Rend Hope (29 page)

             
Teivon continued to watch it all.  As much as Markus annoyed him to no end.  He had to admit, he was quite the fighter, if only he took his role as a gifted human being more seriously, he would do the city and perhaps the rest of humanity a world of good.

**********

              "Spread out!" Kendal ordered his deputies, who followed his orders without hesitation, three went behind him to his left, while the last one went to his right.  He fired a shot with the revolver in his right hand, nailing the lead golem in its chest with a blast of blue magic energy.  The stone construct merely stumbled a few steps, the other two golems ran past their staggered brethren.

             
The Midas City sheriff snarled in annoyance, it looked like these things were sturdier than he had anticipated.  The lead golem was finally within melee range and swung its left fist down towards the pseudo-cowboy, intending to crush him.  Kendal leapt into the air to avoid the strike, the sheriff felt his teeth rattle as the golem's fist impacted the ground.  He placed his left hand on the stone construct's left shoulder and vaulted over it.

             
He had just performed a forward somersault to help him get some distance from the golem that attacked him, as he was hanging upside-down in the middle of a second somersault, he caught another golem leaping at him from his right, this one was coming in high, letting gravity bring its massive weight down toward its target.  Kendal had other ideas though and pulled out his second revolver with his left hand.  He fired both guns at the rapidly descending golem, the dual blasts converging as one mid-flight and catching the stone construct on its left leg. 

             
While the golem's leg withstood the blast, it still took some damage as a few cracks appeared on the leg's surface.  The force of the blast also sent the golem tumbling head over heels, still alarmingly headed in Kendal's direction.  The pseudo-cowboy tucked himself into a ball, making himself as small a target as possible.  He grit his teeth, hopefully he had judged the golem's trajectory correctly, even if he had, it was still going to be close.

             
The tumbling golem sailed just past Kendal's head, coming so close he swore he could have touched the artificial construct with his tongue if he wanted, and he didn't because that would have been gross.  The proximity of the golem as it passed by caused Kendal's hat to fly off his head, exposing his long ponytailed brown hair.  He landed smoothly on his feet, making it look easy even though the adrenaline was flowing through his veins now.

             
Kendal turned back around to examine the situation.  The golem he had first shot was now headed towards him, while the one that had tried to strike him first had its eyes on Janine.  The one he had sent ass-over-end and had nearly decapitated him with its body was face-down on the ground, the three deputies that had moved there were now converging on it.  He had no more time to think about it as one of the golems was upon him, he had to focus on destroying it first.

             
Janine tossed a card in front of her with her left hand which quickly grew in size until it was larger than she was.  The glyph on the card flashed red briefly before a rhinoceros charged out of it, slamming into the chest of the golem in front of her.  The stone construct was actually backed up a few meters before it grabbed the rhino, lifted it over its head and threw it back at the vice-sheriff.

             
She reacted by touching the back of the giant card that spawned the rhinoceros with her left hand and channeling her magic energy into it.  Instead of being crushed by the large and heavy animal, it disappeared back into the card.  Her body protested her fast movements, she was still hurting from her battle with the red-haired youth and hadn't had time to properly recover.  Her right hand was still burned pretty bad and hurt to move and the various cuts and bruises she had received were taking their toll.

             
Pulling out another card from her deck with her uninjured left hand, Janine flung this one at the golem's feet.  It slid on the ground, spinning horizontally before getting stuck under the golem's left foot.  The glyph on the card activated and a large snake wrapped itself around the giant stone construct, pinning its arms to its sides.

             
Meanwhile, the trio of deputies were attacking the third and downed golem, one that was currently lying face-down in the ground.  One of deputies, armed with a bow, shot an arrow at the back of its head.  Even though the arrow was enhanced by sorcery to pierce not only physical defenses, but magical as well, it still only sunk a few centimeters into the golem's stone skin.

             
The other two deputies, armed with one-handed hatchets, started hacking away at its back.  They too were having the same problem, breaching and damaging the golem's stone skin, but not near enough to destroy or neutralize it.  The stone construct gathered it's arms and legs under it and shrugged the two deputies that were on its back off of it, sending them crashing to the ground.  To the deputies' credit, they managed to turn their falls into rolls as soon as they made contact with the floor, easing their impacts.  Kendal noted his deputies' struggle, he couldn't afford to slack off at the moment, best if he ended his fight as soon as possible so he could help the others. 

***********

              Ebrim howled in rage and frustration as he struggled to right himself in the air.  The bastard Markus was knocking him around like a child's plaything and he was fed up with it.  He glared below him where Markus was flying up at high speed.  Ebrim reared his right hand back and gathered as much of his power as he could for two seconds before releasing it in a powerful blast.

             
Using his newfound speed, Markus flew to his left and dodged the blast, which crashed into a building below and completely obliterated it.  The recently revived aeromancer then took a curving path towards Ebrim.  The necromancer was still snarling in frustration that his attack had missed when Markus flew in and landed a vicious left hook to the right side of his face.

             
Ebrim could have sworn his jaw unhinged when Markus struck him with his fist.  As he was sent flying through the air yet again he was dimly aware that they were no longer above the city.  The dark-haired man finally hit solid ground again when he crashed into the sand outside the city limits.

             
As Ebrim used his necromancy to start healing his jaw and battered body, he tried to peer through the cloud of dust and sand that erupted when he impacted the ground.  However, he couldn't see hardly past his hands as he tried to search for the elusive magi.

             
"You said you'd take whatever I dish out right?" Markus' voice sounded from behind the necromancer, "Let's test that."

             
A thick bolt of black lightning fell from the sky, hitting Ebrim right at the top of his skull.  The lightning coursed through his body as he howled in pain.  Another lightning bolt, green this time, struck him from the sky and then another black one, the colors alternating with each bolt.

             
Markus kept up the barrage for a little while.  Reveling in Ebrim's suffering, his screams of agony were like music to his ears.  The aeromancer paused as that last thought disturbed him, enjoying an opponent’s suffering would lead down a dark path.  He never had thoughts like that before, why now?  What was wrong with him?

             
His internal struggle caused him to stop his barrage of lightning bolts.  The smoke cleared around Ebrim to reveal his severely charred body.  His broken form was in a kneeling position, his arms drooped uselessly at his sides.  The necromancer's shirt was completely gone and his upper torso was covered in severe burns.  Ebrim's eyes were clenched shut and blood flowed from between the eyelids.  There were only patches of black hair atop his burned scalp and smoke emanated from his body.  The glyph on Ebrim's right hand however, was still glowing strongly.

             
"You pack quite a punch Markus." Ebrim wheezed out, letting out a sound that was a mixture between a laugh and a cough.  The severely burnt necromancer reached over to his left arm with his right and tore what was left of the leather glove off, revealing a similar glyph on his left arm that was on his right.  "Forcing me to go all out here, guess I should have expected that from Nobellus' apprentice."  The glyphs on Ebrim's arms glowed an intense red, and his body began to heal itself.

             
"I'm no longer Nobellus' apprentice." Markus replied, Ebrim rose to his feet as his flesh healed, the hair on his face and head was restored, but his skin had taken on a pale grey color.  "Stop calling me that."

             
"Apologies, it's how you were best known.  I think it's safe to say you've inherited the ruthlessness he exhibits to his enemies." Ebrim told him.

             
"There's nothing wrong with being ruthless to pieces of shit who have declared war on humanity." Markus replied.

             
"Would you say the same thing if that ruthlessness cost you the lives of people you cared about Markus?" Ebrim questioned, the aeromancer visibly winced which did not go unnoticed by the elder man.  "Struck a nerve did I?"

             
"Shut up." Markus said coldly, firing another blast of black lightning from the palm of his right hand at Ebrim.  This time however, the necromancer raised his left hand and deflected the blast to his left.  The lightning bolt hit the ground and exploded, shooting forth a huge plume of dust and sand.

             
"You get all self-righteous when it comes to defending these pathetic human beings, but you're no saint Markus, you're as much a shade of grey as I am." Ebrim informed him.

             
"You're right, I am not a saint, but I believe in redemption for one's soul while you would let your own rot.  You forsake everything you are and that is tragic." Markus replied, Ebrim grunted in annoyance.

             
"Spare me your pity." Ebrim snarled, dropping into a fighting stance.  "I don't need it from someone who isn't even fully alive."

             
"Fine then.  Let's finish this." Markus responded, dropping into a fighting stance as well.  The two combatants stared each other down while the moonlight shined down on them.  Then almost at the same time, they charged at each other.

             
The final deciding battle over the fate of Midas City was getting under way.

Chapter 26

              Markus wasted no time and sprang at Ebrim, unleashing a flying kick with his right leg.  Ebrim sidestepped to his left to avoid the attack and the aeromancer sailed past, he then turned and pursued him, seeking to attack Markus before he could land.  He was unsuccessful and the blonde magi was able to touch his feet onto solid ground.  Markus immediately ducked under the punch thrown by Ebrim and used his left leg to try and sweep Ebrim's feet out from under him.

             
The dark-haired man jumped over Markus' leg sweep, answering by kicking out with his right foot while in mid-air, again aiming for the younger man's face.  Markus managed to block the kick with his forearms, but Ebrim's kick was strong enough to knock him onto his shoulderblades.  The aeromancer slid across the sandy ground for a good eight meters before rolling backwards into a standing position.

             
Markus noted that the necromancer was stronger now, activating that second glyph on his left arm had boosted his power by quite a bit.  Still, the older man must be burning through the glyph's magic energy like crazy healing all the wounds he was inflicting on him.  Sooner or later the glyphs had to run out, all he had to do was keep hurting him.

             
Ebrim pressed his advantage, charging after Markus.  He struck out with his right fist, but the younger man swatted at the necromancer's outer wrist with his left hand, deflecting his punch.  Almost immediately afterwards Markus lashed out with his own right hand, landing a solid punch right at the center of Ebrim's nose.

             
The tall necromancer reeled back from the blow.  When he recovered he looked back towards Markus to find the blonde aeromancer silently glaring at him.  Was he waiting for him to make the next move?  Why?  Was he being cautious?  Ebrim got his answer to that when Markus began to walk slowly towards him, closing the distance between the two opponents.  The younger man stood tall, the glare of his glowing green eyes boring into Ebrim's, his arms at his sides and his hands closed into fists.  Ebrim couldn't believe it, was this bastard actually letting his guard down?  Was he so arrogant as to not perceive him as a threat?

             
Anger built up in Ebrim as he bent his knees and leapt into the air, taking to the skies.  Markus followed suit a second later, having anticipated this, the crazed man performed a few forward somersaults, building momentum.  As Markus drew closer to him, Ebrim lashed out with his right leg, bringing the heel of his boot down on the aeromancer's face, or he would have if Markus was still there.

             
A slight breeze from behind alerted Ebrim to where Markus was.  Turning around as fast as he could, the dark-haired necromancer found Markus already bringing his right fist forward.  The blonde man's hand was brimming with magic energy and Ebrim only had time to bring his arms forward to block the punch.

             
Ebrim's felt the bones in his arms crack as the impact from Markus' punch sent him crashing into the earth once more.  Although his necromancy was already healing him, the dark-haired man was frustrated.  He was going all out, using all the power he had gained from the people he had killed over the years.  It should be more than enough to handle one lousy magi.  So then, why was he losing?

             
Not wasting any time, Markus extended his right hand and started channeling his power into it.  Ebrim had just managed to get back to his feet, a very unhappy look on his face.  Markus fired a bolt of black lightning from the palm of his hand and Ebrim reacted by summoning a giant ribcage from the ground.

             
Ebrim winced as the ribcage cracked from being hit by Markus' spell, but it held long enough to shield him from the worst of it before falling to pieces.  Swiftly, Ebrim used his sorcery to fling the sharp pieces of bone that remained from the broken ribcage at Markus.  Instead of trying to dodge to the side, the aeromancer saw an opening in the incoming barrage of sharp bones and dove for it.

             
Markus winced as a felt a piece of sharp bone sink into his left thigh, he ignored it as he came through the barrage of bone.  As soon as his feet touched solid ground he took off like a rocket towards the necromancer.  Ebrim mirrored his action, setting the two opponents on a crash course.

             
When the two combatants were in melee range, the tall whiskered necromancer struck out with his right hand once more.  Markus was barely able to duck under it and as his momentum brought him past the elder man he buried his right elbow into Ebrim's spine. 

             
The dark-haired man quickly saved himself from eating a faceful of sand by turning his fall into a roll.  As he came back up on his feet he turned so he was facing Markus once again to see the recently revived aeromancer in mid-air several feet above the ground, trying to take aim at him with his right hand.  Before Markus could fire his spell, Ebrim hastily leapt into the air and delivered a kick with his right leg into the younger man's left side.

             
While Markus was able to block most of the impact of the kick with his left arm, it knocked him out of the air.  Landing hard on his right shoulder, Markus quickly rolled back to his feet.  The aeromancer was greeted by the sight of a very focused Ebrim, his sole intent was very clear, to kill him...again.

             
Ebrim closed the distance between them, intending on keeping the combat close quarters.  He didn't fancy getting hit by Markus' spells as they were rapidly draining the power within the glyphs on his arms.  He was pretty sure he could take the younger man in a fist fight.

             
The crazed necromancer performed a vicious uppercut with his right arm, but Markus managed to catch the elder man's right fist with his left hand.  The aeromancer answered back with a right hook which Ebrim nimbly ducked under.  When the dark-haired man came back up from his crouch he delivered a nasty elbow with his left arm, striking a direct hit to Markus' jaw.

             
The blonde-haired man stumbled back a few steps and Ebrim sought to capitalize by executing a high sweeping kick with his right foot, aimed at Markus' left ear.  The aeromancer had enough of his senses to duck under the kick though and Ebrim's right leg sailed harmlessly over his head.  Ebrim was not finished however, as soon as his right foot touched the ground, he planted it and lashed out with his other leg in a roundhouse kick.

             
Markus took a quick step back and used his right foot to kick the heel of Ebrim's outstretched left foot before it made contact with him.  Not only did this maneuver effectively block the necromancer's attack, the force of Markus' kick also knocked him off balance.  Ebrim managed to clumsily get both feet back on the ground, but his stumbling caused him to expose his back to the "Ordinary" magi.

             
Markus wasted no time and slammed both of his palms into Ebrim's spine, knocking him face-first into the sandy ground and sliding him a good thirteen meters away.  He thought he heard the dark-haired man curse as he got to his feet.  Not giving him any chance to recover, Markus fired a blast of black magic energy at his opponent.

             
Ebrim saw the incoming blast and cursed even more loudly, using his hands and feet, he pushed off the ground, managing to leap a few feet away from where the blast impacted.  The proximity of the spell sent the tall dark-haired man tumbling through the air.  He bounced a few times on the ground before landing on his back and staying there.

             
After a few moments Ebrim was able to bring himself up to his knees.  The sand and dust was still clearing away from Markus' last attack, but it was easy for Ebrim to spot the aeromancer thanks to his glowing green eyes.  The necromancer noticed the look on the younger man's face, he was looking down on him, like some petty bandit that needed to be punished.  That look was infuriating to Ebrim.

             
"Look at you." Ebrim hissed.  "Look at all that power you have thanks to that necromantic glyph in your chest.  And yet you still fight to protect these pathetic wretches!  It's sickening Markus, sickening to see someone with such powerful necromancy wasting it away on those people in that ridiculous city, prolonging their miserable existence."

             
"I thought I made it clear that I don't buy into the bullshit about the walking dead being the next step in evolution like you claim it to be." Markus replied.  "Maybe you're just starting to doubt yourself and your little vision.  If the dead are destined to inherit the earth, how come someone who's only half-dead is wiping the floor with you?" he inquired.

             
"Shut up!" Ebrim snarled.

             
"You don't want to admit that I'm stronger than you, because that would mean a living being is stronger than any dead ghoul you can conjure up.  And that means your little 'Age of the Dead' vision is complete shit.  You wouldn't be a man with a vision, you would just be another crazy guy, just another person who was driven insane by the harsh circumstances he was forced to live in." Markus paused, his eyes narrowing.  "To put it simply, if you are wrong in your beliefs, you would be nothing."

             
"Shut the hell up!" Ebrim shouted, thrusting both of his hands forward.  The red glyphs on his arms glowed a bright red until they looked like burning coals, and then he fired a huge blast of magic energy about two meters in diameter.  Markus stood tall, he glared coldly at the incoming blast before stretching out his left hand and catching the blast with it, not even budging.

             
Ebrim's eyes widened in surprise for two seconds, then narrowed in rage.  He poured more of his power into the blast, until he saw it was beginning to wash over the blonde-haired aeromancer like a tidal wave of destruction.  He finally stopped when Markus was completely engulfed by the blast.

             
As the necromancer's spell expired, he found to his dismay that Markus was still standing.  In fact, it looked like the blast didn't even touch him.  Somehow the aeromancer had emerged from that unscathed, his left hand still stretched out with some remnant of Ebrim's magic energy in his palm.  Markus clenched his left hand into a fist causing the energy in his palm to slip through his fingers and dissipate into the air.

             
Faster than an eye blink, Markus closed the distance between himself and Ebrim.  In one smooth move, he buried his elbow into the older man's sternum.  Ebrim grunted loudly in pain as he felt his sternum crack, gravity failed to keep him on the ground as he was knocked back.

             
Against all odds Ebrim managed to land back on his feet.  Despite his chest protesting in pain the necromancer planted his shoes as best as he could and lunged forward.  Markus was still charging at him and he met the blonde-haired man halfway, letting his power flow through his arm and striking out with his dominant hand.

             
Markus likewise, did the same, lashing out with his right hand as well.  Again, both combatants mirrored the other's actions and caught the right hands with their left, blocking each other's attacks.  The clash of sorcery tore apart the ground beneath them, forming a decent-sized crater with a diameter of about twenty meters.  The two opponents were still locked in a fierce struggle, but were at a stalemate.  Markus' glare was piercing as he opened his mouth to speak.

             
"Are you afraid Ebrim?" He asked with cold menace.  The question caught the necromancer off-guard and Markus, the smaller of the two men, was able to tuck his knees to his chest and kick out.  Ebrim felt Markus' boots slam into his ribs, his chest felt like it was on fire as he crash-landed at the lip of the recently made crater.

             
Ebrim looked to where Markus last was, but there was nothing there.  Frantically the dark-whiskered man searched the skies for the aeromancer, but he was nowhere to be found.  Where the hell did he go?

             
"Are you afraid of dying?" Markus' voice sounded from behind him, before Ebrim could react he felt something tug at his hair, pulling him to the ground by it.  The necromancer found himself staring at the nightsky with multi-colored stars swimming through his vision.  A sudden weight hit his chest and he cried out in pain, the sudden crushing pressure caused his vision to blur.

             
When he could see clearly again, Markus was standing over him.  The Blonde-haired man's left foot was pressed on top of his damaged sternum.  He was looking at Ebrim with disgust, while his face was impassive, his eyes were burning with hatred.  The tall dark-haired man glared back, internally though he was taking inventory on his strength.

             
The glyphs on his arms had burned up much of their magic energy.  They were almost tapped out.  Years of work used in the span of minutes, he was having a hard time wrapping his mind around it.  If the arm-glyphs didn't outlast the high-powered glyph embedded in Markus' chest then he would be in serious trouble.  He could really die here.  He needed to move to act, but he found himself hesitating.

             
"I wonder what's worse Ebrim.  The fear of dying or the fear that deep down, you know you're wrong." Markus said to him, the aeromancer's words finally incensed Ebrim enough to action.  The dark-haired man used his sorcery to repel anything close to him, which included the sand he was lying on, the dust around him and the very annoying blonde man that was standing on top of him.