-Samuel-

Samuel reappeared in Ahya, as he’d done the last time he’d returned, at the exact moment and place that he’d left. Reito and Raveonic showed no surprise this time, expecting him back at once. Minerva was gone, however, and Samuel wondered at that. She’d been within the room when he’d left. But it was yet another on a long list of growing questions that he pushed to the back of his mind, resolving to study that mystery when he could afford to. For now, he was needed elsewhere.

“I’m ready,” he said, looking directly at Raveonic. “I must leave.”

“Yes,” Raveonic said calmly. “But before you go, please humor me with one final request.”

Samuel did not comment but stood expectantly. The old monk smiled at how quickly the young Ancient had adapted and stood himself. “Please demonstrate your unique trait for me.”

Samuel lifted one hand at once, palm outward. “Laban.”

The air reverberated with the force of his spell. Though there was no energy or attack to deflect, the very space around his hand quivered with the power. Samuel glanced at his hand as he cast the Ahyan magic, and frowned in slight surprise. Something was different about it this time, he thought. Perhaps that it had been so long since he’d used it in this plane, but the very nature of it seemed… twisted. Then he realized. It was different because it had less structure. Just as he’d been touched with chaos, so too had his magic.

“I see,” he said quietly. “That is interesting. And useful, I’d dare say.”

“I’m glad to see that my prediction was accurate,” Raveonic said with a slight bow. “If I’m not mistaken, I believe you now can control any energy near you, even if it is not targeting you.”

“Really?” Samuel’s face showed his eagerness at the countless options that were available to him with the spell’s new version. “Please, let me try.”

Reito stepped forward at once, and cast a spell. He targeted Raveonic, but at once, Samuel put up a hand. The aura used in the ability turned sharply away from his target, moving to attach itself to Samuel instead. He felt a brief surge of power flash through his body and grinned broadly. The spell ended shortly, but he’d stolen it right from Reito. That was powerful, he thought, not to mention the fact that it dramatically increased his effectiveness against other mages.

“That will be useful against Knarlick,” Samuel said, thinking out loud. “But it seems that the time between uses has increased slightly as a result. I wonder if that’s the chaos, or just balance for the extra strength I’ve gained.”

“Only time will tell,” Reito replied. Raveonic nodded his agreement, stepping forward with a wrapped parcel. It was long and thin and had the unmistakable shape of a curved sword, the traditional weapon of Nihon-Ja. He offered it to Samuel, who accepted it hesitantly.

“This is a gift for my son,” Raveonic said, forestalling Samuel’s need to ask. “It is the best weapon for him. Will you deliver it to him?”

“Of course,” Samuel said. “But I thought he had Longfang at his side. Surely that is as powerful as any weapon could be.”

“Longfang’s nature has changed,” Raveonic said. “You know this already. His power, not to mention his ability to act as a weapon for his master, is not what it was. It is no longer focused on a single point, but spread throughout Shigeru’s bloodline, to be strengthened by those who come after.”

Samuel nodded, though he wasn’t quite sure he understood. Much that he heard, saw, and learned from the ancient people of the world often felt his way. Their words and actions were a mystery, one that could only be unraveled with the passage of time. Somehow, Raveonic knew that Shigeru and he would meet soon, and sooner than his student could return to his home. Samuel put the weapon in his magical storage, then offered Raveonic a deep bow.

“I know our time was short, but I thank you for leading me to knowledge.”

Raveonic returned the bow, just as deep. “I am honored to meet you, Samuel Bragg. I have glimpsed your life, and know you are destined for greatness. I am happy to have helped you on your path.”

Samuel smiled weakly at that. He was slowly becoming accustomed to the weight of the legend that was growing on his shoulder, but it was still a bit discomforting. “I’ll do my best.”

He made a quick gesture in the air before him and felt Ahya’s energy surge up to surround him. His last fleeting glimpse was of Reito and Raveonic sharing a slightly nervous glance, perhaps thinking that he couldn’t notice. Well, he thought, as the earth swallowed him and carried him away, even masters such as them were bound to be uneasy with the current goings-on of the world. He wondered how Raveonic viewed his circumstances, the holder of great power but stuck where he was, unable to do anything outside of his purpose.

Samuel reached his goal in seconds and reappeared at the top of the hill where he’d spoken with Grimr. To his surprise, he was standing outside a large tent that had been constructed recently. Grimr was just exiting it and hesitated slightly as he spotted Samuel. His usual smirk appeared, and he gave a slight nod in greeting, then sank into the earth, using his magic to travel away. Samuel, who had opened his mouth to greet his friend, paused, thrown off by the sudden sighting and departure. Shaking his head, he studied the tent closely. The flag in front bore the heraldry of Gorteau, marking it as a friendly tent.

With his mana, he could easily identify three of the people in the tent. There was the deep, powerful pool of Ki that belonged to his former apprentice and teacher Tobito. Aren Gorteau was there as well, he noticed, not surprised. The man was more active in the kingdom’s interest than his elder brother. Then there was Rainhall, he thought, resisting the urge to sigh with some difficulty. He took a step forward to enter the tent but was stopped as he heard something. Some loud roar, obviously from a massive beast, had ripped through the air. Even the conversation inside the tent came to a brief halt.

Samuel dashed around the large tent to view the plains leading to the coast and let out a gasp. There, amid a scorched and trampled scene, was the massive form of Mathadiel. Samuel recognized the beast from drawings in tomes that he’d read, but nothing in those books could have prepared Samuel for the sheer size of the tarrasque. It could fill the village of Harlest with ease, and its massive talon-clad paws could crush a castle with a single swipe. That was nothing compared to the flames it was releasing, practically without pause. Giant clouds of flame erupted constantly from its mouth as it turned on the spot, setting the land ablaze. Giant pillars of smoke were everywhere.

Samuel couldn’t see what it was fighting, but he thought he knew. Even from this distance, he could sense the strength of the divine enchantment around Bora Bora. It was fractured, as he’d expected, the result of Bora Bora’s delayed ascension. It was a vast amount of power, far greater than what he’d held when he’d left Milagre at the head of his god’s marching army. But even then, it was barely comparable to the vast ocean of Ki that filled the tarrasque. Samuel knew there could only be one end to that fight, unless he did something.

“Tobi!” He spoke clearly and loudly, his voice carrying easily to the nearby area. The conversation inside the tent came to a halt again, and he heard the sound of hurried footsteps. A second later, Tobi came running around the tent, holding his naginata in a tight grip. He grinned in relief as he saw Samuel, and moved forward to stand at his side, his eyes regarding the fight between Mathadiel and Bora Bora.

“Have you thought of anything to do with this?” Samuel asked him.

“No,” Tobi replied at once. “There isn’t anything we can do on our own, and I’m not letting them send the men into that hell.”

“A wise choice,” Samuel agreed. He bit his lip thoughtfully. “He could hold Mathadiel off for at least ten minutes with how it stands.”

“That long?” Tobi asked, his face showing surprise. He knew that Bora Bora was powerful, but he was only a mortal. The fight had already been going for half an hour, while he and the other leaders had discussed their options. “Is there anything you can do to assist him?”

Samuel nodded. “That’s my plan. Keep the men back, and send out patrols to scout the countryside to either side.”

Tobi looked confused for a moment, then his face cleared as he understood. “The Union may attempt to sneak around.”

“Exactly.” Samuel summoned his sword, and the crystalline blade appeared in his closed fist. With a single flick, he threw the sheath to the side. “I’ll rejoin you shortly.”

Tobi watched his old master take to the air, a cold hand of fear clutching at his heart. He knew Samuel’s strength better than perhaps any others, but even that seemed unlikely to do the job. With Bora Bora, they barely matched Mathadiel’s raw power. But they still had to contend with the beast’s natural strength, not to mention the toughness of its scales. But he knew that, if anyone stood a chance, it was the Ancient and the Divine. He turned on his heel at once, shooting past the tent entrance. Now he had a clear plan in front of him, and he could finally act. He called Jakob and Aki to him as he moved away, ordering them to organize and lead patrols. He ran to where the men were camped, to pull them back further.

-Bora Bora-

The constant stream of flame was quickly proving to be Bora Bora’s greatest challenge as he ducked and dodged, flitting around Mathadiel’s massive form with his wings. The heat alone was a danger, but the choking cloud of smoke that rose from the burning planes was even worse. It filled his lungs, setting him to choking and retching. He was unable to launch a counter-attack more often than not, too dizzy to think clearly or perceive his target through the black smoke.

His first reprieve came as a powerful gust of wind cut through the cloud of smoke, shredding it to nothing around him. He dragged a deep grateful breath at once, flying further backward as Mathadiel lunged for him. Then another torrent of wind blew around him, and he looked around for its source, knowing it was too strong to be natural. There, hundreds of yards away, a new figure had joined the fray. He was at the very edge of the fires, conjuring powerful blasts of air to clear the way of smoke. Even from this distance, he had an inkling as to who it could be. Few mages could muster that much power and control over the elements.

He was forced to take his attention away from Samuel for a minute as Mathadiel unleashed another flurry of swipes and bites, darting out of the way just in time. He was still too dizzy to do much, and the final swipe struck him. Only the power of his Divine enchantment protected him from death. He was still swatted hundreds of feet, slamming into the ground below. Letting out a roar of fury and triumph, Mathadiel pounced again. His massive foot slammed into Bora Bora again, creating a huge crater in the ground and burying him further.

The third strike never came, however, as another torrent of flame, from a new direction, slammed into the beast’s head, snapping it to the side and causing him to stagger to the side. A roar, just as loud and infuriated as his own, rippled through the air. There, with feathers of every color and golden scales, was a dragon just as large as Tiamat and Bahamut. It was Khanmara, charging forward to protect the father of her coming children. Her teeth found Mathadiel’s throat with one quick lunge, and the speed of her attack knocked the tarrasque off his feet, sending him crashing to the earth.

Khanmara continued to clamp down on his throat, but she wasn’t strong enough to keep the monster pinned down. Easily more than ten times her size, Mathadiel rolled back to his feet, slamming his attacker into the burning earth of the plains. The fire did nothing to her body, of course, but the impact against the ground was nearly enough to break her grip. She let out a shriek of pain, and raked her hind claws against his chest, tearing through his scales and opening light wounds there.

Having cleared the worst of the smoke, Samuel surged forward to assist Bora Bora and the unknown dragon. He only had a moment to wonder at the dragon’s identity apart from being a temporary ally, and then he was just above Bora Bora. He channeled a large chunk of mana into the man’s broken body, healing the damage he’d taken in that last slamming attack. His bones mended, and his eyes shot open. Seeing the two tyrants fighting above him, he called his scythe back to his hand and shot up away from the ground. Samuel sent more magic after him to increase his strength, then took off himself.

-Samuel-

Leaving Bora Bora, the strange dragon, and Mathadiel to continue fighting for the moment, Samuel rushed towards the ocean. As he flew as fast as he could, he closed his eyes, uttering a quick prayer. “Guardian of the Wilds, lend me your blessing, so that I may command the elements to lend me their power.”

Somewhere far away, Samuel felt Grimr’s amusement at the call and felt a small surge of power in response to his words. He released his flying spell at once, just in time to drop into the ocean. The icy water soaked his robes at once, and quickly rendered his fingers and face numb. On the verge of winter, the ocean was as cold as it could be, which suited his purposes just fine. He let out a blast of air, then another, rocketing back to the surface. He drew in a large breath as his head broke the surface, and he fixed his attention on the coast.

“Tumaas!” He shouted, pulling as much water with him as he could, flying up into the air. A massive wave of water leaped up with him, many thousands of gallons under his control. With an immense effort, he pointed both hands forward. “Kalabog!”

With a roar to equal that of Mathadiel and the dragon, the wave surged forward, trampling across the plains with frightening speed and power. It surged for a long while, eventually coming to crash down on the scorched earth on which the three were fighting. The water cascaded over the fire, killing it instantly, even striking the tarrasque with enough force to knock its legs out from under it. Mathadiel hit the ground once again, sending up a cloud of water this time instead of dust, and was momentarily lost to sight in the spray of water.

Samuel charged forward with his sword raised at once, while Mathadiel was unbalanced and stunned by the impact of the wave. The dragon had also been thrown by his attack, but Bora Bora and he were positioned perfectly to strike. They both shot down and struck at the beast’s weaker underbelly. Bora Bora’s scythe couldn’t carve as deeply as Samuel’s blade, but they both opened long gashes in Mathadiel’s hide. They relished the roar of pain that the tarrasque let out, and flew away as he lumbered back to his feet.

Samuel retreated a bit more, building mana in the air between his hands. It took nearly twenty seconds, time in which Bora Bora had to evade several more leaping attacks from their target, but he managed to condense a great amount of air. He turned It towards Mathadiel and released it, sending a long javelin of solid, spinning air directly for the creature’s head. It slammed into the scales with brutal force. There wasn’t enough force to crack the scales or wound it, but his head was slammed to the side, and he shifted his feet unevenly. In that small window of time, Bora Bora slipped under him, throwing his scythe for another strike. The weapon cut along the gash Samuel had already made, disappearing from view for a second as it deepened the wound, then returned to its master’s hand, coated in steaming red blood.

Samuel peppered the beast with a few powerful spells, but they came to nothing, not that he’d expected much. Tarrasques, especially Mathadiel, were known to be particularly resistant to magic. He could probably do more damage if he could gain access to the underbelly again. But Mathadiel was being wary now, not risking his balance to lunge or pounce. Samuel turned to see where Bora Bora was. To his surprise, Bora Bora was charging directly at the tarrasque, his scythe raised. The weapon was glowing with a faintly silver light now, he noticed. It seemed that Bora Bora had decided to tap directly into his Divine strength. He just hoped that it was enough.

Mathadiel waited patiently for Bora Bora to come within his reach and snapped with his jaw. Bora Bora skirted to the side at the last possible second, darting around to Mathadiel’s neck, then struck. The scythe sheared through the scales much easier than before, and the energy it was coated in deepened the wound as he rushed forward. When he finally pulled away, the cut was deep enough that they could see bone. Samuel almost shouted aloud in amazement at the strength of that last strike. If Bora Bora could do that even once more, they might just have a chance of finishing this.