The Legends of Nethiah Page #3

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What makes you so sure?

Why do you think I left home?

Just because they can't

live with each other

doesn't mean they can

live without you.

How am I gonna make a decision

without hurting one of them?

You can't.

Someone's going to get hurt.

I'll tell you something else.

They're scared.

Scared of what?

You're the glue now, kid.

You can keep them as close

or as far apart as you want.

You understand?

So this is where

you've been hiding out.

Who's this?

Grandpa, this is Tully.

Tully, my grandpa.

Nice to meet you, Grandpa.

Nice to meet you.

I gotta go pick up some trash.

I'll catch you later.

You know him?

He's a friend of mine.

I don't like him.

You don't know him.

Didn't know bin Laden, either.

You want an ice cream cone?

Yeah.

Let's go.

Grab your stuff.

You better hurry up or

I'm gonna eat yours, too.

So are you gonna

continue the story?

Sure. Just let me

sit down first.

Come on!

Okay. Where were we?

When Nethiah got captured

by the Strifer King.

That's right, he got captured.

But they didn't enslave him.

No. They did

something much worse.

They made him

into a pit fighter.

The young boy grew

into a strong man.

And they taught him

how to fight,

kind of like the gladiators

of ancient Rome.

And did he learn.

He was the best.

400 times they lowered

him into the pit,

and 400 times he raised

his arm in victory.

The only time he was allowed

to leave his cell

was to train or fight.

And for the longest time,

that's all he knew.

He became like an animal,

like a savage,

as savage as the Strifers

who had locked him up.

And one day, suddenly,

something changed.

What? He had enough.

He reached his limit.

He just couldn't do it anymore.

The fighting, the death.

He was a man at

the end of his rope.

There comes a time

in everyone's life

when a decision has to be made,

and Nethiah made it...

no more fighting.

When they came for him,

he refused to leave his cell.

He didn't care what

the consequences were.

He was finished.

Nethiah was given a choice.

Fight, or be taken

to the Strifer King,

a fate that no one had

ever returned from alive.

That was when he met Sir Hanif.

He was a freedom fighter

who had been silenced by the

Strifers in a terrible way.

How?

They wired his mouth shut.

Come here.

You speak with your mind. How?

A lost art known to a few.

Sir Hanif seemed to want

to help Nethiah,

but suddenly, he stabbed him.

How come?

Why didn't he help him?

Well, in a way, he did help him.

He awakened Nethiah's anger,

and when Nethiah was angry,

he was strong.

Hanif! Why? Why did you do this?

To set you free.

I don't understand.

You said... You said

you were going to help me.

Soon, you will feel the

strength flowing in you.

In a way, Sir Hanif was...

his savior.

He showed Nethiah

what a person can do

if he believes in himself,

if he sees the truth in things.

You see, Sir Hanif used

to be a great warrior, too,

and friend to the Strifer King.

But when he finally saw the evil

that lurked in the king's heart,

he made a decision.

He refused to serve

the king anymore.

So he was imprisoned

and forced to fight in the pits.

Just like Nethiah. That's right.

Nethiah made his own decision.

It was better to die

fighting for his freedom

than to live as a slave.

And Sir Hanif came

to that same conclusion.

In one final charge,

he attacked the Strifer guards

outside the prison cell.

Now, Sir Hanif succeeded

in defeating the guards,

but time had slowed

his fighting ability.

It was a victory

that cost him dearly.

Hanif!

Go... before the rest of

the Strifers get here.

No, we'll go together!

No, Nethiah.

This is a journey

for you, and you alone.

We can make it, both of us!

But I am already free.

I... I don't understand.

I'm soon to be outside

these prison walls

in both mind and body.

But your path is

far more dangerous.

My path?

To the Strifer King.

Remember, I awakened your soul.

Use it against him,

for both of our sakes.

Hanif, I don't know how to...

You do, Nethiah.

Use my blade, and take this.

Sir Hanif gave Nethiah

an amulet...

a good-luck charm...

saying only that

it would protect him.

But... But how

will it protect me?

Have faith, Nethiah.

Have faith.

I... I will try.

My strength is leaving me.

Now go.

Go and find yourself

and your purpose.

Let the blade and

the amulet guide you.

Defeat the Strifer King...

and free... our...

people.

Sir Hanif made

the ultimate sacrifice.

So Nethiah... he fought his way

through guard after guard.

But he was bleeding from

the cut in his side.

And when he thought

he could go no further,

he finally found what he

was looking for... a way out.

Did he?

Did he what?

Grandpa! Did he make it?

Oh, well, yeah.

Sort of.

Sort of?

He was the on the verge

of passing out

from loss of blood when...

When?

A stranger found him.

A mysterious woman saw

his weakened condition

and helped him up.

She was unlike anyone

he had ever seen before...

beautiful, with eyes the color

of the setting sun.

When Nethiah woke up,

he had no idea how long

he had been sleeping.

And the woman hovered over him.

And he was scared at first.

She was not an ordinary woman,

she was someone...

something... magical.

Where am I?

You do not know?

Keep your distance.

Why?

Do you intend to harm me?

What are you?

I am a Sorqan!

What is a Sorqan?

I am made up of

many organisms...

but I take the form of only one.

I am known as Naran Anie.

Why am I here?

I do not know.

I must go.

No!

Wouldn't you rather

stay here with me instead?

I am in need of company.

And being the last of her kind,

alone all the time,

Stay with me... drove her mad.

Forever.

She begged Nethiah

to stay with her,

but he was determined to leave.

And that was when

the amulet saved him.

Aaaaah!

Do you know what an amulet is?

A good-luck charm?

Good boy.

It was a charm passed down

from ancient times.

It represented hope, courage,

the power

to start things anew...

just as Sir Hanif

had started anew

when he turned against

the Strifer King...

that if this woman

survived the Strifer attack,

maybe there were other

survivors from his own village

hiding somewhere.

So he walked and searched

for many days,

to the point of exhaustion.

And when he thought

he could walk no more,

he saw something very strange...

a hole in the ground.

But it was no ordinary hole.

It was black as night.

And, when Nethiah

reached his hand in

to see what he could find...

Oh. Grandpa!

I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

I'll get you another one.

But something grabbed him,

and it was very scary.

Nethiah wrenched his hand free

from the terrible grip

just as these terrifying

creatures emerged.

Who were they?

Survivors. He found them?

Not only that.

He found his family.

Well, I think that's

about it for today.

Grandpa! Nap time!

I don't take naps.

Who's talking about you, kiddo?

Wait till you get to be my age.

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