17 Loss

Large clouds of smoke and dust hid the sky from view. Tiny flames lingered about, further consuming whatever remained.

Total destruction.

A large number of people had managed to run far enough away, but even more of them were caught up in the terrifying explosion and the chaos that followed it.

People were lying unconscious on the floor, on rooftops, on windowsills with half their body dangling out. Everywhere you looked you would see someone lying down seemingly dead.

Rai and Niu had run into a building and hid. That very building had a large hole blown open at the front, but they weren't harmed by the flying debris.

Over at the courtyard, which had been turned into massive hole in the ground, a few people could be seen.

One of them lay flat in his back. Visk. He was constantly groaning as he felt up his face, realizing that it had been damaged by the fire.

Not far from where he was, Telavera was down on one knee.

She was breathing heavily, her sheathed sword still in hand. A dim light shimmered around here for a moment, then there was a loud shattering sound as her temporary defense fell apart. If not for that, she probably would have suffered far worse than merely being out of breath. She looked over at where the gallows had been, an expression of hope on here face.

Over at where the gallows was, no one could be seen. Telavera slowly got up, finding her bearings.

As she did that, Niu and Rai slowly made their way out of the building. Some people were starting to wake up, finding that their ears rung and theirs bodies ached.

Niu also suffered a deafening ring, but he got lucky. If he had not known it was coming and intentionally closed off his senses, he would probably have lost his hearing completely.

Rai's reaction was, of course, different than most, and his triumphant cries reverberated.

"HAHA! Tremble in fear, you puny things! I, Killer Bomb Assassin, have reduced your pitiful city to this state with merely two of my bombs!" Niu forced a chuckle.

Was this psychotic brother of his secretly a bad guy?

Telavera had already checked the area. Sir Sylas and his men were no where to be found. Vaeyon and the other three men were also gone.

"Kid. I think he took them." Telavera dusted off her rags, buy a small bit had been burned off near her shoulder. Niu could see the eyes of a tattoo peeking out at him, but he couldn't make out what the tattoo was a picture of.

"Check again." Rai forced a smile as he pointed at something.

High above them in the air, multiple black specks were fast approaching.

Visk managed to stand. His face was regenerating at a fast pace, but it was still unnerving to see the flesh and bone. The eyes were especially horrifying to Niu, so he quickly looked away.

The specks in the sky were growing larger. Niu saw that they were actually bats all coming together from all around. Telavera's breathing quickened.

"We need to get out of here." She looked over at the still-recovering Visk and grunted.

"Visk. I'll be taking you back." Telavera held her sword up, pointing it straight at him.

Rai never stopped looking at the sight above. The bats steadily grew in number, until they were a dense swarm circling around one specific location.

"Come now, Telavera. We both know that you won't be taking me back." Visk struggled to his feet, though his injuries were steadily getting better.

"Oh? Why's that?" Telavera sneered, her sheathed sword at the ready.

"Cause you won't draw your sword!" Visk suddenly dashed toward her, his footsteps, though quick, leaving deep imprints as he ran. Telavera hurried to block his attack.

Visk had suddenly grown terrifyingly sharp and long claws which he tried to pierce Telavera's stomach with.

They were now locked in place, both struggling to overpower the other.

Visk them grunted, ducking under her sword and sweeping his leg out. Telavera was barely able to take a step backwards, then swung her sword down.

"Tch!" Visk rolled over, using his hands and feet to lift himself off the ground. He took another swing at Telavera, missing by a few inches.

They continued to exchange attacks, but neither landed a solid blow on the other.

As they were occupied with each other, Niu was noticing something strange about the bats.

"Rai, do you see that?" Niu gasped.

"What is it, Niu?" Rai tried his best, but he noticed nothing.

"There's less bats, but they aren't flying away." Niu's eyes widened. For a split second, he saw something through a gap in the formation.

"It's him!"

As he shouted that, there was an explosion of bright red. The stench of blood soon spread out.

Telavera noticed it, using all her strength to push Visk off of her and send him flying.

"Kid! The people! They aren't safe anymore-- Argh!" As she was warning Niu, Visk saw his opening and dug his claws into her back.

Telavera tensed her muscles which, surprisingly, locked Visk's claws in place. He couldn't pull them out in time to evade her swing.

He was struck in the head, full force, with a sheathed blade. He was knocked a few feet into the air. His vision blurred for a moment and his nose bled, but he soon awoke from his stupor and righted himself before he landed.

Telavera roared, practically flying over to where he was and swinging once more. Again he was hit, but she wasted no time in delivering another blow. Then another, and another. She drove him back while simultaneously hammering his skull so much that it caved in.

Still, she didn't let up, keeping it up until he was completely unresponsive.

By that time, Niu and Rai had been attempting to wake up the people that were still unconscious. The ones what were awake were told to get as far away from the area as possible.

During that time, Rie was hurrying back to find them. However, when he heard what Niu and Rai were telling the people, he turned around and ran back.

"They'll be fine." Rie then joined the few other people and evacuated.

Telavera, ensuring that Visk was properly well knocked out and bound with a few strands of her hair, returned her attention to the glowing red swarm of bats.

"Your turn, Vaeyon."

She repeated a past action, driving her sheathed sword into the ground.

A circle of light appeared at her feet, and her body and sword began glowing with similar light.

In that instant, at various points around the city, spiritual runes lit up. Some were hidden under people's beds, others were below the city in the sewers. A few were on random rocks or trees.

The final run was on Telavera herself. All these runes came together to perfect the spiritual diagram, then finally Telavera picked up her sword.

"It's still more than enough." Now a glowing spectacle, Telavera strapped her sword back to her side and took a quick look around.

"I still have to get them out of here." Thinking that, she looked directly at Niu and Rai.

Niu scurried over to her.

"You're glowing! It worked!" He gave a beaming smile.

"It did, but now's not the time to celebrate. See that?" She pointed at the bats that were now glowing brighter and flying around much faster.

"That's Vaeyon trying to reform his body. If these people stay here, he'll draw the blood right out of their bodies eventually. We have to get them out of here." Telavera looked around. A lot of people were still unconscious, some even lying flat under some debris.

"Not a problem." Rai, once again, acted. his movement so swift that he had already acted by the time he spoke. He tossed a bomb out at the base of the tower, but it wasn't one of the newer ones.

"No! Rai you--"

The explosion drowned out all other sounds.

The explosive energy swept out, blowing everything away. The people were picked up off the floor and carried away with the wind.

Rai and Niu, too, were about to be carried off when a dull light encircled their bodies and brought them back down.

"You little shit! Will they even be safe!?" Telavera grabbed onto Rai's shoulder and glared at him.

"You think I, Killer Bomb Assassin, would send innocents to their deaths?" Rai's expression was as if he had just smelled something extremely offensive to his nose.

"You should think of a better name."

Telavera and Niu gasped, but Rai simply took out another bomb.

The dust seemed to be trying its best to avoid the bats in the air. That was where the voice came from.

"Vaeyon."

The bats then proceeded to disintegrate.

"Yes, it's me. Though, I am just a head." It was true. Floating in the air was just his head.

"Haha! A head? I see my work here is done." Looking at the mostly destroyed city, Rai clasped his hands behind his back and strode off.

Rie was watching back from the shoreline, thinking about whether or not to go back looking for them. He soon decided.

"Rai, where are you going?" Niu saw that Rai was leaving, but he wanted to stay with Telavera.

"On second thought, I think I'll say here." Rai whistled a tune.

"Just surrender your ...head... Vaeyon. It's over." Telavera strapped in her sword. She took a quick look at Visk, whom she had also used some of the spiritual energy to secure.

"Is it?"

Niu felt a weird premonition as Vaeyon said those words, as if he had sensed something bad about to happen.

His sensed weren't off.

He saw that Rai was lifted off the ground by an invisible force, but then he found that he was being carried away too.

The dull light around them could do nothing to stop it.

"These two have far more spirit than all the people in this city combined. Of course, you wouldn't know. You're not a vampire after all." Rai and Niu, now suspended before Vaeyon's head, watched as streams of light were pulled out of their bodies and flowed into him.

"So much, that it overflows. I don't even need their blood. I can suck it right out of them." Vaeyon's smile was the cause for Niu's rising fear. He looked over at Rai, hoping that his psychotic brother would do something.

His fears were instantly dashed.

Rai already had one another type of bomb in hand. It was small, like a tiny packet.

"You want to suck out my spirit? Me? Killer Bomb Assassin!? Suck on this, then!" Rai tossed the tiny bomb directly toward Vaeyon's smiling mouth.

Vaeyon's smile became a deep frown, and he blew on the bomb. It exploded before it hit him. Still, he didn't want to risk it anymore.

Rai found that he was falling from the sky, a victorious smile on his face.

"You like that?" He laughed triumphantly.

Telavera used her energy to catch him, bringing him safely to his feet.

"Where's the kid?" Noticing that Niu didn't follow, she was worried.

"Oh, no. Niu!" Rai, too, only just realized that his brother was still in the air.

"Don't worry, child. When the last of your life leaves you, I won't suck out your soul. You won't feel a thing, and will pass on to the next life." Niu was trying his best to break free, squirming and twisting.

"Remember better days, child." Vaeyon then closed his eyes.

When he focused, the tiny streams coming out of Niu's body grew larger and larger. Like a ceaselessly flowing river, Niu's spirit was sucked out of him in large amounts. His skin was getting paler and paper, and his eyes were dulling. His skin now hugged his bones tightly. He was losing precious vitality.

Telavera leapt into the sky, but again was sent flying back by Vaeyon's telekinetic force.

No matter what she tried to get up there, she failed.

Rai was also tossing bomb after bomb into the air, but there was no explosion.

"I'm coming, kid!" Telavera then took her sword in hand. She stared at the hair that tied it down, then grabbed it and pulled.

When it snapped, the sword seemed to gain a mind of it's own. It flew out of the hilt, arriving in her hand.

Instantly, the light around her body was sucked into the sword, and the sword began to shine.

She literally blurred out of existence as she leapt into the sky, breaking through the telekinesis.

Vaeyon's eyes shot open. By then, he had already regrown his body. He was simply strengthening his own spirit at that point.

Telavera arrived before his eyes in a heartbeat, her sword cutting an arc through the air and arriving at his neck before he do anything.

He was cut, but there was no blood. His head simply reattached itself. He was using the constant supply of Niu's spirit to heal.

If Telavera injured him, he would just use more of Niu's spirit to heal. Attacking Vaeyon would only harm Niu.

Realizing that, she cursed under her breath and changed her target.

She grabbed Niu by his hand, breaking him free and pulling him back down with her. He was barley conscious.

Vaeyon didn't try to stop her. He had gotten more than enough of what he wanted.

As she descend with Niu in her arms, he laughed.

"I'll be seeing you again, Telavera. Thanks for the meal." A strong wind blew followed by another swarm of bats flying off into the distance.

The dust was almost entirely clear.

The could again be seen, but what it shone down onto was a mess. The city was in ruin, the people gathered on the beach. Telavera had succeeded but failed.

When she landed with Niu, Rai ran over to them. He saw his younger brother and felt a pain in his chest.

"No! Niu!" Telavera careful laid him down, feeling the sting of a headache coming on.

She quickly sheathed her sword, pulling another strand of hair and tying it down.

"Rai?" Rie coughed and waved his hand around. He was climbing over the ruins of a building when he saw Rai crouched down in front of someone.

He stopped in place suddenly, his breath stuck. He couldn't speak, he couldn't think. His heart furiously pounded in his chest.

Rai looked at his older brother with tears in his eyes. When Rie saw Niu he ran straight over. He didn't care about what was on the ground before him, so he fell a few times before he made it over.

He fell to his knees at Niu's side, his crying eyes meeting Rai's teary eyes.

Rai shook his head.

Rie instantly broke down.

"NO! NO! NO! NO, NO, NO! NO!" He cradled his brother's head, slowly rocking him.

Telavera said nothing. She didn't know what to say.

Niu's body had shriveled up to the point where it would be difficult to recognize him. His lips were dry and broken, blood slowly trickling out. He was cold to the touch.

Rai grabbed Niu's hand, bringing it to his face. He cried in silence, but Rie continued bawling and screaming, eyes and nose pouring forth endless liquid.

They hadn't noticed yet, but a single, tiny tear was falling from Niu's eye. There was a faint trace of blood in that tear, and as it fell down his face it left behind a reddish color.

It eventually stopped, right near his nose. It never moved from there.