The crack headed straight for his house as if it had a will of its own.
The Spirit's cry had physically knocked the surprise attacker away from him and into the air. But the attacker was the last of his concerns right now.
Over the last few weeks, Kai had known all sorts of fear. There was dread that seemed to always start at the pit of his stomach, spreading into his cells like an infection. Then there was the kind that grew like a tumor until it was all you could feel, trumping over any other feeling. Finally, there was crippling fear that paralyzed the body and the mind like a lightning strike, setting nerve endings ablaze.
The last one struck Kai as he watched incoming danger threaten his mother's safety, lighting up his insides like a bonfire. The thought of something happening to his mother... No, he couldn't bear it! He'd never let that happen!
Something inside him stirred.
"Stop!" Kai yelled at the crack as if it were sentient.
It stopped just short of the white fence.
Kai's knees gave out, and they scraped the ground as he fell. Cold sweat dribbled down his face and back. Was that his heart thundering in his ears or was it the sea bashing the cliff?
"Where did he go?" Kai barely registered Ryodan's voice as if from a distance. "He was right here! How did he teleport into the dome in the first place?"
Who was this mysterious attacker? Since he'd come straight for Kai, it was safe to assume he wanted his power like all the others. Kai hadn't gotten a good look at him though. All he'd seen of him was a gloved hand coming at his face. But he was definitely a merman.
A merman who'd gotten past Erasmus' wards and spells, when not even Marius could, judging by what Ryodan said. And a merman who'd gotten a reaction out of the dormant Spirit.
The way the Spirit had reacted with such alarm and vehemence was almost unprecedented. Only Marius had elicited such a reaction from the Golden Merman before.
Once he felt the strength returning to his legs, Kai started to rise.
There was one good thing that had come out of this: Marius and Erasmus stopped fighting.
He has her! Don't give in to him!
The attacker appeared before Kai again. His gloved hand was buried in his mother's loose hair.
And there it was again, that crippling fear.
"No." He unconsciously stepped toward them, meaning to free his mother from the bastard's grasp. He'd somehow teleported into their house, grabbed his mother who was still in her pajamas out of her bed and teleported back onto the cliff.
The moment his mother saw him, she cried out for help. "Kai! What's going -Ow! Let go of me! Kai! Kai!"
He lunged forward, fangs bared, his hand curled into a claw.
Marius appeared before him out of thin air and grabbed him before he could even touch the bastard.
"Let go of me!" Kai roared with all his might, spittle flying everywhere. He raged like a caged beast whose cub had been taken (only it was the other way around here), trying to push past Marius and get to the bastard to free his mother. Like a mountain, Marius didn't budge an inch, damn him to Hell.
"Don't," he said, his back to the attacker. "Don't go near him. That's what he-"
Kai slammed his fist into the side of his ribs to get him to move, but it felt like he'd just hit a brick wall. "Fucking get off me you maniac! Don't you see he has my mother?!"
If he hurt his mother...! His heart squeezed until he thought it would burst through his chest. The horrified and confused look on his mother's face crushed him. Even under Marius' spell, she knew that she was in serious danger now. Not even his spell could take away that fear.
Kai's head snapped over his shoulder to look at Ryodan, who looked ready to do battle. He was glowering at the attacker, but because the fiend had his mother, Ryodan couldn't exactly rush in swinging his sword.
Still, Kai angrily demanded "Do something-"
"No need." Marius interrupted calmly. Before Kai could explode on him, he said with that trademark cockiness of his, "Allow me."
Kai stopped struggling against him.
Their eyes met, and Kai hoped to God his weren't watery yet. What he saw in Marius' shark-like blue eyes gave him pause. And it sent icy chills down his back. There it was; the demon behind the beautiful face. There was nothing but pure evil and suffocating malice swirling in his eyes like a whirlpool. Although his features were still ever the composed mask of superiority and indifference, his eyes made Kai at that moment thank God all that evil wasn't meant for him.
Abruptly, Marius released him and Kai stumbled in surprise, but Marius stabilized him by the shoulders.
Shock traveled through him like an electric current. His heart... it quivered?
Once Kai was stable on his feet, Marius turned on the attacker, blocking him from seeing the attacker and his mother with his broad shoulders.
"I thought he'd make a try for him soon." Marius said to the attacker.
Him? Was Marius referring to Kai? And who was this 'he'?
"I was hoping he'd come here himself so we could settle old scores. But I knew he wouldn't. Zolban is not the type to do his dirty work himself."
*~~~~~~~~~~~~*
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