Her face was hidden behind a mask. A blood-red and three-eyed fox with snarling and aggressive features bore right into Kiur’s core. She was a Reiszer.
Her red undershirt, a hadagi, peeked out from the sides of her hakama pants and black gi. The short-cropped and messy black hair danced against the hot winds as she silently drew her one-edged sword of cardinal red out of its sheath.
The wind picked up again, revealing her long hanafuda earring on the left side, depicting a blood-red moon with a snarling fox, much like the Kamon insignias on both sides of her gi.
She almost looked too overdressed for the desert or compared to everyone else. Her layers of clothes, how she desperately hid every centimetre of her skin, red gloves or even her heeled boots.
Her foreign appearance was unlike anything Kiur or anyone else had ever seen in their lives. She didn’t even look like most of the Reiszer. It’s as if she wasn’t even from this world or from the Reiszer—though she exuded the same cold pressure as them.
“Reiszer,” Yet she was undeniably their leader. The scouts instinctively had their hands on their weapons and syphoned mana out of their cores—though they were utterly unprepared for what was coming. “Rise, emerge from the sands of our enemies and create a fracas.” Her dim-green eyes behind the slits gleamed. “Return the Escapees into our clutches.”
The way her voice travelled through the desert sent cold shivers down everyone’s spine. Even Archil had to admit that he felt his instincts telling him to make a run for it or be prepared to fight like a cornered beast. In their confusion, the disarray only worsened.
Underneath the sand, hands and heads surged out, taking the startled foes by surprise. Kiur recognised one of them.
“Pah, I hate sand,” they complained in unison and spat out wats of sand. Hessian was the first to recover and brandished his sword. “Look at what the hunt brought in. Didn’t think to see me again, did you?.”
“Hessian,” muttered Kiur, anger seeped out from his lips. He took a step towards Hessian and spat, “Give me back my mother’s brooch.”
“Hm, you want this?” Hessian tapped against the lion brooch clipped to his shoulder and taunted Kiur with a smirk. “Come and get it. Everyone, stay back; this one is mine. Attack the rest!”
“Kiur, get away from him! I will-” Archil swallowed his words as he felt the intensity of magic spiking from Kiur.
Everyone stepped back from the sheer uncontrolled force that slammed against them. Flames in the colours of roses, raspberry and maroon bloomed from his body like a gale into the sky.
“Fire!?” Like last time, it took Hessian off guard. He avoided the first brand of attack and quickly pounced towards Kiur with his sword.
“Give it back to me. Now!” Ordered Kiur, unleashing a torrent of rocks and spikes shrouded in flames at Hessian. He forced back the Reiszer forces in their midst.
“A dual affinity!?” Xander gaped in shock. “How? Especially with two magic elements of a different elemental spectrum. I thought he was an Earth user?”
“He is.” Archil held his wounded shoulder and rallied the scouts. He had his eyes on the Reiszer woman commanding the contingent of Reiszer. It momentarily engrossed her in observing the unanticipated development. “Xander, you can use ice attribute magic, right? Keep his fire under control.”
“Why? He’s pushing back the enemy, isn’t he? Why would I disrupt-”
“He can’t control it!” shouted Archil. He worriedly glanced over at Kiur. His skin blistered and scarred the more flames his body produced. “Watch out for his flames. He was not born with this element. One misstep by him will scorch everything,” Archil grimaced and held his arm—right next to the fresh wound. “Including himself…”
Kiur’s breathing was strained. His skin stung from the burns, and his core throbbed. He could finally guide the direction of his magic, but not all of it. He knew what Archil said was right. His body wouldn’t withstand the frenzy.
It was a miracle that Kiur could even cast magic at all and maintain it.
Previous attempts had failed miserably, forcing him to stop casting magic for good. He couldn’t tell what the reason was for the sudden control, but he welcomed it with open arms. He was finally in control and could fight back. Even if it might cost his long-term health—he was in control.
“You are full of surprises, aren’t you?” Hessian boosted himself forward like a fencer to thrust forward with his short sword, stepping through the flames.
“Just watch me.” Moving his fingers index and middle finger like a pen, Kiur drew a line downwards and then curved it to the right. In the same flow, an earth pillar rose from the ground to protect him. The blade sliced halfway through. “You’re getting on my nerves,” Kiur spitfire. He thrust his hand forward. The pillar burst at Hessian’s face and the fire engulfed him.
“Argh, stupid flames,” Hessian rolled on the ground to extinguish himself. He kept on rolling to avoid the stones jutting out of the ground formed by Kiur’s continuous stomping until one of them hit him against his jaw. “Thaht hhurt, you bhastarhd.” Slurred Hessian, holding his probably cracked jaw.
“Good, it should- ngh-” Kiur buckled and held his left arm. The burns were getting worse, but he couldn’t deactivate the flames. Yet he couldn’t stop. Not yet. The flames erupting from his heart consumed his thought. He forced himself to continue.
“Charge!” shouted a Reiszer and sent the horseback riders. Only Archil could stop their numbers, but he was too occupied protecting everyone from the long-range attacks of the mysterious Reiszer leader, so the scouts could escort the wagons away safely.
The fights with the slave warriors were still contained, thanks to Kiur keeping the field too hazardous to traverse. He had to keep going, even if his arms burnt away. He wouldn’t be useless anymore.
“W-what are you doing?” asked Hessian as he saw the magic channels on Kiur’s arms glowing brighter, and his core fizzled with red lightning. Kiur syphoned so much magic through his channels and veins that his body couldn’t take it.
Unleashing the excess energy, Kiur flung his arms left and right, conjuring burning stakes as barricades in a semi-circle—which now stood right in front of the charging cavalry.
Unable to stop, they ran right into the formations and pierced right through the chitin armour of the horses. The soldiers were stuck in place, unable to leave and occupied fending off the flames.
One of them, though, didn’t care. She leapt off her horse and was right above Kiur’s head, drawing her red-bladed sword.
“Don’t you dare attack my brother!” yelled Archil, covering the distance in a single step to block her sword with his. Cold steel sparked against one another and sent out waves of cold pressure that put out the flames instantly.
Her green eyes regarded their locked weapons. She chuckled, “You’re strong, perhaps the strongest among them,” the woman complimented Archil and jumped back. Her eyes lit up behind the slits of her mask. She pointed her single-edged sword at him. “What do you say? One-on-one?”
Archil snarled and pounced at her.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Hey, are you alright?” Xander made his way to Kiur, whose flames tried to reignite themselves. “Let me look. Try to remain calm.”
“I can control it, I can-” Kiur groaned and hugged blazing arms. The pain was excruciating; his heart couldn’t take it. “Please help me. I can’t do that anymore,” begged Kiur.
“I-I’ll try…“ Xander drew out as much water from the arid air as he could. It hissed when he put it on Kiur’s arms. “I’ll help you.”
—✹—
Archil fell back to Xander and Kiur and whipped away the blood from a new gash on his face. “What’s taking you so long? I told you to get to him,” growled Archil, flexing the muscles in his clawed hands—he was getting tired. His nerves fried.
“Easier said than done in this chaos! Frost Wing!” With a twirl of his finger, Xander created a gust of ice to slap away an attacking Reiszer that crept up on them. How Archil didn’t notice them spoke of his exhaustion.
Xander wasn’t faring any better. He held his breath and finally extinguished the kindling flames with a sheet of ice.
“Cover your arms in earth or stone. It seems like your magic is still fuelling those flames. In theory,” Xander whipped his slick hair back, “your earth magic should keep it at bay. I have never seen something like this. Don’t use it again. I’m not confident about stopping it next time before your arms burn away entirely.”
Kiur did as he was told. It was unfamiliar to get control back a semblance of his magic. He covered his arms in a layer of stone and earth, making them look like crude casts.
“Don’t leave me hanging,” drawled the Reiszer woman, putting a hand on her hip, “or I will cut your little brother to–” Without another word Archil threw his second, already snapped, sword at her and drew his Akinakai. It was a decorated short sword, which he planned to leave at home were it not for Kiur insisting he should take it with him.
It was a fine blade, too good for him and not meant for battle. A gift from their mother when he became a scout captain. He loved her as if she were his birth mother. No, she was like the mother he once had lost, and with this sword, he would protect his little brother. “Don’t you dare touch my family!”
Pleased by Archil’s response, the Reiszer woman took her sword in her two hands and aimed it at Archil’s throat—waiting for the next blow, which never came. Instead, Archil infused his sword with wind magic. He swung it in a wild arc to blast and bury the Reiszer in the sand.
“Now! Pull the wagons!” yelled Archil as he engaged the surprised Reiszer leader into locked combat. He created another heavy sandstorm to cover the enemy and form a tailwind for the escape route. “Get out! I’ll hold them off!”
“Wait, what are you doing-” Kiur tried to reach out to his brother, but the strong gale of winds whipped against him.
“I will be right behind you. Leave!” commanded Archil, motioning for Gallina and Jeorg to take the lead.
“Take my hand!” Cylia pulled Xander and Kiur into the cart. Noticing Hessian tailing after them, she fired her borrowed crossbow at him. She didn’t aim to kill—maiming was enough. However, Hessian didn’t expect her aim to be so terrible. The recoil sent both of them backwards. Kiur and Xander caught Cylia, but Hessian rolled on the ground.
“You are a savage woman, you know?” commented Xander. Cylia contemplated whether to kick him out of the moving wagon or not—for now, she decided against it.
“Argh, stupid, can’t believe she got me,” complained Hessian as Bjorn put him on his feet again and deflected a stray bolt. “I didn’t notice her crossbow, ergh,” Hessian growled and got shoved from behind.
The Reiszer soldiers pushed the slaves to the front to protect themselves from incoming spells or crossbow fire.
“So that’s what they use slaves for, huh?” muttered Archil, observing the scene. He couldn’t help but feel respect for the thralls' determination to put up with it. Noticing a small Reiszer creeping up on him, Archil deflected the dual axe wielder Lovis, who quickly retreated to where Nertha was.
“Don’t you have slaves in your country? I heard Navarre was a slave-owning country,” asked the Reiszer woman, doing mock swings and steps with her sword so Archil didn’t ignore her.
“Correction, it was!” Archil retorted loudly, flexing his sword at her, and warning the others not to take a step at him. “Slavery was abolished when Navarre drove away Hellas, but it never resorted to something as disgusting as this! Keeping slaves as human meat shields, starving them and equipping them to fight under horrible conditions. You Reiszer are as despicable as you always were.”
“Shut up, you beast!” One Reiszer snapped, then another, until all soldiers were yelling. “You people drove us to this point!”
“We will treat you like the livestock you are!”
“You spread equality but embrace racism for something that’s in our nature!”
“Nature?” Archil growled a guttural and purely animalistic sound. He couldn’t control it, and part of his face morphed, startling the Reiszer. His hair stood up on all ends. Wind gathered around him, whipping those too close to him with sharp gales. “We therianthropes are hunters and soldiers. Humans, like my brother, codify laws and rules and develop means to communicate. Dwarves, like my mother, are good at creating and constructing something for eternity.
“However,” Archil’s transformation was close to complete. Standing on his fox-like feet, he was almost two metres in height with broad shoulders appearing like a monster from the old Reiszer tales about the wild hunt. His sharp fingers and nails cracked with tension. Archil licked his jagged canines to hold back the instinct to kill everyone. “You Reiszer, regardless of race, are murderers and killers who take away lives without respect. I will protect my brother and everyone else from you people before you ruin more lives.”
“You call us murderers and killers?” the Reiszer woman put her gloved hand on her neck, cracking it to release tension as well. All the soldiers and slaves were shaking from the pressure she and Archil were giving off. It was the calm before an actual storm. “Sure, let’s paint us as the villains here. This is how history works, isn’t it? So, you wouldn’t mind if the villain tried to kill your brother, right?”
A derisive laugh escaped underneath her mask. Archil pounced on her with his sword, interlocking with hers into a stalemate. Yet she had enough gal to look backwards. “Hessian, wasn’t it?”
“Y-yes,” Hessian instinctively answered when hearing his name being called out. He didn’t want to admit it, but even he was afraid.
“You have permission to go after the Escapees. Take half the soldiers and slaves here. Catch our prey,” she audibly smacked her lips behind the mask, "the golden boy is yours.”
“C-Commander, you can’t put a slave in charge to-” Releasing sharp blades of wind and mana, she and Archil jumped back from their attacks to one other. She readied and swung her Katana at a wide angle. Archil deflected it, but the blade curved and the reach extended with mana.
Not to hit Archil, but to decapitate the soldier who had spoken out of line. She flicked her sword, dispersing the mana residue.
“Another objection?” she asked. The Reiszer silently watched how the cleanly severed head morbidly roll in the sands. Its dead eyes followed and looked at each of them. “Good,” she turned back to Archil and smiled with her eyes. “You Idariens hate killing, no? Can you defeat us and save your brother without killing any of us?”
“Why should would I?” growled Archil, tensing up his muscles further. He spluttered the severed head underneath his foot.
She laughed at the spectacle. “Oh, it’s simple. To determine whether you are a beast or a murderer. I imagine you would hate to be compared to us, wouldn’t you?” the Reiszer woman laughed, mocking Archil as she struck a nerve as she intended to. Their swords flashed at each other again.
—❂—
“I never thought I would see either of you again,” Xander emphasised the word when looking at Cylia. She gave him an indifferent grunt. Then he looked at Kiur. “Nor did I think you were a dual mage!”
Xander finished cleaning the wounds on Kiur’s arms. He gathered the remaining water into a solid sphere of ice the size of a small football. Holding it in his palm, he sat down next to him.
“Your arms suffered minor burns, which is surprising at how strong the flames were. They are recovering on their own, something I cannot explain either. Are you sure you aren’t a natural? I majored in magic theory, but this was-”
“It’s hard to explain,” interrupted Kiur, rubbing his irritated red arms. The burns were slowly closing themselves—as if a mage with recovering magic was currently treating Kiur. A bizarre sight for anyone unfamiliar with it. Everyone knew self-recovery magic, but nothing of that degree of regeneration, as Kiur displayed.
“I was born as an earth mage… and remained as one for the majority of my life.”
“What changed?” asked Cylia with a sudden curiosity. She regretted the question once she noticed Kiur’s hands shaking.
Sadly, Xander wasn’t as perceptive about it. “A sudden awakening, I presume? Highly unusual in later years. Unless it’s in the intra-elemental spectrum like with my water-ice magic.” Xander let his sphere float while explaining. “Awakening to a higher elemental form is rare, but not uncommon. Happens all the time with wind to sound, water to ice, earth to gravity or magma and so on.
“However, it’s unheard of that a second element was lying dormant for so long. It never happens, or it’s so rare that there aren’t many records about it.”
“Well, there you have it,” Kiur answered brusquely. “Guess I am one of these very rare cases to study, but I can tell you. It’s not worth hearing about.”
“Hey, you are upset about your brother being left behind. I get it, but he’ll manage. He’s stronger than most of the wizards I have known in my life.” Xander was chummy with Kiur and fist-bumped his shoulder. An annoying but welcome distraction from the situation that was approaching them.
“What the-” Xander peered out of the wagon. He put his hands to his head. “You got to be kidding me- Again!?” he yelled out at the sight of Reiszer pursuing them on horseback.
They knew this wouldn’t end pretty since Kiur saw Hessian leading the charge.