Arrival - Chapter 2

Eric awoke in a hospital bed, feeling cold and heavy.

Wires and cables were spread across his body, monitoring his vitals, and there was a needle in his arm.

What…happened? We were attacked and…He remembering seeing his arm glow and the man called Spike, but his memories of what happened after that were hazy.

“Eric!” Sat next to his bed, holding his hand, was Kaida, her eyes red and a weak smile on her face. “Thank goodness you’re awake.”

“Kaida.”

Uneasily, Eric sat himself up and looked down at his body.

All of the cuts and bruises that he had from Spike’s attack had all gone.

“The hospital’s healer put you to the top of their priority list, so you’ll be fine by tomorrow morning.”

As Eric’s memory of earlier that night came back to him, he felt the blood drain from his face when he remembered who that monster had punched first, and the bone chilling sound of his body breaking against the wall.

“Where’s Connor?” Eric asked anxiously.

“He’s alive, and he was taken into surgery to stabilize him, but the healer should be with him soon. You guys weren’t the only ones attacked tonight, and there are people worse off than you two.”

“Worse off…”

Then, the harsh reality of tonight hit Eric hard and fast.

Just hours ago, someone had tried to kill both him and Connor and, had Kaida or the Guardians not been nearby, they would be dead.

The more Eric focused on the events of the evening, the more questions that couldn’t be contained surfaced to his mind.

“Kaida, what happened tonight? Who was that man?”

She released his hand and look away from him, her expression twisted in agony.

“His name is Spike, and he’s the eighth most powerful necromancer in the world. He came to Imperial tonight to kill both of you.”

Eric felt an icy chill race through his body.

It was terrifying enough to imagine that someone had tried to kill him tonight, but it was far scarier that the person who had attacked him had come to the city specifically to kill him and his best friend.

Had Spike been a mindless murderer or terrorist aiming for massive casualties, that would have made Eric feel a little better, telling himself that it had just been bad luck or random chance that it happened.

However, that hadn’t been the case.

Spike had come to kill him and Connor, and Eric had no idea why.

“Why?” Eric whispered, his entire body shaking. “Why did he try to kill us?”

“Um, it’s hard to explain. It’d be easier to tell you everything when Connor’s here.”

“Right. Wait, earlier, you said that there were people who got hurt worse than me, right? So, why was I put at the top of the priority list for the healer?”

“That’s…something I’ll explain when Connor’s here.”

“…Okay.”

Silence fell upon the room.

Eric spent the next few moments of quiet building up his courage to ask Kaida a question which had been biting into him since he awoke.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”.

“…I was scared.” Kaida’s hands curled together into a ball. “I was scared that you’d be terrified of me and avoid me because of what I can do. Even though I’d resolved myself to tell you guys tonight, I was still scared to do it. In the past, I’ve hurt people I care about while using my powers, and I didn’t want to hurt-”

Eric wrapped his arms around her body and brought her to his chest gently.

“Eric?”

“It’s okay, Kaida.” He held her firmly. “I can’t even begin to imagine how it feels to be scared of what you can do, but I know that you’re one of the kindest people I’ve ever met and that your powers protected us from Spike tonight. That’s all that matters.”

“But-!”

“Kaida, without you, Connor and I would be dead. Thank you for saving our lives.”

Kaida burst into tears and she tightly embraced him back. Eric smiled slightly and gently stroked her hair, waiting for her to stop. Once she had, she pulled away and forced a small smile on her lips.

“Should I give you two a few minutes alone?”

With a jump, Eric and Kaida let go of one another and found Connor standing by the door, a big smirk on his face.

“Well, I imagine Eric wouldn’t last that long.”

“Connor! You’re okay.”

“And here I was thinking that I was bleeding out.”

“If you can make jokes like that, then you must be fine.”

Connor shut the door. “The healer was able to get to me fairly quickly, so I wasn’t in surgery for long.” He pulled a stool up to the bedside and sat across from Kaida. “I’d appreciate it though if you didn’t flirt while I’m dying.”

“We weren’t flirting!” They both swiftly denied as their cheeks became flushed.

Connor smiled. “If you’re strong enough to get that angry, then it seems I was worried for nothing.”

The two boys smiled at one another and shared a quick fist bump, which caused any unease left in Eric’s heart to fade away if only for a few moments.

“Just so I know, how long have you there?”

“I got here around about when Eric asked about you.”

“So-?”

“Yeah. I heard.”

The room fell silent again and the unease in Eric’s heart returned.

“Um, it might be easier if you guys ask the questions rather than just me trying to explain everything.”

“Okay, then let’s start with the big one,” Connor said, his expression turned deadly serious. “Why were we attacked tonight and how did you know that he had come to kill us specifically?”

“He told us that-” Eric started to say.

“Right, he told us. Kaida was in the toilet when he said that. You knew we were going to be attacked tonight, didn’t you?”

“I didn’t know anyone would attack you, especially not someone as strong as Spike,” Kaida said meekly. “I was told that there was a very real possibility of you two being attacked tonight, so I volunteered to protect you both.”

“Who told you that?”

“Headmistress Kasmine.”

Both boys couldn’t contain their shock at hearing something as absurd as that.

Kasmine Aysen was the Headmistress of Ferris Academy and the Supreme Commander of all the Guardians on the planet.

She was both famous, and infamous, for how she led the Guardians and was quite loved by the public, though many politicians hated her.

If people like her and Spike are taking an interest in us, that doesn’t bode well, Eric thought.

“I had hoped that I’d be able to scare away any potential threats just by being there, but then I got freaked out when you guys asked me what university I was going to.”

“Why did that-?”

“You thought you’d be enough of a deterrent alone? Because of your powers?” Connor asked.

“Not just because of that. I come from a long and proud lineage of Drakhans and my family’s name is well known in Britain as a result.”

“Drakhans?”

“Ah, sorry, you’d probably best know them as Dragon Soul Users.”

Dragon Soul Users were people born with two souls, one human and one of a dead dragon; they materialised and controlled that second soul to unleash powerful magical attacks. Their strength greatly varied depending on the type of dragon it was, as well as how much potential that the individual had as a mage.

“So that was your dragon’s soul back there then?”

“Yes. It’s an Inferno Dragon, but I haven’t had much real combat experience.”

“Are you strong?” Eric asked.

“Somewhat.”

“Strong enough to beat Spike?” Connor cut in.

Kaida grimaced. “No. If he had fought a little bit harder right from the start, then he’d have killed us all.”

“If that’s the case, why didn’t he kill us?”

“Because the authorities would have caught him had he stayed any longer. We were lucky that there were Guardians nearby.”

Members of the Guardians attended all the events in Imperial, not just as security but also as guests, which made them extremely safe in theory.

“Luck, huh?” Eric mumbled.

“You still haven’t explained why he tried to kill us. It has something to do with those scars on our arms, right?”

“Yes,” Kaida said. “I’m sure you two don’t know this, but, every year, there’s an event called the ‘Awakening’ where superhumans around the age of eighteen either awaken to their abilities for the first time, or receive a temporary boost to their powers. It depends on whether someone has already awakened to their powers or not. I’ve been training my entire life to use my powers, so I received a boost to my powers which was one of the reasons I could hold Spike back.”

“It’s a temporary boost?”

“When Spike showed you your scars, they glowed, didn’t they?”

The boys nodded.

“During the Awakening, people our age with special abilities have their bodies glow as magical energy appears around them. The natural magical energy in the air flows into young people’s bodies during the night and provides them with more energy from which to draw their magic. For example.”

Kaida snapped her fingers and a flaming wing appeared from her shoulder blade, startling the two boys.

“I should be out of mana after fighting Spike,” she continued, snapping her fingers again, making the wing evaporate. “However, because tonight was the Awakening, I barely used my own magical energy in the fight.”

“Is it common for people to be killed in the Awakening?” Connor asked.

“It’s very common. The more energy people release when they awaken to their powers, the higher the chance that they’ll be hunted down and killed, sometimes even when there are those willing to protect them.”

“So, we were a threat in Spike’s mind?”

“Not just to him, but to his Master, too.”

As Kaida and Connor continued to talk, Eric had been trying to process everything that Kaida had told them.

About her powers, about how he and one of his best friends were nearly killed, and that they were being targeted by some of the world’s strongest people.

In the space of a single night, Eric’s world had completely turned upside down and, upon realising that, his fear began to consume him.

“What the hell kind of powers do we have?” Eric whispered, his voice shaking.

“Kaida, you said that Head Mistress Kasmine told you that we’d awaken to these powers, right?” Connor asked. Kaida nodded. “How did she know?”

“The Guardians have access to one of the largest information networks on the planet and many of their information brokers are superhumans,” Kaida explained. “The most powerful superhumans can detect people who will awaken to their powers because of the additional magical energy that gathers towards them, and that in turn gives them a good idea of how strong their powers will be. You two both have God Armours which are under the scars in your arms.”

“God Armours?”

“I guess you guys haven’t heard of them either.”

“I’ve heard of people as powerful as Gods, but not God Armours,” Eric said.

“So then, what exactly are God Armours?” Connor asked.

“When a God is killed in their world, their body transforms into a piece of armour which then appears in our world,” Kaida continued. “The Armour itself is a manifestation of that God’s entire being, their powers and their souls. No matter how weak an Armour is, it is still strong when compared to other people with superhuman abilities.”

“…Just how much power do we have?”

Eric, petrified, looked down at the rough, jagged scar. “The power of a God? Kaida, do you have any idea which God Armours we have?”

“I have no idea, unfortunately. The only way to find out is to summon your Armour and, when you use it for the first time, you gain some basic understanding of which God it is and what powers you can use.”

“Handy,” Connor mused. “So, what happens now?”

Kaida leaped off the bed and placing her hands behind her back. “Now, you guys come with me to Ferris and train to become Guardians.”

“Huh?” Connor grunted. “Do we have to? I mean, we’d already chosen what university we wanted to go to.”

“Ah, don’t worry. Ferris isn’t just a training facility for Guardians. It still acts like a regular university with all sorts of courses available to choose from and, if they don’t have your course, they’ll arrange private lectures and seminars for you to attend on site. The only major difference is that there are combat training sessions every week and the island itself is essentially a small city.”

“If we don’t, we’ll be attacked again, won’t we?” Eric slowly asked, swallowing hard.

Kaida nodded weakly.

The two boys glanced at each other, both still struggling to take in everything that Kaida had told them and finding it difficult to accept the new harsh reality of their lives.

With a small sigh, Eric asked, “When do we start?”

Kaida’s smile returned. “Next week. I’ll explain all of the details later if you guys are unsure of anything.”

Connor shrugged his shoulders. “Our dear childhood friend comes back home, drags us into this mess and now to a university for superhumans with her.” He smiled. “Well, it’ll be nice to all go to university together, right, Eric?”

“Yeah.”

Kaida giggled a little. “I’ll help make all of the arrangements, then.”