Elstaria- Purification

Elstaria walked softly to a lake deep in the forests of Kamasylvia. She was deep enough in the forest that even the midday sun was relatively dark and gloomy. It matched her mood of late, and the unstable dreams she had been suffering. Darkness and Light fighting back and forth, clashes of blades, and waking up as she fell from a bridge uncontrollably. As she arrived, she knelt at the water’s edge, putting her right hand into the water. The cool liquid flowed over her Vediant’s gauntlet, reaching her hand inside. She had been struggling to take off the gauntlet of late, the Vediant had been starting to destabilize as well.

Taking her hand out of the water, El sat herself down at the edge on a large rock, and closed her eyes. She focused on the soft sound of the wind amidst the leaves, the drips of water feeding into the lake from a spring, and the auras of the spirits of Kamasylvia that surrounded her. Time passed, and the sun started to set off to the west, when El felt… a presence behind her. There was no sound of footsteps, but there was a dark aura around the being’s right hand. It felt eerily similar to the power of her Vediant.

“You seek balance… but your blood knows no balance. The power of Kamasylvia has no sway to you… it will weaken and corrupt you…” The entity said, a blade forming out of her right hand. “I will take you, give you everything you need… and bring you to OUR potential…”

El channeled her own Vediant forth, and rose in haste. She raised the blade to deflect the dark being’s first swing… and had to dive away as her blade did nothing to stop the dark being’s swing. “Foolish girl. I AM the Vediant. You raise me against myself. It will not save you.” El scrambled back, dodging several more slashes, her mind racing. “No, Vediant… there must be a way to stop you… There must…”

“El, there is…” Another voice spoke. Both the Vediant spirit and El turned, to see a Half-Vedir man, in what looked like it was once Serendian armor. “Fa… father?” El spoke in shock. She had heard of his fall in war years ago, but he stood before her. It took her a moment to recognize the shimmer of spiritual energy around him.

“Remember my lessons. The true Vedir’s weapon is her own blade. No spirit gives it power.” He spoke, then shimmered out as the Vediant shifted over and slashed the form in two.

“NO!” El cried out, reaching out her unarmored hand towards where her father’s spirit had been. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she looked down to the ground, and did a double take. Her father’s old Kriegsmesser had appeared in front of her. She had used it for years, and her powers had warped it, but here it was, restored to old condition. The Vediant form stepped back, suddenly starting to look worried. As El picked up the blade, several Kamasylvian spirits rushed into her, restoring some of her lost strength and purifying her powers. The Kriegsmesser blade warped, but instead of a twisted, harsh blade like El had previously, it took an almost royal, high quality form. El raised it, and leveled it at the Vediant. “Vediant… I am done with you. I reject your powers and your corruption.” The gauntlet on her right hand cracked, and crumbled away, and the Vediant form charged. Blades clashed, and within several moves, El slashed down her old weapon. As it fell, she stepped over it, and sighed. “No more… no more hold over me. I reclaim the true power of the Vedir blood my father gave me.”

She stepped back towards the lake, and the form of her father reappeared. “El, my beautiful daughter… you are ready for the last lesson. Listen well…”