Mark of the Rising Sun
Saved By Grace

It took me a moment to realize that something had changed, but then on the edge of my vision, I saw a figure gliding down from above. He was riding on a serpent like creature, and jets of water came tumbling down separating me from the creature. Unable to make anything of this new development, I stayed where I was, and watched. The figure came down next to me, and to my surprise, the figure on top was David, the guy a few years ahead of me at AWAY. I tried to speak, but nothing came out.

David engulfed us in a bubble of water before he spoke, “Don’t say anything. Drink some water, and then we can talk.”

Grateful, I raised my mouth to the bubble and greedily drank a bunch of the water from the sphere surrounding us. It was just normal water, but to me it was ambrosia, the greatest drink ever created. David then went about using the water magic to heal me, refresh me, and altogether restore me to my former self.

Finally I spoke, “What are you doing here? How did you find me? Not that I am complaining or anything, but this is a bit of a surprise.”

He laughed, and it was the most beautiful sound I had ever seen. “I have been watching you for some time now, Grace and I. Grace is my familiar by the way. I saw the symbol on your Focus some time ago, and was intrigued by the fact that it was the same mark that appeared on my body a few years ago. I decided to watch you to see what it meant. I saw you run off on your parents and did some snooping, which is good, because it led me here. I got here just in time from the looks of it.”

“Yes, thank you. If you hadn’t gotten here in time, I would be a captive of these guys. I’ll explain everything to you later, but now, we have to decide this.” As we spoke, a few of the robed figures walked toward the door where my parents were hiding. “Can you take care of my parents over there?” I said pointing, “Now that you are here, they are in trouble again.”

“What about you? If I leave, my bubble will go with me, and leave you defenseless against the flames again.”

“Just give me a quick tutorial on the spell. I have dabbled a little in water magic, and can try. At the very least I can hold off this guy long enough to come up with a plan. I know I can figure it out.”

“Alright,” The concept was rather easy, and as he left, I prepared myself to create a pocket of water of my own. To my utter surprise, it was easy, and the bubble was almost as good as the one David had created. With this newfound protection, I turned back to the fight that I had almost lost.

The creature was angry, “How dare he interfere. I was just about to defeat you. You planned this didn’t you? Well, now those people you love will suffer, and I will just have to defeat you again. That flimsy wall of water will not hold forever. You are a wind elemental after all. When it falls, you will too. It is just a matter of time. Then I will go and defeat your friend as well.”

His attacks came in earnest again, one right after another. Despite some of his best attempts, none of his attacks could get through the barrier around me. Finally free from the heat and flame, I was able to think about the fight and come up with a plan. Taking a spell that I learned and changing it a bit, I released the magic.

I watched in wonder as the flame around the creature started dying out and then choked out completely. I smiled, my plan was working. If the thing was human, I have no doubt he would be red in the face with either anger or frustration.

“What have you done? What trickery have you devised? You cannot stop me.”

“It was no trickery of mine, but yours that prevented this before. If I had been able to see and think clearly, this solution would have come sooner. It is just a bit of logic. Fire cannot burn without oxygen to fuel it, and I have just removed all of it from around you. There is no way for you to make fire at all.”

“Then it is a stalemate. I know that you have no spells to kill me, because you just know the basics. You have no weapons either to strike me down, and I don’t need oxygen to survive.”

Dejected, I knew he was right. I had not come with any weapons, just spells. I could have slapped myself. I thought about every spell I knew, but no burst of inspiration hit me. I was about ready to give up and go help David with the acolytes, and with a scream of frustration, I shot out a cold blast of air in a quick spike toward my enemy, not expecting it to do anything.

To my astonishment, and the surprise of the creature, the air merged with the water in the bubble around me to create a spike of ice several inches and length. I watched in wonder as the icicle sped forward and pierced the strange creature right in the heart. The sound that came out of the dark warrior’s mouth was terrible, like a mix of nails on a chalkboard and a cat yowling. I had to plug my ears for several minutes, but even that wasn’t enough to block the sound completely.

Eventually the sound stopped and all was still. The robed men all stared at their fallen leader as if expecting him to rise up and kill me. When nothing happened for a while, they scattered in all directions like sheep without a shepherd. It was then that the toll of the fight hit me and I had to sit down. The magic may have healed me, but it didn’t replenish all my energy and it had been quite a fight.

I don’t know how long I sat there before David returned. “I got those people out of here safely, but all the acolytes ran off. What happened?”

I pointed to the corpse of the beast. “When I killed their leader, they didn’t know what to do. They will probably regroup around another of their warriors. For now though, everyone is safe again.” After I finished these words, I lost the rest of my energy and my head drooped. I closed my eyes and fell into a deep sleep with my only worry that I had not been there to help my parents myself.

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