Chapter Twenty Six

Jacron charged forward, sword raised back in his hand. Spauul moved the sword in Jacron’s path, blocking the strike. The impact sent a few sparks and the windows around them shattered. Jacron used the rebound to swing a full circle and attack from the other direction.

Spauul ducked under the second swing, but the blade nicked his hand that he held on the hilt of his massive sword, which was propped on the ground. He threw a punch back at Jacron and he promptly dodged it, shifting his body away from it while still spinning.

Jacron landed on the ground, not facing Spauul and rocketed backwards to smash his head into Spauul’s. He sputtered, taking a couple steps back and then roared. A large blue flame erupted from Spauul’s mouth and Jacron ducked under it just in time, but burning a bit of the back of his shirt off in the process.

Jacron’s eyes were wild and kept constant anger on Spauul. Suddenly, Jacron grinned. “You like biting, do ya? I can show ya the same courtesy.”

He said as Spauul swung his sword around and Jacron ducked under the swing, pushing the blade from under it with a whirlwind shot from his sword. The large sword rocketed back, leaving Spauul completely open and Jacron sunk his teeth into Spauul’s shoulder. Jacron’s fangs allowed him to go just a bit deeper than usual, fueled by vengeance.

He backed up and hit Spauul with the butt of his sword before throwing another swing downwards into him, but Spauul wasn’t going to go down so easily. Spauul managed a meek block on Jacron’s downward swing and the air around them roared with excitement.

Jacron’s blade scraped down Spauul’s large sword and Spauul uppercutted Jacron, using his wings to gain some extra height on the attack before flying all the way above Jacron. He raised the massive sword above his head and the blade began to glow white, as if the metal itself was beginning to melt.

He swung the sword down and a large stream of fire and molten metal rained towards Jacron. Jacron had hit the ground from the uppercut and recovered fast enough to dodge the great shower of heat, but some of it stuck to his shirt, catching the rest of it on fire and a bit of Jacron as well. “Not again.” Jacron said, grabbing at the corner of his shirt. “I’m not getting caught in fire... Again.” The corner he grabbed was the one on fire and he quickly put it out with one quick pat before ripping the shirt down the side. A large piece fell to the ground as the other clung to his shoulder.

Jacron’s mind momentarily raced at the burn on his shoulder, giving him flashbacks to when he lost his father for the first time. They were so peaceful before that. That fire shook Jacron to the core, bringing up all the memories he never knew he missed. All the times he and his father went out hunting, his tenth birthday when he was gifted his father’s blade, mom’s special pancakes that Jacron always loved, the happiness they had and loved was all taken away.

It was taken too early by this glowing source of pain and comfort. It’s light, which once soothed Jacron to sleep, now only held as a painful reminder of all he had lost. There was no way to get any of it back and no way to make any more memories for as long as he lived.

As Jacron stood below Spauul, keeping eye contact and tossing the singeing shirt aside, a single tear rolled down his face. It was the last one Jacron would shed, or at least he vowed in his deluded mind.

Jacron sprang off the ground, leaving an impact on the ground’s metal and arched his blade all the way back behind him. Spauul saw this tactic already and moved his blade in place, but the swing did not come. Instead, Jacron turned his sword around and clasped onto the side of Spauul’s hilt and swung around to kick him in the side, feeling something snap and crack under the intense blow.

Spauul let go of his sword and flew into the side of a building, creating a mass amount of dust in its wake. The large sword smashed on the ground with a loud clang and stuck out, hilt up. Jacron landed, looking back at the wall Spauul went through for a moment before the smoke cleared and he was flying straight towards Jacron again. Jacron raised his sword up and it began to glow, but Spauul grabbed his arm before it came down, picking up Jacron.

Jacron arched his body and delivered an earth shattering drop kick into Spauul’s gut. He grit his teeth before opening up his mouth and letting out a loud roar followed by a huge cloud of fire. It first enveloped Jacron, but was starting to move back towards Spauul.

Jacron was blowing massive amounts of wind from his mouth, forcing away the flames. Spauul lowered his gaze and did a single barrel-roll before throwing Jacron onto the ground. He smashed into several cars and debris before catching himself by sticking his sword in the ground. Spauul flew forward and Jacron jumped towards Spauul.

Spauul went under Jacron’s attack and grabbed his leg before reaching the ground. He smashed Jacron, side to side and into buildings. Jacron thrashed, but could not break free. After a few more hits, Jacron went limp, his sword flying up into the air as Spauul held him up with one arm.

“So much for vengeance.” He said, with minor pity. Jacron’s eyes suddenly shot open which stunned Spauul for a moment before Jacron arched his body forward and then back, all the way up and catching his sword. He lunged back around and severed Spauul’s arm. It fell to the ground along with Jacron as Spauul stepped backwards, gripping his arm. He then roared towards it and blasted it with fire, cauterizing the wound.

Jacron hissed in glee and his blade glowed white and purple. He swung at the air several times, unleashing large, but unfocused wind slashes at Spauul. They all hit him, knocking him off his feet and throwing him into a building behind. Jacron kept up the assault until the building Spauul flew in collapsed.

Jacron stepped a few steps back and fell to his knees. The street fell silent, save for a few pieces of rubble that were still settling. “It’s over... Masa, I’ve avenged you. Dad, I’ve avenged you. May you both rest in peace.” Jacron said, showing a minor smirk across his face.

“Not quite.” He heard a voice say from under the rubble. Jacron’s power had worn out and his eyes were no longer glowing. From the rubble emerged Spauul, who suffered plenty of cuts all around his body. “I’m not finished yet, but from the way you look, you are.” He said with glee, removing rubble from his legs and standing once more.

It was Jacron’s turn to be on the defensive this time. Spauul laughed and flew forward, too fast for Jacron’s eyes to track and Spauul grabbed Jacron’s face. He smashed him through several walls and tossed him upwards. Jacron flew in the slightest and fell back down onto a fury of punches and kicks. They were much too fast for Jacron to keep up with, his sword dropping down to the ground in hopes to get more blocks in.

Several hits were getting through and Jacron knew he was losing. Although nobody else was there with him, he didn’t feel alone. As Jacron hit the ground for what he was assuming was the last time, he thought deep and hard.

He thought about how the world was getting fuzzy, how he didn’t feel the large amounts of blood he was still losing. He thought about his mother, how she loved to smile every time him and his dad came back from hunting with their latest catch. He thought about his father who taught him the basics of fighting and believed in him when he said he was going to go to combat school to help people. He thought about Masa who helped him get away from the doubt, guilt and sadness he felt for the longest time. His life events were

passing by. All he had gone through, all the battles he fought, the people he met and the new memories he made. If he wasn’t going to avenge any of that, he wasn’t going to die yet.

Spauul stood away from Jacron and began to laugh, “Now you’re finished. You’re about as defenseless as those stupid civilians. More useless than a doormat. It’s pitiful. Why don’t you stand up? Why don’t you fight? Why can’t you avenge your worthless father and your weak friend?” He mocked, growing in tone with every sentence.

With the last one, Jacron’s eyes shot open. The aura was beginning to return and he began to talk as Spauul began to step back, but the voice wasn’t his own. There was another voice, more feminine than Jacron’s, but overlapping his voice, like it was two people talking in unison, “It is not your place to tell me who to avenge. She was my friend. He was my family. And you... You are our victim.” Jacron said as his eye flared once more with a fused white and purple aura.

Jacron opened his mouth and Spauul did the same. They both let out roars as a gust of pure wind and poison sludge erupted from Jacron’s mouth and blue flame erupted from Spauul’s. They were evenly matched until Spauul began to falter. There was poison in his veins he didn’t know about until now. He felt it seeping through his veins and thought when he had been poisoned.

Then he remembered when Jacron sent that flurry of wind at him. There were needles inside the slashes which was why they were so large. Spauul began to fall to his knees, still keeping up the fire fight with Jacron, who was now walking towards the falling Spauul.

Both of their roars ended and Jacron stood before Spauul, mere inches from his face and muttered one word, “Avenged.” He then rammed his hand through Spauul’s chest and ripped his heart out. He held it in his hand and let Spauul look at it for a moment before crushing it and shoving it down his throat. Jacron then leaned down and let out a large poison roar into Spauul’s open chest cavity.

He twitched for a moment, falling down to the ground and then stop. A small ooze streamed from his gaping hole as Jacron took a few steps back.