Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

Kalliope continued to watch over the battle from a safe distance. Several times she felt her hands and legs twitch as if preparing to leap into battle. From this distance she could smell the blood of the fallen, and it was sending her senses into overdrive.

With every slight movement, Lucius would smile and tug on her sleeve to remind her to calm down. Unfortunately, calming down in a situation like this was not in her nature. She desperately wished to be shedding the blood of her enemies alongside her allies. Though she did not know any of these elves by their names, save Faylin, she still wished to take part in a glorious battle at their side.

Had she known that Lucius would instantly become this protective, she might not have told him about the possibilities and simply took the potion without explanation.

Remembering him, she turned to look at his face. Though he was surveying the battlefield with a strange calm and interest, his face was still pale and his breaths were slightly labored. He seemed to try his best to maintain his composure, but every minute seemed to be more of a struggle.

Jade stepped up to their side. Kalliope had smelled her scent upon her approach and figured she was simply staying close to Lucius since Desmond had left without her. As a non-combatant, Kalliope was concerned with her presence so close to the battlefield. An errant spell or arrow could threaten her life easily.

"Kalliope," Lucius said quietly after looking at the sun's position in the sky, "In a short while, I will request that you escort Jade closer to the river."

"Why? Also, when? Is this a part of your plan that you haven't told me?"

Lucius said nothing but nodded to the river instead. Following his direction, Kalliope gazed carefully at the raging waters. The river was massively wide and very turbulent. Attempting to swim in the rapid waters would be a death sentence. However, something interesting was happening.

The frequent white crests of the churning water had decreased in number. Simultaneously, the dull roar had faded, if only slightly. Kalliope had known that Lucius intended to block the flow of water upstream, so she was unsurprised at this development. The part he had not explained was Jade's importance to the plan.

Meanwhile, the battle on the stone bridge had reached a standstill. Barriers had formed and create the usual lull in battle. Lucius had a pensive look on his face as if trying to figure out if he should intervene or not in the developing pause.

Faylin broached the subject first. "Lord Kane, any orders?"

"I think not. When you hear the river roar, send the order to give ground." Lucius answered.

Kalliope and Faylin both glanced at one another. Faylin carefully asked, "Hear the river roar, sir?"

Lucius simply nodded his head and declined to speak further. By this point, the river's water level had dropped drastically, indicating that Desmond's team had done their job. The sun had climbed higher and higher into the sky, gently warming their faces. The serenity of the scene ruined by the stench of blood and the screams of the dying.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Once the formerly raging rapids had become barely more than a trickle of water, Lucius nodded at Kalliope to have her take Jade closer to the battlefield. Having someone so unused to the field of battle be so close to one made her very nervous, but there was a look of determination blazing fiercely within Jade's eyes that made it hard to oppose the idea.

Begrudgingly, she nodded and the two of them walked off together.

She heard his armor clanking together, but she refused to look back. Lucius had clearly been too exhausted to maintain his façade and Kalliope happily let him feel as though he had 'hidden' it successfully. There was something about the strange sense of pride he had that warmed her heart. It was as if he only wanted to appear strong in front of those he cared for.

Though she did hope that he would eventually let himself be weak. Many of the women in his life were also strong, save a few, and he could easily rely upon them in times of need.

"I feel he doesn't trust us when he does stuff like that," Jade mumbled.

"I know," Kalliope agreed, "but sometimes we must simply let him do as he pleases. If he wishes to look strong in front of us, we should let him."

Kalliope paused a moment before releasing a small snort. "You know, I can hear your heartbeat racing. You act like it bothers you, but his behaviors stir your delicate soul, don't they?"

Jade nodded quietly before regaining her strong demeanor. As they approached the bridge, Kalliope had drawn her sword and shield. By this point, she had recovered a large chunk of her mana reserves from the enhancement spell earlier. She had more than enough to defend herself and Jade, especially if the latter stayed behind her.

A handful of targeted arrows tested the waters by aiming for the two women, but they were no match for Kalliope's quick reflexes and were easily sliced out of the air or deflected with the flat of her shield. Not that any of the attacks were serious. It mostly seemed like the enemy was seeing if they could earn an extra kill from an easier target than the barriers.

However, they could not concentrate fire on two lone soldiers when they needed to keep pressure on the barrier hoping it weakens enough to pierce.

As if insulted by the situation, Jade stepped out from behind Kalliope's area of protection. Before she could protest too much, the mark on Jade's left hand glowed. A small thread of water floated its way around the woman, being siphoned from the scant amount of liquid remaining in the riverbed.

Jade's entire demeanor changed. Her gentle, carefree smile warped into something else. Her beautiful blue eyes became cold and harsh, while her smile widened into a wicked grin. The thin thread of water swirled around her and separated into other, smaller threads. The water quickly formed a small, spherical barrier around her body.

Several arrows aimed directly for her were slashed out of the air with such speed and precision that even Kalliope's trained eyes struggled to follow. Because of the purity of the water, the threads were almost invisible. Were it not for the occasional glinting of the light, no one would have known what Jade was doing.

Each of the now hundreds of threads surrounding her formed tiny needles, all aimed toward the archers who dared to attack her. Silently, hundreds of these water needles shot toward the archers at speeds rivaling that of a Thunder Magic spell… no, it was many times faster.

Faster than Kalliope could blink, nearly a dozen enemy elves turned into pincushions for invisible projectiles. Their bodies spurting blood into the air as they collapsed on the ground, dead. Jade continued her onslaught, launching attack after attack, constantly refilling the reserve water threads with more of the small pools that remained in the riverbed.

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Kalliope glanced nervously at the gentle girl she was supposed to 'protect'. As someone with no Compatibilities, Jade was Unranked; a normal human. Yet, this human slayed dozens of elves, defeating their defensive Arts and slicing through their armor as if they were paper.

Lucius slowly approached them from behind, his sudden approach nearly giving Kalliope a heart attack because of the distraction that Jade provided. She mechanically turned to face her lover, who had a sly grin on his face.

"I had spoken to Desmond and Jade in the past, regarding Jade's mark." Lucius explained, while gesturing to the silent onslaught before them, "While they were students back in their home of Keinydd, Jade would often practice her abilities in secret. You see, the academy there is on an island in the ocean.

"Not too far from the Keinydd Academy is the lair of a great and powerful beast known as Leviathan. Occasionally, its eyes would peer upon the school and its students as though it were looking for someone. Desmond often felt that it was Jade. Her mastery over water is a terrifying thing. Something that caught the attention of such a legendarily powerful creature."

"This is terrifying." Kalliope whispered.

"Indeed," Lucius nodded along happily, "Voiceless control over water, with her power limited only by the amount of water present. Desmond joked in private that he had yet to see her exhaust herself, which made me wonder what her limits would be."

The threads of water surrounding Jade had become even thinner once all the water within her range had been absorbed into her attack. Jade no longer continued firing her water needles and instead maintained the surrounding shield, occasionally whipping arrows and spells out of existence.

Kalliope's ears twitched atop her head as a dull roar reached the edge of her senses. It slowly grew louder as time passed. Even though she could not see it, she could tell that the raging waters were returning with a force greater than they could imagine. Lucius smiled before bringing his fingers to his lips and letting out a loud whistle.

Faylin nodded off in the distance and sent a runner to deliver orders to the frontline. Slowly, but surely, their forces backed off the bridge, allowing the enemy to advance.

Kalliope noticed a strange, euphoric look appear on Jade's face, her cheeks becoming flush. It was as if the prospect of the wall of water rushing towards them filled her with ecstasy.

For Lucius's part, his brow had sweated even more profusely, and he brought his hands in front of him as if preparing to clap. Kalliope could feel him condensing mana within his palms.

Once he was satisfied, Lucius clapped his hands together and whispered, "[Shatter]".