Shards of rock sang past Aadi, who rolled sideways to avoid them. The shards struck the floor at various spots. Occasionally, a spot would erupt, sending several blisters of rock shooting upwards. So far, he had been able to avoid every attack, save for one or two projectiles that struck his boots and bounced off harmlessly. The Unflinching, lying face down in the ground, had a hard time making accurate shots. That didn’t mean Aadi was having it easy. Accurate or not, Aaron Flint was attacking faster and at shorter intervals. He might have been firing haphazardly, but quantity had a quality all its own. Aadi didn’t have unlimited stamina to keep dodging. He felt his heart beat fast. Ember reduced the impact of any projectile that did hit him and enhanced his natural defences to a certain extent. The stone’s magic didn’t make him tireless, though.

Aadi dodged another set of attacks and made ready to fire his slingshot. With Flint’s face stuck in the ground, he decided to aim for the Unflinching’s flaying legs instead. Those legs were repeatedly striking the ground, launching deadly shard shatters at him. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find an opening that gave him enough time to launch Ember. The attacks were coming thick and fast. He dodged yet another shard shatter. The intervals between Aaron’s strikes weren’t long enough for him to stretch the slingshot’s band, take aim, and fire. As yet another volley of sharp rocks came his way, Aadi rolled and took cover behind a boulder. “I can’t attack,” he said helplessly. Ember replied, “He is trying to free himself and keep you at bay.” “He’ll succeed at this rate,” muttered Aadi, peeking out of cover. Shards of basalt assailed his position, bounding off the boulder.

He needed to act. Staying behind the boulder was defensive. He needed to find a way, a way to buy enough time to launch Ember at his enemy. That wasn’t going to happen from cover, though. “Let’s try rushing him,” said Aadi and Ember agreed, reading his mind, “It’s better than nothing. Lead the way!” He took a deep breath and leapt sideways. Expecting stone shards to zip by his head any moment, Aadi rolled along the ground. A moment later, he came to a stop and rose to a knee. His eyes darted left and right, seeking incoming projectiles, but there were none! “He’s getting up,” said Ember and Aadi’s eyes shifted to his opponent. Aaron Flint had stopped attacking, because he had finally managed to free his head from the ground. With slightly shaky legs, he was slow to find his feet. Flint’s flurry of shard shatters and the fury that accompanied them had taken their toll. Aadi found his opening.

“Let’s go,” he said, simultaneously breaking into a sprint towards his opponent. He wanted to strike a decisive blow and had already fit Ember to his slingshot’s pouch. “He has a weakness,” said Ember, “Aim for the back of his head.” Aadi didn’t question its guidance. In mid-sprint, he raised his arms and aimed his slingshot. Meanwhile, his foe had risen to a knee. Aaron Flint shook his head and turned towards Aadi. At that moment, Aadi loosed Ember and the magic stone shot through the air. His aim had been true and Ember unerringly closed in on Flint’s head. Aadi continued sprinting, imagining the follow up to his attack. However, he didn’t get the opportunity. Just as Ember drew close to its target, Flint raised his gauntleted fists and the stone impacted them with a metallic thud!

The Unflinching recoiled physically and Ember rebounded across the air towards Aadi. “Again,” ordered Ember and Aadi didn’t stop, his sprint taking him midway towards the stone. He leapt into the air and with an outstretched hand, grabbed Ember. Even as he landed, Aadi was fitting Ember to his slingshot’s pouch. He didn’t give Flint any room to recover from his first attack, rushing towards him. He closed the distance and with his left leg, stepped directly on his opponent’s knee! Using that leverage, he launched himself over Aaron’s head, stretching the slingshot’s band as he sailed through the air. The Unflinching struck out with his left fist and Aadi took the blow to his ribs, maintaining his grip on his slingshot and keeping its band stretched. He wasn’t about to waste this chance. Even as he felt the distance between him and his opponent opening, due mostly to Aaron’s flailing punch, he kept his eyes firmly on Flint’s head. At what he deemed the perfect moment, he launched Ember and this time, the Unflinching couldn’t defend against it.

Aadi hit the ground and rolled to his feet. As he raised his head, he saw Aaron Flint flying across the ground, his feet swinging wildly in the air. The Unflinching’s body covered a considerable distance before hitting and bouncing off the ground, finally colliding with a distant cave wall. As pieces of basalt broke off the wall due to the impact, other, smaller pieces crumbled to the ground. Flint’s body followed suit, falling off the wall and crumpling to the floor. The Unflinching was stunned by Ember, which had impacted the side of his head. Luckily for Aadi, the stone hadn’t flown off with his enemy, landing a couple of feet away from him instead. He retrieved Ember quickly and said, “His head is his weakness. Is that because that’s where the law keeper had struck him?” In Aadi’s mind, Ember nodded, “Yes. Flint died because of that blow. When the law keeper’s mace struck the back of his head, the woodcutter died. In accordance with the law, that spot remains his weakness.”

Aadi listened to Ember and blurted in confusion, “He died?” Once again, Ember nodded in his mind. “I don’t understand,” said Aadi, “You told me that Flint saw the law keeper assault his wife. That happened after he had been struck down by the law keeper. So…” Ember finished his question for him, “How did he witness that dastardly deed?” He nodded and the stone asked a question of its own, “Do you remember what I told you before?” Aadi replied, “Yes. You said that Flint had reached deep into his soul and connected with a dark, bloody part of it. That gave him an evil power of some kind.” Ember nodded again, “Correct. The evil that he accepted returned him to a type of life. A life that lets one live without living. It is an empty life, a dark life, a lifeless life. Filled with rage and a desire for vengeance, Flint opened his eyes to witness the law keeper’s vileness and he sank deeper into the clutches of that power. That was when he acquired his skills. That was when he used shard shatter and erupting shards for the first time.”

“Erupting shards?” asked Aadi. Then, he saw a picture in his mind. It was an image of Aadi himself, dodging a shard shatter that his enemy had launched at him. He saw the events play out in his mind from a different perspective. He witnessed himself dodging Flint’s attack and saw two or three shards of rock strike the ground near him. He heard Ember telling him to dodge and as he did so in that memory, Aadi saw the ground suddenly erupt at the spots where the rocks had struck. He gazed at the sharp pieces of rock shooting vertically from the ground and whispered, “That was his skill, erupting shards.” Ember replied, “Yes. He was forced to use it against you after you proved to be a challenge.” “Thanks,” said Aadi, a corner of his lips rising wryly. “It’s been hard; I know,” the stone said and he felt its sympathy towards him.

“Thank you,” said Aadi sincerely. He continued, “So, Flint was brought back to life by the darkness in his soul. However, if he had already died, how was he able to accept that evil?” “Time is meaningless,” replied Ember. The stone didn’t say anything further and Aadi didn’t feel like probing the matter. Instead, he asked, “Can I defeat him by repeatedly striking the back of his head?” Ember replied, “Yes, but repeated strikes might not be necessary. We can use the same attack we used the first time. With enough power behind your shot, I should be able to crack his skull open and separate it from his neck.” Listening to Ember’s words, Aadi almost shook physically. Envisioning that violence jarred him, but he gathered his wits quickly.

Where was he? What was he here for? If he hadn’t expected danger when he ventured into the forest, he would have been naive. Yes, he hadn’t foreseen encountering Aaron Flint, but that was simply a difference in degrees of deadliness. When he had found the bodies of his father and his best friend, Aadi had realised then and there that he had a hard fight ahead of him. He hadn’t dreamed of fighting this hard, of pushing himself to his limit and then some. Meeting Ember and receiving the stone’s assistance was the stuff of dreams for anyone else, but for Aadi, it was his reality. He was here. He was in the now. He had a purpose. “Let’s finish this,” he said to Ember and the stone replied firmly, “Yes. Let’s.”