Smoke and Fire
I was still gasping for breath, ribs aching, body trembling. Then he appeared.
A man stepped out of nowhere. Beard thick, hair long, clothes faded and stained like he hadn't seen a shower in years. But it wasn't his appearance that caught me.
It was his aura.
It glowed White and grey. Majestic. Familiar.
Is he like me? I thought. I didn't speak. Just watched.
Without a word, the wild man charged Light.
His movements were fluid, precise, natural, like water flowing downhill. But Light wasn't some pushover. He blocked, dodged, countered. They danced in violence, testing each other, waiting for the first clean strike.
Light landed it.
A sudden kick to the chest sent the man stumbling backward. Then Light pressed the advantage into perfect combos, each hit sounding like bone cracking under steel.
I grabbed my side, wincing. Damn. I forgot my ribs are still broken.
I looked over. Luke was conscious now, watching the fight with wide eyes.
Then momentum shifted.
The wild man, bloodied but unfazed, threw a brutal left hook. It landed square on Light's jaw. Light tried to counter, but the man was already moving now the enforcer, now the storm.
He pinned Light to a tree.
Body shot. Head shot. Body. Head.
Over and over, like a professional boxer.
Luke and I shouted, "Finish him!"
And maybe he heard us because his strikes grew faster, stronger, more precise. Light looked dazed. Disoriented. Beaten.
Then Light roared.
"Enough!"
Flames erupted around him, his aura now burning, eyes bloodshot red.
"I will not be defeated by a homeless man!"
He charged.
Before I could react, Light landed four punches so fast I didn't even see the first three. The stranger staggered, then Light kicked him hard in the chest, sending him flying.
He landed beside me, coughing, blood on his lips.
"Whoever you are," he said in a country drawl, "you made this rich snob mad."
Then he leaned in, whispering:
"When I say 'now,' run."
Before I could respond, he was already back on his feet, taunting Light.
"My grandma hits harder than you!"
It backfired.
Light unleashed his full fury—his aura now a raging inferno.
He wound up for a devastating blow.
But the stranger moved first.
He threw something to the ground black smoke erupted, thick and fast.
Then he burst from the cloud, sprinting straight toward me.
He grabbed my arm, looked at Luke, and screamed:
"RUN!"