Chapter 14: The Red Flash

Nick was down. Ian was down. Even Alyssa was down.

Now it was all up to Jacob.

He had been trained for this. During his time as one of Malistaire's most trusted subordinates, before he had been converted, he had been trained for any kind of situation, him facing a great threat alone being one of them. When faced with that situation at training, he passed with flying colors.

But now that he was actually down on his knees… he wasn't laughing so much.

Jacob fired multitudes of fire spells rapidly at Valdus and Sestiva and wove through myth and ice spells in turn. After dodging a three-headed dog, after avoiding being encased with ice, after ducking under a frost giant and Medusa at the same time, he was becoming rather tired.

He managed to throw in a fire symbol, but due to the lack of concentration it fizzled on the spot. Then he realized a second too late that a minotaur had rammed into him, sending him flying. Jacob caught himself just in time, head spinning and trying to blink spots of colors away.

While he was slow and tired, the duo he was fighting against were quick and healthy. Sestiva giggled as she brought a wyvern to life, fully intending on finishing him off.

This was it, he realized as the wyvern drew closer. Jacob closed his eyes, bracing himself for whatever was about to come. Valdus and Sestiva were both prodigies… at this rate, there was no way…

The wyvern was upon him, he was so dead-

Shing! Then an unearthly screech.

For a long moment, Jacob wondered whether his death had been so quick that he hadn't felt it. Then he realized that he was actually still alive when Sestiva gave an indignant cry.

He opened his eyes. The wyvern was dead, it's body laying in front of a girl, younger than him, with fire-red hair tied up into a high ponytail. He couldn't see her face, but did see that she was wearing red and two sheaths in an X across her back.

Jacob quickly found out what was in those sheaths. The redhead pulled out one katana slowly, ending with a dramatic finish, then did the same with the other one.

"Let's do this," Jacob heard her say before launching herself at their opponents.

"Going somewhere?"

Despite Grace's claims, this guy didn't initially look like a Level Ten threat. He looked like a simple wizard, with black hair, dark eyes and pale skin.

But Riley then realized that Grace had to be right when he smiled cruelly, as if knowing something she didn't.

"Tarlac," Alex said, surprised. "Get out. I've got this under control."

The teenager, or Tarlac, tilted his head casually. "Do you?"

"Yes! She's an apprentice at best, I can handle it!"

Tarlac closed his eyes serenely. "Hm… even so, I've been getting kind of bored. Get out, Legendstone. I'll take care of this."

"Again, I-"

"You're too soft, Legendstone." His voice was almost a whisper. It reminded Riley of the calm before the stone. "You're experienced in battle, yes- but you aren't able to kill. Now, if you value your life… I suggest you get out of the room."

Alex opened his mouth as if to protest, but he closed it again after a moment's thought. He threw a look at Riley, then, knowing that this was a battle that he couldn't win, exited.

Riley's body acted as if it didn't have a logical mind within its head. She sprinted after Alex, desperate to get out of the room- she knew that Tarlac wasn't good, not good at all. One look at him told her everything that she needed to know about him- that he was bad. Possibly more bad than Valdus.

Tarlac didn't move as she sprinted out. He just stood there, as if he wasn't noticing her going out. And for a second, that's what Riley thought. She had enough confidence about that as she ran-

Then something slammed her back down to the ground.

She wasn't quite sure what it was that did. She didn't have any time to see. All she knew was that one moment the hall was within sight, the next being forced down, then the next after that a complete, utter blackness tightening over her body.

Her eyes popped out of her eyelids. She felt her wand slip from her grasp, and, now defenseless, her arms flailed about the place, then around her neck, as if it was gripping her there, but then found that it wasn't, so she continued flailing like a baby . . . she tried to scream, but it got tangled, frozen in her throat as the sheer, liquid darkness enveloped her body . . .

Upon arriving, the Red Flash had been initially confused. What exactly was going on? Who was the 'right' side, and who was the 'wrong' one? She had thought she'd need to watch for a bit, but as it turned out, she hadn't.

Not when she'd seen the blonde diviner on the ground.

A white-hot flare surged in her stomach, then quickly made out just who her enemies were.

Her eyes rounded considerably.

Valdus.

Her eyelids relaxed, and her mouth became a dangerous slit. She remembered him… she had known him for a long time… she should have realized that he had been working for Malistaire… it had led up to everything she had been through.

And Sestiva.

To Bartleby above, Sestiva.

In a flash that she was named after (or as it actually was, teleportation), she came to the wyvern and had it burned to a crisp with a large swath of fire in a matter of seconds.

Sestiva cried out, leaving the Red Flash to enjoy a slam of satisfaction in her stomach. She grinned all the more as she ripped her dual katanas free of her sheathe.

"Let's do this," she muttered under her breath.

"Who're you?" Sestiva squinted as if trying to see something from far away.

The Red Flash's grin widened. She couldn't even recognize her, that ditz!

But Valdus did.

"Sestiva," he said slowly. "That's-"

The Red Flash couldn't let Valdus finish that sentence. Not in front of the dark-skinned pyromancer.

So she chose that exact moment to attack.

A/N: Thanks to bulldozerman185 for reviewing!