Elegy: Lost Shadow

A clamor of Crows could be heard as the murder made its way north, flying,  regardless of the heavy downpour. The stranger shifted his gaze towards the sky.

   "That's a lot of crows…."

He then shifted his gaze towards Anemone who was lying hopelessly on the ground. He began walking towards her.

     No sooner had he made it towards her than he got down to a single knee. Her pulse was weak and so did her breath run shallow. 

    "Looks like you have lost a lot of blood. Miss, if you don't mind….I want you to eat something."

     She rolled her head to her right so that she could look at him. Her eyes still possessed a greenish yellow glow to them. He stared into her eyes as he wondered,  What exactly am I looking at? There is no way this is normal. As things are right now….she might die from shock.

     But_ the alarming part is that her body is still prioritizing maintaining her magic release state rather than conserving her energy. All that state is doing is accelerating the blood loss and energy depletion.

      He placed his hand in his pocket and pulled out a grapefruit. It too was tanned silver. As soon as he held it close to her mouth, his eyes rolled left before he jumped back. Avoiding Kano who had dived towards him.

Kano landed on his left foot, sliding against the ground before his knee landed on the ground. He planted his right foot into the ground. His body was releasing a black fog like aura which dispelled as soon as he landed. He then continued hyperventilating as his gaze was still fixed on the stranger. He stood in front of Anemone.

The hell?....his body is already integrating the magic in the fruit. I never thought that was possible. No matter how weak the allergen factor is , it would take at least one hour for that to happen. But, it has only been about seven minutes at most.

As he was hyperventilating, he thought, I don't know what happened just now. First, I felt super sore...then suddenly, my body felt super light. I don't feel as much pain as before. He got back to his feet.

No sooner had he gotten back to his feet than the body of the bystier ignited. Its body was coated in reddish flames. Is the magic finally dissipating? the stranger wondered.

As the former was looking towards the beast, he felt a touch. Fingers pulling against his pair of trousers. He looked down only to see her muttering something. He got down to his knees and got his ear close to her mouth to hear what she was saying. Immediately he heard her, his eyes widened in shock.

The stranger had his gaze fixed on the lion's corpse.

"Hey! we need to get out of here right now!"

"Huh." he shifted his gaze back to Kano. "What are you going on about?"

Damn it....Anemone won't be able to last much longer. He placed one hand under her shoulder and the other under her knees. He carried her in a cradle carry position.

"We should go! She told me that thing is the furthest thing from dead. She usually never misses when its something relating to magic!"

The stranger smiled before he replied, "The probability of that thing still being alive is zero. I saw to it that I shattered its skull. Its brain is probably on the ground right now. There is nothing that can still be alive after that."

"Just start running! She said it will start moving soon. You know what, suit yourself." He took off running. Heading for the wall of trees straight ahead.

"Kano.....wait," she muttered, her soft voice echoing against his ear. He could hardly hear it past the sound of the rain. "We...need him. I need him to carry the boy...I am sure he is nearby if that bystier never chased after him."

A boy...."Right, I saw him entering that wall of tall trees earlier."

"I....am glad that...he is safe."

The stranger stared at the bystier's corpse without moving even the slightest muscle. As he was staring at it, he saw its right front pede move. It slided against the ashen soil.

His left hand became coated in a silver aura. "Looks like she wasn't off the mark. That thing is very much alive even without a head. Should I wait ant try again?"

He saw its eyes roll as it stared directly at him. No,that might just end up being a waste of energy. I might just end up getting cornered just like they were. The aura that coated his hand dissipated before he took off running after them. He was able to catch up.

"Ask her if she knows how to kill that thing. What am I even saying, she probably doesn't. If she did, that thing would be dead by now."

"She said she needs you to carry a little boy for her. He is probably by the trees." He looked back at her only to see her staring at her as though she had something to say.

"Tell him....I think...I have figured out how to kill it. If he helps me, I will tell him how it can be done."

"She says if you help her, she will explain how that thing works. You should be able to kill it."

"Understood then." He sped up and jumped over the massive coiled roots. He jumped into the massive wall of trees.

"First, to find somewhere to lay low for a while." He was able to locate the boy who had fallen unconscious. A crow stood beside him, watching him as he slumbered. Its eyes had a red glow to them and its talons were covered in flames. A brick red flame.

Upon being caught in its line of sight, it flew towards him aiming to scratch his eyes. He dodged it before he grabbed it with his left hand. Lightning art: Centered. The sound of sparks could be heard all around his hand before he crashed it. The magic it possessed scattered before he threw it away.

He sighed. I wish I didn't break my right arm to smash its head in. He then picked up the boy before he continued running.

They went deeper into the forest until the finally found a cave. The ground was damp with moss growing everywhere. As soon as he made it, he placed her on the ground.

The stranger put the boy on the ground. He then took out the grape fruit. "If you don't want your friend to die, you should feed her this. It is imbued with my magic so it should help her heal."

"In what world is that true. If she eats that, the magic in it will basically be like poison to her."

The stranger bite his thumb until it started bleeding. "Look," he said before he showed Kano his thumb.

"What am I supposed to be looking at?" As he was looking at the wound, he saw it suddenly stop bleeding and close up. Healing without even any scar forming.

"What the hell?"

"How do I put this...my unique ability partly has regeneration or advanced healing. The same healing factor can also affect others though not through direct contact with the magic coming from my body. That's when it will be poisonous because it will trigger their allergen factor."

The allergen factor. It is a component of a mage's spiritual vibrations that rejects magic from other sources. Whenever in contact with magic that is considered foreign, from another source than their own bodies, the nodes get corrupted which might lead to illness, organ failure and in severe cases, death. The factor's strength differs from person to person.

"I figured out a way around it. You know how we can eat meat from bystiers even though it still carries remains of the magic they wielded, it kind of works the same way. By imbuing my spiritual vibrations into a seedling or sucker, I can nurture a plant to grow carrying the same vibrations responsible for my advanced healing factor.

When the plant matures, it produces fruits that can temporarily grant someone the same healing factor as me. Well not every fruit ends up like that. When the person ingests it, my vibrations are treated as being part of nature and the allergen factor won't react as strongly.

Here, you can feed her yourself. If you don't believe me, just look at yourself if you are wondering whether it works or not."

Kano took it before he replied, "I don't think you are lying.....I mean even though I still feel sore, I do feel alot better. I can't even feel the burns anymore."

"It's sweet....."she thought as she swallowed the fruit.

"One question though.....how come when I ate it, I felt pain all over."

"That's what I call the initial reaction. It tells me whether the fruit will work normal or not. It's kind of caused by the magic as it forces itself into several parts of your body. Depending on the sensitivity of your allergen factor, one of two reactions will occur. One is excessive pain, which means healing will start soon.....the second is....."

As he was talking, he was suddenly interrupted by a gust of wind that came from Anemone's body. They jumped back to dodge the gust of wind which went and hit the cave wall.

She began releasing a green fog like aura as her bracelets shattered to pieces and began rotating around her. They kept projecting gusts of wind which trapped her in a sphere of wind. The sphere only grew bigger.

"We have a problem," the stranger said before he grabbed the unconscious boy and moved away from it.

"What's happening?!"

"Looks like she has rejected the fruit." Her allergen factor must be really strong.

"What will happen now?!"

"Unless the magic is contained in some way, it will continue to spiral out of control. As things stand, her body is desperately trying to expel the magic she just received from the fruit."

He glanced towards the wall where the gust of wind that was projected earlier hit. There was no damage in any way. Not even the moss got knocked off regardless of the fact that it was a really strong gust of wind.

"We have an even bigger problem! "

"What is it now?!" Kano exclaimed.

"She is releasing non physical magic or spiritual magic."

"So!"

"That means that she must have been born with a strong affinity to spiritual magic. Right now, her instincts are prioritizing the form of magic that it considers the most natural to her. What I am trying to say is that if a person lost control of physical magic, their physical body suffers as their tissues are ripped apart.

People can survive that, it is not to dangerous. But, what do you think will happen if a person loses control of non physical magic?"

"No way," he shouted, "Don't tell me....."

"That's right, it will destroy all the nodes...and if any of the nodes found in her major organs gets destroyed, the organ they belong to will seize function immediately."

"You are honestly telling me that.....she could honestly die." Damn it. He bit his lower lip as he watched the sphere continue growing in size. It began clashing with the ceiling of the cave.