Rynth: Four Beats

| 6th of Teryusin — Year 362 of the Cycle of Synthesis, Grand Cycle ??? |

Raoul felt his own lips struggling to hold back another scream. A second wave of pain as his mind adjusted to the sudden sight of his missing arm threatened to break free, and he felt his insides doing circles in his stomach the longer he stared at it. A fresh surge of bile followed the reaction, only stifled once Idri pressed a hand to his cheek and forced him to look upward and away.

“Hey… Raoul, please don’t die… I’m right here, see? We’ll find a way to fix this.”

Dying wasn’t so much an issue. Heat from the beam had perfectly cut through every part of his missing arm, leaving a steaming stump of flesh that wasn’t bleeding as heavily. Still, to say dying was a better option than having to experience the agonizing hiss that had already begun to spread to the rest of his body wasn’t too farfetched. He managed to force a silent nod in Idri’s hand, and she lightened up.

Avil quickly rushed to Raoul’s side, helping him sit upright. He gritted his teeth at the sore sight and made a few failed attempts at trying to remain calm despite the situation. “Cali,” he shot a look over to his maid. “Find out who shot that beam.”

“Right away, Master Avil.”

“Wait!” Idri stopped her. “Let me come. Avil, please take Raoul somewhere safe. We need to get him to a hospital.”

“You don’t have to tell me.” He bit back, hoisting Raoul’s arm over his shoulder. His friend’s body refused to move even slightly, still in shock. Avil hurriedly pulled out his phone and searched for the closest hospital that was still open. A tough order for the GPS, given the untimely hour and the lack of minor medical centers that still operated fully past eleven. His phone echoed a light ding to signal the successful match: the only problem? It was an entire district away, and would take at least ten minutes to reach by train.

He peered over and watched Idri and Cali disappear into the fleeing crowd. The blatant attack in a public area somehow hadn’t drawn the ire of any of the police officers stationed nearby—and if it did, then they were taking an inordinate amount of time to get there. In that split second, Avil settled on his decision and carried Raoul onto the platform and into the train that had just recently arrived.

Crash! A powerful explosion shook the entire station, causing a deafening rumble that mimicked an earthquake to follow. A blast of puffy gray smoke blew out from the direction, and sent flying back were Idri and Cali, who caught themselves on a pillar.

Avil narrowed his eyes. Amidst the screams and chaos brought about from the people that were running the opposite direction, he could just about make out the appearance of the figure that stood composed ahead of the two girls. A small ember had flown from the explosion onto a patch on her baggy, teal-colored robes, and without sparing it a glance, she waved a finger and suffocated it in nothing. Her vibrant, shoulder-length blonde hair framed her delicate-yet-mature face perfectly as it swayed despite the lack of movement.

“Shit…” Avil slumped back, pressing himself and Raoul against the wall to conceal themselves. “It’s your mother, Raoul. Why’s she here?”

Through the numbing haze of pain, the mention of Merlin struck Raoul out of it for a moment. He reached his lone hand atop the armrest of a chair and attempted to pick himself up, only to be held down by Avil. “...Mother? She’s… she’s here?”

“Shh…! Yeah, she’s here, alright. I’m going to assume she was the one who shot the beam.”

Again, the word ‘why?’ echoed through Raoul’s head.

Just outside of the train, Merlin patted her dusted clothes down and nonchalantly peered the length of the station. By then, almost everyone had cleared out, save for the passengers that had stuck inside the train and were simply praying for the doors to close and for it to get moving. She stopped just as her eyes rested on Idri and noticed her lack of injury. “You again. Even before this all started, you were always the one to push my son further. I’m guessing you were why he wanted to leave so badly, and now I can see why. You’re not even using your eyes.”

Was it even possible to contain so much anger in such a small body? Idri’s expression immediately soured from concern for Raoul to blatant disdain and hatred for the women in front of her. “Merlin… you monster. You tried to kill me again, and in your mistake you took the arm of your son. Do you really hate Raoul and me that much?!”

“Hate?” Merlin muttered. The mention of her initial attack’s cost to her son brought about a small look of regret in her face, but otherwise she remained completely calm. “This isn’t hate. This is me as a mother disciplining an unruly son and his friends.” She trailed off, pointing a finger in Idri’s direction. “You are the one he cares for the most. And to make sure he learns his lesson this time around, I’m going to complete what I failed to do that day on Midasia.”

Calliope steadied herself, tightening her grip on her dagger. “Be careful, Idri. She is the most acclaimed archmage on Manlifax for a reason. Do not allow a single one of her spells to touch you.”

“I know,” replied Idri. In her hands, Kranstor grew warm, as if responding to the threat in front of them and the danger it posed to not only Idri, but also Raoul. Strength welled up from the sword, flowing into her. “You were the only one who fought her properly, Cali. What should we do?”

She flashed a look over to the train—particularly to where Avil and Raoul were hidden. “An optimal outcome would be to not face her at all, Idri. But I can sense that she doesn’t intend on stopping until she’s retrieved Raoul. And you don’t intend on giving him to her, do you?”

“Do you have to ask, Cali? Raoul’s mine, and I won’t let anyone, not even his own mother, touch him.”

“Then, let us make sure we cover each of our backs. Do not rush ahead.”

Easier said than done. Their reflections shone off their respective weapons as they rushed forward. Idri reached her first, and she swung Kranstor in repeated slashes toward Merlin’s neck. Slash. Slash. Slash. All three swung far, with Merlin weaving between each strike with practiced ease.

Merlin kept back just slightly, raising a hand to fire a beam of Jati that narrowly missed Idri’s hair. Cali leapt over, her natural agility allowing her to constantly barrage Merlin with practiced stabs and slashes, each meant to incapacitate. Hers were much more difficult to accurately predict; a small forcefield expanded itself outward in a whoosh, just quick enough to intercept the fourth stab that was primed to pierce her shoulder.

Idri kept the pace and followed the blocked stab with a devastating cleave that tore through the Shield spell that was keeping Merlin safe in one hit. That slight leeway of free time gave Merlin just enough to prepare a deafening blast of force that sent Idri and Cali flying back again. Now free from the assault, she weaved her free hand to form a magical formation that remained floating in the air. From it poured out more beams of blue in three-shot sequences, perfectly following the two girls as they dodged out of the way of each one.

“It’s an active spell!” warned Cali. “It has a duration. Don’t let her cast it again!”

Idri blitzed forward, hiding herself behind pillars. She timed her movements with the recharge period between each shot sequence to tread closer to Merlin. The archmage anticipated this, and deftly formed together another spell with one hand. Clenching her fist, the pillar Idri was hidden behind suddenly collapsed onto itself, forming into a ball of white brick that charged at her. Momentum built into its structure thanks to the flat nature of the platform, and it caught up to Idri in a few short moments. She raised Kranstor to shield herself from the blow.

Cali reared back and centered her fingers on the edge of the handle before throwing it straight for Merlin, who noticed the attack immediately and used her other hand to simply swat it away with Telekinesis. Still, the momentary lapse in concentration allowed Idri to slide out of the ball’s path of destruction. Crash it went into the wall, coughing up a cloud of dust.

She’s using both her hands to cast two spells at the same time. Idri thought to herself. I think… They mentioned in school that spells needed somatic components. I know!

Now only a few steps from her, Idri bore down on Merlin once again, sending even more strikes now aimed for her hands. Merlin retreated back again, preparing to cast another retaliatory spell to make space.

“I hold no ill intent to you, Madam.” Cali slid in from behind right as Idri’s assault created a blind spot, and in one hasty motion drove the blade straight into her hand, paralyzing it. “But you are threatening the people I care for.”

Merlin reeled in pain, clenching her hand, but strangely enough, no blood poured from the wound nor did a scream from her lips pierce the area. Her untouched hand reached for the air, pulling from nothing a familiar silver longsword that she stabbed at Idri.

“Arislaapi…”

The memories came flooding back. Fensi’s Blade. What scarred Raoul’s eye. It caught Idri off guard, rendering her defense sloppy. The slash broke through her form and was aimed straight for her chest—only for Cali to throw herself in the way and narrowly deflect it with her dagger. Strength from the spell-formed blade’s strike sent them both flying back again, this time in the direction of the train. They crashed through the windows, shattering the glass and were poised to land terribly.

“...magai-padi batur!”

Time ceased for two seconds. Avil leapt up, catching both Idri and Cali before setting them down just as time ran again. He sighed in relief and returned to Raoul, who was still breathing heavily but otherwise stable. Just in the nick of time, the doors began to slide shut, and the train slowly whirred off onto its path, leaving Merlin in the dust, who wasn’t even making any attempt at following.

“I knew it…” Raoul cursed. “It’s not her.”

“What?” questioned Avil. “Are you sure? She’s literally the spitting image of Merlin.”

“Merlin…” he continued through his pain. “Mother… doesn’t personally do things herself. She’s too busy for that. She makes others do it for her, or creates someone to. And that Merlin that Idri and Cali fought… it acted slightly differently from the original, and didn’t use any high-tier spells. All three or below. It didn’t bleed. The limitations assigned to the Clone spell. It’s a Clone…!”