Ascension: Quest For Revenge

Attack! (Part 2)

“Two more floors to go,” Axel said.

“You should save your strength mate!” Jack said, pointing at the big gap Axel had created. “We’ve a long way to go!”

“I am saving my strength!”

Suddenly part of the floor exploded and knocked the two down. They got up and saw that the floor had a hole, and guards from the floors below were leaping out of it, using wind magic to extend their jumps. Other guards flew in the air and crashed through the building.

One of them shot a flurry of ice shards from one of his hands. Axel created a magical shield to block, but some shards managed to cut his skin through his robes. He grunted in pain, but kept up the shield. He then pushed the magical shield into the guard, knocking him back into the hole in the floor.

Two guards closed in on Axel, one armed with a sword and the other with a mace. They attacked him, but he managed to parry with his staff. While parrying, he let out a blast of force that pushed the two away; but before he could cast another spell, the two again closed in on him. Close quarters combat was very difficult for a mage, and he struggled to keep up with the two guards. Meanwhile, Jack fought against a dwarf and a human guard. He created a force field to push the human guard into the wall, but the dwarf ferociously attacked him with an axe, and he barely held his ground.

While parrying, Axel rolled back on the floor, breaking the balance of the guard with the mace. The guard fell forwards, and while Axel lay on his back, he kicked the guard into his stomach. As he rolled back, he pushed the guard outwards behind him with his feet. The guard fell from the big gap on the corner down towards the ground.

Axel quickly got up and parried another attack from the guard with the sword. While parrying, he muttered a spell, and his turned completely green. He stared right into the guard, and his eyes turned green as well. The spell allowed Axel to temporarily scramble the guard’s mind and make him a mindless ally. The guard turned around and attacked the dwarf, and with Jack the two killed him.

The other human warrior Jack was fighting against picked himself off the ground, but Axel shot a bolt of energy towards him, which immediately killed him. Jack impaled the possessed guard; the green colour faded from his eyes and he quickly died. Jack removed his sword and the fighter’s lifeless body fell on the ground.

“That was too creepy,” Jack said, pointing at the corpse nearby. “That green eye thing? Don’t do that again. Please.”

“I’ll try,” Axel said, smiling. “Let’s continue—AARGH!”

An arrow planted itself in Axel’s left shoulder. He immediately dropped on the ground, groaning in pain; then scurried to cover. Jack created a big force field to block the big gap in the corner; he then crouched and hurried to take cover as well, blocking all the windows with force fields.

“Goddamn archers!” Axel said loudly. He slowly reached for the barbed arrow that was impaling his shoulder. He broke the shaft of the arrow, then quickly pulled it out from the front, and yelled in pain. “They must’ve surrounded us! Can you see them?”

“Not from here mate,” Jack replied. “We’re running out of time. I can’t hold these fields for long!” He turned to get a good look at Axel’s wound. It was gushing red and bleeding, with a hole about one inch in diameter. “Looks worse than it is, mate!” He reassured. “At least your brachial artery’s not hit! You’re gonna be alright!”

“Of course I’m going to be alright!” Axel said, with red sparks in his eyes. “The archers aren’t!” He summoned a spherical glass container with black liquid. He held it with his right hand and pulled out the cork from his teeth, then poured it on the wound, screeching in pain. The wound seemingly began to stitch itself back, the broken scapula mending itself in unnerving cracking noises.

“Did you just pour a Graewill potion?” Jack grimaced at the thought of the pain induced. “There are less agonising ways to treat that, Axel!”

“Not faster!” Axel said, continuing to yell in pain. Once it was over and the wound was fully healed, he weakly got up to take a look at the snipers. As he got up, the archers immediately shot more arrows, but Jack’s force fields blocked them. Axel quickly examined the location of the archers; about ten of them, on different buildings. Down below, the sound of battle had disappeared.

“Jack, open the force field,” Axel commanded.

“The archers will shoot us down!”

“We don’t have time, and you’re losing strength! Open the fields and keep your head down! Trust me!”

With much hesitation, Jack decided to open the force fields. A volley of arrows flew into the room, but Axel stopped them midair with telekinesis. He then flew off the floor and shot towards one of the archers.

“Axel!” Jack cried. He tried to get up, but an arrow whizzed by and he quickly fell back into cover. Jack couldn’t see what was happening outside; he could only hear screaming, blood splattering and crackling sounds of spells. While he waited, he took out a green potion and drank it to regain his strength and stamina. After a few more seconds, the screaming stopped. Down below, Jack could hear the sound of the guards’ metallic boots stomping on the ground as they ran. Just as he got up to see what was going on, Axel reappeared. There was some blood on his robes, and a few drops of blood on his face, but no wounds.

“The archers are dealt with,” Axel said. “The rebels have left, and the reinforcements are on the run. We should head to Economic Square immediately.”

“Axel, what the hell happened?”

“Like I said, I took care of the archers. We should hurry.”

They dropped down on the ground, and Jack saw that the archers had completely disappeared; there was no trace of them. A large troop of guards, instead of fighting, was running away.

“Leave them,” Jack said. “We’ll deal with them later. Let’s head to-”

Before he could finish, Axel waved his staff up and the guards began levitating in the air, with some sort of magical green outline around them. The ground beneath them was cracked. Axel pointed his staff at the guards and shot a wave of energy that ripped apart their bodies, dismembering some. Jack watched in shock as the bodies dropped on the ground, blood all over the place.

“They won’t be a problem anymore,” Axel said. “Let’s head to Economic Square.”