Chapter 6 Continued
Falcon stopped about ten paces from the front of the house. “Well, Zen, are these your demon accomplices?”
“I think you can see we are quite human!” mouthed Christine.
“Quite a little spitfire, Zen. You have groomed her well, I see. I didn’t know they were training beasts to be mages either.”
“Hey, I’m 100% fighter! And more than a match for you!” snarled Raff.
Falcon eyed Raff over until he stopped at his feet. “Those boots. Those are the Legendary Lord Leo’s boots! Where did you find them?!!” Falcon looked angry. “Those boots belong on a true hero, not a grungy servant of darkness! I must reclaim them for Leo’s honor.”
“YOU’RE the one disgracing the word ‘hero’! Let me at em, Zen!” Raff was snarling ferociously now.
Zen extended his arm, “Not so fast, powerhouse. I think he’s out of your league. So, Falcon, how do you want to lose today?”
Falcon laughed. “That’s just the typical response I would expect from a Ghaleon-wannabe. Just as Ghaleon’s tyranny was brought to justice so many years ago, today I shall bring yours to. . .”
Zen tapped his foot. “That’s what I hate about heroes. Speeches. Always speeches. Look. I don’t have time for this. LeMae could wake at any minute. Who battles who?”
Falcon laughed and pointed at Raff. “Alright then. Little boy. Best my big friend, Ox, here, and I’ll give you a shot at me. The women can battle because obviously, as a woman, she would never be able to beat me.”
“What a chauvinistic little. . .” Zen had to stop Christine from going after him with his other arm. “Great. Thanks for riling up my team, Falcon. So I guess you’ll lose to me, then?”
“Not hardly, Zen. I have prepared since I saw you last and now I wield the one weapon which will cut through your immorality. At last, I will rid the world of your tyranny, and carry on a legacy of heroes started long ago.” Falcon unwrapped a sword from his back and held it high in the air.
“With The Sword Of Althena, I will finally destroy you!!”
“The Sword Of Althena. . .” Christine mumbled to herself and looked at Zen. For the first time, she saw genuine fear in his eyes. It made her afraid as well.
“How did he find that sword. . .”, Zen thought to himself. It was clear to Zen now that Falcon also had access to the teleporters. “It must be the hero’s blood that runs in his veins.” Zen thought to himself. “Lucia should have considered that. This is bad.”
“You have no right to wield that sword!” shouted Raff. “I’ll take it for the sake of Lord Leo!”
“Very well, youth. Step forward and let the first battle begin. Ox, defeat this impertinent child!”
The big man with the mace stepped up right in front of Raff and looked at him, then looked back at Falcon. “But chief, he’s so small. It’s not right. I mean, it’s not even a match.”
“Don’t kill him, Ox. It’s not the hero’s way to kill. However, these young people are under the control of Zen. They are not responsible for their actions, and as long as that is so, we must go through them to get to Zen. Simply knock him out.”
“Alright, Falcon.” Ox turned back to Raff. “Sorry little guy, but it looks like I’m gonna have to. . .”
WHAM!!! With one mighty fierce blow, Raff sent the big Ox flying face first into the ground. . .unconscious. Falcon was stunned. Raff looked up at Zen who smiled back and nodded his head approvingly.
“If that’s your best, Falcon, you’d better go home now.”, said Zen.
Falcon steamed. “I don’t teach my fighters to use such underhanded tactics. You’ll pay for that, youth! But first, Priscilla! Take care of that girl!”
The violet haired girl bounced forward towards Christine. “Hi! My name’s Priscilla! Queen of Dessert. Cause I love chocolate cake! Heehee!”
Zen groaned and buried his head in his hand. “Gee, Christine. Need any help with this?”
Christine rolled up her sleeve and got out her staff. “Hey, she could still be tough.” Christine walked down to meet Priscilla halfway. Priscilla and Christine stood face-to-face.
“Alright!” boomed Priscilla. “Here I go!!”
“Priscilla!” interrupted Falcon.
Priscilla turned around confused. “Yes?”
“Come here.”
Priscilla bounced over. “What is it?”
“What’s that on your back?”
“Uhhh, my bow?”
“Very good. And what did we say about bows?”
“They uh, use arrows?”
“And. . .”
“Ooh, I know. They are meant for long distance! See? I studied!”
Falcon patted Priscilla on the head. “Very good. Then WHY ARE YOU ATTACKING AT CLOSE RANGE?!!”
“Well, it’s important to shake hands with an opponent. It’s just polite.”
Falcon shrugged his shoulders and waved her on. “Alright. Fine. Go on. Shake hands. Make friends. We’re only in a duel here.”
Priscilla nodded happily. “Great, Falcon. I’ll go do that. BYE!”
Priscilla bounced back to Christine and extended her hand. “Hi, I’ll be fighting you. My name’s Priscilla!”
Christine shook hands with Priscilla. “You know. You remind me of an old friend of mine named Bap. Full of energy.”
“BAP?!! Does she have purple hair and big pigtails?” Priscilla said excitedly.
“Yes, she does!”
“That’s my sister!!! She ran away from home saying she was gonna go study magic. I’m still mad at her for not coming with me to train at Falcon’s camp. She said she wanted to be a mage instead. How do you know her?”
“She’s my best friend at Vane Academy.” Christine smiled.
“She made it into Vane Academy?! Is she doing well?”
“I think so. I haven’t talked to her in a while.”
“Well, that’s great. If you know my sister, that means we can be friends too!”
Meanwhile, Zen and Falcon could not hear what was being said or what was taking so long. “Priscilla, now what are you doing?!” bellowed Falcon.
“Yes, Christine. What’s the hold up?”
“Well, Zen. This girl is Bap’s sister. Can you believe it?! Listen, is it okay if we don’t fight? We talked it over and we’re friends now.”
“Fine with me. Falcon?” Zen looked at Falcon.
“NO! It is not okay! Priscilla, turn on me now, and you are out of Falcon class!!”
“Uhh. . .” Priscilla thought about it. “Okay, that’s fine. It wasn’t much fun anyway. Besides, now I know where my sister is.”
Zen folded his arms. “Well, Falcon, looks like it’s just you and Raff.”
“Yeah, you and. . .huh?” Raff looked confused. “Zen, don’t you want to take him? Isn’t he your rival and all?”
“Ramus is my rival. This guy’s a joke. You’re welcome to him.” Zen said it confidently, but Christine thought back to the look on Zen’s face when Falcon showed him The Sword Of Althena. Christine couldn’t help but wonder if he was avoiding the battle on purpose.
Raff beat his fists together and danced from side-to-side. “Alright, Falcon, you ready for me?”
Falcon put away his sword and took a fighting stance. “Very well. Come.”
Raff started off with amazing speed with his attacks, but Falcon was faster and seemed to dodge every one. After many minutes of this, Raff started to get tired. Eventually, Raff started to move slower. Finally, with one swipe of his fist, Falcon smacked Raff in the back of the head, and Raff hit the ground, cold.
“RAFF!!”, yelled Christine. Zen looked worried.
“Don’t worry. I just knocked him unconscious. Unlike some people, it’s not the hero’s nature to kill. However, unless the girl wants to try her luck you must now fight me, Zen.”
Zen stepped forward, but Christine grabbed his arm. “Don’t do it, Zen. I saw the look in your eyes. You can’t win, can you?”
“I haven’t lost to him yet. I won’t start now. Don’t worry.” Christine thought back to her first days at The Academy up until today. The amazing magic and power that seemed to come from Zen. His unlimited power. But then why should he be afraid of a holy sword? She remembered his question before the battle. Was he evil? Was Zen evil? Is that why he was afraid of Althena’s sword?
Zen concentrated and summoned a huge earth golem that started flailing at Falcon. Falcon with amazing speed drew Althena’s Sword and proceeded to cleave the golem into pieces, the golem never connecting a single strike. Zen shot flames, bolts, ice lances, everything he could muster at Falcon but he dodged them all with his catlike reflexes or by shielding himself with Althena’s Sword. The battle drew closer and closer to the large boulder which held LeMae, and the future of The Blue Star. Finally, he caught up behind Zen, and managed to swipe at his back. Zen’s eyes turned the fierce red that Christine had seen so many times before, except this time, Zen was at the mercy of someone else. Zen slumped to one knee and began to crawl towards Christine. He looked suddenly so helpless and powerless.