Slice of (magic) Life

Chapter 17 - Axle

Panic

That was the only thing Axle felt when the mysterious guy burst from his bonds and came at Elaine. It was also the only thing that drove him to do what he was currently doing.

His legs seemed to turn into jets as he ran to try and block the devastating attack.

With his mind only focused on Elaine's safety, he jumped forward, right in front of Elaine just when the guy was a couple of steps away.

Stretching out his arms and legs, Axle conjured his bronze shield. Like a fast-blooming flower, his shield instantly grew large enough to cover both of them. The only question now was if his shield could hold the attack.

The blow connected as soon as Axle's shield was up. The resulting force thankfully did not completely obliterate it.

Thanks for all the tough training, dad, Axle thought sincerely as he was knocked back by the force of the punch, his ears utterly destroyed by the sound waves.

Right behind him, Elaine stood there still expecting the full force of the punch but instead received Axle's flying body.

The two of them tumbled far backwards until they eventually came to a painful stop past the bushes that surrounded the clearing.

Dazed by the attack, Axle took a few moments to gather himself. As soon as he did though, he realized he was laying right on top of Elaine as she groaned in pain.

"Ack-" he blushed, embarrassed. Axle hurriedly crawled off and checked on her.

"Elaine? Are you okay?" He brushed away the leaves and hair from her face. The girl slowly got up on her elbows.

Helping her sit down, Axle also steadied himself. He was still feeling a little shaky from the reverberating rings from the punch and his shield's collision.

"I-I'm... fine," Elaine managed to say in a reserved tone.

Before Axle could ask anymore questions, one of the Light Mages located them.

"Hey, are you two alright?" He seemed to be around fifteen years old if Axle had to guess.

"That was a pretty sick save there. Axle, was it?"

Axle simply nodded.

"You were there in a flash, like you just teleported!" He continued. "Is that your Magic Type? Teleportation?"

Axle replied, "It's actually just Illusio- I mean, Conjuring Magic." He remembered Monique's comment on what his Magic Type was actually called instead of the Illusionist term that his father taught him.

"Tie him up! And make sure he can't even lift a finger this time," came Jericho's commanding voice.

The teen helped Axle and Elaine up. "A Conjurer huh? That's kind of a rare type these days." Axle didn't know what he meant by the statement.

"Welp, better head back then. Maybe give our newest prisoner the ol' one-two for nearly punching you into smithereens."

He gave them a sly smile and a wink.

Huh? Axle didn't quite understand the older boy's terms and odd behavior.

We barely know each other. Why's he talking as if I know him? Did we meet somewhere some time ago? And what did he mean by rare type? Aren't there thousands of magic users around? Surely at least a few hundreds of them are like me, right?

Axle decided to drop his pondering for another time and focused on the present.

As they walked back into the clearing, they could barely see anything with the amount of bright ropes of light all wrapping and coalescing on the kneeling Shadow Mage.