Mikleo 2

5

“Beware, when fighting with monsters, you yourself do not become a monster…For when you look in the face of evil, Evil's gonna look right back at you.”

Chapter 5 ~ Vengeance

Nayla is merely a few blocks away from the target position, but is it just her or is Lunarre showing too much aggression in pursuing her tracks? Whether her suspicion is correct or not, it surely is getting to her. Her steps become much faster, more clumsier and reckless. The crowd is thinning out by the second, all the way until she can barely hear the sounds of the attractions anymore, the fireworks erupting from a far distant away.

The more she speeds up, the more persevere he hunts after her. The chase gets to the point where she grows desperate, too afraid to be with this hellion alone. Her brain knows that Mikleo and the others are not so far behind, but her heart can not help but turn panic. This murderer is so close to her. This should have been her opportunity to finally deliver her revenge. But the closer he gets to her, the more her heart beats in fear.

She feels torn, as if she is betraying her cause. She should be brave, but instead the girl becomes in dismay. Ever tap of his steps alarmed her, causing her veins to pump faster. Her limbs jitter by the sound of his ragged breathing, the awareness of this serial killer’s proximity is putting her in a frenzy of terror.

Just a few turns away, the brunette tells herself. Her doe eyes glaze with dread as her features turn hysteric. She knows that this is no a good sign, but Nayla just forces herself to move. She can not stop now. Not when she is so close. Not when they are this near in putting an end to all of this.

Her drive breaks when Lunarre suddenly picks up his pace. It is no longer just her imagination. The sound of his footsteps get louder and louder, becoming more prominent by the second. Nayla is experiencing a full on panic attack now. Her lungs inhales sharply, too abrupt that she might as well give herself away. The moment he starts to pursue her for real, she takes off, vengeance and malice forgotten.

Her body feels heavier than it should when she begins running. Lunarre is hot on her trail now, jumping from building to building, roof to roof in order to catch up to her speed. Though chasing is no hard effort, as he seems to be able to overhaul her just as fast as she begins to speed up. Victory is in his veins, and Lunarre hauls a menacing laughter to ware off his presence to her — as if it has not been obvious enough already.

No, she is not there yet. She has to—

Lunarre jumps off a roof and lands himself right in front of her, blocking her path. He cranes his neck to the side at her, bending it at an unnaturally grostengue angle.

“Going somewhere, girly?” He grins wickedly at her, showing off his rows of gleamingly sharp teeth.

Nayla’s eyes zoom past him, towards the road she meant to take. How is she going to lure him there, now that he has taken an unexpected course of action. He is not supposed to go stray from the rooftop, only following her from afar. They had not expected him to just jump right in and approach her. What is she going to do now? Will the plan still work.

Somewhere away from their line of sight, Mikleo is hiding in the fog under his elemental disguises, trying to listen in and watch close by. She believes that he will come to protect her, if it come down to it that she is not able to handle this assassin by herself. Nayla still has her chances, so she ignore Lunarre’s question and tries to walk around him.

She suspects that he is going to stop her the moment she walks past him, but he lets her slide away.

Until a hand suddenly grabs her by the wrist and pulls her back.

Nayla winces in pain as his claws tightened around her wrist, the sharpness of his blade like nails almost tearing at her delicate skin. She turns frantic, and her eyes immediately seek out for help.

“What? Looking for your friends?” he asks, reading her mind, his voice haunting. “Wondering why they aren’t coming to save you?”

“I don’t need saving,” she retorts back, trying to put up a brave front, though fails miserably thanks to the non-stopping shakes that seems to have overtaken her body.

“Afraid I’ll have to ruin you lot’s plan for you.” He throws a sideway glance towards the east, to the direction where she is supposed to lure him to. That is when she realizes that they have been had.

“How did you know?” she presses.

“A little birdy told me,” is his short answer.

Nayla attempts to yank herself from his hold, but her efforts are futile. It does not matter how many times she pulls, or how hard she tries, because his is not letting go of her. His strength is too much, and he simply grins down at her feared features.

Lunarre stares at her for a moment too long, as if trying to remember something important. He scowls a bit before finally figuring something out.

“Oh, that’s right, you’re that Omniseraph’s brat, aren’t you?”

The girl stills against his hold at once.

“Yeah, that’s right. I remember those eyes. They are the same color as your mother’s.”

Something is triggered within her. They way he reminisces her mother is making her blood boil. He does not get to refer to her mum. He can’t touch her! All of a sudden, all of those malice comes crawling back into her, demanding some actions. Her hand moves faster than her brain can register and grabs hold of that dagger she has previously hidden in her boots. She slashes upward, but the blade is only met with thin air. Nayla blinks and adjusts her sight, only to discover that Lunarre is already gone, her wrist released.

He leaves a stinging sensation on her arm. It is as if she can sense his filth on her, and she wants nothing more than to wash her hand off his cruel touch thoroughly. She fights the urge and instead focuses her attention to finding out where the heck he has gone to. Nayla looks everywhere, glancing left and right, high and low, but she sees no sign of him. It is as if he has just puffed ou—

Thump! He lands behind her and slams his pointed claws at her. Good thing the girl has enough sense in her to turn around quick and catch him in midair with her blade. The dagger rattles as she tries to maintain her position, but this is better than nothing. The assassin smirks down at her pathetic attempt to block him. He knows that he is winning as he manages to push her down until she is almost fallen to her knees. Those mystic topaz eyes burn with hatred and fury as she persistently tries to stand her ground.

Nayla is cornered. She knows that she can not keep this up. She can no longer lure him to where she wants him to go. The others must have already figured out that something has gone wrong by now. The brunette is running out of tack, and soon enough she will lose if she does not do anything. She can tell that Mikleo wants to step in and help her, but there is still some chance.

As Lunarre attacks her mercilessly, every blow in full strength, Nayla tries to inch herself towards the meeting point, hoping that she will be able to lead him to where she wants him to follow without being too obvious about it. Nayla keeps holding up despite the disadvantage of their different power levels. Inside, she is hoping that Mikleo will get the silent message she is trying to deliver, so that he can send words to the others and let them come to this place instead. If Lunarre still thinks that the others are prepared, waiting to ambush him, then perhaps they still have a slight chance of completing this mission.

The hellion only smirks psychotically at her, his thin lips pulled back and rows of razor sharp teeth displayed. Those wild eyes of his are so wide open, she can see the veins threatening to pop out from underneath his flesh.

“Why don’t you just give up, little girl. We both know how this is going to end,” he belittles her as he swings his claws downward. She catches him just in time with her dagger, but just barely. They both know that he can crush her right there and then if he wants to. Just a little bit more and she might sprain her arms. But there is something sick in his mind, which makes him rather watch her suffer through the struggle rather than end her futile attempts. He likes the chase.

“Yes, you are right. We should end this . . . with your death!”

Her physical energy is beyond spent, but Nayla pushes her body to keep going. The girl swings her dagger in a particular angle that manages to push him back, even for just a split second. That is all the opening she needs, before she starts using her water magic.

The power of element is activated within her when she begins lashing out, swinging her arms violently, forcing the water elements surrounding them to abide to her will. She makes use of the puddles gathering on the streets to raise and launch them towards her enemy. They move like waves, heavy and unstoppable. The water slithers through the air like an extension of her arms, latching on Lunarre, catching him by surprise, before wrapping themselves close around him.

Nayla moves her arms, and the water flows along, wrapping as many of its mass around the man, before gathering in a round water prison around him, only allowing his head to be free to gasp air.

The guy is finally trapped. He looks stunned, and she can tell that this is not something he is quite used to.

What? Don’t tell me—? “Impressive. I didn’t expect this at all,” he tries to hide is surprise.

“Why, hellion? You look a little bit troubled,” Nayla makes a comeback snarkily, smirking in triumph for her small victory.

“Yeah. I didn’t think you’d progress this fast. It seems like that water seraph has been teaching you a few tricks.” He thrashes against the hold of the water prison, as if attempting to try something funny. Nayla glares at him in return. What is he trying to play at here? She will not put it past him on trying to get away again. She tightens her fists, and the water prison around him grows even more condensed. “But if you think that keeping me locked in here in this simple, then you think wrong,” he continues, before starting to fight her off.

Nayla’s hold falters. It is only a slight moment of weakness, but it is enough to cause some sum of water to spill out. It does not matter. She concentrates in making up for the losses, whirling the water around his body, trapping him in a tight grip. Lunarre keeps on thrashing, using his hellion aura and ejecting it towards her, causing her to choke for oxygen. The scent of pure malevolence is thick and pungent. Nayla coughs a few times, trying hard to not let her grip on him loose. But it is so much before her stamina runs out. She is but a novice in the matters of elemental magic, and she can not hold out as long as a regular water seraph.

Lunarre is already anticipating her inadvertence, and he uses the chance to deploy a merging flood of malevolence, filling up the air around them so thickly with menacing purple aura until the girl can not breathe.

The water loses around him, and he makes an escape.

But if she thinks that he is going to retrieve without some form of retaliation, and she is wrong. No one gets to humiliate him like this and get away with it. She wants him to continue this fight? Then she gets it.

“How imprudent. To dare think that an amateur like you can defeat me. It’s almost sad, really,” he snarls at her demeaningly.

“At least this amateur managed to cause something,” she spits back, still choking, struggling to breathe through the thick miasma. But it is no use. The putrid purple fog is not going way anytime soon.

“Big words for such a small girl,” he sneers as the brunette sinks to the ground, her knees scraping roughing against the rough surface. Her sight grows hazy, darkening with black dots at every increasing seconds. She can’t breathe, and the girl is struggling hard just to stay awake.

“Should have finished me off a long ago,” the words come out from her dry throat hoarsely, and the girl means it. The days she has spent up until recently has been nothing but dull. Things were not the same ever since her mother’s death. Jade has been the sun in the darkness that warms her and her dad, the glue that keeps the family stay close.

Another voice also echoes in her mind at the same time, a revenance of her mother. The memories of Jade and Nayla’s consciousness blends in, almost taking over entirely, especially with the possessor of the body almost close to blacking out.

Lunarre blinks, almost recognizing something odd with the girl. But the suspicious energy blinks out just as fast as he sets his eyes on the brunette.

“She begged in her death, you know.” He riles her up since the girl so persistently tries to stay awake. The cold night wind blows, oozing out some of the thick purple mist. He continues, “She begged me to stop, but it was already too late. She was already dying. I didn’t know what she meant back then, when she told me not to kill. She was already doomed at that point. But now, now I finally get it. She meant for you. She was begging for your life.”

He kicks her at the stomach, causing Nayla to double over in the dirt.

“Like mother, like daughter. You are just as much as a fool when it comes down to protecting your loved ones, aren’t you?”

The half blood brat is like a mold, persistent and sticking too much. When he can not make her succumb to defeat, he lands another blow to her midsection, this time harder than the last. Somewhere within her body, her bones c***k from the crude impact.

Nayla cries out in pain.

“I will kill every last one of them, right in front of your eyes. And then I will kill you. Then the world will once more plagued with evil.”

Her breathing rages as she tries to overcome the mind numbing pain. She knows that Mikleo is really struggle, torn in between saving her and following up with the plan. “No,” her lips barely form the words, eyes staring into a dark alley. Is he in there somewhere?

Lunarre mistaken her words as a protest directed to him, and only comes back with another series of taunting.

. . . . .

Mikleo has been trying hard to hold himself down. He knows the moment that Lunarre starts to pick up his pace that he has become suspicious. It is not just because of the thrill of the hunt anymore, that sick f**k. And then he chased her down and almost got her. But things only get worse. She fights him, and she is losing. He bested her, just like he bested anyone else. And now he is torturing her. It takes everything within him to not just jump out of his hiding spot and ruin their long prepared plan. He knows just how crucial it is to stop Lunarre once and for all, but moreover because he knows just how important it is for her to end this guy.

How can she be this persistent? This hardheaded? He wants nothing more than to safe her from the pain she is having, but she only shakes her head, wanting him to wait for the right time.

The water seraph is merely holding out for her shake, even though every inch of his body tells him to do the opposite and secure the girl, to take her as far as away from this hellion as possible. But when he hears Lunarre directing threats at her, he finally snaps.

The sound of his footsteps is clear and steady as he approaches them, but his insides are nothing but chaos. He is not usually this disorderly before, but the thoughts of her being at the line of danger really undone him. He knows that he is ruining all their plans for going out of track, but he needs to stop Lunarre. His body trembles from anger at the state of Nayla’s body. It only takes one look at her to snap something inside him.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t prince charming,” the killer addresses him as he approaches.

He takes deep breaths before answering to his call. “Let go of her. Your feud is with me.”

Gone is all that calmness and tranquility. Only wrath is left within him.

“I don’t think so.”

The sound of metal clashing against metal break through the dark of night as both Lunarre and Mikleo fight against one another. Nayla is pushed aside along the way and manage to avoid the center of the distress. Mikeo tries to best him, but Lunarre is already prepared for any kind of attack the boy launches at him.

When Mikleo swings his staff one way, Lunarre meets him midway with a clashing blow of his fierce claws. He returns the favor by slashing both claws towards the seraph’s direction in a series of continues offence, but Mikleo uses the hard steel of his staff in order to block his attacks, preventing the hellion from reaching to harm him.

Waves and waves of water is aimed towards the fox hellion, but the guy manages to dodge his way off as if it is just some child’s play. The seraph ever wavers from his water attacks, always trying to corner Lunarre even though he keeps escaping from his clutches. Just when he is so close to capturing the guy, he will somehow find a way to slip off from his hold. Mikleo is driven around from block to block, alley to alley, all the way until he is spiritually exhausted and has to revert back to his physical combat skills.

Though as fast as Mikleo can put up defences against Lunarre, their stamina is a no match. While Lunarre keeps coming back for more, they all can tell that the seraph is slowly losing his touch. He can not keep up with the hellion when in group, let alone when he is only by himself. Mikleo tries to maintain his defence for both him and her sake, but it is no use. Lunarre is slowly gaining up on him, to the point that he manages to corner back the boy.

Once Mikleo has gathered enough spirits energy, he goes back to utilizing his water bending attacks, using the staff to make more quantity of water appear, yet reusing the water surrounding them at the same time. He keeps slamming waves after heavy waves against Lunarre, but somehow the guy manages to fool him into hitting bricks and stones instead. It is simply frustrating to not be able to get a good hit at his target, though the boy knows that it is not what is the most important right now.

It only takes one moment of weakness for Lunarre to immediately pray on him. One split second, and the boy is down. The hellion swings back one arm in order to give him a good s***h to the chest.

Mikleo groans and howls himself back off when he gets hurt. He reaches an arm towards his chest to cover on the wound, only to reveal quite an amount of blood when his hand pulls away. Damn! He is injured, but he still can fight. The seraph readies himself into a stance, not planning to go down easily. Lunarre knows just what the boy plans to do, and he knows that he will enjoy taking him down and tearing him down to pieces. The water seraph will be the first to go out, and he will make sure that his final victim watches the entire show.

A s******c smile is plastered on his face as Lunarre makes his way towards the now injured seraph. His claws is just itching to hurt him, and he is not shy to let his intentions be known. Let them see what he plans to do to them. The more they are petrified in fear, the easier prey they will become. Oh, he just knows that he will enjoy this immensely.

When Lunarre attacks again, Mikleo tries to use his staff to block him once more. But this time Lunarre grips into the length of the staff and knocks it off his hand. Miklo's grip has loosened, thanks to the throbbing pain on his chest. He would have tried to use his waterbending techniques in order to back the enemy off, except there is no more water around them. He runs out of water, and his hands are away from the reach of his staff.

Lunarre takes advantage of this moment to launch a series of fast attacks. He slams against Mikleo and the boy falters back. Slams repeatedly and he manages to get the boy to fall on his knees out of pain and exhaustion. His body burns and he is hurt all over. But just when he thinks that this can not get any worse, Lunarre grabs his staff and hammers it down towards his kneecap.

Mikleo screams out in horror from the pain. His bones have shattered, and his howling scream is echoing everywhere. Yet no one except them hears and no one comes to his rescue.

He is in so much torment, the pain dulls out everything. He can barely register it as Nayla screams along with him. They are done for now.

The sound of a dull metal cladding down means Lunarre has dropped the staff somewhere far off. He has him now. The hellion is just about to behead the seraph when Nayla moves by instinct and throws herself into the way.

Lunarre only pauses for a split moment to look down at her desperate attempt and leven has the nerves to laugh at her. “Fine, if you’d like so,” is all he says before he picks up where he left off.

Nayla prepares herself for an impact. She throws her arms above herself in a desperate attempt to protect herself. It all happens so fast that Mikleo barely has enough momentum to knock her out of the way. Shutting her eyes close, the girl resigns to her fate.

In this last moments of her life, the sounds of Mikleo words flash through her mind in a split second. Something about choosing between friends or revenge. Is this what he had meant? Did he know that this would have eventually happen?

Lunarre’s laughter is menacing, and the sound travels throughout the entire block.

Just when his claw is about to hit her, a blinding bright light appears like a savior, engulfing every last one of them until they are forced to halt and ground back.

Nayla knows not of what is happening. She hears the invincible sound of something calling out to her — something very nearby. Suddenly, she is being overwhelmed by this urge to pull something out of her — something out of her hand.

A sword. Yes, a sword. She is looking for its hilt. She is supposed to grab hold of it. It is there for her. She just have to reach out and pull it out, and then it will be hers. Yes, reach out.

While her mother’s circlet shines brightly to banish Lunarre a few steps back with its purifying light, it is also telling the girl to retrieve the sword. Her hands move out of reflex, as if she has done this before. There is a remnant of memory in her body and in her mind. It is all so surreal, and she gasps when her palms meet. When they part, something hard and solid is already in the grip of her right hand. More light appears as she pulls out the weapon right from her left arm.

The sword in her hand is no ordinary blade, be it from its size or its strength. She can sense life pulsing from the object in her hand. It is what was calling her from within herself, and it is now rejoicing itself in the hand of its new master.

Seraph of the end, it whispers to her in ancient and astute tone. The omniseraph has returned.

She feels the power, and in an instant she knows that she owns it. Welcome home, it greets her as she begins with a first wave of attack.

The light flashes out, and at once Lunarre is knocked out of balance entirely. The hellion does not just stumble back. He is pushed back several dozen feet until his back hits a wall violently, creating a dent all around his body.

How dare he hurt him. She is not going to let him do as he pleases anymore. Nobody else is going to becoming another one of his victim, because she is going to end this for real. Screw the plan. She has an open shot.

Is it possible to be conscious and not conscious at the same time? Because right now Nayla does not feel like herself. Not entirely. Another persona is taking over, telling her things she does not know of, yet somehow making her feel like she has heard or went through this before.

Lunarre mutters something under his breath, before he launches himself at her, jumping off in a sharp leap.