“I have no doubt,” the man said with an easy smile and stopped only a few yards away from the mori. “You have made short work of our pet. I’m impressed.”
“Why are you here?” the Templar asked and let his Anima seep through the area as a warning sign to the two thieves.
“It was requested of us,” Koli answered. “I cannot divulge by who.”
“Perhaps not right now,” he retorted and revealed an air of menace and command that Devol had not seen in him before. “But I can make you talk. I merely wonder how many appendages it will take.”
“Oh, that is quite violent of you.” The man closed his eyes for a moment and violet Mana covered his form. “I must say, I approve.”
Vaust leapt at him with his kama raised to arc in almost a blur at his adversary. He covered the distance in less than a second and to Devol, it felt like it was almost instant. Before the kama struck its target, however, Koli vanished in a flash of violet light. He reappeared beside the monster, which had now almost melted into bone and viscera. He reached down hastily and took the mask it had once worn before he turned and looked at the young swordsman.
“Devol!” Vaust called and Asla and Jazai prepared to fight. Instead of attacking, the man disappeared again, blinked behind him, and yanked the box from his belt. He spun and swung his sword. It seemed clear that it would connect with his arm and that the thief was too close to jump back. But in a moment, what had seemed so clear had suddenly changed. Koli was now several inches away without stepping back at all. Devol could not believe his eyes as the blade passed in front of the Magi’s tunic. Stunned, he looked at his opponent, who gave a self-satisfied smile before he blinked back to the trees outside of the clearing.
“You are going nowhere!” Vaust yelled and prepared to leap after him. Before he could move, a large circle of fire caged him in, followed by rows of flame that formed above him. The Templar looked at Salvo, who pointed his wand and grinned at him.
“That’s my line, buddy.” The man laughed. “You and I will have some fun. Get out of here, Koli!” he shouted to his partner, who placed two fingers against his forehead to salute him in thanks and raced through the trees.
Devol grimaced, determined to not let him take the box. He ran after him and jumped into the trees as Salvo pointed his wand in his direction and launched a large fireball at him from the tip of his wand. Calmly, the boy leaned closer to slash the fiery projectile with his blade. With a single swipe, the orb was halved, then snuffed out, and he continued with his pursuit and left his attacker standing with a look of surprise on his face.
The man formed two more fireballs as Jazai and Asla followed their friend and he launched them both at the youngsters. She maneuvered easily around them while her teammate blinked to the ground and immediately into the tree. Both projectiles struck nearby trees and set them alight.
“Damn, I guess they aren’t such easy pickings,” the fire mage muttered and glowered at Vaust. “Ah, whatever. Consider that a warm-up. Heh, I’ll be on my game now.”
“Release me,” the mori ordered and brandished Myazma, “and I’ll make this quick.”
Salvo frowned and shook his head. “You noble and devout types always have the same lines.” He pointed his wand at the cage of fire again. “Survive this and you might provide a good fight.” The flames began to increase in size as the cage retracted slowly around the Templar. It seemed his adversary intended to burn him alive while he was trapped inside.
He simply raised his weapon and cut into the fire in front of him, which vanished in a fog of darkness that traveled through the connected flames. The fire mage stared in surprise before his eager smile returned. “I had a feeling that was it, looking at what you did to the big guy,” he stated and tapped his wand against his shoulder. “Your majestic has corrosive power or something like that, right? You turned our giant pet ghoul into mush so it has to be something like that. I didn’t expect it to work on flames, though.”
Vaust walked forward and pointed at Salvo. “Immolation.” The man barely had time to raise an eyebrow before his suit was set aflame. He uttered a surprised yell and patted frantically at the flames that engulfed him. In mere minutes, he sagged to the ground.
But, as quickly as he fell, he stood and twirled his wand in his fingers and the flames vanished. The mori stopped in his tracks as his opponent raised a finger and wagged it sideways. “Was that supposed to be just desserts or something? You see me throwing flames and think that a simple fire cantrip is gonna work on me? My clothes aren’t even singed.” He ran a hand down his jacket to prove his point and held his wand up “This isn’t merely an exotic, buddy. It’s a majestic like yours. I call her Kapre.” A large orb of fire formed above his head before it split into a dozen smaller ones. “And she doesn’t like you.” He flicked the wand toward Vaust and a hail of fireballs streaked at the mori, who simply stared at them while Myazma emitted its black fog.
Koli leapt off a tree branch before he blinked to another tree in the opposite direction. He had to admit, the boy was faster than he gave him credit for—not enough that he could catch up but certainly fast enough to keep the chase interesting. He had slid the mask into his tunic and held onto the box. While he knew he should have used his marble to return to base by now, this was too much fun. If Salvo’s boss had an issue…well, he couldn’t use a marble with an enemy so close. They could potentially track it.
“Missile!” a voice shouted ahead of him. He looked around to see the book-boy pointing at him. Several glowing orbs launched from his palm. Well, he hadn’t expected him to cut him off. He must have been too preoccupied with the other young Magi. Jazai fired five Mana missiles at him and he barreled into them. They curved around him and shocked the apprentice, who had expected his attack to deliver some injury at least.
With a smile, he removed several small blades from his belt and threw them at the diviner. The boy blinked out of the way of the blades, which wasn’t an issue. He wasn’t the one he was interested in.
“Link!” Jazai shouted, and Koli felt something drag him back.
He craned his neck to look over his shoulder. A line of blue Mana connected to his back. He followed it to the boy, who hauled on the line and prevented him from moving forward. “You are crafty. I respect that,” he conceded as he grasped the link and his Anima flared. “But you don’t seem to think of the repercussions of your cantrips.” He yanked hard and dragged his young opponent out of the tree toward him. When he came within striking range, he delivered a punch to his face that catapulted him into the forest. He raised his hand and severed the link with a chop before the diviner could drag him back with him.
As he turned to continue his run, he felt a sudden flare of Mana coming closer. Instinctively, he ducked and several small trees were scored with what looked like claw marks. He straightened and Asla landed on her hands on the ground and tucked her legs in to kick him. She was amazingly fast, he had to give her that as he brought an arm up to block the kick and infused it with Mana. The wildkin drove into him and knocked him back, and he slid deeper into the forest before he finally came to a stop on the road.
Koli checked his arm. It had been a powerful kick but left no more than a slightly pink bruise. He looked around and realized he had been knocked off-course. Before he could gain his bearings, he heard a rustle and looked up. Devol plunged toward him, his blade pointed at his head. He smiled. Well, it appeared he would have to fight for a while. This was certainly not the worst outcome.
It was a pity, though. Maybe in a few years, the boy would have made a great adversary. It looked like he would have to find another prospect after today, although perhaps he would last at least a few minutes.
Chapter Thirty
As Devol landed, his blade struck nothing but the earth below. He looked up to where Koli stood only a few inches away from him. The man lifted a hand and swung the back of his palm across his head, almost dislodged his sword, and hurled him several yards away. He flipped himself in
midair and stopped himself with his hand. Asla bounded out of the forest to attempt a kill-strike. Their adversary simply lowered his head and her claws swiped through empty space and scored the bark of the trees. She bounced off one of the trunks for a second strike.
The man looked at her and made no effort to defend himself as her claws lunged at his eye. Impossibly, they stopped barely short of a strike and Devol couldn’t believe it. He had been so certain she would land a sure hit. Koli snatched her arm, spun her, and flung her at the young swordsman. He caught her and both stumbled back a couple of feet as their friend appeared next to them. “He’s strong,” he muttered.
“No kidding,” Jazai mumbled, holding his cheek. “And I didn’t say this before but come on, man. That’s a she!”
“What?” He looked at Koli in confusion. “It’s a man with spiky violet hair, isn’t it?”
“I see a man as well, Jazai,” Asla confirmed and the other boy raised an eyebrow as he examined their adversary. “But I do not see the spiky hair either, Devol. I see long hair that hangs down his back.”
Devol stared at Koli and tried to discern the truth. “Some type of illusion?”
The man smirked and nodded. “People tend to see what they want to but it is more literal in my case.” He used his free hand to point to the back of his neck. “I have a rune—had it since I was a child, actually. It casts a simple illusion that alters my appearance enough that my visage always looks slightly different to each person.”
“I see you as a woman,” the diviner told him. “They see you as a man. That doesn’t sound like a slight difference.”
“My power increases the effectiveness of the illusion,” Koli explained. He tossed the box behind him and rolled his shoulders. “Or, I should say, the power of my malefic.”
Jazai tensed, as did Asla. “Malefic?” Devol repeated and glanced at the other boy. “When we saw that mask, you said the same thing.”
The scholar nodded slowly and his jaw tightened. “I can’t give you the entire explanation, not when we need to focus. But they are extremely dangerous and work similarly to a majestic.” He held a hand up. “I don’t know what his power is, but it seems to protect him from almost anything. Watch. Missile!” He launched five orbs at Koli. They circled him for a moment before each attempted to strike from a different angle. The man did not move, but each orb slid around his body. Two impacted with the road while three redirected and headed at the team. Asla jumped out and slashed with her claw to send a Mana-infused strike through the missiles that destroyed them.
“I was controlling those missiles before they attacked,” Jazai stated. “They should all have hit, but they veered around him.”
“I saw.” Devol nodded. “Is it another illusion? Maybe a power that lets him control the Magic of others?”
“No, he has been able to do that even against physical attacks,” Asla reminded him.
“You are thinking about this too hard,” Koli all but purred. “Here, allow me to show you.” He pulled his eyepatch off and the team gasped. His other eye had been replaced by some type of dark orb that shifted between hues of violet, purple, blue, and white at a rapid pace. Something that resembled an iris was in the center, but more elongated and diamond-shaped. He pointed to the unnatural eye. “This is my malefic, known as Madman’s Eye,” he explained with a hint of mirth. “It allows me to distort space around me.”
“Distort space?” The swordsman frowned and considered his missed attacks. “I see.”
“Why would you tell us that outright?” Jazai demanded. “That’s putting you at a major disadvantage.”
Their adversary laughed. “Thank you for your concern but I think I’ll be fine.” He stared at them for a moment, enjoying their discomfort. “You see, my malefic gets stronger when it can see the target or area I wish to distort.”
“He doesn’t feel any stronger,” Asla noted before she looked down and realized she had an orange glow around her. “My Mana—” She gasped as she backed away.
“It responded automatically to mine increasing to shield against you,” Koli explained and pointed two fingers at the two boys. “As did yours.”
Devol saw a silver glow around him, while Jazai’s was a deep-blue. His sword began to glow brighter.
“It’s a good thing too,” the man noted. “A strong Anima is one of the few things that protects one from my power. If you did not have one…well, I could simply snap your neck in an instant.”
He held his blade up. “Why are you telling us all this?”
The man shrugged casually. “Well, I suppose that in my line of work, people not knowing my identity is quite useful. I don’t often get the chance to have a good fight and fully sate my bloodlust,” he explained with a grin that grew more deviant by the moment. “I see promise in you three and I want to have a little fun, so I’ll give myself a handicap as it were.”
“You think this is fun? You take lives for pleasure?” the young swordsman demanded.
“For work as well,” Koli added and glanced at the trees. “I am an assassin, after all. It’s what I’m supposed to do. Still, I hope you can amuse me, at least for a while. But I don’t think a sneak attack is very sporting.”
“Sneak?” Jazai looked confused but his eyes widened when he realized Asla was missing.
She bounded out of the woods and the orange Mana around her took the form of a large, feral tiger. Both arms extended to rake her claws at him but he looked calmly at her as a small smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. In the next moment, the wildkin flipped and fell face-down. She tried to pick herself up but seemed to be held in place on all fours. “There’s a good kitty,” the man whispered
“Asla!” her friends shouted and Devol lifted his sword, ready to attack.
“This is exciting,” the strange Magi said thoughtfully. “Her Anima is keeping her alive against my malefic’s power, but how long will it last? If she runs out…well, I hope she is quite flexible.” He glanced at a fallen tree and it elevated sharply and broke apart to create several spears that pointed toward the boys. “Now, satisfy me.”
Vaust leapt back as a whip of flame ignited in the place where he’d stood and a small pillar of fire flared. He spun Myazma and released the dark fog to snuff out some of the flames. Salvo had not held back and had cast his fire in different shapes and forms and with abandon. He strolled casually through them as the mori weaved and dodged around the fiery pits and attacks.
“Man, this forest went up fast,” the man stated when he noticed the many burning trees around them. “The village has probably noticed by now. I wonder if they can put it out?”
The Templar saw his chance and sneaked the fog around several of the flames outside of his adversary’s line of sight. He needed to strike him with his weapon to ensure the kill, but infecting him with the fog would deplete his Mana and break his control briefly, which would provide an opening. The fog surged toward the fire Magi, who noticed it when it was only a few feet away.
Quickly, he flipped his wand and tapped it against his jacket, which set it aflame. The fog met the garment and began to snuff the flames rapidly while he slid the jacket off and moved away from the fog. “Clever bastard.” He grinned at the Mori. “You’re wilier than I gave you credit for. And even amongst all this fire, you don’t look like you are breaking a sweat. Is that a mori peculiarity?”
Vaust made no response and simply recalled the fog to the kama as he approached his opponent. “If this is your only trick, I’ve had my fill.”
“I have a specialty,” Salvo retorted. “But more than one trick—take a look.” He held the wand skyward. The flames launched from the trees and they elevated above the two men, where they formed into a multitude of fireballs in different sizes. “My majestic allows me to control fire, not merely create it,” he explained. The mori made a hasty count of the orbs—fifty-five in all and some were rather sizeable. This much pyro could potentially burn the entire forest down. “Doing something like this with Man
a alone would be too much for me, but throwing a few of these orbs around to spread the fire makes this much easier.”
He closed his eyes and rested Myazma against his shoulder “It is indeed impressive,” he admitted. “A pity you use it for simple mercenary work.”
The man’s grin faltered. “This is more than turning in a bounty, mori. I’m doing a mission for someone, same as your brats.”
“And who might that be?”
“It won’t matter to you in a minute,” Salvo stated and his grin returned. “Besides, even if I do use it to get rich, it’s better than what my master was doing—simply studying the damn thing all the time.”
“That is your master’s majestic?” Vaust asked.
“Former master. It’s a little hard to teach when you’re dead. But it doesn’t matter. I had more of a knack for it than he ever did. He once said it took him seven years to master it. Then he spent over a decade studying it. I could use Kapre the first time I picked her up, almost like she wanted me to wield her.”
“So, I take it you never progressed very far in your training?”
Salvo began to twirl his wand in the air. “I got the gist, you could say. Natural talent beats book smarts any day.”
“I see.” The Templar held Myazma out to his side. “And you may be right in some circumstances. But in our world, you strive to learn all you can or you will never evolve.” The black fog consumed the majestic before it spread around him.
“Wait, what are you—” The man felt intense pressure and a feeling of terror overcame him.
“I’m going to show you something your master never had the chance to,” Vaust said, his voice eerily calm as the fog began to fade.
His adversary’s eyes widened and he gestured hastily with his wand to launch the hail of fireballs at the mori. An explosion of darkness turned the projectiles to ash and any remaining flames extinguished while all the plant life around Vaust withered instantly and died.
A New Light (The Astral Wanderer Book 1) Page 21
