Bloodline

Brother - part 14

The man, Opal, laughs at Zircons statement, and slowly begins walking towards them. "Not only that, we at the Crimson Wind also grow up in different groups, each tied to our destinies. The group we were put into had destinies related to mystery, murder, and beauty, but Zircon stayed mostly with his mentor, a professional and dedicated diamond that was the highest class of Winds, the Planetary Winds, and had been almost made an outcast of our house. An easy target to most of us, and he was such an obedient dog too." Everyone else stays in their defense, ready for anything, when Zircon moves out of the line and steps right in front of the man. "Now you keep them out of this, you and me have a score to settle after you weren't chosen for me to kill in the transition exams!" Opal merely smiles as he removes his mask, revealing a handsome young man, with hair as dark as a starless night, his eyes also having a corrupted shine to them, like his gem. "My target was nothing to me, he served his purpose as my servant, and he fulfilled his needs to me. It was shocking to him when I came into the ring, and it was funny when I just killed him with one throw of the dagger while he was still dumbfounded by my entry." Zircon grits his teeth, Damian stepping forward from the groups defensive line. "What do you want with Zircon? And why now during a time of war?" Opal looks past Zircon and looks at Damian, examining him closely. "The king's only son, Damian I assume? Oh Zircon, you just made my job a hell of a lot easier! My client will be happy to know how quick my contract will be finished." Zircon pulls Opal by his collar, holding his dagger up to Opal's neck. "What do you mean your client!? Are you here to kill him!?" He shouts into Opals face, but is suddenly thrown to the side like nothing, his dagger flying out of his hands into the air. "I was hired by the king in Fire and Storms of course! He can't have the only thing to stop him reach his castle after all, that would mean the prophecy would come true."

Everyone looks at him, confused as Zircon gets up, him grabbing his dagger as it comes down. "It's said that once you reach the castle, the doors to a secret chamber will open up, and the essence of that one god the first king married will be released into the world, not only awakening the power some people have hidden away that they don't know about, but also stopping the kings plans to unite the world under his rule, almost as a god himself." Opal says as he gets into a fighting stance, holding daggers tied to strings as he moves closer to the group. "And now that you've seen my face, and know my reason for being here, it's time for me to kill you now, killing two birds with one blade." Zircon runs to him, swinging his dagger almost wildly with a murderous rage, Opal dodging each slash with a sort of grace to his moves. Lutol moves in, and swings his big axe in an arc down, which Opal merely twirls to the side, almost as if he were dancing through their attacks. "Let's face it Zircon! I should've been selected to be a Planetary Wind, you just got in the way when you were taken in by that stupid diamond!" Zircon throws a knife as he slashes at Opal more, Opal catching it midair and throwing it back at him as he dodges more of Lutols attacks. Maralyne and Damian joining in on the fight as Osred and Tesath stay in the back. Almost toying with them, Opal moves away from their attacks with grace, not breaking a sweat. "Did you all know that there are two things the opal is known for? The first is its beauty and wondrous shine, and it took forever for me to fulfill that part. When training, I had always tried to implicate that into my form, so I maintained my shape, learned many different fighting styles, and tried to fulfill the second thing the opal is known for, you know what that is Zircon?" Zircon screams, swinging even more wildly, everyone else backing away as he does this. "Shut up, Shut up, SHUT UP!! YOU RUINED MY WHOLE CHILDHOOD WITH YOUR RUMORS AND LIES, MAKING ME SEEM LIKE A GROUNDED WHEN I WAS TRYING TO FIGHT ON MY OWN!!" Opal grabs Zircon's arm on an overhead swing, and pins him in a grab, looking into his eyes, almost directly to his soul. "The second thing an opal is known for is bad luck and death, which I grew to be a great example of in my work." The sharp pain in his back causes Zircon to yell out, a knife poking through his cloak in his front. Everyone gasps, stopping in their tracks, and staring in surprise. Zircon looks up at Opal as he smiles devilishly, and grabs his collar again. "You're...You're right, you are a...great example, your luck just ran out..." Zircon then swings a small knife across Opal's neck, leaving a large cut almost spanning his whole neck. He stumbles back in surprise, bleeding intensely, and coughs up blood. "You shit...! At least I d-don't need to kill you to complete my job..!" He manages to say through blood as he throws many string attached knives at Damian, him looking in surprise as they fly in every direction towards him, each more than likely being a fatal wound on contact. Everyone tries blocking them by standing in the direction of they move to, only for them to stop midair and falling onto the ground. One flies through everyone's formation, already moving too fast to Damian to dodge or block.

Osred dives into the knife, it cutting through his armor and into him as he falls into the ground. "N-No..!!" Opal shouts as Lutol swings his axe, decapitating him in one wide swing. "He creeps me out too much." Everyone looks around, assessing the damage until everyone looks to Osred. He lays lifeless as the blade sticks through his heart, his face being one of content. Damian kneels next to him, staring dumbfounded at his dead body. "Osred...no..." Tesath tends to Zircon as everyone else gathers around, staring in disbelief at the sight. Damian clutches Osreds lifeless hand, and sighs as a tear falls from his eye. "You were a noble soldier, a professional navigator and scout, and most importantly a caring friend. You put my life over yours, and you knew you would die taking the hit for me...I wish you a good life passing on, may you rest in peace wherever you are now..." Zircon sits up as Tesath finishes healing the gaping wound Opal caused on him, and sees everyone else gathered around Osred. "What...? N-No...he couldn't have died...!" Zircon shouts as he crawls to Osreds body, shaking him. "N-No...! Osred..!" He hugs the body, tears falling as he holds the body close. "If I had been faster and thinking clearly this wouldn't have happened, I let my rage take over and didnt see what he was doing...!" "Its not your fault Zircon, he was messing with you by reminding you of your past, he wanted you to go into a rage, it was us unable to act fast enough that caused this to happen." Damian says, putting a hand on his shoulder. "No, I let it get to me and I didnt kill him! It's all my fault for letting him get me worked up like that and it caused him to die!" Zircon shouts as he gets up, looking at Opals body and removed head. He walks up to it, and takes the mask, looking at the shine of the gem, and uses his dagger to take it out, throwing it onto the ground and stomping it into the dirt. "I didnt do anything to stop him and it cost us Osreds life...how could I be so foolish..." Zircon says as he looks back to the posts with bodys tied to them, Lutol walks up to him and nudges him, "You did as much as you could, he had a better advantage over us anyways, and you got a lucky hit on him which helped us get him." Maralyne walks up to Zircon and makes him face her. "You tried your best, and though Osred died...you got the hit on him, and you helped in taking him down, after all, if he got Damian instead, what would that mean for this whole campaign?" Zircon looks at her, and looks at the bodies still tied to the posts. "He decided to save Damian, and his life was taken for it, he wouldn't have done it without knowing the risks, and I'm sure he would've wanted it to turn out this way as a sign for us to keep going." Damian and Tesath stand next to him, and look at the bodies as well, sighing. "We'll bury him along with these others, if only we could give him a proper burial, but we must move on once we finish with this..." Damian says as he walks to the posts, beginning to cut the rest of the bodies down. Everyone else follows, sighing as they look out into the horizon, the sun setting on the site of a destroyed village.