Four Weeks - The Beginning

Bonding

'God, I've waited so long for this,' said Alan, pushing forward undauntedly.

'This is it. This is my moment. This is how it has to be. Let's dance, Mr. Comrade. Raul is next and then it's over for this little joke of a demolition plan.'

He put his hoodie back on and advanced more swiftly now, his sword still kept away in its sheath, while still needing to get through the host. Despite all his seething rage, he had not gone over fully to the dark side. Alan thought he would draw out his blade only after he got to the comrade. Him, he meant to damage, quite severely too, in his current frame of mind. His striking movements and intrepid manner caught the host's attention. An alarm started to sound from the fortress. The comrade peered out towards the scene from the balcony, on the top floor of the fortress. He saw Alan approaching, showing no signs of backing down. He thought, perhaps, that the charge was unwitting and that Alan may be mentally unstable.

Alan suddenly became aware of the sheer preponderance of the host before him. Apprehension began to take hold.

'Remember what dad said in the note,' he said to himself.

'I am ready for this. This, right here, is my purpose. I just need to focus,' he said, closing his eyes and trying to focus.

'Just focus,' he said, again.

Immediately, Alan perceived that he could hear a drop of water falling from two inches above the ground and could see out for miles, the same detail as a normal human could, up close. He felt empowered. Now, he clenched his fist and feeling confident, he charged, headlong, at the host. The host found itself astonished by Alan's courage in thinking that he could take on all of Hurung's defenses, all on his own.

One Neilon came up to Alan bracing his sword for a strike. The remaining of them followed close behind him. They began to spread out in some sort of formation. Hurung's defensive strategies were well known in Raeon for their ingenuity. Alan thought their methods to tackle an attack resembled those of a European football team's defensive unit. It seemed to Alan like the formation allowed the Neilons to crowd the attacker and rely on sharp, quick strikes to unnerve and bewilder the attacker until eventually, one would land a perfect strike without the attacker ever knowing what hit him. Being an avid fan of European football, Alan figured that if his speed failed him, he was sure to fall. For all his keen senses, he could not deny the craftiness of the defensive formation in outplaying any possible offensive strategy. The Neilon that took the lead was now within hitting range. Alan switched his focus from the impressive elements of their defense - the numbers, the arrangement, even the equipment – to the one Neilon that now swung his blade in an attempt to hurt Alan. With one inward uppercut from Alan's thumping right fist, it was lights out for the Neilon, a knockout blow that a Neilon had never seen before. The host retreated. Despite their numbers that formed, in large part, the reason for their success and ease in fending off threats in the past, they all perceived at once that this one was different. There was more to him than met the eye. Neilons had advanced intellectual and analytical capabilities. They knew from the force of the knockout blow that there was more than mere technique involved in that punch – they knew at once the massive advantage Alan held in terms of the sheer force of a strike.

They regrouped to form a new rhythm. The new formation seemed to view Alan as a single, solid defensive unit to be harried from all sides while maintaining enough unpredictability to outwit and outplay him. The harrying began swiftly and although Alan was no expert in martial arts, he found himself able to dodge every swing while leaving enough time to land a counterblow, each one a knockout punch. One by one, like bowling pins, the Neilons fell. As the chaos ensued, Alan caught glimpses of the Comrade looking on in shock and awe. He had nothing personal with the Neilons that so fiercely protected the Comrade, but in his intense rage for the Comrade, felt tempted at times to whip out his sword and decapitate one. This fire showed on his face, his gritted teeth, his piercing gaze fixed on the Comrade, each time he caught a glance. But, the darkness that grew within had not overcome the light just yet. Alan continued to be very elusive to the assault of the Neilons, landing more knockout blows. Soon, the inner layers of the defense were almost spent. The Neilons had very little stamina at this point. Alan was dangerously close to the last layer of defense and intimidated though he was, the comrade was not about to give up in a hurry.