Raek twisted mid-air, his left hand crackling with raw mana as he redirected the fireblast with a precise strike, sending it arcing high above the city. The fiery sphere exploded harmlessly in the sky, the shockwave rippling outward but leaving the panicked crowd below untouched.
He landed with a confident smirk, brushing soot from his crimson cloak.
It’s amber eyes stared Raek down, he looked back, but also towards the people. There’s too many here, way too many in the Merchant’s Quarter. There’s no way they could get out everyone in time.
Merchants struggled to clean out their stalls, and much more. While the Dragon stayed afloat, Raek stood in the middle of it all.
For a split moment, it didn’t attack. It’s amber eyes peered past Raek, entirely for something else. He turned, and tried to sense anything out of the ordinary. He noticed it before, but never thought why the dragon could potentially be coming here of all places.
There, it hit his head. A sharp rush. He could sense it…almost feel it. He looked amongst the many stalls, and found it. There, sitting unguarded entirely amongst the fleeing people.
A spherical orb that sat neatly on a pillow, swirling with colors of blue and white. It oozed with mana, and anyone adequate anyone to sense it, could feel it. Could feel how priceless it is.
“A phantom orb,” Raek began, and looked back at the Great Red Dragon. It’s gaze still fixated on the orb.
His eyes widened as realization hit him. "It’s here for the orb," he muttered under his breath, the weight of understanding sinking in.
Before he could act, he caught sight of Clovis on the rooftop to his right. His pendant glowed brightly, light forming at his fingertips in sharp, defined shapes.
"Raek! Keep its focus off the orb!" Clovis shouted, unleashing five luminous orbs in rapid succession. Each orb struck the dragon’s flank, creating bursts of light and forcing the beast to roar in irritation, its attention momentarily diverted.
He nodded, and bolted off with a quick first step. Grabbing the orb, feeling the immense amount of mana it was constantly generating. He had to make sure even not to siphon it not once. Anything done to it could destroy it’s value, tremendously.
The dragon roared, even under attack, it would not keep it’s eyes off the orb. Even if it cost it’s life.
It’s amber eyes peered through the smoke, and flew instantly straight for Clovis. He, who wasn’t expecting it, became the embodiment of light before disappearing instantly. The Great Red crashed into a building toppled over.
By the time it cascaded down, and the dragon got unstuck, Clovis appeared next to Raek, as to who was holding the phantom orb.
Clovis pointed at it, “It was here for that all along? I thought dragons couldn’t sense mana? Much less even Greater Dragons…” he trails. To Clovis, it was clear that something wasn’t adding up.
It wouldn’t be long before he quit most of his pondering, and outstretched his hand.
“Hand it to me. I’ve trained my whole life for this—not that you’d understand.”
Raek’s grip on the orb tightened.
“Not this again,” He muttered under his breath. Clovis was always looking at him like he was the thief that stolen his birthright. It was almost a never-ending battle with him.
He scoffed, “I’ve worked hard to get to this position too, Clover. It’s only by luck that you haven’t already exhausted yourself thanks to your fancy light teleportation skill.”
“Luck?” Clovis shot Raek a look that could even cut steel.
“You think that’s what it takes to keep up with you? Luck?”
Raek raised an eyebrow, tossing the Orb between his hands. “What else could it be, raw talent?”
Clovis’s fist tightened, the glow of his magic dimming down. “Some of us don’t have marks or prophecies handed to us at birth. We actually have to work to even stay in the same room as you.”
The Orb stilled in Raek’s grip, his grin fading. “And some of us weren’t born into prestigious families with generations of talent and privilege handed to them on a silver platter.”
Raek stepped closer, his tone colder. “It goes both ways Sparkk, you know it does.”
Before Clovis could retort, the Great Red Dragon let out another earth-shaking roar. The sound was a guttural warning, but it was quickly followed by action. With one powerful beat of its wings, the dragon launched itself back into the air, its amber eyes locked on the orb in Raek’s hands.
“Great, now you’ve pissed it off even more,” Raek muttered, narrowing his eyes at the nearby Vanguardias and taking a step back as the beast charged straight toward them.
“I’m not the one playing keep-away with the thing it wants,” Clovis snapped, moving into a defensive stance. Golden light radiated from his hands as he prepared another spell, his mana brimming with intensity.
The dragon’s claws slashed through the air, and both Vanguardias dove in opposite directions to avoid the attack. Raek hit the ground in a roll, the phantom orb clutched tightly to his chest. He scrambled to his feet, glancing toward Clovis.
“Any brilliant ideas, oh fearless leader?” Raek called out mockingly, his tone sharp but edged with genuine concern.
Clovis didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he hurled another spear of light at the dragon’s wing, striking it with enough force to destabilize its flight momentarily.
The dragon screeched in frustration as Clovis’s light spear struck true, momentarily throwing it off balance. For the briefest second, Clovis felt a flicker of pride—a rare moment of satisfaction breaking through his stern focus. But it vanished as quickly as it came when the dragon’s amber eyes locked back onto Raek.
Typical.
The dragon circled high, gathering speed for another strike. Clovis’s mind raced, calculating the best way to keep the Orb—and Raek—out of harm’s way.
“I’ll buy you a minute,” Clovis finally said, his voice strained. “I’ll try to blind it with a full-powered flash. When I give the signal, get that thing out of here.”
Raek hesitated. “And leave you here to get roasted? Not a chance.”
Clovis looked over, his golden eyes blazing with urgency. “Do you even realize what’s at stake here?”
Raek pressed his lips, it was more than enough, and looking back at the volatile orb in the midst of things didn’t make it any better.
For a moment, Raek looked as though he might actually listen. But then his smirk returned, quick and irritating. “Wait, yeah—do your fancy teleportation move so I can copy it,” he said, tossing the Orb from hand to hand with infuriating nonchalance.
Clovis’s jaw tightened, his face a portrait of simmering irritation.
"Raek, this isn’t a game! Stop treating it like one!"
For a split second, Raek seemed to look somewhere else, and then back at Clovis.
He clenched his fists, his golden light flickering erratically as his irritation hit a boiling point. “Raek, if you don’t stop messing around—”
The dragon’s roar cut him off, louder and closer than either of them expected. With a sudden burst of speed, the Great Red Dragon dove straight for them, its amber eyes blazing with fury.
“Not the time to lecture!” Raek shouted, shoving Clovis aside just as the dragon’s claws tore through the ground where they had been standing. The force of the swipe sent both Vanguardias sprawling in opposite directions, dust and debris clouding their vision.
The orb slipped from Raek’s grasp in the chaos, spinning through the air before landing perilously close to the dragon’s talons. Both men froze, their eyes locked on the glowing artifact as it pulsed with volatile energy.
Clovis was the first to move, his light-infused speed carrying him toward the orb. “I’ve got it—” he started, but the dragon slammed its massive tail into the ground, cutting him off and sending shockwaves rippling outward.
Raek groaned, pushing himself up from the rubble. “Yeah, sure, Clovis. Just walk right into the angry dragon’s strike zone. Brilliant plan.”
Clovis shot him a glare, his golden eyes practically searing with frustration. “Well, maybe if you hadn’t dropped it—”
“I didn’t drop it!” Raek snapped back, darting toward the dragon’s flank.
“It slipped. Big difference.”
The dragon growled, its focus now fully on the orb as it reached for it with one claw. Raek moved instinctively, taking yet again another quick first step to propel himself forward. In a blur of movement, he snatched the orb just before the dragon could close its talons around it.
He skidded to a halt near Clovis, he exhaled and looked right back at Clovis.
“See? Right back in my hands” Raek called out, holding the orb with a triumphant grin.
Clovis groaned audibly, rubbing his temples. “You’re going to get us killed.”
“Maybe,” Raek replied, darting away from another swipe of the dragon’s claws.
As the two backed up, and once Clovis noticed the lack of residents in the general area, the two beings became embodiments of light, before disappearing in an instant.
Later reappearing on a rooftop not too far away from the Merchant’s Quarter, the area lit up with light before Raek and Clovis materialized again, with the latter panting greatly.
Raek looking at the view and the Dragon that was hovering over the Merchant’s Quarter. He also made sure to look at the panting Clovis, and with the fading embers of the last mana skill he had used, his hazel eyes glowed momentarily before fading away.
He held the orb, and spinned it within his hands in such a flair thing for Raek to do, as Clovis got off his knees, he commented.
“Who…knew…even teleporting that thing would take a lot of mana…” He said in between breaths, and Raek nodded.
“I told you so, let me copy your move so I can do it and have less strain on you. But noo…Sir Sparkk knows best.” Raek mocked, continuing to even juggle the orb on his thighs playfully, popping it into the air with his knee before catching it on the top of his foot. He grinned as he attempted a backheel flick.
Clovis shook his head to wash away the fatigue, but one thing he noticed, beside Raek’s theatrics, was the Great Dragon. As he stood corrected, it can’t sense mana. And if it did, it would’ve noticed.
So did that mean the Dragon came here on a whim? Much less even understand what a Phantom Orb is? There was a lot of questions, and not enough answering as per usual. Clovis got used to it quite enough.
Raek, amidst his juggling, looked far off into the distance. Seeing the Vanguardias watchtower, and a thought had entered his mind.
“Where’s Iris and Kaine? Thought the two would’ve been here already to help us out.”
Clovis shook his head, “The two must be helping everyone trying to evacuate the general area. Might take some time beofre they get here, which means that…” He trailed off.
Raek already seemed to know where he was getting at, and continued on.
“...it’s just going to be us for a while.”
As Raek caught the orb on his chest, and finally grabbed it, Clovis spoke at the same time.
“We need to get this orb away, for some reason the Dragon had knew it was going to be in the Merchant’s Quarter today. Get it away, and we can focus on disengaging it for good.”
Raek nodded, “Right. If only we knew how to get this orb away.”
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Clovis did a double take towards Raek’s comment, as he explained it later.
“Look, curly. You are good, and might be the best Vanguardias ever,”
“If it wasn’t for me.” Raek mumbled after.
“But it doesn’t change the fact that we still have to worry about the Dragon, now, I may be good, but even I know there’s no way I could survive an encounter with a Great Red Dragon.”
Clovis furrowed a brow, “I don’t follow. You seemed to be doing quite well earlier.”
Raek snapped his fingers, “Big difference. Out in the wild, where I didn’t have to worry about a single thing. Just me and the Dragon.”
But then, he points towards out there. The Merchant’s Quarter, and many more buildings alongside the port in view.
“But there? People’s lives are at stake, people’s food, and homes, and jobs. One mistake there, and everything else come’s crashing down.”
Clovis crossed his arms, “Get to the point.”
Raek was quiet for a moment, before looking back at Clovis.
“How long have you’ve known me for, Clov?”
Clovis wasn’t entirely moved, and was slightly confused as to where he was coming from. But this…was better than anything else. If Raek had a plan, him, of all people, it was either the best plan ever created, or the worst plan to come from the human mind.
Could be both.
A good chance.
A gambling chance Clovis was willing to take.
“Free Phantom Orb! Free Phantom Orb!” A voice cleared out, the Great Red Dragon fixed it’s head towards the voice. There, the light brown boy and his mud brown hair called out. Holding out the Phantom Orb.
Clovis stood right next to him, a bit wary. He muttered low under his breath, “I really do hope this plan you made works.”
Raek seemed to have heard him, and spoke. “I don’t make plans, that’s your thing. What I do make is highly optimistic and last minute changes.”
Clovis shot a gaze at him, “A very drawn-out way of saying suggestions, basically.”
Raek shrugged, “Something like that.”
The Dragon noticed the two, and flew in with immense speed. Raek held the orb in one hand, and his left hand free. Slowly clenching. Mana being weaved through each and every single finger, before a slow, and small shimmer light gave birth.
He waited, just waited for the moment the Dragon would be in the expected and desired zone he would want him to be in. By the time the Great Red did, both the duo vanished out of mid air, by yet again, becoming embodiments of light for just a small blip.
The two materialized in the cobblestone streets of Aethyra, now just touching the ground. The tight streets forced the duo into a frantic pace, with Raek leading the charge. Vaulting over barrels and crates.
Clovis followed closely, his innate light magic forcing obstacles aside whether they had liked it or not. Above them, however, was the Great Red that was still onto them. The Dragon’s roar echoed through the pathways, its massive wings sending gusts of wind that shook nearby lanterns and toppled over lose debris.
Raek’s initial process was that as long as the eyes of the Dragon were on the Phantom Orb, it wouldn’t dare attacking, not until claiming possession. He was sincerely optimistic about how much Dragon knew, but if it knew one thing, it would not to be sending a fireball to them.
Clovis leapt upon a series of low rooftops continuing his run while Raek followed suit. The duo climbed higher, scaling wooden supports and leaping from one tiled roof to another.
Below them, the large dragon as it was, plowed through the district. Smashing stalls and scattering goods in its wake. Raek grimaced at the sight of it, but it was a small sacrifice for his plan to work.
Ahead, two tall structures loomed: the bell tower and the watchtower, their silhouettes cutting sharply into the smoke-filled sky. Raek narrowed his eyes, spotting movement below.
To his dismay, clusters of people remained in the outskirts, their frantic efforts to evacuate slowed by overturned carts and the chaos in the streets. Chaos. The people were rattled, and it might’ve been true that Raek and Clovis brought the Great Red Dragon right to them.
"They haven’t made it far enough," Raek muttered, his jaw tightening. Clovis noticed the shift in his demeanor and shot him a quick glance over his shoulder.
“I’m not taking the chance of the Great Dragon running over a few residents.” He spoke sharply, but Raek shook his head.
“It won’t. If it’s coming for this thing, then I’ll just play tag along.”
Raek disappeared in a brief flash, light streaking in his wake as he materialized atop a rooftop. Clovis skidded to a halt on an adjacent building, his boots sending loose shingles clattering into the alley below.
His breath hitched as he assessed the scene ahead, a yawning gap between rooftops, far too wide for a single leap. Even with his mana-infused speed, Clovis wasn’t certain he could clear it.
The dragon’s amber eyes swept the chaos like a predator scanning its prey, finally locking onto Raek. High above, Raek was mid free-fall, his arm extended toward the bell tower’s rope. His fingers brushed the rough cord just as the dragon surged upward, its massive wings propelling it faster than a thunderclap.
The Great Red’s tail ignited with a blaze of furious flames, whipping with lethal precision toward the nearby watchtower. The impact was catastrophic. Stone and timber exploded outward, shards of debris raining down in every direction. The bell tower swayed under the shockwave, its structure groaning ominously.
Raek twisted mid-air, his eyes widening as a jagged wooden plank hurtled toward him. It struck with brutal force, spinning him off balance. He gasped, barely any time to yelp in reaction or in pain, his grip on the Phantom Orb faltering.
Time seemed to slow as the glowing artifact slipped from his fingers, tumbling end over end toward the chaos below.
The Phantom Orb fell with speed, and Raek turned to see the rest of the Watchtower crumbling down. It’s cobble debris…heading straight down, for unexpected residents.
Raek’s eyes widened in realization. All of them, just trying to evacuate, and not even realize they could potentially be crushed by debris. Kids, adults, and even cattle. All of it, crushed. Destroyed.
Could Raek teleport every single one of them out there? Would be quite impossible, and they would all need to be in the general vicinity of him, considering Clovis’s teleportation skill isn’t the best around.
But to the right, he eyed at the orb, and the Great Dragon above him diving for it. Talons outstretched, it was a lose-lose situation, and Raek came short handed. Raek could use Earth magic to protect the people, but lose the orb.
Latch onto the orb, and the people could get gravely hurt. Casualties, and potentially death.
Raek couldn’t make up his mind, and for once in his Vanguardias career.
He hesitated.
Nearby, Clovis watched all of it happened, and grit his teeth. What more trouble can the Great Dragon cause? He disappeared in a flash, and reappeared amongst the people with heavy steps. He panted before tapping each person, them being consumed by light as well and disappearing.
Raek below him could see multiple lights flash below him, but it wasn’t enough. Clovis wasn’t fast enough.
Just before disaster struck, thick, heavy branches erupted from the ground, twisting and shooting upward with precise intent. The massive limbs intercepted falling debris mid-air, some catching it gently while others shattered the larger chunks into harmless splinters, shielding the panicked citizens below. The sudden surge of nature’s power was as awe-inspiring as it was effective.
Standing atop one of the branches was a figure cloaked in crimson. Twin blades were strapped to her back, glinting faintly in the scattered light. As the wind pushed back her hood, long silver hair was revealed, styled with two braids reached down her waist, framing her sharp yet serene face. Raek’s eyes lit up with recognition, and a wide grin spread across his face.
“Thanks, Iris! I owe you one!” he shouted, his words tumbling out in a single breath. Without breaking stride, he grabbed the orb and landedonto a branch that twisted and shifted to carry him through a narrow alley. The living wood seemed to anticipate his movement, bending to guide him as he took a sharp turn toward the port.
Iris watched him pass, her expression calm yet tinged with a hint of weariness. She stepped off the branch with practiced ease, landing softly on the ground as her sea-green eyes followed Raek’s retreating figure. The Phantom Orb glowed faintly in his hands, its volatile energy pulsing even at a distance.
The Great Red Dragon roared in frustration, its massive wings beating furiously as it followed Raek’s trail. Iris’s relief was visible; she had arrived just in time to avert catastrophe, but the battle was far from over.
Clovis landed heavily beside her, his breathing labored and his brow slick with sweat. He took a moment to steady himself before glancing at her, gratitude evident in his golden eyes.
“Th-thank you, truly,” he managed between breaths.
Iris offered a slight smile, “I was lucky to even make it in time,”
She looked further at Clovis, and held out her hand. A green aura pulsating from her right hand, before it dimmed down. Her face, as per usual, wary.
“You’re low on mana, Clovis.” She sensed, and while Clovis could infer what that meant, he just couldn’t. Not when Raek’s destruction plan has wrecked havoc to the watchtower, and potentially, the harbour.
“I can’t,” He said sharply, before a golden aura coerced his body, seemingly soothing and easying any fatigue and pain he had.
He glanced back, “Iris, don’t let Raek’s mess get anyone killed. I don’t want that idiot’s guilt on my hands.”
Before Iris could protest, Clovis took one step, and become the embboidement of light. Disappearing, and his entire being as well. Her outstretched hand pulled back, and later retrated into her cloak.
“Why…” She began.
“Why do you push yourself so hard?”
The Great Red Dragon had it’s fair share.
Raek ran across the port, as the Dragon shot out fireball after fireball. None of them hitting Raek initially as they all exploded on contact near ships. He braced as wooden planks would go flying all over, making sure to duck against a few.
With almost space to run out of here, he turned around, and by the nick of time, a flash appeared over the dragon. There, Clovis was handling a spear made out of pure light. Pure mana. Pure magic.
He dived down and slashed the Dragon’s eye, before jumping back and skidding towards Raek. The spear faded away as Clovis looked towards him.
“I hope this special move you planned the entire time was worth the destruction.” Clovis chipped in, and Raek replied shortly after.
“Would I be a mad person and say I kinda enjoyed it?” Raek said, handing the Phantom Orb to Clovis as the latter gave him a questionable look. The brown skinned boy chuckled and simply waved it away.
Clovis needed the apporopaite mana control for this Phantom Orb, and as years of years of training and practicing, he held it. Making sure that he doesn’t siphon an ounce of it at all.
By the time he did, he vanished with another flash again. The Dragon snorted, and began to flap it’s wings in search of Clovis, if it wasn’t for Raek calling it out.
“Not so fast,” Raek began, as he weaved his hands. The amber eyes of the dragon studied him, and more importantly, something on his left palm.
There, for a split second, the Dragon could see the logo of something marked in the center of his left palm. It snorted again, perhaps out of curiosuty.
However, Raek pretended to draw an arrow from his quiver, and there, his fingers lit up with flames. Orange flames that later took the shape of a bow and arrow.
The Dragon shook it’s head, smoke escape from it’s nose. It parted it’s mouth slightly, and slowly, orange embers escaped. A warning, if not anything.
Raek’s eyes narrowed, still holding his fire bow and arrow that he constructed. He looked on, and saw that the Dragon was still holding it’s ground.
From a safe distance, Clovis watched the standoff, his fists clenched at his sides. Raek was powerful, sure, but this recklessness... it would be the end of them both.
“Oh, so you decided to stay?” Raek would go on to ask, he pulled the fire arrow further enough, it’s orange flames roared out, as if, rebelling, in a way. It’s true power being held back by the owner.
The Ventus.
A gust of wind blew everything back from the vicinity, leaving only Raek. As a matter of fact…it was coming from him.
He was expelling his mana, letting everything flow through instead of holding back in this one attack. And it showed, the mana pressure he was releasing was pushing everything back. Whether it liked it or not.
The Great Red Dragon was not intimidated by this at all, but increased the ferocity of it’s flames. More of a warning, and now showing signs of an actual attack brewing up.
But none of this bothered Raek.
There, his flames turned a color. The orange flames slowly got darker, becoming…redder. Crimson like flames enveloped the bow and arrow now as it reached another stage. It’s light slightly heating up Raek’s face.
His face was unmoving, along with his stance as well.
He didn’t plan on budging.
If he needed to, he wouldn’t mind taking down this Dragon and the port too.
The Dragon hesitated one final time, its fierce amber eyes flickering as though debating some unspoken thought. Through all of this trouble…to obtain one Phantom Orb. It was all too much trouble.
And the boy, who definitely had the power to back his speech, at this point, the dragon realized it would have a better chance of finding one out in the wild rather than here.
With a sharp beat of its massive wings, it rose into the sky, its form shrinking against the fiery horizon until it disappeared beyond the clouds.
Raek extinguished his flames with a heavy sigh, the faint crackle of embers fading into the distant crash of waves. He looked around, taking in the devastation. The port was in shambles, shattered crates, splintered docks, and scattered debris painted a grim picture of their narrow victory.
A fish flopped by his foot, its scales glinting in the fading light.
“I…okay, maybe…just maybe I didn’t think this one through entirely,” Raek muttered, kicking over a bucket. A dozen fish spilled out, flipping back into the water with soft splashes.
Clovis appeared beside him, his crimson cloak rippling in the salty breeze. His expression was as stern as ever, though exhaustion tugged at the edges. However, looking at Raek, it was like he didn’t even break a sweat. Clovis slowly clenched his hands…which later softened.
“How do we explain this to the Chancellor?” he asked, crossing his arms.
Raek shrugged, his tone calm despite the situation. “When was the last time Aethyra went up against a Great Dragon? Maybe he’ll cut us some slack.”
“Considering we were down three Vanguards?” Clovis countered, raising an eyebrow.
Raek snapped his fingers, his face lighting up with mock realization. “No wonder it felt off. I would’ve assumed Kael and the others would’ve been back by now.”
Clovis turned toward the horizon, his gaze settling on a distant island. The faint silhouette of Delpharia was just visible against the blue sky. “I suppose whatever they went to go investigate is clearly taking a whole lot more time than expected.” he said, his voice quieter now.
Raek nodded slowly, a rare seriousness settling over him. “So…that means we are done here?”
The two stood in silence, the wind carrying the faint cries of displaced merchants and the creak of damaged ships. Behind them, the glow of Aethyra’s torches began to flicker to life, illuminating the destruction they’d left behind.
“Iris will have a field day when she gets here,” Raek muttered, shaking his head.
Clovis sighed. “Let’s hope she gets here before the Chancellor does.”
Far off, beyond the shimmering waves, the island of Delpharia loomed like a shadowed promise. Raek’s gaze lingered on it, he fixed his crimson cloak and sighed.
Clovis already began his walk back as Raek caught up with him, the two Vanguards walking back admist the destruction…that could partially be blamed for Raek Ventus for the most part.
“I wonder where Kaine was.”
“Staying back protecting the Vanguardias Watchtower. At least that one isn’t destroyed.” Clovis shot at him cheaply.
Raek slowly nodded, “To be fair, I didn’t know the Great Dragon could do that, or even fathom the thought of doing that.”
The two continued to walk, before Clovis opened his mouth one last time.
“You know,” He began.
“I always wondered how a muppet like you got past selection.”
Raek slowly nodded his head again, yet smiling.
“Some could say I was born for this type of thing.”