The Shattered Gates (Part 3)

While trying to keep up with Gabi, I hear people wondering about earthquakes and the ground shaking as we run past them. There’s a few of them even wondering about the loud rumbles and sounds of thunder that they must’ve heard because they knew they weren’t crazy. Some of them stare at us as we continue to race faster than I thought possible, and I can feel them beginning to feel the same unease I’ve been feeling since the first pike.

I gulp and throw my voice forward. “Gabi! I think the Illusion is failing!”

She glances back at me and narrows her eyes before nodding and continuing to run. “I think you’re right!” I hear her voice travel down to me. “The dimensional energy spilling from the Choral Gate is clashing with the intent of the spell. It should hold up for a while longer, but we can’t wait for it to fail!”

The streets begin to blur as I force myself to keep up with Gabi. Strangely, it feels like I’m being pushed by the wind itself to move forward, and I even manage to make it next to Gabi as we race into an alley. She slides to a stop, and, before I can do so myself, I crash into a pile of garbage.

“Pfeh!” I stand up quickly and stagger as I try to brush off the refuse that’s clinging to me. “We were moving so fast!”

“Remember how I said a lot of magic is based on intent?” Gabi asks me. I nod. “Well, it seems you really wanted to catch up to me. I knew something was strange with the wind, and that gust proved it.”

“Are you saying I was channeling magic without consciously thinking of it?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Gabi gives me a small smile and points to the swinging metal door in the alley. “Our pike is here.”

“It’s underground. Great.” I shake my head. “It’ll be even more dangerous then.”

Gabi’s nod doesn’t reassure me at all, and I follow her in. “Oh, and one thing about wind magic: Don’t use it in enclosed spaces.”

I blink and turn the thought over in my head. “That’s… well, what am I supposed to do, then? I’ve only tried wind magic so far.”

“Try for earth magic,” Gabi says. “After all, we’re underground.”

“Why don’t you do it?”

Gabi shakes her head. “Most beings only have one affinity. You, Yuki, are more or less a nexus of your own. A resonite gateway to all the mana within or without you.”

“What?” I frown at Gabi as we start racing down stairs on some scaffolding. “How do you know that?”

She swings off the railing and onto the next flight of stairs. “Your aura, like Ryoka said, is overwhelming at times.”

I stumble in surprise. “You were listening to that?”

“I try to make it a habit to watch over people I’m protecting, Yuki,” Gabi says. “Any more questions? We’re almost there.”

“Uh, why do spells have names, and how do I know the words to them?” I start to pant as we reach the last flight of stairs. “I’ve never cast any of those spells before, but the words still came out.”

“Unlike what you think, magic, even wild magic, has an identity. The moment you give it a purpose, it gives itself a name. Names have power, Yuki, and once you invoke the spell, it’s effect is bolstered, from mere energy to a polished weapon.”

We step into a large underground warehouse still under construction. Safety lights and heavy machinery take up most of the free space, along with large stacks of woods and a few shipping containers. Eri is shifting nervously as she stares at the pike embedded into the tall. I blink as Ryoka and Reiko continue to mutter to each other in hushed whispers, gesturing to the pike and their own weapons, Ryoka makes a sweeping motion with both hands, and Reiko follows it closely.

“So, what’s going on?” Gabi asks. All three of them turn to her and I look back at them curiously.

“The pike hasn’t opened it’s mini-gate yet?”

Eri shakes her head. “No. But something’s waiting just on the other side. It’s biding it’s time, as if waiting for something, and as soon as we try opening it, I’m almost sure it’ll break through.” She gestures to Reiko and Ryoka. “They’ve been talking strategy while you were getting here.”

“I’m going to try some things,” Reiko says. “I don’t know how successful I’ll be, but I’m willing to try!” I smile painfully at her ecstatic smile, and make to comment, but I hear a yelp and see Eri get hoisted by Gabi, who starts leaping up containers. In a few seconds, Eri is shaking like a leaf as she hugs the surface of the container with the embedded pike.

“Ack! Please tell me when you’re going to do something like that again!” Eri cries. “I wasn’t ready!”

“Always be prepared,” Gabi says. “Now, I’m going to tear this rift wide open, and you need to start stitching it as fast as you can. Do you think you can do better than the chimera?”

Eri gulps and nods. “Y-yeah. If it was anything like the first breach, I think I can do better.”

Gabi nods, satisfied. “Good. Because it’s already opening.”

I blink in confusion and then shock as I’m blast back into metal of the scaffolding behind me. I yell as I can immediately tell it’s going to bruise later. Looking up from my fallen position, I can see Reiko and Ryoka both with their swords stabbed into the ground, and Gabi falling gracefully through the air. Eri had managed to grab hold of the pike, and she’s already trying to seal the gate as the rift takes on the same hue as before and Eri shuts her eyes.

Painfully picking myself back up, I stagger to my feet and tenderly feel my back. It’s sore to the touch, and I hiss as I straighten up. Then, I look up and realize just what it was that had thrown me back.

There was another chimera, just as large as the one before, but something else towered over it. Twice as tall and covered in rippling viridian scales was a creature I never thought I’d really see.

“A dragon…” I whisper in awe.

Reiko steadies herself and frees her blade. “Is it safe to say this is a gate guardian?” She asks, pointing nervously towards the mythical beast.

Ryoka grits his teeth and pulls his own blade out of the battered concrete. “I guess you could say that, yeah.” He flicks his blade and frowns. “But dragons are natural protectors of their land, and have only ever shown up when there’s trouble that’s greater than they can handle. A dragon showing up as a gate guardian isn’t good at all.” Taking a stance, I can feel the energy gathering around Ryoka and pooling into his blade. “We might be able to reason with it. I’ll see what I can do.” He then pushes off in a plume of dust, and he’s sailing through the air.

“I’ll back you up!” Reiko yells, and I watch her take off a in a blur of speed that surprises me.

The sounds of battle begin to take place, and I rush over to the chimera. Gabi seems to have already recovered from her fall, and is doing the same dance as the one she did less than an hour ago. Faster than before, she shoots fire spears through points in the chimera’s legs before lassoing a whip of fire around it’s head. With a yell, Gabi pulls and launches herself into the air.

Feeling useless just standing around, I start ringing my head for anything I can do to help. I then remember what Gabi said about my affinity for any type of magic. Concentrating hard, I fall to one knee and slam a palm into the ground.

If wind magic is chaotic and doesn’t want to stay in place, earth has to be the exact opposite. I close my eyes and begin to feel my mind run at a speed that hurts my head. Wind has to be corralled and contained. Earth has to be coaxed and forced. I scowl as I feel a faint tug, but nothing more. The mana refuses to gather.

“What am I doing wrong?” I mutter. “How do I—“

“Grah!” Gabi yells, breaking my concentration. I wince as I hear a crash beside me, and I see Gabi already picking herself up from being punted into a pile of wood. She turns to me and narrows her eyes. “You need to have a stronger will than the earth you’re moving, Yuki! The earth is stubborn!”

With those words, she leaps back at the chimera, pulling both her short sword and her wicked blade out to bear. I grit my teeth as I put my attention back into the ground. Coaxing won’t work, then, I think. It has to be force. Like an earthquake! Fractures, breaks, weaknesses! I try channeling mana once more, and I feel my resonite pulse painfully as I shove it into the ground. Show the ground that it’s weak, and push on those weaknesses. Every imperfection, every crack! I am stronger!

Just when it feels like my heart is going to burst from the build up of mana, something gives and my whole body gives a sigh of relief. My lips are already moving before I can stop them, and I yell, “Sheared Stones!”

Just in front of the chimera, a long chunk of rock bursts from the ground and a series of snapping noises break the rock into dozens of sharp shards. Even as the spell is cast, I can feel the floating earth trying to return to the ground. I struggle to my feet, as if I’m holding all that stone personally, and shove forward with all my might. The stones shake in place for just a second, before all of them burst forward, rocketing into the chimera.

Just like that, the chimera is bleeding from a dozen wounds over. A few even manage to burst through the chimera itself, and those pieces of rock fall limply to reunite with the ground. That one spell alone was enough to exhaust me, and I blink as the chimera turns it’s angered attention towards me. Grimacing, I stomp a foot to ground myself and focus, using my mana to feel the world around me.

I notice a stack of something that seems a lot more solid than rock, yet more lenient in its nature. I stretch my magic out and drench the stack with my mana, and I feel a hum from within. My eyes shoot open and, just as the chimera moves towards me, I raise my arms and chant, “Spears of Steel!”

I blink as the spell name leaves my mouth, and I bring my arms down with a clap. From behind me, six pieces of rebar fly true and nail the chimera to the ground through it’s paws, while the other two skewer it in the eyes. Staring at my handiwork in horror, I break my gaze as Gabi leaps down in front of me and nods.

“Not my style, but it works.” She swings her blade in a circle and takes a stance. “It still isn’t dead, but that’ll change.” With quick steps, Gabi leaps into the air and turns toward me. She then holds her blade pointed downward with both hands, and I watch as a ring of fire encircles her and moves to her blade. Her eyes glint, her lips curl, and she shouts, “Infinite Hellfire!”

A bright flash beams through her sword and she throws it down, straight into the chimera’s head. A rush of flames flash-burns the immediate vicinity of the sword, and the fire itself begins to consume the rest of the chimera. I stare at the carnage we’ve done and stumble over to a pile of two-by-fours.

“Good job commanding earth for the first time,” Gabi says. “It usually takes a learned mage a month to do what you just did.” She shakes her head as she rubs some soot off of her sword. “Much less metal. You keep impressing me!”

“Yeah, we’ll, I’m going to be sick,” I say queasily. “Do offensive spells like that usually target?”

Gabi shakes her hand. “More like whatever occupies your mind the most is what your spell will focus on. In this case, you must’ve thought it’s eyes and claws were it’s most dangerous features, so that’s where they went—“

The clash of metal on metal rings through the air, and I suddenly remember that our battle wasn’t the only one occurring at the moment. Both Gabi and I turn and look up to see Ryoka and Reiko’s blades crossed, pushing back against the tail of the wingless dragon.

“Reiko!” Ryoka calls.

I watch Reiko nod sharply and yell, “Right!” She pushes harder and bounces off. She arcs backwards and does a flip before taking a stance mid-air. Still falling, I watch in awe as she channels mana through her sword, and a blue glow envelops her. Suddenly, she takes a step, and it catches in the air. What looks like a glowing blue mist puffs with each of her steps, and she runs back towards the dragon before her blade takes on a wet sheen.

Reiko grins as her footing brings her onto the dragons scales and brings her blade down. “Running Tide!” She yells, and a torrent of water gushes from her blade as she streaks across the dragon.

I’m in shock as the dragon screams and a voice yells through the cavern; One I hadn’t noticed because of my own focus on the chimera.

“They’re hurting it,” I murmur.

Gabi frowns. “They tried talking to it, didn’t they.” It wasn’t a question. I nod dumbly. She tsks and brings her sword forward. “Dragons can’t be reasoned with on the best of days. We have to defeat it to earn it’s respect.”

“Ryoka doesn’t know that!” I shout as she starts to run.

“I’m going to teach him!”

Gabi pushes off into the air, and I shift on my feet nervously. I look over to Eri, and widen my eyes at her full seiza in front of the pike. I start to climb, trying to reach her as I watch out for the fight that’s happening right above us. I cover my head as I hear Gabi shout something and an explosion detonates. The pressure wave knocks me into the wall, and I shake my head to try and get the ringing out of my ears. Still climbing, I finally make my way to where Eri is, and rest a hand on her shoulder.

“Yuki?” Eri says through grit teeth. “Is that you?”

“Yeah,” I say. I look up at the rift that’s already past halfway in it’s healing. “You doing alright?”

“I think Gabi’s protection faded away just after I started. I understand now why she was cautious of the world’s magic.”

“Why’s that?”

“Even as I’m using it to heal the rift, it wants to break it. It doesn’t want to be controlled and is trying to rebel.” A sword hitting hard scale rings through the air, and the shout of moves and names makes me wince. “This rift’s breach is larger than the first one, and I don’t know if I’ll be able to seal it unless we can defeat that dragon first.”

Eri opens her eyes and turns and looks straight through me. I step back reflexively as I see the kaleidoscope of colours swirling in her irises. “It’s tied to something on the other side. We have to throw it back in.”

“W-well,” I say, “We need to defeat it first.”

Suddenly, Reiko’s voice rings behind me, sounding closer and closer. “Yuki! Catch me!”

I start to turn, saying, “Wait, what—wah!” Reiko crashes into me, sending me to the ground. Grunting in pain, Reiko groans and pushes herself off me, and I get to me hands and feet. “Reiko!” I yell, “Give me more warning!”

“It’s not everyday I get to be caught by you,” Reiko replies.

“That wasn’t catching! That was crashing!”

Reiko dusts herself off and shrugs with a smile. “Same thing!”

I sigh. “What’s the situation like up there?” I ask. “Gabi and I were occupied with the chimera. What’s the dragon like?”

“Well, we did try talking to it, but it said we were too weak to even be considered as worthy opponents (and I took that personally), so it turned it’s back to us, and that’s when Ryoka went forward and tried for a slash but it didn’t do anything and only reflected on him, but then the dragon took notice and—“

I cover her mouth and look her in the eyes. “Spare me the details, Reiko, just the facts.” I let go.

She inhales deeply and beams. “Sure! Dragon is a meanie, we fought her, and now she’s trying to kill us all unless we can mortally wounded her first.”

“Okay, that’s what we needed to know, thank you.”

“No worries! See you in a bit.” Reiko points her sword forward before a mist sprays outward, she steps forward, and she launches into the air.

Water, huh? I think. Reiko is pretty carefree and fluid with the times. Hm… I close my eyes and think of that same thought. What makes Reiko so much like water? She’s persistent and unrelenting. She can be gentle and she can be like white-water, broiling with emotion, but always moving forward.

I’m suddenly aware of even the tiniest pieces of water; in the the sweat on my brow, the blood running through my veins, and the damp nature of the room itself. Now, water is a lot like air, but it doesn’t mind being guided. When given purpose, it flows dutifully. I don’t want to kill the dragon, but maybe if I could subdue it…

I start to pool mana in front of me, and I can envision nearly every last molecule of water I can reach flowing to this magic reservoir. Stretching it out ward, I keep doing so and doing so, pulling from even the most obscure sources; A leaky sprinkler in a distant corner, or the water in a toilet tank. The water keep stretching and stretching, until, finally, I open my eyes wide and yell at everyone to get away. “Move!” I exclaim, “I just started a spell and I can’t stop!”

Ryoka and Gabi look at me carefully, but they follow my words, which I’m immensely grateful for, because the next moment, the water snaps into place like a tense steel cord. The word roll from my lips like a waterfall, and I shout, “Cage of Infinite Tides!”

Just like that, the cord of water shoots forward and forms lemniscate after lemniscate, looping figure eights around the dragon until it pulls across the dragons maw and whips itself to the dragon’s tail. Locked and muzzled within a liquid prison, the dragon thrashes, still trying to fly through the air, before Ryoka, Gabi, and Reiko appear just above the dragon.

Together, they spread out to each third of the dragon, and brings the pommels of their swords down in sync. The dragon chokes, and it slams into the ground, toppling crates and shipping containers and tipping over machinery.

“The portal’s closing!” Eri pronounces, and sure enough, with one last lash, the breach is sealed, and a pulse of clean magic washes over the area, re-energizing me.

Laughing tiredly, I flop onto my back. “I didn’t know I could do that,” I say quietly.