Bloodlines of Archaea I. Afira
A Strange Fog

“If you stop moving, this’ll be faster,” Akuma hissed, clearly frustrated with my quick movement. He swung again.

“Who are you and what have you done with Akuma?” I asked, bending down and quickly hitting him with my leg. He fell to his knees.

“You’re no fun,” he said, ignoring my question and frowning. He got to his feet, looking into my eyes carefully.

“You still haven’t answered the question,” I said, glaring back into his blank eyes.

“I’m just another shadow, no one important. I’m nothing more than a messenger, really,” he said, pausing before taking another swing with the sword at my head. I ducked just in time. “Your friend is weak minded. I barely had to fight to take control. He was so nervous he barely even noticed me sneak in,” he said, laughing.

“They send messengers to kill queens?” I asked, hitting his hand and knocking the blade from it. It fell with a crash to the wooden boards. Without a moment’s hesitation, I picked the blade up and pointed it at Akuma’s chest.

He laughed but put his hands up. “I have no care for whether he survives or not. You won’t hurt me, and no matter how hard he tries to stop me from hurting you, his measly attempts never do anything, he just isn’t strong enough!” he yelled, but it didn’t seem to be directed at me, instead, he seemed to be yelling his facts to himself. I kept the blade stationed at his chest. I hesitated for a moment unsure of how to free Akuma from the shadow which had consumed him, but the more I waited, the more those blank eyes dodged restlessly from mine to the blade at his chest, and then to the balled fist which I had unknowingly created. A small flicker of light shined through my tightened fingers.

I looked up into my best friend’s face, and into the eyes which were not his own. “No,” I said, “I think this is something more. I think you are not just a messenger, but something else. So I will ask you again before I release you from my friend and take your life. Who. Are. You?”

Akuma smiled blankly. “Your threats don’t scare me,” he said.

I looked down, nodding calmly. “No?” I asked, “then why are you shaking?”

The creature looked at me with a kind of pure, utter, untampered fear which could be seen even through the blankness in the eyes. There was a pause before the creature spoke through Akuma, his voice much deeper than before. “My name, is Pulea, Commander of the army of shadows.”

I gasped, watching as Akuma began to breathe a deep grey fog from out of his mouth, the life in his eyes returning a little bit more each time. I balled a flame into my hand, waiting warily until the cloud had fully removed itself from inside of Akuma. Once it was clear from Akuma, I took aim and shot the grey fog out of the sky. It became enveloped in ashes but still fell to the sea. I ran to the edge of the boat and jumped into the water, trying to reach the shape to decide whether or not it was alive still.

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