Rise of the Reaper - Chris Pastrana (reading in the dark .TXT) 📗

The sun was shinning brightly over a small field outside a simple country man's house. Wind gently swayed the nearby trees and the nearby stream trickled happily as it rolled by the estate. In the field a young girl sat under a lone tree, playing with a fallen fruit.
Her mother sat nearby, eyes closed, humming softly to herself as she weaved a basket together with small strips of wood she had peeled earlier that morning. The dress she wore was not exotic or elegant, but she wore it with the pride of someone who knew their trade. Her dark black hair shone brightly in the sun as the gentle breeze made it move in unison with the leaves and tall grass.
Treasa sat silently nearby, having thrown the hard fruit into the grass for the wildlife to have. Now watching her mother weave the basket she marveled at how beautiful she was. While only eight years old Treasa was already beginning to look more like her mother and less like her father, the towns master-at-arms. Her short black hair didn't have the curls her mothers had, nor did she have her mothers beautiful silver eyes.
Her life was perfect, and even though she was only a peasant she wanted nothing else in the world than to sit in this field and weave baskets with her mother. Everything was perfect, and she hoped it would last, Her dream was broken when the sweet scent of flowers in the air was replaced with the smell of burning flesh.
Treasa's mother jumped to her feet, startled, when the wind sent the smell in her direction. Neither of the woman were aware of the growing conflict within the Fatir Empire as two factions of fire elementalists fought for control of the country. The fighting had begun to spread into the outer cities of the empire. Having only typically been fought close to the nations capital city, the spreading of the conflict was leading to increased deaths of innocent bystanders who were not involved with the war.
The unfinished basket fell to the ground as Treasa's mother ran towards her. Grabbing her arm tightly she ran as fast as she could towards their home. A bruise was already forming on Treasa's arm but she was too worried about how upset her mother was to notice. Unlike her mother, Treasa hadn't known what the smell was, the political uprising had been far from her eyes and her father had kept her ignorant of all what was happening in the empire.
A ball of fire shot from the trees and ignited the grass the had been running through, cutting them off from their house. Screams became deafening as soldiers stormed into the previously peaceful field from all sides. Blood and smoke covered everything as balls of fire tore into the bodies of soldiers. A strong wind kicked up and blew ash at Treasa's eyes. Trying to wipe away the hot embers her eyes began to tear. A hot blast of air blew past her. Her mother's grip began to loosen and then it disappeared completely.
Finally managing to get most of the ash out of her eyes the young girl turned to search for her mother. Her mother's body was laying on the ground half burnt. It hadn't been a blast of heat that had blown past but a stray fireball.
Staring at her dead body was mind numbing. She couldn't believe what she was seeing, nor could she cry. She just started to shake. In seconds it felt as if years had passed as she just stood watching the woman who only an hour before has been sitting peacefully under a tree.
A large man ran towards Treasa with a sword drawn. Even though she wasn't an armed combatant he didn't care, everything on the field was up for grabs, and he wanted the child dead. As he approached a knife slammed into his forehead knocking him backwards. Two men appeared from behind her, each man wore a uniform drastically different then the other soldiers on the field, but what stood out was their white eyes. When they caught her gaze she couldn't look away, she was so petrified that she couldn't move.
More white eyed men appeared and the flow of the battle began to change drastically. Where before they had been barely holding on, one side was now forcefully pushing the opposition back.
When it was clear the enemies had finally been pushed into a full retreat everyone broke into a cheer. Gathering together, all of the white eyed soldiers exchanged congratulatory handshakes before being addressed by the man Treasa believed was their leader.
"Today the Fare Tilwin Reath have finally been given a chance to participate in this rebellion! And as a result we have earned our places in this war, proving that we are not an extinct weapon!" Everybody cheered loudly and threw their arms up into the air.
"Reapers!" An unseen man in the group cheered, within moments everybody began chanting with in unison.
Still in shock from the battle, Treasa barely heard anything that was said. All she could see was the image of her mothers dead body in her mind, like it had been burned their. Anger roared to life from deep within her. Reaching down she pulled the large knife from the forehead of the man who had tried to kill her. Spinning the blade up she sprinted towards the group of white eyed men.
Before she had even come into range they all turned towards her, apparently having known she was coming for them. She couldn't tell if it was shock or amusement that had flashed across their faces but she didn't care. She had some training with a knife and she intended to draw blood.
A muscular man moved into her way and batted her aside like a fly. Treasa landed with a grunt nearby, having all of the breath knocked from her. She refused to stop and charged again.
"Hey Prod, this kid has an anger problem. What should I do with her?"
The man he was speaking too was the same man who made the speech moments before. "She's just a child Fantus, leave her be." Folding his arms in front of himself, Prod was unconcerned with the angry girl.
"She doesn't look to be wanting to stop anytime soon." Fantus said knocking Treasa back again.
Another man stepped up and kicked Treasa across the face, snapping her jaw.
"Siped!" Prod yelled drawing his own two handed sword from his back.
"You're too weak Prod! This rebellion would be finished already if we had just begun fighting!"
"Master Fatir said we were to stay at the temple. We serve him, not your own inclinations."
"That's not good enough! He doesn't know what our potential is! That damn family doesn't appreciate us like the old line did!"
A sword was at the man's throat in seconds, silence had befallen the group and nobody was willing to interrupt. A heavy unease rested in the air, something strange was going on. Visibly split between the two men, the rest of the group remained silent.
In that moment all of the pain, all of the hatred bubbled over and Treasa exploded. Screaming at the top of her lungs the ground around them began to vibrate.
"Is she an elementalist?!" Fantus yelled over the girl's scream.
"No she's not shifting." Prod said curiously standing by, watching. Siped didn't wait to see what was going to happen. Drawing his long sword he charged towards Treasa, ready to kill her. Before he could get close enough the vibrations running through the air shifted, focusing towards the running man sending him spiraling backwards.
The half that had backed Siped all drew throwing knives from hiding places in their uniforms and threw them, in unison, at the screaming girl. Another shift in the air deflected all of the knives away from her, and back towards their owners. Most of the blades had been turned away with their own weapons, but one slipped through and struck a Reaper in the neck. Falling to the ground the man bled out and died in only a few moments.
Everybody was awestruck. This seemingly simple girl was proving to be incredibly dangerous and in her current state powerful enough to kill. With such a unique style of fighting it would be impossible for them to fight back without taking unacceptable casualties.
Prod started walking towards her slowly. As he approached he started dropping his weapons. Soon he had nothing to defend himself with. He held his hands out in front of him defensively. When he was finally close enough to touch her he placed his hands on her shoulders and hugged her. Slowly the screaming stopped and, finally calmed, started to cry.
Soldiers approached and picked her up. They bound her and carried the sobbing girl away towards their camp. It was an event nobody had expected. Looking back over his shoulder towards Siped and Fantus, Prod gave them a look they had never seen before. "We're taking her back to temple of the Fare Tilwin Reath."
"Is that a good idea Prod?" Fantus asked questionably.
"You don't have a choice, she isn't a person we captured by our enemies. She will make a good Reaper."
"Most women don't survive the training, you know that Prod" Siped was now openly mocking Prod. The man's ability to anger an enemy was one of his greatest talents.
"I will take her into my sect and train her. I believe she has what it takes to be a great asset to us all."

Treasa woke laying in a bed covered with a thin sheet. The thick air was hot and humid. Her body was covered with a shiny layer of sweat. The windows were covered by bars and the door was made of a solid metal. Even though she had never seen anything like it in her life it was clear she was in a prison cell.
Touching her face she could feel a cloth that was holding her mouth shut. It had been mended but when she tried to move it the pain made her eyes water. She couldn't remember anything from the point she was kicked across the face till she awoke in this strange room.
Slowly rolling over in her bed she came face to face with Prod, the leader of the white eyed soldiers who arrived after her mother had been killed. He wore simple clothes now, no armor or weapons as he had been when the had first met. Now she could see the softness of his face and the pain that lay hidden deep within his eyes.
"I'm glad you're finally awake. I brought you here to the temple of the Fare Tilwin Reath."