The chaos was at its peak. By this time, the undead had found their way into the bare insides of the town, luckily, just from the Western entrance of the graveyard. Townsfolk were moving about, shouting and screaming on the different undead that were causing havoc to Gami. Some people were too scared to handle it and even headed to the next town on the island to ask for help, others were busy running further inside of town just to stay away. Tasue and Ritta had one hell of a time keeping the undead at bay, luckily, Ritta had devised a plan to help out with this.
To every person they had helped out and was capable, she told to find a tarp or anything that was big and could help cover a big area. They scattered into the nearby houses, stores and came out bearing blankets, table-top tarps and more.After positioning herself close to the top on the slope of the hill, making sure to avoid the fights taking place, she shouted. "Throw them above!! As many of them as you can!!" And the townsfolk did as they were told, some scared and reassured by others, others with the desire to get this over with and more with the need to lay their loved ones back to rest. The tarps were thrown in the air, many starting to move slowly out of place due to winds, but they were all suddenly forced to the ground as they were caught together with the corpses by wooden arrows found and shot by Ritta. They all stuck to the ground, making the dead drop to immobility, one by one. Tasue managed to use her whip to take a bunch of them and drag them to two people who held a large blanket together, she called out to Ritta to signal her and she shot the same arrows to immobilize them. The townsfolk saw this and they began encouraging the rest of their neighbors and friends to join them.
"Let's help these people!!"
"Take the dead down!!"
Meanwhile, a group of three went into a street but were immediately turned in fear back by the sudden appearance of flames being shot and blocked by a red haired archer and his opponent, a bald but very strong brawler. Damion used a similar attack as before, shooting multiple arrows toward Maki to verify a few things, the next thing in mind was the formation of his shield, he shot his arrows twice more, deciding that was the last time since his stamina was depleting faster than he expected, fire being a discipline he wasn't used to, its overuse began taking a toll on his body.
He figured out that Maki only used one type of shield. A basic square right in front of him, he blocked what arrived from a square-like perimeter, making Damion decide on his final move, he had gotten accustomed to his fire arrows but since his stamina was depleting, his attacks would have to use more than precision.
"I see you're getting tired." Maki noticed the beads of sweat that doubled on Damion's face.
"I am, but I'll take a break after you go down." He replied.
"We'll see about that."
With both of them panting, Maki grunted as he lunged at Damion with both fists raised and clasped together, growling,
"頭砕き (Atama Kudaki) — Head Crusher!!"
As he plummeted downward with them, Damion skid back on his heels, quickly shooting a small flamed arrow that pierced Maki's shoulder. He landed on the ground, with his original attack and destroyed so much of the ground that the cracks hit the base of the walls around them. The attack hurt him but he quickly disregarded it immediately he gained his balance back, he charged head first into Damion's gut, due to the instance, the hit landed, sending a ripple of pain coursing through his body.
'Damn, that hurt like hell… I'm reaching my limit…' He thought as he faced down, acting fast and shooting the second of the steel arrows to try and hit his foot, but he missed, causing it to hit the ground right next to them, but due to his quick panic, he didn't place much thought into the attack. Maki saw the arrow and let out a chuckle as he used his back fist to hit and throw Damion a few feet away from him. He landed hard and rolled on the ground before stopping, leaving him with more dirt than wounds, however, the ratio of the opposite could easily be argued.
'I thought… adding my drift to the arrow would help… but nothing happened.' He soliloquized.
As he got up, catching his balance with one knee, he watched Maki prepare to attack again, the brawler took two steps forward. He let out a pissed off grunt before they both heard a spark behind him… upon glancing, an immediate explosion was let out from the same arrow, sending him flying and rolling to the same distance as Damion. Whereas Maki was confused, in pain, and also got the same makeover of dirt and wounds.
Damion was enlightened… and… yes… in even more pain than his opponent. He then got up with the last of his strength, his consciousness faltered, it was clear if he took another hit, the fight would be settled, but there was another way to settle it as well. He used up the last of his stamina and jumped back. Maki was highly damaged due to his proximity and the violence of the explosion so he got up slowly, but he was on his final straw. As little as he was attacked, he relied on his barrier ability too much that he wasn't used to receiving big attacks like the unexpected explosion. He stared up at Damion only to see him shaking, but drawing his bow. The sparks formed arrow after arrow after arrow on his bowstring. He bled, he was injured… he was on his final stand… a situation that forced him to remember the training he did with Ritta the previous night…
*****
The blades of grass had never moved that fast with the wind according to Damion's recollection before that night. The words that dropped from Ritta's mouth came to shock him like nothing before…
"My… my true drift?? What does that mean??" He asked… dumbfounded.
"Listen, Damion. Drifts aren't just powers the divine gave this world randomly in each and every person, some abilities are inherited through generations, like the rare tribes, like your mother…"
"Mother??"
"Yes, Lyra was someone who's lineage held a drift that could create flames. However, because it didn't manifest in her, she used archery to recover what she lacked in fighting ability. And it seems, you might be next to inherit a version of this drift."
"Huh?? I thought people only get one drift…"
"They do, in the end, however, in cases like yours, where you practiced your necromancy-type drift out of necessity, then bonded with your mother's archery as a passion, there's a chance the necromancy hasn't settled as your main drift. When was the last time you used it??"
"Not since that night…" he replied, crystal clear regret on his face. Ritta held his shoulder. ending the matter.
"Your ability has remained dormant for more than the same amount of time you used it in your lifetime. This should be easier for you. Now… let's begin."
Ritta then took a blade of grass and told him to hold it on his fingertips. She then placed her palm on Damion's chest and concentrated. The next thing Damion saw was a green and white aura. Flowing from her elbows to her palm, and soon enough, into Damion's source of power.
"W… what is this??" He asked in awe.
"This is a power that will take you years to even grasp at your current level. We do not have time for me to explain it, however, I will tell you what I'm doing with it." She took a deep breath, the aura maintained its consistency and she continued. "Your drift is like a dry kindling, I'm simply creating a flame to fuel it."
"Oh… it feels… odd, like the opposite of the cold that lies in necromancy."
"Good, you sense it. The warmth. Now, don't just sit there, I'm assisting you, you also have to do your part. Try creating a flame."
"Uh… how??"
"The warmth you feel, expand it as much as you can, think of how you learned necromancy, leave the overwhelming memories aside, show your body this new power, remind it how power flows within it. Then re…" Both of them stopped as a light hit Ritta's face, and a warmth hit Damion's fingertips.
"The grass blade caught fire…" Damion began… "IT CAUGHT FIRE!!"
Ritta smiled, marking a great milestone. However, this was just the beginning. She took her palm off his chest and told him to pick another blade to try for himself. He held the blade of grass and focused, the same same way… in a minute, it lit on fire. "Next." Ritta told him. He didn't question her, he just acted. He seemed to be gaining the upper hand on the basics of his new drift over the tens of blades of grass.
"Now, you are to do the same with these," She said, handing him a ball-like fabric that was soaked in water.
"But… water can't catch fire…"
"And the dead can't walk, unless they are forced to. Unless someone makes it happen. You might not be able to light this thing, but if you try, if you manage, you will get one step closer to your brother. As well as your new captain. As impulsive as she is, she clearly trained to get this far… and as old fashioned as this is…" She looked up to the red circle in his pupil and held his shoulder… "the first mate should never fall behind the captain."
Damion's new reality finally set in, his life was no longer just hiding and looking for things to eat, someone found him and decided to help him with his goal. He couldn't afford to be held back because of something he'd have to do anyway.
"What am I to do with this??" He asked as he held its squishy form on his hand.
"Try lighting it."
"O… okay…"
The hundreds of tries Damion took trying to light damp cloth on fire wore him out in the few hours they were there, the most he managed to do was heat the cloth ever so slightly before it got cold again in seconds however, this was part of Ritta's plan.
"It's been four hours… Pick up that stone there." She pointed at a piece of gravel. Damion took it.
"What do I do…"
"You know what to do, Damion."
He took it with his sweaty… maybe damp hands from the cloth earlier… they were both unsure, but he was panting, a sign that his power had reached the edge of its limits. He held it close to him and then surged as much of his power as he could. Nothing happened. Then, the sound of a spark took over, the sound was small and slightly pitched, but Ritta saw this and her eyebrows narrows, she instantly knew what it was.
"Throw it away."
"What?? But its working!" He urged.
"THROW IT NOW!!" She demanded. Damion has almost never been shouted at by Ritta, so it caught him by surprise and he flicked it away. It then blew up like a tiny firecracker. Causing a small patch of grass to stay instead.
"Woah!! What was that??!!"
"Your drift, the true form of it!!" She smiled. "Your drift is Spark!!"
"A spark??" He dumbfoundedly asked.
"No… Spark. Its name is what it does. Spark"
"So I can't create flames?? Bummer…"
"That doesn't matter. You can bring them to life, use flames to your advantage!! Plus… this won't happen every time, you will need to create an affinity to these abilities. What happened here is quite literally the first five hours of your newborn ability."
"Then… what caused the explosion??"
"You got worn out. When we force our abilities, they either show up for us in new ways, or disappoint us in ways worse than the trigger for your wearing out…" She crouched next to him, and a serious tone emerged… "The fight you will encounter tomorrow, whoever it is… will force you to this limit. Use it for yourself…"
*****
"火花 (Hibana) — Spark… huh…" He smirked as he watched the smoke disappear from Maki's silhouette. His eyes narrows once more, the red ring in his pupil reflected the arrows that were drawn, igniting right next to his cheek.
He let them go.
"These are useless. DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT?!" A very pissed off Maki bellowed. Damion ignored him as he continued to draw his ignited arrows and shoot as many of them as he could, they were so many they caused dust to build up in front of Maki as his shield began deflecting them like actual arrows, they didn't dissipate, they were solid as they hit the ground. Then they stopped. With the settling of the dust, Damion was on the ground, kneeling, panting… his limit had passed, and he grinned so much he promised himself he would never let Alloy know his smile could reach that far. Maki had his bellowed and wrenched face still present when Damion took out his final steel arrow.
"You've used up all your power. You can't do anything like that explosion earlier again. Use your final arrow. I'll crush your head after it fails." Maki gave him his final taunt.
With a good picture of the invisible wall in mind, Damion drew the arrow on his, now, slightly screeching bowstring as he aimed for the center of it and, while still on his knee, shot the arrow. The air whistled quite loudly as the steel pierced through the clearer layers of the air and eventually, the fazed invisible shield of his enemy. As expected, the tip of the arrow got stuck inside, facing Maki, and most of the tail on the outside of it. Maki glanced at it and ignored it. He raised his fists to deliver the promise he made earlier while Damion fell on his hands and knees from complete exhaustion.
As Maki leaped barely one foot off the ground, the arrow sparked… distracted, he looked at it from the immediate height. Damion watched at the arrow while it still hovered before it fell, it lit out three more sparks before it emitted an huge explosion, big enough to catch up and even envelop Maki, blasting him above and beyond Damion. He landed with a thud, thicker and way more voluminous smoke emitted from his body and mouth with his fists on the ground and unconscious. Damion glanced behind him, he saw the silver knuckles fallen out of his hands, they had landed right between their new distance. He smiled in his victory, took a deep breath, then edged his body to fall on his back as he exhaled, staring at the night sky.