Episode Three: The Adriatic Emblem

 Manifest: A Shattered Future

               Episode Three: The Adriatic Emblem

 

               “Do you have a favorite spell card?” Elena asked with quizzical excitement in her light brown eyes.

               Romulo stood a short distance away with his back against the white wall of the infirmary, seeming to ponder an answer to her question. While they listened to the quiet din of patients and nurses speaking in the background, Elena stood beside her cot with her cards scattered on the sheet. The incandescent light touched every corner of the cobwebby room, and it caused his light blue eyes to shimmer. As he spun his black monolith in his hand, he answered, “It seems to change all the time! Sorry if that’s a boring answer. Now that I’ve got Typhoon Paladin on my side, it seems like it should be something that works with him! Although… I’ll admit I’m a sucker for the generic spells that anyone can cast. There’s a simplicity in that!”

               Elena smiled and nodded quickly, but then she heard a set of forceful footsteps moving through the infirmary’s main room. This person took larger steps than anyone else, and they quickly grew in volume with each passing second. Even Romulo seemed to notice this disturbance, and then the door to Elena’s room opened at a frightening speed. Altair stepped inside, steadied his jacket, and quickly gazed across the room with evident worry.

               “Hey Altair, is something wrong?” Romulo asked.

               “I think the Adriatic Empire is making their move tonight. We gotta get going. I sent Terrance off to find more soldiers, but we need you. I don’t know how many we’ve got,” Altair quickly explained.

               Romulo grimaced but nodded. He quickly holstered his monolith and started stretching his legs, but Elena looked at him with a gaze of worry. She asked, “Do you need another conjuror to help?”

               “I’m afraid not. It’s just too dangerous; these Adriatic soldiers really play for keeps. Can’t risk you out there. I hate to just leave you here in the infirmary, but I’ll be back when the night is over. Can you look over everyone here?”

               Even though she had to largely balance her weight on her pegleg, Elena sprang forward and wrapped her arms around him. Altair widened his eyes as he watched, but Elena whispered to Romulo, “Please stay safe out there! I feel like I woke up in a brand-new world, and you’re the only thing I have.”

               Romulo smiled and promised, “I’ll be safe. Don’t you worry.”

               Altair pushed his way to the side door, and then the two friends emerged into the outside street. Romulo and Altair dashed together across the cobblestone roads beneath yellow streetlights, racing south toward the enemy attackers. Even from a distance, Romulo saw a cloud of dust and smoke lifting from the outskirts of the city. A few citizens gathered in the streets, whispering words of worry to each other. Despite their uncertainty, Altair and Romulo ran side-by-side against the wind. Romulo’s auburn hair danced in the breeze, but it had no effect on Altair; the wind merely knocked his glasses loose every now and then.

               Romulo asked his friend, “Do you think Adriatica is making their big push tonight? They’ve tried to occupy us before.”

               Altair shook his head and answered, “It doesn’t matter what they’ve tried before. We hardly have any conjurors left. Even if the Adriatic Empire has their forces spread thin, they still outnumber us. With the Adriatic Emblem on their side, they could easily circumvent us. Even if we all win our fights by some miracle, it wouldn’t make any difference.”

               “Unless we beat them more quickly than they can show up,” Romulo said.

               Altair nodded but said nothing. He rationed his breaths so that he could match Romulo’s pace, but he found himself slowly falling behind. While he could keep up on solid ground, Romulo moved effortlessly across obstacles. He would turn on a dime, jump over benches, and dodge cracks in the road without stopping. After many minutes of running, Altair and Romulo both arrived at the edge of the city. White ellipses scattered the dark field, and their gentle glow faintly illuminated the night sky. Two conjurors stood in each circle, both standing across from each other with sorcerers traversing the space between them.

               “It took you long enough to arrive. I wanted to teach this city a lesson in pain, but it’s just tactically smarter to take down its defenders instead. So which one of you will it be? I’ll give you a choice, but make it fast,” said a low voice on the other side of the field.

               Between a fiery flash and the faint white glow, Romulo saw an Adriatic soldier standing a short distance away with a red-colored monolith. Romulo sighed, exchanged a brief glance with Altair, and then stepped forward. As Altair jogged off to find another opponent, Romulo faced the attacker and retorted, “Go ahead and use it. I captured your buddy’s Rampager just the other night, so it’s only fair I take down one of you tonight.”

               “Very well. I just hope you’ve already said your goodbyes.”

               The Adriatic soldier banged his red monolith with a miniature hammer, forced it to reverberate, and then reached into his jacket. Just by moving his fingers, the soldier forced a white ellipse to ignite on the ground beneath his feet. The white ellipse then rapidly expanded and raced across the field, closing in on Romulo. Once the expanding edge of the white energy engulfed him, it stopped growing; a white wall ascended from the Adriatic Emblem. He could barely see through its translucent walls, but the outside world no longer mattered; Romulo was now locked in battle with a soldier who wanted nothing more than to defeat him.

               “If we’re going to battle like this as enemies, I should at least know your name,” said Romulo as he struck his black monolith with a similar hammer.

               “I am Illano, and I will now manifest my Creator of a Balanced World,” answered the Adriatic soldier as he set his monolith onto the ground.

               Romulo watched with intrigue as a specter-like silhouette appeared in a vortex of scarlet sparks. The light of the monolith pierced the white illumination of the walls, but Illano compelled his Sorcerer to march forward. Before it wandered far, Illano passed four cards to his Creator of a Balanced World, and then it steadily advanced. In just a matter of seconds, it cast a powerful spell which warped the ground around its feet. As if spurred by this enchantment, the grass and budding saplings rapidly grew. Romulo watched as saplings sprouted into trees which scattered the ground between them. In the next moment, when the Creator wandered on, a gentle glow ignited from the forest.

               Evidently perturbed by the field’s transformation, Romulo took a deep breath and steadied his black monolith. With unwavering determination, he unsheathed two different monoliths and then struck them against each other, forcing them to vibrate. His muscles tensed as he prepared the energy he would have to expend, and then he set both monoliths onto the grassy field. A vortex of blue energy erupted from one resonating monolith, and spirals of green energy surrounded the other. Illano watched with an intrigued grin as Romulo forced two of his sorcerers to manifest at the same time. Despite the heavy toll it took on his body, Romulo did not glance away as his living weapons materialized. One was a windblown sorceress with black tears stained upon her face, while the other was large and close to the earth. Romulo passed one spell to each sorcerer, and then he compelled them to march onward.

               Illano watched with an entertained smile as the Last of the Valkyries jumped upon the Quicksand Carrier, and then they rapidly advanced together. When the Quicksand Carrier crossed into the forest, it steered past saplings and trees before eventually coming to a stop. Romulo compelled his sorceress to disembark from the Quicksand Carrier, and then she continued to advance while his boat-like sorcerer turned toward the Creator of a Balanced World. Romulo excitedly declared an attack, and then his Quicksand Carrier rushed between the trees.

               But before the Quicksand Carrier could crash into the enemy sorcerer, Illano yelled out, “Creator, cast your curse! Bound by Ancient Roots!”

               Luminescent roots emerged from the undergrowth and enwrapped the Quicksand Carrier, but Romulo fought against his exhaustion and shouted, “Fight back! Use your scroll, Icy Imprisonment! Don’t let it bind you!”

               And though the Quicksand Carrier cast the scroll as Romulo had commanded, even that could not protect it; the Creator of a Balanced World had another countermeasure ready to go. Illano compelled it to unleash the powerful magic of another deadly curse, and in the end, it both confounded Romulo’s spell and left his sorcerer susceptible to a second binding. A luminous moss engulfed the lower edge of the Quicksand Carrier, and the magical roots tightened their stranglehold. In the end, his Quicksand Carrier still failed to strike.

               Despite the failure of his first attack and the curses which now plagued his Carrier, Romulo compelled his second sorceress to advance deeper into enemy territory. She dashed toward the red monolith which had manifested Illano’s sorcerer, and then she struck it with her scepter in a sudden slam. Shards of light emanated from the monolith, but it overall withstood the attack.

               Almost as if in a fierce counterattack, Illano forced his sorcerer to immediately attack Quicksand Carrier with an energetic expulsion. Without wasting another moment, the Creator of a Balanced World then cast a spell which stole energy from the night like an eclipse from the sun. Illano showed a sinister smile as this newest spell sent a surge of magic across the battleground. This glowing energy shot back toward Illano, converged into a ghost-white monolith, and forced it to reverberate. Illano opened his mouth with an enthusiastic grin as he tossed his white monolith onto the field at his feet.

               Illano grinned as a jester-like silhouette ascended from a vortex of pallid energy. A tense electricity coursed through the air as the powerful silhouette materialized over its monolith, and then it quickly advanced. Illano then compelled his newest sorcerer to unleash a powerful strike with its magic staff, but the Last of the Valkyries defended herself with the restrictive magic of Astral Rejection. But even though his sorceress managed to save herself, her curse failed to plague the Disciple of the Ancient Gods. Instead, the curse dissipated and faded into the earth. Romulo winced at this setback, and then he watched as his enemy brought his two sorcerers closer together. When the Disciple entered the proximity of Quicksand Carrier, the curses which plagued the Carrier faded with a flash of white magic.

               Annoyed by this detail, Illano passed his Disciple a card which it then passed to his Creator of a Balanced World. His Creator then returned to its original location, where the trees illuminated and empowered it—strengthening its connection with Illano’s red monolith.

               With the little energy he had left, Romulo compelled his sorceress to swiftly strike Disciple of the Ancient Gods with her scepter. Without waiting to catch his breath, Romulo redoubled his onslaught by compelling his Quicksand Carrier to strike the Creator of a Balanced World.

               “Come back to me. I’ve got the spell to silence his sorcerer,” Romulo commanded.

               Without wasting another moment, the Quicksand Carrier raced through the forest, swerved between the trees, and reached the other end of the woods. Romulo passed it two spell cards, and then it returned to the forest where it cast its newest spell.

               “Target the enemy! Oceanic Adaptation!” yelled Romulo as his sorcerer’s spell took effect.

               An azure swirl of magic engulfed the Creator of a Balanced World, clinging to its body and confounding its mind. However, Illano quickly retaliated by forcing his Disciple of the Ancient Gods to attack the nearest enemy. Its magic staff slammed upon Romulo’s sorceress with an extraordinary strike, but the Last of the Valkyries withstood the attack. And as if he expected a counterattack, Illano passed a card to his Disciple and compelled it to march into the forest. Because his Creator was plagued with a chant which confounded its magic, Illano forced it to pass its spell card to his other sorcerer, which the Disciple then cast to lightly heal its teammate. The Creator then paced forward and unleashed an energetic strike upon the Quicksand Carrier.

               But in that moment, Romulo grinned and exclaimed, “This is what we waited for! Defense of Jagged Rock!”

               By invoking the magic of the spell inscribed on the card, Quicksand Carrier deflected the energetic strike and forced jagged pillars of rock to ascend from the forest floor. The sharp pillars pierced into the Creator of a Balanced World and nearly overpowered it, but then the healing effect of the forest took hold. Romulo watched with a grimace as the Disciple of the Ancient Gods replenished its health with a flash of ominous light.

               “Valkyrie, this is your chance!” shouted Romulo when the healing light faded.

               The Last of the Valkyries swung its magic scepter and struck Illano’s red monolith; this managed to break the connection which upheld the Creator. Illano watched with a grimace as his sorcerer shattered, and then the Quicksand Carrier raced across the forest without delay. It slammed into the Disciple of the Ancient Gods with almost enough force to destroy it, but the Disciple narrowly withstood the strike. It then counterattacked with a swipe of its magic staff, and the Quicksand Carrier failed to survive. Romulo watched with unease as his oblong sorcerer shattered, and then it faded away altogether.

               “You fought well, at least for the meager defense that Aegea can raise. It’s such a shame that you never had a chance against Adriatica’s forces, and now you can see the sword of that truth. Now rise! I manifest the Knight of Broken Brambles!” Illano announced as he forced his black monolith to resonate.

               A fearsome armored warrior ascended in the spiraling center of a black vortex. Even though he was too far away to interfere now, Romulo desperately combed through his grimoire in search of a spell that could protect his Valkyrie. At the same time, Illano passed a spell to his magical knight; the Knight of Broken Brambles immediately cast another Nature Territory. Trees and saplings ascended from the ground around his feet. At the same time, Romulo located a spell which could help, but he was too far away. In the end, he had no way to save her; the Knight of Broken Brambles struck the Last of the Valkyries with its shimmering sword. Illano compelled his armored sorcerer to march deeper into the forest, and then restorative energy illuminated from the forest floor. In a matter of seconds, the Disciple of Ancient Gods replenished a portion of its power.

               Desperate to score some damage, Romulo compelled his Valkyrie to chase down the Knight and strike. While this succeeded, the Knight of Broken Brambles harnessed magic roots to fight back; it shattered the Last of the Valkyries while the roots replenished its health.

               Even though he stared down two enemy sorcerers who both possessed fearsome power, Romulo grinned and struck his black monolith with his tuning hammer. As soon as the stone resonated, he tossed it forward, tensed his muscles, and manifested a mighty sorcerer whom he had called on in the past. Flickers of lightning and a forceful wind emerged from the black vortex, and in just moments, the Typhoon Paladin materialized in the heart of the battlefield.

               “Does this sorcerer look familiar? It’s the same one that your people used to attack our city. One of your conjurors cut it loose from its monolith and let it rampage here,” Romulo declared.

               Illano laughed and retorted, “It was a good strategy! The type of strategy that lets a single conjuror inflict massive damage by themselves. I’m not surprised! Mr. Neonia advised us to use that technique whenever we want to hit extra hard.”

               “It’s a shame that the opposite happened. Your loose cannon now works for me! Typhoon Paladin, advance into the forest. Take your spells and change the world! Cast your Familiar of the Deep Abyss! Cast your Water Territory!”

               Illano grimaced as his ethereal trees quickly faded into the night sky. A splash of saltwater poured across the battlefield in its place, and the water shimmered in the white light of the walls which enclosed them. At the same time, Typhoon Paladin enchanted itself with a powerful serpent which both protected and empowered it. Having lost its preferred territory, the Disciple of the Ancient Gods was left vulnerable to an attack. Romulo’s sorcerer approached, forced its fist to illuminate with an electric glow, and then punched the target with all its strength—shattering Illano’s Disciple.

               “Prepare your counterattack. Cast your Stratospheric Transcendence,” Illano declared with unwavering disdain.

               The Knight of Broken Brambles enchanted itself with a spell which created a windy vortex. The wind sent waves across the shallow water which flooded the field, and the Knight of Broken Brambles raced across the surface as if he were running on dry land. Illano compelled his sorcerer to close in on the black monolith which upheld Typhoon Paladin, and then he commanded his sorcerer to attack. The armored knight swung his sword with all his strength, but the black monolith harmlessly withstood the strike as if there had been no impact at all.

               With a confident smirk, Romulo called his sorcerer back onto dry land and then passed him a card. A moment later, the Typhoon Paladin raced across the battlefield and accelerated as he ran. He ran so quickly that he forced wind-waves to splash across the water, and then he crossed into the forest without slowing down. Illano watched with an anxious gaze as the enemy approached, and he glared at the serpent which enwrapped Typhoon Paladin.

               “Grow stronger than ever! Trade Power for Strength!” Romulo shouted at his sorcerer.

               Typhoon Paladin enchanted himself with so much power that his body became luminous. The wind became so powerful that it rustled the trees around him. Lightning spiraled across his arm as he thrust his fist at his enemy’s black monolith—shattering its connection in a single strike. Romulo watched with pride as his enemy’s sorcerer faded without a monolith to uphold it. The spells it carried fell to the ground.

               Romulo taunted, “Almost a shame you won’t be going home. You could’ve warned your puppeteer that he just sent all his pawns to their death. He must be embarrassed! And to think, I’ll beat all of you with a sorcerer I stole from your teammate.”

               But instead of conceding or giving in to despair, Illano grinned and unsheathed his final monolith. He struck the blue stone with his knee, forced it to resonate, and then tossed it beside a sapling near his feet. As a vortex of blue energy swirled around the monolith, Illano grabbed a handful of cards from his grimoire and said, “You have no idea what you’re up against. Prepare yourself! Meet my Mage of Hidden Secrets!”

               Illano passed a pair of spell cards to his sorcerer, and by his instruction, the Mage of Hidden Secrets glowed as if modulating its own power. Romulo watched curiously as the enemy’s Mage bolstered its own health, and then it unleashed a dangerous power.

               “Everything has led to this moment. You’ve played right into my hand, and now you’ll see why. Mage! Cast it now! Enchantment Conglomeration!” shouted Illano.

               In that moment, Typhoon Paladin lost both its ocean serpent and the mythical glow which enchanted it. As if pulled by a fearsome gravity, these enchantments both converged upon the Mage of Hidden Secrets. Romulo could practically see its power skyrocket, and then it unleashed a calamitous strike which sent a tremor through the earth. Every tree danced from the motion, and waves poured across the water as the Mage struck Typhoon Paladin with all its strength. Leaves and dust surrounded the attack, but to Illano’s surprise, Romulo’s sorcerer withstood the attack. Romulo compelled his Paladin to strike back, but when it did, it merely struck the ocean serpent which had once protected it. The serpent partially shattered, but before it faded completely, it raced through the water toward Romulo and retrieved a spell card that had fallen to the ground. Romulo smiled when he saw the gift of his fallen serpent, but it was still too late to save his Typhoon Paladin; the enchanted Mage of Hidden Secrets struck with enough force to violently shatter his sorcerer.

               As the earth and trees trembled from the impact, Illano compelled his sorcerer to tear across the battlefield. Romulo glanced at the Oceanic Adaptation card in his hand, but he realized he had no way to use it; he did not have a single sorcerer left to cast it. With no other way to defend himself, Romulo quickly unsheathed his red-colored monolith and struck it with the little hammer. As soon as it reverberated, he threw it forward and manifested his sorcerer in a vortex of red light.

               Immediately after Romulo manifested his sorcerer, he passed his Rogue of Broken Justice a spell without hesitation. It charged forward, stole the card that the Mage had held, and cast the spell that it was given. As the Rogue performed a chant which made Illano shudder, it illuminated the space beside it with white light.

               Romulo shouted out, “Overwhelm him! Spirit Alter Genesis! Manifest the conduit; end this fight!”

               Romulo then passed his Rogue a card while its doppelgänger jolted aside and struck the Mage of Hidden Secrets. A moment later, the Rogue unleashed its own energetic assault. And while Illano’s Sorcerer had no way to protect from the attack, it then counterattacked by throwing an earthshaking assault of its own. However, despite his exhaustion and the sweat which covered his trembling body, Romulo yelled out, “Rogue! Use the spell you stole; Scroll of Paralysis!”

               The growing earthquake suddenly stopped. The Mage of Hidden Secrets became completely motionless, and electricity coursed across its limbs. When Illano realized the extent of his plight, he sprinted toward the white-glowing wall of the Adriatic Emblem. He slammed his fists against it, leaving his sorcerer behind. With nothing to hold them back, Romulo commanded his Rogue and its doppelganger to both attack the enemy at once.

               When Illano realized he could not break through the wall which had locked him in, he desperately compelled his Mage to rush toward the wall. But when the Mage of Hidden Secrets did not respond, Illano turned around to see shards of light dancing through the air; Romulo had shattered his sorcerer. Illano tried again to break his way free, but the wall remained intact. As Romulo steadily approached, Illano backed up until he bumped into the glowing wall. Romulo picked up his monoliths, but he did not retract his sorcerers; he instead walked across the field as they followed closely behind him. He waded through the water and wandered through the trees, closing in on his defeated foe.

               “I can’t pretend I’m not surprised. You’re a stronger fighter than I expected,” Illano confessed.

               “I tried to warn you. The city of Aegea has stood for a long time; it’ll take more than a few conjurors to take us down. Listen, man. I don’t wanna kill you. That isn’t our style. But we also can’t just let you run off and attack us again someday, so I’ll tell you how this is gonna go. You’re gonna get on the ground, face-down, and I’m gonna cuff you. I’ll take you back to the city. Maybe you’ll learn some decency while you’re there,” Romulo explained as the Rogue of Broken Justice lit the air behind him.

               Illano stared at his uncharged monoliths, but then he sighed and relented. With an exasperated nod, he crouched onto the ground and set his arms over his back. It only took Romulo a few seconds to cuff his former enemy, but once he did, the Adriatic Emblem finally faded. The white walls descended to reveal the world from which they had been hidden.

               But when Romulo’s eyes readjusted to the darkness, he felt a fearsome shock when he saw the state of the battles around him. Several bodies scattered the field, some of which stumbled while others stayed inert. Spell cards and used-up monoliths littered the ground. Romulo could hear the clashes of distant battle, but when he turned toward the city, he saw that the enemy forces had advanced their onslaught. Enemy soldiers stood inside Aegea’s outskirts, and their sorcerers attacked the innocent with flashes of fiery light. The white glow of the Adriatic Emblem littered the outskirts, but only infrequently. Most of Aegea’s defenses had fallen in the fight, and it seemed the civilians would soon pay the price.

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