by Ian Carter
He landed on his back just in time for Terrell to slice his Blade down towards Kai's neck as a follow-up. He quickly rolled out of the way to dodge the attack. As Terrell moved to follow after Kai, Terell's foot managed to find some of the same loose rocks Kai had earlier fallen prey to and fell to his stomach. Kai used the moment to his advantage and returned to his feet before backing away from his opponent. Terrell growled at his misfortune and slammed his fist on the ground. As he picked himself up off the ground, Kai had already managed to retreat several meters back.
"What the hell is that ability! Is your Blade a fucking ghost now?" Kai could barely trace what happened through his short memories. He wondered if he simply just imagined it before Terrell lowered his Blade.
"I'm not going to tell you how it works, but it is my trump card. Unlike my other Stone, it doesn't matter if you know what's coming. My strikes will pass right through your Blade, armor, anything, and pierce your skin directly. You cannot stop me. You never had a chance.
"What a broken ability," Kai laughed. "But you're not impossible to defeat! I just need to land a blow before you do."
"Ha! You are very welcome to try," Terrell replied. "You're going to have to have one hell of a fire lit under you to beat me."
Kai once again was struck by the sense of déjà vu. He had only ever heard that expression once before. During the frantic battle he found himself in, he had forgotten that Terrell took Hayleigh somewhere to heal. She had sacrificed her body to allow Kai this chance and almost died just to get him in this position. She had deftly and brilliantly come up with strategies to defeat Jordan. He wouldn't allow someone so precious to him to be married off to some monster.
Nor could he let Mason down. He had managed to snap him out of Terrell's mind control earlier, let alone everything else he has done for him for over a decade. Kai owed those two so much. He needed to reward their hours training him, their days of guarding him, and their months of friendship. He placed his left hand over his chest and gripped tightly as he stared down Terrell.
"Don't you worry, I have plenty of fire to deal with you," Kai proclaimed.
Immediately after his remark, Kai felt a small sensation against his breast, underneath his armor, where his left fist sat. Confused, he looked down and wondered what it was. He took his hand and searched his breast pocket underneath his armor, and his fingers emerged with the blue Stone he had found in that hidden room so many years ago. Kai held it up and stared at it when suddenly he was hit with a lightning bolt of inspiration bigger than the one that felled the half-giant.
"No way." Kai had figured it out. The blue Stone that he had admired for so long was no longer a mystery. He quickly brushed clean the Stone socket in his Blade, resulting in some remnant shards of his Invisibility Stone cutting up the skin on his hand.
"No! You had another Stone?" Terrell broke out into a dead sprint towards Kai. Their duel had devolved into a race against time, with death awaiting the slowest.
As Kai fumbled with his Stone, it slipped through his hand and into the dirt. He quickly fell to the ground to retrieve it, but Terrell had almost come within striking distance. Kai grasped the Stone in his hand just as Terrell began to reach back with his Blade to launch his strike. Kai brought the Stone to Initiation's cross guard and clicked it into place as the Silver Blade of his opponent began its downward trajectory. As the dragon's flames turned blue, Kai closed his eyes and opened his mouth.
"Fire!"
An immediate explosion of Blue flame that dwarfed the size of Terrell's earlier bombs poured forth from Initiation. The fire blew Terrell nearly a dozen meters away. As the Flames dissipated, Kai opened his eyes to find that none of his clothing was singed. Confused, he looked down at the ground to see that the sand hadn't turned to glass. Kai turned to look at Terrell, faintly rolling across the ground away from him. He looked down to admire the dragon's navy-blue flame tracing the length of the blade to the tip. Kai gave a deep sigh of relief and nodded his head and rose to his feet to face Terrell, who had just managed to get to his feet himself. Mason and the foreign dignitaries had all raised to their feet. Their jaws dropped to the floor in disbelief.
"I've... never seen blue fire," Terrell admitted. "It didn't even feel hot. What kind of a crazy Stone..."
"To tell you the truth, I don't know," Kai answered. "What I do know is that you've just lost. Surrender, and I won't kill you."
"Go to hell!" Terrell screamed as he began to run again at Kai.
"You're a very angry person," Kai bluntly stated. "I'm sorry you had to be the one that had to help out my people, but this ends now." Kai sent a fireball of blue flame through the air from Initiation's tip. Terrell attempted to cut through the fireball with his phase ability, but the fire violently exploded as it met Terrell's edge. Terrell went flying backward a second time, and his body crashed against a nearby wall with a sickening thud.
Kai walked towards his fallen opponent and cut his Blade through the air a few times as if to test it. He then engulfed the Blade's metal with a blue flame and ran his hand along its length to feel the cool flames. He attempted to pour more focus into the blaze, which increased the temperature to a scorching degree.
"It seems I can control the heat of this flame," Kai proclaimed. "I made it cool last time, Mr. Braga, but next time I'm going to make it burn." Kai sliced his Blade through the air again, casting a waft of flame in the air. "I'll give you one more chance, surrender."
Terrell threw his Blade to the ground and unleashed a fearsome scream. Confused, Kai tilted his head. It wasn't even close to the reaction he was expecting.
"Prince Kai, behind you!" Mason's voice attracted Kai's attention and caused him to turn around. He witnessed nearly a dozen Bladesmen rushing towards him from different angles, Blades drawn. Each of the Bladesmen lit their blades aflame and sent a fireball of their own towards Kai.
"Child's play," Kai whispered as he whirled Initiation around his head, unleashing a wave of blue flame in all directions. Each of the enemy fireballs dissipated when they came in contact with Kai's onslaught. It continued its deadly path until it hit the Bladesmen and incinerated each of them.
A massive explosion behind him disorientated Kai and caused his flames to dissipate. He wheeled around to see Terrell's body soaring through the air to the opposite side of the arena. His belt was missing, and Kai was able to connect the dots. He had thrown his belt of explosives at the incoming fire in hopes of quelling its power. Terrell had hoped the other Bladesmen would have kept Kai busy as he ran away to safety. Kai had to give Terrell credit. If the bombs hadn't thrown him off, Terrell would have been killed by his attack as well.
Kai began his slow and plodding trek towards Terrell's now motionless body. It looked like Terrell died from the shock of being thrown such a massive difference from far away. However, Kai knew that possibility would be too unlikely, as Terrell was savvy and probably had some kind of way to stay alive. Kai looked back towards Mason, who had begun racing towards him from the stands. The foreign leaders and delegates vacated the scene of their one joyous entertainment party, but Kai didn't care. He couldn't care less about them, as he would leave the matter to Senator Valis once he was sure she was not under Terrell's brainwashing ability.
He was overwhelmed by emotion. Whether it was purely by chance he remembered the previous interactions with Hayleigh, or his mind working through past experiences for a hint to achieve victory, he was proud. He had found the solution in his bosom, literally. He had finished the fight with his power through his actions. With this victory, Kai forcefully pushed the ghostly vision of his older self from Karsdal far away.
"Prince Kai, that was amazing!" Mason arrived at Kai's side breathing slightly heavy, which was the most out of breath he had ever seen him. Kai was somewhat annoyed, as Mason had just sprinted well over seventy-five meters, and he was barely inconvenienced. Annoyance quickly faded as they embraced in a long, endearing hug.
"Do you regret making fun of my Stone now?
" Kai asked as he slapped his hands against Mason's back.
"I'm not wrong very often, but I am thrilled I was wrong in this case," Mason replied through a laugh.
"What do you say? Let's finish this, my friend."
"Let's," Mason confirmed. The two finally reached within a few meters of Terrell, who was still breathing but labored. Kai was most dismayed that Terrell hadn't died given what he had done to the kingdom. Still, he was pleased that he could now interrogate him and learn how he infiltrated the kingdom's council.
"Well, Terrell," Kai began. "What do you say you come with us, and we'll make sure you get all heal—"
A blinding purple flash blinded Kai and Mason. They instinctively shielded their eyes with their hands, and as they lowered their arms, they realized it was a portal. Behind Terrell's body, a familiar face emerged through the purple light.
"Glad to see you are doing well," the man said. "It's a shame we aren't meeting under better circumstances, but I can't allow you to question old Terrell here." Kai and Mason were dumbfounded, but Kai shook his head free of shock and pointed Initiation at the man.
"What are you doing here, Josiah?"