Chapter Five ♦️ Deadly Company (Part.2)
They're after the dragon, Christine said in her mind, surveying the environment after having secured a position away from the Mystic Flight's blast. She turned to look behind her only to realize that she had left her sword implanted in the ground, the weapon was closer to Adan and Pisa. And we're outnumbered by three...
She sent a wave of energy, trying to feel someone or something else to ensure that there were six bodies. The mage managed to sniff out another being with her subtle power flare, one that tried to mask its presence by limiting their mana outtake, making that seven people who have trespassed Evansce.
If these were truly Ethereal Aura's dragon slayers, two or three members of the force shouldn't have an issue taking down a beast. But what they were targeting was a Mystic Flight, dragons that were known to be witty and that killed on sight. There was no harm in taking extra precautions, even Christine acknowledged that, but she was not going to allow them to take the glorious dragon away from her!
People walked around them, and Christine shadowed a man who went in Pisa and Adan's direction. None of them had fought any Ethereal Aura member directly, so they measured him first before doing anything else.
"If you want Theodore to acknowledge your skills, take that beast down now!" A man to their left shouted, referring to their current organization leader.
The trespasser shuffled toward Pisa, making Christine shoot a smoldering glare at him without being seen.
"This land is cursed, I tell you! We got tipped off by some strange person who said the dragon was sighted here and that it was small-I mean, look at it!"
"A curse this land is, I'll say, but don't concern yourself with this shit dragon haven," another man replied. "We're just after its dragons, nothin' else."
"Didn't they say it was dying?"
A young man wearing a strange hat casually listened to the dragon's roar. "This land is a curse. If we didn't have our tapped minds, we'd be stuck in a different reality. We did get fooled by the one who gave us a tip, though...and perhaps they want us to take it down ourselves so they can run off with this power." His face had burns of dragon fire. "Hell to it. We'll be taking this dragon for ourselves."
A loud purple explosion tried to disrupt everyone's senses, but they already knew how to prepare for the blast. The impact of the dragon's energy ball sent the landscape trembling, the meadow's beauty slowly disappearing with all the snow melting and dirt flying everywhere. In that blast, the Mystic Flight derailed the stream of water nearby, and water droplets fell from the sky. Vicious snarls echoed throughout the meadow, her tail swooshing down to kill the trespassers.
"The expert dragon slayer is no longer in our service now that we need him the most, but we can still kill this one."
One gritted his teeth, "Oh rookie, we don't need the fool! We've slain bigger ones."
Snow was frequently lifted into the air by the dragon, dirt flew across the area, and water rained on them all. The meadow slowly became a disaster, and Christine wanted to lash out with her mighty power, enraged at what the land was becoming.
"I'm too old for this."
"Stop the bickering. It's just a stupid beast!" Another shouted, holding a thick lasso in one hand, he tossed the useless rope away. "Give us a chain and some rods."
Christine watched the same man that had walked towards the shrubbery where Adan and Pisa were. It looked like he was looking for something, and she wasn't sure of what, but she knew that he would be able to see the pommel of her sword easily.
He was just patrolling the area, but when his eyes landed on the glinting object stuck in the ground, he quickly looked up from it and carefully scanned his surroundings once more. He didn't see anyone in sight or any signs that someone was there recently.
All the man had was a mustache and a receding hairline. He turned to see his crew who had gathered around with weapons. Christine initially thought these people injured the beast but quickly learned they weren't the first to harm the Mystic Flight. The rods that Christine found deep in the dragon's body were lances, not just a rod or spears, but weapons that emanated mysterious energy. The weapon that the people here were getting ready with was a side sword, just as long and sharp, and perhaps they planned to conquer the beast with it before transporting it somehow.
The man who walked past Adan and Pisa ignored the dragon. His eyes instead were fixated on the sword deep in the ground, and he grinned when he neared it, bending at his knees to take a closer look at it.
He didn't seem to know who owned the weapon, and when he leaned forward to reach for it, Christine pinned her eyes on it. She sent a wave of energy to her sword, reigniting its responsiveness. And when the man's hand made contact after Christine kindled the protection of the weapon, he yapped from the shockwave of pain sent throughout his body.
Now he knew to whom it belonged and wouldn't be surprised to find the mage around because of it. The enemy simmered a grin a few moments after composing back from the agonizing energy.
Christine saw the man taking a step forward, frightening Pisa when he turned. And right when Adan realized her fear, his face twisted in anguish.
Crack!
A dead branch snapped in two when Pisa tried to move closer to a nearby tree, causing the man's attention to harden and show another mischievous smirk. Pisa's eyes showed panic, and she immediately backed away with a frantic gasp. Her heart was drumming hard inside her chest, reverberating in her ears.
The man eyed the moving blades of grass. He ignored Christine's sword, watching the shrubbery around the tree.
Pisa was overwhelmed by the sight of the monstrous beast and the man coming to get her. He reached to grab her by the neck-making Pisa hit her back hard against the tree. She covered her mouth, attempting to stop a yelp from leaving her lips.
Adan watched the situation unfold, remaining hidden from the individual. He heard Pisa shriek when the man grasped her tight by the arm, tugging her while she landed physical hits on him.
"No...don't!" Pisa shouted. Her shoulder got tugged hard. She tried to maneuver his hand to unlatch her arm to no avail. His grip was firm, really tight. "Let go!"
Although Adan knew it would be best to make himself known, he knew deep inside that Pisa was capable of escaping the man. She'd always been able to hold her own. Christine had trained the two, and Pisa was the harshest to receive physical strength training because she didn't have an elemental power. The mage had taught her well, but to Christine, even someone else's strength may be too powerful to overcome.
Pisa's eyes burned, she had a solid broad base, trying to resist his pulling, doing her best to get his hands off her. The man was taking her towards his crew as she struggled. The girl stomped hard on his foot and pushed her head back to try to hit his chin, but he was tall. Pisa struck hard into his abdomen with her left elbow, making him bend at the shock of pain, still not letting go of her right arm. Instead, he gripped her even tighter.
"Shut your mouth!" her captor switched his grip, slid towards her wrist, and straight onto her fingers. Pisa screamed in pain when he put pressure on her hand. Her bones cracked loudly, and she just knew that something in her right hand got displaced. The pain was blinding.
Pisa pushed through her bruised fingers and forcibly rotated her wrists, her fingers slid out, and her mind was spazzing out. The big man easily and quickly composed himself even after seeing what could have resembled white or yellow lightning in her eyes. Pisa tried to get space between her and him, but even as big as he was, he launched at her, immediately locking her in place.
"You're that brat," he wanted to laugh at the sight of her eyes.
"Jerk!" Pisa gasped and somehow dropped her weight like a ball from the bear hug and went straight for his leg. When she bit him hard, the man quickly fell, and she instantly knelt on his leg before twisting her body.
After removing the hold he had on her, Pisa used her elbow and struck hard at the back of the man's head, his eyebrows furrowed along with his mustache, knocking him out instantly. There was a stray tear in her eye from the pain of her almost crushed right hand.
Pisa stood up from her position, stared at his receding hair, and kicked snow onto the unconscious man, still slightly trembling at the sound of the Mystic Flight's booming roars.
Other men heard the commotion between the unconscious man and Pisa, and it only took a few seconds for her to be surrounded. They had weapons, but she did not.
"Did she kill him?" One whispered.
"Maybe, maybe not," the second chuckled, wearing the unsturdy hat. "You're coming with us, missy," he said, his eyes landing on the same pommel of Christine's sword. He saw the glowing gems on the weapon.
"Where is the Mage?" He questioned, and Christine squinted at the title. He then eyed Pisa, raising a sword at her while she gave an agitated glare. "What's with that look in your eyes?"
Pisa noticed a ring on his finger, but before she could open her mouth she was grabbed by the throat and raised-only to be propelled into the snowy pasture by his free hand. She stifled a groan, her face scathed against the ground while he tied her hands behind her back. Pisa didn't move at all, fearing that the man this close could use his sword to slice her neck in one clean swoop.
Movement from the corner of her eye got her attention and saw the mage laying low on a boulder. Christine placed a finger over her lips, signing to remain silent. Pisa felt a wave of reassurance at her sight, their facial communication went unseen.
"Tell me, and perhaps I won't bust the rest of your hand." Not having received an answer from Pisa, he grunted before flicking his left wrist-signaling a few men to spread out and begin the search for the young Mage.
Why would they want Christine? She was a person of power, she had magic, a great resource for a maniac who enjoyed staining it.
Christine sighed from above, looking past the leaves of the trees around her. She glanced at Adan, ready for him to create a diversion for her to retrieve the girl or go after the beast. There was a subtle smile on him when he let the power of the wind rummage.
Adan raised both arms into the sky and a loud rumble in the darkness erupted, causing all attention to look up. Adan made a current with a resounding boom that everyone felt as much as heard. What they heard was no thunder though. It was the sheer strength of Adan's wind power. The trespassers paused for a moment, tightening their guard while a bearded man forcibly dragged Pisa to prevent her from escaping when Adan was sighted.
Trees shook and nature flew everywhere. Adan's wind ripped off leaves from their branches, and the wind was fierce enough to bring the dragon to fight on the ground. People made their way to the wind user who was assailing them with long-ranged attacks. With Adan's skill and his first exchange with the trespassers, he knew who among those men couldn't mold mana.
Christine kept her face neutral while subtly blending her magic with Adan's power, granting them quick access to the static in the air. Her ability helped Adan reform the clouds above them, arriving expressively thick and dark, the moon couldn't penetrate the now purple-tinted clouds.
Sounds boomed throughout the skies, one team focused on the giant beast while others tried to tackle Adan, and a few were still relentless in the search for the mage. One of the men managed to get near Adan and swung a sword across his face. Adan bent at his body so the blade wouldn't get to his neck, and he was quick at it, missing the contact by less than an inch from his nose.
The purple clouds began to expand, and Christine flicked her wrist before a purple-electrifying lightning bolt jagged toward the broken scenery. The mage successfully hit three men using Adan's wind manipulation. Forcing the men to move away and stumble. The snow above the ground immediately melted away, leaving scorched and petrified injured men.
Bolts of lightning shimmered from above. Christine herself couldn't create electricity out of anything; she needed static around her before redirecting it. Wind and fire were two of the elements that were powerful enough to create static in the air, and she could then use her magic to pull the energy and redirect it to do her bidding.
Adan sliced the air and had his back at Christine until Pisa shouted with evidential panic in her voice.
"Behind you!" Adan murmured. Just as he turned around, he spotted someone nearing Christine who was still standing on the hidden boulder. She was busy conjuring the energized attacks and didn't hear someone approaching her from behind.
Christine turned to face an abrupt presence. Before her eyes could process the situation, a man launched forward with a long chain-like whip-lashing it towards Christine and wrapping it around her arms and stomach. Christine was tugged by the man's whip and fell from the boulder.
It all happened fast, but Christine immediately got up to her feet with those heavy chains locking her hands and glared at the contender with a cold, sickening eye. When Christine felt a sudden energy disrupting hers, she struggled to maintain balance. She then saw a white light travel through the chain-like whip the next second.
Lightning? No, can't be.
"Oh, slayer," the man said once he saw the lady struggle. He was the man that could exert little mana so that Christine couldn't detect his presence so easily. "If only you knew what a whip like this can do..."
Christine balled her hands underneath the whip. She thought of a possible answer. A mana-draining chain? Not precisely, but Christine wouldn't allow her mana to get drained this way!
The chain itself was a medium to redirect mana and not electricity. It was Christine's power surge that gave her a shock. The whip had absorbed some of her mana that ricocheted back to her. Her magical reserve was massive, and it was overwhelming to have it amplified back. She would collapse in agony if she continued exerting her power while restrained by the chain.
Christine took a deep, painful breath, stopping her redirection of static. Suddenly, Christine unconsciously released a burst of her magical energy and the man who had the other end of the chain screamed in pain. The Mage also felt the instant agony when she surged her magic that it tore her mind. The chain unwrapped from her leg when the captor stumbled to the ground in shock.
Christine blindly stepped toward the man who seemed to back away from her. He was disoriented just like she was, but she was not allowing herself to seem meek among these people who aimed to stash on the rare beast's materials.
"You're crazy, y-you're a crazy lady!" His eyes blurred from the pain searing across his skull.
Christine raised her chin a little, "oh yeah, I know." And with that, Christine kicked the chain further away from the man before grabbing it herself. She eyed him cautiously and forced him to turn around with his hands behind his back. The mage tied the whip around him before she could take a good breath of relief, but the headache wouldn't disappear, and she was feeling dizzier.
"Kowhl, you're useless as ever!" A man teased the ensnared partner.
Christine was preoccupied with the searing pain in her body and head. She tried to exchange a look with Pisa, but her eyes were blurry-Christine couldn't see a thing.
"I can't believe you can't do such a simple task!"
And that was when Christine got struck hard. She only had time to turn to her left and saw a fisted hand with a blue ring coming towards her. The brutal impact of the man's fist blurred her left eye completely, Christine knew it got bruised, and she felt her cheek get sliced right open. The mysteriously sharp ring barely missed carving into her cheekbone.
The punch toppled Christine to the ground, she groaned loudly upon falling, and she felt a sticky liquid forming underneath her left eye.
Christine pressed her hands against her blurry eyes. She couldn't get up, the blinding pulse of agony bombarded her. She was in a painful and disoriented disaster. The mage tried to remain conscious and forced her eyes to open. She was on all three on the ground, her right arm and legs supporting her weight while she rubbed the bloody mess on her face. She hoped the blindness wasn't permanent since the ring didn't injure her eye directly.
"Christine... Get up!" Adan's voice was faint to her, he was still against another person.
Air rushed out of her lungs. The hatted man had stomped Christine's back, forcing her head to rest on the ground. She felt her body go cold, trembling still, but it wasn't because the environment was chilly. She played with the lasso, and her surge of energy backlashed her and her eyes. She was in a silent fret when the ground trembled as if the Mystic Flight had fallen from the sky.
"...Christine?" Pisa was in shock to find the mage struck down.
"What do we do with them?" The man who held Pisa captive had tied her feet together, rendering her actions useless.
The hatted man carefully rubbed the blood off his beloved blue ring, "take the girl with us...but take down that wind rampager, kill him."
The two kept going back and forth with physical and elemental attacks, but none seemed to gain the upper hand, which frustrated Adan's foe. After a while, Adan realized that air was leaving his lungs, stunned, he looked at his opponent, who stared back at him with a grin. "Why...take that power?"
"Dead men don't need answers." Adan's opponent shot back, "tell me...how long can you hold your breath?" He had manipulated the air out of his chest, and after a quick hand gesture from the trespasser, Adan collapsed hard on the ground. Confident enough that Adan was dead on the spot, the man clapped his hands with a smile, "not long. After all."
The scarred young man removed his foot from Christine's back. "Well done." He bent down to lift her limp body and place her on his shoulder.
The roars of the Mystic Flight went silent after the hatted man struck the Mage. The dragon was lying still with a sword protruding from its large tail. Blood covered the dragon and its giant wings, if they were going to make use of the beast, they'd need it neat, he was also furious to find most of his men unconscious.
He, an Ethereal Aura member, couldn't transport the beast without his team.
"What about the sword...?" the man without a captive stared at its way.
"Touch it so it can burn you." The hatted lad wasn't stupid. He had heard about the Mage's weapon. "Leave it behind, we've been here long enough. We're leaving without the beast too."
The men gritted their teeth at their failure in retrieving the beast. Pisa walked silently as the man took her away to wherever their boat was. He forced Pisa to keep walking when they neared the derailed river in the meadow. The girl was confused. Why did he push her toward the water? Was he going to drown her? As they went further down the river, it became a small pond. Thick trees and bushes enshrouded the pool of water, the moon had lowered itself, but the night was still young.
"Get in the water," he demanded of her.
Pisa was hesitant to oblige, but she was hit on the back with his hand, pushing her into it since she wouldn't let the water pass her knees.
"It won't get you wet."