He threw the door to the uppermost part of the clock tower open. At the top, Adriel stood, admiring the battle between his own image and Ace, distracted. He drew his Kazedachi and slashed Adriel across his back. “Unar Pyrezio!” Adriel roared as Diurus struck him.
Flames again?! Diurus was momentarily shocked but this time, the flames disappeared after he slashed Adriel’s body. This one was made of flesh and bone; the original, the summoner of the battle below. Clever bastard. He threw the Fire Titan off the tower.
The replica on the battlefield below let the fight slip through his fingers, laughing. “Interesting… you figured out my tactic, huh?” Adriel said.
“What are you talking about?” Ace asked. Diurus emerged behind Ace, pointing to the real Adriel as he staggered up from the ground. The duplicate disappeared. Ace grit his teeth. “Very well. Prepare to die, dog–right here, right now.”
“You’ve experienced my replica. You haven’t experienced Efreet just yet,” Adriel replied.
“Show us your prized possession and watch how we extinguish your flames,” Diurus said.
Adriel laughed. “You are both worthy of being my enemies. I haven’t used this for a very long time now. It is nice to stretch my muscles now and then…”
“West Wind, Grant me strength!” Diurus shouted, and a breeze of wind touched Diurus, and he was empowered with great strength. Concurrently, Adriel touched the ground with both his hands and shouted, “Vulcania!” The concrete pavement shattered, breaking apart, exposing the mighty molten rock deep below. The ground continued to tear itself, rocks tumbling into the smouldering pit of sulfuric gas. It rumbled, erupting into the shape of a mountainous fiend, and a volcano formed inside of Fulbor. It rumbled in anticipation of a blast, sucking energy from the depths of the earth.
“What kind of magick is this?! He can call upon a volcano at will?!” Diurus reeled in utter shock. They both dashed toward Adriel.
Just before they reached Adriel, the volcano erupted and spewed molten rocks. Lava poured out into the streets, searing through anything flammable and melting all the rest. Fulbor’s citizens stood in shock in the Main Core, witness to this magickal decimation of their city. Much of the Fourth Regiment and Fifth Regiment had fallen; there were still a significant number of Efreet mages.
From below a horrific order was called out to the mages in service of the Fire Titan. “Destroy the whole city!”
“Consul! I think we should activate the Equinox now!” Maeku said.
“Not yet. If we use it now, Malevolentiam will target us first. We may vaporise one of them but it would take a significant amount of time to recharge the Equinox. Just be patient, Vice Consul,” Consul Viktor explained.
“But that volcano must be stopped from destroying our city!” Maeku replied.
“Our citizens are much more important than our city. We will rebuild! Be patient! I will not repeat it!” Consul Viktor said in frustration. “Not a single Master Knight has fallen yet. Let us wait for the right timing.”
“Yes, sir…” the Vice Consul sighed.
“Get near me if you can, you fools!” Adriel shouted. The molten lava destroying the city rose around his arms, wrapping him in a smouldering suit of armour that would have melted a lesser man. But this was no ordinary mage. This was the Fire Titan, and that suit of lava protected him from any mere magickal strikes.
“We need to defeat him. For the Queen, for Bristal!” Diurus said.
“Yes. But how?” Ace asked.
“We slash our way to him. Brace yourself from the heat and burns,” Diurus said.
“I’m in. Let’s do it. Together, now!” Ace answered.
Both Ace and Diurus rushed toward Adriel, and they slashed and hacked through the molten rocks ahead of them. Each speck of burning rock that struck their flesh seared and burned. “Hahahaha! Pitiful! You are pitiful!” Adriel exclaimed in a sadistic tone.
“Four Winds of Aeolus, please grant me your full power, the swiftness of the East, strength of the West, courage of the South and wisdom of the North! Let your mighty winds consume me and become one!” Diurus shouted. His armour turned to pure white, strengthening him, and he received the gifts of the Four Winds.
While Diurus was casting his ultimate spell, Ace reached Adriel and managed to slash his right leg with Apocalypse. The deathly aura crept into his veins, putrid smoky aura beginning to compost his still living limb. “Got you…” Ace uttered.
“Be gone, maggot!” Adriel shouted, and smashed Ace with a massive molten rock. The impact rendered Ace was defenceless, throwing him away, unconscious.
“Ace!” Diurus shouted.
“Now show me what you’ve got!” Adriel said.
“Hmph. Your leg must be deteriorating now. I shall defeat you in the name of Bristal!” Diurus replied.
“Let’s see if you can take me down now that I have only one leg,” Adriel replied, scoffing.
Diurus, instantly reached Adriel and slashed his chest. Adriel could not dodge because of his now crippled right leg and blood was spilt yet again, splashing red across the street. He continued to slash the Fire Titan with swiftness, cutting Adriel in vital points around his body to disable him. As Diurus was about to pierce Adriel’s heart, the Titan shouted. “Hell Fire Pyrezio! Efreet!” and an intense roar blasted Diurus away from him. “Hahahaha! You should have killed me sooner. Never toy with a Titan, fool!”
Adriel sank to his knees, blood pouring from his severe wounds. He picked up a molten rock without a grimace and pressed it to each wound. He barely winced as smoke sputtered and spit and his flesh cauterised. Weakly, he sank to the ground. “This will stop the bleeding for now,” he murmured.
From the mouth of the volcano, a flame took shape into a dragon, Efreet. “Efreet. Devour,” Adriel spoke and pointed to Diurus. Immediately, the Efreet flapped its massive flaming wings and perched above Diurus, hovering in the air. Diurus staggered to his knees, trying to defend himself with his arms. With a roar, the Efreet exhaled a storm of flames from its rank mouth. The Master Knight tried to defend himself with his Tornado armour but his defence cracked and the flames began to consume him. Through the excruciating pain, he stood slowly. “Still up for a fight?” Adriel uttered.
“Heh. Do not underestimate the Master Knights. I will never give up. Until my dying breath!” Diurus replied in fury, and he ran towards Adriel.
“Efreet! Grab him!” Adriel shouted, and the Efreet raged towards Diurus and seized him in its claws. Diurus screamed in pain. The Efreet pierced claws into Diurus’ mangled body. With a quick slash, Diurus cut the flames of Efreet and it dropped him, he fell to the street like an abandoned puppet. Clinging to his life, driven by something deeper than adrenaline, he dashed toward Adriel for his final blow. “You never learn…” Then the Efreet blocked Diurus and smashed him away from Adriel. Again the Master Knight was battered, cast away. “Tch… I’ve had enough foolishness. Efreet, Finish him off!” The Efreet roared its loudest, heard echoing all throughout the streets of Fulbor. It again flew toward Diurus, drawing in a mighty breath, preparing to release flames to completely incinerate Diurus.
Suddenly Ace shouted from behind Adriel, “Apocalyptic Strike!” and slashed his body in half. The Efreet vanished and the Fire Titan fell in two cleanly cleaved halves to the ground. His meat began to decay from the sickly aura of the Apocalypse. “Never underestimate the Master Knights,” Ace rasped and took one more step before falling unconscious.
Diurus sat stunned, not crispy, still in a sense of disbelief. He’d made his peace. Still yet he breathed. “Well done, Ace. Well done,” he murmured, and collapsed.
At the centre of Fulbor, Draken was still bound by the sylphids. Kielvine lay in a strewed ruin of broken glass and women’s clothing after he’d been flung into a nearby store from Korhil’s massive kick. Korhil strode into the store, crunching through the glass remains when suddenly Kielvine shot outward towards Korhil. With great versatility, Korhil leaned to his right and chopped Kielvine’
s neck, rattling him with ease, Korhil managed to let Kielvine fall down on his knees.
“Now, now… you are on your knees, Kielvine. So, about our deal?” Korhil said.
“Kielvine! Don’t you dare give in!” Draken shouted. “I am a man of my word,” Kielvine replied.
“Screw you, Kielvine! The Queen trusted you!” Draken shouted.
“Good. Now all that is left is for the Dark Mage’s malevolent aura to cover you. Then you will tap into our strength. But since we are in the middle of war and master Dio is currently in Krimmirr, we have to wait. For now, your first assignment is to prove your worthiness of being a member of Malevolentiam. Kill Draken and I shall witness your loyalty,” Korhil said.
“Hmph. Very well. Release him. I do not want him to die without a fight,” Kielvine replied.
“Very well,” Korhil said, and he released Draken; the sylphids released him and Kielvine dashed towards Draken and punched him right to the face. Draken was immediately crushed to the ground.
“Traitor scum! You have betrayed us all, Kielvine!” Draken said, a fierce look in his vengeful eyes. This was nothing he would let go.
“I do not have a choice. Korhil has defeated me and I shall kill you,” Kielvine replied.
“Kielvine, you traitor!” Draken shouted.
Kielvine smirked and pointed his sword at Draken. “Stand and fight! I refuse to kill a helpless boy like you.” As soon as Draken rose, Kielvine struck Draken’s jaw with his elbow, dislocating it.
Korhil stood watching with his arms folded. He smiled in delight. “You never changed, eh?”
“Why yes, I still enjoy torturing my prey before I shed its blood,” Kielvine replied.
“Now, now. You cannot speak anymore, do you?” Korhil said, and he went to Draken. “You cannot utter your spells anymore. Hmph. It seems like Kielvine has finished this battle early. Kielvine, let me finish this. After all, he is the one who cast Tormentium upon Zaac. Vadeja!” he shouted and his tornado appeared upon his arms. “This is for Zaac!” Korhil shouted and he smashed his arms into Draken’s face.
Draken’s head easily severed from his body and fell bloodlessly to the ground.
“What?! A decoy?!” Korhilcried.
“Hmph,” Kielvine smirked at the side. Korhil had been gullible enough to fall for it.
Draken emerged from behind Korhil, gripped his head and said, “You forgot. I am a shadow mage. I can easily hide in the shadows and can create an illusion of myself. Sweet dreams…” Draken whispered, “Tormentium…” Korhil gasped and his eyes immediately blackened, his body jerking and spasming. Now in the grips of Draken’s horrid spell, he writhed on the ground, shouting already in exhaustion.
“You were right, Kielvine,” Draken said.
“Yes–I have fought beside Korhil for a long time when we were still both mercenaries. He is a powerful mage. But his arrogance is his weakest point. With him believing I was siding with Malevolentiam, he didn’t question it. When I didn’t hesitate to kill you, he didn’t even bother to take caution. He immediately rampaged towards your shadow,” Kielvine replied. “Hah.”
“The Queen was right in choosing you as a replacement to Orevlatef,” Draken said.
“Don’t flatter me. I was appointed because the Queen knew I could defeat Korhil with the anti-wind capabilities of my sword, Fragarach. That’s all,” Kielvine replied.
Even as they talked, the sky darkened. They both looked up and saw Helena falling toward them. They tried to catch her, but her body fell, crushing to the ground beside the two. “Helena!” They both shouted.
“Korhil!” Aezil shouted from afar, running all the faster as she saw him suffering. “It can’t be! That’s Tormentium!” Aezil murmured. “Kielvine?!” Aezil said.
Kielvine’s heart pounded. He stared at the woman with her blue-green hair in horror. “A… Aezil? What are you doing here? Did you join Malevolentiam?!” he stuttered.
“What have you done to my brother?! You sided with the corrupt government?! Curse you!” Aezil cried and she cast her unique spell called Orologiakos. All movement within the set radius stopped, seeming almost like time stopped. In the bat of an eye, everything surrounding Aezil stopped. She seized up Korhil and dashed away. While she ran, carrying her screaming brother, she surveyed the city. Adriel lay dismembered beside Ace and Diurus. She wept as she dashed away from Fulbor. The spell deactivated once she was far enough away and everyone crept out of the time-stop unconsciousness with soft moans.
“Helena, what happened?” Draken asked.
“That woman… she is a monster. She is clearly at a different level than the Four Titans,” Helena replied.
“Kielvine, do you know that woman?” Draken asked.
Kielvine still shocked by the sight of Aezil, replied, “Yes… I knew her…”
“Who is she?” Helena asked.
“I will tell you. First, we must regroup with the other Master Knights,” Kielvine answered.
“That’s right!” Helena gasped. “The Dark Mage may be in Krimmirr by this time! That woman told us Reighild sided with Malevolentiam. He betrayed us. We must return as soon as possible.”
Back at the Main Core, the Consul was pleased to see the turn in their favour. “It seems we do not need to use the Equinox,” Vice Consul Maeku said, sadistically disappointed. There were, after all, very few socially acceptable opportunities to use a device that could literally explode any magick user targeted.
“Quickly! Aid the Master Knights and the other royal knights!” Consul Viktor commanded his guards, but a select few he ordered, “Prepare the Equinox. We are already in the middle of this war. It is a good thing we did not use it yet. We should reserve it for the Dark Mage.”
As soon as Helena, Kielvine and Draken found Ace and Diurus, they all boarded a Valkyrie. Bringing as many royal knights with them as they could gather from the survivors, they hurried the way towards Krimmirr. While they were on the Valkyrie, Kielvine explained his muddy past.
Kielvine Soach grew up as an assassin. Trained by his father to kill in cold blood when he was still a child, his graceful movements won him the title of ‘Zephyr’, gentle wind. When he was only thirteen, his father passed away on a failed mission, leaving him alone in the world. He struggled to survive in the streets of the large, uncaring cities in Bristal as a vagabond. No one was there for him anymore, but he knew a trade of a sort. So he practised what his father had taught him. He started to kill people in the streets, first to rob them, and later as a contract killer. There were times, when he was young, he admitted he killed people for no reason at all. Eventually, he gained the fear of the townspeople. As a teenager, he was first hired as an assassin to ruthlessly kill a target given by a client, and he saw the potential for a career in violence. He had the pleasure of killing, gaining income in the process and decided to be a full time assassin.
One client came to him by the name Vostok. His target was a wealthy merchant from Portopia, the nearest kingdom to Bristal. This merchant had a large merchandising store, a store the size of a village, heavily guarded by a private task force.
With such a difficult task, Vostok hired three assassins for this mission. He introduced the other two assassins to Kielvine. “Kielvine, this is Aezil and Korhil. They will accompany you in carrying out this mission. You will all be handsomely rewarded if any of you successfully kill your target. Now go and get my precious stone.” Kielvine was only eighteen at that time. Aezil was twenty, while Korhil was fifteen.
As soon as Kielvine laid his eyes upon Aezil, his heart pounded. At first glance, Kielvine was infatuated with her. “I’m Kielvine, pleased to meet you.”
“I am Aezil, and this is my brother, Korhil,” she replied. “Hmph. Assassins being polite to each other,” Korhil grumbled.
“Shut your mouth, Korhil,” Aezil uttered.
“Meh. Hey, you, Kielvine. We could finish this mission ourselves. Don’t slow us down. Better yet, let us handle everything,” Korhil uttered.
&nbs
p; “Wow, your arrogance exceeds even mine, youngling,” Kielvine replied.
“What did you say?!” Korhil shouted.
“Stop it, you two! We will dispose of this merchant and be on our way,” Aezil replied.
They headed to Portopia via the global valkyrie transport system. Aezil and Kielvine were in close quarters with each other throughout the journey. After a time, Aezil grew fond of Kielvine. Korhil hated Kielvine, fearful his sister would no longer have time for him if she developed feelings for Kielvine. The three assassins finished the mission easily and returned to Bristal. Returning the stolen stone of Vostok rewarded them even more handsomely then they’d hoped, and their required partnership was over.
“So, what are your plans?” Aezil asked Kielvine.
“Well, I’ll search for another client. How about you guys?” he replied.
“The same thing as you. Why not come with us? With the three of us teaming up, we will be able to finish each mission efficiently,” Aezil replied.
“What?! To hell with him! We can’t trust him with our lives just like that!” Korhil furiously yelled.
“Now now, little brother. If he does anything foolish, I am sure you can easily kill him. Am I right?”
“Oh, you bet I will! Hey you, Kielvine, if you lay a single finger on my sister, I will decapitate you and will feed it to the birds!” Korhil threatened.
“If that is what you wish,” he replied. Kielvine felt something exceptional towards Aezil and Korhil. They were the first people to show personal interest in him after his father passed, and he stuck it out with them, eventually earning Korhil’s trust in the wake of many successful assassinations. Korhil, he might have called a friend, but Aezil returned his affections, eventually in love with him. Things would always be complicated.
Teliko Mageia: Curse of the Frozen Flame Page 32