Chapter 23: A Greater Threat

I was no longer standing in the ruined city. Everything was stark white, as if I were floating in a white space of existence. At first, I thought I was dead, but then a voice spoke to me. “You are not dead. You are here to be tested.”

“What?” I said in confusion.

“You spoke my name. That can only mean that you wish to be tested. But be warned. If you fail, you will not only lose your life, but your very soul.”

“What’s my reward if I pass?” I asked.

Suddenly, a large bird appeared before me. It was a bird with golden feathers, a hawk I think. I was confused at first, until I saw its eyes. They were the same red glow as the Dragon’s eyes. “If you pass my test, I may consider sparing your race.”

Another barrage of dozens of black daggers came whizzing at Ryan’s head like buzzsaw blades. Dodging normal knives would’ve been bad enough, but these ones came flying back at Ryan after he’d already dodged them. The knives just kept attacking him endlessly as he slowly lost strength.

After all this, I think I’m starting to hate Elemency!

Ryan ducked under the blades again, turned around, and swatted them aside with his sword when they came at him again. More flew at him from the other side, forcing him to block with his gauntlet. While Ryan played ‘duck, duck, goose’, with Galzar’s puppet knives, Leon fought Galzar himself. Black knives and purple glowing swords flashed in the dimly lit bunker as the duelists exchanged hundreds of blows. Leon seemed to be doing a lot better than last time; his moves were sharper, and he seemed more prepared for Galzar’s tricks.

Unfortunately, as Leon evolved, so too did Galzar. The Goblin changed his fighting style as easily as he changed his form, alternating effortlessly from lefthanded strikes to righthanded strikes. But Galzar’s incredible dueling prowess wasn’t the only thing that Leon had to worry about.

When Leon managed to disarm the Goblin, Galzar incorporated his shapeshifting abilities to their fullest extent. The Goblin’s fingers elongated into long knives that he racked across Leon’s back. Leon cried out and forced Galzar back with a gust of wind.

Galzar’s arms then transformed into black tentacles that he flung at Leon like whips. Leon sidestepped the tentacular ropes and tried to sever them, but the tentacles receded, transforming back into Galzar’s hands.

As soon as his hands returned to normal, they transformed again, resembling boulders almost as large as Galzar himself. Galzar leapt at Leon with his bulbous, club-like hands and struck the ground, cracking the floor and throwing up bits of metal floor plating.

Leon flipped out of the way like an acrobat, his swords transforming to take on their fan-like shape while he flew through the air. After gaining a good distance, he bashed his fan-like swords together, making a loud clang! and the purple-glowing symbols on the blades grew brighter. Both blades whirled to life with swirling winds that glowed with a purple light. The power the swords displayed was so immense that the technique seemed to be hurting Leon as his face contorted in exertion.

The lights in the room dimmed as the energy drained into the swords, the same trick Leon had used earlier in the torture chamber. Leon lifted the weapons and slowly brought them together, but before he did, he turned to Ryan and gave him a telepathic warning.

CLEAR THE ROOM NOW!

Ryan could feel the intensity of the swords from almost twenty meters away as the winds became stronger and stronger. Whatever was about to happen, it would be big.

You don’t have to tell me twice!

Ryan jumped out of the way of the spinning knives and went for the hole in the ceiling that Leon had made earlier. Fires still roared outside around the bunker, but they seemed preferable to whatever Leon had in mind. Ryan peeked inside just as the blades met, and a massive discharge of surging winds erupted from Leon in all directions.

The wind bubble expanded until it nearly engulfed the whole interior of the bunker, but it didn’t end there. The vortex acted like a whirlpool, pulling in everything and tearing it to pieces - furniture, computer consoles, and even scraps of metal laying around the bunker.

Anything alive in that bunker would soon be unalive if Leon Lurranna had anything to say about it. Pressurized air rushed out of the hole, hitting Ryan in the face and sending him flying backwards. The tempest soon subsided, and Ryan scrambled back to the hole. He couldn’t distinguish anything in the darkness.

Starting to get worried, Ryan called out, “Leon! Hey, buddy, you alright in there?”

A figure walked slowly into the light cast by the flames. Ryan soon recognized the maroon armor and dark cloak of his teammate.

“Leon!” yelled Ryan, hardly able to contain his relief. “Is that really you?”

“Of course not, you idiot,” said the thing that had Leon’s face, but not his voice.

The disguised Goblin sent a knife sailing towards the hole. Ryan raised his arm in time to stop the blade from hitting his throat. Despite avoiding certain death, that didn’t make the feeling of cold metal slicing through his tender arm any more enjoyable. But even worse, the numbing effect of Galzar’s poison paralyzed him once again.

With his body made limp, Ryan fell through the hole. Luckily, the real Leon appeared shortly afterwards and broke his fall at the last second. Ryan had dreamed of what it would be like for Éclair to hold him in her arms, but never in his wildest nightmares could he have imagined the awkward horror of being held in Leon’s.

Surprisingly, the effects of Galzar’s poison wore off almost immediately. Ryan jumped from Leon’s grasp and removed the dagger embedded in his arm with a cry of pain. Leon regarded him with surprise.

“How are you not affected by the poison?” asked Leon.

Ryan opened and closed his fist, still feeling slightly numb, but not enough to impede his movements. “Don’t know. Maybe it’s a half-breed thing.” Ryan then turned to Leon suspiciously. “Also, how do I know you’re the real Leon?”

“I’m the one who saved you, moron.”

“Hey! Only Auntie Hannah gets to call me that,” said Ryan, feeling foolish.

Both Ryan and Leon went into defensive postures as the other Leon came into view at the other side of the bunker. The fake Leon’s face slowly changed into the grotesque features of the charming Goblin otherwise known as Galzar Slithe, the homicidal dad of the year.

His face looked so gaunt that it resembled a green skull for all the flesh that was there. However, his sickly face stood in great contrast to his perfectly toned body and biceps that Ryan only dreamed that he would have someday. Galzar seemed both pleased and slightly confused for some reason.

“It seems you’ve developed an immunity to my paralysis concoction. Not surprising. That Saurian blood allows your biochemistry to adapt to foreign pathogens, at least on the second dose.” Galzar then turned to Leon with his cold, yellow eyes. “I must say that I am befuddled, young Lurranna. This is not the power that I expected ... not from someone of your reputation.”

“Sorry to disappoint you,” said Leon. Despite the coldness in his voice, he sounded winded.

That last attack must’ve taken a lot out of him, thought Ryan.

“Perhaps it is a dormant power that killed those Dragons then,” said Galzar more to himself this time. “No matter. The Fallen will still appreciate your capture nonetheless. You could make it easier though. If you come along quietly, I will not have to kill the Grunt. The brat can live to fight another day. If you refuse, not only is his death certain, but so is the pain that will follow.”

“Oh, I’m trembling with anticipation,” said Leon, grinning nastily like some kind of serial killer.

“If you’re done acting psychotic,” whispered Ryan under his breath. “What are we going to do? Neither of us has enough psions left to use our elements, and in case you haven’t noticed, this guy really kicks butt.”

“The only way is to use teamwork,” whispered Leon. “We coordinate our efforts to overwhelm him.”

“Yeah, only one problem ... our styles don’t exactly mesh well together.”

“What’s your plan, then? Exhaust him with cutting remarks about his parentage?”

“The clock is ticking, Lurranna,” called Galzar from across the chamber as he took a step forward. “Time for a decision.”

Galzar moved slowly from the other side of the large bunker, but he might as well have been two feet away.

Just keep walking slowly and dramatically like that so I can think of something. But no matter how hard Ryan racked his brain, nothing came to mind. Crap, I’ve got nothing! I’m no strategist! The only thing I know how to do is fight, and apparently, I don’t excel much at that either. Heck, Leon’s ten times smarter than me, and the only thing he can come up with is that we need to work together. Lame!

Have you ever stopped and thought that maybe that is the best plan, said a familiar voice in Ryan’s head.

Listen to me, strange voice that resembles Zand, but might also just be a product of my imagination! How is working together going to make any difference? We know next to nothing about each other!

Exactly!

Suddenly, Ryan realized what his possible schizophrenic voice wanted to tell him. As Galzar took a few more steps closer, Ryan looked to Leon and said in a low whisper, “Leon, I think we need to do the mind-meld thingy.”

“Under the circumstances, that would be unwise,” said Leon, brandishing his weapons as they transformed back to their original sword-like shape. “With our psions as low as they are, such an undertaking would not be advisable. The drawbacks to a bond with low psions in such close proximity is too great; the bond will be too strong and any injury that one party sustains, the other party will feel the effects.”

Galzar drew closer while Leon spoke.

“If one of us were to die, the other might die as well. It’s too dangerous.”

Two knives appeared out of thin air at Galzar’s sides. He grabbed them and slid them against each other, making a terrible screeching noise. Right then, Galzar seemed almost as menacing as the Dark Creature. For a second, the form of the Dark Creature took Galzar’s place in Ryan’s mind.

“Do the freakin’ mind-meld thingy, now!” screamed Ryan.

Leon placed his hand on Ryan’s head. In that moment, their minds became one. There was no separate entity, no separate thought patterns, no separate agendas. They were two bodies, but one will, and that will wanted to survive. There wasn’t even an exchange of memories or information this time. The bond had been forged to mesh their fighting styles together into a coordinated tempo like they had done on the wall of Gregory Industries.

But this time, the bond was much stronger, much more powerful, and with that power came purpose. Ryan thought that it might’ve been jarring to have another person’s mind mixing with his own, but at the moment, that didn’t matter. Survival mattered.

When Galzar moved, so did Ryan and Leon. Their combined knowledge of his techniques and fighting style made it almost easy to predict his movements. As their two minds collaborated as one, Ryan and Leon moved faster, hit harder. Where one fell short, the other picked up the slack. When one became threatened, the other came to his aid. Ryan and Leon exchanged a flurry of blows with Galzar – Leon with his dual swords, and Ryan with his double-edged sword and gauntlet.

Galzar made a stab for Leon’s blind spot, and Ryan blocked the knife with the iron claws on his gauntlet while Leon attacked, scoring a hit against Galzar’s abdomen. Galzar snuck past Ryan’s guard, but Leon briefly transformed one of his swords into its fan-like shape and used it like a shield, blocking the attack.

Simultaneously, Ryan crossed his iron claws and sword together, slicing Galzar twice on his arm and leg. Galzar jumped back and threw his daggers at the pair, crisscrossing the flying knives in disorienting patterns as he charged them. Meanwhile, Galzar lowered his head, growing long bull-like horns out of his forehead.

He galloped at the pair on all fours and attempted to ram them while they were busy with the flying blades. As the knives came back around at their rear flank, Leon spring-boarded off Ryan’s back, swatting the knives away in midair.

As Leon jumped off Ryan, his kick propelled Ryan forward, allowing him to reach the charging Galzar much faster than the Goblin had expected. Ryan severed both horns in a fluid motion, one horn with his sword and one with his clawed gauntlet. He then kicked Galzar in the face, sending him tumbling back. Galzar rolled to his feet, summoning his knives back to his hands as he regarded Ryan with more respect.

The battle resumed as the three combatants charged each other with weapons in hand. Slowly, little by little, they began to gain ground on Galzar. Though Galzar scored a few cuts against them, and when one got cut, the other felt it. However, they drew blood from Galzar as well. Even more amazing, Leon was no longer affected by Galzar’s poison either. Their bond made him immune to the poison just like Ryan.

Several times they almost had the Goblin dead to rights, and each time he didn’t escape unscathed. Slowly, Galzar’s demeanor began to change, no longer bored or amused. This had turned into a fight he could lose, and that fact slowly settled upon Galzar as his fighting stance became ever more cautious.

We’re gaining ground, said Ryan to Leon through their link. However, he’s becoming warier of us, and he doesn’t seem to be fazed much by our physical attacks. We have to end this quickly for Grafael’s sake. We can’t let this fight drag on any longer.

I agree, responded Leon. And I believe I have a solution. With our minds linked like this, our psions have begun to merge as well. They are replenishing each other faster than they were able to do while our bodies were acting alone. I think it is safe to use Elemency again.

Yeah, but we only have one or two shots. Besides, won’t Galzar be ready for a normal Elemental attack?

I didn’t say it would be normal.

This exchange happened simultaneously to their duel with Galzar. It seemed that as their minds had become linked, their ability to think and rationalize became stimulated so that they could perform multiple tasks at once. Regardless, within seconds, Ryan and Leon together formulated a unique plan of attack without saying a word.

Ryan and Leon jumped simultaneously on opposite sides of Galzar to gain some distance with him in the middle. Then, Leon linked the handles of his swords together into a single weapon in order to have one free hand.

Ryan ignited red flames on his gauntlet hand while Leon created a miniature storm in his palm. As Ryan and Leon stood across from each other with Galzar in between them, he seemed to be wondering what their next move would be. But Galzar couldn’t have guessed that their plan was already in motion. Leon then waved his hand in a circular motion, creating tempestuous winds that curved around Galzar like a tornado.

Galzar responded by stabbing his daggers in the ground to hold himself in the same spot. His toes then changed into long claws and dug into the metal plating, further anchoring himself in place. “Is this really the best you can do, Lurranna? A little wind. It may hold me at bay for the moment, but it’s not enough to faze me. And no doubt you can’t keep this up forever. The second this maelstrom subsides, I’ll have you both in a heartbeat, and it’ll all be over.”

His mistake was assuming only one of us was capable of a ranged attack, the pair thought simultaneously. And in not realizing the power of combining different elements.

“You don’t get it, Galzar,” said Leon and Ryan at the same time, their minds still linked. “It’s already over.”

As they finished their synchronized speech, Ryan raised his fiery hand and sent a jet of red flame into the tornado that surrounded Galzar. The wind worked in perfect balance with Ryan’s flames, creating a cyclone of fire that spiraled around Galzar in a chaotic whirlpool of destruction.

The winds fanned the flames, making them hotter and more frenzied than ever before. The tornado of fire grew larger, spinning upwards until it broke through the ceiling of the bunker and reaching even higher still. Charred bits of melted metal tumbled to the bunker floor as the flame-nado reached up to the sky, dwarfing all the fires around it.

From within the firestorm that they had created which blazed bright as a sun, Ryan heard Galzar screaming in pain. It was amazing the amount of damage the Goblin could take, but Ryan could feel his lifeforce slowly ebbing away. Ryan mentally started to ease off on the combustion attack, but Leon wanted to keep going as he forced the winds to intensify.

We don’t stop until we know he’s dead, said Leon telepathically.

No, replied Ryan without hesitation. He’s a witness. He has to stand trial for what he’s done. It’s the only way for everyone to know the truth.

Leon initially seemed unfazed by Ryan’s argument, but soon, his will loosened as the winds dissipated. As they broke their mental connection with one another, the flame-nado vanished to reveal the smoking form of Galzar kneeling and breathing heavily with burns covering his body. Ryan chose to ignore Leon’s momentary bloodlust to focus on the task at hand.

Leon raised his weapon and walked slowly to the Goblin, placing the tip at Galzar’s throat. “It’s over, Goblin. You’ve lost.”

“This battle, perhaps,” whispered Galzar in a pained voice.

He really does look pitiful, thought Ryan, regarding Galzar’s crumbled body. In fact, I wager that as tough as he is, Galzar’s on death row.

Scars and burns covered at least half his body and his face. A steady stream of blood trickled down his nose. Galzar opened his mouth as if to say something else, but started wheezing and coughing up his own blood. And yet, the resolve in his eyes kept Ryan’s attention. The man had clearly been defeated, and yet his eyes showed no trace of defeat. Galzar Slithe was a much stronger person than Hamma or Shaver.

Even though he’s my enemy, and a horrible father to boot, I have to admit that this guy has a will of iron.

And then Galzar spoke. “However, my fate matters not. The Fallen have arrived. Both your destinies now lie with them.”

That was the second time that Galzar had said that name and it didn’t mean a thing to Ryan. However, it looked like it meant something to Leon as his eyes popped in terror. “Did you say the Fallen?”

Galzar suddenly got a second wind and jumped into the air. In Galzar’s place was a giant bat-like creature that flew through the hole in the ceiling and vanished out of sight.

“I call cheatsies again!” yelled Ryan while shaking a fist.

Leon fell to his knees holding his head with both hands and muttering madly. “The Fallen. The Fallen are here. They’ve come. The Fallen are here.”

Okay, said Ryan to himself. Now I’m freaked out!

“Leon! What’s wrong?” asked Ryan, kneeling down beside him.

Leon refused to respond as he continued muttering to himself.

“Leon, snap out of it! Talk to me! Insult me if you want, just stop freaking me out! Aren’t you the one who’s supposed to have it all together?”

Again, Leon didn’t answer and just kept mumbling to himself. His eyes were opened as wide as they could go, and he had the feral look of a frightened animal. Sweat dripped from his nose and tears stained his eyes.

Unable to stand it any longer, Ryan grabbed Leon by the scruff of his dark shirt under his armor and shook him hard. “Get ahold of yourself and talk to me! Who are these Fallen guys that Galzar was talking about?”

After a few seconds of violent shaking, Leon’s face finally resumed some normalcy. “Wh-where am I? What happened? Where’s Galzar? And...” Leon looked down to see Ryan still gripping his shirt. Leon’s eyes narrowed in anger. “And why are you holding me by my custom-made silk-linen shirt?”

A gust of stinging wind struck Ryan’s hands, forcing him to loosen his grip. “You’re the one acting weird here,” said Ryan as he sucked on one of his fingers that got cut. “Galzar says something about some guys who have fallen, and you go all to pieces.”