Chapter 118 - The King of Storms & Chapter 119 - Companion

7 1 0
                                    

(1)

"Kell, where are you going? Kell, I need your help. Kell!"

Roran watched as Kell sprinted off towards the beast. Behind him, Nul was continuing to thrash about, hurling lightning and shattering the buildings around them. Nul was going to hurt themself, and Roran, if they didn't stop. Roran panicked when Nul cupped their hands together and the destructive light began to glow between their palms.

"Nul, stop. Please, Nul, listen to me."

Nul didn't even glance at Roran. They were completely lost in whatever nightmare had come over them. The flickering fires of Nul's body were in chaos. Their heart was pounding away and their lungs were spasming, unable to get enough air into Nul's body. The black flames of Akanos were crawling all over Nul, clutching them in a tight grip and writhing around. Akanos had worked his way entirely through Nul's head and was suffocating them.

Leaning into his godspell, Roran drew on Sarah. Power flooded through him and his shadow rippled and grew. The six-winged warrior rose up behind him, its halo flickering in the wind.

"Nul, don't make me do this."

Nul didn't respond. The light was growing brighter and they were aiming it towards the harbor, towards some unseen apparition. Roran had to end this and he had to end it now.

"I'm sorry, Nul. Please forgive me."

Drawing Pathfinder, Roran extended his presence down the blade. The glistening white metal accepted the flow of energy with ease. With Sarah behind him, Roran bore down on Nul. Careful of his aim, he plunged the sword through Nul's abdomen, trying to avoid the major organs inside.

Nul froze as the blade sunk into them, the light in their hands flickering and going out. Roran pushed his presence throughout Nul's body, letting the essence of death fill Nul and latch onto Akanos. Sarah did the rest. Even in her diminished state, she was a lyhlim and this was her duty. Roran ripped his sword free from Nul and tore Akanos out with it.

The remnant came tumbling out of Nul in a mess of black flames. He was delirious, lost, and terrified. He started coalescing into his librarian form but he was frayed at the edges, dissipating. He continued to flail around, screaming wordlessly into the wind.

"I'm sorry," Roran said again.

Behind him, the winged warrior raised its spear and thrust it through Akanos, shredding him apart. As the remnant faded away, Roran sheathed Pathfinder and rushed to Nul's side. They were lying on the ground, blood pouring out of the wound in their stomach.

Roran gave them a gentle shake. "Nul? Nul, can you hear me?"

Nul let out a low groan. They were trembling.

"Hold on, I'll see what I can do."

Roran extended his presence into Nul's body, attempting to stem the flow of blood. Nul grunted in pain. Despite his best efforts, nothing happened. Roran was no healer, he didn't understand the flow of arteries and blood vessels enough to make a difference.

Grunting, Nul pushed him back. They reached into one of their many pockets and produced a small godspell. It flickered to life and Nul plunged it into the wound. They growled in pain as light flared out of the injury. When they pulled their hand away, a mass of gently glowing gossamer had sealed the wound shut.

That done, Nul collapsed back onto the ground, gasping for air.

"Nul, are you there?"

Nul nodded. Then, weakly, they said, "He's gone."

"I know, I'm sorry. I didn't know what else to do. One of us was going to get hurt."

Nul closed their eyes and took a few deep breaths. After a moment, they said, "What's going on? Where's Kell?"

Kings GameWhere stories live. Discover now