"What’s going on?" one of the n asked, his voice trembling with raw fear as he wore a frightened look on his weathered face, his eyes darting wildly in the oppressive gloom, surrounded by an impenetrable wall of darkness and swirling shadows that seed to pulse with a life of their own, closing in like the jaws of so ancient, malevolent beast.
The instigator with the prominent scar stared intently at Flaborn, a deeply displeased look etching deeper lines into his already twisted and scarred features, his bald head glistening with a sheen of nervous sweat under the faint, ethereal light that pierced through the do.
"Do not let his actions get in your head," he barked gruffly, trying to rally his shaken accomplices with a forced bravado that barely masked his own growing unease.
"It’s rely a trick to scare us.
There’s no way a kid as small as him can take us down," he assured them further, his words laced with a strong conviction that he clung to desperately, strongly believing his own reassurances to avoid the creeping wavering doubt that threatened to unravel his composure amid the suffocating blackness.
With assurance from one of them, the cowering n gradually regained their composure, the initial panic fading from their rough, hardened faces as false confidence slowly seeped back in, bolstering their stances like a fragile shield against the unknown terror encircling them.
"Close your eyes, Adalia.
You might not want to see this," Flaborn advised softly, his young voice carrying a gentle concern as he glanced at her, the shadows around them shifting subtly like living entities responding to his will.
"No.
I want to see the bad n fall!" Adalia refused staunchly, her small voice firm despite the fear lingering in her wide, ruby eyes that remained resolutely open, fixed on the unfolding scene with a mix of trepidation and defiant curiosity.
"Alright.
Enjoy the show," Flaborn said simply, as flas cradled with inky darkness began to manifest around him, swirling in hypnotic patterns that illuminated his sturdy young form with an otherworldly glow, the fire’s edges flickering with tendrils of shadow that whispered promises of destruction.
"Ready yourself, boys, let’s teach this damn child a lesson," the scarred man said gruffly, unsheathing his sword with a tallic rasp that echoed ominously within the confined do.
His sword was coated with elental flas that danced hungrily along the blade’s edge, casting erratic orange hues across his scarred visage as he gripped it firmly in his calloused hands, the heat radiating faintly in the cool, shadowed air.
His other friends did the sa, their swords drawn in unison with similar rasps, each blade coated with their own elentals—so wreathed in crackling lightning that snapped and popped, others enveloped in swirling winds that howled faintly, or encased in jagged earth that glead like sharpened stone—holding them at the ready with tensed muscles.
"Alright, kid.
Playti’s over.
I will advise you to stop with your ability and surrender quietly.
There is little you can do against so many people," the scarred man advised, his voice dripping with condescension as he tried to discourage Flaborn if he could, his eyes narrowing in calculation.
That, after all, would be more profitable for his side than risking the loss of so of them to Flaborn’s mysterious attack, the potential casualties weighing heavily on his pragmatic mind.
The demand from his friends would be higher should anyone die, the compensation and grudges escalating in their tight-knit circle of depravity.
But what the scarred man failed to understand was the overlord estimation of their chances of survival, his arrogance blinding him to the true disparity in power that lood like an inevitable storm.
"This will be quick, then we resu from where we left off in our fun," Flaborn assured Adalia calmly, his tone reassuring as he prepared to unleash his draconic might.
"Incinerate," he said coldly, his young eyes fixed unblinkingly on the scarred man, the word carrying the weight of an irrevocable judgnt.
Like a hungry shark sensing its prey in blood-scented waters, the dark flas moved with untold, blinding speed, surging forward in ravenous waves that consud the n one by one without even granting them the fleeting chance to retaliate or scream, their forms engulfed in an instant of searing shadow-fire.
The scarred man finally realized what fear truly was, a bone-deep, paralyzing terror when the dark flas hurtled toward him with rciless intent, his bravado shattering like fragile glass.
"Please.
Forgive .
I didn’t—" he tried to plead to Flaborn desperately, his voice breaking in abject panic.
He didn’t even bother to defend himself after seeing how easily his friends had died; he knew with chilling certainty how hopeless it was to try and defend against such overwhelming, unnatural force, his sword dropping from numb fingers.
Flaborn, on the other hand, turned deaf ears to his frantic plea, staring at him still with unyielding resolve until he was fully consud by the dark flas, burning without stop in a vortex of shadow and fire until there was nothing left of him but faint ashes scattering in the do’s confines.
With everyone dead, their charred remnants smoldering faintly on the ground, Flaborn lowered the shadow wall gradually, the barrier dissolving like mist under morning sun, the scenery they were in returning to its original form before Flaborn had invoked the veil, the bustling street sounds filtering back in as if nothing had transpired.
"Let’s go.
We have more places to visit," Flaborn said to Adalia nonchalantly, as they both continued their sightseeing like they had never encountered soone trying to harass them just a few minutes ago, the incident already fading into the background of their adventure.
---
After being left alone by Aaron in the shadowy outskirts of Truy’s bustling capital, Sean stood still like soone utterly adrift and unable to determine where he needed to go next, his aged fra rigid amid the flowing tides of pedestrians, just pacing back and forth for about an hour in a small, inconspicuous circle, sitting down in brief intervals on weathered curbs or low walls to blend into the urban landscape and not draw undue attention to his aimless loitering.
After the hour mark passed, as if suddenly possessed by so enigmatic force or struck by a hidden purpose that had been simring beneath his conscious thoughts, Sean rose to his feet with renewed determination and started walking like soone who had a precise destination firmly imprinted in his mind, his steps cautious yet directed.
He moved sneakily and silently through the crowded thoroughfares, weaving between groups of chattering locals and vendors hawking their wares, ensuring he wasn’t being followed by anyone with frequent, subtle glances over his shoulder that scanned the faces in the throng.
From ti to ti, Sean observed his environnt periodically, pausing at street corners or pretending to examine goods at stalls to ensure he wasn’t being tailed by shadowy figures or curious onlookers.
With deliberate, unhurried steps that helped him lt into the pedestrian flow, he walked into a narrow alley with few people lingering within its dim, graffiti-strewn confines, the walls closing in like silent sentinels guarding forgotten secrets.
He navigated the alley, which was a bit confusing and maze-like with its twisting paths, sudden dead ends, and deceptive turns designed to confound intruders, with surprising ease until he reached the far end where a nondescript door could be found, its surface scarred by ti and weather, blending seamlessly into the brickwork.
Sean knocked on the door four tis in a successive, rhythmic pattern that echoed softly against the confined walls, a coded sequence known only to initiates.
He waited patiently afterward, his breath steady as he scanned the alley once more for any signs of surveillance or unexpected company.
Creak!
The door slid open with a low, protesting groan, revealing a young man with a mask concealing his face, his eyes peering out suspiciously from behind the dark fabric that obscured his identity.
"Sean.
What brings you here.
Alone," he asked Sean curtly, his muffled voice sharp and probing.
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