WINNERS & LOSERS PART 11

April

<April, April . . .>

A distant voice seemed to be beckoning to me in my head. I felt like I was thinking its words, but I knew it was intrusion from another party. Where I was I had no clue whatsoever, but I was nowhere I had been before. I couldn’t feel the presence of my body and the only intellectual guess I could make was that I had left it.

<I know your purpose. You seek me because you want to become a priest right?>

The voice was calling out to me again, expectant of a reply this time, but how I was not acknowledged to. I did not even have a mouth.

<I would reply if I even COULD.> I thought in frustration. Was this some kind of a dumb joke?

<You CAN reply. I heard everything you thought. And no, this is not some kind of a dumb joke. I am a spirit in the holy stone, trapped here due to my mischief before. Previously I was a formidable enemy and pounded anyone who got in my way, but the four wise men, along with their best students, defeated me and sealed me in this stone. My punishment lies in testing all of you 3rd jobber-wannabes for an eternity. When my task is accomplished, I will one day be freed.>

<Then I pity you. What the wise men say- it’s all miserable propaganda. They never gave me the power they had promised. I doubt your liberty as well.>

<Yes I know that, but what’s the point? Sigh, my over-complacency was the one at fault. Well anyway, are you ready to take the quiz? I must warn you that it is not easy.>

<More than ever!> I replied with enthusiasm, grinning from ear to ear.

<I like your confidence! Here’s the first question:
Name me all the skills of a priest.>

I racked my brains. How many were there? For a start, there was the famous Holy Symbol. Then active skills included shining ray, which summoned a huge angel to bury enemies in brilliant light. The first question was too easy, I had spent hours studying the holy prowess I could harness and they were all a familiarity.

<Shining ray, holy symbol, dispel, summon dragon, doom, mystic door-> I chimed melodically, then realised that I was still short of one. I tried my best, but failed to think of any more. Was it something that magicians would have in common? Resistance? Partial resistance? Elemental resistance?

<Absolutely correct,> the holy stone cut in. <Here’s the 2nd question . . .>

And so we continued. Each time the question surfaced it took me a long time of anxiety before hitting the mark. Every time I progressed further the spirit would laugh in approval. All went well till the last question eventually arrived.

<Now brace yourself for your last and final question. Pass this one and you shall thrive in glory with your newly acquired blessed priestly powers. Fail this one and you shall not dream of using them soon. Question 5, name this attack.>

As soon as the voice finished huge coins of mesos fell from nowhere and exploded in raging inferno. It was meso explosion. The minute the coins burst in flames it aggravated my memories with Jake, happy and sad alike. I remembered the first time we met at the Wraiths, Jake had accidentally hurt me with meso explosion. His deep concern for me had landed us in further jeopardy.

He thought that he could hide accidents from me. Actually I had a confession I wanted to tell Jake: [/i] I had faked my fainting. [/i] I had never really lost consciousness. As a result we accidentally ‘kissed’, which embedded Jake in much guilt. I would have to give him an explanation someday. I had long forgiven him.

And now we were in a condition opposite of a fairy tale. Chances of patching up our invisible relationship were almost none. How I missed Jake.

<Correct! You have passed the test and earned yourself the coveted necklace of wisdom! You can now-> There was a long pause.

<Why are you crying?> The tone of the spirit softened. Although I had no face my mood was obvious. I let all my emotions out and wept for a long time, before the holy stone acted again.

<Why don’t you tell me why you are so upset? If it helps relieve the pain in your heart, I’m all ears.> I decided to relate the whole incident to him and how our situation was now.

Then holy stone considered for a long time. <I, I’m sorry April. I am, Morgan, the founder of Black Death.>

Suddenly I became a beast of fury. I threw all my rage at it, screaming harshly and attacking it with all my might. All the while Morgan was quiet. He seethed in my insults until I stopped in exhausted defeat.

<Well I think I know this hermit’s intentions, if that is of any help to you. He wants to issue a challenge.> I shot him a sceptical look.

<A challenge? As in?>

<When a member of Black Death issues a challenge to the leader, the leader had no choice but to accept it or he will face capital punishment for unworthiness of being crowned leader. Normally these challenges take the form of vicious battles to the death. You will have to beware as Jake is in big trouble. However much I hate to be bias, bandits are much ineffective against assassins.>

I thanked Morgan and bid him farewell. Then I felt a wave of dizziness and the next moment I was lying on the cold hard ground of the El Nath temple. In front of my lay a necklace of wisdom, or the evidence to my victory.

By now the hermit was long gone, so I picked myself up and pocketed the necklace.

“Hey April nice to see you!” I spun to face the entrance. It was Jake! This time he was wearing his osfa suit. I cursed his stupidity of coming to a living trap.

“Jake, go away now.” I warned him. Jake obviously did not know the seriousness of the situation and kept nearing me.

“Jake, SCRAM!” I shouted as a click sound echoed through the hollow temple. I push Jake away just as a whirlwind struck a spot a mere inch away from him. It had turned out that the whirlwind had been created by the spinning of a deadly avenger and what was left of where it had struck was replaced by a 10 feet trench.

Jake recovered before I could and disappeared into the shadows. Seconds later he plunged down from the top of the temple wrestling with the hermit at the same time.

“Shade I never thought it would be you!” Jake used the blunt side of his varkit to knock the hermit aside and took a defensive stance. The hermit flew a few feet back, then performed a somersault and landed on his feet. It looked like a professional stunt from the movies where actors would warn you not to try at home, but this time without the guidance of strings.

At once a crowd of hermits and assassins, all equipped with high levelled armour, surrounded Jake and Shade in a dome-like shape. Shade cracked his head and bellowed, “JAKE, I, SHADE- CO-LEADER OF BLACK DEATH, CHALLENGE YOU, JAKE- LEADER OF BLACK DEATH, TO A DEATH MATCH!”

The whole guild roared in excitement. Ever wanted to watch a movie so explicit and gory it would top the box office in horror department instantly? This was a real one I was experiencing. I cried as Jake threw everything I had ever loved in him aside when he fastened his Black Death battle robes on.