Then, screams filled the air.
Orange arcs of lightning struck everyone around the glowing orb, disintegrating them. I hid within my robes, hoping the protection enchants would save me if I was hit.
In the chaos, I ran towards Liora. A man got in my way, but I jumped up and grabbed him by the neck. I detonated the flesh in my hand and kicked off his body to reach the bathtub.
"Liora, wake up! I seriously can't carry you all the way back!" I slapped her. "Wake up!"
"Damn it, Lin, what the hell did you do?" Mari asked. She'd made her way over to me by taking advantage of the lightning, like me.
"I don't know! I didn't do anything!"
I gestured for her to help me pull Liora out of the tub.
"I guess we'll have to put her in my hat...?"
Suddenly, the large front doors shot open.
"What the hell is going on in here?" the large man echoed.
An arc of lightning struck him, but he brushed it off with his massive hands.
"The little maridim found our hidey hole, then?" he roared with laughter.
I immediately recognized the man's strength. He wasn't someone Mari and I could take on our own.
"We're dead..." Mari said.
I looked to her and she was shaking.
"What's wrong?!" I whispered.
"That man...! He's—what the hell is one of the Khazars doing here!?"
Khazar...? Aren't Khazars—
"HAHAHA, you know your stuff, little lady. How'd you even recognize me? I thought you Caelthari folk were uneducated about our humble continent!"
"Tch, how could I not recognize one of the most infamous warmongering scum on the planet? What's "The Desert's Colossus" doing in this small backwater town, huh? What do you want Liora, Farukh ibn Nassar?!"
Mari was trying to put on a confident act, but she could hardly control her shaking. I extended my hand to call my staff back, but the man realized what I was doing and swiftly grabbed it.
"That man is too powerful, Lin. Abandon the girl and get out of there, it's your only chance."
I'm not abandoning Liora! Not after all this!
"I don't mean Liora. Grab Liora and leave the lady to fend them off. There's a chance she survives."
Tch, as if! Get out of my head, I need to think! Alwyn... shouldn't he be awake by now? Certainly he could defeat this guy, right? No, not at his current level. Damn it, nothing works!
"Run, Lin. You can't die here. Run!"
"Mari, pass me a sword and copy me," I whispered.
She nodded stiffly and passed me my sword. It glowed in my hands, and I whispered "aur y goedwig, cod fi'n uchel; Cysgod a gwynt, agor y nef."
She repeated after me.
"Whoa, now, don't be doing any funny tricks!" the man warned.
"Sorry, sir. It seems there's some misunderstanding. We have no ill will towards you people, we were only worried for our friend!" I smiled.
The man started to walk through the warehouse. It would only be a few moments before he reached us. He seemed confident that we were completely cornered. Even all of his men were back up and fully healed. Well, besides the ones that were disintegrated by my staff.
"Is that right? Sorry to say, kids, but the girl comes with us. You best forget about her, I'm sure she'll forget about you in no time. It's for the better."
"May I ask what you're going to do with her?"
"Ha! Can't tell you."
Then die!
"Tân y diwedd, gwaedd y sêr, Ffrwydrad o'r gwagle, boed i bopeth losgi!" I quickly spat out, surely making a few mistakes in my speed.
I focused the mana not into my fingers but into my staff, which was still in the man's hands. A large magic circle spread across the floor. Then another, a few inches off the ground. And another, a few more inches. Magic circles stacked on top of each other unlike anything I'd ever seen.
"What is this, little maridim?"
I swiped Liora into my hat and jumped onto my sword.
"Oh no you don't!" he roared, jumping at me.
Mari stepped forwards, parrying his fist with her sword. I could visibly see her wrist crack, but she managed to fend off the strike and get in the air.
The spell detonated, sending us flying out the window through the air. I felt the air rushing past me, as if I was in a tornado. I was blinded by the light and all I could do was try and maintain the flight spell. I hoped Mari was doing the same.
I felt myself crash into the dirt road outside, far from the building. My sight started to return, but I couldn't hear anything at all. I looked around for Mari, and found her slumped a few feet away from me. I looked back at the building, and a massive cloud of smoke rose impossibly high into the air.
Two or three buildings in every direction came down with it, and the fire was raging up into the sky. The ground was shaking, and I crawled over to Mari.
What is this feeling? My... chest...!
I collapsed next to her.
Shit... there's no way... am I completely out of mana? That damn staff completely overdid it!
I squinted, and through the flame, I saw my staff flying towards me. Still attached to it was a large hand, separated from its body.
Did I do it? Did I really kill him, that man? I suppose nothing could survive a spell like that, right?
"You're a fool if you think something like that could kill a Khazar. Harm, yes, especially with that abomination of a staff, but there's no way that man is dead. You best escape while you have the chance."
The shadow was now standing above me, no longer speaking into my head directly, but truly there.
"How come you're showing yourself just now?"
"Well, the girl won't be waking up any time soon. And I have something to give you."
"I thought others couldn't see you?"
"They can't, but I play it safe. Just in case."
My eyes widened as she was impaled. Alwyn grabbed her by the head and crushed her skull, evaporating her back into the darkness.
"Tch!" her voice lingered.
"What the hell did you do!?" I shouted.
"Is Liora in there?" he asked, pointing to my hat.
I nodded, still shocked. He grabbed my hat and pulled her out, dropping her onto the ground.
"Why're you speaking with a shade? Is that what's been telling you strange things, like those chants?" he questioned, pressing the bottom of his staff into my chest.
"What? No! That's completely unrelated!"
"Did the shade tell you to do this?" he gestured to the large smoke cloud.
"No, I had to! There was a strong man, a Khazar!"
"A Khazar? Here? Why the hell..." he started to laugh. "Damn this is annoying. You're going to tell me everything. Later. Can you move?"
"Of course I can!" I said, stumbling up. I promptly fell back to the ground.
"Fucking hell, how'd you even manage to drain a mana pool like yours?"
He waved his staff and the three of us started to float in the air.
"This is humiliating."
"It should be."
He's not in a good mood...