“Dongfang Shu?” Alex blurted out without thinking, tracing the path of a squirrel in the trees above, chasing after Sarah’s raven, Monu. The oil covered bird glided between the branches that blanketed the forest sky, the cover shifting under the weight of the two animals, causing the shadows beneath him to ripple like the depths of an ocean. “The name should sound serious, shame it has the word dong in it,” he joked, looking back at the two trailing him.
His partner was buried in a notebook she had only received moments before, her entire focus on its contents, her ears perked up in her interest. She didn’t even grace him with her gaze as she remarked, “You are in no position to make fun of names, Mr. Whitlock.” Tidying her hair to emphasise her point, she accidentally muttered out, “Why is your surname so familiar sounding?”
How has she still not figured it out?
He ignored the freeloader’s comment, his eyes darting immediately to Sarah walking behind her, both of their eyes met on cue, his screaming silently, commanding his dear old friend to not comment if she wanted to live. The paladin’s eyes returned with a question of their own, asking how come he hadn’t told Elyza already, and Alex replied with words.
“What do we know about this guy, Bee?” His voice successfully carried his request to the paladin.
“He was the son of a general of a small kingdom, but he was still regarded as a prodigal talent with a sword,” Bee helped him to change the topic.
Elyza traced something on the page under her finger, cracking the fingers on her other hand as she read, “Said kingdom is on the other side of the world and no longer exists, not existing for at least six years. However, the reason most of the reports have written for its disintegration is simply ‘internal turmoil’. I fail to see how this boy could be responsible for its collapse.”
Alex couldn’t help but chuckle at her words, his brain too slow to catch his own, “Starting a rebellion is an old favourite of mine…”
Ahhh… Good times.
It hurt how both of them ignored the remark, but at least Elyza had to glance at him to figure out if he was joking or not. “The internal turmoil was the result of the entire hierarchy of the kingdom being slaughtered in a day, and during the engagement announcement of the two most important families in the nation,” Bee clarified, raising her arm to call Monu down, adding to her hanging words as the bird landed on the paladin’s arm, “To add intrigue to the bloody ordeal is that the deaths were from cuts so clean that blades could not have made them, and without any trace of magic as well.”
“What caused him to snap?” His partner concluded, flipping through the pages to find the information before she had the chance to answer.
“It's said he’s an infamous drunk, so one can only imagine,” Bee answered, her mind had already imprinted all the facts of the case, her voice dropping any enjoyment it had, “The strange thing was that Shu fell off the world for five years, disappearing from even the deities’ sight, and he just as suddenly reappeared three years ago, massacring some kingdom’s battalion. But this will be his last free day on the living plane, I will ensure it.”
Alex couldn’t help but smile at the words entering his ears, the opportunity to fight someone so peculiar already enticing his mind, causing him to remark towards, “If you were to aid in the neutralisation of such a character, none of the many that despise me in the House could argue against your integration, and I could possibly convince them to give you the same rank as me.”
“Would attaining your rank mean we would be free from the demands of the Guild?” Elyza’s emerald eyes were filled with determination as she spoke, finally meeting his own. He nodded, and she added, “Then it seems we have our goal.”
“How much further?” Alex asked his rival with a grin, cracking his knuckles to wake his fingers up.
“If you’re impatient, I could speed things up?” She replied with her own, her shoes dragging the dirt behind her, causing cracks to appear in its wake. He smiled, his mind finding enjoyment in the new experience his partner would encounter, giving a thumbs up.
Almost instantly, the ground upon which they walked gave way, a fracture appearing beneath them, the folds of the earth stretching till they shattered. The three fell like rocks in a river, the wind whizzing past them, silencing the groan and crackling of the floor caused by Bee’s spell. He could sense the darkness around him, pulses of his mana allowing him to sense all the possibilities of travel through the dimension under his control.
MY dimension.
Ignoring the remark by the demoness, he focused on his surroundings, allowing his consciousness to balloon outwards. He could feel the air coalescing around his partner’s feet, the sound of the whipping wind reaching his ears as Elyza readied for a hard landing, all the while Sarah was cackling like a witch as they sank into the earth. His senses pinged something strange arriving, an elongated passage of shadows, big enough to take an evening stroll through.
“We’re here!” Bee shouted through the wind, slamming her hammer down at the final hurdle, causing rocks to be crushed into fine dust. As they fell through the final hole, Alex commanded the shadows beneath to burst towards him, as both of his companions landed before him; Elyza willing the wind to slow her descent, while Sarah took the brunt of the force on her knees. The tendrils fought against his weight, attaching themselves to the soles of his shoes, and the pull of gravity to allow him to smoothly step on the solid floor.
He looked towards his partner, who had placed two fingers upon her neck to calm down her breathing, “Exhilarating isn’t it?”
“It would be, if the sensation was not immensely similar to your ‘Shadow steps’.” She remarked bluntly, her halberd materialising as she held out her hand.
“Best to get the adrenaline pumping as soon as possible,” Bee had a tinge of defence in the back of her voice.
Suddenly his ears received the clicking of teeth, a pulse of mana confirming the orientation of its producer. His dagger and sword came to his hands as he looked upwards, his hood shifting back to allow him to see in the darkness. Catching the faint light streaming from the tunnel above, his companion’s weapon glinted into his eyes, a distracting sight if he wasn’t staring at a monster hanging from the ceiling above them.
Her slitted yellow eyes stared into his, the edges of her mouth widening to reveal teeth half the length of his dagger and just as sharp. It was definitely vampiric in nature, its skin a dull shade of brown, enough colour in it for him to know she had recently fed. There was a need to know what species she was, there were a myriad of ways to kill the undead, scanning the monster’s body for hints that could guide him.
The claws on her feet had dug into the rock, her head tilting to study him in response to his gaze, her face similar to an aunt furiously trying to mask her age. But before his mind could analyse what his eyes had gathered about the monster, she answered. Her torso split into two, the skin splitting into a web of slimy, greying tissues, the bones that connected her spine and pelvis shearing its ligament as the monster’s upper body floated downwards. Wings appeared from her back, unfolding as she rotated to meet his gaze, streaks of translucent gooey crimson strings lingering as they did.
“Leave,” She commanded, her voice attempting to entice him, Elina stopping the words from worming into his mind with the ferocity of an overprotective nanny.
His hand sunk into the shade of his cloak, connecting him to the partition he had made in the dimension for storage, pulling out a chunk of salt. “A Manananggal…” He concluded, staring at the bottom part of the monster, his voice clear as it addressed his companions, holding up the crystal, “Who wants the salt?”
Sarah replied with a battle cry, her hammer rising before it was brought down on the vampire. The monster was able to dodge the clearly indicated attack, causing her to hiss as her feet tore the ceiling to retreat, her tongue lashing at his rival.
Alex moved to strike the moment before, the guards of his dagger catching the slimy appendage, forcing its blade into the wall, slicing the skin of the tongue in the process. The attack had the intended effect, the manananggal biting off the appendage, her hands separating from her arms, dashing towards Bee as the main body did the same. It tried to bite him, her maw opening up like a dragon’s, her teeth extending forwards to surround his head, but he felt his partner dash past him, the fear in the vampire’s eyes and the grin on his face grew.
Shadows erupted beneath the monster, tendrils of ink twisted in the air to wrap themselves around the monster, sliding between her skin and clothes as the spell seized its movement to freeze the monster in mid-air. She tried to gnaw him, the points of her teeth barely able to reach his face, her screams echoing through the air as Sarah battered her hands, unable to separate her body further because of his magic.
His partner reached her lower half, Elyza crushing the crystal without any effort, letting the newly formed dust fall to the floor. A small tornado formed next to her feet, catching the particulate before it could touch the ground, carrying it back towards the stump of flesh that hung from the ceiling. However, she knew this was an opportunity, no glances being shared as he stopped the salt from curing the monster’s lower half.
“Let’s talk,” Alex instructed the monster, flicking his finger onto her forehead as hard as he could, “If your brain isn’t filled to the brim with bloodlust already.”
She tried to stare him down, and he responded by coalescing mana above his pupils to create mirrors, stopping any attempts for the monster’s gaze to breach his soul. Raising his dagger, he pricked the tip of his finger, and let his blood trickle freely down his hand, “If you cooperate I’ll voluntarily give you some of this luscious blood, bursting with ma–”
“I refuse,” the vampire declared, her hands and tongue retreating back to merge with her torso, floating into their correct, but she was still restrained from moving her lower body by the incredible pressure his partner emanated.
The whipping of her magic still grumbled between the walls of the passageway, but he was much more interested in the monster’s refusal, “Elaborate, or I’ll have my partner make your separation permanent.”
There was a moment of defiance, before her teeth returned to their relative normalcy, her brow still furrowing, allowing him to gaze into the turmoil in her eyes, a question of whether to betray her comrades or to protect them. “Release my body first,” She requested, and the annoyance in her voice was clear.
“Which part?” The grin felt warranted at the moment, but the vampire’s glare spoke otherwise, so he decided it was wizard’s choice, and with a wave of his hand the inky tendrils retreated to whence they came, his shadow trembling as they kept the others at bay.
Her wings flapped a few times as she orientated herself, trying to regain a regal composure as her hands folded themselves over her stomach, speaking with the same grace, “I presume you’re here to capture Shu.”
Alex was surprised, pleasantly so, but he ensured his face showed none of it, “We’re here to figure out what kind of cult you’re working for.”
The monster clicked her tongue, “You and the elf perhaps, but I’ve heard the paladin behind you ask around in the town for him.”
Instinctively his brow raised, curiosity brimming beneath his tongue, a sliver of it accompanying his words, “Seems a bit strange, you, voluntarily revealing what you know without further prodding by myself, that is. Has your heart shrivelled so substantially that you would easily throw your friends into the mouth of a volcano? I suppose that follows the stages of a cadaver in the end.”
For the first time, the monster appeared to find a bit of enjoyment, “The same reason why you haven’t killed me yet, you have some use I can exploit. If you were here to destroy the cult, letting that potent blood let its scent waft through a closed space would be a death sentence if there were more of my kind.”
“Maybe I’m just an idiot.”
You realise this now?
“Maybe you are, but you were prepared to deal with a manananggal in a nation like Luminae, so I find that hard to believe.”
He couldn’t help but smile, it was rare to find a blood sucker who thought things through when they learned what flowed within him, but Alex wanted an answer, “You’re truly a rarity, however, why did my blood, called pure ecstasy by your kind many, many times before, have no noticeable effect on you?”
“It is because I’d decided to stop consuming blood decades ago,” the vampire responded with no hesitation.
There would’ve been a moment of silence as he and his partner tried to process the words, but thankfully the cackle that Sarah released from behind helped accelerate the process. He looked towards his friend, catching the glimmer of the magic disappearing from her purple eye, a faint glow accumulating around the coloured pupil in its place.
“Hilariously,” Bee began, slotting her warhammer to her back before continuing, “What the vamp says is the truth. Isn’t that right, Lady Reyna?”
A look of disgust washed over the vampire’s face, her lips curling into a snarl as realisation washed over, “You’re a paladin of justice, Durga by the look of your eye, unfortunately it seems that you won’t be able to cleanse the earth of us rotten undead.”
Alex instantly rebutted, gesturing towards his partner to cut out her spell, the sound of salt sprinkling on the rocks accompanying his words, “Hey, don’t get blinded by your biases, if I did the same, you’d be a pile of smokey ash, that I could sell to some blacksmith for a heavy pouch of coins.”
The monster heard the crystals clitter, but her eyes reflected that his threat had pierced her armour, the lower half slowly floating downwards to rejoin its better half. As her skin weaved together once again, she stood on her bare feet, straightening her hair when she spoke, “I hope you will allow my fellow worshippers the same grace offered to me.”
“Before we decide on any circumstantial alliances,” Elyza spoke, her eyes drawing scars into the vampire’s back, but her voice did not convey the distrust as she continued, “Since you claim to be part of the cult, you were clearly acting as a sentry for them, or at the very least a guard dog.”
Annoyance tugged the edges of Reyna’s eyes, “We are not a cu–”
“Easy there, you don’t want to get your blood pressure high,” Alex grinned as his partner continued, relishing the brief moment of confusion as the vampire attempted to understand the joke.
“With what we know of Shu, or what we think we know, I believe he would have been appointed in a similar position, away from the centre of where the cult must be operating,” She concluded, her halberd returning around her finger as she returned to his side.
“I know what’s happening here,” The groan from Sarah almost made him laugh the rest of the words, “I must congratulate you, my dear old Bee, for the first time in history a girl’s going to choose you over me.”
Instantly he got smacked, his partner’s heavy gauntlet adding power to the slap, almost making him lose his footing, Elyza unconcerned with his health as she spoke, “I apologise for him, his lapses in judgements get worse when he has not taken his daily naps.”
“You lose this one to death or idiocy and the deal is off,” Bee remarked, and he had not heard more truthful words come from her mouth before, which was somewhat worrying.
Even your rival prefers her more than you.
Hey, if you want to move, I can talk to her.
It was rare that his mind was free from the Empress’ voice and influence, but the silence that followed the exchange was quickly swallowed by the debate within himself. Fortunately, rationale rose victorious, and he addressed Bee, “Well, then I suppose I should allow her to travel in company as safe as yours, and it would be ungentlemanly of me to deprive you of your target…”
“Do words just spew out of your mouth?” The vampire questioned, worry clear in her voice.
But his partner just sighed, remarking, “Do not be alarmed, Nemo here is just confirming that one requires practice to decrypt his unfiltered thoughts. He means to say that we two should go after the bounty while he’ll infiltrate your cult, with your help of course.”
Horror spread over the vampire’s face, and he knew Bee couldn’t resist the opportunity, “Ah, the look everyone has when they first work with the bastard.”
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The path forward was unnaturally cosy for one supposed to lead to the bowels of a cult. The rocks beneath him were soon replaced with cobbled bricks of clay, handmade lanterns adorning the flanking walls, their warm orange glow illuminating the tunnel. It had been constructed so that whoever stumbled upon it was welcomed to explore further. Unusual it was not, presentation in Alex’s experience was a prerequisite for a cult’s operation, enticing outsiders to delve into their world. However, glancing behind himself, still following the vampire, he expected the tunnel to elongate.
A trick of the lights, or literally through magic, make it seem harder to leave than to take another step forward, but as comforting as it was to travel inwards, it was seemingly just as easy to stop and leave whenever he wanted. Sniffing the air, his nose could not pick anything hidden behind it, and no alluring melody reached his ears, only the footsteps of the one who led him.
“If you are not here to destroy us, why has the Guild instructed you to infiltrate us?” Reyna questioned, trust a forgone thing for someone of her age and affiliation.
“We’re a special case,” Alex answered, making sure his smugness was palpable, “And contrary to popular belief, the Guild doesn’t only crush any cults it finds, it's also responsible for officiating them.”
The vampire’s eyes darted backwards, if for a moment, quickly adding, “What exactly do you aim to do? I must warn you, I’m aiding you, so I can ensure the best possible outcome for those under my protection. If I sense any malice, I will strip your heart from your flesh.”
A scoff escaped his lips, grinning as he spoke, “We’re here to find out whom you worship, how you worship, and why you worship. Most importantly, that none of your past, present, or future activities have the potential for harming life in any way whatsoever. If I’m thoroughly entertained, I may even sponsor you guys to be an official religion within the nation.”
He could sense the realisation and hope surge within his guide, but just to cover his bases, “However, if I uncover illicit and unethical practices, whoever you worship will be powerless to protect you.”
There was no noticeable indication whether his words had had the desired effect, so it was helpful when she responded, “Then this will be an uneventful rest of the day for you.”
“We can only hope,” Alex remarked, cracking his fingers to warm them up while adjusting his hood so that its shade disappeared before it reached his grin. Another minute or two of walking led to him almost wishing Elina would break her silence. The hushed air caused his mind to stagnate, the darkness giving him no reprieve, boredom growing within at an exponential rate before he had to resort to snapping a rhythm to keep it at bay.
Thankfully, just as he was about to stoop to the level of shouting insults at a random god to see what would happen, Reyna spoke, “We’re about to reach the main hall in a few strides, if you need to prepare yourself or ask anything, do so now.”
Thousands of ideas flooded his mind, many had to be disregarded because of over the top flair, some were sneaked in by the freeloader, but one stood out from the rest. Closing his eyes, he willed his shadow to unfurl, calling upon pieces of it to rise and morph to his order. The pitch black umbra grew over his body, waves of darkness climbing him, weaving in between his skin and clothes as the spell mimicked his silhouette.
But roaming into the room as a demon dressed in ink would be idiotic, and in response his hand rose free from commanding the shadows. He forced the sea of mana within him outwards, but not as a pulse or a string to aim his spell, instead as fine particulate. A cloud of mist materialised around him in an instant, and just as quickly sank to cover the shadows.
The layer of illusion split into two, one resting upon his previous spell, the other sinking below it to cover his actual body. The first mimicked what the second lay upon, and the latter ensured what it masked couldn’t be seen by the naked eye. It was tiring, his body growing heavier with each second as his mana was fed into two of his favourite spells, but he seldom had the opportunity to use both at the same time, and his grin grew wider.
He stepped backwards as the illusions settled into completion, the shadow suit fully laced by the mirage of his creation, and Alex was looking at himself, his guide none the wiser. Covering his mouth with his hand, he connected it with the throat of his clone, and cleared his throat to confirm it was working. The sound came from his splitting half, but since he was near it already, it was simpler to throw his voice and have his shadow clone mimic his movements, “No time like the present.”
“I can gather from the small interaction we’ve had that you like to listen to yourself speak,” Reyna proclaimed, her calm eyes staring daggers into the copy, the slitted pupil filled with command, “You let me speak, and me alone, until prompted. Understand?”
Walking back into the clone’s cover, not wanting to expend any unnecessary mana if he could help it, he answered with a thumbs up. He did cross his fingers with his hand out of her line of sight, knowing wholeheartedly he was unmatched against his own need to talk, especially when the situation didn’t necessitate it. The spell reattached itself to him with a thought, predicting his moments, so the illusion did not break as he followed the vampire.
True to her word, they soon entered an expanse, the ceiling shooting upwards to make way for what appeared to be a praying area. Benches had been carved from stone, orbiting around a smouldering pyre in the middle, wisps of smoke rising, unable to obscure his sight-line of the towering statue behind it. It had been carved from the same rock that made the benches, and as he felt the wall beside him, he was more than confident that everything in the room had been carved into the earth.
The statue was of a middle-aged bearded man wearing a wolf-skin, the finer details lost to the skill of the carver, but he could feel the immense amount of effort in the work. In one hand, the man held a long-handed hammer, similar to Sarah’s but the head was not of metal but a cider barrel, and his other hand held what looked to be a honey pot.
As his eyes worked to study the room, his ears picked up held breaths coming from behind the benches. There were people hiding, but Alex could do nothing till his guide made the first exchange. Reyna took in a deep breath, an amusing concept for him, before she spoke, “Rise, the situation is not as we thought.”
The words would not have worked if she was unsure, and the confidence with how she spoke could not be garnered by a mere guardian. His suspicions were confirmed as the room was suddenly occupied by a two dozen or so glaring heads, their stares fixed onto him. Millions of ways to introduce himself, but against popular demand, he settled for a reserved wave with his pinky and ring finger curled into his palm.
“Who is he?” A voice exclaimed so excitedly even the freeloader living in his head couldn’t take offence to the words, even more so when Alex flicked his gaze to who had spoken. The elf with a wizard’s hood continued speaking, his olive green eyes fixated on him, unable to look onto his own eyes in the shade of his hooded cloak,
“Is he a new practitioner?” he asked, dealing with three arcane locks carved into the leather of a book strapped to his chest, before the cavern was filled with the noise of flipping pages.
“He is yet to decide,” Reyna remarked, her smirk betraying her surprise as to his ability to remain quiet, “Be kind to him, he’s asked for refuge for a moment till some things may boil over, his words not mine. Introduce yourself.”
He had to play the role, so to make sure he didn’t get wrapped up in his own charm, he stepped from the clone. His illusion remained stable as it hid himself from normal sight, but he could afford no time to appreciate his spell as he focused on puppeting the version of himself that could be seen. Covering his mouth with one hand, using the other to guide the action of his shadow clone, Alex sat on a nearby bench before making it hesitate as it started talking.
“Hello, I’m Nemo,” His clone was mimicking his expressions perfectly, which made the one panicking to find something more to add even more effective, “Which my parents gave me the day they abandoned me, because they thought I would never achieve anything.”
“Well… that’s quite a lot sadder than my name,” the elf remarked, flipping through his book before stopping and jotting something down, “I was named Cillian after my grandpa.”
He forced the clone to give a weak smile before speaking, “That’s a good thing to be named after, I like to think they named me after Odysseus’ cunning.”
Something strange caught Alex’s eyes as the words flowed. While they all had risen from their hiding places, none of the worshippers actually looked comfortable. In fact, as he observed with each passing moment, they appeared more and more stressed, like they were trying their hardest to wait for something particular to happen.
“Is that… Sucullos?” He made his other half point to the statue, his own eyes fixed on Cillian, his first instinct to suspect the most active person for signs of trickery.
The elf immediately started beaming, his hands still busy scrawling something in his notebook as he spoke, “You know him? I’ve never had the pleasure to talk to someone who has knowledge of our lord’s real name.”
His reaction was genuine, but there was always a chance of a hidden agenda, so Alex made his clone continue, “I was stuck in a library for a month, and it led to me having a very strange knowledge pool.”
Something caught his attention from the corner of his eye, a man that was still hiding behind the stone benches, emerging from the cover wielding a gigantic braided rope, rune stones woven into the line. “I would love to chat more afterwards,” The elf proclaimed, and every single person, except the man with the rope, dashed behind him.
The man swung the rope around his body before wrapping it around his leg to flick it forward. Forced to dodge under the line even while being invisible, Alex didn’t feel any intent directed towards him, and as he glanced back at his shadow self, he saw the aim of the attack.
The braided threads wrapped around his guide’s waist, the runes embedded within the rope shining with the glow of the sun, allowing him to read what spell they were associated with. Confusion spread across Reyna’s face as she was thrown by the braided rope, the added strength of the magic almost made her seem as light as a feather. Her wings unfurled to extension as she sailed through the air, flapping furiously to regain control of herself, her voice filled with panic as she shouted, “YOU FOOLS, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?!”
The elf had clearly planned that, not even looking at the furious vampire hovering behind him. “Protecting you, Re– Lady Reyna,” Cillian proclaimed in attempted heroism, the effect diminished by the voice crack, before ripping a page from his notebook and throwing it in front of him.
He commanded his clone to go defensive, sending facsimiles of his dagger and sword to it. As his other half wielded the dull blades, Alex stood and walked around the benches to reach the group huddled around their god’s sculpture, stifling an oncoming yawn with his hand. Unfortunately, his attention was on the piece of paper, and the slip of his mind forced his clone to yawn as well.
Any other person would’ve been infuriated, but it seemed the entirety of the room was focused on the piece of cotton floating in the air, which had started to unfurl to an extent not physically possible. Layers that shouldn’t have existed unfolded into new blankets of the paper, till he could make out what the elf had scrawled onto it.
“Fflamau, trowch beth bynnag sy'n eich cyffwrdd yn lludw!” A moment of elation bubbled up inside of him as Cillian cast, the spell’s similar to the base his partner used, but it was soon replaced with alarms ringing in his mind.
The paper burned with a furious green blaze, leaving in its place a magic circle twice his height and made of ten or so layers of unstable red mana strings. The sight did make Alex step through the shadows to emerge behind the elf, his invisibility spell shimmered a bit as it crossed into two dimensions in short succession. Fortunately, everyone around him was focused on the giant, churning sphere of blue flames that exploded into existence from the magic circle. The mass of fire hung in the air for a moment, stabilising, shrinking as the inferno increased its ferocity, the ball shrinking somewhat before it was hurled towards his clone.
The force of the spell would’ve ended any other fight if it was about to hit someone as squarely as it was going to, but since his clone was stable enough as is, he simply retracted itself into its own shadow. The sight was shielded by the enormity of the fireball, along with the glacial radiance at which it filled the room, so Alex’s mind was far more concerned with what to do after it hit its mark. He could end his illusion and appear to materialise behind Cillian, that would scare the other’s enough for them to listen for a bit longer, but he couldn’t help himself. He needed to know what the elf would do if this uber powerful attack utterly failed. There was a want to know what more options he had. There were seldom moments in his illustrious career where he could just truly enjoy the company of his thoughts.
Moments as the fireball exploded, the room was enveloped in a blue inferno, vaporising the stone benches around it, pushing the air to its limits, compressing it till it banged, the noise adding to the eruption of the spell, deafening whoever was unfortunate enough to stand in its vicinity. The force was somewhat mitigated by Cillian throwing another page from his spell book into the air, shielding himself as it bloomed into a shield to protect those behind him. The smell of melting rocks was able to pass through, and as he sniffed the air, it almost made Alex feel nostalgic.
“YOU IDIOT!” Reyna screamed at the elf, her eyes reddening with anger, the heightened emotions causing her to lose control of her monstrous side, her teeth sharpening into daggers as her tongue whipped at Cillian.
“Why are you angry at me?” He responded, the words filled with a relatable mix of confusion and innocence, “Tiffany heard his voice through the tunnel and found it similar to what she heard in the morning. If he’s the same person as the one with the paladin, then he should be fine, just unconscious.”
“AND IF HE WASN’T?!” The vampire retorted, somehow her cheeks turning crimson as her feet landed on the ground, betraying everything he knew about vampires.
The elf paused, his eyes glazing over before he admitted, “I– uh, I didn’t think that far ahead.”
Putting his hand over his mouth, Alex yanked his clone from its shadow before making it say, “Ah, happens to me a lot more than I would like it to… Didn’t your mother tell you to never attempt a surprise attack without confirming it will work beforehand?”
The shock on Cillian’s face almost made him chuckle before catching himself, the elf flicking around to see his clone emerge unscathed from the dust plume. Immediately, he flipped through his spellbook before taking out a double page from it and throwing it towards the clone, muttering something under his breath as he did, “I’m sorry for using your life’s work for this, Master.”
For once, hesitation flared within him, not by his own thoughts but by the actions of another, the paper dissolving into a floating ball of pure unadulterated mana. The ripples that emanated through the air from it felt warm as they stirred his own mana, the magic trying furiously to form into something. It hummed, screamt, and whistled as the sphere of white shifted from fire to water to pieces of diamond. Alex had seen the sight before, spells without any visual or mental component, utilising the oldest forms of magic as a base to create ones never thought of before.
But this was different. It was pure chaos, waiting to be restrained, growing bigger as it sapped the mana in the air, yet the elf did nothing. He was furiously flipping through his notebook, looking for something, no doubt an incantation of sorts. Shadows slithered from the dark corner of the rooms, the illusion of his clone failing as Alex shifted his focus to preparing contingencies if the orb failed, amalgamating the shades with the power latent in his domain.
MY domain.
We’ll talk later, maybe in the presence of a therapist.
“Here it is!” Cillian finally proclaimed, his hand shooting forward, causing the orb of mana to streak through the room. It was too fast for even his eyes to track it perfectly, but the sphere left in its trail strings of magic that came together to form a magic circle with his clone dead centre. The layers spun violently as the mana trapped within were charged till the spell glowed as bright as Artemis’ arrows, waiting to be unleashed by a couple of simple words. Excitement burst within him, his mind running through the countless ideas it had of what the spell could do.
The elf took a deep breath, grimacing as he shouted, “TESTIUM TORSIO!”
Alex was on the brink of losing it completely as the circle burst into a violent white light before dissipating with its aim accomplished. Even if he was immortal, it would’ve taken aeons for him to think of that as the target of the spell. Technically, it would be immensely effective against at least half of all living beings, not even gods would have a solution to it.
“How is that possible?” Cillian questioned, his words guided by his confusion as he saw his clone standing there unaffected by the most torturous event in a man’s life.
“Oh no,” Reyna muttered, unaware the source of her worry was standing below her. He couldn’t focus on either, Alex actively biting his tongue to stop himself bursting into incoherent cackling, he let go of his clone, letting it dissolve into inky wisps that were consumed by the shadows beneath.
Before Cillian had a chance to react to his other half’s sudden disappearance, he swung his leg at his shin, wrapping one hand around the elf’s shoulder, his other retrieving his dagger. The impact forced his illusion to break, falling like dominoes from the points of contact. He swung both of them on the balls of his feet as the breaking spell made its way up his body, revealing his grinning face to the ones behind as he rested his blade at the wizard’s neck. He couldn’t help it, restraining his laughter as he uttered, “Unfortunately for you, my balls are made of steel.”
There were at least three chuckles in the crowd, the perfect reaction to his words, but now that he had instilled the fear greater than their god could hope to, it was time for some calm conversation. Flipping back his hood with his dagger, letting the blade fall into his cloak, he patted down the elf’s hair, yanking his spellbook in the process.
“Now then,” He began, bringing the book to his eyeline, “Since we’ve calmed down a bit, let us participate in the second-oldest method of dealing with conflict and talk it out.”
He had to be cursed, other than the demoness living in his head, there had to be some power in the universe that enjoyed seeing him climb out of the depths of chaos. As the last word left his mouth, his heart hoped to have a lax discussion, but his mind was jealous of his partner currently battling an enemy that truly intrigued him. Yet, it still prepared what was required for what was required for the questioning, and then the roof shuddered.
A thundering noise echoed from the encasing walls, and time almost slowed down for him as his eyes gazed upon the first crack, his head turning before any other. Even as his perception sped up to compensate, the fault in the roof splintered outwards like the branches of a lightning strike. There was no time to think, to command the shadows under his control, only one choice remained to shield everyone. Fortunately, the dark corners of the room were already connected to the other side.
Alex reached within the depths of his mind, deeper than the bellows where he put things that were on the cusp of being forgotten, extending a piece of himself like offering a hand to a hungry beast. The Empress grabbed ahold without hesitation, and his mind delved into turmoil as she warred against his thoughts. Necessary pain as the domain of darkness opened itself like a flower taking in the first rays of the day, exposing him to what was hidden beneath his small island in a sea of chaotic order.
Time was of the essence, and a grin forced upon his face as he tapped into the primordial darkness. His muscles burning like lava ran through them, forcing the pure umbra out from the shadows surrounding him, following his hands as they formed a dome around the group behind him, covering their idol as well. The roof finally succumbed, and shards as big as houses rained upon them, barely giving him the time to push Cillian into Reyna’s arms. It was easy to dodge the bigger pieces, the smaller ones crumbling under his xiphos’ blade, but his attention was on what had dropped in along with the ground above.
He saw the head of a hammer he had been on the wrong end too many times, the weapon lacking its wielder. The shine of copper and obsidian caught his eye soon after, streaks of amber and red following the two, but the golden locks didn’t seem attached to falling armours. His control over the shadows behind him fell as they hurtled toward the pile of rubble that now made the floor, the darkness preparing to cushion the diving duo, his muscles burning again as primaeval mana coursed through them. It was all for naught, the stale air that he breathed dashing towards his partner, directed by her as they escaped towards the hole above.
As Elyza’s feet landed on the top of the wreckage, it allowed Alex to wrestle control of his thoughts from the freeloader. His mind encased her within the quadrant where she was currently wreaking havoc, pushing her towards the back before restricting her influence as much as he could, cutting her off from their domain. Throwing the demoness back into the depths of his mind, the cost of colluding with her made itself, unable to push her beyond the place where he sent memories to die, allowing the Empress another hold on his soul. But the benefit outweighed the strain he experienced tenfold.
Selfish little bastard.
The words were ignored as his partner looked over to him, her shining emerald eyes looking into his, before they darted behind him. “Cillian?” Her voice was crisp, even as the echoes of crumbling rocks bounced off the walls.
Joy instantly flared up within him, but it wasn’t the situation for the emotion, so he gave her a smile before looking back at the elf, “Oh, we’re definitely going to circle back to that.”
“COME DOWN HERE AND FACE ME LIKE A MAN!” Bee’s voice bellowed in the shrunken space, reminding him of reality. He dashed over towards his friends, jumping off of crumbling footholds to reach them, almost losing his footing as he saw his dear old friend’s hair absolutely tattered. It had been forcefully cut by something, only remnants of her intricate braid remaining.
Scanning her for injuries, Alex saw her holding her broken helm in one hand, cleanly cut into pieces. “Help the others get to safety,” He instructed his rage-filled friend, snapping her out of the emotion for her to think for a moment.
She protested, “We’re underground, I have the advantage.” Unfortunately, her eyes betrayed her true feelings in the matter.
“That means you have the best chance to get them all out alive.”
She grumbled some profanities that would put pirates to shame, letting out a shrill whistle towards the worshippers, whispering as she passed him, “Get revenge for my hair, or I’m slapping you to death.”
“Hello,” Elyza remarked, ears perpendicular to her head, most definitely thinking of how to beat whoever had attacked, not even looking at her beloved partner.
“Hi,” Alex replied, the grin on his face widening, “What is Mr. Shu’s hiding beneath his sleeves.”
A sigh escaped his lips, “Easier to show you than to explain.” Before he had the chance to point it out, she suggested, “We shall talk about my past after we deal with him.”
“Did you at least miss me?” He remarked, looking at the bright blue sky, a silhouette of a falling man blocking part of his view.
She hesitated before answering and that was all he needed as she instructed, “Don’t let him land, the more open the area the better the chances.”
His shadow swirled around his feet as he prepared for her call, Alex confirming,“Roger that, boss.”