The Calm Before (3)
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A throbbing sensation was now sending waves of agony through my head, the tremors ricocheting from one end to the other of my skull like a barrage of thunder. As I slowly rose to my feet, I noticed the crimson veil of my own blood that was now gliding down the left side of my face, obstructing my vision in the process. Apparently I was bleeding, for the very first time in centuries, I was having my first real experience with the sensation known as ‘Pain’. For a few seconds it seemed as if the world itself was pulsing in sync with this persistent feeling, but as soon as I noticed the group of silhouettes now descending from the back of the large beast, I had no choice but to dismiss my body’s involuntary reaction to the ceaseless waves of agony intent on amplifying my suffering.
It looked as if there was a group of six approaching us, but one blink later and that number had dropped to five.
“Liam, Emma are you two alright?” Vreena asked from her position in front of us, her silky white robe now lightly flapping in the wake of a knee level dust cloud as it rushed past us.
“Yeah, I’m bleeding a little, but I’m fine.” I answered in a shaky voice.
“Owwwww! What was that just now?” Emma groaned as she slowly rose to her feet, patches of brown now soiled both her face and her lightly colored dress, but other than that she was doing just fine.
“Emma you’re not hurt, are you?” I asked the redundant question nonetheless.
“I’m just a little dirty that’s all, but- Liam you’re bleeding, I should be the one asking you that!” After noticing the stream of fresh blood on my face, she propped herself up in one smooth motion before using one of her white handkerchiefs to put pressure on the wound.
“Jeez....you choose to smile at the weirdest times....just what exactly is going on here?” Her usual enthusiasm was now at an all-time low, even with half of my face being covered by the now crimson cloth, I could easily tell that all three of us were now looking at the same thing.
“Well, well, well.....what do we have here Vreena?” Ulric stopped a short distance away from us, his expression now bordering on a grimace and a crude smirk.
“Ulric....just what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Vreena hadn’t shouted, yet she still couldn't hide the venom in her voice, judging by the amount of magical energy that was now being emitted from her body, the old woman clearly wasn’t pleased.
Most of the shops and stalls surrounding us were now destroyed, what was once a vibrant marketplace had somehow morphed itself into a scene of carnage in the wake of a single monster’s charge. I could feel countless embers of life slowly dwindling away as we stood amidst the wreckage, I doubt Vreena could do the same, but given the way she was acting right now; it was hard to find a better line of reasoning.
“I should be the one asking you that you old hag, I rush over here after sensing all that mana, thinking you were finally going to use the rune, only to find this....” Extending his armored hand the man aligned his index finger with the target now in his narrowed sights. “Why does a child like her have the rune?”
“What?....What are you going on about?” Shrugging off her initial confusion, Vreena maintained the subtle pressure she was now emitting.
“Ahh...Are we really going to do this?” Amaris replied in annoyance.
She walked up beside Ulric and reached her hand into one of the pouches strapped around his waist, mimicking her brothers gesture she extended her palm towards us, slowly unwinding her fingers to reveal a sight that made even Vreena take a step back out of disbelief.
“T-That’s......”
Ulric smirked as he snatched the item away from his mimicking sibling, much to her displeasure. Holding it between his index and thumb, he proudly boasted the object for us all to see.
“That’s right, this is a fragment, tyrant wasn’t the only thing we were using to search for the rune you know. I’m sure you can guess what that means right....Vreena?” Ulric’s taunting words sounded harmless, but they were in fact coated in malice.
A bead of sweat glided off Vreena’s cheek just then, she slowly turned her head to look at Emma, before gritting her teeth in frustration.
“That fool....” she muttered under her breath before once again locking eyes with Ulric.
Noticing the grimace on the old woman’s face, his crude smirk was starting to spread even further across the confines of his jaw.
“Y’know the good thing about fragments is that they’re just small pieces of a rune, so if you’re close enough to the real thing then it will start reacting to the original.” He took a few steps forward with the glowing object still spinning in his hands. It resembled something like an oddly cut crystal in the shape of a small prism with a deep blue color that was marginally darker than the noontime sky.
The closer he got, the slower the object would spin in his palm, until it eventually came to a complete halt with its tip pointing right at Emma.
“GRRRR.....”
The large beast staring us down from only a few yards away let out a sinister growl the moment the fragment’s tip had stopped on Emma, looking over his shoulder, Ulric chuckled at the sight before turning back to face us.
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“See...even tyrant is up to speed, there’s no use denying it at this point, that girl has the rune....or maybe she is the rune. I’m not really sure, and I don’t really care either way, but now that we know what’s going on, you're going to have to come with us Emma.” Ulric dismissively spat as if he didn’t even need any kind of confirmation.
In response to Ulric’s claim, Emma hurriedly stepped back out of pure instinct, tripping over her own feet and falling on her backside. She was panting heavily; fear and confusion had now usurped her features as they contorted in terror. “N-no....stay away from me!” She yelped, crawling away on her slender hands in a desperate bid to escape.
“Calm down Emma, you’re not going anywhere.” Vreena reassured her, summoning a wisp of wind that began swirling around her feet. “Let’s go get Oliver, enough is enough, we’re done playing your games you little brat.” Intensifying the speed of the swirling winds now surrounding her, Vreena cracked the space beneath her feet, as if responding to her own bloodlust, both her mana and wind magic were flaring up like a tempest from the very depths of her soul.
“Woah there!” Ulric jokingly muttered, leaping back a few yards to clear the range of Vreena’s magic.
“Heh....you say you’re about to go get Oliver huh?” He sneered at the thought, continuing only after his own Ire had dwindled. “I’m afraid he’s busy right now. It doesn’t matter what you want, or what you try to do, one way or the other, she’s coming with us.” Those words carried a frigid undertone, one brazen enough to convey a bold message to us all.
This was bad, the original plan was to draw them here with my mana, then when that monster started reacting to Emma, I would reinforce my body and lure them to wherever Oliver was. That much seemed doable, but now that Vreena’s here the situation’s changed, at this point I'd be surprised if this didn’t break out into a fight.
“Liam I know it’s shameful for me to ask this of you but.... you’ve been training with mana over these last two weeks right?”
I nodded my head in confirmation, she turned away in shame before continuing.
“Do you think you can carry Emma on your back? I think we’ll have to make a run for it.” Vreena’s question came with her back still turned to me, just going off her tone, I suppose there was no going back now.
My eyes instinctually shifted over to Emma, her right hand was now crumpling the fabric of her dress as she desperately tried to calm the rapid beating of her own heart. It was getting to the point where I could hear it despite the space separating us.
“Yeah I can do that.” My reply carried a sense of fervor even I wasn’t expecting.
“.....Good. The two of you stay close to me, things might get a little rough.”
I made my way over to Emma, taking her trembling hand in mine before embracing her with the gesture known as a ‘hug’. I wasn’t sure if it would work or not, but whenever this body would start crying in my days of infancy, this was something Julia often did in a bid to soothe my juvenile wrath. To my surprise, it actually worked, I could feel the beat of Emma’s heart slowing down to match the rhythm of my own pumping organ.
“It’s okay...you’ll be fine...” I whispered in her ear.
In response, she tightened her grip around my back, giving way for those moist droplets to gracefully glide off her cheeks, soaking my shirt in the process. Her sniffles were muffled, but I could tell that she was trying her very best to hold back the tremendous amount of emotion now nearing its breaking point.
Mixed in with her periodic sobs were a few words drenched in overflowing sorrow.
“......T-that man, Ulric......H-He killed my father......When they brough back his broken sword, he was smiling.....” That wasn’t exactly correct, but seeing as she was recounting some rather tragic memories right now, I decided to stay quiet.
“Emma is my face that scary? Are you really crying after seeing me up close? That’s kinda rude you know, Lennon, wouldn’t approve of that!” Ulric shouted from a few yards away. Gavin, Amaris and the other two guards chuckled in response to the man’s crude taunt.
Vreena clicked her tongue in irritation before ramping up the intensity of her magic. “Liam....get ready.”
Vreena took a deep breath, before chanting more of those cryptic spellbound words but this time they were completely indecipherable to my ears -
“#@!@#&^%+`$#@”
Suddenly, I felt the force of all the air in my surroundings being drawn towards Vreena, forming a dense sphere of air in the space between her overlapped hands. The vibrations being emitted by the small object were so fierce I saw her body being rattled from head to toe, as if she was struggling to contain the raw power surging within.
Her mana level had spiked to an unbelievable height, withstanding the barbaric force being emitted from her own attack, she extended both arms towards her target, the malicious gathering now standing a few yards away from us.
With her gaze still focused, Vreena issued a direct command to all the nearby locals -
“All of you, Clear the area! Things are about to get ugly, help the wounded and injured where you can and convene in the town square. We’ll meet there after this is all over!” With no further questioning, I heard the sound of countless bodies scattering from within my earshot. Her qualifications as a leader were quite impressive, even amidst all this chaos, she still held the lives of her citizens in high regard.
Amidst the scene of swirling winds and rampaging dust, I saw Ulric’s expression contort into one of utter terror, his face had lost the majority of its color, finally deciding to acknowledge the killing intent being emitted from the woman now bearing her fangs at him, he immediately began barking orders at Amaris and Gavin.
Intent on striking first, Amaris hastily yanked the dangling chain that was attached to the wolf monster’s neck. Just then, I watched as a few glowing incantations emerged on the monster’s collar, the creature released a pained growl, but that mattered little to the domineering girl. After that brief interaction, its eyes were filled with nothing but intent to kill.
Ulric darted to the side, opening up their formation and clearing a path for the beasts rampaging charge. Even with all the noise in my surroundings, the bellowing order Amaris gave seemed to overpower them all.
“Go Tyrant! Kill the old woman!”
With that single command, the ground beneath the monster’s feet cracked - It dashed towards us like a rampaging juggernaut, each of its footsteps shook the earth like a relentless drumbeat. Tyrant leaped at us once it had crossed half the distance, intending to devour the old woman now acting as our shield from the waist up. Still, she didn’t flinch, she simply adjusted her aim and released the embracing grip she’d been using to keep the deadly sphere under control.
“Tempest Core”
Immediately after uttering those words, the maddening charge of the large canine was brought to a complete halt. It was blown back by a blast so fierce that its body danced through the air before falling prone to the effects of gravity and landing even further than its initial starting line.