What am I fighting for?
There must be something more
For all these words I sing
Do you feel anything?
Fighting, Yellowcard.
Chapter 2: Illusion and Dreams
Trey made his way down the mountain, glancing behind him for just a second to see the sky explode in black wings.
So, they weren't content to just let him and Hakalahs escape. Not that it surprised him any, he attacked their king and ran off with Hakalahs, and in no way would they allow themselves to be dishonored like that. Looks like he just made a new enemy. He smiled, the irony of this all too real. The ones he hoped would kill his enemies were now after him. Oh well, since when did plans to save the world work perfectly?
He felt the air around him shake with a powerful magic as it drained the sky of light, and he turned to see Mystogan step through a portal of swirling black and blue energy. "You shall not escape."
The Nightwing eyed him, waiting to for him to make the first move. Trey found it strange how arrogant Mystogan seemed, willing to just stand there, while his foe could easily take him down with a single attack. Dimensionals were not ones to underestimate, a lesson Mystogan would learn soon enough.
"Sharale," he said harnessing a touch of his dark magic to call out to the elemental.
"How may I serve you?" the dark elemental said as he emerged from Trey's shadow.
"Get Hakalahs to safe house 2B and administer first aid, while I get rid of this Nightwing."
"You shall do no such thing." Mystogan fired a bolt of red lightning from his staff at the dark elemental, but with a glance, Trey diverted the attack several feet beside him.
"Your arrogance shall lead to your death," Trey said as Sharale and Hakalahs faded into the shadows.
"Really now?" Mystogan landed on the ground and slammed his staff into the earth, a myriad of runes spreading out all around.
Trey jumped back a step, knowing he might need the space to stop the coming attack.
The ground beneath the dimensional began splitting, lava soon jumping from the cracks. Trey glanced around, and saw the world surrounding him fade as the fires started igniting the earth. He felt the heat rise as even the sky turned red with flame.
"Perish in the eternal flames."
Trey was fascinated by how quickly the Nightwing magic could transform the battlefield. But, he had no time to stand in awe, as he knew he was the target of the Nightwing's fury.
All around him lances of fire flew in all directions, the blue of the sky covered along with the mountains not far away. Trey kept on the move, his speed the only thing keeping him from being incinerated as the flames blew past him. Trey searched for Mystogan, but through the inferno, he couldn't find him.
He leapt back as the ground he stood upon erupted, more lava spewing into the air and coating even more of the land in flame. Trey looked down, noticing his shoe was hovering just over a puddle of magma, causing him to jump back from it, thankful that he got away unhurt that time.
Feeling his heartbeat increasing even more, he looked up and saw a massive fireball descending to the earth. He fired a time blast up at the inferno, hoping to get lucky and hit Mystogan, but before he could see if he hit him or not, he ran from the flame, avoiding the explosion just in time, but nearly ran into a wall of fire which soon surrounded him from all directions.
Trey's heart beat rapidly as he looked for any opening, any weakness, even any sign of his opponent in this raging inferno. He heard that Mystogan was a legendary warrior, one of the strongest the Nightwings had ever seen, but he never thought that he'd actually be this afraid when battling him.
Fire swept all around him, and Trey saw he was trapped in a cyclone of flames. For a second he thought he might be outmatched here, knowing he had no way to get away from the attack. He considered teleporting out, but it would take time to summon a portal stable enough for a person, something that Mystogan showed no signs of giving him.
Pain erupted across Trey's chest as he considered his course of action. He looked down, seeing what was obviously a sword wound across his chest.
Then it all made sense.
Trey stumbled back, through the flames, and just as he prayed, they did not burn him.
Because they weren't there.
Trey focused his power on his wound, reversing the flow of time around it sealing it again while running through the flames, knowing he had to keep his distance from Mystogan to avoid another attack. Even knowing that the fire was only an illusion to keep him occupied, he still had to contend with the fact that Mystogan was able to hide behind the illusion and could strike at any moment.
And that would be the moment he could strike back.
Harnessing his speed as much as he could, he waited, a sitting duck to those ready to strike, doing nothing, but waiting anxiously for his opening. Mystogan would have to emerge eventually.
After the eternity of a moment passed, Trey saw the shine of metal emerge from the fire around him.
The dimensional smiled.
With movement impossible to follow, Trey narrowly dodged the blade that would have plunged its way into his heart, turned, and grabbed the Nightwing's wrist through the flames. Before Mystogan could follow what happened, Trey slammed his fist into his face, the sound of bones crunching resounding above the illusionary inferno.
Mystogan fell to the ground, the fire fading into the nothingness it truly was, and Trey charged at his defenseless foe.
Before Trey could get close enough to strike, he felt his foot yanked to the ground and looked down to see a magic chain around it. He looked to Mystogan, who was back on his feet, a bolt of lightning charging in his staff that shot out at him.
Trey opened a portal to divert the attack, causing it to vanish and then reappear right above the Nightwing. Mystogan jumped back, annoyed that such a cocky kid would steal his attacks like that. He wouldn't have any of that.
From the haste Mystogan had in jumping back, Trey saw that his magic wasn't just illusions. He couldn't just assume it was safe to walk through his attacks now; Mystogan could easily hide a real one among a thousand illusions. But now Mystogan was open for attack. Something he wouldn't live to regret.
Charging up as much power as he could, Trey fired countless time beams at his foe, knowing that they could tear through both physical and magic shields. The countless blue streaks flew across the battlefield, tearing the ground to shreds, and most certainly the Nightwings as well.
However, even after the attack, Trey noticed the chain was not gone, and a dark sphere began building around him. He could feel the magical power behind it, and knew this was indeed not an illusion. He bent down and undid the magical chain allowing him to burst along the ground, though the wall of dark magic would not let him pass. As the sphere closed overhead, cutting off all hope of avoiding this attack, he knew he had to get away. He tried opening a portal to run away, but as he did so, a bolt of black magic struck him, blocking his powers and knocking him to the ground.
The magic began pounding him from all directions, the sheer force beating him into the ground, crushing his body. He tried getting up again, but the darkness was too much, its power suffocating him and he could feel his body being torn in all directions. And as he found himself fading into unconsciousness, he felt himself being pulled into the darkness, its destructive energy turning to comforting as he drifted far away.
…
"Master?" the voice called, stirring the tired dimensional out of his sleep. He opened his eyes, thoughts and memories blurred together in a soup of confusion. He slowly sat up, blinking a few times trying to regain a sense of coherence.
"Sharale," he said while holding his head from the pain. "What happened?"
"After I brought Hakalahs back here, I returned to see if you needed help battling the Nightwings," the dark elemental said calmly.
"That's right…Mystogan." Trey sighed, the battle becoming all too clear to him. He had nearly been killed. He didn't think it was possible for him to lose like that, for a Nightwing to be so strong to not just challenge him, but overpower him so much. "You saved me?" he asked looking up at the elemental that stood over him.
"Correct. I was able to harness the darkness from his attacks to carry you through the shadows and back here."
"That explains why my head is killing me." Even though travelling through the tears in space he made had long sense become natural, going through darkness like that still bothered him. Still, it was better than facing Mystogan's attack, so he had no reason to complain.
"Even though the Nightwings often use dark magic, it still bothers you?"
"I'm sure it takes time for such things to fully take effect." Trey got up from the bed and saw he was in one of the safe houses he had prepared for such an event. He always liked being cautious, having back up plans should something go wrong. "Are the others here as well?"
"Hakalahs is resting as he slowly recovers from his injuries. I have been able to sustain his life, but the magic used on him is severely limiting the power of my healing. He is currently unconscious and likely will be for some time. Ryo is researching the effects on London after the battle and is seeing what kind of army we have under our control still."
Trey waited for word on David, though soon remembered it would not be coming.
"My dark magic was able to reverse the injuries you sustained during the battle, though I would not recommend pushing yourself too far until the magic has had time to be fully absorbed."
"I understand." Trey could feel the dark magic in his body, interacting with his own powers at the microscopic level. He gazed around at the dark room, humbled that he was forced to retreat in such a manner.
But this wasn't over.
Not by a long shot.
This was a set back for sure, years of planning and set up ruined, do to relying on the Nightwings too much. However, the fact that the Nightwings thought them dead would give them the time to ready a counter attack.
However, they would need he and Hakalahs back to full strength were they to challenge the Nightwings again. And while they recovered, there was one thing that had been bothering Trey.
"Sharale, I need you to investigate someone for me."
"What is it my lord?"
…
And let's end this chapter on a bit of a cliffhanger… Any guesses as to what Trey needs investigated? The next chapter will probably be a while since I want to work on the others ones more.
Also thanks to Wyntirsno for betaing.
