FSE

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After a LONG hiatus, I continue with my novel and hope you guys enjoy it.

Raz and Maz stood there in mid-air, literally staring Death in the face. It seemed rather bizarre to Raz that they would have to fight Death while his whole body was screaming to get away from this entity as far as possible. It took every ounce of courage to stay put.

Raz wasn't alone in this fear. Maz was right there with him, and the two took deep breaths to steady themselves. They knew that it would do them no good to flee now. Moreover, if they abandoned or failed to stop this Horseman in front of them, then millions upon millions of lives would be in danger. That idea was unacceptable.

Raz and Maz breathed out fire, shaping it into the form of weapons. They readied themselves, standing in the fighting position their father taught so many years ago. He was a strict teacher when it came to Fire Working, and while Mazial showed prowess at the ability, Razial had to struggle the whole way through.

Raz, however, was eternally grateful because their father refused to give up on him or let him take it easy. He remembered it like it was only yesterday, and he was learning a new technique called Fire Shaping. He was nine years old at the time and was out in the backyard sand-pit. Miles was watching his two sons as they practiced the first shape.

"Alright, you two. Try it again, and Razial, concentrate a bit harder." Their father said as they both nodded and tried to make a square out of the floating fireball in front of them.

Mazial concentrated, and instantly the fire responded to his command, shaping itself into a perfect square. Miles was quite delighted when he saw this and turned his attention to Razial.

Raz concentrated very hard on his fireball, which roughly resembled a square. He had tears in his eyes as the frustration welled up deep inside. Suddenly, the fire took a square shape, but it became bright white as Raz closed his eyes.

"Raz, back down your flame. It's burning too much of your energy, and you aren't ready for that level yet." Miles said as Raz quickly opened his eyes, and the flame exploded in his face, knocking him onto his back. He was more stunned than anything as he looked up at the sky with anguish.

Raz slowly got up and saw his father looking at him with concern, then looked away, ashamed. He knew he had to control his emotions, but they got the better of him sometimes and what happened with the fire was a prime example.

"Raz, are you alright?" Their father asked as Raz nodded.

"Yes, but I overdid it with my emotions, didn't I?" Raz asked as Miles gave a nod.

"However, I will say you have improved. The flame feeds off our emotions, and courage is the most powerful ally of all. The flame exploded because you let emotions of negativity into your heart. There are two sides to the fire we use: One can be helpful and a great light source. However, it can be the most destructive force upon the face of the planet. Don't beat yourself up over it, though. You are doing quite well. Just keep practicing, and soon you will see results." Miles said as Raz nodded and continued to practice.

Raz smiled because he knew his father had taught them well, and he now had his Fire Sword in his right hand that resembled a Cutlass. He looked over at his brother, holding two Fire Axes in his hands.

Death swung off his horse, which immediately dissolved into a cloud of black mist and reformed as a scythe. It was massive as it easily towered over Death's eight-foot frame. He gripped the handle that was made of a humanoid backbone. The eyes under his hood flashed a bright red for a second before turning back to black. It happened so fast that Raz didn't catch what laid under the hood and had the feeling he didn't want to.

"Alright, who shall be the first to die at my hands?" Death said as neither Raz nor Maz was quick to engage him.

Death, however, laughed poisonously as he spoke, "I think killing you both at the same time sounds pleasing to me. Here, try my Extinction Rain."

Death swung his scythe overhead as black clouds spewed forth. The rain from these clouds started to kill anything upon which it landed.

Raz and Maz both saw this cloud moving fast towards them and tried to make every effort to avoid it. Soon, the whole sky was covered as the rain fell all around them. As soon as the first droplet hit Raz's scales, he could feel it burn as he and his brother cried out in agony. Raz knew they had to do something or risk destruction.

Then, an idea dawned on Raz as he looked over to Maz and hoped he was conveying the message right. He concentrated on his scales, and soon heat was radiating off so hot that the rain evaporated before even touching them. Maz, apparently, had received the message too because he was doing the same thing.

However, Raz knew that they wouldn't be able to do this forever as well. He racked his brain, trying to figure a way out of this, and thought of one. Raz looked toward his brother and nodded. Maz nodded back as they began Working the fire in their hands, causing it to expand and grow as they both started to spin.

Soon, the fire surrounded them, and there before Death stood two columns of fire swirling around their occupants. Death just laughed at this as Raz and Maz cried out, "TORNADO INFERNO!"

The two fire tornados intertwined to become one sizeable towering blaze of intense heat. This heat was so much that it evaporated the dark stormy blackness that covered the entire sky above them.

Raz looked at his arms and noticed several places where the rain had eroded his scales. Not that he needed to, because he could feel their pain like that of many needles stabbing into the wounds. He ignored this as he steadied himself and heard Death laugh out some more.

"It would appear that you have come prepared, and maybe I should not underestimate you." Death said as he suddenly sprang out tendrils numbering into the fifties and sent them toward the twins at incredible speeds.

Raz and Maz both ducked, dodged, and weaved through the tendrils. Raz tried slicing through one of them but found that two more would grow back in its place. He wasn't sure what to do except to keep dodging and try to think of a way through.

Unfortunately, Raz heard Maz cry out in pain and looked over to see him caught up in several tendrils. This distraction was all they needed, and Raz felt his arms and legs bound to his body. He tried to move as he grunted but found it useless and looked down at Death.

"You gave a valiant effort, but everyone falls before Death sooner or later. Die now." Death said as he sent an electrical current out through the tendrils.

Raz and Maz let out screams of pain as Raz felt his whole body burn from the demonic energy. It was hard to think through the torment, let alone do anything. However, he knew that he must and made up his mind.

Raz closed his eyes, concentrating on his speed ability, vibrating faster and faster. Soon, he was shaking so fast that he was nothing but a blur as Death had difficulty holding on to him. Suddenly, Raz phased through the tendrils and disappeared from sight until a bright flash of fire lit up the night sky, followed by a loud CRACK like thunder.

The tendrils around Mazial disappeared as he began to fall, and Raz caught him, lowered him to the ground, and saw that he was still alive. Raz sighed in relief but soon found his peace of mind interrupted by more flying tendrils as he quickly jumped out of the way to keep his brother safe while dealing with Death.

As Raz dodged another attack and saw a large hole in a massive tree, he quickly stuffed Maz into it. Then he immediately flew up towards Death with his Fire Sword in hand, and both of their weapons collided, sending out a shockwave of energy. They exchanged a few more clashes before Raz backed off and thought, "This guy is impossible. What do I have to do?"

Raz realized that this fight was starting to deteriorate because the fact still remained, "How do you defeat Death?" Raz wasn't sure of the answer, and the more energy he put into this confrontation, the greater the chance of losing. Raz refused to let that happen and decided against his better judgment to use his speed ability again.

Death launched a series of attacks at Raz, who dodged them and parried others. He tried to find an opening in Death's defense, but try as Raz might, there didn't appear to be any. Then, Raz saw one and used his speed to take advantage, kicking Death square in the arm. However, Raz noticed that his flesh started to decay and quickly backed away upon contact.

"Do you understand, now? You cannot kill me, for I am the holder of all dissolution, and no matter what you do, you cannot steal my life. I am already dead." Death sneered as Raz felt his heart beating within his chest. He felt that same primal instinct again to flee and get as far away as possible from this figure.

Suddenly, Raz's fear changed to anger, and he felt power surge up through his body. If Raz was going to die, he would do the best he could to defend his Kingdom. He raised his Fire Sword that glowed a little brighter, and charged at Death. They fought at full speed, making them look like blurs from ordinary sight. Raz refused to give in and thought that if he couldn't physically touch Death, his Fire Sword would.

However, getting through Death's defense was once again proving to be complicated. Death was there to block every thrust or strike, and Raz felt the strain on his energy and his body.

Abruptly, Raz missed a strike and felt Death's Scythe cut deep into his left shoulder. Raz screamed in pain as scarlet blood sprayed the blade and all over his clothes. He quickly brought the Fire Sword around and hit Death in the side, hearing a shriek of agony. Death ripped the Scythe out of Raz's shoulder so fast that the anguish almost made him pass out.

Raz looked through blurred eyes and could barely distinguish the smoke issuing from the burn-in Death's robes. He felt light-headed as the blood from his shoulder poured forth, and he fought to keep himself conscious with all of his strength. However, he had another problem as he looked up to see that Death recovered from the initial strike and was already taking another swing. Raz tried desperately to react but found his movements sluggish and watched as the Scythe fell. Instantly, a massive spectral Fire Dragon charged in and encased Death in flame.

Death let out another scream as Raz looked over to see Maz hovering and panting. Suddenly, Raz felt himself losing altitude at an increasing velocity as the loss of blood finally caused him to slip into delirium and muttered to himself. He barely recognized Maz, who caught him and quickly set him down on the ground.

Maz looked terrified at the massive gash in Raz's shoulder and quickly pulled open his side pouch to produce a little bottle of yellow liquid. He quickly wiped away as much blood as possible and poured the yellow liquid over the wound. It hissed with yellow mist as the wound began to close, and Raz felt energy return to his body. He looked up at Maz and smiled as he said, "Thanks, I owe you one."

Maz looked at him strangely and said, "No, we are even. You've got me out of those tendrils just in time. I honestly thought we were done for when we were caught. But you somehow how managed to get us out."

Immediately, an explosion close by them rocked the area as they both soared back into tree trunks and cried out in suffering. Raz looked up through watering eyes to see the most horrible sight of all.

There, in the sky, stood Death with most of his robes burned away, showing the skinless form of a man with his muscles exposed. The only thing that covered him was a scrap of the robe around his midsection, and Raz noticed the black heart pumping dark blood into his body.

Raz and Maz both felt the bile rise in the back of their throats. It was a horrible sight as they fought the impulse of losing their lunch. They didn't have time to think about this as Death fired, yet again, a few more dark energy balls at them.

Taking flight to keep from being hit, Raz and Maz quickly dodged the blasts. Both reformed their weapons and engaged Death once again: This time both attacking with added ferocity. Death was moving just as fast as he kicked Raz away and plunged into Mazial with zeal.

Raz saw Maz fighting with great intensity and charged into the fray with renewed determination. Death finally had enough and blasted them backward as he started radiating a purple aura.

Raz knew this couldn't be good as they heard Death speak, "It seems I have greatly underestimated you. But it looks as if you two are almost spent, as well. Therefore, I shall bring forth all my power against you and take no further mercy."

Raz knew that he and Maz had used up a great deal of energy in this fight. Not only that, but Raz went way beyond his previous limit with his speed and struggled to keep himself here. Back when Raz was fifteen, he'd been practicing with his speed ability, and King Zallerferd was there to guide him. For the most part, Raz had the hang of using his power, but to a certain point. King Zallerferd was nothing but supportive the whole way through, and Raz was really grateful for this.

At first, the ability was challenging to control because it would take almost all of Raz's energy. The times he did manage to use it were very short-lived, and he had to calm himself before attempting it again. This was a regrettable predicament.

However, the first time Raz successfully used his speed, he overdid it with his energy and felt pain rip through his body. He noticed his body was vibrating and accelerating at an astonishing rate. He began to glow white as King Zallerferd looked at Raz with confidence and said, "Raz, focus your mind. Keep yourself here in the now. Focus, focus, focus."

Raz took a deep breath, steadied his breath, and found his center. He felt the pain subside and observed the vibrations starting to decrease. Also, the glowing white light died, as well. As Raz continued to breathe, he felt everything return to normal within his body.

Raz looked up at King Zallerferd and asked, "Why did that happen?"

King Zallerferd considered Raz for a moment before answering his question. He said slowly, "I believe there may be more to your speed ability than we previously thought."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that your speed may have side effects if overused. It could be that your ability could cause you to jump out of our timeline."

"That sounds bad."

"Yes, it could be very bad, as you put it."

Raz looked troubled by this, and King Zallerferd smiled as he clapped him on the shoulder. Raz looked up at the King and felt his troubles lift from his shoulders.

"Don't worry, Raz. This is why we are training, so you can get better. However, I will speak with your father and see if he could build you something to help control your ability when you cannot." King Zallerferd said.

Raz reached up and touched the golden pocket watch that hung around his neck just under his armor. He was very grateful and humbled that there were Dragons to help him train, at great length, with his ability. Now, he and Maz were facing the fight of their lives and watched as Death started to distort the air around him.

Raz was terrified at the amount of dark energy that started radiating off of him like giant waves from the ocean. Death began to grow in size as the muscles bulged out and turned to a pitch-black color. His Scythe grew as well, and soon he was over six meters tall.

Raz had a moment's thought that he might be slower with Death's enormous size. However, this proved wrong as Death instantaneously disappeared and reappeared right before Raz, who brought his arm up to block the strike, but too late. Death hit him square in the chest as Raz heard a couple of ribs crack and himself scream out. He flew back into a tree so fast that he broke the top half in two. Raz felt another cut across his back and fell to a branch, clinging to it.

However, Death wasn't done as he pointed his Scythe at Raz and blasted out an energy ball. Raz looked up at this and realized it was about to hit. Suddenly, Maz swung a white glowing Fire Axe into it, causing it to explode. Maz cried out in agony as he went flying off into the trees.

Raz struggled back to the air and felt great sharp pains in his breathing while he tried to figure out his next move. He was sure that his broken ribs were pressing into his lungs and knew this fight became next to impossible. However, he didn't have the luxury of giving up or giving in. He would stand his ground or die trying.

"Raz!" Called Maz from behind.

Maz came up alongside Raz, and they looked at each other. Raz could tell his brother was in the same state with demonic burns all over his body.

"What do we do, Raz? We are barely holding our own with this guy." Maz said as Raz nodded.

He knew Maz was right, but an idea was starting to form. It was something that Death said earlier about being already dead, but what was it that had his mind spinning.

Raz didn't have time to contemplate this because Death disappeared. Raz was ready for it this time and disappeared, as well. Pain ripped through his body once again, and his breathing became even more labored. It was all he could do to keep this up, let alone fight.

Raz tried to breathe out more fire but found this to be quite difficult. The only thing he could do was blow out a smoke ring, and the fear gripped his heart. How was he supposed to fight without fire?

Death suddenly appeared right in front of Raz and went to strike him to which was blocked. However, Raz felt his left arm break upon contact and screamed out in pain. Nevertheless, Raz fought through it and attempted to breathe fire again, but only produced a spark. That was enough. Raz quickly used his right hand to blast Death with a massive flamethrower.

Death screamed out with his own suffering, and the realization finally hit Raz like a ton of bricks. The answer was so obvious that he couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it before. However, now he would capitalize on this and, finally, bring an end to this adversary in front of him.

Raz and Death both returned to average speed as he looked over to Mazial and said, "Maz, do you think we can manage the Tornado Inferno again?"

"I don't know, Raz. You are almost out of energy, and I am about there with you."

"Well, if we don't, then we are going to lose this battle. We have to give it a shot."

"Alright!" Maz said with concern.

Raz didn't blame him; they had spent most of their energy, and what they were about to attempt would, most likely, cost them their lives. But, Raz took an oath to protect this world to the last of his dying breath, and Maz felt the same way.

Raz used the fire he had in his hand while Maz breathed out more. He would have borrowed some of his brother's flame, but there had always been a disaster that followed when one Fire Dragon used the flame of another. Sometimes, there were a few exceptions when two could share a connection, and they were mainly used for the Nurseries. The flame was particular to each host and was developed as a relationship equal to a lover. Just like lovers, the flame was very jealous of anyone butting in on that relationship.

Soon, Raz and Maz started spinning again while Raz felt the enormous strain on his already broken body. It felt as if he was being torn apart by the sheer effort of concentrating on the Fire Working in and around him. Blood started to leak from his nostrils and eyes as veins bulged in random areas throughout his body.

Suddenly, they both reached the length of their power and shouted, "TORNADO INFERNO!"

They both launched their funnels of swirling fire at Death. It once again combined into a massive spiraling tower of fire. Death looked up just in time to see himself become consumed by the forty-foot wide wall of fire and heat. He screamed out loud in agony as Raz and Maz both fell to the ground, making a PLUP sound when they hit. Before Raz's vision faded, he saw that Death was consumed by the fire. After this, Raz remembered no more.

Meanwhile, back in the Supreme Region, Blaze, Amber, and several others were busy stacking bodies while going through who they had left to fight. It was horrifying to Blaze just how many perished in this battle, and this was just the first. How many more battles were to come before all of this was done and over with? His train of thought was broken by Amber calling his name.

"Oh, sorry. I was lost in thought."

"I can see that. Are you alright?"

"Yes and no. Yes, because I am physically fine, but I cannot say for certain for my heart. So much death had to happen for us to win."

"Yes, I can see how that can weigh heavily on one's heart. Just remember why they sacrificed their lives, and they will not have died in vain."

Blaze nodded and looked towards the western sky and felt something was off. He didn't even have a rational reason for thinking except for the feeling that he needed to go help Raz and Maz. He looked back towards Amber, who read him like a book.

"You want to go help, huh?" Amber asked as Blaze slowly nodded.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Amber said as Blaze smiled.

"Thank you, Amber." Blaze said as they both took flight and headed for the Fire Region. It amazed Blaze just how much Amber had done for him, including giving him the courage to speak to Raz in the first place.

As they flew, Blaze wasn't the only one who had thoughts on his mind. Amber was thinking about Maz and how he was doing. She had initially joined Raz's class because, secretly, she wanted to be with him. However, after Blaze had explained to her his feelings for Raz and observing the two, it was clear that Raz wasn't interested in her. This hurt at first, but Maz was there to pick up the pieces. Amber thought that he was pretty charming, intelligent, and good-looking.

However, one thing that she loved the most about Maz was his pure heart. No matter how bad things seemed to be, he was always right there to make it right again. Hell, they both had that, but Raz always seemed troubled in some sort of way. Like something long ago had broken a crucial part of his soul, and now, he struggled every day to keep himself cheerful.

Suddenly, Blaze shouted, "Amber! Look!"

Amber's eyes looked up to see the landscape torn up from the battle that ensued. Trees were toppled over, and everything had scorch marks on it as the fire burned in the distance, casting its glow upon the night. The two moons provided the rest of the light as Amber and Blaze searched the area.

Amber looked down and barely saw an arm poking out from the ash-covered ground as she shouted, "Blaze! Over here!"

Blaze came flying over as they both landed together and hurried over. They brushed off the ash to see Mazial laying there, quite still, as Blaze looked up and saw another mound nearby. He hurried over to this one and dusted off the ash from this to reveal Raz, who was also quite still.

"What happened to them?" Amber asked as Blaze had tears in his eyes.

"They have used all of their energy. I... think they are... dead." Blaze said mournfully.