"You fucked up Sain" Jalel stated and shook his head in what Sain surmised to be a gesture of disappointment from the man.
"I was going to come after you tomorrow, but it’s not every day you see some dumb shit kid sneak into a fight night. I thought you would have had more brains then that" Jalel stated. Sain looked around him again, noting the grim expressions of the youths surrounding him. The knot in his stomach dissipated, quickly being replaced by the feeling of butterflies fluttering in his guts. He was nervous as hell and it showed on his face.
Jalel picked up on that and smiled grimly.
"Sorry kid. But my offer has been rescinded. Your dipshit brother got involved and now the Cobra's want you gone. I got my ass kicked for letting you live as long as I did, so looks like I got to end it now" Jalel stated and motioned with a hand for his followers to step forward and do the deed themselves. A few even looked eager as they drew knives. Sain gulped and stood up fast, turning away and looking at the fence. He didn't even think and drew on his magic. He pulled it up and gathered the energy around his right hand. With a cutting motion, he slashed a hand through the fence, leaving a gaping hole. He pushed straight through it, feeling his coat catch on the sharp metal. Slipping out of the thing, he left his coat hanging in the fence as he ran down the alley, not even taking time to look behind him. He could hear shouts and curses as Jalel and his men no doubt tried to follow Sain through the fence.
Sain just ran and ran, with no idea of where he was going, his mind awash with thoughts as he sought to understand what had just happened. Had Niall done something, when he had tried to help Sain? What the hell was going on?
Hearing shouts behind him, he looked over his shoulder briefly, catching sight of three of the youth's hot on his tail and gaining. Sain gritted his teeth and looked back in front as he ran, his feet pounding hard on the tarmac of the alley way. The lighting was poor and he did not know where he was going still, the area around him devoid of any landmarks.
Taking a chance, Sain took a sharp turn to the right and started sprinting down another alley, head down in effort. Hearing a shout to his front though, he looked up and saw two more youth's running at him from the opposite direction. He cursed inwardly and took a sharp turn to the right again into a walkway. It would have been three meters wide at most and ran between two brick walls that marked the boundaries of buildings. Looking straight ahead he cursed as he saw Jalel and the remaining youth coming at him from the end of the path. The two of them slowed to a jog, seeing that Sain had no way out. Sain stared daggers at them, recognizing the youth with Jalel as Ricky, the man’s second in command who was said to have some skill in magic. Sain came to a halt just as he heard the other youths come in behind him from the path's other end and he turned to face them, trapped.
Chapter 8
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It was a tight fit in the small pathway and the five youths were packed together as they came at Sain, knives drawn with the intent to end him. Sain felt a surge of anger, his nervousness and fear dissipating under a growing rage. He started jogging towards the larger group even as he shoved his hands into his jeans pockets, grabbing some fire shards he had brought back with him from the factory.
Reaching for the now familiar energy as he ran, he pulled it upwards through his arms, feeling the warmth of the energy spread through his upper torso. Gathering it in his throat, Sain imagined himself breathing a stream of fire, opening his mouth to give the magic form.
As the five youths closed in on him in two ranks, the leading two of them already lunging forward with determined looks on their faces, a rushing roar escaped Sain as a crimson stream of fire erupted from his mouth. He felt the heat of it in his mouth as the flames blasted out over the five youths in front of him, searing and burning them. Screaming, two of them recoiled, arms going to cover their faces and weapons dropping as both their hair and clothes burst into flames. The three in the second rank seemed to be protected from the flames by those two in front, but even then, they recoiled in fear, stumbling backwards as their two flaming comrades flailed about in pain and terror. It caused utter chaos for that group so Sain turned around to face Jalel and Ricky.
Jalel had stopped moving and was staring in horror at the carnage even as Ricky advanced, breaking out in a chant and lifting his hands to fling out a blast of magic at Sain.
Sain hissed and pulled on his own magic, guiding it up to his left hand and forming a barrier just as Ricky's energy blast hit him. The blast spun Sain around, his arm flinging around him as Sain felt the air contort and twist. This was a first for him. He had never fought another mage, and he felt like he had been thrown in the deep end. Stopping his spinning, Sain ignored the ongoing screams of those on fire, and focused his attention on Ricky who lashed out again with a blast of magic. This time, Sain created a barrier in front of him, redirecting Ricky's blast, instead of blocking it. The air shimmered in front of him as the blast of energy was redirected into the wall on Sain’s left, causing the brickwork to shatter and explode into the building it was supposed to protect. As that happened Sain pulled up the last of the magic from the fire crystal in his right hand and forming a fireball, he flung that straight at Ricky.
The enemy youth crossed both his arms over his face as the fireball hit, erupting into a brilliant yet short lived explosion. Not wasting anytime, Sain formed a barrier in front of himself once more and ran forward, thrusting his right shoulder forward as he barreled into the already unbalanced Ricky. As the two collided, Sain felt Ricky's shield collapse right before Ricky was knocked clean off of his feet. The youth fell heavily to the ground, his head cracking into the asphalt and dazing him. Sain gritted his teeth, recovered his footing right before he stomped down on Ricky's throat, breaking straight through his outstretched hands and crushing his windpipe. Not even a sound escaped Ricky as it happened. Sain jumped away from the downed youth and turned to face his other foes, his gaze sweeping left to right and catching glimpses of the two flaming youths falling to the ground, their life spent. He bared his teeth and crouched low, his hands coming up to beckon the last three forward who just stood there looking at him nervously.
"Come on you pussies, is this all you got. I've known wet puppies that have more fight than you" he crowed at them, adrenaline pumping hard in his veins. He felt powerful. Jalel shouted something in reply from behind him, causing the three to pluck up their courage and charge Sain.
He sucked in a breath and pulled up a surge of energy from his core to summon a ball of energy into his outstretched right palm. With a shout he splayed out his fingers and shot the ball of energy straight at the charging youth in the middle. With a shout of surprise, the three scattered to avoid the attack, it sailing straight past to hit a telephone pole and explode in a show of splintered wood and distorted air. Sain didn’t wait to see the damage it caused of course, and instead focused his attention on the attackers before him as they came at him once more. Drawing on his own repository of magic once again, Sain back-pedaled fast, putting distance between him and his assailants even as he blasted a wall of invisible energy at the youth on the left, flinging him through the air. The youth spun with a shriek before crashing against the alley wall, a number of loud and audible cracks sounding as flesh and bone smashed into the hard bricks. The youth just dropped to the ground, his limp body thumping hard into the pavement.
Bringing his power in, Sain turned his attention to the others and formed a magical barrier in front of him just as one of his attackers moved to Sain's right side and stabbed towards his torso with a long and vicious looking knife. The blade skittered harmlessly against the barrier, sliding off and causing its owner to stumble. Sain gritted his teeth and lifted the barrier up high as the other youth on Sain's left swung his knife at Sain's head, the thing sliding off Sain's barrier and being redirected to the ground. Puffing from exertion now, Sain pulled the barrier back and with a yell, sent the condensed barrier into a point on his left fist. He punched out with a cry, the hit colliding with t
he face of the youth on Sain's left, his magic exploding on impact. There was a sickening crunch as the magic caved in the youths face and sent him flipping, his legs shooting out from under him and his head flying back. He toppled to the ground, landing with a brutal and sickening crack as his neck snapped.
Sain turned then to look at his final assailant who just stared at him in terror and dropped his knife, the thing clattering to the ground. He lifted a hand to point shakily at Sain right before turning and running away, tripping and stumbling in his panic. Sain exhaled then losing some tension as he watched the youth run. Sain actually relaxed a moment and made to step forward, but stopped as he heard a muffled and somewhat croaky voice from behind him. Turning hard and fast, Sain brought up a barrier just in time as a strong blast of energy collided with him and crackled around his barrier. He staggered hard with the impact, falling on his backside as another blow came, completely crumpling his barrier. With a yelp, Sain rolled awkwardly to the side just as a hole blew out in the asphalt where he had been, causing a plume of dust and debris to shower down around him. Coughing and spluttering in the cloud, Sain stumbled to his feet and summoned more energy from his core just as a third blast was sent his way.
Instead of meeting the blast, Sain once again turned his barrier and redirected the blast, seeing a shimmer of energy as it rippled along his barrier and blasted into the wall to his right, shattering the bricks and sending debris flying. Chunks of brick rained around down him, thumping both into the ground, and Sain's barrier even as Sain regained his footing. Looking at his assailant, Sain scowled as he realized it was a recovered Ricky who looked damn near furious. With a raw shout Ricky fired another blast at Sain, and instead of blocking it, he redirected it again, this time to his other side and heard it screech through the air to slam into a telephone pole not far to his left rear. With a shriek the thing exploded at the point of impact and came crashing down, lights all over suddenly going out as power was lost in the area. The pole slammed into the building to Sain's right, crushing a good portion of the structure's roof.
Gritting his teeth Sain gathered all of his remaining energy in the palms of his hands and threw it at Ricky. The first blast slammed into the youth’s chest, flinging Ricky backwards as he met the blast with his own barrier. The second attack went straight for Ricky’s legs and battered through his barrier, shattering it. The blast collided with Ricky's lower legs, knocking his feet out from under the already unbalanced youth. As his legs were flung backwards, Ricky collapsed forward's, his arms flailing even as he hit the ground, his face smashing into the pavement. A sickening crunch sounded as the youth's nose and teeth broke, forcibly cutting his chanting off.
Stepping back Sain just shuddered, his body shaking from it’s over exertion. His breathing was ragged and he was having trouble standing now, quite exhausted. He watched as Ricky staggered to his feet and stumbled backwards, a hand being held out before him, blood running down his face from a broken nose. He was busted up bad and he just staggered away, falling over a few times.
"Wait!" he groaned thickly, his voice barely audible, "l am a gone, I'm gone" he spluttered, little drops of blood running down his chin.
Nodding, Sain took another shaky step back, and let Ricky stumble down the alley, away from the scene. Looking around him, Sain surveyed the carnage and destruction. He scowled as he didn’t see Jalel anywhere. He guessed the man had run when the magical battle had begun, the only evidence of him being there at all was a smoking cigarette on the ground. Grimacing, Sain stepped over and ground the cigarette out with the heel of his shoe, the smell disgusted him. Looking around, he noticed there were two gaping holes in the walls that flanked the pathway. On top of those, there was a downed telephone pole, sparking from torn lines, proving just how strong a foe Ricky had been. No doubt he could have been a powerful mage if he had been afforded a proper education.
The youth he had flung against the left wall was sprawled un-moving on the ground not far from where he had collided with the wall, a few limbs bent at odd angles and a pool of blood seeping from his head. The dark liquid was beginning to trickle between the pavers of the walkway and down into a drain. Right before him, lying in the middle of the path was another figure, his arms and legs splayed out awkwardly and his neck bent at a very unnatural angle. There was blood all around his head and it looked horrid in the gleaming moonlight. Feeling the urge to throw up. Sain lifted a hand to his mouth trying not to think about what he had done.
Turning away he stumbled as he kicked an object. Looking down, Sain saw a corpse, burnt and blackened, still smoldering, and as the sickly smell of roasted flesh rose to his nostrils, he gagged and staggered away from the corpse. Casting a panicked gaze around the alley, he found his fourth victim, sprawled on the ground only meters away, the blackened shape un-moving and at one with the darkness.
As guilt ran through him, Sain dropped his hand from his mouth and bent down, and hands on knees, he heaved the contents of his stomach into the street. Three of the youths were clearly dead and the one against the wall most likely would not survive the night. Eyes burning with tears and shame, Sain stood up and bolted, slamming into objects as his tears blocked his vision. Passing by people coming out into the night air to investigate all the noise, he made his way down the darkened streets and alleys, sirens loud in the distance as they rushed towards the scene. Someone had called the police it seemed, and no doubt the power outage would attract emergency services too. He ignored everyone he came into contact with, most not even shooting him a second glance. Eventually he came to an area he recognized, and gulping, Sain looked around for the direction of his unit. Finding a landmark, He started jogging and stumbling back towards his home. It wasn't long before Sain found his unit and made his way up the stairs and inside. He burst into the unit, causing his father and brother to look up with bewildered looks as they huddled over some candles that they were trying to get alight.
Sain sped past them both into his room and slammed his bedroom door shut before throwing himself down on his bed whilst gulping hysterically as tears streamed down his cheeks. He had killed people, and the worst of it was that it had been so easy. Lost in the moment he had fought back without any thoughts of the consequences, and now he would be hunted and chased wherever he went in the city. Jalel and the mob would not let him get away with such an insult to them.
A thin strip of light was exposed and then it disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared as his door was opened and then closed. In the darkness of the room, Sain could not make out who had entered. Feeling a slight pressure as someone sat on the edge of his bed, Sain lifted himself to a sitting position, his back against the wall and his head resting on his knees as he hugged them to his chest.
"What happened Sain?” the simple question asked by his brother was spoken so softly and with such tenderness that Sain erupted into helpless sobbing once again.
"I fucked up Niall, I fucked up so bad. I went for a fucking walk, and I killed some people. I fucking killed them" sobbed a distraught Sain as he hugged his knees tightly.
Instantly Niall edged closer and wrapped his arms around his sobbing brother's shoulders, his expression hidden by the darkness. After a few moments he spoke quietly.
"Tell me everything Sain, don't leave anything out" came the hushed words, yet in his tone was a hardness, a conviction to do something. Sain just sobbed again and leaned into his brother’s embrace, at a complete loss. Niall just sat there, waiting patiently for Sain to talk, knowing he must be feeling like absolute shit.
After a time Sain did speak, and his story started in staggered words, becoming more flowing until he described how he had been out at the warehouse. He went on to describe how he had been confronted and what Jalel had said and how he had run away, how he had then been forced into the alley and made to fight. He only briefly described the fight, ashamed at the thrill that he had felt, the power and strength he believed he had held. When it came to describing the discovery of his victims t
hough, he broke down again and sobbed uncontrollably. There would be no more words past that point from him.
Niall just sat there, comforting his brother as best he could, truly not knowing how he should feel. He was overwhelmed by the need to protect Sain, and also the conflicting need to report him to the authorities. He wouldn’t do the latter though, all juvenile crimes were treated the same as if an adult had committed them, and Sain would just end up in prison, if not on the electric chair. Finally, Niall spoke in a quiet tone.
"Well, we don't have to worry about the authorities coming for you, I can name a dozen magic crimes worse than this that had witnesses, and they didn't do anything about those cases" he started with. That was a legitimate statement in Rindai. Mainly because the authorities didn’t care about gang related events in the slums. That and they were paid by the mob to not care.
"The real problem is the mob, they won’t let this pass, that's a certainty. Tomorrow I want you to go to your master and act like nothing has happened, stick to him like glue though, from what I hear, he has many connections in the underworld and no one will be able to harm you in his presence. This seems to be my fault, so I’m going to see if I can get you out of this city. There are quite a few people back in Gestonia that owe me favors, and I’ll have them pay up. For now, whenever you go out, try to stay in areas with lots of people. If these people are set on you they may still come after you, but it is less likely" Niall added, his tone grim and his demeanor even more so. He let out a sigh and patted Sain on the top of his head as he stood up. He looked at the shape of his brother in the darkness and tried to reassure him.
"You did the right thing Sain, you acted in self-defense, and you have nothing to be ashamed of" he finished with and turned to leave. He left Sain’s room, leaving his brother to his distress and anguish. Looking up, Niall saw a worried Regas perched on the edge of the couch awaiting answers.
The Sky is Endless Page 8