Red Roses

Chapter 15 (Fool's Gold Arc)

The mound began to rumble, coins falling from the pile and hitting the ground. Ardit and Zolio took notice and took a few steps back. Keertan flinched before speaking, "I was hoping this would be easy..." Jade stood from the ground and saw the beast emerge from the pile. A harmonious screech echoed through the city left to rot. She clenched her fists and held her ground.

The mimic flapped its many wings, the peeper jittered back and forth between the blasphemous. It shot into the air and circled the four like a scavenger bird. Keertan could only get a few words in, "Everyone on your toes-" before being shot and stammered by a feather of false light with a filigree pattern. He stumbled back, pulling the feather from his torso and tossing it. He activated his magic and gave a warning to the others before releasing a discordant chirp. The false god shrieked in response, lowering enough to be at an equal playing field.

"Now!" Ardit kicked his feet off the ground. He drove his dagger into the side of the orb, but the effort was wasted. Ardit felt the full force of a wing knock him back. Before he knew it, he felt his feet close to the edge of the building as he lost his balance. A hand grabbed onto him. After his life finished flashing, he  saw Jade as she stopped him from falling. "Thanks..." He muttered. It was met with a nod.

Zolio artfully dodged shots of feathers. Her gaze refused to break away from the orb as she charged towards it. Her fist clenched; she jumped from the ground to connect an attack. Her body shot to the ground as a beam of pure white struck down. She felt something crack in her body. With barely enough time to react, a wing slashed down to her. Her body rolled to the side on instinct. She got up and created distance between them.

She heard a quiet harmonious chirp, "I got you covered." She felt the touch of Keertan's hand on her shoulder. His tune was quiet enough to not affect the enemy. The melody fueled her body with adrenaline as she nodded, shooting forward. The mimic slashed its two largest wings in front of it, shooting rows of feathers that Zolio slid under. Now back on her feet, Zolio drove her fist into the eye of the beast. The scream emitted was blood curdling. The eye developed uveitis, with yellow veins around the inner circumference. It shot into the air and released a holy screech, thin beams of faux light fired at the group in rapid succession.

Ardit, Jade, and Zolio avoid them with caution. Ardit felt a beam hit the back of his neck, leaving a harsh sting that made him drop to the ground. Keertan released a high pitched chirp that caused the beams of light to come to a halt when hitting a certain point in the air, shielding the four of them.

They took this opportunity to try and collect themselves. They couldn't help but look at the spectacle of light above them clashing against an unseen force caused by sound. Once the three were able to catch their breaths, Jade pointed at Keertan. The other two saw his body basically vibrate to keep the barrier up. Zolio got to talking, "We gotta think of something fast, what's the plan?" Ardit held the dagger in its sheath, chiming in, "Well that thing is weak in its eye right? Just keep hitting it!" Zolio's eyebrows furrowed. "How do you expect us to hit it when it's up there?! Keertan's getting way too worn down to yell like that again- '' before Zolio could finish, Jade put a hand on her shoulder and motioned to Keertan once more. He collapsed to the ground from exhaustion. Jade rushed to his aid to help him up.

Ardit glanced at Zolio, "Leave that part to me, 'kay?" He responded. Zolio nodded as the two went on the defensive. The beast slashed the air in Zolio's direction, she jumped back and felt her muscles tighten and begin to sting. Ardit felt his breathing get heavy. As his hand rested on his chest, he knew there wasn't much fight in him left. He dashed towards the idol, blade in hand. Keertan called out, "What are you doing? You can't reach that thing!" Ardit disregarded his warning, standing in front of the beast. Its eye fell upon him; it erupted in a roar. Ardit gripped the hilt of his blade while refusing to break eye contact. His foot was placed behind him to hold ground. It stretched the pinions of its wings. Zolio halted as the creature's attention was shifted to Ardit.

From each wingtip, thin beams formed. The beams connected in front of it and fired a larger continuous beam at Ardit. He gripped the tip of the blade tight along with the hilt and held it in front of him. The beam landed onto the blade, suddenly pushing Ardit back. He kept his foot in place to keep balance. The blade hindered the beam like the scale of a dragon. Zolio echoed a shout, "What the hell is he doing?" Jade couldn't help but stare. Keertan responded, "He's blocking instead of dodging!" Ardit felt the blood from gripping the blade trail down his arm. Before he lost his strength, he tilted the blade up. The beam deflected upwards and stung the mimic in its eye. It released a holy screech while it closed its eyelid. The false idol plummeted down, falling past the building.

Keertan called out "Good shot, but that thing's gonna fly back up soon!" Zolio clenched her fists and exchanged a glance with Ardit. She responded, "Not on our watch!" She kicked off the ground and dashed towards the side of the building with Ardit. The two leapt off the side and fell towards the imposter golden god. It opened its eye and shifted looks between the two of them. Before having any time to react, Zolio thrusted her fist into its socket as Ardit drove his blade in; the monster released a blessed screech. The beast broke Ardit and Zolio's fall as they struck the ground. With a final bellow, the mimic dissipated into nothing.

Ardit rolled over to lie on his back. Zolio sat up to catch her breath. With the hand that previously bled, he felt the movements of his chest. Keertan and Jade peered over the side of the high up roof. Keertan uttered, "Wow, humans don't know when to quit, do they? That's something they have that we don't!" Jade nodded.

Ardit realized he was still gripping the blade tight; he sheathed it and relaxed his muscles. Eventually, he saw a hand in front of him and took it. Zolio helped him onto his feet. "Good call, I wouldn't have thought to do something like that to knock it down!" She praised him. Ardit responded, "Well I wasn't gonna jump if you didn't have that idea! Enough patting each other on the back though. Let's get this money back to the people!"

Zolio was taken aback, "Really? Did you have some change of heart or something and you're giving it all back?" Ardit quickly shook his head, "What? No, I'm still keeping my cut of the work!"

Jade turned to look at the mound of bristles. She tugged at Keertan's arm. Keertan turned and processed the genuine amount of coins. He took a deep breath, "I'll go bring the car around."

The fool's gold was cleansed from the earth.