The Emerald Chronicles (Part 2)
Chapter 3: Assimilation
It was a few days after that meeting, and I was standing outside a government building in New York. I was waiting for Eileen and her father, who were finalizing her identity change. I had been kind of against this when she first suggested it; but it would make her happier than she currently was, so her father arranged this with a government friend of his and was told that he needed to sign the finalizing paperwork in person.
They were in there for about half an hour, until the front door finally opened and she jumped down in front of me. I asked, “Did they finalize it?”
Her response came quickly. “Yep. I’m now legally registered as a relative of yours.”
I exchanged glances with her father; we were both unimpressed, but had to accept it. I stared at the ground in reluctance.
This caught her attention. “What’s wrong? Is there something on your mind?”
I sighed and raised my head. “I just feel uncomfortable about this; I mean, you’ve now technically stolen her identity. How am I supposed to move on from this, knowing that the real one is dead?”
The new Emerina put her hand on my shoulder. “I know I’m not going to be the perfect sister that the real one was; but this is the best decision in this situation. Think about it; would you rather have a different identity attributed to her, or the same one?”
I placed my hand on her shoulder. “Honestly, I’d rather that there wasn’t another replica of my dead sister; but I guess it would be better for you to use her identity.”
She then shoved me back with her hand. “Then it’s settled; let’s return home.”
As Emerina ran on ahead, I sidled up next to General Gillespie. I muttered to him, “Are you sure this is a good idea? This could mean trouble later.”
His response came quick. “Trust me, I was just as insulted as you when she asked about it; I was gonna refuse it at first, and keep my word steadfast. However, she’s been through so much lately that I just couldn’t; besides, look at her.”
We both stared at Emerina, who was energetically strolling down the sidewalk with a massive grin on her face. She turned back to us. “Come on, guys, keep up! It’ll be sunset when we get there at this rate!”
I wiped away a stray tear from the side of my eye. “You’re right, Gillespie; perhaps it was for the best.”
He smiled back at me and slapped me on the back. “That’s the first time you’ve ever said that, eh? Come on, our home awaits.”
With that, he marched forward at a rapid pace, exaggerating his arm motions. Emerina laughed as she looked at him.
I grinned for what felt like an eternity as I took flight and followed them. “You’re pretty slow, old man; pick up the pace!”
*
It was now nighttime, and I was sitting on the roof of the apartment complex that the Gillespies lived in. It was fairly tall, with about 50 floors and a dazzling view of the city from above; their apartment was on the 43rd floor, facing Central Park. I looked up into the night sky, amazed by the way the stars shone in the dark abyss; they were like sentient souls, refusing to die, illuminating the heavens with their determination.
I heard a door open behind me; Emerina was in front of it. I smirked. “Can’t sleep?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Dad’s sound asleep, but I can’t seem to drift off.”
I laughed. “I had a feeling. It was bound to take some time for some of the Gemstanian qualities to affect you.”
She raised her eyebrow and walked towards me. “You mean you know the reason for my insomnia?”
I gestured to sit alongside me. “Of course. You see, since we are essentially infinite sources of energy, sleep is not necessary for us; neither is any form of consumption.”
Emerina looked down at her stomach. “But I was feeling hungry when we walked back home.”
I placed my hands on my knees and looked up. “Like I said, it takes time; not all qualities will kick in at once.”
She sighed. “So what’s on your mind? I mean, after all that’s happened to you?”
I replied, “Not much; to be honest, I’m actually surprised at how well I’ve assimilated into your society. I was expecting a lot worse.”
She smiled. “Well, that’s humanity for you; we’ve come a long way since the olden days, and now we are more accepting of others. Or most of us, rather.”
I nodded. “I’ve also been thinking, this isn’t the best place for me to live; so I’ve decided I’m going to build one.”
Emerina looked back at me. “Why? What’s wrong with our apartment?”
I answered honestly. “For what I must achieve, and for my own knowledge acquisition, I require a base of operations that’s more technologically advanced and spacious.”
She looked up at the sky. “I can understand that; wanting to escape this small and noisy place. But where would it be located?”
I turned to look at her. “Well, I was thinking in the air.”
She turned to face me. “That sounds awesome; can I join you in that new base?”
I laughed. “Of course; you are now my own flesh and blood, after all.”
Emerina laughed. “And now your sister, too.”
We both laughed at that, and then I suggested, “Should we plan it now?”
She nodded. “There’s no better time like the present. I’ll get a pencil and paper.”
I waved my hand in front of me and formed them both out of thin air. “No need. I’ve got some right here.”
She was amazed. “Nice trick; wish I could do that.”
I smirked at that. “Oh please, you’ll be able to do that and more once I’ve taught you.”
She grinned at the thought. “Well then, let’s begin! This will be the ultimate base!”
*
Within a few days, the base was completely constructed and fully operational. It took some time, as Emerina and I had to manually build it; but we never had to worry about running out of materials. The interior was very intricate, and the propulsion mechanisms were powerful and durable. The central room would serve as a multi-purpose changeable room, with a glass-walled corridor surrounding it; in one corner was a communication tower, the opposite corner a direct escape hatch, and finally a viewing bay in between them.
The two biggest arguments to arise during the design and construction stages were related to its name and the propulsion mechanisms themselves. I originally wanted to call the base Emerald Palace 2.0, but Emerina said it was too militaristic; she preferred a name that would also be homely, considering it would serve as our accommodation, so we eventually decided on the name Emerald Cottage. As for propulsion, she wanted to use powerful jet engine rotors, but I was concerned that they would require constant maintenance, so I suggested to use Sappherisen gemstanite; we eventually compromised by using the jet engine rotors, with the gemstanite as a backup system in case something were to happen.
We moved in as soon as the final rivet was fired in, and powered up the engines. The metal behemoth ascended into the air and reached its resting altitude within minutes; the skybase now levitated in the air 50,000 feet above sea level.
Emerina and I immediately tested everything: the morphing room, the communications array, the escape hatch and the viewing bay. All were in perfect condition and at full functionality. I spent most of my time either in the viewing bay or on the roof of the base; it opened out onto the blue expanse of sky, a strong hue of empty air. Occasionally a cloud would pass by, like an airship on a gentle cruise, and I would feel the urge to circle it. I could then shape it to my own designs if I so choose, but not always. Sometimes, their natural beauty was perfection enough for me.
As I began to settle in to our new home, I remembered that I had to teach Emerina, so I searched the ship. She was already in the changeable room, which had been set to the laboratory; she had safety glasses on her head and a quarantine hood being decontaminated.
I said, “Can you refrain from that for the moment? We need to begin your training.”
She glared at me, but returned to her usual calm demeanor. “Sure.”
With that, I pressed my hand upon the panel. The room immediately began to morph: the lab benches became wooden columns, the marble floor became that of logs, and the roof adopted a thatch texture. Within seconds, the space had metamorphosed into a dojo sparring area.
I stood in position at one end and pointed to the other end. “Stand there.”
She walked to the other end and stood in position. “So what are we starting with?”
I hesitated. “Well, here’s the thing…I don’t know how to teach this. My best guess would be to link the elements to emotions, in order to start the process, so let’s start with fire.”
Emerina contemplated this, and then nodded. “I can understand that; emotion is quite a powerful entity.”
I nodded. “Well then, let’s begin. Try to conjure a flame in your hand using anger.”
Her forehead furrowed in thought, then flame appeared from her arm. “Nice; now how do I launch it?”
I was hesitant. “That we’ll have to figure out over time. First, I’d thought we assign an emotion to each element, and then figure out the rest from there.”
Her brow furrowed in thought again. “That makes sense. Well, sadness would be water, insanity would be toxins, and fear would be darkness, but what would be electricity or plants?”
I smiled. “Only one way to find out.”
She smiled back at me. “Indeed…by the way, as a biologist, I have just one question: how on earth does all of this work?“
My smile faded, and I stared at her in uncertainty. “Pardon?”
She held up her still-burning arm. “This elemental conjuration; how is this kind of matter and energy manipulation possible?”
I thought for a moment, and then clicked my fingers in remembrance. “From what my people learnt through their research, the cells that comprise the gemstones generate specialized proteins, which can convert any kind of matter or energy into a specific element, like catalyzing a substrate into the desired product. They’re constantly within your visual physical form, and can be distributed further out into the atmosphere at the will of the individual. How these enzymes themselves have acquired this power, we are unsure; but they have become one of the most vital parts to Gemstanian wellbeing.”
She pondered this information for a while, and then looked back up. “That’s fascinating; I should do some further research on those proteins. Anyway, that’s something for later; for now, let’s start training!”
*
The sun had receded beyond the horizon. I had called the training for today, but not for the silent night. I was sitting on the roof of the Emerald Cottage, admiring the spectacle of the sky in front of and above me. The cosmos glinted in the dark abyss of space, and the constellations began to visualize themselves before my eyes: Aquarius, with its arms outstretched towards its non-existent water pot, Libra, its scales tipped on its side as usual, and Gemini, its curved shape shining bright.
Suddenly, I heard the escape hatch open up beneath me; it was no guess who it was. Emerina landed behind me and walked towards my hunched figure. “Long day, huh?”
I chuckled as she walked to the right of me and sat alongside. “No; lot on my mind right now.”
She looked at me with concern. “Still thinking about home?”
I sighed. “Yeah…I feel like it’s all my fault.”
She placed her hand on my back. “Why would you think that?”
I turned to her. “The timing of the attack, the protectiveness my family had of me during it, the use of excessive force to subdue me; all of these seem to point to me as the cause.”
She stared up in thought. “I can understand that, but there was surely a sound reason as to why they did all this.”
I looked towards the earth and thought it over. “It must have been a prophecy.”
Emerina looked back to me. “Did your people believe in them?”
I nodded. “They were not like the ones that humans mean by prophecies. These prophecies are discovered through advanced prediction across the universe using light patterns and soul resonances. Only the king would acquire that skill for the sake of the people.”
She comprehended this. “So you think a prophecy caused all this?”
I shrugged. “It’s the most likely answer.”
Her question was immediate. “But then how would Vitrolax have known this?”
I calmly replied. “Gemstanians aren’t the only species capable of this. The Vigras were well known for their prophecy readings. He probably heard about it from some other prophet.”
I lay down on my back and stared into the cosmos. “I feel so alone here; apart from you, there is nothing and no one left from my home planet.”
She lay down next to me. “Well, that’s to be expected. After all, you have been here for two weeks now.”
I sighed. “I wish I could go back; I wish I could return to the only home I’ve ever known, the only place that feels normal to me.”
A tear plinked off the roof, startling Emerina. “Well, maybe you could rebuild your home.”
I sighed. “It wouldn’t be the same; it would be empty, lifeless and uniform. All the other races are extinct; there’s no point to rebuilding a home for the dead.”
She picked up the diamond tear and spun it between her fingers. “Well, you could consider making Earth your home.”
I laughed. “I wish I could, but I don’t know anything about this more modern society. The earth I saw from back home was 10 million years in the past.”
She perked up suddenly. “You know, I majored in Biology and Geography at the University of Chicago. I could show you all about this world and tell you some of the more interesting biological and geographical stuff.”
I thought about it for a second. “Okay then; since we don’t need to sleep, how about I train you during the day, and then you teach me about Earth during the night?”
She jumped to her feet. “Sure; then let’s start now.”
Suddenly, Emerina grabbed my hand and pulled me down through the atmosphere into the oceans below. As we fell, I was warm with happiness; perhaps this lifestyle wouldn’t be so bad.
Chapter 4: Emergence
It was three weeks after that day. It surprised me that so much human time had passed, yet at this point only 1/10 of one Gemstanian day had passed. It took me a while to get used to this. Emerina had quickly learnt how to conjure the elements, but mastering its manipulation and use in combat was a longer process. She had currently mastered control of 10 of the 13 common elements, and was close to mastering psychic power when the alert sounded. That dreaded sound signified the appearance of that fierce, cruel warrior king: Vitrolax. I flew out of the training room, past the laboratory, and into the communications room. I answered the alert, and General Gillespie’s face engulfed the screen.
“General,” I said, “Nice to see you again. So you’ve located him?”
He replied calmly. “Indeed, Emerald. He is currently rampaging through the centre of Chicago; I’ve sent our two best snipers over to contain the situation, but they won’t be able to hold back all of them.”
I nodded. “Understood, General. Emerina and I will be there shortly.”
Terminating the transmission, I dashed back to the training room. “Emerina,” I said, “Your dad found Vitrolax; he’s been found in Chicago. We need to depart immediately.”
She dropped the block of concrete she was telepathically holding. “Ok, let’s go. And then afterwards, you can continue experimenting with emerald energy?”
I frustratingly replied, “Ok, but only if you stop nagging be about it. You have been doing that since we both moved into this place.”
She nodded. “Fine. Now bring on the chill; Chicago awaits!”
*
We arrived to a sight most horrible. The centre of the city was filled with weird humanoid entities, with Vitrolax floating above them; the ground was stained with the blood of the innocent.
I made contact with the two snipers Gillespie mentioned. “Gem to Scope. Requesting current location. Over.”
The reply was immediate. “Scope to Gem. I am currently holed up in nearby skyscraper. Barrel is located opposite. Have sights aligned on the target. Over.”
I formulated a plan within seconds. “Gem to Scope. Wait for my signal, then open fire. Over.”
There was a pause, and then he radioed back. “Scope to Gem. I have relayed this to Barrel. Both of us are wondering what the signal is. Over.”
I didn’t even need to think of my response. “Gem to Scope. You’ll know it when you see it. Out.”
I killed the communications and, steaming, blew my cover and slammed down in front of Vitrolax.
His black-slit eyes focused on me. “Ah, Emerald; you have arrived at last. I knew that this would get your attention; a massacre draws you Gemstanians in like a moth to a light. Now for you to understand the truth about fate’s power in this world. Soldiers, attack!”
Upon quick examination, I noticed that the ‘soldiers’ were comprised of dark matter, but it wasn’t dense enough to protect them from the main elements. I gave the signal, and the bullets rained down on them, but were surprisingly ineffective.
I turned to Emerina. “You ready?”
Fire burst forth from her hands. “Oh yeah, I’m ready.”
We separated and each took half of the soldiers. I surrounded my half with fire, and then created a tornado to isolate them in a pillar of fire. Distracted, I slashed some of them in half with a razor vine, struck others with sections of the blazing tempest and finished the rest off with a barrage of icicles.
Canceling the cyclone, I saw Emerina effortlessly annihilating the entities. Most of the soldiers’ corpses were disintegrating into wisps of dark matter, but some were scaling the skyscraper that Deadeye was hiding in. Leaving Emerina, I fired off a downpour of psychic bolts, and then cascaded their impact sites with lightning. The side of the skyscraper lit up from the tesla wall that resulted, but the soldiers had managed to reach Deadeye; he was slaughtered in mere seconds. The rage flaring like a bushfire, I launched them into the air with the rubble from the building, held them in front of me with telekinesis and obliterated them with slashes from toxic claws.
With burning hate, I turned towards Vitrolax. “You just killed hundreds of innocents, and my friend; that’s not a safe place to stand. I will hold nothing back to ensure retribution for your crimes.”
Vitrolax chuckled to himself. “Soon you will understand, Emerald; these people were simply a means to an end.”
I retaliated, “An end that you will never accomplish! Emerina, let’s do this!”
Floating back to my side, Emerina got into position for a dual elemental maneuver. Separating again, I generated a cyclone of rapid-flowing water around Vitrolax, while Emerina struck the top with electricity. We both entered the sparking aqueous pillar; what we found was astonishing. Vitrolax was now floating there, without a scratch on him; even his cloak was unscathed. I set my fists ablaze, Emerina synthesized an ice sword, and we charged with full force. Slashes and strikes were blocked and traded, but as hard as we tried, nothing was damaging him. Then a realization hit me.
While the battle continued to rage, I communicated with Emerina. We can’t damage him; I think we don’t have the required powers to. For now, we should encase him in ice and throw him into the lake; that will stall him for some time while we work on learning this power.
She telepathically replied back. Understood; we’ll head back to the Emerald Cottage after this.
As Emerina exited the twister, I compressed the rushing water around Vitrolax, and then transformed it into ice. After flinging the now-frozen warrior into the chilly waters, I heard footsteps behind me; it was Deadringer. His appearance was more disheveled than I had imagined: cold green eyes, thick brown hair and a poignant expression.
He looked at me with interest. “I saw the whole thing through my binoculars. What happened in there? Why didn’t you kill him?”
His voice was very fatherly, which brought a tear to my eye. I replied, “I’m not ready. No matter what I struck him with, he remained unharmed.”
I sat down at the lake’s edge, and Deadringer sat next to me. He put his hand on my shoulder. “Why do you say that you aren’t ready?”
I was unsure myself, but then it occurred to me. Why on that day did the attack happen?
I explained, “Vitrolax attacked my planet on my birthday. After the celebrations, I was going to begin my lessons in learning to harness emerald energy. Maybe he attacked then because only the emerald energy can harm him; that way he could continue to try and kill me without fear of death.”
Deadringer took this all in, and then suggested, “Well, maybe you could try to teach yourself to use this energy.”
“I could try, but that would take months or even years.”
With that, he stood up and looked at me with a courageous expression. “Then I vow to help you in any way I can whilst you learn to harness this emerald energy. My brother was killed in that skirmish, and I will avenge his death by destroying that tyrannical swordsman alongside you.”
He held his hand out to me, I grabbed it, and he pulled me to my feet. I responded, “Well then, allow me to give you something in return.”
*
It took two weeks, but I completed it. As payment for his help, I constructed a weapon for Deadringer; a sniper rifle powered with gemstanite, able to fire any element at the user’s digression. With this, he would be able to damage the infinite number of soldiers Vitrolax had without any issue.
During those weeks, we had two encounters with Vitrolax’s soldiers; the first was only four days after the first attack. I was training Emerina in the final element she needed to master, which was light, when the alert came through. I ran to the communication room and answered the call. “General, what’s the situation?”
General Zhang Jun’s deep voice came through. “Emerald, we’ve got a minor attack taking place in Beijing’s central metropolis.”
I stared at the monitor in confusion. “What are you defining as a ‘minor attack’?”
His response was direct. “I mean that Vitrolax isn’t present at the target area; only his soldiers are there, and they’re destroying everything along the main road.”
I was surprised. “Okay; we’ll arrive shortly.”
I ended the call and flew back to the dojo. Emerina was trying to apply her light as a combat aid, which I had shown her just a few minutes ago.
I signaled to follow. “We’ve got a minor attack in Beijing to resolve.”
She canceled the light. “What do you define as a ‘minor attack’?”
I was blunt about it. “Vitrolax is not there with his soldiers.”
As we walked to the escape hatch, Emerina was curious. “Has he ever done this before?”
I thought about it briefly. “Never; according to legend, he would never ignore a conflict, nor would he let others fight without him present. He was always the one leading them into battle; guess things must have changed since then.”
She nodded. “Guess so; now, let’s go help China.”
*
Arriving at the scene, the walls of the nearby skyscrapers were ridden with claw marks, slashes down into their foundations, and fragments of dark matter billowing from the cuts. The soldiers themselves were gathered in a circle formation on the main road, as if planning something.
I established communications. “Gem to Scope. Requesting current location and any observations. Over.”
Response came quickly back. “Scope to Gem. Have taken post in the building to your right; I’ve got eyes on you and the target. Suspicious circling movement, but other than that, they just tore through the city like razor blades through paper. Over.”
I considered my options. “Gem to Scope. Engage the targets on my mark; try to clear an opening into the centre. Over. ”
The link was silent for a moment. “Scope to Gem. Understood. Awaiting the signal. Out.”
With communications severed, I discussed with Emerina. “What do you think they’re doing in that formation?”
She observed them and gave a suggestion. “They’re either summoning something, or gathering dark energy for combat.”
I returned with a suggestion. “What if we use some flame to interrupt their little ritual?”
She shrugged. “Wouldn’t hurt to try.”
As we were discussing this, an ectoplasmic film of darkness began to form within the soldiers’ circle. I pointed it out and suggested a new plan. With Emerina agreeing, I unleashed a column of magma from below, she launched a tesla strike from above, and Deadringer’s shots were dissipating the soldiers. However, the dark ring did not break; rather, the energy seemed to be absorbed into it. I was unsure about what happened, but then I remembered: black holes.
As I realized this, the soldiers began to sink into the film, like melting wax, slow and liquid. Once they had been assimilated, the dark matter rose and took a spherical form; it seemed to have a liquid viscosity and an unusual transparency about it. Emerina and I stared, wondering what this thing was.
I turned to her. “So, any guesses?”
She looked at me, looked at the sphere, and looked back. “Does it remind you of some sort of metamorphosis?”
I nodded. “But how did the elemental attacks have no effect? That concentration of dark matter was not strong enough to be unaffected.”
Suddenly, the spherical dark matter began to change shape. Curved horns began to form, eyes of fire emerged from its head and a muscular build adorned the figure. Within seconds, the beast had formed: a Minotaur of flame and thunder.
I stared in disbelief. “Oh, they used the absorbance power of the black hole to fuse our elements with it.”
Emerina laughed. “How pathetic; they couldn’t even use their own power to fight us.”
I shook my head. “Not entirely; it’s actually really clever. They could merge the dark matter’s power with the fire and electricity.”
She nodded. “Ingenious, but still very deadly. We need to kill this creature quickly.”
I looked towards the enemy. “Agreed.”
In an instant, I flew directly towards it, as swords of water and stone began to construct themselves in my hands. I slammed into the beast with a metal-reinforced head-butt, knocking it slightly backwards and onto its back. With both swords now completely materialized, I jumped back and began to spin rapidly, the two blades pointed upwards in a V formation. As I accelerated the rotations, the central area between the swords began to generate a gyrating tornado of rock and water. That was her cue.
Emerina flew forward like a human spear towards the humanoid bull, and as she neared me, I surrounded her with the earthy aquatic twister. Her attack slammed directly into the Minotaur’s face, and continued to drill into its dark head. Its clawed hands tried to grasp the outside and pry her away from it, but the whirling rock-aqua mixture shredded the hands into black flaming wisps.
Suddenly, the beast’s tactic appeared to change: it regrew its hands, created a solidified cylinder of darkness around the elemental hurricane and started compressing the space within it. Fortunately, I was relieved to see Emerina fly out of the end within seconds and land alongside me. I watched as the dark matter cylinder compacted into a handle, before the Minotaur slammed one end into the ground below and pulling out the main axe head, crawling with magma and lightning, condensed inside a reinforced stone shell.
I looked into Emerina’s eyes and offered the stone sword’s handle. “How do you feel about taking down an opponent together?”
She laughed as she grabbed the earth blade. “Sounds good to me.”
With some quick telepathic planning, we each took one side of the massive highway, and planned a dual wield. My second was of air, hers of plant. Our charge was synchronized and in bilateral symmetry as we approached the now-armed monstrosity. I launched a flurry of strikes at its left leg, while Emerina was attempting to literally dis-arm the beast. However, the leg wounds blasted back at me with a flare of magma, forcing me to retreat a bit; and the arm acted like a tesla, pouring lightning from the multiple lacerations and compelling her to keep at a distance.
Clearly realizing our maneuver, the Minotaur cut its own leg off with the fire side of the double-sided axe, and its arm with the lightning side; both regrew instantly from the stumps, and the elements that those dismembered limbs contained were absorbed. With that, it slammed the axe handle into the road, releasing a wave of inferno and electricity from its epicenter.
It struck us both, and we felt the burning shock course through our bodies into our gemstones; even my very soul was shaken by it. This creation needed to be eliminated immediately.
I linked minds with Emerina and informed her of my observations, as well as a revised plan. She nodded, and held out her swords in preparation. Suddenly, the swords made a small transformation, with the stone blade now broken up into fragments and the plant one sporting an extendable thorn-covered vine. I also changed mine to fit their new purpose; the water sword had begun to release liquid water into the air around it, and the air one started to generate a tornado around the blade.
We hovered to the required level, but did not plan to move from our positions. As if on cue, our combination attack began. Emerina’s plant vine was striking the lightning portion of the head, along with the projectile stones that were hurled as she swung the other; meanwhile, my water aura had ensnared the flaming side in an aqueous whip, while multiple air slashes struck the glowing stone exterior. The assault continued, until a crack began to form on the side, pouring out the two elements; and then in a final strike, both she and I flew forward diligently and smashed the rock blades to pieces using a dual slash from the swords.
With only its dark matter remaining, the Minotaur roared and swung its remaining staff at us, but to no avail. With our backs against each other’s, we interlocked fingers to make fists, and then spun into the beast until the darkness was shredded and dissipated. Once it had all finally disintegrated, Emerina and I inspected the damage. The buildings had massive cracks along the walls, and the main road was beyond repair.
I turned to her. “Well, it appears that Vitrolax’s soldiers have been experimenting a bit; they are beginning to evolve their tactics.”
She grinned, and punched the air. “Then so should we. Let’s get back to work!”
*
The second attack happened almost a week later. At this point, most of our time was focused on meditation in order to discover emerald energy skills, with the occasional nights of earthly tours. At this point, we had only discovered three passive abilities: physical healing, rendering entities unconscious, and creating light barriers around areas. They didn’t seem too useful, although we did agree that they’d prove useful in reducing civilian casualties.
The alert sounded, and I immediately snapped out of my meditative state and flew to the room. The screen came to life as I answered. “Emerald here. What’s the situation?”
General Janosh Horvath’s fatherly voice came through. “Hi Emerald, there was a strange sighting of Vitrolax’s soldiers in Páty, about 12 km outside Budapest.”
I nodded to myself. “Did the boss himself turn up?”
There was a slight hesitation. “Not that I’ve heard; I mean, considering he dropped out last time, it would have been the first thing to be told if he was present.”
I nodded again. “True. We’ll be there in a moment.”
His reply was instant. “Okay. Good luck.”
He was always my favourite general; he actually seemed to be the only one with a personality that wasn’t like a brick wall.
I returned to Emerina and snapped her out of her meditation. “We’ve got a soldier infestation in Hungary. You up for it?”
She got to her feet. “When am I not?”
I pointed to where the hatch was. “Then there’s no time to lose; time for a fight in Páty!”
*
The sight of Páty was even worse than Beijing; the old architectural buildings had been left scarred by the slashing of the soldiers, and the gravel roads beared the marks of their distinctive footprints. The soldiers themselves had gathered at a rounded dead end, surrounded by green plains and a few residences, and were performing the same ritualistic setup; surprisingly, though, no film had been formed as of yet.
Emerina and I observed this from afar, high above the scattered village. I spoke with Deadringer. “Gem to Scope. The soldiers’ actions are more suspicious than our previous encounter; what’s your distance on them? Over.”
The reply, as usual, was instant. “Scope to Gem. I’ve got a 500m gap between the soldiers and me. Any ideas? Over.”
I was unsure, so I suggested a more radical strategy. “Gem to Scope. I’ve got an idea, but it’s a more experimental concept. Let me strike the first blow, and if there are any survivors, take them down. Over.”
I heard his laugh ring through. “Scope to Gem. That’s an interesting one; let’s hope it works. Out.”
I killed the communications, and Emerina looked at me. “You sure about this? The attack might be too obvious.”
I laughed. “If they had kinetic vision, then it would be. Besides, we have our support from Miles; nothing can go too wrong.”
She sighed. “You’re right. Let’s do this.”
With that, we simultaneously made our moves: I slammed down in the center and released spikes of stone from the earth below them, whilst Emerina struck from the sky with an assault of expertly aimed psychic bolts. The soldiers swiftly dodged it, as if a natural instinct; not a segment wavered on their dark bodies. I looked around, and they all landed in synchronization; they looked like living statues, for their figures were more solid, and their eyes no longer glowed. When their shadowy feet touched the ground, they simply stood in place, motionless, as if lifeless.
I stared at this in disbelief. “Something’s not right. The synchronized motions, the husk-like appearance, the rigidity of their darkness: they all might be a single entity.”
Emerina stared at me with confusion. “Why would that be better? There would need to be a division in power for an entity to act as multiple bodies.”
I shook my head. “That’s where you’re wrong. Observe their eyes, no longer illuminated; at this point, they are just statues, dead beneath a hardy exterior. However, the entity is prevalent throughout them, floating among the ether that surrounds us. It’s like a puppet master, untouchable above the stage; and there’s only one way to take him out.”
With that, I fired an array of air slashes behind me, shredding the creature into small pieces of baseless fabric, cloaked in darkness.
Emerina observed this, and nodded. “Then let’s do it. You take half.”
With that, she launched herself with her foot at part of the shadow’s arc, leaving me to handle the rest. The eyes re-lit themselves; the game was afoot.
I attempted impalement with spikes, but the soldiers jumped back, as I predicted; with no way to evade, I then sliced through a few of them with palms of fire. The others were quick to react, and so jumped off one foot and slashed at me; I dodged their counter, but one glanced my upper arm. In retaliation, I caught them up in a psychic chain and eviscerated their bodies with a flurry of razor vines.
Most of my soldiers had now been destroyed, and Emerina was at the same point; the traces of venom and scorch marks were recognizable upon the earth. Suddenly, the remnants of our slaughter retreated back to a point, as if a signal flare had been ignited. Their bodies turned less corporeal, a mist of wafting shadow, which converged and morphed into a larger creature, resembling the original soldier.
I turned to Emerina. “Well, this is new.”
Emerina pointed at the soldier. “So is that.”
I turned towards the morphed creation, and noticed that the arms had retained some more non-tangential features. The solid aura fluctuated around it like flowing waves on a calm ocean, and the physical substance had become partially translucent. For a simple construct, this was an impressive ability.
I laughed as a massive grin spread across my face. “So Vitrolax has been experimenting further, huh? This should be fun.”
Emerina chuckled. “You enjoy this too much, don’t you?”
I didn’t even bother to respond; I launched myself at the shadowy titan, a fist girt in flame, and struck at the non-existent neck. It was knocked backwards instantly, but remained on its feet, flung back a few metres. Without hesitation, it jumped forward and swung its arm at me, morphed into a mighty double-headed axe; the light barrier was the only move that could block it. Most of the force was absorbed, but the weaponised arm broke through it, striking my right arm and rendering it unusable. I countered with a toxic roundhouse kick to the abdomen, which now began to slowly dissolve the dark matter of its body. The soldier was irritated, and so used its axe hand to separate its body; the legs disintegrated into ribbon wisps, which returned to the source and supported the upper body.
I laughed. “Oh, it’s clever. This fight just gets better and better.”
Emerina looked at me. “Indeed. Now let’s finish this.”
I nodded. “Agreed.”
In the blink of an eye, Emerina and I ran towards the beast from both sides. The soldier had transformed its arms to their original state, but appeared to grow long spikes; it retaliated with an extended arm strike, the aura-doused appendages flying towards us. Without losing speed, we dodged the attack, launched off the ground and shattered the intangible arms using the trapping power of ice; and, in unison, our psychic-powered fists collided with the creature’s head. The dark matter of its body was dented instantly, and lost all stability soon after; like ashes from a bonfire, the shadows scattered in the gentle wind, lost to the elements.
I grabbed my right arm, the pain beginning to arrive. “Vitrolax has vastly improved since he arrived; that new soldier landed a few powerful strikes on me.”
Emerina ran over and examined the lacerations. “Will they heal?”
I nodded. “Our emerald healing techniques can repair these within a few days.” I pointed at the wound. “But this, this is a sign, Emerina, this is a sign. Immortality is fictional; there is only pain, and mortality, and determination. If that creature had gone after you…”
The words became lodged in my throat; I couldn’t bring myself to speak nor think about that situation.
She nodded in understanding. “I know you’re worried about me, but have faith in me. I have trained under you, I have fought alongside you; I have even demonstrated my strongest abilities to you. So come on, arise and refresh; we must be prepared for anything.”
She held her hand out to me, and I graciously grabbed it. I lifted myself up off the ground. “Then let us return. Our foe has continued to experiment; we must overtake him in that regard.”
*
A week after the two separate attacks, another alert sounded; but this one was different to the previous ones. Firstly, Vitrolax was present with his soldiers, as the legend said; secondly, he wasn’t massacring anyone. According to General Gillespie, he was currently waiting for me in Manhattan. It seemed strange, but we responded and flew to his location.
I was feeling more confident than last time; after recovering from the last encounter, I had continued my experiments with harnessing emerald energy. So far, a few combat-like techniques had emerged, such as firing a beam of energy for a split second, creating manipulative light threads out of energy, and condensing the energy into small orbs of light, which instinctively orbited my left wrist. If I could strike him with any of these, then it would be possible to kill him.
The general was right; Vitrolax had blocked off all access to Times Square using his soldiers, and was just floating in the center of the empty plaza.
I had already contacted Deadringer and planned our first move, so I charged into the square and slammed the ground with an emerald beam. It converted into a shockwave and obliterated all of his soldiers; as they died, I converted the shockwave into a light barrier, formulating an enclosed arena for the conflict.
Vitrolax saw this and his golden triangle eyes glinted. “Well, well, well; you’ve been busy too, I see. You learnt to harness emerald power from scratch; but will it be enough to defeat my being?”
I cockily strolled towards him. “Well, why don’t we find out? Emerina, now!”
She launched over the top of me and fired a beam of solid ice, which passed through him seamlessly. While he was distracted, I quickly ran behind him and launched an energy beam. Unfortunately, my aim was slightly astray, and so it flew past him and singed his cloak.
He turned to face me, which was all we needed for Emerina to trap him in a psychic lock. I fired another beam, but he blocked it with his sword; it ricocheted off and pierced the sky.
The mental lock broke and Vitrolax rushed forward, swinging his weapon in a rapid and fluid motion. I dodged him and encased him in a sphere of stone, then launched the beam at it. The sphere exploded, but Vitrolax was unharmed; his metal claw had caught the blast. All the while, Deadringer had been trying to snipe Vitrolax, but bizarrely had also been firing at me as well; I dismissed the thought though.
Changing tactics, I created multiple energy threads from my hands, a thread protruding from each finger. Surprising Vitrolax, I used this to my advantage and grabbed his body with them, and pulled him forward. Emerina jumped in front and launched the beam at almost point-blank range; the sword again deflected it, but the energy transferred into the barrier. While she engaged Vitrolax, I extended a thread into the barrier, extracted this excess energy and created massive orbs within the other threads. Once I was prepared, Emerina jumped back and used the light strings to slam him into the ground; as soon as he impacted, I released the orbs by swinging the threads in an arc, and they exploded around him like grenades.
I floated down, and observed what I thought was unthinkable. Somehow, Vitrolax had blocked every single combat sphere and risen again without even a scratch. I was so infuriated, and, as a result, I completely lost all emotional control. My shout could be heard throughout the cosmos, and ripple the fabric of space and time; but the universal fabric was torn, forming a micro-universal void within my palms. Emerina stared in disbelief, Vitrolax stared in bewilderment, and Deadringer’s shots had ceased: all were mesmerized by the cosmic power that I now possessed.
Without any conscious control, I manipulated the stars within by means of emerald energy, encasing them and repositioning them to form a new constellation, in the shape of the old Gemstania. The energy generated by the stars began to encompass the entire structure, and then was released suddenly, unleashing a beam of more continuous and concentrated emerald energy. Vitrolax’s eyes showed minimal signs of fear, and so he dodged it instinctively; but the astronomical creation wasn’t fulfilled, and so amassed the energy again, traveled through the void until it was above him and quickly fired again. Vitrolax evaded again, but part of his cloak was disintegrated near his right shoulder.
Still unable to completely control myself, I tore the cosmic gate open further, forming a ring in front of me; as the fabric of the microverse was exposed, stars began to accumulate in the spaces and absorb the emerald energy. Once there were a sufficient number, the powered cosmic flame orbs unleashed themselves upon Vitrolax in a massive barrage; these were more advanced in their abilities, and so despite his shadowy swiftness, the speeding spheres continued to pursue. Even when he slashed through them, this proved futile, as the energy would simply reform around the fragments and multiply the number of projectiles.
Once he was cornered, though, Vitrolax released his hidden ace: the dark sword’s true form. The emerald stars were dissipated by its radiant power, and the very air trembled from the dark energy emitted; even the universal ether shuddered from the release. I formed a ring of emerald orbs and threw it at him, but it was no use; he seamlessly split it in half and stared me down as the explosive release occurred behind him. Emerina and I aimed and fired our beams to strike in the same place, but it proved ineffectual. I even attempted the constellational beam, only for him to deflect it using the side of the sword.
I closed the universal tear and telepathically communicated with Emerina. We need to pull out of this confrontation; this power’s on a completely different level. Deadringer, get out of your position and abandon the square. Emerina, help me distract him so we can retreat.
With that, she and I released a massive photon of light, illuminating the entire area and blinding Vitrolax: a distraction effective enough for our escape. As we left the conflict, only one thought in my mind remained: we would need to become a lot more powerful if we were going to defeat him.
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