Notes let Castor go as his body sprang up into action. The waves of pain inside him were one of anger and frustration, as he grabbed his heart and breathed heavily. He ran toward his enemies, not knowing or even caring if he would meet the same fate as his accomplice. Master Zoe did not give chase and Anthony watched as she let him run away back to the road because she knew exactly why he was so scared.
“What’s happening to him, Master Zoe?” Anthony asked.
“What happens to all Fire Mages when they ingest raw Emerald Leaf.” She quickly rushed over to his side, much to his surprise.
“What is it? What’s going on?” He called to her as she rushed toward Castor’s side.
“It burns, it burns!” Castor called as sparks flew from his nostrils.
“Son, you’re suffering from Wild-Fire Syndrome!” Zoe shouted to calm him down. “I need to help you release the energy before you...” Castor waved his hand causing fire to rise and stop her from approaching.
“Get away from me, you witch!” He called out in fury.
“If you don’t let me help you, you could die!” Zoe pleaded with the utmost sincerity.
“I don’t want your help...” His green bloodshot eyes looked over to Master Zoe with malicious intent. “...I want you...to BURN!” From out of his mouth spawned a furious flame the Master Zoe was barely able to counter.
She could not stop the fire, but she could divert its flames away from her. She parted the flames like a sea and split them away to create a giant Y-shaped barrier around her. Nobody was hurt but the grass caught fire even though it was soaking wet. So great was his fire’s heat that it evaporated all the water into the air and replaced it with white steam from the ground. Anthony could feel the entire area starting to heat up from around them as waves of air started to vibrate all around them.
“The ground is soaked, but he’s generating heat from every pore of his body.” Anthony sensed the steam in the air and even small fires breaking out dry spots.
“It’s the imbalance of spirit and soul forces in his body, that’s why only potential Water Mages can use that raw herb. If I don't find a way to disable him, he could light up this whole place like a powder keg.”
“Ms. Gaia!” Clio ran from her hiding place in the woods to stand by her side.
“What are you doing?” She was surprised to find her rushing into this dangerous situation.
“I found Ida in the woods, I was worried you might need assistance.”
“Your time’s impeccable.” She helped her back away from the heat. “Do you still have your medicine bag?”
“I brought it just in case.” She picked it up to show its contents.
“Bios, do you know anything about anatomy?”
“I am knowledgeable enough to find major arteries, but what does...” Before he could finish, Zoe reached into her back and pulled out a small glass vial of powder and device that looked to be made of a hollowed out fang and a small dried animal bladder.
She handed both items to Clio and then looked over to Castor, trying to measure how long before he was lost completely by glance.
“Prepare the syringe Clio, I’ll try to divert his attention as much as possible. Bios take the fallen away from here and make sure she’s not interrupted, it’s going to get very hectic around her.”
“Master Zoe!” He called before she made her first step forward. “Do you wish to save these men? Men who only moments ago threaten both our lives and everyone here?!” She turned to Anthony and recited these words with utmost conviction.
“A healer protects life, to understand that all life is precious, treat every life as if it were your own.” Her eyes were burning brighter than the inferno springing up the ballistic Fire Mage’s face. “Now get started, both of you!”
Anthony didn’t understand these words, but he knew they meant a lot to Ms. Zoe by the way she walked right into the fires of her foe without hesitation. If he wanted to help, the best thing he could do was follow her orders as he grabbed the unconscious Oceanus and pulled him over his shoulder. He followed Clio far away from the fight that ensued, but could hear cries of Master Zoe as she engaged the rampaging mage.
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Vomiting flames from his mouth like a volcano, Castor burned the field until it evaporated the water on the grass and caused a fire break in a circle around him. Zoe approached the fire and caught it in her hands, gathering it around like a sphere and then releasing it into the air to vanish into smoke. This wasn’t the most effective method, but it helped the fire from reaching the house and any vulnerable places on the property like the fields or barn area. As the flames grew greater with each passing seconds, even Zoe could not keep up with his erratic and volatile behavior. Her wooden leg was particularly vulnerable from the flames, preventing her from even getting close enough to tend and effective treatment.
“You witch...you witch...you witch.” Castor muttered while trying to control his inner flames. “This is all...your fault...you witch...” With his fire in check for the moment he turned his sights toward Zoe, the whites of his eyes now a completed shade of emerald. “Don’t...wanna be...civilized...savage!”
He fired a concentrated heat blast directly at Zoe, but so concentration it was like a flare turning bright blue. Zoe knew she couldn’t divert or direct a fire that strong, but there was nothing left to do and that was to counter it with fire of her own. Conjuring fire was the most basic of fire techniques, many magicians had learned to concentrate and control it into something divine. However, in times like this, you can fight fire with a greater fire or in this case a Fire Wall.
With one finger she drew a line of burning light in the field and with the second one created a fist that exploded the line into a great wall of fire. The tricky part was to maintain this explosion indefinitely until infusing every ounce of power in her soul. In her younger days, Master Zoe could have held up this barrier for an hour at least, but age and time had withered her stamina and now she would be lucky if she could stand for ten minutes.
“Are you guys ready yet? This won’t hold him for long!” She called over her shoulders to Anthony and Clio prepared the medicine.
The injured Mage had been taken out of the way and Clio was ready to prepare the dose except for one problem. She reached for the clear bottle of distilled water but found it was empty, and she knew why.
“The distilled water bottle cracked in my bag. I’ll need to find another source.”
“Can’t you use ordinary water from the well?”
“That water is contaminated by impurities.” Clio threw the bottle away in frustration. “I need to boil the water and gather it in its purest state or it could contaminate the anesthesia.”
Anthony thought quickly looking at the fires burning around him and the water of steam in the air. He looked at his knife and remembered that it wasn’t glowing like before, his recent experience gave him a bizarre notion. Without explaining himself he rushed away from Clio and headed straight for the flames.
“Hey, where are you going?!” Clio was confused as to what he had in mind.
All the heat was intense for him to get to close, some of the flames had started small fires around Master Zoe. One of those was close enough for him to handle as he began to breathe in heavy concentration.
“I hope this works.” Anthony began to recall the feeling he had when he was on the brink of death.
The memory of his pain and desperation was still fresh, but the fear of repeating such a process held him back as he thrust the blade in the flames. Being so close to the fire brought back memories of his own searing flesh, the spark of his hitting his head. He looked away, for fear of being consumed in the same manner as before. However, when he felt the fire subsided he opened his eyes to see what was transpiring.
The small ball of fire on the ground was being absorbed by the blade. A small warmth appeared on his head, not enough to notice any mark but good enough to feel some great heat within his body. His notion has paid off but he only hoped the next step would work out as well. He rushed back to the Clio with his knife in his hand and frantically began to explain to her his completed plan.
“Can you summon water to boil and gather steam at the same time?”
“I’ve done it before, but how are we going to boil...”
“Just gather the water first and pray I’m right.”
Clio held her right hand to her heart as she gathered a contaminated ground water into a sphere, Anthony took out his dagger and placed it at the center to try to imagine what he had learned in his first time he had attempted fire at age 3. At the time he didn’t completely understand but similarly he started holding his breath and exhaling, deeply into his stomach and lungs.
“Bah...” He exhaled as the knife lit up and bubbled the water, before he inhaled deeper and stronger than before.
“Baaaah.” He cried out causing the water to slightly evaporate, realizing he required more conviction and force.
This last time, he imagined his sister breathing fire with ease and him not being able to produce a puff of smoke. This time he remembered all the failures that led him up to this point. All the training, all the strife, all the conflict and imagine it as a great flame within his blade.
“BAAAAAH!” He cried, scarring Clio but the results were successful.
The water began boiling and scolding causing vapor to rise in the air above the water bubble. Clio had nearly forgotten to raise her hand away from her heart and create a second bubble of pure distilled water. All the while, Anthony kept crying out like a warrior caught in a frenzy. Nothing mattered, but the object, not even his Master who was slowly collapsing from her own flames.