The Elemental Chain Saga: Dragon Flame

Chapter Twenty-One: Cooper's Storm

I'm about to die. Cooper looked at the approaching figure. His sword swung rhythmically as he neared his prey. Cooper looked up into the shadows of his cowl where Cooper was sure his eyes stared him down with the utmost evil.

Cooper tried to raise his body but fatigue dragged him down. He looked behind himself fearfully. The shadowy orb still roiled and rolled. Cooper knew that Max was dying in its clutches. Max. I have to save him, or die trying, Cooper thought with a hardened resolve.

He slowly pushed himself to his knees. Tempest continued to near as if nothing had changed. Cooper gritted his teeth as he drew out a large amount of his power. Let's do this, he thought with a final urge. His aura exploded around him in a violet whirl. Cooper had never felt so much energy and power. He worried he would kill himself before he could even do anything.

He clenched his hands into fist. His dad had always said, "Never let in to the enemy", and he wasn't about to start now.

Cooper stood shakily. Tempest had stopped his approach and watched Cooper carefully. Separate battles raged on around them, the fighting reaching a frenzied height as the Andanobians tried to win back their advantage.

Cooper harnessed the moisture in the air and swirled it. A whirlpool of water twisted and boiled around Cooper as he directed all of his power into a single point. The water raged. It extended from Cooper more than five meters. Cooper raised his arm and multiple tendrils rose in spirals into the air. They posed at their apex before descending at his target with the force of a waterfall.

The water drilled into the shadow wave and the tendrils spun with an amazing force, ripping into the surface, churning the shadows around the rotations. The tendrils slowly sank into the orb, twisting their way into the cage of darkness that held Cooper's friend. There was a guttural scream in the air. Tempest grasped his head in agony.

"How..can you...be getting through?" He asked in between gasp. He yelled out as the twisting water spun faster and pushed in deeper.

The tendrils blasted through the dark orb with a blast of black energy and a drawn out shout from the Andanobii commander.

The rolling orb blew apart and Max fell limp to the ground. Please be okay, Cooper pleaded.

The water continued to spiral around him. Tempest slowly took his hands off his head and raised his sword, point poised menacingly "No matter; that sword boy is probably long dead by now. You will be next."

Tempest ran at the wall of water before him, not as swift and graceful as before, but still with great speed. Cooper pointed at his target and a column of water pulsed at Tempest. Tempest rolled to the left and sprinted forward, running low to the ground, zigzagging to give Cooper a smaller target. Cooper spun tendrils of water at Tempest. Tempest dodged over and under them. Cooper shouted in defiance, redirecting a tendril, only two or so feet from him.

With an overwhelming splash, the tendril slammed into Tempest's back. The water washed over him in a rolling wave. Cooper let his energy pour out of him with one pulse. The water around him shot out in whirling spirals and slammed down on where Tempest had fallen. The helixes of water erupted against the ground with the force of an avalanche. With a final urge of power, Cooper pushed the water into a giant geyser into the air, droplets spraying through the sky, reflecting off of the flashing lightning. The water shot up in a great rush, building up into the air. The pillar bubbled as the water washed around and tried to escape Cooper's control.

"Duratus!" With a wave of his hand, the column froze with crackles and chinks of ice.

Cooper's aura sparkled and cracked. With a splutter, it went out. Cooper stumbled back and with a groan, he fell.

The column of ice stood like a beam of light. It stood there as the light of dawn kissed up over the horizon, scattering fragmented rainbows of light in every direction, the violet the most intense color.

The fighting had broken up. A few skirmishes had dragged over to the Colorless Caverns and the fights went on there. The back of Astral Castle was littered with dead bodies. The castle grounds had been a canvas but the battle had painted it red with blood. The blood of heroes and of villains.

Max slowly shifted. He moaned as he got up and rubbed his head. He looked around for his sword and grabbed it's hilt as he found it. His eyes caught something and he looked at the column of ice that soared into the sky, the light of dawn twinkling through its magnificence. A tiny figure was frozen in the ice.

That must have been the work of a Class A, Max thought in awe. Who else could do such a thing? Max looked around and spotted a small figure curled on the ground. He slowly walked over and was surprised to see a beat up looking Cooper passed out on the ground. Max lifted him in his arms and held him.

"You did good, Coops," Max whispered softly to his young friend, looking down at his serene face, hair plastered to his sodden head "you did good."
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DragonDog1: I hope you enjoyed that intense chapter. Please comment and vote because your opinions matter to me. Thanks for the dedication to the series!