Shadowblade:Rise of the Outcast

7:

They have not been far from the outskirts of the village when a loud scream breaks the silence of the morning. 

"Help! help!"

Without thinking, Kael ran towards the sound. Aria followed him, not saying anything. 

In the middle of the field overgrown with weeds as high as chest, a boy fell, his body was covered in small wounds. In front of him, a dark skin creature stands bent. His body is like a wolf, but twice as big as a bright red eyes and sharp fangs dripping saliva. 

Kael stopped. His eyes immediately turned sharp. His left hand grabbed Shadowblade, but had not had time to pull him, Aria's voice sounded soft but firmly behind him. 

"Calm down. You don't know your limits yet."

Kael gritted his teeth. "If I don't act, the child dies."

Aria just silent. He knew Kael could not be prevented. 

With a short scream, Kael darted. He swung his sword, but the creature was quite nimble. The large claws grabbed, scratching Kael's chest until the blood was pouring down. But Kael did not retreat. Black energy gushed from Shadowblade, and his pupils turned dark - the existence of uncontrolled power. 

The creature crushed, looked afraid. But surprisingly, not only that creature is afraid. Aria stiffened. 

Aura Kael changed drastically. 

The world around him feels pressing. The wind is not moving. The ground under his feet is subtle. In an instant, he was no longer like an ordinary human - he was a destruction that had just risen from a long sleep. 

"Kael, stop!" exclaimed Aria. 

But Kael didn't hear. 

Black shadow sticks out of his body like a living tentacle. His right hand raised, ready to put Shadowblade into the chest of the creature. 

The little boy who had screaming fear now could only stare deeply, trembling on the ground, his eyes wet with fear. 

And at that time, Kael saw the boy's face. 

His eyes. Full of fear ... like his own eyes many years ago, when he was left at the Purification Festival Altar, humiliated, was seen as despicable. 

Kael's heart was beating hard. 

Instantly, his hands trembled. Shadowblade trembled violently in his grasp. The sound in his head-the dark entity that inhabited the sword-began to whisper the words:

"Just kill. He is a weak witness who will sell you."

"Shut up!" Kael shouted, not on the monster, but on a whisper in his head. 

He turned around, forcing himself to look away from the child, from the blood, from anger. 

Shadowblade sparkled, then slowly lost his black light. Kael's breath panting, his knees were shaken. 

The creature used the gap to escape behind the trees. Nobody chased him. 

Aria approached quickly. He knelt beside Kael who was still trembling. 

"You succeeded," he whispered. 

Kael did not answer. His gaze was blank. 

"I almost killed the boy," he said slowly, barely audible. "I can't control this ..."

Aria touched her shoulders softly. "But you stop it. That's the most important thing."

The little boy slowly rose, approaching Kael. In a low voice, he said, "Thank you ..."

Kael looked at him, there was a deep wound and shame in Kael's eyes - but also a speck of hope. 

Aria stood up, helping Kael get up. "This is the first test of the real world, Kael. And you haven't lost."

The sky began to bright. The first sunlight touched Kael's face which was still filled with sweat and dust. But this time, he stood up - even though he limped - as someone who refused to surrender to the darkness completely. 

-

The moonlight penetrated faintly, creating a strange shadow between tree trunks and shrubs. The sound of the night bird occasionally heard, breaking the silence that was almost holy. 

On the banks of a small river hidden by thorny bushes, Kael sat quietly. His clothes are still covered in blood and dust. His hands were submerged in water until the elbows, trying to remove the remaining stains from the battle this morning. But all that feels is cold piercing, not calm. 

Aria sat not far from Kael, with her back to the small heat she had just turned on. The light dancing on his shady face, reflected the flash of light in his eyes that looked at the sky. 

"Cold?" he asked without turning. 

Kael nodded slowly. "Cold ... but not as bad as the taste inside."

Aria finally looked at him, then stood up, took her spare robe from the cloth pocket and threw it at Kael. "Use. Your body is still in a period of adjustment."

Kael grabbed the robe. Wiping his face with a wet hand, then wearing it slowly. He is not in a hurry. The movements are slow, as if every strand of fabric can wrap the invisible wound. 

After a while, he asked quietly, "Are you sorry to save me?"

Aria tilted her head. "No."

"Why? You know me ... dangerous."

Aria smiled faintly. "Because I was also considered so."

Kael looked at him questioningly, but Aria didn't continue. He even sat back, this time closer. 

"When you fought the creature ... there was when you almost lost control. But you stopped. That's what's important."

Kael looked away, staring at the fire that began to shrink. "I don't know how to hold back this power. It feels like ... there is something inside me who wants to escape and swallow everything."

He clenched his fist. "And I'm afraid. Fear I'm not me anymore."

Aria nodded slowly. "That's why you need time. You have just been born again, Kael. But don't know who you are now."

The night wind slipped between the trees, carrying the scent of wet soil and wild flowers. The fog thickened a little, making the world seem to shrink so only the two of them and the small fire that was shocked softly. 

"When you first pulled the sword from the ground, you had chosen a different path. Not being a victim, but a warrior," Aria continued, her voice was calm but deep. "And I can feel - in you there is something rare. Potential that has not yet fully rises."

Kael frowned. "Potential?"

Aria looked directly into her eyes. "Not only Shadowblade's power. But your heart. You have the power to shape it, not controlled by it."

Kael pensive. He remembered the sounds in his head. Whisper from the entity in the sword. Cold, cruel, and do not know compassion. 

"I don't know if I can handle it," he said softly. 

"And you don't have to know now," Aria answered quickly. "All you have to do is ... keep going."

Silence for a moment enveloped them. Small fire exploded fine, then shrank again. 

Then Aria said again, this time softer, almost like a whisper, "There is a great force in the darkness. But also a great danger. Kael ... you will be something that the world cannot predict. Either as a savior ... or curse."

Kael turned quickly, staring at Aria's still calm face. 

"And you will follow me wherever?" Kael asked doubtfully.