Chapter 27 I’ll Think About It.

Macken hit the ground in a cartwheel. He felt his right elbow crunch under the awkward impact, again, and could only tuck and roll until he finally came to a stop. He rolled onto his back and set his elbow. He had lost his sword somewhere along the flight and knew in his heart that the fight was already over. Whatever Isaac had just hit him with hit harder than a cartload of bricks. Macken let out a groan in pain as his magic tried desperately to fix everything that had broken from the impact. Unfortunately it could do nothing to fix the torn straps or warped metal of his armor.

Isaac appeared casually looking down at Macken. His hands were back in his pockets. “I should have tried that on Jallen.” Isaac commented. “Though I doubt it would have kept him down long enough for me to recover. That one was a real monster, you know.”

“What did you do to me?” Macken asked as he rolled himself over onto his face so he could push himself to his feet.

“I kicked you.” Isaac replied simply. “I expected more from you.”

Macken’s jaw set. Isaac was definitely starting to get under his skin. At the beginning he was mostly just playing along but now he had had enough of Isaac’s condescending attitude. White light flowed like liquid over Macken’s entire form and a sword made of pure compressed light formed in his right hand, a shield of identical make appeared in his left. What preceded the items was a simple but powerful chant: “My resolve is weapon and armor enough.”

Isaac chuckled. “No. It isn’t.” He said and started ramping up his boost to as high as it could go. It was even stronger now than it had been and he was interested to see how high he could push it. ‘One minute is enough.’ Isaac thought to himself as he pushed the boost to a point that would drain him of all of his reserves in around a minute’s time. It was noticeably stronger than before but only by about ten percent. It was twenty percent stronger than the last time Isaac had used it in a fight while he wasn’t under the influence of a foreign spell or potion.

Macken lunged again and so did Isaac. Isaac’s fist flew at Macken before the knight-paladin could even make a swing of his own. Macken raised his shield just in time for the hard-light object to take the full force of Isaac’s right hook. Macken was tossed backwards off of his feet as Isaac’s feet dug troughs in the sand. The hard-light shield cracked. Before the shield had time to reform Isaac launched himself at Macken. Time and time again Isaac pounded on the man. It only took one more punch to shatter the shield and then Macken was doomed. Punch after punch landed as Isaac kicked up sand with every chasing stride. After the sixth punch Isaac decided that Macken didn’t get to feel the ground under his feet anymore.

Isaac slid low and then rose into an uppercut that caught the still reeling Macken in the chest. Macken was tossed almost straight up into the air and Isaac decided to start juggling. Everytime it looked like Macken was going to get to hit the ground Isaac was suddenly there with one attack or another to keep him in the air. Macken wasn’t allowed to touch the ground for almost thirty seconds.

At first the crowd had gone silent under the sudden wave of Isaac’s power. Soon though they started to go wild. Watching Isaac move in what amounted to flickers and streaks made the spectacle one that none of them would ever forget. Then the crowd’s excitement had died down again. Once it was clear that Isaac could keep Macken in the air permanently it stopped being a fight and became a circus. Finally Isaac let Macken hit the ground face first.

Isaac had waited to stop juggling Macken until he stopped feeling Macken heal himself. The man was covered from head to toe in bruises and had an untold amount of bone damage but he would probably live so that was fine with Isaac. Isaac strode over to Macken and rolled him over with his boot. Half of the knight-paladin’s armor was strewn about the arena. “How do you feel?” Isaac asked casually. “I’m not used to holding back enough that I don’t kill someone outright. It almost happened with that first kick.”

“I hate you.” Macken groaned.

“That’s not what I asked.” Isaac replied.

“I’ll live.” Macken said.

Isaac shook his head. “That wasn’t exactly what I meant either. You see, I already know how close to dying you are. That is why I stopped when I did. You are more or less out of mana and look like you were just stuffed in a giant ball and given to a bunch of giants to play kickball with.” He explained. “Let me rephrase my question: How long did it take you to feel weak and helpless?”

“Eat shit.” Macken spat back.

“Creative.” Isaac said blandly. “Whatever, go back to your cell. I’m sure Lenna will want to check on you after a while.” Isaac finished and started walking away.

“I’m not done yet.” Macken said and started to try and get back to his feet.

“Just stay down.” Isaac told him. “You are making it really hard to not kill you.” Macken got the entire way to his feet but once he tried to take a step his knee gave out from under him and he collapsed back to the sand, unconscious. The announcer said something about a winner but Isaac had stopped paying attention. The crowd broke into cheers as Isaac’s power finally vanished. He casually took a step and appeared next to Lenna, leaving behind a fading silhouette where he had once been.

“Thank you.” She told him.

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“For what?” Isaac asked.

“Not killing him. I know it must’ve been hard to not hit him in the head.” She explained.

“I definitely had to fight the urge on more than one occasion, yes.” Isaac confessed. “So, you're welcome.”

—

A few days passed and then Isaac and Lenna received a letter from the duke. It was a simple message informing them that the duke, duchess, and court wizard would be away for a few days as there was a Founding Day ball held in the capital for all of the nobles to attend. Apparently it was the country’s birthday.

“On one hand, I appreciate that Izen feels like we are important enough to inform when they are going to be away for a few days but on the other, I feel like this message meant something.” Isaac commented.

“Like what?” Lenna asked.

“Like we are the kids Izen is leaving home alone and he just told us ‘Don’t burn the house down while we are gone.’” Isaac said flatly.

Lenna smirked. “Probably.” She agreed.

“You know, now something is definitely going to happen while they are gone.” Isaac replied. His eyes suddenly went wide. “Oh, Sera is going to be so mad.”

“What? Why?” Lenna asked.

Isaac’s wide eyes locked with hers. “We have reservations a day before they return.”

Lenna looked at him with obvious confusion. “Reservations? Where? Why?” She asked.

“Oh, uh, nowhere.” Isaac blatantly lied.

Lenna narrowed her eyes on him. “Nowhere?” She pressed.

“Well, somewhere, but nowhere that I am going to tell you.” Isaac teased while he got his figurative feet back under him.

Lenna rolled her eyes. “I better like it if you are keeping it a secret.”

“You will.” Isaac assured her. “I promise.”

—

Later that day the pair could be found just outside of Macken’s cell. It had been two days since Isaac had juggled him like a knife at a circus. Isaac and Lenna took their seats just outside of Macken’s cell but the captive dark elf didn’t say anything to either of them. Isaac raised an eyebrow in question to Lenna. Lenna just rolled her eyes and sighed. Isaac replied with a shrug while he pulled a book out of his Inventory and crossed his legs to get comfortable. If Macken wanted to sulk that was fine, it didn’t bother Isaac at all. He would rather read a book anyway. After almost ten minutes of silence, where even Lenna’s patience had started to wear thin, Macken finally sighed and turned to face them. “Fine.” He grumbled. “I admit it.” He continued. “He’s a lot stronger than I thought.” Macken’s face looked like he had just eaten something sour. “He’s an asshole though.”

Lenna was about to reply but Isaac beat her to the punch. “And you’re a twat.” Isaac said under his breath just loud enough for both of them to hear. Macken’s eye twitched.

“Isaac.” Lenna chastised. “Can you pretend to be civil?”

“I’ll try, for you.” Isaac conceded. He sighed and tossed his book to the side where it vanished out of thin air. A flash of surprise went across Macken’s face before he quickly schooled it again. “Are we done?” Isaac asked Macken. “I think we can both stand to be less… abrasive, to each other, for Lenna’s sake.”

Macken stared at Isaac for a moment and then nodded his head. “Yes.” He agreed and then sighed. “I used to think that the Glinting Blade was the only monster in human skin walking around but I appear to have been proven wrong.”

“He’s not the only other human who could tear you apart in Safeharbor right now.” Isaac explained. “Edward, the Guild Master of Safeharbor is also known as the Blade Master.” Isaac explained. “Granted, it would be far less one sided but he would still win. Swordplay is his thing.”

Macken looked to Lenna for confirmation and she nodded. “Yes, Edward Sasston would have methodically taken you apart.” Lenna agreed. “Like Instructor Cla’Cen.”

“He’s as brutal as my grandfather?” Macken asked incredulously.

“Yes and no.” Lenna replied. “He is about ninety to ninety five percent of him.” She explained. “He is definitely worth sparing against.”

Macken nodded. “It would have been less humiliating I bet.” Macken speculated.

“Oh most definitely.” Lenna agreed.

“Darkness, thank you for showing me your strength, I hope I never have to fight you again.” Macken said to Isaac.

Isaac nodded. “For what it is worth, the main reason Lenna can spar with me is because she knows what I am going to do before I do it, most of the time.” He explained. “She is still far better than me at every form of combat, save for maybe barehanded fighting, but if I pull out all the stops I can beat even Fable in a duel.”

Macken’s eyes went wide. “Truly?” He asked.

Isaac nodded. “Yes. I did a few days before Jallen came knocking at our front door.” He explained. “It was close, sure, for a while. One thing I have over him is infinite stamina. He is getting old.”

“He is still a monster.” Lenna cut in before Macken could get any ideas. “He fought me for a while and then ended it in one move.”

“Limit Break?” Macken asked.

“Yes.” Lenna replied. “Limit Break.”

“I want to fight him myself.” Macken explained. “Even if it is the last battle of my life. I need to cross swords with him again. I need to have the opportunity to avenge my brother and the other six.”

Lenna nodded. “I understand.” She replied.

“I doubt they’ll let you out of here while you are still oathbound to your ancestors.” Isaac commented. “You are still an active threat. How big of an escort did they give you for your short trip to the arena?”

“Sir Michael and eight of his best men. They also didn’t take the collar off until I was about to walk into the arena.” Macken replied. “I was surprised it was that few.”

“They could have taken you.” Lenna replied. “I have seen them in action and they are no worse than soldiers fresh out of one of our training camps.”

“If I would have had my aura, I probably could have fought them all.” Macken tried to argue.

“And died to Sir Michael.” Lenna countered. “The boy was a lot more well rounded than I initially gave him credit for.” Lenna added and Macken scoffed.

“Think about what I said.” Isaac told Macken. “While you are still loyal to your ancestors they will keep you locked in here. The food looks passable but taking a shit in front of a guard everyday has to be embarrassing.”

Macken’s eye twitched. “Don’t remind me.” He said with a glare at the guard just down from them. “But I hear what you are saying.” Macken spoke. “That does not mean that I will abandon my ancestors, my family, my honor, everything I have worked towards for the past quarter of a millennia.”

Isaac nodded. “I understand.” He replied. “Jallen’s twin, Jala L’Vore, is here with her mate, Fen. It might do you some good to talk to them. They have made peace with living here as what amounts to being free prisoners. Well, Fen is still cuffed up but that is because he is prone to killing people with his voice, mostly me, but still, he has a bad track record.”

“I’ll think about it.” Macken agreed but only time would tell if he would actually try and turn over a new leaf. Isaac sort of wished he would, only for Lenna’s sake, but he still didn’t like the guy. If his death wouldn’t make Lenna sad, Isaac might’ve told Sir Michael to execute him because he was a security risk not worth taking. Isaac would have been right, of course, at least as long as Macken was still loyal to Contantis anyway. If Macken could leave his old life behind, be less of a jerk for no reason, and be a bit less of an elf supremacist, Isaac could definitely see him finding a job as that one combat instructor that no one likes. As for what would actually happen to him; Isaac honestly couldn’t care less.