There’s a second option. Ion can break through the bars and jump down with the aid of a spell. From the looks of it, he’s on the third floor. I should be able to survive the fall with Glide.
Making up his mind, he casts Arcane Cutter to break the iron bars. A white dagger of raw energy takes form in his hand, radiating dim light. The prisoner turns to take a look at Ion as he works on the bars.
“Don’t.”
Surprised, Ion stops in his movements. “Why? These bars aren’t protected by an Arcane Shield.”
“I don’t know about Arcane or whatever, but those are enhanced with the Metal Elementi.”
Ion nods and proceeds with his plan. His spell cuts the bars like a knife does butter. He places the cut bars on the floor carefully as to not cause any noise.
“How...?”
“I don’t know much about Elementi. What I do know, however, is that Elementi appears to be inferior to raw power.”
“Raw power?”
“You don’t know what’s a Mage?”
“And you don’t know what’s an Elementalist?”
They talk as quietly as possible, both of them confused by each other.
“I s’pose I don’t,” Ion answers.
“Odd. I thought everyone knows what’s an Elementi. I do know what’s a mage, though. I haven’t seen one in action, however.”
“And I know what the Elementi are, but I didn’t know there are Elementalists.”
After a moment of silence, Ion decides to flee. He checks the outside. No guard can see him now if he jumped down with Glide. Once down, he’ll use Cloaking to get away.
“Mind if I flee with you?” The prisoner—or more precisely, Lou asks.
Ion replies. “I don’t, but I don’t know how to cast spells on others if the offensive spells are excluded. I don’t think you can survive the fall.”
“You can always act like a gentleman and carry me.”
“Th-that is... Must I?”
“Forget it. I can get out on my own. Jump, before I go nuts.”
“Okay.”
Ion casts Glide on himself as he jumps down. He falls slowly like a feather, but he can’t control the trajectory. Once down, he casts Cloaking. Then he plans on his escape route.
Crash!
A loud noise, like some cannonball had hit the ground next to Ion, causes an alarm. Some dirt lands on Ion, making him visible through his Cloaking.
What the hell?
From the small crater caused by the impact, someone stands up, covered in dirt. “Maybe that was a bit too loud,” Lou shares her thoughts.
“A bit!? The whole garrison is alarmed!”
“My bad. Let’s get going.”
How did she even survive that? Is she made of iron or what? Or is this the power of an Elementalist? I mean, isn’t she the suspect for mass murder?
“And if you heard the guards, no, I’m not the murderer,” Like reading his thoughts, Lou explains.
“I don’t care! Let’s just get out of here!”
They flee to the nearest part of the wall surrounding the garrison. Several guards see them and begin their chase. Although he could, Ion won’t kill anyone. His purpose is to warn the world of the danger, so killing the guards would infringe his motive.
Once up on the wall, some archers start firing arrows at them. Ion casts an Arcane Shield to repel the arrows that’d hit him. If he could, he’d do it for Lou as well, but he’s got no idea as to how to cast helpful spells on others.
Thankfully, Lou seems to have something up her sleeves. Her colors change to white, attuning the Elementi of Air, using it to cause a shockwave around her. It makes the arrows fly astray. Some of those stray arrows hit the guards, but Lou doesn’t care.
Ion should’ve been knocked back as well, but his own spell is protecting him from Lou’s. “Are you an Elementalist?”
“Of course!”
They run on top of the wall, looking for a good escape route. Then, out of the blue, Lou jumps off the wall to flee into the city. Like before, her landing is rather rough, causing a small crater in her wake, whereas Ion lands nicely. Lou’s colors are now pink, spelling her usage of Life Elementi. She can use it to strengthen her bones and flesh to sustain a fall, but even that has its limits. She can do it once more and then her body may break. Height also affects the outcome. As to why she leaves a crater behind, it’s because of the raw Elementi power surrounding her when she is enhanced, and also because she is much heavier when empowered by the Life Elementi.
“Should we part ways, or do you have a better idea?” Ion asks her, admitting that he should acknowledge her as a superior force.
“Ideally, parting ways would be more beneficial since you can turn invisible. However, you ain’t going anywhere just yet. I want to ask you a few questions.”
Sweat dripping, Ion nods. “As you wish.”
A bell is rung in the garrison. All the guards in the city are alarmed. Of course, the guards on patrol can’t decipher the meaning behind the alarm just from the ringing, so they’re merely alerted, not looking for Lou and Ion in particular.
“We’ll head to the Mind’s Realm. My horse is there. We’ll ride on his back.”
“Got it.”
They avoid the streets, running in the dark alleys between the buildings. Morning isn’t far. In less than two hours, it’ll be hard to move unseen. Most of the citizens are already up and working.
“Let’s climb. They’ll see us, but they won’t reach us.”
“Eh? What?” Ion is confused.
Lou starts climbing up to a roof of a building, using a rainwater pipe to do the climbing. Ion can’t imagine what kind of a person she must be if she can just climb a pipe like that.
“I can’t climb it!”
“Quiet!”
Ion tries to figure out an alternative, but before he can even think of a way, some unknown force lifts him nicely and quietly. Lou catches him midair. The color of her hair is green now.
“Now, let’s go.”
“What the hell was that?”
Lou’s colors change to brown. “I used the Force Elementi to lift you.”
“How convenient it must be to be an Elementalist. Why didn’t you use it on yourself?”
“Because I need some workout once in a while.”
“Uh-huh. Your profession must be fascinating.”
“Shut up. Brace yourself!”
“Wait...!”
As soon as they run into a dead end, which is a street down below, they’re launched forth as if they were cannonballs. The range of their flight barely covers the distance between the rooftops. Lou’s colors become golden after the landing.
Ion stumbles face-first. “Damn it, I’m not used to this!”
“There they are!” Some guard down below shouts. Dozens of guards start chasing them with horses.
Lou and Ion move fast on top of the buildings, thanks to the Elementi powers of Lou. Ion didn’t know there are powers like that out there. He thought the Elementi are just deities that care for Shadows only, but apparently, he was wrong.
Suddenly, a hot, burning spear flies past them. Both Lou and Ion can feel the heat as it flies past them, missing its mark. An Elementalist is trying to shoot them from a distance.
“Damn it, we’ve got the bastards from the Order after us!”
“Who?”
“Jump!”
Lou drags Ion with her down to the streets where the guards on horsebacks wait for them. Upon landing, those guards try to surround them, but fail to do so.
Lou calls forth the Elementi of Force, the one that controls the movement of everything, or in other words, gravity and friction. Her colors go green as she removes the gravitation of the riders. They start hovering, gradually lifted into the air.
Once five meters above, she increases the power of gravitation to such degree they crash down with deadly force, splattering against the street paving. For the first time in his life, Ion sees human blood in crude amou
nts, and some of it is sprayed upon him.
“Run!” Lou takes his hand, leading the way.
The citizens are crying in panic. More guards are coming their way. They’ve got quite a distance to cover until they get to the Mind’s Realm.
“Did you really have to kill them!?”
“Huh? What’s the matter? They’re trying to kill us.”
“Are they!?”
“Hey, they treat me as the Void attuner, so of course they prefer me dead!” To her, it’s common sense.
“What about me?” To him, it’s not.
“They think you’re a criminal aiding me.”
“But...!”
“Shut up! They’re coming at us again!”
Lou turns to their right, entering a really tight alley wherein horses won’t fit. The riders swear angrily. They ride around the buildings to surprise the two on the other side.
“Be ready! The Elementalists haven’t shown up yet. Once they do, we’ll have to go extreme. As soon as they come, do not inhale, but exhale all the air in your lungs. Warn me two seconds beforehand if you need to inhale.”
“Okay...?”
Once they get to the streets again, cries of terror resound as the citizens see their bloodied outfits. They run a short distance in the open before they enter another alley. Some guards appear in front of them, a few more behind them.
They don’t dare to use projectiles due to the danger of friendly fire, the Elementalists of the Order excluded. Instead, they charge at the duo, swords held high.
Lou’s colors turn dark red, and the guards die a painful death as their armors start melting, burning the flesh.
“Even if you aren’t the murderer, you sure are one now.”
Lou doesn’t reply. She resumes their flight, leading the way out into the open again. Once fleeing in the streets, they’re struck by a Lightning bolt, and thus paralyzed by it. More are sent at them, but they never hit their mark. Despite the paralysis, Lou manages to summon the Earth in time to make a dome around them, nullifying the Lightning barrage. They haven’t suffered horrible burns, as the spell that’s been cast at them had a wide area of effect, which means the magnitude wasn’t great enough to kill them.
“Damn it, they found us. Once I lower the shield, do not inhale. They’ll burn your lungs. If you do need to inhale, warn me. I’ll make sure you’ll live.”
“Got it.”
Lou calls forth the Light Elementi. Her colors are changing to light blue. With it, the Earth shield disappears. However, the air in Ion’s lungs is gone as soon as the shield is no more. Panic forces him to inhale at once, and the hostile Elementalists on the rooftop spawn a burst of flame under his nose, which he inhales.
However, he feels like he’s drowning for some reason, like water was filling his nostrils. Before he even realizes it, the water is gone, and he inhales fresh air, only to have it purged from his lungs again just as soon as he’s inhaled it.
“Don’t inhale now!”
Lou has figured Ion can’t resist the urge to inhale, so before she could cast her spell of Light, she was forced to attune Water to help Ion survive. Prone to further attacks, Lou considers summoning the Earth again, but something unexpected interrupts her.
The whole street explodes around them, taking the closest buildings with it. It’s utter destruction. Dirt, stone, and wood are sent flying high into the air. The Elementalists die, along with several citizens.
In the middle of the annihilated street, Ion is covering Lou with his body. The area around them in two-yard diameter has survived as if nothing happened.
“What the...?” Lou is shocked.
“An Arcane Explosion. Now, lead the way!” Ion explains.
“But you hated killing...?”
“For the sake of the world, I will do anything.”
Lou’s got no idea what he means by that, but she nods. Standing up, she leads the way once more. They aren’t too far from the Mind’s Realm now, just a little further.
***
“Hop on!”
As soon as they get to the Mind’s Realm, they look for Lou’s horse, which they find immediately.
“Hold on, I haven’t ridden a horse before.” After a short struggle, Ion manages to climb up.
The tavern hasn’t been burned down just yet. The workers who’ll do it need to gather tons of water to control the fire, and before that, the citizens must be evacuated from nearby. Hence the tavern still stands, gore still garnishing the interior.
Though Ion doesn’t show it on his face, he is creeped out by a thing he’s seen lurking in the tavern as they passed by, staring at him from a window. He’s certain that it was an eye, a really odd yet evil looking eye that was hovering in the air.
He reasons it’s one of those Marks he overheard about.
“Hold tight!” Lou cries out.
Out of reflex, Ion hugs her as if his life was depending on it.
“Heya!”
Riding swiftly, Lou aims for the city gate. It’s most likely closed, thanks to the alarm, but it’s not like they can’t blow it up, now can they?
“Can you make another boom boom?” Lou asks.
“Boom boom? You mean the Arcane Explosion?”
“Yes! We need to tear through the gate.”
“Can’t you do it!?”
“It’s protected by Elementi, so I can’t. However, your boom boom seems to ignore all the Elementi protection!”
“Got it! Leave it to me,” Ion replies.
In no time, they ride into a group of guards with spears. Lou’s horse is rather inexperienced, so she can’t make him jump over them. Instead, she calls forth the Elementi.
Her colors turn red. A Lightning whip is forming in her hand, one that has an absurd length. She sweeps the phalanx with the red Lightning, causing painful deaths to the guards. They convulse on the street paving for a few seconds even after their hearts have stopped beating.
“Shit!” Lou swears as she marks the new threat.
“What!?”
Where they’re heading to, the paving is turning hot. An Elementalist is causing the ground temperature to increase over time. Lou tries to ride past the burning ground. The horse agrees, but it’s also protesting with shrieks.
By the time they escape the trap, the paving is glowing bright red, starting to melt.
“Good thing they aren’t powerful enough. A street of lava would’ve been a serious problem.”
The Sun is rising. Dawn has arrived.
“How far off?”
“Close! Prepare your spell!”
Ion can’t see any gate nearby, but he is ready. To his horror, Lou rides the horse into an alley. There she makes the horse climb up some crates she remembers to be there. Once on the rooftop again, Lightning bolts and Molten spears fly in their direction.
Now, Ion can see the gate.
“Hold tight!”
Lou makes the horse jump off the roof down to the street on the other side of the building. The gate is in front of them.
“Do it!”
Ion casts his spell, an Arcane Spear. The diameter of the white spear is an inch, but the length is seven feet. He launches it, and once it impacts, the gate explodes, leaving a huge hole, through which they can flee.
Lou makes the horse jump through the hole. They fall down into the moat on the other side. Ion’s heart is racing. He’s never ridden a horse, and Lou is rather crazy on horseback. He hugs Lou so firmly she may faint because of it.
Now in the moat, they can’t ride the horse anymore, so they swim to the embankment—or at least Lou tries to. Ion is still hugging her, shocked.
“Let go or we’ll drown!”
Ion comes to his senses. He detaches himself from her, swimming on his own. On the dry ground, they hop onto the horseback. Archers who’ve been on night duty are waking up, shooting at them.
However, Lou is using the Air to redirect the arrows.
Finally, they ride off to the sunrise, pursuers far behind the
m.
Chapter Three
Dragoni Priests
The earth trembles. Far from Hantor, Villagers are panicking as it’s the first earthquake they witness. The village isn’t even near to the Titan’s Prison, but since it’s deep underground, the whole world is shaking, and thus a village thousands of miles away from there is caught in the quake.
“What’s happening!?”
“I don’t know! Did the Council of Priests anger the Dragoni?”
“No way they’d mess things up so suddenly! This has to be something else!”
“I say, the Priests angered the Dragoni!”
The villagers are coming to their own conclusions. The earthquake isn’t strong enough to cause avalanches, but some buildings are damaged, and a few locals are injured, but otherwise, nothing catastrophic happens in the commune.
The village is located on a mountain range that’s part of Orloss, the viking country. However, the villagers are not savage. In fact, it’s the only non-viking village in Orloss. Ever since it was founded, the vikings have been trying to plunder the place, but until this day, not a single raid has been successful.
It’s the village of Dragoni Priests. They harness the powers of the Dragoni, the great serpents of the heaven. It is thanks to the village and its Priests that the Serpents haven’t descended to burn the world. Serpents of the Heaven are astral beings, but they possess the ability to take a mortal form. The Serpents, or the Dragoni, are greedy beings. They want everything to themselves.
As the stories tell, there was once a Mage who stood up against the Serpent Emperor Val’oah, the patriarch of the Dragoni, and he succeeded in defeating the Serpent at a great cost. He used the Heart of the World to imprison the Dragoni Emperor, but since it was the most powerful of all the Dragoni, its power was too vast to be sealed in the Heart. Thus, the Council of Priests was founded.
Eleven humans shared the burden back then, six women and five men. They carried the fragments of the Dragoni Emperor within their own hearts. While the fragments didn’t make them immortal, they could be transferred to heirs. There was a problem, however, as the fragments couldn’t be transferred to the heirs unless both the father and the mother were carriers of the fragments. In short, as of today, every Priest in the Council is related by blood.
Apocalyptic Life (Era Series Book 2) Page 4