9 A Night in Yakul - Part 3

The house was supposed to be only 20 meters from where he was, yet it felt as if it was a kilometre far. Ahli did his best to reach the house, however, with each step, it felt further and further. The bleeding at his feet was made worse with him pushing to his limit, to the point where a number 4 appeared which was then replaced by a number 3.

Things got worse with the two bandits still behind him, chasing. In time, eventually, they closed their distance with Ahli.

Kevin was able to grab him by the back of his collar. He pulled Ahli to the back, slamming him to the ground. Ahli could only groan as he felt the pain in his back. He looked at the new cards in his hand. At the same time, Kevin raised high his axe, ready to drop its blade unto Ahli who still trying to brush the pain off.

"I pay 3 fire mana to cast Dragon's Breath aiming at the bandit in front of me." Ahli raised the card in Kevin's direction at the same moment Kevin dropped his axe.

DRAGON'S BREATH

1+Fire Mana+Fire Mana

Dragon's Breath deals 4 damage to any target.

As the shards covered it in light and it started to transform, it formed a giant red card illusion that clashed with the plunging axe, acting as a shield for Ahli. Kevin's axe bounced back as it hit the shield, but he immediately dropped and swing again his axe, as the illusion evaporate. This time, Ahli was not able to do anything as he lay on the ground helpless.

A giant dragon's head illusion came out of the ground, covering Ahli's whole body. It pushed back the shield with its snout before it opened its mouth. From it, came an outburst of flame that sprayed directly to Kevin's face, melting partial of his head.

Kevin screamed in pain as he received the attack, yet it was temporary. He stepped twice to the back, before he fell on his knees, followed by the rest of his body falling to the side.

Ahli breathed heavily as the card returned to his side. He pushed his upper body up and while in a sitting position he saw how Ecuti and her mother were able to escape from the front door, but unfortunately, they slipped just at their lawn. Not far at their back were the two bandits that broke through their door, coming out from the house.

Ecuti and her mother tried to get up as fast as they can, however as they were able to do so, one of the bandits was already in front of them, blocking their path of escape. Ecuti and her mother tried to flee to another way, yet, their movement was quickly stopped by the other bandit.

Ahli knew he wanted to help them so badly, however, he also had not escaped his own problem. The Dual Striker bandit is still there for him to handle.

With a new card coming to his hand, he quickly set one as a mana source, something he forgot to do the last turn. Three cards remained in his hand. One was demolition, another one was a buff spell, and the last one was another burn spell. The dilemma for him at the moment was that he could use the burn spell to kill either the dual striker or one of the bandits that surrounding Ecuti and her mother.

However, it meant one party would be hurt to save the other. If he burned the dual striker, the bandit would surely harm Ecuti and her mother. If he saved Ecuti and her mother, he surely would get hit by the dual striker, putting his life to 1.

"Hey, eyes up here card mage. No time for daydreaming." The call from the dual strike bandit made Ahli look at him. He walked toward him, twisting the axe in his right hand. At the same time, from the corner of his left eye, Ahli saw the bandit that covered the path of Ecuti's escape started to approach her as well.

"This is for Kevin." The dual strike bandit swung the axe in his right hand at Ahli. He himself responded by pulling the only burn spell in his hand.

"I pay 2 Fire mana to cast Burning Hands!"

BURNING HANDS

1+Fire Mana

Burning Hands deals 2 damage to target unit.

If the unit elemental alignment is wood, it deals 6 damage instead.

As the card transformed and disappeared, giant palms appear in front of the bandit who approached Ecuti. It then started to fly to his whole body, pushing him away from Ecuti.

Each touch left a burn mark, making the bandit feel the pain. As a closing, the last palm stuck to his face, burning it, which then spread the flame to his whole head, crisping it. He then fell to the ground with his whole skin charred.

Ecuti and her mother along with the other bandit saw in shock what had just happened. Ecuti however was quick to regain her composure. She shook her mother who came to her senses as well, and both of them quickly ran away from the remaining bandit.

As for Ahli, the moment he cast the spell, the first axe came at him. Ahli was able to dodge it a little, but, it still hit his left shoulder. Ahli felt the pain in instance and he screamed in pain.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

He held the wound to keep the blood that started to gush out. He fell on his back while still holding it, and turn his body to crawl, escaping the dual striker bandit. The life indicator appeared before him to show how his life has been reduced by 1 point from 3 to 2. He could not care for it as his main concern at the moment was for his own survival.

As he crawled, he took a glimpse of what happened with Ecuti and her mother. The moment he saw them escape, he felt relieved even though the pain was still throbbing. However, that moment of relief was cut short as the second hit from the dual striker reached his back. Ahli's whole body fell to the ground with his face drowned to the ground.

The life indicator appeared in front of him again, notifying him how his life had been reduced by another point, going to 1.

[Shit…Shit…Shit…This can't be the way I end.]

A new card appeared in his hand. At this moment, he was hoping for a life-gain card. However, he knew that it would not come true as Fire Mana cards do not have the life gain ability. Now, with two buff spells and demolition in his hand, he knew for sure his chance of winning was surely close to zero.

"Enjoying the dirt, card mage?" The dual striker bandit walked in front of Ahli. He squatted and grabbed Ahli's black hair. He used it as his hold to pull Ahli's head, moving his face away from the ground.

Ahli was not able to answer anything as he was still dealing with the pain in his back. His eyes were droopy from the fatigue of this battle.

"For someone who did not have any monster out, you were quite impressive. Killing my friend one by one."

The dual strike bandit graced Ahli's left cheek with the edge of his axe. It was not sharp as it did not leave a mark on Ahli's skin. However, as it still has the blood from his shoulder and back, it left a trail of it.

"I usually won't ask for the name of my kill. But, I'll make an exception for you. So, tell me your name, card mage."

Ahli did not speak any word. He was also too tired to speak anything, saving it for casting the cards instead.

"Why? Cat got your tongue? Or did the pain make you mute? Too bad. I was hoping to properly etch the memory of this day into my brain, so I can tell its story till the day I die."

The bandit let go of Ahli's head and the face plunged again to the ground.

"I…cast…Demo…lition…tar…getting…the…axe." In a whisper, Ahli cast Demolition which then disappeared from among the other cards in his left hand, after being engulfed by the red light of the shards.

An illusion of a giant hammer appeared suddenly at the side of the dual strike bandit, surprising him. It swung at the hand axe on his right hand, without giving the dual strike bandit any chance to avoid, shattering it.

"DAMN FUCK! So, you can still pull some stunts, eh?"

[You goddamn right I can.]

In anger, the dual strike bandit stood. He moved his other axe from his left hand to his right.

[Ah, I've done everything. Sorry, Jena. If you are still alive, I'll be leaving before you. If not, hopefully, we meet in the afterlife.]

Ahli closed his life when he felt his body was turned to face the sky.

"Listen here, you shitty card mage, I want you to see me smack your face for the last time. So, enjoy the show."

With his droopy eyes, Ahli saw the dual strike bandit raise his axe. However, before he was able to drop it to him, a thrown projectile made him break his form, as he avoided the attack. He then started to step back, leaving Ahli's vision.

"Hey, stop you bandit!" As Ahli heard Sharon's voice, he smiled knowing that he would live another day.

In his vision, he saw Sharon run past him chasing the dual strike bandit. He heard as well some other voices, knowing that there were other people that came there, making the dual strike bandit forcefully retreat.

"Damn! He got away!" Sharon's shout could be heard even though it was quite faded, showing how far she was. Not long after, she appeared at his side, holding his body, checking his condition.

"Ahli! Ahli! Stay with me Ahli!"

Ahli was so glad to see Sharon and with most of the strength left, he called his name, "Sharon…"

Ahli then closed his eyes with Sharon long screamed, calling his name was the last thing he heard.

"AHLIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!"

Next chapter