"What's that?" his head tipped back and sent waves of red spilling down his shoulders. The sky overhead was darkened by thick rain clouds and a storm rumbled on the horizon. Mikoto stood with his hands shoved deep into his jeans" pockets and watched the sky turn an ever darker shade of black through half-lidded eyes, as if the entire ordeal was wholly uninteresting to him. Even so, the Sword of Damocles had appeared in the sky overhead: it was an enormous red sword, cracked along its edges and slowly crumbling while it hovered point down directly over the Red King's head. He peered past it while flames flickered to life in a circle around the spot where he stood in a mixture of vivid reds, oranges and pinks that slowly danced higher to form a protective cocoon around him.
He lost his interest and started to look away with the flash of lightning drew his gaze back upwards again and he saw the clouds whirl about as though forced by a great gust of wind. In the air even higher than the Sword of Damocles was a great blue light that shone down brightly and made even the brilliant glow of his fires seem dull and listless in comparison. A furious wind kicked up and the trees in the park swayed ominously, their trunks groaning as they were forced to slowly bend. In the streets beyond car alarms started honking while headlights flashed on and off and he heard dogs barking in a nearby alleyway.
Behind him his clansmen stumbled back in cautious fear.
"Hey, we should get out of here," said Yata. "Don't you think?"
"Not yet," Mikoto shook his head and lifted a hand to shield his eyes from the intense light coming down from the sky even as its source slowly descended. When it came into contact with his sword the hilt was enveloped first, completely drawn in and overwhelmed by this strange and unknown force.
Immediately, the flames that had come to life around him surged upwards in a furious jet to course over the blade of the sword and struck out at the light, but they too were engulfed and disappeared from sight.
"Get out of here," Mikoto decided, pivoting on his heel as the sword disappeared overhead. He started towards his clansmen with a steady gait. Whatever it was that had appeared in the sky, it wasn't worth his time.
Just as he turned his back to the light it swept down and expanded rapidly in a furious blast of energy that engulfed the park and the few people who hadn't been scared off by the sudden appearance. His clansmen stumbled back and though fear and uncertainty was evident in their wide, awestruck eyes, none would abandon him. Yata was bold enough to step forward with his fingers squeezing tight to whiten his knuckles around the thin lip of the skateboard he always carried with him.
"Mikoto, look out!"
The Red King deigned to toss a disinterested glance over his shoulder just as the light reached out to him. For a brief moment his brows rose in genuine surprise and then he disappeared in a sea of blue and white. Almost immediately the orb faded from the sky and left a great black scorch mark in the ground below and left the red clansmen staring dumbfounded at the place where their king had once stood.
"Is he...dead?? one asked. Yata would hear nothing of it.
He ran into the center of the blackened earth and shouted out to his king.
He lost his interest and started to look away with the flash of lightning drew his gaze back upwards again and he saw the clouds whirl about as though forced by a great gust of wind. In the air even higher than the Sword of Damocles was a great blue light that shone down brightly and made even the brilliant glow of his fires seem dull and listless in comparison. A furious wind kicked up and the trees in the park swayed ominously, their trunks groaning as they were forced to slowly bend. In the streets beyond car alarms started honking while headlights flashed on and off and he heard dogs barking in a nearby alleyway.
Behind him his clansmen stumbled back in cautious fear.
"Hey, we should get out of here," said Yata. "Don't you think?"
"Not yet," Mikoto shook his head and lifted a hand to shield his eyes from the intense light coming down from the sky even as its source slowly descended. When it came into contact with his sword the hilt was enveloped first, completely drawn in and overwhelmed by this strange and unknown force.
Immediately, the flames that had come to life around him surged upwards in a furious jet to course over the blade of the sword and struck out at the light, but they too were engulfed and disappeared from sight.
"Get out of here," Mikoto decided, pivoting on his heel as the sword disappeared overhead. He started towards his clansmen with a steady gait. Whatever it was that had appeared in the sky, it wasn't worth his time.
Just as he turned his back to the light it swept down and expanded rapidly in a furious blast of energy that engulfed the park and the few people who hadn't been scared off by the sudden appearance. His clansmen stumbled back and though fear and uncertainty was evident in their wide, awestruck eyes, none would abandon him. Yata was bold enough to step forward with his fingers squeezing tight to whiten his knuckles around the thin lip of the skateboard he always carried with him.
"Mikoto, look out!"
The Red King deigned to toss a disinterested glance over his shoulder just as the light reached out to him. For a brief moment his brows rose in genuine surprise and then he disappeared in a sea of blue and white. Almost immediately the orb faded from the sky and left a great black scorch mark in the ground below and left the red clansmen staring dumbfounded at the place where their king had once stood.
"Is he...dead?? one asked. Yata would hear nothing of it.
He ran into the center of the blackened earth and shouted out to his king.