Avil cut through the last wave of spawn that he'd found come across in the part of town and had to take a knee. The blades in his hand, even the one of light, were both stained black all along their edges with the blood of the spawn. He was breathing hard now, and his brown hair was heavy and slick with both blood and sweat as he slowly picked himself up. He sucked in a greedy amount of air before closing his eyes as a faint glow once again began to radiate from his body.
"Estil." He said before his body shone brightly for but a moment, the scoffs and bruises fading from his skin and his body was filled once again with energy. He let out a sigh as his breathing once again came easy to him and he wasn't sucking air into his lungs like starving animal would devour a bit of meat. "Just a little longer." He said flexing his fingers on the grips of his sabers. "Just hold out a bit longer, I'm sure those three will get here soon."
~*~*~*~On the Highest Island~*~*~*~
A bright flash shone before a massive wave of silver light erupted from the mass of spawn that had surrounded her. She watched as they all fell away into ashes, even these new stronger spawn couldn't handle too much Power all at once before they exploded. Morgan glanced around the area searching for more of them. When there was no more movement she slowly descended to the ground and let out a relieved breath. They didn't take a lot to destroy, now that she knew to overload them right away, but having to control her Power to the point of not damaging the surrounding buildings was proving to be a chore.
"They're gone now." She called out, using her Power to increase the volume of her voice to make sure they all heard her. One my one faces began to appear from the insides of houses all of whom looked to be terrified to their wits end. Men, women, children, young, or old it didn't matter to these creatures what it was, they sought out every living thing they could and fed on it. When most of the people had emerged from their homes she began to levitate once again. "I'm going to send you to the main island alright? At least there you'll be able to get to the monument and hide there." She announced her hands beginning to glow. "Everyone hold hands, it'll be a lot easier on me if I you're all connected."
The Lavians all glanced at each other for a moment before they began to link arms with one another. When all of their hands were joined did they all begin to radiate with silver light as well, while the ground below them began to shine with Morgan's power. However before they were sent off one of them called out to her. "Thank you Avesia!"
Morgan's eyes widened at that as she traced the sound of the voice to a small girl in the arms of her mother. Her instincts told her that she should correct this, but at this point Morgan thought it was better to simply get them there. These people think that the Celestials protect them, and she hated that they were still referring to her as one. The Celestials weren't helping them, they didn't care for a place as small as this, even in the most sacred land in all of the Mortal Realm they weren't even on the same level as insects to the Celestials. All of their devotion, and they were just as likely to get stepped on by the Celestials as they were to get their help.
But something in Morgan, something that wasn't always there was keeping her from saying these things. She hated that these people still thought it was their Kings' will that was keeping them safe. She didn't like seeing good people reduced to dependent pacifists... But Morgan wasn't going to ruin their faith. Least of all that of a child. So rather than correct the young girl she simply smiled and sent them on their way, getting them as close to the entrance to the Kings' Monument as she could. They all vanished in a flash of white light and with their disappearance she decided that it was time to get to the next island.
She'd managed to help two more since she and Ruin had split up, of those she'd probably managed to save around 3,000 people. But there were still seven more islands and if they were anywhere near as crowded with spawn as this had been she'd need to move quickly. She was just about to fly down to another when suddenly the area all around her was completely encircled with green and black flames. Her eyes quickly scanned the surrounding area and there, in the fires she saw a figure hiding within.
Bringing her hand up she was going to extinguish the flames with her own power, but as she did she felt a god awful pain explode in her entire arm. She let out a scream and fell to the ground clutching at her left arm. The fire's quickly moved to meet her where she landed, but Morgan used her magic to catch herself before she got anywhere near the grasping flames. Still she was hissing in pain as she looked at her arm and saw a blackness was creeping up her arm only- It wasn't just on the outside. She hadn't been burned... something had happened- inside of her arm!
"My father told me you'd try that." A voice called out making Morgan look up to see a dark clad man emerge from the fire. His green eyes were wavering as if the green in them was even more fire, his skin was pale and ashy grey in color all over except for his arms. His arms from the elbow down were completely black as if they'd been permanently singed with fire. "'She'll try to fight you as she's always fought.' That's what he said, and looks like he was right."
Morgan tried to lift her arm up but felt as though she'd just been electrocuted as another wave of pain exploded from her arm causing her to cry out. "'She's used to being the most powerful one in the world. She'll use her Power to try and manipulate your own.'" Continued the man as he began to levitate as well until he and Morgan were at eye level. "'So when she tries to manipulate your Corruption- well she'll be in for a rude awakening.'"
"Who are you?" She demanded through gritted teeth as she used her right arm to heal the left. It felt like she was holding a match to her skin but gradually the blackened skin faded and she regained use of it. "And what the hell did you just do to me?"
"It's not what I did to you my dear aunt." The man said with a questioning look on his face. "You did that to yourself when you tried to extinguish my flames."
"A hex? A curse?" She asked which made the man laugh.
"Nothing quite so simple as that I'm afraid." He said raising his arm up, creating a ball of green flames in his palm. "My father- Your brother- The Source of Corruption wished for me to explain the basics of my- or rather our power."
Morgan's eyes grew a bit wider at the sound of that. This man, did he just claim to be the son of Abyss? Did that make him a Source? Or worse yet, a second generation Source? How strong was he, what could he do? Was fire his mastery or just a preference? Question after question arose in her mind, none of which she was sure she'd be able to answer right now but one thing was for sure. She can't afford to take this man lightly, or else who knows what might happen to her besides- whatever it was that he did to her arm.
"You look frustrated, my dear aunt, are you trying to figure out if I'm like you? A Source born from another?" He let out a bit of a laugh. "I assure you I'm not a Source, don't take my words so literally auntie. I am Abyss' son in the way that I owe my birthing to him. I am one of his spawn, one of the few to attain the rank of Unborn. Think of it like growing up, once we get enough life force, or Power from humans or animals, we evolve from those skeletal creatures into- Well into something like me.
"We develop the ability to think for ourselves, to plan, to fight on a much grander scale, but most importantly." He said closing his hand over the fire ball. "We gain the ability to learn, and keep on learning."
"So you're just a better version of all those things you have running around up here huh?" Morgan asked her irises beginning to shine. "Than that means you have the exact same weaknesses as all of these things right?" Morgan's hands shone like two blinding stars as she brought them up and unleashed a powerful barrage of Power.
The massive wave of light barreled towards the man who extended his left arm just as Morgan knew he would. The palm of his hand split open and his second mouth was revealed, but from it came a black mist that rapidly began to expand into an ebon colored sphere. It didn't move from the man's hand more than a foot or two and it collided with the wave of pure magic that Morgan had unleashed on him. Her magic completely overwhelmed him, washing over the man and the sphere like a raging river over a rock before submerging it and hiding it from the view of the world.
However Morgan could still feel him there, the man hadn't moved, she was throwing as much of her magic as she could safely control at him and- He was still there! She let out an involuntary gasp as she saw a mass of green flames emerge from behind her barrage of magic. The flames grew larger and larger until- Morgan's eyes grew even wider as these flames began to over power her stream of magic. "That- That's not possible!" She cried as her magic was steadily being over taken by this man's fire and what's more he was doing it without a single sign of strain. He was perfectly relaxed while doing this!
"Do you see now what you're up against auntie?" The man called out as the flames began to get closer and closer to her. "This is the power of Corruption, the most dominant form of Power in existence."
The man let out a smile as his flames were now flat out bulldozing over Morgan's magic. "Like us Corruption must feed, and it's source of food is other forms of Power like your magic. The more magic you use against my flames, the stronger they'll get!" Morgan now at risk of being burned began to let herself get pushed back by the flames of the spawn using her magic instead to form a barrier around herself as the flames washed over her. "This is the kind of domination you face where it concerns my father Abyss." He said, his voice echoing inside of her barrier as the heat of the flames began to eat at her barrier.
It was exactly like he said, his magic or whatever it was that he was using was literally eating her own and getting stronger with each passing second the two were in contact. But maybe she could use her power to- The memory of the pain she experienced when she tried to take control of his flames before promptly dissuaded her from even trying it again. As if sensing her thoughts the man called out once more. "Oh and another thing I should mention," He began as the flames continued to shrink her barrier.
"The reason you can't manipulate my flames, is because they're infused with Corruption. Only those with a direct link to my father can wield the power of Corruption." An ember burst through and it was all Morgan could do to patch up the hole his fires had made in her barrier. "You may be my aunt, but you have no link to my father aside from the fact that you're both Sources. You can't touch my magic, no matter how powerful you are."
Morgan clamped her eyes shut, her body beginning to glow and her hair began to rise up and flicker like a black flame. It's a huge risk but it's all she can do... Her eyes snapped back open and they were shining like the suns in the sky as her power exploded from her body. The green flames he used were being pushed back as her barrier expanded due to the surge in magic that Morgan was pumping into it.
"You're stubborn aren't you?" Asked the man. "Don't you get just how useless it is to-"
But his voice was cut off by Morgan letting out a roar that sounded as if it were joined by more than her own voice. Silver flames enveloped her body as she sent forth another massive wave of magic, this time she sent a wave forward without trying to restrain herself. She wasn't holding back any longer and this time it was his magic that was being completely overwhelmed by hers. He brought his other arm up to brace his left arm but no matter how hard he tried Morgan's magic was far too great for him to hold back when she herself wasn't restraining it's flow. He let out a pained scream before he vanished from and his green flames were completely snuffed out. Morgan let out a gasp as she regained her composure and quickly extinguished her silver flames that she'd just sent out before they did any damage.
That action itself was incredibly draining but thankfully she'd managed it, but not without putting a lot of strain on her own body. She took a deep breath and fell quickly to the ground too exhausted to catch herself after having to restrain herself like that. Before she hit the ground however she felt a pair of solid arms come up to catch her. She looked up to see a familiar head of white hair and two rose colored eyes looking down at her, that single silver bell jingling in his left ear.
"You alright?" Ruin asked looking down at her as the two of them landed. "That was some light show you put on. Can you stand?" Morgan no longer having the strength to even talk weakly shook her head no. "That was a lot of magic you just used Morgan, and for you to restrain it as quickly as you did... I'm amazed your still-" But before Ruin could even finish that sentence Morgan's body went limp in his arms. He looked shocked by that but his face softened after a moment later. "...conscious."
~*~*~*~On the Main Island~*~*~*~
Sidian emerged from a flash of fire before falling to the ground clutching his left arm. He looked down at it to find it was completely bloated and looked as if it were about to explode. He hissed in pain as his body was suddenly ignited with green and black flames in an effort to expend some of this excess magic he'd absorbed. After nearly a full minute the pain in his arm began to subside but all around him the forest was on fire and he realized that he must've been using a lot more magic than he'd meant to in order to burn off this extra magic.
He flexed his left hand to test it. It felt as if he had pins and needles underneath his skin and they were grinding against all of his muscles. But at least he could move it now, he stood up and taking a deep calming breath he summoned his sword once again. Tentatively reaching for the handle he drew the blade from its sheath with a stream of fire flowing after it. As dangerous as that was, his plan worked. Morgan had to expend a large amount of her magic to overcome his Corrupted flames, and she had to put a tremendous amount of strain on herself to suppress that same power.
Sidian let out a regretful sigh however, this isn't how he wanted to fight them. But as he stood now he was no match for either Morgan or Isa without resorting to tricks. Isa was far too strong for Sidian to face in a head to head fight. He needed to use a lot of magic just to be able to react to his attacks, and even more to be able to withstand the one hit he did get on him. Thanks to the memories of the other spawn he knew of Isa's heart and how kind he was. He needed to get the wereman angry so that he wouldn't think straight, only then did he have the openings he'd needed to blind him. Temporarily at least, he knew Isa's body now as well, and from what Sidian knew blinding him wouldn't work a second time. Normal fire wouldn't have done that to his eyes, it was only the Corruption that had done that to Isa. Now that his body had felt it Sidian had no doubt it'd already built up a tolerance to it.
And Morgan... Much like Isa she was too confident in her own abilities. What he'd said to her though was true, his father had wanted Sidian to explain to her how Corruption worked. He knew that once she had learned that Corruption would only feed on her own magic she'd overwhelm it with her unrestrained Power. But them fighting near so many people would make her suppress all that destructive magic as well. That's how he'd take her out of the equation, by using her own Power against her and make her fight against herself.
Now that those two were taken out of the picture, that only left one more he had to worry about. "And then it'll be just you and me... Avil."
A/N: Well dang, did anyone expect even MORGAN to struggle with this guy? Or were you thinking she was holding back her power just like Isa does/is made to? Or how about Sidian's plan to take them out of the picture? His dirty fighting was all part of his plan to take them out! :O
Any predictions for how he plans to tackle Ruin and how do you think Avil will stack up without the support of the others if he manages to get past Ruin? Think Gideon will finally get involved or do you think something else may happen?
Stay tuned and don't forget to vote, it'll help the story get noticed. :)