Chapter 23

            As the team walked into the cave, the light from the outside began to shine further inside. The rock walls had a dark blue tint. Soft chilled winds blew from deep inside.
            "Hey Ares, your sword just then. You spoke to it. What was that about? How did Rosette know that we needed to be protected?" Dawnni asked.
            "Rosette is the sister of Klorien's sword, Kiga. She knows what he is capable of and I'm very sure he knows about her as well. That's probably why Klorien and I couldn't get a clean hit on each other. We were evenly matched."
            "What about your sword fighting skills?" Lupin asked.
            "Well yeah, there's that. But we depend on our swords to come through. We never fight alone."
            "I see..."
            Suddenly a giant metal spike burst through the ground in front of the team and the team jumped back.
            "So y'all must be the ones who're here for the device pieces." A male voice said.
            Suddenly torches along the cave walls were set ablaze. A feline-like creature slowly came out of the spike. It was floating without a lower body. The creature had a white torso that faded to black to where it seemed like it was disintegrating. It wore a scarf that was tied around its eyes. White circles could be seen on the scarf where the eyes would be. The team was uncomfortable at the sight as they took a step back.
            "What're you lookin' at like that?"
            The team stayed silent.
            "You need to get the second piece or not?"
            Dawnni took a step forward.
            "Please don't take this rudely, but I'm having a hard time identifying what you are."
            The creature hung his head in shame and slowly grinned.
            "Never fails..." He murmured. He lifted his head. "My name is Xund. I was known as the greatest Chromiumancer in the world."
            "Chromiumancer?" Arestasia asked.
            "The ability to transfuse metals into chromium and manipulate it."
            "Are you not anymore?"
            "No, I'm not. Out in the world, everyone believes that I'm dead..."
            "Why?"
            "My teammates and I faced an evil witch. She was a very tough battle, but we managed to defeat her. But as she was dying, she laid a powerful curse on me. A curse to make me disintegrate from the feet up. I quickly used as much of my power as I could and I cast a spell to turn my legs into solid metal and to make them grow forever, so I'm stuck like this...constantly disintegrating day after day. It's a good thing that I learned how to levitate."
            "Doesn't it hurt?" Lupin asked.
            "Not at all. I turned my lower body into metal so I can't feel anything anymore."
            "Wow...that must be horrible...maybe I can try to take away the curse?" Dawnni suggested.
            There was a long silence.
            "Where were you when it happened to me to begin with?" Xund suddenly yelled.
            He hung his head in shame.
            "Will it not work now?" Dawnni asked.
            "No, it's no use now. Then my body will stretch nonstop."
            "You don't have the power to deactivate it?"
            "No, I can't."
            "But, why?"
            "Look! You don't have time to know everything about me!" Xund raised his paws. "Prove to me that you deserve the device piece!"
            Dawnni stood forward while his teammates headed towards the wall under one the torches. Xund quickly thrust one paws forward and metal shards quickly broke off of the spike behind him and flew towards Dawnni like a swarm of infuriated locusts. Dawnni suddenly thrust his hand forward and the stream of shards split in front of his hand.
            "Don't think you'll get by that easily!" Xund taunted.
            The two halves of the stream spiraled back together and flew into the air before descending downward towards him. Dawnni quickly released his gravity push on the upcoming stream that was still blasting out of the spike and quickly jumped out of the way through an opening. The stream crashed into the ground, lifting up a cloud of dirt. Suddenly the stream blasted out of the cloud.
            "One trick pony huh?" Dawnni yelled with a smirk.
            "What? I am not a one trick pony!" Xund shouted. The stream suddenly shot upward and formed together into a metal ball in the air.
            "This cave seemed shorter outside..." Dawnni thought to himself. The ball slowly grew bigger and bigger until the last of the spike had went inside.
            "I'll show you a trick!" Hands protruded through the sphere. They began to sprout outwards as Dawnni readied himself. Dawnni suddenly felt a hand grab one of his ankles. He swiftly looked back for a split second and noticed a chrome hand had came out of the ground. The other hands grasped onto his body. Dawnni struggled to break free, but it was no use. The hands were too strong. The hands then lifted him and spread his arms and legs out in mid-air, exposing his body. Xund thrust his paws downward and a long spike lunged out of the metal ball and headed straight for Dawnni's heart.
            "You must not understand..." Dawnni said softly. The spike suddenly stopped in front of him.
            "My defense is beyond your comprehension!"
            His eyes suddenly glowed a bright white and the spike quickly retreated back into the sphere. The hands followed soon after. As soon as the last hand released, Dawnni dashed towards Xund before thrusting the hilt of the sword into his torso, knocking the breath out of him. He then spun around and kicked him in the side of the head with great force, causing him to fly into a nearby wall. Dawnni then dashed towards Xund, ready to lunge his sword into his chest. Xund swiftly shifted his body to the left, dodging Dawnni's attack. Dawnni's blade pierced the stone wall. Xund then punched Dawnni across the face causing him to fall back several feet. Dawnni slowly got back up as he rubbed his lower jaw.
            "You may have the ultimate defense..." Xund said. He pulled the sword from the wall and began to float towards Dawnni. "But your offense lacks anything special..."
            Dawnni smirked.
            "'Lacking?' Why would I be lacking?"
            He held his right arm out.
            "I just prefer not to use it in fear that I might destroy my surroundings."
            A longbow made of light appeared at his hand and he firmly grasped it. The bow illuminated the entire cave. Xund charged at Dawnni. Dawnni pulled back the white string and an arrow appeared in front of it.
            "Wow! It's like an enhanced version of his weapon transmutation spell!" Arestasia exclaimed.
            "I won't let you have the chance!" Xund yelled.
            He thrust his paw forward and a long metal spike shot through it. Suddenly a bright yellow ring appeared in front of Dawnni's bow. As the spike went through the ring, it quickly disintegrated.
            "My urge to protect is what makes my spells as strong as they are." Dawnni explained.
            Xund suddenly stopped and dropped Dawnni's sword before jumping far back.
            "Well, lets just see how strong your spells are!" Xund yelled. He placed his paws on the ground. "Your ability means nothing compared to mine!"
            Giant metal spikes burst through the ground in a trail, heading straight for Dawnni. Dawnni smirked again.
            "Fall..."
            The circle grew instantaneously and Dawnni released the arrow. As the arrow passed through the circle, the circle released hundreds of arrows flying at a fast speed. Each arrow descended on each spike, causing an explosion with every collision. Bits of rock and clouds of dust began to fill the cave. the thunderous roar of each explosion echoed ferociously. The cave fell silent. The silence began to worry Arestasia. All she could hear was Lupin and her own soft breathing. When the dust cleared away, Dawnni stood there in front of the destroyed ground with his sword back in his hand. Xund stood on the other side, breathing heavier than his opponent.
            "I see." He muttered. "You don't necessarily need your sword to fight back. Then why do you wield it?"
            Dawnni raised his sword with his left hand.
            "I hardly think of it as a sword really..." Dawnni replied.
            "What?"
            "I mean, yeah I can fight back with it, but, it just doesn't feel like it should be used for that purpose."
            Arestasia was shocked.
            "What do you mean Dawn?" she asked.
            Dawnni closed his eyes.
            "When I tried to strike him with my blade, I felt like my sword didn't want me to. I remembered swearing that I would only use this sword to protect. Now is not the time to use this yet."
            He put the sword back in its sheath.
            "However..." Dawnni lifted his right hand and an orb of light appeared above his palm before shaping itself into a scythe. The golden rod was taller than Dawnni himself. The bright white blade reflected the orange light from the burning torches. He raised his left hand and an orb of light appeared above the palm before changing into a dagger. The dagger was made of the same material as the scythe.
            "That doesn't mean I won't use my own created weapons!"

Author's Note

Excuse the font change, i guess comic sans isn't a choice anymore. :(