The Firelands

81 - Catching Your Breath

                  

16th day of the forth Month, Worth's Moon

3:00 pm

The Forgotten Temple

How did one use air as a weapon?

Theth had no real idea, other than using a strong gust to knock two angels backwards, what else could it do? It wasn't like the other elements; it wasn't physical in the same way. It basically wasn't there.

Whatever he could do, he needed to think fast because he could hear the twins racing back to the hall over the sound of the air rushing by him.

His hand drifted up to touch the ceiling, just to help him keep his balance in the small space in the corner of the room – he would have to move eventually, his wings were too big for the confined corner.

Something hit his temple making him flinch and he looked up. Small rocks were coming loose under his touch, showering down on him.

An idea formed just as Nero exploded back into the room.

He slammed his fist up into the ceiling, small rocks showered down past him and he thought – really, really hard – about what he wanted to make happen – and prayed it didn't end up the way it had when Zedkiel had tried to get them out of the goblin jail.

It wasn't that bad, but wasn't that good either.

The wind shifted. It caught the rocks and shot them towards Nero. The angel's eyes widened, he threw up his arms to protect himself and the rocks pattered across him, losing the momentum they had started with and doing nothing but make him dusty.

A shocked silence followed for a moment, then Nero peered out from under his arms, staring before he started laughing.

"Oh my, Theth," he said, staring at Theth in disbelieve, "is that really all you can do? I'm... I'm almost shocked. You really can't control your powers."

A chill raced up Theth's spine as Reko appeared.

"This would have been so easy if you had just died earlier," Nero said, bringing his arm up to his chest, snapping his fingers and throwing his arm out to the side.

Theth's eyes widened. A blade formed, flowing from the movements of his hand and Nero gripped the handle, slamming the tip into the ground, cracking the solid rock.

It was from the Angelic Realm, made for royals, like that which The King used. It couldn't be broken and would always be returned to its master even if knocked aside.

"Now," Nero said with a grin. "Come. Here. Theth."

And he launched into the air, straight at Theth.

Theth dropped, narrowly missing the upswing of the blade that smashed the ceiling, rocks raining down as Nero spun and followed him, swinging the blade and catching Theth across the cheek.

Theth slammed to the ground, retracting his wings completely for just a second, long enough to roll to the side, out of the path of the sword tip that drove half a foot into the stone where his head had been, before expanding them again and kicking back into the air.

"You're fast, I'll give you that," Nero said. "That would be Father's training. Always been on your toes."

"And remember how many opponents you have."

Reko's voice behind him was the only warning he had before he felt another blade stab through his side from behind.

Theth was able to move just enough to avoid the full force of the attack. His side was simply opened up by an inch or so, rather than being completely penetrated resulting in his organs on the wrong side of his body.