"I...will defeat you Shicato. You attacked my men!, You destroyed my village!, and now you wish to kill me! All of this being true, you will fail at at least one of those missions...prepare yourself!"
I watched in horror as my father charges Yatsimoto with his crystal spear.
The fight was short, but to me it last an eternity.
Yatsimoto swiftly sidestepped my fathers charge and countered with a swing of his giant axe, which my father somehow managed to deflect at the last second.
Yatsimoto was a fierce opponent, known to be ruthless in his command, and even more heartless on the battlefield, but I must admit that for the majority of the bout, my father was in charge.
My fathers spear arched and bent as it danced around it's enemies blade like a river parting to circle a stone in it's bed.
Yatsimoto was to slow to clock every attack, and soon his armor was broken and dented in several places with an alarmingly large hole over his heart where the breast plate once was.
He stumbled back and lost his footing as my father shot lethal jabs at him amazing speed. I thought the battle was over, but I was only partially right.
Yatsimoto fell to his back with a heavy thud, his body slides upon impact a stunning distance of about 10 feet.
The blow to his body seemed to be more than enough, but within the first few seconds of him being on the ground, my father was already high above him, his gleaming spear cocked back above his head for the final blow.
"DIE!"
He shouted as he came down hard atop the fallen giant, sliding his deadly spear into the chest of the towering villain. It slipped through his armor like a stick in butter, pushing through till it punctured his entire body and stuck into the ground on the other side.
"It is...finished."
He said as he stood up from his kneeling position and turned to face myself and Himora, we who stood by with our eyes and mouths open wide in shock.
Himora was first to speak.
"It's...it's over."
He said with slight shiver in his voice.
"No once could...live after that attack."
Time slowed as the last sound we ever thought we would here rang out.
"Oh...I beg to differ!"
The thick, demoralizing voice filled our ears like the roar of an enraged lion as we all turned to see the last thing that we were expecting to see.
"That wasn't bad...for an opening..."
Th fallen Shicato commander rises to his feet slowly and grabs the end of my fathers spear in his armored fist. Blood fell like rain from its blade, and beautiful crystal shine was lost for the moment.
"You'll have to do better then that!"
He yelled as he pulled the spear out with a sickening ripping sound.
"I survived that pathetic attack, but lets see how your boy fairs!"
It all happened so fast that I didn't know what was going on until my fathers hulking body slammed into mine.
Th evil warrior threw the spear like a javelin, right at ME!, but before it made contact with my body, my father pushed me out of the way and took the attack in my place.
I watched in what seemed like slow motion as we fell through the air.
My heart was heavy with despair as I came to realize that only one of us would survive this attack.
WHAM!
We hit the ground hard, and I felt the weight of my fathers body close in on me, seeming to swallow me like the darkness that is death.
I couldn't see anything.
My vision was blackened by the blood that I had original thought would be mine. For a moment all was quiet, and i couldn't say a thing, for to me at that time, there was nothing worth saying.
I began to cry.
"Fa...father...FAAAATHEEEEER!
Himora ran to my side and grabbed my arm, pulling me from beneath the giant corps.
"Bastion! are you...okay?"
He paused as he seen all of the blood on my tunic, and the look on my far saddened face.
"He's...dead..."
Is all I could say, and even as the words fell from my lips I couldn't believe they were true. Like a bad dream.
The feelings of fear and anger fell from my face in the form of tears, just like the blood that was flowing off my body to the ground.
Slowly I turn to face the embodiment of my hatred and suffering.
"I will destroy you..."
I look up to see Himora at my side, his sword drawn and ready for the attack.
"Oh, hush little child."
Yatsimoto said in his deep, raspy voice. His head turned as he took stock of the two, small figures that now opposed him. His head cocked slightly to one side as he realized what he had now standing before him.
"Ah, you wouldn't dare attack an unarmed man, would you?...because I know for a fact that your pathetic father didn't!, and that's what caused his demise! Ha! You weak, stupid Watherians are always so bound by honor and rules...come now, I will let you see your family now!"
Yatsimoto laughed loudly and clasped his arms to his chest as the shaken boy stood before him, tears in his eyes and his sword in hand.
Fury burned within Himora as memories of his family and village flash through his mind. A time some years ago when his village was destroyed and his parents killed in its defense, much like what was happening now.
"Live on son...but do so not in sin, but in...honor."
Those had been Himora's fathers last words to his son, spoken with his last breath.
The words lingered and burned in Himora's heart.
His vision went red.
"I will kill you!...for my father! for my village! and for all the destruction you've caused!"
Yatsimoto's smile dropped slightly as Himora cocked his sword and ran at him full-speed,
"...foolish child."
He said to low for either of us to hear.
"Himora, NO!"
I called out to him, but it was too late.
This event happened just as quickly as my fathers death had.
As Himora launched himself and glided through the air with his arms above his head, and his deadly sword braced to kill, Yatsimoto easily sidesteps his attack and flings him brutally and effortlessly to the ground. The impact was such that I felt the earth tremble just a bit beneath my feet from several yards away.
For a moment he struggled to stand before falling face-down in the hard-packed earth. He is unconscious for all I know, but that's just it, I have no idea.
"N-NO! NOOO!"
Once again, my head went blank, as my emotions raged.
All of it was just too much.
I couldn't take the stress of losing my father, my best friend, and my entire village all at once.
"YOU EVIL BASTARD!"
Before I could think about to do next, my body was already at it.
Now was the time, if any, for me to take down the man, the monster who had killed my father.
My mother...
My best friend...
Aether burst forth from the ground, vibrant greens and oranges, and browns swirled around me.
I could feel my muscles flood with the strange and pulsating energy.
My father had told me that this day would come...
I just figured that he...would be alive to witness it with me, not become the cathartic catalyst...
My element had awakened for the first time.
I was faster, stronger, and better than I had ever been.
It was payback time!