Magic Weaver

Chapter Thirty Three(v2)

Chapter Thirty Three

The Intruder

            Cedric stood before the Reaper, whose eyes were shining with anticipation. He remembered so long ago when he first started training with Gabriel. Now, he could build, he could destroy, he could fight. Today he would beat Gabriel.

            Then again, he thought the same thing yesterday, yet Gabriel still stood undefeated.

            “I want you to build a column.” Gabriel told him. “Right here.” He made a X into the ground.

            Cedric stared at that X with dread. He had never built something that large before. Cedric touched the ground, and focused. He willed the ground to rise, but it refused. Cedric took another breath and tried again. He knew he possessed the ability. He only had to figure out how to harness it. Finally, after an endless time, he took cement from the ground and forced it to rise, simultaneously bonding it together into a solid object. It stood, a statue to his power.

            Gabriel clapped with a smiled. “Can you do it with your feet?”

            Cedric sighed. He could barely make a pillar with his feet, let alone a column. Still, he removed his shoes, absorbing the sensations around him. Then he attempted to force the ground to rise like it had the first time. To his disappointment but not surprise, nothing happened.

            Gabriel sighed. “We’ll work on that later I suppose. Now, I want you to construct a column that touches both these walls.”

            For a while they continued like that, Cedric building columns of various sizes in various places, while Gabriel encouraged him. Then he gained a certain devilish smile, his scythe flying across the room and into his hand.

            Cedric grinned in anticipation, and stood, waiting for Gabriel to start. Without warming Gabriel flew across the room, and as always Cedric was surprised by his incredible speed. He tripped to the side just in time(which was really quite good, for half the time Gabriel already made his first strike). Cedric reacted quickly, putting a hand on The Reaper’s arm, filling Gabriel’s mind with a bright clap of light. Gabriel recoiled, stunned by the flash. It was designed to surprise, not harm. Cedric took the opportunity to strike low with his sword, but the Reaper somehow blocked it, retreating a bit then going at him with his sharp weapon. Cedric rose from the ground, trying to trip him, but Gabriel leaped over the bit of upraised rock and swung, knocking Cedric to the side. Cedric griminced and moved his hand, causing a rock to fly at Gabriel’s face. The Reaper deflected it, and Cedric took the chance to rise a pillar of rock from the ceiling and smash it down at Gabriel. Gabriel jumped out of the way with a yelp and Cedric attacked with sword again. Once again Gabriel evaded the tactic, and scampered up a nearby ladder. Cedric willed he ladder to fall, which it did, but not before the Reaper leapt to a platform, into the mass of lanterns, and was gone.

            Cedric bit his lip, looking up into the ceiling. It would be foolish to follow Gabriel up there. But there was no sight or sound of Gabriel’s that could be heard. Cedric raised the ground around him. As he neared the lanterns, growing in size, he caught a moving shadow, then Gabriel was flying at his face.

            They collided, causing them to slip off the rock. Gabriel, his rope in hand, caught the rock’s edge with it and hung in safety’s net.

            Cedric touched the rock next to him as he fell, feeling his skin scrap off, and willed the cement soft enough so as he buried his sword into it, it was soft enough to hold. Cedric sighed, made a platform below spring out from the wall, and jumped to it. Then he made the column sink back into the ground, and Gabriel fell to the ground, jumped to his feet, and without pause leapt at Cedric again. Cedric pushed him to the side, knocked his scythe again, then froze with his sword pointed at Gabriel’s chest, his own chest rising and falling in sheer exhaustion. Then he realized what he had done. He did it. He had beaten the Reaper!