Rend Hope (21 page)

             
"How can you be so sure?" Markus asked her.

             
"I've seen it before." Rosalind answered him, he raised an eyebrow in response.

             
"You have huh?  And where was that at?" He inquired, Rosalind just shook her head.

             
"It doesn't matter." She answered in a dismissive tone, "I don't like this."

             
"Me neither." Markus agreed.

             
"Hey!  Are you two seriously going to leave me to fight these by myself?" Marie called out suddenly, kicking a ghoul right in its face and sending it skidding across the street.

             
"You're doing fine on your own kid!  Stop whining!" Markus called back with a slight grin.  Marie growled as she performed a backwards somersault to get away from one of the undead creature's swipes

             
"Well you know if you two lovebirds are done having some alone time a little help would go a long way!" She shot back.  That got a reaction from both Markus and Rosalind.  The blonde aeromancer coughed and the hoodie-clad magi glared at her apprentice.

             
"I'm uh, gonna go help her, you should go save your mayor from the crazy guy." Markus announced.  Rosalind didn't respond at first, continuing to glare daggers at Marie.  Only after Markus leapt off the rooftop to assist her apprentice did Rosalind pursue the man in the straitjacket.

             
Markus dove into the middle of a crowd of ghouls, slamming his right hand into the ground and creating a powerful gust of wind around him.  The wind threw all the ghouls into the air.  He then raised his left hand and conjured numerous razor-thin sheets of pressurized wind above the airborne undead.  The blonde aeromancer then brought his left hand down and the thin sheets plummeted into the ghouls, slicing them into tiny bits.  Blood rained all around Markus, but not a drop touched him.  Marie snorted at the display.

             
"Show off." She said to him, Markus smiled.

             
"Maybe a little." He admitted, then his expression turned serious as he spotted another group of ghouls heading towards them.  "It doesn't look like the flow of ghouls is slowing down.  We need to find the necromancer summoning them and take them out."

             
"Got any ideas where to start?" Marie asked, slamming her right fist into the face of a ghoul in front of her, sending the lifeless corpse crashing into three of its brethren and knocking them down as well.  From behind those ghouls came another one.  This ghoul decided to take a different approach.

             
The ghoul leapt about five meters into the air, moving faster than Marie had anticipated.  Its clawed hands were raised high above its head, ready to be brought down to slice her into pieces.  She was able to react fast and brought her left forearm up to protect her.  The ghoul brought its claws down viciously half a second later.  Although the armor she was wearing took the hit and protected her, the force of the blow was strong enough to stagger the teenage girl.

             
Marie took a few steps back to create some distance from the ghoul, but the undead monstrosity pressed its advantage.  It took a step forward and swung its right claw in a horizontal arc.  She barely ducked under it in time, the claws coming so close they tickled her dark hair.  The magi-apprentice then spun around clockwise on her left foot and struck out with her right, aiming for the ghoul's feet.

             
She succeeded in sweeping its legs out from under it.  The ghoul fell onto its right side, it had time to let out one last inhumane shriek before Marie crushed it's skull with her right fist.  Marie remained in her crouching position for a few moments, her ears had picked up a sound that was alien to the battlefield.  It sounded like someone was whistling.  She looked over at Markus who was just finishing off a pair of ghouls by slicing them to pieces with a wave of his hand.  His eyes were focused ahead of him, where the whistling was coming from.  He had heard it too.

             
The street ahead of them was still covered in dust, but from it emerged a tall dark-haired lean man in weather-worn clothes.  A blue scarf wrapped around his neck and brown elbow-length gloves covering his hands and arms.  The two magi quickly identified him as the one whistling.  Currently the man was taking in the scene like one would casually watch the sun set.  When his gaze locked on the pair of magi he smiled a wicked smile.

             
"Ah the defenders of the city I presume?" The man asked, although he sounded cool and collected Marie noticed that there was a mad gleam in his eye.

             
A cold shiver went down her spine, instinct told her this man was dangerous, extremely dangerous.

Chapter 18

              Marie quickly shook off the sense of dread she was feeling.  Replacing fear with anger, she sprang into action, dashing towards the dark-haired man.  She performed a forward somersault as she drew close, raising her right leg and bringing the heel of her boot down in a vicious descent towards the top of the man's head.  Her foot met resistance though in the form of a giant skeletal hand, which blocked her kick.

             
The teenage girl had barely registered what happened when a second giant skeletal hand appeared from a black circle on the ground to her right.  The second hand formed into a fist and slammed into her torso.  Marie found the force of the blow was so strong it knocked her back more than thirty meters easily.  She crashed into and through the wall of a building, plowing through a table.  Silverware, pots and pans clattered to the floor all around her.

             
"It's rather rude attacking someone without a proper introduction.  Don't you agree?" The dark-haired man inquired,

             
"Yeah well, it's also very rude to blow up a populated section of a city and unleash bloodthirsty ghouls on its populace, so I'd say we're even." Markus stated, bringing both of his hands forward and unleashing a strong gust of wind.  Knocking the blue-scarf wearing necromancer and his summoned skeletal hands into the air.  The strange man seemed unfazed.

             
"Impressive, you're pretty quick on the draw with your aeromancy." The man complimented, Markus smirked coldly.

             
"Oh I'm not done." He replied, surrounding the necromancer in a highly pressurized ball of air.  The wind inside the ball was fast and as sharp as razors.  It began to cut into the dark-haired man's skin and the skeletal arms he had summoned were starting to crack as well from the wind's assault.  The spell the aeromancer had used was designed to tear its target to shreds.  In a few seconds there would be nothing left but the blood and tiny pieces of flesh and bone.

             
The sound of something coming up from the ground in front of him drew Markus' attention from the sky.  He looked straight ahead to see a giant skull unearth itself from the ground.  The skull quickly opened its jaw wide and fired a blast of crimson magic energy at him.

             
Markus bit back a curse, gritting his teeth, he redirected his hands to face the incoming blast.  With a powerful burst of wind, he was able to redirect it to the right of him, however there was the slight problem of a building being just two meters to his right.  The blast detonated as soon as it hit the wall, sending Markus flying to his left.  The aeromancer crashed into the same building Marie was in, landing in an unceremonious heap right in front of her.  As he rose to his knees, he began dusting himself off and picking the debris out of his hair, which included a fork, some noodles of some sort, and a bowl that had somehow ended up on top of his head.

             
"Wow, noodles covered in hot sauce? Really?” The blonde magi complained, still trying to wipe himself clean.  “Okay.  This might be a little tougher than I thought." He said to Marie, who glared at him.

             
"You don't say." She replied dryly.  Their conversation was interrupted by a loud crash right outside the building they were in.  Watching through the broken windows and the hole Markus had just made in the wall, the two magi saw a giant skeleton form around the dark-haired man, who was standing right outside.  The man was still smiling.

             
"Don't tell me that's all you got.  I have to admit I'd be a little disappointed." The necromancer said, "After all, I went through all this preparation to destroy your city, I'd hate to see it wasted."

             
"How sad for you then, wasting all that time in a failed endeavor." Markus shot back, shrugging almost casually.

             
"Oh?  Look around you aeromancer, your city has become a battlefield, soon it will be a graveyard thanks to my ghouls.  I think it's safe to say this endeavor is far from failing." The necromancer stated. 

             
"It isn't over yet!  We can still stop you!" Marie shouted defiantly, the tall man turned his gaze at her.

             
"That's something only people lying to themselves would say." He told the teenage girl.

             
"And your little arrogant boasting is something only assholes would do." Markus stated, the man turned his attention back to him.

             
"Would assholes introduce themselves?  You can call me Ebrim, researcher slash necromancer." The man said, making a sweeping gesture with his right hand and bowing at the waist.  "I intend to bring about a new age in this world."

             
"A new age? What new age?" Marie questioned, Ebrim looked up from his bow, that mad gleam in his eye once again prominent.

             
"The age of the dead." He stated.

             
Marie snorted, "Whatever, you're just another psycho." She replied.

             
Markus silently agreed to an extent.  The problem was this Ebrim was a psycho with incredible power.  Worse, he was focused on a goal and one that wasn't going to be to humanity's benefit.  He was dangerous, Markus could tell from the look in his eyes.  This was a man with a vision and would go to any lengths to see it come to fruition.

             
"Whether you believe me or not isn't my problem." Ebrim stated, the giant skeleton behind the necromancer balled its hands into fists and raised it in the air.  Markus turned his head towards Marie.

             
"Move!" He shouted while creating a hole to his left with a burst of wind.  Marie heard his warning and was able to react in time as well, smashing through the wall on her right.  Both magi were able to evacuate the building just as the skeleton smashed its fists into it.  The structure crumbled, nothing but pieces of brick and mortar remaining.

             
Markus glared at Ebrim from mid-air, he was on the necromancer's right, but the madman was still looking straight ahead, at the building's destruction, a smile still on his face.  The aeromancer snarled and used a burst of wind to change his direction in mid-air, flying towards Ebrim.  Likewise, he saw Marie coming in on the opposite side, from Ebrim's left.  The skeleton was in a kneeling position and still had its hands in the rubble of the destroyed building, it would not be able to defend its master from their double pronged attack.

             
Still the necromancer was completely calm, even when the two magi were less than three meters away from both sides.  When Markus and Marie were within arm’s reach, Ebrim struck out like a viper.  He lashed out with his left fist, nailing Marie in the jaw, halting her charge and causing her to land unsteadily on the ground with her feet, just out of his reach.  A split-second later he reached out with his right hand and stopped Markus' kick with his palm. 

             
Before Markus could recover from the surprise of having his attack completely halted, Ebrim gripped the ankle of the foot the aeromancer had just used to try and kick him.  Twisting sharply, he threw the flannel jacket-clad magi right into Marie, knocking them both down.  While Marie remained on the ground, groaning in pain, Markus was up in an instant, using his aeromancy to throw himself a meter or two off the ground.

             
The blonde aeromancer conjured up a sharp disc of air and flung it at Ebrim as fast as he could.  Which was fast, but as quick as Markus was, Ebrim reacted even quicker, leaping forward into the air a moment before the disc was going to slice him in two.  The dark-haired necromancer's body was now parallel to the ground in the air, the disc of wind passing just under him.  The disc ended up severing the skeleton's left arm just under the elbow while it was getting back to its feet.  Impressively, the giant bone construct staggered but didn't fall.  Ebrim was now at the same altitude as Markus, who could only look on in total surprise.

             
Ebrim smiled and then spit out a column of green fluid from his mouth.  The fluid slammed into Markus and knocked him through the window of the building directly behind him.  The flannel-clad man went to stand up, but found the fluid had stuck him to the floor, pinning him down.

             
"Damn it! This is my favorite jacket!" Markus cursed, struggling to get himself free.  Ebrim landed on his feet, directly in the cross pattern of two intersecting roads.  A smile playing on his lips.  However, the dark-whiskered necromancer’s back was to Marie and she intended to capitalize on the opportunity.  Before she could slam her knuckles into the back of Ebrim's head he spoke.

             
"Before attacking my back, you should watch your own." He told her, pointing to his left, Marie looked in that direction just in time to see the giant skeleton's right foot heading towards her at high velocity.  The teenage magi-apprentice had just enough time to cross her forearms in front of her in an 'X' position.  The skeleton's foot slammed into her arms like a freight train.

             
Marie wasn't sure how far the kick knocked her back, all she knew was that it hurt, it hurt a lot.  The armor she wore absorbed most of the impact, but the wind was still knocked out of the teenage girl.  As she crash landed back on the dirt street spine-first she immediately leaned over to her left, desperately trying to get air back in her lungs.  Her arms had gone numb, and stars danced across her vision, still she was able to see Ebrim and his giant skeleton's approaching form.

             
"A valiant effort my dear." Ebrim complimented, "But valor alone doesn't win battles I'm afraid."  The giant skeleton then dropped to its knees behind the necromancer and dug its right arm into the ground.  The skull of the undead creature was right above the smiling dark-haired man and it opened its jaw wide, exposing a glowing sphere of red energy within its mouth.  Marie managed to stagger to her knees, but her arms weren't moving like she wanted them too.  She wasn't going to be able to get out of the blast's path in time.

             
The skeleton fired its blast and Marie put her arms in front of her once again to try and protect herself, she knew it wouldn't be enough though.  A tremendous force suddenly floored her and she tried to mentally prepare herself for the end.  When nothing further happened, she looked up from her prone position on the ground.  Standing defiantly just two meters in front of her was Markus.  She noticed that he was holding his red flannel jacket in his left hand.  There was some sort of green fluid all over it, specks of the fluid also dotted the blonde aeromancer's black-long sleeved shirt, pants and boots.

             
There was fire in Markus' green eyes as he held the skeleton's blast in tentative stasis with his aeromancy.  With the flick of his right wrist he sent the blast upwards and to his right, straight into the night sky.  He then angrily thrust his left arm forward so Ebrim could get a good look at his soaked jacket.

             
"My jacket...it's ruined..." Markus seethed.  "No one fucking ruins my favorite jacket."

             
"It can't be your favorite jacket if it's your only one." Marie informed her fellow magi.  Markus shot her a quick glare, one that told the teenage girl that she would not like the outcome if she continued this line of discussion.  "Right, shutting up now."  The newly appointed deputy tossed his flannel jacket to Marie in response.

             
"Watch that for me." He said to her, conjuring up a whirlwind around him that was so strong and violent that Marie had to clear the area.  Nearby windows of buildings shattered and even pieces of the roof and walls began to break apart and become a part of the vortex of wind that surrounded Markus.  Marie landed on a rooftop about fifty meters away from the aeromancer, looking on in awe.  He had created a mini-tornado with him at the center.  Ebrim watched the display, his smile disappearing, replaced with an upraised left eyebrow.

             
"Hmm intriguing." The dark-haired necromancer said.

**********

              "Don't let anything through!  We can't let these ghouls spread to the rest of the city!" David Watkins barked to the deputies holding the line.  Currently the mayor of Midas City was trying to prevent the horde of ghouls from entering the southwestern district.  So far he and his forces were successful, but he didn't know how long they could hold out.  Hopefully Rosalind or one of the other magi would show up soon to reinforce them.

             
The deputies to their credit, were stopping the tide of ghouls threatening to spread into the district.  Armed mostly with one-handed hatchets and hammers, they were keeping the ghouls at bay, but more just kept coming.  David had already positioned deputies armed with the few rifles they had at strategic points for support.  However they would soon run out of what precious little ammunition they had.

             
In the midst of the desperate battle between the living and the dead a black baseball-sized orb suddenly appeared above the line of deputies.  They looked up in confusion before being slammed into the ground as if by some invisible force.  The orb started to "Glow" even darker and the deputies began to cry out in pain.  David and the deputies lucky enough not to be caught in the orb's power watched in horror as their fellow city defenders were literally crushed.  Bones snapped and blood flowed like a river, yet the screams of the dying men continued.