Custody of the World

In a desolate land of cracked earth and jagged rock, a man faced a woman, ready for a battle that would decide the fate of the world. Thunder rumbled through the fast moving storm clouds in the tortured sky, casting mottled shadows over the ravaged land.

The man's silver-white armour gleamed in the dying light; bulging shoulder guards, an ornate chest piece and full-leg greaves under a meshed skin-suit of reinforced poly-fibres.

Before him, a tall black-haired woman assessed him with her dark, hooded eyes. A black bodice and long boots showed under the multi-layered robes that flowed in the wind, spreading outwards like a giant spider web.

"We meet again. For the last time," said the man, Ailan Algara, Druid of Haa'koom and First Law of the Kings of Justice. His gauntleted hand tightened over the golden staff that stretched nine feet from the long end-blade and the fist-sized ruby at its tip.

"You always had a flair for the dramatic," the woman rasped, her husky voice reaching him as clear as if she were whispering in his ear.

"And you could never just let me get away with it." The man's eyes narrowed, though his bearded face hid a smile.

Zalfeia P'omeni saw the prelude of the smile that did not surface, knowing that look in his eyes. She dismissed it as an attempt at distraction. As the last of her line of active Shadow Witches, it was up to her to protect the world against this self-righteous Druid, and all that he stood for.

"You know I can't let you do this, Fei," the man declared. "The world cannot go on under your rule."

"You still believe the prophecies, that the world will be destroyed unless one of us dies." She paused, her dark eyes shifting in thought. "And so, they sent you. Of course."

Ailan's eyes became sorrowful. "Prophecies can be true whether you believe them or not. It was always going to come to this."

Zalfeia nodded, a sheet of long hair falling over her face. She left the hair in place and watched him through the dark strands. "After four hundred and nineteen years on this earth, I think I'll be fine with a little prophecy."

"You can't control everything," he said to her.

A flush of anger narrowed Zalfeia's rolling eyes. "For the last time, I never tried to control you!"

"No, you just wanted me to be someone I wasn't. In our six years together, Fei, you only saw me as the person you wanted me to be."

Zalfeia widened her stance and called upon her energy, flames of black fire rippling over her. "You won't drag me into your arguments, Druid. We are no longer a 'we'. There can only be one."

This time Ailan embraced the grin that spread across his face, goading her with it. "Now who is being dramatic?"

With a shrill cry, Zalfeia leapt into the air, a stream of inky black energy trailing in her wake. Roiling magic gathered within her voluminous sleeves. Throwing an arm forward, she released a ball of chaotic, dark magic towards her ex.

Ailan raised his staff and a sphere of white light expanded from him. His planted feet shifted back through the dirt as the dark magic splashed over the light and dissipated.

Zalfeia paused in the air and studied the Druid with a frown, her long robes flowing in the empty air.

"So that is why you thought you could face me now. The pathetic Kings have imbued you with a protective barrier."

A deep rumbling grew from the cracked earth and the ground trembled.

"I haven't come to play games," Ailan said to her.