A Sword For Gold

Chapter 26 - Sword for Gold

"Enough, Baros."

At this point, Baros became overwhelmed with his own emotions. Not only were the six of them trapped, with no way out, with no chance of fighting back successfully, but Baros stood helplessly with his sword drawn, in front of his father, who simply stared him down, devoid of emotion, and with completely no regard for his son. The fact that he had to face his father this way, the father who betrayed him, was simply like the sensation of rubbing salt along the open wounds of his backstabbed heart. He couldn't take it, as his hands trembled, tightly gripping the sword with anxiety and anger, while tears streamed down his face uncontrollably, as he held back his sobs, focusing instead on the enemies right in front of him.

"Balin, do me a favor and take out the trash," commanded Alyria, growing impatient with the scene being caused by the two Delvis men.

"With pleasure," obliged Balin with a smirk, as he charged forward towards his son, drawing his sword, and the two began to duel in a clash of swords to the death. Balin did well to drive Baros out of the way, as he managed to drive him into a corner, and clean the distance between Alyria Desolas and Velenya Martel.

Thus, with Baros taken out of Alyria's way, and the others having been incapacitated prior, only one stood in between Alyria Desolas and the Master Key which she had been after.

"Did you just tell your servant to murder his own son?" asked Velenya, doing her best to remain calm and collected, as she began to call upon her energies, slowly immersing her hands in flame.

"I did not say that," denied Alyria, "I simply told Balin to get his son out of my way. Whether he chooses to kill him or let him live is completely up to him, but it won't matter, since all the six of you will not be leaving this island alive."

"They're children, Alyria," said Velenya, nearly furiously, "Your agenda is with me, is it not? Why not only come after me?"

"As long as they live to tell the tale," Alyria responded, "My plan for the world will always be in jeopardy."

"And what is your plan for the world?" asked Velenya, "Just what are you af—"

"Enough talking," said Alyria she began to immerse her hands in flames just like Velenya had done. "You would never understand, anyway."

Then, save for the duel of swordsmanship that Baros and his father had been engaging in, a deafening silence washed over the two powerful sorceresses, in a grueling, tense standoff, where each one of them was waiting for the other to make the first move. After all, a battle of sorcery was a battle of wits, and to defeat the other, they needed to gain the upper hand in that aspect.

Finally, Velenya made the first move, punching the air with her fiery hands, and launching an massive ball of blazing fire towards Alyria, who simply dodged effortlessly by sidestepping out of the way, but that was precisely what Velenya had wanted.

After Alyria had avoided Velenya's first attack, Velenya then managed to Flicker Step behind the leader of The Rising, with another fireball in her palm, aiming to drive it straight unto Alyria's back side.

Alyria Desolas saw this coming, however, as she immediately Flicker Stepped forward, narrowly avoiding the backstab that Velenya had just attempted upon her, before immediately turning towards her so that Alyria could keep a constant eye on Velenya Martel's nimble movements.

"You're rather quick," Alyria complimented with a smirk and a wink, "But there's no way you're as powerful as I am."

Alyria then showed exactly what she meant as she unsheathed the whole Star Sword that she had been carrying upon her back, drawing it, holding it firmly with her two hands, and pointing it threateningly at Velenya Martel.