5: Tower of Affliction

I haven't finished this chapter. I stopped at this point to go back and fix errors in it. I have a second half of the book started but I'm not going to post it till i finish this part.

 

 

The panel came to an opening on the tower above where Jonathan had left Sheik & his friends. He stepped off and found himself in a room with a giant statue of the Tornado Dragon across the room, blowing wind toward him. The winds were strong, nearly enough to blow down a house. Jonathan held up his hand and collected all the wind in his palm. The wind continued to come, even though Jonathan was pulling it into a ball. Jonathan started walking to the statue. He stood before the statue and pushed his ball of wind into the dragon statue. The statue did not stop blowing wind. A large gust of wind blew Jonathan back to the door. Jonathan caught himself on the sides of the door, pulling himself back in. Jonathan once again collected the wind into the palm of his hand but this time he increased the wind spinning in his hand. It spun faster and faster in his hand, pulling all the wind into a large spinning ball. He tried to manipulate the wind still coming at him to move it back to the statue by using the ball of wind in his hand. The wind from the statue spun in his hand & dispersed in the wind coming out of the statue; opposite the direction he spun it. Jonathan once again approached the statue with the spinning ball of wind. The ball grew faster and larger as Jonathan drew closer. The wind coming from the statue grew stronger as if to counter his approach. Jonathan was blown back a step from the increased force. He continued forward, almost as if not being affected by the increase anymore. He grabbed the statue as he came close enough. He continued to accelerate the wind from the statue into the ball in his hand as he held on to the statue. He spun the ball faster and forced it into the statue’s mouth. The statue cracked and then fell apart. Jonathan landed on his feet and looked at the ruin. Where the statue once stood, it now exposed the stairs upward. Wind still blew down the stairs but it was more of a soft breeze than a rough gust. Jonathan looked at the stairs, the wind blowing his hair, as if waiting for something to happen. He closed his eyes, smirked, and then walked up the stairs.

Alfred hovered in the center of a tornado in the next room. Jonathan drew close and then knelt. Alfred landed and the tornado stopped. “Rise, Joncefer. You do not have to kneel before me.” Alfred said. Jonathan stood but did not make eye contact.

“I apologize but it is courtesy to kneel before a king.”

“But you also are…” Jonathan motioned for him to hold his tongue.

“I know what I once was in my past life. But I have been reborn and I am no longer that warrior; not since the early 15^th century.” Jonathan finally made eye contact with Alfred. “I can’t say I won’t miss being so powerful,” Jonathan put his hands behind his head, looking up at the ceiling, “but I just have to make the best of my new life. I foresee far greater things happening after I escape this tower.” Jonathan brought one of his hands down to his sheath. He pulled his sword out so swiftly that Alfred saw nothing before noticing his arm up. A piece of Alfred’s garments fell to the ground and then he fell to his knees.

“You are still as strong as ever.” Alfred jabbed a spear into the ground and pushed himself up. As soon as he was standing straight up, Alfred jabbed at Jonathan. Jonathan dodged as Alfred continuously jabbed at him. Jonathan blocked with his sword, grabbing the spear as he did. “How have you gained so much power so hastily? You were so weak and slow earlier when you fought with Sheik and the minions. It is almost like you have…” Alfred noticed an evil smirk on Jonathan’s face as a dark aura surrounded him. The aura was enormous and flowing like a nebula. There were many colors flowing through this dark aura as Alfred watched it grow. Jonathan pushed the weapons downward so Alfred was face-to-face with him.

“Isn’t it amazing how great the power of this necklace is?” Jonathan head-butted Alfred but continued to hold the spear.

“I don’t think that the power you have now is coming from that necklace or is even good.” Alfred head-butted him back. “And I think you are crossing over to sinful greed, Lord Joncefer!” Alfred head-butted Jonathan again, knocking him loose of the spear. Jonathan fell backwards on the ground, seemingly unconscious. Alfred calmly walked up to Jonathan and held the spear to his neck. Jonathan did not move. Blood streamed through his hair from a gash below his hairline. As Alfred stood there, Jonathan’s hair turned a darker red on its own. Jonathan’s sword knocked away the spear, making Alfred defenseless and confused. Jonathan appeared right up in Alfred’s face. Jonathan’s eyes were still closed as if he were sleepwalking. Alfred tried to back away but Jonathan stayed with him. Jonathan jabbed the butt of his sword into Alfred’s stomach, knocking him unconscious.

“Give in to the darkness and a new being is born. Consume that darkness and evil will turn pure into death. One of my dearest servants told me that before the war that ended my life. I made the mistake of giving in once. I won’t make it again.” Jonathan walked out of the room and up the stairs to the next room.

Upon entering the next shrine, Jonathan noticed a boulder sitting next to the statue of the Quake Dragon. Jonathan walked in front of the statue. In the oversized hands of the dragon was a small bowl with a sign that read, “He who makes Stonehenge weigh down my hands may pass.” Jonathan had a puzzled look upon his face. He reread the paper to make sure it was not a mistake on his part.

“What?! Stonehenge…in this bowl?” He glanced at the boulder next to him. “It’s impossible to recreate Stonehenge. It’s a large formation and the weight of each rock is….wait a minute!” He hit himself in the head. “This challenge. It’s not talking about Stonehenge itself. It means creating the material, Stonehenge, which was used to make the formations.” Jonathan bent down next to the boulder, sliding his hand across the rough surface. “This is barely enough to make even a fourth of Stonehenge stones. I’ll have to try my best.” He began pressing the boulder inward, moving round each side, compressing it more and more. He stopped and looked at the new bowling ball sized rock he had formed. Its weight was now twice that of the large boulder before from such intense compression. Jonathan picked it up, not straining at all, and placed it in the bowl. The bowl slowly began to lower, moving hidden gears placed within the statue. The statue split in two, revealing the passageway to the next floor. Jonathan sighed as he walked up the stairs. “At the top of these stairs should be Beosan and after that I guess it’s lightning. It’s got to be going by the strengths.”

Jonathan entered the room, sand beating on his face as he did. A sandstorm made it hard to see anything happening in the room. Out of the sand came a large claw throwing Jonathan to the bare stone floor. As he hit the ground, the storm ceased, dropping tons of sand over the ground and Jonathan. He pushed himself, sand parting as he rose to expose himself to the danger before him. He glanced towards the center of the room to see Beosan, torso down fused to an colossal sand scorpion.

Reviews

[piggy]

Very scary. Nice job.