Daniel Book Four- Zebrica

Everybody was busy in their separate rooms getting ready, and packing what was necessary in their packs, Daniel though, didn't have to much to pack. Just some dried meat actually, so he was sitting on the large king sized bed alone, waiting for CC to arrive. He suddenly felt a tugging in the back of his mind, and Tenebrae came out of nowhere, instantly increasing Daniel's emotions, of which he didn't have to many on the surface. "Daniel, before you go on this quest, there is a power that you must take from me, the power of blades."

"What?" Daniel asked, confused now. Ditzy was outside the closed door, listening to the conversation.

"Blades, it is a powerful attribute that only an alicorn would be able to handle, it allows you to create unbreakable blades that protrude out of the body, wherever you need them to be. I will not lie, the process is extremely painful, but after the first time, you won't ever feel it again. Be warned though, this process can and will kill you if you don't do exactly as I say. Am I understood?" Daniel was getting an odd sense of dejavu.

"Alright, fine then, I'll trust you for now," was Daniel's response. Instantly, he felt himself drop. In an instant he shot back up, and looked around, but found himself in a realm of darkness, the only thing he could see was himself, and nothing more, there was no light to allow his vision to see himself, but still he saw.

"Daniel, you must do everything I say. No matter what, or else, you will die," Tenebrae's voice rang out, Daniel simply nodded. "Begin breathing," Tenebrae said.

Daniel began to inhale through his nose, and exhale slowly through his mouth. "Now, I want you to think about chaos, about pain, about suffering." Daniel again nodded, and began to think of war, how many fought for any reason, and how many died because of it. His body began to tingle, like tiny pins being gently pushed from the inside out. Daniel ignored it. "You need to think of more devastating things than war Daniel." Quickly changing his thoughts, he began to think of greed, and power, and how it could take a firm hold of somebody, and pull them under, into the abyss known as hell. The tingling instantly grew to a painful pressure as his skin bulged out in different places along his bones. Daniel screamed in agony from the pain, blood coming out of his nose and mouth. He couldn't think anymore. His ears were ringing, and he could barely hear Tenebrae's voice over the pounding in his ears.

"Think Fifth, come on, think, or else you WILL die, come on," he growled, igniting Daniel's anger, he instantly wanted to kill Tenebrae, for what reason, was unknown to him. He could feel his rage boiling, as his hatred grew, and in an instant, sharp blades shot out of his body, everywhere. There were hundreds, and they all began to retract, save for two, one on each elbow, protruding out with a menacing curve. The blades themselves were a dark black, and were dripping with Daniel's own blood. "Daniel, I am sending a small wave of dark creatures your way, they can only be killed by the blades that you now of control over, if you kill all of them, then you can go on your quest," and with that, a growl came from out of the darkness, and two glowing red eyes appeared, followed by an impish like creature, with no face. It ran at Daniel, who snarled himself, and quickly cut the head off the creature using the blade on his elbow. It was a crude cut, but it sliced through it like butter. Daniel gave a slight smile at his kill, he had never felt so alive. The thrill of the blood oozing out of the creature gave him joy for whatever reason. Many more began marching forward, some charging. Daniel charged as well, and began slicing and dicing as he saw fit, eventually, all that was left, were the bodies of the creatures, and Daniel standing alone with a sadistic grin as he licked his lips. Tenebrae's voice rang out once more, "Daniel, I must warn you, this is a Newborn power, and as such, should not be used when I am around, or else your hatred will show, and you will end up killing friends as well as enemies. Heed this warning great one."

*   *   *

Daniel instantly shot awake on the floor he was on, he found himself face to face with Gilda. "Uh, boss, is it normal for blades to be coming out of your arms like that?" She asked.

"It is now, and would you look at that, the FLAW held together like it was made of liquid. Rarity, you are a genius." Daniel said with a slight laugh. He felt good, really good, like the energy of everything was being poured into him, he felt like he could climb a mountain and be back down all within ten minutes. Gilda stared at him.

"What's got him so happy?" Gilda thought to herself as Daniel walked out the door, right into Ditzy, where he swooped in and kissed her, making Ditzy blush, with a small smile at Daniel's grin. They walked off together as CC came and greeted them.

"Where's your other mate?" CC asked, looking in between Daniel and Ditzy.

"I'm not his mate, I told you this before, besides, they wouldn't even let me into their nest, er, herd anyways," Gilda said sharply.

"What makes you think that?" Daniel and Ditzy said simultaneously. Gilda shrugged and nodded to CC to get her to speak.

"Alright, first up, is the Samarea Desert, a vast expanse of nothing, save for scorpions, spiders, bandits, and other dangerous things. I hope you are all packed. We have a long journey ahead of us." And with that, her horn glowed as their environment suddenly got hotter. They were in a small town, and on the edge of it was the said desert, and CC was the first to take a step into it.