Archie and Leaxer stared, eyes wide with disbelief, as the man stepped fully out of the shadows.
"Brother Marchus," Leaxer whispered, his voice catching in his throat.
Without a moment's pause, Marchus cast a spell. Another massive fireball erupted and hurtled toward Leaxer. This time, Leaxer was frozen, unable to react.
In a flash, Archie moved. He spun in front of his younger brother and, with one powerful strike of his sword, cut the entire fireball in half.
"Thanks, Bro," Leaxer gasped, taking a deep, shaky breath.
"Concentrate!" Archie interrupted, his eyes locked on Marchus. "I don't know what happened, but he is not our brother."
"What do you mean?" Leaxer asked, his confusion clouding his fear.
"Our brother has a mana deficiency," Archie explained quickly. "He could never cast that amount of mana energy—those fireballs—back-to-back."
Their whispered conference was violently interrupted as a shower of flaming arrows rained down upon them.
Marchus laughed, his hands continuously casting the fire arrows. "You, Archie! Every time I try to do something great, you are there! Father always liked you. He never saw my potential, but he did!"
Archie gripped his sword tightly, his jaw clenched. "Who are you talking about? Who saw your potential?"
Marcus's laugh turned maniacal. "Oh, dear brother, you utter fool. You still don't understand! Look. I'll show you."
A soldier stepped forward, holding a silver platter covered by a cloth. Marchus dramatically swept the cloth away.
It was a man's head—bearded, with a distinct scar over the right eye.
"Father!" Leaxer screamed, a cry of pure anguish tearing from his chest. He roared and charged at Marchus, channeling all his mana into his sword.
"MARCHUS!" Archie bellowed, mirroring Leaxer's rage as he too moved to attack.
On Marchus's command, a large number of soldiers surged forward, forming a wall between the brothers and the traitor.
Archie moved like a whirlwind. He leaped into the densest part of the enemy formation. In a blur, he pierced one soldier's chest, cut another's arm, drove his sword through a third's heart, hooked the blade into a fourth soldier's head, and sliced a fifth's torso in half.
His entire sword turned from a noble, white shine to a dark, glistening red with blood. His eyes glowed crimson, reflecting his overwhelming rage.
With a surge of power, he ignited the blade with his elemental fire. With one massive swipe, a fire cutter swept through the troops, felling ten soldiers, their bodies half-burnt.
Then, with a single powerful leap, Archie soared into the air, landing instantly behind Marchus. He thrust his blade forward to stab the traitor.
Just as the tip of the sword neared Marchus's back, Archie saw a chilling smile on his brother's face.
In that same instant, the floor beneath them violently shattered. A monstrous creature, dark grey with a pair of huge, membranous wings and a single, elongated head, erupted from the floor below. Its furious, pointed eyes immediately locked onto Archie.
"Archie," Marchus shouted triumphantly, "meet Mathew!"
The creature, Mathew, opened its maw and released a searing blue beam that instantly froze everything in its path.
"A damn monster, now? What a headache," Archie muttered, dodging the freezing beam with a roll. He quickly fired a mana cutter that sliced through Mathew's tail, drawing a thick, black fluid.
Leaxer, fighting his own cluster of soldiers some distance away, saw the attack and immediately fired his own mana cut at the monster, but Mathew dodged it.
"Shit, you damn worthless shit!" Leaxer roared at the monster.
"Thanks, brother, for giving me time!" Archie whispered. He vaulted toward the creature and swung his fire-enhanced blade. The monster shielded itself with a massive wing. CRANK! The impact was devastating. Both Archie and the monster crashed down.
Archie stood straight immediately. The monster, however, stayed down for a moment, its wing severely injured. The intensity of the battle had begun to wipe the confident smile even from Marchus's fac