Last Stand

Nathan Ambers POV :

Beside me Elijah rubbed his eyes, still in disbelief of what just happened.

The others broke out into whispers upon recognizing two of the students as the Student Council President and a member of the Disciplinary Committee.

"Shhhhh." Draneeve waved his hand to silence the audience, "I know you all have hundreds of questions, but I'd like to introduce myself first."

Taking a few steps forward he straightened his robe and combed his hair, "As I said earlier, I go by Draneeve."

He paused, as if expecting something.

A few seconds he shrugged, "I know I seem like the bad guy here, but I'm actually on your side."

How absurd can he get?

Seems like the crowd agreed with me as shouts and protests ensued.

"Silence." He spoke lowly, yet it was enough to freeze everyone.

"Now where was I? Ah yes, My name is Draneeve and I have come to save you all." He spread his arms as his robes fluttered in a non-existent breeze.

"You see, I come from a land far far away. This land is an extremely cruel place for the weak. Yes, I'm talking about you. The ones who are considered to be 'Elite' here, who are looked upon as the future of the continent. From where I come from you are. Nothing. But. Trash" He mocks.

"That being said, I made this long and arduous journey to prepare those I deem to be worthy, so that when my lord inevitably becomes this continents new ruler, they will have a place in his kingdom rather than being thrown away like the trash you are."

I looked around, and to my surprise some were considering it.

Damn traitors!

"To those who stand in front of me today, congratulations on being the ones chosen to be honored pawns of the new ruler of this continent. Lukiyah, step forth and show them a glimpse of your new found power."

Who now?

The figure who had been holding the Student Council President stepped forward, passing his gaze over us as if searching for someone.

He stopped as his gaze fell over Elijah, and removed the hood.

It was without a doubt Lucas Wykes.

He pulls the Student Council President's head up by her hair as he started licking her face, going from her neck to her ear before stopping and sending a wink towards Elijah.

"LUCAS YOU SON OF A BITCH! HOW DARE YOU!" He bellowed.

And I jumped away just in time to dodge a black metal spike that broke through the ground.

"What the hell Elijah?!" He didn't respond, rather his shoulder slumped down and his head hunched forward.

Without a word he advanced forward and placed his palm against the transparent barrier, as black flames shrouded his hand.

In an instant the entire barrier melted, and I shivered involuntarily.

What is this?

How did he suddenly get so powerful.

I stood transfixed at the view in front of me.

He casted his blacks spikes so fast that anyone that even tried to come near him was instantly skewered.

I clenched my chest and my vision blurred, as I felt fear grip my heart.

I gasped in breaths, yet it felt like nothing went in.

Through my blurry vision I noticed the man Draneeve looking at Elijah, afraid.

Hell he even called him 'sir'.

But Elijah didn't even register his pleas as he advanced on to Lucas.

All of a sudden he began staggering, and as a last ditch effort he shot a spike at Lucas, which embedded itself on his shoulder.

He finally stopped as he fell unconscious, and the aura lifted.

The man Draneeve picked up Elijah's limp body and turned to Lucas, "Lukiyah. Change of plans. You will take care of the ones ignorantly approaching and dispose of these trash." 

"I will be heading back first, and I expect you will follow promptly after." He ordered.

What am I doing!

Why am I just letting them take away Elijah!

And then I move forward, fire, wind and earth swirling around me.

I raise an arm, and the combined elements go directly for Lucas.

Who jumps away with supersonic speed, and my attack collides with the pavement.

"It is ready my lord." One of the hooded figures announced.

"No!" I cry out.

Draneeve glances at me, before turning back to Lucas, "I suspect you won't be having any trouble with this." And left the area.

"Damnit!"

Lucas turned to me with a manic glint in his eyes, "It's a shame the Leywins aren't here to watch me defile her and kill you!" the ruby on top of his staff glows a blazing blue.

"...Try me." I growl as I tap into a bug chunk of my mana to counter whatever spell he cooks up.

The memory of my first spar against Fayden came to mind.

Let's try that, this time without restraint.

White hot flames manifest in front of my open palm in the shape of a cylinder.

The two ends of the cylinder extend in opposite directions, forming two cross guards.

The blade comes at last, yet it is the most refined.

Fire isn't escaping from it this time, it's almost as if its completely solid.

And as I gaze at the white glaive in my hand, I fail to notice the blue-black veins protruding on the skin of my torso, originating from my mana core.

That was my fatal mistake.

Who knows, maybe if I had noticed it and went forward with more care things wouldn't have turned out like that.

Swinging the construct down I bring it down in a downward strike on Lucas.

Who uses his staff to block it barely in time.

I switch to the other side, using it to strike at his torso diagonally.

He moves almost instantly, yet I nick his side.

"You dare lay your hands on the mighty Lucas Wykes?!"

"Oh shut up, I'm tired of your babbling." I grumble and stab one end to the ground.

He widens his eyes and jumps backwards, yet the gout of fire that exploded from the ground where he was an instant ago singed his shirt, and part of his hair.

That's when I infuse most of the mana I have left into my glaive for a finisher attack.

And that sealed my fate.

I bring it above my head, as if I was delivering divine justice itself.

But before I could swing it down, likely cleaving the entire complex in two, my glaive fizzled and disappeared, and I fell to my knees, clutching my torso, right over my core.

Not now!

Tearing open the fabric covering it, revealing a blueish black circle on my torso with veins heading out of it to random directions.

Lucas has a sinister smirk all the while, as he charges a spell with his staff once again, and this time the gem glows a dull red.

I couldn't even react as he stabs the gem right over my sternum, in the center of the blue circle.

"Burn to a husk!" 

And the glow transfers to my torso.

This is it huh?

This is how I die, alone.

I guess Fayden was right about my attacks being life threatening in the end.

I only wish, I could see the faces of Mother and Father once again.

Just then, I swore I saw the shadows extending to form a Canine form, with a humanoid one on top of it.

So I won't die alone after all huh?

_______________________________________________________________________________

~A few minutes earlier~

Third Person POV : 

As soon as the man called Draneeve disappeared from the premises, the mana beasts run amok, causing havoc.

This is why no one went to help the lone boy facing against the grey skinned human....could he even be called human by this point?

The professors took on the strongest of the beasts, along with the Disciplinary Committee and Student Council members.

While the normal students managed to fight off the weaker ones.

It was a futile attempt.

For even if they somehow managed to kill the beasts, there was still Lucas Wykes, who was the strongest mage in the vicinity then.

It all changed when they arrived.

All around the academy everything moving, stopped in their tracks. Even the mana beasts who were supposed to not show fear even in the face of death.

While one flew in from the sky, as the Heavens themselves parted for him.

He landed down, as the gigantic scaled figure of a dragon, a being only seen in childrens books, stood behind him, glaring daggers towards the half elf.

But that was not the one responsible for, it was the one who arose from the ground, as if from Hell itself.

His appearance induced fear into everyone in the area, it was nothing like the one Elijah did, in fact it made Elijah's look tame in comparision.

A wave of heart-wrenching fear passed over each and every living being present there.

The weaker mages fell down, clenching their chests tightly, and the injured felt their hearts stop for just a moment.

His timely appearance saved lives, as mana beasts who were about to deal the killing blow to their unfortunate victims now stood petrified.

"Claire!" A mahogany haired boy shouted and pointed behind her.

"Huh?" The red haired Girl breathed out, turning backwards, only to find the clawed hand of a humanoid tiger-like beast centimeters from stabbing into her, right through her core.

With her rapier she pierced the beast through its eye, killing it before it could even open its mouth to scream.

"Thank you." She nods in appreciation.

The boy shook his head and pointed ahead of him, where the auburn haired boy was walking towards the silver haired Elf Princess, and the brown haired knelt over the body of Nathan Ambers, "Don't thank me, thank them, had they come here a second later, you would have been crippled as a mage if not killed outright."

But before she could reply, a sudden pressure brought everyone to their knees.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Fayden Leywin POV : 

I couldn't suppress the awful feeling of dread.

So I ended up confiding in Arthur and asked him to come with me to Xyrus Academy.

Since it was out of range for Void Step, I had to hitch a ride on Sylvie.

Zeke whined saying he could carry me, but I countered it by saying flying there is faster than running. And that I don't want him to waste his energy in case we need a quick getaway.

When we were almost to the Academy, I got down and entered first phase.

And Void Stepped inside.

It was chaos there.

Corpses littered the floor, both mana beast and mages.

Dismembered arms floated in pools of blood with weapons still clutched tightly.

I felt rage bubble up inside me at the mere sight of the once prestigious Academy.

But that rage soon turned to shock as my eyes fell on the prone form of Nathan, the one who I considered my best friend.

Shock gave way to disbelief as I stumble forward towards him.

Standing over him, looking at the pain filled expression on his face, I fall to my knees.

No....

NO!

NOT AGAIN!

I'M NOT GOING TO LOSE SOMEONE AGAIN!

My arm bursts to green flames as I try to heal Nathan from his half dead state.

Tears fell freely from my eyes as I struggled to hold it together.

But then a hand placed itself over mine.

Nathan's Hand.

"It's....fine...*cough*...I have...accepted it. Heh...looks like...you were...right about...my attacks being...fatal after all." 

"Don't talk, preserve your energy." I desperately try to increase the flow of [Tartarean Vitality] into him."

"It won't work...I can already feel...*cough*...the fire eating away...my insides... It's fine really...My only regret...is not being able...to see my family one...last...time."

And the light left his eyes as his body falls limp. His arm sliding off mine.

Disbelief was replaced by immense grief, for I had lost someone again.

But the grief didn't last.

Because fury took it's place.

And for the first time in two lives, I truly gave in to my rage as I enter a trance like state.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Author's Note : 

I'M SORRY!

BUT I HAD TO DO IT!

This was hard for me too!

I didn't want to kill him.

Well to be honest, I created Nathan solely to befriend Fayden and die in the attack.

But I got attached to the character myself.

So I was in a dilemma, whether to kill him off or to keep him alive.

And by the way events played out...I had to go for option A.

Besides he needed some reason to justify how he is going to kill Lucas other than him threatening to rape Tessia and killing students he wasn't even close to.

So please, wait a day for me to upload Lucastration.

For that will bring a smile/grimace to your face.