The Child of Light and Shadow

Divine Intervention

"Jonah," Marcus says, pushing me off of him, "what is that thing?"

"Beats me," I reply quickly – perhaps too much so, since he does glance at me briefly. "But I'm not liking the vibes it's giving off." That part is the truth. The thing is definitely a demon, and its magic power is up there with Risk and Juno. It's not making a move, thankfully, so I have time to plan things out. I approach Raksha, and start healing the wound Marcus inflicted on him. Marcus moves to stop me immediately. "Don't be stupid," I tell him, increasing his reluctance. "The battle between us is over. We've got to fight that thing first."

The blond idiot still has his back turned to the small hooded demon, so I snap at him, "The power coming from it is the same as the demon we fought in Rooke, you buffoon. This is not part of the trial. It got interrupted yet again, just like the second one, back in the Labyrinth. We've got to focus on fighting it, or we're all gonna die." I look from Marcus to the hooded figure, which is still standing there, looking at me. "It's a lot more powerful than the ice demon we fought." Let's not mention that I don't plan on using my dream magic here. It's far too soon since my fight with Juno and... and someone else. I can't remember, and that just proves my point further. "If we don't all focus on it, we're dead. Aisha!"

The woman is already running up to me, and immediately starts to check on Raksha. "Will he live?"

"I-I'm fine," the djinn answers stubbornly, already trying to stand up. I push him back down.

"Stop that. My healing power is a bit off-key. I need to get used to how the talisman affected me." I put my free hand over his mouth and look to Aisha. "What's the situation? I'm having trouble thinking straight."

Snow walks over to us, eyeing Marcus wearily as Aisha performs the analysis out loud. "Raksha should be as strong as most of the Apostles right now, and Snow and I are about even, just behind him. That should make us stronger than the team you had back in Rooke. Let's not forget Yukiji, either. She must be watching this." She quickly glances at Marcus. "Right?"

He gives her a nod, but still seems hesitant about the trial stopping. "So we attack?"

Standing up, a fireball in her hand, Aisha makes her answer known, and hurls the spell at the hooded figure. It flies straight toward it at an insane speed. Would I be able to dodge such a thing? The hooded demon sure doesn't seem in a hurry to do so. What's it thinking – if it even can think – just standing there? That spell has enough mana to burn a large house away.

Just when it seems the demon will be dealt with swiftly, its mana twitches a bit, and the fireball takes a big curve, hitting the sand next to the little fella, burning away without causing harm.

"Impossible," Aisha says. "You can't use your mana to directly affect someone else's spell. That's just not possible. No one is that precise – not even the Apostles."

"Well, it clearly happened," I tell her as I finish closing Raksha's wound. I remove my hand from his mouth, and notice he's a bit red from it. "The devils don't function like we do. They're inherently stronger."

"We?" Marcus snorts, and I give him a look. What's he talking about? "Don't give me that crap. You and Raksha are not in the same boat as Aisha and I. You've got talent to spare. You've been a magic knight for what, a month? Yet you've already defeated an Apostle, and then two devils stronger than the Apostles. Don't give me shit like that. Inherently stronger than us? More like stronger than me. You two have no excuse for chickening out."

Wow. Didn't think I'd see that coming from a guy like him. His inferiority complex must be worse than I thought. "No one's chickening out," I reply, helping Raksha to his feet. "It's a fact that not a single one of us can take that thing on alone. We have to treat it like someone stronger, or we're gonna die. Aisha's analysis is spot-on. Yukiji, if you're here, don't show yourself. Wait for an opening." If it can affect our magic, it might be unable to affect that which it cannot see. "Aisha, Raksha, try to attack at the same time."