The sword detonated inside Soren's forearm
The blast was small compared to the spells they had been throwing moments earlier, but at this distance it didn't need to be large. The metal blade ruptured from within as Soren forced his blood mana through it, shattering the weakened steel into dozens of jagged fragments. The explosion ripped outward between them, sending shards of metal flying like a burst of shrapnel
For a brief instant the world became nothing but noise and motion
Soren reacted almost immediately
Blood was already everywhere splashed across the ground, soaking into the dirt, dripping from his ruined arms and the wounds carved into both of them. Without thinking, he pulled at it. The liquid responded instinctively, rising from the ground in a violent swirl before flattening into a curved surface in front of his body
The blood hardened
It compressed into a thin, dense wall just as the fragments of metal tore toward him
Several pieces struck the barrier with sharp metallic cracks, embedding themselves halfway into the crimson surface before losing their momentum and dropping to the ground. Others scraped past the edges and sliced shallow lines across Soren's shoulders and ribs, but the worst of the blast never reached him
The shield held long enough
A new spell formed in his mind with surprising clarity
Blood Barrier
He had created another spell in the middle of another battle what again would take mages years Soren had now just done it in a matter of seconds
Soren dropped the barrier a second later as the last pieces of metal fell around him. His breathing was rough and uneven now, each breath scraping against the raw exhaustion in his chest
Draven hadn't been able to react at all
The blast had caught him completely exposed
Metal fragments tore through his already ruined body, ripping across his chest, shoulders, and legs. One jagged shard embedded itself deep into his side while another carved a long gash across his forehead. The force of the blast knocked him backwards, his grip on the destroyed sword finally breaking as his body collapsed heavily onto the ground
For a moment he didn't move
Soren didn't hesitate
He lunged forward immediately, closing the distance before Draven could even think about recovering. His knees slammed into the ground on either side of the fallen mage as he drove his weight down, pinning Draven's body beneath him
Before Draven could react, Soren's hands clamped around his throat.
Draven's body jerked weakly beneath him, instinct trying to fight back despite the damage. His burned hands lifted halfway before falling uselessly back to the dirt
Soren pushed his forearms down on Draven's neck the place where his hands were still blown apart
"Speak," he said coldly
Draven stared up at him through half-lidded eyes, breathing ragged and uneven. Blood leaked slowly from the corner of his mouth as he struggled to focus on Soren's face above him
For a moment it looked like he might answer
Instead, he gathered what little strength he had left and spat
The blood and saliva struck Soren across the cheek
Something inside Soren snapped
He press down harder Draven's throat, the muscles in his arms tensing as he pressed down harder. Draven's breathing immediately grew more strained as the pressure cut off the air reaching his lungs
"You're still being stubborn?" Soren said quietly, anger beginning to seep into his voice. "Even now?"
Draven said nothing
His gaze remained fixed on Soren, defiant even as his body trembled on the edge of collapse
Soren wiped the spit from his face slowly with the back of his wrist
Then his expression hardened
His pressed down harder again, just enough to make Draven gasp for air
"Won't your daughter miss her father?" Soren said calmly
For the first time, something in Draven's expression shifted
It was subtle, barely noticeable, but Soren caught it immediately
Good
He leaned closer
"You will die here," Soren continued quietly, "And she grows up alone abandoned by her selfish father''
Draven's breathing grew heavier
Soren's slowly started applying more force again and Draven's face began to turn red as the lack of oxygen started to take hold
"Why couldn't I read your intent?" Soren demanded
His grip tightened another fraction
''Tell me!''
Then Draven let out a weak, broken breath
"…information," he rasped
Soren's eyes narrowed slightly
"What?"
Draven swallowed painfully before speaking again
"…about you… got out…"
The words came slowly, each one forced past the damage done to his body
''more information about how you fight came out..... a couple of days ago..''
Soren felt something cold settle in the back of his mind and the realisation hit him all at once, but he pushed past this thought, just for now anyway and asked something more important
"Then how did you stop it?" he demanded. "My intent magic''
Draven's eyes drifted half-closed
"…artifact," he whispered weakly
Soren's jaw tightened
'So someone told them'
Anger started to rise up in his chest now
'Rin. That rat! I let her live and this is how she thanks me?'
'I shouldn't have let her live!'
The thought came sharp and immediate
'Why did I let her live?'
He knew if he spared her, allowed his enemy to walk away it would only come back to bite him later. But even knowing this for some reason Soren still let her live. Why?
Soren slowly raised his forearm above Draven's head, cold calculation settled into place inside his mind. He couldn't repeat that mistake. Not again
Draven had to die
His arm trembled slightly from exhaustion as he held it there, suspended in the air. Every muscle in his body screamed in protest now. The fight had drained nearly everything from him, blood, mana, strength. Even breathing felt like work
Still, he remained where he was, straddling Draven's body
Instead of his arms, his knee pressed down firmly against the man's throat, forcing Draven flat against the dirt. Each small shift of Soren's weight tightened the pressure, making Draven's already ragged breathing even harder
Soren stared down at him
'I need to kill him'
'If he lives it will make it harder for me to survive when others come'
Slowly, Soren raised his fist higher
Then his mind betrayed him and then the memory came out of nowhere
Dark stone
Cold air inside the cave
Adrian's desperate body pinned beneath him
Soren's arm froze
For a moment he just knelt there, his arm hanging uselessly above Draven's face as the memory forced itself into his mind. The feeling returned with it, heavy and suffocating, the same weight that had settled in his chest that day
Adrian's expression
The moment he had realized what Soren was about to do
Soren's breathing hitched
His ruined hands lifted instinctively, clutching at the sides of his head as pain flared behind his eyes
"Why…?" he muttered hoarsely
The memory refused to disappear
Why do I keep thinking about that?
His fingers dug weakly into his hair as if trying to force the image out of his mind
"That was different," he said quietly
Draven barely reacted beneath him now. His eyes were half closed, his breathing shallow and uneven as he hovered on the edge of unconsciousness
Soren forced himself to focus
"That was different," he repeated, louder this time
"I didn't have a choice then"
His fist slowly rose again
"I don't want to do this"
The words sounded hollow even to him
"But I have to"
He began bringing his arm down again and then something cold slid into his stomach
For a moment Soren didn't understand what had happened
The sensation was strange almost dull at first, like pressure rather than pain
He blinked slowly
Then he looked down
A sword blade was sticking out of his abdomen
The sight didn't make sense
His mind refused to process it
"Huh…?"
The word slipped from his mouth before he could stop it
Blood began spreading across his clothes, dark and thick as it soaked through the fabric
The blade twisted slightly and pain exploded through his body. Soren's breath tore out of his lungs as his vision blurred violently. He turned his head. Slowly. Every movement felt distant, delayed, like his body was no longer fully responding to him
Behind him lay Korr, or what was remaining of him. The man looked like a corpse that had somehow managed to stand up one last time. Blood covered his armour and face. Deep wounds carved across his chest and shoulders where the railgun had torn through him earlier. Yet somehow he had managed to crawl towards Soren desperately clutching his sword in his hand
His blade embedded in Soren's stomach
Korr's arm trembled violently from the effort of holding it there
Their eyes met and for a moment neither of them spoke. Then Korr smiled. It was weak. Barely there. But unmistakably satisfied
His fingers loosened around the hilt
The strength keeping him holding the sword vanished instantly and Korr's body collapsed to the ground beside them
Dead
Soren remained frozen
The sword was still lodged inside him
The forest around him seemed to fade as a sharp ringing filled his ears, drowning out every other sound. His vision blurred at the edges as darkness slowly crept inward
'No, no, I can't die like this'
His ruined hands moved slowly toward the sword hilt protruding from his stomach. The moment he touched it, agony surged through his entire body
He pulled
The blade slid free with a wet sound
Soren choked as pain ripped through him, his body nearly collapsing forward as blood immediately poured from the wound
Too much. It all kept hurting to much
His breathing turned frantic as he fought to stay conscious
Mana
The thought forced its way through the fog inside his mind.
Regeneration
The spell activated almost automatically
Warm energy surged through his body as his blood responded instinctively to the life-threatening injury. The magic rushed toward the wound, trying to force the torn flesh back together
But something felt different
The blood around the wound began moving faster, far faster than it ever had before. It thickened and compressed tightly around the injury, almost like it was trying to hold his body together through sheer force
Soren's mind struggled to keep up
His mana felt unstable, chaotic, reacting to the desperation flooding through him and the ringing in his ears grew louder whilst his vision blurred further. Draven lay motionless beneath him now, barely conscious, too injured to react to what had just happened
Korr's corpse lay a few feet away
The forest had gone strangely quiet
Soren pressed what remained of his hands against the wound in his stomach, trying to hold himself together as the regeneration magic spiralled into something unfamiliar
Something stronger
But his mind couldn't stay awake long enough to understand it
His strength finally gave out
Soren collapsed forward onto the blood-soaked ground
The last thing he saw before darkness claimed him was Korr's lifeless body lying in the dirt
Then everything went black