Chapter 8: Weïnyu

A Chapter by Anonymous

“Graek nicslomen noff honyo frint...”
“Eless! Nifonso abaontiss verho gerak...”
The slurred, gargling voices continued from outside the cave, shadows dancing across the torn orange curtain hung over the cave entrance.
Ewa lifted her head from the stone bed and blinked away the crust burnt on her eyelids. She looked around and saw Realms, already standing by the entrance of the cave, his dark green eyes blazing.
“Dark Ones,” he muttered. He held a long wooden staff with two crooked blades on each side and otherworldly gems encrusted in the dark wood.
“Eh, why did they have to find us now? So early in the mornin’!” Ewa groaned, stretching her arms above her head. Realms shushed her quickly, a finger placed over his lips.
“Actually, it’s late evening. Time doesn’t pass in the Underworld,” Realms whispered as Ewa stood up and yawned quietly. “They could already be on their way to report our location. We better go and find them.”
Realms reached into a nook in the wall of the cave, pulled out a large rifle with charmed bullets, and tossed it to Ewa; she grinned and fingered the trigger eagerly.
“This will be fun.”
Realms motioned toward the entrance as he slid his bladed staff into its sheathe and Ewa swung the gun over her shoulder.
“The Dark Ones that were out there can’t be too far by now. We can get them if we hurry," Realms said.
“I got this,” Ewa cut in, still grinning. She closed her eyes and felt the spark of Bend rush through her veins as she honed her mind-sight; she could see the two Dark Ones running. They looked just like humans, but had inhuman gray, ashy skin and pitch black eyes. They wore tight leather-like clothes with silver metal spikes sticking out everywhere. They looked very strange, but not as strange as Ewa thought they would have been. She almost hoped to see some kind of otherworldly lizard-hybrid demon creature with tentacles and long horns and blood-stained fangs.
Ewa flashed open her eyes and thrust her palms forward. She let out a kah sound as a puff of mist shot out of her palms, her voice echoing through the Underworld walls. She saw the two beings in her mind-sight freeze in their tracks and shake slightly, paralyzed.
“Alu'ji,” Ewa commanded, holding her hand out and suspending it in the air as the two Dark Ones turned and were pulled to her by her power. They gazed into her eyes in helplessness and dropped to their knees on the ground.
“We cannot allow you to tell anyone of our being here,” Realms said to them sternly, pulling out his staff. One of the Dark Ones scowled at him and spat something in the slurred language, then stood up and bared his sharp teeth. Realms thrust his blade forward and plunged it into the creature’s skull.
“Ah!” the other wailed as its comrade dissolved as Realms’ blade slid out with ease.
“Ye can’t live, either,” Ewa hissed to the other Dark One, raising her rifle to the its forehead.
“No! Please don't kill me!” it suddenly sobbed.
Ewa pulled back as the Dark One cried. She scanned the creature and concluded that it was female, and looked quite young, maybe about fifteen years old. She had silver skin like lead and short, very evenly cropped black hair, that half-hid her huge black eyes. She wore tight, short leather tunic shorts and a leather tank top that showed her stomach. There was a gaping red scar on her hip and a black cape tumbling down her back. Steaming gray tears flooded her eyes.
“Please don’t kill me... The Spirits would never forgive me for not fulfilling my duty,” she sobbed.
“Spirits?” Ewa said, her eyes widening.
“The Six Spirits?” Realms gasped, dropping his staff. The girl nodded and wiped her tears away, the tears making a simmer noise as they evaporated on her skin.
“Yes! Wh-what do you know about them?” she stammered.
“I’m a Bender, Ewaan Liisotu,” Ewa said, grabbing the girl’s hand and helping her up.
“You’re a Bender, too?” said the girl. “My name is Weïnyu... Well, that’s it, Weïnyu.”
“That’s insane! A bloody Dark One can't be a Bender! The Six Spirits wouldn't allow it!” hissed Realms.
“I think yer proof is right here, Realms,” Ewa said, holding up the girl’s hand to his face. There was a purple tattoo on her palm some kind of a misshapen ‘B.’ “She ain’t lyin’. I got the same marking on my hand.”
Realms’ eyes still crackled in doubt.
“Whatever,” he muttered. Ewa pinched his nose with a grin on her face; Realms sneered and pushed her hand away.
“Well? Wanna join our group?” said Ewa, smiling at the new girl. Weïnyu blushed, her lead-colored cheeks turning rosy pink.
“S-sure,” Weïnyu whispered, smiling shyly.
“Great! Welcome to the Benders, girlie!”
“Yeah, sure, welcome,” muttered Realms halfheartedly. Ewa scowled at him and punched his shoulder, hard.
“Ouch!” he exclaimed. “What?”
“Welcome her like ye mean it! She’s servin’ our father, dimwit!” she scolded.
“Fine,” he replied, sighing. “Welcome to the Benders, Weïnyu!”
Realms smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist, spinning her around.
“What are ye doing? We want to welcome her, not scare the poor girl to death!” Ewa snickered. Realms set Weïnyu down as she was still spinning, holding her head. She fell down to the stone floor and quickly sat back up, giggling as Ewa set her hand on Weïnyu’s head.
“I think ye’ll fit in with us just fine!” Ewa said happily.

“So, what can ye do, girlie?” Ewa asked, fiddling with a chunk of crusted ash.
“Well, I can do,” the lead-skinned girl started, “this.”
Weïnyu held out her left arm, her flesh turning hard and metal, wires sprouting out of her fingers. They plugged into the metal shell of her hand and twisted around, gaining the shape of a large gun replacing her arm. A hinged piece of metal snapped against a small horizontal column on the arm of the gun, clicked, and made the entire weapon glow a brilliant blue and make a whrrr sound. The gun lurched as Weïnyu closed one eye, took aim, and shot a blast of pure light. It swerved and twirled in a frenzy like three tiny blue fish breaching above and below the ocean surface. It reached a large stone and collided in a huge explosion, leaving a huge, clean crater where it impacted. Ewa grinned in amazement.
“Now that’s cool.”

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