Titans - March of Progress

A roar of noise sounded out as the Blue Fangs surged forward, the noise only getting louder as the back ranks charged forward as well. Sain went forward with them, feeling Minda grab his left shoulder harder, and pushed him towards the right side as people moved around them.

Sounds of weapons colliding against each other or flesh sounded out, mixed in with the sounds of yelling, curses and the occasional shrill scream. Sain winced at the noise even as his gaze moved through the crowd, locking onto the three other casters who had not moved from their initial position, and remained clustered together behind the immediate line of battle. Both the twins had their arms up and Sain could see their lips moving as they both chanted, maintaining what he thought was a barrier, judging from a slightly visible sheen of light surrounding them.

The stocky red-haired caster just stood in between the twins, hands on hips, lips unmoving as he looked around, surveying the fight going on.

Sain continued to move, trying not to trip over his own feet as Minda guided his path from behind. Threading a path through the ranks, they broke out of the right flank of the Blue Fang force and then turned to look into the melee.

It was a mess as both sides fought with next to no cohesion, individuals just lashing out at anyone within their reach. Sain just felt his nervousness disappear, only to be replaced by a wash of panic. He stared wide eyed as his knees just started to shake, and his torso started to tremble. The hand on his shoulder gripped harder, and he sensed Minda move in close to him.

"You are a fucking coward aren't you. Weak. I will do all the attacking. You just raise a barrier to protect us both. You got that?" Minda said, her voice close to Sain's ear. He just gave a shaky nod, not trusting his voice.

"Good. Now let's go, coward" Minda snapped and Sain just gulped and gave another jerky nod, not responding to the derisive comment. Minda just started chanting then, mumbling near incoherently and Sain followed suit, his voice a mere whisper really. He focused his mind's eye on his core, and pulled up magic, and twisted his hands before him, a sheen of light forming before him as he focused. Like his practice the other day, he formed an image of a brick wall in his mind, and solidified it, keeping it stationary in front of him.

Minda stepped up beside Sain then, flanking his left side, her right hand still on his shoulder. Sain flicked her a side long glance, maintaining his concentration even as his heart pounded in his chest. It beat so hard and fast from his nerves, he could hear his blood pounding in his ears.

Sain watched Minda focus, her own gaze locked on the three casters on the other side, who were constantly flitting in and out of view as gang members fought between them, blocking vision. As Sain returned his vision to the other casters, he locked eyes with the red-haired caster in an instant, and he swore everything froze, his heart stopping in a beat. He saw the caster lift a hand and point in Sain's direction, mouth open to say something, right as Minda let out a cry.

A ripple formed in the air before Sain, bursting out from Minda as she started a louder, garbled chant, and gestured with her left hand in the other caster's direction. The ripple rushed forward, and Sain watched in horror, and amazement as it burst through the scattered group of gang members, and then crashed into the raised barrier maintained by the twin casters.

A burst of light appeared as the two magical forces met, and the other casters cried out sharply. All three remained standing though, and Sain's eyes widened as he watched the red-haired caster take a step forward and fling a hand in the direction of him and Minda with a shout. A ripple of force streaked towards them, and Sain grimaced and focused on the wall in front of him. Imagining it to be thick, and strong.

The enemy's magic slammed into Sain's barrier and a screech erupted along with a burst of light, and the force of it shook Sain to his core. He staggered and cried out, lifting his hands before him as he tried to maintain the barrier, already feeling it to be shaky and perhaps cracked. There was a ringing in his ears, and it hurt. It felt like he had been punched in the head or something, and like he was trapped in a waking dream of some sort. Everything around him seemed to take on blurred edges and fall out of focus. It felt like he was not really there and was just sort of observing.

Sain felt a hard slap to his face, and his focus returned in an instant, along with the realization of what was actually happening. It all came back in a rush, and finding himself still on his feet, he straightened up and looked sharply to his left, seeing Minda, her gaze fixed forward, but her right hand retreating from his vision, no doubt having just slapped him. Minda grabbed his shoulder again and snarled, her face twisted as she concentrated.

"Pull it together shit stain" she let out and then muttered something as she lashed out with her left hand again, a ripple of light breaking from her and streaking towards the other casters once again.

Sain refocused, and started mumbling again, his mind's eye turned on his barrier, as he pulled more magic from his core, and poured it into the barrier to maintain, and strengthen it. That one attack from the red-haired caster had been beyond anything Ricky and he had trained.

Minda's blast streaked through the crowd, and a number of screams sounded out as the magic connected with gang members in the way, flinging them to the side, followed with streaks of red, right before the blast slammed into the barrier maintained by the twins. An explosion of light once more erupted, but the twins held and seemed unfazed. Then the red-haired caster returned fire, sending another blast of magic at Sain and Minda.

This time the blast passed through a space devoid of gang members, who had suddenly vacated the immediate area as they realized a magical battle was taking place. And now some of the fighting had just stopped, many gang members just watching the exchange. They watched as the red-haired casters attack smashed into Sain's barrier once more, but this time he grit his teeth, and poured more magic into the barrier, and the enemies' blast just disintegrated harmlessly into a spectacular show of light.

A blast was returned by Minda, and once more a barely discernable ripple of magic streaked between the two groups of mages, to slam into the twin's barrier, only for the blast to be returned by the red-haired caster.

As the newest blast connected with Sain's barrier, he felt it crack and he tried to pull more magic from himself, but couldn't, and his eyes widened as he realized he had reached empty. As the red-haired casters magic skittered around him and Minda, in a brilliant flash of light, he felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him. Perhaps if he had known this was going to happen, he would not have used so much magical energy at work during the day. The beauty of hindsight.

"I... I'm out Minda" he whispered out, finding his mouth parched and dry. He felt the hand on his shoulder tighten and thought the grip seemed weak. He just shot a look at Minda, and saw her standing in a slumped and tired manner. She was pale and shaky.

"Me too. Guess two on three was too much" she rasped out and Sain heard a shout of triumph, and just turned his gaze back to the red-haired caster, seeing him to have raised both his arms. The twins had too, and all three just flung their hands at Sain and Minda.

A pulse of shimmering energy rushed towards them, and Sain instinctively pulled what was left of his barrier in close, wrapping it around him and Minda in a cocoon, decreasing its spread, and increasing its density. Now why didn't I do that sooner? Sain thought as the combined blast from the other casters hit home.

Sain barely registered what happened as light erupted in a massive flash, and he felt the barrier crumple but not give way entirely. He felt himself go airborne though, flying backwards, Minda beside him. The pair landed heavily in the road some meters back and just rolled and bounced, and Sain heard a sickening crack even as he bounced, pain lancing right through his entire body.

Eventually Sain's movements came to a halt, and he just lay there, motionless as pain beat through him. Everything hurt. He felt exhausted and perhaps the only reprieve he felt was the coolness of the paved road beneath him. Screams and shouts sounded out around him still, and he both heard and felt the movement of feet around him.

Opening his eyes, Sain found himself lying face down on the road, and he saw feet running past him. Pulling his arms up to his chest, Sain pushed himself up, and then rolled over, to sit up. He looked around, dazed somewhat still, and hurting all over, and just saw people running in every direction as streaks of magic flew through the air, slamming into nearby buildings, and fleeing people.

Sain's eyes widened and he just looked back up the road and saw the red-haired caster and twins just flinging magic wildly, looks of ecstasy on their face as the Blue fangs routed before them. There was no more fighting. Only running away.

As the fear hit him, the fear of death, he just stood up, on shaky legs and looked around for Minda, seeing if she was around, and his eyes fell on her form, a meter or so to his left. As he saw her crooked, bent body, and sightless stare aimed at the sky, he just froze, realizing she was dead. No human could survive their body being bent at such angles surely.

Terror and nausea overtook him, and he too just turned and ran, his terror overriding any pain or exhaustion he was feeling, as he just ran, and ran, and ran, disappearing among the jumble of buildings and alleys in the area.