The Union's Light

*Hilda Elden*

"We were ordered to look for any enemy troops, fight them and kill them. Bearers and simple Mana-Wielders from other Lands were in Central Superio, looking to execute the same orders as me and my squad. The first troops we fought were from the European Union. Simple Mana-Wielders stood no chance against us. My flames burned them to ashes and there was nothing they could do about it. It felt weird back then, after every fight with the European Union, I would get the feeling that something wasn't right. 'Why do they send such weak troops to fight? I wondered. There were no Asian troops, they had to deal with their own problems. The Arabic Empire was and is the least greedy Land out of all. They had no intention of sending troops to Central Superio at all, they only defend their bridge and that's enough for them. The most annoying troops were from the African Kingdom, their troops were strong and relentless. They always had 2 Bearers in their ranks and would fight dirty. Not including the "pirates" who fought their way through the seemingly lawless bridge that connects their Land and Central Superio. After days of fighting different troops from different Lands, we decided to set camp at night."

***

"Leader, let's set camp here. I'm sure nobody will see us here."

"Please, I'm tired as hell."

"I agree."

I was overwhelmed by my squad's request. We weren't allowed to set camp anywhere but in special zones. 'Come on. Why the puppy-eyes?'

"Sigh... I guess it won't hurt, right?"

"You're the best, Leader!"

"Thank you, finally. I'm too tired to walk back to the zone."

"Much appreciated."

Their thanks brought a bit of joy in my heart, also a great distraction from all the fighting and killing we did the last days.

My squad, The Valks, were the most elite soldiers that finished the military training. Me and them were the strongest soldiers the Nordic Alliance had, we were their hope, their future and backbone. They relied on us greatly and didn't want us to fail at any cost.

Someone always stood guard when we slept. I was usually keeping guard after sleeping for 3 hours.

"Leader, it's your turn to keep guard now."

Minutes passed as I warmed myself with my Salan ability. It was silent, only a usual collapse somewhere in a tall building would make noise, but that was it. I sharpened my senses to pick up any strange Mana signatures while I watched the night-sky.

'All these stars are visible now. Would I have ever been able to see such a sight if not for Salan?'

["Wake them up, I want to have a fair fight."] A man, lingering in the dark, said in English.

'How did he get here unnoticed? He's already so close! Does his Salan ability have anything to do with him being able to stay undetected?'

Hundreds of thoughts build up in my mind. My brain tried to process every single one of them, but it was all interrupted again by the man in the dark.

["What are you waiting for? I'm even giving you the chance to defend yourself properly. Take this opportunity or die alone."] He recommended again.

"Valks!! Enemy!!" I screamed my lungs out.

It didn't even take 5 seconds for everyone to get up. The Valks were ready, weapons drawn, Mana gathered and imbued everywhere.

["Nice, let's start. I don't have all night. I just need to follow his orders and avenge the others you killed mercilessly."] He spoke and revealed himself.

He was a brown-haired and green-eyed tall man that looked like he was in his early twenties. He had scars on his upper lip and at the sides of his head. He wore a simple white button-down shirt with a pair of blue jeans and black boots. He wore metal arm-guards that covered the back side of his underarm.

He drew his double-edged straight sword and pointed it at the ground. He looked like he didn't even take all of us seriously.

'Arrogance? Stupidity? What was it that made him act like this? Does he think he is stronger than all of us, The Valks?' I wondered.

The others must've been thinking the same because 2, out of the 6 of us, went straight into and offensive. I knew them all too well, even if I tried to order them to stand back and test the waters, they wouldn't listen.

"Stand down!" I ordered Malu and Finn.

They didn't listen, just like I'd anticipated.

'Damn you!

["You make it too easy."]

The green-eyed man dodged the incoming swings of a spear and sword. He was unbothered and simply grabbed Finn by the neck. Malu wanted to use this opportunity to strike the open-guarded man, but a crack sound and a slash interrupted his advance. The green-eyed man snapped Finn's neck and cut open Malu's throat. All this happened in mere seconds, we were dumbfounded. Finn and Malu, the members of The Valks, killed in mere seconds. Something was not right.

'Their Mana, it isn't spreading into the environment!?'

["Where did their Mana go, yo bastard?!"] I demanded an answer.

The green-eyed man threw Finn's corpse next to Malu's and cleaned his sword.

["It's easier to show you."]

The Mana in Finn and Malu's cores started to pour out and gathered right above them in a single point. The Mana condensed into a single point, it even started to get brighter. When all the Mana was drained out of their Core, a ball of bright light was above them. The condensed Mana - that had the size of a tennis ball - had so much energy that it generated light.

***

["I'm The Union's Light and all Mana is mine."]

These were his last words before he completely eradicated my whole squad.

We dashed at him with everything we had. I used my Salan ability, Maeve did too. My flames and her ice were ineffective against him. Whenever it was about to reach and burn him, it crashed against a thin wall of Mana.

" [Simply too weak..] He complained. "

"Neither sword and spear slashes worked, nor did hammer and ax swings. He dodged, parried, blocked. When I slashed, I feared another one of my comrades would be cut down right next to me. The Union's Light killed them in all kinds of different ways. He would use the remains of my flames to burn Maeve's face, he used her created ice to stab Conor in the heart and simply disemboweled Rian. I was the last to stand, and to this day, I'm not sure if I resisted, or he just let me live for this long."

"[Simply send a message for me. Say: The Union will start it's first assault, in The Great Mana War, on the 15th of December 2051, on the city Iceal. Now simply sleep and don't forget me.] He said and strangled me until I lost consciousness."

"When I woke up, I was at the Alliance's bridge. My dead squad next to me, all covered with white sheets that had red blood stains on them."

The Valks listened in awe while I told them about the previous Valks.

"The Union's Light, he's similar to Niam. I feel like I can see him act the same way The Union's Light did." Geir explained.

"Well, I will tell you what I did after. I came back here and locked myself into a big room. I stayed in that room for 4 days straight without any food or water. The whole time I was in there, I had only one thought: Why is it that he is so much stronger than me? I thought and thought. The answer looked unattainable, but I still thought about it. Then, at the last day, I felt like I had overseen the obvious: As a Bearer, you get a Salan ability. The Salan ability essentially becomes a part of you, it becomes a part of your existence. You're not human anymore, you are a Bearer. A human will grow, get stronger and change. Specific needs will change your anatomy. This also applies to Salan abilities. My flames are a part of me, just like Geir's ability to see someone's weakness is. I meditated and thought about how I wanted to change. At the end, my flames became something different and I obtained another Mana-Core.