“What’re the chances I’ll even be targeted?” I retaliated, sitting comfortably with my feet kicked up in one of Steyza’s classes.
“I, don’t know, sir!” My guardian was in no way interested in answering me, but he sought whatever conversation path that got me on my feet the quickest.
Amira sat next to me, about a metre away. She was like a ward defending me from the interests of other students. “The Rizt family sent you, right? A member of that same family is in your presence,” I pointed out to my bodyguard.
“Sir, you’re the client I’ve been assigned. Can we please leave? I must get you to safety!” His volume went up a notch, clearly agitated from my time-wasting.
“This is the safest place in the entire school right now. Just sit back and relax, mate. Enjoy the class.”
“They did say you probably won’t listen…” he muttered, and surrendered himself to my stubbornness. He stood near the window to gain a good view of the courtyard and class simultaneously. The elf never told me what this ‘threat’ was, but I didn’t care much anyway. Well, I should’ve.
Near the end of Steyza’s lessons, a blaring alarm sullied my ears’ innocence. Magic seemed to ooze from the walls of the school and countless barriers of mana sprouted from the ground to act as gates. The school was on lockdown, and very soon the headmaster was advising everyone within the school’s premises to get to safety inside the buildings through some type of announcing magic.
My bodyguard gave me quite the I-told-you-so glare after the entire class rushed to see what was going on in the courtyard. As time went by, some screams could be heard from them and my curiosity got the better of me, as it always did.
No one could logically explain what they were seeing, but dozens of fur-engrained beasts ran rampant through the school. I focused in on what I was seeing, but couldn’t discern what they were properly. “Stay with Steyza,” I commanded one clone. “Protect the class,” I told another, then Voidwalked through the window and flew down into the carnage that was students being slaughtered even if they tried to defend themselves.
My mind couldn’t believe what it was seeing, nor could it make sense of any of this. The day after I find out about Steyza’s mom, this happens… Werewolves, a lot of them.
The elves’ already tall stature was increased as werewolves, towering maybe eight feet. Their bodies became sturdier and more hunched, but they weren’t on all fours like your common dog, despite being fully capable of sprinting to their max speed like one. Their noses were a bit more elongated, their eyes feral and their roar excreting a visceral image of the most primal instinct one can harbour. It was a frightening experience hearing the howls, seeing eight feet tall black beasts running faster than a galloping horse. And worst of all, seeing their claws and fangs decimate and tear the flesh off those as young as I.
My wits took a while to engage. It took one of the beasts to try sweeping me off my feet – not at all in the romantic way – with their incredible strength. I countered with a punch, breaking its forearm, but it didn’t even flinch. Divergence got it away from me and I summoned yet another clone solely for casting Eden. He’d have a hell of a job to do with so many students and staff running about.
I focused and was on the edge of beginning to channel Arcane Missiles, but Steyza’s disappointed face flashed before my mind and stopped me. Shit! What if her father’s here? Instead, I had to stop them without killing them. I had no plasma spells to paralyse them. Arc Lightning was pointless because it had to be constantly cast. Web of God would effectively make Arc Lightning an area of effect spell. But against those numbers? I passed.
Thinking along the lines of water, I remembered Dawn’s Hydrotendrils and activated Water God. A constant stream of water circled around me. I began binding the werewolves one by one, slamming those who would get too near with a dense spout of water to send them flying back.
Twenty or so minutes later, the threat was nullified with much fewer casualties than Arcane Missiles. If I wasn’t there, I didn’t know what they would’ve done. Once the majority were bound, even the inexperienced students could do bindings themselves with whatever spells they knew. After confirming the school was safe, I took all my clones with me except the one I put on Steyza and we spread out all over Tyrr, stopping the beasts in teams of two. One clone would heal, and the other would subdue.
That day ended with casualties. The Rizt institute alone had around forty people marked as deceased. As for the entirety of Tyrr, that number grew close to tenfold. I sat back on the ground in a destroyed city near one of the Tuvos’ ports. My breath was a bit erratic and my mind phased in and out of attentiveness to the words of a TEA. I wasn’t sure if the stern old woman was thanking me profusely or scolding me to the ends of Jynnak.
Afterwards, I went to the most damaged and populated areas with huge bags of green potions. I didn’t have enough time to make for every soul, but it would have to do if I was to get it to other places in Tyrr. Flying over the blood-soaked streets gave me an upset feeling. It felt like Ulanos all over again. The disheartened screams of loved ones as they held their friends or family’s limp bodies never did get easier to hear.
I went back to Steyza in a glum state. The entire class was still there. It seemed the protective mana walls stopped them from leaving as much as it stopped enemies from entering. Eventually, the smoke cleared enough for the school to decide safety was no longer an immediate issue. The teleporters went into overdrive.
I looked out into the streets from Steyza’s slightly perched porch. Light from inside her house swathed me from behind. She didn’t say anything; instead, all that I heard were her footsteps and an occasional shallow breath. She tapped me on the shoulder after an awkwardly prolonged time standing behind me and offered a glass to me. She poured a clear liquor.
“That’s what messed you up the last time you drank with Sid,” Donna warned.
It’s okay. The similarities to how brazen this attack was reminded me of Ulanos, and each time I thought of that country, Dawn would come to mind. I frowned.
“Don’t like the taste?” Steyza questioned, sitting beside me on the swinging bench.
I inspected her from my side, my black orbs muttering a language of mystification through insouciance. “I’m just, thinking.”
She coddled me, my hand tightening its grip in fear that the glass may come loose and fall. Her faced snaked into my personal space and her lips committed themselves to suffocating mine. My body shuddered. That was not like her. A few minutes after, she’d finally had enough of me. Enough to at least give my mouth a rest.
“My place is here.” Her words stabbed me, staggering the balance my mind was so used to. “I can’t go with you, Eric.” The wound only grew bigger and the cerise lifeline flowed, its viscosity reaching an all-time low. How much did I really like Steyza for her decision hurt this much? Had Donna foreseen I would develop so much of a fondness for her?
“Why…” The only thing I could think about was the reason behind her decision. Your place is here?
“There are,” her fingers intertwined with mine, “still things I must do.”
“Things you can’t tell me about?”
“I’m, afraid so…”
“That’s,” I pushed against her gently to let her know my wish to stand up, “unfortunate.” I couldn’t bear to look her in the eyes so I simply replaced her with the lunar dominion. “I’m glad to have met you Steyza. It’s, about time I left here.”
I didn’t need to sabotage the Mirage Festival anymore because of the werewolf attack; my deal with her was done.
As I ended, Phoenix appeared behind. Looking around at him, I couldn’t quite distinguish what his expression was. He thanked me profusely, and mentioned something about the fire of his life. Had he not entreated us to his full form, I would’ve imagined that expression to be descriptive of a lover.
But, once he took to the skies, it was as if the night had become day. Phoenix’s blazing bright body captivated us until, from his very body, a hellfire released onto the city. It was like nothing I’d ever seen, spreading forth in a circular shape. The fires began devouring everything in its sight.
After a werewolf attack that caused around four hundred deaths, Tyrr was now subject to an enraged Phoenix.
The shower of fire was indiscriminate. I summoned Hydra, used the Urn of Life to return both Steyza and I to my world, then went back to Jynnak. Avatar of Fire saved me from the inescapable heat that Phoenix’s mere presence spelled. “Phoenix! Stop!”
He looked right at me, his eyes nothing more than radiant amber. Without answering, a dousing of fire soaked my entire body. When it cleared, I removed Magnet. Has he lost his mind? I asked myself. Suddenly, I felt our contract break. My eyes couldn’t truly believe what was going on. Only when Hydra took to the skies in her mass of water and a cataclysmic battle of water and fire exploded, did I move out of the way. My mind was derailing with every gush of water, with every breath of fire.
A ginormous wave of sand that put tsunamis to shame built itself through the skies and atop it, Kor’zha’s double-tailed arachnid body surfed. A vortex of fire enshrouded Phoenix, evaporating Hydra’s attacks and blasting away Kor’zha dense sand wave like it was nothing more than paper. Storm clouds formed in a mere minute whilst Kor’zha and Hydra tried their best against the enraged Phoenix. Tarit let loose a concentrated hail of consecutive lightning bolts, some of the strongest I’d ever seen. His title of strongest spirit lord was no joke. The first few stunned Phoenix and had him freefalling, and the rest grounded the legendary bird, but I knew he wasn’t hurt.
Stolen novel; please report.
None of this made any sense. How was Phoenix so strong? Why did he cut his contract with me all of a sudden? What the hell were those feathers? Those were the questions I internalised.
“Will you help them and stop his rampage or do you just intend to sit back like a mesmerised fool and watch your friend massacre an entire continent?”
Of course, I didn’t want him doing what he did, but for some reason, I was so stricken with awe that I found it hard to move properly. “Gimme a little kick in a butt, will you?”
Donna flew out of me and lent me the warmth and reassurance of her arms, along with the sudden jolt from Discharge. My body froze up and I fell over, regaining my normal self after a few seconds.
Tarit wore himself out raining down strike upon strike on Phoenix, and once he did, Phoenix exploded into a mass of fire and swirled up into the skies like fireworks. The mother of all Incinerates encompassed the entire city we were in and even a bit wider. Without even needing to channel the spell, Phoenix zoomed away and began yet another Incinerate.
His speed was unreal. Even me at quadruple mana power could barely keep up with him, especially his sudden twists and turns; Avatar of Wind on a human was no match for a being that graced the sky its entire life. His fire left a trail of neon-like lights in his wake, the embers disintegrating into nothingness after a few seconds. Once he got to another populated location, he began starting up another independent Incinerate.
I was baffled as to how he became so astonishingly powerful.
Donna lost her bearings with me eventually. “Every death here tonight could’ve been avoided. Get yourself together! Take, him, down!” A piece of my mind still hesitated. He was my friend after all. He was someone who appreciated my dry and horrible sense of humour. He was always so short-tempered and impetuous, but undisputedly wise. If I killed him, I could never see him again. That harsh reality spat in my face, but so did my conscience for letting him get this far.
I cancelled the Incinerate he was about to string up with Divergence, then activated two stacks of Timedial. Sorry, buddy. I hope to meet you again when my life comes to an end.
I skated along a building’s smooth walls and used Convergence to keep me in place and somewhat parallel to the ground. My hands raised, and once they got over my head, Purist was stacked five times. Thunder God and Water God warped around me like wyrms. Water God acted as the resting place, the chopping block. Thunder God would be brandished by a grieving friend, acting as the executioner’s axe.
And just as one would see the lights at the end of the tunnel, or life and memories past flashing before one’s very eyes, so did Phoenix see the ending light of the Wrath of God. I hoped his last visions were filled with the cosiest and warmest of memories.
Kor’zha and Hydra would’ve had a far different perspective on the scene. Dozens of Wrath of Gods sank the enflamed bird into a massive body of water and continued striking at him until the life from his eyes lifted and the embers of his heart died out.
The soaked bird fell, his feathers drenched in a mixture of beet red and charred black. I cancelled all my spells and landed next to him, eventually slumping to my knees. It felt like twine was tied around my heart and yanked endlessly. I picked up a small feather of his; it rested peacefully in my palm.
Gale stooped next to me and placed a comforting hand on my back when I curled over as if prostrating myself before my friend so that he might not hate me. My palm suddenly began burning and the feather was imprinted on it. A burn? Thought I was immune. I chuckled, eventually looking up at Phoenix’s corpse. It began disintegrating into the air.
“Fret not, Eric,” Gale continued rubbing my back. “Phoenix has been granted something that he wished for a millennia ago.” Her eyes were full of water, perhaps water even denser than Hydra’s oceans. “You gave that to him. Something I never could. Something more precious than his very life.” She sighed and her hand paused, “I suppose I should try for the same,” she muttered and smiled, then stood up. Gale warped back to the spirit world, as did Kor’zha. Tarit advised that I go to the fire faction when I can, then went back to the spirit world.
From hence on, I rued the decision to come to Jynnak. Seeing the skies’ fading orange made it feel like I invited turmoil and death onto this world. Why did he go crazy like that? What’s the deal with those feathers? I asked myself.
“Never mind that. Just get Phoenix’s body out of here for now.” I could almost feel her trying to steer me away from becoming too introspective and dwelling on the matter. Sometimes I felt I didn’t deserve her.
Before the TEA arrived, I figured I’d skitter on out of there. I had a clone use the Urn of Life to bring Steyza back home. The fire faction of the spirit world was my primary objective at the moment. Becoming one with the hearth of the volcano was the most fitting resting place I could think of for my friend.
We stood at the edge of the lava, on some cool stone that Kor’zha laid out for us. A thin layer of ice protected the spirit lords from the heat. Thousands of fire spirits, even some types I’d never seen ventured out their hiding places to see their leader for the last time. Convergence orbs kept the bird still, floating in the air above the liquid fire. As I began lowering him, the fire spirits would burn bright orange. Their lamentation through their hearts of fire ran a spear of guilt through me yet again.
Eventually, Phoenix was totally submerged. My friend was gone, and I could never see him again. I closed my eyes, but a burning sensation afflicted my hand. Looking at it, the same burn from Phoenix’s feather was still very much present.
It didn’t make sense. Avatar of Fire made me immune to such things. Why was it then, that this feather was branded onto my palm? It got hotter, searing my palm. That’s when I felt it. A very faint final call from my buddy. I could hardly believe it. Without much thinking, I flew above the lava and nosedived into it. Before I thought of moving the lava, something wrapped around my fingers. I panicked and flew right back out he lava.
Attached to my hand was the puny talons of a bird, clinging on and trying to balance. Phoenix himself wasn’t reborn like I’d first thought, no. It was his offspring; I could feel it. The contract he forced me to make proved it was from the feathers he was so concerned about. So those feathers, were his child’s?
I landed back on the platform of rock and questioned the other spirit lords. Gale was the only one who knew about the feathers, and even she didn’t know much.
The bird, featherless and trembling, trying its very best to stay attached to my hand, eventually turned into a little flame and engulfed my hand. It was attracted to the feather that got burnt into my palm. You knew this would happen, huh? I questioned my now deceased buddy. What a day this was…
From the attack on Tyrr by the werewolves to Phoenix scorching cities. It felt like a trail of destruction followed me. None of this would’ve happened if I’d just kept my ass home. But, to regret that would be to regret the new life warped around my hand. “So, does this mean I have a permanent fire hand? That’s pretty cool!”
“Let’s head back to Tyrr. You got a lot of helping to do.”
Okie. And that’s what I did for the next month. I singlehandedly – maybe with clones – repaired the cities. During that time, I avoided Steyza like the plague, even when she’d want to talk to me. And grieving Phoenix’s death at the same time put me in an unapproachable frame of mind.
After the two attacks on Tyrr, the SMC regulation bill was rejected totally. Synthetic mana crystals helped the regular citizen cast spells they didn’t have the mana capacity to pull off. Passing the bill basically meant taking away part of the average Joe’s capability to defend himself. And seeing that Tyrr was such a peaceful place with almost all crimes being extremely rare, it meant SMCs wouldn’t be used for anything malicious. Steyza got what she wanted.
I awoke in an inn on my last day in Tyrr. I had just about enough adventures in this place. “Let’s go see Steyza before we leave.”
Why do w–
“Eric!” Donna scolded me.
Ugh, fine! I had to admit, I was acting childishly. But what was I supposed to say to her anyway?
We paid a visit to the school. Steyza was in the middle of a class, her hair falling loose. I Voidwalked through the door and Donna came out of me. The class noticed us, and subsequently, Steyza as well. She began marching towards us and I took a tiny step backward only to feel Donna’s hand bracing my back, preventing me from running away.
Steyza grabbed me by the collar and lifted me up to her, boldly sealing a kiss. “Never run away from me again!” she commanded, then gently put me down with a contradictory smile.
Hydra’s ass, what’s going on?!
That was not like her at all. She was, by all means, a shy person. But not that day. She looked at Donna next, and the queen simply cast Levitate for them to kiss as comfortably as possible. “I’m going back with you!”
“Huh?” I asked, still perplexed.
She curled her fists upward, “I said, don’t leave without me!”
It’d be a monolithic lie to say I wasn’t jumping for joy inside. She did like me. Of course, she did. Why wouldn’t any sane girl? I thought in jest. It was truly a relieving thing. Now what would Dawn think, I wonder? I reminisced for a little while.
“Did you, do what you said you had to do?” Donna inquired. We knew nothing of what she had to do, but we didn’t have to. Steyza nodded at her.
Right there, Steyza announced her resignation to the class and said her goodbyes. Then she paid the headmaster of the Rizt family a visit to do the same.
Finally, we were back at her house where she retrieved a necklace. “Is that it?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she didn’t bother with anything without sentimental value, since I could just make it for her.
Finally, Methelian air swarmed around my nostrils. I inhaled deeply and gave a satisfied exhale, “Ahhh, can you smell the–”
I paused, my mouth going from a smile to a stupor. “Donna? Not funny…” I said, knowing damn well she wasn’t in my mind. Even Steyza disappeared. I was by myself in the foliage of some mountain. What really made my heart drop was that I couldn’t feel my link to Donna. I looked at the Urn of Life, inspecting it for damage or anything that would explain why Steyza and Donna didn’t make it through. “No. No, no, no! Fuck!”
Suddenly, my body began levitating and turning parallel to the ground. I floated against my will. Avatar of Wind could do nothing. Convergence wasn’t available. In fact, it felt like I was separated from my mana pool. Finally, my face touched something soft, and a calming wind blew onto me. Looking up, I could see the goddess once again, gently passing her hand over my head. It was so cosy. If you told me Methelia got blown up and fell off the edge of space and into a black hole, I wouldn’t even bat an eye at the statement whilst in this goddess’ presence. “Godess, Zanthia?”
The scene suddenly shifted to the place I first saw her. A study, lined with books. Her eyes shifted all of a sudden. The white in it was diminishing, and it grew totally black. A violet line ran across her eyes, then another, and another. Until it looked like a yarn of string. Looking deeper into her eyes made it feel like my entire body warped through space and into her eyes. The reason it felt that way, was because it literally happened. Suddenly, I was back at the forest where I first lost Donna and Steyza. They were right there, looking at me who stood as stiff as a statue.
Steyza pointed at me and pretended to whisper, “Why’s he standing there like that?”
“Because he’s an idiot? I dunno,” Donna shrugged.
Going from an almost deathlike state to huffing, almost as if trying to catch my breath after a marathon, I startled them. “Donna! Did you…” I kept breathing. “Did you feel our connection break in any way?”
“Uh, nope. What the hell–”
Donna paused as she ran over my thoughts. “Hydra’s ass!”
I don’t know what the goddess did, but I appeared to be swept up in an illusion the moment I used the Urn of Life. To them, I was standing there all that time, doing nothing. Yet, to me, knowledge was just transferred.
I learned that there was yet another type of magic. What I knew of so far was arcane magic, draconic magic, mind magic, and void magic. Now another type was introduced: space magic. It made me wonder, what the hell was the difference between void and space magic?
Hell, of the knowledge she gave me, it seemed space and void magic shared the same colour, an amethystine hue. I had to take some time to meditate on the amount of knowledge she transferred, and break it down in a way that made sense to me, for it was a lot.
I was so excited to unravel the things I could do with it, but first I had to get home. Only when I was about to fly did I realise we were already in Methelia, which didn’t make sense. The Urn of Life I found was in another country, so the waypoint to return to my world should’ve been there. The goddess… She was scarily strong. In fact, I no one could quantify her power.
We flew over to my house afterward.