Broken Bonds [ON HOLD]

Chapter Two | Luion Vaux

            A MASSIVE BOULDER tumbled through the air, smashing the ground, leaving a crater the size of a horse. Luion was quick, though. He evaded the attack with relative ease, sliding on the grass as if it was ice.

    It was a dance.

    In front of Luion, the monster lurked. It was massive, made of stones with moss lining its long arms like sleeves. Its jaw dangled, barely attached. Whenever it would smash the ground to find another rock to throw, moss would shoot up off its arm. The creature itself looked as if boulders were glued together.

    This monster had a certain sort of magic within it. The rock creature could levitate giant boulders and whip them around. It did so again, slamming the ground—its fist digging into the dry dirt. Then, a stone was elevated near Luion. It rose up high and down it went, targeting the monster hunter.

    Luion thought nothing of the attack, still sliding on the ground that would leave spectators begging for more. The rock slammed into the ground, vibrating the earth and causing a loud bang. In his hands, Luion twirled a scythe.

    This was the full performance.

    While the blade wouldn't be much help, it did have one useful function for this monster: a hammer on the other side of the blade. Luion twirled his scythe and went running. He held tight to his straw hat, making sure the wind did not have her way with it. He hated the wind.

    The rock monster swung its arm, trying to whack Luion away. The great monster hunter, still too fast, ducked quick. He twirled the weapon and swung it—hammer crushed the stone. Pieces went flying and he took the bladed end of the scythe and used it to hook onto the monster's neck. Luion tried to pulled down, but was not successful in the least—the monster weighed a bit more than him. Realizing his fatal error, the monster went for another swing with his other arm.

    Luion was faster.

    He ran and used the scythe to swing around to the monster's head. While in the air, Luion pulled out from his side a powerful handgun with enough gauges to blow a hole in an empire. Strong enough to pierce the stone of the creature, he fired it and left an honorable fracture in its skull. The monster's fracture revealed pink flesh and it fell forward. Luion, while falling, snuck his pistol back in its holster. Then, he tumbled on the ground, circling right back up. He slid on the ground, gliding over the strands of grass being as gentle as a hand caressing a baby's face. He was a gentle man.

    But not always.

    Luion twirled his scythe again. It sliced through the air, hushing the stone monster to be silent, to sleep. He approached the agonizing creature. His straw hat kept his eyes hidden: only his mouth was revealed. His skin was pale like powder. There was no joy or bitterness on his lips—no colors of yellow or blue. There were no colors at all. It was blank like a poor girl in the slums without hope.

    Sometimes though, hope keeps you from doing things yourself.

    No sound came from black boots skating over the neat grass. No wind rustled his lengthy, dark blue overcoat. Nothing to stop one final strike of the hammer. Well, almost nothing.

    As the famous Luion Vaux prepared for one final strike, the creature bowed. A monster showed signs of accepting its own death. It showed another sign that was unimaginable: respect. This gave Luion a fright. His swing was unfocused and slammed near, not on, the creature's fractured skull. An unsuccessful hit.