Gaius The Goliath

"Keep your composure Cyrus." My body language shouldn't have been visible to him, but nevertheless I had the sudden urge to hide away or run away from this place. I was perfectly aware that running from something was useless in the end, unless the enemy was the same.

As we got deeper within the center of town, things changed drastically. The markets and shops slowly faded out until nothing else remained, the bustling noise turned to an eerie silence, the sky turned pitch dark. All traces of light disappeared. Even Ariel grew restless.

"I need to head home, I'm getting anxious." I glanced to my sides and saw the same people who had gone about their daily activities without a care for anything, yet none of them had noticed our odd disappearance from the middle of the crowd. It was just empty space here now.

"We aren't going anywhere. I will show you our way out. If we walk far enough we should arrive back where we came from, come let us follow my lead." With that she motioned her hand forwards and set off in a random direction, the darkness swallowed me in its entirety until the only source of illumination that I could see were the stars and a pale moon that shone brightly in the sky, highlighting our silhouettes as we walked.

"Ariel... do you know a guy named Gaius, that guy... well, he tried to kill me during our fight and right now he's in the vicinity of us. So I feel unsafe being this close to him, it makes me feel weird that I should stay on guard even though he's no longer here."

"Well if you don't want to die you'd best avoid him as long as possible, also why do you hide your power? If Gaius knew the strength that you possessed, I doubt he would attack you." Ariel sighed frustratedly while she bit down on her lower lip in displeasure. Her features creased as the muscles clenched in annoyance and her teeth were bared in a grimace.

"The problem is that Gaius knows about the ability that I possess." My words hung in the air for a brief moment as I gathered my thoughts to explain the situation to her. I chose my words carefully, picking out only those that wouldn't betray any secrets about myself. Why did Omnixis bring me to this world? Out of all the people who die every second, he chose me.

"So, if Gaius knows you have the innate ability to use Aether, why isn't he scared?"

"That's because my control over Aether is weak, and he knows how strong Aether can become."

"Wait, how does he know how strong you're capable of if your Aether control isn't at its maximum? Cyrus what do you have?" She suddenly seemed worried again. "There you are Cyrus, I've been waiting for this." His voice echoed against my ears, loud and clear. A flash of lightning crackled above us, lighting up the surrounding area, momentarily revealing everything that was hidden by shadow. "What the hell do you want Gaius, JUST GET AWAY FROM ME!" My heartbeat accelerated immediately, sending me into a near panicked state as I realized I couldn't use aether unless I wanted to hurt innocent civilians who were nearby.

"YOU'VE INSULTED ME FOR TOO LONG, NOW COME HERE!" His figure materialized in front of us out from the shadows, causing both me and Ariel to recoil in horror at the sight of him standing before us. His right arm extended to reach down at Ariel's head.

"ARIEL!" I leaped out in front of her without hesitation, catching hold of her wrist while also pulling her back towards me and away from harm, she stumbled into me, losing her balance and crashing into me as we fell to the ground. Then the pain hit.

When we landed onto each other, a sharp jolt ran up the side of my chest and I gasped as the breath flew out my lungs. Tears streamed down from the corners of my eyes as we rolled, causing even more injury to be added on top. As my chest hit her, it felt like thousands upon thousands upon millions of needles had sunk themselves deep inside my chest. "Why." Ariel sobbed from underneath me and I wrapped my arms around her waist, keeping her pressed against the dirt. Her shoulder pressed into my sternum. There was no room, there were no options, there were no choices. Just pain, and this horrible ache that screamed at me to stay put.

Suddenly Gaius' gaze landed upon me. My eyes were tightly squeezed shut as I willed the agony away, praying that nothing else would happen and that she wouldn't move again. In those short moments where the whole world stood still and all else fell away from existence, I knew what was happening to me; I recognized this feeling, though it wasn't quite the same. With all of my energy drained I couldn't conjure up a single ounce of magic. My hands dug into the ground beneath, nails carving trenches into the soil until I felt Ariel shift in her position and her warm breath puffing on the side of my face. I barely kept in the grunt. My breath hitched, as my vision narrowed and my stomach flipped, making bile crawl up my throat.

"How boring... You didn't even put up a fight." His cold laugh resounded loudly against the buildings of the city around us, filling my ears with noise, causing a buzzing to emerge within the back of my mind. His lips turned up slightly, curling at their corners, amusement clear in his gaze. His hand stretched out, fingers curling around my ankle and yanking me from the ground with little effort. My chest pulled, something tearing painfully through muscle. Another gasp escaped my mouth, then Ariel cried out behind me.

A sound between a scream and a yell burst forth from the depths of my throat, tearing its way past my lips. "Gaius, you're really fucked up you know that?" In my right hand I conjured a tiny dagger created from Aether and jabbed it right into his left eye and kicked him in the nuts. His screams and the sudden action of his body letting go was my signal.

I scooped up Ariel, threw her on my shoulders and broke into a sprint while blood ran down my leg. Every fiber of my being wanted to stop, wanted to rest and sleep, but that was impossible and wouldn't help my situation in the slightest. Adrenaline fueled my body as it pumped into every muscle, bringing me back to life.

That's when I realized, Gaius was no joke. He appeared right in front of me, with a stern look on his face that screamed animosity. His left hand gripped tightly onto my arm and twisted. Ariel's grip loosened and we tumbled together, falling flat on our backs. "We don't need more reasons for this world to cling on. You need to die before you can become a threat to everything."

Before he could land another attack on us, an immense amount of bloodlust erupted from him, threatening to engulf us completely in his aura. His eyes widened in shock before narrowing. His muscles tensed as he prepared to strike me with one powerful blow. Ariel instinctively pushed against the ground with her palms, launching her body back. Her left leg hooked around mine and swung round, effectively swatting my right leg out the way.

My reaction time slowed, with adrenaline coursing through my veins. "AETHER SHIELD!" Before the punch connected a large green barrier of hexagons encircled me blocking his punch and causing him to recoil and fall back. Ariel grabbed onto his legs and casted another spell to disorient and slow him down. Gaius wasn't fazed by this however, and was quickly able to break the roots that came up to pin him to the ground. He stomped forward, closing the gap between us quickly.

His aura intensified, covering the entire area in an oppressive weight, attempting to crush everyone nearby. "Inferno of 1000 Suns." Suddenly he created a spell that emitted hundreds of orbs which he shot straight toward us. A thunderous crash exploded from the explosion, flames scorching the surrounding area. When the smoke cleared he stood alone surrounded by an invisible barrier of purple, white, and black mana, while I was holding onto Ariel in a defensive stance, keeping the shield up while trying to regenerate energy from the last attack.

I jumped backward, moving quickly and putting some distance between us, "I'll make this a proper fight since the last battle didn't seem fair to you," he grinned as a sword of blazing flame appeared in his hands. The orange flame extended like a tongue lashing at its target, trying to devour us whole.