16 Runes and Magic
He fumbled with the rings as the Branded kids ran up the hill. If he tried another combination of runes, maybe he could do something different, something that could draw the beast to him instead of Sofia. He spun the second ring to an upside down V, with two points in the bottom. It resembled the previous one, only reverted.
He left the first and third rings as they were. He couldn't change too many things at once and get lost with the signs. He pointed his gauntlet at a nearby barrel and released his energy. Sparks ignited around the gauntlet before the rings spun at dizzying speed.
He felt a pulling energy emanating from his fingertips. The barrel shook, then zoomed toward him. He ducked in time as the barrel crashed on a wall behind him, scattering a red liquid all over.
He frowned. 'This won't help.'
He tapped the gauntlet with his hand. "Come on! Do something useful!" he growled at it.
He took a deep breath and spun the rings again. Upside down V was for pulling. The opposite was pushing, or bursting some form of kinetic energy.
He spun the first ring this time and changed its Z sign to an A with a curvy line on top. He spun the third ring as well to a symbol of two runes. One was shaped like a P, the other a diagonal D with two vertical lines.
'Please,' he prayed inwardly. 'You're my only hope. I need to get that Devil's attention before it kills Sofia. Do something, anything!'
He gasped as the rings on his gauntlet whirred to life. They spun fast and clicked into position. The rings shone a bright red light. They hummed and forced Aaron to move his hand upward, pointed at the sky.
He felt the energy accumulate in the rings, ready to explode. He spread his fingers open then the energy shot out of his gauntlet, a bright red light that reached for the sky. It flew high enough to surpass the hill in height and then some. Then it exploded, like a flare.
The beast roared then flew to the light. It reached it, flapping its wings lazily. The flare intensified the blood that smeared its beak and sharp talons.
Aaron shivered. 'I hope I'm not too late.'
The Griffin's eyes landed on Aaron, then jerked toward the kids. It let out a shrill shriek then its wings folded.
Aaron's eyes widened as the beast plunged toward them. He ran up the road with all his might.
The beast crashed ahead of him and roared. The kids squealed in fright. A little kid with buzzed hair fell, whimpering as he tried to get out of the beast's way.
"No, no, no, no!" Aaron mumbled as he begged his feet to run faster.
The rings in his gauntlet glowed. Then it hit him.
He aimed his gauntlet and willed his energy into it. Another flare launched and hit the beast's snake tails.
The Griffin howled as the flare exploded. It shielded itself with its wings and turned toward Aaron, whining.
"Yes!" Aaron screamed, ecstatic.
The kids hurried off and disappeared behind the small alleyways.
The beast growled at him, observing him behind its wings with furious eyes.
He turned and ran for the bridge. He hoped his stunt would get the Devil's attention.
And it did.
He had almost crossed the bridge when the beast roared, causing his gauntlet to hum and malfunction again.
It veered aside and he crashed against the bridge's railings. He broke them and almost fell to the water.
He cursed under his breath and turned to face the Griffin. It was running toward him, crossing the distance between them at harrowing speed.
He shot another flair at it but the beast deflected it with its wings.
'I knew it wouldn't work anymore,' he thought, cursing his bad luck. 'Where's the reinforcement?'
He fumbled with his rings again, rearranging them.
The first ring showed a rune that resembled the Greek Phi sign, only this one had curvier lines. The second rune he chose was like a plus sign with double horizontal lines. He left the last rune as it was, and hoped it had something to do with the explosion effect.
'It's either try something new or die anyway,' he thought.
The beast reached the bridge by then. It shook it and dug its sharp talons on its wooden boards, chipping them. Aaron aimed his gauntlet and released all the energy he could muster. The rings spun fast and sparks crackled around his whole arm.
The beast growled at him and leapt forward.
The energy within the gauntlet released then. Aaron squinted as light surrounded the gauntlet. Thin light lines formed a hexagon around his wrist. Within it, a six pointed star formed, and foreign runes appeared on each head. His arm went through the six pointed star's middle, like a handle going through a wheel's boxing.
The sign spun with the rings, and more electricity crackled around it. Then a small portal opened before Aaron's artificial arm.
A long metal pole, thin as a needle but as long as a jousting spear, shot out of the portal.
It missed the leaping Griffin by a hair.
The Devil flapped its wings and nimbly got out of the projectile's way. It flew around Aaron then plunged at him again.
He tried to step aside, but whatever he'd just done drained him of energy. His legs were as heavy as lead.
The beast swept over his head like a storm. He felt a sharp end nick his shoulder. He screamed as pain seared through him. He stumbled and fell, rolling over the bridge and coming to a stop on the dirt road beyond it.
The beast crash landed a few feet before him, barring his way. Its eagle eyes landed on him, studying him with a predator's gaze.
Aaron brought his hand to his shoulder. He winced as it came back bloody. His shoulder throbbed with every heartbeat. He was out of breath, and energy.
'It barely grazed me, and I'm already at my limit,' he thought.
His eyelids grew heavy. He glared at the Griffin despite his fatigue. 'I can't pass out, not now! That beast is here for us, because of us!'
His body shook. The bleeding wouldn't stop.
He tried to get up.
His knees wobbled and he fell back.
He glared at the approaching beast. It growled at him, its tails wagging and hissing.
"Don't think you got me, motherfucker!" he said through gritted teeth.
The beast licked its beak, its eyes trained on him.
Aaron grunted as he aimed his gauntlet at the Griffin. "This is not over yet!"
He roared and willed his energy into the gauntlet, but the rings barely shone.
"No! You can't run out now!" he screamed at the rings.
He tried again, pushed energy as he used to, but he barely felt anything left within him.
'Looks like you're in a pickle,' a voice hummed inside his head.
He jumped up, then winced as his shoulder protested.
His body shook, and his mind felt numb. The bleeding must have drained him of his life force. He was dying, he could feel it.
'Great, and I'm hearing voices now,' he thought.
The Griffin stalked toward him, like a cat getting ready to leap at its prey.
He grunted and pushed more energy into the gauntlet, but no light shone on the rings.
He let his eyes close. 'I don't have any more juice in me.'
'Do you really believe that?' the voice said again.
Aaron's eyes popped wide open. He looked around.
"Who's there?" he asked.
'Think of this as a gift. Survive this, then we'll talk,' the voice said. 'Ori Trii'Ba!'
His rings whirred into life. Sparks ignited around them, and the runes quickly rearranged.
The first ring showed a diagonal Z with a curvy line on top. The second showed the plus sign with two horizontal lines. The third showed a plus sign above a semi-circle.
'Now, show that Devil what you can truly do,' the voice said.
He aimed his gauntlet at the Griffin, and let the energy pulsating within him to release.
The rings spun faster, creating more sparks in the process. A hexagon surrounded his gauntlet. It was made out of pure light, zapping and crackling like the sparks that surrounded the gauntlet. A six pointed star formed within the shape. Runes appeared as each head connected with the hexagon.
The rings clicked to a stop, showing the same runes as before. Energy burst out of his hand, so strong and violent it propelled him back and slammed him against the bridge.
He screamed and got himself up, his eyes looking for the Griffin.
He saw it, sprawled on a wheat field a few feet away from him. It whined and groaned as it struggled to its feet.
'Did I do it?' he thought, his heart racing.
His eyes widened as the beast still managed to get to its feet. It whimpered as it tried to spread its wings. Only the left one did.
The right wing, however, had disappeared completely, as if burned off by the blast he'd just released.
'Close enough,' the voice said inside his head. 'Too bad that's all you have.'
"Wait a minute, who are you?" he asked. "Am I going insane?"
The voice chuckled. 'You'll need a miracle to survive. If you do, however, find me at Prism Hollow.'
"Aaron!" Sofia screamed behind him.
She was on the other side of the bridge, running toward him. Ana was still nowhere to be found.
The Griffin roared, sending a putrid breath toward Aaron. He looked back at it. It was slowly approaching him, its legs shook, but the hunger in its eyes never subsided.
Aaron looked down at his gauntlet, hoping to get anything out of it. The runes no longer shone, but the earth danced around him.
He blinked as his vision blurred. He was looking at two pairs of hands, and two pairs of legs.
He cursed. "Great, now I'm seeing double!"
