Manifest: A Shattered Future

Episode 5: End of the New World

"The monks are powerful conjurers who serve to defend those who come to them for protection. They do not align themselves with Aegea or any other city-state, but they consider themselves protectors of human life. They're basically the last place for people to run and hide. Especially now when Adriatic soldiers are invading the city," Romulo explained.

When Romulo reached the large front door of the church, he firmly pushed to force it open, but the locked door would not budge. He then banged forcefully upon it, hoping the echoes of his knock could drown out the patter of pouring rain. But after half a minute of waiting and intermittent knocking, Romulo and Elena accepted that no one would let them inside; they wondered if anyone was even inside in the first place. But when they turned their attention back toward the courtyard, Romulo saw a human-sized silhouette beneath the pouring rain. He groaned, swept Elena into his arms, and then dashed across the courtyard as quickly as he could. She protested at first, but she could see the determination in his eyes; he would not let an enemy soldier catch them in a dead-end.

The silhouette moved closer when Romulo approached an alleyway at the courtyard's entrance, but Romulo outran him and executed a swift swerve. With Elena in his arms, Romulo splashed through puddles and jumped over fallen branches. He ducked beneath trees and felt Elena's wet hair slap across his skin, but she clenched his strong body tightly. A web of lightning raced across the sky and illuminated the city for an instant, but when it disappeared, Romulo tripped in a puddle before his eyes could readjust. As he fell to the ground, he swerved and cradled Elena in his arms; he landed on his back with a skid. Elena gasped as she fell out of his arms and rolled across the street, but Romulo worked to quickly pull himself back onto his feet.

"Don't embarrass yourself by trying to run. You had to know that this was a foregone conclusion," said the silhouette in the rain from a short distance away.

Romulo faced the dark shape and whispered, "Get out of here, Elena. I don't think that he is an ordinary enemy. You aren't safe here."

"Fuck that! I'm not running. I'll fight with you; I'll fight by you! Who cares if he's not ordinary? He can't take on both of us!" Elena shouted, practically pleading as she tried to climb upright.

"The choice isn't yours. You'll stay out of this whether you want to or not," retorted the enemy as he unleashed the power of the Adriatic Emblem.

After forcing his violet monolith to reverberate with a gentle smack, the rain-cloaked enemy forced a white ellipse to appear around his feet. The glow illuminated every falling raindrop with a haunting light, and then it rapidly expanded like an inescapable fire. Romulo glared at the approaching ellipse, but instead of running, he helped Elena climb to her feet. The edge of the luminous ellipse pushed Elena aside, and then it locked her away from Romulo. It stopped expanding after it enclosed Romulo, and then the Adriatic Emblem created a translucent curtain to separate the two friends. Elena could see Romulo through the white wall and the pouring rain, but he could hardly see her. She slammed her fists upon the wall, but she could not break through; Romulo was now locked in battle with their surreptitious enemy.

"You should be proud of yourself. I've heard stories of your skill! Some of my strongest conjurers couldn't defeat you. Even when I let my strongest sorcerer loose, you managed to defeat it. Hell, you even caught it! That's impressive. But let's see if there's anything you can do to stop me now," the cloaked soldier said through the pouring rain.

"Typhoon Paladin was yours? That is... interesting. Your name wouldn't happen to be Neonia, would it?" asked Romulo.

A shiver shot down Elena's spine so suddenly that Romulo could practically sense it from inside the Adriatic Emblem. She glared at her enemy through the white walls, sensing a familiarity about the enemy even though she could not see him. She repeated the name several times quietly, feeling that her lips had whispered that word many times in the distant past.