"Dude, did you seriously just freeze time by snapping your fingers? That is wicked," Kendall mused.
"I've been practising, so what did I miss?" I asked them, "and make it quick, it's not so easy to hold off the dark wizards with this spell."
"We don't have that much time, so we have to come up with a strategy to turn the tide of this battle," Ciara began almost ignoring the fact that I was still oblivious to the situation at hand. I decided to study my surroundings and make my own judgement. It was clear to see that they were dealing with three of the Seven Dark mages. One that controlled fire since the lion was clearly ablaze, one that we already knew about that controlled storms, and the Eagle in the sky that was packing serious magic.
"What is that eagle up to?" I asked unconsciously, "it is giving off massive magic energy."
"That eagle controls wind," Ciara said.
"So you mean I came right before a powerful typhoon huh?" I asked.
"Yes, and we couldn't have asked for any better timing. Isaac, begin preparing your magic for a counter spell. I don't think any of us are ready for another wind attack, and if you combine it with the storm that Texan has cooked up, it will be disastrous. Since these are all calamities, there will be no consequences on the Dark mages if a few of us die in this onslaught of theirs," Ciara began, her alpha tone dominating each word she said.
"Right," Isaac replied before he stepped away from us and began concentrating, keeping his eyes closed to focus more with the task at hand. I looked around and noticed the scene was an epic disaster. Lightning struck randomly, the rain made it almost impossible to see and the soil in the clearing was getting muddier which would make movement less efficient. The dragons would fight well if they could fly, but the eagle that was approaching was going to make the skies the last place that the dragons ought to be. There were too many situations at once. The more I observed the scene before me, the more my magic spilled out of my void.
I was unconsciously aware of the spell I was supposed to use in this fight if I wanted to keep everyone safe. "How resilient are the Dark mages?" I asked Ciara.
"I assume they are very. What are you getting at?" she asked.
"If we could hit them hard enough, they would retreat to heal up, wouldn't they?" I asked.
"Yes, they would, but they have got us on the defensive here, even if we manage to repel them, they will only be back shortly after rendering all of our efforts useless," Ciara explained.
"The fact that we cannot defeat them here and now is all the more infuriating," I said frustration trying to set in, "We still have to repel them either way."
"I know, we are all riding our hopes on whether Isaac can counter the coming Eagle," she said.
"What do they want from this place anyway?" I asked.
"The totem at your feet," she said pointing to the staff that lay right in front of me.
"Okay, then, I have made up my mind," I announced taking a seat cross-legged right in front of the totem.
"What are you talking about?" Kendall asked.
"I am going to use the magic I have been practising. This place is not as big as the Artarak grounds so it should be easy for me to cast the spell," I said before closing my eyes and unleashing my magic across the whole field expanding my consciousness, but also making sure it didn't touch the dark wizards. I did this until the entire field even through the sky till I had the Eagle in my sights. While using this technique, I could instinctively protect everyone within the field. This was meant to give them an edge over the dragons.
"The spell you're casting might be a little too advanced for even you. I advise you stop this as you are only going to waste your magic," Ciara said.
"Ouch," went Kendall.
"If it does fail, then I will stop immediately," I said. I was only putting on a brave face, but that had been a serious blow to my confidence. I would have stopped the spell altogether if they had actually known my capabilities at this point and much as I hadn't used the spell much in battle, it was the one way that I saw I would be most helpful in this situation.
"Ciara, I think this is all the magic power I can hold right now," Isaac said through gritted teeth. I shifted my attention towards him and felt the massive amount of magic power he had built up for his spell. Comparing it with the magic power from the Dark mage in the sky, he hadn't gathered enough magic power to counter it. He was only going to counter three quarters of it. It wasn't enough. I was going to have to help him.
"Kevin, release your hold on time," Ciara said. They had all returned to their former positions and braced themselves for the impact of the Eagle's spell. I, on the other hand, had another plan of my own. I did as Ciara had said and rain continued to fall. The whistling sound of the Eagle came to a complete stop as it was about to let go of the massive spell, just at the same time, Isaac too let go of his magic. I got to work on fueling it so that he stood a chance at countering the spell.
"Kevin, what are you…."
"Stay focused," I yelled at him. Thunder rumbled in the distance. The spells clashed far in the sky away from everyone else. A loud screech was heard coming from the eagle as it turned to go higher as though it was dodging collision with a wall. Shortly after, a loud explosion almost like the clap of thunder sounded in the sky. The two spells had collided head on and been neutralised. The eagle was flying further up. Isaac didn't seem to be in fighting shape to counter another attack if the Eagle dared to attack him.
Thankfully I had got control of my surroundings quite well. Everything within this area that was not living was simply meant to bend to my will. Summoning the rain and wind right above the Eagle, I willed the elements to crash down on it, targeting its wings as that is what kept it airborne. A louder screech now filled the skies and rumbled through the ground as the mighty beast tumbled to the ground. This wasn't going to be enough to bring down the Dark mages. Eight hundred years, that is how long the mages had been around, it had to speak volumes about their strength, and for that I did not let the Eagle regain its balance while it tumbled to the ground. A continued assailment of wind and water from the rain kept it in a downward path until it crashed to the ground with a loud sound.
"That's insane. What the hell just happened?" Isaac asked.
"So that's the fabled Siege of this generation," one of the dragon riders said.
"I was about to ask you the same thing bro," Jacob spoke in response, "last I checked, you're the one who can use the wind element out of all of us."
"WHAT HAPPENED TO ABIGAIL?" a loud voice boomed reverberating through the ground. I didn't recognize the voice, but I could tell it was sinister. My best guess was that it came from the lion.
"AH, THE SIEGE HAS ARRIVED," an all too familiar voice rumbled this time. Texan, the Dark wolf, also the one we had sent running just a few days ago. The thunder in the sky grew louder telling me the storm was about to get a lot worse. The dragon riders wasted no time as they immediately launched an attack at the Lion and the Wolf. The two were now on the defensive as the dragons would not let up with the fire breath. The moment they dragons relieved their fire to catch a breath, the whole place turned cold. It was an all too familiar feeling. Our breaths all turned misty as if someone had just decided it was now winter. The rain drops started reaching the ground as icicles.
Ciara had taken off her glasses which was the only explanation for the sudden change in atmosphere. I took one look at the wolf and saw it was already encased in a huge block of ice. The lion still stood with most of its flames snuffed out. Only the lion's mane retained the fire it once relished in and even that was starting to fade away. "INTERESTING, I HAVE NEVER SEEN THIS MAGIC. PERHAPS THAT OLD CRONE WAS RIGHT IN TELLING US TO AVOID TAKING THIS GENERATION LIGHTLY. WE WON'T MAKE THAT MISTAKE AGAIN," the Lion's voice rumbled.
"WE CAN STILL GET THE TOTEM. WE STILL HAVE THE UPPER HAND," a feminine voice rumbled through the air coming from the Eagle that was still trying to get up amidst the torrents of wind I kept constantly around her to keep her off balance such that she couldn't take to the sky.
"NO, THE ARTRAS ARE ALL HERE, NOT TO MENTION THE SIEGE FROM THAT STUPID PROPHECY. IT WOULD BE TOO MUCH OF A HASSLE. WE WILL BE BACK," with that said, or rather rumbled, the storm dissipated along with the cold, a huge part of the forest of Alm now stood frozen. The three Dark wizards vanished as everything finally went still. Those mages were walking calamities. I wonder if there was one who was capable of causing earthquakes and tsunamis, maybe the Great Turtle was capable of things like that.
"What was that?" one of the dragon riders asked.
Ciara's face was still pale from the magic she had used. She had her glasses back on and the colour was slowly returning to her face, but it was still evident and all the dragon riders around were stunned by it. Before I stopped my spell, I sensed the other enemies withdraw. I had meant to inform every one of the fact that we had way more enemies attacking than just those three, but there was never the chance to do so. I cut off the magic supply to the spell and instantly felt exhaustion set in. Opening my eyes, I spotted the totem that they had told me we were trying to protect. I picked up the intricately designed staff and spun it a bit through my fingers. "All that trouble for just this piece of awesomely designed wood," I said.
"Kevin," I heard a voice quiver behind me. Turning to see, Kendall backing away from me with an expression on his face that I hadn't seen in a while, fear, "how are you holding that?"
I looked around and saw similar expressions on everyone's faces. 'What the hell is going on here?' I thought taking another look at the seemingly ordinary staff in my hand.