• Chapter 5: Truth, Doubt, and Regret

    Deckard and Estellise slowly dance around to the music in the middle of town. "You are really good at this you know. It makes me wonder why you lied to me about be able to dance." Estellise says to him as she keeps eye contact, trying to keep up with him and make sure she didn't step on his feet or him on hers. "I wanted to surprise you with it. Just when you'd thought you knew everything about me, I came out with something completely new." he smirks at her with pride. "Hey... if something... bad were ever to happen to me, would you come save me?" Estellise speaks with a bit of worry in her voice. Deckard looks at her for a moment before replying, a strong sense of confidence in his voice. "Of course I would, no matter what happens I'll always come save you." Deckard slowly begins opening his eyes, waking up from a dream that he'd been having ever since that night two years ago when Estellise went missing. 'Would you come save me?' Those words repeated themselves in his mind over and over again.

    "Deckard, hurry up and get out of bed. You said you wanted to duel me again today." Kaneas shouts into his room loudly. Though his background was still very mysterious, that person had been taking care of Deckard for the last two years and also helped him learn to control the power of Magic. At times, Kaneas was a bit rude and unruly, but he never went back on his words. He made for a great teacher, but that was only because Deckard also had control over Air magic. Within just a mere two years, Deckard had almost mastered everything that he had been taught. His sheer willpower to succeed was the driving force behind everything that he did, and there was no way that he was ever going to give up searching for Estellise.

    He crawls out of bed, gets dressed, and eats before heading outside. "All right, I'm ready." Kaneas stops leaning against a nearby tree and walks over to a large open clearing, as does Deckard. "The terms still stand the same. If you can best me in a duel, you're free to search for your friend." The two of them stand still for a moment, each muttering words to chant a spell. At almost the same times, currents of wind surround both of them, their clothing slightly fluttering up around them in the air. Suddenly, the two of them disappear and then a few sonic booms are heard in the area. At the location of each sonic boom, there is a small cracked crater in the ground, and whatever trees were nearby. Almost as soon they were gone, they appear again, each standing in the others original spot. "You've gotten better..." Kaneas slowly turns his head to look at Deckard, as his cloak becomes completely tattered.

    The two of them face each other once more and rush towards the other, this time using their own speed instead of enhancing it with magic. Kaneas’ tattered cloak suddenly floats off in many pieces as he begins running, leaving him with only his normal clothing now. “I really liked that cloak!” he shouts as the two of them throw punches towards the other, their two fists crashing together and creating a small sonic boom that pushes both of them back about seven feet. It was then that it became clear that while Kaneas was running his mouth, Deckard was chanting a spell in preparation for his next attack. Kaneas’ eyes suddenly open widely as he realizes what his opponent was doing. “Damn… I didn’t think he could chant in the middle of a physical attack!” Deckard brings both arms out in front of him and cups his hands towards each other but still about 4 inches away. There is suddenly a bright, blue sparkle of lights as a ball of lightning is created between his hands. The lightning ball flashes for a brief moment again and quickly disappears. Kaneas laughs loudly, “Looks like you still need some more training! Now it’s my turn!” Kaneas beings quickly chanting faster than Deckard had, and in almost two-thirds the time it took for Deckard he creates the same ball of lightning in his palm. Instead of disappearing, the ball of lightning stays, or rather it is thrown by Kaneas into Deckard’s general direction.

    The ball of lightning crackles on its path towards Deckard and suddenly explodes as Kaneas makes a fist with the hand that threw it. The area surrounding Deckard becomes a field of lightning, making it very difficult to see just what was going on. The lightning strikes come to an end almost as quickly as they appeared, but Deckard was untouched and yet he was still standing in the same spot. Kaneas’ eyes open widely again, suddenly realizing what Deckard had done to protect himself. In the few seconds before the lightning exploded around him, Deckard had created a ‘barrier’. It was something that Kaneas could never hope to achieve, since barrier magic was restricted to sorcerers who use Light magic. Looking closer, it was clear that Deckard was still chanting, in fact it was clear to tell that he never stopped chanting. “Kaneas! I hope you’re ready for this, because I’m not holding back!” Deckard shouts at his teacher. Several strong, sudden gusts of wind quickly surround the area Kaneas was standing at. In just a mere second, a large twister appears as the gusts increase in number and become faster and stronger. “You were wrong about something.” Deckard shouts loudly. “My lightning ball didn’t disappear like you thought it did, I made it disappear on purpose. I was delaying the spell.” He shouts again as he holds his left and right hands out diagonally towards the ground away from his body. In his right palm, the ball of lightning suddenly forms, and in his left forms a ball of pure white light. He throws the ball of lightning directly into the twister, forces it to explode and then throws the ball of light straight up into the air above Kaneas and the twister.

    The lightning fuses with the twister for a moment, creating a twister of swirling lightning that nothing inside could escape from. Kaneas’ cries of pain echo throughout the entire area, but it almost seemed like he was laughing at the same time. Kaneas, after all, was an Air sorcerer too so something like that didn’t hurt him as much as a normal person. His body had already gotten used to it and the cries of pain are completely switched out with menacing laughter. Deckard, still holding his left hand up to the sky where the ball was thrown suddenly clenches his fist and throws his hand down towards the ground. The ball of light explodes, but instead of becoming shrapnel like the ball of lightning did, it becomes a barrage of light arrows that rain down upon Kaneas. The barrage goes on for a little less than 15 seconds, ending shortly after the twister did. The force of the arrows hitting the ground pushes the dust up into the air and makes it impossible to see the result of the attack. A few of the light arrows were still stuck in the ground, but most of them had already shattered and disappeared. As the dust finally clears, Kaneas is in the center of it all, his clothing tattered and his body tired. Still sitting with his legs underneath him on the ground, he suddenly gives a faint grin towards Deckard and collapses onto the ground. “A…delayed spell…huh? Never thought…about doing something…like that…”

    Deckard, still standing firmly, suddenly collapses down onto a knee to catch his breath from when he was hit by Kaneas’ earlier attack. All along his clothing, there were several small cuts and even smaller cuts on his skin where his clothing was cut. Kaneas, being hit by almost the same attack, had suffered from the same type of cuts, but he was also hit by Deckard's other and more powerful attack. "With this level of power, I should be able to search safely..." he speaks slowly and pants heavily. Normally, just using that speed technique once or twice wasn't something that would make him this tired, but within just a mere minute worth of time the two of them had completed a battle that would have normally taken over twenty minutes. Deckard had also exerted a lot of magical energy by using his delayed spell technique, casting the barrier, and from channeling his energy for so long. Even the most advanced Martial Sorcerers would have become tired from all the casting and fighting that had gone on only moments before.

    Deckard slowly regains his breath and goes over to help Kaneas, healing him up a bit with his last delayed spell he had saved up. "I'm heading out to search for her as soon as I get my cuts treated." Kaneas coughs for a moment. "What about my cuts?" he frowns. "Do I not get any aid from my student, whom I care so much about?" Deckard laughs at the words that come from his teacher's mouth. "You don't care as much as you'd like me to think." he says as he drops Kaneas onto the couch inside the house. Almost as soon as he does, he walks into his bedroom to begin treating the minor cuts all over his body. "Hmph... I wonder if this is all right, letting him go like this." Kaneas closes his eyes and begins to think deeply about everything that had gone on the past two years.

    A few hours pass by before Deckard finally comes out from the bedroom. He was wearing a custom designed set of clothing that he hired one of the local girls to make. He left the design and originality entirely up to her, but the outcome came out better than he could have imagined. His boots had a small metal patch on the front and top, and they went up above his ankles a few inches. The inside of the boots were insulated in order to keep his feet warm at cold temperatures, but they also didn't make his feet overly hot. His leggings and shirt were also insulated in the same fashion, but they were made from a material that allowed him to easily move around and make use of his speed without any hindrances. Around his waist, in addition to two swords--one on each side--, there was a black belt that was diagonally tilted downwards towards his left leg. There was a design of a dragon all across the belt on the outer side, and it was worn only for fashion. The leggings he wore were blue, as was his shirt for the most part, and they were thicker and baggier in the area above his knee rather than being almost skin tight like the lower part was. His shirt was fashioned in the same manner, being tight near the lower arm and baggy near the upper arm. In the chest area of his shirt, there was a V shaped opening that allowed you to see the black undershirt that he wore. Around his neck, there was a strange pure white scarf-like cloak. It was more like a cloak than a scarf simply due to its sheer size and length. It split out into three lengths. The two outer lengths of the cloak curled around towards the front of his body while the middle length almost looked as if it were a cape. No matter how you looked at the cloak, it seemed like it would be a death-trap in battle. The material it was made out of was extremely expensive however, and it was designed as an alternative to heavy armor. The cloak itself weighed almost two or three times the weight of the rest of the clothing he wore, but it had its purpose. It was capable of stopping an arrow, without the arrow even being able to pierce the inner layer of material.

    "I see you've been using your earnings to fashion yourself something pretty expensive there." Kaneas looks over at Deckard as he comes out of the room. "I'll be heading out now, thanks for everything you've done for me." Kaneas laughs for a moment. "You make it seem like you're going alone." Deckard's eyes suddenly open widely in surprise. "I'm going with you. I have to keep an eye on your training, after all." Deckard laughs loudly for a moment before he finally speaks. "That is perfectly fine with me. The more firepower I have to work with, the easier the task will be. If we run into Toren, you can deal with him instead of me having to also." Kaneas shakes his head when Deckard finishes. "You fight your own battles. I'm just going to make sure you're not using my training for something bad. That doesn't mean I am not going to help you, but don't expect to rely on me to help every time something comes up." Deckard hesitates for a moment before nodding, acknowledging the fact that he agreed with what Kaneas had just said.

    The two of them leave the house and begin running along the road for awhile without any sign of knowing where they were heading. "Do you even know where we are going first?" Kaneas looks over at his new partner as they run. "I figured we could check out the mountains nearby where my home once was. There was a rumor a long time ago about a group of bandits that suddenly made the mountain their new home. They took control over the mine in the mountains and prevented the villagers from getting anywhere near it." Kaneas returns to looking ahead as the two of them continue running.

    Several hours passed before their destination was reached. By the time of their arrival night had already fallen upon them, and although it allowed them to move about much more easily it was also a hindrance in that they couldn't see as well. The two of them found a high place that was difficult to be seen, and began to look over out at one of the small campfires set up by the bandits. "Hey! Get back to work you lazy bums! Just because Toren isn't here doesn't mean that he won't show up at any moment." One of the larger bandits who seemed as though he was in charge begins to shout at the ones sitting down. "Toren hasn't shown up around here for almost a year and a half now. There's no way he is going to come back at all. We shouldn't even be here! We should just take the gems and ores we've mined from inside the mine, sell them, and then form our own group of bandits!" The large one twitches a bit at the words that had come from the mouth of his comrade. "Toren would have you dead the moment he found you. You'd spend most of your life just running away from everyone that he'd send after you. Now get back to work!"

    "We know that they are in league with Toren, so maybe we can-" Kaneas is quickly interrupted as Deckard stands up and leaps down towards the campfire. Kaneas grits his teeth, hesitating to decide if he should follow or remain where he was. "That idiot!" he says softly to himself, so as not to alert anyone to his position. The moment Deckard lands, every single bandit jumps to their feet and unsheathes their weapons. "I'm only going to ask this one time so listen clearly. Two years ago Toren laid siege to the village that was nearby here. There were only two survivors that night, one of them being a girl with long brown hair. What happened to that girl? Where is she?!" Deckard exclaims loudly at the bandits. "Heh, you must be the punk that Toren was hired to kill. As for the girl, we know nothing. But if Toren found her, then it is very likely that she is either dead or she was sold off as a slave in the underground market. If we kill you and bring you to Toren, we'll be rewarded handsomely." The bandit who spoke grins wickedly and gives a signal for some of the bandits to loose their arrows upon Deckard.

    There are six arrows fired off all at the same time, but from different angles and distances. A gust of wind quickly twirls around Deckard, causing his cloak to wrap around him in the shape of a sphere. All six of the arrows hit the cloak at different intervals, but none of them make it past the now spherical shaped cloak surrounding their target and they are instead deflected harmlessly towards the ground. The cloak returns to its original position and Deckard rushes towards each of the archers, taking them out one by one and leaving a long trail of dust behind him from the speed at which he was moving. In just a mere 3 seconds, all six of the archers were down on the ground and Deckard had returned to his original position. He unsheathes both of the swords carried on his sides in preparation for his next attack. "I won't kill you, but none of you will walk away from this battle unscathed. I will avenge my village!" he shouts and runs towards the supposed leader of the bunch, hoping to crush their spirits by defeating the strongest first.

    His target follows the same idea and rushes towards his young opponent. The two of them swing a sword each and clashes, sending a few sparks onto the ground nearby. Already, Deckard had an advantage over his bulky opponent and it was because he still had a sword in his other hand. He quickly swings the other sword and slashes his opponent’s hands. Although the hands were not cut off, this man would never again be able to hold a weapon in his hands. Deciding to finish the battle quickly as the bandit screamed in pain, Deckard spins around quickly in the air and kicks his opponent in the head, knocking him unconscious almost instantly and knocking him down. The remaining bandits suddenly realized the strength of their opponent, threw down their weapons, and frantically began to run away. Deckard watches them, questioning whether he should go after them but ends up letting them go since they didn't know anything in the first place. "I suppose we can bring them with us to a nearby city and turn them into the town guard. Most of the bandits that are associated with Toren are wanted for some crime or another." Kaneas comes out from the shadows as he speaks.

    "I'm surprised though, you left all of them alive even though they might have been part of the raid on your village." Deckard looks at Kaneas as he finishes speaking. "I have no need to kill any of them. I do not have the right to take their lives from them, only the authorities can decide what fate will come upon them now." Kaneas sighs and then looks up at the moon in the night sky. "One day you will have to wake up from that method of thinking. This world is filled with hatred, greed, and evil desires. Every single living being in this world has the potential to become a tyrant or mass murderer. If you let them off for their sins, it only allows them to repeat the same action a second time." Kaneas begins to tie ropes around the hands of each bandit that was still lying unconscious on the ground.

    After taking them to a nearby city the next day, the two of them begin walking around separately to purchase food and supplies. "Man, it sure is tough in this city when those bandits start causing a ruckus." a nearby male citizen speaks to another. "Yeah, and the town guard has their hands full dealing with raids from Toren's gang too. So us citizens are stuck getting mugged by any bandit that walks the street." the two of them continue to talk about the recent events that were happening in town for awhile before Deckard finally decides to head out and meet back up with Kaneas. Just as he is beginning to leave, one of them says something that instantly sparks his interest. "Did you see that female swordsman the other day? Apparently, she's been going from town to town helping the local citizens with the bandit problems. It was strange seeing such a beautiful young woman wielding a sword and beating bandits up!" Deckard quickly turns his head towards the man speaking.