"What do you think I'm going to do about it??" The young man's eyes blazed with anger, glowing as he snarled at Umrinc, eyes which would have killed the wizard, had they the power to do so. "You killed my sister, you made the whole of Irayleu'minmuy believe that we're under attack, you put all your guards on the offensive, awaiting your orders to fire. You don't deserve to live, you don't deserve any more pity than I'm sure you showed my sister, which couldn't have been much." The Wizard's eyes took on a look of anger as he cursed under his breath, then challenged, throwing his arms apart,
"And you see yourself as my judge, jury, and executioner, I take it?? Well, by all means, go ahead and give it your best shot!!" Ijael's eyes took on a cattish look as he felt a burst of power from either side of him, telling him that his ‘brothers' were behind him in this. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes, focusing on the glass of the dome. He imagined the very top of it, the center point, and this he sent the raw energy to, through stream after stream of power, concentrating on that point. It appeared as though nothing were going to break through the glass when abruptly, a crack could be heard, soft, yet there just the same. Ijael growled, shoving power harder and faster, applying more force to the cracking glass, as it continued down the sides. He could feel Umrinc fighting him, fighting to keep the glass in place, and it only angered Ijael further. The angrier he became, it seemed, the more his gifts flowed from him.
From that first crack, it was only about ten minutes before the glass exploded, sending shards flying everywhere. Ijael felt the brothers release from him, in an attempt of their own to collect all the glass they could, as for some reason, it had occurred to them the damage that could be done if the glass were allowed to go soaring through the massive city. Struggling to keep his body from slumping in the event of decreasing in combined power, Ijael stood on the command deck of the Kakuyochi, his eyes full orbs of amber, no pupil to be seen, his hair all on end, hands clenched at his hips, awaiting Umrinc's next move.
Fuinraug held his hands over Keigharia's throat, trying to heal what had been damaged. Upon his inspection, he'd found her trachea and esophagus crushed, her lungs full of dissipating carbon dioxide, the bronchi swollen and misshapen. Fixing that had been easy compared to what he knew was ahead. His nearly pitch-black hands hovered over her throat, and the rest of her body in intervals, as he let healing power flow from him. Sighing, he let his own body collapse for the briefest of moments, to draw strength for what he knew he's have to do.
Her skin remained a chalky gray, slowly losing color, torpidly becoming cold. What life had remained within that fragile net he'd cast wouldn't remain much longer, he knew, and he had only a short matter of time on the clock of her impeding departure from the land of the living to help bring her back. Leaning close to her, he whispered,
"Miss Seibutsu?? Keigharia?? Can you hear me??" Nothing, not a twitch, not so much as an eyelash moved. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes, opened her mouth, and breathed in, sending healing within her. There he stood, waiting, watching, still feeling for that link between his gifted net of protection and her quickly retreating spirit. This isn't working, Fuinraug... think!! C'mon, there's got to be some way to bring her back!! Desperation has always been the best motivator that mankind has ever had for doing anything, and now, it was playing a key role in the fine line between Keigharia's life and death. Fuinraug shook a bit as he cried out,
"M'lady please!! You've got to be strong!! Your life, it is not ready to come to a close, you cannot leave now, not when you are so close to finally being free!! You have much to do with your life, and you must return to it!! Milady!! Wake up, wake up, or all is lost!!!!"
"Well done, Ijael, well done, I applaud you," Umrinc derided him, his anger thinly veiled as he clapped his hands together as if in slow motion three times. "I must say, many have tried, though none have succeeded in destroying my fortress before now. I would have loved to see what your sister and you would have done, with your gifts intertwined within my own, regardless of that no longer being an issue. However, you leave me no choice but to-"
"Do what??? Kill us?? Face it, three of us, one of you, our combined abilities are obviously quite strong-" was all Ijael was able to utter before a wave of control, directed energy was aimed at the ship. The large craft bucked and fish-tailed, as though it were a massive boat traveling through extreme turbulence. All three men grabbed onto something, holding on for dear life, as the Kakuyochi rose and fell, the wizard trying to dislodge the occupants of the ship. "Fight it!!" Varus yelled to Ijael, reaching with his mind to link onto the shifter's main power line. Jarre closed his eyes, joining with Ijael and his brother as well, merging gifts, adding fuel to the fire that had sprung between the wizard and three.
Ijael felt his head roll back a bit with the jolt of so much might behind him, and when his head returned forward, he raised a hand, concentrating on Umrinc. "Alright old man, you've tormented us for the last time. This is for Ari," he screamed out, letting loose a burst of power so strong that it knocked the wizard off his feet. The thrust of power cut through Umrinc's and he was forced to let go and block or face death. The ship calmed, and as one the three men rose, striding towards the back of the ship, which was turned with the one mind and opened out to where the shattered fortress stood, the wizard holding onto his power with as much dignity as a man who had lost what no one could take from him could must.
"Ijael, please, I beg you, do not do this to me, it was I-"
"It was you who kept us apart from everyone, let everyone know all these years that we were dangerous, something to be feared and despised. It was you who took us from our parents, who would not have given us up without being forced. It was you who killed my sister's cat to prove that you would not be defied, and it was you who took her life simply because she refused to do what you wanted!! Do not tell me that you raised us with the love of a caring, devoted father, or that it was you who taught us how to use these gifts, how our parents would not have been able to do so. If you hadn't taken us from them, there would have been no need to develop our gifts as we have!! Umrinc, you have taken your last victim in my sister, no longer will you be allowed to cause kidnap, ruin, exploit or kill anyone. Perhaps I am playing, as you said, judge, jury, and executioner, but I have a very large feeling that it has been a long time in coming, only no one was strong enough to do it before now."
Taking a deep breath, he drew more strength from Varus and Jarre, never noting the change in Umrinc's focus as he did so. Had he have seen Umrinc's eyes shift to something directly to the right and a bit back from the ship, he may have thought twice about the colossal energy mass that he formed between his hands. The man still remained crumbled on the ground, only this time, his fear was doubled, as he noted with a start the creature kitty-corner to the ship. Ijael let the mass ground, feeding it his power, their power, knowing that he would have but one shot with this much power sunk into the orb. Lowering his head, he poised himself, ready to cast the electrified weapon upon the object of his hatred when a voice cried out,
"No, STOP!!" So stunned was he that he could hardly contain the orb as he turned to see a brown-haired woman riding upon a large blue dragon, which appeared to hover in place. He grasp the power, shaking his head.
"Be gone woman, this is none of your concern. If you leave now, you will not have to witness the end of an evil man, and your conscience will not plague you for all of eternity for not stopping me." Turning back to Umrinc, he once again prepared to send the man to his grave when the woman spoke again.
"Strip him of his powers if need be, only don't kill him!!" Listen to her, Ijael!! The young man stood dumbfounded as he heard a soft, almost feminine voice within his head, as the dragon flew into his eyes' view.
"She just... wait!! Why shouldn't I kill him?? He killed my sister!!!! An eye for an eye, he deserves what he gave her, which is death!!" Shola shook her head, understanding that if Ijael was feeling anything like she had when she'd found out that her sister had been taken into custody over two years ago, which was minor in comparison, then he wouldn't be able to see past his anger-driven grief well enough to come to reason. Taking a deep breath, to give herself time to think, she cried out, seeing him about to hurl the orb at the man once again,
"If you kill him, then you are no better than he is, and you are as much of a monster as he is!! Your sister's not dead!!" The words obviously had an effect on the young man, as nothing else could have, and she gulped, sending up a prayer that her intervention wouldn't be the death of all of them.
"What?? But I felt..." his leopard's eye, focused on Umrinc, shifted a bit as he glanced at the woman, startled by her words, and that was all the Wizard needed. His power surged back in, knocking the three to the floor of the ship, sending Shola and Quioqueth reeling. His eyes glowed black with fury, and he snarled at them, teeth bared.
"Fools!! I will not lose!! Umrinc Akujin is the only power!!" His hands glowed with a black sphere of power as he poured all his strength in, not about to be defeated. Ijael felt a rush of power, in addition to the compounded strength of his brothers, and he felt the blue's mind in his again. Shola's opening an invisible portal... focus the energy into something strong enough to bind his gifts, and send him reeling into the great beyond with a headache the likes of which he would never imagine!!
The amber orbs seemed to increase in brightness as the woman's power joined, and the sphere between Ijael's hands shone brighter than the sunshine, blinding Umrinc. Without delay, Ijael sent the electricity ball flying into Umrinc's skull, hearing a loud thud as it hit, pitching him back like a rag doll into the unseen vortex. The man's screams could be heard as Shola withdrew her gifts from Ijael to seam the fabric of time back to its original form.
Shola's eyes met Ijael's, and a silent congratulations could be read within the woman's warm brown depths. Ijael, however, was more concerned with his sister. "You said that Ari wasn't dead?? Where is she then??"
Striving to Live
