A Small Price To Save The One I Love

As Karou continued to circle, Takao stooped down beside Sumire specifically placing a hand on her arm as if to reassure her.

“I have an idea. We can’t remove the curse from you, so we have to destroy the amulet. That’ll stop the curse from killing you.” He explained loud enough for Karou to hear.

Karou laughed.

“Clever mortal. That might actually work.” Karou said thoughtfully. “Only one way to find out, I suppose. You’ll have to take the amulet from me. You’ve already seen your lightning magic can harm me, so you may just be able to do it.”

“Takao that’s a stupid idea! I hate to say it, but you can’t beat her. She’s just going to toy with you until she gets bored, then kill you! Don’t do this!” Sumire pleaded, grabbing his sleeve.

“We can’t just sit here! Sooner or later I’ll run out of magic and that’ll be it! If there’s even a chance it could save you, I have to at least try! Don’t I?” Takao reasoned.

Sumire looked like she wanted to argue, but instead released Takao’s sleeve.

“You better have a plan.” She whispered.

Takao gave her a reassuring smile and stood to face Karou. This was it. Sumire couldn’t heal him again, so this was his only chance. If he failed, he and Sumire would certainly both die. Resolve and determination steeled Takao’s nerves. He inhaled slowly … then attacked.

He took off at a sudden sprint toward Karou, directing his lightning at her like a snaring net. With barely a move, Karou glided away from the attack as if skating on ice. Takao pursued, but a sudden gust of wind plowed into him like a battering ram, knocking him sideways. He grunted under the pressure, but managed to copy the spell, directing his own gust into Karou’s to cancel it out before it could bowl him over. He slid to a stop, barely managing to remain on his feet, and smiled when he saw the surprised expression on Karou’s face.

Takao charged again and directed another storm of lightning at Karou then copied her magic when she glided out of harms way. Instead of running, he found himself hovering just above the ground and matching Karou’s speed. He felt off balance, but zoomed forward all the same. He threw bolts of lightning at Karou as he went, but she always danced out of the way at the last moment.

Suddenly, Karou spun around to face him, slicing horizontally with her fan. A vague shimmer cut through the air, flying toward him. Without time to evade, he instead copied the spell and mimicked Karou’s movement, except slicing the air vertically. He didn’t know what the spell did, but successfully created a shimmer of his own that flew toward Karou’s, cutting a thin line in the ground as it went. The spells collided, and the air glittered for a moment before bursting like an explosion.

Takao was thrown back, landing painfully on the ground. His ears were ringing, and his vision was red with blood, but he pulled himself to his feet, searching frantically for Karou. He spotted her rising from the ground near a carriage. He rushed at her, hoping to reach her before she noticed him, but he wasn’t fast enough. Karou spotted him, and with the flick of her fan sent the carriage next to her careening across the ground straight at him.

Takao concentrated his lightning into a single bolt and blasted the carriage with a thunderous crack. He leapt through the burning remains, and sent another bolt directly at Karou. His attack missed, sending dust and stone shrapnel into the air, but Karou stumbled backward, shielding herself from the debris.

Seeing her off balance, Takao leapt forward, reaching not for the amulet but for Karou herself. His fingertips barely grazed her hand before a spectral shield erupted between them, cutting him off from her. Takao bounced off the shield, stumbling backward, and was immediately hit with a gale of wind that sent him skidding across the ground back toward Sumire.

“TAKAO!” Sumire screamed.

He tried to say he was fine, but only as he started to sit up did he notice the searing, unbearable pain at his wrist. He screamed in pain, clutching at his arm, and saw with horror his hand was gone. He screamed again in agony and terror, cradling his arm close to his chest. The blood loss and torturous pain threatened to knock him unconscious, but Takao fought hard to stay awake. He was so close! He was nearly there! He couldn’t black out yet!

Before he knew it, Sumire was at his side, supporting him as he took rapid, choked breaths. She held him close, crying desperately.

“Stop! Please stop! It’s over!” She sobbed.

“Yes quite over.” Karou sneered, sounding triumphant but looking disheveled. “I’m sure you thought you had a chance, but I—”

She stopped mid-sentence, falling to her hands and knees. She looked suddenly pale and confused.

“What did—” She began, then her eyes went wide as she stared at her hand where Takao had touched her. There, as if seared into her skin, was a black mark shaped like two spiraling horns; an exact match for the one on Sumire’s arm and for the horns on Karou’s own head. She looked aghast and quickly threw the golden amulet away from herself. Her eyes bore into Takao with a mix of fury and confusion. Takao stared back, refusing to take his eyes off her, refusing to fall unconscious.

Karou fussed with her hair and robes as she righted herself, trying to regain her composure.

“That’s a clever little trick. I’ll admit you surprised me, but this is my curse. I can remove it just as easily as I can place it!” She shouted.

Karou held out her hand and a small white light appeared in her palm, floating like a captive star in her hand. She held the light to her other hand, and the black mark faded with a faint hiss.

“There! Now you see that your efforts were—”

She stopped. Eyes wide with shock and disbelief as she stared at Takao and the small white light that hovered in the palm of his remaining hand, an exact copy of the one she’d just held. He held the light toward Sumire’s arm.

Karou bellowed a hideous shriek and sent a crushing jet of wind toward Takao and Sumire. It struck with the force of a hurricane, shattering cobblestone, collapsing buildings, and filling the air with dust.

Silence settled across the plaza, punctuated only by chunks of stone and rubble raining down from above.

Sumire’s Exposé!
For mortals, possessing two types of magic is rare, and it often surprises mortals that this rule holds true for immortals as well, including dragon gods. Rarest of all are those that hold several types of magic.