The Unflinching wasted no time. After recovering to his feet, he rushed towards Aadi with increased urgency. Ember’s attack had been the first real blow that he had suffered in this fight and it seemed to have woken him up. His feet moved faster and his hands were already cocked to deliver a hammer blow. “He’s coming,” Ember warned, which Aadi thought was redundant. He could clearly see Aaron Flint approaching, after all. Without further ado, Aadi launched himself towards his enemy. He had no intention of fighting him hand-to-hand. That wasn’t his forte. Ember lay on the floor behind Flint, however and Aadi needed to get to the stone.
The combatants met somewhere in the middle and Aaron’s fists punched as fast as lightning! Try as he might, Aadi couldn’t possibly avoid both blows, but he managed to evade his foe’s left punch. The right connected though and Aadi used the force of the blow to spin around Flint. Ember’s protection spell had blunted the attack’s damage to a great extent, but Aadi still felt its sting. He powered through it though, focused on reaching Ember. Sparing Aaron nary a glance, he ran towards the stone.
“Careful!” came Ember’s warning and Aadi crouched as low as he could while moving. Hardly had he done this when the sound of cracking rock reached his ears. Not even a moment later, sharp, sizeable shards of basalt whizzed past his face and struck the cave wall far in front of him! Aadi didn’t turn around to see what his foe had done. Ember was kind enough to tell him, “He kicked the ground to launch projectiles at you. It’s shard shatter. Aaron discovered it in his desperation.” Aadi was focused on reaching Ember, but his curiosity was piqued, “Desperation?” “Indeed,” replied Ember, but forbore shedding further light on the subject.
Aadi had reached Ember. He grasped and picked it up in a smooth motion, and kept on running. His intuition warned him that his enemy was right behind him. “Faster!” urged Ember, “At the wall.” He obeyed the stone and made a beeline for the cave wall in front of him. There was a considerable distance to cover and Aadi was worried that Aaron was already in striking range. A sudden increase in air pressure behind him confirmed his suspicions. He dodged to the left as a right hook narrowly missed his shoulder, but the following blast of air almost made him lose his footing. Almost.
“You are helping me, aren’t you?” Aadi asked Ember, as he managed to stay on his feet and keep running. The stone replied, “As much as I can, but that isn’t much in your current condition.” It added, “I can’t make fighting him any easier either; not yet.” He nodded mentally, not entirely sure what Ember meant by that last bit. It wasn’t time for a detailed quiz though, as he approached the wall quickly. He had been running at full speed and Aadi felt his heart pound in his chest. “Keep running!” Ember urged and he didn’t stop. As the wall drew near, he trusted the stone and instinctively thumped his right foot on the rocky surface ahead. His left foot followed with ease and Aadi found himself running right up the wall!
One step followed another. Three steps later, Ember said firmly, “Jump!” Aadi tightened his muscles and launched himself off the wall. It was his first time executing this move and as could be expected, he did poorly. Ember’s help allowed him to perform a ‘jump’, but as he left the wall and flipped over Aaron Flint’s head, mere inches separated the two. The gauntleted fighter peered at Aadi passing over his head, but his apparent surprise didn’t stop him from launching an uppercut with his left hand. “Fire!” Ember yelled.
Aadi hadn’t thought a stone could shout, but Ember’s voice overwhelmed his mind. As had occurred earlier, time seemed to freeze for an instant around him. Of its own volition, Aadi’s hand which held Ember moved towards his slingshot’s band. He didn’t resist it, but he had a feeling he wasn’t entirely in control. “Incorrect,” Ember said, reading his thoughts, “I cannot override your will.” Aadi didn’t argue. He was focused on taking a good shot. He wanted to attack and his hands moved swifter than his eyes could follow. One instant, Ember was snugly nestled in the slingshot’s pouch. The next, Aadi’s hand had stretched the band as far back as he could. As Flint’s uppercut arrived, he launched Ember and simultaneously, the two attacks struck one another!
Aaron’s attack was as strong as ever. His metal gauntleted fist ripped through the air towards Aadi. Ember enhanced Aadi’s slingshot and the magic stone tore the air between him and his opponent. Metal met stone and Aadi was briefly blinded by a flash of light. Even without his vision, he most certainly felt the incredible force of an explosion that sent him hurtling backwards. Despite Ember blunting his pain, his muscles spasmed and he couldn’t move at all. He crashed into the ground and rolled twice before coming to a stop. His ears were met with an eerie silence and as his vision gradually returned to normal, he tried to make sense of what had happened.
“That was close,” he heard Ember say in his mind. “What happened?” he asked and tried to focus on the stone’s location. “You did well,” it replied and Aadi looked at a crater in the ground, at the exact spot where Aaron Flint had been standing! His eyes widened in surprise and he rose to his feet gingerly. “You did that?” he asked Ember slowly. The stone replied, “We did.” He couldn’t see his enemy anywhere in sight. “Is he dead?” Aadi asked and Ember answered, “Not yet.” “Where is he?” he continued, walking towards the crater in the ground. “Somewhere in here, probably,” Ember said as Aadi drew near. The stone itself was lodged in the crater towards the outer edge, where a little light illuminated it. The rest of the crater was shrouded in darkness. It wasn’t a wide hole in the ground, but most certainly a deep one.
Aadi bent down carefully and retrieved Ember. The stone was warm, still cooling down from the explosive force of its attack. It didn’t burn his hand or hurt him in any way, though. Looking for any trace of his enemy, Aadi found himself wondering about what Ember had said earlier. He didn’t sense any danger and wasn’t able to spot Aaron in the crater. Now was as good a time as any to question the stone. He asked, “You said earlier that Aaron Flint had been desperate. What did you mean by that?” Ember seemed to pause a moment and gather its thoughts. It replied with a solemnity that Aadi sensed clearly, “I told you before that he was known as The Unflinching, remember?” and continued when he nodded mentally, “He wasn’t always that. He was a simple woodcutter in the distant past, a past your people have long forgotten. Much like your people do, he had a family. He loved them dearly and was a good man of his house.” Listening keenly, Aadi asked, “Did something happen that made him a murderer?”
Ember chuckled and said, “Murder did.” Aadi had to remind himself to be alert and on the lookout for the enemy, finding himself momentarily startled by Ember’s words. The stone said, “Aaron lived with his family outside a town, which was administered by a law keeper and his cohort. They had absolute authority over the town’s denizens and wielded it with an iron fist. So long as they collected sufficient goods in taxes from the townspeople, the ruler of the land turned a blind eye to their conduct. In trying times, matters became especially difficult for the people and the behaviour of the law keeper barbaric. Since Flint resided outside the town, he had little occasion to encounter the law keeper and whenever he did visit the town proper, he avoided the authorities as best as he could. That didn’t help him very long, however.”
“What happened?” Aadi asked, already expecting the worst. Ember confirmed his suspicions, “The law keeper’s eyes were drawn towards Aaron’s family, especially his wife. The dame paid no heed to his attentions and rebuffed his advances. She loved her husband and despised the law keeper regardless. You would be right in surmising that the vicious man and his coterie didn’t take this kindly.” “Damn,” Aadi hissed under his breath and felt Ember’s firm agreement. “Indeed,” the stone said, “Damn, indeed. Damn the evil. Damn the villain. But, beware!” “Hmm?” Aadi sent a question to the stone and it replied, “In one’s desperation, one’s actions may become bereft of wise governance. In the absence of such control, these actions may not only damn the villain, but the righteous as well! It is only too easy to be led astray by one’s anger. No matter how just one’s grievance is, unbridled anger is the true enemy and Flint discovered this pith to his eternal despair.”