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Episode 9

Eroding Earth

The two opponents charged each other. The mage swung at Ryu as soon as he was close enough, but he rolled under the swing, slashing his dagger against the mage's side as he did.

The mage spun around with another swing, this one connecting with Ryu's chest. He followed up with a second swing. Adrian stepped back as the blow connected. He flipped the segment of armor on the left side of his belt so that it was facing up.

Before Adrian could finish setting up his attack the mage leapt forward, scythe raised. He blocked the scythe with his dagger, but the mage pushed against the dagger and Ryu was forced to place both hands on dagger to keep the scythe from forcing it to stab him. The mage shouted a battle cry and charged forward, Ryu was forced to move backwards, until he slammed against the side of a building. With no place run, Adrian now found the force from the scythe harder to bear. He removed a hand from the dagger long enough to reach down and push the levers on the left side of his belt.

"Flare up!" A golden dragon head was thrust from the armor and it released a fireball which immediately hovered up to Ryu's dagger, covering the blade in flames and extending its length by a small amount. This extra length hit the reaper mage right in the face. The creature screeched and stumbled back, momentarily blinded.

Ryu wasted no time in swinging his flaming weapon at the staff section of the scythe. The scythe's blade was severed and sent flying into the air. Ryu slashed the dagger across the mage's chest twice and then spun and posed as the mage stumbled back, sparks spraying from its chest, before it exploded. The severed scythe blade clattered to the ground.

Adrian sighed and turned, walking towards his bike. A howl grabbed his attention and he looked up to find the Cerberus mage leaping towards him. The mage's claws slammed into his chest and he was sent flying back. He groaned as he crashed to the ground.

Gray Fang chuckled and then advanced on his prey. Adrian rolled back to his feet and brought up his arms in time to shield himself from Gray Fang's next punch. The blow was still strong enough to knock him back. He ducked under the mage's slash and then delivered a punch to the chest. The mage shrugged off the blow and slashed his claws across Ryu's chest, sending sparks flying.

Adrian leapt into the air and kicked forward with both feet, the mage grunted as Ryu's kick slammed into his chest, sending him stumbling back, while Ryu back flipped away.

This bought enough room between the two for Ryu to shout "Korthin." The earth dragon leapt forward, spitting out the dragon's tongue for Adrian to catch and insert into the right side of his belt. He pulled the legs there back and the dragon's tongue was thrust out.

"Energize! Earth Form!"

A yellow ball of energy floated up to Ryu's forehead, dispersing into a cloud of yellow dust which changed the color of his armor. Korthin then leapt into Adrian's outstretched hand and transformed into the Earth Buckler.

Ryu charged at the mage and thrust the shield forward, Gray Fang sidestepped the blow and slammed his hand into Adrian's back, causing him to stumble forward. He spun around, swinging the buckler in an arc, Gray Fang raised an arm and blocked, before performing a sweep kick. Adrian leapt over it and over the mage's head, landing behind him, causing the concrete to crack under the impact. He spun around and thrust his shield forward. Gray Fang managed to turn around and caught the blow in the chest.

The Cerberus mage howled in pain and rage, before swinging his claws across Ryu's chest twice. The third slash was blocked with the Earth Buckler.

Adrian realized that though Quake Form was stronger than the Cerberus mage, it was also slower then him. He stepped back and circled his opponent looking for an opening.

Gray Fang growled and slapped a hand against the ground before leaping into the air, arm drawn back for a punch. Ryu responded by leaping forward as well, Earth Buckler drawn back. The two collided, both of their punches connecting with the other's chest. The force of the blows sent both flying back.

Adrian hit the ground without the Ryu armor, the belt having come unclipped. He had also dropped the Earth Buckler. He groaned and spotted both dragon's shaking their heads. He turned to Gray Fang and saw to his relief that the mage had returned to human form and was holding his chest as though in pain.

Both of them stumbled to their feet and Gray Fang laughed. "Not bad."

He turned and walked off. Adrian briefly considered following him, but his ribs hurt too much. Meth and Korthin had meanwhile picked themselves up off the floor.

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Getting back home was a rather nerve-wrecking experience for Adrian. In his rush to get to the fight, he had forgotten to bring a helmet, driving the bike home had not only been dangerous, but he was also afraid someone would see him on the unconventional bike and put two and two together. The helmet at least shielded his face.

He wondered how long he could get away with using the bike before either his aunt, or uncle noticed it was missing.

Adrian entered the kitchen to find his aunt and Mandy seated at the table going through a photo album.

"And there's Adrian when he was four..," his aunt said pointing at one of the photos.

"I'm back," Adrian announced going to the fridge to get some orange juice.

"Are these your parents?" Mandy asked.

Adrian leaned over her shoulder to see the picture she pointed out. He had been too young to remember when the picture had been taken, only being about a year old. He was in his mother's arms, his father whom he resembled quite a bit was standing next to her and in between the two was a small boy who bore a resemblance to Adrian's father and Adrian himself.

"You never told me you had a brother," Mandy said.

"The topic never came up," Adrian said, pouring himself a glass of orange juice.

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"That went well," Korthin said. "We got rid of one mage and we know that we're on par with the other one. We just have to get a little bit stronger and we'll be able to beat him."

"I suppose," Meth said. The two of them were perched in the tree in Adrian's front lawn.

"You know for all our differences at least we're both trying to protect the same thing right?" Korthin said.

"And what might that be?" Meth asked.

"The humans," Korthin replied.

"I'm not fighting to protect humans," Meth said. "I'm fighting to destroy the mages. Nothing more."

"Well… that's still protecting humans," Korthin said.

"It's because humans are corruptible that the mages even exist," Meth growled. "Protecting them is a waste of time."

With that said, the fire dragon beat his wings and took flight. Korthin stared after him.

Meth circled higher, wondering at Korthin. Perhaps it would be easier to stand him if he explained the history of the war between the dragons and mages to him.

His pondering was cut short as he spotted something else flying through the air. He turned and dived back toward the ground, flaring his wings as he neared it to kill his speed, he flew over to the kitchen window.

Thankfully, Adrian was in a position to spot the dragon and Meth made a follow me gesture with his head. Adrian quickly excused himself and dashed outside. "Another one?"

"Yes."

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A blast of feathers slammed into the hood of a limousine. The car swerved as the driver lost control, crashing into another car and slamming it through a store front. Another car rear ended the limo.

The creature responsible descended from the sky, elegantly touching down on the street. Its arms were covered in purple feathers and looked vaguely wing-like. She wore golden armor on her chest. Her skin was a pale white as was the feather-like hair that stood up on her head. Her feet and hands were yellow and resembled the talons of a bird of prey.

She stalked toward the limo, before the hum of an engine caught her attention and she turned. Adrian rammed his motorcycle into her and sent her flying back into the wall of a building.

"There are some people trapped in the cars," Korthin reported. He was clinging to the back of the bike. He could see one of the victims, pinned beneath the mangled remains of her steering wheel. "No one's helping them…"

Indeed the people there were too busy fleeing the scene to pay attention.

"See if you can free them," Adrian said. He pushed together Meth's horns. The dragon was already wrapped around his waist. Flaming wings emerged from Adrian's back.

"Henshin!"

He rode the bike forward, the flaming wings lowering around him and causing the Ryu armor to appear. The mage leapt into the air and opened her wings, taking flight. Adrian grabbed Meth's tail and wings from the belt, his bike magically stayed on track while both of his hands were occupied with assembling the weapon into gun mode.

"Take this!" Adrian shouted pointing the gun skyward. Small fireballs shot from the end of the gun up at the mage. She was surprisingly agile however and avoided each of his shots.

She turned around and swooped towards him, claws first. Adrian ducked as far as he could on the bike and she flew over top of him. He pointed the gun back and pulled the trigger, this time the shot connected and the mage fell to the ground.

Adrian pulled the bike to a stop and dismounted, turning and walking towards the mage. He pulled the tail loose and stacked it on top of the handle.

The mage screeched and raised her arms, feathers flying off and at Adrian. Ryu swatted the feathers away with his dagger and dodged several others.

"Mess with me and you're going to get burnt," Adrian said, pointing the dagger at the mage. She squawked in surprise and then bent her knees, preparing to take flight. Adrian hurled the dagger at her and she was knocked backwards onto the ground.

Adrian took a step forward and then stopped as Gray Fang stepped into his field of vision.

"Now we finish things," Gray Fang said, a silver glow surrounding him as he transformed into his mage form. The harpy mage raised her arms and released a battle cry.

"Stay out of this," Gray Fang shot his arm out and smacked the harpy mage, knocking her into the air. She opened her wings and soared off. Adrian leapt forward and extended his foot, Gray Fang swatted his foot to the side and Ryu dropped to the ground. He was forced to roll out of the way as the mage stomped his foot down.

Ryu rolled into a crouch. A yellow orb slammed into Gray Fang's side and sent him stumbling. Korthin growled and leapt into Ryu's hand, transforming into the Earth Buckler as he did. The earth dragon tongue materialized above the right side of the belt and dropped into the Element Slot. Adrian pulled the lever back and the yellow dragon head was thrust out releasing the yellow orb which quickly hovered up to his forehead and then became the cloud of transforming yellow dust.

"Energize! Earth Form!"

Switching the shield to his right hand, Ryu charged at the Cerberus mage. He swung the shield at him, but he knocked it aside and then rapidly landed three punches. Adrian rolled to the side.

"Korthin, what's wrong? We're supposed to be stronger than this," Adrian said. He leapt over Gray Fang's next charge, but the mage managed to clip his legs and turn his landing into an uncontrolled tumble.

"I don't know!" Korthin exclaimed, his voice high with panic.

Gray Fang slashed his claws across Adrian's chest as he stood up and then kicked him, launching him several feet back. He then reared his head back and spread his arms appearing to be gathering his energies. He roared and spat a ball of purple energy from his mouth.

Ryu had barely regained his footing when the ball slammed into him and exploded, sending sparks everywhere and causing the abandoned car behind him to explode as well.