Written by Epicstu Wyyvernwriter

In a circle of Hell that does not exist Stu, the Nekolich, Writer and Travvurse gazed upon the Wyyvern of Time itself. Dead upon the table it lay before them. “I do not like this, Stu,” said Travvurse. “Time was already spiraling into chaos.”

“Don’t you mean Time IS already spiraling into chaos?” Stu questioned with concern.

“Yes actually,” Travvurse replied, “I did.”

“Well, until we forge this thing Time is always going to have been spiraling into chaos since the dawn of…?” Stu paused a moment. “Okay, we need to forge this thing yesterday… I mean tomorrow. Damn! Let’s just have gotten to work already!”

*          *

Then Edward held Zesrial’s blade over Freahira and she heard Zesrial’s voice requesting that she, “kneel.” Freahira did and a white hooded cape forged of Zesrial’s own feathers formed over her head and back as armor forged of Edward’s own Will made metal adorned her.

Then he placed Zesrial’s blade upon both of Freahira’s shoulders, one after the other, and said unto her, “now rise, our Warpriestess, Leon Aventis is coming.”

In her right hand Freahira found a heavy greatsword in the likeness of Heaven and in her left she found a solid stone shieldwall in the likeness of Hell. Letting her shieldwall hang at her side she hoisted her greatsword over her shoulder and allowed it to rest upon her pauldron there. “Which one?” she looked to her Living God, Edward, and to her Living Goddess, Zesrial.

“All of them,” Edward replied as Zesrial took her Goddess form by his side with a brilliant flash of her purple-hued golden lightning. Feathers white as winter’s snow, hair black as night flowing like silk, and skin impossibly fair. Her exquisite armor, forged by Edward himself, covered all except her head, yet allowed for full range of motion. “Are you sure you don’t want the helmet? Edward asked her.

“I’ll save it for a rainy day,” Zesrial replied.

“Hope you are ready for a fight, new blood,” Leonidas, Warpriest of Zesrial, said to Freahira.

“She appears seasoned enough,” Pip, Warpriest of Edward rebutted. “Besides, I have read of her exploits. She has done much in the name of Edward and Zesrial already.”

“Written word is one thing,” Snow, Warpriestess of Zesrial, replied. “I would very much appreciate witnessing you in action, new recruit.”

“Easy Warpriests,” Sarah Iron stepped in. “You are not bodyguards and must await your charge’s call to arms. Until then you will do nothing.”

“What if they need us?” Pip questioned.

“Then they may call for your aid,” Sarah replied.

“In the meantime, just enjoy the show,” Edward spoke up.

“We will call you when we need you,” Zesrial agreed.

“Can we not do this in my home Realm,” Freahira politely requested. “Please.”

“Good idea,” Edward said as they left from Freahira’s Realm to the Realm Edward had created earlier. His Realm was now empty as all his believers had been returned home. Suddenly his ear twitched, so he turned to face whomever had just entered the Realm. A Man wielding a well balanced sword pointed it Edward. Zesrial took her Wyyvern blade form, her Wyyvern’s mark of purple-hued Gold sparking over his right eye as he took her in hand. “You must be Leon Aventis,” Edward beckoned the Leon Aventis and his sword struck Edward in response, sending him into the air before unleashing a combo upon him. The Leon Aventis slid back as Edward returned to his feet, breathing heavily, “this was a good day to wear armor.” The next attack came. This time Edward blocked the accelerated combo with flawless form as the Leon Aventis came at him from multiple angles simultaneously. Anticipating every angle Edward waited for the perfect moment. Deflecting one attack, Edward sent Zesrial rotating around to his left side impacting the Leon Aventis in the face, before he could strike Edward again, with her momentum driven pummel. Catching her hilt after she was deflected back to his right hand, Edward stopped as her blade reached the Leon Aventis’s neck. 

“What did you do?” Zesrial asked as the Leon Aventis turned to snow and vanished.

“I have spared his life and returned him to his home Realm,” Edward replied. He stabbed Zesrial, blade first, into the ground before him and softly rested his forehead against her pummel, “no one dies this day.”

“Edward!” a familiar voice beckoned him.

“Ranger?” Edward was pleasantly surprised. “Why are you all coming at me one at a time?”

“The contract on your head is very specific,” the Leon Aventis replied. “You would not believe the single file line outside this Realm just for you.”

“My brother has his way of things, I suppose. Is he taking bets?” Edward inquired.

“Yes, in fact, I have you defeating me, so I would appreciate it if you did not die here,” the Leon Aventis replied.

“You’re not going easy on us, are you?” Edward thrusted Zesrial forward, her blade still in the ground before him, causing a shockwave of teal-hued snow and purple-hued golden lightning to be sent toward Ranger.

The Leon Aventis drew his greatsword from his back and stabbed it, blade first, into the ground before him. “Never,” then he responded in kind, thrusting his sword forward sending a shockwave toward Edward before sprinting at him. His blade meeting with Zesrial’s, the Leon Aventis allowed himself to slide to the other side of Edward. Stabbing his greatsword, blade first, into the ground where he landed, he drew his bow and turned to fire. Edward brought Zesrial around to cut down the incoming arrow. Zesrial left her Wyyvern blade form, drew her bow, and split the Leon Aventis’s arrow with a bolt of her Dead lightning before returning to her Wyyvern blade form. Edward threw Zesrial at the Leon Aventis who dodged. Zesrial struck, blade first, into nothing where he had been. He put a hand to the nothing Zesrial was stabbed into and felt a solid surface there. Then he raised an eyebrow as he looked to see the bottom of Edward’s feet. Zesrial came to Edward, taking the nonexistent surface and the Leon Aventis with her. To the Leon Aventis it was as though he was lying upon solid ground on his back as he saw the tip of Zesrial’s blade coming at him. Quickly, he drew his ax and off hand-sword using them both to deflect as he returned to his feet, a little disoriented, as he flew back a long ways, by the fact that gravity itself had changed and the ground he landed upon was not there. The ground they had begun their duel upon was like a massive wall far off in the distance. Lifting his ax to block Edward’s next attack, he pulled it down it met with Zesrial’s blade opening Edward for a decapitation. His sword stopped in its tracks against Edward’s chainmail scarf, unable to cut through it, “what is that thing made out of?”

“No idea,” Edward replied as he allowed the Leon Aventis’s gravity to return to normal dropping him back down to the ground they had begun their fight upon. With nothing around him to fire a roped arrow at, the Leon Aventis waited for his splatter upon the ground. Edward returned to the existing ground as the Leon Aventis turned to snow and returned to his home Realm. He turned, lifting Zesrial’s blade to deflect and split a bullet, fired from very far away, in twain.

A Leon Aventis pulled his rifle’s bolt back and reloaded it as he remained prone, “fair enough.” He fired another shot. Then another and another watching through his rifle’s scope as Edward split each shot casually walking toward him. Moving his rifle’s toggle to a three round burst, activating its clip access and hair trigger, the Leon Aventis went through the entire clip. Every bullet of each three round burst deflected individually, Edward continued walking toward the Leon Aventis. “Fine then,” the Leon Aventis moved his rifle’s toggle to full automatic and snapped a drum to its chamber before locking and loading it in with his rifle’s bolt. Every bullet was sliced in half by Zesrial’s blade as she carried Edward to the Leon Aventis on a bolt of her Dead lightning. Edward and Zesrial stopped just before the Leon Aventis’s throat turning him to snow and sending him back to his home Realm.

“Big Fox with a fancy sword,” Gentleman was the next Leon Aventis to enter Edward’s Realm. “Take her away and what are you?”

“God,” Zesrial replied for Edward as she left her Wyyvern blade form.

“I’m a Fennec Fox, actually,” Edward replied.

“My apologies,” said the Leon Aventis.

“A Common mistake,” Edward replied as the two walked up to one another, bumped fists out of respect, and began their unarmed match at the strike of Zesrial’s Dead lightning. The Leon Aventis’s fist were hard as Iron as they met with Edward’s fists and forehead in rapid succession. Catching one of Edward’s fists, the Leon Aventis dipped down landing and uppercut to Edward’s gut. He followed through with a left hook that was met with Edward’s forehead. Edward wound back and hit the Leon Aventis’s fist again, this time with a “Iron! Ram!” throwing the Leon Aventis off balance. Taking him by his throat, Edward slammed him into a wall that was not there before letting him go to wind up for punch to his gut, then two to his face. The Leon Aventis dodged the second punch coming at his face and took him by the back of his head, bringing Edward’s face toward the nonexistent wall. Instead of impacting a surface Edward was thrown. Catching himself, mid air, on a solid surface that was not there, Edward rushed back at the Leon Aventis, returning himself to normal gravity in order to bring his fist down hard across the Leon Aventis’s face. Elbowing him in the back, Edward took the Leon Aventis by his face and brought him down, head first, to the ground before him. He became snow and returned to his home Realm very much alive.

Edward stood back up and held out his right hand for Zesrial who came to him in her Wyyvern blade form as the next Leon Aventis entered the Realm before them. Zesrial left her Wyyvern blade form, got between Edward and the Leon Aventis, and shot a bolt of her Dead lightning from her bow deflecting an arrow forged of plasma. The Leon Aventis activated her jetpack, flew above Zesrial, and drew her bow back forging a fresh plasma arrow to fire at Edward. Zesrial held out her left hand and Edward vanished into his teal-hued Dead snow just as the arrow would have struck him. In his Wyyvern shieldwall form, Edward reappeared in Zesrial’s left hand, his Wyyvern’s mark of teal-hued white froze over her left eye. “You have to kill me first.”

The Leon Aventis fired another arrow at Edward only to have it splash off of him, “alright, fine,” the Leon Aventis reluctantly agreed. Zesrial flexed her wings in response as she set Edward down and drew her bow before flying to be level with the Leon Aventis. Pulling back her bow, the Leon Aventis found half of Zesrial’s bow in her chest and a bolt of her Dead lightning already around her neck before she could release. The purple-hued golden bolt exploded sending the Leon Aventis back to her home Realm.

A slow clap echoed in the distance, “bravo.”

“Hunter,” Zesrial remembered the Leon Aventis who once served Searl.

“May I fight you first, as well,” the Leon Aventis asked. On a bolt of her Dead lightning, Zesrial returned to Edward, hoisted him up in her left hand and levatited as she pulled a hilt from Edward. A bolt of purple-hued golden Dead lightning connected the hilt to a sphere with ten six-inch spikes that hung just above the ground. Flexing her wings she gestured for him to come at her. One of the Leon Aventis’s shields met with Edward as the other came around to block Edward’s morning star. Skillfully pushing through Zesrial’s defences, the Leon Aventis blocked her razor sharp feathered wings as she spun at him. Finding his opening, he deflected Edward’s spiked sphere and uppercutted Zesrial sending her to the ground on her back. 

“You were right. This was a good day to where armor,” Zesrial stood up with a flash of her Dead lightning and firmly planted her feet to the ground. Her feathered wings separated and reformed in her right hand as a second shieldwall identical to Edward and ran to the Leon Aventis meeting his shields with her own. Much heavier than his shields, Zesrial’s shieldwalls easily beat through the Leon Aventis’s defences destroying his shields and armor with brute force.

The Leon Avenits knelt down before Zesrial, “please, allow me to serve under you.”

“Edward is in need of a second Warpriest to replace the one he has freed,” Zesrial replied, freeing him from his name as a hood formed over his head as his armor and shields were repaired. “You will serve him,” then, on a bolt of her Dead lightning she sent him to wait with the other Warpriests.

“You’re rewarding him?” Scoundrel questioned out of legit confusion. “I didn’t even know a Leon Aventis could be a Warpriest.

“I am punishing him with eternal servitude to Edward and his name is no longer Leon Aventis,” Zesrial replied.

“Whatever, I’ve seen enough,” the Leon Aventis replied. “I’m not fighting either of you,” then, of his own accord, he returned to his home Realm.

“Fair enough,” Edward left his Wyyvern shieldwall form as Zesrial took her Wyyvern blade form. “I bet you will though,” he pointed Zesrial at his old friend. The mute Fennec Fox bowed in response and the two sprinted to each other meeting, weapon to weapon, in glorious melee combat. Neither one able to best the other, the two slid back from each other. 

Edward readied, but Leon Aventis bowed as Sarah’s voice came down saying, “he may have kept the name, but he is not a Leon Aventis. This is my Warpriest, with him I am well pleased, for he has challenged my God and shown himself to be equal.”

Edward smiled, “thank you for the fight, old friend.” Leon Aventis nodded and then returned to Sarah Iron.

Maniacal laughter echoed throughout the Realm, “I have been waiting for this moment,” two voices one deep and the other like that of a child. “You have demonstrated your superiority over the physical, but how will you fair against the magical, I wonder.”

“Wizard,” Edward and Zesrial said at the same time as they took unarmed stances back to back. Teal-hued white Dead snow whirled around them as purple-hued gold Dead lightning lit the sky above them. The Leon Aventis’s laughter increased with glee as a massive meteor of antimatter and fire hurdled at them. Edward flicked his wrist and its fires went out as a bolt of Zesrial’s Dead lightning shattered it. A flash of light summoned a storm of darkness echoing with laughter to surround them. Their powers combined, Edward and Zesrial became a Living Wyyvern of whirling teal-hued white Dead snow wreathed in purple-hued gold Dead lightning that ate the Leon Aventis’s darkness storm and sent him back to his home Realm.

“Flashy,” commented a familiar voice.

Edward and Zesrial both turned with smiles on their faces, “Nid!” The shouted excitedly in unison, but she wasn’t there. Instead they found a cave.

“Well come on then,” the Leon Aventis’s voice echoed out from the mouth of the cavern. “I doubt you two have all day.”

Inside, the cave was open and webs made of ropes, wires, and chainlinks had been spread throughout the cavern, “you prepare fast,” Edward commented.

“Its my reputation,” the Leon Aventis’s voice echoed.

“Not enough room to fly,” admitted Zesrial.

“I believe that was the point,” Edward replied. “I say we grounded.”

“Allow her to come to us,” Zesrial agreed. A pair of syringes suddenly stuck both their necks, injecting thousands of spider eggs into their blood streams. Edward froze and shattered the ones in his neck before they could hatch while Zesrial electrified and disintegrated the ones in her neck before they could hatch.

“That was my best move,” the Leon Aventis complained. “I’d swing down there and attack with my poison injecting dagger, but with your blade and your shieldwall I don’t see that going well. Besides, you’d probably just ignore the poison,” she dropped down to greet them. “You can send me home now.”

“I can free you from that name,” said Edward.

“I bet you could,” Nid put a hand on Edward’s shoulder, “but I don’t want you too.”

On a bolt of her Dead lightning Zesrial charged at the Leon Aventis and gave her a hug, “we are going to miss you,” she said, knowing that no Leon Aventis ever sees Heaven. With a smile, and of her own accord, the Leon Aventis returned to her home Realm. Then Edward and Zesrial left the cave to face the next Leon Aventis in line.

*          *

Standing atop the tallest skyscraper in the city she had been born in, Nid stretched her arms out as she allowed herself to drop backwards in a free fall. “My world once called me assassin. I thought that was all I ever could be, but it has been a thousand years here since I left to help Edward reclaim Zesrial and ten more since I returned. The stronghold I grew up in has become a metropolis of technology run by corporations both good and bad and now the people here call me hero. I used to believe my fate was chained to my name, but it is not and never was. My fate is my own. As is yours. You need only believe you can be more than you are. Who am I? My friends all call me Nid. I was born, one of many, from the Emerald Black Cat’s third Life under whom one is born for each Realm. We are the one. We are the only. Our name is Leon Aventis.” At the last second before hitting the ground she shot out a grapple wire and pulled herself up. Pushing the button on the side of her crossbow to disconnect the wire she shot a second grapple wire with her other crossbow. With acrobatic ease she swung herself through her city’s streets. “What’s yours?”