Missions

Chapter Three: Missions

Two Months Later.

"Well.. i think your dark style… is up to par with my standards for… missions.." Mr. B said in between gasps for air, his voice shaky.

"Thanks to you, without your training skills I wouldn't be this good," I replied, my voice full of gratitude.

"Well after that last training exercise i believe it's time for your first real mission, and i know exactly what that'll be." He said.

"What's that?" I asked.

"Put down a harpie flock, simple." He replied evenly

"Yeah, who's in my squad?" I asked.

"You, Emma and Marcus." He said.

"Who's Marcus?" I asked.

"He's a son of hephaestus, he's what we call a flame commander." Mr. B said, his voice a whisper.

"I get it, he can control flames with his body, like I can with my darkness and you want the two of us to become friends?" I asked, wanting to make sure I was right.

"Yeah." Mr B replied.

"Alright, let me meet him." I asked.

"I'm right behind you." A voice replied.

I turned and saw a tall kid with brown hair and a scar on his left upper lip. The boy had deep brown eyes and he was wearing black joggers and red sneakers.

"I take it, your Marcus?" I asked.

He nodded.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Josh." I said, sticking out my hand.

He didn't respond, he just smacked my hand away and walked into the arena,

"You and me. Now." He snapped.

"Tsk.. if you're sure." I replied.

"Try not to hurt yourself too much." Mr B said.

I followed him into the arena and drew my blade, waiting for him to make a move.

"If you want to be my friend. Beat me in a fight, right here, right now." He spat.

"You're on." I replied, my voice cold.

In a flash, flames erupted from his body, engulfing his hands. When he did that I pushed my darkness into my legs, and sprang at him, hoping to get a quick strike in.

"Flame Commandment: Quick draw" He said, his voice as cold as ice, his eyes fixed firmly on me.

In an instant small fireballs rapidly began shooting from his fingers, as if bullets from a gun, they all whizzed past my ears, singing the tips of my hair. But I was within striking distance now, I struck him with the hilt of my blade right in his chest. But to my surprise i fazed right threw him, my body immersed right out his back.

"Flame Commandment: Ace" He said calmly, then his body seemed to solidify again.

"You like that move? It completely turns my body into fire, no physical attack can hurt me that way." He said with a sly grin.

"Oh yeah?" I retorted.

"Come try me." He said calmly, turning to face me.

"Dark Style: One thousand slashes" I said, my voice calm, cold and perfectly calm.

One of the new moves I made, I jumped up in the air as fast as my darkness would let me and when I came down I slashed at his body anywhere I could get my sword against, I put a small amount of my darkness into each cut, making it bleed and burn. I landed behind him and waited a moment, then all of my cuts appeared on him, he began to bleed profusely, but he didn't collapse.

"You're stronger than I imagined.." I said, gaining a small bit of respect for him.

"Tsk.. you're not so bad yourself." He replied.

"Now it's my turn….. Flame Commandment: Pillar of Flames!" He said, his voice calm but full of heat.

He began to shoot out flames from his hands, they swirled around me and began to rise higher and higher, as if ascending to the heavens. `

I began to smirk, my body began to react on its own. I channeled my darkness into my legs and sprang into the air, nearly scorching my legs by his fire, but I cleared it. I landed and slammed my foot into his face and slammed it into the earth, ending the fight in my victory.

"Welp that was fun, but I'm gonna go get ready for our mission." I said, he was obviously unconscious.

I walked out of the arena and towards my cabin, i had no idea what to pack for a mission so i grabbed some medical supplies, greek healing ointment and my MP3 player. I recently bought it with the money my mom sent in. It had all of my favorite songs on it. I liked to listen to it during training so I figured I'd bring it along, and since it isn't electronically charged no monsters can track me with it, since I knew that was a thing. I walked out of my cabin, bag in hand, to find Brandon standing near my door, holding his head.

"Well, it looks like you've got some fight." He said sticking out his hand.

I grabbed it, shook it and replied, "You're not so bad yourself."

"Even though this is an easy mission let's go all out alright?" He asked.

"Lets." I replied, a smile growing on my face.

"Emma's already by the gate, so let's go." Marcus said, walking towards the entrance.

I followed, my head low. Once we got to the gate Emma filled us in on the mission,

"Alright, according to Mr. B, there is a large flock of harpies, disguised as eagles that have been terrorizing the locals, it's up to us to go take care of them." She said,

"Seems simple enough," I replied.

"Yeah, so let's get going," Marcus said.

"Well it is really close by, we can walk there in ten minutes soooo this will be pretty easy to get there." Emma said, she began to walk.

After ten minutes of walking in silence, we arrived at the town library. The stone building looked cold and unwelcoming so we waited outside.

"They should attack at any moment.." Emma said, her voice quiet.

"Well…well… You must be the infamous son of darkness I've heard so much about…" A male voice said, he sounded elegant.

I whipped around, opened my palm out and screamed, "IMPACT!"

I shot a large force of darkness from my hand, hoping to land a hit on his face, but he dodged easily.

"Woah there, are we hasty to fight!" The man said, his voice twisted and cruel.

"Do you even know who I am?" He said as he landed.

It was only then that I got a good look at him, standing 6' 4" tall, this caramel skinned man has an out of place feel about him. A particularly notable feature is his crooked smile.

His medium-long, wavy, dark black hair, currently dip-dyed half way with shades of light white, is neatly braided.

He has a lean face with a round chin, a big nose, and puffy lips. His expressive green eyes are round and he has no eyebrows. He wears light eyeshadow, an unsuitably-coloured foundation, complimentary eyeliner, burgundy blush and dark lipstick. He has short arms, a narrow torso with lightly defined muscles, toned legs, and average-sized feet. He has pierced his nasal septum.

The one thing that really caught my eyes was the sword at his waist, it was clipped to his black jeans, the sword was created for combat, is ancient and has a long list of previous owners. The blade is very strong, currently has a razor-sharp edge, and has mysterious engravings across it. It has a decorative guard, a decorative orange grip, and a round pommel with a long orange tassel on the end. It is of an average weight, is perfectly balanced and is not to be used by a beginner. The scabbard is decorated with beads and is made of bronze with gold trimmings.

"You're the infamous son of darkness, aren't you?" He asked.

"So what if I am?" I asked.

"I've got a surprise for you…" He said.