Between Wind And Fire

Twice Born

"Boss, I think...I think he's dead." Cain says with a small hint of concern in his voice.

"Well, he's about as fragile as I thought he'd be." Garrick says coldly, releasing his grip over Uriel's hair. His head fell with a soft thud.

"Yeah.. fragil- wait, I think he's moving Boss !" Gav cried out in surprise.

Uriel's shoulder momentarily tensed up and shook before sagging lifelessly once more. It was enough to shock even Garrick.

"Probably got hit too hard in the head, let's move on-" Garrick paused as Uriel's shoulder twitched once again.

Gav took a step closer, grabbing a nearby stick that was far too poorly shaped for effective use in a brawl. "I'll finish him off Boss." He says bringing it up overhead.

Garrick sighed, "Just clean up when you're done.." his hand waved at Gav dismissively.

It was met with a nod as the bigger fellow steadied himself. He looked at Uriel's lifeless body expecting another twitch but as the interval passed no movement came. Squeezing his eyes shut , he whispered a small apology and brought it down onto his head, he felt the wood split as it struck something hard. But it was a bit too hard for a head. Slowly he opened his eyes and to his horror the stick had become a broken stump, its fragments scattered around Uriel but his head remained very much intact. But there was more. There was a crack that leaked golden light from where the stick had struck, a small crater appearing over some sort of invisible force field.

"Is it done ?" Garrick asked, his back still turned away from the scene.

There was silence from Gav.

"Don't go quiet on me now Gav, is it that bad ?"

Gav was too stunned to speak. The leftovers of the stick dropped from his grip, clattering against the hard earth.

"A-awoken.." was all Gav managed to say.

"What?" Garrick asked just as he was about to turn around.

"AWOKEN !" Gav cried in horror before his voice was drowned out by a deafening boom.

The alleyway, if it could even be considered one after this was more akin to the heart of a star. Piercing yellow light burst outwards like the birth of a new sun and the village of Greyhill shook in its wake.

Staring down at his mug of mead, Jirad wondered if settling in Greyhill was the right decision. He had connections in all 5 of the great cities but there was simply far too much risk. If he were to be found he'd- his train of thought was interrupted as the table started to shake. There hadn't been an earthquake in these parts before ? The locals began to panic as they held onto their tables and chairs, the drunker ones simply fell onto the ground, unable to steady themselves.

"This is no earthquake." Jirad thought to himself sensing a sudden shift in the airs energy. He felt a cold sensation manifest in his Manus core, his vitae was being siphoned elsewhere. Someone must have awoken. A terribly violent one at that. With no time wasted Jirad ran for the door, he had to find the source of this awakening before further damage could be done for never in all his years had he experienced one such as this. And as soon as he stepped outside his whole body became bathed in a golden light,
"By the gods, why did it have to be a luxomancer !"

In the scorched alleyway the nearby Gav was reduced to nothing but shouldering ashes. The other 4 were completely covered in burns but to Garrick's luck he was the least hurt as he was the furthest away. He had been hurled from the impact and his back was scorched by the harsh light, his mind was still trying to process what had just happened. Then he remembered the words Gav shouted before everything became a blur.

Awoken

Uriel, the village ghost had Awoken ! What had he brought upon himself. He wanted to turn around to see the damage for himself but the light was too bright, even with his eyes closed he could still see the golden light. Then, the sound of footsteps drew closer. The crunching of burnt wood against boots and it was coming for him, he reached his arms out and tried to crawl away. The fear that he had so dearly relished mere minutes ago now fueled his every move, he had to flee now or else.

"Garrick."

A thundering voice echoed from behind him. A voice that he knew all too well.

"Uriel please-" Garrick couldn't even finish pleading when a beam of hot light burnt it's way through his shoulder.

"AGGHHH!!" He screamed in agony.

"Garrick."

The voice was getting louder just as the footsteps came nearer. His back felt like it was blistering and cracking from the intense rays that came from the being that had been Uriel. The pain was far too much for him to handle.

"SPARE ME, URIEL PLEASE I BEG OF YOU !" Shouted the helpless Garrick, still trying to crawl away from the light.

"Why should I ?"

Uriel lifted his hand and the light around him began to condense into a shape. The shape of a wooden stick, the stick that Gav had wielded. His burning white eyes were fixed on the burning thing in front of him, hands poised for the killing blow.

"You can stop now." A familiar voice interrupted, Uriel tried to remember who's it was.

Jirad stared directly at the boy that was Uriel, his arms held out as though beckoning him to hand over the weapon. "Stop this before more of us get hurt."

"Leave now, Jirad. This is between me and him." The light grew in intensity, any normal person would be blind by now if they stared straight at it.

"I am afraid I can't do that." Jirad sighed, energy began gathering around his arms. "Please do not make me do this."

Without skipping a beat, Uriel brought the weapon down onto Garrick's back. Nobody would dare to stop him. There was a sound of cracking thunder beside him as Jirad disappeared from his sights, and then his whole body shook with pain. Electricity coursed through his channels and his core ached from the combined overexertion and sudden attack from Jirad. Turning on his pivot foot he swung the stick to where he thought Jirad had stood, the old man barely weaving away from the blow. The stick extended itself as though readjusting it's attack midway as a sharp blade burst fourth from the main stem cutting deep into Jirads arm.

"Damn it boy ! You don't make it easy for this old man do you ?!" Jirad cursed sending another wave of electricity, how long had it been since he fought like this ? Most mages would have collapsed by now especially a freshly awoken one, had he gotten rusty ? No, it's just this one is far stronger than the others.

Uriel boomed with vengeful fury, he tried to swing the stick again but his strength was draining from him. Each movement made him grow weaker, the heat and light was dimming around him.

"JIRAD !"

Uriel let out a final shout, the air sizzled around the old man in a way that made his skin burn and then everything went quiet. Jirad was barely catching his breath as he clutched his arm, thankfully there was no bleeding as the wound had cauterized completely on impact. Walking over to Uriel's body, he saw that his clothes were completely burnt off, revealing damage inflicted to him across his face and body. He was still breathing at least. As for Garrick he was already dead before Uriel could land the final blow, his insides were completely cooked while his skin was black and scorched. It certainly was the damage characteristic of a luxomancer but such raw power from someone that only just awoken was unheard of.

It was as though a master mage had come and struck these delinquents down himself.

How could Uriel have done this ?