Time seemed to slow as Harvey reached Maltor. Months and months of hatred and anger were boiling in his veins. He was so enraged at being so close to the boy he hated with all his heart that he felt as though he were about to explode.
This was his chance. This was his time under the spotlight.
Maltor blocked his strike with his right blade and fired back with a left jab. Harvey, fuelled by nothing but anger, tilted his head back ever so slightly to dodge.
‘You idiot!’ Maltor screamed, kicking Harvey in the stomach and sending him back by a few feet. ‘You can’t fight me!’
Harvey stood panting for a few seconds. Maltor was right. He was way stronger.
‘I’m feeling rather merciful,’ Maltor continued bitterly. ‘If you step away and let me take Cecilia, I will let you live today.’
‘‘Take Cecilia’, huh?’ Harvey spat. ‘In your fucking dreams, you tiny bastard.’
He lunged forward, swinging his sword wildly.
Maltor blocked or evaded every single hit. He was extraordinarily fast. Harvey suddenly found that he had a new level of respect for Albert for being able to beat this guy.
Albert had those breathing things, though. Harvey didn’t. He didn’t have a secret weapon up his sleeve. Well, his sword could elongate and separate, but that probably wouldn’t be too beneficial. Harvey probably wouldn’t even find the time to do anything like that.
Maltor swung one of his swords toward Harvey’s stomach, and he blocked. Just barely. He was only just fast enough.
‘You’re pretty fast, Santrrer, I’ll give you that,’ Maltor commented before cutting Harvey’s left cheek lightly.
‘The name’s…’ Harvey grunted, swinging his sword twice and missing both times, ‘Harvey!’
Harvey swung his sword diagonally upward, slashing across Maltor’s torso. But he didn’t stop. He was too furious to do that.
He ploughed his blade through Maltor’s stomach and charged away.
You’ve got your wand, he told himself. You didn’t forget it.
Grunting, Maltor kneed Harvey in the stomach and slid off of his blade.
He swung his sword thrice towards Harvey, and every single shot was blocked. Harvey was holding his own. Pride swept through his body at this realisation.
Screaming with anger, Harvey slashed across Maltor’s stomach and then missed a jab to his head. Maltor immediately fired back by jabbing Harvey twice in the torso. The wounds weren’t deep, but the pain was enough to make Harvey pause and wince.
Scoffing angrily, Maltor tried to sweep Harvey’s feet out from beneath him, but the earth expanded up and created a small five-inch wall to block the hit.
Harvey hadn’t even intended for that to happen. His instincts were helping him in this fight.
‘Nice move,’ Maltor spat. ‘Won’t save your life though.’
With a mighty grunt, Harvey swung his sword towards Maltor’s neck but was stopped by a wall of the dark energy that he was known to have. The energy expanded and began to seep down the body of Harvey’s blade.
Desperately trying to pull it free, Harvey realised that he was stuck. Maltor swung both of his swords towards his chest, and there was nothing Harvey could do.
That is, if he weren’t a descendant of Titan.
Spikes of dirt shot up from the ground and caught Maltor’s blades. Now the pair of them were stuck.
Maltor gave in first, which was not what Harvey had been expecting.
‘Big mistake!’ Harvey roared, slamming the flat of his blade into the side of Maltor’s head.
Then, with a holler of rage, he swung his sword down toward the top of Maltor’s head. He was going to kill him.
***
‘Jay! This way!’ Stephen yelled, his throat burning. ‘I can hear noise over here!’
The two of them had been separated from the rest of the group when the Eiffel Tower collapsed. Stephen still couldn’t believe it. Who would take out the Eiffel Tower? And, more importantly, why?
‘Thank the Gods!’ Jay shouted back from only a few feet behind Stephen. ‘Someone else is alive!’
The two of them had spent the entire time searching for another human. Well, a living one. They had seen countless corpses trapped under rubble. Some weren’t even under anything. Most were mutilated.
About a minute prior, loud clanging and banging had reached Stephen’s ear. This had caused him to immediately begin sprinting to the source of the noise. Jay had followed.
The closer Stephen got to the source of the noise, the clearer it became. They were heading straight towards a fight.
Mid-run, Stephen grabbed his trident off his back. He heard Jay do the same with his axes.
‘Just over this hill!’ Stephen screamed. ‘They should be right there!’
In front of the pair, there was a small hill comprised entirely of dirt and Eiffel Tower scraps. It was only about five metres tall.
‘Can’t we just go around it?’ Jay panted.
‘Higher ground is better, son of the War God!’ Stephen called back. ‘Come on!’
He reached the hill and immediately began climbing it. He nearly slipped and fell back and had to stab into the hill with his trident to prevent him from falling on top of Jay.
Then he reached the top.
‘Holy Mother of Titan,’ he breathed.
Jay came up next to him a few seconds later, gasping for air. He managed to get out, ‘Well, that’s two more people we can confirm are alive.’
At least twenty metres from the base of the hill stood Cecilia. But that was not what had caught Stephen’s eye. It was what she was watching.
Harvey was fighting Maltor. The Maltor. Maltor Confussée.
Harvey was swinging a few pretty good shots at Maltor, but he was dodging or blocking every single one and even firing back with his own. Behind the duelling pair were two spikes of earth. Stephen wondered for a moment what had happened to create them.
‘What’s he doing here?’ Jay spat. ‘Come on, let’s help Harvey. Maltor’s not beating three of us.’
He began to run down the hill, but something else had caught Stephen’s eye.
‘Jay! Wait!’
Running towards the fight from Stephen’s left was a tall young man with flowing brown hair and broad shoulders. And he was holding a sword.
‘There’s no fucking way,’ Jay breathed. ‘That’s simply not possible.’
Without even thinking about it, Stephen pulled his arm back and aimed. He tracked the figure as he ran and then…he threw the trident.
It sailed through the air like a javelin and landed directly in front of the figure, causing him to halt in his tracks.
‘That’s him,’ Jay spat as the man turned in the direction that the trident had come from. ‘What? You wanna go for him?’
Wordlessly, Stephen nodded.
Now that the figure was facing them, another feature of his was noticeable. He had glasses.
Stephen stretched his right arm out and opened his palm. Even from across such a great distance, he could see the trident shaking rapidly as it pulled itself from the ground. It zoomed across the air and Stephen caught it with little effort.
He and Jay raced down the hill as fast as they could. Out of the corner of his eye, Stephen was keeping watch on Harvey and Maltor. He had to make sure that Harvey didn’t lose. He had to save him from this man.
When they reached the figure, it was clear that he was ready for a fight. His dark brown eyes glowered at the pair through his glasses and his black sword was raised.
‘I never thought I’d see you again,’ Jay snarled, holding his axe defensively.
‘Funny; I’ve been waiting for the day that I can fight one of you again,’ Quinn said calmly. ‘I didn’t think you’d stoop as low as a two-against-one.’
‘That’s exactly what you were planning to do to Harvey,’ Stephen scoffed. He was ready for this.
Quinn eyed him strangely. ‘That’s quite the weapon. It returns to your glove. Did Asbel make it?’
‘It doesn’t matter who made it,’ Stephen growled. ‘But, I’m telling you now, this trident is gonna be the thing that kills you.’
‘How terrif-’
Stephen was not a fan of conversing with an enemy.
He ploughed the three prongs of his trident into Quinn’s left shoulder and ran forward. Quinn, with wide eyes, swung his sword around in an obvious attempt to decapitate Stephen.
He yanked the trident out from Quinn’s shoulder and crouched low to avoid the attack. He then hastily swung his trident in an attempt to take out Quinn’s legs.
Grunting, a look of concentration quickly crossed Quinn’s face. Then, quicker than Stephen could react, a tendril of dirt shot up from the ground and pulled his trident from his hand.
Quinn stomped on Stephen’s back with terrific power, driving him into the ground.
The taste of blood entered Stephen’s mouth, which made him panic. But Jay was there. And he was there to save the day.
‘Get your fatass foot off him!’ Jay roared, swinging his axe at Quinn violently.
Quinn kissed his teeth and hurriedly removed his foot from Stephen’s back to avoid Jay’s swing, but he made sure to give him a little kick before he did so.
Hurrying to his feet, Stephen began to scan the surrounding area for his trident. He found it pretty fast. It was being held about three metres in the air by a tower of earth. Nothing he couldn’t handle. Stephen simply opened his right hand and the trident flew straight back to him.
‘Jay! Duck!’ he roared as he swung his trident towards Quinn.
Jay followed his orders, which allowed Stephen to slam his trident into the side of Quinn’s head. The two of them, completely ignoring Jay’s existence, began to furiously swing at one another.
It was like Stephen was somebody else. He wasn’t thinking at all, which he found strange. His body was moving on its own.
‘A son of the sea and a son of the earth!’ Quinn yelled as he slashed across Stephen’s scalp. Blood began to pour from the side of his head. ‘That sure sounds like something, huh?’
Stephen grunted and tried to stab Quinn again but he missed.
Then Quinn let loose the most insanely fast series of swings and slashes that Stephen had ever seen.
He didn’t even try to block. Stephen just frantically ran backwards and ducked and weaved to keep himself alive and well.
Stephen stopped running. He wasn’t a coward. He was fighting to save the world. The world could not be saved by a coward.
He planted his feet firmly on the ground and readied his trident. Then, he ran forward, straight into Quinn’s range.
Pain washed over his body as Quinn landed more shots than Stephen would have liked. The pain was so extreme that Stephen wasn’t even sure where he had been hit, but his trident hit its mark. It went through Quinn’s other shoulder.
Without even hesitating, Stephen quickly yanked it out and began swinging wildly at Quinn. He was going for the kill. If he couldn’t get his shot at Maltor, he would get his shot at Quinn.
No. He would dispose of Quinn and then aid Harvey in his fight against Maltor. He would help take the both of them down.
Quinn was doing a better job at blocking than Stephen had expected. Even though both of his shoulders had been stabbed, he was still blocking most of the hits.
But Stephen was exhausted and with every beat of his heart his vision blurred. The hits that did go through were not even significant enough to create a gash.
Jay was desperately trying to keep up. He was running behind the fight between Stephen and Quinn, and Stephen could tell that he was looking for a chance to jump in.
It was getting harder and harder to swing. Stephen was trying his absolute hardest. He had to make a breakthrough. He had to kill him.
Stephen kept swinging and Quinn kept blocking. There was no way out.
***
‘How did you get out of that one then?’ Harvey snarled as he stared at Maltor from a few metres away. ‘My sword was about to slice your head open.’
‘A wizard never reveals his secrets,’ Maltor snarled, but he seemed off-balance.
Harvey scoffed. ‘I got you good when I hit you with the flat of my blade, didn’t I? You look like you’re about to fall over.’
Maltor roared and charged at him.
He swung his swords around with speed – more speed than Harvey would have liked – and he didn’t look like he planned on slowing down.
Harvey caught the first two strikes and returned fire with one of his own. But Maltor leapt out of the way and spun a kick into Harvey’s shoulder.
Staggering back a few steps, Harvey reached into his pocket with his left hand. As he did this, he frantically scanned the area for something to fling at his opponent.
Maltor kept charging towards him. He swung his swords around violently, and every swing had the potential to kill. Harvey was finding it extremely difficult to simultaneously grope inside his left pocket for his wand and ward off Maltor’s attacks.
He found it. His fingers wrapped around the wooden base and he frantically pulled his wand out from his pocket.
Maltor stared at it for a mere second before Harvey roared, ‘Avis Levare!’
He flicked his wand outward, causing his spell to land on a huge chunk of earth. Grunting with effort, Harvey swiped his arm to the right, dragging the piece of dirt with it. It flew through the air and slammed into the side of Maltor’s head, sending him crashing to his knees.
Harvey put his wand back in his pocket, taking two steps back. He gripped his sword with both hands. All he had to do was cut off Maltor’s head. He was defenceless now.
Screaming with rage, Harvey swung his sword down as hard as he could, aiming it straight at the back of Maltor’s neck.
He was going to do it. It was going to be him. He would put an end to the war.
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A thick band of black energy sprouted from Maltor’s neck and caught Harvey’s sword. But it was weaker than before. Harvey was pushing against it and he was winning.
Harvey gritted his teeth and grunted. He was winning. It was taking all the strength he had, but he was slowly pushing his sword closer to Maltor’s neck.
Maltor and Harvey screamed in rage. The sound carried through the air powerfully. Birds would’ve flown from the trees if there were any of either.
This is what everything had been leading up to. This was the moment he had been waiting for. He was going to kill Maltor. In just a few seconds, he would push right through the tendril of energy and reach Maltor’s nape.
Harvey’s eyes widened as he felt his blade move back by a few millimetres. It may have only been a few millimetres, but he was being repelled.
Screaming with anger once more, Harvey gave another great push. He gave it his all. Every single last gram of strength he had was poured into this final push. It had to work.
Maltor screamed, too. But, this time, three small blades of dark energy flew from his back and darted towards Harvey.
He had a choice and he had to make it fast. He could either take the flying blades head-on and keep his hold on the tower protecting Maltor’s neck or he could defend himself from the flying blades.
Harvey chose the latter. Maltor was still injured, he could try and take his head off again.
He sliced through the blade coming at him from his right and swatted away the one in the middle immediately after. Swinging powerfully towards the one on his left, he quickly found that speed beat power. He completely missed the blade and, as a result, it made a giant cut on his left side just under his ribs.
Harvey spluttered in pain and watched in horror as Maltor slowly got to his feet.
‘You little shit!’ Maltor roared, his body coated in black energy. He looked terrifyingly enraged.
He charged at Harvey, swinging his swords. Harvey blocked the first swing and cocked his head back to avoid the second. He swatted away the jab that came third and halted the slash that came fourth.
Jumping back a few feet, fear began to take control of Harvey.
His attack speed, Harvey said to himself fearfully as his sword scraped across the body of Maltor’s, is increasing!
He quickly blocked two more strikes, but Maltor was getting faster.
Don’t give up! he screamed mentally as he bent back at the waist to avoid a jab. Don’t give up!
His vision was blurring. His muscles were screaming for him to give up. But he couldn’t. He had to keep fighting.
Maltor swung his left sword towards Harvey’s head, but Harvey placed his sword in the way just in time.
Don’t give-
Maltor swung his other sword towards Harvey’s eye. It was mere millimetres away from his eye. He was-
A hand shoved Harvey back a few steps as a blindingly bright electrical light filled his vision. He heard a sound not unlike two swords colliding before the light cleared.
Harvey and Maltor spluttered in confusion. Cecilia, from a few metres away, let out a stifled gasp. Standing in front of Harvey, panting and dripping with blood from a few wounds stood-
‘Albert!’ Harvey yelled in disbelief.
Albert roared in anger and slashed through the air in front of him with his left sword. Harvey couldn’t see it, but there must have been an explosive ball in front of Albert, as a ball of flame expanded between him and Maltor. In return, Maltor grunted and jumped backwards to avoid being swallowed by the explosion.
Albert bent low and perfected his stance, glaring at Maltor. Things were about to get a lot more destructive.
***
I let out a long breath. I was ready.
I shot forward toward Maltor. I may have been exhausted and missing my left eye, but I was ready for whatever he threw at me.
‘Don’t make me laugh!’ Maltor roared, his voice dripping with rage.
He slashed the air multiple times rapidly, and blades of darkness flew from his swords and came towards me with horrifying speed.
One from the right…then from the left…then two in front…another from the right…they were the first five that would reach me. I could do it. I just had to keep my body in constant motion and not miss a single strike. I could see all of his attacks. There was no reason for me to miss.
‘One!’ I yelled as I sliced through the first blade on my right. Maltor’s eyes widened. ‘Two! Three! Four! Five!’
With each number, I sliced through a blade of darkness.
‘I can read it!’ I screamed at him, grinning and readying my swords for the next few. ‘That dumbass attack of yours!’
I continued to charge towards him, slicing through every single blade of energy that came towards me. With each slice, a loud bang met my ears. It sounded like I was setting off fireworks.
Not a single blade that was a part of his wave survived. I sliced through each and every one with incredible precision.
Every single muscle in my body ached. But I had to keep fighting. I had to save Harvey.
If I had been just a few seconds later, Harvey would have been dead. Or, at the very least, he would be missing his left eye.
As I reached Maltor, I swung my right sword around to take his head. He blocked. Our blades were caught in a stalemate as I brought my other one up to catch his chin. He knew he couldn’t block that one. Instead, he leapt up into the air and spread his marvellous white wings.
***
‘Read’? What the hell did he mean he could ‘read’ Maltor’s attack? Could he predict it now or something?
Rage was taking over Maltor’s body. ‘Read’?
And where the fuck was Righello? He was supposed to be fighting Albert. He had been tasked with destroying the Eiffel Tower and then fighting Albert if he was present.
There was no way Albert had bested Righello. Not again. Not immediately after having to survive the Eiffel Tower falling down.
Maltor scanned the surroundings for any signs of Righello. In the distance, he could see Quinn fighting…was it Jay? And he recognised the other boy but couldn’t quite remember his name. Either way, if Quinn lost to Jay, he and Maltor would have to have quite an awkward conversation.
Maltor glowered down at Albert, who did the same up at him.
I’m gonna kill him, Maltor said to himself. I’m gonna slice him to shreds.
***
‘Don’t give me this bullshit!’ Maltor roared before diving down towards me.
He swung his sword around and I did the same with mine. A fiery explosion sprouted from the place where our blades collided, shaking the ground and making my bones themselves feel pain.
The two of us flew across the landscape, vigorously swinging our swords at one another. I hacked and slashed towards him, and he blocked each and every hit. I was exhausted. I had to keep going.
Grunting, I cocked my head this way and that to avoid a barrage of jabs that he sent flying towards me.
The two of us caught every single attack that the other made. Each time our blades collided, such a disturbing noise was made that it was a miracle I didn’t physically recoil.
‘You have until my eye recovers, Maltor!’ I roared, slicing across his left cheek. ‘Then I’ll really let you have it!’
Maltor roared angrily and swung a kick into my chest. The kick was so powerful and unexpected that it sent me flying through the air. As I spun, I could vaguely see more blades of dark energy flying towards me.
I skidded to a halt, planting my feet firmly on the ground.
I slashed downward through the first blade that reached me with The Santrrer Sword. The second one that reached me had the same experience with the sword in my left hand.
I hacked through every blade that reached me rapidly. There were more than I expected, but I was keeping up. Grunting, spluttering, and trying not to pant, I sliced through the final blade with more power than I had used for the others and charged forward toward my number one enemy.
As I charged, I opened my left eye.
The two of us collided, our swords scraping against one another with another disturbing noise.
I won the push. The two of us flew through the air uncontrollably. As I shot across the battlefield, he swung three weak shots my way. Every time I blocked one, I created a large explosion on either side of him for extra damage.
We levelled out, finally upright, and kept swinging and parrying each other’s attacks as we zoomed sideways.
I stuck my feet down, hard, and planted them firmly on the ground. He did the same.
I swung at him twice, and he parried both shots.
The two of us let out screams filled with nothing but unfiltered rage. We swung violently and sped up. Numerous explosions and blades of dark energy levelled the already destroyed field as both of us set our minds on one thing: killing the other.
Our attacks got faster as both of us desperately swung at each other, hoping that an attack would eventually get through. The sky was red with the rising flames from our duel.
I screamed louder. So did he.
I bent to the right to avoid a swing before jumping in that same direction and continuing the standstill showdown.
I wasn’t leaving this field with another loss. I was ending this here. I was ending it now.
My throat burned from the scream, but I kept pushing. I kept swinging my blades and blocking his hits with ever-increasing speed. There seemed to be no limit to how fast the two of us could go.
Roaring, I sliced downward with a fiery blade, creating a final huge explosion that sent the two of us flying across the battlefield once more.
As we soared across the levelled field, we continued to parry each other’s attacks. We jumped, dived, weaved, and contorted our bodies to keep ourselves alive.
Maltor screamed and threw a kick towards me, but I caught his foot with the flat of my blade and threw it to the ground.
I swung violently at his head three times, but he blocked and avoided each hit. My anger was still rising. How?
***
‘This is insane…’ Harvey breathed to himself as he chased Albert and Maltor across the battlefield.
His sword was still being gripped firmly by both of his hands. He had to use it.
‘How is he holding his own?’ Harvey continued, watching the fight closely.
The two of them had been intensely swinging at each other in the most intense duel Harvey had ever seen in his life. It was a miracle that Albert was still standing. He did not know where Albert had been before saving him, but he wouldn’t exactly have been relaxing.
The Eiffel Tower had collapsed. He had protected Ali and Isaac. Then he must have gotten into a fight, Harvey knew that much. Albert had been missing an eye when he started his fight with Maltor. He was doing all of this with one eye.
Albert was going to reach his limit first. He couldn’t go as long as Maltor could. Harvey had to do it before that happened. He had to kill Maltor.
He skidded to a halt before changing his direction. He began to run straight towards the battling pair.
They were still parrying each other’s hits. Grunting and scoffing at one another, they were both still somehow fit enough to block and attack.
It became clear to Harvey why he was no match for Maltor. This was simply insane. And Albert…he was a different beast. Nobody should have been able to do what he was doing.
Maltor grunted and stabbed deep into Albert’s stomach with his right blade. Not half a second later, Albert swung his sword up and cleanly took off Maltor’s right arm. In retaliation, Maltor swung his remaining sword down and sliced through Albert’s right eye.
‘Albert!’ Harvey cried fearfully.
‘Harvey! No!’ Albert yelled back. ‘Don’t!’
Albert shoved his sword deep into Maltor’s stomach and charged forward, pushing him back across the battlefield.
Harvey ran a few metres behind. Again, he had another chance. And he wasn’t going to wait to take it.
He leapt high into the air and pulled his arms back, pouring all of his strength into them.
A singular blade of dark energy shot through the air and made a deep gash on his left shoulder. He ignored the pain. This was his chance.
Using every last bit of strength he had, Harvey swung his sword around at Maltor’s neck. He was predictably stopped a few inches away by a wall of black energy. But that didn’t matter. He could push through.
‘You idiot!’ Maltor gargled. ‘You couldn’t kill me before, what makes you think you can now?’
An idea crossed Harvey’s mind. Albert could do it, so why couldn’t he? Concentrating fiercely, he tightened his gut.
Flames appeared along the body of his blade.
He could do it. But not with this strength. Harvey would need to use more strength than he ever had in his life. He had to use strength he didn’t even know he had. That was the only way.
Harvey roared, feeling his rage completely take over his body.
***
Time seemed to slow down. I raced across the battlefield with my sword embedded deep in Maltor’s midsection and Harvey was mere inches away from finishing it all. But something changed in Harvey as he let out a scream that shook even me to my core.
It was hard to glance at him as he was on the side that I was missing an eye, but I managed it.
As he screamed, it looked as though some of his veins were set on fire. Bright orange lines appeared on his wrists, temples, neck, and around his elbows. It really looked as though there was fire in his veins.
His pupils seemed to shrink to smaller than the size of a pinpoint. Those same bright orange lines appeared in his dark brown irises.
Maltor was staring at him with nothing but fear in his eyes. Whatever it was, this new power of Harvey’s allowed him to completely push through the wall of dark energy. His flaming sword made contact with the side of Maltor’s neck.
We were going to do it.
***
Shit! Maltor hissed mentally to himself. I’m about to be beheaded!
What was happening to that boy? It looked as though his blood had been replaced by fire. He was screaming at the top of his lungs, so loudly and terrifyingly that even Maltor almost felt a bit nervous.
Where was this power when the pair had been fighting? Maltor almost wanted to see more of it. If that boy had been able to show this power when he had fought Maltor, the fight may have been a bit more exciting.
But, no. Now that power looked as though it was going to spell the end for Maltor. The boy’s sword was right at his neck. He could feel the metal pressing into his skin.
How could he get out of this? He had to release some ultimate attack or something. He had to give them something huge that they couldn’t stop.
No. He was fine. He had to stop panicking. Quinn was nearby. So long as Quinn was alive and fine, so was Maltor. Quinn would save him.
***
Jay watched, absolutely speechless, as Stephen kept up with Quinn. Quinn wasn’t exactly as feared or as powerful as Albert, Maltor, or Righello, but Jay still hadn’t expected Stephen to be able to keep up with him. Quinn wasn’t what everyone expected. His aura was the most powerful thing he had.
Stephen swung his trident wildly, his eyes alight with anger. His teeth were gritted and his face was contorting with rage.
Quinn swung his sword around towards the side of Stephen’s head. He smashed the flat of his blade into Stephen’s temple.
Struggling to keep running alongside the pair, Jay roared, ‘Stephen!’
‘Don’t stop!’ Stephen yelled in return. He jabbed his trident forward in an attempt to stab Quinn’s stomach. Even though Quinn blocked, Stephen kept pushing him back. ‘Jump!’
Pouring every last bit of strength he had into his legs, Jay leapt into the air and gripped his axe tighter with both hands. Then, he swung at Quinn’s neck, hard.
A tendril of shadow seemed to form around Quinn’s neck, similar to how it did with Maltor, but Jay didn’t care. He pushed against it.
He was a single millimetre away.
Quinn’s lips curled into a snarl.
‘You won’t win!’ he roared. ‘You-’
‘Shut your fat gob, you greasy bastard!’ Jay screamed angrily, still pushing his axe against the shadow.
Quinn’s eyes and nostrils flared.
Something hit the side of Jay’s head, sending him flying to the left.
‘No!’ he yelled, realising what was about to happen. ‘Stephen! Don’t lose h-’
Stephen let out a scream that made Jay’s bones rattle. He pulled his arm back and shoved his trident deep into Quinn’s already-bleeding left shoulder.
‘You’re not getting away!’ he roared. ‘No chance am I letting you outta here!’
Quinn kicked Stephen in the stomach, sending him crashing to the ground.
‘Watch me, you lanky cunt,’ he spat.
And, with that, he faded into the shadow of a pile of rubble that Jay hadn’t even noticed was there.
‘He- How did he-’ Jay began angrily, but Stephen raised his hand to shush him.
‘That idiot,’ he said quietly, grinning hysterically. ‘He’s still got my trident in his arm.’
***
Harvey’s sword pushed through Maltor’s skin. He was going to decapitate him.
Maltor let out a strangled holler of pain and anger, but he was powerless. We were going to win.
Well, we would’ve won. If it weren’t for Quinn O’Neill.
He appeared on my left out of nowhere, causing me to splutter with confusion and anger. I wasn’t about to let him ruin another perfect chance to kill Maltor.
I swung my left foot out, catching Quinn in the side. He stumbled back a few steps, causing me to notice something.
A trident was sticking out of his left shoulder. Stephen was alive. And he had fought Quinn.
Roaring with newfound motivation, I spun in the air, using my sword embedded in Maltor’s stomach to fling him into Quinn.
Harvey’s sword slid out from Maltor’s neck, but his veins still looked fiery.
Quinn staggered back a few feet, but he composed himself quickly and threw Maltor to his feet. But then the trident began to shake.
I smirked.
It flew out of Quinn’s shoulder, causing him to scream in agony. The force of it dragged Quinn to the ground. Then, as though it had done nothing, the trident zoomed away into the distance. Straight into the hand of Stephen, who was bounding towards the scene only a few steps ahead of Jay.
‘You lose,’ I said calmly, staring down at the pair of them.
Harvey stood next to me. His pupils were still unnaturally small and some of his veins were still orange. Then, without warning, he lunged toward Maltor and Quinn. Clearly, he wasn’t giving them any chances.
Right as he reached them, however, he just…collapsed. He swung his sword down towards Maltor’s neck, and nearly got there, too, before his body just seemed to shut down. He fell lifeless next to the two of them.
Maltor glowered up at me, steam pouring from his neck.
‘You…’ he snarled. ‘How did…Righello…What did you do to Righello?’
‘I can’t even remember,’ I growled. ‘I don’t even know where he is.’
It was a miracle I could still stand. I had fought Righello and won purely because I used my Instinct Point. I had been tired before I had used it. I had been on the verge of collapsing when I began my fight with Maltor.
‘You fucking idiot,’ Stephen announced cockily as he reached us. ‘Why would you shadow-travel with my returning trident in your shoulder? You deserve this loss.’
‘‘Loss’?’ Maltor repeated, and I could hear the smirk on his face despite the fact he was looking down. I readied myself in a fighting stance. ‘Albert’s about to collapse. If he goes out, you’re all finished. Don’t pretend you don’t know that he’s the backbone of your forces.’
‘I wouldn’t talk so cockily,’ I snarled. ‘I just kicked your ass without using a single Breathing Technique. I’m leagues above you, Maltor.’
‘It’s a shame for you all that your cousin’s passed out,’ Maltor grunted, evidently trying to get to his feet. ‘I’d be dead by now if he hadn’t collapsed.’
‘His name’s ‘Harvey’, you shitstain,’ I spat. ‘And stay on the ground.’
‘Why? So you can kill me like a coward?’ Maltor growled. ‘Let me stand so you can kill me and at least be a little bit proud of yourself.’
‘You’re not in any place to be making orders,’ Jay said angrily as he stepped up beside Stephen.
‘And you, Jay Stewart, are not in any place to be telling me what to do,’ Maltor snapped in response. ‘In case you didn’t hear me the first time, I’ll repeat myself. Albert is mere seconds away from going unconscious. Once that happens, I’ll have you all begging for my mercy.’
‘What makes you think I’m about to go out?’ I snarled.
But I knew what he meant. I was exhausted. Every muscle and bone in my body was begging me to just sit down and relax.
‘Don’t act dumb,’ Maltor began cockily, rising to his feet. Nobody stopped him. ‘You know you’re tired. You fought Righello and then immediately challenged me.’
I glared at him. I hated the fact that he was right. It made me seethe.
‘And I thought you were never gonna use your Instinct Point again?’
My mind went blank. How did he know? Surely, it was a wild guess. He knew that that was the only way I could’ve defeated Righello. It had to be an estimate. He didn’t know for certain. There was simply no way.
Maltor raised an eyebrow. ‘Oh? No words for that one, huh? No pleading your case? No denial?’
Stephen gripped his trident tighter. He was growing impatient. If Maltor kept talking, Stephen would kill him.
My vision blurred.
‘There we are. Thirty seconds now. At most.’
What was this? Why was he predicting the things that were happening to me?
That prompted another question in my head. How had Maltor known to come to Paris? There was no way this was where he spent his free time. He had come here deliberately to try and stop me.
‘The only one that can control your silly little friends other than you is Ethan,’ Maltor taunted. ‘And only the Gods know where he is.’
Again, he was right. I had no idea where some of my friends still were. Ethan, Peter, and Asbel…what if…? No. They weren’t.
‘Now…’ Maltor breathed, a sickening smirk coming across his face. ‘If you’ll excuse-’
I saw it coming from a mile away. I can’t explain it. I just knew it was coming.
‘Stephen! Jay!’ I roared, diving towards them and kicking Harvey’s body to my left as I did so.
A loud bang rocked my ears and made my bones vibrate. Dust washed all over my body, causing me to gag and splutter. It flew into my eyes, and it took everything I had to not close them.
My body grew hot as a large fire expanded on my right and disappeared not half a second later.
‘You two okay?’ I roared at Stephen and Jay once the dust had cleared. I hadn’t jumped fast enough to protect them. I nearly killed two more of my friends.
‘More than fine,’ Stephen snarled, glaring at the spot that Maltor had been stood in a second before. ‘But-’
‘Was that a fucking grenade?’ Jay spat angrily, digging one of his axes into the dirt and cutting Stephen off. ‘That slimy bastard. Slipped away again.’
‘Whoa, Albert, are you-’ Stephen began, but he was cut off again.
Ethan, Peter, Asbel, and Charlotte all came bounding towards us from across the destroyed battlefield.
‘Thank the Gods you’re all alive!’ Ethan roared with delight, slamming into me with a manly bear hug. Once he pulled away from me, he stared at Harvey on the ground and then at the steam pouring from my body. ‘What in Titan’s name happened here?’
In the background, I could see Charlotte counting heads. She would find out first.
My vision blurred once more. I could barely process how happy I was that everybody else was alive. Ali had been the only one to die.
Maltor was right. I had mere seconds before I fell to the ground just like Harvey.
Cecilia put her hand on my shoulder. ‘Albert? You okay?’
I slowly turned my head to the left to look at her. Even she seemed fuzzy. Oh, Gods, I was going to faint in front of her.
‘Where’s Ali?’ Charlotte said, and everything else went quiet.
‘He was with Albert,’ Ethan replied quickly, looking around frantically. ‘Albert was protect-’
The last thing I saw before the entire world went black was Isaac slowly pulling out a bloody spearhead from his pocket.