CHAPTER ELEVEN

Tatsuya had always been a hard worker but had never considered himself lucky. He was the type of person who believed in putting in the effort to achieve his goals, and though things never (easily) went his way, he felt it was better than relying on chance or fate. However, there were times when things worked out in his favour, and he was reminded that maybe luck wasn't as elusive as he thought.

One such instance occurred at that moment as he was swept off his feet, just as the fire elemental was upon him, his eyes caught sight of the previously thrown spear within arm’s reach. His grasp for it as he rolled away from the blast of flames was beautifully timed, but his following attack was so slow it gave the guard the margin to partially twist away from the fatal blow and back away.

Still, blood dripped from the injury at their side, and their eyes were wide and staring, studying Tatsuya with a new wariness in the low light of the wall torches. For a moment, he wondered if the guard would yield, then a stream of water whipped towards his chest, and he hastily moved to dodge.

“Kill him, Kael,” the water elemental said, snarling, voice distinctly feminine. “I can't get a good enough shot at him.”

Tatsuya saw the shadow of desperation in Kael’s eyes. Now was when the guard was the most dangerous, desperate, and liable to do anything. The guard had seen Tatsuya’s willingness to kill, had barely scraped by death, and was shaken.

Even as Tatsuya crouched at the ready—beads of perspiration on his face and shoulders, and the careful wariness visible in the flow of muscles—he found in himself a sense of pity for Kael, but the awareness of his probable peril tempered the emotion, and so he sought to turn that fear into terror.

A terrified man could be trusted to make a fatal mistake.

He leaped high, feinting and striking down with the spearhead at Kael’s eyes so fast the guard flinched back. The weapon flickered sideways and down, manipulating the currents to ward off any attacks, and he kept jabbing, then darting back again, making good use of the spear’s length to keep the guard at an awkward distance, too far to be taken out in one blow, yet near enough to quickly retaliate after dodging the fire.

It would have continued like this for a while to Tatsuya's annoyance, neither combatant really getting an advantage over the other, if it wasn't for another guard’s intervention (one of the earth elementals), short blade—the same one Tatsuya had thrown earlier—in their hand and poised to strike.

Fighting two elementals at once was a difficult feat, only made easier by the fact one had a limited supply of water and the other was ill-prepared for death and mentally compromised.

There was no plan, but he had hoped to finish each guard one at a time—keeping in mind the likelihood of the dead guards being seen and the alarm raised with every passing second; now, he was once more blindsided, unable to use the air to divert the blade away from his person as his attention was turned towards the water whip sent his way.

As a result, the blade cut deep into his arm and lodged itself there—the pain coming immediate, searing through his senses and leaving him breathless. However, though each heartbeat became a sledgehammer pounding against his chest, his mind was already whirring with ideas on how to use the situation to his advantage. A good one appeared as he dodged a hurried punch from the earth elemental—water stealthily weaving between limbs to split his right cheek in a bone-deep gash—and gritting his teeth, twisted out of the way of the follow-up attack from the water elemental.

Releasing his grip on the spear, he ducked close to the earth elemental and whipped up a right uppercut to their body. Then, as they doubled over, grunting rather sharply, he pulled the guard into the line of fire. Literally.

“Thaddeus!” the water elemental screamed.

Kael (upon realisation of his unintentional deed) cut off the stream of flames, but it was already too late. The element crackled and roared, seemingly almost alive as it twisted and turned through the air with inhuman purpose, reaching Thaddeus to lick at the guard with hungry tongues—making him flail his hands and dance to its mesmerising tunes.

The effect was as instantaneous as it was horrifying to behold— the devouring flames, Thaddeus’ screams, and the nauseating stench—and though Tatsuya had planned to use one of the guards as a distraction, even he was not prepared for the sheer weight of regret that threatened to topple him over. None could have predicted such an outcome, but that was little consolation to him because, while none of the guards would survive this encounter, Thaddeus didn't deserve such a death.

However, he wasn't solely at fault—an understanding that eased the tension he felt, allowing him to slowly unclench his fists.

Tatsuya, as he executed the plan, had assumed that the armour Thaddeus wore would protect him from the fire (though, inevitably, giving Tatsuya an advantage to capitalise upon), and didn't think to factor in the possibility of an obscure speciality coming into play—but why would he? Not only did he have to be quick, and so, couldn't really pause and examine his plan thoroughly, but who would have thought any of them had a speciality.

It was unexpected, and went to show just how random specialities were in their manifestation. Anybody could have one, and none would be the wiser until it was instinctively used. Hell, he wouldn't be surprised if it was just unlocked as Kael’s flames had not seem any bit different from normal flames until now.

But he digressed. As callous a view it might be—some would even term it dissociation—the truth was, what was done was done and there was no need to dwell further on it. Yet, although Tatsuya pushed the thoughts (and feelings) to the back of his mind and did his best to focus on the task at hand, he made no move to attack. Instead, he waited almost patiently as the screams petered out into choked moans and then silence.

The fire began to die down, leaving Thaddeus, in its wake, an unrecognisable corpse—a grotesque caricature of shadows, burnt stretched shreds and blotches. But the memory remained, a reminder that the world was both beautiful and terrifying—full of what-ifs and regret—and it was that memory that made the remaining guards stand in place, the glossy sheen of severe shock.

Only then, did he move to attack.

Breath gasped in his lungs and whistled through his teeth, but Tatsuya paid no heed to his body’s demand for rest as he slid the blade free from his arm with a pained hiss and slipped sideways, thrusting said weapon into Kael’s neck—then, pulling it out, dashed out of the way of a water whip (punctuated by a ragged scream), and bounced off the wall to avoid another sharp liquid tendril.

Mid-air, he lashed out at the water elemental with an arc of compressed air before cushioning his fall, but she threw herself from the attack and countered.

It was more difficult than he imagined and annoying too, more so than fighting Kael, as he could not douse the element.

Anytime he responded with bursts of air that buffeted the water elemental, she remained steadfast, using her mastery of water to defend herself. She had incredible skills and a stronger mind; he would freely admit; it was only because of his agility and comparable skill, even as strength slowly left his muscles, that he dodged and weaved through the onslaught, allowing him to get into striking distance.

Tatsuya crashed his elbow into her side as he spun under her arm. She bounced and followed his movements, coming right back at him. He dodged away again, feeling a cool breeze as ice passed an inch above his head, and his shoulder met her hips, arms immediately locking behind her knees.

A great, heaving breath left his lips as his body wobbled on unsteady legs, and even as ice furiously slashed through his clothes to his back, he instructed his body to move, the appendage heavy and thick with lethargy, and control was wrenched out from her grasp.

Her back slammed into the floor, and his knee slammed down on her sides. A stream of punches descended upon the water elemental, and even as her hands flew up to shield her body—as his attacks lacked power, form, and speed with each successive contact, no longer deforming the armour—the punches still flew. He didn't care what he threw or where he hit, just that he attacked, and he maintained his assault, going against his body’s wishes, until her feeble attempts to move him off stopped entirely—until his punches became sluggish, lacking any tangible real weight behind it, and elicited no reaction.

When he finally slid off her, his hands torn and slick with blood, he found himself laying across the wet floor, limbs splayed out spread-eagle. At that moment, he could do nothing but breathe, taking in great gulps of air as his lungs worked overtime. It was over.

The feeling of relief bubbled from the pit in his stomach, and climbed until it reached his throat. He wanted to laugh. He was alive: bruised, bleeding, and aching all over, yes, but he was still alive, and in the end, that was all that mattered.

Then, the choked sounds of retching reached his ears, smashing his mirth down—faster than it had come—and Tatsuya looked in its direction and saw the other earth elemental (the last of the guards) with his helmet off, mouth open to spew the contents of his stomach.

When the guard was done, he sat slumped, face as white as a ghost, and green eyes almost sunken with horror. The spear the earth elemental had held, the other of the pair, was discarded on the floor a few feet away. It was a pitiful sight, but it wouldn't stop the needful from happening. Tatsuya made to stand, and though his knees trembled and spasmed uncontrollably, he bore the exhaustion and dragged his feet to the spear. Picking it up, he continued on his way until he got to the guard and, doing his best to ignore the acrid scent of the bowel failure—mixing with that of sweat and blood, not to mention the corpse—crouched, leaning forward until his head obscured the earth elemental’s vision, and all the latter could see was the grey of his eyes.

“Please,” the earth elemental said, “we were just doing our jobs. Please, don't kill me.”

“Would you kill me if given the chance?”

They both knew the answer. Tatsuya could see it on the guard’s face; the flash of despair at the realisation that begging wouldn’t save him. The anger at the injustice of it all.

“Please,” the earth elemental said again, the word a barely audible whisper. A plea. Yet, just like the air elemental, the raider that had trapped him in her tornado, Tatsuya ignored it and stood, shakily levelling the spear with both hands at the guard.

He took a forceful step forward, driving the spear with the full weight of his body behind it—not to mention, using the currents to supplement the attack—and didn't look away either as the spearhead went through the front of the armour and through the layers of chain and leather between the plates on the chest. The crack of the shaft snapping was a resounding ring of finality.

With barely a glance back at the corpses, he continued his quest—his target, the vault (and its riches), awaited him.