62 The Light in the Darkness (2/2)
Stop being so arrogant, William. The voice rang out louder in his head, making Will cover his ears to try to drown it out. Now is not the time to be flippant, just listen. You have only borrowed power before, you have never magnified someone else's.
I can do that? Will had never thought it was possible, so he had never given thought to try it.
Of course, The voice took a gentler tone. How do you think you can give people the aura? How do you think you've kept Maya alive well past the time she was supposed to die? Will had never thought of how he gave the gift to others, he had never figured out the answer to how he was helping Maya, but now it was staring him in the face.
You're telling me that the King's Flame is some sort of battery? He didn't know how better to describe it.
He heard the voice within him draw out a sigh. I forgot that's what you all have been calling it these days. Will was confused at the voice's apparent disapproval. Yes, for lack of time, the 'King's Flame' acts as a conduit for power. You can release all of the aspects of this power, yet none the aspects will ever be as powerful as the wielder who owns the master flame him or herself.
You're going to have to run that by me one more time. The more the voice spoke to him, the more he was confused. Will could tell that the voice had a lot of experience with the aura, as much as Cainus had. Even though he was so insightful, Will couldn't make heads or tails of what the voice was saying.
The Master Flame is the gold outlining within the aura. It shows the vast maturity of the aura compared to the average wielder. Where there are master flames, you have the one known as the Omni Flame, which controls all elements. Will felt lucky that the span of a thought was only a second within normal time, or he would have felt stupid floating in the air with his nemesis only feet away waiting for another attack.
”Are you planning on attacking anytime soon, or should I end this?” The cloud of darkness evaporated from around Aremesis. His face was pulsing with dark veins as he waited for Will to continue his assault. ”I won't wait much longer.”
You have all you need to defeat my brother within you, William. Trust your instincts. With that, the voice was gone.
”Brother?” Will was confused for only a second. If Aremesis is the god of darkness, I was just speaking to his brother? Will couldn't help but let out a laugh as he put away his sword.
Will's actions grabbed Aremesis's attention. ”Something funny little worm?” He said with a raised eyebrow. ”Not that it matters, soon you will die.” Lifting his sword, he readied himself for another strike. ”Though, I would like some entertainment while you are still breathing.”
”The entertainment you will receive is not from me, Aremesis.” Will said as he dropped back to the ground beside Bianca. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he did something he had never done before, but felt as right to him as breathing.
Where his hand rested, the aura from his flame gathered, feeding into Bianca's light. ”Sorry it took so long for me to figure this out.” He said to her with a wry smile.
As his aura drained into Bianca, her light became even more overwhelming than before. ”I've included something else besides this power, do you understand?” he said with a wink.
”I'll make sure it gets where it belongs.” Bianca said as she focused her attention on Aremesis. ”I remember you, Aremesis.” The dark lord turned his attention to the white and gold aura. ”I remember your voice whispering to me in that dungeon, I remember you telling me to abandon hope in Will.”
”You should have listened to me, girl.” He spat venomously. ”If you did, you wouldn't have to die here.”
”No one is dying today,” she said as she pointed her staff at Aremesis. ”But you are going back where you belong.” Bianca focused her aura into a large beam of light, too large for Aremesis to avoid.
Within the beam of light, laughter rang out from all corners of the field. ”YOU MAY HAVE FREED MY VESSEL, BUT YOU DO NOT HAVE THE POWER TO BANISH ME.”
Will struggled with the large amount of energy it took to maintain Bianca's beam of light. Just as she was going to release it from exhaustion, a huge wave of power hit Will. He had never felt such raw flame before. His aura shifted from crimson and gold to something new.
Bianca and Will were standing in what seemed to be a pure ultraviolet flame. The power was overwhelming to bare, but Will kept his hand firmly planted on Bianca's shoulder, feeding her the power he knew would be enough.
The white beam of light expanded until it hit all of the castle and courtyard, every shadow in every crack of the city was exposed to the light. That is but a taste of the power you will attain in the future, William. Will heard the voice of the stranger in his head once more.
”YOU CANNOT CONTROL THIS REALM FOREVER, BROTHER! I WILL RETURN!” Aremesis boomed throughout the field.
”And I will be here every time to stop you, Aremesis.” Bianca was startled when she realized the voice behind her was not the voice of Will, but of a stranger. She tried to turn in her fright, but the hand squeezed tightly on her shoulder. ”Focus on what lies in front of you, Bianca.” He said as he fed more power through her.
Aremesis's curses died down to a whisper throughout the field, no louder than a wisp of wind through the trees. The moment the voice subsided, the darkness around Jake disappeared, leaving him falling for the earth.
Before his head hit the ground, Leo sent a gust of wind below Jake to slow his descent. He laid his best friend's brother down on the grassy plain softly before turning to the ultraviolet aura. For once since his journey with Will started, Leo's breath was caught in his throat. Behind Bianca was a pillar of pure power being fed into her. Will was no longer visible within the surge of power.
”WILL!” Leo shouted as the flame finally died out, leaving a sleeping Will on the ground.
”WILL!” Leo's voice was mimicked by a worried Maya who came up beside Will. ”Will, wake up!” She took him in her arms and shook him. ”He's barely breathing!”
”You still have to take me to a theme park,” Maya said softly as she brushed a strand of his hair from his face. ”You still have to get me pizza, and a new dress, and show me how planes work.”
Leo put a hand on Maya's shoulder. When she looked up, there were no tears in his eyes as he stared at Will. ”He will wake up eventually Maya, he is just exhausted from all of that power.”
”When?” She asked while cradling Will's head. ”When is he going to wake up?”
”That's up to him to decide.” Said a voice from behind Leo. ”Let's just let him rest for now.” Maya turned to see who the intruder was which spoke with such authority. She was shocked to see a face she had only seen in pictures her whole life. It felt like she was looking into the eyes of an aging Will. ”Let my son rest for now, for when he wakes,” He turned back to the castle. ”The real work will begin.”