The battlefield roared with explosions and war cries as the cave lit up with flickering hues of magical spells. Chaos reigned.
Amidst the storm of energy, Vaidya remained a steady observer, his analytic mind is working to make a plan. Wind whistled past his ears, and heat from fireballs scorched nearby rocks, but his focus was sharp. He could see patterns.
Cultists fought on both sides. Some protected Hamad and the crucified Phill, while others struck against them, their leader Karina shouting commands. It was clear now: a civil war within this cult.
Still, that didn't change the reality in front of him. Phill was dying. Even though he never liked this kid who stole his satchel from him a week ago, still he can't let him die. His conscience won't let him. He had taken the oath to protect the weak, the day he was made an official Postknight.
His eyes narrowed. He turned to Solis and Ada, casting a ice barrier with a swipe of his arm to block a wind burst.
"Listen! We need a tactical breach," Vaidya shouted over the din. "Solis, you need to fall back, now! Ada, you're going to be our front line, clear the path by defeating the cultists. I'll create a Wind Path. Solis, once I do, you need to release your aura, surge forward and break through!"
Solis parried a fireball with his sword and ducked behind a jagged stone. His chest heaved. Sweat glistened off his skin. "You want me to use the Aura Release Technique in this condition? I barely made it through last time. If I push it too hard—"
"Either your limbs become sore or your Chakra points will collapse, I know that," Vaidya said tersely, his hands moving fast to cast more defensive spells. "But do we have any another choice?"
Just then, Razille emerged from behind a rock, carrying a small vial.
"Solis! Drink this!" she called and throws the vial to Solis.
Solis caught it and stared. "Is this... Energy Restoring Potion? The one Instructor Oliver was working on, back then?"
"Yeah," Razille replied with a smirk. "But better than his created one."
Without wasting a second, Solis drinks it, at very last drop. Warmth pulsed through his veins like wildfire. His muscles steadied, his senses sharpened. Strength flooded back into his limbs.
"Wow! This is amazing." Solis exclaims. He feels it like as if he just had taken a mid-day nap of couple of hours. "Now I'm ready."
Vaidya nodded and set to work. He chanted under his breath, weaving threads of wind into a spiraling, translucent path that twisted around the cultists toward the platform.
"Ada, go! Clear the path!" Vaidya yelled.
"With pleasure!" Ada said, gripping her long steel sword. She charged with a wild cry, sending shockwaves with each swing. Earth cracked and cultists scattered. Fireballs and water blasts flew at her, but she spun and dodged with fluid grace, even smashing through a stone shield.
"Solis, NOW!"
Solis took a breath and shouted, "Aura Release!"
A bright orange glow enveloped him.
"RRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"
The cave trembled with his roar as he became a blur of motion, lightning-fast on Vaidya's wind path. Spells zoomed by him, but he zigzagged through them, blade deflecting attacks, boots skimming the air as the wind guided him.
He closed in on the platform just as Hamad turned.
"You dare not!" Hamad growled, summoning a fireball.
Solis deflected the projectile with the flat of his sword mid-sprint. Sparks flew. Without stopping, he jumped. With a powerful kick, he landed beside Phill.
"Phill! Hang on!"
"RRRAAHH!!!!!!"
With a fierce yell, Solis broke the wooden post with one swing, catching Phill as the log splintered. His friend was limp, blood covering his shirt. But he was still breathing.
"I'm getting you out of here."
He carried Phill across the platform toward the edge when a booming voice rang out.
"ENOUGH!"
Hamad raised both hands, flames swirling into a massive inferno. A colossal fireball formed above him, the size of a boulder.
"FIREBLAST!"
The explosion rocked the entire cavern. Stone shattered. Debris flew. Solis felt his body thrown across the platform, slamming into the ground with a brutal crash. His ears rang. Everything spun around him.
Groaning, he blinked, coughing through smoke and dust. He turned.
"Phill..."
He crawled toward the collapsed figure. The boy's body was badly burned, his chest rising and falling faintly. More blood poured from his reopened wounds.
Solis grabbed his arm. "Phill! Stay with me! Come on, buddy... wake up..."
The chaos raged on around them, but to Solis, everything was silent now — except for the shallow, fading breath of a friend he refused to lose.