After packing the priceless box of rings in his room, Will took a look out his window to see Bianca and Leo sparring with the practice blades. His girlfriend had a sort of grace in her movement that he couldn"t stop watching. Though her thrusts were weaker than Leo"s, her footing had been precise. Will wondered if it was from the years of cheerleading she did in high school. Leo however moved calculative, each placing of his feet, each thrust he made was one that he had studied. He had an awkward grasp of the fighting concept, but if there was a video online about sword fighting, Will had no doubt that he would be able to learn and become a formidable foe.Noticing that there was one missing from the equation, Will turned to see Jake sitting at the fountain. He seemed to be content watching the other two try to land a hit. Will had to admit he wouldn"t be wrong, graceful versus calculative would be a match he wouldn"t want to bet on.
Will was slightly confused as to why Jake was sitting out of the training until he realized he was supposed to be the training partner. As soon as he remembered, Will ran out of his room and out the door to the front lawn. He stopped running the moment he approached the three students in order to gather himself. Only when his heart slowed down and his breathing evened out did he continue the short way to his friends.
Jake was the first to notice Will"s approach as he stood from his spot on the fountain. Grabbing two training sabers off the ground next to him, he threw the first one to his unprepared friend. Will caught it just in time to deflect Jake"s first advance. While having parried the first blow, Will"s blade twisted in order to gain the right leverage to strike Jake"s hand before he could move.
Backing away after the blow, Jake took another stance. Will could see he had been right to bring Jake along. His a.s.sumptions were correct when it came to his new friends fighting experience. He didn"t have long to admire his friend"s commitment though, within moments his raven haired friend was charging yet again to clash blades with the more senior of the flame users.
For what seemed like hours, the two of them crossed blades. Will could feel the desperation behind each one of Jake"s blows almost as if he had to land a hit. Seeing as though it was just practice, Will couldn"t understand what had put Jake in such a state. Blow for blow, the two clashed as they moved around the courtyard. Neither one dared allow the other to gain the upper hand. Earlier in the battle, the other two stopped their training to watch the more superior fight that had erupted before them.
Will had to admit he was facing an opponent who was not a stranger to fighting. He had to maintain all of his defenses almost to the extent that he would"ve had use his aura to counter some of the strikes. He had thought it wasn"t the time or place to have a battle of flames nor was he planning on using something his opponent couldn"t harness quite yet.
As the battle raged on, Will was backed up close to a tree, the same way Michael had during his training at the cottage. He knew if he were backed between a blade and tree, his fight would be over. Before it could happen, Will used all of his balance and agility training to launch himself back to the tree and use it as a catapult, swiftly bringing himself behind Jake. As Will touched down, he was astonished that he no longer needed his flame to propel himself forward anymore.
Having the proper s.p.a.cing as well as the advantage, Will built his momentum up to thrust his saber into the back of Jake"s leg. Before the hit was placed, the opponents blade somehow appeared to block the blow. As Will looked at Jake"s back, he noticed a dark aura around him. Somehow even with just a short amount of training, he was able to unlock his defenses. Not believing what he was seeing, Will jumped back a distance as Jake turned around. His eyes were darker than a black hole as his entire body was engulfed in darkness.
A sensation of cold came over Will, one that was all too recognizable as his friend once again came at him. The training saber came down fast, almost too fast for Will to be able to block. He could tell something was wrong not only by the strength of his opponent, but the blank look in which was held in Jakes eyes.
Instinctually Will"s aura activated sending a crimson and gold glow around the courtyard. Preparing himself for what would seem to be a battle in which would determine the strongest, Will thrust his now glowing training saber into the darkness that was Jake. The moment the two blades collided, it seemed as though the ground shook from the force. Leo and Bianca had been thrown off balance as they watched the unbelievable event that had transpired between two friends. As the shaking subsided, Will took an opportunity to unleash a barrage of blows powered by his flames. With each strike that landed, the dark aura was absorbed into the gold. Within thirty blows, the aura had dissipated as if a second skin had been taken into Will"s blade.
The moment the dark aura disappeared, Jake collapsed to the ground. Bianca ran forward when she saw something was wrong. Before she was able to approach, Will put out his hand. His eyes were full of confusion as he looked at the unconscious Jake on the bed of snow. He had fought with the wraiths before, he had also run from the same chill that was emitting from him before he collapsed. "Take him inside and let Michael look at him," Will said as he looked to Leo and Bianca. "That was no normal flame, we need to see if he"s ever experienced it before." A feeling of doubt formed in Will"s gut. He had felt the aura before, every time he had fought with the wraiths.
Bianca and Leo did as Will suggested and picked Jake up and left to the manor. Bianca only looked back enough to see that her boyfriend wasn"t following, instead Will sat at the fountain watching his friends disappear within the building. "I really hope I"m wrong about this," he thought to himself as he looked at Jakes training blade.
After a moment of reflecting, Will took out his phone. As he inserted a flame into the reflective surface, he saw Bianca in Michaels room with an unconscious Jake. His uncle was at the bed side checking the pulse of the young raven haired man. Will allowed the flame to dissipate as he put the phone back in his pocket and started walking to the door.
"We need to talk," Will heard Leo"s voice ringing in his head. It surprised him that his friend could have learned the technique so quickly. He had only just gotten the flame a few hours ago, yet already he was growing in his learning. "Meet me in the library," Will heard before there was no more. Even though he was worried about Jake, Will knew Leo wouldn"t have summoned him unless it was important.
Will wasn"t at all surprised Leo had already found the library, knowledge was his home so it only seemed fitting he would find it before anything else. As Will walked upstairs he kept thinking about the aura Jake had somehow unleashed. The black aura which froze instead of burning. The aura acted that way so it could easily put out another flame so the user would submit. The idea that Will had created such a flame sent chills down his spine. If there was a reason behind the black flame, Will knew either Michael would find it or Leo would learn it.
Finding himself at the entrance to the library, Will opened the door to see Leo with a stack of books sitting on a table in front of him. His finger lay directly on one page as he stared at Will. "I found the reference to the black flame in some of the books Michael has laying around," He said as Will looked down at the page.
"To every flame birthed from the master, the pure will always outnumber the taint. Though their numbers are far inferior to that of the pure, beware the dark flame for it can plunge reality into the shadow of chaos." Will read only that entry before looking back at Leo. Somehow he had brought a dark flame into the world. Where as the literature had said they would be few, somehow he made one right from the start.
"You could clearly see from your training session today that he"s dangerous," Leo didn"t feel the need to state the obvious, but sometimes that was the only way to get Will to listen. "In the history so far that I"ve read, I haven"t seen a single corrupted flame that wasn"t bad news." He looked back down at the book while waiting for Will to speak.
Looking past the stack of books on the table, Will could see the confidence Leo had in the books. It was as if they themselves were the judge and jury for Jake. He couldn"t accept that though, it was Will"s fault that he had become a corrupt flame, and he couldn"t find it within himself to abandon hope within his new friend. He had to believe that the good inside Jake would somehow outweigh the bad. "This is a new age after all," Will thought to himself. "Anything is possible." He turned back to Leo to see a look of concern on his face.
"You aren"t going to abandon him are you." He said as if he didn"t even need to ask. Leo knew that it would be almost impossible to convince Will.
"I have to give him a chance," Will said plainly while shrugging his shoulders. "Technically he hasn"t done anything wrong and I refuse to crucify him without first seeing what he"s capable of." Leo just looked at his friend and smiled. He knew he was defeated the moment that Will got to the library.
"Facts are facts," Leo thought to himself. "But sometimes even facts have to bend for determination." He rose from his chair with that thought. "I"m going to check on Jake," He raised an eyebrow while pushing up his gla.s.ses. "I just hope you know what you"re doing mate." he said as he walked through the door.
Sighing to himself, Will secretly hoped the same. He had always gone above and beyond to ensure anyone was given a chance to prove themselves. He couldn"t just follow someone else"s word or read it in a guideline. He had to experience first hand if Jake was even capable of doing as the book described. When Will had met him, he could only see someone in need. Someone that could help him in turn for a new life. Even now, he didn"t regret what he did. If Jake could really attack him by means to kill him, then he truly wasn"t the same man he had saved from the streets.
Walking out of the library, Will decided to follow Leo to Michaels room. He too was curious as to how his friend was doing after such an intense fight. Going down the hall just a little further, the two of them stopped at the doorway. Will could feel an intense chill emitting from the doorway, he could instantly tell something was off.
Opening the door, Will saw his uncle sitting on the side of the bed with what looked like a red stripe going down his business suit, and the red was spreading fast.
"Michael!" Will screamed as he went to his uncles side. Barely conscious, Michael looked up at his nephew, confusion in his eyes.
"He was taken with Bianca," He said quietly as Will activated his aura to heal his uncle. A crimson and gold light shined on Michael as the blood stopped pooling and the wound sealed itself. "They went through a portal just a moment ago." He said as he tried to stand up. Will helped him off the floor only to put him into the bed he was just moments ago leaning upon. "They went to the desert." With that, Michael pa.s.sed out on the pillow.
Checking Michaels vitals, will let out a deep breath allowing himself to relax only momentarily. "He"s only pa.s.sed out, he"ll be okay later." Will said as he looked over to Leo. "We have more important things to worry about." Will looked at his uncle laying unconscious on the bed as he clenched his fists. "I want you to go to the library and look up anything you can find on portals." He instantly regretted not taking Michael up on the offer to learn portal jumping.
Leo nodded his head as he went to the door. He knew what was at stake if he couldn"t learn how portals worked and fast. Will"s girlfriend had just been kidnapped by the wraiths. Time was against them as long as they were in the mansion. Will looked out the window for a moment as he stood by his uncle in case he woke up. "Rest easy Michael," He said as he turned to the bed. "You are going to be needed soon." Will walked to a nearby chair and sat, hoping that his uncle would regain consciousness before Leo found what they were looking for. Will didn"t know much about the wraiths, but what he did know was he was going to need all the help he could get to bring Jake and Bianca home.