Halonar

Thy Sword

Jack lept into another ditch. A loud screeching noise above him, whooshed over the trees incredibly fast. When the sound died down, Jack continued running. It was a game of hide-and-seek. Leand was scouting the forest, searching for him. If Leand managed to find him, he didn't know what he would do. He had to find Leand first.

Jack was badly wounded, not enough to be defenseless, but he wouldn't be able to outlast Leand.

The sound again. Jack ducked down as Leand passed over.

He opened his satchel.

Damn!

There was only one of the two books left. The Essentials book must have fallen out of his satchel while he was running.

He cursed again. The only other book he had was the Food and fun book. He opened it out of curiosity, maybe there was something of use inside.

He flipped pages frantically. How to clean food, All about bread, Broths and sauces, Mixing, Venting.

He stopped at the Venting section. The reason why was, all of the other spells he had seen up until then were multi-step and in some cases, multi-page, but this one wasn't. It only had three steps.

Step one: Put your hands into the shape of a cylinder.

Step two: Make sure you can see the center of the smoke or air through the hole made by your hands.

Step three: say "Xazanu vapuramu gufuzu."

Results: You will be able to divert pressure from steam if cooking in a pot, or smoke if your food is burnt by accident.

Jack gritted his teeth. Could he use a cooking spell as an attack? Spells were specially designed for their purpose, but there was no limit on what you could do with different spells, as far as he was concerned.

He put the book away quickly, as Leand made another pass. He remembered the instructions word-for-word, due to the pressure and fear he had grown so accustomed to.

"There you are."

He looked up. Leand was hovering a few feet from the ground. His grin was as wide as could be. As soon as Jack turned in his direction, he hurled a blast of air. But Jack was partially prepared this time. He dug his feet into the ground and latched himself onto a nearby tree.

Leand grunted, a single drop of sweat rolled down his cheek. Something was wrong, he could feel it.

"What are you, really?" Leand asked, less of a playful provocation and more of an actual question now.

"Anivor. A proud Aurorian is what I am!"

Leand blinked. He didn't know what to say.

So he said nothing.

Jack saw Leand tense, he positioned his feet again, but he let go of the tree, forming the cylinder shape with his hands.

"Xazanu vapuramu gufuzu" He said, but his voice could not be heard over the howling wind.

But then, the wind stopped howling.

Only a moment after he uttered the phrase, the wind dispersed, and Leand fell, hitting the solid rock beneath him.

"Shit!" He yelled as he plummeted.

When he hit the ground he slowly got back up, glaring at him.

"How... the hell...?"

Jack didn't wait, he swung his shovel. It morphed into a mallet as it went. What followed next was the sound of a heavy piece of metal hitting against flesh and bone. Leand's body flew over the rocks nearby, with a trail of blood arcing, disappearing into the bushes.