Disclaimer: Magic: The Gathering is copyright Wizards of the Coast. All original characters belong to me.
Chapter 23-The icicle appears
Like a house of cards, it all comes tumbling down. With the tension among the Keepers running high and no sign of things cooling down, the situation looks grim. Unless the black Keeper can work thing out with the blue Keeper, war is inevitable.
Finally, after trying for so long, the situation has turned in my favor. I knew the Keeper's nature would eventually resurface. In the end, his union with the red Keeper will have begun their undoing. As for the other, he has finally obtained some results.
Night was falling on the plains of Otaria as the Keepers of Mana continued towards their destination. They had been walking all day without encountering anything that might aid them in their search. Mira's young legs had not been able to withstand the long march and Eva had taken to carrying her for the past few hours. The girl was now asleep, her head resting on Eva's shoulders, bobbing lightly from the Keeper's steps.
As they advanced, Khell spotted a small cluster of trees in the distance. Diverting their course towards it, he advised the other Keepers that they should get some rest and this would be a good spot to set up camp. This decision received no objections from the others. They were all rather tired from the long day's walk and were eager to get some sleep.
They settled under a large, deciduous tree. The ground was covered in leaves and mosses, creating a somewhat comfortable mattress. They began unpacking the necessities for the night as well as a few rations. After rolling out her bedspread, Eva draped her blanket over Mira, the girl cuddling her mongoose as she slept.
As Khell unpacked the food, Charles walked around the campsite, muttering to himself and occasionally, a flash of mana appeared in the air before him, briefly illuminating him before vanishing. After he had finished his task, he returned to the group.
"What was that all about?" asked Arrathir.
"You seem to have forgotten we're still being hunted," said Charles "Seeing as I appear to be the most reasonable member of our rag-tag band, I took it upon myself to camouflage our presence with some illusions to make it appear as if there is nothing where we currently stand."
"Well, let's eat!" Khell quickly said, hoping to change the topic before a full-out brawl erupted between the two Keepers.
After downing their rations, the Keepers took to their bedding, Charles assuring them he'd rigged the illusions to warn them if anyone got to close to the campsite. Eva lay down beside Mira. The girl was tossing and turning, whimpering in her sleep. Eva suspected she must be reliving the events of the day in her nightmares. The mongoose was gone, frightened away by the girl's movements. Eva cradled the girl in her arms and Mira clung to the Keeper, seeming to calm down a bit from having someone with her.
Strange new emotions were welling up inside Eva. She had never considered the possibility of having a child. Oh sure, the thought crossed her mind once in a while, but she had never seriously envisioned it. For her, children were something that may happen in the distant future, but now that she actually had someone to care for and who needed her, she felt a great deal of affection for the girl she'd met that very morning. She reasoned these feelings were being brought about by her motherly instincts. After all, she was more or less the girl's surrogate mother, at least until they found her uncle, but a part of her hoped they never did. This way, Mira could stay with her. The girl needed a mother, so why not her? The girl had taken to Eva and she knew Mira would be heartbroken if Eva left her. Of course, she knew Arrathir would never agree to bring Mira along with them and as well, bringing her along would expose her to many dangers.
As she pondered, Eva felt an arm slip around her waist and a hot breath on her ear.
"Hey there, beautiful," Arrathir purred, cuddling up to Eva.
"Arrathir…what are you doing?" asked Eva as the Keeper's hand ventured further down her body.
"Well, you're the one who said you'd need daily 'special attention.' I'm just fulfilling my duties as your mate," smirked Arrathir.
"Mira's right here!" hissed Eva.
"So? Just leave her and we'll go off for a bit. She'll be fine."
"She's having a nightmare. I can't just leave her," said Eva.
"Come on…" said Arrathir, stroking Eva's flank.
"Hey! Cut it out!" snapped Eva "Mira needs me."
Did…did I just get cockblocked by a kid?
She must just be playing hard to get. Try harder.
Undaunted by Eva's apparent lack of interest, Arrathir began nibbling on the red Keeper's neck in hopes of enticing her.
"I said stop it!" snarled Eva, pulling away from Arrathir.
"What is your problem?" hissed Arrathir "Yesterday, you couldn't wait to jump my bones!"
"Men!" yelled Eva "You give them one night and they turn into horn dogs!"
"Horn dog? You were the one begging for it last night!"
At that moment, Mira stirred, whimpering gently and opened her eyes. Both Keepers froze as the girl looked about in confusion, obviously disoriented by her new surroundings.
"Eva, where are we?" she asked.
"You've been asleep for a long time, honey," said Eva, cradling the girl. "We set up camp for the night. Are you hungry?"
"Yes," said Mira, rubbing her eyes and yawning widely.
"OK, let's get you something to eat," said Eva, standing up and scooping up the girl in her arms. Shooting Arrathir one more of her famous death glares, she headed towards the food packs. Grumbling, the Keeper stomped away. Taking out a few strips of dry meat, Eva sat down and gave the food to Mira, who eagerly gobbled it down. As she ate, Eva lovingly stroked her hair. Her hunger satiated, the girl snuggled up to Eva, shivering. Calling on her mana, Eva conjured a small flame on the ground in front of them. Since the fire was magical and its only source of fuel was Eva's mana, she would have to continually feed it mana, a process which would soon wear her out, but Eva knew she could keep the fire going long enough to keep Mira warm until she fell asleep again.
"More conjugal problems?" asked Charles, sitting down beside Eva.
"Was it that obvious?" sighed Eva.
"I hate to say, 'I told you so,' but…"
"Would you drop it already?" growled Eva. "Sure, Arrathir and I have a few issues we need to resolve, but what couple doesn't?"
"I really don't see his problem," shrugged Charles.
"You don't mind Mira?"
"Why should I? She's a cute kid," said Charles, ruffling the girl's hair. "Khellendros has more or less taken to her, and like it or not, she's with us now, so I really don't see why Quinn can't just accept it and stop bitching about it."
"I guess that last fight was because I didn't want to…sleep with him," said Eva. "I'm still kind of confused about that. For some reason, I just didn't feel like it."
"Ah, I think I see what's going on," said Charles "He's jealous; he sees the child as competition for your affection."
"I guess, but why don't I feel any desire to mate with him? I mean, I am in heat."
"My guess is that, now that you 'have' a child, your body simply no longer produces the hormones that cause your heat," said Charles. "As well, your motherly instincts probably cause you to prioritize the care of your child. Your body has accepted Mira as a surrogate daughter."
Eva pondered this for a while, absent-mindedly stroking Mira's hair.
"I suppose that makes sense," she finally said. "I just wish Arrathir would understand this. Maybe I shouldn't have been so hard on him."
"You weren't; he's the one who was out of line. He's letting his jealousy affect his behavior. If I were you, I'd stay close to Mira at all times."
"Oh, don't be ridiculous! Arrathir wouldn't hurt Mira."
"Maybe not the Arrathir you knew," said Charles "However, you've noticed how he's changed."
"Yes, somewhat," said Eva.
"He is being corrupted by his g'imu, Eva. Eventually, he will become completely consumed by it, and the man you love will be gone."
"I refuse to believe that," said Eva, shaking her head. "Arrathir may be a ghell, but that does not make him evil."
"Eva, he killed you in your past life."
Before Eva could retort, a piercing shriek rang out through the air and a wall of flames sprung up around the campsite.
"Proximity alarm!" hissed Charles, jumping to his feet. "Something's broken through the perimeter sensors."
"The fire is just an illusion, right?" asked Eva, standing as well.
"Yes, it should hold them off for a bit, but if they were able to get past my other enchantments, they'll see through this subterfuge."
"Eva, what's going on?" cried Mira, who was awake and clinging to the Keeper's robes.
"Listen, Mira," said Eva, kneeling beside the girl and wrapping her blanket around Mira. "You stay under the blanket and don't come out until I say so, all right?"
"I'm scared."
"I know, honey," said Eva, hugging her. "It's going to be OK. Just do as I said."
Nodding, Mira curled up on the ground and covered herself with the blanket.
"I'm detecting about twenty creatures behind the barrier," said Charles.
"What should I summon?" asked Eva, her hands bursting into flames.
"There are too many," said Charles "You'll wear yourself out. We need to stall them until Khell gets here."
"Where is he?"
"He went to scout the area," said Charles.
"Leave it to me," said Eva. Closing her eyes, she visualized her swords, picturing the sharp blades and the shine of the polished metal. The mana in her hands began shaping into the swords, elongating and flattening into the twin blades. The mana remaining in her hands swelled into the hilts. As the mana solidified, Eva felt the familiar weight in her hands. Opening her eyes, she swung the blades, getting a feel for them.
"Drop the barriers, Charles," she said, feeling the adrenaline pumping through her body, electrifying her senses. The anticipation of battle overtook her and she grinned, showing off her fangs. She did not want to scare Mira, but she was enraptured, wanting to protect the girl at any cost.
The blue Keeper dispelled the illusion and the two Keepers saw their foes: It was a veritable army. Creatures of all types charged at them, running, slithering and flying towards the two Keepers at an alarming rate.
"Charles…" said Eva, seeing what they were up against.
"I'll cover you," said Charles, his hands bursting into mana. The mana formed into a humanoid figure, clad in white armor and wielding twin short swords. The creature kept aloft by dancing on the wind, stabilizing itself via two small wings encompassing a joyful face. Small wisps of white clouds trailed behind the creature, which every so often would pull him in, taking him back to the wind from whence it came. A group of the beasts took on the creature, biting, scratching and throwing balls of tamed mana at him. The small phalanx assaulting the harlequin rejoiced, until one was splintered by a white forming blade, the beast seemingly fighting to keep his corporeal form.
"My turn," said Eva, mana flaring from her hands as a Wall of Fire flared up between the Keepers and the creatures. As Eva channeled mana into the wall, the flames intensified, the heat radiating from them reaching the Keepers. Overtaken by their momentum, a few of the creatures could not stop in time and ran into the flames, perishing in the blazing inferno. The luckier creatures were able to stop in time, but before they could recover from their surprise, Eva burst out of the flames, her blades enveloped in mana and began wreaking havoc among the ranks of the creatures.
Meanwhile, Arrathir had been taking out his frustrations on a large tree, whose trunk was presently covered in deep gouges from the Keeper's claws. Cursing under his breath, he slashed at the tree again, leaving fresh gashes. The physical effort somewhat calmed him down, but his anger towards his mate remained.
Who does she think she is? Turning me down for that damn kid! I knew bringing her meant nothing but trouble!
It seems to me you need to show her who's boss.
How do you suggest I do that?
Go back there and take what is rightfully yours.
I-I can't take Eva against her will.
If you don't assert your dominance over her, she'll just keep doing as she pleases. With the child around, who knows the next time you'll be able to mate with her?
I don't care; I'm not raping her.
She is not fulfilling her obligations as your mate!
"ENOUGH!" roared Arrathir, slamming his fist into the tree. Pain shot up his arm as every bone in his hand shattered. Grimacing in pain, the Black Keeper clutched his mangled hand while holding back a slew of profanities. The pain slowly began replacing his anger as he sat down to catch his breath.
"Great," he muttered, taking a look at his injured hand: his fingers were bent at awkward angles, bones poking out from under the skin, and blood seeped from his knuckles. "Khell's going to kill me. Maybe I should get him to teach me some healing spells."
You can't cast shal spells.
Why not? I'm a Keeper of Mana, so shouldn't I be able to cast pretty much any spell?
Your g'imu is opposed to green mana. Because of the clashing personalities between the two mana types, you cannot tap into the power of the forests. Your main strength lies in the swamps, so you can potentially cast any black spell. However, since your g'imu is allied with shi and ioqi mana, you have a limited access to those colours' spells.
That explains how I was able to cast Terminate on that Vampiric Dragon
Exact…something's coming!
Arrathir clamped his hands over his ears as a piercing shriek tore through the night air.
The fuck is that?
The blue Keeper's proximity spells must have detected something.
What if it is just some animal?
Impossible; knowing him, he set them to only detect threats to us.
A red glow appeared in the distance as flames danced in the night sky.
Eva!
Before Arrathir could start running to the aid of the other Keepers, explosions burst out all around him. Dazed and blinded by the smoke, the Keeper of Black Mana stumbled back, trying to get his bearings. As the smoke cleared, he found himself surrounded by a dozen ninjas. They were all clad in the same navy-blue outfit and wielded a variety of short swords and daggers. With a silent command from their leader, a volley of shuriken flew at Arrathir.
The Keeper merely smirked as the deadly storm of projectiles approached. "Here I was thinking this was going to be a lousy night," he laughed, leaping high into the air to avoid the attack. He landed on the shoulders of one of the ninjas and propelled himself away from the deadly circle. The unfortunate warrior crumbled under the Keeper's weight, his spine no doubt broken. Momentarily stunned by his move, the ninjas quickly recovered and resumed their assault.
"This should be fun," said Arrathir, thrusting his hands out in front of him.
A black aura flared up around him as mana gathered between his hands, shaping into a short shaft. One end of the shaft flattened out and curved into a blade. The other end oozed out a long strand of mana, at the end of which was a small ball of mana. The ball elongated into a small shaft and solidified into an iron weight embossed with the Keeper of Black Mana's seal: a lozenge whose two upper branches extended to form a 'v' above the lozenge. A single line extended from the bottom of the rhombus and it also contained a dot in the middle of it, like an eye staring out from the metal. The strand linking the two pieces of the weapon knitted itself into a chain. The mana composing the handle solidified, as did the blade. When Kiminokatsu was fully summoned, Arrathir grabbed the sickle in one hand while the other picked up the weight and began spinning it above his head, eyeing the approaching shinobi.
Eva's katana and wakizashi hummed through the air in a deadly dance as she carved her way through the horde of monsters. Nimbly dodging a creature's claws, she decapitated it with a quick slash, the creature disappearing in a puff of mana as the Keeper turned around, sinking both her blades into the chest of a Moonbow Illusionist. A sort of euphoria was taking her over, fueling her bloodlust. Gathering a bit of mana, she shot a Lightning Bolt into the chest of an attacking goblin, the creature vanishing with a popping sound and a flash of red mana.
Meanwhile, Charles' creatures were phasing in and out of existence, striking at their victims and disappearing before they could retaliate, only to reappear somewhere else a few seconds later. These hit-and-run attacks were wreaking havoc among the enemy's ranks. As Charles commanded his creatures, he expanded his mind's eye as far as he could; trying to find the origin of their attackers.
;These creatures are all summons. Whoever is controlling them must possess a tremendous quantity of mana in order to invoke and control so many creatures at the same time. So much mana should be easy to detect…wait! I've got him!;
;His mana…it…it is colossal;
Suddenly, Charles felt a tremendous pain as every cell in his body cried out in anguish. It was as if his spirit was being torn from his body and shaken down. Charles struggled to regain control of his spirit and re-integrate his physical form, but whatever force was doing this to him was too powerful to overcome.
With a sudden jerk, the feeling stopped as abruptly as it had begun. Looking around, Charles found he was no longer near the battle, but was now standing knee-deep in mist-covered water. The sky above was covered with dark clouds and an occasional flash of lightning appeared on the horizon, followed by the distant rumble of thunder.
;Where are we?;
"So nice to finally meet you, Keeper," said a voice.
"Show yourself!" demanded Charles.
A presence behind him alerted Charles that his interlocutor was approaching. Turning, he saw a tall woman standing there. Her face was painted white in the style of kabuki actors. Her long, black hair was threaded through a headdress, creating two horns on either side of her head. The two resulting ponytails fell on her shoulders and were knotted a foot from the ends. She wore a hooded white dress which flared out at her ankles, the hood of which was down. Over this was a blue, short-sleeved tailcoat with purple trim and whose tails ended in two tassels. In one hand, she held a golden pot which emitted a grey smoke that curled around her body and formed into a dragon's head.
"Greetings," said the woman. "I have been waiting for you."
"Who are you?" asked Charles.
The woman glided towards him, the water showing no sign of a ripple, as if it was merely parting ways for her, a face like an ivory mask, motionless, only the dragon smiled.
"For someone who is supposed to be my superior, you have a lot to learn." The words did not sound, but they were being said to Charles. His mind was in turmoil; he sensed a male, but here was a female before him.
Charles could not subside Chiburuu, it was not of anger, or any emotion; the g'imu wanted to retort on logic alone. "For you to be a subordinate, you must use blue mana. Stop your tomfoolery of a woman's guise and show your form, male."
The face kept motionless, but the dragon smirked, "My tomfoolery, as you put it, must be better than your dull senses when joined with this uncertain spirit. I am in my true form, but my mana is masculine."
Chiburuu was misguided for a moment, he noticed Charles' face turning in pain, but his spirit did nothing.
"That's right," The woman seeming to answer to his thought. "The body is still fighting."
Charles was stunned at this fact, but kept his head, the long logical debates with Chiburuu coming ahead to keep his cool. "Why have you brought us here?"
The dragon kept its smirk. "I have already told you. My superior has a lot to learn."
With that, the dragon uncoiled from the woman, lunging at the conjoined spirits. Both of them had enough time to react, pulling their hands in from of them to block a glancing blow, as they sidestepped. The gash, though not in flesh, sent a course of pain through them. Charles winced, but Chiburuu kept his logical stance.
"If you have come to destroy us, then do so. Your power is so immense, I see little bother us trying to fight it." The Keeper said with a calm voice.
Charles was ready to go into hysterics; he had not given much thought of death, and dying as a spirit whilst his self-animated body continued on was not one of them.
Khell's scouting, although studious and accurate, was the subject of sheer bad luck. The army had come in several waves, and he had only come around to scouting where they were coming from. Several tears in the sheer fabric of the plane were allowing a plethora of various beasts through. The forest was his homestead, and, transforming into a wurm, he dove underground. His first thought was of the girl, of all he knew that she was the least able to care for herself in this situation. His wurm brain simplifying this to a sheer, "protect the old and young first."
The underground route was not fast, but it surely was the safest, bypassing the oncoming horde, and his jagged teeth making easy work of the soil, with its root veins. At a sudden jolt, the word 'bypass' left all meaning in his route. The Keeper stopped, rearing up, a crush of his species' brethren blocking his path.
Although Khell was a wurm, he was a Keeper embodied as a wurm; the Keeper quickly calling on his forest mana, enlarging himself to several times the size of the three wurms. These were clearly not of a summoned form; the three perceived the danger in keeping the conflict and fled. By this time, a multitude of mongrels had begun to beleaguer one of them. They, along with Khell, took to their known route of underground, the mongrels scattering as their soft flesh impacted with, what was to them, hard ground, Khell continuing his momentum to reach Mira.
Arrathir yanked the chain of his kusari-gama violently, pulling down the unfortunate ninja who'd just gotten entangled by it. Rushing forward, the Keeper pulled him back up, slitting the dazed ninja's throat with his sickle. The man's face contorted into an expression of shock for a brief second before he exploded in a puff of mana. The Keeper didn't have time to rejoice over his kill; three more ninjas dashed at him, hoping to avenge their fallen comrade.
Don't these guys ever give up?
They're summons; they know no fear and blindly obey the orders of their summoner.
The three ninjas suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Before Arrathir could react, pain exploded in his eyeballs. The Keeper reeled, clutching his watering eyes. More pain wracked his body as he felt the bite of a sword on his left shoulder. Roaring in anger, he ran blindly forward, swinging his sickle wildly.
Blinding Powder…clever bastards…Well, if I can't see, let's even the playing field.
Grabbing the weighted end of his weapon, he crossed it with his sickle. The Keeper's seal glowed eerily and a black cloud seeped from the weapon, enveloping the area with a deep darkness that left the ninjas completely disoriented. Prying his burning eyes open, the Keeper saw a ninja run past him and realized that while they could not see him, he had no trouble spotting them, however, the pain was too great and he closed his eyes once again. Ears pricked, he took a deep inhalation, getting a sense of where his opponents were, based on their scent and heavy breathing.
How ironic; the hunters have become the hunted. Well, let the chase begin.
The spreading inferno swirled, easing itself into the wind above the wooded area. The red rage had almost entirely taken over Eva as she sliced into foe upon foe. She would be stepping on a mountain of dead bodies now, if it weren't for the fact the creatures were disintegrating back into discharged mana. Her teeth now clearly bared, the tips swirling with red mana, the two blades not sufficient for this blood, mana bath of combat.
As had been done countless times before, her blade bore down upon a beast, but instead of it slicing through the beast like hot butter, it instead rang with vibrating flames. Turning ever so slightly and jumping above the wheeled beast, she could now understand the trickery: the beast was made of wood. Still in mid descent, Eva brought around her two blades, striking one off the other. An intense blast of heat ruptured forth, the waves appearing before the spark of any flame. The accurate shot not only encompassed the juggernaut, but twelve helpless beasts surrounding it.
"You can't survive that…" slid out of her smiling face as her furrowed brow couldn't relent the anger.
Two ribs cracked, as she was prevented from her perfect landing, and ground replaced by a mammothian tusk that had impacted on her right flank. As her feet drew up, and pushed on the beast's muzzle, she saw a small sigil between the beast's eyes burn with an intense heat; seeming to draw her flame from all over the beast and solely to it.
(This could be trouble…)
Khell could smell the girl now. Slowing down, he ascended through the dirt, just far enough so he did not bury her. Once the bulk of the body was out, Khell changed back, merely jumping out of the tunnel as a human. Landing with sure feet, Khell drew himself close to the girl, before turning and kneeling. A low grunt seemed to rumble from his throat. Mira, in fright went to pull back the blanket, before holding back, Eva's words burnt into her ears. She took a slight peek beneath a fold, just glancing the lower part of what was clearly Khell's arm. The grunt now was a crescendo, the earth responding in chorus. Before she knew it, a large entanglement of roots had erupted from the tunnel, and encasing Khell and Mira in a lattice of plantwork.
Mira drew back, frightened at this spectacle of natural life, and was startled as the blanket lifted off her despite her reaction to cling on. The newly created room filled with a low green light, the plants themselves lighting the way.
"These plants have gracefully heard my call, the tunnel goes directly down. The plants can go deeper than wurms, and we'll be safe there. Follow me." Khell said in a stern, and somewhat fatherly voice, reaching out his broad hand.
Mira remembered what Eva had said, but knew that Eva trusted Khell, and so did she. Her little hand was enveloped by the Keeper's, and they took quickly to descending a flowing, growing, moving spiral staircase downward.
The dragon lunged once more, but Chiburuu knew his new host far too well. His mind held an array of memories when Charles was not logical, and this was such a time.
"No!" Charles screamed, shooting a boomerang at the dragon, the creature merely deflecting it off itself. Charles not only moved himself, but Chiburuu too, flinging them out of the way of the dragon's teeth, ending on what could be called air, if this was the real world.
No longer had the teeth clamped shut that they flung open again, snapping with alarming speed at the spirits. Chiburuu, having a moment to dwell upon his memories now that they had come to the forefront, held on a hazy image. He knew what this was, he had always known, but why didn't he realize it. Charles, now frantically avoiding the dragon, stopped. The hazy image that Chiburuu saw, he saw clearly, for he had far fewer memories to trawl through.
Charles brought his right arm forward, straightening it, as if it were pointing at the woman that seemed to own this domain. Charles was distracted, a wrong time to be distracted, before Chiburuu could pull his leg, still leaving the thought of this hazy image from his mind, the dragon tore into what would be their leg. Charles screamed, an echoing voice, a strong voice. As if it were his entire focus, the words formed from his mouth, coming into conclusion at a bow. Its length of a longbow, but not a longbow, Charles' interpretation of this memory was a modern one; forming in its length to have a pulley at each end, and several ephemeral strings.
The strings pulled back on their own, meeting with Charles' left hand. He pointed the azure weapon down at the dragon's head. Point blank range, with all the emotional effort of Charles' pain, and mental effort of Chiburuu's cold and calculating conclusions, an icicle of an arrow formed, sharper than any diamond, straighter than any ruler, it was released into the top of the dragon's skull.
For the first time, the woman's face broke its mask-like appearance and showed a slight wrinkling of skin that could only denote pain. As quickly as the Keeper was drawn from his body, he was now back in it, mid-fight, and no sign of the bloodied mass that should've been his leg. Stunned by his sudden return to the physical realm, the Keeper looked about as his mind struggled to re-gain control of his limbs.
As soon as the entire shock had worked its way through his body of his soul being returned to its rightful place, a sense of normality returned, Charles immediately noticed the blaze of red mana. Not its ferocity; there were two many mana signatures for that, but how it was dwindling at the face of colorless, and a hint of white mana; Chiburuu's mana sense much more tuned than the other Keepers.
With a sense of purpose, a sense of worry, and most of all a sense of wonder, Charles threw his hands down, and teleported himself close to Eva. Indeed, closer to Eva, but still a few yards from her; closer than he was. His sense of teleportation wasn't perfect, and neither were his eyes as he focused upon Eva, the world materializing in front of him; in his perception, it was in fact his eyes materializing in the real world. He ran forth. He had appeared ahead of the wave of beasts, and as he drew near, it crystallized in front of his eyes: a piercing wound in Eva's ribs, and the slow, definite, unnatural movement of a tusked behemoth moving towards her. He paused. As he always did he panicked, and he realized it.
;No, no not now, pull yourself together, you have your weapon, the bow, yes the bow;
Throwing his right arm out, as he had done but once before, he went to draw the bow. Yet, something was missing. Charles willed the bow to materialize, wanted it, needed it now, but his hand remained empty. He ran many thoughts, trying to will it to be.
;Is this a bow I see before me?;
Eva was sure to die, the wheel was broad, and her body was narrow. She couldn't be speared lying on the floor, but she certainly could be crushed.
;She's going to die, to die. I can't stop it; I can't do it. I'll never be able to do it. That's why Quinn got her: because he could. Oh God where is he now? He always comes at times like this;
;You feel this much for her? Fine. Your broken bones and my escaping spirit will pause this mere summon long enough for her to get to her feet. Please do it Charles. You are weak, as you yourself know. Let me find a new body; a better spirit to share. Millennia more are worth it than sticking it out with you;
Charles' fear, had been turned into anger. Thoughts of being worthless, thoughts of far from being good enough for simple duty, the blue Keeper could not even teleport correctly. He was certain of his death, but he was certain it would be of the juggernauts as well.
"Over my dead body you shall not have her!" Charles roared, as best a roar his tame vocal chords could produce.
Running towards the juggernaut, his large legs giving a step near to a leap, he was soon in front of it. The wheel bearing down on him, sure to crush his bones as Eva's sword had not damaged it. Charles grew into a blue mist, his vision blurred, his anger seething and his fear of death overwhelming.
;That's more like it my boy!;
The bow had at once brought to bear, the juggernaut now punctured in over a hundred spots, the shards of ice spreading their chill, forcing the wooden and metal frame to a halt before shattering. The weightless bow was easy to maneuver, natural to maneuver, and Chiburuu took over. Starting at the mana signature closest to him, the creatures fell one-by-one. As Arrathir reached the immediate locale, it was clear that the army was subsiding. Charles had barely a moment to register Arrathir's presence before a lightning bolt, no; a hairline tear appeared across the sky, quickly followed by another. Passing through, seeming to form their dimensions first one dimensional, then two, then three, two figures, once clearly Tyr, and another... no the other. Charles took a stride back.
It was a feminine form, clad in armour, hair facing northwards, and a myriad of mirrors choicely placed at joints and folds in the figures body. That masculine mana signature told Charles that was certainly the one who had the power to rip his soul from his body, and return it again. As the beasts declined, not falling into discharged mana, but a shaft of colour returning to their summoner, as it swirled up to the armoured form. Arrathir was still enjoying fighting, and Chikuro would not let the fight end here. Without a moments thought, Arrathir leaped to attack this new form; Tyr was a friend, and the form was clearly the one that set the army to beseech them. The Planeswalkers were not faster than Arrathir, but Arrathir contorted his muscles and stopped mid-flight, still in a haze of black.
"EVA!" Arrathir yelled, registering but ultimately remaining arrogant of Charles' presence.
As Arrathir reached his beloved, the armoured woman paused, creating a box to entrap Tyr, but only for a moment. She raced, standing firm, battle hardened and not showing any sign of tiring, unlike Arrathir's quickly healing wounds, in front of the black keeper.
"Peace, Keeper," said the armoured figure. "Sometimes, the best trial is by fire, and the blue Keeper seems to have passed with ease."
"Don't believe a word she says, Arrathir!" said Tyr, breaking free of her feeble entrapment.
Arrathir looked straight into the armoured figure's eyes; a devil's stare, worse, a ghell's stare. "Give me one reason while I shouldn't kill you now for hurting my mate," the words ending in a low growl, the last syllables passing through clenched fangs.
With the composure of a statue, the woman changed into the familiar form that Charles knew. "You wish to kill me?" laughed the figure. "Here I am."
The provocation worked all to well on Arrathir and he enjoyed the taunt, waiting for her to continue, Chikuro wanted to hear this being's last words.
"You are not my superior, but you have much to learn ghell, for the sake of all ghells." The draconic mist returned, turning to Tyr. "You have this round Tyr, but keep them here. Keep their blades dull and keep their minds untrained, for now. Ask Charles for my purpose. He knows; Chiburuu knows all too well."
Eyes glowing red, Arrathir charged the figure, his demonic aura enveloping him. The last of the beasts, now from the distance, vanished. The tears raced towards the noble woman, at last allowing the woman to step through before the two slits joined and vanished. Arrathir had but little time to lash at the figure, for her movements were far quicker than the Keeper had anticipated, his healing wounds preventing his full tour de force.
Arrathir lashed out at the ground below, his anger overflowing on the inanimate object. Charles fell to his knees dumbstruck and in spiritual shock; the weapon going as quickly as it had came. Eva lay bloodied, with only light breathing as any sign of life. If it were not for Khell being lifted, like an elevator, from his safe haven, Eva would have continued bleeding. Having noticed the distinct lack of mana signatures, he assumed it safe, at least for him and not Mira. Khell, having been removed from this, was the first to inquire, especially to Tyr, noticing his descent.
"What happened?" asked Khell, immediately getting to work on stemming Eva's bleeding, his healing arts not as adept as Erik, the poor Erik, but good enough for this task.
So it begins…
So it begins…
To be continued…
Author's note: A humungous thanks to Lu Chao who pretty much wrote the entire second half of this chapter and turned it into the kick-ass chapter I wanted it to be!