Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

Red and black lightning whirled around Lucius. It felt as though the energy of an entire storm was centered on this one boy. All the other magical affects and Arts that he previously engaged had vanished, so the enemies were able to move around like normal again.

"Oh, now that is interesting. Not even a fraction when we fought in the mist, but powerful indeed. Alright everyone, buckle down for this one." Shiyani shouted through the crackles of electricity and the constant rumbles through the sky above.

It was very rare for a storm to occur in a desert, yet the sky above appeared as though a torrential rain would begin at any moment. The once overbearing sunlight was gone, covered by dark, gray clouds.

"Shiyani, Mia, Paul, Lethen." When he spoke, the air itself seemed to vibrate. "Die."

Shiyani cursed to herself as she barely managed to sidestep a strike from the boy. He sailed past her and continued towards Paul. Just before the archer took a blow, Lethen dove in between them. "[Shield Arts: Bulwark]!"

Golden mana created a massive wall of light that stopped Lucius in his tracks, though the wall of light quickly began to crack.

"[Ventus: Air Step]" Shiyani cried out.

From her storage ring, she called out a bow of her own. It was a weapon she rarely used in front of others because Paul already fulfilled their group's needs for range attacks.

With her current level of Air Step active, she was able to take about two dozen steps into the air as though it were solid ground. It was a rare spell that many Wind Magic users would never be able to use. Honestly, it was her ace in the hole, but she had to use it now.

Shiyani climbed higher and higher into the air until she was one step away from the spell ending. If she held herself here, she could maintain her position for about two minutes. Taking a deep breath, she trained her sights on the boy below her, beating on Lethen's Bulwark.

Mia was behind him and making stab and slashing attacks, which Lucius was able to block and dodge. None of Mia's hits were going to land like this, but it did prolong the life of the Bulwark.

"[Bow Arts: Multi-Shot], [Bow Arts: Pierce], [Bow Arts: Powershot]"

Shiyani felt her vision blur momentarily trying to supply the mana required for all three of the Arts to activate. When she finally steadied herself, she released her breath in a steady manner, and loosed the arrow.

At first there was one, single arrow surrounded by a massive bubble of mana, however about halfway to the target, the arrow split into four identical missiles of equal strength. Lethen, Paul, and Mia jumped backwards, surprising Lucius for just long enough for the shots to impact, near simultaneously.

The resulting explosion made their ears ring and scattered dust and rock everywhere. At first there was quiet. Then as the quiet continued, Paul, Lethen, and Shiyani started to feel a sense of accomplishment.

None of them expected to witness what was hidden behind the cloud of debris. When it began to settle, they saw two shadows which soon revealed themselves to be Mia and Lucius. Mia was laying on the ground, with Lucius crouched over her. He had an arrow sticking out of his left bicep and a few more puncture wounds peppering his body.

However, he did not look to be in pain, rather the only expression on his face was that of determination. His hand was wrapped tightly around Mia's neck as she clawed and struggled to pull herself free. She scrambled her hands along the ground, grabbing rocks and bashing them against the boy's arm, face, and chest in a vain attempt to loosen his grip.

Like a predator who had snagged it's prey, Lucius would not let go of the girl and he lifted her up with only his left hand. Her body occasionally twitched involuntarily from the lightning coursing over his body zapping her.

"Mia…" Lucius said quietly, before plunging his weapon through her torso. Mia's face and mouth contorted in pain. Were her mark not active, the scream she would make would likely haunt the memories of those present.

When her face and body became limp, Lucius threw her body free of his blade and turned to face Shiyani. Currently, Lucius was on the edge of the cliff with Mia's body in between him and the others. Shiyani was still in the air, though she released her magic before her mana ran out and dropped to the ground, absorbing the shock with a well-practiced roll.

"Well. Doesn't look like you have much left in the tank, kid. Too bad you didn't hit a breakthrough. Don't think we would have won this if you did." She said to the boy.

His legs were shaking and the energy swirling around him was flickering. Even the shadows licking his blade had shrunk in size. Even with her normal, elven hearing she could hear the wheezing.

Sure, she was exhausted, and the boy put up a great fight, but Paul and Lethen barely acted in the fight and mostly full tanks. They took damage from the area of effect from the Lightning Strike, but not really much else.

"Give it up Lucius." Shiyani warned, drawing her bow and aiming it at his head. Paul also moved to her side with his bow drawn. Lethen stood on standby, ready to move into a defensive position at a moment's notice.

"Why? Why did you start to change your mind back then, but all of the sudden took money to change it back?" Lucius yelled. For once, he looked like a hurt boy, and not a ruthless killer. "You fought with us. Helped us. And now, for simple coins, you take my life.

Coins you were going to reject from Andre!"

Shiyani sighed. "The world is more complex than you can imagine kid. Players play a game that we don't understand and sometimes to make a good move, they have to sacrifice a piece."

"So that's all I am. A piece in a game? A pawn?"

"Most of us are, Lucius. Unless you become a player, that's we will ever be, kid."

She witnessed something she never expected from Lucius. Tears welled up in his eyes and peppered the ground at his feet. "That's all I have ever been since I've been born. A pawn that people tried to get rid of… I won't accept it… no. Instead of play the game, I'll simply overturn the board." He growled.

From somewhere unknown, a strange energy began to fill the area. It was a familiar sensation. Paul and Lethen fell to their knees and it was all Shiyani could do to maintain her consciousness.

"Damn it… where…" she struggled to speak.

At Lucius' feet, Shiyani noticed a slight movement. Mia seemed to still be alive and she held in her hand, two small, gray crystals. The gray color started to fade and became white. The white light began to glow and the sound of cracking glass echoed.

Lucius recognized the sound and looked down. He quickly dove backwards towards the cliff, but before he could make it over the edge, Mia shouted out. "Nice try, Lucius. We win this one!"

A massive explosion, centered on Mia filled the space. Light, heat, and sound took up the space where she and Lucius once were.

Shiyani and her group dove to the ground in an effort to minimize the damage done to them. Flame licked over her back and scorched her armor and singed her beautiful hair. For the next two minutes, the heat of the air was unbearable.

When things finally began to cool down, they got to their feet. Where Mia and Lucius once were, there was a black crater. There was no debris, no dust, nothing. It was as if the entire cliffside was vaporized instantly.

"No doubt the Eroans had someone follow us. We need to go. Now. He's gone."

"Right, boss. Sorry kid."

"Grab Renton and Marie. They're still out of it. Let's go. Now."