After the End (Julian and MC)

12

I inhale sharply and step in front of Julian, feeling magic surge through me while Asra and his parents step forward. Portia quickly gets behind us, taking Julian's arm and pulling him back with her. Scout stays where she is, barking sharply when Vulgora takes a step forward.

Vulgora eyes her warily, but quickly asserts themselves and points at me. "You are becoming a nuisance, and I intend to put a stop to that." They declare, clenching their fist as they glare at me.

Julian quickly steps forward and stands in front of me, narrowing his eyes at Vulgora and shaking his head. He opens his mouth to speak, but closes his mouth again when Aisha and Salim launch a wave of power at Vulgora, knocking them back.

"Should we stay and fight?" Asra asks me, frowning as uncertainty flashes in his eyes.

"They'll only come after us again if we flee." I reply, nodding and stepping away from Julian. I wait for Pontifex Vulgora to get to their feet again before I stand beside Asra and grab his wrist, lending him my power so that he can add it to his own.

Asra launches his own attack on Vulgora, who manages to block some of his blows with their metal gauntlets. Aisha and Salim blast Vulgora with balls of magic, but only manage to knock them slightly off balance. I let go of Asra and launch my own power at them, which, surprisingly, does damage. Vulgora rolls back a few times before digging their metal fingers into the ground, clawing their way back to us.

"MC, unbind them." Asra whispers to me urgently, placing his hand on my shoulder to give me more power.

I don't hear him, my eyes are focused on the courtier that emerges from the corridor to Vulgora's left.

"Valdemar?" Julian gasps, racing to my side and pulling me back.

Julian takes my hand, but I pull myself free from him. I can't fight if he's holding onto my hand, but if he's touching me, I can use his power and add it to my own. I take Julian's hand and lay in on my shoulder, and shudder at the energy that runs through my body.

When Valdemar steps in front of Vulgora and begins to make their way towards us, I pool my magic into my hands, narrowing my eyes as I stare down my opponent. Valdemar seems wary of me, but attacks anyway, their body splitting as they launch a blade-like limb towards us. I send my magic at them, but it doesn't work like it did in Death's realm, and Julian, Asra and I have to duck to avoid being sliced.

Panic floods my chest when I spot the faint outline of chains around Valdemar's body, and I quickly take Julian and Asra's hands and run to Salim and Aisha. Portia is cowering behind them, with Scout growling and barking at Valdemar and Vulgora. Holding onto Julian and Asra, I nod to Salim and Aisha, who rush behind me and lay their hands on my shoulders.

I almost collapse under the pressure of the power that surges through me, and when I close my eyes and focus my power, the five of us are thrown back from the force. Valdemar makes an awful screeching noise, and Vulgora howls in pain. When I manage to sit up, my limbs are shaky and my breath is quick, but my body relaxes as the magic from the others leaves my body. Julian scrambles to his feet and pulls me up, checking me over for a moment before he sighs with relief and smiles. I manage to return his smile as Asra helps his parents up, but a furious growl from Vulgora snaps my attention to them.

They rush at us, and when I try to throw up a shield, they smash through it as if it were made of thin glass. I gasp when Vulgora's claws snatch my throat, and I helplessly grasp at their hand, struggling for breath as they tighten their grip. Julian tries to shove Vulgora over, but instead gets knocked back as if he'd hit a wall rather than a person.

Asra and his parents combine their power and blast Vulgora, and though it doesn't do enough to throw them back, it does enough that I can slip out of their grip, and I slump to the floor. My throat burns as I draw in a breath, and when Julian drags me back, I feel blood run down my neck.