Disclaimers: This is a work of fiction. Any similarities between the characters in this story and real people (appearances, names, etc.) are purely coincidental. This story may contain homosexual material, including love and sex, so if material like this is illegal in your region or if it discomforts you, please leave.
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Mark turned the kitchen faucet on and rinsed the bowl of the oatmeal remnants. He took the last sip of his coffee and rinsed the mug as well. When he turned the faucet off, he felt a witch teleport into the home and turned to see Kiri standing before him. He smiled at her, and she fired the magic-suppressing binding at him. Mark teleported a foot away and slung his own magic suppression at Kiri who was not prepared for it.
As he crouched down beside her, Mark stated, "You have not heard of the conscience control spell but have created a magical binding. I shamefully admit that it took me two months to replicate your binding spell, two long, tenuous months. But I thank you, Kiri the Endless, for this new magic is stupendous."
"Who are you?" Kiri asked as she struggled in the binding. "Magic suppression was first taught twenty years ago. So that tells me that you come from an underground coven. One in hiding, or sworn to a sort of secrecy. Is Jeanette Lillico actually your mother?"
While tucking a lock of hair behind Kiri's ear, Mark told her, "Everything that I did tell Ulysses was all true. I was born to Jeanette and Bradford on August twelfth, nineteen-ninety-six. I broke my left leg when I was seven, and dislocated my right ring finger at nine. I graduated from Roosevelt High in two-thousand-twelve, and from Carnegie Mellon in two-thousand-sixteen. I have a niece and a nephew from my sister and her husband. My favourite dish to eat will always be baked salmon with asparagus and mashed potatoes. And your son prepares that dish with grace and perfection. I have never lied to Ulysses. Kept one or two truths from him, sure, but never lied."
"Such a saint you are," Kiri spat.
In a fraction of a second, Mark heard a foot land on the floor and felt the distinct and immense pain of electricity coursing through his body. He convulsed for a second but expelled the offending magic from his body. He turned and created a stream of lava that hovered toward and around Ulysses. Ulysses grasped a chunk of concrete from a wall and flung it out, using it to deflect the lava.
"Hello, my love," Ulysses greeted with a lecherous smile. "Fancy seeing you here."
"Uly," Mark said with a laugh. "Come give me a kiss."
Ulysses unsheathed a blade of light and quickly sliced his mother's binding off. A millisecond later, Ulysses threw the blade at Mark. Mark tried to catch the blade, his fist closed around it, and he screamed in immense pain. His fingers fell to the ground and his palm was barely attached to his wrist. Mark regenerated his cells and within moments he had his hand back. He laughed darkly and crouched down at the ground, inspecting the light blade with fascination and awe.
"What magic is this?" Mark asked, intrigued.
Mark touched his fingertip to the side of the blade and his flesh melted.
"Utterly amazing," Mark said more to himself. "What is this? Tell me now."
"My mother learned how to affix photons to objects," Ulysses answered with confusion. "And that makes these objects incredibly abrasive, causing unfathomable damage. Alongside that magic, she learned how to affix particles of vanta to objects which makes those objects able to hold blades like that without causing damage."
"But this magic has been around for nearly eighty years," Kiri said in wonder. "That means that your coven has been underground for nearly a century. Maybe longer."
As he rose, Mark said, "Well as much fun as this was..."
Kiri threw suppression binding but Mark turned and stepped back out of the way. Ulysses flung a bolt of lightning, to which Mark jumped backward and handsprung to land back on his feet. Kiri immediately threw fire, which hit Mark. Or an illusion of Mark, for this thing burst into shards of black that dissipated into the air.
"FUCK!" Ulysses screamed and punched a wall. "We need to learn how he's doing that."
Mark sat on a flat rock atop a mountain in Argentina. The skies were shades of red and purple as the sun descended in the horizon. His hair softly waved in the breeze, cooling him in the humid climate. His gaze remained transfixed on the beautiful array of colours in the clouds, a calm washed over him in the most serene of ways.
"My king," Alonso Girelli begged.
"You must be patient, Alonso," Mark said calmly. "Everything will work out in the end. Please, just enjoy the sunset. Bathe in the warmth and peace."
Mark heard the sigh that came from his companion, but did nothing. He remained at ease, relishing in the rest.
"My king," Alonso begged one more time, "they eliminated the team in Shanghai."
"I know, Alonso," Mark replied with that same ease. "There's nothing we can do about it now. So just collect yourself, calm your mind, and still your heart. We have only begun our mission. We have yet a long way to go. Behaving brashly will only hurt our cause. So please, Alonso, I beg you, regain your composure."
"Yes, my king," Alonso responded and kissed Mark's hand.
"Stop," Mark said with an amused smile. "I find it weird to be worshipped like that. Shall we teleport to the Lussier Hot Springs? Maybe then you will relax."
"Where is that, sir?"
"It's in Canada. Absolutely beautiful country, and the mountains where these hot springs are... breathtaking."
Ulysses teleported into the hall of Mrs. Lillico's home just when she happened to be walking to the kitchen. She screamed in fright and dropped her big mug of tea. Ulysses became confused for a moment, but then quickly strode over, put his hand on her shoulder, and teleported them both to the palace. There, yet even more frightened, Jeanette screamed and fell to the floor, tears cascading down her face.
Perplexed, Kiri stated, "This cannot be her acting. This is too genuine."
Queen Sofi sent a particle into Mrs. Lillico's brain that rendered her frozen in time, or at least mentally.
"How can this be?" Queen Sofi asked, utterly befuddled. "Markus Lillico is too powerful a witch to be the first in his line. Is he adopted?"
"No," Ulysses answered with his eyes cast downward in thought. "I've seen the birth certificate. And he looks much too much like his mother to be adopted. What are we missing?"
"She has almost no magical core," Kiri stated, frustrated. "Might we investigate Mark's father's side of the family?"
Ulysses instantly teleported to the staircase of a gorgeous two-storey home in Newhaven. He smelled the French toast in the air and heard the sounds of metal scraping on porcelain as the family enjoyed a nice breakfast. Ulysses froze their minds and all sounds in the house ceased. He marched into the kitchen, his heart sang at the sight of smiles on the two teens' faces, contentment on the mother's face, and joy on the father's. He inspected the entirety of the father's and teens' bodies, and was disappointed to find zero traces of magic.
Next, Ulysses teleported to a diamond store in Austin. She immediately took notice and asked, "You're Ulysses, right? My nephew's boyfriend?"
"Yes," Ulysses answered with a kind nod. "How are you, Rhea?"
"Fantastic, thank you," Rhea replied. "Week has been great, and my vacation begins tomorrow. How are you? Is Mark here with you?"
"Umm, no," Ulysses said with a slight awkwardness about him as he scanned her body. "I came to ask what you thought I might get him for his birthday. I realize that it's not for another five months, but I'm nervous about it."
"Why are you nervous?" Rhea asked with amusement. "You've been with Mark for, what two years?"
"Yes. I thought- I thought I might propose to him. And- and that you might help me pick out a ring."
Rhea squealed with excitement as she rose from her chair and ran over to Ulysses. She embraced him with utter joy and agreed to help him with the ring. She grabbed his hand and pulled out to the front of the store and looked at rings with him. Ulysses fought back tears and the constriction in his throat as he chose a ring and purchased it, declining the use to Rhea's employee discount.
"Mark's uncle and cousin's have no magical core," Ulysses stated when he teleported back into the queen's office. "Neither does his aunt. His paternal grandparents have been deceased for five years so testing them would be impossible."
Kiri then said, "His sister has no core either. This is baffling."
"Where do we go from here?" Queen Sofi asked, almost defeated.
"Mark has no familial history of witchcraft," Ulysses said. "His maternal and paternal sides show not even a single trace of magical cores. His mother was terrified at the sight of my teleportation. I think it is wise to investigate his sister for a magical core, but do you think it is pointless?"
"No," Kiri said firmly.
Queen Sofi nodded her head and iterated, "There has to be some familial connection to witchcraft. He is entirely too powerful to have no previous magical connection. If his mother doesn't know, then how did he grow? Utterly fascinating. Maddening, but fascinating."
So Ulysses did teleport, to a hallway in Maida Vale School in London, England. He froze the minds of the twenty-two students and lone teacher in the classroom and walked in. Before a blackboard stood Rachel Lillico-Barnes, Mark's older sister, one hand raised to some mathematical formula written in her teaching.
A second later, Ulysses teleported back to the palace and reported to the queen and his mother that Rachel had almost no magical core, same as the rest of her family. This news caused Queen Sofi to begin pacing slowly in her office, thoughts and possibilities plaguing her mind.
Mark deflected a bolt of lightning and flung splinters of wood from a support beam at his student. Splinters pierced Raul Gadinskyi's body and he knelt in pain and shock.
"My apologies, my king," Raul said through clenched teeth. "I will do better next time."
"Nonsense," Mark assured easily. "I am happy to teach you. Learning sometimes requires pain and hardship. Heal, and we will try again."
Raul regenerated, which pushed the splinters out of his body. As he did, he grunted from both the effort and the pain. When he was fully healed, Raul stood and assumed a defensive stance.
"You have to be able to, all at once, teleport and attack and be ready to defend yourself. It is a lot to bear, requires a lot of mental preparation and magical skill, but I will teach each and every subject of mine. This simple use of offense and defense will bring us to victory over the queen."
"Sir," Raul said in acknowledgement.
Mark flung slashing curses at his student, who teleported. Mark instantly turned to his right and flung lightning. Raul, as he landed on his feet, erected a shield. Raul immediately teleported again, to which Mark turned one hundred eighty degrees and created flame. As he landed once again, Raul thrust his fist skyward to deflect the flame. A millisecond later, Raul drove his palm forward, causing wood from the floors to jut out in a line toward Mark. Mark clapped his hands with great force, which created a wave that decimated the spikes from the floor.
"Very good!" Mark praised his student with utter joy. "Speedy spell sequencing with the teleportation, defense, and offense! Very impressive!"
Raul bowed at the neck and responded, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
"Now that you've mastered sequencing," Mark said in deep thought, "might we try it with your opponent teleporting?"
"Sir?" Raul beckoned with unease.
"It merely requires a bit of guessing or predicting where your opponent will land. It should become instinctual over time."
Raul inhaled a deep breath, and said, "Yes, sir."
"I promise I will fire only slashing curses," Mark vowed. "No permanent damage, easily healed."
Raul closed his mouth in focus, and gave his king a single nod of his head. Mark teleported, Raul teleported, and Mark flung a slash. Raul's left side under his ribs split open, and blood stained his shirt. Raul knelt on a knee to regain his composure, and magically stitched his flesh back together. Raul then stood, inhaled, and gave another nod. Mark teleported, Raul teleported, Mark slashed, and Raul teleported at the very last moment. Raul then teleported, as did Mark, and Mark flung a slash. Raul teleported again, and flung his own slash as he landed. The curse found purchase and cut Mark's thigh open. Mark winced, but did not otherwise react, but fired his own slash again. Raul teleported, and Mark fired another slash that cut Raul's right hip open.
"You are an excellent student, Raul," Mark assured while he healed himself. "A very, very quick learner."
Raul bowed at the neck, and replied, "That means a great deal to me, my king. Thank you."
"I mean that. Impressive. Now, ready to go again?"
Ulysses leaned on the table with both hands bracing himself. Kiri chewed on her thumbnail as Captain Nilsson gave the queen an update on all overtaken magical police precincts around the world. A tear formed in Ulysses' eye, so he straightened his stance and wiped it away. Kiri walked around the table as Captain Nilsson continued his somber update, and she wrapped one arm around her son's back.
"That's nearly thirty percent," Ulysses stated with a tinge of worry. "He spoke the truth when he said that he would be ruthless."
"Yes," Kiri responded with a solemness about her as she scanned the map. "He is working rather quickly. But we will defeat him. I don't know how, but we will."
With a tear in his eye, Captain Nilsson stated, "I am in a room with the three most powerful practitioners in the world, and a strategy eludes us all. Shall we adjourn for lunch?"
After a quick wipe of her nose, Queen Sofi stated, "If you're all agreeable, I've asked Jannik to prepare enough pheasant for us all. It'll be brought in momentarily."
Kiri offered the queen a teary smile of affection and gratitude. Ulysses, too, smiled, but also bowed to the queen at the waist. Captain Nilsson bowed at the waist as well.
Queen Sofi wiped a tear and said, "I've told you all before, not to bow to me."
Ulysses smiled bigger as he remained bowed, and acknowledged, "Yes, my queen."
"By Lukaro," Queen Sofi said with laughter. "Get up."
Just then, in rolled a cart of food followed by the palace chef. With permission from the queen, Jannik teleported the map away, and summoned a table cloth. As the four witches ate, Queen Sofi begged Kiri for stories of her millennia on Earth. Kiri spoke of past magical monarchs, of their styles of ruling and protecting, of their magical specialities, and of past threats.
With a distant look in her eyes, Queen Sofi said, "To be eternal. Sounds both magical and lonely."
Kiri grabbed her son's hand and replied, "If you have a loved one or two, it feels wonderful. And being regent to the monarch, gives you great purpose. It has been an honour, Your Majesty. I genuinely hope that you rule for another forty or fifty years, because you are bright and fair and incredibly diplomatic."
"Thank you, Kiri," the queen responded with a teary smile. "That means a great deal to me."
Ulysses was washing dishes by hand on an evening in which he chose to relax, take it easy. As in the past, he found the menial task of washing dishes relaxing, mind-clearing. He was towel-drying the last glass when his cell phone rang.
Ulysses didn't get a chance to greet his caller when Kiri's voice said with urgency, "The village of Tasgier was attacked just two minutes ago!"
Ulysses promptly ended the call, teleported up to his bedroom, slipped on a pair of boots, and teleported to rural Australia. Screams and cries rang in the air. Spells and curses exploded throughout the magical village as citizens and police and Guard officers battled mercenaries left and right.
"Show no mercy!" Ulysses shouted with conviction. "Take no prisoners! Let us show them who we are!"
Ulysses fired his biggest, most powerful slashing curse he'd ever performed. The victim was a female mercenary, cut open from left underarm to right hip, gallons and gallons of her blood pooled on the ground.
"This is a new Ulysses," Mark's voice stated with amusement.
Ulysses swiftly turned around and flung lightning from his left hand and fire from his right. Mark teleported and landed behind Ulysses, locking Ulysses' arms in one of his his with his other arm around Ulysses' neck.
Mark kissed Ulysses' neck and said, "This is a side to you that I never thought I'd see. So savage, sexy."
Ulysses teleported and thrust boulders out of the ground to crush Mark. Mark, at the last second, linked billions of particles to act as shields. And then he was immediately struck by lightning. Mark groaned and groaned as he fell to one knee. Fighting off the aftershocks, Mark fired some magic-suppressive binding. Ulysses jumped out of the way too late, the binding wrapped itself around his ankle. Instinctively, Ulysses attempted separate particles in the binding, but no magic emitted from his core.
"Bitch!" Ulysses cried and rolled out of the way to dodge more magical binding.
"Let this be our last battle, my love!" Mark said with amusement as he slowly strode toward Ulysses. "I fear that if we continue this dance, our peers will grow frustrated and lose faith."
Ulysses pulled out a blade from his left boot and sliced the suppression binding from his right ankle. Ulysses then electrified the blade and threw it at Mark. Mark was surprise and erected a shield too late for the blade embedded itself into his side and he fell to the ground convulsing. Ulysses quickly summoned a katana and made haste for Mark, raising the blade and driving it downward. Mark shut his eyes and flinched. The blade met Mark's neck but the whole of Mark's being pulverized into billions of flecks of grey.
"Fuck!" Ulysses screamed in utter frustration. "Markus! You slippery snake! Show yourself!"
"Now, now," Mark's voice said suddenly but softly right into Ulysses' ear. "Didn't your mother teach you that calling people names is not nice?"
Ulysses spun around with his armed hand driving upward. Mark, however, dissipated into grey specks again.
"Fight me like a warrior!" Ulysses screamed.
Mark teleported right behind Ulysses and whispered, "But this is so much fun."
Instead of slicing with his blade again, Ulysses kept his left hand at his side and fired lightning. Mark grunted in pain and steeled his nerves to the shockwaves. Ulysses and Mark assumed defensive stances, with Ulysses creating a ball of fire in one hand and lightning in the other. The two men circled each other, their breaths baited, eyes reddening with tears.
Ulysses cast the first spell, linking billions of oxygen particles together that surrounded Mark and trapped him from every single angle possible, completely encapsulating him. Mark fought the magical handcuffing as hard as he could. Ulysses strode over, and as he did so he transformed the lightning in his right hand to fire. Ulysses threw the fire at Mark, who was still trapped in the magical cage, struggling, but the streams of fire swirled around Mark like two dancing snakes. Ulysses did his best to manipulate the two flames to completely surround Mark.
Two things happened at once. First, Mark shattered the oxygen particle cage, and he landed on his feet. Second, the two streams of fire shot skyward and blanketed the sky above the village. Though Ulysses no longer supplied the stream of fire, the flames continued to expand outward, no blue or clouds visible to all of the witches.
"Ulysses," Mark said seductively, "son of Kiri the Endless, you are proving to be a great foe. I must confess that it is an absolute honour to be in battle against you."
"Mark," Ulysses said neutrally, "I am hearing much too much chatter coming from your mouth."
"If I recall correctly," Mark responded with laughter, "you loved the use of my mouth."
"Squelching and gagging, yes," Ulysses spat. "Chitchat, no."
Mark leapt sideways and threw a dagger that he summoned. Ulysses teleported and, when he landed, fired icicles at Mark. Mark teleported and threw a slashing curse. Ulysses teleported and summoned gallons and gallons of water that swirled in a sphere around Mark. Ulysses then immediately linked each of the trillions of hydrogen particles together and created barriers. Mark tried teleporting out of the sphere but found teleportation blocked. He electrified his right hand and fired a lightning bolt. The bolt travelled a half a centimetre and hit a barrier.
With a tear pooling in his eye, Ulysses said more to himself, "I love you."
Mark fired slashing curses, big ones, that cut through hydrogen particles but Ulysses relinked them. Ulysses also linked trillions more oxygen particles around the water sphere that reinforced it. Mark, quickly running out of oxygen, pulled magic to his hands from his core. He pulled more, and more, straining the magic holding the sphere. Mark screamed with the effort, and the water sphere exploded.
Laughing, Mark said, "That was close. I was getting a little worried there. Now it's my turn."
Ulysses leapt and teleported and fired a curse which such speed it was like he was sprinting. Mark had no time to fire his own spells and curses because he could only erect shields. And no matter where he teleported to, he had to create a shield. After six more curses were fired at him within five seconds, Mark pulled so much magic from his core that he used to create a giant pulse that knocked Ulysses on his ass when he landed from a teleportation.
Ulysses, in a matter of two milliseconds, electrified his hands and got up on his knees. But Mark was gone. Mark was gone and hadn't teleported back in. Some mercenary had called out an order of retreat, so Ulysses and other Guard officers subdued and arrested as many of their opponents as possible.
"Are you okay?" Queen Sofi asked with urgency when she landed beside Ulysses.
"I'm fine," Ulysses answered, monotone. "I need to replenish my core, but fine."
"Mark has trained these mercenaries too well," Queen Sofi stated with a calm frustration. "It was almost impossible to subdue most of them. We had more forces, three to one, but they put up an excellent fight."
Staring off into space, Ulysses replied, "Mark is the most powerful opponent that I've faced in my six centuries walking this Earth. I admire that."
"He's also my most powerful opponent," Kiri stated with wonder. "But I don't admire it. It makes me uneasy. He has bested us at every turn. That never happens. Ever."
"From now on we stop holding back," Queen Sofi commanded.
Offended, Ulysses said, "We hav--"
Queen Sofi raised her hands and elaborated, "I'm not saying we have been going easy. But we have to fight like our world is at stake. Because it is. So is the non-magical. We fight Mark with everything we have."
Mark hung his last t-shirt, his laundry now fully done and put away, and closed his closet door. When he turned around, he was greeted by the sight of Ulysses standing by his bed. Ulysses' face conveyed no emotion, he gazed at Mark stoically, patient. Mark slowly stepped toward Ulysses, his eyes cast downward, uneasy.
"Hi," Mark said quietly, meekly, when he reached Ulysses.
Mark reached his hand out to grab Ulysses' hand, but his flesh met nothing but air.
"I don't trust myself to be here in the flesh," Ulysses said softly.
Mark slowly nodded and replied, "Probably a good idea. Still sorry to hear, though."
"We will be giving you our all from now on," Ulysses stated, "mother, the queen, and I. We will show no mercy."
"Nor will I," Mark vowed with a hint of sorrow. "You have your cause, I have mine."
"Markus," Ulysses began with a tear pooling in his eye, "you are lost. You have lost your way."
"I am sorry that you feel that way. I just want our world and the non-magical world to coexist. The non-magical should be on their knees before us."
"Markus," Ulysses said quietly, and his corporeal image dissipated.
Mark exhaled slowly, drove his fingers through his hair, and turned out the light. He laid on his side in his bed, his eyes cast forward but unseeing. A tear fell across his nose bridge, but Mark otherwise did nothing but lie there.
Ulysses, a few days later, teleported into a forest on Vancouver Island in Canada. He inhaled deeply, taking in the immensely fresh forest air with a hint of salty sea. Ulysses exhaled slowly, and inhaled again. When Ulysses opened his eyes, he thrust his palm forward, using magic to sever a tree near it's base. Ulysses turned and fired a slashing curse at another tree.
"Fuck!" Ulysses screamed.
Ulysses turned again and fired lightning at another tree. Ulysses then pulled oxygen and hydrogen particles in from all around him. As he screamed, he blew those particles away. Every tree and bush in a fifty foot radius broke and blew away some distance, leaving a flat circle in the middle in the forest.
Ulysses wiped a single tear from his cheek, a tear of anger and sorrow. He then closed his eyes and inhaled quick and deep. As he let out that breath, he pushed magic out from his core that blanketed the air around him. Felled trees and bushes were pulled back to their roots and stood, repaired. New bushes and shrubbery grew. Satisfied that he repaired everything he'd damaged, Ulysses teleported to the palace, to the queen's office.
Kiri told Ulysses, "I propose that we attack Mark tomorrow. We follow his signature and surprise him. He will likely be in training, and therefore battle ready. But I know we can defeat him."
"How many soldiers do you propose we take?" Ulysses asked. "Mark's numbers have been growing these past months."
"Isak suggested three hundred," Queen Sofi answered. "Where does Mark take residence? That may alter the amount of soldiers accompanying us in battle."
"Mark and his followers are in a village of their own creation," Ulysses told the small group. "In rural Germany. I haven't a clue as to their numbers."
"Your love for Mark sorrows me," Kiri stated with grief. "To love somebody yet have to battle them in war. It shatters the heart."
"I do love him," Ulysses responded with his green eyes cast to the floor. "I feel that I will love no other like I love him. But I care for the safety and well-being of the non-magical more than I love him. So I will stop Mark. By any means necessary."
Isak strode over to Ulysses and grabbed him in a tight embrace, one hand around Ulysses' back and the other on his neck. Ulysses allowed a single tear to fall from his eye and shared Isak's embrace for a short moment.
"Mother," Ulysses said and removed himself from Isak, "shall we train?"
Fighting back tears, Kiri embraced her son and teleported the two of them to a grassy tundra in Alaska. When Ulysses opened his eyes, he was met with the sight of Mark before him. Startled, Ulysses created a pulse so big and powerful that Mark flew backward and landed on his back. Mark got up on one knee, touched his shadow on the ground beneath him, and pulled out an all black blade. Mark pushed up and forward and swung his shadow blade upward. Ulysses turned sideways and sidestepped at the same time, the shadow blade zinging in front of him.
"Uly!" Kiri's voice called out.
Ulysses looked to his right in time to see his mother flying down from the skies with her hands cupped together, a dozen streaks of lightning firing at Mark. Mark convulsed on the ground, electricity racing throughout his body. Kiri landed and created supersonic pulses directed at Mark's squirming body. Mark screamed, his eyes rolled back, and blood spilled from his nose and ears.
Ulysses then shouted, with tears pooling in his eyes, "End him!"
In a fraction of a second, Kiri stopped the sonic pulses and threw beams of fire at Mark. Flames fully engulfed Mark's thrashing body, his screams could be heard for miles and miles. To Ulysses, it felt like Mark screamed for days upon days, but they lasted no longer than ten seconds. When Kiri finally finished throwing fire, Mark's body was completely charred black and thin.
"My king!" multiple voices cried.
Both Ulysses and Kiri turned and fired hundreds upon thousands of conscious-freezing particles. None of their enemies fell, they continued running to their felled leader. Confused, Ulysses flung lightning. Those bolts, however, met a barrier and dissipated.
A very raspy voice said, "That hurt."
Bones creaked and joints popped, crispy flesh crackled. Ulysses watched as the body of Mark sat up and rose to its feet. And the charred flesh lightened in colour, muscle and tissue regenerated.
As he healed, Mark asked, "Kiri, we need to work on your manners. This is not how we treat our future sons-in-law, is it?"
Keeping her eye on Mark, Kiri said to Ulysses, "Kaya kit dool, nia wen lib."
(You attack the back, I the front.)
Mark responded, "Eq aluk duu tiik."
(That will not help.)
Kiri and Ulysses looked to each other in shock, a tiny bit of confusion. Ulysses shot his arm out, a dozen summoned daggers flew and plunged into Mark's flesh. Mark fell to the ground but a second later teleported.
While turning, looking for her opponent, Kiri said to Ulysses, "We are the only living people who speak Oli. The last perished over five thousand years ago."
"Apparently not," Ulysses responded, also keeping his eyes peeled. "Mark continues to surprise us."
Kiri thrust her palm forward, linking and solidifying oxygen particles to create a barrier. Mark's summoned lava splashed off the magical shield and fell to the ground. Mark smirked at Ulysses and Kiri, and held heavy eye contact. Kiri and Ulysses waited, only two seconds later, the skies darkened. Clouds formed in the skies, the darkest Ulysses had ever seen. Within five seconds, the clouds rumbled and bellowed. Another three seconds passed before four bolts of lightning fell from the sky at once, killing nine Guard officers.
"Uly! Kiri screamed angrily. "Finish him!"
Kiri pulled as much magic out of her core as she was comfortable with and used it to link and solidify quadrillions of particles above the battlefield. Lightning continued to strike down from the dark clouds but hit a barrier. Mercenaries fired countless spells and curses at Kiri, who kept one hand raised in the air and the other swiped in the air left and right and up and down and diagonal, deflecting everything meant to harm her.
Ulysses summoned a ten-foot whip and cracked it at Mark. Mark raised his left arm to let the whip coil around it. Ulysses lit a spark in his hand and electrified the whip. Mark yelped in pain and shook his arm. When the whip fell off his arm, Mark created a pulse that sent Ulysses flying backward and ears to ring painfully. Mark then summoned and threw four binds that wrapped around Ulysses' wrists and ankles, rendering his magic useless.
As he lifted Ulysses in the air, Mark asked, "Are you aware of a practitioner who went by the name of Lauin? No? Well allow me to tell you about her. She was a powerful witch nearly eleven thousand years ago. She created a spell that allowed the user to pull and absorb the core of another witch, building your own core."
"That's impossible," Ulysses refuted as he fought against the binding. "The user would--"
"Would writhe in pain?" Mark finished the sentence. "She found a way to neutralize these magical particles and change their composition to adapt to their own core. Shall we give this spell a test run?"
Before Ulysses could formulate a response, he felt like a thousand tiny spikes were being pulled from inside his torso. Ulysses threw his head back and screamed at the top of his lungs. A thousand more spikes lurched from his insides, and more screams erupted from his throat.
Kiri gave up her spell protecting the battlefield and created pulse after pulse after pulse that severed the magical stream on Ulysses. Ulysses fell to the ground, fighting to catch his breath from the pain and screaming so much. But no matter, Ulysses swung his legs sideways and knelt on his knees, pulled a blade out of his boot. Watching his mother fight Mark, Ulysses sliced open the bindings on his wrists and ankles as quickly as he could, and teleported. He wrapped his arms around Mark's arms and torso and teleported again.
The duo landed on an empty island tundra in Nunavut and Mark teased, "You just can't keep your hands to yourself, can you?"
Ulysses gave no verbal response but pulled two boulders out of the ground and threw them at Mark. Mark had erected a shield, and Ulysses threw boulder after boulder after boulder after boulder. Ulysses threw two dozen boulders, one right after the other, and Mark's shield weakened. Mark was about to create an explosion but a boulder broke through his shield and smashed into his side. Mark went careening to the ground, dazed beyond measure. Blood spilled from all over Mark's left side as he slowly squirmed on the ground.
Heartbroken, Ulysses stated, "You would have made a phenomenal Guard officer."
Ulysses sent particles down into Mark's body, tying them around Mark's organs, and was about to violently pull them out of his body. But Mark had regained enough of his senses to summon two spears that plunged into Ulysses' sides and into the ground, pinning him.
"Ulysses," Mark said with a groan as he painfully rose to his feet, "my love. That hurt. A lot."
Ulysses groaned in paid and replied, "I would... say that I'm sorry... but I would never lie to you."
Ulysses magically pulled the two spears from his body and altered their shape into crosses. He sent those crosses flying at Mark, who used magic to break the wood into millions of tiny splinters. Mark pulled water out of the Arctic Ocean, froze it into giant icicles, and threw them all at Ulysses. Ulysses summoned lava that swirled around him, shielding him the ice spikes, and flung that lava at Mark. Mark magically grabbed the particles in the lava and flung it all into the frigid ocean.
Crying, Mark held one hand high in the air and his other hand out pointed at Ulysses. A lightning bolt struck from the sky to Mark's raised hand and out his other, shooting at Ulysses. Ulysses teleported and millisecond later, another bolt went into Mark's hand and out the other. Ulysses teleported again and again and again, the last time behind Mark. Ulysses raised one hand above Mark's and his other on Mark's side just when a bolt of lightning fell from the sky. At the very, very last moment, Mark grabbed Ulysses' wrist and pointed the palm away.
Mark linked a million sand particles together underneath them, creating a spike, and drove it upward, piercing Ulysses' bicep. Mark immediately created another sand spike and drove it through the wrist of Ulysses' other arm. Ulysses was shocked for a single quick moment and then teleported, throwing a half dozen muscle paralyzingly curses. With each curse being thrown at him, Mark had to step back and, at the same time, create a small shield that dissipated immediately. Tiring and slowing on the creation of shields, Mark threw an implosion spell at Ulysses' last paralyzer that blew up and sent them both flying backward.
Lying on the ground, Mark laughed and groaned and asked, "Would you like to fuck instead?"
"Would you like to know why my father called me an excellent student?" Ulysses asked as he stood. "It is because I am a very fast learner."
Ulysses flung a single piece of magical binding at Mark that wrapped around his chest and shoulder. Mark groaned lowly as the magic in his core went quiet and still.
"Learning your magical suppression binding spell took me all but two minutes," Ulysses stated and summoned a claymore. "And perfecting it, another single minute. Goodbye, Markus."
Ulysses lifted the claymore high in the air, but then a witch teleported in and pulled Mark to his feet. Ulysses swung the giant blade, which decapitated the witch and sliced Mark's back open. A dozen more witches teleported in and they all instantly fired spells and curses at Ulysses. Ulysses erected a shield all around him, but a second later, a dozen more witches teleported in. And then another dozen. Ulysses found that the cells in his body were being locked in that location, unable to teleport. He could also feel his shield giving way, cracking under the immense pressure of nearly four dozen witches.
Ulysses screamed at the top of his lungs in anger and fury. He leapt high into the air and ascended, spinning and firing lightning and lava and summoned javelins down below. Still unable to teleport, Ulysses did a nosedive while firing ice out of his hands. The blood of the mercenaries splattered on the ground, and those not hit by the ice fired their own spells and curses at Ulysses. Ulysses suddenly halted his nosedive and fired a giant pulse at the ground from five feet above it, which sent rocks and boulders flying outward, killing a dozen more mercenaries.
From out of the dust came a lightning bolt flying at Ulysses. Ulysses aimed his left palm at the lightning bolt and his other at Mark, and the lightning bolt teleported in one hand and out the other. The witch holding Mark, protecting Mark, jumped and erected a shield too late, for the bolt hit her.
Ulysses stopped his hovering, landed on his feet, and shouted, "Markus!"
Mark felt healed and rested enough that he fired dozens and dozens of flares and slashing curses at Ulysses. With each curse, Ulysses created the tiniest disposable shield that dissipated with each hit. The flares exploded on contact with each shield. Then Ulysses telekinetically grabbed a dozen of Mark's flares, gathered them all into a sphere, and threw it at Mark. Mark created his sphere around Ulysses' but had no time to fortify it before the flares inside exploded. Rocks and debris went flying, cutting and bruising Mark.
"Surrender," Ulysses angrily suggested as he summoned a ten-foot whip and electrified the last two feet of it. "And I will not kill you. You can live out your days in the Bru-Qel prison."
Breathless, Mark replied, "I would rather die a warrior's death. But... I won't have to."
And with that, Mark fired green flares that exploded ten inches from Ulysses. Green luminous liquid splattered across Ulysses' body, burning his clothing and flesh like acid. Groaning, Ulysses expelled the particles of the acid away from his body and healed himself, all in a fraction of a second. Mark then grabbed quadrillions of particles around Ulysses that vibrated and emitted ultrasonic waves. Mark's face fell when Ulysses remained unaffected and walked toward him. Ulysses walked right through the almost invisible barrier.
"My father taught me to create protection around my ears," Ulysses stated and fired a lightning bolt at Mark. "Protection from waves and magic."
Ulysses pointed his palms at Mark and frost shot out at him. Mark created a shield that weakened from the onslaught of a relentless frost beam. Mark, however, reinforced his shield every twenty seconds or so, but Ulysses intensified his beam of frost. The force of the beam pushed Mark and his shield, pushing Mark back, his feet sliding across the ground. Other Guard officers kept Ulysses safe, unharmed from mercenaries and their spells. Some of their blood splattered on Ulysses, but Ulysses took no notice.
"My king!" a female mercenary cried in desperation.
Out of the corner of his eye, Ulysses could see said mercenary leap at him. Ulysses pointed his left palm at the mercenary and five daggers flew out, all piercing her flesh, two of which embedded in her head. Ulysses rejoined his hands together, intensifying his frost beam yet again. Mark grunted loudly as he swung his arms outward and created a giant pulse that sent Ulysses flying backward.
Ulysses' back collided with the ground and he tumbled some. He planted his feet below himself, skidding on the ground a little, and flung boulder after boulder after boulder at Mark. Mark was unable to create fortified shields due to his fatigue, so each boulder that he deflected shattered every shield that he created. Breathless, Mark attempted to teleport, but every cell in his body rejected that bit of magic. His teleportation was being blocked, which, caused a bead of sweat to fall down his forehead.
Ulysses screamed with the effort behind creating a sphere twelve inches in diameter that he flung at Mark. Mark erected another shield but the sphere exploded, causing devastating damage to Mark, who was thrown off his feet. Mark was incredibly disoriented lying on the ground, unable to process any of his senses, almost unable to breathe due to the trauma in his chest.
Ulysses strode over to the injured and dazed Mark while blocking curses and firing lightning spells at offending witches, his eyes never leaving the thriving Mark. Ulysses stood over Mark and put his wrists together, creating and strengthening a slashing curse. Mark regained enough of his senses to swing his legs and stand. Mark held his hands out slightly, pulling a giant stream of water from the ocean that flowed behind and over Mark, shooting at Ulysses. Ulysses thrust his arms out and created a portal. Mark stepped forward, slid on his knees, leapt to his feet, and was about to push joules of electricity into Ulysses body. But Ulysses shifted the cells in his body so Mark's hands phased through him.
Ulysses quickly turned around, placed his hands on either side of Mark's head and froze every neuron and cell in Mark's brain. Mark's eyes went blank and he collapsed to the ground. Ulysses let Mark fall, and raised his hands to the sky. Dark clouds formed immediately, and rumbled furiously. I giant bolt of lightning shot down into Ulysses' hands, and he created a few dozen tiny shields that split the one lightning bolt into a dozen, killing that many mercenaries. Ulysses then reached far, far, far down the surface of the earth, and forcefully pulled lava up.
"Egil!" Ulysses shouted, straining. "Retreat!"
Each Guard officer gave the command no thought, they trusted Ulysses implicitly, and teleported out. Lava shot out of the ground before Ulysses, and he pushed it around into a stream that obliterated every mercenary for they found they were unable to teleport thanks to Kiri, who teleported behind her son. The screams of terror and grief rang through the air for but a few moments before each one was silenced forever.
"Enough," Kiri told her son softly. "Even we cannot take this heat for much longer."
Ulysses pushed the lava back deep down into the earth. Kiri pushed out a giant pulse that was so powerful that the bones of the remaining mercenaries shattered, arteries burst, and all stood no more.
"Ati giit na huq alop," Kiri said urgently. "Oo mingmuk plas deg kuril."
(We have to suppress his magic. And imprison him.)
"Duk lehaus doq delakivek," Ulysses stated.
(I want the telepaths to rack his brain.)
Worried, Kiri replied, "Ding miti qak illehak."
(That would mean waking him.)
Ulysses closed his eyes and said, "I know."
I hope that you are enjoying this series so far. I have been working on this series for about two years, it is so new to me. Listed below are my other works of fiction if you are interested.
Car Radio
Connected
Do Not Go Gentle
Near Wild Heaven
The Other Half of Me Unknown
A Quick Fall
Some You Give Away
Somewhere a Clock is Ticking
Strawberry Wine
Tearing Me Apart
You Call It Madness
You Don't Mean to Hurt Me