The Rivalry Reignited
Midnight hung heavy over the scorched wastelands beyond the bunker. A faint, acrid breeze danced across the dead earth, carrying with it the scent of ash and blood from battles long past.
Vornyx moved like a shadow through the cracked terrain, his eyes scanning the darkness. The ankle monitor on his leg blinked a faint red—powerless, but always watching. He knelt near a broken obelisk and stared at the stars, his breath shallow.
Footsteps behind him.
He turned quickly, blade halfway drawn—only to see Elian, arms crossed, standing calmly.
"You're not supposed to be out here," Elian said, tone calm but firm.
Vornyx relaxed his grip, but his glare remained. "Couldn't sleep."
"Me neither."
A beat of silence. Then a smirk crept across Vornyx's face. "Then let's make it interesting."
Elian raised a brow. "Interesting?"
"No powers. Only blades. Just like the old days."
The words hit Elian like a punch to the gut. His eyes glazed over briefly—
---
FLASHBACK: Military Academy – Seven Years Ago
Two cadets stood in a circle surrounded by shouting trainees. Vornyx and Elian, both bloodied, both grinning through clenched teeth. Sweat dripped from their brows as titanium blades clashed again and again. One strike. Two. A knee to the stomach. A headbutt.
Elian snarled. "You'll never be better than me."
Vornyx laughed as blood leaked from his mouth. "We'll see, golden boy."
It ended when Vornyx was expelled for nearly killing an instructor—his rage too volatile, too dangerous.
---
Back in the present, Elian sighed, smirked, and drew his blade. "Fine. First light. Most kills."
They glared, then launched forward—wind gliders igniting silently beneath their boots as they soared into the night.
---
1:43 AM – Kill #1: Vornyx
He landed silently behind an ancient patrolling the ruins. A clean, precise slash severed the spine, followed by a brutal upward thrust through the base of the skull. The creature collapsed like a sack of rotting meat.
1:47 AM – Kill #1: Elian
Elian dropped onto an ancient guarding a collapsed tunnel. With a whisper-quiet spin, he drove his blade through the beast's neck, then flipped off its back before it could hit the ground.
2:18 AM – Kill #3: Vornyx
Two ancients. Vornyx slid beneath their legs and hamstrung one, then drove his blade up through its chin. The second lunged—he blocked with his forearm and stabbed it through the gut with a reverse grip.
2:32 AM – Kill #3: Elian
He backflipped off a crumbling wall and kicked off the head of an ancient, then somersaulted mid-air and landed behind another. A swift slash to the Achilles, followed by a neck-snap. Efficient. Quiet.
---
4:59 AM – Final Kills
Vornyx found a trio of sleeping ancients huddled under wreckage. He wasted no time—cutthroat silence. One after another. Three hearts stopped in three seconds.
Elian, exhausted, killed two more by setting a trap using reflective debris and luring them into a tight corridor before striking their vitals.
---
5:50 AM – Dawnlight
They landed atop a ruined spire, panting, blades dripping, armor dented.
"Seven," Elian said.
"Nine," Vornyx replied smugly.
Elian grit his teeth. "You just got lucky."
"No," Vornyx said with a grin. "I'm just better."
A faint glow sparked in Elian's eyes as rage and pride surged—
"Those are measly numbers!"
A booming voice shattered the tension. The two whirled around.
Captain Sheane stood on a mound of corpses, arms crossed, looking disappointed.
"I couldn't sleep either," he said casually. "Honestly, it's impossible in such a hot, cramped hellhole. Thank goodness the commander's transferring us to another city across the continent."
He drew his titanium blade, wind glider flaring. "Now, let the master show how it's done."
He shot off like a meteor, laughing as he vanished into the smoky horizon.
Vornyx blinked. "How the hell did he kill that many in one night?"
Elian shook his head, smirking despite himself. "That's our captain alright. We just got shown up... again."