Abyssal (ManxMan)

Crack

Crack

Kai couldn't breathe nor did he feel his heart beating. The shock at what he'd just witnessed had stilled his organs completely. Was he dreaming? This felt surreal, just like a dream or a hallucination. Had the fight really ended so quickly with a slyly-executed slash of Marius' sword?

He waited for the referee to blow his whistle, announcing the end of the match.

Erasmus staggered forward, swaying slightly. He was going to go down-

-but then he whirled around as fast as lightning, purple eyes flashing, and slammed his fist with bone-shattering force into Marius' face.

As if he'd been the one who was punched in the face, Kai swayed on his feet. Abruptly, he inhaled a sharp intake of breath and it burned his lungs.

The sword wound on Erasmus' back healed in a matter of seconds. Kai watched the scaly skin stitch back together until there wasn't even a hairline wound left. He'd not have believed that such a deep wound would heal so quickly if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes. Mermen powers never failed to impress and astonish him.

Unlike Erasmus, Marius seemed unfazed by the direct hit. It hadn't even left a scratch to mar his flawless face, as if Erasmus had punched a titanium sheet.

Marius deftly swiped his bejeweled sword at Erasmus again, but Erasmus dodged the hit that slashed through the air like the crack of a leather whip, probably slicing atoms. He dodged the next one, and the one after that. The way Marius moved... it was like he was floating. Like an ice skater without the ice.

As they moved in a lethal dance, they became supersonic blurs that couldn't be followed with the naked eye, one black, the other dark-blue.

"What's happening?" Kai asked General Ryodan, who seemed just as transfixed as he was, but something told him the General was able to follow their movements. Kai strained his eyes to see, wondering if he possessed the superior eyesight that merfolk seemed to possess as well. He did not. After a time, he stopped being able to distinguish the two blurs apart. It was maddening.

They chipped away at the cliff, smashing rocks and sending pebble and dust flying into the air. A few flying pebbles pelted them. Kai shielded his eyes from the onslaught.

The echoes of destruction reverberated off the surrounding cliffs, intensified by the sound of the raging sea bashing against the cliff sides. The whole town could probably hear it, like explosions going off in the distance.

This was bound to attract attention soon. But this was the two dueling mermen's last concern as they struggled for victory.

Much to Kai's surprise and immense relief, Erasmus seemed to be holding his own against Marius. From what Kai managed to see, Erasmsu deflected every hit and throw of the sword, but so did Marius. Somehow, they were reading each other's minds, or were exceptionally adept at figuring out each other's next move.

Suddenly, they parted, bouncing away from each other like pingballs.

Kai's eyes widened into saucers when they took in Erasmus, who was standing closest to them. He hadn't dodged every hit like Kai thought. Tiny cuts littered his body down to the croc tail. Kai waited for them to heal, just as the slash on his back had. They did heal, albeit at a slower rate than the big wound. These small ones should've healed much quicker, even if they were many.

Erasmus was losing power, Kai realized with sinking dread. While he wasn't exactly panting and sweating bullets, he could somehow sense that Erasmus' powers were being quickly depleted.

Marius on the other hand looked like he'd just walked out of a royal ball, his face that stoic mask that pissed Kai to no end. Not even his black hair, which was shorter in human form, was disheveled. It was downright unfair. And frightening. To think he was at a completely other level than a shapeshifting mage Erasmus -and Ryodan- was mind-boggling. What made him so much stronger than his fellow merfolk? His lineage? His age? His training? Or did he possess a special power of his own? What set him apart, exactly?

It suddenly occurred to him that Erasmus was the one maintaining the barrier and stopping any teleportation in or out of the house, all while going toe to toe with Marius. In a way, Erasmus was equally as impressive as Marius. But this incredible feat was going to cost him the fight, and maybe more.

Now that the chains that tied him were gone, Kai whirled on Ryodan and punched the General in the face. Since he hadn't seen it coming, Ryodan staggered quite a few steps backward. A look of complete shock crossed his face as he unconsciously touched his cheek gingerly where he'd been struck. Though Kai had put all his strength in the punch, Ryodan's cheek wasn't even bruised. Rather, it was his own hand that suffered the brunt of it.

"My Prince-"

"Stop this foolishness right now before Marius kills you both!" Kai ordered in a voice he didn't know he possessed. He felt his insides thundering, as if a storm was brewing deep within him.

An indignant expression crossed Ryodan's face. "I-"

"Now!"

A tremor shook the cliff and a crack appeared between him and Ryodan.

Kai blinked. His anger deflated like a balloon as he stared at the crack that was not there only a second ago. Ryodan looked even more shocked if that were possible.

Ryodan started, "Did you-"

At the same time, Kai breathed, "Did I-"

A new dark presence made himself known. He materialized right next to me and a large gloved hand reached for me.

No! Get away from him! The Spirit of the Sea roared like a dragon inside Kai's head, nearly splitting his skull wide open. But as it turned out, the Spirit's scream was heard by everyone on the cliff. Ryodan clamped his hands against his ears, his eyebrows furrowed and his teeth clenched.

The crack between Kai and Ryodan widened, splitting the cliff into two. Horrified, Kai watched the crack make its way to his house. 

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

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