#projectmagic

Chain nodded, letting the invisible magical barrier fall away. The strain immediately released, and he could feel his muscles relax faintly. They were tensed up again as soon as the explosion rocked the entire wall, but didn’t bring it all the way down. Screams of terror burst forth from nearby Mortals. The alarms blared even louder, soldiers rushing to the rubble as they attempted to get any uninjured persons to safety.

“There!” Came a shout from behind them, and Chain glanced over to see one man pointing straight at them. Six other security personnel came out to investigate, and the younger man immediately got to his feet. He tugged Mykal up to his feet along with him, rounding the corner of the only intact wall. The sounds of angry shouting and heavy footsteps was close behind them, though Chain wasn’t about to check. A sudden idea occurred to him, and the oldest Dulin suddenly stopped to press a hand to the nearby wall. Mykal looked alarmed, but soon understood what the younger man was doing. Chain opened up a barrier within the wall, giving them a hole to walk through without actually breaking the stone. A shout of ‘Stop!’ behind them went unheeded as the brunet pulled Mykal through the portal and into the panicking town.

“Tell me how this was supposed to help them get in here?” Chain asked suddenly, running down a street when they had once again gained the guards notice.

“Dante knows where Bilbin is. They’re going to go to him in all this commotion. According to what Dante was able to get out of his contacts, the guy is almost always under surveillance because of harboring fugitives or something.”

“You mean he’s an Elf sympathizer?” Chain managed to spit out. The streets were thin, more reminiscent of a crowded city street than a quaint town. The houses they passed were all close together giving them no chance to take a shortcut. “Come on we’re going to get caught if we keep taking the streets!”

Chain quickly hopped over the gate of one of the houses and taking one step on the stairs, pulled himself onto the ledge of the canopy that covered the front porch. Mykal was close behind and they scaled the brick house to its roof. One glance down to the streets below showed several confused officers, pointing up at them. Chain continued moving, when the sound of the radio crackling to life alerted him that Chase and the others were inside the town.

“Chain, keep them away from the left quarter of the town.”

“Chasaya this is insane!” Chain shouted, barely moving out of the way of an arrow flying towards him. The fact that they were using traditional weapons instead of the new ones that the Alsalian civilians had procured, showed they were definitely part of the military. Chain wasn’t sure how long they would be able to keep this up.”

“You just need to keep this up for twenty minutes. We’ve already found our target.”

“Good!” Chain answered breathlessly, leaping from the edge of one roof to the next, just as a guard climbed up to meet them. “Mykal!”

The older male was caught between two guards, struggling to remove them from his person. One of the guards fell off the edge of the building, while the other was stabbed in the neck with one of Mykal’s daggers.

“Come on!” Chain shouted as he turned to run, but was met face to face with a very large, heavily armored man. “Bortch.”

“Where is the rest of your team?” The guard asked, his mouth muffled by thick cloth. His entire face was covered by a mask; all except his eyes which narrowed dangerously on the shorter male.

“Not here, obviously.” Chain felt his muscles stiffen in anticipation of attack. Part of him was wondering how the roof of this house was even holding the gargantuan man with all his armor, but it appeared that they were on one of the few sturdy buildings. Several others had crumbled as soon as he and Mykal had run across its surface.

“I’ve never liked you First.” The guard commented, using Chain’s military title. “I never understood why anyone praised you. Just because you are Queen Chaskalena’s son doesn’t mean you should be allowed a free pass…”

“Free pass? You obviously don’t know much about the Academy, because they don’t let just anyone in, regardless of your status, thretch.” Chain responded, straightening up as he brushed away fear to slide out his magically enhanced sword. “You’ve been misinformed, buddy.”

The guard just growled in response, rushing forward with a speed that shouldn’t have been possible given his size. Chain quickly jumped out of the way, tightening his grip on his sword. Before the man could recover from his failed tackle, Chain struck with the blade into what he assumed was a weak point in the armor. The blade didn’t even cut, and the brunet started in surprise. The officer reached out with one gloved hand and grabbed the sword, the material frosting slightly from the blade’s magical properties.

“You’re lucky Archer wants you alive, or else I would beat you into the ground.” The guard pulled away his face mask with the other hand, tugging hard on Chain’s sword. The brunet’s arms jerked forward hard, and the hilt slipped from his grasp. “My name is Farrus. I think it’s only fair for you to be introduced to the man who will take you to your executioner.”

Chain felt fear crumble his resolve, but he didn’t move, tightening his hands into fists. All he had to do was keep the soldiers from finding out where Chase and the others were. He just needed to bide some time for them. A rotating red circle began just underneath his feet before spreading out into a wider range. Farrus was standing just on the edge of the red circle, and Chain couldn’t help the grim smirk that spread across his lips.

“I think I’ll pass.” The soldier said, concentrating his magic on the point. Flames burst forth from where the man was standing, and he was engulfed by the fire. A sudden gust of wind blew forth from the burning man, and the fire went out almost immediately. Farrus pulled off the rest of his mask and threw it to the ground. Graying azure hair framed a chiseled, clean-shaven face. Scars criss-crossed over the man’s features, and previously shadowed eyes were shown to be completely white.

“You should really rethink your strategy.” Farrus was smoking, but looked relatively unharmed. The fabric of his armor was crumbling off of him as he moved, and Chain wondered if several more hits with his magic could put the guy down.

Just as a spark of flames rose up to lick at the guard’s boot, Farrus took one step forward and then suddenly he was right in front of Chain, one hand around his throat. Hands scrambled against the tattered remains of the man’s black uniform, attempting to claw the vice grip that was choking him. He kicked his legs, trying to reach any part of the gargantuan Alsalian that he could. He called on his magic, letting it wind around him and then crackle to life in a spark of intense electricity. The shock transfered from Farrus, to Chain as well, and white hot pain licked along his entire body. He didn’t let up, seeing, through a haze of tears, the armor begin to smoke again, and Farrus finally released him. Chain dropped, limbs shaking jerkily. The thought of failing his sister forced him to stumble to his feet despite the pain still coursing through his entire body. There was a mixture of guards and special forces officers all rushing down the street below him. Mykal had ended up on the ground again, and was using his magic to wield the very streets as a weapon. The dirt rose up from the ground in thick strips, like snakes coiling around the oncoming enemy. From Mykal’s frantic movements, Chain could tell he was losing momentum. The older male was coming up on a four-way intersection and there were guards coming from all directions. Chain felt alarm rise up within him and, despite his still aching limbs, leaped from the relative safety of the rooftops down into the fray below.

“Chain!” Mykal shouted over the sound of screaming and chaos. “Nice of you to join me.”

“Couldn’t let you have all the fun.”

“I thought this wasn’t fun.”