Ivan Kal - Onslaught

“Begin.”

The Shara Daim with strange white markings escorted Adrian to the edge of the podium, which was some ten meters across. He turned and looked at his opponent. The Dai Sha was of course taller than him; not as tall as Anessa, but it didn’t really mater. With Adrian’s new upgrades, he knew that he was close to Anessa’s strength, and even if he wasn’t, he knew that he could keep up in a physical fight. The problem was that this wasn’t going to be a physical fight. His opponent would use Sha.

Adrian glanced at Anessa. She was looking at him with an intensity that made his blood heat up, but he forced himself to look back at his opponent.

“You are allowed to use only your natural abilities, including the Sha. You do have the Sha, don’t you?” the guard asked.

“Yes, I have the Sha,” Adrian responded. The guard gave him a dismissive look, one he had seen before on Anessa when he had met her on Tarabat. Now her eyes told him that she was confident that he would win. He didn’t know why she had orchestrated this battle, why she needed that man dead; he was still trying to grasp the fact that she now ruled all of the Shara Daim.

He analyzed his opponent. There was no fear in his eyes, but that wasn’t a surprise. Adrian made his movements unsure, hesitant, creating a persona that was afraid of the coming battle as he tried to come up with a strategy.

He could see that this Dai Sha was like how Anessa had been when he had first encountered her. Arrogant, believing in his own superiority, he was looking down on Adrian. And Adrian could use that. He was probably the better fighter, but his opponent was definitely stronger with the Sha. The Dai Sha was also afraid of Anessa, he didn’t want to challenge her to a battle; that meant that he was weaker than her. But Adrian didn’t know by how much. He couldn’t risk getting drawn into a full Sha battle. During his upgrades on Sanctuary, Adrian had spent a long time inside his mind-space devising tricks and moves that would be useful against a Sha user stronger than himself. He knew that he needed to end the battle fast, in the opening few seconds.

“Are you ready?” the guard asked.

“Yes,” Adrian responded as he decided on what to do.

The guard spoke something, but Adrian barely heard him. The people around the podium disappeared as his mind stopped processing their images; color left his vision and his opponent sharpened. Adrian took a deep breath, feeling the oxygen pumping through his veins, adrenaline surging.

“Begin!” Adrian heard in the distance, and his stance changed. He bent his knees as his opponent looked at him furiously and walked towards him. The Dai Sha still hadn’t drawn on the Sha, and that arrogance was his first and last mistake.

Adrian’s mind knew and had complete control of his body. The limits on his muscles faded away as his legs extended and he jumped forward so fast that he could barely be tracked by the eye, drawing on the Sha mid-flight. In a moment, he was in front of the Dai Sha, who was surprised by Adrian’s sudden movement and started to draw the Sha, building up to an attack. Adrian’s arm moved in an arc in front of him, hot orange plasma spewing forth in a stream in front of him, as he didn’t contain it in a ball.

The Dai Sha realized what was happening, and a Sha ability Adrian was unfamiliar with blew most of the stream back, but a few ‘drops’ passed through and stuck across his chest, making him shout out in pain and anger. He fired of a kinetic attack at Adrian in front of him, but Adrian was long gone.

Adrian swiped the Dai Sha’s legs from the side, dropping the larger man to the floor with a loud thump. Adrian jumped at him, drawing on the Sha as his hand moved towards the Dai Sha’s heart. Adrian felt and saw the Dai Sha’s fear and horror, his arms moving to block sluggishly compared to Adrian’s speed. The Dai Sha tried to draw on the Sha, and a shimmering started appearing in front of him, but Adrian threw open his mind and smashed through his opponent’s defenses easily. The Dai Sha’s mind talents were no match for those of a Sowir, and Adrian had learned from the strongest Sowir in memory.

The field disappeared as Adrian wrecked his opponent’s mind with a powerful mental attack, and his arm stopped just above his opponent’s chest. An orange stream instantly exploded from his palm, burning the Dai Sha’s skin and liquidizing his insides. There were no screams from his opponent; he was too lost in his own mind to realize that he was dead.

Adrian stood and watched the blood leaking out of the Dai Sha’s eyes, nose, and mouth. The fist-sized hole in his chest was smoking, a red mist rising from it and the edges of the wound cauterized by the heat of the plasma.

He turned his eyes to the people around him. All watched him in disbelief. The room was completely silent. Adrian turned around and looked at Anessa. She had a pleased expression on her face, an expression that told him that she had known all along that he would prevail. A part of him rejoiced at the fact that she trusted in his abilities so much. But another part of him, the colder one, knew that he had also been used to remove someone that was in her way. And used to remove him in a very ruthless way. And Adrian was bothered to realize that that ruthlessness only made him want her more.

Anessa looked over the dead body of Dai Sha Farran in satisfaction; Adrian had done it even better than she could’ve hoped. It had ended in barely a couple of seconds, and Adrian had dominated every aspect of the fight. Farran had been outmatched from the beginning, ever since the moment he hadn’t taken his opponent seriously. If he had drawn on the Sha at the start, he might’ve been able to do something, but giving Adrian that small advantage was fatal.

She knew that Adrian didn’t have as much power as the Dai Shas did, but it didn’t matter here; he hadn’t allowed his opponent the time to bring his power against him. And the way he had moved, it was incredible; she knew that none of the people assembled here had ever seen anything like it. And then there was that mind Sha. She didn’t know what it was, or how it was even possible, but she was sure that every person in the room had felt its power. Farran had probably been dead before plasma even entered his body, his mind torn to pieces.

She shuddered at the thought of having to fighting Adrian again. During their first encounter on Tarabat, she had tried to attack his mind, and had felt an incredibly powerful defense push her out. She had suspected since then that while he might lack in the power of other Sha abilities, his mind powers were far stronger. And now she knew for sure. His attack had blown through a Dai Sha’s defense like it was nothing.

Anessa glanced at the people assembled; most were looking in disbelief at both Adrian and the lifeless body of Farran. Only Vallar Havasse was looking at Anessa, something very akin to surprise and respect in her eyes.

Anessa stood, drawing the attention of all in the room.

“Lord Sentinel Adrian, you are the victor of the challenge made against you for your part in the death of Dai Sha Narrasak of the Third Legion. As your right by blood and death, your part in his death is to no longer be held against you by any in the Shara Daim,” she said loudly.

Adrian’s eyes narrowed and he bowed in the exact same half bow he had last time, keeping his eyes on her. Anessa walked down her platform and onto the dais. She glanced at the honor guards, who were now looking at Adrian like he had suddenly become someone else, someone far more dangerous. They stepped closer to him and Anessa as she approached.

“I wish to speak with you in private, Lord Sentinel,” she said in a commanding voice, then she turned to her guard. “Clean this up. And as for the rest of you,” she said, looking over the crowd of the Shara Daim top officials, “you are dismissed. I shall call another gathering at a later date,” she said, and then motioned for Adrian to follow her. She waited until he looked at his people and gestured for them to stay behind.