Rend Hope

by Josh Webb

  "That felt like a mosquito bite." Markus snorted with disdain, and in half a second, closed the gap between himself and Ebrim. The tall dark-haired man only had time to gasp in shock before Markus slammed his right palm into his sternum. Ebrim was sent flying backwards over forty meters, his arms and legs parallel to the ground. He crashed spine-first into a wall, stone and mortar falling all around him. The dark-haired man bounced off the wall and fell forward, landing back on the ground on his hands and knees, the wall he had impacted was heavily damaged, but still held somehow.

  It was as Ebrim had feared, the glyph in Markus' chest had another function other than sustaining his life. He suspected that the moment he laid eyes on it. The glyph also seemed to lend him power, an astonishing amount too. It obviously wasn't Markus' handiwork, the magic energy emanating from the glyph belonged to someone else, but Ebrim wasn't sure who it could be. Why would the owner of that glyph want to sustain the life of his target? He would have been better off making Markus a ghoul, he would be easier to control once he was dead.

  Questions crowded the necromancer's mind, but he was forced to shove them into the back of his mind as Markus extended his right hand. Ebrim was about to leap into the air when black and green lightning burst forth from the aeromancer's fingertips. It traveled the distance between the two combatants in the blink of an eye, striking Ebrim in the torso.

  As soon as the lightning made contact with the dark-bearded necromancer, it erupted in a huge explosion. The blast was so powerful it toppled the buildings closest to Ebrim. Burying him under tons of rubble.

  Overwhelming power was flowing through Markus' veins as he approached the pile of rubble Ebrim was buried under at a sedate pace. Did Nobellus really mean to give him this much power? Why? There must be a drawback or side effect. Deciding to worry about it later, Markus kept walking until he was five meters from the rubble. He waited, knowing Ebrim was too strong to be killed so easily.

  Sure enough, the top part of the rubble pile blew apart, and out climbed Ebrim. Small bolts of black and emerald-colored lightning danced across his body, Bruises littered his face, arms and legs. He was still waist-deep in broken sections of stone, wood and various other materials.

  "It doesn't matter how badly you hurt me Markus." Ebrim stated, surrounding himself in a red aura. The bruises and cuts began mending themselves. "Thanks to my necromancy I can use my magic energy to knit flesh and mend bones." The crazed man grinned, "Cut me, smash me, it won't matter much, I'll take whatever you dish out."

  Markus didn't respond verbally, he was glaring coldly at Ebrim. The necromancer was about to pull the rest of his body out of the rubble when the aeromancer's eyes suddenly flashed and became completely black, then the younger man's knee was in his face. Ebrim found himself staring at the sky with stars dancing across his vision. Once again he was making an uncontrollable flight.

  ***********

  "Holy shit! Look at that!" One of the deputies shouted, pointing to the sky. Teivon looked in the direction he pointed to see a lightly bearded man with medium-length dark hair sailing through the air.

  "Who is that?" Another deputy asked.

  "No clue, no one I know." A third deputy answered, Teivon focused his attention on the man's glowing right hand.

  "That looks like the work of sorcery on his right hand." Teivon pointed out to his fellow deputies.

  "Sorcery? The only ones we know of who have sorcery are the sheriff, vice-sheriff, Lady Rosalind and her apprentice, Lady Marie." One of the deputies responded.

  "Don't forget the new guy, he was deputized this morning."

  "You mean that dude with the blonde hair and those weird green eyes? The one that went toe to toe with Lady Rosalind?"

  "That's the one, he's pretty strong to be able to hold his own against our Rosalind."

  "Yeah, but that guy up there is none of them. He might be the necromancer attacking the city."

  "Correct." Teivon agreed, eyeing the airborne necromancer cautiously. The conversation between the deputies was interrupted when a streak of green and black magic energy started flying towards the dark-haired man.

  "Look! I think that's the new guy! What's his name again? Mackus?"

  "Markus." Teivon corrected, annoyed that his deputies couldn't remember the name of a newly arrived magi, it's not like they grew on trees or anything.

  As they watched, the green and black streak maneuvered behind the dark-haired man, whose body was parallel to the ground. The cloak of magic energy disappeared for a moment to reveal Markus just as the blonde aeromancer slammed his right foot in between Ebrim's shoulderblades. The kick propelled the necromancer higher into the sky.

  "Yeah! Kick his ass newbie! Show that bastard we aren't taking any of his ghoul summoning shit here in Midas City!" One deputy shouted, the other deputies quickly added their approval.

  Teivon continued to watch it all. As much as Markus annoyed him to no end. He had to admit, he was quite the fighter, if only he took his role as a gifted human being more seriously, he would do the city and perhaps the rest of humanity a world of good.

  **********

  "Spread out!" Kendal ordered his deputies, who followed his orders without hesitation, three went behind him to his left, while the last one went to his right. He fired a shot with the revolver in his right hand, nailing the lead golem in its chest with a blast of blue magic energy. The stone construct merely stumbled a few steps, the other two golems ran past their staggered brethren.

  The Midas City sheriff snarled in annoyance, it looked like these things were sturdier than he had anticipated. The lead golem was finally within melee range and swung its left fist down towards the pseudo-cowboy, intending to crush him. Kendal leapt into the air to avoid the strike, the sheriff felt his teeth rattle as the golem's fist impacted the ground. He placed his left hand on the stone construct's left shoulder and vaulted over it.

  He had just performed a forward somersault to help him get some distance from the golem that attacked him, as he was hanging upside-down in the middle of a second somersault, he caught another golem leaping at him from his right, this one was coming in high, letting gravity bring its massive weight down toward its target. Kendal had other ideas though and pulled out his second revolver with his left hand. He fired both guns at the rapidly descending golem, the dual blasts converging as one mid-flight and catching the stone construct on its left leg.

  While the golem's leg withstood the blast, it still took some damage as a few cracks appeared on the leg's surface. The force of the blast also sent the golem tumbling head over heels, still alarmingly headed in Kendal's direction. The pseudo-cowboy tucked himself into a ball, making himself as small a target as possible. He grit his teeth, hopefully he had judged the golem's trajectory correctly, even if he had, it was still going to be close.

  The tumbling golem sailed just past Kendal's head, coming so close he swore he could have touched the artificial construct with his tongue if he wanted, and he didn't because that would have been gross. The proximity of the golem as it passed by caused Kendal's hat to fly off his head, exposing his long ponytailed brown hair. He landed smoothly on his feet, making it look easy even though the adrenaline was flowing through his veins now.

  Kendal turned back around to examine the situation. The golem he had first shot was now headed towards him, while the one that had tried to strike him first had its eyes on Janine. The one he had sent ass-over-end and had nearly decapitated him with its body was face-down on the ground, the three deputies that had moved there were now converging on it. He had no more time to think about it as one of the golems was upon him, he had to focus on destroying it first.

  Janine tossed a card in front of her with her left hand which quickly grew in size until it was larger than she was. The glyph on the card flashed red briefly before a rhinoceros charged out of it, slamming into the chest of the golem in front of her. The stone construct was actually backed up a few meters before it grabbed the rhino, lifted it over its head a
nd threw it back at the vice-sheriff.

  She reacted by touching the back of the giant card that spawned the rhinoceros with her left hand and channeling her magic energy into it. Instead of being crushed by the large and heavy animal, it disappeared back into the card. Her body protested her fast movements, she was still hurting from her battle with the red-haired youth and hadn't had time to properly recover. Her right hand was still burned pretty bad and hurt to move and the various cuts and bruises she had received were taking their toll.

  Pulling out another card from her deck with her uninjured left hand, Janine flung this one at the golem's feet. It slid on the ground, spinning horizontally before getting stuck under the golem's left foot. The glyph on the card activated and a large snake wrapped itself around the giant stone construct, pinning its arms to its sides.

  Meanwhile, the trio of deputies were attacking the third and downed golem, one that was currently lying face-down in the ground. One of deputies, armed with a bow, shot an arrow at the back of its head. Even though the arrow was enhanced by sorcery to pierce not only physical defenses, but magical as well, it still only sunk a few centimeters into the golem's stone skin.

  The other two deputies, armed with one-handed hatchets, started hacking away at its back. They too were having the same problem, breaching and damaging the golem's stone skin, but not near enough to destroy or neutralize it. The stone construct gathered it's arms and legs under it and shrugged the two deputies that were on its back off of it, sending them crashing to the ground. To the deputies' credit, they managed to turn their falls into rolls as soon as they made contact with the floor, easing their impacts. Kendal noted his deputies' struggle, he couldn't afford to slack off at the moment, best if he ended his fight as soon as possible so he could help the others.

  ***********

  Ebrim howled in rage and frustration as he struggled to right himself in the air. The bastard Markus was knocking him around like a child's plaything and he was fed up with it. He glared below him where Markus was flying up at high speed. Ebrim reared his right hand back and gathered as much of his power as he could for two seconds before releasing it in a powerful blast.

  Using his newfound speed, Markus flew to his left and dodged the blast, which crashed into a building below and completely obliterated it. The recently revived aeromancer then took a curving path towards Ebrim. The necromancer was still snarling in frustration that his attack had missed when Markus flew in and landed a vicious left hook to the right side of his face.

  Ebrim could have sworn his jaw unhinged when Markus struck him with his fist. As he was sent flying through the air yet again he was dimly aware that they were no longer above the city. The dark-haired man finally hit solid ground again when he crashed into the sand outside the city limits.

  As Ebrim used his necromancy to start healing his jaw and battered body, he tried to peer through the cloud of dust and sand that erupted when he impacted the ground. However, he couldn't see hardly past his hands as he tried to search for the elusive magi.

  "You said you'd take whatever I dish out right?" Markus' voice sounded from behind the necromancer, "Let's test that."

  A thick bolt of black lightning fell from the sky, hitting Ebrim right at the top of his skull. The lightning coursed through his body as he howled in pain. Another lightning bolt, green this time, struck him from the sky and then another black one, the colors alternating with each bolt.

  Markus kept up the barrage for a little while. Reveling in Ebrim's suffering, his screams of agony were like music to his ears. The aeromancer paused as that last thought disturbed him, enjoying an opponent’s suffering would lead down a dark path. He never had thoughts like that before, why now? What was wrong with him?

  His internal struggle caused him to stop his barrage of lightning bolts. The smoke cleared around Ebrim to reveal his severely charred body. His broken form was in a kneeling position, his arms drooped uselessly at his sides. The necromancer's shirt was completely gone and his upper torso was covered in severe burns. Ebrim's eyes were clenched shut and blood flowed from between the eyelids. There were only patches of black hair atop his burned scalp and smoke emanated from his body. The glyph on Ebrim's right hand however, was still glowing strongly.

  "You pack quite a punch Markus." Ebrim wheezed out, letting out a sound that was a mixture between a laugh and a cough. The severely burnt necromancer reached over to his left arm with his right and tore what was left of the leather glove off, revealing a similar glyph on his left arm that was on his right. "Forcing me to go all out here, guess I should have expected that from Nobellus' apprentice." The glyphs on Ebrim's arms glowed an intense red, and his body began to heal itself.

  "I'm no longer Nobellus' apprentice." Markus replied, Ebrim rose to his feet as his flesh healed, the hair on his face and head was restored, but his skin had taken on a pale grey color. "Stop calling me that."

  "Apologies, it's how you were best known. I think it's safe to say you've inherited the ruthlessness he exhibits to his enemies." Ebrim told him.

  "There's nothing wrong with being ruthless to pieces of shit who have declared war on humanity." Markus replied.

  "Would you say the same thing if that ruthlessness cost you the lives of people you cared about Markus?" Ebrim questioned, the aeromancer visibly winced which did not go unnoticed by the elder man. "Struck a nerve did I?"

  "Shut up." Markus said coldly, firing another blast of black lightning from the palm of his right hand at Ebrim. This time however, the necromancer raised his left hand and deflected the blast to his left. The lightning bolt hit the ground and exploded, shooting forth a huge plume of dust and sand.

  "You get all self-righteous when it comes to defending these pathetic human beings, but you're no saint Markus, you're as much a shade of grey as I am." Ebrim informed him.

  "You're right, I am not a saint, but I believe in redemption for one's soul while you would let your own rot. You forsake everything you are and that is tragic." Markus replied, Ebrim grunted in annoyance.

  "Spare me your pity." Ebrim snarled, dropping into a fighting stance. "I don't need it from someone who isn't even fully alive."

  "Fine then. Let's finish this." Markus responded, dropping into a fighting stance as well. The two combatants stared each other down while the moonlight shined down on them. Then almost at the same time, they charged at each other.

  The final deciding battle over the fate of Midas City was getting under way.

  Chapter 26

  Markus wasted no time and sprang at Ebrim, unleashing a flying kick with his right leg. Ebrim sidestepped to his left to avoid the attack and the aeromancer sailed past, he then turned and pursued him, seeking to attack Markus before he could land. He was unsuccessful and the blonde magi was able to touch his feet onto solid ground. Markus immediately ducked under the punch thrown by Ebrim and used his left leg to try and sweep Ebrim's feet out from under him.

  The dark-haired man jumped over Markus' leg sweep, answering by kicking out with his right foot while in mid-air, again aiming for the younger man's face. Markus managed to block the kick with his forearms, but Ebrim's kick was strong enough to knock him onto his shoulderblades. The aeromancer slid across the sandy ground for a good eight meters before rolling backwards into a standing position.

  Markus noted that the necromancer was stronger now, activating that second glyph on his left arm had boosted his power by quite a bit. Still, the older man must be burning through the glyph's magic energy like crazy healing all the wounds he was inflicting on him. Sooner or later the glyphs had to run out, all he had to do was keep hurting him.

  Ebrim pressed his advantage, charging after Markus. He struck out with his right fist, but the younger man swatted at the necromancer's outer wrist with his left hand, deflecting his punch. Almost immediately afterwards Markus lashed out with his own right hand, landing a solid punch right at the center of Ebrim's nose.

  The tall necromancer reeled back from the blow. When he re
covered he looked back towards Markus to find the blonde aeromancer silently glaring at him. Was he waiting for him to make the next move? Why? Was he being cautious? Ebrim got his answer to that when Markus began to walk slowly towards him, closing the distance between the two opponents. The younger man stood tall, the glare of his glowing green eyes boring into Ebrim's, his arms at his sides and his hands closed into fists. Ebrim couldn't believe it, was this bastard actually letting his guard down? Was he so arrogant as to not perceive him as a threat?

  Anger built up in Ebrim as he bent his knees and leapt into the air, taking to the skies. Markus followed suit a second later, having anticipated this, the crazed man performed a few forward somersaults, building momentum. As Markus drew closer to him, Ebrim lashed out with his right leg, bringing the heel of his boot down on the aeromancer's face, or he would have if Markus was still there.

  A slight breeze from behind alerted Ebrim to where Markus was. Turning around as fast as he could, the dark-haired necromancer found Markus already bringing his right fist forward. The blonde man's hand was brimming with magic energy and Ebrim only had time to bring his arms forward to block the punch.

  Ebrim's felt the bones in his arms crack as the impact from Markus' punch sent him crashing into the earth once more. Although his necromancy was already healing him, the dark-haired man was frustrated. He was going all out, using all the power he had gained from the people he had killed over the years. It should be more than enough to handle one lousy magi. So then, why was he losing?

  Not wasting any time, Markus extended his right hand and started channeling his power into it. Ebrim had just managed to get back to his feet, a very unhappy look on his face. Markus fired a bolt of black lightning from the palm of his hand and Ebrim reacted by summoning a giant ribcage from the ground.