Chapter 158: Clash of Blood ties

At the balcony where Reika stood casting. The beat of her heart pounding inside her chest while fingers twitched, she felt an uneasy feeling. A powerful gust of wind howled through the coven, thick with the scent of burning wood and something metallic, almost like blood. Reika narrowed her eyes as the weird wind began to settle at the edge of the balcony, churning unnaturally in the moonlight. And then he was there. Riftan. Her stepbrother materialized from the darkness, his once-familiar form twisted by something unholy. His hair had been silver, but it had flowed and he had life; now it cascaded over his shoulders and back in tangled strands.The wrinkles round his eyes were blood red orbs of malevolence. And in his right hand, clasped, was a human skull, its hollow sockets seeming to stare right through her very soul. "Reika," Riftan was saying, his voice low and distorted. "You cannot run from me." Reika's breath hitched as her body instinctively took a backward step. "Riftan. what happened to you?" A lazy, cruel smile pulled his lips high. "I have seen the truth," he whispered low and husky, "And now I have embraced it. The weak die, the strong triumph. And you, sister dearest, you're on the wrong side of power." The fists were Reika's, and knotted. "You sold your soul," she spat. "You let the dark take you." A mirthless laugh escaped Riftan's body. "I did what needed doing. The Lord of the Underworld showed me the way, and I walk it willingly. And now, dear sister, so must you-too walk it-or you will die." Reika's body straightened taut, pulled tight, as an image crystallized in her mind: dark mist curling with tendrils to wrap around arms and legs like some living vine, sucking in where it was feeding upon his powers. He is no longer my brother; some other thing has put on his face. "I will never join you," she said finally. The next second, there came a forward step. "And I won't let you take what belongs to me." The smile had left Riftan's face now, replaced by that cold killer glint, and he hissed out a promise: "Then you leave me no choice." In one fluid, formless motion, he was across the space-a blur of dark and speed as Riftan flung himself at her with a flash of agility no mere human could manage. Reika barely had time to react and raise a barrier of light that sent him backward in midair. He landed easily on the railing of the balcony, crouching like some kind of predator. "Still relying on the same old tricks, I see," Riftan mused, brushing a strand of silver hair from his face. "But you forget, I know your every move." Reika ground her teeth. "Then let's see if you can keep up." She flicked her wrist and a white hot blast shot towards him. Riftan sprang from her path, his body twisting mid-air to land with ease behind her. Before she could twist, he struck. His hand wove with a wave of dark magic. Violent shock through the bones and he sent her flying across the room onto the stone floor, but she heaved again to her feet with an awful clench of the teeth. "Pathetic," mocked Riftan; "You've held it still in you then have you, or are you simply afraid- Sister-to kill me? And it hit close to home, deep within Reika's heart. He had been her brother-at least once. But whatever this thing now standing before her was, well, this is not the brother she grew up with. "I don't want to kill you," she says, calling forth another bolt. "But neither will I go anywhere with you." Riftan's expression darkened at that. "Then fight like one! He growled and pounced, his fingers extended to claws that did not exist before. Reika barely deflected his attack in a violent explosion of light and shadow. Their magics in force shattered parts of the balcony railing and sent chunks of stone plummeting into the abyss below. The fight was intense: Riftan was fast, quicker than she remembered, strong. Every hit that could land shook her, and every counterattack absorbed into his body as if the magic was nothing. Reika knew she could no longer hold back. With one sudden breath, she called that most ancient magic buried in her blood. The earth around them shook as white flames burst about her, casing her in their shielding aura. Riftan's eyes widened a fraction. "So you have grown," he whispered. "Good." And with that, in one swift motion, he raised the skull in his hand, and from its vacant sockets flowed a dark mist that began to take shape into a huge, shadowy beast with eyes aglow. The monster roared at Reika and sprang toward her. Promptly, she flung forward her hands with an open display of a shining light shield indistinguishable from silver. An earsplitting roar shook every plank of the entire balcony the instant the monster hit. "You're strong, sister," Riftan said, stepping closer. "But not strong enough." Reika struggled to maintain the barrier, but she could feel it weakening. The dark magic Riftan wielded was different—it was raw, corrosive, almost impossible to counteract. I lose this fight, she realised. Not alone. She screamed and a surge burst out of her with such ferocity that Riftan and his dark creature stumbled back. The very force of her blast sent her flying backward, and her body crunched against stone. Dust cleared to find Riftan was stood at the rim of the blasted balcony, an unreadable expression upon his features. "Good," he mused, rolling his shoulders. "But you are still not ready." Reika struggled to her feet, breathless and sore. "Ready for what?" Riftan smirked. "For what is to come. You should arm yourself, sister. The war has only just begun."