Before Areo could claw at the enemy, a very large red Nexi fell to the ground about a meter away from them. An attack meant to take her down, even if it cost the Brotherhood woman’s life.
The woman was dazed. Areo grabbed the dagger with the yellow Nexi from her and turned around. She leaped over the red Nexi just as it detonated into a massive ball of fire. Areo activated the yellow Nexi, creating a barrier around her body just as she was engulfed in the flames. The ear-piercing detonation flung Areo across the room for several meters, sending her crashing past where Borely and two other Brotherhood members were fighting. She tumbled across the floor, then rolled until the fire covering her body dissipated. By keeping the energy of the yellow Nexi active, Areo managed to keep from getting burnt by the all-encompassing flames.
She glanced back to where she had been, finding a massive hole in the room, now filled with dark smoke and patches of blue sky. Both the woman and the elf Areo fought were gone.
Borely batted aside vines flung by one Brotherhood fighter, then spun in place and slammed a hard punch into the stomach of the other fighter, who had charged for Borely from behind with a sword. The first fighter raised a tan Nexi, aiming it toward Borely from behind.
Areo flung her dagger into the man’s back. She ran to him and clawed apart his neck before he could fight back. Meanwhile Borely continued to fend off the other Brotherhood member, who activated an orange Nexi in the hilt of his sword. Borely leaped back, smart enough to know he wouldn’t be able to block the man’s swings with his fists, even with his thick metal knuckles charged orange as well.
The moment he had an opening, Borely stomped forward and slammed his forehead against the enemy’s forehead, activating the blue Nexi in his headpiece in the process. The jet of water sent the masked man flying back several meters, clear across the room. He crashed against the wall, just beside the door to the airship’s hallway.
A large, muscular man walked into the room and stopped at the entry. A small vest left most his chest and abdomen bare, and several glowing green Nexi were grotesquely grafted to his arms. The man had a wide bandana to keep his long black hair back, and a pallid scar curving across his nose. His face was essentially a series of frowns—one from his bandana, another from his scar, and a third from his actual frown. He stared at the chaotic scene before him with cold, soulless green eyes.
Areo had never seen this man face-to-face before, but she knew of him—Augurc Shire, one of the two brother leaders of the Shire Kingdom. He was considered subordinate to his older brother Delkol, but Augurc was the one with the darker reputation. Even in Istal, Areo had heard stories of the man’s sadistic experiments and monstrous creations.
The masked Brotherhood member Borely had blasted across the room crawled toward the newcomer. “They’re strong...” He struggled to get to his knees, but was too injured to do so.
“No,” Augurc said. “You’re weak.” He grabbed the man by the neck and lifted him up. Augurc held the man with his right hand, which Areo saw had an ice Nexi embedded in it.
The man’s entire body froze instantly. Augurc continued to hold the man, and it took a few seconds for Areo to realize Augurc was forcing more and more icy air into the frozen corpse. For a moment the masked body glowed a bright light blue.
Augurc looked to Areo and Borely a few seconds. “You would have made interesting test subjects.” His voice was monotone, lifeless.
He lobbed the frozen body toward Areo and Borely. Areo stepped back, but saw it was going to miss by a couple meters.
Upon landing, the body shattered into hundreds of small pieces of ice. Each of the pieces immediately sprouted several long icy needles, which jetted out and connected with one another. In seconds, there were thousands of these jagged protrusions, weaving a massive web of ice with needles that grew increasingly longer with each passing moment. Areo ran back and forced Borely back with her, but the freakish ice mass was growing far too quickly to escape from in time.
Areo handed Borely the tan Nexi and began clawing away at the jetting needles of ice with all the vigor she could muster. Meanwhile Borely controlled earth to push away as much ice as possible, hardening the formations of dirt to create a barrier between them and the spreading web of ice. The long, thick needles dug into the earth walls, quickly tearing it apart. Areo continued to furiously swipe apart the razor-sharp icicles, but her mad frenzy was wearing her out, and there was no end in sight to the ever-expanding web of ice.
Amidst the frozen entanglements, Areo noticed thin vines rushing through the holes and cracks of the ice formations. Augurc was guiding tens of vines toward Areo and Borely, hoping to ensnare them while they fought off the ever-growing ice needles. Borely managed to block off the vines reaching toward him, but Areo had too many icicles to fend off for her to claw apart the vines slithering toward her feet.
“Smash the ground!” Areo yelled.
Borely charged the orange Nexi for one of his fists and did as Areo directed. He quickly knelt down and punched a wide hole straight through the metal floor. The floor was thick and had multiple layers, so it took Borely a few punches to break through all the way. As Areo beat away the icicles, the web of ice grew increasingly tighter as long needles started filling in all the gaps. Once Borely tore the holes in the floor open enough for them to fit through, Areo immediately slipped out her green Nexi.
She quickly created vines to wrap around the portions of metal connecting the different layers of floor together. At the same time, Augurc’s vines reached Areo’s feet, then began encircling her legs.
Areo leaped down the hole and let her body dangle in the air beneath the airship. She clawed apart Augurc’s vines while keeping a firm grasp on the vines from her own Nexi. Borely jumped down the hole and grabbed on to Areo’s vines before he could be impaled by the expanding ice formation. He climbed down the thick green ropes until he was about a meter above Areo.
“Well, now what?” Borely asked.
Areo looked to the other Brotherhood airship. It looked like Kitoh was still battling with it, avoiding the Nexi stones the Brotherhood launched at him.
“Just hold on,” Areo said.
Borely formed a thick barrier of earth over the hole above them, keeping the web of ice from reaching down to Areo’s vines. Areo kept a close eye on the hardened dirt, watching for any sign of the ice needles breaking through. She didn’t know what to do until Kitoh came back for them, other than hang on tight. The winds were furious beneath the airship, which had fortunately slowed down a bit following Areo and Borely’s ambush. She hoped that the two of them had at least managed to make things difficult for this airship to reach the castle.
A figure lowered from the side of the airship, about a dozen meters away. It was Augurc, standing straight in the air with his arms held out to either side of him. Vines from his many Nexi stones connected his arms to the railing of the ship. He caused his vines to effortlessly reach for pieces of the airship’s underbelly they could easily wrap around, and guided himself slowly toward Areo and Borely.
Incredulously, Augurc looked unfazed by the fact he was hanging from the bottom of an airship hundreds of meters up in the air. The wind pushed him far to the side at times, but still he continued to make his way forward. As he approached, he raised his right palm and caused an icicle to emerge from the Nexi stone embedded in it. The ice formed into a long, jagged spear that extended at least a meter long.
Like extra appendages, Augurc’s vines pulled him toward his prey. His spear of ice at the ready, the man floated toward Areo and Borely, an entirely disinterested expression etched on his face.
“Give me my tan Nexi,” Areo said. Borely tossed it down to her, and she immediately released a thin tendril of dirt toward Augurc. The man slashed away at the hardened dirt, his jagged icicle slicing through with each stroke of his arm. And all the while, his vines continued leading him toward Areo.
Borely shot off a jet of water from his metal laurel’s Nexi, but Augurc easily caused hi
s vines to slide him to the side of the blast. Augurc’s control over the green Nexi in his arms seemed unconscious—as if it took more effort for the man to breathe than to control the vines from his arms.
It was difficult to think of anything more to do, dangling hundreds of meters above the ground, hanging from the vines of a single green Nexi. Borely shot off jets of water several more times at Augurc, but to no effect. Augurc dodged every attack effortlessly, and continued to approach them.
Areo looked back and found an airship bursting into flames. She looked down and squinted into the bright blue sky, searching for any sign of Kitoh. After a few seconds of this, she glanced back to Augurc, now just a few meters away.
She turned back and found Kitoh, soaring straight for them. The dragon flapped his wings as fast as Areo could imagine him being able to, but it was going to take a few more seconds for him to reach them.
For a moment it looked like Augurc was going to fling himself down to stab Areo with the giant icicle protruding from his hand, but he caused his vines to bring himself upward at the last second. The man sliced through all of Areo’s vines in one swoop, too quick for Borely to shoot with his dark blue Nexi.
Areo immediately guided the cut ends of her vines to latch on to Augurc’s legs. She and Borely fell a few meters, but held on thanks to Areo’s control of the vines. Augurc cut the vines wrapped around his legs, and Areo and Borely fell again.
They crashed onto Kitoh’s back. Areo held on carefully with her claws while Borely grabbed Areo’s leg and started screaming once more. This time though, Areo was pretty certain he was screaming in excitement.
Once she and Borely were situated safely on Kitoh’s back, sitting in front of his fin, Areo looked back to the airship Augurc continued to hang from.
“Now’s our chance to take down that airship,” Areo said. “Augurc isn’t on board, and there isn’t anyone running the cannons.”
Kitoh turned back to the airship, flying high above it. Once near the dirigible, Kitoh swooped down and breathed a giant field of fire across the top of the great balloon. The blimp erupted in flames, and Areo directed Kitoh back down to the ground below, recognizing the boy’s energy was wearing thin.
Areo looked back to where Terico and the elves were situated. It was difficult to see their airship, or the other two of the Brotherhood’s airships. She had to simply hope they would pull through, and believe that Terico would manage to defeat Delkol if the time came for them to meet once more.
Terico and Turan clashed swords, leaving the other four Brotherhood members free to charge for Suran. Furious, Terico shoved Turan back as hard as he could. He leaped back to Suran’s position and swung his sword at the nearest masked fighter. The tall, lanky man blocked with his own sword, then activated an orange Nexi in his hilt. Terico slipped back before the man could slice the blade of his sword clean in two.
Turan lifted a brown Nexi stone while Suran shot off a vibrating purple wave at the Brotherhood fighter nearest to her, knocking him off his feet—she apparently had the Nexi stone for loose energy. A masked fighter with a large axe used a yellow Nexi to guard himself against the burst of energy, and continued rushing toward Suran.
Dodging Turan’s blast of swamp material, Terico leaped in front of Suran and slammed the blade of his sword against the axe pole of the man charging for her. Terico glanced right and saw the tall swordsman pointing a dark blue Nexi at Suran.
She leaped away before the man could hit her with a jet of water. Terico pushed back against the axe of the Brotherhood member he fought, but the burly man was too strong. Suran suddenly jumped in front of Terico and slammed her purple Nexi against the axe man’s stomach. The man shook back violently, and Suran slipped to the side to allow Terico to slide his blade through the man’s chest.
A series of vines immediately rushed for Terico, guided by Turan a couple meters away. Terico hacked away at them, but glanced back to Suran, noting how heavily she was breathing. She was struggling to stand, having used so much Nexi energy. Not only had she just finished shooting off a bunch of cannon Nexi, but she was utilizing a rare purple stone to fight these Brotherhood members.
She blasted away the swordsman approaching her before collapsing on her knees. Another Brotherhood member raised a red Nexi and fired at her. Terico found a brief opening from the rushing vines and ran in front of Suran. Just as the flames rushed around him, Terico slipped out his dark and light blue Nexis and created a barrier of ice to protect him and Suran from the flames.
Vines wrapped around Suran’s legs, and before Terico could even turn around she was dragged away—straight toward Turan.
“No!” Terico shot off the formation of ice, slamming it against the masked fighter wielding the fire. The tall fighter with the sword leaped in front of Terico before he could chase after Suran. Terico blindly ran straight through the man, shoving his blade through the enemy’s stomach before the man could swing his sword. Terico ripped his blade out the man’s side and continued running after Suran.
Turan dragged Suran to him and wrapped more vines around her body to keep her from struggling. The vines stood her up straight beside him, and as Terico sprinted toward him, Turan rubbed a gray Nexi stone across the blade of his sword.
Turan stood behind Suran and placed his glowing gray blade against Suran’s throat. The masked boy looked at Terico, the sadistic painted smile mocking Terico in his helplessness. Terico stopped about three meters away, but kept his sword raised.
“Stop!” Terico yelled. “Don’t do it, Turan.”
“My name is Lynx!” Turan replied. “But speaking of Turan, I wonder who it was that wouldn’t stop for him. It was his supposed best friend. Terico. I saw it all. When he needed his best friend most, Terico abandoned Turan! I saw Turan... screaming Terico’s name. Crying for help...” His muffled voice cracked a bit behind the mask, but then turned livid—far louder than Terico expected. “Needing someone to save him from this agonizing fate!”
“Turan, I’m sorry,” Terico said.
“Of course!” Turan screamed. “Now you’re sorry! I’ll make sure you’re plenty sorry! I’ll—”
“It was a difficult decision!” Terico yelled. “I thought our friends at the school needed help. I thought you’d be okay... I thought things would work out...” He stared at Suran’s pale face, struggling to breathe from the tightening vines. Terico considered reaching for his Elpis pieces, but knew Turan was watching his every movement. It would take a second to activate the power of the Elpis, and by then it would be too late.
“You thought things would just work out?” Turan yelled. He slid his blade toward Suran’s neck.
“No!” Terico screamed.
A sphere of purple energy exploded from Suran, blasting apart the vines wrapped around her. The shockwave sent Turan flying back to the large hole in the floor he had made when breaking into the airship. Suran collapsed on her hands and knees, her last bit of energy spent on creating that one final blast with her purple Nexi.
The detonation pushed Terico back a couple meters, and knocked Turan’s mask and green Nexi away in the process. Stumbling back, Terico grabbed the green Nexi from mid-air and immediately launched a series of vines toward Turan, already falling out of the ship.
I won’t abandon you again!
“Grab on!” Terico yelled as loud as he could. He sent the vines rushing out the opening, unable to see how far down Turan had already fallen. There was no way for Turan to save himself, having just been hit that close by a full-powered blast of loose Nexi energy, and without his green Nexi stone to grab on to the airship with.
Terico continued to create more and more vines from the stone, driving them down as fast as his strength could manage. Several heart-racing seconds passed before Terico felt an added weight to the vines. Terico gripped his Nexi stone tight and held on. He guided the vines back into the stone, pulling them back up into the ship. At the very end of the vines Terico found Turan hanging on, his body limp and beaten down.
He still held on to his gray-glowing sword, but his grasp was tenuous. Terico dragged him onto the ship and sighed in relief. He fell to his knees and set the green Nexi down, but still kept a grip on his sword.
His mind went blank a few moments. He simply stared at Turan’s barely conscious body while Suran crawled over to kneel beside Terico. He looked to her and felt his whole body start to tremble. At one moment he thought Suran was going to die, and the very next moment he thought Turan was going to die. It drove him to tears to see them both alive. Suran clasped her hand in Terico’s and gave a small, exhausted smile.
Turan lifted his head and stared up at Terico. Turan’s dark brown eyes were ringed with deep black marks, and his scraggly blond hair was speckled with blood. It was strange to see him without his mask again. To Terico, it almost felt like he was back in Edellerston again, and everything was back to normal. Turan coughed up blood and shook violently, still reacting from the purple energy Suran hit him with.
“I’m dying,” Turan said, crimson lines trickling from his lips.
Terico stood up and walked over to Turan. Suran followed beside him, limping along wearily.
“Don’t strain yourself,” Terico said.
Suran closed her eyes and smiled. “I’ll be fine.” She took a more serious expression and added, “It’s Turan we should worry about. There’s a medical kit on the bridge I can get for him.”
“I... I’m sorry,” Turan said before coughing up some more blood. “I was wrong.”
“It’s okay,” Terico said. “Augurc did something to your brain, perhaps heightening certain emotions you had at the time. But it will be all right. We’ll help you through this, Turan.”
“I... I’ve hurt you, Suran,” Turan said, tears trickling down his face. “I’m so sorry.”
Suran smiled as if it were nothing. “I’m just tired is all. I’m just glad you’re alive.”
Elpis Page 24