[Rejoice! Child of Eshe.]
[Your Awakening Begins!]
The world felt heavier with every breath.
Rhys' chain burned; black flames slithering along the iron links, flickering between crimson and violet embers. His heart pounded, but not from fear. Something deeper, something rawer, roared beneath his skin.
Silas was saying something before he was cut off by the Whispers. Now though, he was engaged with a crazed prisoner who was swinging on anyone, whether they be foe or ally.
The Eshe user's gaze fixed on the chain, his smirk slipping into something more calculating. His blue tattoo pulsed again, the gravity in the room shifting ever so slightly, like the air itself was holding its breath.
Then the fight began.
The guard moved first. He left Goro, registering a bigger threat.
With a flick of his wrist, the air around Rhys' legs condensed, an invisible weight dragging him down mid-step. Rhys staggered, his knee buckling as if the stone floor was trying to swallow him whole.
But, he didn't fall.
Instead, Rhys twisted, using the momentum of the added gravity to swing his chain in a low arc. The black flames hissed as they licked the ground, trailing a burning crescent through the air.
The Eshe user sidestepped, he was annoyingly fluid, lightening himself just enough to carry him out of range, his feet barely touching the floor.
But Rhys didn't let up. He pivoted, flinging the chain again, this time aiming higher; for the Eshe user's chest. Maybe it was in his head, but the flames seemed to guide the chain towards his target. Otherwise, some of the moves he was pulling off would have been impossible.
Another flick of the wrist.
The air above the Eshe User grew dense, the chain's trajectory bending mid-swing, pulled down by a sudden gravitational shift. It crashed into the stone beside him with a clang, sending shards of rock skittering across the floor.
'His weight control is getting real irritating now…'
Rhys' grip tightened on the chain. His body was moving faster than his thoughts — but not fast enough.
The powerful guard capitalized on that discrepancy.
He raised his hand again, and the air around Rhys collapsed. He felt his ribs crush inward, an unbearable pressure slamming him to his knees. His body screamed, the black flames on his chain flickering, struggling to stay alive.
The Eshe user stepped closer, his tattoo glowing brighter now. The confidence had returned to his face, like he had just realized something.
"You've merely just awakened," he said softly, "You still aren't getting past me."
Rhys grit his teeth. The flames along his chain sputtered... then flared.
He shifted his grip, coiling the burning chain around his forearm. The heat didn't hurt, it seemed to merge with his skin, the black and crimson fire pulsing in time with his heartbeat.
'Use it. Don't fight the weight, move with it.'
When the force of the aspect pressed down harder, Rhys didn't resist.
He fell forward — deliberately this time — letting the sudden shift hurl him into a roll. As he tumbled, he flung the chain again, using the added weight to whip it faster.
The chain shot out like a black flame serpent, aimed at the user's legs. The guard jumped, using his Aspect to make himself weightless for a brief second.
That's exactly what Rhys wanted. Mid-air, the Eshe user had no traction and nothing to anchor him.
Rhys yanked the chain back and spun, catching a broken piece of stone with the flames. The rock ignited on contact, smouldering black as the fire clung to it unnaturally. Without hesitation, Rhys flung the burning stone directly at his opponent.
The Eshe User's eyes widened, he tried to dodge but it wasn't possible at the moment.
The stone struck him in the shoulder, sending him hurtling sideways. He hit the ground hard, rolling to regain his balance, his Aspect already pulling him heavier to steady himself.
But Rhys was still on the offence.
The weight on his body fluctuated, but he adjusted, using the changes in gravity to fuel his own momentum. He darted forward, dragging the burning chain behind him like a trail of fire.
The Eshe User rose, his tattoo flaring bright. He thrust his hand forward, sending a sudden gravitational wave rippling toward Rhys; an attempt to crush him mid-charge.
But Rhys wasn't stopping.
He let the wave hit, feeling his bones groan under the pressure, but he pushed through, twisting his body at the last second to swing the chain in a diagonal arc.
The black flames roared, a serpent of fire and fury.
The Eshe User raised his arm to block, possibly increasing the weight of the wind to act as some sort of shield.
But the chain didn't just hit. The black flames bit into him. One of the unnatural properties Rhys himself could not explain at the moment.
…The moment the chain made contact, the flames didn't bounce off, they clung to the Eshe User's arm, devouring the fabric of his leather armour and scorching his skin.
He let out a sharp hiss of pain. His control faltered.
It seems like the authority over his wavered aspect wavered.
Just then, Rhys saw his opening.
Without thinking, he grabbed the loose end of the chain with his other hand — both arms burning now — and twisted his body, preparing for one final, devastating strike.
The flames surged, turning black and violet, alive and violent. The brutal embers roared as Rhys lunged…
But the Eshe User was already moving, seemingly having recovered his authority.
The moment Rhys' flaming chain struck his arm, but the man didn't recoil. Instead, he used the pain. His Aspect pulsed again, and with a sharp flick of his wrist, the gravity around his wounded arm increased tenfold.
The added weight forced his arm down along with the chain, snuffing out the fire against the cold stone floor, like slamming a lid on a roaring flame.
Before Rhys could react, the Eshe User followed through on his attack.
He stepped in close — too close for Rhys to swing the chain — and drove a knee into his ribs, the strike heavier than it should have been.
Rhys coughed, the air exploding from his lungs, but he caught himself mid-stumble.
He twisted his chain around his fist, wrapping the burning metal tight, the black and crimson flames licking his knuckles.
No more wild swings. Now, the chain was a weapon for close combat. A flame-coated brass knuckle.
…Now, Rhys adjusted his combat style to something he was more familiar with. With the added 'awareness' he received during his awakening and the few years of training from the Benefactor, he was a good enough weapon himself.
Rhys ducked low, throwing a fiery punch at the Eshe User's ribs, but the man moved with unnatural grace, lightening his body just enough to slide out of reach.
And then the counter came.
A downward palm strike, as heavy as a hammer, aimed straight for Rhys' shoulder.
Rhys saw it coming, barely. He shifted at the last second, the strike grazing his collarbone instead of shattering it.
The pain was still brutal. Like a lead block slamming into his skin.
The guard continued to press the attack.
He flowed into a series of sharp, controlled movements, each strike carrying more weight than it should. A jab to Rhys' side. A spinning elbow aimed at his jaw. A sweeping kick enhanced by a sudden gravity spike, dragging Rhys' leg down mid-dodge.
He wasn't just fighting Rhys, he was controlling the very space they fought in. Much to Rhys' frustration.
But Rhys wasn't out of tricks either. He had a level control over his body that he never had before. Even down to feeling a shift in the currents of his immediate surroundings.
The chain flared again, his tattoo burning hotter.
When the next gravity-powered punch came, Rhys didn't dodge, he stepped into it.
He met the Eshe User's fist with his own, the black flames along his knuckles colliding with the crushing force of the gravity Aspect. For a split second, the weight pressing against Rhys' hand felt unbearable, like his bones would snap.
'Argh!'
But then the flames surged.
The impact sent both of them staggering back.
Rhys' hand throbbed, his knuckles screaming in pain, but the Eshe User wasn't unscathed either. His arm, still bearing scorch marks from the chain, twitched slightly.
They locked eyes.
The next exchange was faster.
Rhys ducked and weaved, each dodge smoother than the last, his body growing more attuned to the shifting gravity.
He struck back with short, precise punches, using the chain as a makeshift knuckle-duster — targeting the Eshe User's ribs and shoulders.
The Eshe User fought back with heavier than normal strikes, every palm thrust and kick carrying the weight of an avalanche.
But something had shifted.
Rhys was adapting.
Each time the Eshe User increased the surrounding pressure, Rhys didn't resist. He let the weight pull him in, turning gravity into force, his blows now hitting like falling stars. A sudden flare of black flame lit the air as Rhys swung his chain-wrapped fist, catching the guard across the jaw.
The impact sent the man staggering back, his calm demeanour cracking for the first time.
Not letting a temporary victory distract him Rhys didn't let up.
He surged forward, driving a knee into the user's stomach, then twisting into a brutal elbow strike aimed for his temple.
For the first time, Rhys was in control.
The user cursed under his breath, his tattoo flaring desperately. And just as Rhys was feeling sure of his victory, something happened…
The guard shouted something in the direction of the prisoner subjugation efforts.
"Ronoah!"
Rhys' stomach dropped.
From the blur of fighting prisoners and guards, a new figure materialized. A shadow slicing through the chaos with impossible speed.
'I guess this is Ronoah.'
He was a blur of quick and precise movements, his short blade flickering like a serpent's fang. Rhys recognized him as one of the two Eshe-using guards wreaking havoc in the escapees.
In a flash, Ronoah was at Rhys' side, his blade slicing through the air, aimed straight for Rhys' throat.
Rhys barely managed to twist away, the blade grazing his neck.
Now it was two against one.
Rhys barely kept up, the two Eshe users moving in perfect sync.
The chain wrapped around his fist flared again, black and crimson flames licking at the air as he swung a burning punch at the gravity user's head.
He missed.
The user sidestepped, using a sudden gravity shift to pull Rhys' swing off course.
And that's when Ronoah struck with a flash of steel.
The blade shot toward Rhys' throat.
'Too fast! No time to react.'
The Gravity User doubled the weight around Rhys' legs, rooting him in place like his bones had been fused to the floor.
He couldn't move away.
The noisy hall suddenly fell silent as the blade arced down, spelling his imminent death…