Chapter 12: Chapter Eleven: The Swirling Serpent

“How unfortunate... While you two struggle against the waves, I have the advantage here. After all, this is my domain! The best you can do is to try and swim, but I can glide through the ocean’s waters, and fly through the skies! The second you entered these depths it was over for you!”
The dragon mocked Valdus and Ace.

A sense of rage and desperation suddenly filled Valdus as he heard the words, his emotions running rampant and making his blood boil. A slight burn formed upon his left forehand, before his entire arm set alight with bright, white flames. Unable to control it, he felt the searing pain rising rapidly. As those flames shone across his arm, more of the white fire began to engulf the blade of his sword, and as those flames spiralled around the blade, the markings on the blade shone a vibrant blue in sync with them. Not a single bit of the flames were doused by the rain, though - instead the rain seemingly being consumed by the fire.

“Valdus! What are you doing?”
Ace called.
His Essence is running wild! Why?

Valdus couldn’t give a response. He staggered back, holding his arm as the eye-like scar on his forehand shone with vibrant blue embers. The dragon then rose above the water’s surface, giggling and looking at Ace. At this point, it was ignoring Valdus, and focusing on Ace as its target.

“Ace...!”
Valdus tried to shout back, but his voice was weak.
Dammit...! Why am I losing control...? Why now, of all times!!

“Oh! I forgot to introduce myself! How silly of me! My name is Vertex. Shame neither of you had heard of the rumours about me... Oh well. It seems your friend is in quite the predicament, so while he’s like that...I’ll get rid of you first!”
The dragon snarled.

She then dove back down below. Ace shouted out to Valdus again, but he was still trying to fight off the flames. Valdus then shook his head, trying to respond as he looked back at Ace. For a moment, he could see Ace’s worried expression, though his vision was hazy. Everything then momentarily slowed down, much more than earlier before. He blinked, and as soon as he reopened his eyes, he saw Ace being struck by Vertex. The shock overwhelmed him, his senses running even wilder.

Not again...! I can’t let myself be held back...or Ace will be killed!
The stress welled up within him, and the flames surged with that influx.
I’m ending this, one way or another!

A sinister voice then cackled inside his head.
“My turn!”

No longer able to control his anger, nor his own magic, Valdus let go. In that instant, he felt his own Essence overwhelm him, seemingly consuming his body and taking control of it. It surged into something violent, coursing through his entirety and strengthening him. Faint bits of deep, purple fire mixed in with the white flames as well, and strange, whispering voices flooded his mind.

“Enough of this! I’m ending your game right here, right now!!”
Valdus shouted, aiming his sword at Vertex.

What sounded like two different voices echoed from within him. One was his own voice, whilst the other; that voice had a deeper tone and was filled with malice. Vertex’s grin only widened further, and the excitement she felt was clear in her eyes as Ace plummeted into the water. Despite having lost control of his own body, Valdus had managed to retain his consciousness. He still knew and could see what was happening. The flames on his arm, more so the blue marking, blazed even brighter, but the pain seemingly didn’t bother Valdus at this point.

My own Essence is...changing... Evolving...! Bit by bit, I’m losing control of my own body to it! These...whispers in my head are...so fucking loud! Argh...! Can’t...get it out of my head! I can’t control a single bit of my body, yet...this is still me. If I could just...focus...!
Valdus thought, trying to regain control.

“Well, well, well... This is more interesting than I had expected! Let’s see what strength you wield now!”
Vertex spread her wings yet again and flew toward him.

With the strength he’d now gained from his surging Essence, Valdus gripped his sword and leaped toward Vertex with great force, shooting through the air like a bullet. He felt and heard his legs snap from the force placed upon them, but his jump wasn’t hindered. Vertex then halted as dread swept over her previous expression. She sensed Valdus’s Essence. There was something unsettling residing deep within him. Something that harboured an immeasurable amount of hostility. Fear replaced her joy, and she suddenly attempted a retreat. The shrouds across her body seemingly tried to pull away from her body as well.

The power controlling Valdus gave her no chance, but he wanted to hesitate. He tried his best to avoid striking at her like this but failed to fight against it. His arms threw the sword down and struck her with the blade, but while it hit her scales, it didn’t piece them, only letting out a loud, ringing, metallic sound as a few sparks of white fire shout out from the strike. A sliver of his conscience had barely managed to stop the blade from breaching her scales, but immediately after the strike, the bright flames began to engulf Vertex entirely. She roared in pain and the black mist surrounding her body was burnt away. Valdus then shuddered, feeling all of his strength fade in an instant. At the same time, all of the fire – both of which engulfed him and Vertex – gradually faded away. They both then fell into the water, losing all consciousness.

 

Hours had passed since the fight with Vertex, and the storm was over. The waves no longer raged, and the warmth of the sunlight had returned. As Valdus finally returned to his senses, he opened his eyes to find himself lying down on the beach. He could feel the soothing sea breeze and faintly hear the calming swash of the waves. A few birds even flew by in the clear skies above. Ace was lying down nearby, slightly distant from him, and Vertex was watching over the both of them. Her scales were still a shade of cerulean blue, but noticeably brighter now, and she no longer had a sadistic smile or the black mist covering her body. Her eyes matched the pristine azure of the crystal sea, and with just a quick, single glance, Valdus felt a sense of innocence. Her overall expression showed worry for both Valdus and Ace.

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She’s...different...from earlier... Smaller than before, as well... About...the same size as me, in fact...! What the-!
Shock and confusion darted through his mind.

He stood up, but suddenly staggered back and fell as his legs suddenly gave in, yet he felt no pain whatsoever. Simply just exhaustion. Vertex tilted her head at him, now confused as well. A strange drowsiness riddled his limbs, but his mind was wide awake.

“I-...I’m truly sorry for what happened earlier, out at sea... Please, forgive me for these troubles...”
Vertex apologised.

She-...she apologised? What even is going on?
Valdus was confused, and a little worried.
Ugh, why’s everything so hazy?

Valdus felt cynical, sensing that something wasn’t right about the new situation that had arisen. All he could remember off the top of his head was what had happened prior to losing control. He could only ponder on what to do now, or rather what else to even think. He placed a hand on his head, trying to process his memories and the haziness. He began to piece together what happened during the fight, and what had happened afterward.

I...saw Ace... Vertex struck him, and then that’s when...I lost control? I managed to somehow muster up some...crazy power, but only because my Essence went crazy, and with that I struck Vertex with that white fire, similar to how I dealt with the Raptors. We both fell unconscious, and then... Then...
Valdus pondered to himself, trying to remember,
...did we die? No, that can’t be...

What really happened was that all three of them had managed to survive, just barely. After being released from the black mist, Vertex had returned to her senses quite quickly, and without hesitation she managed to get both Valdus and Ace safely back to shore. While they were unconscious she tended to their wounds, ensuring they were okay. Since then, Vertex had been waiting until they woke back up, as well. Unknowing of this, Valdus continued to ponder. Vertex noticed Valdus mumbling and explained it to him, before apologising again. Still confused as to why she was apologising, he questioned her for it.

“You keep saying you’re sorry...but why...?”
Valdus asked,
“My memories were a little hazy, but I get what was going on, now. That black mist wasn’t you.”

“That is true... The dragon that you saw out at sea...wasn’t me... I-I’m still Vertex, though! Just...not that...Cursed serpent from earlier... The Corrupt have been trying to destroy Eldoria, and in doing so are turning many of the creatures into evil beings. I couldn’t do anything to stop it, and I myself was caught. It’s horrible...”
Fear and sorrow riddled Vertex’s voice.
“I feel...responsible...for attacking you two...and killing all those adventures...!”

Valdus felt bad, but couldn’t really think of an appropriate thing to reply with. Just like the Raptors, Vertex was being controlled by some sort of dark Essence, and against her own will was forced to attack those who entered the Azure Expanse. Still wondering upon how to respond, he looked over at Ace. Ace was still injured after Vertex’s attack, but not majorly thanks to the armour he wore. He struggled to open a single eye as he looked back at Valdus, grinned, and stuck his thumb up, before collapsing again, somehow not even noticing the dragon who stood nearby them.

“He will be okay... He should rest for a while, though. The damage I’ve caused after striking at him...”
Vertex spoke, looking at Ace as well, before turning back to Valdus,
“B-by the way, I never struck you directly, but you had broken legs. What was that about?”

“N-no idea. Like I said, memory of the fight once I lost control is a little foggy. I don’t remember feeling anything...at all... I think, at least. Well, aside from some kind of...demonic rage, I myself became a husk...controlled by my own Essence. I felt and heard...something breaking in my legs, but...it didn’t hurt for some reason. My pain or emotions were almost suppressed completely, overwritten by malice...as if I no longer were myself. Just-...”
Valdus replied but paused abruptly,
“There was this immense rage that flooded through me, that’s the strongest memory I have of that fight.”

Valdus shook off the thought, then looked back at Vertex. He again wondered why her size was comparatively larger than their ship at first but was now suddenly the same size as him. Vertex then took notice of him scanning her appearance and slightly blushed.

“O-oh! I-I forgot to explain! You’re probably surprised about the sudden change in appearance! The thing is, I can change size at will. I-I can become really small, o-or as big as the ship you had. Th-though, I... I may have broken that ship completely...”
Vertex stuttered,
“This ability seems rather simple when I think about it...”

“No, no, it’s fine! It isn’t your fault at all, and the ability to change size seems pretty cool when you think more about it. That must’ve been how you seemingly appeared out of nowhere!”
Oddly, Valdus tried to cheer Vertex up.

Vertex let out a sigh and flashed a small smile. She then giggled and walked over to Ace. She held a claw over his chest, and a green glow began to surround both of them. Vertex seemed to have similar healing powers to Scarlet, yet Valdus noticed Vertex’s healing magic worked a little faster than Scarlet’s. Gradually, Ace then began to wake back up.

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