Too Hot To Handle: Wrath of Xan Part 2
"Robina!" I shout, starting to become hoarse from calling for Robina and running through Falconreach. "You can't run off on your own, Robina! Wait!" Throughout the entire war, all I could smell was burning grass and trees. As I approach the outskirts of town, however, another smell became disturbingly evident and I know exactly what it is.
I had to stop. I'm sure many of my siblings would find what I was seeing hilarious but I, on the other hand, have an affinity towards humans and what I saw combined with the smell made me want to throw up.
From where I was standing on the black charred ground stretching across the bridge and beyond were rows and rows of metal boots. All in pairs; missing their owners. Looking closer, I notice that the greave, which is the part of a suit of armor that protects the shins, were half sized and glowing red around the rims. Judging from the smoke rising out of the boots and the terribly familiar smell that witnesses from witch burnings could recognize, what happened was obvious.
A piece of burnt red fabric floats down from the sky and I snag it out of the air to take a look. A small blue emblem emphasizing a white dragon emblazed the cloth and I knew immediately that these were King Alteon's forces.
They ran into some trouble and couldn't make it.
Getting over my trepidation, I cover my mouth and nose and maneuver over the bridge careful not to look or touch the remains of our reinforcements.
There was no sign of the King anywhere. Perhaps he was at the front and got incinerated completely or he was wearing the same boots as everyone else.
But then I noticed something peculiar. All of the boots were facing away from Falconreach.
At that moment, a chorus of screeches and roars comes from across the bridge as Xan's monsters begin to move across the bridge.
Wasting no time, I charge headlong into them. Fireballs shoot through the air as I leap into them. My sword deflects each one as I twirl through them, smashing globs and cutting up furies. Thankfully, their numbers were sparse and I could run through them quickly. I tried to slay as many as I could but I was in a hurry. Robina must be somewhere around here and maybe even the King if he survived. His presence could boost morale. We're probably going to need a lot of that for what's coming up next.
Speak of the devil, as I rip through one last fire elemental I realize why the number of monsters were so thin.
The King was up the path and he was kicking ass. King Alteon was defending against an entire horde of them, hacking away at them only letting the odd monster through. I was in awe of him and how he could fight with such a huge blue cloak and heavy looking red robes. The grimace he makes as he slaughters his enemies seems vaguely familiar.
One of the furies manages to snag a handful of his cloak and catches him by surprise. He falls on one knee and can probably get up in a second but that's just enough time for him to be overrun.
I was ready though. With throwing knives already in hand, I let them fly. The moment the monsters at the front are shot down, I throw another wave of knives as I rush to the King's side. He was on his feet again but he was shaking as he starts to fight again. He wasn't going to last long if I didn't switch in for him.
Or not. All of the monsters in the back had suddenly froze and had either disintegrated, melted or fall flat on the ground.
By the time I reach the King, who was breathing heavily and trying his best not to sag or look tired in front of one of the commoners, he had already taken most of them down. I join him in defeating the last few. Now that I was closer, I could see arrows sticking out of one of the downed furies.
"Thank you, child," he puffs after I knock away one last bat.
"I'm not a child!" I snap back before I realize that I should watch my language in front of the King. "Uh…I mean…" I kneel in front of him, even if it was extremely degrading. "Sire, I am glad that you are safe," I almost choke on saying "sire." "I apologize for not coming sooner." To my surprise, he starts to chuckle between coughs.
"No need to be so formal, warrior," He winks when he puts an emphasis on "warrior," reaching out a hand. Tentatively, I take it and he pulls me up into a standing position. "It worries me, however, that adventurers are starting out so young now. But I'm not in a good position to complain." He smiles.
"Hey, I'm an adult!" I pout, again forgetting that I'm talking to a King.
"Of course," He nods, looking like he was about to pat my head but he catches himself and stops. "You remind me of my daughter," He says, looking over at one of the monsters with several arrows sticking out of its back.
"Um…may I ask what happened here," I ask and King Alteon's expression turns grim.
"Xan…he had a second army waiting for us here. We were about to cross the bridge when someone attacked us from behind. My two-hundred and ninety-nine Elite Knights rushed back to defend us but Xan was waiting. When my Knights formed a wall, he defeated all of them with one blast," He shakes his head sadly and I didn't know what to say. If Xan can take out almost three hundred of Alteon's best in one move, how were we supposed to take him head on? "Xan disappeared after that and the rest of my Knights fought bravely. They managed to greatly reduce the enemy's numbers but there were too many."
"Everyone's gone? They're dead? All of the boots back there were theirs?" I ask, shocked. Alteon's eyes widen and he shakes his head.
"Dead? No no no, most of them fell off the bridge. There was hardly any room to fight on the bridge so everyone started to fall into the river below. They're probably still trying to swim to safety," he sighs. "This fic isn't that dark yet-"
A loud screech cuts him off and we're staring down another horde of monsters pouring out of the woods. King Alteon was in no shape to keep fighting and there was no way that I was going to stop all of them by-myself.
"I think we should run back," Alteon nods and we both start running back over the bridge. I think I heard someone yell "Run, my King!" from under the bridge.
As we near town, I could feel the intense heat chasing my ankles but luckily the adventurers are starting to move over here to defend. Many run past us and salute as they run by. When we reach the center of Falconreach, two guardians come and flank the king to protect him I guess.
"Ty! Ty!" Twilly calls to me from Ash's shoulder as he walks up to us following Eli. "King Alteon is here too!"
"Sire, I trust that you are safe," Eli says formally, bowing to King Alteon.
"I wish I could say the same for my knights," Alteon says, going on to explain the situation and I take Ash aside.
"That's the King?" He says it more like a statement then a question.
"Yeah. Unfortunately our backup couldn't make it. I helped him get away from the last few monsters attacking him but more came so we had to run back."
"That's so cool!" Ash grins. "But wait, weren't you chasing after Robina. What happened to her?"
"She's fine but with Alteon here, we shouldn't talk about her or look around for her," I say, looking over to the King and Eli. "What happened while I was gone? I heard an explosion when I was chasing Robina." I ask as more adventurers run by. "Is everyone okay?"
"Everything went great!" Ash says. "Another Bassault came along and we took it down. One of the warriors climbed up on its back while the others distracted it and cut the head off. I was worried that it was going to explode too close too close to town but I was worried for nothing. It exploded but it wasn't a big explosion. It blasted the warrior back but it didn't hurt him. When I went to look for you , almost all of the monsters were defeated. I think they're finishing off the last ones now. We can focus on the back more but geez, when is this going to end? I'm kinda tired."
"Hold up, when that Bassault exploded. What did it look like? Was it glowing or shaking or…"
"Nothing really. It made a small blast but the body itself was left intact. We tried moving it but it seems safe. The body's lost its fire and it felt cool."
"Hmmmm," I was uneasy. I'm not sure if I remember correctly but I think before I saw signs that it was going to explode, there was a brief pause before then. Maybe if Xan decided to mess with us again and extend the pause…
"Run! RUN GUYS RUN! GO GO GO!" A mage screams as he bolts past with the rest of Falconreach's forces.
"There's no time to get out! Hit the ground!"
Everyone drops once. Eli tackles the King to the ground and I push Ash and Twilly down before falling on top of them to shield them from the blast.
A full ten seconds passes by and nothing happens. Ash muffles something from under my chest and I think someone whistles for some reason.
"Anytime now." Someone says when thirty seconds roll by.
"Maybe it was a dud."
"Do you think I can make it from here to the bathroom and ba-"
A bright flash goes off in the distance and I hear a loud blast that almost bursts my eardrums. We brace ourselves for the coming shockwave and I reach out to grab anything that could anchor us…which was grass.
The shockwave send Ash, Twilly, myself and everyone else flying back. I'm slammed back on the wall of the inn, feeling the weight of Ash and Twilly squished up against me and creating cracks in the wood of the wall. My head is pounding from hitting the wall and I could only hear the ringing in my ears. I hold Ash and Twilly closer hoping that the blast won't reach us.
I could feel the heat rushing towards us and just as I think we were going to become cinder, the force keeping us against the wall disappears and we flop down on the ground. Ash rolls off of me and groans while Twilly pats my shoulder, asking if I was alright. I nod, rubbing my eyes and sit up with some strain.
We were all very close to becoming Ash's namesake. The blast had dissipated literally inches from all of us. When Ash rolled off of me, he rolled onto burnt and charred grass. Everyone somehow made it out alive but the entire East end didn't. All of the buildings and houses had been flattened leaving only faint marks on the ground where they once stood. Small pieces of debris were falling from the sky; one wood chip bounces off of my head and I scowl. The larger pieces were blasted away first; embedding themselves in trees, houses, in the ground and holy shit a huge piece of glass was stuck in the wall of the inn just above where the explosion pinned us.
"Dang it, my cape got burned." Someone complains, laughing nervously. He was trying to shake off the shock from his near death experience.
"You're worried about your cape? Do you want to know what happened to my pants?"
That comment sparks all around nervous and shaky laughter. Even the King was joining in, coughing every now and then. Ash and I were laughing too but that gets cut short.
"RUN RUN! GO!" A rogue jumps over Eli and the King and keeps running.
"Oh come on! I've had it up to here with these explosions!" I pick myself up as more people ran past. But they weren't running from an explosion.
"We seriously need backup," Ash sighs. A flood of monsters were heading our way, burning everything in sight. There were a lot of us out here since we had ample time to recover but it's going to take something extreme to make this situation worse.
"FALL BACK THE OTHER WAY!" The same rogue from before yells as he runs back then turns around again when he sees the oncoming mass of monsters like he forgot that they were the reason he was running in the first place.
"What's going on with him?" I ask as I watch more adventurers doing the same thing.
"Probably that," Ash points over to the other side of Falconreach where another multitude of Xan's minions were flowing in.
"…By any chance is the portal working?" I ask hopefully as the monsters were about to close in. All of us were backing up into the very center of town and block off the path to the guardian tower.
"Checked this morning; we still can't use it," A mage answers from behind me, holding up his staff.
I notice that the some of the guardians were pushing the King towards the guardian tower. To his credit, he doesn't look like he wants to leave.
"You know I always wanted to go out in a blaze of glory..." A warrior trails off, giving her sword a twirl. "Just not so soon."
"You guys, we aren't going to die," Ash says, keeping his voice from shaking. "We're going to win this, right Ty?"
"Yeah…" I nod, rolling my shoulders. "We're going to survive even if it kills us."
"…Seriously?" Groans come from all directions and I feel myself blushing from embarrassment.
"Way to ruin the encouraging before battle banter," The mage straightens himself and facepalms.
"That was really terrible I gotta say," Another warrior says.
"Come on guys. I didn't rehearse and how do you even come up with these one-liners so quickly? Besides, we were building to a cliché anyway!" I cross my arms and almost nick Ash's arm with my blade.
"Twillies thought that it was going well…" Twilly mumbles and I hardly even hear him.
"Well at least we were getting somewhere until you decided that you were cool." The warrior scoffs.
"Sure Mrs. "Blaze of Glory," talking about getting burned to death is definitely getting us pumped up."
"Well you can go-"
"INCOMING!" Ash shouts as he ducks a fireball and it strikes the warrior in the face and knocks her off of her feet before she can finish her sentence. Like any honorable being, I point and laugh at her before a bat rams into my back and everything erupts into chaos.
Everyone scatters and the sounds of child-like screaming fill the air. By the time people stop trampling over me and I get up and wish that I should've stayed down.
Everything is on fire, people on fire and not in the fun way, everyone's separated and unless we pull ourselves together, we're doomed.
"But we aren't doomed just yet," I grip my sword tighter and charge in swinging.
…
"One. More. Time!" A mage says through gritted teeth. He and eight other mages let loose a wide beam of ice magic and freeze the last great wave of monsters. "You're up!"
On the cue, I throw my sword blade first to the mound of ice. It stabs cleanly into the ice, creating cracks. Feeling the burn in my knees, I race to my sword and make a long high leap to land on the hilt. Both of my feet land on the crossguard and I bend my knees before I spring off, digging the sword deeper into the ice. The cracks fractures and spread across the ice mound before they deepen and shatter into millions of pieces.
"The West end is clear!" I shout triumphantly as I pick up my sword. Cheers sweep across Falconreach.
We somehow managed it and pulled through. After the initial panic and disorder, which was actually helpful since our flailing about took out more of them than us, more people came out of the tower to help us out. We organized ourselves into groups and eventually the mages came together and thought up that trick on the spot. It wiped out a ton of them but there still many left and the mages were drained from their attack. Everyone else covered for them while they recharged. We had split into two different groups to handle both ends of town. Hours went by and that last attack just now was probably the seventh or eighth time we used it. But now the West end is clear and there were even a few buildings left standing. The people on the East end were almost finished and it was about time their boss came out to play. If we keep going at this pace, we could get home before the sun fully set for once.
"That was great, Ty!" Ash calls to me as he stumbles over. Kid was literally covered from head to toe in soot and Twilly's fur had turned black.
"It okay I guess. It would have been cooler if I didn't need to pick up my sword after I broke the ice," I muse, picking out a shard of ice from my breastplate. "Maybe I should get it charmed so it'll teleport to my hand when I lose it or is that too much?"
"Sounds cool but who are you going to ask to do that for you?" Ash asks, wiping the sweat of his forehead. He makes a spear of soot across his forehead instead. "If you do, maybe you could ask them to do it for me too?"
"Sure, why not?" I smile and notice flashing coming from the East end mages. "Look, Ash! They're about to finish off the last of them. Let's go see!" I rush towards the east end as the mages prepare on last onslaught with Ash following my lead.
We maneuver past the other guardians and adventurers finishing off their opponents and soon I can see the look of excitement on the mages faces as they begin to launch the final magical ice spell that would end this war.
Except for one…his glee turns to shock and he almost backs out at the last second before composing himself and firing with all of his might with the others. It lasts less than a second but it was enough time to let me catch a glimpse of what he was looking at. A humanoid figure was standing among the monsters and he raises his hands as the ice ray is launched towards him and the monsters. His monsters; that's definitely Xan.
"Ash! It's him!" I look back to Ash, turning my back on the scene to reach out to him. I'm not sure what I was going to do but I had no time anyway.
A loud bang rings through the air once more when an intense burst of fire collides with the ice spell. We had no chance. Xan's attack bulldozes through our mage's and for a while time slows down for me. I feel droplets of water, remnants from the ice spell, hit the back of my neck. Ash's eyes were widening in surprise and he looks like he's about to say something but we were already engulfed in the rush of fire.
White hot pain stabs into every part of me and I scream so loudly that I was sure that I was going to pop my lungs. Through it all, I'm faintly aware that the attack sent me shooting through the air and once again I crash in a heap on to the ground, in too much pain to even try to cry out.
Others were though. Screams and shrieks were hitting me from all directions and I feel the earth shake. Xan was attacking the others, letting out a terrible distortion of a laugh.
Eventually I collect myself after my sharp inhales of searing hot air evened out and I gain the courage to open my eyes. My eyelids feel sticky and when look down at myself to check the damage, I almost puke but damn it. I have enough remaining pride to keep myself from doing that.
Parts of my armor were melted through and the metal was melded in my blackened burn wounds. Parts of the armor on my arms, stomach, shoulder and shins were damaged the worst even if they were enchanted and buffed like Eric had said. They are ugly wounds burned through layers of skin with my muscle and bone partially showing. They were especially bad on my fingers where three on them on my right hand were giving me a glimpse of what my bones look like. But my stomach was the worst of all. I don't even want to describe it let alone look at it. My hands were twitching and somehow by my terrible luck I had still kept my grip on my sword; most likely because my skin had melded with the hilt. The fire had burned through the magically charmed gloves and I know my augmented healing won't work fast enough.
I'm in terrible need of a red potion or eight-hundred. I try reaching into the bag that was still fastened to my waist. My hand stings as I move them and they were too shaky to even open the bag and reach in. I give up and let my hand flop on the ground; someone else can take care of this mess. I can just survive until they do.
"Decide to break some rules and form a bond with a no name town? What an idiot, Ty. Look where it got you." I couldn't tell if I said that out loud or that the voice in my head was taking over. I can't think straight but I know I sound delirious.
The screaming and overall mayhem was becoming fuzzy in my mind and I think I'm about to pass out when I notice a figure looming over me.
"HAHAHA, this one still alive?" His cackles were accompanied by the crackling of flames. "I can fix that!" The figure raises his hand and a fireball forms, ready to burn me alive.
Jerking back to full consciousness, I cough and sputter as I partially sit up and start sliding back.
"No…no…I don't want to die," I gurgle, desperately trying to inch away. I can't die here! No. "Please, leave me alone. I can't die. I don't want to." I can't disappear; not now or ever.
"I love it when they beg." His form is still fuzzy but I can tell that he has a cruel smile on his face.
"Leave…her…ALONE!" Someone shouts and swings a sword at Xan's head. Xan's head is knocked to the side a bit. He growls and ignores me in favor of the poor fool who decided to play hero.
Ah shit it was Ash.
"Ash! You idiot." I croak. You've only known me for less than a week. But now I have to reward you for your naiveté.
I could start hearing a bit more clearly now and the clashing of steel was ringing through my mind. I could tell that the Ash's attacks were weak. Ash was probably as injured as I was and was trying his best while Xan humored him. I try to reach for my red potion again but I still keep fumbling with the bag trying to ignore the pain in my burned fingers. One final clang of metal and the sound of a body falling into a heap on the ground sends me over the edge. I clench my teeth together hard and plunge my hand into the bag to feel for smooth glass, hoping to every high power and luck that it won't be a mana potion.
Once I grab a potion, I rip it out and douse myself with it. Thin red liquid flows over me and I feel strength returning and my sight's clearing. I was still beaten up and my sword probably wasn't going to cut it so how about something crazy?
With a shout I jump up and throw myself at Xan's back, reaching for the back of his unarmored head with my bare hand.
My fingers connect and I feel the surge of energy course through my body as the bastard screams from surprise and pain. When I release him, I prepare myself for the voice to take over and send me into another coma.
Anytime now. Come on, this asshole looks pretty angry. Now would be a great time.
"What the crap?" I breathe out, rechecking myself over. The voice didn't say anything and I was feeling great. Fantastic even. All of my wounds were gone and there's no trace of soot on me. It was like I hadn't even fought in the war at all.
It's just like what happens when I drain one of the undead.
"What…was…that?" He pants, flames dying down a little. He was covered in flames though that wasn't the only thing that stood out. There was something different. Yeah he looked like a walking skeleton on fire decked out in red mage clothing but there was something else.
"I-I don't…" I stutter, gaping at my healed hand. Ash's whimpers from the ground shakes me out of my daze and I swallow hard before I go in to an attack stance. "You stay away from him, Toasty."
He stares at me for a few moments, expression unchanging. Then his flames start to flare up and he starts to laugh.
"You're giving me an order? How amusing," He gives his standard villain introduction as a fireball forms in his palm. "You gotta be crazier than me!" He flicks the fireball in my direction meaning to kill me and instead of jumping away, I try my luck and decide to slice through it. It was an idiotic move. That last attack he made wiped almost everyone out so now I was going to disintegrate into nothing.
My blade and the fireball collide and the flames surge by me. Astounded that I was still standing, it takes me a second to remember that I should be pushing back. I strain as I force my way through the fire ball until it dissipates into smoky mist and I'm left breathing hard from the strain.
"…Nice stick you got there," Xan taunts but I know he's surprised too. It really is strange sword and maybe I should have been more thankful to my father. This sword…I don't know what it's made of but I'll find out later. I'll definitely find out later because now I know I'm going to win. Feeling the magical energy emanating from his fire proved it.
"This…this isn't your real power is it?"
"Correct. I could easily have blasted you into dust on the ground but I didn't think it would take that much to destroy you," He smirks. "Maybe I underestimated you but not by a lot."
"And I overestimated you." I sneer, smirk forming on my lips. "This isn't your real power. Your using an amplifier. That's kinda…disappointing. Were you too much of a coward to attack a small town without some help?" I tsk, watching as the others start to move away. Those that were could still walk after Xan's attack were helping the wounded get to safety while I had him preoccupied. Eli, one leg mangled beyond disbelief, somehow hoists Ash over his shoulder. He gives me a long hard stare before he starts moving to the tower.
"So what is it? Is someone helping you out? Is it an item you got your bones on? Drugs maybe? That's a possibility too." I fake holding in a laugh. Xan's shoulders shake and hurls another fireball at me again without too much warning. Now that feel more composed, I slash through the fireball though with a bit more effort than I needed before. "I was just asking a question."
"So you can tell that I'm using the Pyronomicon to magnify my powers and that you can drain a person of their power when you touch them…No one told me about that when they asked me to attack you. But no matter," He shakes his head, preparing a larger attack.
"You know me?" I ask, keeping cool as I twirl my blade in anticipation of his spell. "I don't believe that we've met before."
"Of course not. I wouldn't be wasting my time on you if I didn't owe that brat's father a favor," Xan grumbles. "He was right about a few things though. A little girl who's barbaric, obnoxious and doesn't know when to stop talking!" He lists off, punctuating each word with a fireball aimed at my head. Smashing them away was getting much harder and I know I won't survive if he actually hits me. "You must be Ty."
"Who told you this? He sounds like a crazy ex and I have barrels of them." I breathe out, standing ready for another barrage. "But I'm guessing you want to get right to deep frying me so I'm going to have to rip the answer out of your burning skull," I smile at the prospect now that it was possible. "I just hope that you can take me on with that book. There's no way you could even touch me if you didn't have it helping you. I'd probably wipe the soot off my boot with you after I was done thrashing you around and there's no fun in that." I bluff.
"Over confident too," Xan states, a bound red book appears in his hand. "I don't need the Pyronomicon to burn you black." Blue flames light up and consume the book. It slowly crumbles into glowing cinders that drop down and crumble on the ground.
He bought the bluff and now he was going to pay.
The moment the book has completely burned away, I quickly close the distance between Xan and I. He launches another volley of attacks that fly through the air at a breakneck pace that explode as they hit the land. But without his Pyronomicon or whatever, I feel sure of myself and jump through his attacks. I feel excitement as I leap through them, slashing away the fireballs that get too close. He raises the pace of his attacks as I gain ground but I'm already on him.
"Still having a good time?" I mock as I take a slash at him. He blocks the first with his arm and the one after and the one after that. He must be armored underneath his clothes but I can be patient when I want to be.
I just need one opening.
My slashes become quicker and harder, making sparks fly as they connect with his forearm. The cloth was getting ripped up and he was getting annoyed. Another slash hits and this time he pushes it back and stomps his foot, sending up a wall of flame. I jump back with only a few burns. They didn't hurt as much and that was when I saw my chance.
Before the wall of fire completely thins and disappears, I spring through with my sword pointed to impale his chest. He takes the bait and catches the tip with the palm of his hand leaving his head exposed. I shoot my hand out and my palm hits his forehead. The fire burns me but I bear it and dig my nails into his skull. The flow of power is almost immediate. Xan starts to emit a screech that would have been loud enough to shatter concrete as he's drained of his energy. I'm going to win. As he begins to sag, I let go of him as he was about to sink down. His screeching dies down but then…it turns into high pitched laughter.
Sensing danger and a sudden change in his magic, I'm about to push off but the bastard grabs my wrist and squeezes hard enough to crack through the remaining armor. His hand sears my skin making me scream. I bounce when he slams me on the ground. A hard stomp on my chest pushes all of the air out of my lungs and keeps me down.
"That was interesting. You looked so hopeful when you thought that you could win and I admit that you might have had a chance…"He sneers looking down on me, flames burning intensely in his sockets. The book reappears unharmed floating behind him. "…but I'm not a fool." He was just joking around; he must have cloaked his magic to make it appear normal.
An intense flame surrounds him as he prepares for one final attack on me. With renewed panic, I grab his leg and pull as hard as I could.
"NO! I'm not going to die!" I cry out and my arms make him shift. Before he or I knew it, I make him slip up his footing. I take the chance to roll away, nearly missing a fireball fired my way. I jump to my feet and go back on the defensive.
"I was sent here to return the favor and humiliate you and it's working. He didn't ask me to kill you so maybe I'll let you run with you tail between your legs. I bet you can evade me dear slippery fish. " He laughs gleefully. "It was interesting to see you in action but that little trick is the only thing that's special. Just get out of my way and let me finish destroying this insignificant little village. I have more important things to attend to."
"…No," I resolve through clenched teeth and I can barely conceal my shaking. Everything in my body was screaming at me to run; this isn't a fight you can win. If I do run, what'll happen to Ash and the others? I'm the only thing standing in between them and Xan. Against all that my family and I stand for, I couldn't leave them. They saw what kind of a monster I could be and they accepted me without even batting an eye. This one little town in an out of the way dimension somehow dug it's way so far into my heart that I was ready to put my life my line for them. I won't let them burn away. I can't let them burn away. "Like you would have let me run away in the first place."
"Hmmm, no. You're right. Can't let everyone think that I have mercy from time to time." He smiles, flames burning high and bright. It's practically blinding and I can't fight him up front. I couldn't trick him either. The only thing that could potentially hurt him was my draining touch and I didn't know what else he could do with the Pryonomicon.
That just means that I have to trust myself to be quick on my feet. One hit and it's all over
It's a slight movement on his part that scares me into movement. I charge straight at him, jumping past the fireballs that Xan fires on me. The fear was helping me run faster and I'm on him before he could get back.
Once again, I strike at him nonstop and he seems surprised by how hard I was hitting. I'm surprised too; I was probably fighting harder because of my dire situation. He keeps blocking with his arms and the cloth gets torn away even more, revealing the rest of his armored glove and partially revealing his unarmored arm.
I press onward and red sparks fly. He blocks each time but finds no chance to attack. He first tries a close range fireball but I cut through it as he tries to form one. He tries the wall of fire again but I bear the intense heat as it burns into my exposed skin.
Frustrated, he propels himself away by firing jets of fire at the ground. I leap closely after him and keep attacking as he blocks. Finally I get another opening and I swing at his skull and actually create a small gash across his mandible. Furious, he grabs my blade meaning to stop me.
I was waiting for that.
I had kept landing my strikes on his arm and it wore away at his sleeves and parts of his armored glove. There was enough to grab on to. My free ungloved hand darts out and grabs his exposed forearm. Xan attempts to jerk his arm out of my grip but I refuse to budge. Before, I had let go of him to early and the Pyronomicon had restored his power. Maybe if I just hang on, it'll drain him completely and I can finish him off before his amplifier could heal him.
As the shift of energy begins, Xan laughs and lets his arm go up in a blaze. Even then I hang on and even keep slashing him and now I think it's actually doing damage. White hot pain was shooting through me but if I let go now, he'll attack immediately and I'll go down in one shot. My healing factor won't make a difference if I die on the spot. I cannot let go. Even if the skin on my hand burns away I won't let go. My bones will still be wrapped around his arm until he dies.
His flames burn even hotter and higher as he keeps at shaking me off with one arm and blocking my sword strikes with the other. I just need one more minute.
"You aren't making it any easier for you," Xan warns. "Just give up and your death won't be as agonizing," Liar; he has fifty seconds before he's drained.
My grip slips for a split second and he almost yanks away but I grab on again. Not yet, just a little while more. One of my attacks slashes his side and I can see him falter.
Xan uses every ounce of power that he can get from the Pyronomicon to repel me but my sword connects with his side again and he cringes. Thirty seconds more.
Then the temperature drops just a little bit and Xan knows that it's all over now.
It's over with twenty-five seconds to spare because I slip away for real. I couldn't take it anymore; my body gave away before my mind did. I don't think there are any muscles left in my hand to hold on to his arm.
Once he feels my clutch sliding off, he blasts me into the ground. I can't feel it though. I don't feel anything.
"This…is it," Xan says, after catching his breath. I can hardly see him. Blackness was overtaking my vision. I'm not going to make it. "You're still alive? Even after that? I would like to say that I was impressed with you but compared to me and the Pyronomicon, you were just another block of wood that burned in the fire today." Xan prepares his last attack and I feel my eyes closing.
Just before I black out completely, a spark or flame appears behind him and he stops the spell. Not that it would've made a big difference. That just meant that I'm disappearing slowly into the dark instead of going out in a blaze of glory.
…...
"Over here!"
"Are we too late?"
"I've never seen anyone hurt this badly."
"Can you do anything?"
"I'm trying."
"Well try harder!"
"I'm trying as best as I can but…Just give me some time. I can do it."
"Ty! Ty! Come back please! You just woke up!"
"Don't you go sleeping again. You were out for a week already, sleepyhead. So hurry up and stop being so lazy!"
"I'm sorry…I don't think…"
"No. NO! Ty, he's gone. You kept everyone safe. Don't put a damper on the after party."
"Twillies promised that you were going to be safe. Pwease, Ty. Twilly hates breaking promises. Pwease."
"It's…I'm sorry but please stop. You aren't doing any good."
"Get your hands off of me."
"Ty?"
"OUT OF THE WAY! GET OUT OF THE WAY!"
"Hey, who do you think you are?"
"GET AWAY FROM MY SISTER!"
What's going on? Am I dead?
"Damn it, Ty! Wake up!"
"What are you doing?"
"Will you shut up for a bit? Sator Arepo Curaga Tenent Vinculum…
"Woah. Are you going to be okay? Is Ty going to be okay?"
"Ty! Is it working? Tell me it's working. Ty, can you hear me?"
Voices…I can hear Twilly crying, Ash is yelling at someone, so is Reens, I hear Eli faintly, Aria was sobbing and Grams was there too. There was also someone trying to hawk his weapons. A loud shrill voice was chanting furiously…Zelia?
"Ty! Ty! Wake up!"
A slap across my face jolts me awake. I blink twice, staring up at a shooting star that just shot across the night sky. I'm dimly aware of a commotion going on as my senses begin to sharpen. I could feel my arms and legs and I wasn't in much pain anymore.
I soon realize that a multitude of worn adventurers, guardians and villages were standing around me. Reens was kneeling beside me, hand over her mouth and shaking from either fright or joy. Serenity, Eli and even the King, flanked by a few knights, were standing over me. All of them looked too relieved for proper words. Konnan, I noticed late, is squatting beside me with his arm reached out to touch my shoulder, concern wrought his face. Aria and Grams were standing beside us. Grams was doing her best to calm Aria who may have started to yell through her angry tears but my hearing still feels plugged. Ash was on his knees, clutching my arm tight like he was afraid I was going to suddenly float away. Twilly was sobbing into my chest. Oh and that weird green Cysero orb had been moved here as well. I have no idea why.
"Guys? What's going on? Did I faint?" I ask as I slowly sit up and hold Twilly against my chest. There weren't as many wounds on me as I thought there would be or maybe it was because they were healing me. "Is everyone okay?"
"Even on the doorway to death, you're still kawaii." A girl wearing a lacy dress with floral print was lying on her side beside me. Her long orange hair was spread across the charred grass as she stares up at me. Faint bruises and burns mark her skin.
"Zelia?"
"That name was so last month. I go by Alison now." She winks weakly and looks like she's ready to fall asleep. "At least thank me for saving your life. I'm going to have to be bedridden for the next few weeks because of the damage share spell. Give me a moment. I just need to rest my eyes for a minute. Don't bother me. I'll be up to bust your ass soon enough." Her eyes close and she falls asleep.
"Ty! Why are you so weak?" Aria yells at me as she breaks away from Grams' hold.
"Well excuse me, I-" Aria stops me when she jumps and hugs me tightly. Ash takes his cue to do the same despite his peers watching.
"You're okay. You're okay." Ash repeats to either me or himself as he clings on. Konnan still had his hand placed on my shoulder and squeezes comfortingly. Reens and Serenity come over too.
"Xan left. You held him off and he went away. We saw him leave from the tower but you were still lying on the ground. We came out to get you but…you were heavily injured and I'll spare you the details. We tried healing you ourselves but it didn't work. We all thought you were long dead but then your sister pushed through us and preformed some sort of spell." Konnan explains solemnly.
"Come one guys. Give her some room," Reens says and the others reluctantly comply. Both she and Serenity help me stand. "You went and got everyone worried again. Is this going to be a regular thing with you?" She brushes the dirt off of me affectionately and Serenity was still sniffling a bit
"No, of course not," I tell both of them. Eli and the King were standing in front of me and behind them stood the remains of Falconreach smoking and littering the ground. "Forgive me," I apologize as I step forward away from and Reens and Serenity to bow to Eli. "I couldn't stop him from destroying Falconreach. I've let you down and I don't think I can make ever make up for it."
"There's no need for that," Eli shakes his head and the other adventurers and guardians murmur their agreement. "You held him off and let everyone get to safety. We were pretty burned up but Twilly and the other healer fixed us up as much as they could."
"Ye were the only one who could stand up to Xan!" The bald barber says. He's Patch I think. He was standing next to Yulgar and Konnan who just stood up.
"We would all be dead if it weren't for you. That maniac, Xan would have burned us into cinders." Yulgar nods and Konnan looks away in deep thought.
"Everyone's fine and that's the important thing." Ash says, coming up next to me.
"Twillies told you you're a hero, Ty," Twilly chirps happily.
"You're such a big dummy, Ty," Aria says, hugging my waist. "The town may be destroyed but we're still here. We can rebuild the town and hey, you still managed to save one unburned board." She points to a group of adventurers holding up a pristine wooden board.
"All we need is one! I think this came from the outhouse and that's a great place to start!" A rogue jokes and I laugh. Everyone does and it's uplifting to see how hardy these people are. I'm…I'm very proud to say that they took me in.
"Yes, we can rebuild Falconreach. And with all of you incredible people working towards it; Falconreach will be rebuilt and it will never fall again!" The crowd lets out a rowdy cheer and then the King steps towards me, red cloth in hand. I pass Twilly over to Ash when everyone goes silent.
"If I may, I would like to congratulate you. You stood against all odds against Xan and I would like you-"
"Excuse me, King whatever," Zeli-I mean Alison steps in. "I would like to have a word with you first," She says sounding quite pissed. "I'm very happy that you're all ready to go celebrate not dying and rebuilding this fireplace but let me just…rain on the party just a bit," She steps forward, facing the King down even if she was much shorter than him. "You all have to be the most despicable beings in existence," To my horror and bewilderment of everyone else, she spits at his feet in a clear sign of disrespect. "How could you make my pregnant sister fight your retarded war?"
Wha…pregnant? Wha…
Literally everyone in the vicinity lets their jaws drop and I couldn't even say a word. There must have been a grand case of miscommunication.
"Oh no, TY!" Serenity screams, rushing to me and placing a hand on my flat and non-pregnant stomach. "Do you feel any pain? Please tell me! Is the baby okay?"
"I'm-"I try explaining but now everyone's talking. Ash and Serenity are freaking out and asking if I felt any abdominal pains, Aria lets go of my waist and falls backwards, Reens and Grams are digging around their packs for something. Medicine perhaps. Patch looks seasick, Yulgar seems like he's trying to process the news and Konnan was on the ground again. My sister was literally shrieking at the poor King who looks like he might just melt into a puddle on the spot. Everyone else was making a commotion and the entire time the Cysero orb was asking if anyone wanted to buy contraceptives.
I try to talk over them and explain but everyone was being too loud.
"Guys, stop. I'm not-"
"You royals are the most shameful kind of people in-"
"Ty, maybe you should lie down. The baby might-"
"Contraceptives! Contraceptives! Get them while you can or you'll get pregnant and die!"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorr-"
"I'll take five!"
"I AM NOT PREGNANT! NO BABIES EVER AFTER! NO LITTLE DEMON SPAWNS RUNNING AROUND THE HOUSE! NO, HELL NO! NO BABIES! I-" Ash pokes me and I notice everyone had stopped talking. "Ehem, I'm not pregnant." I say quieter, walking over to Zeli-Alison. "It's okay…this King's actually isn't a bad person." I whisper to her.
"What? But…Emesto told me that you were going to be a dragon's mommy," Alison says and I was growing very uncomfortable. I could hear the others talking about it behind us. Some were asking if it was possible and others were wondering about the father.
"Who told Emesto the news?"
"Um…Justine I think."
"Who told her?"
"Somebody."
"I think you guys just had a funny game of "telephone" that got out of hand. I'm not pregnant with a dragon baby." I explain to Alison who was quickly becoming disappointed. That's really unnerving. "I didn't get knocked up by some dragon. Sorry, I guess."
"So you're telling me that you aren't pregnant." Alison says, crossing her arms in irritation. "I was getting excited and everything! I even healed you more than I needed to thinking that I was saving the baby! I'm very weakened now and there isn't even a dragon daddy to take my anger out on. Not even a dude with a name that's dragony."
"I don't think dragony is a word," I sigh. "And I can't let you beat up Ash."
"He's the daddy?" Alison asks, looking over my shoulder at the now pale Ash. Everyone else glares at him and he stutters.
"Such a player, Ash." Someone notes.
"No, I told you guys already! I just woke up in bed without clothes…no memory…next to…underwear…lavender…" He trails off, looking defeated.
"No, he's a very good friend with a dragony last name. And now I'm saying it." I groan. "Look, let's clear it up with everyone else later." I hug Alison before I address the King.
"Ah…you were saying, King Alteon?" I ask the King who was trying very hard not to laugh.
"Oh, yes." He coughs, swallowing a chuckle. "Against all odds, you stood your ground as you faced Xan and saved Falconreach. Ty, become the three hundred and first of my Elite Knights!" He announces, swinging the red cape over my shoulders and letting it rest on my back. I must look pretty awe inspiring telling from the faces of the others.
"Thank you." I kneel before him, not a feeling of discontent in my body. "May I ask what happened to the three hundredth knight?"
"Let's not talk about that now," He says, waving the question off. "I must go back to Swordhaven but I will send supplies and help as soon as I can."
"Thank you, sire." I say, standing up. "We should start to rebuild as soon as we can…but can we lie down for a while first. I think we need to rest a bit."
"Yeah, I don't think I can stay awake any longer." Someone agrees.
"Come on guys! We start first thing in the morning," Eli states. "It might take a while though. We have to gather enough gold to do so and that might take weeks. Once we do-"
"Can we sleep on it sir?" A guardian asks.
"Right, let's get the tents set up! King Alteon, if I may get you an escort party back to Swordhaven."
"Of course Eli. I wish you the very best, Ty," The King says to me before walking away with Eli. The other guardians follow him and as the walk past me, they pass words of thanks and acknowledgement to me. The adventures separate as well, going off to make put up their tents.
"Sorry to say this Alison but I'm going to have to ask you to crash in a tent with some others." I say to Alison but she shakes her head.
"No need for that. When I passed Oaklore, I found one of those green orbs and it gave me a good deal on a house. The furniture is being moved in as we speak." Alison says. "You're going to have to help me along though. Thanks to your heroics, I can't fight for a while. C'mon Ty. I don't think anyone's going to stop you from leaving to go home."
"Okay but..." I look at the others.
"Aria and I are going to get a tent ready. We'll see you tomorrow," Grams smiles, walking up with Aria and pats my stomach. "You gave this old lady quite a scare but it all worked out in the end," She jokes and I smile, embarrassed. "You have one spunky sis too."
"Mind if I sleep in with you guys?" Reens asks Grams.
"I was just going to ask if you wanted to."
"Thanks. Hey, Ty and Alison right?" Reens says. "Looking back, we were pretty unprepared but next time I promise that there'll be enough potions to go around in war times. Come by the shop when we fix it up. I'll teach you Alchemy and we'll make your potions work better." She flashes me a thumbs up and she, Grams and Aria walk off.
"See you soon!" Aria calls back as they head west.
"Drop by and get a haircut later, lass." Patch says and pats my head before he leaves.
"Konnan and I will get the tent up and resume business tomorrow. Come by and we'll take a look at your armor and weapons. Give them a touch up while we're at it. They look like they need it," Yulgar says, with Konnan beside him. "I also didn't get to thank you for bringing Konnan back. Hopefully he won't cause any more trouble for you from now on." Yulgar continues, giving a pointed look at Konnan.
"No, it's okay. Don't worry about it." I say quickly, not wanting to embarrass Konnan further.
Both of them nod and head off. Konnan looks back and mouths something to me as they go. I think he said "come talk later."
"Take care and come by soon," Serenity hugs me tight before she leaves as well.
"Look at you, Ty. Making friendly with the humans." Alison whispers to me on her tippy toes. Ash was still standing around with Twilly on his shoulder looking reluctant to leave. "Hey girly eyes. Do you have somewhere to stay?" Alison asks, noticing me looking at him.
"Um…I'll probably bunk with some other adventurers or something…" he says, not noticing what Alison called him.
"…Would you like to stay with us?" I ask hopefully.
"Yeah! I mean…if you're okay with it."
"I need someone make fun of anyway," Alison begins limping towards the eastern part of town. "Let's go people. I need to go dry my supply of headless snakes."
"Yay! Sleepover at Ty's!" Twilly cheers as we follow after my sister leaving for the woods. As we're about to step out of Falconreach, someone whistles at us from up on a bare and burned tree that was somehow still standing.
Robina was lying on one of the branches. She winks at the two of us and waves as we leave.
…
"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Ash asks as we pass a fallen tree trunk for the fifth time. We were deep in the unburned part of Surewood Forest. We had left the path awhile back and had been walking around for the past twenty minutes in the dark looking for the house.
"Is it dangerous for young girls to go out and play during Walpurgisnact?" Alison replies.
"She means yes." I yawn as we trudge along, keeping a lookout for monsters. It was much cooler in the woods and that was a great reprieve from the past few days.
"Wait," My sister says, stopping in front of a tree. The trunk had split into two large branches quite close to the ground and there was a large gap between them. Alison knocks on the first branch twice and traces a circle on the other. "Now we can jump through." She says, gingerly stepping through the gap before she keeps going.
"Uh…" Ash looks on, confused with Twilly passed out on his shoulder.
"Just go with it. Trust me." I tell Ash before stepping through. Ash does the same and we continue through the dark woods but now I could see something glowing in the distance between the branches and leaves of a wall of bushes.
"And here we are," Alison stops in front of the wall and pulls one of the bushes aside. Behind them stands a small cottage with lit lamps hanging by the door in a clearing. The grass was cut neatly around it and the house itself seems tidy as well.
All of us walk up to the front door which was on a clean wooden porch. A mat was left on the doorstep and mandrakes were hanging from the door. Damn it Alison.
"Don't touch those, Ash." I warn him as Alison opens the door. All of us step in and Ash and I gape at the interior. Ash was gaping in awe and I was gaping in annoyed disbelief.
"How is it? A lot of living space, right?" There was a ton of living space. The roof was low and I don't think there was a second floor but the house was wider on the inside then it was on the outside. Way wider than we needed. The main was already furnished with some couches, chairs and bookshelves and many doors lined the walls. The entrance had a shoe shelf, coat hanger, umbrella stand and closet by the door. From there, it literally looks like it stretched for miles.
"Alison, where's the bathroom?"
"Twenty miles down that way," She points way down the hall.
…
"Hurry up and get in," I say to Ash as I push him through the door with Alison coming in behind me. All of us had just finished washing up and bandaging ourselves. Twilly did all that he could but he said that it would be better if we used some of the medical supplies we had instead of magic. He said something about our big cuts and burns healing and closing properly and Alison agreed.
"Wow, what's this room called?" Ash asks in awe. The room was quite dim save for the floating glass bobbles that glowed around the room. In the center is a big white couch and I pull him over to sit down on it.
"This is the communication room," I say, grabbing one of the blankets that Alison had brought with us. "You'll see what it's for soon enough."
"Can't wait to explain this mess," Alison grumbles, taking a look at a clock on the back wall. "We're lucky we just got ready on time. Five…four…three…two…one."
All of the balls become brighter and float closer to the couch. In each one, a picture starts to form and muffled voices begin to echo around the room.
"…Is this thing on?" A familiar voice asks, tapping his end of the screen. "There we go. Everyone here?" The voice asks as the images in each glass ball becomes clearer. "Who's here?"
"Ty here." I say, wrapping myself and a wide-eyed Ash in a fluffy blanket. Twilly sitting in my lap gaping as well.
"Alison too. It's Alison now; not Zelia. We're in a place called Lore. Usual fantasy fairies, dragons and stuff."
"Emesto is sleepy," Emesto whines groggily from one of the images. In it, his tuff of brown hair was sticking out from the cover of a bed, hugging and drooling on a pillow. Beside him was a window with a desert scenery rushing by. The pink curtains rustled as the image bumps and moves. "Bradley and Nova are here too. They went to get a midnight snack from the on-board restaurant. Oh and we're on the Excess Express heading to Poshley Heights. Let me sleep now," He yawns, turning over and muttering something about hugging a penguin.
"Justine is at a bar in a nice town," Justine says from another image. She was sitting at a booth sipping a pink drink. A neon light sign saying "The Stray Sheep" hung from a window nearby. Justine is my older sister and mentor. Her hair and eyes were silver and she is stunningly beautiful, especially to me. She taught me everything I knew from my academics to my gymnastics and fighting style. "A friend of mine owns it and he's letting me stay here. Hopefully Ishtar doesn't get the wrong idea."
"Eric and Blaire here, settled nicely into a place called New Meridian. An associate of mine is letting us stay at his estate. We're at a small get together right now." Eric was sitting at a booth as well with Blaire sitting next to him, engrossed in a book. Blaire's hair is stark white and she was wearing glasses over her red eyes. A piano was playing a jazzy tune in the background and reminded me of how Blaire would play me my favourite jazz songs on the piano in the library even if she didn't care for it much herself. "A jazz band's going to start playing soon. I think you'll like that, Ty." Eric smiles. Blaire just nods and continues to read her book.
"Bradley's back," Emesto groans when a light coming from an open sliding door falls on his head.
"Excuse my tardiness," Bradley states. The image moves to show him walking in and closing the door behind him. He was piggybacking little Nova as she snoozes. "I trust that everyone is doing well?" He asks, sitting down on the bed and tucking in Nova beside Emesto.
"Everyone that's here," I sigh.
"Father is busy with some errands tonight and John and Saiya can't make it," Eric says. "And…I'm sure that Arisa and Lyla are doing well. Zain says "hi" too."
"John's not joining us. Good riddance. I needed some time away from his nagging," Justine sips her drink. "And who's the pretty one sitting beside you, Ty? Is it the father?" She smiles and Ash promptly covers his head in the blanket.
"Okay, let's get this clear. I am raising a baby dragon. Not giving birth to it. Just no." I say. "How did you even get to the point where I was somehow pregnant with a dragon?"
"I said that you were going to raise a dragon," Eric says, shrugging.
"Eric informed me and I explained that you were going to nurture a baby dragon," Bradley says, smoothing out Nova's hair.
"Bradley told me and I told Emesto that you were going to have a baby dragon," Justine says.
"Mmmm, Justine told me and I told Alison that you were going to be a dragon's mommy." Emesto says from under the blanket."
"Dang it guys," I groan pulling Ash out of the covers. "Anyway, this is Ash. He's a good friend and I gave him permission to come in and converse with us. He's cool."
"Hi." Ash says weakly.
"Hey guys, this is the kid I was telling you about. The one that sneezes when the mood gets tense." Eric jokes.
"What kind of mood?" Justine asks, languidly finishing her drink as Ash gulps.
"Quit teasing him; he's a good guy." I defend him.
"What happened to you?" Blaire asks, closing her book and taking another out from under the table.
"I'll let Ty explain this one. I need to rest." Alison slumps down on the couch.
"Wait one moment. If it isn't urgent, could you tell us later. The jazz show's about to start." Eric says, turning his attention in the direction of where I think the stage was.
"Gladly, I'm way too tired to even talk about that ordeal."
"Ty, what's jazz?"
"You'll see, Ash. It's a genre of music that really jazzy...cool I guess. Something great to listen to at night."
"I'll see you later, I need to talk business and pleasure with some friends," Eric says, waving at all of us. "Here, I'll let you see the stage. Blaire isn't going to do anything funny anyways." Eric snaps his fingers and the image turns to the stage. The brass players were tuning up and the pianist was helping his friend carry the cello up. "Now if you excuse me. Well if it isn't Mr. Medici and the lovely Cerebella!" Eric calls to his friends before the band starts to play a number.
"Sounds nice," Justine sighs. "I need another drink though. Samantha, refill please." Justine says to the waitress.
"I'm going to turn in," Bradley says, climbing up to the bunk above Nova's and Emesto's bed. I didn't notice that it was there before.
"Leave the music on," Nova sighs, hugging on to Emesto. "Emesto and I like it," Emesto nods absentmindedly and hugs Nova back.
"So…" I begin as the piano player begins to sing. "Is everything okay, Ash?"
"Yeah…your family seems nice," Ash blushes.
"Can I talk to you about something?"
"Sure."
"Why did you try to stop Xan?"
"He was going to hurt you so I tried to stop him," Ash says, scratching the back of his head. "I still ended up passed out and you had to step again. Sorry."
"You saved me and I'll be angry if you apologize for that. I'm just wondering why you would put your life on the line for someone you only knew for a few days." I fiddle around with the edge of the blanket as I speak to him. Twilly was listening intently to the musing, swaying with the beat. I don't think he was paying attention to us."
"But we're friends and you would have done the same for me or anyone else!" Ash says, leaning back on the couch.
"Not anyone. If you didn't step in to help me, everyone would have died. I just wanted to know that. Thank you by the way."
"Ah…your welcome!" He smiles brightly, not thinking too much about what I said. I stare at it for a while before I speak again.
"You probably have a lot of questions. I mean, look where you are now and at what I'm showing you. You must have a ton," I look over to the image of the band playing.
"Yeah but…are you okay with answering them? Because if you aren't, it's fine. I can wait as long as it takes for you to trust me."
"Ash," I groan into my hands. "You're too precious!" He tips his head at me, confused and I couldn't help but pinch his cheek again. "Let me at least answer one question that you have tomorrow morning. Think on it and I'll tell you what you want to know."
"Is it okay?" He asks hopefully. "And yeah, I'm confused but it's really nice that you're letting me in to see your awesome house."
"Of course," I say, reaching into the bag that was still attached to my waist. "And before I forget. Robina said that you were interested in this." I say, pulling out one of my books. "After we got back from the first Bassault explosion, I got my package back from Serenity safe and sound. I thought you'd like to read more of it once the war was over. Do you still want to see it?" I say, looking into his eyes.
"That'd be great!" He says eagerly and I open the book to the last entry he saw.
"So you were reading about the colossus?" I ask, reading off of the page using the glowing light from the glass bobbles. We read into the night with the jazz band playing in the background for hours until we both fall asleep from exhaustion; comfortable and safe.
…
I couldn't sleep for long. Something was still nagging at my mind.
When I woke up, I check the clock and it's still going to be some time before the sun rises. Alison and Ash are sleeping on the couch and I'm careful to step off so that I don't disturb them.
My bare feet pad against the cool wooden floor as I walk past the now dimmer floating crystal balls. The jazz band had long finished playing and the image was now fixed on Eric and Blaire sleeping in a luxurious room compliments to their powerful mafia friends. The train that Bradley, Emesto and Nova are on is still moving and the sun was about to rise in their world. Justine on the other hand was still awake and drinking at the bar.
"Can't sleep, honey?" She asks, toying with the cherry in her glass. Her eyes shone like the moon that was still presently high in the sky wherever she was.
"Something's on my mind," I say, sitting down on the floor. "I'm going to sort through my things in my bag. It might jog my memory and I need to organize it anyway." I begin to take out the items starting from the garbage to the weapons.
"Have you heard from Father? It's been awhile since I saw him."
"I saw him five days…I mean about a week and a half ago," I say, piling up empty potion bottles and throwing knives. I need to sharpen them soon.
"I'm sure he's fine," I continue, getting to organizing the weapons. Clubs, swords and spears were starting to crowd the floor around me as I sort through them. These were from when I stole from Drakath and his idiots.
"So I hear that you're training as a warrior. Too bad I'm not there. I could give you some pointers. How is it working out for you?"
"You know, it's not actually that bad. When Father first told me, I thought that is was going to be a lo…?" I stop, holding up something that I didn't remember stealing.
"What do you have there, Ty?" Justine asks.
"Pants," I reply, holding up a pair of black pants. Then it all came back to me.
"I was sent here to humiliate you…" Xan's words ring in my head and the picture of Drakath getting mauled by the fire breathing raccoon appears in my head.
"I'll find a way to get back at you." Drakath said that after he lost the duel for the black box, glaring at me with his pretty green eyes.
"How in the world would that loser know someone like Xan?" I whisper to myself, holding up the pair of pants.
When I was finishing looting Drakath's camp, I remember grabbing something from under the cot from a small chest. It felt like a piece of fabric and here it was. It helped me figure out who used his connections to put me through hell, humiliate me and make me realize that I needed to become much stronger.
I stole Drakath's pants.
Oops.
"I'm going to go sleep on this." I get up and walk back to the couch with the pants still in hand.
"You are?" Justine asks. "Sweet dreams then."
"Goodnight." I yawn, snuggling between Ash and Alison.
I have to say that I'm impressed with him. Very impressed. I don't know who his father is or how he got someone like Xan to do his bidding but he isn't going to get the last laugh.
I'm going to go visit him soon.
Maybe he'll want his pants back.
Author notes: Holy crap that was long but I got it out in just over a week. Also, Ty is weird.
So some chapter notes:
I adjusted the timeline a bit scenes around. I also shortened the war by a lot but I think it still fits the story.
About Ty mocking Xan about using the Pyronomicon, she was doing it to goad him into not using the book and that plan didn't work. One of her family's mottos are "Win by any means possible." That's an important one to them up there with "Showboating is fun" and "John is a douchebag."
What Zelia, who changed her name to Alison quite recently, was chanting to heal Ty were words from a sator square which is used to protect against harm. She didn't use all of the sator square words because they protect against evil witches too. Guess what one of her classes are. She augmented it with a healing "curaga" spell and "Vinculum" which is a latin word for "bond." She couldn't heal Ty completely with the spell so she had to share the damage with her. Alison took most of the damage away from Ty because she thought Ty was…going to have a child.
Mandrakes are very poisonous. Just putting it out there.
There are more references in this chapter too. Spot one if you can.
Also in the next chapter, Ash is going to ask Ty a question that he may have about her and her family. I decided that the question could be one of yours if you leave it in a review or a PM. If you so choose of course. If there aren't any then Ash might ask something mundane.
Also pants. I checked Drakath's picture and I'm going to venture that his pants are black or some really dark shade of blue.
Now to the reviewer replies:
The White Camellia: Thank you so much for reviewing and telling me that I'm doing good. I'm glad that my sense of humor runs well in the story and I'm sorry it killed you but at least you died happy.
Kaiban: Your reviews mean a lot to me too! I'm really happy that you like the fight scenes. They're pretty difficult for me but the review's a confidence booster. I'll still work towards getting better at it of course. And don't worry about where Ty's from. That doesn't matter as much as where's she's been, You'll get it soon enough ;)
guisniperman: Why did she go to dreamland? I wonder…Her sis, Alison, is pretty loony I admit and about the relationship with Nythera and the water elf, Aquella? We'll see in the future. Can't give that away too soon.
So thanks for reading as usual. And the egg's going to hatch soon so vote if you want and if you haven't already. It'll probably hatch in two chapters.
Another quick question! Am I creating the right atmosphere in the story? In other words, how's the mood? Are the tense parts tense etc?
So review if you like. They're greatly appreciated and I will go sleep now because tomorrow I must wake early and it is two in the morning.