AA3 56 - Atonement V (Kai)

“Get back. Get the wounded away!” Kai shouted to the Kranjir still in the fight as he clashed with the Thrall once more, hissing in pain as it slipped past his guard and sliced into his thigh.

With every moment, this fight was getting worse. He needed to find a weakness, to find some sort of advantage.

“Jarn!” A horrified shout came as Anag rushed into the centre, joined by a dozen more thearns and Hedda.

“Everyone back!” Gwen called out, stepping to the fore and lifting her hands as Hedda rushed over to join her.

The wind answered the Storm Witch’s call, howling down to slam into the Thrall, knocking it back slightly and causing smoke to trail from the joints of its armour.

Gwen growled in anger, the wind lashing out again and again, knocking the Thrall back step by step. Despite her best efforts, however, all she was doing was buying time.

Still, her efforts were enough to draw the attention of the Thrall, and Kai’s heart skipped a beat as he saw the creature shift its focus to the Witches.

Kai was between them in a flash, his lips curling back into a snarl as his eyes met the impassive gaze of the Thrall. If this thing wanted to hurt Gwen, it would have to go through Kai to get there.

Kai’s turbulent emotions lent themselves to the roiling fire in the core of his being, and he drew heavily on his Essence once more. Matching the Thrall’s speed took a lot of Essence, and Kai only had enough to do this once or twice more.

After that, he would be down to small uses of his fire and whatever he could do with his air Essence.

Heedless of its opponent’s thoughts, the Thrall charged headlong at the Sorcerer. As before, the Thrall attacked with little grace, relying on its speed to overwhelm him.

To Kai’s surprise, however, he emerged from their first exchange with no additional injuries to show for it. Emboldened, Kai leapt forward with a lightning-quick thrust that managed to clip the Thrall’s left shoulder.

Blood sizzled against the flames on Kai’s spear, and fresh smoke drifted from the exposed bone charms as the two of them broke into a blistering exchange of attacks.

Kai earned a deep gash across his left forearm for his efforts, but he’d cracked open its armour in two places, revealing raw flesh beneath. Seeing the result of his work, Kai bared his teeth hungrily; he’d been right. It wasn’t as fast as it had been a few minutes ago.

That wasn’t to say that he was winning right now, but it was no longer beyond his reach.

Thinking about it, the change had come when Gwen had battered it with her magic, and Kai’s instincts told him that the magic giving it that speed and strength was also powering those bone charms.

“Gwen, Hedda, I need you to hit it with your magic!” Kai kept his eyes on the Thrall, searching for any sign of it understanding what he was saying.

Fortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case, as the Thrall regarded him warily, its focus once more completely on him.

Kai’s eyes narrowed as he felt magic stir behind him but saw no change in the Thrall. It seemed to be reacting purely on instinct without the guiding influence of the Gormagyr, but Kai wasn’t sure how to use that to his advantage.

The air around them seemed to thicken and become still, followed immediately by wisps of smoke trailing from the Thrall as it resisted whatever was happening.

At the same time, a concentrated blast of wind swept past Kai, striking the Thrall head-on. The actual impact had as little effect as it had the time before, but that wasn’t the point.

As expected, the Thrall began to move toward the Witches in response to their attack, but Kai interposed himself once again.

The two began to fight once more, with Kai using his fire Essence to match the speed of the Thrall. Its speed had reduced slightly once again, giving Kai the ability to keep up with it without going all out.

It wouldn’t make a big difference, but it would let him keep this pace going for another exchange, maybe two, if they could slow it down further.

At this rate, blood loss and exhaustion from fighting at such speeds would be Kai’s limiter, not his Essence.

Shouting broke out behind Kai, followed by the distinctive crack of Gwen’s lightning and the now familiar growling of Darjee.

“Form up, protect the wounded!” Anag shouted out orders, and Kai wished he could spare the time to turn and look, but the Thrall was pressing him more heavily.

The sound of fighting intensified, and the Thrall demonstrated a matching rise in its aggressiveness, putting Kai on the back foot. For all that the Thrall had slowed down, Kai was the one who’d taken the most injuries of the two of them.

He was certainly feeling those injuries now.

Sliding past a stabbing sword, Kai caught the second on the centre of his spear before knocking it back and stabbing right for the Thrall’s chest. At least, that was the plan.

A moment before the sword struck Kai’s spear, its edge began to glow a sickly green. It was too late for Kai to do anything other than follow through with the block, but he added what Essence he could to the spear, hoping it would negate some of what the Thrall was doing.

The moment the sword touched his spear, Kai felt the Essence he’d infused into it be rapidly destroyed before the connection vanished altogether with a cracking sound.

The Thrall had broken his spear.

The extra Essence Kai had added was enough to use up all of the abyssal energy the Thrall had committed to the strike, but the blade itself kept on moving and struck Kai’s right shoulder before cleaving down and through.

Kai’s world was consumed by pain as he lost all sensation from his arm, and something heavy smashed into his face, sending him sprawling to the ground.

“KAI!” Gwen’s anguished scream felt distant as Kai’s mind tried to process the pain and the shock of what had happened.

Kai blinked rapidly, disoriented from the blow to his face. His nose was broken, but it felt muted in comparison to the burning heat and pain coming from his right arm.

Drawing on years of dealing with injuries, Kai took hold of his pain and brought it under control. His fire Essence was used up, but he had enough from his air element to cycle through his body and help him focus.

A measure of clarity returned as Kai’s vision focused, and he looked up from where he lay to see the Thall advancing on Gwen while being buffeted by a howling gale.

The Witch’s expression was murderous, and she was pouring everything she had into it, but wind alone wasn’t enough. Hedda and the rest of the Kranjir were fighting against a Guzzgar and a contingent of Darjee as well, leaving them unable to assist.

Gwen was alone, and without being able to call on her storm directly, she would die against this thing.

Kai’s anger was gone, spent fuelling his Essence and keeping up with the Thrall. All that was left was the grim determination that he wouldn’t let this thing touch Gwen.

Reaching out to push down on the ground with his injured right arm, Kai fell sideways onto the ground, hissing in pain as his shoulder struck the ground.

Looking down in disbelief, Kai saw the bloody stump of his shoulder where his arm had once been. Somewhat deliriously, he looked over to where he’d been and saw it lying there on the ground, his hand still clutching the haft of his spear.

Some distant part of Kai’s mind noted where it was so that he wouldn’t lose it. The intrusive thought was ludicrous, and for a moment, Kai wavered, his focus shredding under the weight of it all.

Motion drew Kai’s gaze over to see Gwen slump, exhausted from her efforts. Hedda was there a moment later with the two thearns who had been guarding Gwen initially.

The Hex Witch held out a hand, and smoke trailed from the Thrall as it engaged the two thearns.

Grunting in pain, Kai rolled over and pushed himself up to his feet, the world shifting slightly before he clamped down on his focus. The two thearns were doing what they could, and the Thrall was reduced to almost mortal speeds now, but they weren’t enough.

Something told Kai that he only had so long before his ability to maintain focus was used up, he had to move, and quickly. Starting towards the head of his spear, Kai paused as he realised that the athame was still in his belt.

The heavy thump of a lifeless body hitting the ground made Kai’s decision for him as the first thearn fell, her eye pierced by the Thrall’s left blade.

Drawing the athame, Kai staggered forward, fighting with the Essence in his body as he tried to Enhance himself with it. He didn’t care that it was air and not fire. He’d seen Verdan use any element for anything.

The restrictions Kai had on himself were just that, restrictions. His elements could do anything; the Elders of the Sects were proof enough of that.

Lightning struck the Thrall, but it was weak, barely doing more than rocking the creature back.

The thearn fighting the Thrall took full advantage, however, and landed a solid blow on it, cracking open its armour with a spray of bone splinters.

Green energy manifested along the edge of the Thrall’s swords as it recovered. Weaker than before, but Kai could see the grim understanding and resolve in the thearn’s eyes as they hefted their shield.

Even a weakened version would be more than the Kranjir could cope with.

Slow and injured as he was, Kai would be too late to save the brave Kranjir. Not unless he could Enhance himself.

Turning his gaze inwards, Kai gripped his Essence and tried to force it to comply, force it to behave like his fire Essence would.

No, that was what was wrong. His air element was about wind, about freedom, about always moving forward.

Verdan always spoke of intent, and though Kai’s Essence provided some of that intent itself, he needed the mindset to go with it.

A moment of beautiful clarity came amidst the pain, his air Essence swirling through him to lighten his body, quicken his reflexes, and speed his steps.

It was terribly inefficient, and Kai had enough Essence for only a few precious moments of Enhancement, but it was enough.

Feeling lighter than air, Kai rushed forward as the Thrall charged, slashing right for the thearn’s neck.

Kai’s elbow caught the Thrall’s blade at the forearm, knocking it high and over the Kranjir’s head. Twisting his body, Kai met the empty gaze of its exposed eye before plunging Hedda’s transformed familiar into it, burying it as deep as it would go.

The Thrall began to react despite the blade in its eye, but Hedda let out a growl, and the athame seemed to glow blue as the Thrall crumpled like a puppet with its strings cut.

“So much energy,” Hedda gasped, falling to her knees, her chest heaving and sweat beading her brow.

Kai went to answer, but his Essence had run out, and all the agony he’d been putting off and holding back struck his mind in a tidal wave, sweeping him off into the darkness.