"Ready." Her words reached his ears, and the tiny little string holding back the swirling chaos beneath his feet snapped. Torrents of darkness propelled Alex upwards, tendrils forming to stabilise his legs so that they didn't buckle completely under the force. He had to make some corrections in the angle before he released, aiming to intersect the falling white clad man in the air. The shadows released him at the peak of their force, and the air whipped against his ears as he barrelled through the dust laden, excitement running through his muscles, pushing them to work through their fatigue.
Electricity accompanied his enthusiasm, pulsing through his blood in preparation for what he was to command of it. His perception slowed again, for only a second this time, letting him stare at the man that now appeared to float above him, his body twisting so it would be in line with his target. Turning into pure lightning, his body exploded forward, a thunderous crackle echoing through the cavern following the bolt of purple lightning that tore through the air. He rematerialised into his corporeal form, the smell of burning dust and ozone greeting him, along with the sight of Shu's startled face.
The remnants of lightning coursing through him collected within his palm, Alex's mana stabilising quicker now that it knew what to expect. The magic ruptured into a blinding stream of electricity, directed towards the man's chest, unfortunately not making direct contact as it was blocked by the man's sword. Still, the force was great enough that the pull of gravity seemed to disappear, Shu hurtling through the air, his body struggling to stop itself from barrelling into unconsciousness, almost reaching the ground above.
Even if he somehow managed to regain his balance, it would do him no good. As Alex fell, his momentum finally exhausting itself, Elyza whipped by, leaving wisps of wind in her wake. He reached beside to grab a hold of her trailing halberd, catching it just below the blade, and again he was thrown upwards. She twisted her entire body, her weapon's shaft groaning as it was forced to deal with her partner's weight, flicking it at the end to catapult him into Shu.
Before they left, his fingers sprouted shadows to wrap around his partner at the same time as the wind coming from below turned violent. It took a second for the darkness to solidify, dragging his partner behind as the wind added power to his mid air leap. Alex's body shifted mid-air in order to raise his legs above his head, his hands busy in keeping the umbra ropes stable in his turbulent wake.
His foot slammed into the man's back, and off he went again, hurtling into the deep blue sky this time, escaping the maw of the crater. He had no time to gloat at his own accuracy, summoning as much raw strength he could muster to swing Elyza at the edge of the hole. She hit the ground, using the momentum he gave her to stumble forward, safe from the pull of gravity as he fell once again.
Waiting was boring, especially if you had no patience for the act. Yet, Alex was forced to practise the virtue as the wind tried fruitlessly to slow his descent, made worse by the fact the airborne shenanigans had slowed his perception a touch. He was able to keep himself from the edge of total oblivion by opening the shadows where he expected to hit the fast approaching ground, along with a couple others in the shapes of different animals.
The ringing of a bell emerged from within his mind, spreading to his ears, reverberating through his body, causing the shadows beneath to shudder in response to its call. They parted to give way, submerging him in the sea of darkness that simmered beneath everything. He wished the transition would allow him a moment's reprieve, but the pull of the bell was too strong at this proximity. His body barely slowed down as it tore through inky shadows, before being pushed by the semi-fluid liquid, rising once again into the plane of light from whence he rose.
As his head breached the light, Elyza grabbed his hood and yanked upwards, pulling him from his own shadow and throwing him beside her. His back hit rock, thankfully the folds of his cloak softened the blow, and he sat for a moment next to her behind a boulder. Just as he was about to ask why, she pushed his shoulder, and the stone betwixt the two, and a strand of his hair, ceased to exist, as if a blade had cleaved through them.
YOU ARE READING
NEMO: Into The Depths
Fantasy"After you achieved your revenge, after that brief moment of ecstasy at finally doing it, killing the person who caused you so much harm, you felt empty inside. It's as if all the actions you took, all the sacrifices you made, all the people you cut...
