12.

-HER-

A deafening roar rings throughout the caves before I feel the basilisk near me. With all my might, I step forward and whip my whip. I feel it hit the roaring basilisk and instantly its roar of victory converts into a cry of pain.

A small smile stretches over my lips before I step forward and start to whip my whip without any halt and mercy. I could feel it back off and try to dodge my whip but I am experienced with this weapon. It’s like a part of me, I know where am I striking.

One after another its cries of pains echo throughout the cave before I hear it disappear under the water with a loud splash. I stop whipping and listen intently for its whereabouts. I cannot risk opening my eyes because it could emerge out of nowhere. The sound of my harsh breaths resonates in the cave and my heart drums in my chest.

Adrenaline is rushing in my veins along my blood and the undertone of my chattering teeth due to the coldness accompanies the meek sounds that float in the air. Several seconds pass by but I don’t hear anything. Have I wounded it enough to kill it?

I bash my whip in thin air before its crisp crippling sound bounces off the rocks in the cave and reach my ear followed by the low hiss of my whip.

“Zesux!” I call out loudly. I am not done yet. I want this finished soon. Suddenly, the water surface breaks and the basilisk appears from beneath it, calling my attention by its deafening roar. I feel it lung at me and so I instantly bash my whip but instead of getting hit, I feel it catch my whip’s tip. I try to tug my whip back from its hold. In the next moment, my whip is being tugged angrily out of hand. I place both my hands on the handle of the whip and clutch it as tightly as I could. The rough edges of my whip scratch against the skin of my palms which will leave red angry marks on it later. My teeth are clenched as I try to pull it back. I won’t let him take it away!

It belonged to my grandma June!

I growl and try to pull it back but the basilisk roughly tugs it. The land under my feet starts to disappear and I realize that I am being picked up along with my whip before it starts to thrash its head while I am dangling down my whip.

I am being roughly thrashed in the air. I feel like the cloth of a flag that’s being angrily beaten by the wind. The handle of my whip finally slips off my hand and I end up flying across the cave, over the lake and colliding on the rough rock wall before falling on the floor with a thud.

Pain shoots up throughout my body and I wince before letting out a loud groan and a pain of cry. The basilisk roars again and I feel it advancing at me at a great speed. I try to get up but instantly collapse on the ground.

My lungs are deprived of air and my vision is blurry but as I feel the basilisk advancing at me, I could feel something stir inside me. A part of me that has been asleep all this time seems to have woken up all of a sudden.

My senses grow sharp and vivid. I could clearly feel everything in this cave -from the water dripping off from the rocks above the lake to the scales of the basilisk that scratch against the floor as it advances towards me. I could feel every particle, every molecule in this cave. I could feel the latent energy that calls for me to awaken it.

My breath deepens as I balance myself and sit up. I am kneeling towards the lake, facing the statue as the basilisk advances towards me, ready to claim my life.

My eyes snap open before I see red.

I let out a thundering growl before throwing my head and arms back. Blinding light emerges from me, drowning the whole cave with heat and brightness. The crackling of fire flames could be shortly heard followed by the cries of the basilisk.

I open my eyes and find massive fire flames licking the cave clean. Seeing the fire, the basilisk starts to retrieve back in the safety of water but it’s useless. Slowly the water starts evaporating as the fire raises high, climbing the walls of the cave and liking its ceiling fervently.

I hear the basilisk whimper under the water as the water level starts to decrease as the water rises up in white clouds, evaporating. As the water level decreases further, I close my eyes and near the basilisk trying to seek refuge in the rapidly reducing water.

As the last drops of the water evaporates, the basilisk lays naked in front of me, vulnerable. With the last growl, I feel flames oozing off my body as I step before it. Calling upon the latent energy of the molecules, I imagine them vibrate rapidly. Constituting the fiction generated by rubbing while vibrating, small sparks appear that instantly grow into flames and take over the basilisk.

It cries in pain as the fire starts to consume it. First, it licks off the scales on the surface then reaches for the delicate skin under it. The fire melts away its skin into ashes and reaches for its insides.

Meanwhile, the basilisk is thrashing its body around in pain and hopes to shake the fire off its body but it’s not working. Its cries of mercy are music to my ears. The fire continues to eat away the insides of the basilisk and after sometimes, I feel it stop moving.

It’s dead.

I open my eyes to see the fire licking the bones of the basilisk. Slowly, the bones break into small pieces and constitute the ashes of the basilisk. The fire goes off around me as I stand and watch the basilisk reduce to nothing.

Everything is finished.

I step forward and lean by the ashes that happened to be the basilisk’s head moments ago, a sense of victory washing over me.

A shadow looms over me. I turn around to find the statue standing tall behind me, looking down at me. She looks proud and her expression shows no fear.

Suddenly, realization strikes me. I know who she is.

She’s Lua, the fierce warrior.

The slayer of dragons and Basilisks.

~

I step out of the dark caves and instantly the cool night wind welcomes me, chilling my bones. I step over the snow and instantly my eyes find him, looming in the darkness.

“Arles,” I call out for him, my eyes fixed on his large figure. He turns around to face me before I feel his eyes on me, watching me from under the hood that shadows his face.

“So you’re alive?” He asks coldly with an undertone of sarcasm in his voice.

I nod.

“Where’re the basilisk’s eyes?” He asks stepping out of the darkness, into the moonlight. His head is tilted at a side, studying me from head to toe.

I smirk at him which seems to intrigue him. My hands reach inside the pocket of my trousers. I pull them out, my fists closed, containing the ashes. Keeping my eyes fixed on him, I put my hands before me, levitated in the air before my fists open and grey ashes fall off them, coating the snow black where they fell.

For a moment, both of us stand still and look at the ashes before he growls lowly.

“What is this?” He growls pointing to the ashes.

“The basilisk’s eyes.” I say sternly and my voice follows a loud growl resonating from his chest.

“How dare you!” He growls loudly. A dangerous amount of energy is oozing off his body but somehow, I don’t feel affected by it. I seem to have grown used to it. He seems pissed but isn’t he always?

I simply look at him and shrug.

“You told me to bring the basilisk’s eyes but you never mentioned if you wanted them raw or cooked,” I say and I swear I heard the gods laugh in the high heavens.

With a thundering growl, Arles’s figure disappears, leaving behind black smoke. That’s when I realize that I am not wearing anything to protect me from the cold weather.

I must go back home now before mom finds me out of bed and kills me as the basilisk failed to do so.