Steeple Chase
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A loud crash echoed through the ruins of the marketplace in the wake of Vreena’s devastating attack, it was a blast so powerful it left behind a miniature trench that served as lasting proof of its trajectory. A large dust cloud was now rising up from the impact site, so the silhouettes previously staring us down were being masked by the wave of dust and debris.
“Haah....Haah....”
Vreena dropped to one knee, using her wooden staff to support her now hunched frame. The sharp spike in her mana only a few seconds ago had now completely vanished and she was back to, if not below her usual mana capacity. That opening move just now was well warranted, but the repercussions of using such a deadly attack were starting to take hold. Her hands were quivering wildly as if she had temporarily lost control of her own motor functions, a side effect that likely originated from her withstanding the recoil and vibrations from that blast just now.
Quickly shrugging off her exhaustion however, she immediately issued her next command to me-
“Its not over yet! Liam, grab Emma, we’re making a run for it!”
I followed her directive without any hesitation, rushing over to Emma, I grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet before crouching down and making way for her to climb onto my back.
“Li-Liam, there’s no way you can-”
BANG
Before she could even finish, a large crash echoed from within the rising dust cloud and a familiar golden gleam was peering at us with no regard for the murderous intent it was oozing. Soon after, the shockwave from a blood lusted growl blasted away the veil of dust like a conjured storm, sending waves of pressure and hostility back at us as our adversaries boldly made their way back to the forefront of the makeshift battlefield.
“You’ll pay for that old woman.” Gavin scowled, cracking his knuckles against his open palm.
“Let’s just do this, she’s lived more than long enough anyway.” Carelessly shrugging her shoulders, Amaris responded from her seated position atop the rage filled beast.
The tension in the air was growing by the second, so much so that I could gradually see the faint glimmer of hope leaving Vreena’s eyes, she obviously couldn’t keep this up for much longer.
“Emma, get on now!” I chimed through gritted teeth, snapping her out of her stunned daze with my irritant voice. “Eeek!” She yelped, throwing herself onto my back as if she was about to fall flat on her face. Her small fingers dug into the thin fabric of my clothes, holding on for dear life.
“I’m ready, Elder Vreena.” Filling my tone with resolve, I called out to the strained old woman that was now rising back to her feet. She stared at me for a few seconds before giving me a nod and smiling to herself.
“You’re one hell of a kid you know....” muttered Vreena.
Now orienting the wooden staff horizontally in both her hands, she took a few steps forward as if to once again shield us from the destined onslaught. “Liam, on my signal make a run for it.”
Not even waiting for my reply, Vreena quickly spat another one of those coded spells.
“@#$%$*&^%”
Immediately after, the air around her danced as if it was being sucked into a vortex, although this time it wasn’t a single sphere, but rather several pricked constructs made from vicious spirals of parading winds.
They formed along the horizontal edge of the staff now firmly clutched in her hands, spinning like malevolent spirals of doom. Ulric, boldly staring us down scowled in contempt. “So, you don’t plan on giving up huh!?” He shouted from across the ruined marketplace.
“Not a chance!” Vreena retorted, and in the next instant, she unleashed the torrent of gale bound arrows conjured from her own mana, the rotating blades of wind shot forth like sentient daggers, intertwining and overlapping their respective flight paths like a lethal symphony of chaos.
However, the members of Brunhilde were hardly fazed, none of them even looked like they were about to move until Ulric firmly clutched the dual longswords on his back. Dashing forth like a madman, he unsheathed the bladed weapons from his back and in one smooth motion, he countered Vreena’s attack with an overlapping cut in the form of an “X”.
Of course, he was too far away for his own blade to intercept the raging barrage, but following along the trajectory of his gleaming silver blade was a projected slash of wind mimicking the motion of his swords.
Cancelling out five of Vreena’s seven cyclonic shafts, the tempestuous clash unleashed yet another loud ‘BANG’ that shook the surrounding area, the fierce clash discharged a bubble of violent winds that quaked the air itself with an ominous hum. Vreena’s two remaining projections had slipped past Ulric’s counter with little difficulty, forcing the members of Brunhilde to finally act.
That was my cue.
“Now Liam!” Vreena bellowed at me.
Inhaling a deep breath, I circulated my remaining mana throughout every orifice of my body, from the blood rushing through my veins to the very bones forming my core. The muscles in my body bulged as soon as the surge of mystical power had begun reinforcing them and without wasting a minute, I kicked off the ground with all the force this body could muster.
Emma’s wailing cries rang in my ear, but I had no choice but to ignore that for now, my body cut through the air like a soaring lance, and in the wake of my abrupt departure, I heard Ulric’s aggravated voice barely echoing within reach of my earshot.
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“Holy Shit! Don’t let them get away.”
Before they could collect themself however, Vreena shot two more of those swirling arrows at them, before promptly following in my lead by surrounding herself in a swirl of wind and darting off in a burst of speed that made it seem as if she was being guided by nature’s grace.
Now in the midst of my deadly sprint, I began filling each of my steps with more and more vigor. With the steady increase in my pace, the mild sensation of the evening air soon began washing over my face and I could feel it starting to circulate in my body, invigorating my blood flow and speeding up the rhythmic thumping of my heart. Soon afterwards came the euphoric sensation that followed in the wake of my body slowly heating up when being pushed to the limits of its physical potential.
Vreena was boosting herself with the aid of the surrounding winds, so she managed to catch up to my pace in no time – Even with my initial head start, she still managed to usurp the lead in under ten seconds.
“Think you can keep up with me Liam?” Her muffled voice called out from a few yards in front of me.
“Yeah I can manage this much.” I answered calmly.
“Wait, wait waiiit.....I can’t believe this is happening!” Emma squealed; she’d been squeezing her eyes shut up until just now, but I suppose travelling like this would be rather uncomfortable for anyone. Her body was much larger than mine and her hair was flailing about in the wind so seeing the path ahead of me was rather difficult. Instead of doing that, it was much easier to just block out the useless information and just focus on tailing Vreena’s soul. I suppose it was thanks to her order just now why we’d hardly ran into anyone even in the midst of all this chaos.
Dashing through the narrowed streets, I followed the flicker of Vreena’s soul as we cut through corners, alleyways and even entire buildings. She was using her wind magic to blast straight through them and secure the fastest route possible. Ever so often, she would glance over her shoulder just to check up on us, and every time she did, I would widen the edges of my thin smile.
“Liam! They’re gaining on us!” The girl's voice sounded as if it was on the verge of breaking.
“How close are they!?” I asked, exhaling the hot vapors of exhaustion through my mouth.
“Really realllly close...they’re just plowing straight through everything!”
“Tch...damn it...” I spat those words on instinct....just who did I even pick that up from...
BOOM....BOOM......BOOM
The thunderous explosions resounded from behind me, without even looking I could already guess as to how they were catching up to us that quickly. That wolf was larger than just about everything in this town so it must have been childsplay for it to carve a path straight through whatever obstacles were blocking that murderous dash.
Reacting to the strange sounds, Vreena abruptly halted her momentum, swinging around to take the rear guard.
“Go on ahead, I’ll slow them down Liam! Once you get past here, stick to the rooftops and head for the forest!” Vreena urged like a chief at war.
Emma’s grip on my clothes tightened the moment she gave that lonely order, still, we had little in the way of a choice right now. Obeying her order, I dashed around an adjacent corner leading to a blocked off alleyway. Quickening the pace of my steps, I charged towards the dead end, kicking off the ground and bouncing off the adjacent walls as I ascended onto the top of the building.
I heard a gasp of admiration come from the girl now firmly clutching my back, but it was soon drowned out by the sound of artillery fire. A devastating impact collided with the building I just mounted, disrupting my balance and completely throwing off my rhythm. I could feel the concrete structure beneath my feet breaking apart by the second, so I had no choice but to muster a gargantuan leap with whatever little momentum I had remaining.
“Kyaaaaaaah!!!”
Emma’s piercing screams were immediately drowned out by the sound of my feet cracking the concrete roof of another building, the riveting impact sent shivers through my body, but ignoring that was the best course of action right now.
“Emma, stop screaming so much or you’ll bite your tongue off.” I responded to her wailing with a voice steeped in temptation. She must have misinterpreted the meaning of my words because she immediately released her hold on my neck to cover her mouth with both hands.
Her legs wrapped around my waist like a coiling serpent, if this went on, she wasn’t going to make it. “No not like that! Hold onto my neck like you were doing just now but try to keep the screaming down.” I said as I leaped towards another building, this time perfecting my landing and setting my sights on our supposed destination.
Emma wrapped her arms around me for dear life, it was almost as if she didn’t quite know what to do in this situation, though I couldn’t blame her. “O-Okay, I’ll try to hold it in.” she stammered.
“Alright, let’s go then.” For some reason, getting her to calm down had somehow managed to improve my own concentration.
“Liam!” Vreena’s voice echoed from above me.
She defied the natural order of gravity by forming a small vortex below her landing site, using its updraft to cushion her fall and continue her escape as if nothing ever happened.
“Elder Vreena you're alright!” Emma happily chimed in, but her initial enthusiasm wasn’t even meant to last five seconds.
“W-what happened to you!?”
“Tch! Those bastards just started firing back that’s all.” She cursed, pulling out a stone spike from her shoulder.
“T-that’s....” I could practically feel Emma’s emotions spilling into me, I don’t know what she wanted to say but this girl obviously wasn’t used to bloodshed.
Yet another thunderous howl echoed from behind us, it had no doubt belonged to the beast that was now knocking over concrete structures as if they were nothing more than playing cards. Although we were effectively the prey in this situation, the sound of a bloodthirsty howl was oddly suited to the current atmosphere seeing as the full moon was now peeking out from behind the dark clouds.
“I’ll be fine Emma, once we get to the forest, we’ll lose them and meet up with Oliver.” Before Vreena could even craft another one of her signature smiles, she was forced to quickly switch gears.
“Watch out!” She shouted in a panic.
Reacting at the last second, I dashed along an arc to the right, opening up the space between me and Vreena before leaping off the building. Just then, a bright ball of orange flames crashed into a spot that perfectly lined up with my previous trajectory.
“Hey watch it! Remember we need the girl alive!” I heard Amaris’ high-pitched voice shouting at her lackeys from behind me.
Somehow, my own curiosity got the better of me. I gave a faint glance over my shoulder, only to see the murderous party hot on our trails with beaming smiles lining their faces. The one who’d launched that attack just now seemed to be one of Amaris’ bodyguards, I wouldn’t mind teaching him a lesson with my own flames but that would have to wait until I was no longer carrying Emma.
“Liam, we’re almost there.” Bursting through the dust cloud from the explosion just now, Vreena once again took the lead, acting as the beacon of light that was about to guide me through these harrowing woods.