be fun.”

That night I had trouble sleeping

“Hey, you’re Alister, right?’ One of the judges greeted me as I walked out of my room.

“Yeah…”

“My name’s Liza, nice to meet you. So what’ll you be looking for in the show?”

“Talent…”

Liza laughed, “I meant besides talent.”

“Oh…I have no idea…”

“So I’m not the only one? That’s good; we could help each other out and compare scores then. Well, we should get going or we’ll be late for the show.” We ran all the way to the eating area where the talent show was being conducted and sure enough we arrived late. No one really cared so we took our seats and watched, there were some with great talent and there were some with none; like this one girl for example, she was juggling and did tons of neat tricks while doing it so I gave her a high score. There was also this girl that was singing, if you could call what she was doing singing. She was pretty cute though, so I gave her an okay score. People came and went that showed some talent, but not much; but that was until he came.

“Hey Liza, what’s his name?”

“His?” she asked as she pointed to the 18 year old boy who was about to perform, “His name’s Dresden Night, he’s pretty good at fighting with weapons, today we’ll see him using his favorite sword.”

“Cool.”

But “cool” wasn’t enough, not even close. Nothing could’ve prepared me for what I was about to see; Dresden moved with unrivaled coordination, the way he moved made it seem as if he were not holding a sword at all, but an extension of his body. As I saw him I became speechless and nothing else mattered. Once he was done he bowed and left the area as if his score didn’t matter.

“Alister, hey Alister!” Liza said as she shook my shoulder, “You okay?”

“Just fine, I was merely daydreaming, that’s all”

“Don’t scare me like that. I thought you froze and that I was going to have a popsicle as a friend.”

“Friend?”

“Well yeah, anything wrong?”

So Drago was right, “No, nothing wrong. Just thought how it would be to have a popsicle as a friend.”

“It would be cool!”

We both laughed at the stupid joke and then talked about the things we liked and didn’t like about the show.

“Just what was with that one girl? It sounded like there was a dying animal in her throat!”

“She wasn’t that bad…”

“Are you kidding?? I thought my ear was about to start bleeding.” She said slightly annoyed.

“There were worse…”

“Like?”

“Like…um…”

“Thought so, what did you think of the juggling?”

“She was awesome! But I could do better.”

“Prove it.” Liza said as she threw me three oranges that were on the floor.

“Just watch,” I said confidently and threw all three oranges up in the air at the same time, each one later falling on top of my head, “…that’s what would happen if I didn’t know how to juggle…”

“You’re so silly,” she said as he put a bandage where the oranges hit me, “now watch and be amazed as the amazing and magnificent Liza juggles the three oranges of doom.” she then picked them off the ground and juggled them perfectly, “And as for my finishing act!” she gets a fourth orange and juggles it too. After a while she throws them up in the air and they land on top of her nose perfectly, all four oranges on top of each other perfectly balanced.”

“Liza the seal!” I said amused at what I was seeing. Suddenly an alarm sounds off.

“What’s that alarm for?”

“Alarm?” she asked as she focused her hearing. “Alister, run!!” she then grabbed my hand and motioned for me to follow her.

“What’s wrong??”

“There’s been a history of theft in this area and those thieves must’ve gotten in here somehow, now stop wasting time and run!” She then began running me while pulling me along, I began to follow.

“Where are we going??”

“My room, it’s much closer than yours so let’s hurry!!” We ran all the way to Liza’s room and were a few feet away when we heard the sound of footsteps behind us.

“Don’t move!” A voice said, at this point Liza and I are frozen in fear, “That’s good, now turn around.” At this point we could do no more than follow his directions; we turned around and faced him. He was pretty young, no older than 30 years old I assumed: with bloodshot eyes and wild hair, I believed that he was a madman. “Bad move, now that you saw I have no choice but to kill you.” He said as a sick, twisted smile appeared on his face as he got his gun and aimed at me.

“Get out of the way you idiot!” Liza said shoving me out of the way and putting herself in danger. At that exact moment he shot and the bullet pierced her chest.

“Liza!!” I knelt down by her body, shielding it from more attacks from this madman, uncaring what would happen to me from doing so, “What were you thinking!?”

“I don’t know…my body just moved…” a pool of blood surrounded us, her blood becoming mixed with my tears. “Hey…Alister…”

“Yes?”

She uttered with her last breath. “…Don’t die…” I checked her pulse and saw that there was none. At all this occurred a great hate emerged within me, not just for the madman but for myself for not being able to protect Liza, my one and only friend.

“Don’t worry little boy, you’ll be together with your little girlfriend soon enough.” He said as he pointed his gun at me and was about to pull the trigger once more when suddenly a sword gets driven through his body from behind and blood spurts from his mouth.

“Those who are weak and prey on innocent children deserve no mercy from the one who rules the night. The name’s Dresden, we will not be meeting a second time.” He then pulled his sword out and decapitated my would-be killer’s head. After doing so, he noticed me, “Don’t worry young one, he won’t be killing anyone any longer.” With this being said he walked away as if nothing happened, with bloody sword in hand.

That night I was escorted to my room and there were two guards outside my door, as if they were protecting me from some unknown object seeking revenge. But nothing could save me from the nightmares within, they were full of darkness and despair where both my parents and Liza were brutally killed and came back to life, only to be killed again. These dreams haunted me for days and even though each one was different, one thing always stayed the same; I was helpless to save them, I was too weak to save them and they all died trying to protect me, uncaring of the consequences that will befall them each and every time. Everyone who had cared for me or had been nice to me had shared the same fate: death. After days and days of having these terrible nightmares I began to grow sick of them, and sick of myself. Then I realized that if I am weak, then I must learn to grow strong and I knew the perfect way how.

“Wait…let me get this straight…you want me to teach you the ways of the sword…? Dresden said, slightly confused.

“Yes,” I said enthusiastically, “please teach me all you know.”

“No.”

“But…”

“You’re way too young to play with swords. Besides, I have no time to babysit little kids.” He said and began walking away.

“Please! You don’t understand! The people that I cared most about are dead, my parents died trying to save me; I’m weak and can do nothing to protect them. Just days ago I lost Liza, she was the first and only person that ever talked to me and considered me a friend, she died giving her life to save mine!”

He stopped and gazed at the clouds, “You’re that boy that I saved the other night, right?”

“Yeah, that was me…”

“And your name is?”

“Alister.”

“I can’t believe I’m even thinking about this…”

“You mean you’ll teach me??”

“Hold on, I haven’t said yes just yet, I’m going to have to speak to Drago about this…meet me here tomorrow and I’ll tell you then, okay?”

“Why speak with him?”
“I’ll tell you why some other day, but for now just meet me here tomorrow, see ya.” He then started walking away and stopped abruptly, “That girl, Liza, you’re the only person that she’s ever spoken to.” And then leaves without saying another words.

Later that night was the last night I had ever dreamt those nightmares. The next morning I hurried to meet him; I overslept and was a tad bit late.

“You’re late, what took you so long?” Dresden said, obviously annoyed. “Don’t think that you can be late every time we meet.”

“Are you saying that you’ll…?”

“Yes, Drago gave me the ok so now I can teach you.”

“Why did you ask him?”

“He’s the man that taught me all I know, so I thought it would be fair if I asked him and heard his thoughts about me teaching you.”

“Drago taught you??” I said, wide-eyed at the news I’d just heard.

“He taught me and I’m going to teach you, any problems with that?”

“None at all…but where are your swords?”

“Didn’t bring them, for now we’ll be using these,” he reached behind his back and brought out two staffs, “when I see that you’re ready, then we’ll be using swords.” He tosses one to me and I caught it. “Okay, now show me you’re fighting stance.”

“My what…?”

“…You mean you have no fighting stance…?”

“…No idea what that even is…”

He thought a bit and shrugged, “I don’t have one either, so just come at me with all you got.”

“Okay!” I rushed at him as fast as I could and when I was at close enough range I swung my staff with all my might. What I saw next surprised me, I had not hit him, but his staff; I looked and looked but saw no sign of him, even checked if he was behind me and saw that no one was there.

“Up here!” I looked up and saw him perfectly balanced atop his staff looking down at me. “You lose.” He said as he jumped forward off his staff, grabbed it mid-air, and fiercely swung it downward towards me. I dropped my staff, closed my eyes, and protected my head with my arms so I could at least soften the blow; but surprisingly, no hit came, and when I opened my eyes I saw him laughing at me, “You should’ve seen your face, it was priceless!”

“That wasn’t funny…” I muttered looking down at the ground full of embarrassment.

“Oh come now, I’m sorry that I scared you like that but I just couldn’t help it. If it helps you feel any better, the same thing happened to me when Drago taught me.”

“It did?”

“Oh yeah, I reacted the same way you did, it’s only natural and I think I almost peed on myself when that happened. But all kidding aside, your fear of pain caused you to mechanically defend yourself from the impending blow, if you had not done that you would’ve seen that I left myself wide-open and you could’ve hit me or knocked me off balance instead.”

“You did?”

“Yeah, I used both hands to grab onto the staff and when I swung down at you my whole body was wide-open. You see, when you attack you momentarily leave yourself vulnerable the same as I did just now, you would’ve seen it if you hadn’t closed your eyes.”

“I’m sorry…”

“Relax; it’s the first day of your training so you’re bound to make mistakes. So cheer up, okay?”

“Okay…”

“Good, now the rest of your training can commence. Oh, by the way, are there any other weapons that you want to know how to use?”

“Um…throwing knives.”

“Then I’ll train you on how to use them too,” he stepped a few feet back, “again, like last time!”

“Right!” I rushed at him like before and this time he blocked and poked me on the side with his staff. We continued training until late at night when it was time for me to go to sleep. We trained this way for days, moths, up to a whole year and at that time I became quite good at using the staff. I could even hit Dresden from time to time when he wasn’t paying attention, and every time this happened I ended up being chased by him.

“Hey, Dresden.”

“Anything on your mind?”

“Well, you said you would train me to use the sword but all I’ve been using is a staff…”

“I’ll train you with sword when I see that you’re ready.”

“And when will that be??”

“Hey Alister…what day is it today?”

“My thirteenth birthday…why do you ask?” I asked completely confused

“Happy Birthday,” he said as he handed me two boxes which I assumed my presents were in, one was in a rather long box while the other being quite small, “open the small one first.”

I opened up the small one and found twelve new throwing knives, each with an “A” engraved in them.

“It took me a few months to make them, the tip of the blade is so sharp that it can pin point the smallest of objects, so you’ll have no problem killing any enemy that you encounter.”

“T-thanks, I don’t know what to say…”

“It’s okay, he said smiling for the first time, “just don’t lose them, okay?”

“I’ll never lose them!”

“Good, because if you do there’ll be hell to pay, now open up the other one.”

I put the knives beside me and picked up the long box. “I wonder what could be in here”, I thought to myself as I opened the box. Inside I found the very same sword Dresden used during the talent show a year ago.

“That’s the very first sword I ever used, it’s also my favorite. I thought you should have it.”

“…”

“Anything wrong?”

“Nothing. I promise that I’ll be the best swordsman there ever is, was, and ever will be.”

“Is that so? You’ll have to beat me first, and you’re nowhere near as strong as I”

“Then what are we waiting for!? Let the training commence!!” I said, full of new found energy.”

“You sure are energetic today,” He said getting his sword ready, “now come at me with all you got!”

“Okay!” I said and rushed at him. Sparks flying as our sword trades blow for blow. We trained far into the night and afterwards we made a campfire and roasted marshmallows.

“Hey Dresden, I’ve been wondering something for some time now.”

“And that would be…?”

“Just why did you agree to train me?”

“You remind me a lot of myself when I was your age…you lost both your parents, right?”

“Yeah…”

“So did I.”

“Yes. We’re both alike, you and I; we both lost the things that mattered to us most and then concluded that we were both too weak to protect anyone, let alone ourselves. So we both sought to get stronger and found someone that would help us, I found Drago and you found me.”

‘I guess we are a lot alike, huh?”

“Hopefully you won’t end up like me…do as I say and not as I do.”

“What?” I said half asleep.

“Oh, never mind, get some rest.”

“Okay…” I said dozing off.”

That night I slept peacefully with the warmth of the fire lulling me to sleep. From that day on my training intensified; we would train from sunrise to sunset, only stopping to eat and for the occasional bathroom break. We trained like this for one year and with the training my sword skills grew to even rival Dresden’s- sure, I never beat him in a sparring match, but I got close once or twice. Once I asked him if we needed shields as well, but all he did was scoff at me and said that I would eventually be able to block with my sword, and he was right. There were also a few other sword users in the orphanage and I was by far the best, the only one I could not beat was Dresden himself. But not only did my sword skills increase, so did my skills at throwing knives. At first I had such poor accuracy that I never got close to the targets I made, but eventually as time grew I became a master at using them. I would never miss a single one and every time I would hit them dead center. Eventually Dresden made me another set, saying that twelve wasn’t enough.

“So how are in throwing knives?” Dresden asked in the middle of training.

“Pretty good, I haven’t missed once in four months.” I said rather confident.

“Show me.”

I nodded and brought out eight knives, one between each finger and threw them simultaneously at each target without missing once. Then I did something that I have been practicing for months; I jumped on one of the benches, back-flipped off, while mid-air and my back towards them I threw the remaining knives at the remaining targets; each one hitting dead center.

“Wow that was pretty good. And with that little show we will conclude today’s training.”

“Why so early? It’s not even three yet.”

But he didn’t hear me, he was looking ahead of him and as my gaze followed Dresden’s my eyes fell upon the most amazing figure I have ever seen; with long flowing hair that moved along with the wind as if it ha d a will of it’s own and brown eyes that could steal one’s heart with but a single gaze, all else in the world disappeared, all that I saw was this woman of great beauty and the sunset which was around her.

“Hey Alister.” He said, bringing me back to reality.

“Yeah?”

“Come back here tomorrow at noon and don’t bring your sword, I doubt you’ll be needing it.” With that being said, he left me and walked towards the girl, exchanged a few words, and they left towards the main building. Meanwhile, I stayed there wondering what he meant by not needing my sword, picked up my knives, and headed towards my room instantly falling asleep when my head touched the pillow. I woke up moments before noon and hurried not wanting to be late. When I got there I found the same girl from yesterday.

“What are you doing here? She said obviously not in a good mood.

“Waiting for someone, you?”

“None of your business now leave.”

“Why?”

“Because I say so, now leave before I make you.”

“You? Make me? Don’t make me laugh.”

Bad mistake, moments later I’m on the ground with her on top of me, her eyes showing intent on hurting if not killing me. A cold chill emanated from her hand as she was about to strike, when suddenly.

“Hey you two, I was hoping that you would get along but had no idea you would get along this much.” Dresden said.

She smirked at his comment, “Funny as always. But it’s not what it looks like, I’m about to kill him, that’s all.”

“Kill him? Please don’t tell me that you’re planning on killing Alister.”

“What?? He’s Alister!?” she said completely shocked and straightening het skirt.

“Um…Dresden…how is she…?”

“Cassandra, you’re new instructor.”

“What?! She tried to kill me!!” I said completely shocked.

“You have to not only be good in strength and swords but also be good at using magic; and magic is her specialty.”

“Sorry about that, I guess I got a bit out of hand.”

“Have fun Alister and good luck.” He said and disappeared.

“Before we start, let’s get a few things straight: first, I’m not training you because I want too, I’m doing Dresden a favor and second, what elements are you interested in learning to control?”

“Elements?” I said rather confused at the turn of events.

“Yeah, elemental magic. Manipulating elements in order to do things you aren’t normally able to do, like this,” she then snapped her fingers and we were surrounded by a ring of fire, “cool, huh?”

“It really is! Can you teach me how to control: wind, water, and fire?”

“Sure, but water will be kinda tricky. Follow me,” she said and led me deep into the woods and to a nearly frozen pond. “jump in.”

“Why…?”

“It’ll help you master water.”

“Okay,” I said and jumped into the pond, “the water’s freezing…just how is this going to help me?”

“None at all, just wanted to see if you were stupid enough to actually jump in” she said laughing.

“…”

“You have to admit, it is kinda funny.”

I smirked, “But not as funny as this!” and then I pulled her into the water with me.

“Ha-ha, very funny. Now you got my clothes all wet.”

“Aren’t you cold?”

“I can manipulate water, remember? Once you know how you can make the water around your skin as hot or cold as you want. Since we’re talking about heat, your first lesson is to feel the warmth in this nearly frozen pond. Takes a deep breath and submerge yourself completely, holding out your arms will help.”

“Okay.” I took a deep breath, submerged myself and held out my arms and after a few seconds I felt some heat.

“Hey Alister…”

“Yeah…?”

“What are you doing?”

“I found some heat in this pond.”

“…That’s my leg…” she said slightly blushing.

“Oh…it’s pretty warm.”

“…Let go before I cut your hand off.”

“Sorry,” I let go and swam around the pond, “it’s not so cold once you get used to it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, feels kinda warm.”

“It’s -10oF in this pond.”

“You mean…”

“That’s right. You finished your first step in controlling water. Pretty soon you’ll be able control water at your own will, but since water won’t always be around you we won’t focus much on it.” She was right; in a matter of months I was sable to control water. At first we started off with me having to move water from one glass to another and when she saw that I was ready we moved on to larger bodies of water, once I was able to hold the water from the nearly frozen pond over the pond itself. Not only was I able to move water but I was able to form the water into various shapes, all I had to do was see the shape once and I was able to make an exact copy of it using the water.

“Getting bored with water yet?” she said as I looked out the window after another day of shape shifting.

“Yeah, I’ve been bored for weeks. We’ve been doing the same thing over and over again; I think I’m ready for the next element now.”

“Good, complete this last test and we’ll move on to wind.”

“Test?” I said rather uneasy at the thought of taking one, knowing her the test could probably kill me.

“It’s going to be easy,” she said, sensing my uneasiness, “all you have to do is form a copy of me with the water.”

“How?”

“Like you’ve always done, just look at me and concentrate on the water and you’re done. You’re acting as if this is the first time I’ve ever asked you to change the shape of water.”

“It’s not that, I have to see the whole shape in order to copy it, and with you I can’t.”

“Why not? What’s so different from all the other times? Oh, you mean my clothes? That makes sense, you can’t copy what you can’t see.” She said and started taking off all her clothes and stood completely naked in front of me, “I’ll give you five minutes, and begin!”

Five minutes was more than enough so I took my time making the water into an exact copy of her: the gaze of her eyes, the flowing movements of her hair, the shape and color of her soft pink lips, and the roundness of her breasts, they were all there.

“And…times up. Hey, you did a pretty good job, a lot better than I was expecting.”

“Really? I owe it all to your teaching after all.”

“Yeah, it’s perfect…a bit too perfect…” she said as she put her clothes back on.

“Now what’s that supposed to mean?” I said slightly amused.

“…It was you who I saw with Dresden when he was peeking at me while I was taking a shower, wasn’t it?”

“…I have no idea at what you’re talking about…”

“..RUN!!!”

I quickly ran out the door with her in pursuit. While running I put some obstacles in order to try to slow her down, each of them being blown away before she even got to the. I made a quick turn and entered an open area with no other exit.

“There you are!” Cassandra said while walking towards me, she then suddenly stopped and started taking in her surroundings, “this place is perfect!”

“Perfect?”

She nodded, “This is where your wind training will take place. But first, a little taste of what you’ll be learning.” She smiled and then a huge gust of wind blasted me to the wall opposite of her. She smirked and motioned to het left, a resulting gust of wind flung me to the wall left of her. “I think I overdid it…” were the last words I heard before I passed out. A few hours passed and I finally woke up, much to my surprise with Cassandra’s face almost touching mine.

“You’re finally awake, now the training can begin.”

I looked up and saw that the full moon was right above us. Isn’t it a bit late?”

“Nonsense, it’s best to practice wind techniques at night, that way the sun’s heat won’t interfere by warming up the wind. Now get up, I won’t be training any lazy students.

I quickly stood up and brushed myself off.

“Good, now try to feel the wind around you and tell me in which direction the wind in blowing, stretching out your arms and feeling the wind pass through your fingers might help.”

I nodded and did as I was told, closing my eyes as well in order to help me concentrate. After a few moments I felt that the wind was blowing south and told her so.

“Good, the wind in fact is blowing south. This next step is much harder but crucial, you must try to feel the wind as if it an extension of your body and command it to blow the opposite direction, do you understand?”

“I think so…” I closed my eyes once more and felt the wind passing through my fingers. Next I tried to make the wind blow north. Nothing happened.

“…I can’t do it…nothing’s happening…”

“Hm…maybe this would help…” I was suddenly caught in the middle of a fierce hurricane, furious winds encircling me inches away from my body blinding me.

“To escape this hurricane you must push some of the wind. With the slightest push the hurricane will lose control of itself and be no more, but be quick; the longer you take the closer my hurricane will get to you and in case you’re wondering, when that happens you’ll be ripped to shreds.”

At this shocking new revelation I grew even more determined, I wasn’t about to let myself get killed. I closed my eyes like before and focused my mind, feeling the wind around me coming closer and closer at an alarming rate. I quickly realized that if I did nothing that I would die in a matter of seconds, but there was something else far more important that I realized; the wind is blowing counterclockwise and at that moment I knew what I had to do in order to survive this. The wind was coming closer and closer and when the wind was about to touch me and ultimately kill me I started spinning my body the opposite direction, I spun faster and faster until the hurricane was spinning not only with me but away from me as well. As quickly as the hurricane began, it went away.

“Bravo,” she said clapping, “I knew you would survive, but had no idea that you would manage to make the hurricane go in reverse, is it safe to assume that you know how to control wind?”

“Yeah, now let’s go onto fire.”

“Not so fast, try blowing the wind at all directions.”

I understood and did as I was told; I motioned my hand to the left and a huge gust of wind blew in that direction, I did the same with in every direction, each time a gust followed.

“…Hm…we have a long way to go until you master wind.”

“What!?”

“It’s true.”

“But I thought…”

“Here, let me give you an example,” she said as she threw me a small ball and brought out a hoop, “that ball will barely go through this hoop, do you understand what I want you to do?”

“You want me to send this ball through that hoop using wind, right?” I said making the ball float right next to me.

“That’s correct,” she said holding the hoop away from her body, “begin.”

“Okay,” I then motioned my hand towards the direction of the hoop and the resulting gust threw the ball right through it, “I still can’t see your point though.”

“You will,” she said throwing the ball back at me, “try again.” She said as she threw the hoop up in the air. I did as before and sent a gust of wind towards the hoop guiding the ball towards it; but this time instead of blowing that ball through the hoop, I blew the hoop along with it. “So you see my point now? You said that you can control wind but all you can make it go in gusts, in order to completely master wind you must be able to control the size of the wind you use.” As she said that she retrieved both the ball and the hoop, threw the hoop up in the air and sent the ball right through it.

“How did you do that?”

“I just did…try imagining that the wind id going through a pipe, that’s what I used to do and eventually I did it without thinking at all.”

“Through a pipe…” I got the ball and she threw the hoop up in the air like before, and the same thing happened.

“Keep practicing and you’ll get the hang of it…eventually.” She said with a smirk on her face.

“Eventually…?” I said, hoping that she was joking around.

“It took me less than a week to completely control wind and for you…at the very least it should take you a month.”

“A month??”

“Yeah, most likely a month if not more, and by completely master I mean that you’ll be able to use wind at a proficient level, no one can truly master an element. Whenever we use an element it means that said element is lending us some of it’s power, if they hadn’t then man wouldn’t last. Do you understand?”

‘Sorta…then does that mean that you use it at a proficient level?”

“No, I can do things that many other element users can’t do. Let’s take wind for example, it is possible to lift yourself and basically fly once you know how, not only that, but unlike others: I can combine elements at will.”

“You think that one day I’ll be able to do things like that?”

“Most likely, but that’s if you practice on your own, now try once more.”

I tried again and again yet the same thing kept happening: the hoop kept being blown away no matter how hard I tried. Day after day I slowly kept improving and just as Cassandra said, by the end of the month I was barely able to send the ball through the hoop; but that wasn’t the end of it, after a while able to pick up and move objects with the wind. Eventually I got so good that even what used to be our form of training became a game.

“Confident in your skills?” Cassandra asked me one day right before sunset.

“Let me guess, time to test them?”

“Yup, you have to lift me up with wind.”

“I thought I did that the other day…plus you’re wearing a skirt, are you serious?”

“Nope, just wondering if you’re ready to move onto fire. And my skirt isn’t that short, is it?”

In response I made the wind blow revealing more of her legs, “Nice legs and I see that you’re wearing purple today, you were saying?”

“…Do you wanna move on to fire or not?”

“Yes!” I said rather excitedly.

‘Good, we’ll start on fire right now then.”

“Is it hard to master?”

“Are you kidding?? It’s the easiest one of all. All you have to do is master fire and we’re done with your training.”

“Okay, so what do I have to do? You aren’t gonna make me jump into a boiling pot of water, right?”

She smiled, “You’re not gonna let that down, are you? And no, first you have to focus on an object which you wish to ignite and then think about something with great passion and then fire will come out.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s all there is to it, you see those group of candles?” she said pointing to a group of unlit candles that were a few feet away from us, “Ignite them and I’ll show you other things that you can do with fire.”

“Okay…” I started thinking about many things yet no fire came. I was about to give up when I remembered about the first time I saw Cassandra with her long flowing hair and the gaze that could steal the heart of any man or woman that saw them. At the exact moment that I thought of her the candles not only lit but burst to flames and automatically melted.

“Wow…just what were you thinking about? You practically blew up my favorite scented candles…”

“I was thinking about…well…”

“No need to tell me, what matters is that you can use fire. Now do it once more and…make a ring of fire around us.”

“Okay,” I thought of her once more and a ring of fire surrounded us, how did I do that…?”

“You mean you don’t know? All you have to do is imagine it happening and it happens, the same way you were able to control wind and water.”

“I wonder…” I imagined the fire in a color other than red and they turned green and then I thought of the color blue causing the flames to go from green to blue.”

“Pretty cool, huh? Now try this!” she them fired a huge blast of fire from her hand.

“How did you do that??” I said filled with awe.

“Same as you changed the color of fire, I merely imagined it happening and it happened.” She said smiling.

“Let me try.” I imagined fire shooting out of my hands and sure enough a resulting blast followed. “I wonder…” I looked up into the moon and stars that came out as day turned to night, opened my mouth and then shot out fire form it.”

“There’s nothing you can’t do with fire and with that being said your training is complete. You learned wind, fire, and water in only half a year, you should be proud of yourself.”

“I owe it all to you. So…what happens next?”

“Tomorrow go to Drago’s office. Dresden and I will be there, we have important matters to discuss.”

“Important matters?”

Yeah…can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“If you had to kill…would you do it?”

“I don’t know…maybe…why do you ask?”

“Just wondering…good night.”

With that being said she disappeared without me being able to say a word. “Just why did she ask me that question?” I thought to myself as I walked towards my room. That night I couldn’t sleep and just stared at the ceiling the whole time; sleep eventually came and hours later it was time to go, so I quickly got dressed and headed towards Drago’s office to receive he news which changed my life forever.

“Take a seat.” Drago said as I entered his office and I did as I was told, “Cassandra and Dresden have been training you and you have become stronger, have you not?”

“That’s true, Drago with swords and knives while Cassandra with magic.”

“And have they told you that I have been keeping a close eye on you the whole time?”

“You have??” I said completely shocked.

“Yes and the whole time I’ve been waiting for this day to come.”

“You’re making me nervous…if you’re going to tell me something then tell me already.”

“You lost your parent to the war, right?” Drago continued on

“Yeah…these people, our “enemies”, killed them…”

“You mean the Desians? They were the same ones that killed my parents and family.” Said Dresden who has been rather quiet the whole time.

“Yeah…them…why do you ask?”

“Alister…” Dresden –now age 20- said looking straight into my eyes, “We’ve found your parents’ killers.”

“You what!? Why haven’t you told me thins sooner??”

“If w e have told you sooner you would’ve run off like a complete idiot and have gotten yourself killed,” Cassandra said trying to calm me down, “we knew that once you found out you would wish to seek revenge so we trained you in order to give you a chance.”

“The question is: what do you want to do? Dresden and Cassandra know the area pretty well, so they will be going along with you if you choose to go and seek revenge. If not, we won’t judge you.” said Drago.

“I’ll go and I’ll be glad to have Dresden and Cassandra fighting by my side…but why are you telling me this?” I asked.

“Because I felt that you had the right to know, if you hadn’t wanted to seek revenge I would’ve merely sent Dresden along since he lost his family to them as well. One question though, will you be seeking revenge upon those who killed your parents or destroy them all?”

“They killed my parents, Liza, Dresden’s family, and countless others. I won’t rest until they’re no more.”

“Understood. You three should depart later today. Dresden, isn’t there something you wanted to give him?”

“This is for you,” Dresden said handing me a large rectangular box, “I hope you like it.”

I opened the box and a grander sword than the one he gave me was inside; the butt of the sword had an “A” engraved in it and the blade was so sharp that the very tip itself could not be seen.

“What does it say?” I asked pointing to the side of the blade that had strange letters which I did not understand.

“Weak I was, but weak I am no longer.” Dresden said.

“It must’ve taken you a long time to make it.” I said marveling at the fine blade which was given to me.

“I made it while Cassandra was training you, how do you like it?”

“It’s great!!” I said while swinging the sword from side to side in order to get the feel of it, it was slightly lighter than the one I had before but I quickly got used to the weight difference and sheathed my sword.

“You three should get going so you can get there by nightfall.”

We then exited the building, went through the woods, and walked for hours without stopping; soon nighttime came and we were gazing at a large two story building.

“How do the two of you know of this place?”

“We received reports that suspicious things were happening in that area and later found out that the Desians took over that old building. During the time that I was training you, Dresden was scoping the area and getting familiar with his surroundings.” Cassandra answered.

“That doesn’t matter anymore, what matters is what we came to do. And look: those pompous bastards left the entrance wide-open for us, how kind of them. Are the two of you ready? Remember the plan?”
“Yes.” Cassandra and I answered

“Good, now let’s begin!” he then ran ahead of us while Cassandra and I took our places- Cassandra to the left and I to the right. Halfway there an arrow flew right past us. “Heh, it seems that we’ve been spotted.” Dresden said as he pointed to a group of Desians atop the base.

“And not just them.” Cassandra said bringing to our attention the archers that positioned themselves atop the trees surrounding the base.

“What should we do?” I asked Dresden.

“Keep running all the way to then base and do our best at dodging all these annoying arrow, when the time comes I’ll give the signal and do as we planned.”

We kept running, getting closer and closer to the base; with each step it seemed that the degree of arrows increased, “What the…Dresden…I think it’s time.” I said as an immense wall of arrows blotted out the heavens.

“No…not just yet, jeep running,” he said as the arrow rain kept getting closer and closer, with each step we took we took a step closer to Death. “NOW!!”

As the arrows were about to pierce our skin and ultimately end our very existence Cassandra summoned up a giant cyclone that surrounded us and ricocheted the sea of arrows in all directions killing every single Desian who positioned themselves atop the tree. Then without missing a beat I threw a series of fireballs over the base and combined them all causing a huge explosion blasting away all the Desians that were positioned there if not charring their bones to ashes.

“Did…did I just kill them?” I asked shaken by what I had just done.

“Most likely than not…why?” asked Dresden.

“…Just wondering.”

“Is something wrong?” asked Cassandra worriedly.

“No…it’s nothing…nothing at all.”

“Stay sharp, we’re here.” Dresden said as we passed the entrance and then stopped abruptly at what we saw before us; every single Desian in this base must’ve been right there waiting for us, “What a welcoming party. I take the fifty that are to the left; Cassandra, you take the fifty that are to the right and Alister, you take the fifty that are in the center.”

“You mean you already counted them all?”

“No.”

“Then how do you know how many there are?”

“…Your point being?”

“Come on you two, quit arguing.” Cassandra said rather annoyed, “Let’s make a bet, whoever kills the least has to be my slave and attend to my every whim.”

“Slave?” Dresden and I trade glances, each of us imagining her with a whip, “Hey Dresden…I don’t feel so well so how about you take care of mine?”

“…And by being my slave I meant washing the dishes, cooking, an-“

“I feel much better now!”

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s begin!” with that being said we all rushed to our respective groups- Dresden to my left and Cassandra to my right. I kept hesitating the whole time not wanting to take a life. The Desian saw and took advantage of this, moments later and I was completely surrounded by them having no place to run or to hide and being able to be attacked from every direction. With sword in hand I kept repelling their attacks and not daring to make one of my own, I kept doing this successfully until one of them had caused me to end up in the ground with my sword out of reach. One of them then lunged at me, an attack which I could not dodge and one that would certainly take my life.

“Get out of the way you idiot!” Dresden said shoving me out of the way and putting himself in danger. At that exact moment the Desian’s sword pierced his skin and blood splattered on my face. I stood in horror of what I had just seen and then something in my head had snapped; my eyes went blank and I slowly rose to my feet, I held out my hand and my sword somehow found its way to it. With sword in hand I killed and killed and killed, not caring what would happen to me, if I’m going to hell then I’m sure as hell taking them all with me. Soon enough my sword was crimson red for all the bloodshed which it had cause but that wasn’t enough, I needed more! All the Desians which once surrounded me were all dead but I still hungered for more, the bloodlust I felt had not been even close to being quenched; then I noticed a group of Desians who were trying to escape and I sent blades of wind colored red due to how the base reeked of flood which I had shed and decapitated their heads, their lifeless bodies spurting blood all over the walls. Every single Desian in this base were all dead and a blood curdling scream escaped my lips as I craved for more and having nothing to appease my hunger. “Alister stop!!!” a voice called to me piercing the clouds which surrounded my mind, “You can stop now, they’re all dead, so please return to your old self! It was Cassandra’s and she was calling to me, wanting me to return to normal. Another scream escaped my lips, the bloodlust within me fighting to regain control. She then wrapped her arms around me, “Please stop, I want you the way you once were, not like this.” She then kissed me with her soft lips causing the bloodlust to disappear and my strength along with it, I then grew weak and passed out in her arms.

Days passed and I awakened at the orphanage with the sun’s rays burning my eyes, I take in all the surroundings and figure out that I’m in Drago’s office.

“Hey, you’ve finally woken up.” A familiar voice told me.

“Dresden!??” I said hugging him with all my might making sure that this wasn’t a dream.

“Agh! Get off of me!” said Dresden trying his best to get free.

“Sorry,” I said letting go, “I thought you were dead…”

“Dead? Me?? Heh, I don’t die so easily, besides, the sword didn’t pierce any vital organs so I’ll be fine.”

“…Why did you save me?...You could’ve been killed…”

“I don’t know…my body just moved…”

“You should’ve let them kill me…if they had then it would’ve never happened…”

“You mean your little killing spree? Cassandra told me all about it after she carried the both of us here and had along rest.”

“…I’m a monster, aren’t I…?”

“No, you just went a little crazy, that’s all. I mean, you thought you just saw me being killed.”

“…I’m sorry for being so week, for not being strong…”

“Stop apologizing,” Cassandra said as she entered the room, “you did nothing wrong and you are not weak. If you were then you wouldn’t have been able to kill all those Desians. But I’ll tell you what you are; you are Alister, the third strongest person in this orphanage that we live in, that’s who you are and that will change no matter what.”

“…Third?”

“Of course, the only ones stronger are Dresden and I.”

Drago then entered the room and sat opposite of me, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah…sorry for worrying you all.”

“No need, I should be the one who’s apologizing. I asked you to do something which you yourself weren’t prepared to do.”

“That doesn’t matter now, what has been done is done and cannot be taken back, so when do we go to the next base?”

“You mean you still want to continue this?”

“Of course! I want to prove to myself that I am not weak and I won’t hesitate any longer. My hesitation nearly cost Dresden’s life.

“If that’s what you want then you can go tomorrow morning at the earliest.” said Drago.

“Where is it?”
“A full day’s walk from here in the center of Lake Dynast” I guess we don’t have to worry about any annoying archers then.” said Dresden.

“If there’s nothing else that you need then you three should get some sleep and get some rest, I’ll give you a map and directions on how to get there before you leave.”

Afterwards we all left Drago’s office and headed towards our rooms and rested for tomorrow’s journey, night came and went until finally the sun rose and it was time to depart. Before leaving we got the map from Drago and headed towards Lake Dynast without a word being said amongst us three, one day passed and we finally reached Lake Dnast at sunrise.

“I was wondering…just how are we going to get over there?” asked Dresden.

“Don’t worry, Alister and I can both walk on water.”

“I can’t…”

“Then I’ll make the water under you solid as you go on, so let’s go.”

“Dresden, Cassandra, and I then began walking on top of the water towards the Desian. As we got closer and closer I started noticing strange movements under the water, all seemed calm until water erupted from the left of us sending a huge spray of water into the air causing a heavy mist. When the mist cleared we saw that a gruesome sea serpent was the cause of it; being over twenty feet long and having razor sharp teeth, we could tell that this battle wasn’t going to end quickly, I immediately threw five or six of my knives but it remained unfazed. Having seen that what I had done had no effect on the beast, Dresden then tried slicing the beast into shreds with his sword but before he even got close to it he was sent back after being hit with the serpent’s tail. Our futile efforts having angered the serpent, it lunged at us trying to eat us whole, we quickly dodged and did a counterattack of our own yet just like before it had no effect on it at all. The serpent then submerged itself into the lake below and we couldn’t tell where it went, when we had allowed the thought that maybe we had defeated the beast a huge fireball almost hit us from below and while trying to dodge it, the serpent emerged from behind and attacked us while we were off guard. We all dodged the attack and somehow I landed atop the serpent’s head, I had then saw my chance and drove my knives into each of its eyes momentarily blinding it. The serpent then started to violently thrash around and sent me flying toward Cassandra but not before being able to line the serpent’s back with my knives. Black blood started to ooze out of the serpent’s back and eyes and we could easily see that it was in dire pain. Cassandra then saw her chance and then summoned a huge thunderbolt from the heavens instantly frying the serpent when it came into contact. Having cleared the obstacle that was put against us, we continued on our way towards the base and entered. Just like the last it seemed that every Desian was there waiting for us and we quickly chose which group we would attack and quickly started to fight, but unlike before instead of merely defending I attacked as well, in fact I did no defending whatsoever and attacked showing no mercy. Soon there were bodies laying everywhere with only Cassandra, Dresden, and I left standing. The scent of blood was heavy in the air and soon I was intoxicated by it, bloodlust arising once more and the urge to kill and shed blood came along with it. My sense sharpened and I heard sounds coming from a room other than the one we were in and made my way towards it; inside I found two Desians, one male and one female cowering in fear.

“Please don’t kill us!” the male pleaded.

“And why shouldn’t I? You people have caused the deaths of my parents and countless others.”

“If you’re going to kill then kill me instead, please leave her out of this.”

“Abyssion stop!” the female pleaded trying to save his life.

“If that’s what you want then I hope that you’ll be happy as you rot in hell.” I swung my sword hoping to give him a quick death when all of a sudden the female used her body as a shield. When she did this I stopped and dropped the sword having seen that she was pregnant, but more importantly that she looked exactly like my mother once did. The bloodlust I once had felt then disappeared and I collapsed onto one knee as if al my strength had left me.

“Run!”

“What??” the male said in disbelief not fully comprehending what I said, and to tell you the truth, neither did I.

“I said run, there are two here with me that are far stronger than I and the only way that the two of you will live is that the two of you run!”

They then ran away and a few seconds later Dresden and Cassandra appeared by my side.

“Alister!! Are you hurt? Did those Desians that just ran off did this two you” I’ll make them pay!” Cassandra said as she started walking in the direction where the Desian couple ran.

“Cassandra stop!! It’s okay, I let them go.”

“You what?!?” Cassandra and Dresden said in complete shock, hatred arising from Dresden.

“You’ve killed before and you seemed to enjoy it!”

“I never enjoyed killing!! With them it was different…”

“I’ll see how different this is! Dresden said as he brought out his sword and was about to swing when Cassandra stopped him.

“Stop! He must’ve had a good reason to let them go, he would never betray us like that….let’s first talk with Drago and see what he has to say, so put away your sword.”

“Okay…let’s get going since we had no business here.” He said and then started walking off on his own with Cassandra and I soon following. We safely crossed the lake and headed our way to the orphanage without a word being said. I could easily tell that Dresden hated me for what I had done but I was hoping that he would understand why when we got there. Before we got there a light rain started to drizzle and when we got to the orphanage it stared to rain in sheets.

“How did it go?” Drago greeted us outside the orphanage; he must’ve seen us coming and decided to greet us despite the heavy rain.

“I let two of them go…”

“YOU WHAT!?!?” Drago said, all gentleness in his face being replaced by hatred.

“I had too! They were both lovers and the woman was with child.

“Do you understand what you just said?? There are two more and when that little demon is born there will be three of them! It will then grow up, have kids, and the cycle will go on! By letting them live you had single handedly assured more misery and Death in the future!!”

“The woman looked exactly like my mother!!”

“Your mother is DEAD!!! I gave you a roof to live and food to eat, and this is how you repay me?!? By assuring that Death, misery, and hatred to reign in the future!?? The very sight of you sickens me!! Dresden! Cassandra! Rid this filthy bastard of it’s existence!!” He then walked away leaving the three of us alone.

“Draw your sword and die like the filthy dog you are.”

“Dresden please…I…I always thought of you as an older brother who always watched over me…I can’t fight you, please don’t…”

That was on the past, the past which matters no longer.” he then dealt consecutive blows with his fists, each one stronger than the last and driving me back. Soon we were at the edge of the cliff with the roaring river beneath us, he then rammed his knee into my stomach causing me to double over in pain and fall onto my knees.

“So you do intend on killing me…”

“I thought it was rather obvious from the start. I’m very ashamed of you, with all the training you got I was hoping that you would be a better opponent, I guess I was wrong. But no worries, your life is about to end and you will soon reunite with your mother.”

He then got out his sword and swung it towards my head; I somehow dodged, “Then you give me no choice…” I got out one of my knives that he made for me and was about to take his life with it when a blast f water suddenly struck me with such tremendous force that it not only knocked me off balance but threw me off the edge. The last thing I saw before I plummeted to what I was sure would be the end of me was Cassandra gazing at me full with sorrow.

“I then woke u with your eyes looking down upon me, I honestly believed that I had died and gone to heaven.” Alister said hoping to get a laugh from destiny, he got none.

“I…I promise to make them pay for doing this to you. I will make their deaths as long and cruel as possible, they won’t get away with hurting you!”

“Destiny…”

“No, don’t say a word against it. I promise to kill them and any of those who wish to harm you. I swear upon my mother’s grave that I will risk my life for you and destroy all those who wish to cause you pain.”

“I…I never knew you cared this much about me…”

“I do…do you?” she said trying to conceal a blush but making it more rosy.

“I do…we should get some rest, we have a big day tomorrow. It’s the start of our journey to get back the stones and avenge your mother’s death.”

“Alister…can we really do this? I mean…you saw how strong they are…can we really do this?”

“We can do anything as long as we’re together.”

“Yeah, together.

Remaining Past

End