“Breaking a woman’s heart is like writing your own death sentence,” she stated.
******
After Serena defeated Naunet, she gazed at the tower, standing alongside her mother. Her friends fought fiends all around them in the sky. She could hear shrills and screams of fiends and battle cries. Thousands of Effeelions flew on their clouds blasting fiends with aeromancy and holy magic. The amount of fiends greatly outnumbered the Effeelions but more fiends were vanquished than there were fallen Effeelions. The storm continued to rage on this cursed island. Serena had seen many stormy nights throughout her life but this was like a domain for monsters. The skies were dark, darker than she had ever seen in her life. The clouds were almost pure black and thunder roared louder than she had ever heard. Serena could not sense any aquatic life nearby. All of the sea creatures seemed to have abandoned this area and even when looking at the horizon it seemed as though it stretched on forever. Her intuition told her that the sun never shone on this tiny island, that the wind lashed out and the storm roared every day.
“This place is a curse,” she stated gazing up at the clouds, feeling the hard rain on her face.
“Indeed. This storm is but a reflection of the Specter’s internal world,” Zarviack deciphered. “And it shall end today.”
Zarviack ran to the tower. She palmed the wall of the tower and cast a blue mandarak with illustrations of fish scales and waves. She brought her leg up and stepped on the mandarak and was able to walk up the tower.
“Strike any fiends that gets too close,” Zarviack instructed. “I must focus in order to do this right.”
“Don’t worry,” Serena said.
She would have changed into her beast form but she had used too much maju during the battle with Naunet. She scanned the island and the skies for any fiends while glancing at her mother.
Zarviack’s tattoos were glowing as well as her eyes. Serena could hear her chanting and saw how she swayed her arms and attracted the water from the ocean. The water coiled towards her like aquatic serpents with a girth the size of a tree trunk. Serena gaped at how powerful her mother was. She had never seen any water mage manipulate the ocean in such a way.
As the water moved towards the tower it coiled and burst in through the windows. That was when Serena realized that her mother was trying to fill the entire tower with water. Fiends began to fly in her direction once they took notice, and when they were close enough Serena struck, hurling ice spikes at them. Two-headed birds, giant bats and gargoyles flew down to attack Zarviack.
“Serena! Get them away from me!” Zarviack shouted.
The princess cast a mandarak beneath her feet, released a jet of water from it and propelled herself upwards. “Frostass shazt!” she shouted and an ice sword extended from her hand. She cut through the giant bat and it shrieked, then jumped on the gargoyle, stabbing it in the chest multiple times. When the gargoyle started falling she kicked it and propelled herself with another jet of water onto the two-headed bird. Just when the bird was close to Zarviack, Serena hacked both of its heads. While falling she slapped the mandarak on to the wall of the tower with her hand and was able to hang on.
“Hurry up, mother, I am running out of maju,” Serena urged. “Not sure how much longer I can keep this up.”
Serena looked back at the ocean and saw up to ten waterspouts coiling towards the tower. Her mother kept chanting and her eyes glowed white as if in a trance. Serena dared not disturb her.
“Frostass Yimenshia!” Zarviack shouted.
All the water spouts around the castle ceased and Zarviack’s eyes returned to normal.
“Why did you stop?” Serena asked as she balanced herself vertically on the wall with her mandarak.
“You only need to strike a tree from the bottom for it to fall,” Zarviack quoted then looked at Serena and smiled. “I am controlling the water inside, now we just need to freeze it. I will need your help.”
Serena and Zarviack held hands as they stood vertically on the tower. They focused their maju on the spell and together they froze the bottom of the tower, up to twenty stories high.
“Now to finish it, we must get down,” Zarviack said.
They ran vertically down to the ground below. Once on the ground they stood dozens of feet away. Zarviack began to release purple steam from her body and Serena gasped. This was the second time she had seen her mother using this purple maju or…she was not sure what to call it.
“Mother, what is happening to you?” Serena asked in terror, stepping away from Zarviack.
“This is the omnith state. Do not be afraid, my dear,” Zarviack answered. Her tattoos began to glow purple, and her body released a purple aura and she gradually levitated off the ground.
Zarviack let out a roar thrusting her palm forward and suddenly ice spears plunged out of the tower and cracked the kaminyte wall. Serena gaped at the incredible power. A crack trailed up to the top and spears of ice kept breaking through the wall of the tower.
“This is the power of water,” she whispered.
The layer of kaminyte in the tower had shattered and behind it was nothing but the stones that held the tower together. Serena watched as it tilted slightly to the right. When Zarviack could no longer continue her trance the purple aura vanished and she tumbled. Serena panicked watching her mother fall but she managed to catch her, then fell to the ground with Zarviack’s weight. Serena propped herself up and cradled her mother. Zarviack panted and laughed simultaneously.
“You are crazy and…so…powerful,” Serena commented and shed a tear.
“I have never used so much cosmo at once,” Zarviack said, weak and weary, then coughed. “I am more of a healer than a fighter. I am no longer of use. You must continue without me.”
“Don’t talk like that,” Serena said. “I will protect you. I won’t leave you behind. I must bring you back to the capital city. We have a lot of catching up to do.”
Zarviack laughed and they touched foreheads. Above them fiends shrieked and growled, flying towards them while they were both low on maju and barely able to fight. Serena gazed up at the fiends and she balled a hand into a fist, unsure of how she would continue to fight.
Eckxio
His light shredded through the darkness. His sword hacked through fiends, turning them to ashes. His wings summoned mighty gusts. Flying under the clouds and bolts of lightning, Eckxio destroyed fiends with the ease of the attribute of his Valiarmos. Fiends swarmed around him and he slashed through the vast numbers. Since he had entered the domain of the Specters, he had defeated more than a hundred fiends and yet they continued to appear without end. They were like nightmares trying to eat at his dreams and swallow him into their nothingness.
Every time he tried to get close to Caim, fiends swarmed and blocked the way. Even when he released the light of his armor, more and more fiends kept appearing as if they were building a resistance to the light. These fiends were stronger than the ones he had faced before. They grew stronger every time he fought them. Some of them were coated with kaminyte attached to their bodies and sometimes light was not enough to penetrate.
“Do your worst,” Eckxio taunted. “Come at me with all your might. I will vanquish you all by myself.”
A winged serpent coiled towards him. Eckxio flew inside its mouth and cut through its body, dividing it. A giant gargoyle, muscular with wide bat wings grabbed Eckxio’s leg and hurled him through the sky. With a roar he regained his flight then rushed to the gargoyle, swung his word and unleashed a beam of energy, cutting through it.
“Where the blazes are all of you coming from anyway?” Eckxio wondered. “I have more important things to do than to cut you all in half. Get out of my way!”
He then looked in the direction of the tower and saw Ember summoning fiends from what appeared to be a vial. The fiends came out as black smoke and then materialized around her. He could hear Ember’s boisterous laughter. He wished he knew how much time he had but the clouds covered the sun and moons.
>
“If we take out Ember first then we stop the army of fiends,” he strategized. “But we need Caim. He must be freed first.”
Then a sound echoed throughout the sky from the tower. Eckxio looked down at the island and saw what appeared to be ice spikes coming through the base of the tower. Serena, she did it, he thought. The tower then began to tilt to the side as it cracked from below due to what Serena and her mother had done. Eckxio was amazed to see the tower made of kaminyte leaning like a tree about to fall.
“That is amazing. They almost took down the tower from its roots,” he said in awe. “One step closer to victory.”
He shot a ray of light at a group of fiends and slashed through four others that were near him. He then focused all the maju of the Angel Valiarmos inwardly and the armor began to shine. He became a beacon and, despite the light, fiends pressed through and lashed their claws at him. Their inky skin burnt from the light but they persisted.
“You have built a resistance to the light I see,” Eckxio said. “It doesn’t matter. The light will always pierce through.”
He dove down to the tower and the beasts chased him. As he dove he swung his sword and eliminated any monsters in his way. He headed towards Caim and again more fiends blocked his way, forming a wall of darkness. Eckxio released a burst of light and they burned, screeching, but they did not turn to ashes like before. He gritted his teeth, angry at how strong they had become then used his sword.
“At least you are more of a challenge than last time!” he shouted and plunged through their defense, tearing a hole through their wall of darkness.
He flew through the army of fiends and Caim was so close. Eckxio reached out as he flew, ready to grab on to the rods that imprisoned the demigod. Just before he could reach Caim, another Specter tackled him and he spun uncontrollably through the air. Eckxio spread his wings wide and was able to control his flight again. He looked up at who had tackled him…it was Jairo.
“Where is the girl that destroyed my village?” he snarled.
“She is busy at the moment. You are going to have to deal with me right now,” Jairo answered.
“With pleasure,” Eckxio remarked and dashed.
They clashed blades in the air. Sparks flew with every collision of their swords. One forged of kaminyte and the other of omnithium.
“Not going to use the Aero Cosmo Jewel today?” Eckxio asked as he slashed with his sword.
“It is being used for more important matters,” Jairo replied. “Not worth using on you.”
“Don’t be so sure,” the Elf said and struck rapidly.
Jairo could only block as Eckxio raised his speed. Eckxio screamed as he swung his sword and when Jairo vanished with a cloud of black smoke, the Elf released a divine light from his armor and canceled Jairo’s darkness.
“Stop disappearing like a coward and fight me,” Eckxio challenged.
He then reached in the scabbard of his shield and drew his sword of light, Hadraniel. He now held two weapons. One of omnithium steel and one of divine steel.
“I didn’t realize you had an omnithium sword,” Jairo commented.
“As many swords as I need to end your existence in Odealeous,” Eckxio said.
They clashed again. In just two swipes Eckxio broke Jairo’s katana. When the Specter was disarmed, the Elf aimed to kill but was pushed back by Jairo’s mighty wind. Eckxio recovered, rapidly flapping his wings.
“I congratulate you. You managed to break my favorite sword,” Jairo said.
“Next, I will send your soul to Necrovania,” Eckxio sneered.
“Aerorae vellous!” Jairo shouted and moved with such incredible speed he left an after image.
Eckxio could hear him moving like whipping wind. The Elf jerked his head everywhere, trying to predict where Jairo would strike. He swung behind him and missed, then Jairo struck his back. Eckxio spun and unleashed sharp winds with the magic of his Valiarmos. From his left he saw a dark ray and raised his shield to defend. The attack was so strong that it pierced through his shield and shattered it. The Elf groaned and became dizzy at how fast his opponent was moving.
“He is way too fast. How am I supposed to attack?” he wondered.
“I am over here,” Jairo’s voice echoed.
Eckxio became confused when he saw six Jairos surrounding him as if the Specter had multiplied himself. He was not sure of what to do or which one to attack first.
“This is an illusion,” Eckxio guessed.
“Wrong, this is my own magic,” all six Jairos replied.
They all launched a dark wave at Eckxio. The Elf closed his wings around himself, creating a sphere of defense. Despite the six Jairos that attacked, only one wave of darkness struck Eckxio from behind. It had little effect since his attribute was light.
“As I thought, it was just a trick,” he concluded.
Jairo continued to move faster than the wind itself around Eckxio. The Elf did not try to find his foe this time. Instead he concentrated and waited. Jairo split himself into six once more. Eckxio was prepared this time and spread his wings wide to sense his foe. When Jairo attacked with six waves of darkness, Eckxio pointed Hadraniel downward, shot a ray of light and struck the real one.
“Darn you!” Jairo yelled and ascended to the same level as Eckxio. “And here I thought you were all muscle.”
“The same trick does not work on me twice,” the Elf stated.
“How about this!” Jairo yelled, launching a blast of purple energy.
Eckxio immediately recognized that energy. He used his extromancy and absorbed the blast. It hurt his body but he withstood the pain and then redirected the blast. Jairo gasped in disbelief and barely dodged the blast of cosmo. He spun in the air then watched his own attack falling into the ocean. Eckxio jetted into Jairo and plunged his sword into the Specter’s gut. Eckxio pushed Jairo through the air heading for the tower. He slammed the Specter into the tower with a sword through the gut and left him hanging there.
“That was for my village,” Eckxio said, tasting sweet revenge, then pulled the sword out and watched Jairo tumble.
Without wasting any more time, Eckxio flew up to help Caim. When fiends got in his way he hurled his sword, Hadraniel, and it spun like a disc, releasing its divine light and tearing through fiends, clearing his way. With a flash, the sword reappeared in his hands. He was finally able to reach Caim and the demigod did not look the same as the last time he saw him.
“By the gods….” Eckxio said and, just looking at the demigod, he too could feel the pain.
Caim had four omnithium rods through his body absorbing his godly energy. One rod through each hand, another through his abdomens and one through both of his feet. Caim was crucified to a cross. The demigod was scrawny and his hair was black instead of white. The last time he saw Caim was after he returned from the realm of light with the Angel Valiarmos. He remembered the demigod radiating with power, fierce lavender eyes, snowy white hair and a golden tan. Omnithium was so powerful that it could drain the cosmo out of a demigod.
“Let us help you,” he heard the gentle voices of the Effeelions.
He looked behind him and saw ten Effeelions flying towards him on their clouds and eliminating fiends with shining arrows and aeromancy. They came to help their demigod, the one who had vowed his life for them.
“He is our demigod, we will set him free,” one Effeelion said. He was blonde with dark skin wielding a golden bow and quiver of arrows.
“It is not that simple. He is nailed to this cross with omnithium rods,” Eckxio said.
Five Effeelions tried to pull on Caim but the demigod only groaned from the pain. When they grabbed the omnithium rods they became weak and Eckxio had to pull them way.
“I told you it is not that easy,” the Elf said.
“Then what can we do?” the blonde Effeelion asked.
As the Effeelions fought fiends, keeping them away from Caim, the Elf pondered on a way to set the demigod free. He then realized how he was
using his own omnithium sword that Rey Ling had forged.
“I can reverse the flow of maju,” he said. “The omnithium rods drain his godly energy, but what if I can change its direction using extromancy.”
Eckxio sheathed his swords and gripped the rod that went through Caim’s abdomen. For a moment he felt the omnithium draining his maju but he quickly changed its flow. He pulled the maju and cosmo out of the omnithium and directed it at Caim. Around him, fiends roared and screeched and the Effeelions pushed them back, destroying them with white magic.
“Keep them away from me. This is going to take some time,” Eckxio said and focused.
He placed a hand on Caim’s chest and pressed cosmo and maju into him. It was painful since it moved through his own body first. The maju and cosmo ran from his right hand into his chest then on to his left hand.
“I feel the power,” Caim whispered with a cold voice.
“Don’t worry, I am going to get you out of here,” Eckxio promised.
Caim’s body began to fill out, showing less bones and more muscle. Eckxio was able to pull out the omnithium rod with great effort and Caim’s wounds closed within a few seconds. Eckxio then began to do the same to the rod in Caim’s feet. He reversed the flow of energy, rejuvenating the demigod.
“I feel the power again,” Caim said, this time with a more youthful voice.
Fiends struck down three Effeelions as they tried to get to Eckxio. More Effeelions came to help and defend their demigod.
“Keep the fiends away, just a little longer,” Eckxio said and continued.
He looked at Caim and the demigod’s hair changed from black to grey, slowly returning to normal. Eckxio pulled the rod out and his whole body was aching.
“My body hurts too much,” Eckxio said. “I am not used to this much cosmo energy flowing through my body.”
“You have done enough, my friend,” Caim responded. “I will handle the rest.”
Caim then began to pull both of his hands from the rods. He screamed as he pulled with the strength he had regained so far. With great agony Caim pulled his right hand from the rod. His hair changed from grey to white. As his wound closed he used his right hand to remove the rod from his left and pulled himself to freedom. The demigod then fell from the tower down towards the ocean.
Blood of Mages (Rift of Chaos Book 3) Page 26
