The Last Beacon

IV

"Well, it looks like your journey has been shortened, doesn't it?" Decius remarked smugly.

Laurenz clenched his fists, his hot glare boring holes into the sign. "Actually, Decius, it made it longer, you--"

"Shut up!" Sascha snapped. She turned to Decius, her breathing heavy. Her confusion was making her angry. "Alright. How did you do that?"

The man shrouded in black shifted his gaze to meet hers, an eyebrow raised in amusement. "That, my dear, was magic."

Sascha had heard stories of magic when she was young. Her mother used to take her on miraculous journeys filled with wonder and happiness and dreams coming true. Her mother's bedtime stories took Sascha on the adventure of a lifetime and she never moved from her bed.

"Really? Are you sure it wasn't just an illusion?" Sascha sneered, sceptical.

"Not an illusion, Sascha," he said, slightly swirling the fingers on his right hand, slowly summoning the blue mist, "this is real. It's so much power, and you could have it too, if you would just come with me. You wouldn't be a nobody anymore. You would be a somebody. Especially to me."

Sascha took a step back. "What's that supposed to mean?" She grimaced in disgust.

"Don't look at me like that, that's not what I meant. I'm twenty-six, nowhere near your age, so get your head out of the gutter. Anyway, that's beside the point. You could have anything you want if you would just come with me, Sascha." Decius pressed, taking a few steps toward her. He extended his arm, holding his hand out to her, the blue mist gently intertwining with his fingers.

Crack!

Decius's eyes widened in horror, and the mist that was teasing the skin of his fingertips dissolved at the same time.

Laurenz had taken the opportunity to utilise the moments where Decius was distracted to slink around him and shoot him in the spine.

Decius fell to his knees, the shock etched on his face. The colour seemed to drain away from his face. "Hollow points," he mused shakily, "clever."

He dropped forward, letting his hands bear some of his body weight. "It's not nice to shoot people, Laurenz. Don't you ever learn?" he snarled at the man behind him, his elbows seemingly weakening as he tried to hold himself up.

"It's not nice to lie to people, Decius. Don't you ever learn?" Laurenz snapped back.

"What do you mean, lie?" Sascha interrupted, confused. "Laurenz?"

"He's a master of deceit, Sascha. A lying snake. Believe me when I say you can't trust him. Let's go, leave him here to writhe in his own misery. I've found over time that hollow point bullets can pin him down for a little while and block his power momentarily. So let's get a move on." Laurenz hissed, his teeth grinding together.

Sascha began to walk towards Laurenz, walking around Decius carefully, silently hoping his threat had been neutralised.

Alas, her hopes and prayers were not heard.

Decius shot his hand out and grabbed Sascha's ankle, his grip unbelievably strong. Sascha yelped quietly in surprise, and desperately tried to yank her leg free. "Let me go!" She cried out, panic rising.

"I don't think so. I've gone through enough trouble to get you and it ends here." Decius snarled, his voice gravelly, laced with fury. At once, he pulled on her leg, dragging her down to the grass.

Sascha groaned as she hit the floor, but the momentarily present pain was replaced with fear as Decius pulled her effortlessly towards him.

He pinned her down, his hot breath teasing her face. "You're going to stay down, or else. I'm going to deal with Laurenz."