Ashes of the Fallen

The fourth man with the shield, the ring leader, circled around me as he watched the fight unfold. Four to one, he was waiting for a moment to strike, to hit me from behind as I deflected and defended myself from the onslaught of the three before me.

That was his plan, most likely.

Not a bad one, but it wouldn't work… it would only serve to play into my hands.

Keeping my eyes on the three in front of me while trying to maintain the shadow of the fourth, I shifted my feet as I stole a glance at my shield. It had cracked slightly during a sub-boss fight and wasn't at full-strength… if that claymore hit the right spot, there was a good chance my shield would shatter.

I needed to be careful.

A  foot shifted, and then in an instant one of the spearmen dashed forward with another [Lunge] as he aimed at my torso. Stepping into the lunge, I tucked my shield into my side as I twisted and contorted my body to let the spear slide through the gap, locking my shield arm down on the shaft of the spear and hooking the man with my axe.

Grasping the handle and ripping back as hard as I could, the axe cut through the man's neck as blood began to pour. Screams followed but before I could react, a [Quick Thrust] came from my left as the other spearmen went for a light pinpoint attack. The spear clipped my shield and grazed my shoulder, slicing through the leather but not deep enough to pierce my skin.

In that moment, a blur caught my attention out of my peripheral vision as I tucked and rolled into the second spearman, just in time as the claymore cut through the air where I had been but a split-second ago. Crashing into the dirt, the large sword sent clumps of grass and soil flying up and around me, obscuring my vision in the slight rain.

Then the expected followed, as the shadow made its appearance with a [Shield Bash] from behind, but I was ready for it, I was waiting for it.

On my knees, tangled up with the two spearmen and the other two within arm's reach, I brought both of my arms into my chest as I gathered an enormous amount of energy and began to shake as electricity wrapped around my body. Still on the ground, curled up nearly in a ball, the electricity that had surrounded me began to expand rapidly as a shell formed around me, and then, it exploded.

A one-second cast from start to finish, it all happened in a flash.

A literal flash, an explosion of light, of thunder cracking the air, of balled up energy no longer containable, spreading and disrupting the entire area around me. The four men that had been within an arm's reach were instantaneously and simultaneously thrown back, knocked outwards an easy ten feet as they fell to the ground, stunned from the impact as they tried to understand what had happened.

Lying on their backs, grasping their heads and clutching their weapons, they were momentarily incapable of defending themselves.

Without bothering to stand up, I raised both arms and initiated a [Chain Lightning] without a chanted verse. Even though the cast time was short, there was plenty of time for them to gather themselves.

Three men were getting back to their feet in front of me, cursing at me, muttering under their breaths, bitching and moaning that I had pulled a fast one.

"Chain lightning," I mumbled with a sinister grin appearing across my face.

Another flash, another crack, and the intertwined bolts of lightning cut through the air and rain only to impact, spread, and dissipate faster than I could exhale. The three struggled to move as their health had fallen to below half and the paralyzing after-effects kept them down, but I wasn't done.

Not yet, there was more to the magic show.

Gathering myself mentally, I focused on a spot behind the man with the claymore as he was the first to get up. With one knee still on the ground, all I had to do, was think of the next words, Flash Step.

An exhilarating feeling followed, one that left me holding my breath as if it would suck the air out of my lungs if I didn't. My body had dematerialized faster than I could register as I shot through the air, and by the time I realized where I was, my axe had been raised. My mind finally catching up to my body, I eyed the bastard-swordsman kneeling before me, as I hacked once into the base of his skull from behind.

The sound of a skull shattering was rather silent, but the feeling was real enough. Like hacking into a coconut, the thud could be felt through my hand and forearm, and once it broke through the hard outer shell, the mushy interior was reaved into two. His body limp, my axe stuck, I let go as I eyed the two spearmen next to me.

An arm outstretched, a connection between us was made.

Lightning fluctuated, ebbed and flowed, surged and waned.

In three seconds the man had ceased his movements as the other two had backed away, watching in horror. They weren't aware of my secret, they had no clue.

The truth was, that I was a bully.

They had brought this on themselves.