Ater Mountains (21.10.9978 AS)
“By Aetas!” A Werewolf like monster said, as he transformed back to a young, black haired man. “You didn’t need to kill her, you know! We could have still used her.” The blonde woman next to him rolled her eyes. “Shut up! As if I can’t control my strength!”
“So we won’t go back to Lunae yet?” The blonde man, who was coming from inside the temple asked. “No, no, we will go back, just right after the encore.” The black haired man said smiling, before starting to hum as he walked towards Dolores body.
“MOM!”
The black haired man paid the scream coming from the warehouse next to the temple no heed. He continued walking straight towards the woman’s body. He wanted to check on if she really was still alive.
As he was about to reach her body, the figure of a young girl appeared above of him. It was Laura. She performed a back flip above the man’s head and one of her legs swung down like a guillotine towards the man’s shoulders.
The man waited as long as he could before easily sidestepping the attack. The man smiled at the sight of Laura’s face as he grabbed her legs. Her facial expressions had turned from one raging with hatred, to one of fear and helplessness.
The man swirled Laura’s body around before finally slamming it on the temple’s wall. The force of the impact was not only enough to break all the defensive spells she had put on but also the hardening magic she had used to strengthen her body.
Laura’s body landed above Dolores’ unconscious body. She coughed blood. Some of her ribs were broken.
Laura hugged her mother’s body. “MoM… aRe yOu Ok… WaKe … uP… We… nEeD to eScApE fRoM hErE…MoM!” she whispered with a broken voice.
The man paid Laura’s words no heed. He just walked towards them.
***
Tristan could hear the terrified Sabrina scream “What are you doing?!” Into her Commu, almost blowing his eardrums away. He paid it no heed and he continued flying as fast as he could towards Laura and Dolores’ position.
On his way he summoned the Schattenklinge, a long two handed magic sword. He prepared the sword by sending his mana into the blade. He also did hold the item ‘pocket dimension’ ready for use.
His plan was to use the ‘Schattenklinge’ for a ranged attack, before using ‘pocket dimension’ to hide himself and his friends inside the barrier.
“Please retreat as soon as I activate the ‘pocket dimension’” he whispered into the group’s Commu channel. “No, I won’t leave you behind!” Sabrina proclaimed. “Please.” Tristan whispered sadly one more time. If he were to be alone with Dolores and Laura, he might be able to use his active bring them to safety. “Ok.” Sabrina said with a serious, but understanding voice.
***
Although, he wasn’t in range for a melee attack, Tristan swung the ‘Schattenklinge’ towards the man, who was slowly approaching Dolores and Laura. A slash of shadows poured out of the swords, towards the man.
One of the features of the ‘Schattenklinge’ was its ability to allow its user to control ‘shadow magic’.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
As expected by Tristan, the man easily evaded the slash by jumping back.
The man’s green eyes were glued on Tristan’s sword. He smiled happily. “I never thought I would see that sword again. It might just be a replica, but it still brings back a lot of memories.” Tristan did clearly not expect those words from the black haired man.
“This isn’t a replica” Tristan answered, trying to distract the man. “It’s clearly a replica. I would always recognize my annoying partner, no matter what circumstances I’m in.” The man replied, amused, before changing his tone to a more hostile one. “So Schatten boy, are you just that stupid or do you really think you stand a chance against me?”
Tristan who was standing in front of Dolores and Laura tried to sound as calm as possible. “Maybe I came to negotiate.” The man laughed merrily. “Negotiate what? For the lives of you three? For the lives of the three hiding at the southern entrance of the temple? Or perhaps for the lives of the six hiding at the northern entrance of the temple?
Tristan looked troubled. Even when using his abilities to the fullest, he didn’t see a way of beating any of the bards present.
The man gave a signal and some of the bards disappeared into thin air. Tristan forcefully swallowed his saliva. He knew what that signal meant. Still, he asked for confirmation. “What did you order them to do?”
The man smiled mockingly. “I ordered them to dispose of the vermin hiding on the entrance of the temple.”
Tristan could hear screams coming from the north and the south.
“Do you know what situation you are in?” The man asked as soon as the screams had stopped.
Before Tristan could answer the man’s words, Abigail’s body landed next to them. Soon after, it was Annie’s body that landed next to him, followed by Caitlyn’s body.
Tristan turned his head to the left, to avoid seeing the bodies of his companions, just to see how Richard’s, Seria’s and Leo’s bodies landed on the ground left to him.
“You know, I wouldn’t have attacked them, if you didn’t have decided to come down here.” Tristan could hear the man say. He had closed his eyes, because he couldn’t bear to see the beat down bodies of his friends.
He could hear two more bodies landing. Although, he didn’t want to, he opened his eyes just to see Oriana’s and Ernesti’s bodies lying on the ground next to him.
Soon the last body landed on the ground separating Tristan and the man.
“How does it feel to be responsible for the fall of all your friends?” The man asked Tristan once again.
“AHAHAhahahahah”
Tristan started laughing to the surprise of the man. Tristan was sure, the man just wanted to break him with his words. He was sure the outcome would have been the same either way. But he still couldn’t help but to feel guilty. If only he had told them about the strength of the bards as soon as he realized. Maybe they would have retreated. Maybe they wouldn’t be in such a bad shape right now.
“It’s useless to think what could have been if I acted differently.” Tristan said at the man while activating the ‘pocket dimension’.
The man was thrown back a few meters as a barrier of the ‘pocket dimension’ extended itself around Tristan and his friends. Tristan walked towards the only semi-conscious member of his party and knocked her down. With Laura down, he could now teleport each of his allies to safety without having to worry about their safety.
As he was about to open a gate to send away his friends he could hear the barrier crack. He turned around to check on what was happening. But he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The man was breaking through the barrier with his bare hands.
“No way!” Tristan whispered. The man didn’t even need seconds, to break the barrier of the ‘pocket dimension’ that was supposed to be something not even strong foes could do.
“How strong is he?” Tristan said, trembling, losing all will to fight.
“That was a nasty trick you used there, Schatten boy! If I was your ordinary mortal I wouldn’t have been able to reach you now, but…” The man was smacked on the back of his head by the woman. “He doesn’t need to know that!” She hissed towards the man.
“Shut up. I was a about to kill him anyway! So, I don’t care if he takes our secrets to his grave!” The man said, annoyed pouring ‘shadows magic’ into his left hand.
“Because you actually managed to hold me back for so long, I will award you, by killing you first.” The man said. “So you don’t have to see how I kill your friends.” The man added as he slowly walked towards Tristan.
“Wait!” Gabe, the blonde bard, who had been with them the whole time, interrupted the black haired man’s execution. “Yeah, wait!” The black haired female bard, named Mephis agreed.