The Soul Sword

"Our dreams drench us in senses, and senses steps us again in dreams."

~Amos Bronson Alcott
1799-1888, American Educator, Social Reformer

In the middle of a vast wasteland, before a great volcano, stood Miles. Animositas was clenched tightly in his hand and Albin stood purposefully by his side. The sky was filled with dark storm clouds, their color tinted red from the light of the solar eclipse. The wind was tossing around the brown dust and rocks of the barren valley, and few sounds, save for the wind itself, could be heard. As the pair of heroes strode closer to the large mountainous formation before them, the side of the volcano began cracking and breaking up, appearing at first as if it was about to erupt. Instead, a giant figure burst through the stone, sending rocks and dust cascading down below to the foot of the mountain. As the dust settled at the volcano's base, two figures, Miles and Albin, could be seen gazing up at the creature above, spell book and sword in hand.

The creature itself was colossal, over twenty feet tall, and monstrous in appearance. Its legs and feet were goat like, with long fur covering the thighs and calves, and enormous hooves for feet. Its torso was bare and man-like, with dark colored skin and considerably defined muscles. Each of the demon's arms were thick and long, ending in a sharply clawed hand, while its face was devilish and grotesque, with two long, curving horns projecting from the top of its head. The creature's mouth and nose were expelling smoke with every breath, while its eyes glowed a dark red color. When the massive demon looked down the side of the volcano, and its eyes fell onto the two assailants below, the creature reared back it's head and bellowed a mighty roar, before beginning a powerful charge down the mountain.

Miles and Albin held their ground, however, until the vicious demon was nearly upon them. Then, at the last second, both of the heroes jumped and rolled to the side, missing the chance of being trampled by only a fraction of a second. As each turned around, facing the demon's back side, as well as it's long lion-like tail, Albin released a blast of white, blinding magic at the creature, while Miles charged it, swinging Animositas vigorously at its leg. As both of their attacks connected, the immense creature howled in agony, then quickly spun around and locked its sight onto its two adversaries. First, the demon opened its unnerving jaw and bellowed out a frightful sound as flames erupted from its mouth, enveloping Miles as the force knocked him to the ground. Ensuingly, the demonic beast turned its attention to Albin, as one of it's mighty, clawed hands reached back, then swung forward, striking the Lepus and sending him flying into the side of a large rock.

As Miles slowly got back to his feet, bits of his clothes still smoldering, he lifted the Soul Sword before him and assumed a fighting stance. The powerful demon faced him and the two enemies stared each other down for a moment, before the devilish creature lowered its head and charged Miles, intent on impaling the brave hero with its gruesome horns. As the beast charged, Miles didn't waver for a second as he held his stance, knowing what he must do. Without flinching, he allowed the creature's horn to push into his body and erupt out his back, lifting him high into the sky as the beast righted itself. Then, using the last of his quickly fleeing strength, Miles plunged Animositas deep into the demon's skull. The horrible creature suddenly screamed and howled in pain, and as the last bits of life left Miles' breath, he knew he had succeeded.

☽☼ ☽ ☼ ☽ ☼ ☽

Miles' heart was still racing as a few last pieces of the dream clung to his consciousness, while the reality of where he really was, began to set in. He was lying on the forest floor, Animositas clenched tightly in his right hand. He loosened his grip on the sword and sat up, rubbing his eyes and quickly forgetting the details of the dream he'd just experienced. Pushing the last few shreds of it from his mind, he instead focused on what was happening around him. Albin was quickly packing up the supplies they had used last night, and placing each of them into his infinitely large pocket. The morning was still young and only a few rays of sunlight were making their way over the horizon. As Miles pulled the blanket he'd been using off his body, Albin noticed that his companion was finally awake and so approached him.

"You're looking pale... are you alright?" He asked, with concern in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Miles replied, scratching his head. "I just had some weird dream last night... or nightmare... I don't really remember it very well -- are we leaving?"

"As soon as we can. We should be a fairly safe distance from the demons that were in your town, but there's no doubt that more are still patrolling this island, trying to find you." Albin picked up Miles' blanket and stuffed it into his pocket.

Insula, the island off the main land of Solum, wasn't very large. It was only about a three day walk to reach any side of the island. Traveling through the thick forests, however, was delaying Miles and Albin from reaching the port town of Casus in a reasonable time. Over the last day, they had discussed their main plan: They would trudge through the forests of Insula for another day or two, depending on how much trouble they ran into, until they reached it's port town. From there they would take a boat across the straits of Pelagus to the main land of Solum; that's where most of the demons would be.

As the two travelers finished packing all the items they needed, Miles adjusted the sword sheath on his back. Albin had given the weapon case to him last night, so that Miles wouldn't have to carry the sword with him, everywhere they went. The sheath itself was made out of a strong black leather, that had intricate red designs etched onto the outside. Last night, Albin had also pointed out that Miles was still wearing his school uniform, covered in blood. He then provided for him a change of clothes: A thin black shirt, a pair of dark colored jeans and a brown trench coat, similar to the one Albin wore, though in much better shape.

When he got dressed, Miles had decided to strap the sheath onto his back before donning the coat, so as to keep the sword hidden. The temperature on Insula, as on Solum, was moderate, and in the morning it even got a little cold, so the heavy trench coat didn't add any unwanted heat. Not to mention it was early fall, so the temperature in the region was going to start dropping in a few weeks. "I think I'm ready." Miles announced, looking down at his new attire.

"Great, then let's get moving!" Albin shouted, before quickly scurrying off into the forest, with Miles close behind. Their journey yesterday had been filled with inquisitive questions and the making of plans for the following year, but now that that was all over, Miles had nothing left to say and the two of them just walked in silence for awhile. After almost an hour of pushing through the woods, there finally came an end to the trees. Before them lay vast open plains, with lush green grass that was covered by a bright blue sky. Although beautiful, Albin didn't like it.

"Is there any way around this?" He asked anxiously, the two of them standing just before the end of the forest. He peered down the tree line in both directions, hoping to find more forest to travel through.

"Nope." Informed Miles. "The only way to Casus is straight across these plains. I think it's about a day's walk from here." He'd only visited Casus once and it was nearly seven years ago, so his memory on the trip wasn't all too great. Plus, they had taken the road that time and travel was much faster.

"Well let's make it across the plains, fast." Urged Albin, always the one to worry. "Demons can see you from a mile away on here." The two of them both stepped into the open and begin their long trek to Casus.

"Not to be stupid, or anything," Began Miles, "But isn't the point of this mission to find the demons and kill them? Why are you so intent on hiding from them?"

Albin continued to glance around nervously and Miles had a feeling that this behavior wouldn't stop until they were off the plains. "Well, yes, eventually we'll get to the point when we'll be looking for demons instead of hiding from them, but you're simply not strong enough to take on more powerful demons right now, even with the help of Animositas... and I have a feeling that the majority of the demons that came to Insula looking for you are the powerful ones." Miles agreed that that made sense, but was slightly upset that Albin didn't think he could take on stronger demons. It was, after all, probably true, but it hurt his feelings nonetheless.

After their short conversation, the day seemed to drag on, especially because all that they could see before them was just more and more hills of grass to climb. Miles almost wished they were back in the forest, just so he'd have more interesting things to look at. After a couple hours of trudging on through the boring landscape, Miles couldn't take anymore and he finally demanded that the two of them stop for a short break. As Albin reluctantly agreed and the pair sat down, the Lepus took two pouches of water from his Infinity Pouch and each started to take a drink. Almost immediately however, Albin's white ears perked up.

"Did you hear that?" He asked.

"No." Replied Miles, taking a long drink of water.

"Are you sure?" He asked again. "I think there's something coming." His whiskers started twitching and his nose sniffed the air, trying to pick up on the scent of whatever was slowly approaching the two travelers.

"I think you're just paranoid." Miles told him. "You're so obsessed with thinking that something's after us, eventually you're going to turn the slightest sound you hear, into a dangerous demon."

"No! I'm sure something is coming!" He pleaded. Miles stood up and surveyed the area, not seeing any danger in any direction.

"I'm pretty sure we're safe, Albin." Miles told him. "I don't see anyone coming." No sooner had Miles said it, than a demon came into sight, slowly moving up a hill not far from them. "What do you know?" Miles said. "You were right." He shed the trench coat he was wearing and pulled the Soul Sword from it's sheath. "Alright." He said. "Let's get this over with." Miles wanted to take this moment to show Albin that there was no need to hide from the demons.

"Don't be so cocky." Albin told him. "You're not as good as you think you are. Animositas can only get you so far."

"It's fine, Albin, I got this." Miles assured him. "What's your book say about this guy?" Albin furiously flipped through his pages, trying to locate the demon. Now that he was getting closer, Miles could see him more clearly. The demon was large, a couple feet taller than Miles, with a bald head and a single large eye in the middle of its face. It had a green and grey skin color and carried a large wooden club. It looked very much like an ogre or a cyclops.

"Okay, I found it." Albin said. "His name is Bardus. He's the demon of stupidity."

Miles laughed out loud. "Wow, this is going to be easier than I thought." He said, still watching as Bardus slowly approached. He seemed to be in no hurry. It knew Miles wasn't going anywhere.

"How strong is this guy?" Miles asked. "What's his rank?"

"He's rank number forty-one." Albin informed him.

"Good." Miles announced. "I'll take this guy down, easy. I mean, he's the demon of stupidity... how hard could he be?"

"Be more cautious, Miles! He's the demon of stupidity because he's the cause of people being stupid... like you're being right now. Don't underestimate his strength."

"Yeah, I get it." Miles said. "He's only a couple ranks above those last guys I fought. This won't last two minutes."

Finally, Bardus made it past the last hill and began his charge towards Miles. The young hero lifted up Animositas and watched as the demon kept getting closer and closer, until he was almost on him, then at the last moment, swung the mighty sword, only for it to be immediately blocked by the demon's large club. Bardus then swung his free hand right into Miles' chest, sending the teenager flying backwards and landing roughly on his back. The cyclops then wasted no time in slamming the large club straight down at Miles, who rolled away just in time to not be flattened. Quickly, Miles got to his feet, only to feel the brute force of the club knock him back down again.

The demon moved so fast with his attacks, Miles didn't have time to block. Once on the ground again, Bardus didn't hold back on his relentless attacks, either, and kept slamming the club into the ground around Miles again and again. Finally, the young hero ended up close enough to the demon that he had a clear shot at its leg and he took it. Bardus temporarily stumbled backwards and gave Miles the chance he needed to get back onto his feet and into what he believe was a defensive stance. It didn't take long for the cyclops to recover from the small wound, however, and he resumed his attacks on Miles, this time with Animositas blocking most of the strikes.

"Can I get some help, over here?!" Miles shouted to Albin, who had moved away from the fight scene.

"But I thought you'd have this guy taken care of in two minutes!" Albin shouted back.

"This isn't the time for making fun of me! I could die out here!"

"What? I can't hear you!" Albin yelled.

"Help me!" He screamed.

"You're doing great!" Albin gave him a large thumbs up, right as the demon got another shot into his side, sending Miles flying through the air for the third time. As he landed on the ground that time, however, he heard a large snapping sound and felt his left arm crack at some place. Not having enough time to worry about it, though, he just rolled out of the way of Bardus' club again and tried to get back to his feet, with pain searing through his arm.

"Maybe we should take a time-out?" Miles suggested to the demon, who only snorted and swung the club again. Miles had the bright idea to duck this time, however, and swing the sword at the creature's leg again. This time it went deeper and Bardus howled in pain, falling backwards. Miles then jumped forward, ready to deliver the finishing blow, when the demon shot his good leg forward, kicking Miles onto his back again. As the hero looked up, he saw Albin standing over him. "Okay, I was wrong, I'm not ready to fight this guy, now please will you help?"

"That's all I wanted to hear." Albin told him.

Bardus was now back on his feet and looking even angrier. He charged Miles again, swinging the club, when the grass from the hill shot up and wrapped itself around the club, stopping it in mid-swing. Bardus looked thoroughly surprised as more and more of the grass kept shooting up around him and holding him back. "That's pretty cool." Miles admitted, stunned for a moment.

"Hurry!" Albin yelled. "I can't hold him for long. Go for the eye!" Quickly, Miles lifted Animositas and charged the demon, thrusting the sword deep into the creature's eye and out the back its head. Bardus screamed one last time, coughed up some black blood and died.

As his body fell to the ground, it exploded into black dust, which swirled overhead, before the eye on Animositas opened up and sealed the demon's soul into the sword, burning a new marking into the blade. "Just like I said." Miles boasted. "It wouldn't last two minutes."