"What?" Eleanor recoiled. He saw how his opponent's aura spread out on a massive scale. As if someone had poured alcohol into an already blazing flame, it surged violently. The shadows in the hall, cast by the torches along the walls, stretched outward and slithered toward Nero like snakes.
"What do you want from me?" he asked, fear in his voice.
Nero looked into Eleanor's bright blue eyes with his deep black ones, revealing no thoughts. "It is very simple," he answered, "Use your magic."
"My magic? I have no fucking idea how to use my magic! I just got it!" Eleanor cursed.
Nero did not respond. Instead, he hurled a dark spear at him. Eleanor jumped aside, but the spear struck his arm brutally and pierced straight through it. It severed the limb in a fountain of blood. The arm fell to the ground, and so did Eleanor.
He flinched in pain, yet he was still so numbed by the torment from earlier that the pain barely registered. Still, panic began to rise as Nero already threw a second spear. Once again, Eleanor tried to dodge, but failed. The spear pierced his leg.
Eleanor hissed in pain as he collapsed again. His leg was useless now.
Nero let out a heavy sigh. He removed his long cloak. Slowly, he walked toward Eleanor. He raised his hand. Another black blade. Another hit.
Eleanor felt his body beginning to give up, felt himself slowly approaching death. He had lost far too much blood.
"Use your magic, Eleanor Davis. Prove to me that sparing you was no mistake."
Eleanor spat blood and tried to push himself up, but another blade struck him and threw him back into the dirt. He rolled onto his back. Above him, Nero towered. And above himself, he saw the prismarine star that represented his aura. If only he could use that power. If only he knew how to draw from it.
Nero threw another blade. Eleanor flinched as a new wave of pain overcame him.
But he had noticed something.
The attack Nero had made, the blade, was like a part of his aura that he had sent toward Eleanor. He had seen it clearly, how a piece of it split off and rushed into the darkness.
He did not fully understand it, but he gave it a try nevertheless.
When Nero prepared his next attack, Eleanor took a deep breath. He raised his arm. Then Nero hurled the darkness at him. Just as he had done with the symbol before, Eleanor reached for it. Not for the darkness, but at the chaotic Aura deep within.
Eleanor almost cried as he saw that it actually worked.
Prismarine magic shot from his palm and collided with the blade, stopping it mid-air. To the others, that was all that happened, but Eleanor saw an internal struggle. His prismarine magic clashed with Nero's Aura until it overcame it.
He pushed, and the projectile obeyed him. It flew back toward its creator. Nero casually raised his hand and struck it aside.
The darkness shattered instantly.
Now it was Eleanor who took the initiative. This time, he did not try to control just a small fragment of Nero's aura. He reached directly for the source.
Prismarine magic surged toward Nero, who answered with darkness. He threw it against the wave, but it was absorbed and sent back at him.
Nero laughed as he jumped back.
He threw another spear of darkness at Eleanor. Eleanor caught it again, but this time he was not strong enough. The spear only slowed instead of being redirected.
Nero raised his hand. Darkness moved behind Eleanor. But Eleanor immediately noticed how parts of Nero's aura shifted behind him. Bracing himself on one knee, he spun around and struck at the tentacle reaching for him.
His prismarine magic worked again, though imperfectly. He had to pour more of his own power into it. But he felt it now. Control.
After a moment, the dark tentacle faded.
Eleanor turned back, only to see Nero standing directly in front of him.
He struck immediately, but Nero raised his hand.
"Stop. That is enough."
Eleanor lowered his hand hesitantly. He breathed heavily as the smoke of the battle slowly faded. He was still kneeling on one leg. His right arm was gone, and a large hole remained in his thigh. In addition, there were cuts and stab wounds scattered all over his body, though none of them were nearly as severe as the first two, which showed that Nero had begun to rein in his power.
The latter watched him.
"Try to heal yourself."
Eleanor looked at him. Now that the adrenaline was fading, the weakness from blood loss finally caught up with him. He barely remained conscious.
"Ho..." He coughed up a mouthful of blood. "I do not know how," he said weakly.
Nero pointed at the small Polykenas who had healed the colossus earlier. "With his magic, of course," he said, as if it was obvious. Eleanor blinked as he looked with his last strength at the small Polykenas Nero pointed at. He tried to concentrate, to regain the feeling he had just experienced.
He tried again to command his magic. At first, it refused, but then finally a faint prismarine light shone from his palm. He directed his hand toward the small Polykenas, who watched Eleanor with three yellow eyes in distrust, but in front of his Duce, he did not dare to step back.
So he simply stood still and, without resisting, let Eleanor's magic affect him. With curiosity, the other generals observed the scene, but for them, Eleanor's magic entered the small Polykenas and then simply disappeared. The only thing they saw was how the Polykenas briefly flinched, but then only looked confused.
For Eleanor, however, a small battle had just taken place, where his prismarine colored aura fought against the green aura of the small Polykenas until it finally tore a piece from it and returned to Eleanor. Then he concentrated and, as he had observed before, let the foreign magic flow over himself. His entire body began to glow in a beautiful light. Immediately, Eleanor felt much better. He felt new strength rising within him. The wounds began to slowly close. Nero briefly activated his magic, and Eleanor's severed arm was lifted by darkness and then pressed onto his stump. Eleanor hissed briefly as the nerve endings of the arm reconnected with his body. For a moment, it felt like his arm had fallen asleep, only a thousand times more painful.
Just before his body was completely healed, his mind finally failed. He had already been at his limit from the fight with Nero. He no longer had enough magic to fully heal himself. In addition, his mind was still overwhelmed by the hours of torment he had endured.
Since he had fallen unconscious before he could fully heal himself, Nero ordered the small Polykenas to assist Eleanor.
Meanwhile, Nero stepped toward his generals. "Fascinating..." Ester muttered again, as if he could only use that one word.
"Indeed," Nero confirmed. "I have never seen such a kind of magic before. Have you?" he asked, directed at Ramor. Since he was by far the oldest among them, he was the most likely to have encountered such magic before. But he shook his head. "I have never heard of anyone capable of not only copying the magic of others, but even stealing it. But I am glad we discovered this, because it is a massive flaw in the symbol network of the fortress. I will immediately begin trying to find a solution!"
Nero nodded. "Do that."
"What do we do with him?" Xersies asked, nodding toward Eleanor.
"Let him rest for now," Nero decided. "His mind is still mortal. If we push him further, he will wither like a flower that is overwatered."
Xersies had no idea about flowers, but nodded in agreement anyway.
"The rest of you come with me. There is much to discuss. You, Ramor, can begin your work."
Ramor bowed one last time before leaving the hall.
For a moment, the remaining Polykenas stood in silence, all lost in their thoughts. Ester thought about what this revelation meant for his research and how he could best replicate it. Xersies thought about what impact Eleanor's newly discovered power would have on the entire structure of power within the army, because for the first time, there was a human, who was not Nero, among their ranks, who was stronger than most Polykenas.
Shire simply thought about how he could improve and not fail again on the next attack on a world.
Nero thought about what the next plans would look like. The strange behavior of Eleanor's power had changed much. He was now certain that with Eleanor at his side, he could move almost without danger among the humans of Noira, because not only did Eleanor possess very strong magic, but he was also a phenomenal tool for gathering information. With him, Nero would always know who was a mage and even what kind of magic they had.