Diversion To Urasha

James’ heart just would not stop thumping. His ears would not stop ringing. He was scared, absolutely terrified of what was about to happen. Not only that, he was confused. His mind wasn’t even able to begin to comprehend or fathom what was going on. James had obtained the stone. He had brought the desired jewel back to the city with Crystaline and Crystos. Then what? Darkness, blackness, a horrible pain in the back of his head, until he woke up to imprisonment. Now this? Being restrained by some brutish guards? Being dragged out to this place which was surrounded by people?

If either of James’ hands were free right now, he’d have raised it to protect his eyes from the overbearing sunlight, and the vast crowds of people, all stood, raving like animals in the stands all around him.

James stared directly ahead of him, his eyes desperately searching the circular stadium pitch for anyone he knew. Then he saw it, he saw the cage, the nasty, metal clunky thing which contained each of his human friends. Then there was Crystos! Tied to a tall black pole next to the thing! What was he doing out here? What was going on? Where was his sister?

As the strong Urashan guards walked him up even closer to the human cage, James could feel his heart beginning to beat even faster. Lottie was in there! He could see her! Lottie! His dear sweet Lottie! His bestest best friend! The poor little thing was frantic, leaning on the cage bars, desperately shouting out his name.

Now only a few short metres away from the human cage, James felt his fighting instincts beginning to kick in. Feeling suddenly overwhelmed with complete and utter desperation to see his best friend, James began to strain with all his might to escape from the heavy grasps of the guards.

“James!” Lottie and Phil were both yelling together, desperate to reach him.

“Lottie!” James croaked, still fruitlessly fighting to free himself from the guards who were dragging him away. “Lottie!” he screamed this time, watching as she got further and further away from him.

With rough hands, two of the guards pushed James’ back onto one of the tall black poles, and whilst one held his struggling body to the pole, the other lifted James’ hands behind his head, securing them to the pole behind him.

“Have fun, boy!” one of the guards cackled, before walking away with the other guards to leave James alone.

As James eyed the many screens and speakers which decorated the stadium, he noticed a purple display in front of him. It looked as if the Urashans were planning on unveiling something today, in front of all these people.

The crowd fell completely silent as a familiar figure began to walk across the purple sandy floor. Draped in his long black robe, King Cryston walked up to the regal display, grinning out his usual wicked, horrible little smile. When the king spoke, his words echoed throughout the entire stadium. It was as if he had an invisible microphone. “Welcome! My people...humans. It truly means a lot, that you would all come here today, to witness the great spectacle which I have prepared for you. As you are all aware, my son and my daughter have been absent for quite some time, both of them carrying out a very important mission. You may all recall the great myth of the healing stone. You may all recall, that it was our dear ancestors who found it, yet they failed to obtain it. They failed to bring it back home, here to the Urashan city. That created a question in the minds of many. Did such a stone exist? Well, my people, today I have gathered you all here to answer that very question. To help me with my answer, I bring to the stage my beautiful daughter, Crystaline!”

As soon as he heard Crystaline’s name being called out, James’ heart lurched right up through to his throat. As he watched the distant black figure of Crystaline drawing nearer and nearer to the display, James’ heart plummeted right the way down to the very bottom of his stomach. So, she was in on this? Whatever sick, twisted little event that the king was planning, Crystaline had been planning it too. Oh crap!

As the crowds roared louder than ever to welcome Crystaline to the stage, James could feel his whole entire body trembling, convulsing in pain. How had he let this happen? James could barely even bring himself to look at the large screen, and the images of a hooded Crystaline.

With his pale bony fingers, the king began to caress the small blue box, which rested on top of the purple display. “Now, my people, you all know how much I cherish each and every Urashan to have ever been born. You all know what great and utter respect I hold for our dear ancestors. They located the stone, after all. They hid it away somewhere safe, until the right individual would need it. The map which they produced found its way to my hands. I’m not a believer of mere coincidences. I’m a believer of fate. You see, that map did not come to me for no reason, for I am sure you all remember...” the king let out a strained croak. “I am sure you all remember your late Queen. I am sure you all remember what she did for the Urashan population. The healing fluid was produced thanks to all her dedication and hard work. Therefore, it was no mistake that the healing stone would find its way to me, to this very generation of Urashan people!”

As the crowds all around let out their own surprised gasps, the king held the blue box, gesturing for his daughter to remove her hood. “Now, Crystaline, your princess, oh she is good! Oh, she is superb, so exquisitely skilled! For my dear precious daughter has achieved what our ancestors could not, she has brought the stone home, to this very stage, to this very city!”

The crowds gave another roar, this time, letting out their excitement and their appreciation towards Crystaline.

“Crystaline, my dear, would you do me the honour of opening up this little blue box? Would you do me the honour of unveiling this precious stone to our people?”

With a pained strain on her face, Crystaline took the small box from her father, carefully opening it up to reveal the gleaming blue gem inside it.

This time, the crowds went wild, lit up with awe and hope that such a miracle could even exist.

The smug king used his hands to help him hush the overly excited crowd, for he had more to say to his people. “Now, I am sure you have all heard of the stone’s powers, of what it can do, and today, I would like to put what we have all heard to the test. I would like to see if this stone really can grant one person complete immortality. So, who? Might you all ask? Who should be granted such unthinkable powers? Well, in my opinion, there is no better subject than a leader, than a king.”

As soon as the king’s words had left his lips, the crowds let out another gasp, before continuing to mumble their differing opinions to one another. An immortal king? Was that really such a good idea?

Unaware of the crowd’s distaste, or perhaps, choosing to not care about the opposing opinions of his people, the king continued. “So how? Might you all ask. How does one activate such a stone? Perhaps you have all heard that this stone is not quite as generous as we would all like to think. Because unfortunately, this stone will not just readily grant a person immortality without receiving anything in return from its beholder. No, I’m afraid to say that this stone requires something in order for it to activate. It requires blood, death and sacrifice. You see, the stone resets itself after so many years. When our dear ancestors first laid their hands on it, they would have held the power to have had it activated. Because they chose not to activate it within a certain number of years, however, the stone reset itself, setting itself to wait for whoever would next lay their hands upon it first. Unfortunately, this young human tied up here was the first to touch the stone, therefore he must be sacrificed!”

As he took in the king’s words, James felt all the blood draining away from his face. His ears could hear the crowds getting more and more riled. He could hear his friends shrieking in horror, yet he could not fathom it all. He could not understand or comprehend it all, because his death, it was today.

With a change of tone, the king continued, unmasking something deep within him for the very first time. Cryston was showing his hatred. “You see, I have a confession to make. You humans, landing here on this planet was no accident. Oh no! It was all planned, by me! I haven’t forgotten what happened. I haven’t forgotten how you and your selfish race of people dragged us into a war which we wanted to be no part of. I haven’t forgotten that your horrific race of people killed my queen, my Crystie!”

James felt his heart jolting suddenly. His mind was back. He could hear, he could comprehend exactly what the king was saying. That conversation in the cave with Crystaline. That heart to heart, it was a human ship? The one which had crash landed? But surely? Surely Cryston couldn’t blame the human race for what happened? The two species were allies, friends!

Interrupting James’ thoughts, Phil’s loud voice blared out to the king. “That was a long time ago, Cryston! You can’t blame us for that!”

“Oh, can’t I?” the king spat. “If it wasn’t for you and your mediocre race of people, Urasha would still have their queen. My two children would still have their mother, and I....I would still have my wife. You see, Phil, I really wanted it to be you to touch the stone first. I wanted it to be you tied up to that pole, waiting for your death. But now, now I couldn’t possibly wish for a better outcome. I see that you love the boy, and perhaps you view him as a son? So somehow, everything just fell into place. There is no better revenge, than to force you to watch a loved one die.”

As James tried to figure out what the king’s words all meant, Crystos’ hoarse voice growled out from the pole behind him, shocking and silencing everyone. “His won’t be the only heart you break!”

Trying to appear calm, the king turned to face his son. “Now, now, Crystos. I do know that you love your foolish humans, but to say that killing the boy will destroy your heart, that’s taking things a little too far, don’t you think?”

Crystos gritted his teeth, his eyes aggressively penetrating his father’s. “I don’t mean me. I’m speaking about Crystaline. I’ve seen her, I’ve watched her. She loves him. Crystaline is in love with James, and if you kill him, you kill her, too.”

The king took a sharp breath of air into his lungs. Crystos’ words had caught him off guard. With a sudden, abrupt movement, Cryston stormed towards his daughter, aggressively grabbing her, as he dragged her in front of James. With one hand grappling Crystaline’s stomach, and the other clutching onto her delicate little face, the king growled out his next words. “Look at him! Look at him!”

James watched as Crystaline’s eyes tentatively strained their way towards his. Inside those eyes of hers was pain, plain and simple, it was right there, all the pain that a person could ever possibly feel, it was there, inside the eyes of Crystaline.

“What nonsense!” the king snarled, snapping Crystaline free from his grasp. “As if my daughter would ever love you. A mere, feeble, weak little human. Part of a wretched race of people? You think that Crystaline would love you?” The king’s eyes shifted to his son. “I’m sorry, you must excuse Crystos. He genuinely had nothing to do with this. He had no idea what I was planning, what Crystaline and I had been planning for a very long time.” The king snapped his head back towards James. “You see, I hate to break it to you, but you have been played, human. Crystaline knew exactly what she was doing, she hates you humans just as much as I do. She wants to avenge her mother, just as I do. She would never ever defy me. She would never ever love, or even like a human. She wants you dead, boy!”

Although he’d already suspected as much, James could still feel his heart crushing in on itself. He could still feel the agony of his heart collapsing, breaking away into tiny little pieces. Perhaps a naive little part of him had hoped that Crystaline hadn’t been in on this whole ordeal. He’d hoped that maybe she’d just suddenly been dragged into it, suddenly torn between her love for him and her father. Because Crystaline, she did love him too, didn’t she? There was something there? Wasn’t there? Was there? James felt like crying as the reality of the situation hit him. It wasn’t there. It couldn’t have been. It couldn’t have ever been there, Crystaline did not feel the same, that was a fact.

Oblivious to James’ inner agony, the king continued with his verbal onslaught. “You see, boy, there is something which you do not quite understand about my daughter. There is something you do not know about her. For how do I put it? She has a way with men, a way of manipulating men into doing whatever she wants them to do.”

Feeling the infuriating anger suddenly replacing his pain, James growled out his first words of the day. “You’re sick!”

“I’m what?” the king pointed smugly to his ears. “Can you repeat that for me?”

“You’re sick!”

The king cackled. “Oh! Indeed, boy, I am sick, yes. Would you like the opportunity to fight me?”

“I’d kill you!”

The king’s laughs grew louder. “Oh, I really do doubt that very much somehow. But I will allow you the opportunity to try.” The king turned to one of his guards. “You, bring the boy his sworsha, he’s going to need it.”

As the guard threw James’ sworsha down on the floor beside his feet, the king continued with his words. “I’ve watched you use that weapon. A mubble would have far better use of that weapon than you. I am, however, giving you the opportunity to fight for your life. I am a fair man, after all. I’m giving you a chance, which was far more than Crystie ever had. Guard, release the boy!”

With a rough scaly hand, one of the brutish guards untied James’ blood drained hands from the pole. Instead of lunging straight at the king, James found his eyes following Crystaline as she rejoined Crystanaphy and her entourage at the sidelines. What was going on? What was going on inside Crystaline’s head? Inside her heart? What was going on inside his own heavily beating heart?

James had little time to focus on these questions, for the king wasted no time in activating his own sworsha, setting the thing to its sharpest blade, and surrounding it with its deadly blue voltage.

Instead of doing the sensible thing and grabbing his own weapon, James turned back towards the human cage, his eyes meeting Lottie’s. His best friend looked so different, so upset, so frantic, so scared! As if in slow motion, James could see Lottie’s eyes widening. He could see her mouth opening wider and wider, until eventually, James heard the cries of his best friend.

“Look out!” she screeched.

With his instincts to survive pouring into him at last, James dived towards the floor, just about managing to avoid having his head chopped off by the king. When he scrambled back up onto his feet, he made a beeline straight for his weapon. Without having to give it much thought, James managed to replicate the king’s dangerous sworsha.

“At last!” the king hissed. “Your sense has reached you. You realise that you must fight for your life. I promised you a chance, boy, but your efforts will be proved futile. Your death shall be today.”

With his sworsha raised, the king ran at James, his weapon colliding into James’ with a heavy thunderous crackle. For a short while, the two men appeared to match each other in skill and heavy blows. James was even pulling out moves he never even knew he had. James was fighting, his adrenaline and his need to survive giving him skill and power.

Unfortunately, however, James’ survival instincts were to soon be forced to succumb to the king’s superior skill, for the king dealt to James, a very powerful blow, which had him immediately floored.

Not wanting to give in, James clawed at the sandy ground to grab his weapon, then he rolled up onto his feet, just about managing to shield his body from the king’s lethal sworsha.

Suddenly realising that he could use his body as a weapon, as well as the electrical sworsha, James kicked at the king, flooring the Urashan master for the first time.

Instead of lunging straight after Cryston, James took a moment to recapture his breath, listening as the loud crowds distorted his thoughts. Were they cheering? Were they shrieking? Were they shouting? James had no more time to lose, for the king was back up on his feet, running at him like a frenzied bull.

Once again, the two sworshas collided, and as James’ eyes found the king’s face between the luminous blue sizzles, he realised for the first time that Cryston was no longer that conceited smug man. No, the king’s eyes were desperate, fearful, in need to ensure his own survival. The king wasn’t so comfortable now. The two men were equals now, both of them in with an equal chance of surviving this fight.

Feeling spurred on by this, James felt his body sending more and more surges of adrenaline into his blood. He could feel himself starting to gain the upper hand over the king. Cryston was skilful, yes. But he was old, slower, and not as powerful.

With the most powerful thrust that his arm could muster, James whacked the king’s sworsha with his, sending the feeble old man back down to the ground where he belonged.

No longer needing to recollect his breath, James ran full pelt at the king this time, aiming to finish him off.

THUNK!

James collapsed to his knees, just as his sworsha fell beside him. The king had kicked him straight in the stomach, and James could not move, for he was too heavily winded.

As he tried to desperately summon the strength back into his body, James could hear the king creeping up behind him, reactivating both sworshas.

With a sudden burst of energy, James jumped up from the ground, turning around to face the king, only to be kicked straight in the chest. James’ body swivelled back around, just as he fell to his knees once again.

Feeling the warmth of the electricity surrounding his neck, James’ eyes found the human cage once again. He could see his friends, all shrieking, begging for him to get up and fight. But, how could he? When his head was only moments away from being sliced off?

“Well, well, well, boy!” the king victoriously began. “Your fight proved a little more interesting than I thought it would be. Nevertheless, your efforts were still in vain. The time for your death has reached you. You will not die by my sworsha, you will die by your own blade.”

James looked into the cage one last time, his eyes being drawn to the green jewel around Lottie’s neck. He couldn’t give up.

In one swift movement, James managed to stand himself up, readying himself to turn around and dodge the king’s strike.

Before James had even managed to turn around, he heard the gut wrenching sound of the sworsha blade entering flesh. James felt his body, expecting to find a gaping hole created by the king’s weapon. James found nothing. He felt nothing. Feeling confused, James turned around. What he saw was far worse than death.

There Crystaline was, stood between himself and the king, the sworsha embedded deep inside her chest.

The shellshocked king impulsively released his sworsha from his daughter’s chest, allowing her body to gush with bright red blood.

Crystaline fell straight to the ground, defeated by her own father’s strike.