He stabbed the blade into the ground and towering pillars of fire erupted around him, while his skin turned charcoal black, and his hair grew wild and long. “Prove yourself as the Bane of Shields! As I speak your true name: Tyrfing!”
With the completion of the final verse, a single large pillar of crimson fire devoured the smaller pillars and Leidolf, stretching to the sky and slamming against the barrier with tremendous force. The barrier was barely able to hold until the energy dispersed and revealed the transformed mage.
The ice shackles that held the Guardian of Earth shattered into millions of shards that rained over the ruined landscape. Raising its massive arm, it tried to crush the runic mage into dust—
“That was for my arm earlier.” Before it could bring down the arm, a crimson streak had drawn a line that split the arm in half, sending a ton of rubble falling to the ground. Landing softly on the ground behind the massive creature, Leidolf hoisted the blade onto his shoulder and looked up in contempt at the Guardian.
“I’m through playing with you,” he raised the blade above his head and grabbed the hilt with his second hand. “Disappear.”
One of the rivets in the blade shattered as he swung it diagonally. His energy reserves were drunken by the blade until only a few drops remained. The blade released its power—crimson streamers flew towards the Guardian, merging and becoming a beam of energy that swallowed and destroyed everything in its path indiscriminately.
The barrier surrounding the city had all but shattered with the death of the Guardian of Earth. Leidolf ignored the blood pouring from his mouth, and the spasms in his right arm. He prepared to fire the second shot—which would most likely kill him without a few hours rest—at the weakened barrier, but stopped…
For just an instant, he felt malice unlike anything a mortal should be able to sense. It paralyzed him with fear. It was the presence that was being masked by the Guardians.
Focusing his senses, he looked in the direction the energy was coming from—and there he saw it: A lone, but intact, skyscraper hotel that he had subconsciously avoided for some reason. The Guardians together kept it hidden, but with only one left its true nature was revealed.
The enemy was there, waiting for him.
Clenching his teeth, Leidolf turned his back on the skyscraper and moved to retrieve the child. His best course of action would be to return home—to keep the child safe and rest—at least until he was ready to fight against another mage.
Chapter 8: The Eighth Hour
“No way…” Armel stared in disbelief at the ground below. A charred trail that cut across half of the city was all that remained of the attack that destroyed the Guardian of Earth—the strongest of all of them. Now all that was left was about a hundred false familiars, and the Guardian of Water.
“This isn’t how it was supposed to happen,” he told himself. “I thought having a sacrifice inside so early was a blessing, but to think that such a monster would appear.”
Armel was a Class B mage—a rank that took him years of training and practice to reach. The modern mage ranking system of the Arcane Syndicate, the largest mage organization in the country—and possibly the world—was sorted into classes that went from Class F to Class SS. The higher your class, the more respect and power you held.
Those who were at the bottom could never hope to be in the same social standing as those at the top. Starting as a Class F mage, he was shunned by others who stood next to and above him, as if he was an ant amongst giants. Compared to his younger siblings, who were already at a higher class upon entrance, he was a disappointment.
Unable to use the family spells and techniques, his own parents disowned him in shame.
When he had lost all hope, a Class SS mage took him in as a secret apprentice. Within four years, he became a Class B mage and cast aside his true name in exchange for the name his master gave him—to acknowledge his ability to control and create false familiars: Armel of the False Beasts.
Looking at the mark that scarred the land, he smashed his fist against the wall. “That was a high-tier spell…Is another one of those arrogant high class bastards trying to get in my way?”
Armel exerted a great deal of energy to reign in the rest of his creations and herd them towards the skyscraper hotel. He sent a surge of energy into the building from his feet, activating numerous spell traps on the top sixty floors.
“This place is now under my control.” Leaving the window with a menacing smile on his face, Armel sat on a couch in the middle of the room. “These traps won’t hinder a high class mage for more than an hour, but their energy will be depleted. I’ll use their very soul as the stepping stone to awaken the demon that sleeps below here.”
******
Arriving at his home after destroying the Guardian of Earth, Leidolf escorted Aria inside…Before passing out on the floor.
“Mister Leid! Wake up!” Aria pleaded with him, shaking his unconscious body. He was barely breathing and felt cold to the touch. Pushing himself near the breaking point, and drawing a small portion of his life force, his body had to shut down in order to recover—it was thanks to his own tenacity that he failed to simply die.
The child pleaded helplessly for him to awaken, but slowly realized there was nothing she could do to help the process. Instead, she pulled the pillows off of Leidolf’s couch and placed them under his head, trying to make him as comfortable as possible. As his consciousness drifted below the surface of his mind, he recalled an event from eight months ago.
It was a minor event in his mind, one where he saved someone with his magick, and was thanked for it. It was where he saved the life of a woman who was worth saving.
******
In college, Leidolf had no friends at all. He refused to take part in any drinking or partying out of principle, as he once had a drink when he was under-aged and did some…things that he regretted and could never live down. Being a loner by nature also accounted for the lack of effort he put into making friends.
Leidolf would sleep during class with his head down, although the teachers didn’t mind as long as he didn’t disturb others. While a normal student would fail miserably, he did actually take the time out to study the night before and passed with above average grades. Considering how expensive tuition was, he’d rather not fail if he could avoid it.
Others seemed to catch the hint that he was someone to ignore, with the odd exception of a single female classmate.
“Wake up,” the woman asked in a slightly flirty manner.
“Give it up, Scion,” another person—a man this time—told her. “He’s never awake during class, so he probably works during the day.”
“He never hangs out with anyone either,” a third voice spoke.
Leidolf was feigning slumber at this point, but he knew these three by reputation. Scion, Lucia, and Luke were three of the most well-known students on the campus. Lucia and Luke were paternal twins from out of the country, and were loaded. They could probably buy the campus, the students, and the staff to go with it.
Scion on the other hand was a model student with a wild side. She was smart, popular, and beautiful. She also loved to party at raves that the twins threw for the other students at old buildings.
All three of them lived in a completely different world than Leidolf. Since his master left without ever telling him his true name, he had constantly trained. He would study afterwards and slept in class to recover the energy he spent.
At this point, he could use five runes now with various levels of effectiveness. His strong suit was fire and strengthening spells, but he lacked competency in other fields. Ice spells were also somewhat easy, but he felt really uncomfortable using them for some reason.
If someone were to compare Leidolf to a normal mage, he would barely seem to meet the definition of a mage. He solely focused on combat skills and pragmatic applications of magick rather than expand into research.
Scion repeatedly tried to call out to Leidolf until the twin
s told her that the next class was starting soon. Letting out a sigh, she gave up trying to awaken the sleeping mage and left a slip of paper with her number on it. Once the trio left, he stopped pretending to sleep and picked up the scrap of paper.
“I really don’t get her that well, but she’s so persistent,” he muttered under his breath. He was willing to admit she was attractive, but romance was the last thing on his mind and he couldn’t figure out what she could possibly see in him. In some ways, she was a bigger mystery than his master.
Once the next class came in and politely kicked him out, he was ready to go home. While crossing the city—using a shortcut and his enchanted shoes—he felt something coming from an abandoned building that was clearly not human. Many things lurked in the darkness of the world and he knew that not all of them were passive—still, whatever it was that had taken refuge in the building wasn’t bothering anybody, so it was no threat at the moment.
Leidolf turned to leave when the twins arrived with Scion in what could only be called a ‘Pimped-out’ car. They left the engine running while walking towards the building. Figures they were the type to do that.
The building itself was large and out of the way, so no one would be disturbed or call the police if they threw a rave inside. The trio entered the building eagerly, unaware of the danger lurking inside. That couldn’t end well.
Leidolf sighed and reached into his backpack to pull out his hoodie—a prototype of the full battle cloak he would wear eight months later. He then picked up a metal pipe and started drawing runes to limit the impending damage he was sure to cause in the next five minutes or so on the ground around building, all while muttering about rotten luck.
He figured they’d run into whatever it was that was nesting there and run out in a panic in about three…two...one…
The doors flew open on cue and the twins ran outside screaming about a giant spider and webs. Seeing that Scion wasn’t with them, he assumed they left her to die in order to save their own skins. Self-preservation was a priority for humans after all—but leaving her to die would leave a sour taste in his mouth, so he entered the building while cursing himself for having a conscience.
It was your typical abandoned building: Old, broken furniture with dust everywhere, and gigantic webs that lined the ceiling, along with a sense of danger. There were dozens of silky white pouches the size of humans, Scion—who was dangling unconsciously in the air—and a spider the size of a car, with an intricate pattern on its back looming over the girl with its fangs out, dripping with venom.
Throwing four runestones on the ground and letting them roll wherever gravity took them, Leidolf sent a surge of energy into the runes on the soles of his shoes and kicked off the ground, throwing himself into a kick that knocked the spider across the room.
Rolling around on its back, the spider fumbled furiously to get upright. Before it could, Leidolf tore Scion from the webbing and ran out the door, past the runes on the ground. The spider chased after them, but it never made it out the door once he triggered the four runestones—all marked with Kauno—and covered the entire building in flames.
Placing Scion up against the wall of a store, he left after calling an ambulance for her and the fire department for the building. The flames would roast the creature until it was ashes, but they would definitely find the remains of the other victims.
He hoped that it would bring solace and closure for the families of the departed, rather than having false hope of their survival. It was cruel mercy.
Scion was conscious by the time Leidolf left her. She saw his face as he carried her away from the inferno, and it confirmed her suspicion that something about him was different. She entertained the thought that maybe she had been attracted to him for so long because of that difference.
The next day she confronted him alone in a classroom.
“I know it was you who saved me in that building,” she told him. “Quit pretending you’re asleep.”
He dropped the act and stood up to meet her eye level. “You got lucky, nothing more. While I had no reason to save you, I also had no reason to let you die since I was there by chance. I’m surprised you’re still friends with those two after they left you to die.”
“There was nothing they could do. At least they apologized and offered me anything I wanted.”
“And you let them buy your friendship?” Leidolf looked skeptically at her. He always imagined her having higher standards.
“Of course not!” She yell and crossed her arms, scowling at him. “I’m not with them because they’re rich. I’m with them because they’re fun and I like them.”
“…You’re far too nice,” he said bluntly. If someone betrayed him like that, he’d understand given the circumstances. He’d break their arms in retaliation, but he’d understand.
“So…what happens next,” she asked him, inching closer to the mage. “Are you going to do what wizards in books do and erase my memories?”
“Do I look like a wand toting old man to you?” Leidolf asked in a deadpan voice. “Tampering with your head is outside my skill set to start with. Even if you told someone, they wouldn’t believe you.”
“Hmm,” she grumbled, frowning a little. “You can at least pretend to be troubled. What does it take to fluster you?”
Leidolf put on a smug smile. “A lot more than what you’re capable of at the moment.”
She raised one of her eyebrows. “Oh, is that so?”
With three steps, she closed in on him and kissed him on the lips. His mind went numb from the shock of her sudden act. He could feel the heat in his face rising, nearly overheating until his mind told his body to move and he stumbled back.
“What was that for!?” Leidolf asked, losing all his previous composure. He really hadn’t been kissed like that before. He wasn’t the type who went looking for romance or was lust driven.
She giggled and gently touched her lips. “Payment for the rescue, of course. I will admit that seeing your flustered face was a bonus for me.” Walking to the door, she stopped partway through it and looked at Leid, smiling sadly this time.
“I…really like you for some reason. It might just be the red string of fate, or maybe your lone nature—or the fact that you saved me. Whatever the reason, I would have liked to have known you better. That’s why, I’m a little sad that I didn’t take any action before today.”
She walked through that door and vanished from Leidolf’s sight. One part of him wondered if he should have chased after her, seeing how sad she looked as she left. She must’ve been feeling emotional after nearly dying, and could have used someone to talk to about it—someone who wouldn’t think she was imagining things.
He forced that part of himself into the back of his mind; romance wasn’t a top priority to him, neither was comforting her. It was a sad and cold fact.
The very next day, Scion had left the city to be with her parents. Officially, it was for family reasons. But, maybe part of it was really because of his cold nature towards her.
******
Opening his eyes, Leidolf sat up straight and found himself on the floor of his living room. Recalling the previous events of the day, he figured he must have blacked out after bring the child here.
On his feet, he saw the child sleeping on the couch and clutching her little bunny for warmth and comfort. He walked over to the closet and pulled out a spare comforter, placing it over the child. It was sweet really.
He had recovered a little energy from the unexpected nap, but he was still sore and injured from the fighting. He knew a runic spell using the Laguz, Uruz, and Isa runes that could heal the rest of his wounds with the proper amount of water—meaning he needed a bath and a shower. One was for the injuries and weariness, and the other was for the stench coming off him from all the fighting.
Alright, first I wash and then I wake the girl and we eat, he outlined his plan. He hadn’t eaten since the whole ordeal started. Between that, and an hour’s rest, he would be back
in fighting condition. Or as close as he’d get in this situation.
After that, the final battle would occur.
Chapter 9: The Ninth Hour
“So, like I was saying, you can barely feel it too right?”
“Yes. Although we can’t see anything wrong from our end, there’s demonic energy coming from behind this barrier.”
Two mages were outside the barrier, discussing the hostile energy that Leidolf felt earlier. It had leaked out because of the cracks in the barrier, and still hung in the air. They couldn’t enter the city because of the barrier itself, which was nearly invisible from the outside.
One of the mages—a male—accidentally stumbled onto the barrier when Leidolf had destroyed the Guardian of Fire, and cracks appeared for the first time. Once he felt the demonic energy, he had contacted his boss who sent the second mage—a female.
“You head back,” spoke the female mage. “You have something to do already. I’ll wait for a chance to enter the barrier.”
“Will you be okay? There’s something fierce going on in there, and a mage is most likely behind it.”
“Who do you think I am?” There was heat in her voice.
“I’ll leave you on your own for now, but once this barrier falls there’s going to be chaos all around it. I’ll monitor the information that spreads and see if we can’t get more details on it.”
******
“Ah, that hit the spot.” Leidolf muttered after finishing his shower, and proceeded to the kitchen. Along the way, he discovered Aria had woken up while he was in the shower and was looking out the window.
“Not a pleasant sight, is it?” She only nodded in agreement. “I’ll make dinner. Is there anything in particular you like or dislike?”
“…It doesn’t matter,” the child told him without turning her gaze from the window. This kind of destruction was not something a child should have to see.
Leidolf left her to her thoughts and pulled out all the ingredients he had, seeing as this could be his final meal. He cracked his knuckles and lit the stove, and the kitchen came to life.
The sound of metal cutting through meat and vegetables with zeal went well with the gurgling water as it boiled. Leidolf didn’t have confidence in a lot of things, but cooking was one he did. He’d been living on his own for quite some time and would have starved if he hadn’t learned to cook.