Chapter 40

The Dawn of Glory [the Half-breed]



Chapter-forty



Quarterfinal



Theme: The ultimate trial



Amassing all the stability her power could offer. Joy hopped out of the branch which was trapping her down. Immediately, she gets freed, a sharp object piercing her previous position. She had narrowly escaped death.



She rolled on the ground to avoid damaging her leg before she finally stood on her feet. Taking a deep breath, she dropped her dog while examining her surroundings at the same time.



She was now in a plain field which was full of carpet grass. In front of her stood a tall pulpit. On top of the pulpit was something Joy had thought she would never see again. It's the undead book. It was shimmering brightly in its glory. Despite the daylight, the book still radiated a great light, and she could feel its aura. It was strong and attractive at the same time.



"What's the undead book doing here in an inexistent place?" She asked herself, "Perhaps it's one of my imaginations." She concluded.



However, a man's voice broke into her thoughts; "It's not your imagination, Bildad Joy. It's real, and this is your final test to claim the title of a saviour and true half-breed."



"Why the hell are you calling me Bildad Joy?" She asked in fury. "First, it was the healer, but she ended up telling me that she just helped me. Second, they are calling me Darius Joy in the middle realm. Only for me to arrive here and discover that someone else is my father. What the hell on earth are you hiding from me?" She asked in anger.





For a while, thunder flashed in the sky, after which an old man appeared out of nowhere. He was dressed in an old white robe with a staff in his hand. Besides him stand three young men. They had a shimmering long blade in their hand, and they were also clad in white robes. Without being told, Joy knew they were his apprentices.



"I was given the authority to answer three questions from you. I will advise you to choose wisely." The man explained.



Slowly, Joy walked toward the man, and her dog followed closely behind her. She stood a few steps away from the man and stared directly into his eyes. She had already prepared a different question and was about to ask the old man.



She dragged in a deep breath before asking, "Tell me, who are my biological parents?"



"Shuhite Bildad and Lady Selene." The old man simply replied and kept quiet.



Joy waits impatiently, hoping the man will say other things. However, he didn't utter a word. He was just staring at Joy's eyes like a statue. 



"Won't you say anything again?" Joy yelled in frustration.



"That's because I have answered the question," says the man nonchalantly. "Your father is Bildad the shuhite, and he's now the keeper of the underworld. Your mother is Selene, and she's nowhere to be found." The man elaborated. 



Joy gasped in shock as reality dawned on her. She was just living in a mysterious world without knowing her parents. Tears filled her eyes, and grief consumed her soul.



"Remember, you have two questions left before we begin the final test." The old man's voice broke into her thoughts again. "Your time is running out. If you don't act fast, you might get stuck here forever."



The man's voice reminds Joy of the battle with Lord Darius and her friend. "My guardians and the resistance, are they still alive?" She asked with curiosity in her eyes.



"For now, they are alive, but it won't last long." The old man replied. "The reason for this is that your subconscious and reality time are not the same. For them, you haven't gone for a long time. That means the time here is fast."



Joy sighs in relief at that. The mention of her guardians still alive made her believe that Lord Darius hadn't conquered the middle realm. 



"Now, to the last question." The old man said



Joy ransacked her brain for the last question. She didn't want the last question to be meaningless. At first, she thought about asking why her parents abandoned her. She has a thousand questions going through her mind. Yet, she didn't have the chance to ask them. 



After a few minutes of pondering, she finally decided on a question. "My mom, where is she?" The man opened his eyes in amazement as if she hadn't expected her to ask that question.



"She is trapped in the Hilton by your father, Bildad." The old man elaborated.



"Hilton?" Joy asked in confusion. It was evident that he had never heard that name before. "Where is Hilton located? Why would my father trap my mom? "



"Hilton is another realm of magic which was owned by Rohan, the soul lord." The man elaborated. 





"How can I get..." Joy was asking, but the man's voice shunned her.



"Enough!" he said, his voice now cold and rigid. The once friendly old man was gone, and he was now replaced by a fierce one. "You see the undead book over there?" The old man said while pointing to the undead book, which was now floating in the air. 



"It's your way out of this realm. Get the book, and you'll have freedom. Don't forget, your friends are in danger. Without this book, you can't save them, and you will be stuck here forever." The old man clarified and stepped back.



Immediately after he does this, the three men who seem to be his apprentices move forward and block Joy's path with their blades.



"This is cheating for goodness sake," she complained bitterly. "How did you expect me to fight these three men at once without any weapons? That's insane. "



The old man replied by letting out a crooked smile. "How can you ask for a weapon when everything you need is within your grasp?"



"What did you mean?" She asked, bewildered.



"You are the great weapon of evil and good, dark and light, saviour and killer. You are the rose and thorn." The old man replied, which confused her more. "Bildad Joy, trash them, go for the book, and return to your realm." The man said before fading away.





Seeing this, Joy picked up her dog and rubbed her fur just like she always does before whispering into her ear. "No matter what happens, don't let your guard down. Remember, we started this together, and we must end it together. We must trash them, retrieve that book, and then return to our realm to kill that bastard."



Bingo whimpered happily to show that she understood what Joy had just said. "Good girl," Joy said and dropped the dog.



Finally, she faced the three beings in front of her. "Let's prom," she said happily and dashed to meet them.



Letting out a great cry, Joy leapt up and kicked the first being in the chest. The force threw him back, but the man swivelled his body in mid-air and docked on his feet. Joy bent low to avoid being slashed by a blade, and she did a double backflip to avoid being slashed by the third man's blade.



Since this was still part of her imagination, Joy knew she could use it to her advantage. She bent low to duck a blow, and she imagined two long, sharp blades in her mind. 



Just like she had thought, two blades emerged from her hand. She raised it to parry a blow from the first man, and then she kicked the man on the chest again. Her survival instinct kicked in and she did a dangerous roller stunt. Just then, a blade narrowly missed her hair by inches. 



She stomped her feet on the carpeted grass and used the force to lift her body as she docked. The three men followed her, and it became a battle in the air. The three men surrounded her, intending to trap her in the middle, but she didn't allow them. She was dancing in the air, cutting, jabbing, and blocking their blades at the same time.





Joy summoned all the skills she had learned. She called upon all the hard training she had been doing with Dan. She called upon the same skills she used to fight on the Fountain Valley Bridge. Joy fought like a possessed being. She knew this was the battle for the middle realm, for her life, and the resistance.



She wasn't willing to lose. Losing will not only cost her life, and that of the resistance. It will also mean she won't see her mother again. She wanted to glimpse her mother and asked her why they relinquished her. She wanted to know how Lord Darius was related to her.



She wants to journey across the realm, to Hilton. She wants to know what the old man means by calling her "Rose and Thorn." She wants to see her sister, Kira, again. Joy knew that she was existing in another realm. There are different things she wants to do. So, getting herself killed isn't on her list; at least not yet. 



She allowed her instinct to take over. The same instinct that had been guarding her for the past few weeks. The same instinct that helped her solve many problems. The instinct that made her differentiate between reality and fabric. The instinct of the true half-breed



She was the chosen one. No one could take that title from her. She's the one. The true saviour, seeker of the middle land, and the one that was chosen to eradicate evil. 



"I'm unstoppable!" Joy screamed out loud, and her two blades blazed with fire.



Her anger is taking over. The power of the true half-breed is surfacing. She was activating her blood rage. The Cad'Hor power. She screamed out in rage, and her body went ablaze. 



At the speed of light. Faster than anything the three men had ever seen, Joy cut into their midst. She slashed the three beings at the same time, and their bodies dropped down from the sky. 



Slowly, Joy started descending from the sky, and her dog was the first thing to welcome her. Bingo jumped on its leg and circled her mistress, and Joy could feel the happiness in the dog's body. 



Taking a deep breath, Joy bent down and picked the dog up before she walked majestically to the pulpit. The undead book was still shimmering and rotating in the air. 



Letting out a triumphant smile, Joy stretched her hand to grab the book, but her hand passed through it. It was like the book didn't exist.



She tried again, but it was still the same. Instantly, Joy started sweating. The triumphant look on her face is now changing to a panicked one. 



"Bingo, what's going on?" She asked her dog "We are missing something, aren't we?" She mumbled. 



Joy tried again, but she couldn't hold the book. She started pacing around the pulpit while clapping and snapping her hand at the same time.



"What am I missing?" Joy whispered inaudibly, and her dog whined in return. However, she was too distracted to notice the dog. Her gaze was on the book, which didn't allow her to concentrate.



Her dog moans again, which leaves Joy no choice but to spare her a glance. As her eyes collided with Bingo, she noticed that the dog's face was now turning white. Instantly, she forgot about the book and gave her dog full attention.



"Bingo!" Joy screamed in panic. "What's happening to you?" 



She brought the dog closer to her body and examined her heartbeat. That's when she discovered that the dog's heart wasn't beating again. Her eyes have now turned white like a snowflake.



"Why's your heart not beating? And your face also looks pale. Are you feeling cold?" She asked, and the dog let out a great whinnying sound. 



Instantly, Joy knew then that the dog was trying to tell her something.



Some minutes ago, her eyes were pure white, like someone that was buried in snow. But now, She is healthy again. 



"What am I missing?" She thought again.



Finally, a thought struck her mind. Her dog's heart wasn't beating and her face was turning white as if someone was freezing her heart. 



"Freezing," she whispered, and the dog barked in delight. 



"We should try freezing the book, shouldn't we?" She asked the dog, and Bingo whined. 



Instantly, Joy faced the undead book and focused her gaze on it.



She went for her freezing power, tapped into it and threw it at the book. The light that was emanating from the book diminished, and it stopped rotating. 



"It worked!" Joy screeched in delight. She rubbed her dog's forehead. In return, the dog licked her face.



Not wasting any time, Joy grabbed the undead book, and everything turned dark. Before she knew what was happening, she felt a noisy thump in her head, and she went unconscious.



T.b.c