'woosh'
A man swung a huge stick in the air.
Narayan teleported a few steps back and thought, to hell with it, I have read these kinds of things so many times and it's obvious every single time.
He teleported the stick from the man's hands to his own, then instantly appeared behind him. He hit the man's legs, bringing him to his knees.
Narayan threw the stick aside. Now let's see who this man is, he thought, teleporting in front of him.
Seeing Narayan, the man dragged his body back using his hands, uttering repeatedly,
"Don't… kill me… I am not responsible… please," his face covered in fear.
Narayan stood there, watching the man crawl until he hit a pillar.
"Do… don't come close… I didn't do anything," he uttered, his eyes nearly filled with tears.
Narayan stood there for a while, then spoke,
"Huff… I won't do anything. But tell me—are you responsible for what happened to my friend?"
The man didn't say anything for some time, then stammered,
"I… I am not responsible… my… my ability… it killed—" tears fell down his face.
Narayan sat on his knees, observing the man.
He was in his thirties, with a slightly dark complexion. He had a small beard and was a bit taller than Narayan. His body was thin, as if he hadn't eaten for days—his skin stuck to his bones.
Narayan moved closer and said,
"Listen, sir… I don't know what happened to you, but I have to know about your ability so that I can bring my friend back to normal."
The man wiped his tears with his hands and uttered,
"My… my ability?"
"Yes," Narayan replied.
"I… can't control it. It is a curse. It killed my wife and daughter… they died because of me. I couldn't do anything… I should have died too. My wife got affected by my ability… killed my daughter… so many people died… the army…"
The man kept speaking as his mental state worsened.
This won't work, Narayan thought, looking at the man as he kept mumbling.
Narayan put his left hand on the man's shoulder and then punched him in the face.
"Sorry, but I am in a hurry."
The man went silent for a moment, then spoke while looking at Narayan,
"My ability detects the strongest and makes them five times stronger, but—"
"But what?" Narayan said, a bit frustrated.
"But it makes them lose control," his eyes filled with tears again, just moments away from flowing.
"My… my wife was affected by it that day… she… my daughter…"
Narayan tried to calm him down a bit, then asked,
"Can't you stop it?"
"No… I can't control it. It only stops when the affected person loses all their mana or stamina. The ability then searches for another host after five minutes…"
The man caught his head and started mumbling to himself again.
Narayan stood up and walked toward the stairs, thinking, a buff-type ability that causes others to go berserk.
Reaching the stairs, he looked back at the man. Aghh… I can't leave someone like this.
He stared at him for some time, then said,
"I will bring you something to eat. Wait here."
He teleported outside the building—and froze as he looked up at the sight unfolding where his friends were.
---
On the other side, after Narayan teleported away—
"Everyone, don't keep your guard down. Dhanprabha, don't let him move," Gautam said, looking at Mayank.
"Okay," Dhanprabha replied.
"Is he conscious?" Aryaraj gazed at Mayank.
"It seems so," Akshat replied.
'Boom.'
A sudden sound came from behind the burnt vehicle, as if something heavy struck it.
Everyone moved their gazes in shock and panic.
"What was that?" Jasmine muttered.
"Is someone else here?" Tehsin panicked.
"I… I will try to look." Ankit moved a bit closer to the vehicle but didn't go near it. Zero slowly walked with him.
Nobody dared to move an inch—they just kept staring at the vehicle, preparing themselves, but nothing appeared.
"I don't see anything," Ankit looked at everyone in relief.
After some minutes, a sword appeared out of thin air and hit the vehicle, going deep into the metal.
"Dhanprabha…" Gautam panicked.
"I am focusing on him," Dhanprabha said in worry.
"Then… what is—" Gautam moved his gaze between Mayank and the vehicle.
More swords appeared and started hitting the vehicle.
"Why… what is he doing?" Aryaraj looked at Mayank in confusion.
But Mayank lay on the ground, gravity pulling him down and a strange dim blue light holding his body. Even without all this, his body was too exhausted to move.
"Is he making a last attempt?" Akshat asked. "But what is the mean—"
"ANKIT, LOOK BACK!" Akshat screamed—loud enough that he coughed blood.
Ankit looked behind him, but it was already too late. The blazing sword was just a few feet away from his chest. He was too shocked to move, his mind blank.
Dhanprabha moved her hands towards Ankit, but her powers failed her—the dim blue light barely missed the sword.
Zero reacted and jumped to Ankit, pushing him by a few inches, barely missing the sword.
Ankit's feet did him no good and he fell—his body suddenly had no strength. But he crawled, crawled using his hands, towards Zero, who was now near the vehicle.
Ankit reached Zero and slowly put his hand on his head.
"Woff," Zero squeaked in a low voice.
Ankit slowly moved his hand along Zero's body—shaking.
Soon, his hand hit a sword.
A sword which was about to hit Ankit.
A sword which was now embedded in Zero's body.
A sword which had nearly split Zero's body in two.
"Zero…" Tears flew from Ankit's eyes. "Please… please no… you can't leave me like this, bro… please."
Zero squeaked again in a low voice, as if trying to calm Ankit.
"No… you can't go… what will I do without you…" More tears covered his face as he kept mumbling.
After some moments, Zero's movement completely stopped—his body slowly turned to dust.
Ankit kept staring as Zero turned to dust and flew away with the soft wind. His hand, which was on Zero's head, fell down and touched the ground.
The others didn't say anything—as if they couldn't, as if they didn't know what to say.
Gautam wanted to go to Ankit, but he realised he couldn't.
Akshat tried to say something but coughed blood again.
Aryaraj tried helping Akshat first.
Dhanprabha covered her mouth with her hands.
Jasmine's eyes filled with tears.
Ritika tried saying something but couldn't.
Tehsin just looked at Ankit helplessly.
A small drop of tear came out of Mayank's eye before evaporating.
Ankit just kept staring at the place where Zero was moments ago, his heart broken into pieces.
Silence covered the whole place for some moments.
Baam.
Ankit fell to the ground on his back—unconscious.
But before anyone could move to approach him, they felt a sudden change in the air—it felt warmer.
"What is this fe—" Gautam moved his gaze towards the sky as his jaw dropped.
Not one.
Not ten.
Not twenty.
But more than a hundred blazing swords,
targeted at the ground, waited in the sky—floating,
as if soldiers waiting for orders.
"But he was exhausted…" Akshat said, his voice broken gazing at Mayank who now lay unconscious on the ground.
Dhanprabha fell to the ground, her body supported by her hands. "Why did we decide to meet…"
"We have to run," Gautam gazed at everyone.
"It's no use," Akshat looked at his hands.
"We can't giv—" Gautam stopped as the swords started falling.
---
At a distance, Narayan looked at the swords,
what!!!… Did he have that much mana left?
He squinted his eyes, as if he might see something.
What do I do… I can't teleport everyone…
He moved his hand through his pockets.
Where was it…
He searched for a bit, then pulled out a small pill wrapped in plastic, like some candy.
Please work.
TO BE CONTINUED...