"That must be one incredible fight" Frederick sighed as he listened to the sounds of the battle with amazement. After the scare with the Possessed, he had retreated farther back with Selina. Although there was the risk of running into some wielders from the palace because of their separation from the rest of the Silver Wolves, it was better than being caught in a large scale battle. They were surrounded by trees and pretty far away from the area of the battle so they couldn't see a thing. But the huge booms informed them that the battle was very intense.
"Yeah" Selina agreed. Her eyes were a bit hazy and she stuck closely to Frederick. She was carried by Frederick when they retreated. Frederick's shove was meant to save her life, but she accidentally struck her hip on a pointed stone and had been rendered temporarily immobile. So Frederick carried her off the battlefield. She was still on his back and was a little distracted. She wasn't really thinking about the battle. Her thoughts swirled about in her head, but at the center of them all was the boy who was carrying her.
"Are you okay? You've barely said ten words in the past 5 minutes" Frederick noticed that Selina was oddly quiet. That was very strange since Selina was talkative by nature. He ignored the soft sensation on his back and the supple feeling transferred to his hands that held her by her thighs and tried to find out what was wrong.
"Why did you do that?" after a long pause, Selina finally spoke. She asked the question that had been lingering in her mind for quite some time now.
"That's it?" Frederick sounded relived by the question. He thought it was something he couldn't help with. Luckily for him, this was a question he could answer.
"That's easy. I didn't want anything to happen to you" Frederick answered sincerely. That was the true answer to the question. Selina was his friend and he wouldn't want her to come to harm. Besides, he liked her.
Selina watched the back of Frederick's head with a complicated expression. She knew he liked her, but she didn't think his feelings for her were so deep. They were deep to the point of sacrificing himself for her! She started to re-evaluate how she felt about him. Maybe she should go out with him. Maybe she should give him a shot.
"Fred I-"
"You don't have to say anything" Frederick stopped her before she could finish. He couldn't see her expression but he could feel her emotions. He knew just what she was thinking – and why she was thinking it.
"You don't have to agree to go out with me just because I saved your life. That isn't a good enough reason to go out with someone. You must like the person first. I don't think you're there just yet. So why don't you take it easy. We will have several opportunities to sort out our emotions when we get out of here"
Frederick didn't want an answer from Selina just because he saved her life. He wanted her approval because she shared his feelings too, and nothing else. Today had been a rough day for both of them, but it was much worse for Selina. Not only had she seen gruesome deaths for the first time today, she had also been a witness to a near death experience of one of her closest friends. Even more unacceptable for her was that this friend had pushed her out of harm's way and left himself open to death. For an independent woman like Selina, this was too much to handle. Her emotions were a mess, and Frederick wasn't going to take advantage of that.
"Thank you" Selina whispered in Frederick's ear.
"You're welcome. Who would believe me if I say you showed a gentle side today!" Frederick smirked. "If you tell anyone I would break every bone in your body" His folly was rewarded by a hard pat on his shoulder. Frederick groaned, but there was a pleased smile on his face. That was the Selina he knew. Before he could continue teasing her, he saw a pillar of fire ascend into the sky. The heat from the pillar was enormous, and even Frederick and Selina who were already so far away, could feel it. They watched as the pillar transformed into a gigantic fire dragon and swooped down, destroying everything in its path.
"That's Mane's ability!" Selina exclaimed.
"Yes. They must have run into trouble" Frederick was worried. Mane didn't use that glow because its drawbacks were enormous. For him to resort to it meant that they were in a lot of trouble.
"We have to go back" Frederick announced, and Selina agreed. They left because they didn't want to get in their way, but if the opponent was so dreadful that Mane had to use Basileus, they had to go back. They weren't returning because they could help, but because they were worried. Selina was immobile now so he couldn't leave her behind and allow her to be captured by the palace guards. He had to go with her.
So with Selina on his back, Frederick marched towards the location of the gigantic dragon.
***********************
The majestic arrow took the shape of a fire phoenix as it crashed into Dominic. The fire dragon that coated the arrow before marched forward with the phoenix in a grand dance. The two mythical creatures pounced onto Dominic in a majestic swoop and brought destruction with them.
*ROAR*
*SCREE*
*BOOOOM*
A loud explosion shook the little forest and changed its topography forever. A huge pit and several burnt down trees greeted the sight of all who were there.
Mane looked at the giant pit with cold eyes. The attack was powerful, but it wasn't enough to fell Dominic. Although the fire still burned and the smoke hadn't cleared, Mane knew it wasn't enough. He could still feel Dominic's aura. So he chanted another lease. Something to would help him tremendously and give them hope.
"Draco...deus…tormento" The dying flames came alive, revitalized by Mane's chant. They gathered and formed a large fire ball. This fire ball was a compression of the energy of the fire dragon. It was small, but dangerous. After the fire was retrieved, Dominic's figure could be seen. The cloak he wore had been burnt off and he had no hair. But from the non-existent eyebrows, it was clear he wasn't always bald. His hair had been burnt off. He had several burn marks on his body and one of his arms was missing. The stump was covered by inner energy to prevent blood loss and the formerly thick barrier was as thin as a feather now. His gaze was full of fury and a little fear.
"If I hadn't given up my arm, I would have died!" he thought to himself fearfully. If he had been only a few seconds late to react, he wouldn't have survived that fire. The energy of the fire was different from inner energy. He knew that the moment the two energies clashed and the fire ruthlessly trampled on his inner energy. Whatever energy that was, Dominic knew it was too chaotic to be controlled by a person. So how did they do it?
"There's more?" he looked at the floating fireball which gave him a feeling of unease and started sweating. He thought the attack was a last ditch effort, but he was wrong. He couldn't and shouldn't be hit by that or he'd be done.
Looking at the still forming fireball, Dominic made a decision. He created an inner energy spear and flung it at the fireball with his remaining arm. His goal was simple: disrupt the fireball before it could fully form so that Mane would have to send it far away to avoid the resulting explosion. He wasn't thinking straight. If he was, he would attacked the wielder, and not the fire.
*Boom*
The spear crushed into the fireball and achieved its purpose. The gradually forming fireball started showing signs of instability and threatened to explode. Dominic wiped the seat from his forehead in relief. He had done it! Yet when he looked into Mane's cold blue eyes, he felt like he had been dumped into an ice-cold ocean. He realized at that moment that he had made a mistake. 'He wanted me to do it, but why?'
He watched as Mane flung the fireball into the sky. A loud boom followed shortly after the fireball disappeared into the clouds, and dark clouds began to converge. Lightning bolts carelessly danced in the sky with thunder as its music, and two huge ones – almost as large as a mighty liger – fell onto Mane.
*Boom*
Dominic watched slack jawed as Mane pulled himself out of the tree he had been stuck in for minutes now. His clothes were tattered and his face was revealed to Dominic. But it wasn't the childish face that stunned the Master. It wasn't the beautiful blond hair or the gorgeous blue eyes that caught his attention. It was the lightning that danced around the boy and the healthy skin that showed no signs of the prior internal injuries that stunned Dominic.
"I'm the Son of Lightning. Under the storms, I have no equal" Mane coldly remarked. He remembered what 1st told him when he was instructing him on how to use his power. That was after Mane had started to understand lightning a few weeks ago. But for something that was his bloodline element, he struggled mightily to grasp it.
"Your father rejected this power for so long that when it was passed on to you, his rejection stayed in it. Your bloodline remembers the rejection, and so isn't open to you. You must embrace it. That is the only way it would trust you again"
"I finally understand what you meant master" inside the mindscape Mane sat before the 1st mountain and said calmly. There was no emotion in his voice, only calm. This kind of calm was terrifying.
"Go. Save your friends" 1st voice boomed in the mindscape. It was majestic and commanding. It was the tone of an ancestor, to his descendent. Mane nodded and disappeared from the mindscape.
"Brother, can you feel it. The power of two lightning bloodlines fused together. Power that transcends even yours. You would be happy" 1st was melancholic as he witnessed Mane truly awaken the lightning element. His brother would be able to feel it.
Mane looked at the fearful Dominic expressionlessly. This man had hurt his friends and almost killed them. He was going to make him pay. He had finally accepted lightning at this moment. The element which was his by birth right, yet repressed by the hatred of his father, was finally free. Although he used the 'Dragon God's Cannon' lease to assist him, he had still awakened it himself. The lease wasn't to help Mane gather lightning, but to activate the 'Son of Lightning' glow. It was a glow that made Mane invincible under the storms by taking away his opponent's power and transferring it to him. But it only worked when the opponent was already greatly weakened. And he had done just that. So right now, Mane had no fear.
"How can you use such an element? Aren't you a fire wielder?!" Dominic asked, terrified by what he was seeing. He didn't have his prior arrogance or disregard; only fear.
"Open your mouth Abe" Mane suddenly spoke. His voice was like thunder, mighty and strong. Abe obliged and opened his mouth. The energy spikes that held him disappeared after Dominic was bashed by the fire arrow. The loss of control freed Abe from the tree. Right now he was lying on the ground, losing a lot of blood. A lightning bolt shot into his mouth. It carried something. It was a pill! And it was one Abe recognized – a healing pill. Another bolt arrived to deliver another pill – a vitality pill. Abe felt his wounds close up and his strength return to him as the pills dissolved in his mouth. He gradually regained the feeling of his limbs and opened his hand. A few more tiny bolts of lightning tickled his palm and disappeared. Abe clenched the pills in his hand and stood up. He didn't need Mane to talk to understand that the pills were for Jake and John. Mane had this place covered, so Abe went to get the twins.
Mane watched Abe leave. When his friend disappeared into the woods, he returned his attention to Dominic.
"You cannot kill me. I'd just come back" Dominic had regained his calm after his initial panic. He was a middle-level servant of Seth, the Dark God, and had multiple lives. Even if he died today, he would be reborn beside his master.
"I know. But Seth wouldn't let you go scot free after failing him twice" Mane nodded and nonchalantly responded.
"No you can't kill me. You just can't!" Dominic rambled in fear when he heard Mane's words. He would be passed on to Lina for a 'session'. He didn't want that! He didn't want to fall prey to that woman!
Mane stamped powerfully on the ground and dashed towards Dominic.
*Boom*
That part of the ground split into several cracks as if smashed by a heavy boulder. Mane arrived before Dominic in no time and grabbed onto his neck. In his hysteria, Dominic didn't even notice that Mane was holding on to his neck. He kept rambling on about someone called Lina and didn't even struggle. But Mane didn't care.
"When you return, I'd come for you, and kill you again and again until you are no more" after saying what he wanted to, he summoned lightning in bulk and activated the glow he had just awakened. It was a glow that showed up the moment he used Son of Lightning, and Mane already knew how it worked.
"Gather and descend – Gungnir"
A large lightning spear descended with a bang and landed on the two males.
*BOOOOM*