Chapter 14: The Two Wielders

Eramar was not having a good day. So far, he’d been stuck in a standoff with Konamay for almost a full daily cycle.

We don’t have time for this! The Ministry is counting on me to find a path to peace, not escalate the fighting!

The battle raged all around with the two Wielders right in the thick of it. So far, they only exchanged blows physically without resorting to more powerful Elemency. Eramar had only done so as a means to protect his troops that fought all around him. If he unleashed his full power in close-quarters like this, he’d probably put a good dent in their numbers.

Eramar found it surprising that Konamay, more or less, did the same. As angry and as battle crazed as he seemed, he still had enough wherewithal to keep his destructive powers to a minimal so as not to endanger his own troops.

That told Eramar something very important about Konamay’s personality. The man had a heart. If not, he would’ve summoned his Elemental powers to their most lethal intent, killing dozens of his own men just for the sake of destroying one enemy. That told Eramar that Konamay still had a sense of reason.

Perhaps Eramar could convince him by appealing to the one organ more persuasive than the brain: the heart. However, Eramar thought that it would be better to do so without the interference of others. Eramar realized that part of the reason his negotiations failed had a bit to do with the meddling of Konamay’s men.

And so, Eramar and Konamay exchanged blows. Even though they barely used a fraction of the power that they could unleash, it was still quite a spectacle to behold. Konamay moved with unnatural speed and lucidity, seeming able to predict Eramar’s every move. Konamay’s near clairvoyance puzzled Eramar since he wasn’t a sensory type, but a Physical-Type. He probably used the water vapor in the air to detect Eramar’s presence, a common practice among non-sensory Water-Types.

Eramar teleported from spot to spot, sometimes behind Konamay, sometimes above him, sometimes even below him. Every time he did teleport, he got in a few quick thrusts before being forced to teleport away again or face getting crushed by Konamay’s unremitting strength. Eramar’s fencing sword glowed orange with psionic power and Konamay’s double-bladed scythe glowed blue and green.

And that was pretty much how they spent the past few hours. Their weapons flashing, Konamay fluidly alternated between defense and attack. Eramar shifted Konamay’s power and weight away from himself while trying to score an opening, but every time he got close to striking Konamay’s body, the damn water shield got in the way.

Even more annoying, Konamay had surrounded himself in a thin shroud of mist. Not the kind that burned like before, but the more infuriating kind that blocked one’s field of vision and made it difficult for Eramar to even see his target. Eramar suspected that the mist was also the key to Konamay’s impenetrable defenses. He may not have been a sensory type, but some Elementals made up for that weakness by using their Elemency to feel for their opponent.

Every time Eramar launched an attack at Konamay, no matter how quick or precise, the mist would sense a disturbance and alert Konamay to the attack, giving him a near sixth sense to predict Eramar’s movements and launch a counterstrike. Not as precise as Sensing or Foresight, but still very effective.

The only way to overcome this defense lay in sheer power, creating an attack so fast and widespread that it would overwhelm the sensing net created by the mist. But the only way to do that meant using full power, and if Eramar did that, he risked endangering the lives of his fellow Fire Elementals who fought all around him.

Spinning away from an earth-shattering strike that cracked the ground, Eramar twisted his sword around, parrying Konamay’s wild upward swing that carried a good chunk of cement stuck to the scythe’s blade. Eramar then pushed against the tip of the scythe with his sword, using Konamay’s momentum to carry him away. This maneuver gained some distance between them, allowing Eramar a breath so he could teleport.

Enough of this!

Instead of teleporting next to Konamay to continue the battle as he usually did, Eramar teleported away to the top of a building outside of Hall’s Marketplace. At first, Konamay seemed confused as he waited for Eramar to show up and resume the attack. Finally, he spotted Eramar at a distance standing on top of a skyscraper hundreds of feet up.

Konamay was beside himself with anger, stamping his foot so hard that it splintered the sidewalk. “Coward! Get down here and fight!”

“No, I don’t think I will!” taunted Eramar, purposefully trying to annoy his opponent. It worked.

Konamay crouched low and sprang to the top of the building in one swoop, but Eramar was already gone. Eramar teleported just within range of Konamay’s jump so that the Wielder could continue to pursue him, and thus Eramar could lead him away from the battlefield. A risky gambit, luring his opponent out of reach of any allies or aid, but Eramar couldn’t see any alternative for his plan to succeed ... or if necessary, to defeat Konamay without any loss of life.

And so, the chase was on. Eramar stayed just a hairbreadth out of reach of Konamay’s wildly spinning weapon. Every swing from Konamay’s enormous scythe left the rooftops of the skyscrapers in shambles. Eramar ran for a few seconds until Konamay caught up to him. When Konamay came for him, Eramar teleported safely out of reach as the building he left behind got decimated with a single blow.

As Konamay chased him from rooftop to rooftop, Eramar made sure not to teleport too far away so that Konamay wouldn’t lose him. Eramar had a close call when Konamay predicted his pattern and jumped to the next building over just as Eramar appeared there.

Konamay’s swipe nearly chopped Eramar in half from the waist down, but Eramar sent a charge of electricity to his feet that gave him an added burst of speed which allowed him to circumvent the blade. The elements themselves could sometimes be used to boost physical abilities without relying on physical enhancement. As Eramar teleported to the next building, he looked back at Konamay warily.

That was too close for comfort. He timed that attack perfectly. He must’ve caught on to the weakness of my teleportation.

Because of the dampening fields around the area weakening his abilities, there was about a half-second delay between each jump. Unless he revved his psions up beforehand, this delay could not be overcome. A half-second may not have seemed like a long time, but on the battlefield with Elementals that could react at lightspeed, such a time lag could be fatal. Konamay had wizened up to this weakness, and planned his attack accordingly. However, Eramar knew his weaknesses far better than his opponent.

The next time Konamay tried to cut off Eramar in between jumps, Eramar was more prepared. When Konamay’s blade came in reach and Eramar didn’t have time to teleport away, he resorted to his physical dexterity to bend out of the way of the blade. Eramar then quickly jumped away in a show of acrobatic grace with a lot of flips and twirls being displayed. The flips in midair were quite unnecessary, but Eramar wished to portray himself in a superior light. A charade he hoped that was not lost upon the belligerent Water Wielder.

After continuing their game of cat-and-mouse for nearly an hour, Eramar finally found a good spot outside the battlefield. Fountain Square with the beautiful, multicolored fountain in the center. Eramar became so focused on the task at hand that his cognitive reasoning almost failed to register the tell-tell signs of a previous battle in the vicinity, or the massive imprints in the ground that looked very familiar.

Those look like Mecha-Titan tracks! Could it be that Squad 99 came through here?

Eramar teleported to the center of the square just in front of the fountain. Turning to face his opponent, a welcomed revelation dawned on the Fire Wielder. Even through his faceplate, Eramar could hear Konamay breathing heavily at the edge of the square. This encouraged Eramar because it meant that this was the real Konamay, and not some Ice Double like last time.

“I know it’s you this time, Konamay,” said Eramar maintaining a respectful distance. “Ice Doubles don’t breathe.”

Eramar tried to hide it, but he felt just as tired as his opponent. Even though he had refrained from using too much of his psionic energy, he still relied on his natural muscles a lot more than his old body liked.

“I don’t need an Ice Double to finish you off,” boasted Konamay, still breathing hard.

They stood like that for a few seconds in the middle of the square; both men holding their sides and panting vigorously across from one another.

Konamay finally broke the silence. “I know the weaknesses of your abilities as well. There’s a half-second delay between jumps. In that half-second, you can neither teleport away nor phase through solid objects. A small window of opportunity, but not an impossible one for a warrior of my caliber.

“I would suggest you surrender now. It may take a while, but sooner or later, you’re going to make a mistake, and I’ll be there to slice through your sternum when you do. The first path to victory is to analyze your opponent, and in that area, I have you outmatched.”

Eramar found himself laughing. “That’s funny, because I was doing a little analyzing of my own, and you know what I found out? You actually care. For all your glamour and propriety, you care about what happens to your men. Otherwise, you would’ve used your full strength back in the marketplace. If you had, you might have managed to kill me, but you would have risked killing dozens of your own men with me.”

“Your point?”

“My point is that you are more than just a soldier ... more than just a warrior. A man who would shed tears at the death of a comrade is not the kind of man who enjoys war. You want this battle to end just as much as I do. Just give up your pride and see what is right before your eyes. No price is too high for peace, much less your need for conquest.”

Konamay hesitated for the briefest second, but then quickly regained his composure. “Still at it, huh? It’s true that I want this war to end, but it has to end on my terms. The simple fact is that no matter what you say, I cannot trust you, and you can’t trust me in return. This conflict will not be settled with words alone ... it has gone too far for that!”

Eramar’s shoulders drooped as a tired groan left his lips. “If we must fight, may I suggest a moment’s reprieve? I led you here so that we could battle unhindered if need be. But alas, I find my age coming upon me and I think it’s much the same for you. It has been a long day after all.”

Still panting, Konamay quietly observed Eramar for a few seconds before saying, “Fine! So that we can fight as God intended, with our full strength mustered in glorious battle. But don’t try any tricks, or else my next target will be the civilian bunkers for District 8.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” replied Eramar.

Each Elemental withdrew a pink glowing Sun Gem from their belts to siphon energy, causing the stones to shrink gradually. And so, both masked men quietly stared at each other, regaining their full strength in anticipation of the battle to come. To say that Eramar felt a little awkward would’ve been an understatement.