The coated man didn`t wait for a response, only moved with instinct of a predator and grace of a lady, unmatched by Kaelen`s shaky legs that he was thrown off of so many times today.
Behind the hunter, thugs lit up their torches again and with the fire, went into the houses. Their faces lit up with fire and cruelty, while the huts filled with smoke and screams.
"MIRA!! RUN" Kaelen`s voice cracked in the middle of the scream - the coat was already at him. Without a weapon, without a torch, he rushed at him and the momentum went through the fist into the ribs.
Strike back The black feather hissed Or we die
"I can`t ...." Kaelen`s body finally gave up; blood out of his mouth mixed with moss and all other vomit from inside. Ears ringing in his head, lack of air was exhausting him.
Why do you keep on hesitating
KILL HIM
Thugs started to leave the houses, most of them grabbing the slaves and throwing them outside. And one of them had a bunch of red hairs attached to a girl`s face. Her screams pierced through the ringing.
KILL HIM
The coat reached down, grabbed Kaelen`s shirt by the collar and hauled him up for a simple blow to finish him off.
"You are so much more annoying than you think boy"
Through the blood in his neck and the foggy mind, he only heard the dark feather scream in his head over and over again. And so...he listened.
Counter grab the coat and hold on with all the might he had.
"Cute" The fist struck his face in response. But it didn`t kill him
"Breath of....hollow..." Kaelen managed to whisper out.
And instead of finishing the incantation, the last words ripped out of his throat, not fully his own but said straight from the black feather inside him.
"VOID. DISAPPEAR. AWAY. DIE"
Each word came out of his mouth at the same time, each with different tone, each made by almost a different person.
The wind was once again the explosion of force around Kaelen, everything commanded to move, everything asked to die.
Most of the objects listened, smoke cleared, fire died.
"Well well. The fat man spoke true"
The coat however, lived.
Only visible response from him was the smoke surrounding him and a bright glow on his chest, where a small pendant ended with a yellow glowing feather.
"The boy has found it. Pardon me in that case" He took of the mask and dropped the coat to the ground "My name is Pierre de Jon Carre, I have been hired by your owner to kill you"
With a swift and soft move of his hat he bowed down as a greeting
"I don`t care" Kaelen grabbed his breath in the meantime and straightened himself up
"Hehe" As he put the hat back on, Pierre made a smile with his disfigured face "I`m aware"
Kaelen repeated the incantation, much calmer and fully following the instructions, the wind blew - and nothing really happened.
"Do you know only one? I expected more" Pierre de Jon Carre raised his hand and grabbed the air around it, smoke from around gathered and changed into flames, those re made the smoke which again, gathered. The cycle repeated until he held a glowing ball of fire and smoke, that changed into one another constantly.
"Ball of fire, ball of smoke" He begun his own chanting "Will of fire, Burn them all" the sphere moved forward, not fast, but not slow either.
RUN
Kaelen rolled and sprinted away as fast as possible, yet still he got caught up in the smoke which of course, turned into flames and covered his legs.
He screamed with pain but kept on moving forward.
SWAMP. WATER. MUD. GO
Unlucky for Pierre, they were fighting on the terrain far more suited for those of lowly birth; the swamp.
Kaelen dropped into a puddle, which turned out to be much deeper than expected, swallowing him whole into the murky water and his leg started to sizzle instantly.
Good. Stay under. Stay hidden
Pierre looked at the waving water and calmly prepared the next spell.
"Why are you like this boy" His voice was still loud under the water and through the bubbles from the flame "You have found a gift, a part of an Angel. Why do you use it like you`re a fucking rat running away. "
The fire condensed into a tiny speck that glowed twice as bright, piercing the water and the mud. Kaelen waited.
"That feather costs a fortune yet you look like you haven`t seen gold in your life. Its a waste.
It will rot with you, just like everything around here"
Pierre`s hand rose up prepared to throw the ball of flame down at him.
"You will rot with us then" Kaelen jumped from the bottom of the water with both his hands behind him, and when his head rose up above it, he shouted out the spell for the third time.
The green water pulled out of the puddle and collapsed on the enemy, his fire evaporated and blasted into steam with the loudest noise they both ever heard.
Kaelen landed on the ground and fell over immediately from the noise, but he was the lucky one, his ear ringing even more than before and not working at this point. Pierre was the one right next to the blast, and not only his ear was not working, it didn`t exist anymore.
"YOU!!!.....I`LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" he finally looked like he belonged in the swamps with the slaves he was hunting ; burned clothes, disfigured face, no eye and no ear, burns and mud all over him.
"he .. he ... he .. sure. Come and try" Kaelen stood up and unclogged his ear, without much effect, but then started walking towards him. Running almost.
He had a feeling; if Pierre wasn`t dead , he`ll end him soon. And that can`t happen now. The one who`ll kill the other one faster will survive.
Watch out for his fingers
The hunter raised his arm forward with his hand spread open
He will not repeat the same thing again
Instead of smoke or fire, a small bright spark appeared on his pink finger.
He will not make the same chant again
The spark jumped between his fingers creating a fork of yellow lightning that slowly became bigger and brighter.
He will not miss this time
"Quiet feather" Under his breath during running
The hand with lightning turned into a finger gun with a bulb at the end of it.
"DIE YOU LITTLE FUCKI.."
Before he could end the sentence and the spell, Kaelen was already at him.
His fist - at his face.
Pierre was pushed back and the lightning ball dispelled.
"You!..."
Another hit
"GOD DAMN!"
And another
"Bastard"
And more.
Hit after hit, Kaelen kept moving forward and his fist lunching towards the enemy. No spells, no incantations, no feather talking.
Just physical force.
But his stamina hit bottom, as both man burned and tired, bleeding and bruised were barely standing up straight.
In the smoke of the slave houses burning, both their feathers started to glow.
One bright yellow, the other dark purple.
End this NOW
"Ball of fire.....COUGH..... ball of smoke" Kaelen had the sound of the enemy`s spell in his mind
"That`s....mine" Pierre started his own chant, but the fire was tiny and cold
"Wall of fire... burn "
And the fire was born, small and dark. But hotter, much hotter. And in Kaelen`s control.
"Impossible " Pierre`s spell died on its own and left him standing with nothing, watching the dark fire grow in size. "How can a black feather..."
"Die" Without much thought, the fire was thrown. On contact, Pierre was turned into coal and ember. Nothing other than black was seen were he stood.
Bit after bit, the coal broke and turned into a pile of dust.
After seconds, there was nothing but a charred ground with a dark pile of sand, with a tiny little white feather on top of it.
Kaelen limped towards it. And the moment in went near the dark gem, he lost consciousness.
His body fell on the coal dust, hiding him in it, making it look very convincingly as if he was the one burned alive. And the rest- was unknown to him.