Rey flinched after what Akielas said and had a disturbed look on his face. "Similar to what you tried to do?" He asked.
Akielas was embarrassed to have said that without thinking. He walked away, out of the bookshelves and towards the globe by the entrance of the library.
"Akielas, explain to me," Rey Ling demanded and clutched his shoulder. "Tell me, what did you mean by that? I know the Specters were your apprentices, but what is your part in their evil plans?"
Akielas could not make eye contact. The shame would not let him. "It was my original idea," he confessed. "The Specters are continuing something I started, only much worse." He turned around and faced Rey Ling. "About thirty years ago I was the one who wanted to rid the world of magic. However, when I met the fairy king, I changed my ways. Later on, my apprentices turned against me and Ember killed my wife."
"I see," Rey said and frowned.
"The shame and the guilt won't allow me to sleep," Akielas continued. "Every day I wake up with remorse and feeling horrible for dragging all of you into something that is my responsibility."
"I can see how you were the start of this, but it's not about you anymore," Rey said. "We all have to do something about the Specters before their plan succeeds. I know this is what my father would want me to do. Not only did he want me to make inventions for people, but he also wanted me to expand."
"Well then, now that you know, we need to think of a way to prevent the Specters from using omnithium," Akielas said. "Without omnithium, their plan won't work. We just have to make sure that Caim takes the cosmo jewels from the Specters. Also, we are going to need our own omnithium for the next time we fight them."
"Leave that to me," Rey replied with a smirk. "I still have some kaminyte in my factory. We just need to find zeustoss and mythium. I should not have much of a problem forging omnithium, and I will figure out where my father hid the rest of it."
"Excellent," Akielas said. "Let's not forget the Sapphire Cosmo Jewel. It resides in Maer Weeyar, known as the water country. We must find it before the Specters do."
Suddenly, his teleport crystal began to vibrate inside his kidney belt. Akielas pulled it out, and the maju coming from it was hot and intense. The signal was coming from Auron, and Akielas was sure it was an emergency, due to the amount of maju that he could feel emanating from the crystal.
"We must hurry," Akielas told Rey.
"Why? What is wrong?" Rey asked.
"Auron just sent me a signal from Kazenolumos," he replied.
"Well, can it wait? We still have a few more things to research," Rey reminded.
"The intense maju he sent me is telling me that it's an emergency," Akielas explained. "I think the Specters are attacking Kazenolumos. They need our help."
"Then let's not keep them waiting any longer," Rey Ling said and took out the Omnistar from within his vest and gave it to Akielas. "You know the sky city better than me. Lead the way."
"Leaving already?" Audrey asked as he approached from bookshelves down the hall.
"We are done for today Audrey. Thank you for your help," Akielas replied.
"I will always be here when you are in need of more knowledge," the librarian said.
The Omnistar glowed purple and the eye in the center blinked. The eye opened a portal to Kazenolumos. Strong winds billowed Akielas's cloak and spun the globe behind him. Looking into the portal he could see the inner city with debris on its tiled streets. Rey Ling jumped into the portal first before it began to shrink.
"What in blazes are you doing?" Audrey yelled, trying to catch the paper that was being blown away by the wind. "What kind of magic is this?"
"Sorry Audrey," Akielas said before he jumped into the portal. "This is an emergency!" He yelled just as it was closing.
****
Debris. Chaos. Fiends soaring through the skies. Columns toppled. Effeelions wounded and dead everywhere throughout the city on the first level. He could not believe the destruction the Specters caused, even with Caim protecting the city.
"What level are we in?" Rey asked, drawing his sword from the scabbard on his back. The blade of the sword twisted in the guard and clinked.
"This is the first level of Kazenolumos," Akielas answered, viewing his surroundings and wondering where Caim and Auron had gone.
"I can sense Auron's maju, but where are the Specters?" Rey asked, scanning the clouds over the parapet.
As Akielas scanned the skies, he spotted Auron fighting the Specters. The Effeelions assisted Auron, flying on their clouds. Fiends fell from the sky, sparks and lightning shining above as Auron clashed with Ember.
"We can't just stand here," Rey said. "Let's join the fight."
Fiends came running at them from within the city. Canines much larger than before were clad in kaminyte armor. Gargoyles and giant eyeless bats licked their chops covered in blood. Dozens of them were gaining fast, lusting to sink their fangs into flesh.
"Here they come," Akielas said and drew his sword from its scabbard. He enchanted the sword with lightning and ran straight for them.
Three canines pounced at him. He jumped, spun in the air, and sliced each one, releasing sparks. Akielas landed on the balls of his feet, rolled on the ground and ran to the next group of fiends. Using electromancy with his sword, he shot a yellow beam and shocked the fiends ahead. Fiends perished and turned to ashes, returning back to the underworld. He looked back and saw Rey Ling fighting more fiends with his sword and hurling his boomerang made of kaminyte.
"Akielas!" Rey Ling called. "It's Caim! I see him around the perimeter."
Immediately Akielas ran back and followed the parapet. Rey pointed up ahead and there lay Caim on the ground with rods piercing his body.
"Help!" the demigod shouted.
Using aeromancy, Akielas and Rey glided over the tiled floor, moving at a greater speed. Once they reached Caim, Akielas tried to pull the rods out and the demigod screamed.
"No, you have to...use...shadomancy to...remove them," Caim said, grunting in pain with every pause.
Akielas stood up and called upon his dark magic. He disliked using it but the situation demanded it. He inhaled and exhaled deeply. "Odiack shadoh," he whispered. Suddenly his hands began to fog and shadows began to swirl. He clutched the kaminyte rods and Caim groaned again. Akielas focused on the dark maju and placed a hand on Caim's back where the rod sunk into the body. "Odiack lems mineras," he whispered again and yanked the rod out, causing the demigod to scream. "Just one more," Akielas said. He whispered the words of shadomancy then yanked the rod out of both hands. Caim gave one last scream and his wounds began to close gradually.
"I never thought I would see you in this condition," Akielas commented. "How could this happen?"
"It's that steel," Caim answered, still on the floor as his wounds healed. "Those staffs they use are made of...some kind of steel that drains my cosmo."
"Why is his hair black, I thought it was white?" Rey noticed.
"Give him a moment, he is recovering," Akielas answered. "Caim, that steel is called omnithium. It has the ability to absorb souls, maju and even cosmo. That is why it weakened you."
"It not only drained my energy," Caim said as he stood up. "It hurts more than kaminyte." He brought one knee up and Akielas noticed the gash on his back was fully closed. Caim's hair began to change from black to grey, a sign that he was recovering his powers.
"Incredible, you can recover that quickly," Rey commented and positioned his sword on his shoulder. "I assume you will be able to fight in a few minutes."
"Can I borrow your sword?" Caim asked Rey as he stood up.
"Umm...sure," Rey responded and handed his sword over to the demigod.
The demigod grabbed the hilt and, at first it seemed too heavy for him, but then the blade began to glow purple, the color of his cosmo.
"What are you going to do?" Akielas asked, taking a step back.
"Just testing myself," Caim said wearily then swung the sword, releasing a wave of cosmo
energy. He killed multiple winged fiends that flew by with one attack, their bodies turned to ashes and smoke. He then returned the sword back to Rey. "I feel better now."
"Are you fine now?" Akielas came closer and looked at him. The demigod's hair was fully white again. Never had Akielas seen anyone heal that fast.
"I was taken down once, but it won't happen again," Caim replied. "Do me a favor and try to keep the Specters busy while I go and protect the Aero Cosmo Jewel. I can feel it and it is still in its chamber." The demigod kicked off the ground, rising as he destroyed fiends.
"Come on Rey, let's join the fight," Akielas beckoned.
"How are we going to go up?" Rey asked. "Unless you know any flying spells."
"Something like that," Akielas replied then turned to the inner city. He clapped his hands together and chanted, "terriora rematos." He palmed the floor, spreading his maju, inserting it into the largest boulder he saw. A column of granite and alabaster rose. Like a magnet, the stones and boulders floated towards them. He jumped on a large pillar of alabaster and then, using his maju, he compressed the smaller stones and sharpened them.
"Get on," Akielas said.
Rey Ling jumped on the pillar and Akielas drove the stone vessel out of the inner city and into the sky.
"This is brilliant," Rey commented, trying to balance himself on the boulder. "I feel like I am on an air board back home."
"Don't fall off now," Akielas said.
Stones spun around the larger boulders, forming a ring. Fiends approached them, screeching and shrieking. Akielas hurled a bundle of sharp stones and cut through them with ease. Rey enchanted his sword using aeromancy and released slicing winds. The stones protected them as they flew around the city, preventing fiends from coming too close.
"There she is," Rey alerted, pointing at their foe.
Akielas squinted in that direction and saw Ember approaching.
"We must be careful. She has the crimson jewel remember," Akielas reminded.
"Worry not," Rey said confidently as if he had a plan.
Akielas could hear Ember shouting and launching a red beam using her staff. His heart hammered in his chest as he tried to cast a crystal shield while controlling the stones. To his surprise, Rey used the Omnistar and opened a portal. The red blast plunged into the portal until it was completely absorbed.
"I would have never thought of that," Akielas said.
"Now watch this," Rey remarked and used the Omnistar again.
Another portal opened in front of Rey and released the red beam, returning it to its spellcaster, but Ember swirled in the air, dodging the blast. Akielas then turned his stone vessel towards Ember. She shot fire balls at him but he blocked using his boulders. When she reached them the stones around the alabaster pillar spun, creating an attack and defense shield.
"Trondass chain!" Akielas shouted and released strings of lightning from his fingertips. The strings attached onto Ember, paralyzing her. "Rey! Hurry! Strike now!"
Rey Ling pulled his gun from its holster. It was twice as big and bulkier than the last one he used on the Specters. Rey aimed while Akielas had Ember paralyzed, then pulled the trigger, shooting her right arm. Ember screamed so loud it echoed throughout Kazenolumos. Rey shot her again, aiming for her heart, but the wind pushed the bullet towards her shoulder.
"Rey, make sure no one interrupts," Akielas commanded.
"I will keep an eye out," Rey responded.
Akielas pulled Ember in with the lightning strings. The buzzing sound of lightning became louder as she came closer. Using one hand, Akielas reached for the omnithium staff while she remained immobilized. He pulled her in while keeping his attention on the stones and boulders that carried them. His attention was split in two but he focused more on Ember, eager to end it all.
In his peripheral he saw a bright green light and hoped it was one of the Effeelions. When Akielas looked over his right shoulder, it was Hertha with a green blast, using the emerald jewel. He ignored the blast and tried to snatch the omnithium staff from Ember but, suddenly Auron swooped in and grabbed him and Rey Ling. As they rose higher into the sky the boulders and stones were shattered into pieces by Hertha's attack.
"No! Go back! I almost had her," Akielas yelled.
"You were just about to die, you fool," Auron snarled and flew to the second level.
Auron dropped them by the edge of the second level. Akielas quickly looked back and watched as Ember fell from the sky only to be snatched up by Hertha. He punched a hole in the tiled floor when he saw Hertha saving Ember and ascending again.
"No!" Akielas yelled. "So close. Damn it all."
"Trust me, I know how that feels," Auron commented.
"Shut up, Auron," he snarled and kept staring at the Specters. "Ember! Come and get me."
"Don’t be foolish," Auron said. "She is far too powerful now with the crimson jewel."
"I didn't say I was going to fight her alone," Akielas replied then looked at Rey Ling. "You know what to do."
Rey nodded and stood behind Akielas. They waited for the Specters. Akielas knew that Ember would heal and return. Auron stood next to him and seemed rather impatient, like always, eager to run into battle.
"I am not just going to wait till she appears," Auron said and dove down through the clouds.
"Auron! No!" Akielas yelled. He wanted to run after him but decided to let him go.
With the Golden Sun Auron could defend himself against cosmo based magic, but it was not long before Akielas saw him being blasted back in the air by Ember's red beam. Auron's shield shattered to pieces, as well as chunks of his armor, while he crashed somewhere above in the third level of the city. Ember flew towards Akielas, launching another beam. He moved out of the way and Rey opened a portal, absorbing the attack into an unknown dimension.
"That won't work twice," Ember said and clashed blades with Akielas.
His sword and her staff clanked, flames sprouted then he slid back. While Ember came in for another strike, Akielas used his teleport crystal and, as they had planned, Ember's red cosmo beam shot from a portal that he opened. The masked fiend barely dodged her own attack. She pushed against it for a moment using the omnithium staff then jumped and rolled away. The beam streamed next to Ember and, when it vanished from sight, her hands trembled and she panted.
"How...? How did you...?" Ember asked, kneeling on the floor.
"It's all part of being a master mage," Akielas answered. "I think I won't have a problem mastering cosmo magic. Don't forget who is the one that trained you. For decades I knew that all forms of magic are connected and it looks like cosmo magic is no different."
Akielas's teleport crystal glowed purple. He was well aware that it contained cosmo magic. For years he was not sure how to use it to its fullest potential but, by studying Caim's magic and using Rey's Omnistar, he figured out how to access the cosmo in it. "You hunted cosmo items as well as kaminyte. The only reason you never came after my crystals is because you knew you could not defeat me." Akielas unhooked his cloak and tossed it aside. He paced toward Ember fearlessly. "I think I know why the dragon gods banished men from the garden of Eden."
"Don't lecture me now, old man," Ember said as she stood, propped up by her staff.
"The gods did not like what became of their children, the humans," Akielas lectured, walking towards her. "They could not deal with their destructive behavior, so they exiled them out of paradise. I wanted you to be happy, Ember, I changed my ways so that you could change yours and now I must bear the sin of killing the child I raised."
"You know nothing of me," Ember rasped. "You beat me and called it discipline."
"I know and I am sorry," Akielas said and paused. "I gave you a chance, but now you have given me no choice."
"Akielas! Be careful! Don't let her soften you," Rey yelled. "We should finish her now."
Akielas ignored Rey. He raised his sword and enchanted it with lightning. It chirped and he pointed the blade at her. "Hand over the staff or
I will kill you."
"No!" Rey yelled and rushed forward with his sword, aiming to kill Ember.
"Rey, wait!" Akielas bellowed.
Ember used her cosmo magic and thrust her palm at Rey Ling, tossing him far into the inner city. When Akielas moved to strike, she vanished, turning into a cloud of black smoke, and immediately he felt her reappearing behind him. Before he could turn in time to attack, Ember used her staff and struck his tailbone, forcing him to fall on his knees and distort his maju. Akielas tried to yell but, with all the burning pain in his back, his maju couldn't circulate and start healing his spine where it had been struck. He could only gape with eyes wide.
"Say goodbye to all the years you studied magic," Ember said.
Using the apex of the omnithium staff, she struck Akielas's crown and sent a shock into his spine, shutting down all channels of maju. Akielas collapsed, unable to move.
"I won't need to kill you now," Ember said. "You are useless without your magic, Master."
Laying there on the tiled floor, Akielas watched Ember flying away and blasting Effeelions with the crimson jewel. He tried to lift his hand to cast aeromancy but could not feel the smallest bit of maju anywhere throughout his body.
Caim
He was fully recovered and feeling vengeful. He scanned the entire area of Kazenolumos, searching for the only Specter that would know where to find the Aero Cosmo Jewel. The remnant was so well hidden and its chamber prevented outsiders from sensing its maju.
"Could he possibly have gone inside already?" He asked himself.
Fiends flew towards him and he shot them down with purple beams. He orbited the city searching for Jairo, and while he flew he shot down fiends and helped the Effeelions. A simple palm thrust would turn them to ashes, leaving their kaminyte armor remaining and falling from the sky.
When he looked up, he caught a glimpse of one of the Specters flying into the dome on the third level. "I won't let you," Caim said and flew up to the dome.
Spirit of Mages (Rift of Chaos Book 2) Page 31
