Dark Mage

As soon as Cas regained consciousness, he leapt up onto his feet and began sprinting towards the center square of Obselok again. Using all of the energy he had left as he had no time to spare. But before he could reach the next corner of buildings, Evan and Diane appeared in front of him.

"Cas, wait! Can't you see all those injuries you have?"

"Evan! How long was I out? Is that giant still there?" Said Cas, nearly jumping with impatience.

"Hey, hey, relax. You aren't listening to me-"

"I have to destroy that thing before more people get hurt!" He said impulsively.

"Still as reckless as you were, Cas. It is as if you want to die." Said Diane, very blatantly.

"What? No I'm fine-I have to-"

"Quit being so stubborn!" Shouted Evan. Both Diane and Cas looked at him with shock. Evan then shrugged and quickly apologized. "Sorry, I don't like raising my voice. Just… hold still while I heal your injuries, it'll only take a second."

"Got it. And… sorry for getting ahead of myself." Cas added sincerely.

Evan smirked as he treated all of Cas' wounds with his magic "You should be healed for now. Oh and by the way, you didn't think you'd fight that giant on your own when we're here, right?"

"Greyhart has already instructed a way for the three of us to defeat it. Follow my lead, you two."

"Wait, if Greyhart is freed, then where is he?"

"He's probably rescuing other people nearby, we shouldn't worry too much. Now, let's go." Evan said, sounding rather confident for a change. The three began running towards the center, where the stone giant could not have moved far from.

"I have to say, Evan, I haven't seen this side of you before. I never saw you as the strong leader kind." Cas joked as they were running.

"That has to be the most backhanded compliment I've ever received."

"We do not have time for banter. A dangerous situation lies within our hands."

Cas nodded as he bolted towards the square, ahead of the others.

The three finally reached the central part of Obselok, where the giant remained standing tall. Cas right away began climbing up the surrounding buildings to get on higher ground. While Diane pulled back her bow and steadily aimed her shot. And Evan tried his best to be near both Cas and Diane in case of injury.

The giant, or rather, the mage in control of the giant had not noticed their presence yet. They remained still as though they were one with their hiding places.

Time seemed to pause as Diane was readying her aim, her precise vision allowed her focus to remain unshakeable. She counted from three and let go of the bowstring and in an instant a thunderous blast sound was heard. All of a sudden, the giant's left leg crumbled into rubble as it lost its balance.

"Now, Evan!" Diane yelled.

"Right!" Responded Evan as he then concentrated on the other leg and chanted: "Divine Hourglass! Return to thy Goddess!" as those words left his mouth, the right leg began to implode and pieces of stone flew all around, only to then dissolve into nothingness. The giant fell to the ground, but not before its head noticed the presence of its attackers.

"It's my turn now…" Cas thought. He channeled all of the speed and agility he had left in his body. He charged forward and jumped off the side of the building. While landing, Cas was nearly dizzy at the speed of which he was running and now falling. He implanted the blade of his sword into the core of the giant located in its torso, causing a blue glow to appear through the cracks and the stone began to crumble into pieces.

Before any of them could celebrate, another twinkling light could be seen from a distance, Diane saw and quickly drew her bow.

"Cas, move your head back." Diane spoke at a not so high volume.

"What'd you say?" He asked right before one of her arrows flew right by his face, only narrowly missing and went towards the mysterious glimmer in the sky. The source of that light was revealed to be the mage who was in control of the giant. As the arrow landed, a cloaked figure fell down from a high place, which prompted Cas to instinctively try and save them.

"What are you doing, Cas?" Asked Evan.

"They'll die if they land from that height!." He replied.

"Do not waste your breath. That was a perfect shot." Diane spoke bluntly.

Cas stopped and looked down, ashamed that he wasn't able to help yet again.

"It'll be okay, that mage is responsible for an immense amount of destruction on Obselok. Even if they had been spared, they wouldn't have a long life ahead of them." Reassured Evan. Cas tightened his fists and looked up as the rain continued to pour.

. . .

Clement climbed the steps of Obselok palace, an ordeal which he did not expect to be as grueling as it was. The echoes of his footsteps reached every corner of each room. Not a soul remained inside the palace at this hour. The eerie silence disturbed Clement to his core.

When he finally reached the roof of the palace, the storm raged more than it ever had before. Clement found it was difficult to balance himself with such strong winds.

"You kept me waiting." Cried an ominous, unfamiliar voice. Clement turned to see that someone was awaiting him. The figure stood relatively tall and was clad in colorful robes. From looking at him, Clement almost immediately knew who this was.

"You're… Aelius, heir to the throne and member of house Antonius."

"Oh!" Aelius laughed with excitement, or perhaps hysteria. "From this day forward, I shall no longer be simply heir of house Antonius. I will be the new emperor of this kingdom! That wretched old corpse was unfit for ruling over people with such high potential. And you… you Prismontian filth! I cannot tolerate you or your horrendous comrades' presence here anymore. Prepare to meet your demise."

Aelius revealed what looked to be a mage's staff, its odd look made it very foreign to Clement. He felt an intense horror throughout his entire body. His legs remained still as they possibly could, as though they were adhered to the wet stone of the roof. Clement responded as carefully and calmly as he could in his state.

"Alright. If you'd like to fight then I haven't a choice but to oblige. However, there is one condition." His words surprisingly flowed well together, like a stream of water. Clement could not remember the last time he could speak so clearly.

"And what would that be?" Despite being enraged, Aelius still was willing to hear out another mage's condition before their duel.

"If you fall, then it's within your obligation to put a halt on all this unnecessary bloodshed and attacks. This battle has only begun, and yet I couldn't feel more sick of it. This needs to end now." Clement used his mind and soul to negotiate and reason with the twisted heir.

Aelius snickered. "It's a deal then, but I will warn you: I am not one to hold back in battle." He threatened.

Clement swallowed, knowing he was willingly putting his life on the line. He did not have the time to contemplate it though, he demanded peace and his stubbornness did not allow him to see the consequences. He held up his staff and chanted underneath his breath the word, "Earthsnake." And before Aelius landed his first spell, Clement evaded it as he swiftly moved to the left, or at least that was how it looked. His spell allowed for a thin layer of rubble to transport him around at high speeds. Clement felt his stomach churn as he circled around Aelius with haste. To avoid feeling nauseous, Clement decided to do what his brother would always do and run as fast as he could to get closer to the opponent. From there, if he reached a blind spot, he would rush and go for a take down. It was a risk, but any other plan would be of higher risk, he had to decide now. Clement charged forward, doing his absolute best to dodge all of Aelius' spells; he primarily fought using strong slashes of water magic. He zig-zagged all the way trying to reach him. Aelius charged one of his spells to become even larger and powerful, but when he fired, Clement was able to successfully roll out of its way. He got back up and got close enough to tackle Aelius to the ground.

"Got you now." Clement proudly glimmered. But Aelius only smiled as the last spell he casted turned around and slashed Clement in the back. Clement's eyes widened with horror and disbelief. His body as a whole seemed to freeze up. Aelius scoffed at the pitiful sight he was looking at. He let out another maniacal laugh.

"I'm almost insulted at how you thought this would work. I feel nothing but appalled that you were the chosen mage to fight in this battle, and you had the gall to go against me? I've never seen anyone so pathetic! Now get off me, you scum!" He kicked Clement in his stomach and he flopped down on the ground. Before Aelius could walk away he felt a presence nearby, one on a winged creature.

"Clement?" Called out Cas, who quickly noticed his brother lying on the ground. Cas got off of Donovan and the griffin listened to the orders he gave him before arriving here to find the others and bring them here if necessary. Cas ran over to check on Clement, who thankfully was still conscious but was clearly weakened heavily. "Clement… What happened?" Asked Cas, he tried picking him up but he noticed a bleeding gash on his back. The blood from his brother on his hand made Cas quickly panic. He turned to Aelius "This was your doing, wasn't it?!" The volume of his yell was loud enough to make an echo, even throughout the pouring rain.

"Brother… it was all my fault… I tried to… I tried to be like you and… I failed, sorry brother." Clement whispered, coughing and gasping for air.

"No, no, don't talk Clement. Don't say things like that! Please, stay with me!" He cried. He tried shaking his brother awake, he tried taking care of the wound with the supplies he had with him, but it was of no use. Clement's breath continued to grow more faint. His weak and small body almost could not handle the injury.

"That brother of yours has suffered a lot of damage. I don't know if you've noticed, but this rain only makes my magic stronger. He stood no chance against me, no matter how interesting his spells were. Now his chances of survival are slim."

Cas clenched both of his fists and slowly stood up. "That's enough out of you!" He shrieked. Picking up his blade, it was clear to tell by his shaking arms that Cas was driven by hatred for Aelius now. Even more than that, however, he was afraid of what would happen to Clement. If no one showed up then that would most certainly mean the end of Clement's life, the least Cas could do right now is buy time and try to fight Aelius with everything he had.

Within Clement's mind, he could sense the fury of his brother, the kind of ruthless anger that would scare him and all of Cas' enemies as well. Not only that, Clement was subconsciously listening to his brother's words. It was then that Clement decided to once again put faith in Cas. He remained strong, and never gave into misery and hopelessness. Until now, Clement was the complete opposite of his dear brother; he never had the strength and agility, nor his charm and helpfulness towards anyone. He lacked the willpower that Cas put into his every breathing moment. And yet, just for this one moment, he decided to act like his brother, and believe that no matter what happens, he will live to see another day.

Suddenly, another voice could be heard inside Clement's mind. It sounded grim and harrowing, like a deep sea creature's voice described in folklore, but more old sounding.

"Do you… desire power?"

"Huh? Who's that?" Clement thought.

"Do you… want to achieve victory?" The mysterious voice continued to repeat itself if Clement did not answer it immediately.

"Do I want to win? I mean, that was never my intention…"

"Do you want to prove all the souls that hold you in disdain wrong?"

Clement paused for a moment. Before definitively answering the mysterious voice in his mind. "Yes. I want to crush those who look down on me."