Chapter 1:
The Guardian of Rossmaria
Aelia stood motionless, like a tower, fully surrounded by the gentle light of the white void. Even though her stare seemed dull and lifeless, her irises glowed in a lively cerulean blue, highlighting the symbol of the kingdom branded around her pupils. Five orbs surrounded her at different heights, shining in the same cerulean light as her eyes. Four of them levitated with such a grace, that they seemed to have a pulse of their own, showing a deep contrast with the slim tall girl, that if it wasn’t for the subtle movements made by her breath, she could easily be mistaken for a statue. The fifth one however, seemed to tremble behind her with a dimmer glow.
A few meters away from her, stood Lex, a knight with no armor, who was gently holding a white edge-less lance. His head was clean-shaved and his face was full of life, despite his serious expression.
He took a controlled deep breath as he lowered his fighting stance down to its lowest point, and sprang towards Aelia with immense speed, aiming to the center of her torso with a stab that would just barely reach her at full range. The lance however, was smashed away from its trajectory by one of the orbs, and forced Lex to redirect his force to his left side, following up with a fluent movement and adapting his stance, without losing balance for a moment. Another orb darted directly towards the knight, followed by another two, trying to cover his next most probable movements. The first one, however, was easily deflected with the handle of the lance, as Lex stood his ground, making the two follow-ups completely miss their target.
"You won’t reach me without the fifth one, Aelia!" Yelled the knight with a mix of frustration and aggressiveness.
With a quick but wide swing, Lex batted the fourth orb that was defending Aelia’s body, making a dry wooden echo, as it was launched into the empty white light that surrounded them. Aelia’s defense was left wide open, and in a quick fluent motion, Lex approached her with a broad and projected horizontal strike that quickly closed in towards the girl. The fifth orb that faintly hovered at her back, moved erratically towards the lance’s trajectory in an attempt to block, but lost its light halfway, and dropped in a bland arc keeping its momentum all the way down to the floor. The orb seemed to regain its light for an instant as it bounced, changing its direction immediately, but it was already too late. The lance froze right next to Aelia’s jaw, mere millimeters before landing, stopping dry all the violent force carried by the strike, and creating a breeze strong enough to make her midnight blue hair sway all the way down from her jaw to her waist.
"Rest." Said Lex.
As the knight finished this word, he lowered his lance and all the orbs dropped pale to the floor. The bright light that embraced them faded into a much dimmer, bluish natural light, revealing the blurry translucent dome they were training in. Aelia lightly arched her back forwards, sustaining her body with her arms above her knees, and dropping her head in sign of exhaustion as she tried to catch her breath.
"Not good. It seems this stage is still too much for you Lady Aelia. Steady yourself quickly. We’re doing it again."
On the side of the dome, inside a small cabin, three people were watching the scene: A middle aged woman with an unimpressed look, that stood silent with her arms crossed; a young woman with glasses, who was analyzing what seemed to be replays of the duel, in six circular screens, that showed the point of view of the five orbs as well as Aelia’s eyes; and a mid-teenager with a notepad and a pen, seemingly the same age as Aelia, who stared mesmerized, as the girl stood straight once again, and the dome lightened once more together with the orbs.
From the back of the room, entered a massive man, dressed in sophisticated white clothes with black and white geometric marks, evoking the same prestigious essence of those worn by Aelia. The sound of his black slippers gently caressing the floor, reflected his hierarchy, in spite of the violent, almost brute footsteps that approached Aelia’s support team.
"How is she doing?" He asked.
"It's no use Lord Ataoro. She still can’t sustain her fifth thought." Replied the middle-aged woman irritated and without any hesitation.
"This can’t go on. I could easily wield seven vigilants at her age, and she can’t even handle five orbs or move her body. We need to make some progress Elia." Said Ataoro with authority.
"Believe me, I know. It’s been weeks without any progress."
"What a letdown, after all the work we needed to do in order to discipline her." Continued Ataoro.
The support team and Ataoro watched the ongoing duel, as Lex skillfully evaded and repelled the orbs protecting Aelia. He threw a wide strike with his lance, as he took a long step right next to her, taking advantage of the opening. The hit was severely slowed down, but still managed to barely touch above her hip, throwing her off balance. Despite the obvious lack of impact, Aelia collapsed down to the floor like a ragdoll, hitting herself with the right side of her back, and barely avoiding a serious blow to the head.
"Enough. Go meditate Lady Aelia. Your mind isn’t with us today. The only thing you’ll get if we continue, is an injury." Said Lex followed by a deep sigh, as Aelia tried to get on her knees, obviously hurt by the fall.
Ataoro rushed violently into the dome, which was greeted by a subtle gesture of the painful empathy Lex felt for Aelia. Ataoro however didn’t even notice it.
"What in the world is wrong Aelia! Guardians can’t neglect their bodies like that."
As Aelia managed to stand on her feet by sustaining herself with her elbow on one of her knees, she greeted the supervisor with a sharp, unwelcoming stare, and no answer.
"I’ll go meditate." She said as she completely ignored Ataoro.
Aelia staggered towards her support team’s cabin, passed right next to them as if she wasn’t aware of their presence, put on her black slippers, and left the dome with difficulty.
"What a disaster." Said Elia to herself.
Ataoro looked at the support team and pointed at the teenager.
"Hey you!"
The boy hastily approached the veteran guardian.
"Lord Ataoro. Did you call me?" Asked the boy nervously.
"You’re the new researcher in Elia’s Team, right?"
The boy was going to answer, but Ataoro didn’t even wait for him to speak.
"Go find out what’s wrong with her."
"R-Right away. I’ll do my best. Sir!" He said as he quickly rushed to the exit.
Please log in to leave a comment.