Paroxysm Aftermath

"WAIT-" A scream of desperation from Garrick as time moves too fast to react.

"Garr-" Meetle screams.

"What the-" Kyra shouts.

The glacial wall's spiked viciousness is unleashed uncontrollably by Garrick. Meetlemire and Kyra instinctively raise their arms and 'arm' to shield their face as they face away from the danger, protecting the vital organs, but devastating impalement does not tear them asunder. Kyra and Meetlemire open their eyes to see the aftermath, with the ice missing them by inches as it moves towards them before jutting above Meetle's head and shattering into the ground in front of Kyra. A shimmering mass floats in front of them as they look towards Lillian and Araval, as the same mass floats in front of them with a shard of ice partially piercing it a few millimetres. Lillian and Araval, with calm demeanours, hold a hand up in front of them towards Garrick.

As quick as the wrath came, it was quelled.

"You come to our home and try to kill us, assassin?!" Lillian roars, lifting her other hand and performing a series of lightning-quick movements as her hand slowly glows brighter purple.

"NO!!" Meetle shrieks as he throws himself into His mother, Lillian, knocking her off-balance as her hand emits a beam of concentrated energy just past where Garrick would be in the ice and into the front garden fifty feet away as the tiny beam connects with the dirt and an explosion bursts out from the centre destroying most of the garden.

"Son?! What are you doing, Lanlin?!!" Lillian shouts as Meetle grabs her robes, trying to pull her away.

"Lanlin, get inside now! We'll deal with these two!" Araval shouts toward Meetle.

Lillian grabs hold of Meetle and tries to push him inside the home, then notices his missing arm. A new rage sparks from within her as she holds her hands close and connects her fingertips, pointing them towards Garrick. And with a sudden pressure, her hands part, unleashing a thunderous sound as the ice shatters, sending Garrick flying through the air, landing in the destroyed garden, blood dripping from his ears.

"You harm MY boy, then you attempt to harm MY husband?!!!" Lillian shouts with a bellowing voice, practically frothing at the mouth.

"Leave Garrick alone!" Kyra shouts with fury as she moves toward Lillian, but Araval is too quick. He lifts a finger, and with it, the stone snakes up Kyra's legs, locking her in place.

"stay still, you child. You're next." Araval calmly utters.

Lillian kneels in front of Meetle, still towering over him.

"It's okay, my precious boy. I'll protect you." Lillian sweetly smiles at Meetle before standing up.

"FAKE FUCKING WORDS!!! What an evil pair of Elves, PRETENDERS!!!" Jarathus' old frame twists and contorts as Garrick's runes on his shoulder trailing to his arm glow dimly red before becoming a vibrant crimson on his hand.

Lillian places her hand flat as she turns it over slowly and squeezes it into a fist. The fingers on Garrick's hands snap in different directions as he screams in agony.

"STOP MOM!!!! I DIED, AND HE SAVED ME!!!" Meetle shrieks in anger and sadness, seeing his friend in such a state because of his family.

Garrick's forearms snap next, then his elbows as the bones up his arms are now poking through in a violent mangled mess. Garrick throws up as he kneels in anguish.

"GARRICK!" Kyra screams in despair as her emotions, which are usually masked, are now on full display. She picks up a small stone and throws it at Araval, hitting it slightly above his eye, causing him to reel in pain before locking his eyes with Kyra as blood covers his eye.

"Impudent child." Araval, now angered, lifts his hand, sending Kyra catapulting through the air before quickly dropping it, causing Kyra to slam into the ground as her bones crunch. Kyra tries to shout in pain, but the air has left her body, leaving her gasping.

"It's not his fault! The runes caused it!" Meetle pleads incessantly, but his words fall on deaf ears as Araval keeps lowering his hand as it shakes, pushing Kyra into the ground. Her eyes roll back in her head, passing out in pain. The alarm bells in the city are blaring as shouts are heard in the distance, with footsteps fast approaching.

"DON'T TOUCH HER WITH YOUR FILTHY FUCKING MAGIC!!!!" Garrick bellows as the ground shakes and windows shatter, which causes Araval and Lillian to stare at Garrick temporarily in shock as they clutch their ears, wincing. A purple dome expands from Garrick, encasing them inside as all noise and magic cease, leaving them in silence as Garrick charges Araval with fervour, focused on only him.

"How did he-?" Lillian stands dumbfounded before the words she previously was too occupied to process from Meetle echo again into her head, "The runes caused it!"

"The...runes? It's impossi-" Lillian's eyes open wide as she looks toward Araval as his gaze meets hers, too. Without an audible word said, their demeanours change. As Garrick closes the distance with Araval, his eyes unblinking and deranged, arms flailing at his side, he swings his leg toward Araval. Moving with expert precision, almost like a ghost phasing through, Araval slips past Garrick's kick and precisely attacks specific points on Garrick's neck as he falls unconscious in moments, with Lillian sweeping in to catch him in her arms as the dome disappears, allowing the use of magic again as Araval quickly thrusts his arms forward and sweeps them back, pushing them all except himself into the home as the doors slam closed.

Garrick and Kyra lay unconscious as Lillian grasps them with telekinesis before carefully placing them on the floor.

"Why didn't you listen to me?! I said he saved me!!" Meetle cries as he shouts.

Alarms blare as the footsteps grow louder outside before stopping.

"Quiet, Lanlin! We will have words after we clean up this mess you brought to our doorstep." Lillian raises her voice as she attempts to maintain composure.

After a few minutes, the alarms recede as the footsteps grow loud before quieting down and fading into the distance, with Araval entering the mansion a few moments later.

"Are we okay?" Lillian urgently asks before Araval can even close the door.

Araval finishes closing the door. "It's quite the fine we'll receive for our 'reckless magic experimentation', but they are satisfied for now. However, that is only one problem satiated as he looks toward the party.

"Lanlin, you will tell what is going on this second." Lillian authoritatively tells Meetle.

"Help them first! They're dying!" Meetle pleads.

"LANLIN MEETLEMIRE! Tell me this instant: I am not playing games!" Lillian roars.

Meetle looks restless, switching his vision between Garrick and Kyra and his mother and father.

"Someone put those runes on him, and it makes him able to use magic, but he wasn't able to use it before."

"The...runes?" Araval asks curiously as he walks over to Garrick, inspecting the runes. "They are odd, to say the least. But why change your mind so suddenly out there, dear? I am not following your train of thought.

"You were too focused on the girl, but that boy with the runes used magic without motion or gesture." Lillian replies.

Araval is taken aback briefly as he turns his head toward Lillian. "You mean-?"

"Yes." Lillian cuts him off. "He achieved something that we mages have sought out for millennia: 'Internal Utilization'!"

Araval strokes his beard in awe as his other hand traces over the runes on Garrick's shattered arm; the pain of the rune being inscribed onto Garrick floods into his mind, causing him to reel in sheer agony, as he throws up, desperately crawling backwards from Garrick.

"Araval, what's wrong?!" Lillian calls to Araval, worried.

"Dad!" Meetle shouts.

Araval quickly settles himself as he clenches his shaking hand.

"The pain that boy must feel." Araval weakly whispers.

"I went too far, but I-"

"No! The runes." Araval shouts, cutting off Lillian.

Lillian squints as she moves to Garrick, reaching to touch the runes.

"Don't touch them! Those runes are created with unholy magic! If Internal Utilization is only achievable through this method, then it must die with this boy. No one should go through that pain to achieve power.

"Please help them now! They are good people!" Meetle Demands.

Lillian looks to Araval with worry, then claps her hands as hundreds of tiny creatures appear from cracks in the wall. They are humanoid-shaped, with kind faces and little hats varying in design from top hats and bowler hats to masks and metal helmets. They scuttle over to Kyra and Garrick and carry them away with speed.

"Lanlin, dear, go with your friends. The Leighys will look after them. I need to speak to your father in private." Lillian firmly yet comfortingly tells Meetlemire, who nods as he runs after the party.

Araval and Lillian stare at each other with worry as an unprecedented crisis has entered their home.

End chapter