by Aaron Oster
Sarah looked over to the open gap in the arena wall and shivered.
How many people had just died because they were sitting in the wrong place?
She was about to ask Morgan what he thought when a loud crack sounded over the panicked cries of the people around them.
Morgan recognized that sound and immediately threw both himself and Sarah to the ground. A moment later, the exit that they’d been heading toward exploded outward in a similar fashion to earlier attack.
He winced as he saw torn bodies being hurled through the air, their lives snuffed out in an instant.
Who on Earth had this kind of power?
He didn’t waste any time pulling Sarah back to her feet.
“We need to get out of this death trap, and we need to get out now!”
There was no time to have Sarah climb onto his back, so he just scooped her up in his arms and ran for the open section of wall left by the explosion.
Sarah let out a little shriek as he did this, then clung tightly to him as he ran; face going white as she saw the devastation that the attack had caused.
They had only made it halfway to the opening, when a group of men wearing red and white uniforms began streaming in. They were all cloaked in mage shields and began hurling their various attacks into the fleeing masses, killing indiscriminately.
Morgan reversed his course as soon as he saw the men and bolted for the opposite exit. He could see that this one was congested as well, as panicked people tried to force their way out. Another section of the arena wall exploded, making Morgan turn yet again.
If he didn’t know better, he would think that someone was deliberately stopping them from leaving. He’d debated using fly to get out, but knew they’d be too easy a target in the air.
He saw a bolt of something green heading right for him and quickly ducked, barely managing to avoid the attack. One of the men broke off from his group to come after them and Morgan cursed under his breath.
He couldn’t keep running while holding Sarah like this. She was too exposed and it made avoiding attacks much more difficult.
“Can you move on your own yet?” he asked, ducking yet another attack.
“I think so,” she replied, still clinging tightly to him as he dodged through the rubble strewn ground.
Morgan skidded to a halt and quickly set her down, then turned on the spot and ran back towards their attacker. His arm snapped out as he used wind blade, the air swirling around his arm to create the two foot lance. He used tailwind at the same time and rocketed toward the mage.
Morgan’s drastic increase in speed and sudden change in direction completely threw the mage off. He tried to use his skill again, but Morgan was already on him. He thrust forward with the wind blade and the tip connected with his mage shield.
The shield shattered under the blow and Morgan’s blade sank deep into the mage’s eye, emerging from the back of his skull. The blade spun viciously, tearing the man’s skull to pieces and by the time he pulled it back, there was little left of his head.
He dismissed his wind blade just as Sarah made it over to him. She looked pale and very afraid. He’d expect her to be scared in a situation like this, but not this afraid; she was practically shaking.
“What’s wrong?”
“I recognize these uniforms,” she said in a quiet voice. “They are the uniforms of King Edmund’s elites. The most powerful supers and mages in the North Kingdom.”
“Wait, so what you’re saying, is that the North Kingdom is responsible for this?” Morgan asked.
This was supposed to be a neutral kingdom. What could the North possibly gain from starting a war?
“Yes, there’s no doubt that King Edmund is the one behind this, though I’m not sure what he stands to gain by attacking the academy.”
“That’s really quite simple; the King has grown tired of neutrality and has decided to stake his claim as the rightful ruler of all the five kingdoms.”
They both spun at the sound of that voice and Sarah went even paler than she already was.
A man emerged from the billowing clouds of dust. He was wearing black painted armor and had a massive sword strapped across his back. His head was bare, leaving his short cropped black hair and hard features free to the wind.
“Arnold?!” Sarah exclaimed.
“It’s good to see you, Lady Sarah. You’ve led me on quite the merry chase,” Arnold replied with a wicked smile.
Morgan wasn’t sure who this man was, but judging by Sarah’s reaction, this was not good.
A man came screaming out of the billowing dust, welding a mace made out of some sort of energy. Morgan recognized the uniform as belonging to the academy guard and breathed a sigh of relief.
Academy guards were highly trained and not a single one was under rank 24. He should be able to handle whoever this man was without too much difficulty.
Arnold didn’t even break his stride. Turning on the spot, he used some sort of skill and lashed out at the guard’s face with a gauntleted fist. The fist connected with an audible crunch and the guard’s head exploded into a fine, bloody mist.
Morgan felt his heart rate redouble when he saw this and, for the first time, truly understood what the two of them were facing.
A monster. A monster with power that he couldn’t even come close to matching.
“Should we make a run for it?” Morgan asked quietly as Arnold turned back to them; but Sarah was already shaking her head.
“There wouldn’t be any point in running. He’d catch us before we made it more than a few steps.”
She sounded utterly defeated and Morgan could understand those feelings well. When facing down a power like this, who wouldn’t be terrified?
Someone with equal power, Morgan thought, as another academy guard came charging at Arnold.
At the moment, he didn’t have nearly enough power, but maybe if he unlocked his supermage ability he’d have enough.
He grimaced as the guard’s chest cavity was blown out of his back and Arnold turned to face them once more.
Probably not, but what did he have to lose at this point?
He concentrated inward and grabbed ahold of both his mana and chi.
This was going to be unpleasant, but dying would suck a lot more than feeling a little pain. This man knew Sarah, which meant that he’d most likely been sent after them by Lord Simon.
What this also meant was that this man likely had orders to kill him, or bring him back to Simon for an execution. Neither scenario sounded particularly appealing to him at the moment, as dying wasn’t high on his to-do list.
“Sarah, I’m going to try and unlock my supermage ability. I know that it probably won’t do us much good, but it’s the best I can come up with.”
“Are you sure it’s a good idea to do it now?” she asked, keeping her eyes on Arnold, who was busy fighting against a group of guards who had rushed him.
“No,” he replied with a wry chuckle. “But it’s the best I’ve got.”
“I’ll try and keep him talking, then. I assume you know why he’s here?”
“He’s here to get you and kill me; that about sum it up?”
“Just about,” she said, giving him a weak smile. “Now hurry up, I don’t think those guards will keep him busy for long.”
Morgan nodded, then turned his attention inward. He grimaced as the two streams of energy began to slowly funnel into his reiki core. The pain started just a few moments after that. It began as a dull throbbing in his chest, as his chi-heart shrank further and further; then the pain drastically increased as his chest began tightening.
He turned his eyes back towards the approaching man, to try and distract himself from the pain, just in time to see the last of the guards who’d been assaulting him, fall to the ground. Arnold smiled as he turned back to the two of them.
“I see that you were at least smart enough to not attempt an escape,” he said, continuing his approach and stopping just a few feet from them.
“I thought that was quite obvious. I’m here to retrieve you on your father’s orders, of course, and bring him the head of that boy you’re trying to hide.”
“I’m perfectly content staying here, thank you very much, so you can leave!”
“I don’t take orders from you,” Arnold said, folding his arms over his chest and staring down at her impassively. “Now step aside, so I can kill the boy.”
“Who the hell do you think you are?” she yelled at him, her voice rising in anger.
Arnold smiled a wide toothy smile, that looked more like one of a predator than a man.
“Right now, just a mercenary following orders; but once this attack is over and the Central Kingdom is ours, I’ll be promoted by the king, himself!”
His smile faded then and hardened into a line.
“Now for the last time; get out of my way!”
The very air trembled under the force of those words and Sarah staggered back, bumping into Morgan, who placed a steadying hand on her shoulder.
She looked back at him, her face white and tears threatening to break out.
“Don’t cry; for me,” he said through clenched teeth.
The pain was horrible. His entire body was on fire and breathing had become so difficult that he could barely get any air into his lungs.
“I’ll hold him off for as long as I can. Now run,” he wheezed, shoving her back and stepping out in front of her to face Arnold alone.
He’d never backed down from a fight before and he wasn’t about to start now.
“Morgan, you can’t! He’ll kill you!” Sarah begged, tears falling freely down her cheeks.
“Probably, but he’ll kill me anyway. Now go,” he tried to yell, but it came out as more of a croak.
Sarah tried to grab his arm, but he shrugged her off and staggered out to face Arnold; gritting his teeth against the agonizing pain wracking his entire body.
Arnold grinned when he saw this and held his arms out to the sides in a mocking gesture.
“How very noble of you. Holding off the villain, while the girl makes her escape. I must applaud your sense of dramatic flare, though I’m not sure why you look to be in so much pain; I haven’t even touched you yet.”
Morgan just grimaced and used one of Sarah’s favorite gestures to let the man know what he thought of him.
Arnold’s expression hardened and his fists clenched at his sides.
“You led me on a wild goose chase that lasted nearly three months! I’m going to enjoy killing you!” He let out a roar of anger, then ran at him.
Morgan grimaced as he took up a fighting stance.
He knew he didn’t stand a chance, but he had to do his best to buy Sarah time to escape.
Arnold covered the distance in a flash and took a massive swing at his head.
From the moment Arnold began his attack, Morgan knew that he wouldn’t be fast enough to dodge. He tried desperately to use tailwind, but for the first time ever, the skill refused to activate. He chuckled grimly as the metal-clad fist flew toward his head.
At least he’d die on his feet, facing an opponent in open battle, rather than some dark alley in City Four.
He kept his eyes wide open; refusing to close them until the very end. That was why he was able to see when a massive hammer, made out of stone, slammed into the man and sent him flying across the arena.
Morgan watched in astonishment as Arnold collided with the arena wall; creating a crater with the force of his impact.
“Oooof. That’s gotta hurt!”
Morgan’s head whipped around when he heard that voice and grinned as Gold emerged from the billowing clouds of dust, looking completely unharmed; with a relieved looking Sarah standing a foot or so behind him.
“About time you got here,” Morgan exclaimed.
Then a massive pain wracked his entire body and he fell to the ground, as darkness washed over him.
43
Sarah ran over as Morgan hit the ground, afraid that Arnold had managed to land an attack before Gold had arrived.
“Morgan, wake up,” she said, shaking him roughly, and starting to panic when he didn’t respond. She felt for a pulse, placed her hand by his mouth and even pressed an ear to his chest.
There was nothing there. He was dead.
She looked up at Gold, already feeling her chest beginning to tighten as panic threatened to overtake her.
“Do calm down, Sarah,” Gold said, crouching down next to her and placing his hand on Morgan’s chest. His palm glowed blue for a second and then he removed it, shaking his head in bemusement.
“Of all the times to unlock his supermage ability, this is probably the worst.”
“So he’s not dead?” Sarah asked, in a voice full of hope.
“Well, technically speaking, he doesn’t have a heart; so yes, he is dead.”
Sarah’s felt her heart sink yet again, as the news hit her.
“But he won’t be for long,” Gold continued after a few more seconds. “Give him a few minutes and he’ll be up on his feet again, stronger and more powerful than ever.”
“You’re such an asshole!” Sarah yelled, as her face went red with anger.
This was too much for one person to handle! If she had one more scare like this today, she might seriously lose it.
“Looks like your friend is getting back up.”
Sarah turned quickly to see Arnold extracting himself from the wall and shoving away the men in red uniforms who had come to help him.
“What should we do?” she asked fearfully.
She knew Gold was strong, but Arnold was a rank 36 super. Worse still, she’d never seen him lose a fight.
“We won’t be doing anything,” Gold said. “I will take care of him while you look after Morgan. I’ll try to finish this quickly; the arena may almost have emptied out, but the main fighting is happening outside these walls.”
Sarah nodded, rising to her feet and activating her mage shield.
If Gold was confident he could beat Arnold, then she would make sure to do her part and keep Morgan safe.
She watched Arnold finish tearing himself free of the wall and land on the ground with a clank of rattling armor. She could see that a few of the plates were horribly mangled where Gold’s attack had struck, but the man himself appeared to be unhurt.
Sarah heard the distinct slither of metal on leather, as Arnold drew the huge sword from his back and held it in a two handed grip. There was a loud whooshing sound and the blade was suddenly engulfed in bright red flames.
This wasn’t the red-orange color fire usually had, but a bright crimson that painted his features in an otherworldly cast. He swished the blade through the air a few times, leaving bright red trails in its wake. Then he let out a bellow of rage that shook the entire arena, and charged.
Sarah had thought she’d known power, but the fight that unfolded before her made her rethink her entire notion of what true power really was.
As soon as Arnold had charged, Gold’s mage shield surrounded him in a brilliant blue flash; but it was unlike any mage shield she’d seen before. Normally, when a mage shield was used, it would only outline a person’s body and seem almost insubstantial. It would leave the user’s clothes and other features uncovered.
Gold’s mage shield was like a suit of armor; a solid mass of blue energy that covered every part of his body. The only part that remained uncovered was his face, which was coated in the mage shield she was used to seeing.
Gold raised his hand and massive chunks of stone tore themselves free of the surrounding walls. He gestured and they rocketed towards Arnold, converging on him with more speed than should physically be possible.
Arnold wasn’t about to be outdone and, with a yell, he brought his flaming sword across to intercept them. The blade cut through the stone as easily as a hot knife through butter, leaving
the areas he’d cut glowing a bright red. Gold clucked his tongue in annoyance, then the larger stones shattered and the fragments began pelting Arnold from all directions, but he managed to parry them all.
“Is that the best you can do, mage?” Arnold snarled, as he cleaved another massive boulder in two, then brought the blade up in a sweep, sending a massive column of red fire at him.
Gold flicked his wrist and a wall of stone materialized between them, blocking the flames; then he gestured outward and the wall exploded into thousands of tiny fragments.
Arnold snarled and brought his fist up, using the same skill he’d used to bust open the arena wall. The fragments of stone all turned to dust before they reached him and he grinned, pulling his fist back to use the attack again.
Suddenly, a boulder the size of a small horse landed on his head. Arnold let out a cry of pain as he was driven to the ground, losing his grip on the flaming sword. He was quick to recover and shoved the boulder off with a heave, springing back to his feet.
Sarah was shocked to see actual blood leaking from the corner of his scalp.
Gold flicked his wrist once more and another boulder flew at him. Arnold turned and punched it as hard as he could; the stone exploding into fragments as it flew passed him. Gold smiled then and the thousands of stone fragments suddenly reversed direction, flying back so quickly, that they actually broke the sound barrier.
There was a massive, sonic boom as the stone shrapnel pounded into Arnold’s unprotected back. Most of it was repelled by the armor and his tough skin, but several fragments broke through; tearing muscle and breaking bone, before emerging out the other side.
The scream of pain that left Arnold’s throat was so loud that Sarah was sure the entire academy had heard it.
“Well, I think that about did it,” Gold said, as his mage shield disappeared.
He looked no worse for wear and was staring at the other man with an impassive expression.
Arnold took a few more staggering steps, then collapsed to his knees trying to reach around and feel for the damage that had been done. He turned bloodshot eyes on the two of them and Sarah could see blood gathering at the corners of his mouth.