“Let me handle this,” Damon gracefully glided his feet across the pavement, displaying a flowing pattern of martial arts stances. He then released his arms outward and focused his energy on the air around him, a spark emitted from his fingers and grew into a small fire that danced in the wind he had created. His movements appeared to mimic Tai-Chi as he waved his hands, controlling the intensity of the flames. Then, with one resounding stomp on the ground, a cloud of dust suddenly erupted, surrounding Damon's figure. He then lifted his arm and used his own blood to further concentrate it together with the dust, the water, and the wind within a tiny marble-sized sphere.

He glared at the marching Amahraspand, their heavy feet pounding the ground with every step, sending shock waves of dust into the air.

“Hand over the Luminescence,” Damon growled at Lowe while his eyes darted around between his comrades and the statues. He kicked at the ground, and his voice rose to a roar. “I need the Luminescence!” In one swift move, Anna shoved Lowe to the ground and snatched the crystal cross from his hands.

“What are you doing?” Lowe bellowed, but Leo shoved him down even harder as he tried to get up.

“Goddammit! I need light!” Damon shouted, his face turning red with rage. Anna stepped forward and placed the cross in his hands.

"Don't you dare break it!" Lowe scorned in resignation.

The ambient light turned into floating clusters before the cross absorbed them. Damon positioned the Luminescence right in front of the small, sun-like marble he created.

Two Amahraspands closed their distance to Damon. One of the statues attacked with its sword, smashing the shop building behind him. Everybody but Damon dodged. The other statues did the same soon after, they smashed the buildings around the group.

"Keep them busy!" Damon ordered.

Another Amahraspand swung his sword at Leo and Anna. Leo tried to shoot with his gun. Yet, he was only able to barely scratch it.

Leo sketched a javelin and peeled it off from his arm as a physical object, although, he bled.

“What's wrong?” Anna panted.

“Do not worry!” he said resisting the heat on his skin after being cut. “This is what happens when I draw sharp objects, my skin gets cut.”

Leo hurled the javelin toward the statue’s eyes and shot at his eyes. As the javelin got stuck in its eye, the statue shrieked as it lost balance.

“Get out of the way!” Damon shouted. He freed the overcharged light of the cross. The light pierced the small marble and became a gray projectile that crashed into the head of one of the statues, it was a cannon of pure energy. The shot pushed the statue down and beheaded another one. The powerful blast of energy kept going up hundreds of feet into the sky until it crashed against the bottom of The Palace of Jäävarasto, destroying chunks of rocks and trees.

Two now-beheaded statues charged toward Damon. He winced as the statues' blades came crashing down on him. The sound of their heavy blows echoed as he stumbled to the ground, aching in pain as his body was torn apart. His stomach was pierced, his shoulder gashed, and every limb felt broken. He felt each rib snap inside his chest as if someone was crushing them one by one with an iron grip. He watched in horror as the buildings around him collapsed like a house of cards. The two beheaded statues turned to dust as he lay battered, barely conscious, and bleeding from many open wounds when suddenly Arashi and Anna appeared out of nowhere and pulled him from under the rubble.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Run away!” Arashi yelled.

And when Damon reopened his eyes, a few hours had passed.

“Entertaining!” He chuckled.

“What are you laughing at?” Anna stared at him. Her yellow eyes wide open as she was seated next to him on a long, straight-backed wooden chair.

“I just wanted to know if those statues could survive decapitation... They couldn't!”

“Yeah, you saved us there.” Anna sighed. “Thanks.”

"No worries," Damon winked at her. "What time is it?"

“It’s a quarter to seven,” she checked his cracked pocket watch, before handing it over to him. “We might need to spend the night here.”

As he could tell by the shadows illuminated by dim light coming through the windows, they were inside somebody’s evacuated house. He had been sleeping in a bed in one of the small rooms.

“I'm a mess. I’ll need to apologize to the bed’s owner for staining it with my blood,” Damon chucked before coughing blood. “I need a few hours to recover.”

“It’s alright,” Anna smiled. “You must rest.”

"Miss Anna, Damon," Arashi interrupted, stepping into the room. He slightly bowed at Anna before staring at Damon. “We should attack in the morning.”

“Are you sure about that?” Anna asked.

“The statues are quiet now although they're still looking for us. We must rest for now.”

“You know, if you smash their head they die. Can you tell the others?” Damon asked, salivating blood.

“Leave it to me!” Arashi nodded.

“Return this,” Damon tried to get up, but Anna didn’t let him do it.

“Where the Luminescence?”

Anna went on her feet reached for Damon’s belongings on another chair and handed the crystal cross to Arashi.

“I shall go,” Arashi bowed, leaving the room.

Anna followed Arashi with her eyes as he left the room. “Do not worry, Anna,” Damon said. “He will take care of it.”

“I'm worried about you,” Anna spoke softly, her eyes averting Damon’s gaze.

“You don’t feel like you can do anything to help, do you?” He coughed.

“I'm... a nobody,” the tears brimmed in her eyes as she fought to contain them. “I joined Völundr looking for power, thinking that I could make a difference. But it didn't matter how hard I tried, even Leo was more useful than me!”

“I can teach you,” Damon said with a smile in his voice. “Let me show you what I know.”

“What do you know?” She questioned through gritted teeth, wiping away the salty tears on her dirtied blouse.

“My own martial art is something I've been working on and perfecting for decades, studying alongside the greatest masters from all over the world. And being an Arlo myself means I can also tutor you in Thaumaturgy.”

“For real?” Anna's eyes widened at the prospect of learning such powerful skills.

“What I did to behead the two statues was a combination of some stances together with an Aether control technique to create the essential elements: water, fire, earth, and air, and also a bit of light to transform them into plasma.” He winked.

“How did you learn to do that?” Anna questioned.

“Practicing with monks in the Far East, among other things.”

“Will you teach me?”

“Of course, when I die I want someone else to keep my legacy. You'd be the first person I reveal my secrets.”

Someone knocked on the door, Anna got on her feet and left the room.

“Is everything alright?” Damon asked, he heard her opening the door and then closing it.

“Anna!” Damon noticed a muted voice. Anna opened once again.

“Hey! Is Damon ok?” Anna returned to the room, followed by Leo.

“Welcome!” Damon coughed.

“I bring some medicine,” Leo beamed, he grabbed a potion vial from his pocket. “Panacea made by Völundr! Try it!”

Damon downed the liquid. “This is horrible,” he said retching.

“It should take about two hours to fully heal your wounds,” Leo said, smiling.

Damon fell asleep almost immediately.