Darkness of Ages - Book 1: Greyhield

by YoungQuillMaster

Chapter 7: The Observer

Blaze walked into the forest after his traditional five laps around Ponyville. He was definitely getting better at it, he barely felt winded anymore, though his legs ached almost nonstop, though it was an ache that could be ignored if you had any perseverance. He stopped as he wiped his brow with a foreleg.

It had been weeks since that game of tag where he had completely revealed the truth to Amber, and as he had expected, she had not told anypony. True, he had no way of telling for sure if she hadn’t, but if she had, Blizzard was really good at concealing it, where as the looks Amber had occasionally gave him were so obvious that Blaze was surprised the others hadn’t said anything yet..

“Flint, I’m here!” He shouted to the trees. A dull thump and a rustle of leaves told him that Flint had come down the same as he always had, testing the scar on his hind leg. “How are you doing?” Blaze asked as he turned to the hooded pony.

“I’m doing well; and you?” Flint replied as he straightened to his full height. Blaze huffed at him as he cracked his neck.

“You should know; you make a point of reminding me that you are always watching me.” Blaze retaliated with a smirk.

“Very well, here’s your sword, let’s begin. I have a feeling that this session’s going to be a bit different than usual.” Flint commented while levitating over the sheathed blade to Blaze. They had recently switched from the wooden tools to sheathed real blades, so as to maintain safety and practice with the weight at the same time. They might be evening out slightly, but bruises always were exchanged in the fights.

Soon the dull thuds of the leather covered blades slamming into each other echoed throughout the empty forest as they had on a regular basis. Blaze and Flint would exchange bolts of magical fire and magical beams, usually not as true attacks, but as distractions that only worked occasionally. The two swordsponies continued their clash for hours on end, never letting up their attacks on each other, neither showing any sign of ending any time in the predictable future.

As the fight continued, Blaze was able to send a bolt of fire right into Flint’s side, which allowed Blaze to follow through with several more strikes with his sheathed blade. Flint shot a beam at Blaze, but missed his mark as Blaze rolled to the side while shooting his own fire bolt. The flame swept past Flint’s hood, lighting up his determined expression that was hidden beneath the shadow of his hood. Flint swung his sword down on Blaze, but Blaze quickly drew close to Flint, slamming into him with a shoulder, causing him to stumble backwards.

Flint quickly recovered, and shot a beam at the now near pointblank range, hitting right into the crown of Blaze’s head, causing his magical aura to pop, dropping his weapon and flame spell in an instant. Blaze quickly jumped back while turning around, and threw his hind legs out, catching Flint in the jaw, sending him stumbling backwards.

Blaze lit his horn and sent a small fire whirl into Flint’s eyes as he quickly grabbed his sword between his teeth. The flame slapped Flint, only managing to stun him for a few seconds, long enough for Blaze to pick up his sword and charge up to Flint, slamming his sword into his opponent’s shoulder. Flint grunted as he swung his sword at Blaze’s left side. Blaze twisted his head around and parried flawlessly. Blaze swung out his right foreleg, catching Flint in the jaw in an uppercut. Flint shrugged the blow off as he back flipped away from his assailant, readying his blade.

Blaze charged him with a muffled shout, swinging his blade for Flint’s horn. Flint flicked up his blade, expertly disarming Blaze. Blaze quickly wrapped his loose blade in a magical field, quickly redirecting it to Flint. Flint raised his blade, giving Blaze the opportunity he needed as he shot a bolt of fire at Flint’s chest. The flare burst against his cloak, leaving it unharmed. Flint hesitated, allowing Blaze to more his own blade past, catching Flint at the base of his neck, causing him to fall down. Blaze jumped back and readied his blade. Flint rose up to his full height.

“You’re putting up more of a fight than last session…” Flint commented as the golden glow under his hood intensified. “Is there any reason for that?” He said as a bolt of magic shot towards Blaze. Blaze rolled to the side as he shot a fire ball towards Flint.

“Maybe I’m just getting better at a faster rate than you anticipated.” Blaze shot back as Flint smacked the magical fire away with a flick of his blade. Flint huffed at that as he redirected his blade towards Blaze.

“Maybe you’re just getting cocky.” Flint replied as his blade shot out towards Blaze. Blaze leaped over the blade and landed so close to Flint that he felt Flint snort at him. Blaze shot a bolt of fire at the close range, but Flint had foreseen this and shot it down with his own magical beam. Blaze quickly swung his blade into Flint’s left side and he jumped to the left as Flint’s own blade slammed into the ground where he had been but a moment before.

Blaze quickly lifted his blade and swung it into Flint’s face. Flint grunted as he tried to refocus on Blaze. Blaze shot a bolt at Flint. Flint had no time to react as it smashed into his face, the force causing his hood to flip back, revealing his face for only the third time to Blaze. Blaze quickly smacked Flint’s horn with the hilt of his sword, causing the spell he had been preparing to fall with his sword.

Blaze’s horn grew brighter as he prepared his own spell. Flint flicked his sword up into his mouth with a hoof with practiced ease. Blaze suddenly disappeared with a flash of magic. Flint quickly looked over his surrounding, ready to pop up a shield spell at the first sign of trouble. A bolt of flamed curved out from the trees, directly at him. Flint teleported out of the way, only to find a storm of bolt flying out at him, making him pop up his shield in desperation, only to find it only able to block a small portion of it before collapsing.

Blaze teleported behind Flint, slamming his blade into the stallion’s back, causing him to fall to the ground. Flint rolled to the side and readied his sword, but was met with a fire bolt to the face, causing him to close his eyes long enough for Blaze to land another buck into his chest. He let out a gasp as the wind was knocked out of him. Blaze quickly lifted his blade to continue his attack. Flint threw out a punch to him, but met only air as his opponent jumped back. Flint stood slowly, only to fall again.

“Alright… alright, I guess you won this time, Blaze. I… I think you are really shaping up to be a… a fine swordspony.” Flint stammered. Blaze smiled as he helped his friend and trainer back to his hooves.

The last flashes of magic as Blaze was teleported flashed across the stone. The observer snorted as the hooded pony walked away as he always had at the end.

“The small one is getting better.” She said slowly, looking away from the stone in thought. “Though I would still like to know where that older one gets his knowledge from that he could have taught something to his fellow.” The lights on the stone shifted into an expanse of stars, as if the night sky had been trapped in it. “If only they knew where that one had come from, then he might actually be a challenge.” The stars floated across the stone into a new shape, as if outlining a head of a creature.

“You should know better than to doubt him. He is, after all, not of this time. He will present more of a challenge than any of his comrades could when combined.” A deep voice rumbled through the stillness.

“I know, but would it not be grander if he was even greater than he is now?” The observer said wishfully. A snort echoed through the cavern.

“He will be much better than he is now when he goes to fulfill his purpose.” The deep voice replied. “I will insure it to be so.”

“Of course, he will be a worthy opponent, better than any before.” The observer quickly amended with a respectful bow.

“How go the preparations?” The deep voice asked. The observer stood up straight, gazing upon the stone with a smirk spreading across her face.

“All goes according to plan, and on schedule so far.” She replied happily as she looked to the silhouetted form on the stone.

“I want you to get ahead of schedule; the time draws near for the greater purpose to be accomplished.” The voice rumbled.

“Of course, I will insure that the pace is increased. We will be ready when the time comes.” She replied to the voice. When she finished, the shape appeared to nod; then the stars floated back into a random pattern. The observer walked away from the stone, already thinking on how she could increase her speed.

Author's Note:

Shorter than usual, mostly because I was pressed for time to write this week, not to mention that I'm sick. Hope you all enjoyed it to the fullest!

Comments

[Time Reaper]

Ok, the main problem I find on this story is that it isn't engaging enough and the pacing goes either too fast, or too slow.

Another problem is that it isn't expressive enough, we don't see the opinions or read the expressions the main characters tend to make, this needs a lot of rewriting or analysis to discard what works and doesn't work.