The sound of crunching reverberated through Galvin’s ears as his back struck against the wall. In front of him, the king appeared, his lips pulled back in a snarl and his eyes full of hate. A fist slammed into his gut and he let out a guttural cry as he felt his insides twist and writhe around.

  The king packed some punch in his fist, not that he didn’t know that before.

  Galvin’s eyes widened as another closed fist came barreling towards him at an incredible speed.

  He ducked it in time as it made contact with the wall. A hole appeared where the powerful punch was just thrown. Galvin fell to the floor and scrambled between Rai’Shal’s legs on all fours and reached for the sword lying there. His salvation, his savior. But his hope was cut short.

  A hand wrapped around his ankles and clutched it with an iron grip, piercing into his skin and crushing his bone. He let out a cry of pain as the floor was no longer beneath him and his back slammed into the ceiling. Bits of rubble fell with him as his body dropped to the floor.

  He landed with another crunch; something else must have been displaced inside him, but throughout the course of the fight, so many things had broken that he’d lost count.

  He landed in front of his sword. With a hopeful hand, he reached out and grabbed onto the hilt of his weapon. He pushed himself around and swung a warding blade at the king, who moved his head slightly backwards to avoid the swing.

  The king launched himself forwards. Galvin covered his face in anticipation of another brutal assault, but the king had leaped over his body and made way towards his grand closet which lay erected in one of the corners of the room.

  With one swift movement, he pulled something out of the closet and swung it around himself.

  His red and gold cloak made out of velvet and gems encrusted into it. Galvin’s eyes widened. Was that here he was pulling his powers from? The king let out a satisfied snarl.

  “Not done yet, are we?” he said, his voice mocking and full of arrogance. He reached into his cloak and pulled out a quarterstaff. A full sized quarterstaff, stuffed away inside his pockets.

  Galvin noticed the bumps and indents along various sections of the staff, which most likely allowed him to fold up the weapon, and in turn, how he managed to hide it within his cloak.

  The king took a step towards Galvin.

  Galvin stood up and took on a defensive position, holding his sword in front of him, sweat beading down his face, his body in pain from the bruises and fractures he’s acquired throughout the fight.

  He was starkly aware of the window behind him, his escape. He needed time to be able to break through, however. Keep the king on him, wanting to fight him.

  Galvin charged at his opponent, Absorbing in some amethyst and focusing on Strength.

  He swung his sword with all of his might. The king raised his quarterstaff to block it, and the ring as steel came into contact with metal made his arms ring.

  The sword bounced off the quarterstaff and Galvin could barely maintain the force of it, and let go of the sword. It flew to the ground, skidding away from him.

  Galvin turned his attention to his sword when he felt a binding blow to the side of his face. His body crashed into the wall next to the window.

  He let out a cry of pain as all his breath left his body and was left seeing lines of black along the fringes of his vision. He fell to the floor and found his mind and body not cooperating as he struggled to get up.

  He Absorbed more amethyst and focused on Invigoration. Feeling returned back to his body and he managed to stagger his way up.

  He didn’t want to focus on Healing as it took time, and he didn’t know when Rai’Shal would next attack. Ignoring the pain would have to do for now.

  The king paced around the room. “Is this the best you children will send my way? An assassin with no skill, a weakling barely able to talk. You guys will have to try harder if you want to defeat me.”

  The king threw his quarterstaff. It zipped through the air faster than Galvin expected.

  He ducked sideways just in time as it struck the wall, breaking through the bricks on the outside of the palace.

  Galvin stared in shock at the weapon protruding from the wall. Footsteps sounded and his attention returned back to the king. A swing and a kick caught him off guard and he once again found himself falling to the floor.

  If the king wouldn’t allow him to get to his weapon, then he was going to have to fight without it.

  Galvin Absorbed in topaz, his veins coming alive and his mind being opened to the power of the three words: Ancient, Ground, Wisdom.

  He focused on Wisdom and felt his mind come alive with knowledge he wasn’t made privy to before.

  Focusing on Wisdom was accessing a tiny sliver of the almost infinite knowledge of Agnius, and the knowledge was only there while you had essence running through you. As soon as the essence leaves your body, so does that temporary knowledge which is gained. Galvin needed guidance to defeat King Rai’Shal right now.

  Galvin had never practiced with topaz much before, and as a result, he wouldn’t be able to use it in tandem with his other gems. But the knowledge spoke to him, moved through his mind, body, and soul, and his eyes became open.

  Martial arts. That was how he was going to best the king.

  Rai’Shal moved again. Galvin ducked under one of his powerful blows before opening his clenched fists into a palm. He sent out the palm against the king’s core.

  It held more power than he thought he could muster. Rai’Shal let out a cry of pain before staggering backwards.

  He could do this. He could win.

  Galvin sent out more palmed strikes, hitting different parts of the king’s body and not giving him enough time to return to the defensive.

  One strike, another strike, and another.

  Until the king stopped it with an iron grip. He twisted Galvin’s arms and a pop sounded out in the silent room. Galvin fell to the floor, writhing in pain as the king pounced on him, his hands pinning Galvin’s arms behind his back.

  The shock of the move sent the rest of the topaz’s essence out of his body, dissipating in the air. And with the essence, all of Galvin’s borrowed knowledge from Agnius.

  He let out a cry of pain.

  Amethyst. He reached out with his mind to take in some amethyst. It wasn’t there. He turned around to see the king gripping onto Galvin’s bag of gems, a twisted look on his face before he tossed the bag of gems behind him, far away to the door. Out of his reach.

  Galvin reached out harder with his mind. His mind graced the presence of the gems, but it was barely too far. With how far away the gems wee, he could only Absorb in trickles of essence, not enough to do anything to help him.

  “It’s a shame,” the king spoke, his voice low and guttural. “You would have made a fine soldier within my army. Your resolve is admiral, but at the end of the day, you’re just a child compared to me.”

  A sharp pain twisted in his arm and he let out a yelp. A primal desperate cry for help, but he knew no one was coming.

  The plan. They had come too far to just give up then. Galvin reached out harder, pushing past his boundaries and the limits he knew he had. He reached out in all directions, touching and feeling for gems. He was aware of the gems in the king’s rack of weapons in the corner. The pommel of his swords held sapphires. His crown which lay hidden away in his closet held rubies and topazes. He felt it all around him.

  Another sharp pain along his arm. The king had stabbed something into him but he was too focused on his surroundings to care. He felt the bag of gems by the door, with the various gemstones he bought for this journey. A jewelry case outside the room across the hall, holdings beautiful and ornate necklace with… gemstones in them. He couldn’t stop his expansion.

  He sucked in a breath and all the gems he knew were there all started to swirl around him, like winds in a cyclone, and closed down on him.

  He closed his eyes and ignored the twisting feeling in his arm as his body came alight with the power of all those gems’ essences.

  “The one thing you must never do when handling gemstones is to Absorb more than two at a time. The power of it all could crush you,” someone’s voice sounded in his head. His late Master Halsin had warned him once of the consequences, yes, but he didn’t care.

  He hungered for it. The power just out of reach no longer. He took it in, imagined the fleeting essences as his children, taking it all in.

  Invigoration. The amethyst grew his muscles and the pain stopped coming in. Freedom. The emerald blasted the king away. Fire. A powerful force burned around him, threatening to reach out and burn, blasting away everything. Grace. The diamond made him feel incredible balance within his core, feeling like he could do anything in the world.

  All of it… was too much. He just needed it for a boost, but took in too much. He felt a tingling sensation along his skin and didn’t need to look down to realize his body was crumbling away.

  Deep breaths, deep breaths. He let go of the essences swirling around him and focused. Focused harder than he’d ever focused before. If he were to die here by his own hands, the plan would never come through. He had to live.

  The king charged. Galvin held up a hand and a powerful blast of fire erupted, scorching the king’s cloak and caused him to stagger back.

  “So you finally came out of your shell,” the king spoke in a low, deep voice, his tone menacing, chuckling to himself.

  Galvin had the essences under control. He can’t lose now. He won’t lose. The only two essences that remained were amethyst and topaz, both swirling in tandem with one another. He felt them struggling against one another, and he knew he couldn’t use both powers at the same time.

  Deep within his mind, he set aside the power of topaz and focused on Healing, a property of amethysts. His wounds blended together and mended themselves, closing off cuts and scratches, fixing the discoloration from the bruises he’s acquired and felt crunching from within him as his bones stitched themselves together.

  The king did not attack. He just stood and watched. Galvin had become like new again with some amethyst left in him.

  He focused on Invigoration and felt himself come alive. He sprang for his sword.

  At that moment, the king sprang into action as well, but he was much too late. Galvin scooped up his sword which lay on the ground and twisted in the air as the king moved in to stop him.

  Galvin moved faster than he thought, and several cuts appeared along the king’s cloak. He landed upright and dashed for his bag of gems, scooping it up in one hand and returning to the defensive, holding his sword in front of him.

  When he came to, he realized the king also took his quarterstaff out of the wall, gripping it firmly in both hands, maintaining a defensive pose.

  Galvin’s eyes widened. That was the first time this whole fight the king retreated to the defensive.

  “I must admit, you have a lot more fight than I thought,” Rai’Shal spoke.

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  “We’ve fought before,” Galvin said. “You beat me and proceeded to kill my master. Since then, I’ve grown, thinking of this moment my entire life. I won’t lose to you.”

  The king let out a low chuckle. “Now that you mention it, your face does look familiar. Yes, I almost killed you on one occasion. You’ve gotta be proud of yourself, as most people who come face to face with me won’t have a second opportunity.”

  The king charged, letting out a scream. The very air around his body shimmered and some smoke came out. The king was lighting himself on fire.

  When the king was inches away from Galvin, his body came alight with a brilliant orange.

  Galvin got out of the way of the burning, rolling on the ground as the king completed his attack.

  When he got up, he saw the king’s body was completely enveloped by the flames… but they didn’t burn him. The fires worked in tandem with the king, supplementing him and powering him.

  Galvin Absorbed some aquamarine and focused on Coolness. The temperature in the room dropped several degrees and fog started to appear. Despite that, the king’s fire never went out.

  He approached Galvin with the wicked smile on his face.

  Galvin reached for the topaz essence he had stored in some primal part of him, and allowed it to return to the surface, empowering him.

  He focused on Ground and spun around to face the window. This little room could no longer contain their fight.

  He Absorbed in diamond and felt the world around him slow. The last of his diamond essence, used for his escape from the king’s chambers.

  He charged forward, feeling as the wooden floor underneath the carpet shift and turn under his feet. It became like paper, moving and flowing upwards to wrap around Galvin in its protective bubble; he’d created armor out of the wood he stood on, and used it to protect himself as he leaped for the window.

  Before he jumped, however, he Absorbed in some emerald and focused on wind, giving him that extra bit of push that shattered the window open.

  He felt the topaz essence getting to him, so he let go of it as he fell, and with it, the wooden armor unwrapped itself from him and returned to the floor he borrowed it from.

  Galvin Absorbed in some more emerald and used its power to slow his fall. He landed on the cobblestone below and peered up to see the king looking out of his window, meeting his eyes which burned with hatred.

  The king wasn’t following. Galvin wanted to send him an invitation to the battle.

  He Absorbed in some ruby and focused on Fire. A ball of a flames appeared in the palm of his hands, its glow bright and tendrils of flame flickering away from the core.

  He threw the ball of power up to the window and a loud explosion sounded out, the wall going up in smoke and flames.

  When the dust cleared up, the window became more of a hole and the king stood at the edge, the fire still around him and his lips still in a snarl.

  Galvin had done it; he’d gotten the king’s attention.

  Guards already began to pile out of the palace, pointing their spears towards Galvin before the king’s voice roared out into the darkness.

  “STOP!” it echoed. The king landed on the ground in a crouch, his hands balled into fists. “No one touch him. He is mine. Return to the palace.”

  The men happily obeyed the desires of the king and they filed back to where they came from.

  Once they were all out of sight, the king spoke in a calm voice. Too calm. “So you think you can break into my home, kill my guards, attack me in my sleep, break my window and my wall, and live to tell others about it?” A laugh came from him. “You may be too naive for this world. Allow me to remove you from it.”

  The king charged, his quarterstaff spinning and wicking in the wind. Galvin smiled. Exactly what he wanted. He Absorbed in as much emerald as he could muster, feeling the tempest pound against the inside of his skin, and focused on Wind. He needed to get out of there.

  A blast of wind in front of him, knocking him backwards to avoid the swing of the staff. It passed by barely in front of his face.

  With his sword in his hand, he made a mad dash away, sprinting as fast as he could, using some of the emerald’s power to give his feet some kick.

  With one blink of an eye, the king moved in front of him. He raised his sword just in time to block the powerful blow from the quarterstaff, but that wasn’t enough to fully block the force of it.

  He was knocked aside easily and the king took the opportunity to pounce on him again.

  Galvin rolled out of the way, using the essence inside him to propel himself further away. He sent a blast of wind underneath his feet, landing on the roof and breaking out into a full paced run.

  This all seemed familiar. Yes, it has happened before, except it was De’Shai’s men that chased him, and he had backup. This time, however, he was completely on his own, and no one was going to come for him. He had to escape out of here by himself.

  A loud pair of feet sounded behind him. He didn’t have to turn round to know it was the king moving, hot on his tails. He never looked back; just kept his attention in front of him and broke out into a full paced run. Unfortunately, his diamond essence had been exhausted so he couldn’t use its power to empower his speed. He only had his ability and the power of the wind to rely on here.

  A shadow stretched out before him and he looked up to see the king high above him. A ball of fire erupted in every direction out from him, crashing down on the houses and roofs which he ran across.

  Explosions rocked the city, red and green bricks coming into the air and fires all around him.

  The bastard is willing to destroy the entire city just to get to me. Galvin didn’t have time to stop and worry about the citizens’ homes being blown up. He needed only to focus on the king hot on his trails and avoid the blows coming down all around him.

  Rai’Shal landed on the ground, running nearby, keeping pace with Galvin.

  Another blast erupted from the palm of his hands, moving towards Galvin at a high speed.

  It struck the building he was running on, and it erupted into smoke and flames, the brick flying upwards knocking him away. As he flew into the air, he struggled to regain his balance. Movement wasn’t… optimal in the sky.

  He eventually righted himself before he landed on the ground, and broke into another run, with the king still hot on his trails.

  He stopped suddenly and brought his sword up, swinging behind him with full force to try and deter Rai’Shal, but his reaction speed was immaculate. The king ducked under the swing with lightning speed, coming down to his knees and sliding forward, with the quarterstaff in hand, striking at Galvin’s core.

  Rai’Shal knocked the wind out of him and he fell to the ground, clutching his stomach and coughing in pain. Up close, Galvin could see the aura of fire still there, burning ever so brightly. An evil grin slowly spread over the king’s face.

  Seeing him in this state, feeling his power up close, it was a wonder what possessed Galvin to think he could actually win. He felt small compared to the massiveness of the king’s abilities. He stood no chance from the beginning, no matter how much he trained.

  The king didn’t need any guards to protect him. The guards were only there to protect his opponents. From him. That was the kind of man that stood before him, smiling.

  Galvin shook himself out of the stupor. He couldn’t give up, not quite yet.

  His hand gripped the hilt of his sword and he brought it up. The king had already moved out of the way from the blow with lightning speed.

  Galvin sent a powerful blast of wind in front of himself, knocking him backwards and sending him flying away.

  He broke out into a run again, but felt his speed deteriorated by the powerful blow to his gut. His movement was more sluggish and every muscle in his body screamed with pain as he staggered forwards. He felt the king’s omnipotent presence behind, his speed pushing him forward. Galvin stopped and spun his sword around, maintaining the defense position from before.

  Blows were exchanged, the sound of metal on metal ringing through the air. Behind the king, his city burned and people were crying out for help, but the only thing the king was focused on was him.

  Anger and hatred fueled him to keep pushing forward. The king didn’t care about his city, his nation, or his people. All he cared about was himself. He ruled with an iron fist to feed his cruel and twisted ego, and this angered him.

  Galvin fought and exchanged blows like he never did before, fighting the king and exchanging blows the best he could. But regardless of it all, Rai’Shal didn’t even look like he was trying. He looked… bored.

  Galvin couldn’t win. Some of the windows above opened, revealing the faces of scared and concerned citizens, watching as the battle raged on in their streets. Some of them brought something to their window. Oh great, now they were going to help the king in his oppression against them.

  With a closer look, Galvin knew what it was. After all, they knew who he was. Knew him from the faces on the posters spread all throughout town. Knew him as a Dragikiri and the abilities of what his kind could do. And what did they do with the knowledge? They brought gemstones straight for him. On the windowsill, they rested cased with amethysts, emeralds, and the most important one, diamonds. The three most important gemstones for any Dragikiri in the middle of a fight.

  Galvin’s eyes widened. The realization of it struck him like a blow to the head. The people were rooting for him. He was never alone in the city when he faced the king. He had the hope of all these people here all along. He had their support and held their hope in the palm of his hand. They were rooting for him. No sane citizen of a city would root for the person that oppressed him. He reached out and felt the essence of these gemstones against his body. He ignored amethysts; he was only going to get hurt again so there was no point in Absorbing it. The power of diamond and emeralds swirled within him, claiming him, his mind becoming alive and his body reacting to it.

  Hope returned to him. Hope he’d forgotten during the fight. The hope of Justicar, the hope of the people, rested with him, his mission. The king turned an angry head to the citizens which aided the fugitive, his lips twisting into an angry snarl.

  “Your fight is with me,” Galvin spoke, his voice full of confidence and his body full of power.

  He sent out a punch to the king’s gut, using the power of Wind behind his elbow to propel the speed of his punch. He knocked the king to the ground with that punch.

  But the plan. He had to keep focused on the plan.

  “And you’re going to keep the fight between us.”

  With the diamonds he’d Absorbed, he focused it all into Speed. He could feel the world around him slow to a standstill.

  He closed his eyes and sucked in a breath. It was now or never. His feet moved before his mind could process what was happening around him, and he could see the citizens in their windows slowly turn their heads to look after him, a case of jewelry along their windowsills.