Chapter 1

A Chapter by Rhymerna

CHAPTER 1

I tried to open my eyes, but couldn’t. They refused to co-operate. I tried to force them open but the effort was too much to handle and my eyes closed immediately due to sheer exhaustion. At the time all I could feel was blood all over my body. The sky seemed black and cloudless. The sun is nowhere to be seen. I could hear the sounds of laser guns and the cries of people getting killed by the androids. We were outnumbered and outmatched. The androids were winning.

I tried to rise. But it was of no use. I was totally exhausted and, each and every part of my body refused to cooperate. Then I heard the rusty metallic voice that seemed to be approaching me.

“Well, Well, Well… Is that all? The head of the Legendary warriors getting beat up so easily without even putting up a decent fight. I expected more from you. You are a disgrace to your entire race, Shidomiz.”

Having said that,he kicked me right in my stomach with a blinding force. The pain was intolerable and I let out a huge cry. He sneered.

“ It hurts, right? Yeah it should, for making me suffer for 10 centuries in that godforsaken prison.”

The war was coming to an end. We were losing. My dear ones were getting killed. Anuzim is lying somewhere waiting for her death. The Earth was about to be destroyed. And it was all my fault. I shouldn’t have let Kronos out of the prison.

“I think your time has come to leave the planet Earth. You have failed your people when they needed you the most. Goodbye Rhymerna!” he pointed a cold finger towards me. All I could see was something black coming from his finger, and it was coming towards me. That was the last memory I had before darkness engulfed me.

It all started when I joined the fencing academy in Greece. My name is Rhymerna. I was born in Visakhapatnam in India. I am a half Greek half Indian, (don’t know what we call those people). My father is from Greece and my mother is an Indian. My dad is a famous archaeologist. There were speculations that my dad was the night crusader. But they were dismissed as false allegations by the CBI detectives.

The night crusader is a person who breaks into government organisations amidst high security and steals secret information. He had committed a few murders which included corrupt politicians and the most wanted criminals. There were only three sightings of the night crusader so far. Well the eye witnesses say that he is 5’10, the same height as my dad and he wears a mask and a cape that resembles those of Batman. Well at least he could’ve been original. Anyway, when I grow up I wanted to be like the night crusader.

I did not excel in studies. I was an average student. The only thing that I was good at was fencing. I was not good at interacting with people. I usually kept my distance from people until college. That was when I made friends with a guy named Aloysius. He was an interesting person. He was from Chennai. The one thing we both had in common was that he was also a half Greek half Indian. His mother is from Greece and his father is an Indian. I won several awards in my college level fencing. Unlike me, Aloysius was a nerd. Whenever he had free time he used to go to the library. I finished my four years with great difficulty, whereas Alloysius got a distinction and a great job in one of the most reputed companies in the USA. Well even though he is my bestie it hurts to see him get a great job when I don’t get any. At that moment my only aim was to become the greatest fencing master in the world.

My dad understood my inner desire and decided to fulfill it. It was the last day of college. After the celebrations when I reached home and opened the front door, I heard mom shouting .

“I don’t want to have one more night crusader in my house and I am not letting him to go to Greece.”

“Please Alexandra, understand the situation. The boy needs more training. Besides, you were also there when the Elder was reciting the prophecy. He should be prepared for the moment.”

I could no longer control my curiosity. I muttered “Well dad, what’s the prophecy about?”

When they were aware of my presence they suddenly changed the topic.

“Oh, it's nothing, my dear. It seems your dad has found an artefact which had an inscription stating a prophecy.”

I knew that they were talking about me. And the sudden change in their attitude raised my suspicion. I just gave my mom a ‘mom seriously?’ look and went to my room.

After some time my dad came into my room. I didn't have a great father-son relationship with him. So whenever he comes it's only for giving some important piece of information like ‘I paid your college fees’, ‘The room is messed up’, ‘Don’t you dare eat outside food’, ‘you got less marks in so and so subject’… So when he came to my room I knew that I had done something wrong and now my dad is going to advice me.

But he didn't say anything. Instead he just handed me a flight ticket and an enveloped letter. I didn’t understand anything. Looking at my clueless face he laughed, and said

“This is your flight ticket to Greece. Go to the address in this envelope and hand it over to the head of the academy. His name is Avero. But there, he is known by the name Sensei.”

“Whoa! Wait dad! What is all this about? And which academy are you talking about? Why am I going to Greece all of a sudden?”

“Well, I am enrolling you in one of the fencing academies located there.”

“But dad, of all the countries, Greece? There are many institutions around the world much better than the ones in Greece.”

“I learnt my lessons in that academy. So I thought it would be great if you do your training in the same place. But if you don’t want to go, it's okay.”

When he was about to go when I caught his hand.

“Dad I didn't know you had fencing lessons. And I heard my mom speaking that she doesn’t want any more night crusaders. So are you the night crusader this whole nation is talking about?”

“Well…. Son ….”

“Dad, tell me the truth. Are you the night crusader or not?”

I was looking directly into his eyes. So I guessed it must have been hard for him to lie. Looking at me and the way I was staring right into his eyes, he gave in and admitted.

“Yeah son, I am the night crusader this entire nation is talking about. But that’s not the important thing right now. You need to go to Greece and train hard. So are you all set to go?”

I was just shocked. My dad is the night crusader. Whoa! That’s more than my mind could take. I was deep in my thoughts when my dad shook me.

“Son do you hear me? Are you ready to go to Greece?”

“Oh yeah dad”