Dammit, dammit, dammit, Riven cursed even before he collapsed on the ground or began to wobble.
I was so close. I almost had him, he thought as he felt a vast amount of his mana drain from his center. The magic rushed to his fingertips as his hand reached out and grabbed the flaming arrow a few inches before it hit Alice.
Why couldn't these fucking commoners just listen and run away?! He seethed internally, the heat of his emotions foreign to him now.
But it completely shattered when he shot out multiple smoke tendrils, grabbing everyone in split seconds before his remaining internal magic went into his wings. They grew to a ridiculous size.
But as the memory from a few seconds ago faded, his head finally hit the ground like a piece of ashed coal. He didn't even hear as people around him started to scream and run away, the severity of the situation finally hitting the phone-wielding idiots.
"Ha...ha...ahahahhahaahah," his grandfather laughed at the hilarity of the situation, letting the old man rise again to his feet. "You used up all your magic, didn't you?"
"All that power, and that's how you use it?"
"Look at them!" he crowed, his voice hoarse but gleeful as he gestured around him like a showman in a circus.
"These vermin—you burned every last drop of magic you had to save—" he said before pausing just long enough to raise a single hand and aim it.
"They are already running," he stated with a wide grin. He then summoned a ball of flame, pointing it at the first people who managed to crawl out of the crater.
"No..." Riven's body rasped, though he wasn't even conscious. Extending a hand towards the civilians, the thing inside tried to summon magic the body it possessed didn't have.
But fortunately, before Ignatius could release his magic, he started violently coughing up blood again. It staggered him and caused the flame to dissipate.
Seeing this, the spirit receded, allowing Riven to fall back unconscious.
Finally ceasing his coughing fit, his grandfather looked to his right at the fleeing commoners; he was in no condition to chase or waste magic to try to hit them.
Walking forwards, he skidded down the wall of the crater as his eyes remained fixed on the all-but-lifeless puppet in front of him.
"For the record, it is not your theft of my grandson's body that earns my wrath, nor your insolence in wearing his face and trying to interrogate me. No... those were trifles compared to what you did.
What truly condemns you is arrogance. The arrogance that allowed you to believe you could protect these people while in a fight with me," he said, his voice practically spraying hatred.
"—And I will not lose to anyone who is that empty-headed and weak-willed. So take your last breath, plague; I'll burn you, and if he dies too, so be it."
Waking, Riven opened his eyes as his fingers twitched. Immediately he tried to push himself to move or even speak, but all he could do was feel the cracks in the crater he found himself in.
But if that wasn't enough, his full hearing kicked back in, just in time to hear the thundering steps and scraps of people getting out of the crater. Their footsteps caused mini tremors that bounced his head painfully on the ground.
"Commoners," he heard his grandfather say, his voice full of disgust. And though he was seemingly unconscious, he heard every word that came out of his grandfather's mouth since he fell, as if the universe wanted him to.
And somewhat... he agreed.
I know… he thought silently.
As every muscle within him tightened and strained, while at the same time they felt hollowed out like bamboo, he knew this feeling all too well; his internal magic was down to nothing.
As his grandfather continued to monologue, his thoughts drifted to the first lesson his grandfather had taught him. Though the memory was fuzzy, he would always remember a few short words: kindness was a flawed luxury that was reserved for the strongest or the ignorant, and mercy was a defect of those who were incapable of finishing the job.
But as these thoughts crossed his mind, the spirit coiled in his chest painfully, as if it were punishing him for even thinking such a thing. It's your fault, he thought hatefully to the spirit, only for it to make his chest hurt worse in response.
But both stopped as they heard the footsteps get closer.
He's going to kill me, he realized, expecting to feel nothing at the thought, but instead he felt a cold spike in his heart and a flood of emotions.
Denial was the first, but that soon shattered as he heard the footsteps getting closer.
Anger was next directed at the spirit for putting him in this situation.
Bargaining with anything in the world that would listen to his silent prayers to give him the strength to get answers from his grandfather.
Depression, a hollow, aching feeling that was very different from the bland nothing he felt since he woke up in his smoke-filled house.
And finally acceptance—that feeling came like a peace washing over him, a peace that soothed him even as he felt the elevating heat on his skin.
But as his grandfather got closer, Riven started to smile before thinking. I think I went through the entire 5 stages of grief in a few seconds, he thought, his internal voice closer to his original self.
This spirit really made me believe I could beat my grandfather when I'm not even half as strong as I used to be. I don't have my ancestral flame anymore, and I'm not a Royal, he thought as he felt a hand grab him by the hair and yank him up.
Eyes half-lidded, he stared at his grandfather's red ruby eyes through the swelling he caused, the graying hairs in his crimson mane, the blood on his lips, and, finally, the anger and hatred on his face.
But just as he was about to close his eyes.
"I guess you were right, Mother," he muttered as his vision flickered to the version of him that wasn't deathly pale, holding himself up in place of his grandfather, like some kind of warped reflection.
I shouldn't have been born, he thought as a flaming fist came for his head.
And as he finally accepted death, he heard:
"Light 'em up!!!"
Coming from a female voice above.
Instantly Riven felt a powerful stream of cold water hitting him and Grandfather with enough force that his grandfather's grip on his hair loosened, causing him to drop unceremoniously to the ground. But before he could even open his eyes, he heard a high-power surge of water, something akin to a ruptured pipe.
Tasting ash and dirt mixed with water, confusion hit him like a truck, causing him to crane his head up to see the most shocking sight. It was Alice, the firefighters, some of the paramedics, and even people from the crowd completely surrounding the edges of the crater.
What in the hell? he thought. But it wasn't over.
"Go get him!" a man beside Alice shouted before a hoard of people jumped back in the crater and came running at Riven.
What are they—? But before he could finish that thought, they had already crossed the distance, and the man who was standing beside Alice picked him up off the ground.
"Are you okay? Can you walk?" he asked rapidly, but before he even had a chance to answer, the man slung him over his shoulder then sprinted towards the edge of the crater.
But just as he made it to the crater a fire arrow came swishing by narrowly missing them and impacting the wall of the crater, causing that part to cave in.
Turning around quickly, they saw his grandfather standing on his feet, one hand raised and breathing heavily as water dripped from his clothes and hair.
"You filthy fucking animals, dare... YOU DARE TO ATTACK ME!!!" he shouted in a booming voice, causing even Riven's body to chill, but the people around didn't seem to share in his fear because immediately the people holding him shouted.
"Shoot him again!"
And on command, the firefighters who could use water magic shot another burst at his grandfather. But this time the attack failed, as he just waved his hand and the water was vaporized by the flame.
This didn't deter them, though, because Alice and the man both shouted simultaneously.
"KEEP GOING."
As the people on top continued to shoot water at him, keeping him in place, the man holding Riven ran to another side and started climbing up the crater walls.
But this didn't last long; quickly adapting to the situation, his grandfather started blocking the water geysers coming at him with one hand while using the other to focus attacks on the people helping Riven.
Watching this all go down, Riven was getting a flood of emotion he never felt before, but the most outstanding was guilt because despite their efforts, he knew how this was going to end, and this time without influence from the spirit within, he said:
"You need to put me down and run."
But his words fell on deaf ears; the scene was just too loud, and he had a feeling even if they did hear him, they wouldn't listen. Because they had the same energy about them as "them."
But right as he was going to resign himself to his fate, a person beside him started coughing terribly before saying, "There's so much smoke out here, Holden; we need to get out of here before we suffocate."
Instantly an idea flooded his mind, and he murmured. "I'm not a Royal anymore."
As Holden finally found a wall to climb up, he felt Riven push himself off his shoulder and crumple to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
"What are you doing?" he yelled as he went to pick him back up, but Riven swatted his hand away.
"Listen, I can finish this, but I need you to buy me 30 seconds."