The Heroes of The Elemental Academies Book 3 The Tides of War

Chapter 22: The Nature of Light and Dark

Seth

   Suddenly the air began to thicken around Stratos and the lights he had summoned seemed to dim. Seth's hair began to stand on end and a shiver ran down his spine. A thick mist like darkness began to spill out of every part of Strat's body. Sonfang practically sprang out of its sheath and into his hands as he readied himself for what every might happen next.
   He trusted Stratos, of course but it had been Strat that had taught him never to lower his guard and whatever Strat was doing it was giving terrible vibes.
   The darkness filled the area surrounding him and corralling him towards the center of the room. Instinctively he willed a sphere of light to surround him. Where his light met the darkness a hissing sound filled the air.
    The sound made his teeth chatter, it sounded light the light was scalding the dark mist. The darkness thickened to the point where he couldn't see anything past his bubble of light. The black mist twisted and contorted outside his bubble like a pack of wolves waiting for the fire to die down before attack an unsuspecting human. The sound of water being thrown into fire filled the air once again.
He couldn't see Stratos anymore he'd lost sight of him in the twisting darkness. He couldn't see anything, as a matter of fact he could even tell where the door was anymore. He quickly reached for the power of earth stomping his foot to send out vibrations through the Earth. The layout of his this building appeared in his mind but he quickly realized he still couldn't feel Stratos.
He didn't even have the time to feel nervous as a finger tapped him on the back of his left shoulder. He spun around so fast lashing out in a semicircle with Sonfang. The loud clang of metal hitting metal rang out as Stratos blocked his strike with a summoned short sword of his own, a smirk clearly evident on his face.
   "What is this!" He demanded lowering Sonfang but still keeping it at the ready. A deep sign
of resignation came from Stratos as he turned away.
   "That's some heavy preordained judgment man.   This is going to be harder than I thought."
" No No No! You don't just get to brush this off! That was darkness I saw coming from you!" He exclaimed. A chilling sensation ran down his spine over and over again making his hair stand on end. The feeling that seemed to cascade off of Stratos's body in waves was one he knew well, he felt the same feeling coming from the demons he had fought. Was this really Stratos or an imposter?
   "Did you seriously just ask yourself if I was fake?" Stratos raised his hand left hand. With a quick wave the darkness turned to light, like turning on a light switch. He covered his eyes quickly as overwhelming light flooded his sight. It took him several seconds before he was able to see anything properly through the dancing white spots in his vision. The area had been filled with the same dancing white orbs of light as before.
Stratos shook his head. "At this stage you won't be able to understand this. Just remember light is not the opposite of darkness. It's just the absence of it. And both were created by God."
   Seth understood almost none of what was said but for some reason he felt a chilling energy stir within himself for just a moment. It was so fleeting he almost thought that he had imagined it.
"Tonight why don't you think it over, but for now I need to get going.
You have a lot to do tomorrow and I get to start the long trek to the dwarves capitol."
   "Why can't you use the Lightforce portals? Surely you have been their before." Stratos rubbed the back of his head. Seth didn't miss the fact that more than a little dandruff came raining down from the curly bush Stratos called hair.
   "Normally we could but when we created the technology the dwarves created a shield around their lands so no one could teleport into their lands uninvited. And since we can't get in contact with them..."
  "You can't ask permission," Seth finished.
   " Precisely!" Stratos reached out his hand offering the covered plate he had shown him earlier. He stared at the plate for a moment before making a decision. He sheathed Sonfang quickly and took the plate. The bottom was hot to the touch.
  "I'll be seeing you soon Seth it was good to see you, if not your reactions again." He turned and quickly left leaving Seth feeling more than a bit overwhelmed.
Seth set about preparing his small earthen home setting up stone furniture such as a few chairs and tables. He even made a makeshift kitchen. When he was done he took the hot plate to the living room and sat down. He unwrapped the plate and was greeted by the overwhelming scent of cocoa.
His mother's chocolate cookies, he hadn't had them in forever. Picking one up he bit into chewy cookie enjoying the rich cocoa and chocolate flavor that flooded his tastebuds, at the same time he summoned a simple sword of light in his other hand. A simple three foot longsword glowing like a led lightbulb. It was simple and unadorned. The blade had a dull glint to it even though it was made of light. The power of creation was something else. By all means this weapon shouldn't even be able to make contact with anyone much less cut it. There was no heat to the blade at all. The handle and hilt looked to be wrapped in what seemed like leather straps, yet it wasn't leather at all it was light.
"Just what are these powers we've been granted? Just what is the nature of our abilities and how do they work?" It was a question he'd never considered before. The constructs they created no matter what element had one source Fey energy granted by God, so why could most agents only use one element. The more he thought about it the more confused and unsettled he felt, so he pushed the thought aside standing up.
"Maybe a sparring session would be beneficial to me. I need to increase my skill with a blade," he said to the empty room. He grabbed another cookie before covering the plate back up and exiting his makeshift hut.
  He made good time getting across the base. As he walked he tried to make sense of his jumbled thoughts. In his hand he still held the sword of light it's pearly light lit up the road even more than the floating lights. Scientifically the weapon made no sense, at least that's what Mike had told him. He never really understood it himself, as he wasn't good at that sort of thing.
    He paused his thoughts to step out of the way as four agents escorting a levitating cart filled with food came through. Seth politely nodded at them but said nothing as they passed, before he continued down the road by himself. He didn't really know where he was going besides finding a place to spar. What he really needed was someone to spar with. After mulling it over for a few seconds he changed direction. He made good time crossing the base in only a few minutes. Heading toward the massive building in the middle... HQ. It would be the most likely place for Rylee to be.
   Around the base outside we're an assortment of agents who were no longer in their armor and were instead in the normal white T-shirt, black camo pants and black combat boots. Most of them paid him no mind, focused on performing whatever task they had been given. Some were carrying massive rolled up scrolls that he could only assume were maps. Others were digging a trench directly outside the building.
   The building itself wasn't all that impressive, it was however big. Seth couldn't really tell how long it was but from the side he was facing he could tell that the HQ was close to the size of his house back at the Academy. It was only one floor though so he really couldn't tell for sure. It was made out of the same grey white granite that some of the walls had been built out of. Flanking a rather wide but doorless entrance were two Elementian Knights. 

    These were the elite order of knights chosen as guards and commanders. The Elementian Knights were only chosen amongst the strongest of the agents of the Academies. Most agents would work their whole lives but would never become one of them. From what he understood they were chosen on more than just strength although mastery of their element was key.
They were chosen based on a multitude of criteria. Strength, Strategy, Trustworthiness, Stealth, and even durability. Even their armor was more extravagant. Just like all the other times he had seen them he just had to stop and admire their armor. An agents armor was something that most of the agents could summon onto their bodies in a moments notice. There were some who couldn't but they were mostly the young or third generation agents who didn't strongly inherit their powers.
Where agents wore a mixture of a half plate half leather cuirass with a full helm, greaves, gauntlets, and cloak all of it white, Elementian Knights wore full plate armor made of Conoroid.     They didn't really go on mission so their armor was a more permanent arrangement. A full helm with only a slit in the shape of a cross that ran the length and width of the helm, Chainmail gleamed underneath. A large black cloak with silver embroidered along the edges covered the large pauldrons that had doves etched in them. A longsword about three and half feet in length hung from their waists sheathed in black scabbards that had different designs etched in silver across them. In their hands they both wielded immense leaf shaped spears about six feet long each. The bluish tint of the Conoriod and the silver etchings were almost blinding to look at.
Even with all that weight, Seth had never seen the knight move slow or sluggish. If anything when he had had the chance to witness their prowess they we're definitely faster than even he was. The only problem was that there were so few of them they were considered a important resource. So the fact that two of them were sent with them spoke volumes about the importance that was placed on this mission.
     Seth approached them with caution as the both of them began staring him down after he had just stopped and began staring at them.
"Umm excuse me but is Rylee here right now?" He asked projecting his voice to sound confident.
   Both knights turned to look at him without saying a word. Upon their armor were pins that indicated what element they were a master of. The one on the right had a fire emblem for his pin. He pounded his chestplate and slightly bowed his head in respect.
   "Yes Lord Malcovitch she is inside, shall we tell her that you wish to speak to her?" He was so formal it nearly left Seth speechless. He finally just nodded and the knight saluted once more before disappearing inside the building. The other knight paid him no mind continuing to stare out past him scanning the groups of agents that past by.
  Since joining Rylee's regiment he had been treated so normally he had almost forgotten about his status as Lady Katie's Son. It hadn't been long since he had joined but he already had a group of people he called friends.
   

    The wait wasn't long, but Seth still managed to find himself pacing. Finally Rylee emerged. She was no longer in her armor, opting to where the same as all the other agent. Her auburn hair which was normally in a bun was down, falling to her shoulders. Her blue eyes sparkled in the light of the light orbs. Her hair was frizzled like it hadn't been brushed at all. And a smirk, one that she always wore was hovering on her lips.
    She leaned against the entry post and crossed her arms. "So you needed to talk with me?" It wasn't a question more of her way to start the conversation at least that's what he thought. He was at a loss for words. Why did she have to be so damn beautiful. The words jumped unbidden into his mind and he found himself looking down and away from her.
   "Hey... Rylee I..."  she cut him off.
    "That's Lady Rylee," she corrected. It was like his voice box just stopped working. He didn't know how to respond. She seemed so serious. Then a smile lit up her face.
   "I'm joking Seth, we've worked too closely together for you to be formal." Again Seth felt a loss at her actions, he didn't know what to say. So he simply decided to continue talking like nothing happened, trying and probably failing to hide his own embarrassment.
   " I wanted to ask you for a 1v1 sparring match."