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| Everything in Life Speaks, But Few Take the Time to Hear. |
Loki rolled over on his knees, cursing at everything with a name. Yin stared blankly at the setting sun. Loki steadily rose up to meet Yin’s blank glare.
“You could have told me you were psychic snowflake.”Loki mumbled.
“Then I would be a liar like you Loki.” Yin responded calmly.
“Smartass,” Loki said while attempting to attack from the side, “Block this!”
Yin gently moved his hand horizontally through the air in Loki’s direction without looking at him. A Halberd formed in mid-air, blocking the incoming strike from Loki’s weapon. Loki frowned and teleported behind Yin, only to be met by a spear. Loki flipped backwards to survey his opponent. However, all three ofYin’s weapons began to float in midair and homed in on Loki. Loki leaped over the weapons and landed back in his original spot, but Yin was there to greet him with the blade of his glaive. Yin connected with the weapon piercing deep into Loki’s gut. Yin pulled out and back flipped for about twenty feet. Loki wheezed in pain and confusion.
“What’s your name brat?” Loki asked with a serious tone.
“Yin Yotto, Captain-General of the Aero Army and brother to King Yang Yotto, the most powerful air wizard in all the land.” Yin replied.
“That twin brat of yours is your brother eh? How did someone like him beat you for the King’s spot?” Loki laughed. “Why is it that I cannot hurt you? What’s your powers magician?”
“I’m no magician peasant. I’m a Summoner.” Yin said with rage.
“What kind of Summoner summons weaponry to a battle?” Loki erupted into an insane laughter.
“My polearms are not just weaponry. They are holy weapons blessed by the gods themselves peasant. Each possesses a soul of their own, which come to my aid at my times of need.”
“You know what General…” Loki said with a big frown on his face.
Loki teleported behind Yin once more, who stacked a naginata, gisarme, and poleax on top of one another to bar his path. Loki stopped in his spot, and with green markings on his arm, held his free hand up and created a whirling storm of snow and ice around Yin. Five seconds later, Yin fell to the ground shivering.
“I hate it when people call me a peasant. ME! LOKI!!! THE GOD OF MISCHIEF! You all were made to be ruled by ME!”
Loki motioned to deal the finishing blow, but was sent flying back by a sudden gust of wind. The perpetrator of the attack was Yang, who was standing with his hand out in a fist. Loki flipped upwards and dashed at his new opponent with wild eyes. Loki sent a gust of freezing air at Yang, who blew it away with a flick of his wrist. Loki threw a strong right hook at Yang, who blocked it with an open palm. In the area around Yang, everything froze. Yang with his free hand then delivered a strong forward punch to Loki’s ribcage, sending him flying in a swirl of wind that ripped his armor offf. Loki bounced for an extra twenty feet before coming to a stop. Yang stared down his opponent, who instantly disappeared. Yang was not fooled however, and turned ninety degrees to deliver another open handed punch that caught Loki defenseless and sent him soaring once more. Loki flipped over once more in rage, his blue skin steadily changing to the pink pigmentation of his brother Balder. Yang did not speak, just waited patiently.
“I see…” Loki said attempting to clam down,“That’s the difference between you two. Yin’s power cames from his calm feel for the life around him. But yours comes from calm, but focused rage. You can channel your rage properly, that must be what Feng Po saw in you lad…”
Yang’s eyes sharpened at the mention of his father’s name. Loki caught wind of this and grinned.
“However my lad, you aren’t the only one who can focus better in rage. Now allow me to say…” Loki said with a serious, straight look, “Let the world… drop.”
At that moment, the ground underneath seemed to shift downward, causing Yang to fly up into the air, the gravity all but gone. In a flash of light, Yang dropped to the ground with multiple minor cuts across his body. Loki stood a few feet away licking a dagger clean of blood.
“You know…” The voice of Tao Kai said, scaring Loki, “You should always stand straight.”
Loki turned around looking for the source of the voice, before his feet were taken from under him by his own shadow. Loki landed flat on his butt, and his shadow slowly pushed itself up from the ground to stand on it’s own in the sun. Loki examined the sight, before rolling to his left, barely dodging a quick strike from Marissa. Hopping onto his feet, vines began to wrap around Loki’s legs, restricting his movements. Attempting to break free, Loki could see Hammi sprinting at him at full speed. At seven o’ clock his shadow was homing in and at five o’ clock Marissa was charging at him with Atlantian tech mages. Loki’s skin changed to emerald green and a giant green snake rose from the ground and wrapped itself around Loki, teleporting him out of the way. Loki’s shadow and Marissa jumped to the sky, as Hammi punched into the ground, creating a huge fissure in the ground around 6,000 feet deep. The Shadow and Marissa landed deep in the newly created canyon, where Hammi sat peacefully waiting.
“I don’t think we were asked to remodel the planet Hammi.” The shadow said, revealing itself to be Tao Kai.
“We were asked to rid the world of the menace known as Loki Odinsson. I put enough strength into that attack to deal a killing blow to him.” Hammi replied.
“Even with Loki’s power I doubt he could have pulled this off.” Marissa said surveying the area.
“Not with his own physical strength. It’s strange though,” Tao Kai started, “I never thought King Yang could hold his own against Loki’s magical powers….”
“The twins both proved rather effective against Loki because they stuck to what they did best. In that lays Loki’s weakness my friends.” Balder said suddenly behind them.
Balder looked up to the sky, watching Loki create branches on the inside of the canyon and swinging from one to the other. Balder’s fists glowed with a yellow light, and released a huge blast of light at twelve o’ clock, catching the emerald snake just as it appeared from the ground. Hammi caught a whiff of the snake, confusion rushing across his face.
“Mistletoe?” Hammi said, catching the attention of Balder.
“Where?” Balder replied.
Before he could get his answer, the emerald snake caught Balder in his jaw while his back was turned, delivering a fatal bite into his chest and back. Loki screamed in joy as he witnessed the event, calling for the snake.
“Fantastic Jörmungandr! Return to me my pet, we ride from here!”
The snake spat Balder to the ground and flew up to Loki. The Jörmungandr shifted into a blade, placing itself into Loki’s sheathe. Loki turned to leave, but Yang and Yin stood in his path. Loki sighed, and dashed forward to clash with his opponents.
Hammi and Marissa worked diligently to heal Balder, but to no avail. Tao Kai paced uselessly around them, wondering what was happening.
“Why aren’t your powers working? I thought your medicine was the best in the land!” Tao Kai yelled at Hammi.
“All of my medicine comes from plants, and they all took the oath not to harm Balder…”
“Your job is to heal him!”
“Medicine are technically beneficial viruses, they are ‘harming’ the lethal agents in one’s body.” Marissa said hopelessly.
“I thought you had an oath from all living things not to harm you!” Tao Kai directed towards Balder.
“All but… Mistletoe… Listen…” Balder said, but was interrupted by Yin and Yang crashing into the ground a few feet away from them. Tao Kai pulled them by their shadows over to Balder who began to speak again.“Tao Kai, head of the oldest family of Shadowmancers on the planet. Marissa Rhoden, daughter of King Atlas and Princess of the City of Atlantis. Yin Yotto, The legendary ‘Blind Tiger’ and weapons master. Hammi, a pujaris of the Aadhi Jeganadha Temple and healer of across the lands. King Yang Yotto, heir to the Kingdom in the Sky. You all were chosen because you possess the ability to do what no one else can do.”
“Forgive me my Sworn Brother, but Yin and I couldn’t outmatch Loki at his own game together. How could we possibly win?”Yang spoke.
“Tao Kai, your powers encompass the fact that when you take over someone’s shadow, you can control their powers correct?”Balder asked.
“Yes. But Loki was different… I couldn’t use his super-strength, or his magic for that matter.”
“That’s because his power is a false one. Loki’s strength is that his powers are a combination of multiple smaller ones that he took from his victims. Nevertheless, he cannot out power a master at their own skill.”
“A jack of all trades…” Marissa jumped in.
“More like king, who can only be beat by an ace… Marissa, you possess the ability to naturally call forth the element powering your technology. Hammi, there isn’t a stronger person on this planet and no one that the plants trust more. Yin, the Voice of Life speaks loud to you. Yang, your magic is more powerful then your father’s ever was. Tao Kai, your control over the shadows creates limitless possibilities. You all cannot be beaten at your best, so combine that, and there you shall overcome Loki.”
The warriors stood in silence, then met eye contact with each other. Two miles away, Loki was skipping across the desert, laughing at his brother’s death. Loki stopped in place and quickly tossed Jörmungandr high into the sky. Loki sidestepped just in time to dodge another blast of wind from Yang. Loki twirled in place then faced Yang, who had Tao Kai, Hammi, Yin, and Marissa standing behind him. Loki sighed.
“You guys again? Haven’t I kicked your asses enough today?” Loki said sadly.
The warriors didn’t speak, just surrounded Loki so there was no escape. Loki chuckled, and teleported in front of Tao Kai.
“You may be the most well balanced warrior here, but you can never go hand-to-hand with me.” Loki said while throwing a cross hook, but Tao Kai caught it and wrapped Loki up in a bear-hug.
“Too bad I am not Lord Tao Kai.” Hammi said, shadows dissolving to reveal him to be a fake.
Hammi’s clone was shown to be Tao Kai in disguise. Loki’s face had a stern look, while he struggled to free himself. Yin created six spears made of jade, garnet, sapphire, diamond, topaz, and ruby. Riding the air shaft created by his brother, Yin flew high into the air, and threw each of his six spears at a different angle towards Loki. In the brief second before the first spear landed, Hammi rolled out of the way and began to incite a prayer. The spears pinned Loki in his spot. Loki prepared to incite a prayer of his own, but before he knew it, a summoning circle formed at his feet and a geyser of water erupted from underneath him, drowning him in water while locking him in place. Marissa was concentrating fiercely behind Hammi.
“Hammi! This should strengthen your plants enough so that you can grow stronger plants!” Marissa said through strained breaths.
“Stronger won’t be enough, we need the strongest.” Hammi replied. “Oh mighty Teak, grant me a wooden prison that not even the mighty Loki can break.”
Hammi continued to pray, and slowly the branches of a Teak tree wrapped around Loki’s entire body. Hammi gave a timid nod towards Yang. Yang snapped his fingers, and spun his waist at a rapidly increasing speed. The sand around Loki began to twist and spin around him, until it erupted into a mini tornado of sand around Loki. Lastly, Tao Kai snapped his fingers, and the shadow of Balder left his master and came to Tao Kai’s aid. Their hands met, creating a ball of energy mixed of light and darkness, and together shot the ball of twilight at Loki’s elemental prison. The blast caused the prison to disintegrate. Once the smoke cleared, Loki laid on the sand, the size of a normal human being now, bleeding profusely and unable to move. The five warriors and the shadow of Balder formed a hexagon around Loki. Loki laughed.
“You may beat me today, but I shall return one day, just you wait.” He said.
The outline of a hexagon formed between the warriors, who each began to pray.
“I see…” Loki spoke, “The Elemental Lock… I see where you’re getting wind, water, grass, and metal from… but how will you produce ice and fire?”
Yin formed a steel bo staff which he held towards the sky, Yang created a miniature tornado in his hands and did the same. Marissa had a whirlpool of water floating on top of her, and Hammi was covered in the branches of the cherry blossom tree. Balder’s shadow used the power of his light to shine brightly on himself, causing it to burst into flames, and Tao Kai sliced off his hand and covered it in his cloak. When he removed the cloak, his hand was frozen solid. Loki chuckled.
“Jörmungandr, remember my final words!” Loki screamed.
The ground underneath gave way to an alternate universe, where the sky was green and the sand white. Loki fell into the world, and the warriors cut the connection, jumping back off the seal as it took their sacrifices. The portal closed, and the seal transformed into a gradient hexagon blue and scarlet ruby. In the distance, Balder was propped against the canyon, a smile on his face as the life in his eyes had disappeared. The warriors all dropped to the ground, grasping for air. A few hundred feet away from them, Loki’s sword was glowing with a shadowy light.
“With Loki’s last words, I prey on the depths of twilight…” Jörmungandr spoke. “With the underworld singing for an earthly unite. When all things seem bright in the darkest of night… We shall be there, under Hades might!”
A large pillar of black rose to the sky, catching the eye of the warriors. From the pillar walked out a skeleton dressed in furry black robes, blue flames for hair, a golden crowd covered in sapphire gems and Jörmungandr in his right hand. Raising the blade to the sky, multiple shadows littered the sky, all of them laughing. The skeleton turned and repeated Loki’s last words in a ghostly voice.
“Let There Be Jesters.”
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Konnichiwa!
Okay guys so here is part two to the story of from Monday. The book will be part of a series known as "Invisible". At the moment I will not be revealing anymore information at the time, however that's where the second portion of this post is coming from.
The blog willl very soon be opening a blogtv account where our readers can come and chat real time with the bloggers as well as find out information about future projects, ask questions, hear book reviews, and make suggestions. When we finally get the account up, I will post on here the url. Until then, stay fresh!
~APLIW~
