Clash ~ Chapter Six

         Marcelo and Raph walked out of hiding behind a pillar. They had several cuts, but nothing serious, and they stood in the center of the hall, looking directly at their aggressor.

         “No more running…” said Marcelo to Raph at his side.

         “It’s not like we have any other choice,” said Raph back, sighing.

         The red-haired man laughed as Marcelo and Raph prepared for the unavoidable clash. Raph gave Marcelo his leather bag full of starpebs, and took out his two black broadswords. Marcelo, on the other hand, after adjusting the bag to his side, took out of his long sword, Eirika, a beautiful silver sword with a black hilt.

         “Eager to die, aren’t we?” said the man.

         “Who are you?” interrupted Raph.

         “Hmm. Might as well know the name of you executioner. My name is Agairan. Satisfied? Now, can we get to the killing?”

         “Good luck with that,” said Marcelo, a little afraid of the restless assassin.

         Agairan laughed evilly. As he did, he focused majia into his hand and released it directly at the boy’s position in the form of a lightning strike. Marcelo and Raph jumped out of the way, each going one side, hiding behind a pillar.

         “Nothing’s going to protect you!” screamed Agairan, releasing strike after strike of lightning at the pillars, while advancing slowly through the rumbling room. Then, from behind a left pillar, Marcelo ran, throwing a handful of starpebs at his enemy. The starpebs fell to the floor in front of him and Marcelo hid again.

         “Again with the starpebs? You really think it’s going to work?” complained Agairan amusingly.

         Then suddenly, as quick and nimble as a fish, Raph ran towards Agairan. Dodging Agairan’s oncoming attacks, Raph slashed his twin swords on the floor, in front of him. He then kept running to hide behind a pillar. Agairan looked dumbfounded; Raph had missed him on purpose.

         Unexpectedly, all the starpebs in front of Agairan exploded violently, and a curtain of smoke surrounded him. Marcelo and Raph came out of hiding, hoping that the explosion had at least disabled their opponent. Slowly, the smoke cleared and Agairan stood there, unscathed.

         “Tsk, tsk, tsk. I can do things you can barely comprehend. How do you expect to kill me with such childish trifles?” said Agairan amused.

         Raph threw one of his broadswords at him. Agairan moved quickly, dodging the blade easily. Marcelo, on his part, rushed blade first towards Agairan. He moved to a side, evading Marcelo’s thrust but got slashed on his side by Raph’s other sword, thrown by him from where he stood. As he flinched from Raph’s attack, Marcelo thrust his sword through Agairan’s torso.

         Agairan spat blood on the floor as Marcelo pulled Eirika from his enemy’s stomach. Meanwhile, Raph avoided the scene altogether not being one to like seeing anyone die. He ran about, picking up his broadswords, his stomach in knots.

Agairan staggered, struggling to stay on his feet.

         “Well, you’re not pushovers, that much is clear. The only bad thing for you…” he coughed. “…Is that I’m not that easy to kill.”

         All of a sudden, air revolved the injured man, and in less than a few seconds, his wounds healed. He stretched and yawned.

         “Shall we keep going?”

         Both Marcelo and Raph were in shock. They never expected the fight to be an easy one and neither had they expected to win easily. However, something they really never expected was that their opponent would be able to heal himself from fatal wounds. Heck, they never thought that he could recover from ANY wound. The only way to get rid of him that they could think of was to kill him instantly.

         Both Marcelo and Raph charged towards their opponent. Weapons out, they started to slash at him, trying to exploit any opening or mistake that Agairan might make. But this time, he refused to take a chance. Agairan avoided every single sword strike that any of them threw at him. He made no errors, and tried to confuse them into hitting each other. Soon, the fight was less about slashing Agairan and more about not killing each other with their random attacks.

         “Two against one. That’s hardly fair, for you,” said Agairan, trying to bother them. He kept on it, until it finally worked. In a moment of carelessness, Agairan dodged an incoming attack and put his palm on Raph’s chest. Raph was pushed by a powerful unseen force thirty feet away, landing on his back with a grunt, his broadswords clanking at his side. Meanwhile, Marcelo still tried fruitlessly to land a hit on Agairan on his own.

         Raph, stood up, furious. He gripped his broadswords, one in each hand and raised them.

         “Marcelo, move!” screamed Raph at his friend.

         Marcelo rolled out of the way, responding the command, and Agairan looked back at Raph to see what this was about.

         “Twin Vultures!” screamed Raphaiel as he used all his strength to throw his broadswords towards Agairan. The swords zipped through the air towards its target but they did not attack quickly; instead they stayed high in the air, revolving around its mark.

         Raph ran towards Agairan, but it was a distraction; behind Marcelo prepared to thrust his sword. However, Agairan noticed the intentions and grabbed the sword by its blade, stopping it before it pierced him with incredible strength.

         “It’s not good manners to sneak up on people,” said Agairan to Marcelo, grinning, and then, with a jerk he broke the silver blade. Marcelo gasped, shocked as he stumbled down to the floor. Agairan threw the broken blade aside and walked towards Marcelo.

         “Don’t forget about me!”

         Raph ran rapidly forward, and Agairan braced for the attack. Yet, Raph slid to the side, where his friend was and took from his bag a handful of starpebs. Then, he threw the starpebs at Agairan’s feet and pulled Marcelo on his feet with a grunt. Immediately they started running, knowing that the only chance of survival they had was hiding.

         Agairan made as to follow but the broadswords flying around him started to descent, preventing him from advancing. The broadswords slashed him several times, while he was trying to get out of his moving razor prison. Finally, the swords stopped flying around and darted down to the floor. The starpebs exploded.

         “Come on, inside this room!” hurried Raph, as he pushed open the door to the next room.

         “But my blade. Eirika. I have to get it,” said Marcelo to his friend.

         “You can’t. Come on!”

         They entered a dark room. Blinded by darkness, they started feeling the walls, searching for the other door out. They finally found their way out when the door from where they entered blew open.

         “You WILL die!” screamed Agairan. He focused majia in his palm and shot it at the ceiling. Marcelo and Raph pushed the other door open as the room rumbled and the ceiling started to collapse. They snuck out of the room before the ceiling fell with a bam and a cloud of smoke.