Vengeance

"Good afternoon, Dareon," Aadish greeted in his thick souther accent, standing in the alley between two buildings, the closest path for Dareon's lecture. In front of him, in order, Henter, Cobman, and Cassian, as per usual, his exclusive group of friends.

The shadow of the day cast upon them, concealing their wickedness from the eyes of preying instructors and students.

"And you, Hu… Hub… Ugh. Why is your name so hard to say? Northern dog, that's what I'll call you," Aadish added, speaking clearly, his eyes like a dull dagger, directed to Hubert.

Henter's ear flickered upon hearing the comment.

"What? Not you, Henter. Of course, you are more than a dog. We are noblemen, compared to them, we are wolves, each of us," Aadish said, noticing Henter's behavior.

"A brown wolf, that is," Hubert spoke out loud, his eyes glinting over Aadish's exotic skin of southern origin.

"Dog! How dare you speak when you are not allowed to?! Do you want me to pick up the stick and beat you up just like last time?" Aadish's tone peaked, his forehead bulged veins, and his eyes of topaz as if raging.

Swoosh!

Dareon swung his glaive, cutting any wind standing between him and the group. Until the glaive's blade came to a stop, leveled across their necks.

"Try it,"

"Huh, a dim fire now acting like black fire, huh?" Henter, the most front, with neck closest to Dareon's glaive's blade, exclaimed calmly. His grin from ear to ear, so big that his teeth began showing, shining, unlike his blond, lame hair.

Henter's fingers slithered off the garment, reaching for the dagger he kept behind him.

"Dareon… Dareon… thought we gave you a lesson last time, in the training field, remember? Well, it's a shame we couldn't finish you off just like how that dog over there," Cobman had his arms crossed, his attire resembling that of a mage, with robes of green that he always used to cover up his head.

Dareon shivered, his shoulder as if shaking ever so slightly for a moment. Yet, he stood his grounds and never dropped his glaive that he kept until now with one hand.

"See? The two dogs are scared now. Shall we play with them then, boys?" Aadish mocked as he too readied himself.

"Then I'll start," Cobman raised his open palm, directing it toward a gap in Dareon's defense, his open abdomen.

"Too late!" Henter shouted, the sharp shriek of his dagger sounded as he pulled his flaming dagger and swung it.

Clink!

The sharp, ringing sound echoed through the air. 

His grip over the glaive's pole loosened as the impact of the attack almost threw the glaive into the air.

Yet, with a quick and reflexive movement, Dareon pulled back his glaive to his side. Using the momentum of such force, his right foot stepped back by a step, adjusting into his fighting stance.

"Lowborn!" Henter shouted, lunging forward with his dagger of steel blanketed by flame.

Dareon thrusted his glaive as Henter was suspended in the middle of the air.

"Ha! Got you!" braggingly, Henter said, sidestepping to the side, avoiding Dareon's counter attack and continuing on his own.

"Who?" Hubert came from the side, swinging his newly smitten sword from the left, still sheathed in its scabbard.

Brak!

His attack connected to Henter's wide open abdomen, unprotected and unpadded. A crunch sound could be heard echoing softly through the air as Henter was thrown backward, toward Cobman.

Thud!

"Ugh!" Henter groaned of pain, his finger unwrapped around the dagger's handle, instead, pressing on his stomach in a hope of leveraging the pain.

Cough!

A splurge of saliva came from his mouth and onto the ground, tainting the place. 

"The dog has grown," Cobman smirked, his wide open palm showing, directed to Hubert. A magic circle formed slowly but surely, its color of whitish green as if calming.

"Interficiam cum ventus, wind cut!" Cobman cast. The wind came, in a shape of a single crescent, flying toward Hubert in a speed that disturbed the air's peace.

Woosh!

Swish!

Dareon stepped in front of Hubert, dispersing the wind in a single strike of his glaive.

"Yo-you! My masterpiece, my wind!" Cobman muttered as his eyes reddened. His fingers curled in disbelief, like a failed magician.

"Two," Hubert muttered.

"Two what?" Aadish responded, reciting his spells over and over inside his mind.

"Two "wolves". Now, would you mind stepping forward?" Hubert taunted, unsheathing his sword midway.

"Bah! These two wolves will recover in no time. We're not some weak person like you, dog!" Aadish mocked.

His words reminded Hubert of that day. The day it was supposed to be uneventful and peaceful, until they came and harmed and beaten him up. Where their cruelness persisted, a crowd against one.

"Then…" Hubert unsheathed his sword, with much regret. The sun shone from the cracks between the clouds above, blessing the sword. 

Its blade reflective of the sunlight, while its grip comfortable in his hand as he embraced it, his loved weapon. Untainted by blood, fresh blood, its baptism.

"Henter!" Aadish called.

"Cobman…!" and called.

"Ca-cassian!" and called.

With each call, his voice shook as his legs trembled. The fear in his eye grew evident as his palms sweated in nervousness.

Henter slowly got up, still clenching his stomach, while he picked up his dagger. Cobman was hit by Cassian from behind, by a slight tap.

"What?!" he barked upon the gesture, at his own friend.

"Cassian… in front," Cobman muttered in a soft and patient manner.

"Ugh! Stop disturbing me, you fish!" Cassian responded so, shrugging his shoulders as he turned his gaze forward, ready for another casting of magic.

Cobman closed his eyes then, focusing with all his might.

"Good… Good…! Let's show them our might, punish these two dogs!" Aadish exclaimed loudly.

Hubert's gaze, cold and bold, struck him down like a sword.

Aadish responded with a whimper and a shiver on his shoulder.

"Dareon," Hubert called.

"Shush, keep your words until you strike him down with that sword," Dareon replied.

Dareon chuckled, clenching his sword even tighter upon the comment.

"Right,"

Dareon's eyes were blazing. Fire was in him, and fire was him, a fire that raged inside him, barely under control. One that was pure, a virgin of a fire, untouched and untainted by the whole world.

"Heup!" he inhaled.

"Ha…" then exhaled, readying himself.

This was the first time he used the fire.

Steam seeped from the cloth of his uniform on his shoulders, and the entire surface of his body became hot and red.

Hubert's eyes glanced at him, slightly surprised. Though his expressions were suppressed by the threats in front of him. 

The first one, Henter, lunged forward.

"Dim fire!" he screamed, wielding his dagger of fire.

"Not as dim as you," Dareon retorted, his hair rising up, becoming one with the fire from within him.

"Huah!" Henter charged forward.

Dareon thrust his glaive, the same movement he did previously. 

Henter sidestepped, avoiding the thrust.

"Lame!" he shouted, then lunged his dagger forward, aiming for Dareon's neck.

Swoosh!

Dareon swung his glaive to the side, directly in line with Henter's way of attack. Though it was only the pole of his glaive, his counterattack connected with what he aimed for nonetheless.

Obliques.

"Ugh!!!" groaning, Henter stopped in his movement, the pain was as sharp as the one before..

Smirking, Dareon pulled his glaive as he took a step back, slashing.

Blood. Blood came, the first flesh blood of the day, the blood of a nobleman, in some alleyway of the academy, unknown to people. Where the blood that ran red was like a splatter of water, painting the wall red from its drops and the ground purple after being mixed with earth.

The glaive had been baptized. And the opponent stumbled to the ground beside.

"Cobman! Cassian! Attack! Now's your chance!" Aadish shouted from behind them.

Cassian nodded, heeding Aadish's order.

Cobman clicked his tongue, directing his open palm toward Dareon.

"Interficiam cum ventus!" Cobman cast, the crescent shaped wind came from his palm.

"Go, Dareon, face Cassian there," Hubert commanded.

Dareon nodded as he advanced. Cutting the crescent of wind that came flying toward him, dispersing it as easily as last time.

Then Cassian met him in the narrow alleyway. Where the two produced the sound of metal hitting stone and vice versa.

"Cobman…" Hubert called as he stepped forward, passing through the half conscious Henter.

"What?! Dog! Address me as my lord!" Cobman responded.

Hubert smiled.

"Interficiam cum ventus! Interficiam cum ventus! Interficiam cum ventus! Interficiam cum ventus!" Cobman cast, crazed. Four crescents, the latter weaker and smaller than the one before it.

Hubert swung his sword with control. His wrist rotated and bent, his forearm pulled and pushed, and his bicep gave power to the control.

Swoosh!

Swoosh!

Swoosh!

Four crescents, it was. The first three were dispersed by a simple swing of his sword. The last of the four was so weak, like a blow of wind from someone's mouth—so weak that it couldn't lift his hair up.

"That's all?" Hubert asked, the wind magician was now three steps away from his sword.

"Ugh! Hubert! I will remember you!" Cobman said as he turned around and fled the scene while tucking his tails, passing Aadish in the way.

"Cobman! Cobman! Damn!" Aadish cursed. There was now no one between him and Hubert, him and Hubert.

"Take another step and I will punish you, dog!" Aadish staggered backward.

"Here," Hubert mocked, taking another step.

"Don-don't you dare! Peasant!" Aadish threatened, his palm aimed at Hubert.

"Welp," Hubert mocked again as he took another step.

"You! Yo… you fell into my trap! Ha! Ignem Ruptis!" Aadish cast his magic upon noticing Hubert's closeness to him.

There were only three steps between them. But the alleyway was narrow and tight and Hubert knew the flame meant death to him. If only he couldn't dodge.

And dodge he did. Forward, the only way, the only safe place, where he lunged, with his sword in hand, toward Aadish.

Thud!