After several weeks I’ve finally remembered that this is a thing I was doing. Here’s the previous part: Origin of the Whirlwind, part four: Ieto
The news of Tyrrahn’s betrayal devastated and confused Khaita, as they had always thought he was the most loyal of their team. But Khaita knew that they couldn’t let this trip them up, and after some time, Khaita began to become angry, the type of anger that inspires action. They began to plot out their next moves, realizing that Tyrrahn’s tactical skills would make the group substantially more dangerous.
They went over everything that Tyrrahn had taught them, trying to figure out how to outsmart Tyrrahn, quickly realizing that They were outmatched. Suddenly, this mission seemed so much harder to Khaita, and they realized just how much work they had to do before they were ready to take on the villains.
But these thoughts did not discourage Khaita, instead hardening their resolve to complete this mission. They became reinvigorated after the crushing defeat and loss of time they faced on Ieto.
Khaita looked at the data about each stone and its guardian, and realized that, although it wasn’t the closest, the best stone to go after next was the elemental stone of earth, in Archivia Maximus. Archivia Maximus was a planet that had been hollowed out and turned into a massive archive of knowledge. The guardian of the archive (and the elemental stone of earth), Onua, was not native to the world. Instead, the happened upon it after all of its original inhabitants had either parishes or left. Onua realized the worth of all of this knowledge and decided to keep watch over it, and add any new knowledge he learned.
Before moving to Archivia Maximus, Onua was a galaxy renowned blacksmith, and this was exactly the reason why Khaita wanted to go there, so that they could have Onua forge them a new sword. When they arrived at Archivia Maximus, they faced trials to gain entry, displaying Khaita’s wisdom. More importantly though, showing their willingness to learn, which proved them worthy to Onua. After completing the trials, Onua met them at the entrance, and the two talked of why Khaita was there. After watching Khaita go through the trials, Onua was not only willing to give Khaita the elemental stone, which they put onto the shield of channeling, but also to help Khaita forge a sword. Together, the two of them designed and created Windhwyr, a sword that had space to contain air, and wind-controlled exhaust ports that could shoot out the air for a burst of speed. It also had outcroppings on the back that could be used to catch gusts of wind for another source of speed. Windhwyr’s curved handle allowed the wielder to attack from unique angles. Overall, it was the perfect blade for Khaita.
Though Windhwyr’s design perfectly complemented their fighting style, it still took time for Khaita to adjust, especially since it was much lighter than the weapon they’d been using for centuries. So during the trip to the next stone, Khaita trained. The even took flights out on the Comet’s Tail to practice using it in space, a completely different experience than using it elsewhere.
When Khaita arrived at the sight of the elemental stone of ice, a floating space fortress named Castle Glacier, it was under attack by the army of the villainous alliance. Khaita acted fast, boarding the Comet’s tail and coming to the aid of the fortress. The battle was not going well for Castle Glacier, and Khaita’s arrival could not have come at a better time. Khaita’s hoard busting skills and newfound abilities with Windhwyr and the elemental stone of air allowed them to completely turn the tide of battle. Soon, Castle Glacier had the villainous alliance’s forces on the run, and in all the chaos, Khaita spotted a familiar face: Tyrrahn. Khaita began fighting their way over to confront him, when suddenly they heard a great shout from across the battlefield.
“Prince Kopaka is in danger, we must help him!” Khaita looked over to see what was happening, as they recognized the name Kopaka. It was the guardian of the elemental stone of ice, and they truly were in trouble. He was completely surrounded by enemy forces, and taking massive damage from their attacks. Khaita realized the enemy forces were trying to take the elemental stone from Kopaka. Khaita gave one quick glance back at Tyrrahn, hesitating for just a moment before sighing in frustration, and running to Kopaka’s aid. As Khaita fought through the retreating hoard they gained several nasty slashes on their right side, which they never seemed to be able to defend well. Finally, the broke into the circle with Kopaka, and began to defend him.
Kopaka took one look at Khaita’s wounds, and said “you have a small gap in your guard, let me protect it.” Then the two fought through the surrounding enemies until, becoming an unstoppable pair, despite both being injured. They shored up each other’s blind spots, until finally all of the enemies had either retreated or died. Finally, at the end of the fight, Kopaka turned to Khaita and said “excellent fighting out there.” The pair were rushed inside for medical care, and while they both recovered, they spoke of Khaita’s mission. Kopaka was reluctant to give over the elemental stone of ice after protecting it so hard, but understood that it was necessary to win the war. Just as Khaita was about to leave, Kopaka approached with his entourage, and gifted Khaita an elbow blade. “Here” he said, “this will shore up that hole in your guard, at least partially. It may take some training, but it will be important for the fight ahead. Good luck, soldier” and with that, Khaita was off to get the next elemental stone
Once again, I was hoping to get through the rest of the element stones, but it seems like it’ll be a few more posts before the story is done. I’ll finish it eventually, but it has taken a lot more posts than I was hoping for. Oh well, have a nice day y’all!
Edit: I’ve just noticed I missed one of the villains in the villainous alliance. Oh well. Here’s the photos of him I guess, I don’t really have a story for him, maybe I’ll update this post with one if I can come up with something.
