The man under me tried to scream as my fingers circled his throat, the intense heat of the flames dancing on my hand too much for him. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t get the chance to make a noise as my hand pressed down on his trachea, blocking his breath. With my other hand, I rained down strike after strike on his face, painting his nose bloody. But before I could wail on him for too long, the second man swung at me from behind. Without even looking, I ducked and rolled off of the man, shooting to my feet as soon as I cleared the sword.
The man swung at me again, stepping over his comrade like he didn’t even exist. I stepped back just enough to dodge, lobbing whatever fire I had gathered in my palm at the man’s chest as I did. The move was crude – the fire was barely even shaped enough to be considered a fireball – but it was effective enough. The fire hit his chest and burned for a little before the man’s Flux snuffed it out.
The man grit his teeth through the pain and thrust his sword forward, but I leaned to the side the second before the tip found my shoulder, moving just enough that it whizzed past me. In the same movement, I reached out with a flaming hand, aiming to grab the man’s face.
The pirate had better reflexes than I’d given him credit for, however. He couldn’t cancel out his momentum in the time he had, but he still managed to lean back just enough to get out of my reach. Unfortunately for him, I reacted in time, pushing the fire off of my hand and onto his face.
The man screamed as the flames engulfed his head, his arms swinging wildly as he tried to snuff the flame out.
As he did, the man behind me, whom Ren was fighting, suddenly changed opponents. The metal-creating one who killed Leonard turned to me as he judged Ren to be too far away to intervene, swinging down on my head with a glistening blade.
I sensed the blow coming, but I didn’t even bother attempting to dodge. Instead, I aimed my hand at the second pirate I’d been fighting, who was just now getting back up after completing a Revive. Gathering fire at the center of my palm, I squeezed it into as compact of a ball as I could.
Just as the blade was about to crash onto my scalp, the man wielding it was knocked to the side as Ren’s walking stick swung hard on his ribs. The blade just barely missed my head as it fell to the side.
As the blade clattered to the ground beside me, the ball finally finished forming. It was about the size of a pearl, throwing off rays of light like a miniature sun.
Satisfied with how it looked, I shot the thing forward at the man who had just gotten to his feet. It flew like a bullet, and did exactly what I’d been hoping it would do.
The moment it came into contact with the man, the little golden pearl exploded with the force of a small grenade, tossing the pirate back like a ragdoll. Flames coated his limbs and torso, burning with ferocity as he flew.
With a blank face that reflected none of the usual happiness that followed success, I turned back to see how Ren was doing. My hand was already creating another ball, getting ready to launch it at whoever was open.
As I watched, Ren quickly found himself in a predicament. He had an easy hit on the man in front of him, one that would do enough damage to put the pirate out of the fight for a while. However, the man behind Ren was also charging at him, a stone spear aimed at his back.
My mini bomb had just finished forming at the moment, and in one smooth movement, I launched the thing at the man with the stone spear.
It was close, but the thing reached the pirate before he could get to Ren, letting Ren complete his swing instead of having to dodge. The man Ren hit on the head was knocked unconscious for a moment. He staggered back, barely keeping his balance as he faded in and out of consciousness.
The pirate behind Ren had no idea what the little golden ball that came at him was, but he had enough sense to swing his spear at it before it hit him. The damage was mitigated, but the force still shattered the spear, hurling chunks of debris at his face and body. Some flame managed to catch him on his arms, adding to his disorienting haze.
Suddenly, the man behind me – whose face I had lit on fire a while ago – returned, charging at me with all the fury of a man whose face had just been lit on fire.
Without even turning back, I ducked low and rolled forward. Halfway through the roll, I saw a black blur above me as Ren leapt over me to clash with the man. Completing the roll, I quickly got to my feet and found myself right behind the man Ren had just hit. He was still dazed, wobbling in place as he stood.
I grabbed his shoulder and forcefully spun him around. With a flaming fist, I threw punch after punch at his chest, holding him in place by his shoulder. In his dazed state, the man had no chance against me, and each burning blow that landed on his skin only decreased his ability to defend himself. Like a punching bag, the man was forced to take every full-powered blow, and I unleashed all the frustration and rage that had been boiling within me since Leonard died.
Suddenly, a spurt of blood splashing my face and clothes brought me out of my hateful reverie, the slimy feeling on my cheek absolutely revolting.
I paused for a moment, my eyes widening as I took in my handiwork. The man’s shirt had been scorched off, and the imprints of my fist marked almost every inch of his burned skin. He was barely hanging on to life at that moment, with dark red blood dribbling down from his lips as his dull, almost lifeless eyes stared back at mine. Like unpolished steel, his eyes reflected only the barest glimmer of light, and my breath hitched, caught in my throat, as I locked eyes with him.
“Ruby! Finish him!” Ren’s voice came from behind me, as if he sensed my hesitation. He stood far back, keeping the last standing pirate busy for me. The other two were still out of it for the moment, which meant I had the perfect opportunity to permanently remove the pirate in front of me from the fight. Bringing the fight down to a three versus two would make our burden far easier, and the man undoubtedly deserved death. Given the nonchalance with which they’d ended Leonard, they were no strangers to killing. And if they were anything like Earthen pirates, their preferred prey were probably the weak and innocent.
In short, I would be doing the universe a favour by ending the man’s life, not to mention myself and Ren. And, most importantly, taking revenge for Leonard.
And yet, I couldn’t. I simply could not take the last step. I’d ruthlessly beaten the man within an inch of his life, and not a shred of remorse had flickered within me. Even now, as the pathetic sight of the half-dead man wobbled before me, I felt nothing in me. That little soft part of me that had bothered me so for my entire life remained utterly silent for once.
And yet, still, I couldn’t. As I looked upon the man before me, whose pale face and dead eyes looked far too similar to Bartholemew’s, I found myself unable to do what I had done so many years ago.
Frozen still in some strange state of introspection and confusion, I simply held the half-dead man up with one hand and stared into his eyes. Time stretched on, almost as if speeding up and slowing down simultaneously. A restless feeling clawed at my chest, the strange emotion unbearably uncomfortable.
Then, just as it seemed that I would spend eternity staring into the steel eyes of the pirate before me, a sudden blur sped past me, hitting me with a gust of wind.
My clothes buffeted a little as my eyes involuntarily closed, flinching at the sudden movement. A second later, they opened again to find the steel point of a blade poking through the pirate’s throat. The thin length of the steel was coated in scarlet, dripping with the same viscous liquid. The man’s dull eyes dimmed out entirely, darkening as the life drained out of them. His pupils rolled up, eyes widened in shock as if, even after all this time, his death had still come as a surprise.
A wet, gargling came from the man’s throat as the blade slid out of his neck, silenced only when he thudded to the floor. And behind him stood Ren, bloodied dagger in hand, watching me with hooded eyes.
The man under me tried to scream as my fingers circled his throat, the intense heat of the flames dancing on my hand too much for him. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t get the chance to make a noise as my hand pressed down on his trachea, blocking his breath. With my other hand, I rained down strike after strike on his face, painting his nose bloody. But before I could wail on him for too long, the second man swung at me from behind. Without even looking, I ducked and rolled off of the man, shooting to my feet as soon as I cleared the sword.
The man swung at me again, stepping over his comrade like he didn’t even exist. I stepped back just enough to dodge, lobbing whatever fire I had gathered in my palm at the man’s chest as I did. The move was crude – the fire was barely even shaped enough to be considered a fireball – but it was effective enough. The fire hit his chest and burned for a little before the man’s Flux snuffed it out.
The man grit his teeth through the pain and thrust his sword forward, but I leaned to the side the second before the tip found my shoulder, moving just enough that it whizzed past me. In the same movement, I reached out with a flaming hand, aiming to grab the man’s face.
The pirate had better reflexes than I’d given him credit for, however. He couldn’t cancel out his momentum in the time he had, but he still managed to lean back just enough to get out of my reach. Unfortunately for him, I reacted in time, pushing the fire off of my hand and onto his face.
The man screamed as the flames engulfed his head, his arms swinging wildly as he tried to snuff the flame out.
As he did, the man behind me, whom Ren was fighting, suddenly changed opponents. The metal-creating one who killed Leonard turned to me as he judged Ren to be too far away to intervene, swinging down on my head with a glistening blade.
I sensed the blow coming, but I didn’t even bother attempting to dodge. Instead, I aimed my hand at the second pirate I’d been fighting, who was just now getting back up after completing a Revive. Gathering fire at the center of my palm, I squeezed it into as compact of a ball as I could.
Just as the blade was about to crash onto my scalp, the man wielding it was knocked to the side as Ren’s walking stick swung hard on his ribs. The blade just barely missed my head as it fell to the side.
As the blade clattered to the ground beside me, the ball finally finished forming. It was about the size of a pearl, throwing off rays of light like a miniature sun.
Satisfied with how it looked, I shot the thing forward at the man who had just gotten to his feet. It flew like a bullet, and did exactly what I’d been hoping it would do.
The moment it came into contact with the man, the little golden pearl exploded with the force of a small grenade, tossing the pirate back like a ragdoll. Flames coated his limbs and torso, burning with ferocity as he flew.
With a blank face that reflected none of the usual happiness that followed success, I turned back to see how Ren was doing. My hand was already creating another ball, getting ready to launch it at whoever was open.
As I watched, Ren quickly found himself in a predicament. He had an easy hit on the man in front of him, one that would do enough damage to put the pirate out of the fight for a while. However, the man behind Ren was also charging at him, a stone spear aimed at his back.
My mini bomb had just finished forming at the moment, and in one smooth movement, I launched the thing at the man with the stone spear.
It was close, but the thing reached the pirate before he could get to Ren, letting Ren complete his swing instead of having to dodge. The man Ren hit on the head was knocked unconscious for a moment. He staggered back, barely keeping his balance as he faded in and out of consciousness.
The pirate behind Ren had no idea what the little golden ball that came at him was, but he had enough sense to swing his spear at it before it hit him. The damage was mitigated, but the force still shattered the spear, hurling chunks of debris at his face and body. Some flame managed to catch him on his arms, adding to his disorienting haze.
Suddenly, the man behind me – whose face I had lit on fire a while ago – returned, charging at me with all the fury of a man whose face had just been lit on fire.
Without even turning back, I ducked low and rolled forward. Halfway through the roll, I saw a black blur above me as Ren leapt over me to clash with the man. Completing the roll, I quickly got to my feet and found myself right behind the man Ren had just hit. He was still dazed, wobbling in place as he stood.
I grabbed his shoulder and forcefully spun him around. With a flaming fist, I threw punch after punch at his chest, holding him in place by his shoulder. In his dazed state, the man had no chance against me, and each burning blow that landed on his skin only decreased his ability to defend himself. Like a punching bag, the man was forced to take every full-powered blow, and I unleashed all the frustration and rage that had been boiling within me since Leonard died.
Suddenly, a spurt of blood splashing my face and clothes brought me out of my hateful reverie, the slimy feeling on my cheek absolutely revolting.
I paused for a moment, my eyes widening as I took in my handiwork. The man’s shirt had been scorched off, and the imprints of my fist marked almost every inch of his burned skin. He was barely hanging on to life at that moment, with dark red blood dribbling down from his lips as his dull, almost lifeless eyes stared back at mine. Like unpolished steel, his eyes reflected only the barest glimmer of light, and my breath hitched, caught in my throat, as I locked eyes with him.
“Ruby! Finish him!” Ren’s voice came from behind me, as if he sensed my hesitation. He stood far back, keeping the last standing pirate busy for me. The other two were still out of it for the moment, which meant I had the perfect opportunity to permanently remove the pirate in front of me from the fight. Bringing the fight down to a three versus two would make our burden far easier, and the man undoubtedly deserved death. Given the nonchalance with which they’d ended Leonard, they were no strangers to killing. And if they were anything like Earthen pirates, their preferred prey were probably the weak and innocent.
In short, I would be doing the universe a favour by ending the man’s life, not to mention myself and Ren. And, most importantly, taking revenge for Leonard.
And yet, I couldn’t. I simply could not take the last step. I’d ruthlessly beaten the man within an inch of his life, and not a shred of remorse had flickered within me. Even now, as the pathetic sight of the half-dead man wobbled before me, I felt nothing in me. That little soft part of me that had bothered me so for my entire life remained utterly silent for once.
And yet, still, I couldn’t. As I looked upon the man before me, whose pale face and dead eyes looked far too similar to Bartholemew’s, I found myself unable to do what I had done so many years ago.
Frozen still in some strange state of introspection and confusion, I simply held the half-dead man up with one hand and stared into his eyes. Time stretched on, almost as if speeding up and slowing down simultaneously. A restless feeling clawed at my chest, the strange emotion unbearably uncomfortable.
Then, just as it seemed that I would spend eternity staring into the steel eyes of the pirate before me, a sudden blur sped past me, hitting me with a gust of wind.
My clothes buffeted a little as my eyes involuntarily closed, flinching at the sudden movement. A second later, they opened again to find the steel point of a blade poking through the pirate’s throat. The thin length of the steel was coated in scarlet, dripping with the same viscous liquid. The man’s dull eyes dimmed out entirely, darkening as the life drained out of them. His pupils rolled up, eyes widened in shock as if, even after all this time, his death had still come as a surprise.
A wet, gargling came from the man’s throat as the blade slid out of his neck, silenced only when he thudded to the floor. And behind him stood Ren, bloodied dagger in hand, watching me with hooded eyes.
