Nythe (5)

Sahaela had died once, but she feared she was now swiftly approaching number two and she didn’t think there would be a reprieve this time around.

The scarred man who’d confronted her had immediately began by firing beams of a crackling reddish-black energy. They moved and twisted through the air as if they had minds of their own, following no traditional leyline current she was aware of. Dodging it would be next to impossible.

Yet as the first beam bit through the edge of her shoulder she realized that any contact would shave away a portion of her essence, the more vital the spot the more essence destroyed. The perfect spell for dealing with conjured spirits, familiars, and most frustratingly, ghosts.

"You didn't even notice the box I'd trapped you in!" He cackled while unleashing a trio of beams in her direction. “Is this truly all the Tower has left to offer!?”

It was then as he wove his hand through the air Sahaela noticed the small cuts on his palms, and the way a portion of his blood was pulled out before mixing within the beam fired.

“Blood magick, huh?” She said, more to herself than him. “Mildly impressive.”

“Let me give you a first hand demonstration!”

There was no point in trading barbs, and she could not risk fighting in such confined spaces and so focused hard on unweaving the spell that was keeping her trapped.

It was a barrier, but she suspected there was some kind of trap hidden within for the walls hummed with more power than needed for just a basic barrier like she had shown Midori.

But a sudden sharp pain in her shoulder put the need for caution aside, as a crackling beam tore through her leaving her form wispy and fluttery like a tattered strip of paper. It would take her awhile to recover from that.

Pulling the barrier down Sahaela exploded through the ceiling as fast as she could. Guilt ate at her but she had unfortunately come upon one of the few people perfectly suited to completely eradicate her, and she wasn't willing to take that risk for people she'd just met yet.

-----

When Rune was young he had seen the true power of the ocean.

A team of overconfident shipwrights had built a magnificent boat, so great they deemed it unsinkable. And in a truly incredible storm it was easily toppled by a single wave.

He was reminded of that moment as the events unfolded before him.

Midori was chasing Evan across the encampment, she had begun chasing him the moment she set eyes upon him, thrashing easily through what had now become a battlefield of mud and swamp. Anything that came in her path was batted away, much like that unsinkable ship.

She moved across the land almost like a snake, her powerful tail slapping and slithering as she twisted and turned to move in different directions.

As Evan made an incredible leap across the camp in a futile attempt to put some distance between them, she conjured a swirl of water that solidified into an enormous looking fishhook in a clear refusal to let him escape.

Hurling it towards him she snapped it back with the experience of a master fisher, piercing through his leg and sending thick spurts of blood across the remnants of the camp as she pulled him back into her grasp

At some point the order to retreat had been given to the remnants of their invasion force and those soldiers that remained conscious had raced to the boats docked at the port. And while this was certainly a type of victory, Rune would not feel ready to celebrate while Midori was still in a rage.

“Oda, Toma!”

The two warriors had scattered during Midori’s transformation but they were there almost instantly when Rune called.

The trio had grown up together in a way, Nythe being the closest settlement to Yanara, Rune had spent much time playing and training with the pair after his banishment. They were the first to acknowledge Rune’s desire to become khan, swearing they’d serve as his guards should he succeed.

“We can’t let her rage like that, she’ll burn herself out.”

“What do you suggest?” Oda asked while Toma listened intently.

“As much as I don’t like it we can’t let her kill that armoured oaf. Her last request to me was to not kill him, I can’t imagine that deep down she really wants this…” Rune let his words hand there, he knew she had remembered something and that it was possible her opinion had changed, but something in his gut told him otherwise.

“Try and get the kid from her, I’ll handle Midori.”

“But Rune, she might kill you.” Toma’s words were quiet and though he tried to hide it, it was clear to all he feared for his friend.

“I am going to become Khan of Moana Mau’u, I will not die here.”

It was enough to reassure both Oda and Toma, whom headed off clearly with a plan already in mind. For Rune however he worried that death was more definitely on the table.

No one knew the strength of a Herald that had become Untethered better than he.

Pure spiritual power coursing through them there were few things that could match such ferocity, not even the vessel could withstand it. His fingers gently touched at the wound on his chest, the parts of him that were burnt and flaked away, the parts of himself that had been destroyed the first time it happened to him.

Taking a slow breath he stood and readied himself to try and bring Midori back to her senses.

-----

Everything was red.

It was all Midori could see.

This man had wormed his way into her life, into the lives of her friends, all just to get closer to her.

He ran from her and in her mind she wanted to reel him in like a fish and as if commanded the water obeyed, forming a large fishhook of grey-blue water. The hook-like weapon she summoned drank in the blood of its victim as it bit through Evan’s leg, and she savoured his screams of anguish.

She smashed him into the ground and he screamed in pain, but it wasn’t enough, she wanted to make him truly suffer. But before she could bring him to the ground again there was resistance from the hook.

Two large figures were standing near Evan. They looked familiar to her, she had met them at some point.

Why were they here? And why were they trying to help Evan?

Whoever they were, they would have to die first.

The rain continued pouring down and with a twist of her hand large fat droplets were formed into arrows that she sent hurling toward the two figures.

She screamed and hurled more arrows of water at them only for them to be batted away with a singular and incredible swipe upward from the figure holding a club momentarily destroyed all bits of water.

It was only a moment, but they made full use of it pulling Evan fully free and racing away while she shrieked in rage.

The rain began again and she raced after them, swinging the hook down to clash with the tiny sack of meat holding that stupid club.

Stupid club.

Stupid Evan.

Stupid EVERYTHING!

As if in response the rain came even harder. A twisted smile spread across her face.

The anger felt so good.

Why did it feel so good to give in to this anger? And why did no one ever tell her it felt so good to scream like this?

But even though it felt good, what was this perturbing feeling in her stomach?

She battered it down and looked around for her prey. Those two fools had hidden him somewhere, but she knew how to force them out. And she could see other figures trying to move some metal tube from a shed, one of the other figures shouting loudly and hitting the others.

Casting her fishhook skyward it seemed to catch on something invisible, and once it had she began to pull with all her strength. And when she did the rain that had been coming in sheets came then in buckets, and soon it was a tsunami of water coming down from the sky.

If they were hiding Evan in this place, then she’d just wash this whole damned place away.