Never Let It Go *First Chapter*

Never let it go1

By Ayesha Raees2

Chapter 1: The Sevens3

“And I vow upon the God who created me, upon the blood I have shed, upon the pain I have suffered and upon those who cry for my help. I vow on the deepest element of my living soul to fulfill my duty and save those in need of my power. Therefore I promise with words of truth that I will rather shed my blood than cower from my duty. Let it be written in my soul and carved in my skin and I would never back away.”4

She closed her vivid emerald green eyes as her body began to flow with a magnificent ice blue aura. She flung her head back, dropping the necklace of white pearls on the ground as the ground suddenly burned with crimson colored fire. She was slightly lifted up from the wooden floor on which she was standing; her black and red boots barely touched the floor now. Her elbow-length navy blue hair hovered in the air with an invisible wind and her pale face was reflecting the colors of fire that burned under her feet, not hurting her. Her school uniform, consisting of a white button-up shirt and a short black skirt, was covered in droplets of her blood, slowly disappeared because of the ice blue aura that swept around her like ribbons on sticks. 5

Suddenly the girl opened her vivid green eyes, staring at the white ceiling of her dark room and blinked before inhaling the ashes. She did not cough for the ashes didn’t affect her.6

“And I vow upon the ancestors that had been before me, upon the deaths of my parents… let me have the same fate as them. Let me be your servant and thee I will not back away,” she whispered her voice low and soft.7

The white pearls that she had dropped earlier were covered in fire. Slowly the pearls started to turn yellow in color and glowed brightly, shining mystically. The pearls, forming the necklace, separated and still shinning a bright yellow color rose up in the air and surrounded the girl and slowly started to rotate around her.8

She closed her eyes again and devoted herself to the only one she had left now; God.9

The pearls stopped; they were six of them and the golden light that swept out of them, suddenly turned into a sharp ray, connecting one pearl to another; forming an ancient seal, one triangle transmitting another, a six cornered star. 10

It glowed a golden color as it moved up and down her body, analyzing her like a machine. With each passing minute, the energy of the pearls grew and her skin bruised but she did not care. With an invisible knife, words were carved into the flesh of her upper arms. She winced silently and gritted her teeth as she fight back tears of pain.11

Blood oozed from her fresh cuts as the carving stopped. 12

“THEN LET IT BE!” A deep voice shouted from above.13

The yellow lighted pearls suddenly turned crimson and it exploded like bombs; destroying the whole house.14

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Fire still burned and ashes still lay under the full moon that shown around the recently destroyed house. The trees that surrounded the house before had disappeared and had turned into piles of dust and ashes. 16

The fire was dying but slowly.17

She slowly opened her eyes and wearily looked at the twinkling sky. She slowly smiled to herself as she sat up from the piles of rocks and ashes and slowly staggered on her feet. She looked at herself; her clothes were burned from the edges but thankfully for her, hadn’t turned to dust like everything else. Except of her bleeding shoulders and her soot-covered face; nothing seemed wrong with her. Not physically.18

She touched her chest and smiled slowly when she felt the awakening of her powers. The flow of energy that now hovered in her, wanting to start her mission as soon as she possible could do. She felt it deep in her soul, the power inside her was glowing… she was determined.19

She looked at her shoulders and hastily cleaned the bleeding cuts, narrowing her eyes to see what was written but she couldn’t read it for it was of God’s power. The symbols in her flesh symbolized that she was the one of the sevens of the new generation; it had been in her family from the birth of mankind. And as she was the last member of her family and eventually the heiress too, the powers in her had been awakened. 20

It was time. She was one of the sevens. She was one of the servants of god. She was the one who will fight and use her ability to destroy the evil that still lurked in the core of the Earth.21

She smirked lightly as she dropped her hands beside her and started to walk towards the huge forest beside her house.22

Her life has just started. 23

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“Today is a day of a new beginning, today is the hundredth winter and tonight God will choose the sevens, our suffering will be over and we will have a chance to live again, a chance to breathe the air freely and a chance to stop living in hiding,” The old man cheered as he raised his mug full of beer. The people that sat around the big glowing fire also cheered and drained their beers, thirstily.25

The children looked at the adults as they drunk and looked at each other and winked. Two of the six year old boys went to the old man and tugged at his soft wooly cloak, trying to get his attention. 26

The man put down his mug and smiled at the children.27

“Tell us about the sevens again, Father” 28

“We want to hear again, Father!” 29

The old man laughed and shuffled the children’s hair before nodding.30

“I will,” he said as the children yelled in glee and sat down on the mossy ground of the forest, staring at the old man, eagerly.31

The old man cleared his throat and locked his blue eyes towards the audience. The light of the fire showed his weary eyes and his wrinkles, his white beard was till his neck and he wore shabby warm clothes as it was winter.32

“The sevens are those warriors that are personally chosen from God once in every hundred winters. They are the ones with extraordinary powers that help us, the local people from the evil that lurks around these days. They save us from the demons that hunger for our blood and souls and kill them all. But the problem is, God will only choose the sevens once in a hundred years so if the sevens get killed before the time comes, God will not choose until its time. So we, humans have to wait for the time to come when the sevens are ready to finish the evil from the surface of the land. Twenty years ago, five warriors died in a huge battle against evil and only two were left. Ten years after, the demons out-powered the two warrior’s powers and they were killed. Now after the wait of ten years, tonight will be the day when God will bless us with the warriors again who will help us,” 33

The night was filled with silence as the listeners looked at the old man who smiled slowly. He shifted his gaze towards the twinkling sky and sighed loudly in happiness. He looked back at his people again who seemed to be lost in their own thoughts as they stared at the burning fire.34

“We will stay here tonight; this seems like a safe place, we will start moving tomorrow and_”35

He was cut off by a loud roar and everyone jumped at the loud noise that suddenly broke the silence of the night. Some children started to cry, hugging their mothers for comfort and some men suddenly got up from the ground, including the Father, and started to stomp off the fire.36

But it was too late; with the help of the shining moon, everybody could see what was happening. The trees at the side of them were parted by huge claws and the demon took a step forward, shaking the ground with his weight. It roared loudly like an elephant and looked at the people menacingly with his three pairs of eyes.37

The demon was huge. It had four reddish purple clawed legs, with purple scales on them. Its body was like a huge truck with a huge head attached to it. Its body was coal black whereas his head was maroon, a color of fresh blood. Its three pair of eyes was pale yellow with red pupils and he had four pairs of huge antennas on his head. His mouth had a pair of claws and it clicked it menacingly at them again and again, showing its white, saliva dripping fangs underneath. 38

Men gaped as they started to run for escape, women screamed and tried to get away too, dragging their children with them who gaped at monster in awe or cried. 39

The demon roared again and breathed out fire that lighted the whole forest, burning the trees and blocking the paths that the helpless people had tried to take. The people stopped in their tracks and turned to look at the demon which was looking at them hungrily. The smoke coming from the trees almost choked them but it wasn’t strong enough yet so there was still some oxygen left.40

The demon took a step forward, hungrily and clicked its claws, ready for the kill.41

But before it could do anything else, two figures appeared with a flash of blue light, facing the demon in front of them. 42

“Which breed do you think it is brother?” one asked and from the voice, it was a female.43

“From the looks of it, a mutated locata,” the other replied who was a head taller than the girl, his voice strong.44

“A fire flea huh? In that case, I have the upper hand, I will_”45

“No Hikari, the whole forest is on fire, they will not be able to survive. I will handle it but you help the people. It is our sworn duty,” her brother replied as he lunged towards the tall monster without waiting for the girl’s reply.46

The girl stared at him as he unsheathed his long sword and jumped into the air with ease. A crimson aura went through his body as he grabbed his sword with both of his hand and attacked the demon at its leg. The leg was easily cut off, torrents blood spluttering everywhere. He smirked slightly as he landed on the ground on his two feet before looking at the demon which hovered, unbalanced. The demon crashed onto the ground on one his side and roared in pain.47

“TIME TO FINISH YOU OFF!!” The boy yelled as he jumped into the air again and sheathed his sword. He outstretched his arms, his hands parallel to each other as he closed his crimson eyes. A crimson aura began to flow from his body, waving his forehead covered black hair. 48

“BULLS EYE!” he shouted again and the palms of his hands glowed red and from his palms, a circle of red beam gathered and after sometime he shot the beam towards the monster and it hit him straight at his vital point; his head. 49

The demon jerked his head in pain as it was blown off and its body quivered in agony before dropping at his side again… dead.50

The young boy smirked, somersaulted and landed on his two feet again before looking at his sister who looked back at him, turned and ran towards the fire glowing trees.51

The people were coughing now and very badly; their faces were covered in soot and the air was warm, their throats were dried and their lips yearned for water.52

The girl smirked as she stepped in front of the fire covered trees, the heat hitting her face and the ashes irritating her throat. She raised both of her hands above her head and waved the air with them gently. A line of blue aura appeared and started to circle around her body as she moved around on her toes, her blue eyes closed in concentration as she muttered a few words under her breathe. The blue aura grew and it almost lighted the whole burning clearing… the girl slowly opened her eyes and bought her hands down, still circling the air. Her hands suddenly glowed a mystical blue power as she pointed her palms towards the burning the trees. 53

Like a pipe; water gushed from her hands and on to the fire covered trees, extinguishing the fire in a matter of seconds. She parted her legs and separated her palms from each other as water gushed on the trees, putting off the fire. But the trees at the back of the forest where the water wasn’t able to reach, still burned. The girl gritted her teeth before closing her eyes again.54

“HIKARI! IT’S NOT IMPORTANT TO EXTINGUISH ALL THE FIRE! LET’S GET THE PEOPLE OUT OF HERE!” the boy shouted.55

The girl released some of her power and now she was covered in a blue aura, her black hair flying with the power as she suddenly opened her eyes and slowly rose into the air.56

“No brother,” she said, “You are wrong; it is our sworn duty to protect everything that God has made,”57

The girl raised her hands in the air and a blue ribbon of light circled them beautifully. Suddenly she straightened her arms in front of her and let out a powerful gush of water from them. She started to twirl around powerfully like a big sprinkler, sending her water everywhere; extinguishing the fire around her.58

After a matter of minutes, the whole fire was wet, the smell of ashes and wet mud reached everyone’s noses as the girl’s blue aura disappeared and she landed on the ground lightly before looking at her brother who nodded in approval.59

He walked towards the people who looked at them in wonder and shock.60

“Everyone alright?” he asked loudly and when he received a nod from everyone, he gestured them to follow him.61

Everyone quickly obliged as the boy, quickly followed by the girl, walked out of the clearing and through the forest. 62

After about fifteen minutes of walking, they stopped in front of a huge mountain. The girl looked back and smiled kindly at the exhausted people.63

“Please follow us,” she said as she and her brother walked the mountain and parted some trees that were not harmed by the fire, to reveal a huge cave inside. 64

The girl and the boy stood aside as they waited for the people to fill in. 65

“Everyone here?” the boy asked, looking from one face to another.66

Everyone nodded silently.67

“Good, who is the leader of this group?” 68

The people were parted and an old man walked in and bowed in respect. His woolen clothes were slightly burnt and torn and his face was covered in soot, his hair was slightly damp because of the water.69

“I am and I want to thank you for saving us,” the man said before straightening up.70

The boy nodded slowly.71

“It was our duty. I want you all to stay here till tomorrow morning, then at sunrise, travel to the Kingdom of Olestra. You will be safe there,” he said before turning away and walking out of the cave, followed by the girl closely. They were about to teleport to their location when the old man stopped.72

“Wait! Are you one of the sevens?” he asked eagerly.73

The pair stopped in their tracks. The girl turned her head towards the group who anxiously waited for their answer.74

“Yes we are. I am Hikari Shikata and this is my brother Daisuke Shikata. We were going to the ancient guild of Aplhando to meet the other sevens but we sensed danger here in the forest. It’s a good thing we found you; that demon was a powerful one,” she said, cheerfully as her brother tapped his foot impatiently.75

“Which number of the sevens are you?” the old man asked again eagerly and the boy named Daisuke controlled his urge to go and hit him in the face. Sensing his brother impatient behavior, Hikari put a hand on her brother’s shoulder before looking at the man.76

“It is not decided yet, Father… you seem to know a lot about the sevens. You must know the old generation of the sevens; may I know your name?” 77

The old man nodded slowly.78

“I am Satoshi Dande and yes I did knew the sevens once,” 79

Hikari smiled again and started to walk away, following her brother as she did.80

“It was nice meeting you Father,”81

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