Setting the trees on fire using BD was the best way to make Shadow Fang's forces panic. I was only concerned about whether or not any of the burning trees belonged to a dryad. However, the chances of that happening were low since dryads wanted to keep their trees as safe as possible. Putting them on the edge of the forest would be dangerous and unnecessary.
I watched the fire burn but stayed outside the tree line so that anyone who investigated would almost have to deal with me. The further I can keep Shadow Fang's forces away from the compound, the less Claymore and Mindplay would have to deal with. A sickening guilt threatened to pull me into a memory, but I had to stay in the present.
Beyond the fire, I could almost hear footsteps, but when I realized the sound was going at a familiar cadence, an orange blur jumped through the fire. I had enough time to block the oncoming attack, but something pulled me sideways, throwing me off balance. BD used her tail and wings to keep me from falling, and I was re-centered just in time to block the next attack.
I knew I was clashing with another blade, and it radiated heat similar to Chase back at the pyramid. Although I couldn't see him, it was apparent that I was fighting my old bully yet again.
Chase was picking up speed to the point where BD had to keep her appendages close to my body lest they get cut by the magma-hot sword. We couldn't fly away, but at the rate things were going, Chase would get one good hit in, and I would crumble at his onslaught.
With a wrathful roar, I charged Eversharp with a small amount of power and spun around the blade outstretched. The action left an arc of gold light lingering in the air even after I spun.
Chase wisely kept his distance as the gold arc would have cut him just as badly as the blade would have. As the arc's magic faded, Chase and I stared at each other as we stood fifteen feet apart. The fire, now on my right, continued to blaze on.
"Really, Joe. Why do you always feel the need to one-up me? Did you get a sword just because I have one?" Chase seemed different. He was angrier than before, which was hard to believe since Chase being angry around me was the default. Even still, he spoke in the same way he did back when we were in school. I felt strange at how nostalgic his tone made me.
"The lineage of Silver always had this sword." Once again, I was curious if that was true, and, like with Shade, BD didn't correct me.
"Why didn't you use it earlier?"
"Figured you and Shadow Fang would appreciate the handicap," I said sarcastically.
A lightning bolt went from the ground into the dark, cloudy sky, lighting it almost unnaturally. It was either the work of Claymore or Shade, but given the distance it originated from, it was more likely my brother causing his own chaos.
Neither Chase nor I looked in that direction.
Instead, Chase laughed.
"I missed this. The bantering before a fight. Those were similar times, even if you were a thorn in my side."
"I wouldn't have had to fight you if you didn't abuse your position."
"Perhaps. I never expected someone to stand up against me. I guess you had nothing to lose. I understand what that's like now." There was an air of humility surrounding Chase's measured tone. His eyes glazed over as if he was reflecting on past events.
In the stillness, I said, "Before I started to follow Shadow Fang, I met up with your father. He wants you to come home."
Chase shook his head with nearly imperceptible movements. "I can see it in your eyes, Joe. After all this, we can't go back to how things were. Besides, I can't let you live. As long as you are willing to stand in my way, I can't go home until I've put you down. Unless you bend the knee at my feet, I can't walk away from this."
A tree fell in the fire, causing sparks to swirl into the darkening sky. I raised Eversharp, and with it, a toothy smile filled my face. It had been a long time since I fought him, and finally, I could do it, knowing that neither one of us would hold back. I almost laughed when Chase stood his ground, even when I could feel my energy getting sapped away by my sword.
In a tone I almost didn't recognize, I replied, "Don't say I didn't give you a chance to run."
"Likewise."
-------------------
Mindplay watched as Claymore raised his staff in the air when Silver started his fire. In an instant, the King of Skyland changed his clothes into a star-studded robe as the top end of the staff glowed purple. The purple light dimmed but did not go out as Claymore used his magic to scan the area.
As the minute passed, Mindplay kept his eye out for anyone who would try and attack. He made sure the unique clip that Numig gave was reloaded, but he did not put it in his gun. There was a chance that the fight would be in close-quarters spaces, and he wanted to avoid getting caught up in the blast radius. The clip would charge the new bullets with fire magic over time anyway.
"I found him," Announced Claymore, and, without warning, grabbed Mindplay's shoulder and teleported.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Mindplay could still read Claymore's surface thoughts, so he was prepared to be moved before Claymore spoke. It was still annoying to deal with, but it was something Mindplay had to get over quickly.
Once the transport was complete, something immediately felt off. The room was completely dark. Mindplay almost felt sick as the off feeling reminded him of his time on Skyland. It was clear what was going on even before Claymore said anything.
"A temporary shadow realm." The monotone in Claymore's voice weighed heavily on Mindplay as it was different from his regular extroverted speech pattern.
As lights powered on like one might see in a circus tent, muffled claps rang in Mindplay's ear as spotlights drew focus on the top of a pillar with a platform high off the ground. Claymore and Mindplay also realized that they were standing in a ring with knee-high borders and soft dirt, much like what you would find at a circus, but past the border, it was still too dark to see anything. Back at the spotlights and on the high platform stood what looked to be a man with a dark gray metal mask. When all other eyes were on him, he took a silent bow that was immediately interrupted by Claymore.
Without hesitation, he reached out his hand, fingers out to start, and quickly squeezed, crushing the platform, the pillar, and the man.
Though the action stunned Mindplay, he quickly took a deep breath to stay focused on the fight. The masked man was no doubt the wizard, and he was far from dead.
There was no time to strategize with the king as what sounded like six lions roared in dissonant unison. They leap from the darkness into the ring at the cheers of the unseen audience. Mindplay projected his mind to see where the people were coming from, only to realize there were only three minds: his own, Claymore's, and the other wizard's.
Claymore used his magic to repel the lions one by one, and they reacted as one would expect. What was strange to Mindplay was how real Claymore believed the lions were. He took out his gun as more lions came from the dark and shot at one. The beast didn't react, and, what's more, Mindplay quickly realized the lions were more focused on Claymore.
In horror, Mindplay realized what was going on as whatever the opposing wizard was doing was eerily similar to what his sister could do.
Mindplay turned to Claymore and said, "The lions are fake! Don't waste--"
DANGER!!! Mindplay sensed murderous intent so close to himself he could practically smell blood. In a way, it was ironic that it was his blood as he received a stab in the back.
-------------------
Raya wasn't sure what she saw first: the fire rising from the direction of Amesbury or the creeping shadow in Stonehenge.
"Get down!" she screamed as the very shadow lashed out with black spikes that missed all of the Order of the Eye members. Many were even able to protect the less reactive law enforcement.
As Raya arose, she commanded the law enforcement to force the druids out of Stonehenge's perimeter, and they obeyed without hesitation. Between the black spikes and Raya's commanding voice, the druids were more than willing to get out of harm's way. As the evacuation took place, laughter came from Stonehenge, echoing as if it were coming from a colosseum.
Shadow Fang revealed himself, confidently stepping into the open under the cloudy sky and flanked by platoons of monsters and wizards. Raya knew monsters would be coming, but this was more than she thought Shadow Fang was willing to deploy at this point. The fact Shadow Fang was here at all was shocking to the monster hunters.
"You have impressed me once again, Immortal Huntress, Raya," said Shadow Fang in a formal tone. "You saw my attack coming even when I was doing so well to be subtle."
Raya ignited her blades and stood ready to charge in.
Shadow Fang continued to speak. "You and your band of killers did well at chasing me to the ends of the earth, but now my back is against the wall. Let's see how well you do against me when I actually try to bite back."
Raya raised her voice and issued a command. "Crucible, commence maneuver Veronica Delta."
As the army of monsters ran towards the monster hunters, Crucible pulled out a smoke bomb and released it between the two factions. The plan was to distract the army while Raya went behind enemy lines to get to the general.
Crucible led the other Order members straight through the smoke with weapons drawn and ascended abilities activated. Each member would spread out, with ranged combatants staying in the back and Crucible leading the front lines. Crucible's black bowie had the ability to create ten additional cuts in the air with each swing and could be manipulated to appear almost anywhere within a small radius of the swing. It was perfect for cutting down hordes of enemies, but Crucible was still limited by his own reaction speed and ability to perceive targets. In other words, the more people he was fighting, the less accurate the air slashes would be.
Alongside Crucible on the front lines was one member who could go invisible by decreasing his body temperature. It was an excellent combo since one falt of basic invisibility was that anything that could sense heat would see the "invisible" person. The downside was obviously the decrease in body temperature, which forced him to come out of hiding to keep from freezing to death.
One of the members in the back had telekinesis that was so precise that she could manipulate the trajectory of an attack with little effort and without drawing attention to herself. Of course, she was only to manipulate one thing at any given time, which was part of the reason she stayed back. The more objects she could see, the higher the chance she had of quickly calculating how much she could manipulate something before she had to go to something else.
The rest of the members had standard, enhanced strength and durability while being enhanced with specialized weapons, but these things would only mean something if Raya could reach Shadow Fang.
When the smoke bomb was thrown, Raya invoked her snake aspect to sneak around the army to decapitate Shadow Fang from behind. The vampire stayed back just as Raya suspected, as she knew he usually acted out of cowardice. She had to be quick while still going slow enough to not draw attention to herself. Despite everyone's attention being drawn to the central conflict, Raya was still in an open field and couldn't duck in cover until she got to Stonehenge proper with the newly grown trees.
Once in the tree line, Raya continued to use her snake aspect to stay hidden. She kept her eyes on Shadow Fang, ensuring his back remained turned to her. The vampire scent grew stronger as the huntress inched closer. It permeated certain trees as she passed them by. She crossed another pillar and prepared to pounce on the vampire with her lion aspect, but when she made it to the other side, Shadow Fang was gone.
Raya's heart stopped.
Before she had time to question what happened, her instincts flared across her whole body, but her lion aspect did not have the best reflexes, so a black arm grabbed her while covering her arms and restraining her legs.
Shadow Fang cackled softly from the shadows as he held Raya aloft as if he just caught a rabbit with his bare hands.
"What? Surprised that I got one up on you?" the vampire asked mockingly. "I told your Order that catching me was a fluke. Unlike last time, I'm far stronger than I was."