A World Of Decree: And The Seven Laws

Dashing and jumping from rock to rock, Cartuja accelerated his speed to astonishing limits. Not knowing any spells, his hands were the only weapon he could use. Getting closer and closer, he could see his window of opportunity open for an approach.

Although Oryx possessed incredible strength, his size limited his reaction time. Taking that into account, Cartuja made his last jump from a crooked rock and sliced through one of Oryx's eyes with his b.a.r.e knuckles. No blood was shed, but it partially blinded the beast and stopped the motion Cartuja was carrying with him.

Oryx let out a fearsome roar of agony, howling at the attacker with all the force he had. The sound ripped and conquered the water like a storm in the depths of the open sea. Since Cartuja had nowhere to land or grasp, the howl sent him flying across the water at lightning speed against a rigid rock about a hundred feet away.

"KKHUUUUGH!" Cartuja's breath left him as he collided with the rock, nearly knocking him unconscious from the impact. He could feel his c.h.e.s.t tighten, and every breath seemed harder to take. He knew if it wasn't for Laena's spell he'd be instantly paralyzed or even dead from the vigorous blow.

Alastor continued to observe from the sidelines, waiting for the right moment to intervene. "Laena." His voice took her attention away from Cartuja. "Get ready to attend to Cartuja's wounds. Seems like the chance of their victory is diminishing… Perhaps I underestimated the power of a dragon."

"Cartuja!" Rina yelled from afar, "Are you alright!?" Her voice trembled with worry.

He tried to answer, but words wouldn't come out from the ache in his c.h.e.s.t, only a shallow whisper from the back of his throat. "Never better." He coughed, blood spilling from his mouth.

Although Dragon's dont have the intelligence of humans or other creatures, their mind still operates with an intent to kill. Once a beast has laid down it's pray, there is no need for hesitation. Oryx jumped into the open air like a bird seeking shelter for the winter, immediately preparing to dive into Cartuja's body implanted into the rock.

As Cartuja stared down the approaching yellow tint in Oryx's eyes, his careless personality faded, and the fear sank in. The true feeling of fear is not something words can explain, but rather an emotion one feels at the sight of his own death. No matter how much he wanted to, his body wouldn't move, and his eyes stayed locked onto Oryx.

Alastor waited for the perfect moment, seeing Oryx ready to clasp Cartuja between his numerous rows of sharpened teeth. Oryx slammed his mouth shut where Cartuja layed trembling in fear, only to be greeted by chipped rocks and salty water instead of flesh and bone.

Cartuja found himself snatched by Alastor with immense speed at the most crucial moment, and quickly escorted to the safety of the boat with Laean and Mooks. "Laena," Alastor said without looking at her. "Heal him the best you can. Seems he has a mild concussion with a few bone fractures."

"Y-yes of course." She replied, trembling.

Oryx ignored his failed attempt at finishing his prey, locking his gaze onto the two targets remaining. His claws grasped the rocks with ease, making his movement more controlled while on the waters. The air was another option for Oryx as well, but an attack from the sky would take much longer to travel, and waste too much energy.

"FAIBEL!" Rina yelled across the battlefield. "Any bright ideas?"

"No!" He said, keeping his composure. "Attack Oryx! I need to see how he deals with damage."

Rina began with a swift strike she didn't need a spell for. A simple motion of her hand as if it were a sword, slicing the air in the direction she wanted the blade of water to travel. She could use this attack quickly and repeatedly, but the downside included the amount of damage it would actually cause.

The first strike hit Oryx in the face, followed by another, and another, and 20 more. Only the last five seemed to at least drag his attention and annoyance, but barely harmed him in the process. This took Rina by surprise considering she's cut medal with this attack before, but remained on guard of what Oryx might do next.

Oryx seemed to reposition himself and prepare to howl another gust of deathly breath. However, Rina was already concentrated on her next spell, beginning to form a circulation of water around him.

"VORTEX!" She yelled, casting the calm waters around the beast to rise, forming a massive sphere of sharpened water. As the water circled Oryx, his curiosity in the matter lead the tip of his nose to the outermost edge of the vortex, nearly slicing his scales right off. A fierce roar into the open air disbursed the vortex within seconds, leaving Rina in panic, and Oryx in anger.

A blind eye, a wound from Calvin, and now a chipped nose sparked a flame of rage within Oryx. His conscious eye seemed to glow even brighter, almost like a miniature sun in the darkness of the night. The rage boiled deep inside him, only waiting to be unleashed.

"AAAAARRGRGRGGHHHHH!"

The roar was allocated strictly onto Rina's position as it flew across the waters. Massive waves disbursed into both directions as the shearsome force of Oryx's breath traveled across the sea. Rocks seemed to dissipate into smithereens, and gusts of small winds brimmed the surface of the waters.

As Rina gawked deep into the pit of Oryx's mouth from afar, her fear of death remained distant. She envisioned herself as her sister, unafraid of fighting for death against the world's most dangerous predator. Although it was only for a split second, her mind remained calm, and death wasn't something she'd fall into.

In the millisecond before Rina would be torn to shreds by Oryx's anger, she managed to muster a thick shield of water in front of her. The sea beneath her was the only thing keeping the shield in place, but bits and pieces of Oryx's breath continued to pierce through her defense.

The roar died down, and Rina dropped her shield along with herself on a nearby rock. An unexpected wound appeared beside her stomach, and blood began to appear at a rapid pace. The blood began to spill onto the rock, slowly rolling into the sea.

"RINAAAA!" Laena and Faibel screamed in Unison.

Laena jumped off the boat, making her way as quickly as she could to Rina's position. The distance wasn't far, but Laena wasn't the best swimmer. Faibel managed to distract the beast long enough for Laena to arrive and treat Rina as much as possible.

Laena pulled herself up from the water onto the rock Rina was laying on, and dropped to her knees as quickly as she could. Her hands began to shake, but she remained concentrated, "Please stay calm Rin… You're losing a lot of blood but you're gonna be fine." She grinned, nervously shaking in her position.

Rina smiled back at her, removing her hand from her wound. A large portion of skin was missing by her left side, and blood only seemed to increase as time passed. She continued staring at the night sky above her, unable to hear Laena anymore and slowly losing consciousness. Her sight was on the brink of escaping when suddenly a full burst of adrenaline shot through her like a bullet.

"HHUUUUUU!" Rina gasped a trivial amount of air, popping back awake instantly.

"A-are you okay? Can you move?" Laena said, her voice seeming more quieter.

Rina looked down at her wound, seeing it completely gone like it was never even there. Not a single scratch remained on her body, not even a single scar.

Laena gave out one last smile as she saw Rina back awake, and fell backwards into the water.

"LAENA!" Rina grabbed her from the water, seeing her unconscious from exhaustion.

Alastor appeared on the closest rock towards them, "She used all of her essence left to save you. Even if it meant she's die for it." Alastor said, standing firmly on the rock.

"She died?!" Rina jumped in anger.

"Oh My, of course not. However, she won't be able to use any magic for a few hours, so the next injury," Alastor turned to face Rina, "Will be your life."

Faibel couldn't keep Oryx busy any longer, signaling for their attention. "RINA! I have a plan! When Oryx charges you, you're going to need to kill him! It doesn't matter how but you need too! Trust me!"

"What's the Plan!?" She yelled back.

Faibel grinned, "It's more of an improv," He whispered to himself. After dodging another breath from Oryx's rage, Faibel raised his hand in the air as if he were trying to grab the moon. His eyes lit up in a scarlet red shade of fury, and the extra power Laena gave to him earlier allowed him to cast his very first spell. "MOONLIGHT!"

As the spell left his lips, the clouds and stars in the sky seemed to erase from existence as the moon grew brighter and brighter. The flames Alastor placed to light up the battlefield disbursed into nothingness, and the moon glimmered across the water brighter than the sun. The blinding white light burned Oryx's scales like coal in a fire, and the smoke escaping him hissed loudly into the open air.

"ALASTOR! USE YOUR SPELL!" Faibel yelled in hopes of dealing as much damage as possible.

"Smart kid," Alastor pointed his finger towards Oryx as he struggled under the moonlight. "Hellflame!" Alastor made a small orb of fire escape his finger towards Oryx. As soon as the flame touched his scales, Alastor snapped his fingers to activate his spell.

A sea of red flames emerged from nothing around Oryx, burning him even greater than Faibel had previously done. The flames rose hundreds of feet into the air, slowly melting the scales like mere plastic. Oryx howled and roared in screams of pain, trying his hardest to escape the torture of burning agony.

His one eye remaining finally tracked its target, and seeing his victim still standing made him break free from the terrors of both spells. Oryx flew into the air with all the strength he had left, and began his plummet into Rina.

However, Rina was prepared for exactly this moment, and could still feel traces of her blood deep within the blue sea. She began to slowly ascend her hands, concentrating all the force of water and blood to surround her. A sharp, thick spear began to form behind her, spiraling with small bits of her own blood within it. Two new heads began to form at the tip of the spear, and a golden spiral of steel started molding from the inside.

"POSEIDON'S WRATH!" Rina yelled as she controlled the Colossal trident straight into Oryx's neck. The body of the beast lost its balance, falling into the water as dark blood came running down its neck. Oryx's head cam crashing onto the rock Rina and Laena were on, knocking them both into seperate directions. Oryx let out one last miserable sound of defeat, and sunk below into the darkness of the deep sea.

Rina quickly submerged from the water with Laena, swimming towards the boat that Alastor approached them with. He let out a hand for her to grab, and she tossed Laena over first, making sure she was as careful as can be.

Finally, once everyone was on the boat, Alastor began with a thunderous amus.e.m.e.nt of applause. "An absolute splendid performance!"

"We almost died!" Rina coughed, angry but relieved.

"But you didn't!" Alastor stopped his clapping, "You saw your own death happen multiplied times, and yet, continued to stand your ground." Alastor looked down on Rina, "Poseidon's wrath? It sure has been a while since I've seen that one." He sighed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rina gawked at him.

"Means your stronger than you look," He grinned, "Mooks, tell them the bad news now, better late than never... I on the other hand, will be right back." He said as he dove into the water.

Laena remained unconscious with a small cut on her left hand. Cartuja was barely awake, still a little dizzy and fatigued. Rina seemed fine on the outside, but scarred and afraid within. Fiabel had a few bruises and scratches, but nothing severe or traumatizing.

"Do you see the cut on Laena's arm?" Mooks questioned them.

"It's my fault, she shouldn't-"

"It's nothing to do with that," Mooks interrupted Rina. "When you killed Oryx, a few of his teeth seemed to scr.a.p.e Laena's arm. It was partial, but Oryx was under Osiris' curse."

Faibel's mind suddenly burst open with a horrifying realization, "You can't possibly mean…"

"We won't know until she wakes," Mooks gestured, scared. "But it's very likely she'll be under his curse."

Silence quickly fell over the boat. The water remained calm, filled with blood and broken rocks stirring from below. The clouds began to form in the sky once again, and the moon returned to a much dimmer light.

Alastor submerged from the water, jumping back onto the boat. He was still dry, which sparked an unintended curiosity in everyone staring at him.

"Rina Ambrose." He said with a strong voice, "I believe this is yours." He circled his fist from behind him, opening it to reveal a small diamond-shaped rock. It was smooth, sharp, and began to glow a bluish tint once he revealed it. "This is Oryx's heart."

Rina widened her eyes in surprise, looking down at her necklace to confirm. She gently grabbed the heart and aligned them side by side. The shape, structure and even the glow was nearly identical, but she still looked worried.

"Last year... " Rina said, quietly, "Calvin told me that if I ever acquire another dragon's heart.."

"The soul within the first can be brought back to life." Alastor butted in. "He is correct. Although it won't be easy, I suggest keeping it safe for now."

"Right." Rina clenched the two hearts together, putting them away for the time being.

"So what now?" Faibel asked.

Alastor slowly turned towards his direction, "My my, you just defeated a dragon and you're already eager for the next task." Alastor laughed, "Now we await until Ms. Laena here awakes. We go back. And hope we don't get exiled from Princewood."