Symphonic Odyssey
: Vol. Two: Beneath the Hawthorn Tree: Verse One-Hundred

Ulric clutched at his right shoulder where his arm had been severed, and a spray of blood splattered against the bushes before it slowly came to a stop. Ulric winced in pain and clenched an eye shut and Cypher also grimaced as he hid in the bushes nearby.

Another man had appeared, and Cypher could only guess from the earlier conversation that it was Jason. Jason walked up to Harold and patted him on the shoulder, “Good job keeping him distracted. Ulric has quite impressive sensory abilities, only Ashley was better on our team. It’s a shame she had to die. Not only was she skilled, but she had quite the body on her didn’t she?” said Jason as he winked at Ulric, and Harold nodded in agreement, a dirty smile appearing across his features.

“Oh yeah, she certainly did. I just wish we could have had a taste before we blew her up eh? Tsk, tsk, tsk, what a shame indeed,” Harold said in a mocking tone, and in response, a venomous rage erupted from Ulric.

A bright yellow light filled the area and lit up everything in sight. It was so bright it almost felt like daytime had come early, and Cypher was worried the two Conductors would notice him in the all-consuming glow.

Waves of killing intent flowed violently from Ulric and it seemed like the pain from his wound was all but forgotten at that moment. Ulric’s battle pressure was so intense Cypher couldn’t even move under its weight and felt like he could barely breathe.

The eyes of the two traitors were locked on Ulric though, and with such heavy pressure being radiated in the area they didn’t notice Cypher as he fell from a crouch to his knees in the bushes. Ulric glared at both of them and without warning dashed forward in a blinding burst of speed.

He slashed at Jason and only missed his torso by an inch. Ulric’s sword kept moving though and cleaved off the front of Jason’s left foot before it buried itself in the dirt, a trail of blood still lingering in the air as he moved.

Jason grunted in agony and Harold leaped back during Ulric’s violent charge. Ulric immediately turned to Harold and swung his claymore again, easily slicing through the black leather of Harold’s armor but the attack failed to draw any blood.

The two traitors then moved to opposite sides of Ulric who was gnashing his teeth and gripping his sword so tightly that veins could be seen popping out from the back of his hand. Ulric didn’t seem to care and dashed towards Harold once more, this time managing to leave another, deeper cut across the man’s chest.

Jason fired off a spell that pulled up a large chunk of the earth and formed it into a deadly spike that immediately launched itself at Ulric. Ulric dropped his claymore and Grabbed Harold with his now free hand. He then twisted on his heels as he moved the man in front of himself to take the full brunt of the attack.

Harold however, wiggled free of Ulric’s grip just in time. An instant later and the earthen spike impaled Ulric in his upper thigh and Harold turned to cut off his other arm with his own sword.

More blood erupted from Ulric’s torso as the limb fell to the ground and he could only stare in anger and resentment at the two traitors who stood before him. They each wore an evil smile as they realized that this battle was over and Harold squatted down in front of Ulric, meeting his venomous gaze with a look of smug satisfaction.

“Well, you certainly tried, didn’t you? Did we strike a nerve? I knew you and Ashley were close but I didn’t realize that you were so close that you’d throw your life away like this. Tell me, what hurts more? Your wounds or the fact that your lover is dead?” Harold chuckled and picked up Ulric’s severed arm and slapped him in the face with his own hand.

Ulric only continued to stare angrily at the man and spat out a mouthful of blood. Cypher was shocked and in complete awe, he had no idea what would happen to him now. As far as he could tell, these two were obviously on the same level as Ulric, and they had easily managed to bring him to such a pitiful state.

There was no way that these two would allow Cypher to flee like the Order member had, not that he could even move at the moment. Ulric’s battle pressure was still a heavy presence in the area and Cypher could do nothing but stare on in shock.

Something about that confused Cypher though, if Ulric was that heavily injured then how had his pressure not lessened by now? Jason limped closer to Ulric and Harold and shook his head as he leaned against a tree to steady himself.

“I thought you’d put up more of a fight, but I guess I was wrong,” began Jason. “You realize now how stupid it was to charge in like that and let your emotions get the better of you, don’t you? Well, you can cry if you want, you’ll be reunited with your precious Ashley soon.”

Jason bumped his forehead with his palm in an exaggerated manner and then continued, “Oh! As a matter of fact, why don’t we have a little reunion right now eh?” Jason was smiling smugly as he held out his hand and a small vortex appeared. From inside it, a ruined figure rolled out along with several body parts and a wave of gore that splattered against the ground.

The lifeless eyes of Ashley stared up at Ulric from the ruined remains of her head, and for a moment only silence filled the area. Cypher would have cupped his mouth to keep from vomiting at the sight, but he still couldn’t move. Another moment of silence passed by and just before Jason could continue speaking, the pressure in the area doubled, and the yellow light Ulric was radiating began to shift to dark orange.

Cypher could barely breathe or keep his eyes open and his mind almost cracked under such intense pressure, his consciousness flickering as he put forth all his effort to push back with his own mental energy. It only helped a little bit. Terror seeped into Cypher and he was thankful that Ulric was on his side.

At that moment Harold and Jason moved away as well. Fear was now clearly showing in their expressions and Ulric stood up, his eyes closed and his wounds ignored. “You two have completely fallen from grace. Nothing you can say or do will save you now. At first, I was willing to simply capture you both and bring you back for a fair trial. Ashley would have wanted that, she always was one for the law of the land…”

Ulric spoke in a surprisingly even tone given how much rage and sorrow could be felt in his voice and in the energy emanating from his aura, “But you’re animals. Filthy, rabid, morally depraved animals. And like the animals you are, I am going to put you down.” Harold and Jason looked at one another and then despite their fear, laughed.

“We’re animals eh? You’re going to put us down? Just what do you think you can do against the both of us in your state hmm? One more attack and you’re finished,” Jason said, his voice shaking as his fear seeped through.

Ulric laughed a cold, dark, emotionless laugh and looked right at Jason, “You honestly think that two weaklings like you ever stood a chance against me? You’re truly more pathetic than I thought. Why do you think I became the captain of Silent Night? Hm? It wasn’t because of any favoritism, you know headmaster Sequinnen doesn’t concern himself with that.”

Ulric’s body shimmered. It was like the air around him had become as thick as water and as it fell away, his wounds vanished, the stone that was in his thigh fell to the ground, and both of his arms reappeared. His claymore was still gripped tightly in his hands, and a spell was churning in the other. “Silent Night is the foremost sensory unit in the Academy. We accept those with talent in the sensory, stealth, and espionage fields with the combat skills to match. I, however, am special even amongst our ranks. Do you know why that is?”

Jason and Harold looked confused and shocked as Ulric slowly stepped toward them. They backed away like prey before an apex predator and fear ruled their features as Ulric continued speaking in a tone laced with daggers.

“It’s because not only am I an expert in our chosen areas of expertise but a master in the field of Mystical Magick as well. In other words, I work with illusions.

“This entire time I’ve been stringing you along, trying to replace out what would drive you to betray us and work with the Order. Given the nature of this mission, it was the least I could do. But at this point, I replace that I no longer care anymore. My compassion has run dry. You two have done your best to ensure that, and now you’ll face the full brunt of my rage.”

Ulric turned his head in Cypher’s direction and locked eyes with him. “Cypher get out of here! I’ll replace you when I’m done with these two!” The pressure around Cypher vanished instantly as Ulric returned his gaze to Jason and Harold.

Cypher stood from his hiding spot in the bushes and both Harold and Jason turned to stare at him with wide eyes. “So he was here all along eh? Harold go take care of the boy I’ll handle Ulric! We can still come out of this on top,” Jason said, as Harold moved to capture Cypher.

Ulric glared at both of them and raised his sword, a faint light slowly engulfing the blade. The two Conductors froze in place as his aura focused around them. Cypher paused only for a moment before he took off into the forest at full speed. There was nothing else he could do here.

Once again, he was forced to flee in an unknown direction out of a situation he wasn’t able to affect at his level.