"Days on the road," Kasper spat, marching towards Liron and Angin. "Like I'm a pleb. I have endured disgrace after disgrace thanks to you, Ravenspawn. Let me repay you in kind."
Angin pulled out his blasting rod, firing a smaller blast in front of Kasper, creating a dust cloud. "Run!" he screamed, pushing Liron into the church.
Kasper screeched at the explosion in front of him, sending away the dust with his Gift. "Rat!"
The interior was as beautiful as the exterior. Liron glanced at it once. He would have been captured by the intricacy of the colored glass, depicting Harras and decisive moments of the Empire's history. They made it past the first rows of seats as the church's door exploded away. Debris hurled forward, and Angin and Liron had to duck away. The wreckage tore through the church, shattering several of the colored glasses.
One swing of his whip and the dust settled around the gaping hole. Kasper played with his weapon, a smug grin on his face. A sphere had formed around the tip of his whip. All that came into contact with it was sent flying, ripped away with a force that knew no bound.
Angin pushed Liron back to his feet, running towards the entrance of the tower. The church had no other exit. Kasper whipped the statues standing next to the entrance, turning them into projectiles heading their way. They slammed through the seats, splintered wood raining down. But none of the attacks came near them. Kasper wanted to take his time. He wanted to enjoy them running and fearing.
As Angin kicked open the door to the tower, Kasper strolled in their direction, hurling the seats at them. A single touch of his hand, and they shot forward. The wood slammed into the entrance to the tower, showering Angin and Liron in its remnants. Again, no real threat of hitting them.
The tower's inside was nothing but an ascending staircase, following the circular shape of the structure. Angin and Liron sprinted them up. "The roof," the Alchemist said, "We need to jump off the tower on the church's roof. From there we'll get to the nearest house."
Liron nodded in agreement, cringing at the next wave of seats exploding at the tower's entrance. They darted upwards, taking several steps at once. Kasper gave them a head start, letting them run ahead. After the door leading to the roof became visible above them, Harras' chosen had grown tired of waiting.
The tower trembled. Angin and Liron stopped, holding on to the surrounding walls. The stairs had no railing. One slip, and they would die. Kasper's whip had bit into the tower's foundation, only a faint kiss. The next strike went deeper, the sphere blasting through the stone.
Angin and Liron exchanged a single look before they stormed forward. Each step became uneven, the tower groaning as it was killed slowly. It quacked, struggling to stay upright. Bricks and pieces of the top fell down, passing by their heads. The crushing of Kasper's attacks echoed through the collapsing building, increasing in their frequency. Several of the steps gave way underneath Liron's and Angin's weight, nearly taking them down with them.
If Kasper wanted them dead through this means, he had underestimated them. Angin tackled the door open, both spilling out onto the church's roof. It had a larger middle section for people to walk on, allowing maintenance work on either side of the roof's slopes and its countless adornments.
Angin and Liron couldn't stop, the tower descending on them. They sprinted forward, pieces of it hailed down next to them. With a crushing wave, the tower collapsed onto the church's roof. Clouds of old shot forward like a hawk's talons, engulfing them both. Liron held his breath until they made it out of them.
The church carried the weight of its fallen brethren for a moment, but the house of Harras received no strength from the divine father who it was built for. The parts of the roof carrying the tower's remnants collapsed, both claimed by Ekon's grasp on all things. The stone path they ran on fractured, crumbling, yet it remained. While it didn't gain any support from Harras, its builders had constructed it with the fortitude to endure. They hadn't expected the tower to fall onto the church, but their craftsmanship proved itself. The rest of the roof had survived.
But their skill had to yield to the Lockram's Gift. Kasper wielded gravity like a mace, abolishing the inside of the church. Like a scavenger eating its prey's guts while it still breathed, ensuring its last moments to be long and painful. As with the tower before, the church cried, rumbling at the force destroying its foundational walls. The stone path's cracks become deeper, threatening to burst underneath their weight. Angin cursed, grabbing Liron by his sleeve.
"Hold onto me!" the Alchemist called.
Without hesitation, he jumped onto the roof's slope, the stone path breaking. He dragged Liron with him, both sliding down as the upper side of the roof collapsed. Kasper ceased his attacks. The inevitable would happen now. The bricks shook Liron as they moved down, accelerating.
Angin aimed to jump off at the final section of the slope, landing on a neighboring house. But his dreams came crashing down, as these parts of the roof came crashing down. Liron clawed into Angin, knowing what fate would await them now. The Alchemist returned the hug, screaming as they slid towards the gaping hole. All hope was lost.
But only for a moment. Angin spotted a smaller tower ahead of them. It could fit perhaps four people into them, meant for housing dozens of candles during special celebrations. Several of these towers decorated the roof, but this was the only one in their grasp.
Angin's grip around Liron's jacket turned iron, promising not to let go. As they slid past it, Angin pushed himself up, flinging his hand into the tower. He fused his hand with the stone, a bond that would not break. Their momentum dislocated the Alchemist's shoulder, but it swung them around, slamming them into the insides of the tower.
Angin ceased his union with the stone, using his other hand to readjust his shoulder. He closed off the opening, bending the stone to ensure they wouldn't fall out. Thereafter, he turned the outer layer of the tower's inside into sludge. Only enough to ensure their capsule wouldn't collapse.
The Alchemist looked at Liron, the church's trembling coming to a crescendo. "Liron, I will not lie to you. If we make this, this will hurt."
Final words Liron couldn't ponder as the roof collapsed and they fell.
…
Angin hadn't lied.
It did hurt. It did little else.
Liron blinked, seeing the Silver Moon through the remnants of the church's head that had survived. Like a broken ribcage. Dust floated in the air. Pieces of brick, stone, and wood rained down around him. Larger sections had endured, hanging on for dear life.
The church's breathtaking magnificence had become a distant dream. One only a keen eye could decipher from reading the ruins. How any part withstood gravity's call was beyond Liron. Perhaps Harras did look after the house built in His name. He allowed broken bones to remain, sticking out of this shallow grave His own chosen had dug.
A member of a Sacred House, and he destroyed this church without hesitation.
Liron raised his head. The sludge had damped their fall. Otherwise, real broken bones would lay scattered inside this holy carcass. A wooden splitter, the size of Liron's Conduit, lurked out of his side. It had gone deep, but not deep enough to end his life. It felt like it, though, blood leaking out. Each motion sent waves of pain through his body. They paled to what Amor had done to him, but Liron struggled to move at all.
Angin looked worse. His right leg was broken at several spots, appearing like a twig a child had crumbled. The Alchemist raised his head, dizzy. He shook himself, looking around. "Hah," he said. "I can't believe it. We've actually survived. And inside a church of Harras. A miracle saving two heretics. The joke wri…"
Liron groaned, holding his side.
"Ah, fuck, apologies, Liron. I will be with you in but a moment."
The bones' heads pressed against his skin like a child's head underneath a thin blanket. While broken, none had penetrated his skin. His leg cracked as Angin put it all back into place. With his Alchemist's touch, his leg returned to normal, and he stood up.
"As good as new. That's the advantage if nothing ruptures your skin, Liron. You don't need any gold."
"Get this thing out of me!" Liron hissed, pointing at the splinter.
"Oh, fuck, apologies. Sometimes I forget myself. Alright, this will sting. Ready? Alright."
Angin tore out the splinter, wasting no time. Liron sang his most colorful curses, making even Angin frown. The Alchemist had his gold with him, having regained it after Zonis had recovered his tools from their previous inn. Pain and all his ailments vanished from Liron. He sighed, taking in the joy of being relieved.
"Better?" Angin asked.
Liron nodded. "By Harras, yes. Thank you."
Angin clapped him on the shoulder. "Come on. We need to get a good look at our surroundings. Solia knows what that cunt is planning next."
Keeping low, they crouched forward, glimpsing from behind the remnants of a church wall. The collapse had drowned the streets around the house of Harras in dust and dirt, clouds lingering. The ones around Kasper vanished, his gift forming a sphere around him, slamming all into the ground that touched it.
The young man howled, dancing on the spot like a drunk man hearing his favorite song. "Fuck yes! That's what I'm talking about! Hah, I'm a god! Fuck you! This is what you get from messing with me, you…"
His victory dance found an untimely end, two dozen Hunters running towards the church's corpse. The noise of its destruction had haunted all of Kupferrang. The entire Raven Hunt would be on its way here. Despite the madness claiming them, the Hunter screeched when seeing the church. Some fell to their knees, crying as if they had lost kin in the collapse.
"Ah, plebs," Kasper said. "Good. You came just in time. Search through rubble. We need to find the corpse of the Ravenspawn. Fulfill your duty to me, and I might…"
The Hunters' eyes focused on Kasper, finding the culprit behind the travesty before them. In a shared war cry, they rushed forward, aiming for the young man. Kasper blinked at them. "Are you mad? You dare? I'm Kasper Lockram! Show some respect or…"
The Hunters didn't stop, keen to punish him for his affront to Harras. No matter his blood, such an insult couldn't be forgotten. Kasper's threats fell on deaf ears, and the young man knew he wouldn't stop them with words alone.
His whip lashed forward like a viper. It hit a Hunter in the chest, his torso exploding away, gore raining down on his brethren. Kasper shrieked at that, shocked by the extent of brutality his attack caused. As if he had never killed a human with his Gift before.
He had the opportunity to get used to it as the other Hunters didn't stop. The violent death of their comrade meant nothing to them. Only punishing Kasper. Sacrificing themselves would be worth it.
As Harras' chosen was massacaring the Hunters, their torn bodies flying through the sky, Angin and Liron exchanged a look. They needed no words to speak out something both deeply desired. Without a second thought, both sprinted out of the ruin and ran away. Kasper noticed them, swearing at them, but he had yet to kill his attackers. And by the sounds of it, more were on their way, their roars echoing through Kupferrang.
Seeing his prey escaping him, Kasper forgot his hesitation, whirling around his whip in a combination of attacks. The Hunters were gone, turned into red mist. The rest of them stained the houses around them or would descend in the next minutes.
Angin and Liron had a good head start. Kasper would never catch up to them by running. The young man used his Gift, pulling out a large stone pillar from the wreckage he could stand on. He shifted the gravitational pull on his pillar, letting it shoot forward as if it would fall. While reckless, Kasper was no fool. He kept the force with which he raced forward in check, never risking it collapsing into something.
Liron glanced behind them, watching Kasper riding the pillar towards them. Angin noticed, too, hissing. Kasper let his whip dance, sending the tip through the houses they passed. His Gift tore through them, shredding large chunks of the buildings. The debris whirled around his whip, his Gift pulling it into the sphere instead of repelling it. After several houses were consumed, Kasper swung his whip high, letting the wreckage go he had amassed.
Hurled forward like through a catapult, the ruin slammed down around them. Angin and Liron had to dash around, avoiding the largest pieces. The smallest one hit them without a chance to dodge it, stone and bricks slamming into their bodies. A glass shard cut open Liron's shoulder, but he paid it no mind.
While devastating, the attack had no aim behind it, and Angin and Liron managed to evade getting crushed. His failure frustrated the young man anew. Trashing like a spoiled child not getting his will, he went berserk, lashing out with his whip. It devastated all it came into contact with, blowing the houses Kasper shot past apart, sending the rubble towards Liron and Angin. The ruin he had sent at them stood in his way. He formed a sphere around him, grinding the debris into dust.
With an unending storm to rain down on them, Angin and Liron would not escape it all. Seconds and they would be buried. The first pieces landed in front of them, tearing open the road. They couldn't stop the current wave, but they could put an end to it. The Alchemist pulled out his blasting rod, glancing over his shoulder. Without turning around, he pointed the rod at Kasper, firing a fireball at him.
In his rage, the young man noticed too late, only realizing what Angin was doing as the fireball was coming towards him. Believing himself safe in his sphere, Kasper didn't stop. His gift tore apart the flames, blinding him for a moment. But Angin's attack failed to penetrate Kasper's gravity. Harras' chosen laughed. He had stopped his assault, watching houses crash down on his prey.
Angin and Liron had to stop, most of the wreckage devastating the path ahead of them. They held their arms in front of their heads, dust, splinters, and broken stone pieces shooting in all directions. Their escape path cut off, Kasper was about to get his hands on them. His suffering and the indignity he had endured were paying off. They wouldn't ignore him after he delivered them the Ravenspawn's head.
With victory so near, Kasper failed to look at the ground. He failed to notice the blasting rod lying in one of the holes the first pieces of his assault had opened. While the fireball hadn't harmed him, it had blinded him. And Angin had needed nothing but a moment to hide his blasting rod in the gashes they ran past.
The timing was a tricky thing, but experience and instinct had guided him well. The rod glowed, all the stored energy expanding. Kaper noticed it, glancing down at it. His protective sphere shielded all but the ground. As he and his stone pillar shot over it, the rod's outer shell broke, all shots exploding at once.
A spear of fire ignited the streets, sending Kasper flying. He screeched like a child, thrashing his arms around. The flames did not touch him, singeing his clothes. His Gift provided his body with unnatural endurance and resilience. Nothing of the sort would kill him, yet he cried like it would. Tasting the fruits of his labor yet again, he flew over his prey into all the rubble he had shot at them. He kissed broken bricks and remnants of walls more often than he had Anna's lips. The world around him twisted and turned as he burst through all the ruin he had brought, flailing without control. He bounced between the largest pieces. Nothing but a plaything to his momentum.
He would survive this, but he felt all the pain. After he slowed down, coming to a halt with his face in the dirt, he recalled his mother offering him to take away his pain by an Alchemist. He thought this to be a coward's way, as Nag had never done the same.
He was mistaken.
While watching the Lordschaft get what he deserved, Angin and Liron had to use their chance. The way ahead was cut off, and there were no side paths or alleys leading away. They dashed into a house, hoping to find a way to escape through there. But as they closed the door, searching, a window frame slammed through the wall, missing them by a hair's breath.
Kasper's roar erupted from outside. The wreckage around the Lordschaft was hurled to all sides. Angin tackled Liron to the ground, a wooden pillar crashing through the window. The Alchemist managed to transmute the floor into soft sludge, pushing Liron into it as Kasper lost his royal bearing.
Like a wounded beast, he raged. No care or deeper thought behind his attacks. Years of training had carved itself in his muscles, steering his whip as he swung it around in an endless dance. Bit by bit, all the buildings around Kasper came to taste his Gift. A small bakery. A kindergarten for children of soldiers who have lost their fathers. A library allowing higher plebeians to read. All shredded away by a man insulted in his pride.
Liron closed his eyes, Angin shoving him deeper into the sludge. The house they were in fell victim to Kasper's wrath, too. As with their escape from Lance and Illaxia, seconds stretched to decades as Liron heard all the surrounding destruction. Noises overlapping themselves, impossible to make out anything but the force behind it. Liron waited for a wooden plank to impale both of them or for the roof to crush them.
A wall collapsed on them, breaking on Angin's back. Blood poured down on Liron, and he opened his eyes. Angin took all the tiny fragments Kasper's rampage caused, stabbing into his body. The Alchemist felt it not, but the strain showed itself on his face. Yet he would not cease shielding his apprentice.
Twelve seconds. Kasper stopped after twelve seconds, having expressed his anger. Half the neighborhood was gone. Only remnants of the first floors remained. The debris had plunged through the houses behind the ones destroyed, ripping deep gaps into them. If there was anyone hiding in them, trying to avoid the Raven Hunt, they had met their end.
If Kasper had searched for them in the ruin, he would have found them. If only the Lordschaft had proven himself smarter than he was, thinking of where they might be. But after Angin's trap, Kasper had grown to respect the pair. He overestimated them.
Kasper listened for any pained groans, but after hearing nothing, he rushed off, thinking they had already fled.
Liron held a hand on his mouth, fearing his breaths too loud. Again, he waited. A minute passed, and he knew they were safe. Angin came to the same conclusion, smiling at Liron. It was a bloody one.
"Fuck me, finally a little bit of luck."