Blue Nexus #68 - Cinders of a Soul

Previously in Blue Nexus: Rafael, one of the most powerful mages to walk the Earth, called forth Brenda to join his ranks. One of his Six Pillars, Clarke, did not take fondly to this, and called out Brenda to battle. They battled in Rome, and Brenda defeated her, and Rafael destroyed Clarke. Brenda consoled with the Grand Elder of Magus Forest about how to defeat Rafael, and just as she was prepared to reveal how Brenda was the key, a grand blast of power exploded over the forest. 

Ash swirled all around her barrier, thin as it was. Much of the blast impact itself broke through the barrier and hit her squarely in the chest, knocking her back into another guard. Her magic maintained itself while she blacked out for a moment, and when she came too, she felt woozy. Brenda managed to get to a knee before the barrier dropped around her completely by Rafael's hand, and he just walked right passed her.

Brenda struggled just to turn and face him. His overwhelming power terrified her. What would he do...?

The sight behind him caught the air from her lungs. She froze. Almost the entire forest was wiped out, turned to nothing but soot and thin trunks just barely jutting up from the ground. Gray ash descended in the air, creating a cloud all around them. The sound then caught up to her, of people screaming and crying and shouting for mercy. Several of the guards were ready to attack Rafael, who strutted along all by himself.

Shield mages were along the ground everywhere, either knocked out or worse. Their barriers also fell around them. A few huts hadn't been so lucky to have a Shield mage there. Brenda fell back onto her back, looking up at the sky. The blue sky tried to peak through but couldn't break through the shadow that descended over all of them.

Brenda rubbed her right arm. It still stung from whatever the Grand Elder had done. Some sort of dark red magic was sparking up and down her arm before, but now, it was quelled. There were still some markings, like burns, but nothing that hurt to the touch.

She heard something crack and turned around, watching as two bodies dropped from Rafael's side. The Grand Elder, also blasted back but standing tall on her feet, remained stoic as Rafael approached. Brenda crushed the debris in her fist and tried to push herself up. Her arms and legs trembled.

"Rafael," she said in a low voice. It hurt to speak. "You coward."

"Stand down, Shindari," the Grand Elder said. She lowered her arms.

"Yes, do stand down," Rafael said. "You'll only delay the inevitable. As all of you have been doing all along."

Rafael reached out and vaporized the Grand Elder in a single flash of brilliant golden light. Brenda's scream was matched only by the scream of everyone else in the village. Rafael swung his arm out, a powerful gust coming off of it and silencing everyone. Brenda tumbled back.

"Enough," Rafael said. "Be silent, and bow before your new God."

"You're not a God!" Oz shouted. Almost a rainbow of colors flared around him as his aura leapt to life. He had his fists clenched. His eyes alternated between pure blue and black. "You're dead!"

"I said silence, Oz," Rafael said. "Or do you wish to do battle so soon after our last?"

"I'll kill you," Oz said, and vanished. Rafael did as well. Brenda could feel their energy, as if it were trying to break through reality itself.

They finally reemerged. Oz dropped back, falling near Brenda. Rafael slammed his fist onto Oz's chest, then picked him up by the collar. Brenda rolled away, watching. Oz kicked Rafael in the side, forcing him to be dropped.

Oz pulled back a blue fist then launched it at Rafael, who dodged it. The blast from the fist blew away all the soot in the air. Rafael jabbed Oz with a golden attack, then clasped his face with another hand and pushed down with a blast of energy. Oz dropped to the ground, but picked himself up. Rafael grabbed him by the back of the shit and hefted him up.

"You were holding back before?" Oz asked. Half of his face was burnt off. Brenda couldn't find words. She tried to move back, to move as far away as she could.

"Of course," Rafael said. He propped Oz up just so he was on both of his knees, then looked all around the forest. "As I said, you are all to bow! And if you do not, you shall end up like this one. Your most powerful mage."

Rafael lifted his hand up and crushed his fist. Golden light dropped straight from the sky and erupted from the ground to crush and obliterate Oz where he knelt, leaving nothing but a slight charred hole in the ground. Rafael smiled and sighed.

"Simple enough, I feel," Rafael said. "Recall, I gave you all fair warning that this would happen. Maybe not so much death but I promised I would destroy Magus Forest, and I have. Now, I give you another promise: follow me, and you will live in magical harmony with this world. The world will be cleansed of those who would see you pushed into such safe zones as these. You will live free under my watch."

Brenda smirked at the irony, but fear kept her from saying anything. He was purposefully exerting his magical pressure, and the power alone kept her down. Her magic stitched itself back together in her body, but at a slower rate because she was trying to keep her presence a bit under the radar.

She knew that Rafael stood right next to her. She would be the next example. Thankfully, she realized, the pressure forced her into a bowing position. She stole a look back up at Rafael, and then to the people of Magus Forest who were, indeed, looking to Shindari of the Zanderia for answers.

Tears welled in her eyes. She couldn't move, nor could scream at them to run. They'd be dead in an instant. Several already held the bodies of loved ones while others stood mortified at the nonexistence of their Grand Elder anymore. She pursed her lips and bowed her head, sighing and letting the tears slide down her face.

"I give those who choose not to come with me only a day," Rafael said. "No, by next sundown. Yes, that's plenty of time. Tell your family, tell any magic friends you may have. And, if you want, kill any non-magic users who frighten you. You have that power, never forget. For those that wish to come with me now?" He held his hand open and a golden vortex appeared in the bonfire pit. "Let us be off."

Brenda didn't bear watch what happened next, but she couldn't help hearing all of the footsteps shuffling and crunching as they walked across the way toward the vortex. She punched the ground and managed to get to one knee.

"I urge you to stay, though, Shindari," Rafael said. Brenda froze. "I need at least one more example. I'll find the Blue Nexus, too, just to make things crystal clear on where I stand with your friends...and with my power. Stay behind with the fools like you."

Her jaw dropped and she was forced once again to hide her moronic expression while Rafael finally sauntered away and toward the glowing vortex.

The light vanished along with, Brenda sensed, nearly a quarter of the population of Magus Forest. Everyone that stayed behind fell silent, just as their eyes fell to her. She couldn't dare look any of them in the eye. Just go away. Run away, as far away as possible!

But nobody moved. Was it fear? Misplaced hope? Brenda was unsure why she wouldn't move. No, no she definitely knew. That feeling of paralysis, locking her body down onto the ground, keeping her mind locked on a singular thought without any signs of breaking free of this torturous life.

She was right back in the pits with the others. Even the environment of Magus Forest seemed to line up well with those outer worlds. The only difference here? Rafael didn't even have to lay a hand on anyone to break them, he just needed to show how much stronger he was. How invincible he was.

Chills ran all around her body while her face remained hot and puffy with tears and sweat. All she could see in her mind's eye was how fast the Grand Elder, their leader and mentor, the strongest among them, had so easily been destroyed. Not even a second. Just a single flash of light and then nothing. Even Oz...what hope did any of them stand? And the Pillars still walked the Earth, oh God.

"Brenda!"

A familiar voice almost brought her back to reality, but when she moved she felt the debris beneath her and despair filled her once again. Someone slid next to her and embraced her, squeezing her torso tight. Her gaze remained on the ground, but she sensed a Combat mage.

Sandy nestled her head into Brenda's shoulders, rocking back and forth. "Thank God you're okay."

"It's all gone," Brenda finally said. Her voice was still so weak. "The Grand Elder and Oz, too. Sandy, it's all over."

"But you're okay," she said.

"The others left," she said. "So many left, and he'll be back."

Brenda felt Sandy sigh, and her lips trembled. Sandy clasped Brenda's hands. "I know. He'll be back for the rest of us, right?"

"Yes," Brenda said. "Yes, he'll be back in one day."

"Then we have that long to plan," Sandy said. She squeezed Brenda's plan. "It's not over yet. The Grand Elder wouldn't want us to give up."

"She's dead," Brenda said. "It doesn't matter what she wants anymore."

"We still need to get everyone to safety, then!" Sandy exclaimed.

She hefted Brenda to her feet, and finally, Brenda's legs locked and allowed her to stay up. She swayed a bit. It was strange to stand. Her body still felt woozy but her strength was about halfway back.

Sandy looked around to everyone, who remained, stunned, watching the two of them. Some children still wept. Everyone had tears in their eyes, or they had petrified eyes.

"Can you think of anywhere to bring them?" Sandy asked.

Brenda remained silent.

Sandy turned Brenda to face her. "Hey! Shindari, wake up! Help me out here!"

Brenda curled her fist and crashed it across Sandy's face. A sudden, boiling rage exploded from her while her power returned. Sandy fell back, rubbing her cheek.

"Are you blind?" Brenda asked. "The Grand Elder's dead! Oz is dead! Rafael is going to become immortal and he took a quarter of our mages, and probably all of Tania's! We failed, Sandy, and we're all going to die. He is a War God, do you know get what that means? Even if we had an incredibly powerful Nexus we would have just a chance against him. But we don't! Just give up already, it's all we can do at this point! Better us dead than him manipulating us and using us, like Alucard."

Sandy hesitated, then fired back and punched Brenda so hard across the face she blacked out for a second, then recovered her consciousness before hitting the ground. Everyone gasped around them, but nobody made a move.

"Did that bring you back?" Sandy asked. "We're members of the Zanderia, the galaxy's strongest fighting force. War God or not, Rafael is on our planet and is our responsibility to try and stop. This was my home, too. It was my home before yours, Brenda. This destruction, all of this death and darkness, it has to go away. I won't let it happen again. I promised myself that I would use my magic to stop anything like East City from ever happening again, and, yeah, I failed. We all did, you're right. But that doesn't give us an excuse to give up. We're still alive, and that means we still have a chance."

Brenda rubbed the blood from her lips, but still felt jarred. She tried getting up but her arms slipped and she slumped back to the ground.

Sandy shook her head and turned to face everyone. "Listen up! How many reality mages do we have? We need to try and either recreate the borders, or at least create some sort of reality sphere where Rafael and the Six Pillars can't find us!"

Brenda turned, and didn't see anyone moving. Some shuffled their feet, hesitantly. Sandy held her arms out and grimaced. She was serious, she wanted to help these people. She wanted to give them hope? She was telling the cattle that the slaughterhouse would be filled with pleasantries and joy.

"Stand down, Violette!"

A brilliant blue light filled Brenda's vision before vanishing, and someone dropped down right in front of her. She looked up, and was helped to her feet by the new arrival.

Kyle smiled at her from under the hood of his Blue Nexus form. "Glad to see you're safe."

"The Grand Elder is dead," Tania said. "And I don't sense Oz around here, either."

Kyle's smiled dropped, and he shook his head. He turned to Tania. "So it's as bad as we thought."

Tania waved her hand, and a horde of people behind her appeared. They all looked scared, confused. The mages of Magus Forest looked at them with equivocal looks.

"A reality bubble isn't going to do us any good," Tania said. "Even if we all got together and created a reality sphere, Rafael has shown on multiple occasions that he'll just break right through it. Being exposed and being hidden is the same for us at this moment." She looked over her shoulder to all the people with her. “And honestly that isn’t even our biggest problem right now. Providing for everyone, without the forest, is going to be impossible.”

            Tania spoke a little too loud, Brenda noticed, when she saw all the kids look up to their parents and the adults were forced to try and explain the situation.

            “There’s nowhere else to go, is there?” Sandy asked.

            “Several of these people have no homes to return to,” Brenda said. “As I’m sure is the case with all of your people?”

            “Exactly,” Tania said. She shook her head.

            “There’s no shelters to go to?” Kyle asked. “Homeless shelters, anything like that?”

            “Do you know how many people are here?” Tania asked. “And how long it would take to get there? We’re in the middle of nowhere. It took the two of us nearly a day to get all of these people together and move out to here, now we have to tell them to go back?”

            “There’s nothing here for them,” Kyle said.

            “Maybe not,” Tania said. She looked to Brenda. “But we can try some things. Temporary things, until we’re able to come up with a better solution.”
            “Like what?” Brenda asked.

            “Have the Shield mages go to the edges of the forest,” Tania said. “And start using magic inside the ground. I’m not exactly sure of it, but perhaps your magic will allow some of the fruits of the forest to grow back, just enough to feed us for now.”

            Brenda glanced at all the Shield mages. They all trembled, shaking in their shoes. None of the wanted to move. Not to mention that half of them, from the looks of things, left along with Rafael.

            “We may not have enough,” Brenda said.

            “It’s either we try and maybe get some food or everyone here is forced back into the real world, where I bet the Six Pillars are going to continue hunting mages,” Tania said.

            “So create the reality bubble!” Sandy exclaimed. “The Six Pillars won’t be strong enough to get in, only Rafael. And it gives us at least a day to hide from them.”

            “It’s a waste of energy,” Tania said.

            “She’s right,” Brenda said. “But so is your idea.”
            “My idea gives us a chance,” Tania said.

            “A chance to live just an extra day?” Brenda asked. “What difference does it make for when Rafael comes back? We should scatter everyone. Give them a chance to hide.”
            “They’ll be found by the Six Pillars and recruited,” Tania said.

            “And since when did you care about the lives of the people here?” Brenda asked.

            “Now isn’t the time for useless squabbles like that,” Tania said.

            “Rafael will prefer it if we’re divided like this,” Kyle said. “And I don’t think scattering everyone will do anyone any good. It’ll just expose them further.”

            Brenda pursed her lips. “I need a minute to think about this.”
            “We don’t have that kind of time,” Tania said. “Right now, to these people, you are their leader. Act like it.”

            “I need a minute.”

            Brenda turned, catching the gaze of what felt like all of the villagers, before she sprinted off. Kyle shouted for her, but she didn’t look back, didn’t turn around. She sprinted through, creating a thin veil around her to just barrel through the smoke and still-falling debris.

            Brenda sprinted through the forest, letting her legs carry her faster and faster with each passing step. She shut her eyes, focusing on her surroundings. The mages from back in what was once the village dwindled and soon, Brenda’s senses turned to the void that surrounded her. What had once been so lush, powerful, and incredibly breath-taking and beautiful was now desolate, nonexistent, even.

            She came to a sliding halt, thinking she sensed something. Just a flicker, like spotting a match in a pit of darkness. Brenda opened her eyes, and the dark grey smoke filled her vision while the veil around her kept her safe. She glanced all around for the glimmer in the darkness, that small beacon of magical power.

            Something shone, reflecting off the minute amount of sunlight. Brenda sifted through the soot and ash of the trees and retrieved a tiny medallion that once belonged to one of the Grand Elder’s scouts.

            How long did they have before blast hit them? How far were they able to make it from the village, moving as fast as possible before the bright light of death caught and destroyed them? Brenda couldn’t help remembering that same feeling as she’d flown away from her prison, fleeing the slaves she wanted so bad to free, but fearing the cold grip of death that her masters would bring upon her.

            She closed her fist around the medallion, but it’d grown so fragile in the explosion that is dissipated into dust in her had. A rainbow of little particles blew away in the breeze when she opened her hand again, while the dirt swirled around her like a small vortex.

            A familiar magical power came sprinting her way. Brenda remained knelt on the ground, placing her hand on a little piece of cloth that would have once belonged to the scout.

            Sandy halted her sprint, and spoke Brenda’s name softly. Brenda looked up and her eyes filled with the same tears as Sandy’s. The Combat mage dropped to her knees, babbling under her breath while she fumbled for words through the sobs.

            “Every place,” she eventually said. She held her hands out, meekly, for Brenda. Brenda grabbed them, squeezing. “Every place I go is cursed. I can never stay, I can never live. I can never be happy. It’s these powers, it’s all my fault. I need…I should just kill—”

            Brenda pulled Sandy closed and hugged her tighter than she’d ever hugged anyone. Sandy cried out, screaming while the tears dropped down onto Brenda’s shoulder. Brenda let her tears fall, quieter, while she couldn’t speak the words she wanted to.

            Neither wanted to move, nor wanted to get up. There was nowhere to go, nowhere to hide and nowhere to run. They were trapped in that swirl of destruction, waiting for the golden light of their destroyer to find them and finish them off for good.

Next time: The Six Pillars have left the heroes behind and are finally on their global assault, attacking any high-density areas of magic. The Sentinel realizes that the Zanderia are awfully quiet, and wants Blue Nexus and Shindari back in the game, but they're nowhere to be found in "Blue Nexus #69 - Winds of Memory"!