A cold sweat ran down my face. My heart was pounding in my chest; each pound of its drum rattled my body. Tia understood that this hooded assailant was indeed a threat. All three of us stood still; we knew that if we moved wrong first, it could be the deciding factor of this encounter. The hooded assailant decided to make the first step; underestimating our age and size, he approached us.

"Guess I'll kill her first and take you away!" The rapid man pointed his blade directly at Tia.

Without a second thought, I tackled her to the floor. His short sword ripped through the top part of my shoulder. Blood quickly dripped to the floor, but I knew I had to act; this man was here to kill.

I quickly got up and put myself between him and Tia, guarding her with my life. She sat terrified; a look of horror filled her expression.

"Hmph, you're much quicker than I thought you would be. But I am not here to kill you; just stay still while I make sure she never speaks a word of my presence, and we can be on our way!"

He races toward us again; I draw my dagger and barely deflect the blade from hitting Tia. The strength behind his strike rattles my arm. I feel a powerful grip on my shoulder as he throws me to the side, taking me out of the equation. I hit a table and fall over it, cracking my hit against the wood; blood drips from my forehead.

"Now, where were we?" His blade drips my blood onto the floor. He raises his sword in the air and attempts to plunge it into Tia.

Clink!

His sword is quickly knocked out of his hand as I throw my dagger, just perfectly hitting his hilt and slicing a finger in the process. A lucky shot indeed, but I quickly leap and latch onto his face, my nails digging into his eyes; he struggles to push me off.

"Tia! Hurry! Get out of here and warn my father, the guards, anyone!" I plead to her, ripping my voice in the process.

"A-Ahhh!!" Tia screams and runs toward the door.

"Urgh, can't have that!"

Suddenly, the hooded figure punches me in the face, splitting my lip. I flop to the floor in a daze as he turns and grabs Tia by the hair and soon her throat, strangling her with no remorse.

Her gasps of trying to breathe are brutal in nature. The figures' eyes filled with bloodlust and drive. A smile pokes through his face mask as he relishes the feeling of draining the life out of her.

"LET GO OF HER!"

With a beastly roar, tears welling in my eyes, static and tiny sparks of electricity travel along my arm, and within my hand; a bolt of lightning spins around and propels itself toward the assailant, striking him in the back.

The loud ringing of the lightning shatters the glass of the windows; the shards fly past my face, leaving minor cuts that begin to drip even more crimson upon my face. But soon, my expression drops dead silent as the hooded figure stands tall, a dark smoke trails off his back. A wicked smile peeks through his mask as he turns his head toward me.

"You have the curse too... Oh, this is even more of a treat!"

He tosses Tia to the side; she barely gasps for air and is incapacitated. He picks up his sword from the ground, and I watch as a soft chill enters the atmosphere. Ice begins to gather on his blade and arm.

He is a descendent.

"Not only is the child of Aris cursed, but also a decedent. The Empire will make good use of you."

"The Empire...!?" I yell out.

The figure refuses to respond and rushes at me, reaching out; a cold aura leaves his hand and punches me in my left arm. A burning chill runs up my arm. The pain causes a sudden cry of panic. But I keep my head raised, and a bolt of lightning charges within my hand. I just need to hit him where it will kill him, I think to myself over and over again in that split second as the crackling energy whips out of my hand, and the numbing feeling shoots throughout my hand and arm.

Boom!

The bolt is ducked out of the way and slams into the wall, causing it to crack and nearly fall apart. Tia coughs violently as she grabs my dagger and quickly tosses it over to me during the exchange. I catch it and defend against his blade.

Clink

The cold blade sparks against the small blade in my hand, and I cannot keep a good grip due to the numbing feeling in my hand; my posture is broken. He slams his fist into my chest; I cough with pained grunts before he kicks me into a chair, breaking it. Crimson trails down my head further, and my shoulder begins to feel numb from earlier.

"Hmph, you are powerful but lack the experience. That will be fixed. Now, you can die now."

"Caleb!" Tia's raspy voice rings out. My ears catch the sudden cry, a spark of life pulses through my body, and I roll to my feet and charge the man. He turns and expects me to attack wildly, but I channel my next bolt into my hand.

"Lightning bolt!"

I shout and aim it straight at his head. He ducks as I predict, and I redirect the flow of energy in my hand, and it shoots up my arm. The feeling is intense, but I hold the blast and hit his sword, shattering the blade in half, leaving him with nothing to attack physically with.

But soon, the strained limit of my magic locks my arm stiff; I quickly lift the arm before I lose all sense of movement. I hold my dagger, charge forward, and strike at the vulnerable figure. I miss only by a hair and slash off his mask; it falls to the floor.

"No!"

Tia looks at me and attempts to reach for the door and leave. The man notices and attempts to kick her, but I am faster at that moment; I leap forward and stab into his leg. The blood splashes across, and he grunts from the pain. This doesn't stop his momentum; he only adjusts to slam me into her.

Tumbling together, I find myself nearing the end of my strength. Knowing that it is life or death, I channel my last shot in my hand, figuring if I can find an opening, the blast will take him out no matter where it hits him.

"Grrr! You got guts, I'll give you that!"

I feel the end of his foot slam into my chest, blood quickly escaping my lips as I spit it up. My eyes flicker back and forth, my vision hazy; I raise my hand and unleash my strongest spell with all my might.

The sparks blast alive in my hand one last time, and the violent energy blasts forward, aimed at his chest. With such speed, however, he focuses his power and creates a field of ice on his hand, which barely withstands the bolt. Drips of crimson trail from his hand, but still functional.

Parts of my hand and up my arm begin to bruise quickly, and soon, blood pierces through my hand and arm. I scream in pain as the blood vessels in my arm take on the price of using my magic. Defeated, I feel a pulse of pain flow across my entire body. A burning sensation causes my body to tense up.

"Oh? Were you the one who killed my animals? Gahh and they even bit you as well. Well shit, their poisoned fangs will kill you at this rate." 

He reaches into his pouch, pulls out a flask, and tries to give it to me. After my refusal, he lifts me by the throat; I struggle to breathe as the acclaimed poison has been slowly working its way through my system.

"I don't have time for this shit! If you promise to take the cure, I won't kill her. They want you alive. If you accept my terms, I will cure you and take her back alive as well. It is no use fighting anymore; you are empty on magic; it couldn't hurt me even if you tried." He speaks with a rushed tone. He knows his time is running out to save me from the poison, but the massive commotion we caused in the last few minutes has definitely stirred my father and guards to investigate.

Tia, a small trail of blood past her lip, weakly looks at me and raises her hand toward me. Her eyes tell me to fight, to not worry about her. Of course, I will worry about her; I don't know what he will do to her, even if he does keep her alive like he said. I weigh my options until a conclusion is reached. I barely keep smiling as I look at the man, a cocky yet assured smile.

"Don't think that magic is something you can use until you're out...-" I speak harshly—the man's expression shifts.

"What are you-"

"-Because I am not out yet!"

With a sudden transition, I grab his head, channeling the rest of my power into my hands; I quickly theorize, making him a vector for my output. Knowing that the blowback of my last attempt is most likely fatal, I also make sure to redirect to him.

The sudden bright glow of sparks crackles and ignites around my hands; the blinding twisting energy pulsates out of my hands and directly into his skull. He screams in pain as the overwhelming power bashes his head and body.

The vial of the cure shatters in his hand from the electric flow of energy that goes through it.

Without stopping, I push past the limit of my magic, curse, and power.

"DIE!!" Screaming as loud as I could, I force the last of my strength once again.

The light envelops my hands, and my grip tightens. The pulsing energy shoots into his skull and the reaction of the combustive energy expands. The figure's head implodes into a vile mess in that split second of the spell cast. The gushing sound of gore filters the room as the explosion of his head and skull splashes across my hands and body.

The corpse lets go of me, and I crash to the ground; having achieved a new use of my magic, I begin to wither as the bashing sound of the doors slam open, the blurry mass of men in armor and my father rush over to me and Tia.

I can't make out what they say, but a small smile appears on my face as the thought of saving Tia is the last thing running through my head before I black out into the unforeseen darkness that is the abyss.