The Mark of Aether

Amidst The Flames~Part III

With a flicker of Carter's hand, the weapon returned to normal size before an arrow flew and hit the bull-man in the right ear.

The creature was angry, least to say, seeing the steam emanating from its nostrils. The Minotaur swayed his ax, waves of sharp strikes surging from it. We all ran to evade it, racking our minds to find a plan that wouldn't bring us our death.

Mayra summoned a blast of wind that was as trenchant as glass shards. Except that it did nothing to damage it, instead it only made it angrier all the more.

Leon summoned his whip and darted it at the beast, catching his ax. As the two weapons came in contact, the whip bursted in thunder strikes, destroying the ax to fragments of bombarding steel. And as I stared at the Minotaur keenly, I remarked something I hoped was useful.

''On the collar, there are four openings. We have four keys. They are connected ina way or in another.''

"Perhaps we should dig the knives in the correct cliffs?'' presumed the shadow.

"Let's give it a try.''

We all launched at the creature, hoping to find success with our tentative, but the beast had more in stock. It blew wind from its mouth, creating a swirling sand storm that sent us churning in that tourbillion of air and sand.

Everything turned dark, no light and no help. My state was too disoriented to call for my magic. I tried, but failed in igniting that spark in my blood. To survive I had to do it classic way.

I'd  heard somewhere before that to survive such phenomena, I should go with the wind and not against it. Basing on that knowledge, I flew with the current until I partially collided with another flying body.

"Help!'' I shouted, trying my best not to swallow sand and prickles. I was finding it hard to breathe already, the continuous gulps of sand chocking me.

''Hold on!'' I heard Carter's voice amongst the howling wind. I clutched his arm, feeling the grip of his other hand tightening around my left shoulder. He ignited the smallest sparks of light that flickered away, but gave us enough light to see our surroundings. Leon and Mayra were both hovering somewhere underneath us, not too far away. We had to get out of this hell.

I forced every snippet of strength I had and reached for Leon's mind, trying hard to come out with a plan. My mind tangled with his, his thoughts running and flashing like thunder in my head.

'But that is too dangerous,' I retorted, his idea proceeding in my mind.

'It is our only solution.'

'What if we fail?'

'Death is waiting in both cases.'

I breathed in deeply, cutting the connection and using the rest of my potential in creating a mass of fire underneath my feet. I griped Carter's arm tighter as I felt warmness seeping in my veins, a burning fire birthing with every single heartbeat.

I freed the magic and let it circulate in my veins until it reached every cell of my organism. Releasing it, and in pure coherence, an explosion of fire emanated from below my feet, creating such a loud detonation that it sent me and the Arelesian lord both flying outside the whirling storm.

We hit the harsh land, each part of my body giving up at the collision that the idea of ever standing up again was painful. It took me seconds to realize that we actually fell near one foot of the Minotaur while Leon and Mayra were both dangling from a pinstripe wrapped against the opposite leg.

Seeing as we evaded from the winds, the whirling stopped and the creature started shaking his legs left and right, trying to shoo Mayra and Leon away.