Seed Of Speed

"Finally! Let's stop this storm!" Rosepetal said.

"Wait, Residing Elder, am I right in thinking the island's wards have been activated?" Radiantspear asked.

An older man in black robes appeared out of thin air and said, "They have been. This storm has reached hurricane level and many trading sh.i.p.s and seaside villages would be in danger if it is released out of our boundaries." With his statement finished, the elder disappeared once again.

"Don't bother wasting your power then," Radiantspear sighed.

"We can dismantle the spell!" Rosepetal pressed.

"They created a hurricane in less than ten minutes! Obviously, someone on their side is skilled in storm magic, and no one here is! We would only be able to dissipate the storm quickly by spreading it out which is now impossible with wards up. Dreamcaller, Quicksand, Blackshield, prepare the field, we will fight them here!" Radiantspear instructed.

While the three that were mention started laying down their spells, Hawkeye dove down and landed on the ground. "They are less than a hundred meters out and they've split into three teams to circle us. I counted four Brightmelodys, one in each side group and two in the group to the south. I also recognized someone's sister," Hawkeye said, eyeing Blueserpent.

"Flowingrock is here?" Blueserpent asked, a break in his normal aloof demeanor.

"I don't know any other black-haired adapts that would cling to Silverflame's arm," Hawkeye replied with a smirk.

"Silverflame," Blueserpent growled.

"Your sister's relationship is her matter and not something you should meddle in," Radiantspear reminded.

"I know," Blueserpent said, returning to his normal attitude.

"Quiet... Do you here that?" Riverblade asked as she stepped out from under the covered patio of the Meeting House.

"I don't he... wait, is that a ki'ta?" Hawkeye questioned with his eyes closed.

"He's here!" Radiantspear shouted as he pulled out a white-metal spear that had a tassel of fine white hair just below the spearhead. "Get into formation!"

Those who were still attempting to stay dry were now forced out into the storm. Quicksand had already spread out his domain, {The Great Sand Sea}, so that the sandy area in a fifteen-meter radius was under his control. Also covering the same range, Blackshield had activated his own domain, {Black Shield of the Vengeful}, which took the appearance of a watery dome that held a black shimmer. Outside of those two layers, Dreamcaller had wrapped the area in a weak illusion to hide them, but the moment someone connected to the spell to dissolve it, it would change to attack their mind with horrid vision, under the effects of her spell, {Devils Called from the Dream}. Their allies could pass through these spells with ease, but foes would find themselves kicking a steel plate.

"Look! The southern sky!" Quicksand shouted over the rumble of thunder and golden lightning streaked through the sky.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Because the song was normally just under four minutes long, Diego took some artist liberties extending the breaks between the verses and chorus, and especially the beginning to give him a chance to build up all the parts of the Spell-Song. His 'Hell flame' had been the inspiration behind his choice of song. It was not a flame that could burn, but one that filled you with a deep sense of dread. It attacked your mind and made you to repent your sins.

Two Diegos stood shoulder to shoulder, one holding his ki'ta and the other his keyboard. His other two bodies were at the maximum distance they could reach, fifty meters, which left them a little short of the two different groups, but everyone knew their cues and what to do, so it was not a problem. The guitar started the song followed by a few piano notes and a trumpet, supplied by two keys on the keyboard, Johnny Cash's "Riders in the Sky".

Golden lightning raced through the sky and, above the heads of the two Diegos, a fiery red tear opened up in the sky, purely for theatrics. Massive bulls, the size of elephants, charged out of the rift, coated in the black hell flames. Their eyes were burning red coals and their hooves were silver. Despite them running through the air, the thunder of their hooves rang out across the entire island.

With the sound of the hooves, Moonfall, followed closely by Stormblade and Tovao, charged forward, but she stopped just short of Dreamcaller's spell, where her golem had nestled itself in the brush. She knew better than anyone how nasty her big sister's spell could be, but other than Brightmelody, no one else was equipped to deal with it.

"Once I break the illusion, bind me, or I could attack you. Take me away from the field while I fight the mental demon and stay with me, Tovao. We'll rejoin you and Brightmelody as soon as possible," Moonfall said as they ran.

"Got it, I'll cover your retreat," Stormblade said.

Moonfall raised her hands up at the boundary of the of Dreamcaller's ward and pierced the illusion with her mana. The image of the empty, weather beaten shattered like glass and the ten-man team was revealed under their black, watery dome. The world in Moonfall's eyes spun as the rain turned to fire and burned her skin. She cried out as she clutched her arms, but then a giant snake slithered up. She started to raise her staff, but the snake threw out its tail and wrapped her up.

Tovao managed to loop the rope around Moonfall's arms just before she started launching spells at him and he let out a sigh of relief. Stormblade wrapped a layer of violet lightning around his sword and jumped forward, knocking an arrow out of the air that had been heading for Tovao.

"GO ALREADY!" Stormblade shouted as he began deflecting a volley of arrows while his feet began sinking into the sand.

"Sorry about this Moonfall," Tovao said, scooping her up into his arm and leapt away with a fiery trail.

Just as Tovao retreated, Diego's voice rang out over the roar of the storm...

"An old cowboy went riding out one dark and windy day,

Upon a ridge he rested as he went along his way,

When all at once a mighty herd of red-eyed cows he saw,

Plowing through the ragged skies and up a cloudy draw..."

A {Water Clone} of Diego came charging in on the back of Tadrith, his griffin golem, and moved to block the barrage of arrows assaulting Stormblade. He was followed by the herd of black bulls that began to circle the dome of water but did not attack. Stormblade hopped up on the back of the griffin and Tadrith took off into the air with a flap of its wings.

"Do you think he will follow?" Stormblade asked.

"I'm just your chauffeur, it's your job to make him follow," the {Water Clone} replied with a shrug.

"Just keep me on this damn bird," Stormblade said as he held his sword over his head.

Water, wind, and violet lightning wrapped around the blade of his sword. When it was completely engulfed, he chopped down, and the energies rushed out, taking the form of a massive sword which chopped down on the watery dome. It rippled from the impact, but the black shimmer inside the water intensified then suddenly, a black lance shot up from the dome, aiming for the pair in the sky.

"Their brands were still on fire and their hooves were made of steel,

Their horns were black and shiny and their hot breath he could feel,

A bolt of fear went through him as they thundered through the sky,

For he saw the riders coming hard and he heard their mournful cries..."

Stormblade and the {Water Clone} dodged the attack and continued their assault, trying to draw out Hawkeye from the protection of his group. They were flat out challenging him to an aerial duel, the very thing he prided himself on. Three more strikes of {Blade of the Storm} and finally, a figure zoomed up and out of the water dome. Hawkeye sent out five arrows in the blink of an eye as he raced towards the pair. They dodged by taking a nose dive straight down and the chase was on.

The two [Speed Clones] without instruments had not been idle as they created a literal army of {Lightning Clones}, {Water Clones}, and {Wind Clones} as the air was saturated with the three energies due to the storm. Each one of these clones had a special job, and as the black bulls rushed passed them, one by one, they jumped into the 'image' of the bull. In truth, the bulls were nothing more than an illusion coated with his hell flames, but they were perfect for covering their approach.

"Yippie I oh oh oh,

Yippie I aye ye ye,

Ghost riders in the sky..."

The lead bull shook its large head and turned from circling the dome, to charging straight at it. The bulls seemed to leap over the dome, but in that motion, the clone hiding inside jumped at the dome and detonated. The water screen rippled once again, but another and another clone exploded on the barrier. The black light grew brighter and brighter, but the weakness of the Blackshield's defense was that it chased the flow of mana back to its attacker and clones were made up of their own source. Of course, not many people could use such a method to combat the spell without the advantages Diego had, but it was a viable method if he was defending from an army that understood the flaw.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"This is a little ridiculous, right? Even if he is a Soul-Singer..." Quicksand said as he watched the giant bulls rushing out of a world of fear.

It was not just him who was affected as everyone, but Dreamcaller and Radiantspear looked on in horror. Radiantspear huffed as his body started to give off a golden light as he channeled [Holy Aura], pulled from his 'holy' light affinity. He was simply spreading out his chi as he fixed it to the 'holy' attribute to mitigate some of the suppression effect of Brightmelody's spell.

"I need to train with him more often," Dreamcaller said quietly to herself, a rare sparkle in her eye. These black flames had stirred up her curiosity as they perfectly suited her magics.

"Wake up, they are sending someone to break the illusion," Radiantspear said.

"Moonfall," Dreamcaller sighed, recognizing her junior sister.

"I'll aim for the one who grabs her," Hawkeye said as he drew his bow.

He shot his arrow the moment the illusion wall fell, but it was intercepted by a sword wielding shaman. He smirked and pulled out a handful of arrows while his quiver refilled magically. One after another, he fired the arrows in rapid succession with the speed and precision honed from countless hours of practice. He was restricted using his sonic arrows and killing shots, but he was more than confidant when fighting against an apprentice.

"An old cowboy went riding out one dark and windy day,

Upon a ridge he rested as he went along his way,

When all at once a mighty herd of red-eyed cows he saw,

Plowing through the ragged skies and up a cloudy draw..."

A gray stone griffin blocked his sight, but when he turned his arrows on the rider, they passed right through him. The black bulls landed and circled Blackshield's barrier while the swordsman jumped on the golem. Hawkeye's fingers twitched as he watched them soar into the air and start to launch attacks against the barrier. He wanted to rush up as well, but he needed Radiantspear's support against the cursed flames.

"Their brands were still on fire and their hooves were made of steel,

Their horns were black and shiny and their hot breath he could feel,

A bolt of fear went through him as they thundered through the sky,

For he saw the riders coming hard and he heard their mournful cries..."

"I don't know how long that apprentice can keep up those attacks, but we all know they are baiting out Hawkeye. I can't hit them at this distance and it's just wasting my energy," Blackshield complained.

"Can you handle this on your own?" Radiantspear asked with a sigh.

"Of course, I can! I am the best flyer in the entire sect, masters included!" Hawkeye bragged.

"Three minutes, three minutes and I want you to return to the group even if you haven't caught him, understand?" Radiantspear ordered.

"Yeah, but I'll be back in two."

Radiantspear poked Hawkeye in the forehead with a sigh as he placed a blessing on him. Hawkeye rubbed his forehead grumpily then kicked off the ground and flew out of the dome.

"Get ready, they are going to try something," Radiantspear reminded.

Rosepetal pulled out three large, silver seeds and held them between her fingers as her hand glowed with a vibrant green light. Once she threw the seeds would explode with a mass of vines, ensnaring her target. It was not her named spell, but it was unique throughout the sect, nonetheless, {Silvervine Snare}.

Blueserpent placed his hands together then slammed them down on the ground. A meter in front of him a blue inferno erupted and then sunk into ground, turning it an unnatural blue molten color. He dug his fingers into the sand as he roared and stood up, a molten blue snake rising out of the pit, {Molten Serpent of the Blue Flame}.

"Yippie I oh oh oh,

Yippie I aye ye ye,

Ghost riders in the sky..."

Suddenly, the black bulls circling turned and charged the barrier. Blackshield frowned as he thought this was a foolish move, until the first real attack hit, and he understood Brightmelody's ploy. Instantly, his opinion of his fellow Core Disciple changed as he began to cast the second form of his custom spell, {Black Shield of the Vengeful, Wicked's Thorn}.

Blackshield understood the weakness of his signature spell and had been creating new ways to make up for it. He was now able to take control over the reflected energies that were building up in the barrier and used it to create a series of black lances to skewer the bulls, and the clones hiding inside. He destroyed a few, but there were always more to replace them it seemed.

"Their faces gaunt, their eyes were blurred, their shirts all soaked with sweat,

He's riding hard to catch that her but ain't caught em yet,

Cause they got to ride forever on that range up in the sky,

On horses snorting fire as they ride on hear their cries..."

Now, ten people on horseback galloped out of the rift in the sky, each with the face of one of the Core Disciples. They rushed straight at the herd which caused them to turn and change their direction of attack. Blackshield had to constantly adjust his lances to match the clone bombing against his shield, but then the riders all charged the barrier as a group.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Their faces gaunt, their eyes were blurred, their shirts all soaked with sweat,

He's riding hard to catch that her but ain't caught em yet,

Cause they got to ride forever on that range up in the sky,

On horses snorting fire as they ride on hear their cries..."

"The hors.e.m.e.n have appeared, so it's our turn. We'll get the shield down and you drop in!" Silverflame said to Kang.

"I'm ready," Kang replied and took a swig from his flask.

Flowingrock controlled her flying carpet golem to fly all of them up and merge with the image of one of the riders as it rushed by. Silverflame closed his eyes as he channeled his family's spell, {Judgement of the Silver Flame} and combined it with the {Fire Dragon's Rage} spell to give it a more powerful form. When the riders charged, they moved with halfway before Silverflame released his spell.

A dragon of silver flames erupted from one of the bodies of the riders and roared as it shot down at the shield. It crashed into the dome and engulfed it with the 'holy' flame that sought to consume the 'dark' barrier, but the counterattack never came.

Silverflame could only let out a tired sigh as he prepared another volley. It may not have reflected his attack, but the shape of the flames meant the barrier was still intact. The Spell-Song may return his mana, but the spell still took a heavy toll on his reserves, especially under these elements. Just as he released his second silver flaming dragon, the dome protecting the other team burst open as a blue magma snake shot out and took the silver dragon head-on, crashing through it despite being covered in the silver flames. Unlike Blackshield's barrier, there was no Shadow mana for the silver flames to feed on, so they dissolved rather quickly, leaving behind an angry snake that was lashing out at the illusions.

Flowingrock turned the carpet and flew the trio over the heads of the opposing team. Kang stood up as he finished the last of his bottle then jumped off the back with a laugh. Four yellow talisman papers appeared in his hand while he fell, and he filled them with chi. He landed with a solid thud, stunning the Core Disciples as they never excepted anyone to charge into their group alone, but before they could reach, he slammed the talismans on the ground.

The moment the talismans touched the ground, white, blue flames consumed the papers instantly, unleashing the spells trapped inside. With his position as the center, four large walls of ice thirty meters long, fifteen meters tall, and two meters thick erupted from the ground, forcing the Core Disciples to split up quickly.

It only took a split second for the walls to form, but the Core Disciples were not inexperience to be completely separated into four smaller groups. Radiantspear, Dreamcaller, and Rosepetal were in one zone, Lightningrush, Blackshield, and Blueserpent were in a second, and Quicksand, Riverblade, and Mountainaxe were in a third, leaving the fourth quadrant empty, but the plan had worked well enough.

"Time to shine, Jalu! Show everyone what you can do," Rainshower said to the little fox in her arms.

The white fox gave a bark and Rainshower tossed her up into the air. With her tails flickering from side to side, Jalu flew up into the air and landed on top of the icy walls. The Core Disciple team was already trying to break the walls, but then Jalu gave an echoing howl which made her body glow. The walls below her feet also took on the same blue glow and visibly started repairing itself, even taking a chuck from Blueserpent's snake since it had stabbed its tail into the wall.

"As the riders loped on by him he heard one call his name,

If you want to save your soul from hell a-riding on our range,

Then cowboy change your ways today or with us you will ride,

Trying to catch the devil's herd, across these endless skies…"

The bulls that had been circling again after Silverflame's attack now turned and charged the Core Disciples again. Each one of them sent out a volley of attacks, but they passed through harmlessly the illusions which continued through them and disappeared into the ice wall, transferring the black flames to the walls.

Rainshower walked forward as the bulls charged and raised her hands. She casted a four-ringed spell known as {Thousand Needle Rain} which turned the constant downpour into painful, sharp projectiles. Just like her named spell, {Rain Shower of Life}, she kept her mind linked to the spell to control who exactly got hit by the spell, or even her allies would be in danger.

Only Diego's true body remained playing the song as even his [Speed Clone] next to hit put away the ki'ta, so that the clone, as well as the other two hidden in the trees, could summon up another squad of clones, but this time, they were all made from the black hell flames. Even with his bardic powers restoring his mana and the massive boon of mana that [Heaven's Celestial Eye] gave him, Diego's reserves were quickly draining, and the final attack of his Spell-Song would leave him just enough mana not to blackout from the lack of energy, but his eyes were shining! Not only had he recreated this powerful spell from his imagination, but his plan was working against the strongest junior members of his sect. Now, all he wanted was to charge in and fight with his spear to find out where he truly stood in this new world he found himself in… but that would have to wait until phase two of his plan.

"Yippie I oh oh oh,

Yippie I aye ye ye,

Ghost riders in the sky..."

Only the ghost riders wearing the faces of the Core Disciple remained, but each of them raised their heads and gave a silent howl as if they were singing as well while they circled the Core Disciple team faster and faster. Each of the {Black Fire Clones} raced forward and threw themselves into the three sections were the other group was divided then detonating once they were close. The black fire could not hurt them, but the sheer volume of corrupting flames was dimming the golden aura Radiantspear, and Dreamcaller and Rosepetal who were the closest to hit still retained his blessing.

"Ghost riders in the sky,

Ghost riders in the sky,

Ghost Riders in the sky!"

As Diego's voice echoed with the last line of the song, golden lightning streaked through the clouds up above and three bolts crashed down on the small groups, forcing them to take on the heavenly lightning, but the move also symbolized one more thing. It was time for phase two to begin as the members of Diego's team revealed themselves and charged towards the nearest group.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The riders charged, but just before they reached the barrier, one exploded, turning into a dragon made of silver flames and crashed hard into the dome. Blackshield was hit by a backlash as the 'holy' flames sought to cleanse his spell and coughed up a small amount of blood.

"How are you doing, Blackshield?" Radiantspear asked.

"The shield will break with the next attack," Blackshield said, wiping his mouth.

"Alright, Blueserpent, destroy the next silver dragon. We've let Brightmelody have his spotlight for long enough. We are breaking his spell!" Radiantspear instructed.

"Ha! At last," Mountainaxe laughed as he shouldered his two-handed axe.

"Where is Hawkeye?" Quicksand asked.

"Still fighting that swordsman, or possibly defeated," Radiantspear replied calmly.

"Defeated? But Hawkeye is nearly a Master in strength!" Quicksand said.

"And if he was ganged up on? The power of Brightmelody's magic could easily suppress him once he loses my blessing, and even if they are apprentices, that spell of the swordsman shows he has some strength. We need to sti…"

"There! Go, Sinyo!" Blueserpent shouted, cutting off Radiantspear.

The blue magma snake jumped into the air and broke through Blackshield's barrier. It met the silver flame dragon, causing it to explode and coat the snake with the flames, but that only strengthened it. Before they could do anything else, the group saw someone falling through the air and then land right in the middle of the group.

"What the…" Quicksand started.

"MOVE!" Radiantspear shouted, noticing the burning talismans in the martial apprentice's hands.

Most followed Radiantspear's order, but Mountainaxe and Lightningrush both charged him. Unfortunately for them, the ice wall formed faster than they could move without their evasion techniques.

Lightningrush swung his two-handed hammer, and despite nearly shattering the wall, it rapidly repaired itself under the remaining power of talismans. Mountainaxe chopped as well, but he did not have any better luck. Blueserpent clicked his tongue and his snake returned to his side then lashed out with its tail. Unlike the others, his snake was able to stab through the wall and it started cutting a hole through the wall. Before he could make a hole though, a howl broke through the roar of the storm and the walls lit up with a blue light and started repairing, and even strengthening, the walls. Even the magma snake could not break through anymore as its tail was forced to turn to solid stone with the new power coursing through the wall and it was forced to abandon it.

"As the riders loped on by him he heard one call his name,

If you want to save your soul from hell a-riding on our range,

Then cowboy change your ways today or with us you will ride,

Trying to catch the devil's herd, across these endless skies…"

The black bulls that had been circling them, turned and charged straight into the walls. No one trusted the bulls after watching them attack Blackshield's barrier, so everyone launched attacks at the bulls, but the attacks just passed through harmlessly. The bulls broke apart when they hit the walls, but the black flames jumped to the walls.

Quicksand and Lightningrush both had the thought to race out of the ice zone, but that was when the storm picked up to another level. The winds whipped them harder and harder the further out they went, but what made them turn back was the needle-like rain. With the high saturation of water and wind mana, Rainshower's spell was super charged and able to break through their natural defense.

"Yippie I oh oh oh,

Yippie I aye ye ye,

Ghost riders in the sky..."

The riders turned and charged, but unlike the bulls, tens of clones of Brightmelody jumped through the illusion and exploded with the black flames. Some were stopped before they could reach the small groups, but others made it through. The entire area where the three groups stood was blanketed with the black flames, eating away at the blessing Radiantspear had casted on everyone.

"Ghost riders in the sky,

Ghost riders in the sky,

Ghost Riders in the sky!"

There was not even a rumble from above as the golden lightning stirred. Lightningrush could sense the fluctuations in the air and lifted his head, seeing the danger coming.

"ABOVE!!!" he shouted as his whole body lit up with violet bolts of lightning.

Though few could actually hear him, the others sensed the energy above them just before it came crashing down. Lightningrush leapt up into the air to meet the bolt aimed at his group while Mountainaxe intercepted his group's and Radiantspear dealt with the bolt of lightning for his group. While Lightningrush was able to dissipate most of the electrical energy, Mountainaxe and Radiantspear had a much harder time, leaving their bodies steaming from the heat.