Sol's Valor

Chapter V - (Title Coming...)

The woods conducted a dreary symphony as the sun dipped beyond the horizon.  Darkness overwhelmed the trees and wildlife, masking them in deep shadows.  It would be about an hour before the illumites came out to light the forest with their dim, eerie glow as they buzzed around.  Just beyond the grand canopy was the peak of the Great Tower of Zephyr.  Moonlight stretched onward from beyond the tower, giving it an artificial glow that could scare away the mightiest of beasts.  For now, the forest remained silent.

A tall man exited through thick brush and stumbled across a tiny settlement planted across a small section of cleared forest.  He had made it past the lush forest right on time.  Brushing off some dirt and several thickets, he knelt behind one of the village huts.  They stood about seven feet tall and happily sat upon the wide trunks of the forest’s trees.  The shacks were constructed out of carved down tree branches and topped off with thick, green leaves, similar to those high above in the grand canopy of the forest.  Each small structure seemed to be shunned away from the forest, keeping the diverse wildlife aloof.

He rose and peered around the side of the building.  There were about seven of the shelters, all atop their tree trunks, in a circular pattern.  In the center was fire pit made of stones found throughout the forest floor.  The ceremonial area was still warm with embers, but no one showed their face this night.  The tower still stared down menacingly from the heavens, using the glow from the moon to further establish itself high above the world.

The man silently slipped around the perimeter of the small hut and made his way inside.  Nothing occupied the house except for a vast collection of carved tree branches.  Each branch had been brutally assaulted with a carving knife, being cut down to size and branded with their own unique inscription.  The man didn’t recognize what the symbols meant, so he continued on with his motives.

Looking out, he saw three people exit the hut directly across from his.  Two left for another and the remaining man stood there for several moments.  He was dark skinned, tall, and muscular; with shoulders stretching wide, he wore a one piece garment which laid lightly over one of his shoulders and continued downward covering his lower half.  His strong midsection was left uncovered for the world to gaze upon.  His face looked as if it was permanently turned serious and always ready for something to come after him.

He would need that tonight.

The intruder had waited long enough; now was his time to strike.  He swiftly darted from his hiding place and dove at the muscular man in attempt to take him down.  The intruder would have to think a little harder in order to slay his prey this night.  He was stopped midair by powerful Zephyr magic.  The spell sent him flying backward into the forest at a tremendous speed.  The intruder was met with a powerful tree off in the distance.  The fauna splintered from the incredible force but it managed to halt the man and drop him to the ground, ever so harshly.

The other people of the small settlement began to stream outside after hearing the crashing trees.  The muscular man shouted at them in a foreign language consisting of clicks and other various sounds, most likely telling them to stay away and get back inside.  Everyone obeyed him without as much as a sound, filing back inside to take refuge, but still watching intently.

The intruder made his way back to his opponent.  Things would be harder than he originally thought.  No matter, this had to be done.  He drew his blade and began to charge his opponent.  The tall leader of the village readied to dodge the attack, placing one foot forward and shifting all his weight on the back leg as his dipped his knees.  He allowed the intruder to gain more ground before acting.

Still charging, the sword bearer increased to his top speed, bringing his sword back, ready to slash.  He needed the man alive, so he would have to play carefully.  He decided to go for his legs first.  The intruder dove forward, sweeping his sword horizontally as he neared the ground.  The tall, half naked man leapt into the air, avoiding the swift blade and came crashing back down to the ground in attempt to stomp on the man’s back.

This counter proved to be too slow.  The intruder had continued his dive by crunching his body up and rolling past the man while he had jumped.  He quickly used magic to make the ground in front of him slant upward and used it as a springboard, catapulting himself back toward the village’s leader.

The tall man dropped to the ground catching himself with both hands, much like a pushup.  He waited for his enemy to fly past him high above, and then pushed himself upward with the help of powerful Zephyr magic.  The attack was timed perfectly.  The leader reached out and grabbed the intruder’s leg, stopping him midair.  He began to spin around, summoning more wind to speed him up, creating a tornado.  Using his mighty muscles, he tossed the armored intruder out of the wind storm back into the woods.

The tall man eased his stance, feeling victory.  The people watching exited their homes to see what had happened.  They surrounded their tribe leader and began asking him if everything was okay, who that man was, and why he had come to their village.  The man was taller than the rest of his clan members by at least a full foot.  He wanted to answer their questions but did not have the answers himself.  He shook his as a response while he tried to reach for the answers, but he couldn’t grasp them in time.

Suddenly there was a sharp pain in the leader’s left knee and he immediately fell to the ground.  The entire bottom half of his left leg fell apart from the rest of his body.  The pain was unbelievable.  Blood rushed out of the open wound and the man screamed out in agony.  His tribe’s people immediately yelled and ran from the scene, leaving their leader there.  Only two men, bigger than the others, but nowhere near as tall as their leader, remained at his side to help.

They didn’t know where to even begin.  What had caused this to happen?  It was as if a razor sliced straight through the leg, bone, muscle, and all.  The answer then became apparent to one of them as his companion’s head fell to the floor in the same manner as the leader’s leg.  The uninjured man immediately looked away from the fountain of blood spewing from his friend’s cleanly sliced open neck.

It was a razor sharp piece of rock.  It looked much like a boomerang, spinning around at rapid speeds.  He watched the weapon wiz past once again, ducking his head to avoid decapitation.  The rock boomerang buzzed through the forest cutting down anything in its path with minimal effort.

As the tribesman watched it cut down tree after tree, his vision began to slide downward.  All of a sudden he could not control which direction his eyes looked.  Slowly, they kept going downward toward the ground until everything spun around into blackness.  A second boomerang continued through the man’s neck and off into the woods.

No one came back out of their houses in fear of this invisible force that had just killed two of their people and brutally injured another.  The leader lay their still screaming in pain.  The intruder strode out from the woods and approached his target.  He had to hurry; this man would not be alive much longer at the rate he was losing blood.

Wiping a trail of blood from his nose, the armored man concentrated magic throughout his body.  The ground below him and his target began to rise up into the air.  He looked into the houses with a grim stare, hoping everyone was still watching him.  The small floating piece of land shot up into the air and the two were gone.