Chapter 145: The Brave One

Loh dashed to Kyriil’s side. The Black Amber spell granted her incredible bursts of speed and reflexes. But the arch-mage spell had its price. Her bones creaked, her muscles spasmed in pain, and her vision was beginning to blur, yet her will was unbroken.

She kicked the ground underneath her and propelled her body forward, like an arrow cutting through the wind. Kyriil threw himself to the ground. He was too slow. Loh swung her fist at his neck. A wave of light echoed out of the elf’s body. Loh flinched, her fist missed its target, and caught Kyriil’s shoulder instead.

The speed of impact still pushed Kyriil several feet away. He landed on his back, he rolled and quickly got back on his feet. With his good arm, he spell-casted healing magic over his injured shoulder.

“You’re fast, but I still have a few tricks up my sleeve,” Kyriil grinned. Beads of sweat ran down his face.

Loh wasn’t listening, her body was refusing to answer her. Her knees buckled beneath her. Shadow tendrils shot out from her body and kept her from falling. She wouldn’t last at this rate.

Kyriil finished healing his shoulder and opened his arms wide. Two orbs of light formed above his palms, twin beams of light shot out. Loh jumped up high, her body flew up to the ceiling of the ballroom. The twin beams followed behind her.

Loh’s shadow tendrils whipped out and latched onto Kyriil below. The elf flung his arms around, the orbs’ beams shifted and seared through the shadow tendrils. But, Loh only needed a moment of respite. She kicked down from the ceiling, twirled in the air, and came down with a dropkick to Kyriil’s head.

He jumped away and moved the light orbs to intercept. Loh was a blur, her foot landed on his shoulder with a satisfying crack. The elf screamed in pain, before his face smashed into the floor.

Loh tried writing a cantrip, a quick single-symbol curse spell, but her hands couldn’t stop shaking. Kyriil tried rolling over with a painful grunt. Loh’s shadow tendrils wrapped around his body and held him tight.

“Wait, a sec-” Kyriil gasped.

Loh’s hands curled around his throat. She couldn’t put any strength behind her grip, but she didn’t need to. Grey mana flowed into her hands. She casted a drain spell, specifically aimed at not just draining, but absorbing his life force.

Loh grinned maniacally, she could feel his life energy flow into her body and begin to mend the menagerie of wounds that ailed her. A single body would be far from enough to heal her injuries, but it would be enough to keep her standing a little longer. Kyriil’s skin began to grow pale, his body shook and his eyes rolled up.

“Let go of him,” a strong yet quiet voice resounded throughout the ballroom.

Loh sighed, she wasn’t finished draining the elf. Her body’s heat levels were reaching their limits fast. She would die of internal overheating if she didn’t end this quickly.

Loh released her hands from around the unconscious elf’s neck. Her shadow tendrils faded away. She pushed herself to her feet and turned to face the new intruder. Her muscles tightened and her eyes widened.

A tall blue-skinned man, wrapped in white robes, stood in front of her. His grey hair was short and fell right above his purple eyes. His features were rugged, his pointed ears did not droop in the slightest, his irises were dark, not pale, and his pupils were round without any undulation, but the resemblance was nonetheless uncanny. He reminded her of Stryg.

“Who are you?” Loh asked.

“It does not matter,” Vaughn said calmly.

“You don’t look like one of Mora’s men,” she narrowed her eyes.

“Neither do you.”

Loh bolted past Vaughn’s line of vision and attacked with a high kick to his temple. His arm shot out and caught her foot. Pitch-black veins covered his body. She gasped.

“You are not the only one who can cast Black Amber,” Vaughn pushed her foot away.

She jumped back and raised her hands in a battle stance.

Vaughn shook his wrist. “That agility spell is quite powerful. Few are capable of casting it. You are not one of them. Your body cannot keep up with the arch-mage magic and is breaking down. Your spell is imperfect, it makes you slower than me.”

“I’m fast enough,” she sneered.

His figure blurred. Loh wheezed in shock and pain. The world spun around her. Her cheek smashed into the marble floor as her body skidded across the ground like a skipping stone. Her vision was a smudge of black and red, her left eye began swelling shut.

Vaughn stood above her. “No, you are not.”

Loh tried to breathe, every breath felt like a dagger was being driven into her chest.

She looked up at him with her one good eye. Arch-mage.

Loh had only seen him for a moment. He had been a flicker in her sight. Before she realized it, he had punched her in the ribs, breaking several on impact.

“Hm, your Black Amber spell was released. Or were you just incapable of holding it any longer? No matter, it seems your body is already failing,” Vaughn placed his foot on her neck.

Loh tried to take a breath, she only managed to choke on her own blood. Vaughn’s black veins returned back to normal as he looked her over.

“Ruptured veins all throughout the body and severe damage to the internal organs. Not to mention the broken bones and punctured lung I just gave you. It’s a wonder you are still conscious,” he tilted his head.

Vaughn’s arm snapped up and caught Maximus’ ax in mid-swing. The arch-mage’s arm had gained a bronze sheen in the blink of an eye. Maximus gritted his teeth and tried pulling the ax away, but Vaughn’s vigor-spell-enhanced arm held on with ease.

Vaughn turned his neck back to look at the centaur, “Why?”

Maximus released the ax and kicked the hybrid’s back with both front feet. A red ward sigil appeared behind the arch-mage, blocking the hooves with a resounding clang. Maximus yelled and swung his fists down on Vaughn’s head.

The arch-mage flicked his hand, a firebolt smashed into Maximus’ arms and sent him careening backward.

Vaughn raised his hand, a dozen purple tendrils manifested around his arm, curling around in a spiral pattern. Yet he did not move, his foot stayed on Loh’s neck.

“Why, centaur? You could have simply stayed quiet and pretended to still be unconscious. Instead, you attempted a futile sneak attack. And for what? To save your rider, your master? Really? I would think you would be happy to be rid of her.”

Maximus grimaced at his burnt arms, the charred flesh still sizzling. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“I’d like to,” Vaughn tossed the ax over at the centaur’s feet.

Maximus took a deep breath, “They have taken almost everything from my people. Our freedom, our lives, our children… But, they cannot take away my honor. If I stand here and cower in silence while you kill her, I would be nothing more than a coward. Then I would truly have lost everything.”

Maximus reached down and grabbed the ax, “I would rather die.”

Vaughn smiled bitterly, “Then you are braver than me.”

Maximus roared and charged him. Vaughn’s purple tendrils whipped out and latched onto Maximus. He froze, the ax slipped from his grip, and his eyes grew dim.

“Forgive me, brave one. Your mind is one I would rather not invade. If only you were not my enemy,” Vaughn said with a pained voice.

Loh tried to move. All she could feel was pain, her muscles refused to respond to her wishes.

The purple mind tendrils flared, Vaughn’s eyes widened. He glanced down at her, “You are Loh Noir?”

He shifted his foot off her throat and took a step back. She coughed up blood and tried gasping for air. Vaughn straightened his hand into an open palm, the purple tendrils faded away. Maximus collapsed, unconscious.

Vaughn kneeled down next to Loh and placed his hands over her broken ribs. A soft white light enveloped her body in a cocoon of pure healing magic. The white mana soothed her tensed muscles and began mending her ruptured veins and injured organs. She managed to inhale a breath of fresh air, albeit a weak one. In only a few seconds, her body was coming back from the brink of death.

Loh’s bloodshot blue eyes squinted at the arch-mage, she was unsure of what to think of him.

Vaughn lowered his head next to her ear and whispered softly, “I know you cannot speak yet, and you may not understand any of this, but I need you to listen very closely, Loh. The entire Ebon Realm is in grave danger. The Unildyr have been found and I cannot stop the events that will soon transpire.”

“Marek and everyone around him thinks they can use the Unildyr for their own agendas. Not a single one of them understands what the Unildyr truly are. They believe the Unildyr were simply discovered, that we were lucky to have found the book passage containing the whereabouts of the eggs. But It wanted the Unildyr to be found. It allowed us to find the eggs. Your grandfather must be warned as soon as possible.”

Vaughn sighed bitterly, “Not that it will matter at this point. Elzri Noir will not be powerful enough to prevent the current course of events, let alone stop It. You’ll need to find Holo. Tell Holo the Unildyr will soon awaken and It knows where the key is hidden. If we are lucky, Holo may know a way out of all this. There is no time left, you must hurry Loh, for all our sakes. War is coming to the Realm. We may already be too late to save all our people.”

Vaughn lifted his hands, the soft white light faded away, “You should be healthy enough to ride now. Your body is already beginning to overheat from all your magic, avoid casting any more spells in the meantime.”

Vaughn turned to Maximus and started healing his charred arms and the cuts over his body.

“W-why?” Loh murmured a raspy voice.

“There’s not enough time to explain, nor could I if I wanted to. Your grandfather should have all the answers you seek. Most importantly, he should know where to find Holo.”

Loh swallowed, she could still taste blood in her mouth. “Who is Holo?”

“A friend or so I hope,” Vaugh whispered.

“Wait, you don’t even know!?” Loh tried standing, but she stumbled and fell to her knees.

“Many years have passed, much information has been lost. I only hope your family has not shirked its duties.”

“I don’t know what any of this means,” Loh frowned.

“That is what worries me.”

“If you weren’t an arch-mage I would hit you for your god damn confusing message,” Loh clenched her fists.

“I was told you Noirs had fire in you. Good, you’ll need it,” Vaughn nodded to himself.

Vaughn released the healing spell, “Done, your companion should be strong enough to make the journey to the docks. Be wary of enemies along the way. Lord Marek has sent many of his warriors to burn down the ships.”

He placed his index and middle finger on Maximus’ forehead. Vaughn’s fingers glowed purple for a moment. He stepped back as the centaur began to wake up.

“W-where? W-what happened?” Maximus pushed himself to his feet.

“You live another day, brave one,” Vaughn smiled.

Maximus looked around for his ax. He found it, grabbed it, and took a battle stance.

“Stop, Max,” Loh held his arm. “We need to get out of here now.”

“You’re okay? How?” Maximus furrowed his brow.

“Ask him,” Loh shook her head and tried to get on the saddle.

Maximus helped her up. He glanced at Vaughn but said nothing.

“Do not mention anything we spoke of to anyone else, for both our sakes, understood? It has many ears and many eyes throughout the Realm,” Vaughn said sternly.

Loh bit her lip, “Who is this ‘It’ you keep talking about?”

“...The Monster in the Dark,” Vaughn whispered.

Loh felt a shiver crawl up her spine, “What? Who are you?”

Vaughn stared at his own hands, “Someone trying to be brave for once.”

“I hear people coming this way,” Maximus glanced at the doorway.

Vaughn turned towards the door, “You need to get out of here, quickly. Find Holo, no matter the cost.”

Loh surveyed the ruined ballroom one last time. She would find Marek, one day. For now, she needed answers. She needed to find her grandfather.

“Run, Max,” she said.

Maximus jumped out the shattered windows and onto the snowy courtyard beyond.