Legacy - Christopher Pastrana (books to read in your 20s TXT) 📗

pushing her mount into a gallop Reinhardt turned forward again.
         Pushing his strength outwards and forward the cave wall exploded, having reached the edge of the cliff face. The echo on the towering walls reminded him of thunder, but it was hundreds of galloping horses breaking into the canyon. With only half a mile of space between the charging rebels and the surprised and scrambling Duzee army, they had a slight advantage.
         Already waves of wind attacks were tearing towards them. Only bothering to deflect the ones with enough power to hurt the riders, Reinhardt found it easy to protect his men. In what seemed like moments they had cleared half the distance between the canyon wall and the now advancing army. More powerful gale's had begun approaching and required more concentration to redirect.
         Lights began to flash to life from within the formation of men. Small balls of fire burned into the air along with even more gale's of wind. Gathering the fire into larger groups Reinhardt began passing them to Roas, allowing her to take control of them. Without missing a beat the younger elementalist began returning the fire to their owners. As the front line rushed towards the advancing charge hundreds began falling to the heat of their own attacks.
         Within striking distance of the main defense Reinhardt grabbed the strongest attacks he could find. Turning them back on their casters as he dulled them down, making them non-lethal. Rows of men flew through the air, and out of his way. Without slowing down they raced into the mass of men, continuing to push the men out of his way with their own attacks.
         Screams filled the air as the two groups collided behind Reinhardt's still advancing horse. Finally out of his defensive range, hell poured down onto the men who were now open to attack. Continuing his advance relentlessly, Roas stayed close behind, burning soldiers to ashes with stolen fire. Watching her fight from the corner of his eye it was clear that she could become a master. Having learned most of what he himself had taught her only days before, the beautiful woman fought with a ferocity he had never encountered before.
         Slipping in past his defense, a large slab of ground displaced beneath his horse and threw Reinhardt from the animal. The ground came rushing up at him, cracking a rib as he impacted. Rolling to a stop he quickly forced himself back to his feet. Searching for horse he could see it on the ground some distance away. It didn't take more than a glance to see that the fall had killed the animal.
         Collecting a passing gale Reinhardt pushed the wall of enclosing soldiers back, giving himself some room. In the distance fire was tearing through large groups of men. Swords and spears cracked and splintered like lightning in the night sky. Cries of pain and victory rang through his ears. There was no way to tell who was winning, but with the sheer size of this army he had a fairly good idea who would come out victorious.
         Gaining some courage a few soldiers lowered their spears and advanced on Reinhardt. The first to approach lost his eyes to to the Dragon Tail's blade. Still advancing on where he stood the next few soldier's didn't have time to react before wind threw them into some nearby onlookers. Wrapping the wire of his weapon around another man's legs, Reinhardt pulled him off balance and tripped up a few more running men.
         Finally feeling what he had been searching for, an unusually strong blade of wind tore through a few of his own men. Grabbing hold of the attack he dulled it and sent it whirling back at an approaching line of attackers. The battle died down as a line of men parted in the distance. Searching with the eyes of ravenous animal, Notus' eyes locked on Reinhardt. Breaking eye contact, Reinhardt could see Zephyrus and Eurus walk into the opening made by their brother. From behind he could feel Boreas approach and at that moment he could feel the eyes of all four men in his soul.
         "I'm glad you managed to find me." The fire of their hatred glowed in the night, but Reinhardt didn't care, his own fury burned inside his heart. "I've been waiting to pay you back for what you did to Briccio." The Four Winds

    “It's been a while.” Notus eyed Reinhardt suspiciously as they began to circle each other. Zephyrus and his other two brothers watched from where they stood, staying out of the fight. Notus wanted Reinhardt to himself.
         “I have to say that I feel honored. You managed to track me down, even in the midst of a war.” They already seen the Dragon's Tail once so Reinhardt had to be careful when he used it. The weapon excelled when it was used as a surprise, but its effectiveness dropped once the enemy knew about it. Making sure he kept his eyes on the other three winds he tried to find the best avenue for an attack.
         “After our run in out in the Shadow Forrest I have been dreaming of this fight.”
         “I'm sorry to disappoint but you haven't crossed my mind once." Unlatching his cloak and letting it fall to the ground Reinhardt felt his opportunity to strike. From somewhere in the distance Eurus shot an arrow at one of his blind spots, hoping to end the fight quickly. Boreas almost fell over himself trying to rush in and close the distance between them both. Notus was visibly furious with his brothers for interrupting but couldn't do anything about it now.
         As the arrow flew towards his back Reinhardt grabbed the wind that was controlling the arrow and let it slide by him. Turning toward Boreas he released the Dragon's tail, but quickly snapped the cord downwards, forcing the blade to whip up and backwards. Notus' whip caught the cord of the Dragon Tail. Pulling the whip tight the tip of Reinhardt's Dragon Tail to lash backwards wrapping around Notus' whip.
         “You're impressive!” Notus yelled, pulling as hard as he could on the whip. He wasn't trying to disarm him, the man knew that the weapon was attached to his arm, he simply needed him to be unable to move. Boreas leapt over a dead body, knife ready to strike. Watching him approach Reinhardt felt the wind gather around the blade like a sharp cover. Having to make the choice in that second he realized that he hadn’t been ready to do what he knew he needed to do.
         The bandits that had slain his family was one thing, but this man was a soldier, no different than he was, following orders and living day to day. Until now Reinhardt had managed to not kill anybody on the battle field. Though an effective weapon, the Dragon's Tail wasn't the most lethal of weapons. It was actually far better suited for disarming and incapacitating its enemies.
         As he grabbed hold of the blade with his will he saw the fear in Boreas' eyes. He understood in that moment that his own weapon belonged to Reinhardt and as the blade slammed into his shoulder he screamed loudly. Zephyreus tried to catch his brother but was off balance and crashed to the ground. Reinhardt thought the man should be lucky that he didn't want to kill him.
         Almost as if the whole event hadn't happened, Notus released his hold on the Dragon's Tail and moved behind Reinhardt to get a better vantage point. When another arrow came whirling at him from behind he grabbed it and threw it towards Notus. Not expecting to have to watch out for his brothers own attacks he barely missed it.
         "Watch what you're doing Eureas!"
         "I don't know what's going on. The arrows just keep flying past him!" Reinhardt was beggining to understand that Eureas was not the smartest person in the group.
         "Stop shifting! He can steal them from you!" Notus cracked his whip, trying to strike Reinhardt but he was just out of range. From what he could see the group didn't have much practice with their weapons without the use of the wind, so that was a massive advantage for him.
         "Notus, I can't shoot this thing without my power. My aim is awful!" Smiling inwardly he was happy that the man had felt the need too confirm his theory. Sometimes stupidity was a blessing. Notus probably didn't share his belief.
         Pushing closer the strikes became faster and faster, but keeping out of its limited range was easy. As he retracted the Dragon's Tail he felt an arrow shoot by his body. He hadn't felt it coming since there was no shift guiding it, but he wasn't worried since the arrow didn't come dangerously close to striking him.
         Changing tactics, Reinhardt rushed Zephyrus. While runing extracting enough of the metal cable on his arm to wrap around his neck and he lept over him. Not expecting the attack, Zephyrus couldn't defend himself. Using his weight and momentum Reinhardt threw him through the air towards a surprised Eureas. The two brothers tumbled to the ground, awkwardly, entangled in their gear.
         Reinhardt watched in amusement as the two started struggling to get back to their feet. In such a short time he had managed to reduce all four of the famed warriors into a joke. Having crushed their moral it was clear to everyone watching who had won the bout. Blood soaked soldiers fell to their knees in despair, while others cheered for what Reinhardt had been able to accomplish.
Watching Notus' carefully, Reinhardt could see rage burning deep within his eyes. Dropping his whip, the elementalist apprentice turned his head towards the sky. Straining his body past its breaking point a storm grew in the sky overhead. With his senses Reinhardt could feel the power of the attack, and understood what he was trying to do.
          "I will never let you defeat Master Astraeus! Our lives for his!" As Notus collapsed lifelessly to the ground the storm began to fall towards the battle field. Fighting to gain control of the attack it became clear that he couldn't, something was blocking his power. Without the ability to move the attack he was helpless.
Weapons clashed to the ground all around him as men from both sides ran in fear. The mass of wind broke into smaller and smaller pieces, gaining speed and hardening. Failing to steal the power from a nearby earth elementalist,