8. 27. 2017
"Hello dear elementalist," A wretched voice slurred, the man squatting down in front of the fallen mage.
Aisha could only muster up a glare, her amethyst eyes gleaming with danger as her hands struggled to raise her body.
"Tsk tsk, I can't have you getting up now," And with a slight wave of his hand, the gravity below her strengthened, it's grips snatching her back down to the ground.
With that a gasp escaped the female's pale lips, the force leaving her unable to speak nonetheless move.
"Just stay down like a good girl okay? And hey, at least you're closer to your dead brethrens!" He laughed loudly, his hands slapping down wildly on his knees as he howled.
The others around him soon joined in to his hilarity, each letting out their own cackles. My dead brethrens…? You sick fuckers… Just wait… till I get my fucking hands on you...
"Ahh, I'm sorry, the sight of you is just so funny! I mean look at you- a person whose race reigns supreme within the magic world, a mage who holds vast amounts of mana and power- groveling at the ground from a tiny gravity skill! It's so pathetic I could cry!" The male laughed again, his eyes flashing with amusement.
"Though I guess you can't really help it, since power always comes at a price. And in your case- or should I say your race's case- it's your life force,"
Aisha's body stiffened at those words, her eyes widening and trembling as her fingers curled into a fist, pulling specks of dirt and grass into her palms. Her body felt hot, shaking with such anger that her hands emitted flames, disintegrating the debri within her reach.
"Yo enough Randall, anymore and she might just bury herself into the ground from embarrassment!" Another man joined in, laughing as he walked forward.
"You're right Miles, I should cut her some slack before she actually takes advantage of that gravity skill to bury herself, haha. Alright everyone, enough jokes, prepare to extract the mana reserve from her body. I don't mind if she dies in the process,"Randall glanced down at the mage once more, "Why so quiet? Got nothing else to say now that you're actually facing death?"
As if.
The elementalist snapped her head up, amethyst eyes flashing as she reversed the gravity skill onto Randall, the impact being much heavier and stronger as it slammed his body down, cracking the ground and crushing his bones with a sickly snap. Before the others could react, Aisha raised her hand, summoning a regal staff with white wings outstretching from it. A simple incantation was all it took for the air to turn cold and dry, frosty particles fluttering into the sky as a hail of ice came roaring down. The speed at which it came down was frightening, instantly piercing through several bodies with ice that climbed up from inside and out, putting them into an eternal frozen coma. However, with each skill, she felt her body become colder, weaker, hollower- yet her rage left her blind to the effects.
Screams of anguish filled the atmosphere as burning meteors came right after the blizzard, charring the frozen bodies into ashes. The followers of Randall teleported into order to dodge it, their weak mana shields barely withstanding the flames, slowly shattering with each contact.
"Restrain her!"
"Quickly, before she kills us all!"
Hah… Breathless and cold, the elementalist struggled to her knees, each breath coming out as a hoarse wheeze. She was shaking uncontrollably, her arms and feet barely keeping her body up due to the massive amount of magic power she had just released. And just like that, as quickly as the elemental storms had come, they had seized. Suddenly, the flames were gone. Suddenly, the screams were quiet. Suddenly, the mage felt empty.
…
"...It's gone…? She's out of power…? Hahaha, HAHAHA! She's out of power…!" A remaining follower snickered, her white eyes widening with fearful joy as she pulled her wand closer to her body, "What are you going to do now?! You have nothing left to protect you! Absolutely nothing!"
The question was met with silence. Aisha's gaze remained lowered to the ground, her body having given up on standing. Her staff laid beside her, the wings which had outstretched itself so magnificently now laid dead and torn up on the dirt. Slowly, her gripped loosened around the rod.
I have nothing left…
Ah, the familiarity of despair. The deja vu that she had felt earlier didn't remind her home. It reminded her of the death of her home. It was over. Her life of being the hunter had reversed. Now, she was the hunted. How ironic.
Drip… Drip…
Shakily, Aisha raised a hand to her eyes, gently swiping them. What gathered on her fingers, were tears.
"Why now…?" She scoffed sadly, smiling brokenly.
There was nothing left for her in this world. Perhaps there would be something else beyond it. Raising a tear-stained face to the sky, she took in a shaky breath, her eyes gazing at the dimming moonlight.
"Chain her down, now." The follower snarled.
With that command, the female felt magical chains begin to wrap around her body, twisting around her arms and neck.
I guess it ends here...
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"
… That voice…!
Immediately, a figure came crashing down, slamming two swords down onto the chain and shattering them into tiny pieces. Aisha eyes widen as she stared in disbelief at the sight before her, unable to move or react as a gust of wind came flying past from the shockwave of the attack. What laid before her was Elsword, his back arched in a predatory stance as his scarlet eyes flickered with rage. The male was emitting a dangerous bloodlust, his hands gripping the blades tightly as he stood up straight, slashing one sword to the side.
"Y-you…" Aisha stuttered, watching as he turned around to glance at her.
The swordsman's cold eyes only softened once they made contact with amethyst ones. He walked forward, ignoring the threatening people surrounding him as he knelt down infront of the mage. He took in her flushed face, her sparkling lavender eyes, and her sullied clothes. It only made him angrier.
"Why… why are you here…?" Aisha whispered, flinching as his hand came forward to gently to wipe her tears.
"Why wouldn't I be here?" Elsword replied with a grin.
"... This doesn't involve you, leave,"
"Still going to keep up your front around me?"
"You- Elsword- just leave. You're don't even know me," She inched back, pushing him away weakly.
"Well, we've only known each other for two days," He chuckled lightly, "Besides, you're crying. I think that's enough of a reason for me to be here,"
Aisha felt her chest tighten at his words, the pain becoming almost unbearable as suddenly more tears started to flow down her cheeks. She shoved him back, shaking her head vigorously.
"No! Leave! Get out of my sight! I told you already that this doesn't involve you!"
Silence. She felt him press his forehead against her own.
"This does involve me. I'm the leader of Piecers, the notorious group known for meddling in things they're not suppose too,"
"Stop flirting already! I'm being seri-!"
"I'm being serious too," Elsword cut in, narrowing his eyes while engulfing himself and Aisha in a protective fire barrier as the enemies surrounding them started to close in, "Just say the word,"
The female bit her lips, pressing her palms against his chest in a useless attempt to push him away. She felt his hand wrap around her head, pulling her closer to him. Whatever she did, she couldn't find it in herself to look away from his honest and entrancing eyes, the hue being so mesmerizingly gentle.
"Give me the word, Aisha," The male murmured softly.
It was too much. He was too much. What else could she do? With a tiny sniffle, she dropped her hands from his chest.
"... Mm…"
That reply was all it took. Suddenly the swordsman leaned forward, capturing her lips with his in a tender kiss. Taken back, Aisha froze, her eyes widening. However, it didn't take long until she closed her them. It was such a soft kiss, but at the same time, it was so powerful. It was warm and passionate, enough to drop the front that she had worked so hard to put up in order to protect herself. For the first time, in all the lonely years she had lived her life in, she felt the desire to live. With one final press, Elsword leaned back, his crimson eyes glittering as a smile worked it's way up his lips.
"I'll be right back,"
Aisha nodded quietly. It didn't take too long till the surroundings turned into a fiery haze, the scarlet color filling her vision as screams resounded through the atmosphere. But she didn't have the energy to look up, instead waiting till it was silent and cool once more. The crunching of burnt leaves alerted her attention, watching as Elsword sheathed his swords and reached forward to carefully lift her.
"I can walk…" The mage said softly.
"I'd rather you not," He replied, beginning to walk past the ashen corpses that laid amongst them.
The male observed her complexion, her lips pale and her eyes lidded as she let out slow and heavy breaths. He could tell she was beginning to lose consciousness, her body slackening into his arms. Despite having her so close to him, she felt so distant. Almost as if she was going to leave to a place he wouldn't be able to follow her too.
"Elsword, there is something I wish to discuss with you about,"
"What now Eve? Gonna question why I'm so 'smitten' with Aisha again?" Elsword muttered lowly, shifting his glance away from the seraph.
"No. There are more prominent things to talk about than your 'crush'. During that mage's escape, I realized something quite troublesome, something that will affect you deeply if I assume correctly,"
"And? What would that be? That she's amazingly swift and keen? That she was able to easily escape from you Eve?"
The maiden let out a tired sigh, reaching a slender hand to her face as she shook her head.
"That is not of the topic that I wish to discuss about. I will say that I am most impressed with her abilities but there are more important pending matters, Elsword,"
"Say it then,"
"Can you perhaps recollect the time when we stumbled upon a ruined village a few years ago? The village that most call as the Wilting Flowers?"
At the name of Wilting Flowers, the swordsman turned around to lock his attention fully on his comrade, the name being unsettlingly familiar.
"Though we only scavenged that village for jewels and money, I was quite curious about how it came to destruction so I researched it on my own. According to what I found, that village was home to the most powerful magicians on Elrios."
"Most powerful magicians…?"
"Indeed. Their race being called Ewolm. From what I understand, they held the highest mana reserves and spells that could bring kingdoms to their knees if they so wished. Yet they didn't, they remained hidden as a small village deep within the mountains- until those hungry for power came in search of their mana reserves."
"So the destruction of Wilting Flowers, were actually remnants of a battle?" Chung questioned, seating himself down beside Elsword.
"I believe so. The Ewolm were the most powerful magicians on Elrios, surely an army of attackers shouldn't have been a problem to them… But their village was destroyed and not a single corpse was found… Isn't that quite odd?"
"Get to the point Eve," Elsword said, an uneasiness growing inside him as he listened to the story.
"In differents views, I would say that power comes at a price. So what price did the Ewolm have to pay for their strength and virility? What consequence of their power led the strongest magicians on Elrios to become annihilated to an army of power seekers? The only conclusion that I am able to come up with is their life force,"
Dead silence. Eve continued.
"Perhaps the Ewolm were not defeated by power, but by numbers. Spells after spells to keep the attackers at bay, all while draining their life force to the point in which they defeated their own selves,"
The Piercers were struck with a sense of timeless horror, fully realizing the impact of the nasod's words. The concept was so simple, yet so brutal. Great power at the expense of their life. The ability to kill all whilst killing one selves. A true irony.
"... How does this relate to Aisha…?" Elsword already knew the answer.
"... The marking of Ewolm, the flag that we saw lying burnt in the center of Wilting Flowers. She has the same marking."
A/N:
God, I love cliffhangers c:
Now you guys know the real identity of Aisha, the
brutality at which her power plays xD
Sorry for the kinda late update, I had so many AP work+tests to study for
so I couldn't finish writing the chap till yesterday! But I edited it today
and now I'm posting it for all you guys to read! :D
Hopefully there isn't too many mistakes or rushiness in this chapter x.x
The next chapter will be the final one, to wrap up this story~
Thanks for reading like always and please leave a review, it
honestly lets me know that you guys are actually enjoying it ^^
Answer to Reviews~
Rielin: ahhh i see, summer is the time for imagination since you dont have to worry about school work lmao thanks for enjoying the story, here is the next update c:
Guest: yes its been 3 years! xD i'm glad ur enjoy this story so much, it means alot to me qwq ah thank you for the compliment, im a big sucker for a more heavy plot and minor romance kinda story so i tend to do that with my own fanfics~ the reason why he wants Aisha to join so much? hmmm, maybe it reminds him of how he used to be? xD who knows :P and yes he saves the day, in actuality, he kisses her then saves the day :3 thanks for reading and reviewing, i hope you enjoyed this chapter! ^^
MysteryBoxELS: quick update is not so quick anymore xD ah yes, cliffhangers, my favorite thing to do to my readers mwahahahhaah :D it fuels my happiness to see you guys suffer (jk jk jk) hope you enjoyed this update!
Fii24: oh u flatter me c: thank you for the nice compliment! hope you enjoyed this chapter!
