Fall of a Hero: Hearts Without Foundation (a Fantasy Adventure)

Thwarting Darkness

"Get out, Serpo," I shuddered.

When had he gotten so frightening? He was awful ghastly. The freak smiled subtly at an attempt to be friendly. I wasn't stupid, though. I remembered our little skirmish and how he attacked me, trying to keep in his prison and fulfill my cruel destiny. My eyes blazed with fury. I was not about to let him mess me up so I'm a tool to destroy nations. I was going to thwart him. I was going to oppose him at all cost.

Serpo held out his rough, dirty hand, with mud packed in underneath his fingernails.

"Give it to me, Fetoven," he commanded, steadily edging himself near.

I scanned for something nearby to shield myself. "What do you want?" I replied. "Huh? You keep coming back! Isn't it obvious that I want to be left alone?"

His ankle smog began hungrily ebbing up his calves. He tried being genial and fought back his apparent annoyance, and the smog fell back down to his feet.

"I know, and I'm sorry for this Fetoven. I'm just trying to help you," he said, changing his entire demeanor. I leaned against a corner to ready myself into a position where I could slip past Serpo's stance in the wooden doorway. I shook my head.

"You're absolutely no use of reasoning with," I sighed, trembling. Serpo cocked his head.

"Is that so?" he asked, slithering nearer. I kept my space, adamant, my defensive aggression increasing into a flight-or-fight response.

"Yes," I growled, "You are the lowest bottom crawler I know, snaking around and taking advantage of people. Well, I'm not that way, Serpo. Not at all. I don't want to hurt people... I want to help people. I loved Maledicta, but upon staying here, I've moved on. I want to do good things."

His nostrils flared for a second.

"You've only been here a day!" Serpo spat. He then fell into thought and remained silent for a moment. He questioned quietly.

"After only one day you are done with Maledicta? But what about everything..." his voice trailed. Frustrated I hissed back at him.

"Stop. Playing. With. My mind!" In a flash, the glove was back on my hand, and I drew away from the wall of the room. Where had it come from? I didn't care. Serpo's jaw dropped and he ducked, but in the quickness that the glove worked, I had already locked onto the imaginary poles of force within him and had thrown him across the hall into a candle lantern. By the time he had struggled back to his feet, I had focused in on yet again.

"What are you doing?" he cried out from the rubble. He must sense my power over him. I kept my gloved hand hovering threateningly midair. "Don't you see you're falling victim to fate by the power of the Axis Glove!" he pleaded. So it had a name? Great. I tossed him down the halls. I needed to scare him off so he'd be gone for good.

"Why don't you go ghost and fly through the wall? Might hurt less," I taunted, smoothing out my Axis Glove over my hand. He began scrambling for refuge in the kitchen. I strutted up to him. He glanced at me like a wounded animal, but I knew better. I grabbed him by the arm with the glove. He didn't fade into smoke.

"So, you can't become ghosty with this glove around, huh?" I grinned, haughtily playing with myself. I wasn't meaning any harm. I wanted him afraid.

"Fetoven, stop! I'm trying to help you!" Serpo stressed. I sat on his chest and pinned him down.

"Yeah right," I grumbled, "to help me fill out my sentence."

He narrowed his glare, bewildered. "What? I want to help you overcome it."

Sure. I rolled my eyes. "Then why were you trying to keep me from leaving?"

"To save for from dying, obviously," he explained, pulling his bony arm from my grip, "What made you think different?"

Why did I have to keep telling him that I didn't trust him. He must be trying to divert my attention, so I punched him.

Not hard, but hard enough to inflict pain. He looked at me in surprise. Serpo cupped his face with his hand and tore away from me. He began using a speed smog to move from place to pace. I targeted my glove to him and chucked him into a cabinet of pots and pans with a loud crash. He soared up in a whirlwind and reassembled himself above the mess. Feebly raising a pan, he begged with me to reconsider.

"Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil."

"Shut up!" I raged, rushing at him for a strong close up attack. Suddenly, my head was banged with Serpo's iron ladle, and I fell to the ground. He had come up behind and smashed me hard. My mind had slipped that he was best close range, and I was better long. I had gotten cocky. My brain spun as I slipped to my knees. How weak I was!

I felt Serpo overcame me. He was beginning to lift me over his shoulder and carry me out of the room. It had been a smooth and steady procession. I assumed he had dissipated his feet to avoid anymore noise. Then something whistled past my ear. Without warning, I heard a monstrous snarl with a roar that ended in a garbled whoop. Serpo lost his grip on me, and I thumped to the floor. The creature's snapping and thrashing and Serpo's grunts and moans ringed in my ears. After no more than three minutes, the place became eerily still. I lay there on the floor.