Little update: A big thanks to those who are following this story so far! In case you are wondering, this is a self-written story (an amateur attempt I know) during the days when I was fascinated by the stuff about knights, castles, kingdoms and sorcery, you get what I mean. For those who wish to check out the previous chapters, here's the link! With that let the adventure continue!
Chapter 50
Selera dove out of the window and landed on the bushes behind the castle. She peered intently and did not see any signs of Ariton. All of a sudden, she felt fizzling sparks hit her head. The next thing she knew, the surroundings started to spin faster and faster and it took less than ten seconds before she passed out and fell flat onto the ground.
Ariton wondered if he should go for the kill, but hesitated when memories of the past came into his mind. Regardless of which side he was on now, she still took care of him in the past and he could not bear to silence her now.
"Ariton, you can’t get away!"
It was Rak. He was walking towards him, but his hands seemed to be carrying something on his back. In the darkness, Ariton could not figure out what it was but remained alert.
As they got closer, Ariton heard another voice.
"Rak, there’s someone on the ground."
"Who are you? Why are there two voices?" questioned Ariton.
"Because I’m invisible." Maltov replied, as he got off Rak’s back and hobbled towards Ariton and Selera.
"Who are you and why are you so mysterious?"
"He’s a friend and has come to assist me, just like your battlefiends."
Rak lied. At this moment, Maltov had arrived right in front of Ariton and he gathered his strength before sending a powerful punch right into Ariton’s face. Before Ariton could recover, Rak confidently smashed three crystals and caused the ground around him to explode.
"You have no escape today, Ariton. Today will be the day that you will die."
Facing an invisible person and a person well-versed in crystallography, Ariton knew he was no match for them. His battlefiends were banished and the only way for him was to lure them to kill the Perisher instead of him.
Trying not to sound nervous, he spoke, "You wouldn’t want to kill me. The person you want to kill is the Perisher."
"It makes no difference who dies first," retorted Maltov.
"The Perisher is in the throne room fighting it out with the other three sons and I doubt the three of them can withstand him. If you are going to waste your time on me, who knows what might happen to them…"
Before he could complete his sentence, Maltov threw another punch and sent him rolling to the ground. Maltov saw his battleaxe and quickly reached his hands out to grab it. Ariton felt his battleaxe move and wasted no time. He stretched his hands out and successfully grabbed Maltov’s hands. Maltov knew he was unable to outrun Ariton with his twisted ankle, so he took the battleaxe and threw it out of Ariton’s reach. Irked by Maltov’s actions, Ariton made a violent twist on Maltov’s wrists and caused him to scream in pain.
Rak stepped forward but was warned by Ariton to stay put if he did not want any further harm to Maltov.
"Let me go!"
"You should have known better not to mess with me. If you reveal your identity, I might consider letting you off." Ariton answered, and held Maltov’s wrists tighter, causing him to groan in pain.
"I’ll tell."
"No!" shouted Rak.
Maltov stuttered, "I’m..."
"Electro destructo!"
A beam of light flashed through the darkness and landed straight at Ariton’s face, causing him to fall back. Rak turned around and saw Moya right behind him, panting heavily. Instantaneously, Ariton loosened his grip and Maltov quickly scrambled towards the two of them.
"The battleaxe! Grab it!" commanded Maltov, whose wrists were twisted badly.
Rak sprinted forward while Moya sent more spells in the direction of Ariton’s path.
"Inferno destructo!"
As the burning rocks started to fall from the sky, Ariton remembered the time when he laughed at Moya for not being able to execute this spell properly. However, it was the full-fledged spell this time round. Ariton focused and channelled his inner energies to retrieve the battleaxe from the ground. Just as Rak caught sight of the battleaxe, he saw the weapon gain a life of its own and started to drift towards Ariton. That was not all. Ariton continued to chant and suddenly, the battleaxe took a swift turn and headed towards Rak. Rak knew it was too late to dodge and he closed his eyes and prepared himself for death.
"Muto silencio!"
The chanting stopped instantaneously and the battleaxe fell right in front of Rak. Ariton quickly turned out and scaled the city wall, in an attempt to escape. Rak, who still could not believe he was not dead, quickly grabbed crystals from his pouch and threw them at Ariton.
Then it all happened in a matter of seconds. Ariton slipped from the city wall and fell all the way down, landing straight on the vicious blade on his battleaxe. The three of them watched in horror as the battleaxe sliced his body into two pieces.