Atsadi & Surge

His steps crunch on the sand as he circles, blade raised, around the other duelist. He can see sweat beading on his opponent's forehead, while his chest rises and falls with his ragged breaths. His own breathing is a continuous, peaceful breeze. He waits, alert for the slightest opening. A drop trickles down his enemy's brow, who tries to brush it away with a sudden backhand. It's more than enough to attempt a maneuver. In a fraction of a second, Atsadi lunges. His sword sings and whistles like the wind as he darts to the right, feints, and swings his blade back to the left. The Haderite fencer parries at the last moment, and the two weapons clash together, a sweet melody to his ears.

Atsadi twirls, positioning his blade to protect his advance. He doesn't need to think; his instinct dictates his movements, anticipating strikes, improvising defenses. He lunges, feigning a thrust, twists his wrist, and brings his sword down in a vicious arc. Their feet kick up dust as they dance. The swords cross, intertwine, reverberate against each other like tolling bells. The fencer hadn't lied: he's talented, but not enough to endanger him. For he is Atsadi, the Cicada of Dusk, the one known as the One-Armed Swordsman. None other than him can claim to have defeated Tomoe Gozen, Achilles, and even Sun Wukong. None other than him has managed to disarm Hua Mulan, or to push Gericht vaan-Bracht to his knees.

Dusk was always bathed in twilight. A troglodyte city suspended amidst floating rocks, it floated above a sea of clouds. Every morning, before dawn replaced the darkness with a twilight grayness, Atsadi would rise to tend to his herd of goats. Fighting against the updrafts rising from the Undersea, he led his flock through a mesh of gangways, ledges, and scaffolding, before letting his animals climb along the floating islets. And he followed suit without dragging his feet, climbing the steep paths to emerge on the windy pastures above.

Dusk was a haven for flying ships, just as it was a foothold for the mistbreakers traversing the Undersea below. It had been built within the perpetual fog, on the undersides of floating islands, with a whole system of ladders, steep stairs, and lifting pulleys to reach the water level. Except in the morning, when the clouds were tinted with a rosy or orange glow, the city was constantly shrouded in darkness. To live there, one had to get used to a nocturnal and dizzying existence. One had to endure endless night, the heavy rocky canopy looming over everyone's heads, and the constant swaying of the floor, trying not to think about the void beneath their feet.

That's why, every time dawn came, Atsadi couldn't wait to climb. Unlike others, he had the chance to confront the immensity of the azure sky. Up there, on the surface, he could contemplate the sunlight filtering through the rocks, pinned in the sky by some whim of the world. He almost always positioned himself in the same spot, where a band of light struck his face and warmed his shivering skin. Then, in the growing clarity, he closed his eyes and called out to her. And during this moment between night and day, at the border of shadow and light, she came to keep him company.

Her name was Aurora, daughter of Hyperion, sister of the Sun and Moon. She was the herald of the new day, and she was a goddess. Atsadi's father had told him her story, to explain to him what light was. And when he was old enough to watch over the herds, it was her whom he had invoked to play and ward off loneliness. He had given the Eidolon the appearance of a child his age. She was always there for him, to play hide and seek among the rocks, to run and help him gather the goats. Sometimes, they would lie in the grass and watch the clouds drift above them, or go for walks, inventing a thousand adventures along the way. But when the Sun was at its zenith, he had to leave her every day to help his father refine his cheeses.

As the years passed, she became his accomplice, his confidante. As he grew, her appearance changed too to reflect his own age. Often, they would huddle together, so her warmth could spread into him. They strolled arm in arm, exchanging their dreams, their experiences, while a cicada buzzed around them, always accompanying them. One day, as they napped, he sat up on his elbow to look at her face, to gaze into her eyes... and as naturally as could be, he kissed her lips, as she returned the kiss. Initially shy and awkward, their embrace became passionate and fiery. He human, she Eidolon, it seemed to them that eternity separated them, yet at the same time, nothing could keep them apart…

They imagined a lifetime together. She was his happiness, his light. She taught him Alteration, and in return, he fashioned marvelous groves, lakes with clear and limpid water in which their emotions were reflected. Aurora's cicada sometimes landed on his shoulder, vibrating its abdomen, as if to bless their union. Of course, they questioned the difference in their condition: her eternal, and him a mere mortal, condemned to disappear when his existence came to an end. But that danger was far off, and they wanted more than anything to enjoy the present day. They had a whole lifetime to find a solution. Or at least, they believed they did.

They slept nestled against each other, tenderly entwined on a boat, when Atsadi was roused from his sleep by the chiming of the cicada. Raising his head, he saw all around him the world glowing with a strange iridescent light. The grass, usually green and undulating, turned pink before crystallizing... Their blades chimed as they clashed together, and sometimes shattered, while particles rose and floated in the air, like tourmaline dust. Aurora opened her eyes too, as the boat found itself trapped in a quartz cocoon.

Her tranquil eyes were beginning to petrify, to be covered with gleaming facets. Their boat, caught in a growing vice of topaz, began to overturn and sink. The water enveloped the Eidolon, before freezing like ice around her. Atsadi managed to grab her hand, pulled with all his might to free her... but soon, his arm was ensnared in turn, and he screamed as he felt thousands of splinters pierce his flesh. Through the translucent barrier, he saw Aurora staring intensely at him. Light emanated from her, spreading vigorously in the crystalline membrane until it burst out of the cocoon and struck the cicada.

As soon as he could walk, he went to the glass lake, to find with horror that Aurora was still encased within it. With his valid hand, he struck her cocoon, but no tool, no weapon could break it. Through Alteration, he summoned Eidolons, to ask for their help. But none of them could breach the crystal prison. Until the newborn Chimera manifested again by his side. It was as if lightning had come to life. As if a lightning bolt had taken on a humanoid silhouette. The one he would eventually call Surge told him of a mythical sword: Excalibur, which only the heir of the King of Kings could boast of wielding. This sword could slice through mountain peaks, cleave the waters of the sea... Only it could crack the crystal jail.

He dodges, shoulder-bumps his opponent to knock him off balance. The Haderite fencer, as he tries to painfully rise, feels Atsadi's blade rest under his chin and against his neck. Jaw clenched, he concedes victory, tossing his weapon to the ground as the Colosseum crowd exults. But Atsadi does not savor his victory. These are just games of no consequence. He waits to go far away, where the Tumult reigns. The legends of the first Nomads tell that before the founding of Asgartha, a Lost Tribe remained behind, protected by mythical swordsmen to cover the advance of the seven others, towards the place that would become their home.

These illustrious sword fighters are still known as the Seven Blades, even though their names have long been forgotten. And Atsadi has no choice: he must find their identity and unearth them. He must learn enough about them to materialize them, challenge them, and defeat them. For on the heights of Dusk, his beloved waits. She is everything to him, his happiness, his light, and he will do everything to free her from her torpor, so that a new dawn may finally rise on their love. So in the meantime, he will cross swords with anyone who wishes, anyone who comes to challenge his supremacy. Let them come. Atsadi is determined to make his name resound in the firmament, whatever the cost.