When Noam landed on the forest floor beside the group of teens he felt like he was a disney princess, but at the same time he felt more of those (what seemed like) thousand year old memories. He saw his brother in a different setting, in a cave. He saw a middle aged man with a blonde haired, and gray eyed teen. Also the strange Christmas memory from before (the one with the kiss) he remembered a girl with pink streaks in her hair.
Suddenly Noam realized that the group was waiting for him to say something.
"I saw him running that way" Noam said pointing to the left, towards the highway. "He seems to have a leg injury, so he shouldn't be too hard to catch."
Milliseconds after Noam finished his sentence the group ran off after Call. Noam had no choice, but to follow.
It didn't take long for the group to catch up to Call. He was trying to use the wooded area to his advantage darting between trees, but in the light of dawn his black outfit made him stand out more.
They chased him for a while, slowly gaining on him. Ahead of Noam, he could see a clearing with a boulder not to far away, if only he could somehow get Call to run into the clearing, they would have him cornered. Strangely, Call seemed to be running strait towards the clearing, if he didn't make a move soon he'd be cornered.
Call ran strait into the clearing, and ran up to the bolder destroying any chance he had at escape. Something's not right here Noam thought.
Call turned around, and yelled.
"LEAVE ME ALONE! DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND WHY I'M DOING THIS!" Call's voice had a hint uncertainty in his voice, as though he wanted to roll into a ball, cry, and for all of them to hug him. Noam knew all about that.
"Why are you doing this Call!" Tamara said her voice cracking, and sobbing heavily. "We understand your struggles, and we accept them, we can talk about them."
"LOOK AT WHAT I DID TO AARON!" Call screamed pointing at the scar on Aaron's neck, his voice also cracking, and sobbing.
"I forgive you." Aaron said. This was so emotional that Noam was almost crying himself.
"WHY! WHY DO YOU WANT BACK A FREAK WHO'S SOULS WAS LOST SINCE HE WAS BABY! WHY!" Call said, he was either insane, or there was more to him then Noam knew about.
"Come back, please." Celia said falling to her knees begging.
"I'm doing this for your own good!" Call said this time slightly less loudly, he was giving in.
Noam knew he had to do something, and quick, because if he didn't Call might slip away.
"Callum, I know your stru..." Noam began to say as he stepped into the clearing.
Out of the corner of Noam's eye he could see something something coming towards him, something big. Before Noam could turn towards it, a rock the size of a football, going 60 km/h crashed into the left side of Noam's jaw.
The pain was like a small nuke had exploded on his jaw. The impact had sent Noam flying sideways, and falling on his stomach. The spot where he landed instantly became red from blood.
Noam turned onto his side to face Call, but his vision was blurry, his jaw stung inexplicably, and he was on the verge of passing out, but he did see Call rise from the ground. Beside him another figure rose from behind the boulder, a strangely familiar middle aged man. Then he remembered one of his thousand year ago memories, with a blonde, and gray eyed teen.
Then all of a sudden a memory hit him just as hard as the rock. Master Joseph. Anger rushed through him blocking out all other thoughts, this man had killed his brother, this man was evil!
Suddenly Master Joseph lifted his arm, and the group was lifted as well. Master Joseph was restraining them, even Rufus. Wait not Rufus, Master Rufus Noam thought, he remembered master Rufus as well.
Master Joseph looked down at Noam, and smiled clearly thinking that he was no threat, and could be teased. Though Noam could see the exhaustion in his eyes from lifting 6 people, the strain in his face from restraining the power of 4 people.
Noam lifted his hand with all the strength he had left. He imagined Master Joseph flying back where, back behind the boulder. He put all the bad thoughts he had into this on strike, all his anger, all his want for revenge. Then with yell, he released it.
Master Joseph was thrown about km back, and hit a tree, falling out of view, and losing concentration. Every one fell to the ground including Call.
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Call screamed. He sounded like a toddler.
Noam was definitely on the verge of passing out, from both the rock, and from exhaustion, so when he saw darkness spreading from Call's palm he wasn't sure if it was real, or he was tripping.
"Call stop this right NOW!" Master Rufus said, but the darkness was spreading from Call's palm really quickly, there was no stopping him.
Noam couldn't quite comprehend what was happening, but Aaron could. He stepped forward his palm raised, and released his own chaos magic.
Chaos vs Chaos, Makar vs Makar.
Their tendrils of chaos magic met in the middle of the clearing, spreading, and blocking each other out of each others sight.
That's how it was for awhile, a battle of pure darkness, and nothingness in the middle of the clearing.
The Chaos magic was taking it's toll on Aaron. His eyes became dark, and the exhaustion on Aaron's face was unmistakable. After a few minutes Aaron fell to his knees, obviously drained, but he didn't stop. He became sort of translucent eve for Noam, he was being consumed by chaos.
Celia, and Master Rufus started yelling at Aaron to stop, but it didn't work. Tamara wasn't taking any chances, she walked up to Aaron, and with all the force she could muster she punched Aaron across the face. Aaron lost concentration, and stopped using chaos magic, and didn't become consumed by chaos. Aaron's last words before passing out from exhaustion, and Tamara's boxing skills were "Ow". Tamara couldn't help smiling.
When the chaos magic cleared there was no sign of Call, and between them, and the other side of the clearing was a crater of nothingness in the ground, the width of a basketball court, a passed out Aaron, and an injured Noam, but no one seemed to care right now, they had bigger problems.
With all the action over, Noam rolled onto his back, and let the memories seep in. He tried not to let the memories overwhelm him, but that seemed impossible. He discovered the true reason his brother died: during the escape of Constantine Madden and Master Joseph, his brother was hit by the explosion, and bled out in Noam's arms. He remembered Master Joseph more vividly, and how he became really angry as he got closer to the day of his escape. He also remembered Master Rufus more vividly, and how he'd been really nice and supportive, though that wasn't enough. He also remembered a girl called Milagros, who had kissed him on Christmas (long story), as well as over all memories of the magisterium, and it's mages. Then another thought came, the thought that he had unbound his magic, he was the first person to ever do so.
He didn't have much time to reflect though since Master Rufus had brought passed out Aaron to where Noam was, so they didn't have to run between Aaron, and Noam. They gathered around Noam, and all (except Aaron) cringed when they saw his wound.
"Is it bad?' Noam croaked, they all nodded in reply.
Noam hadn't brought his first aid kit from the helicopter, so he had to rip off a piece of his custom printed: "Magic doesn't exist, live a stable life" shirt to use as a bandage for his wound. So much for that Noam thought.
"Alright guys, I think I deserve to know more in depth about this situation, since I'm clearly involved in this now" Noam said, after receiving a bombardment of questions about becoming unbound. The group have decided to take a break while Aaron was passed out.
Tamara looked at Master Rufus, and he nodded, so Tamara recounted the events whilst having a flashback on them.
Note from author: Hey guys I hope you're enjoying this so far! Tamara's flashback will be in the next chapter. May the Schwartz be with you!