The Heart of a Warrior

Chapter Four | The Death of Humanity

    Elyssa could hear muffled grunting as she opened her eyes. She was in the exact same place where she had collapsed, but the shadowed figure was gone. Instead, a woman with bushy, brown hair was battling the Shadow by pulling up chunks of the ground and throwing them at the shadow. The Shadow was staggering back, but as he made his counter attacks, the woman dodged them with untold energy. Eventually, the Shadow crashed its staff to the ground and disappeared in a whirl of smoke and darkness.
    The woman came over to Elyssa with irritation in her eyes. She grabbed Elyssa by the arm and hoisted her up into a standing position. She looked angry when she asked, "Hasn't Alexius taught you how to fight them?"
    Elyssa was startled. "N-no," she responded. The lady rolled her eyes.
    "Well, anyway, I'm Clarissa, and tell Alexius he'd better teach you how to fight properly. I've seen you just touch them. It doesn't work for everything," the woman grumbled.
    "I'm Elyssa. I'm a Sunwalker."
    "I know. I'm an Earthbender."
    "Earthbender?" Elyssa was puzzled.
    "Don't tell me Alexius hasn't taught you what an Earthbender is! Do you even know what a Lightningskimmer is?" Clarissa looked like she was about to explode.
    "No," Elyssa responded, ready to cover her ears in case Clarissa screamed.
    "An Earthbender can do what I did, basically. Lightningskimmers have incredible speed. Do I need to explain more?" Elyssa was liking this woman less and less as she spoke.
    "Tell Alexius that he needs to get his priorities straight," Clarissa grunted before walking away. Elyssa clenched her fist and turned to go Alexius and tell him what happened.

    Elyssa opened the door to Alexius's house and slipped inside. Alexius was reading a newspaper on the staircase. He looked up as Elyssa came in.
    "I heard what happened," he glanced at his newspaper, "are you ok?"
    "I'm fine. I met this woman named Clarissa," Elyssa responded.
    "Clarissa?" Alexius asked, startled.
     "Yes sir."
"Clarissa," Alexius mumbled nonsensically. He had set his newspaper aside by this point.
"She knows you," Elyssa said, confused.
"Well of course she does!" Alexius shouted, standing. Elyssa cowered under his angry tone. Alexius looked shocked at himself, but he sunk back onto the stairs.
"She said that you needed to teach me how to fight the shadows and stuff," Elyssa mumbled.
"Sure. We'll get right to that." Alexius stood up and motioned Elyssa to come outside.

Elyssa focused on her power and tried to copy what Alexius was doing. His hands were shining with a fiery glow that he claimed would be able to destroy most Shadows. He had said to focus on power and concentrate, but no matter how hard Elyssa tried, she couldn't get that aura to shine. Alexius had said it was only because she was new to power, but Elyssa knew it was fear.
"Well, let's take a walk to get our minds off of it," Alexius mumbled after a moment. Elyssa nodded, relieved. Alexius let his aura sink into his hands and steered her to the beautiful maple trees. They walked for a while, passing fields and other things. They talked a little, too, but they didn't talk much. There wasn't much to talk about that either already knew; Alexius didn't seem to want to talk about Clarissa.
"Do you think I'll ever become a powerful Sunwalker?" Elyssa asked as they passed a thicket of brambles. Alexius didn't answer immediately.
    "Yes, I do," he answered after a moment. He smiled at Elyssa, and she smiled back. They carried on their walk until they were nearly at the Quince Forest, where the non-threatening shadows loomed as the sun passed over the trees. The world inside the forest was cloaked in black, and the leaves gave an ominous feel. Alexius turned to go back to Foxen City, but a strange howl lit the air. Alexius turned to look back into the woods before his eyes widened with terror. Elyssa let out a noise that sounded like a mouse being stepped on. A hoard of Shadows were staring right at them.
    "Run!" Alexius yelled as he turned on his heel and bolted. Elyssa followed him, the sound of thundering paws and ghostly noises pursing them. Alexius turned sharply and tore into a field with the Shadows following him. Elyssa continued to run straightly, and half of the Shadows resumed her.
    As one of them caught up with her, it tried to use the same curse that had been given to Elyssa earlier. As it was raising its hand to put her to sleep, Elyssa ducked and broke off into another route. The Shadows pursued further and tried to block Elyssa into a corner, but Elyssa already had a plan worked out. The Shadows charged her into a thicket of trees. They surrounded her with a desire to destroy, Elyssa guessed.
    Elyssa decided to use her plan. She ducked behind the tree she was pinned against and pretended to bolt. The Shadows pursued thin air as Elyssa sheltered under a jagged rock. She waited for a moment before realizing a horrible thing; the Shadows were heading straight to Foxen City.
    Smashing a pile of leaves in front of her, Elyssa ran as fast as she could to catch up with the Shadows and
re-draw their attention, but she failed. She imagined that even if the Shadows realized that she had fooled them, they would continue to Foxen City and take people there. Elyssa cringed at the thought while she stopped to catch her breath. She resumed her run, but as she neared Foxen City, she heard screams of people as the Shadows found them; she was too late.
    Elyssa pushed away her fear and bolted to the city. She had to save as many people as possible, and that meant all of them, if she could. She took a second, focused on power, and jumped into the chaos with a searing gold aura racing through her body. It spewed out her hands as she slashed on of the ghostly shadows across the face. It staggered backwards while the gold began to spread through its body. In a flash of light, the Shadow erupted in a storm of light. Elyssa watched the process, but she had to do it many times to see the effects whilst keeping herself safe. The Shadows she fought burst in light as well. Elyssa knew no matter what she did, it would never be enough, but the words that kept her going roared in her mind.
    I have to try.
   
Elyssa fought like a warrior that day, but she couldn't save everyone. Soon, the death of humanity was upon the entire world. The Guardians' prophecy was not yet fulfilled, and who knows? Maybe it never was meant to be fulfilled.
    But maybe hope can spark from the smallest places.

End of Part One

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Hey guys!

I want you to know right now that the title of this chapter is extremely misleading, I just can't word it differently. I don't know how to word what I'm trying to say without giving away the plot.

On another note, thank you for reading "Part One | The Fall of Humanity" of The Heart of a Warrior. I hope you enjoy the future pieces of this book as this story continues to grow.

~Holly Pug