Chapter 13: Jack; Shauran 20th, 344SR; 08:55
Jack cowered, shielding himself with his arms as Alexander lifted his foot.
“So this guy is Alexander Rael,” Ajal said nonchalantly.
Jack opened his eyes to see Ajal in front of him, slamming his left palm into Alexander’s chest, and shoving him off balance. ‘Huh! How did he...’ Ajal clenched his right fist, his vivid spirit focused on it as he swung forward and planted his fist into Alexander’s face. The noble’s nose cracked with the sound of a thud. Ajal pushed forward and launched Alexander into the house across the street. The eight-foot man crashed head-first and disappeared into the debris. ‘Wo-Woah!’ Jack looked at the hole with wide eyes.
“Holy shit-” Jack grabbed his chest, his heart beating rapidly as he caught his breath.
Ajal looked at his hand for a moment while Jack looked to the right. Eos was out cold, laying face first in the dirt.
“Did you have to mess Eos up that bad?” Jack asked.
“That’s bad? He wouldn’t stay down... And if I didn’t you’d probably be dead right now,” Ajal replied.
Jack looked passed Ajal. A significant amount of the house had been destroyed. Part of the ceiling fell. ‘He took him down... So easily... He is down... Right?’ Jack gulped.
“I heard his nose crack!” John ran over while looking at the hole.
“Is he dead?” Jack suddenly stood and asked, Ajal looked away from the hole he had made.
“The others are in the center of the town, we should go-” Ajal suddenly stopped.
“I thought you weren’t trying to kill people? Not that I’m complaining though!” John babbled at the thought of Alexander being dead.
“Jack, John... Run,” Ajal ordered.
“Huh? Why? You just beat Alexander Rael...” Jack looked puzzle.
Jack’s joy and relief immediately turned to concern when he noticed Ajal’s eyes locked onto the hole in the house.
“That guy’s strong so I didn’t hold back as much... But he’s already getting back up- go! Now!” Ajal demanded as Alexander charged out of the hole.
‘He’s still alive?!’ Jack felt his heartbeat speed up. Alexander tackled Ajal, the two of them were just inches away from Jack. Ajal shoved the noble back and jumped with a spin to wind up his kick. Alexander raised his arm to block. The noble’s armor shattered as Ajal’s leg slammed into it, Ajal pushed forward and sent him flying once again. Alexander flew to the left, crashed into the roof of a building, and descending into the crop fields in the southern part of Logos.
“Wow-” Jack uttered.
Ajal ran forward and kicked off the ground, jumping straight onto the roof Alexander smashed into. A purple light emitted from his head. Dust flew outwards from where he once stood. Jack stood up as Ajal fired a blast from his third eye, the beam collided with something and made a loud oscillating hum as the beam ricocheted in multiple different directions. Ajal jumped down out of sight after. Jack started towards where they fought but John stopped him. ‘Can he do it... Can he kill him...’
“We should probably get out of here, Ajal can handle him... We’d just get in the way. Those kids aren’t safe considering what just happened to that house,” John told him.
‘I wanna see him die, with my own eyes...’
“Jack come on-”
A giant pillar of green flame erupted from the crop fields where Ajal and Alexander fought. John took a step back, however, Jack wasn’t phased. The pillar dissipated, and some of the green embers had spread to the wooden houses.
“I have to see him die... I need to know!” Jack demanded.
“Huh?! Those kids are more important! We can’t just leave them there!” John reasoned.
Jack looked at the wagon sitting in the middle of the street, then turned his head at the pillar of black smoke behind the building. Green flames crackled and flickered off a few houses.
“I have to make sure he dies-”
Alexander Rael flew through the houses into the center of the town. Ajal ran by quickly with two scythes in hand a few seconds later.
“See? We don’t know how many nobles are here, we should go and help Reinhardt and the others!” John recommended. “They should all be in the town center now...”
Down the road at the south entrance, slaves ran out of the town in panic.
“Run!”, “This way!”, “Get somewhere safe!” multiple voices shouted from the crowd.
The ground rumbled from their steps. A blood-curdling cry echoed from the center of the town. ‘Did he do it?!’ Jack hurried through the alley between houses and crouched down. Alexander Rael was on his knees a short distance away from a green greatsword impaled deep into the ground. Both of his hands were gone, and his expression was made up of shock and disbelief. Ajal towered over him and raised his staff. Jack was speechless as Ajal slammed the back of his scythe into the noble’s head, knocking him unconscious.
“Oh my,” John skipped a breath. “He defeated him! Ajal beat Alexander?! Am I dreaming!?”
Ajal looked around the field, he spotted Sarah in combat with a hybrid royal guard. Without hesitation, he entered a full sprint across Logos.
“There’s Reinhardt! And... It’s Ben and Adam!” John pointed to two black-haired people on their knees who watched Ajal help Sarah.
“I know Ben... Who’s Adam?” Jack asked.
Jack squinted to see the two better. He didn’t recognize the short-haired one, but the one with long hair was familiar enough. They both had a similar skin tone and facial features.
“That’s Ben’s older brother, Adam, he’s the same rank as Reinhardt in the resistance,” John explained.
“They are the same rank? Who’s the leader then?” Jack asked.
“Oh... Well... On the non-unified side, Reinhardt and Adam are kind of the highest-ranked members remaining... Our leader is... Was... He’s dead,” John admitted.
“Oh...”
The hybrid Ajal started to fight wore strange clothing that Jack didn’t recognize. Their robes all looked the same, but each was a different color. Jack looked back at Alexander and noticed him writhing on the ground, his wounds seemed to glow green. ‘No...’ The noble curled up into a ball, gritting his teeth, and slamming his head into the ground repeatedly.
“Aaah!” Alexander let out a quiet grunt on the ground.
“John, please tell me what the hell is happening...” Jack asked as he hopelessly pointed at Alexander. “Because... I don’t know anymore...”
He felt his heart sink as he watched something grow out of the wound. Jack’s stomach started to turn when he saw a pale bone stretch forward out of the severed arm. ‘Impossible...’ Jack watched in complete disbelief, ‘It’s just like back then... I hit him with everything and he only got back up...’
“John we have to-”
A thunderous crash from one of the other houses crackled through the sky. Green lightning seemed to move as if it had a mind of its own and attacked Ajal.
“Go where? I think I’ll die if I get any closer than I already am!” John asked.
Jack watched the lady in the blue robe swing her katana at Ajal, someone else in black with a grey robe watched the fight from a distance as he stood over a defeated George. George tried to stand back up but the tiny hybrid pushed his foot down on him effortlessly somehow.
“Oh no, George!” John stood up.
“Huh? Wait I thought you weren’t going!” said Jack.
“If he doesn’t get his foot off George, I’ll, I’ll-!”
Jack looked at John’s hand. Even though he was shaking, his tone was brimming with rage. Jack grasped his wrist.
“Those kids... Get them as far away from Logos as you can,” Jack ordered.
“What about George!” John asked aggressively.
“You’ll get killed if you even go near that guy!” Jack grabbed John’s collar and shook him violently. “He hasn’t killed George yet... Just trust Ajal, he wouldn’t let anyone die!”
John was caught off guard by Jack’s intense expression. John glanced at the battlefield where the man in the grey robe left George behind to go enter combat with Ajal as well. John took a deep breath.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
“Where do we take those kids anyway?” John asked, his tone much calmer.
“Anywhere but here, Alexander Rael... He’s getting back up... It happened before too... For some reason, he just doesn’t fucking die!” Jack cursed.
The noble stood and the bone extending out of his arm started to split into the skeletal shape of a hand. At the base of the wound, the flesh started to crawl up, veins reformed, and his skin started to spread over it.
“We need to get those kids away... If those two keep fighting,” Jack shook his head. “You already saw what happened...”
Jack and John could see the farms through the broken houses, where flames rose from the burning crop fields. Several pillars of grey smoke reached into the sky above Logos and moved south. The thunderous impacts of Ajal’s battle forced the clouds away.
“If you don’t get those kids as far away from Logos, there would be no point in us helping them in the first place... John, go!” Jack ordered.
John looked up at Jack and noticed his determined eyes.
“You’re right, I trust you,” John agreed.
Jack and John made their way back to the wagon. But to John’s surprise, Jack ran past his house.
“Wait! Where are you going!?” John asked.
“Don’t worry, I have a plan. Just get those kids back in the wagon and get them out of here!” Jack replied.
“Huh?!” John grasped his head as he grimaced nervously.
Jack ran out of the alley in a rush and straight past Eos’s unconscious body, towards the rubble of what was once Carol’s house. He stepped forward onto the broken wood, he carefully walked over it, measuring the sound of each creak to find good footing. Sweat ran down his head, his foot started to shake and the rubble below gave out.
Jack’s heart skipped a beat as he felt the rubble drop, falling onto his back as the rubble slid down the dirt. Jack winced as he struggled to his feet and walked over to the center of what was once Carol’s basement. He lifted the rubble and a single glass device remained, with a pile of logorite right next to it and a tank loaded with the catalyst. Jack opened the tank, and began to fill it with handfuls of the logorite. ‘Ajal might not kill Alexander Rael... I don’t think I could do it... But, I must try! It has to be me who kills that bastard!’ Jack twisted the tank onto the device.
“Alright...” Jack squatted down and lifted the glass device onto his shoulder, he reached up and put the device on the outside of the hole before he walked back to the rubble to climb out. As he got out of the hole, he noticed Eos still unconscious on the ground. He looked up at the sky, a black bolt of lightning fell from the sky and crashed into the town. ‘Just leave him...’
Jack turned around but felt a storm of guilt stab at his chest. ‘What the hell...’ Jack approached the device, ‘Angels are all awful... They’ll stop at nothing to exploit all the non-unified...’ Jack was about to pick it up but a sense of dread fell over him. ‘Eos isn’t like that...’
“Dammit...” Jack turned.
Jack lifted the small angel under the shoulders, he wasn’t too heavy. He lifted one of his arms over his shoulder and carried him on his back. He listened to the young angel’s breaths as he dragged him down the path. ‘Someone like you gave Ajal a hard time- and you wanted to become strong... You already are...’
Jack brought him to the south entrance of Logos, Eos’s feet dragged against the dirt. He got him a short distance away from the town and set him down against the wooden fence on the path. ‘Why do things have to be like this...’ Jack breathed in and out and looked down at Eos, his hair was a mess, and he had several bruises on his head. Jack laughed to himself, ‘If we never met this would be a lot easier...’
Jack turned and walked along the edge of the town to what remained of Carol’s house. He picked up the device and made his way over to the house Jack and John hid behind. John was down the street, wheeling the wagon away back to the east entrance of the town.
Jack walked through the alley once more and observed the battle again. Ajal dodged multiple strikes while on the defensive from Alexander Rael. He seemed to be stronger now that Ajal was on the defensive.
“Come on... Come on... Come on...” Jack repeated to himself.
Jack felt sweat drip down his head as he held the device in one hand with his other hand over the knob to activate it. ‘Once I turn the knob there’s no going back... I have to throw this thing... My timing has to be perfect...’ The ground suddenly rumbled, Jack looked up to see another giant pillar of green flame erupt from where Alexander stood, a fireball flew through the sky and Ajal fired at it with his third eye. Jack felt a sinking feeling in his stomach while he watched the battle.
‘Carol... We never had a chance...’
Jack looked up and noticed multiple fireballs soar through the sky in every direction, one was even falling towards him. ‘Oh... Shit, shit, shit!’ Jack panicked and dived out of the alleyway as the fireball smashed the building. He held the device close to his chest as he rolled onto the street. The wooden debris flew over him. He held the device up and looked for any damage, to which there was none.
“What the hell! I can’t do this, I can’t do this!” Jack whispered in fear.
He felt intense heat from the burning house he had just gotten away from. The roof of the house crashed down. The embers spread to other houses as the green fire only grew. Jack sat upright and shielded his face from the heat as he stumbled to his feet.
Even Jack’s house had been hit by one of the fireballs. Wherever he looked he could see green flames. ‘Logos is on fire...’ Jack watched in awe as he heard someone shout from the other side of the burning houses, but couldn’t make out what they said.
Jack ran past several houses, until spotting one which was a good distance from any other fire. The flames were just two houses down. Jack noticed the door was left wide open.
‘Whoever ran out of here was probably too scared to close the door behind them...’ Jack walked into the house and noticed it was like his own, with nothing in it other than what he needed to get by. However, there was an assortment of gold items on the wooden square table. A golden ring with a yellow crystal embedded in it. Three golden coins no bigger than a fingernail branded with the insignia of a feather engraved upon it. And a golden pendant that sparkled even in the dark.
“Damn weakling!” Jack heard Alexander Rael shout.
Jack looked down at the trinkets in front of him, he quickly shoveled the gold items into his pockets. He then hurried to the left side of a window and peeked out. Alexander Rael and Ajal zipped around the battlefield at insane speeds. ‘Why isn’t Ajal attacking?!’ Jack squinted as he breathed heavily. They started to move around the edge of the town, he turned the knob on the device’s tank. The catalyst seeped through onto the logorite which immediately began to rapidly release green light and steam. However, Jack suddenly heard a thud hit the wall he was behind, dust was knocked off the window sill.
“Huh...” Jack uttered.
Jack peeked out of the window and noticed Ajal. ‘Wasn’t he over there just-’ Ajal suddenly ducked, and a green blade pierced through the house. Jack looked at the vibrant green blade sticking through the wall. ‘Huh-’ Alexander started dragging the blade through the wall toward Jack. ‘Woah!’
Jack dived to the ground, getting as low as he could with the device held tightly to his chest. The blade passed over, and wooden chips poked into Jack’s skin from the debris. He lay on the ground curled into a ball, listening to his own uneven breaths. ‘Ah! I’m okay... I’m okay... I’m...’ Jack looked up his eyes widened. The top of the wall leaned toward him. ‘Oh… Shit-’ Jack gritted his teeth and shielded the device under him, the wall fell onto his back.
“Ah!” Jack cried.
A blunt impact made him wince as he shut his eyes, part of his head took a hit, and his vision blurred for a moment. He looked at the device to make sure it wasn’t damaged. ‘Ow…’ Jack’s whole body ached. He shut his eyes as he felt his knees squeeze into his stomach as the wall pressed down on him. A green light grew in intensity, Jack looked down and his thoughts went into a frenzy. ‘Oh no... no, no... Not like this!’ He looked down in terror at the device glowing brighter by the second in his arms.
‘I only have a minute before this thing blows!’
Jack let go of the device and pushed his hands against the floor, the wooden planks budged slightly but his arms gave up before him. His entire body ached as he tried to free himself but couldn’t. Sweat dripped down his face as he breathed heavily. He could only use one arm to push against the wooden wall as he’d been pinned on his side. ‘What do I do?! What do I do?! I’m gonna die!’ Jack breathed in and out frantically. However, he remembered Ajal’s advice.
‘You can only control your spirit when you’re calm.’
Jack focused purely on breathing in and out. ‘It’s just like John said, there’s no point in being scared... Focus... Lift this damn pile of wood! Do it or die!’ Jack focused part of his spirit into his arms and pushed against the plank. He acted as a wedge between the floor and the debris. It just barely moved forward, but that motivated Jack to put even more strength into it. He pulled one leg back and planted it before he focused on that leg to push the debris up. With one leg and one hand, Jack got to his feet and held the wall up, he was now in a squatted position.
The light from the device blinded Jack, but he was focused solely on freeing himself. ‘It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!’ Jack thought as he looked at his bloodied hands, he didn’t realize he was bleeding. His arms wobbled as he pushed all his weight against the wall, grunting as blood shot out of the cuts on his arms.
With an added push, Jack felt the weight leave his arms and a flood of relief came over him. The wall was upright once more for a moment before it fell back towards Jack. He quickly grabbed the device and got out of the way. He landed on his side as the wood crashed into the floor. Jack didn’t feel any pain, still pumped by the adrenaline. He looked over the cut-down wall and saw Ajal and Alexander nearby.
Jack ran over the fallen wall, vaulting over the wall and entering the field. He looked right and saw Arthur looking directly at him with shocked eyes. Jack stared back at him, ‘Don’t you even think about stopping me!’ He turned left and saw Alexander hit Ajal with his blade before he ran forward and lunged at him.
“Die!” Alexander roared.
Jack spun the device around until he built up a good speed. ‘Ah!’ He gritted his teeth and let go of the glass device. It spun through the air towards Alexander and gave off a bright green light. Alexander turned and saw Jack briefly before his vision was blinded, the device exploded in his face. A ripple of force launched Jack off his feet, he tumbled against the grass to a stop. He looked up to see a cloud of smoke over the burning grass as Alexander still stood. ‘No way!’ Jack struggled to move off the ground, his eyes locked on the noble that towered over him.
“Jack-”
Alexander uttered his name as Ajal’s hand pierced right through his torso. The noble’s eyes widened as he looked down, a bloodied fist stuck straight out of his abdomen. He looked up at Jack, his head bobbing back and forth as blood bubbled out of his mouth. Ajal put his hand on Alexander’s shoulder and kicked him off to the ground. The noble fell forward onto his knees, still staring Jack in the eyes as he bled out.
“Jack- What the hell was that?” Ajal looked surprised.
Jack didn’t respond, he shivered in fear when he looked at Alexander Rael. His eyes were still locked on Jack, even with a hole in his stomach.
“Jac-” Alexander tried to utter but coughed up more blood and wheezed.
His eyes twitched before they finally closed. ‘He’s not dead...’ Ajal ran over to Jack and crouched.
“Yo, Jack? Are you good? You’re bleeding all over...” Ajal observed.
Jack looked down and saw his beige shirt, drenched in dark red stains. His body began to shiver suddenly as he realized how much blood he lost. Jack looked back at Alexander, he heard a slight wheeze come from the corpse.
“He’s not dead,” Jack uttered.
“Yeah, he really doesn’t go down. He’s really bad news... You’ve lost too much blood... Come on,” Ajal said as he lifted Jack under the shoulder and pulled him onto his back.
“Okay, let’s get out of here,” said Ajal.
Alexander still looked up at the two of them.
“He’s still alive...” Jack looked down at Alexander.
“Screw him, you need to get these wounds treated,” said Ajal.
Ajal jumped over the burning houses while he carried Jack. He descended towards the buildings and kicked off the wooden roof, he soared over the flames and descended into the farms of Logos.
“Reinhardt and the others went southwest from here,” said Ajal.
Jack turned his head back to see the destruction, his house had been caught up in the fire now as well, and he could just barely make out the figure of someone standing in front of his burning house. From his white and red coat, Jack knew exactly who it was. ‘Sorry Arthur... If it wasn’t for you... I wouldn’t have even lived to see this happen....’ Jack’s consciousness slowly faded as he looked at the town he hated so much burn. He closed his eyes as the crackle of the flames slowly faded.