The prince’s eyes widened and went wild for a few seconds. He seemed frightened, even more frightened than they had expected. “Icemaker… Witch… Ionide… Swordsman…”
Ionide? Mike pondered, trying vainly to stay focused and not to wander off into thought.
“You four… along with that old witch… you killed my mother…”
Clover’s hands shook, and the mana that was about them disappeared. Azar’s muscles seemed to give way, the vessel fell from his hands. Still, his hands remained in the same position, as if he hadn’t realized the vessel had left them. A pale look was on the young man’s face, and he shivered, staring at those before him. Suddenly, a look of drastic rage appeared on his face, and his muscles regained their strength.
“DIE!!” he blasted.
Kill him! the voice inside Lex commanded with urgency.
The anger and rage and thirst for vengeance on Azar’s face were enough to get his enemies trembling. Massive orbs of fire appeared in the prince’s hands in an instant, each as large as the largest iceball Lex had ever created.
“What the hell?” Mike wondered aloud. Without shilly-shallying, he shoved the spheres off toward Lex and Clover. The spheres moved toward them much faster than iceballs. Lex’s reflexes had him send his iceballs forward to meet the incoming spheres of dangerous heat. Clover jumped out of the way of the sphere, barely making an escape. The ground behind her suffered the hot blow, and was cracked up instantly. Lex’s two iceballs collided with the sphere of fire that was heading toward him. As the fire met the ice, both elements seemed to disappear, leaving behind droplets of water and hot steam.
Mike, with a roar of courage, bolted toward Azar, pulling back his right fist as he reached near enough to make a strike. Mike’s fist struck the Magmalian prince, or at least that’s what Mike thought. Something quite unexpected occurred as the prince was supposed to suffer a heavy blow. In a sudden cloud of mana, Azar disappeared. Mike’s fist flew through the clearing red mana. Mike drew back his fist, confused. As the mist of mana cleared, he saw Azar a few meters before him. No doubt, he had spaceshifted.
So the rumours are true, Mike thought. On closer examination, Mike saw that the prince’s right palm was held out toward him, and a ball of fire was in its grip. At an extraordinary speed, the hot ball of deadly red-orange shot of toward Mike; no throwing was done. Escape was impossible. The hot force, on impact, sent Mike hurling through the dusty mist. He landed and rolled meters from the battleground. A thin smoke rose from Azar’s hand.
Kyle charged at Azar with a roar of bravery, like a foolish hero. Azar grabbed the handles of two swords strapped behind his back, which Kyle had noticed on seeing him. His right hand grabbed the handle jutting out from his left shoulder and vice-versa. Azar blocked Kyle’s attack with one sword, and swung at his chest with the other. Kyle jumped back quickly, the tip of Azar’s sword grazing his chest, slicing his shirt. Lex, by now, had two well-charged iceballs in his hands, but getting a perfect shot at the enemy proved difficult, as Kyle was in the way. After a few more clashes of swords and desperate dodging on Kyle’s part, Kyle was easily disarmed. Azar, being a much better swordsman than the novice, knocked Kyle’s sword flying from his grip. Kyle took some retreating steps quickly, glancing back at Lex. With a bay of power and strain, Lex slammed the two spheres of chilly icy together, pressing on them as hard as he could. The now single sphere vibrated violently and energetically, taking on a richer blue.
“You asked for it!” Lex flung his palms out toward the prince, and as he had expected, but as the prince had expected as well, an ice beam swiftly rushed out. Azar’s hands glowed with red mana as he readied himself to perform a handy spell. “Ecifo-elric!” he commanded, his right palm facing the incoming beam directly, and his left palm stretched parallel to his right. The trail of ice energy, instead of clashing into Azar and freezing him hand first as Lex had expected, made a turn as it reached the right hand of the prince, then made a near complete circle around the nobleman. When the ice beam reached around to his other hand, it made an angular turn, bolting toward the frightened Lex. His own ice struck him, and in a moment, he was covered in a thick block of ice. Through the almost fully transparent ice, his wide, unblinking eyes could be seen.
“Abingush!” a fired-up Clover raged, flashing green mana at the prince. Had Azar not been basking in smugness after using such a rare and difficult spell, Clover’s attack probably wouldn’t have scratched him. There was a huge bang, and an explosion of green, and a bit of red mana. Azar, like a missile, rocketed off, bursting though the brick wall of an old house a little distance away. Clover turned and looked at the frozen Lex. Mike finally struggled to his feet.
“Come!” Kyle called to his sister and Mike, “He’s down! Let’s finish him!” The swordsman grabbed up his sword, and he and Mike rushed off to find the prince. Clover glanced back over at Lex in worry, wondering what she could do to help. “Clover!” her brother called, and she rushed off. They soon reached up to the building Azar had smashed through. He was on the floor, looking quite beaten, bleeding all over his tattered clothes. Clover stared down at the man with wide eyes, almost failing to believe that her third grade spell had done such damage to such a powerful warlock. The watchers’ eyes widened as bright red mana covered the prince, instantly healing his wounds. Azar rose to his feet quickly. Kyle rushed on to him with his sword.
“Azanath!” Azar commanded, and with a red flash, Kyle was made to keep still in his offensive position. The prince stretched one arm out toward Clover and the other toward Mike.
Nearly instantly, huge spheres of fire appeared, resting on each palm. Clover, though she was in her own amount of danger, could not keep her mind off the frozen Lex. At marvellous speeds, the balls of fire zoomed toward their targets. Green mana seemed to consume Clover that very instant, and she disappeared. Mike, though, wasn’t as lucky; the whistling ball of fire blasted him. He made a move, though, quickly placing his coated palm over his chest to guard himself. The force of the fireball was not diminished, however. As the ball hit him, he was sent flying out of the house, tearing though the mist of Ghost Town.
Clover looked about wildly, appearing in a cloud of mana. Her eyes were soon fixed on the frozen, unmoving Lex. She panicked, confused as to what had just happened, and what her next move should be. There was a familiar, poofy sound and a sudden redness caught her eye. She turned quickly, facing Azar and his outstretched hand, which she had learnt to fear by now. She stared at the angry-looking ball of fire, which the prince didn’t hesitate to fire. The fiery ball hit her hard, and she banged against the prison of ice that encased Lex. The bleeding Clover fell to the ground, smoke rising from her, her clothes and body badly burnt. The ice had melted a bit. Somehow, she conjured up the courage and strength to stand once more.
“Interesting,” Azar said, smirking a bit, “the little girl is the one who proves most challenging. How old might you be?” He seemed genuinely interested. “Your skill seems much too advanced for a girl your age. Third grade mana? Spaceshifting? Heh! Such a pity, really… for such potential to go to waste.”
Clover clenched her fists, a desperate look on her face. She tried to conjure up more mana, but nothing happened.
“Talent is incomparable with experience, nonetheless,” Azar said smugly. “You haven’t enough practice even to know when you’re out of mana. Anyway, I cannot tarry with you. This honour is yours. I have great power to lunch on… Re Recros Lortnoc!” Azar commanded, red mana flaring up on his hands immediately. He stretched his right palm out toward Clover. She cried out as she felt a gripping pain. “This, little girl, is real sorcery!” He quickly flashed his hand up and to the right. Clover gasped as she found herself swiftly moving through the air in accordance with Azar’s gesticulation. She was ten meters off the ground, and she felt like her bones were caving in. She struggled to escape Azar’s grasp, but her efforts were futile. “Hmm. A minute of this would certainly kill you, but I don’t feel very patient t
oday.” He held his right hand up toward Clover. The mana about his left hand disappeared, and was replaced by a massive sphere of fire.
“Aaaah! Lex!” she screamed. Azar laughed, then glanced at the prison of ice nearby. His face became distorted with a totally new expression. Clover managed to turn her head and look down at Lex. The first thing that caught her attention was the blackness in his eyes.
“… This boy…He has the other half…” the prince marvelled. Still staring at Lex with an expression of discovery, he casually jolted his right hand forward. Clover flew back with great force. She landed hard and rolled several yards, stirring more dust into the white mist. “Unbelievable… I will obtain both halves in one day… Hahahahahaha!” Azar went wild. He flung the ball of fire at the prison of ice. In rapid succession, he sent several more at the target. Then, with two more balls of fire in his hands, he stood there watching.
Lex, pale-skinned from being trapped in the ice, gave him a threatening stare. He was soaked in hot and cold water. He glanced over at Clover. He could hardly see her. Then, he looked back at Azar, great wrath and thirst for his blood vivid in his black eyes. Lex stretched his palms out before him. Dark and ice energies rushed through his veins, and in mere seconds, two massive orbs of black ice were created.
“This won’t be easy,” Azar considered, “but with only a half of the demon’s power at his disposal, he shouldn’t be able to defeat me.” With a powerful roar, Lex sent the spheres of black ice at his enemy in quick succession. As they rushed toward him, a red orb came over him. In about a second, there was a massive enclosure of black ice before Lex. Azar, though, was unharmed inside the cavity his mana shield made him. Staying inside the hollow rock of black ice was unsafe, though. The enraged Lex summed up some pure dark energy, creating two shadowballs.
Unable to send a beam of fire through the black ice, Azar spaceshifted, reaching just outside of the black sphere. Without hesitation, he sent a beam of fire toward Lex. Lex flung the shadowballs at Azar. The beam of fire smashed into Lex fiercely, pushing him back almost at the full initial speed of the beam. He finally landed, skating back on the ground a few yards.
Kyle, just being able to move again, felt quite disoriented. He shook his head wildly. He felt like time had left him. He heard weighty footsteps and heavy breathing. Sword in hand, he ran toward where the sound was coming from. Not long after, he came upon the runner, a familiar man. “B–Blade?”
“Hn. You again.” Blade wore an annoyed look on his face.
“What’re you doing here?” Kyle asked, greatly curious.
“I meditate here, where it’s quiet… at least where it’s usually quiet. I heard some noise from a few miles west and I came to see what the fuss was all about.”
“A—Az—”
“There you are!” a third, devious-sounding voice interrupted. Kyle turned to see the familiar character.
“You again!” Kyle blasted. Blade calmly looked in the direction of the person. “He kidnapped my sister!”
“Interesting meeting you again,” the masked man said to Kyle. Blade hissed and drew his sword.
“Stay back,” Blade said. The Mask. Again. Three times in a single week.
“Blade,” the masked man greeted.
“What do you want with me?”
“You know, I like the old name better, Butcher.” Blade’s eyes narrowed as he was left in deep thought.
“Just who are you?”
The masked man laughed.
“There is a bounty on your head… Little boy, do not get in the way. Your blood is cheap. I’d rather not have it on my blades.”
“Kyle, as he said,” Blade said, stepping in front of him.
Lex struggled to rise to his feet. Azar spaceshifted, appearing just before the black-eyed boy. Lex, still feeling the wonderful rush of dark energy in his veins, quickly summoned up two more shadowballs. Lex jumped back, his jump taking him back a few meters through the air, hurling the deadly spheres at Azar in quick time. Another red cloud appeared. The shadowballs only managed to cut through the mana. Azar appeared behind him.
As Kyle watched the intense, even-looking duel between the two sword masters, quick black movements caught his eyes to his left and right. He thought for a moment, the prospect of ghosts not even crossing his mind. Shadowballs. The Masked man, seemingly frustrated by his inability to touch Blade, mightily sent his swords down at him. Blade, his left fist bracing against the side of his long sword, close to the tip, blocked the attack and forcefully kicked the masked man in the chest. The masked man staggered back. Blade gave his sword a swift, heavy swing, knocking one of The Mask’s swords away.
“Do you know why there is a bounty on my head?” Blade asked.
“Doesn’t matter to me. Sooner or later, you will be taken down; it might as well be by me.” He jabbed, then swung at Blade again. With effortless shifting, the assaults were evaded. Kyle, seeing the masked one’s state of difficulty, saw it as the perfect time to make his mark and to impress Blade. He ran up behind The Mask and swung at his neck. The Mask ducked quickly, forcing Blade to block Kyle’s sword from beheading him. The Mask quickly slithered from between the two, grabbed up his sword and took off. Blade sighed and hissed under his breath. Determined to make up for his unhelpful interference, Kyle darted after the already disappearing enemy. Blade just recased his sword and watched the novice. Kyle soon gave up, realizing that the runner was nowhere in sight. Not even footsteps remained of the masked swordsman, as Blade had expected.
With clenched teeth, Lex turned again in the direction of the prince. Azar evaded all of Lex’s shadowballs, further annoying and angering him.
Hmm… At this rate my mana will be depleted before long, and it’s all downhill from there… Azar shifted out of the way of another shadowball. He reappeared the exact same place, conserving the little mana he had left. Remembering his initial mission, he shifted a few meters away. He stooped and picked up the heavy vessel. Lex turned to where he was.
“My spirit!” the demon shouted through Lex’s mouth.
“I will return for you, Icemaker,” the prince promised. Lex hurled two more shadowballs at the man. Azar vanished again, reappearing some faraway place.
Kyle hissed. “I let him get away… I shouldn’t have cut in back there. You didn’t need my help,” Kyle said, holding his head down in shame.
“It’s alright,” Blade said, pitying the boy, a forgiving tone in his voice that gave Kyle the strength to look up at him.
“He called you Butcher… What’s that all about?”
“That’s what I need to find out,” Blade answered, obviously thinking deeply.
“Where are your friends?” Blade asked.
“Oh damn!” Kyle gave out like he had just remembered them, “This way!”
As the darkness disappeared from Lex’s eyes, he staggered and fell on his back, groaning in pain and tiredness. “I failed,” he whispered to himself, then exhaled deeply drawn in air. He tried to get up to tend to Clover, but he couldn’t move. He lay there and closed his eyes as he felt an intense sleepiness draw down on him. After a moment he had the vivid illusion of waking. On looking around, it became obvious that he was in some kind of trance-like state. A large table just appeared before him. On the table were thirteen stones. Within the circle of stones were two cylindrical vessels, one white and the other blue. Then, there was a sudden strong wind, but it seemed to blow only over the table. Lex didn’t feel it. He just stood and observed. The white vessel, after rocking wildly, finally toppled, and a white liquid looking like milk drained from it. Then there was immense darkness. The two vessels glowed brightly, so Lex kept his attention on them. The blue vessel floated up above the white one, and the white one suddenly stood erect. Then, the blue container slowly went down at an angle, and a black liquid drained from it until it filled the one that stood on the table. Then, rays of light entered the room through windows Lex hadn’t noticed previously. Then, there were bright flashes of a thousand col
ours in about a second.
Lex awoke abruptly. He stared for a moment up at an unfamiliar roof. Then he stood up, feeling quite rested and energized and even more confused.
“Lex!” Clover’s voice greeted him. He turned around quickly. Clover ran up to him and hugged him tightly. In his confusion, he could hardly hold on to the girl. With the suddenness Lex had become accustomed to, she released him, pushing him slightly. He looked at Mike, Kyle and Blade, who were sitting about casually.
“Hey,” he greeted them, then looked particularly at lanky, lazy-looking man. “Blade?”
“That’s right!” Kyle blasted excitedly. “He says he’ll be stickin’ around for a while! Believe it, sucker! I’m gonna be trained by a real sword master!”
“Wow! That’s… great! … Where are we again?” Lex was more confused than anything else.
“You’re still in Ghost Town,” Blade said, “an old chapel, where I meditate.”
“He healed us, Lex!” Clover added, “With some weird bush and some nasty-tasting tea!”
“How long was I out?” Lex asked nervously.
“Just an hour or so!” Clover said.
Lex sighed, looking relieved.
“Oh no! The vessel! The prince!” Lex just remembered.
“If it is to be, then you will without doubt gain the other half,” Blade said. “By the way, it is an extremely stupid idea going up against the prince like that.”
“I had no idea he was so powerful! A Firemaker and a sorcerer?! Who’d have guessed?!”
“And don’t forget he isn’t too bad with his blades,” Kyle added.
“Before a battle, always do your homework,” Blade advised. “The prince is probably the easiest man on the continent to get info on, so don’t tell me you even tried… Prince Azar is said to be the most powerful man in Libson, and that’s common knowledge… You all survived his attack, and that’s nothing short of a miracle to help you fulfil your destinies… Now that you’ve interfered with him, especially seeing he wants the other half which you possess, I’m pretty sure you won’t have the trouble of having to track him down.”
The Seventh Spirit Page 25
