Fan Fiction ❯ Family Inheritance: The Sapphire Blade ❯ Chapter 6

Chatper 6

 

Kale raised his sword as Aiden fiercely swung from over his head and the two blades clashed. Aiden moved swiftly, trying to catch Kale off guard, but each time failed. The two clanging blades reverberated in quick succession, Aiden fought as fast as he could. He side stepped the huge blade and slashed at Kale's neck, only to rip through thin air, then having to quickly shift his sword to block a retaliation.

After a couple more minutes of swinging and blocking, Aiden was starting to wear out. His breathing was fast and shaky, but he had to keep fighting. So he continued to push himself, but he was becoming slower, his defense was faltering. He found that Kale's blade just barely missed hacking his head off from his shoulders -- if he was a split second late in ducking, it'd be all over.

Fortunately, it also seemed like Kale was becoming more sluggish, and he pulled back from Aiden to halt the fight. Aiden didn't try to attack, he needed a break, even just a few seconds. He kept his guard up and glared at Kale, wondering what he was up to.

“You fight well.” Kale said, “Much better than I would have expected.”

“Thanks for the complement, but if you think you can sweet talk me out of killing you, you're wrong.” Aiden said, but he definitely hoped that his words wouldn't spark Kale into a frenzy right now, the longer they talked, the longer Aiden had to breathe.

Kale must have been thinking the same thing, because he wasn't in a hurry to attack. He chuckled before continuing to talk, “Why don't you join me?”

“What?!” Aiden asked incredulously.

“You're strong, I can see that, and I could use you.”

“I'm not a tool to get what you want.”

“Of course not, what I mean to say is that you could help me take over the land. Together we can rule! I can do it myself of course, but it would be much easier if I had someone as strong as you to help me.”

“Yeah, but once I helped you you'd probably just kill me.”

“I don't kill those who are of use to me, and you would be of much use. And you could have whatever you wanted.”

“And what about them?” He gestured toward Brin and Kilik.

“You can do what you want with them, I don't care.” Kale smirked, instead of just saying no, Aiden actually thought about it. He could have whatever he wanted, he could rule the land with his love and his brother at his side...

It did sound good.

But everyone is counting on me.

“Don't do it, Aiden!” Brin yelled from her cage, “You have to kill him.”

“You have to save everyone.” Kilik said, “And not just our town. You've seen how even his soldiers want him dead, and if you don't kill him he'll take over all of the land.”

“You're saving the world!” Brin yelled.

“SHUT UP!” Kale roared, “He can make his own decisions. So Aiden, what do you say?”

Aiden didn't reply at first, he still had to think. But it didn't take long for him to make up his mind. Everyone was counting on him, and if Brin and Kilik didn't want to rule the world with him, then he wouldn't have what his heart truly wants. “You wanna know what I say? I say... you can burn in hell!”

Kale's expression shifted fast from a manipulative grin to an infuriated frown as Aiden was charging at full speed, the Sapphire Blade shined more than ever, like it was sparked by Aiden's anger.

The fight was even faster and more ferocious. Aiden wasn't giving up now, he had his break, and now he was fueled more than ever to win. He wasn't just saving the town now, he was saving all of North City, all of the citizens were counting on him. The Overseer was counting on him, and so was the rest of the world. But most importantly, Brin and Kilik were counting on him, and they meant more to him than anything, he wasn't about to let them down.

Aiden lacerated the air in his violent attempts to end Kale's life, but each time was either blocked or dodged. Kale tried to use the hook on the top of his blade to catch Aiden's neck, but Aiden saw it coming and ducked just in time. Then he hastily flung his blade in an upward motion at Kale while his defense was off.

It was mildly effective, Kale moved away in time to dodge a fatal attack, but the Sapphire Blade still slit his arm right below the shoulder. It didn't faze him though, he didn't have time to worry about it, Aiden was already on him with a string of ferocious attacks. Aiden could see Kale was having a harder time evading his blade; the young hero was starting to enjoy the fight.

Maybe too much.

Aiden got too cocky that he tried a daring move. When Kale was in a fast horizontal swing, instead of raising his blade to block it, Aiden jumped. Kale stopped in mid swing and Aiden landed on the large blade, balancing himself and swinging his sword right at Kale's head.

But Kale moved his sword, continuing his unfinished slash, and causing Aiden to fall to the ground. Aiden was only able to get up to his knees before Kale was retaliating with the opposite side of his blade, attempting to catch Aiden's neck with the hook again. Except that Aiden raised his blade just in time to discard the attack.

However, now the Sapphire Blade was caught in the hook, and Kale had a menacing grin on his face as he made a movement that disarmed Aiden. His sword went flying from his reach, and now he was facing death, the evil snake-like eyes of death.

“Now what will you do?” Kale laughed forebodingly. Aiden quickly stood up to try and make a run for his blade, but Kale intercepted him.

“Get out of my way!” Aiden lashed out with his fist and connected with Kale's face. But the evil Lord remained rooted to the spot, and he grabbed Aiden's fist with his free hand and twisted it.

“You got too cocky.” Kale scorned, “Now you'll learn the ultimate cost.” He let pushed Aiden's arm away, causing the teen to stumble back. And in the next second, Kale shoved his huge blade into Aiden's stomach. Aiden grimaced in pain, he heard gasps of shock as Kale ripped his blood stained blade away.

Blood spilled from the hole in Aiden's stomach as he fell to the floor, the last thing he heard was Brin and Kilik's horrified screaming voices, mixed with Kale's menacing laughter.

And the teenage legendary hero slipped into darkness.

 

When Aiden opened his eyes, he didn't feel any pain. He felt aloft, and he was surrounded by an absolute whiteness. He got up to his feet and wondered where he was, and why he was there.

The answer came in the form of two people, as Aiden studied the form of the figures, he realized who they were.

“Mom... Dad...”

“That's right.” His mom said.

“We have to be quick about this, son.” His dad said.

“About what?” Aiden asked confused.

“Right now, the Sapphire Blade is working to heal you, and bring you back to life.” His mom answered.

“So I'm dead?”

“In a manner of speaking.” His dad said, “Right now you're between life and death, but your sword will make sure you survive.”

“So how am I talking to you right now?”

“Because we wanted to.” His mom replied, “We didn't get to tell you what we wanted you to know before we were killed.”

“So we're doing that now, before you're revived.” His father said, “We just want you to know that we're proud of you. I'm sure you were skeptical at first, but you took on your duty as the hero and made it all the way up to your fight with Kale.”

“Yeah, but then I died.”

“Maybe so, but you can't think about that. You can beat him, we know you have what it takes, and so did Brayden.”

“Don't question your ability, Aiden.” His mom said, “You'll be facing Kale again, and this time, you'll defeat him, once and for all.”

“Our time is almost up.” His dad said.

“We love you, Aiden.” His mom said, “And tell Kilik that we love him and are just as proud of him as well.”

“I love you too.” Aiden said, “I'm sorry I couldn't have saved you guys.”

“It's not your fault,” His mom replied, “You wouldn't have been able to save us, but now you have to save the world.”

“You can do it, son!”

“And I will, you can count on it.” Aiden said.

“Our time is up, goodbye Aiden.” His dad said.

“We love you.” His mom said.

“Goodbye!” Aiden said. He slipped into darkness again, and this time when he opened his eyes, he was back in the throne room.

“What's going on?” A harsh voice shrieked. Aiden recognized it as Kale's and was getting up to his feet.

“He's alive!” Kilik shouted with glee from the cage.

“The sword revived him.” Brin said astonished.

“That's right.” Aiden said as the Sapphire Blade hovered from behind him and landed in his hand, “I'm back.” He turned to look at Kilik's stunned face, “Mom and dad say they're proud of you Kilik.”

“What?” Kilik said to himself, not quite understanding what just happened.

“And they're proud of me too.” Aiden said as he looked back toward Kale, “They're counting on me, just like everyone else in the world...” The Sapphire Blade's hilt was warm in his hand, he felt his determination running through the blade itself, it was glowing. “I won't let them down.” Aiden glared at Kale once again, stared into the evil eyes of his enemy. He raised his sword into the air and began at a full sprint, “THIS IS FOR MY PARENTS!”

Kale had no idea what just happened, but he was fighting again, this time even a more fueled opponent. He raised his sword in a defense position as Aiden slashed his hot glowing blade with all his strength. The two blades clashed and electric sparks erupted from them. The Sapphire Blade was fighting Kale's huge blade on it's own, Aiden and Kale stood there locked in the struggle.

And the Sapphire Blade won.

Kale's huge steel blade cracked under the power of his foe's sword, Aiden`s sword ripped through. The large severed blade fell to the ground as Aiden's Sapphire Blade continued its course and pierced through Kale's chest.

The gash on Kale's torso dripped with blood as he coughed from the pain, “How could I be beaten by some punk kid?”

“It's over Kale.” Aiden said, “You're rule is over.” He thrust his sword forward and buried the blade into Kale's black heart, all the way down to the hilt. The Sapphire Blade emerged from the evil man's back, until Aiden viciously pulled it out causing a stream of blood to gush out of the wound.

None of Kale's blood tainted Aiden's blade as he slipped it back into its sheath.

Kale dropped to his knees and took one last look at the legendary hero who was responsible for taking his life. Then he fell forward and vanished into a flash of blue light.

“It's over.” Aiden whispered, he looked over at Brin and Kilik expecting them to be free of the cage, but they were still trapped within the force field. He ran over to the cage and examined it, “I thought this would disappear when he died…” Aiden replied, and he pulled his sword from its sheath, “Let's see if this works.” He stabbed the blade into the force field, causing it to rupture and whip Aiden back off his feet. He slid on the floor to a halt and quickly got back up to his feet. Kilik and Brin were perfectly fine, the force field bursting didn't seem to have effected them.

“Good job, Aiden.” Kilik said as he ran up to his big brother.

“Yeah... thanks.” Aiden replied. He put his sword back into its sheath once again as he walked past Kilik and toward Brin. And without saying anything he held her in his arms and kissed her. He felt as though it was his greatest reward for defeating Kale, and he felt as though it could have lasted for an eternity.

But he still had other matters at hand. He stopped kissing Brin and turned from her beautiful smiling face and turned to his overly confused younger brother.

“I think it's time to leave.”

 

After Aiden killed Kale, he rescued the Overseer from the castle dungeon. Aiden, Brin, and Kilik were all awarded medals for their courage and strength. And the whole world soon became aware of their new hero.

Aiden was also offered a position in the South Overseer's authority, but Aiden had to refuse, “Sorry, but I have a home that I would really like to return to now. If I need a new home though, I'll come back.” He said with a smile.

The Overseer smiled back and waved goodbye from the castle as all of the citizens of South City formed in the streets to watch the three heroes leave.

Once they were back at home, they were greeted with cheers and applause. But they didn't have time to stop, Aiden lead the way to the temple to find Brayden awaiting their arrival.

“You did well, Aiden.” Brayden said.

“Thank you.”

“And you two as well.” Brayden continued, “You all did an excellent job.”

“So what will happen now?” Aiden asked.

“Whatever you want.” Brayden answered, “But allow me to show you your reward.” He pointed to the new statue positioned in the same place as the old one, this time it depicted Aiden in the same stance as the old hero's. “And let me show you your new home.” He waved his walking stick, the large statue moved backward and a hole opened up in the floor, revealing a staircase.

“A secret passage...” Aiden smiled ironically. He looked a Kilik and there was a wide grin on his brother's face.

“Yes, I think you'll find everything you need down there, maybe even more.” Brayden said.

“You guys go down and check it out,” Aiden told Brin and Kilik, “I'll be down in a minute.” They nodded and headed off down the stairs. Then Aiden looked back at Brayden with another ironic smile, “You're the old hero… aren't you?”

Brayden laughed cheerfully, “Yes, I am. The sword extended my life, just as it will do for you.”

“What about Brin and Kilik?”

“They're lives will be extended the same as yours.”

“So… What about you? You had to have had someone for me to be here.”

“Oh yes… Well… Her life was extended as well as mine, and she's still alive. But she left me a long time ago.” Brayden said with a frown.

“I guess the sword can't control love…”

“No, I think you'll find that nothing can control love… But you and Brin seem to be much better off, I'm sure you'll live with her forever. But besides that, I'll only be alive a little while longer, just enough time to teach you what you need to know.”

“Like what?”

“Well since you're the new hero, you have to be the guardian of the temple. I'm going to teach you everything that I know, so that you can pass it on to the next hero who comes along.”

“Will he have an identical name like us?”

“Well it could also be a she… It all depends on who's the oldest in the new generation. But I'm not sure about the identical name, it's always possible, I guess you'll just have to wait and see.”

“That's a long time to wait…”

“Yes, but you'll have other things to keep you busy for a while. I think you should get going now, we'll begin your training tomorrow.”

“Alright, see ya.” Aiden headed off toward the staircase in the floor and descended. He arrived inside of a house that looked identical to the one he lost, and it was underground…

After looking around some more, he found another direction they could go from the staircase.

“I don't remember this being here.” Kilik said.

“Let's go.” Aiden said as he followed the passage. And they arrived into a forest with a small lake and a hot spring.

“Wow…” Brin said amazed.

“This is awesome.” Aiden said.

“How is this possible though? We're completely underground.” Kilik pointed out.

“It's magic…” Aiden said in a dreamlike way.

“Magic?” Kilik asked.

“Yeah… That's the only thing that can explain it.” Aiden smiled.

The legendary hero had a good life ahead of him that he would spend with his love and younger brother, until the next hero came along.