Recompense for a Lost Soul

[vi] The Image of the Devil

Pitcher rocketed across the roofs, upsetting tiles and scaring pigeons. He preferred to use his burst of speed only during combat, but desperate times call for desperate measures. By concentrating on Devilsbane, Pitcher could warrant an impressive increase in the output of any part of his body, but only when he focused and had the sword in hand. It allowed him to cross the roofs and neighborhoods in seconds. His feet touched down lightly then sprang off again. I doubt that girl can even think of keeping up he thought, smirking to himself. As it turned out, that girl could keep up.

He heard a whooshing noise to his left and turning his head, he saw Emily, surfing the air on a platform of clouds. She had her hands out to balance herself and keep control of whatever lledrith she was using. His mouth hung open as he shouted out to the girl flying next to him, "I guess you kept up!" 

"No shit!" she yelled back, swerving around a tower that suddenly appeared in front of them. Past the tower was another building that was harder to swerve around, so as she neared it, Emily dissipated the clouds and placed her feet on the palisade and vaulting to a lower position, and jumping back into the air. She formed the platform again before she plummeted and twirled around on the platform, shifting it to fly backwards around a pointy roof.

Amazed at the level of control she had, Pitcher decided to ask her about how she was doing it later, and instead focused on the sound of screams and fighting which was getting closer.  

"This way!" she exclaimed, making a sharp cut across in front of Pitcher. 

Pitcher followed suit. He relaxed his grip on Devilsbane and sheathed it with one hand as the other aimed for a railing, which he vaulted over without even placing his feet on anything. It dropped him down onto a balcony which he then clambered over and crossed the gap between buildings, following the vague trail of clouds Emily left behind. Climbing onto a flat surfaced roof, he caught sight of Emily who landed on another roof in front of him.

He quickly covered the distance and came to a stop next to her. His eyes widened at the scene unfolding before his eyes. The museum building set the backdrop for the battle happening on the snowy road. Around thirty girls and boys were clustered in a few places. professors from the school were protecting them and adult Magi were also covering and firing off spells. Up along the road were rugged men, dressed in trousers, shirts, vests and cloaks. Mallen's mercenaries. Rubble and debris had fallen around and buildings were missing chunks. The two sides were exchanging spells and as Pitcher continued to stare, the spellfire stopped. In the lull, Pitcher saw one of the mercenaries shove a blonde-haired girl forward, aiming a splayed palm at her. The onlooking mercenaries stared on with a vast array of emotions from anger to glee to boredom. They all appeared like flecks of dust on a white canvas of snow.

Emily's voice shook, "th-the-they're gonna k-kill her!" Her eyes bulged. Pitcher noticed that her legs were shaking.

"Okay- Emily," He said, trying to snap her out of it, "Emily listen, I can't let them see me. I'm going to cause a huge distraction. I want you to get down there and round up everyone else and leave. I'll handle them on my own. Don't stay and fight, take your professors and run.

It definitely snapped her out of it. "Oh. . . yeah- yeah, that's a good plan. L-let's do it!" She made as if to jump of their vantage point.

"Wait woman!" Pitcher quickly crouched down and observed the battlefield. He pulled out a black color coin that was inlaid with purple accents and grasped it tight in his gloved fist. His fist was set ablaze with purple flame. Emily saw it out of the corner of her eye and turned her head too fast.

She knew that coin. . . Her friends and her had been going through some old books of ancient artifacts and stumbled upon a black coin of similar make. Emily hoped that it wasn't the coin she thought it was, because if it was, the destruction it could do was unimaginable.