The Nine Bishops

The transition from utter darkness to brilliant light was overwhelming. It took a few minutes before Mika could even bear to open her eyes, squinting against the radiance of a setting sun. It was blinding and disorienting, but very welcome. It had been an eternity since Mika had seen light.

She reveled in the warmth of the sun and the green smell of the wilderness. Mika had forgotten how restorative the outdoors could be, after being imprisoned for so long. The cool breeze sweeping across an open field felt refreshing on her now very pale skin.

“It’s been so long,” she said aloud, almost not believing she was free. The sensory overload after so long being deprived of sight, sound and smell felt almost suffocating. After she was able to take in her surroundings with her eyes wide open, she closed them again, took a deep breath and let the gentle air fill her nostrils. She could feel the pollen in the air, which burned in a way that filled Mika with joy. She was free.

Mika opened her eyes and saw Nik watching her.

“How long has it been?” she asked.

“Exactly one hundred and ninety-four days,” Nik said, with his eyes low. His shamed expression suggested he felt responsible for every single one of those days. Mika was more surprised that he knew exactly how many days she’d been imprisoned than the fact that she’d been isolated for a lot longer than she had guessed.

“How do you know that it’s been exactly that long?”

“Not a day went by without me thinking about you.”

Mika could hear honest regret in his voice, but she was still suspicious of his intentions. That she was free now didn’t necessarily mean she could trust Nik. She was still wearing the stone collar that prevented her from moving freely or using magic. When she’d arrived in the field, she was still in a seated position, feeling as defenseless as she ever had in her life. Mika wondered what kind of plan Nik had up his sleeve, and if it truly was in her best interests.

“Why did you lie to me?”

Nik was silent for a while. Then he finally told Mika what she wanted to hear.

“It might seem like I’ve been lying to you, but I told you the truth every time you asked me a question. However, I didn’t necessarily tell you everything. I didn’t want to be the one to guide you to be something you aren’t.”

“Does that mean you’ve actually known all this time what happened to my parents?”

Nik shook his head. “That, I still don’t know. But as for your brother, I knew about him.”

“So why didn’t you tell me about him? If you were really on my side, then why would you have kept such a critical thing a secret?” Mika asked heatedly.

“I didn’t think you would be so rash when you entered the throne room. Especially after you said the oath. I wish I had been able to warn you, but I didn’t get the chance.”

Mika thought about his words. There had never seemed to be a lot of time when it came to their interactions. Nik was always gone so quickly. She’d had no idea where he was going or what he was doing when she wasn’t with her. She knew who he was when he was with her, but not who he was when she wasn’t watching. That was the main reason she’d found him difficult to trust.

“Why are you always so limited for time?” Mika asked, wondering why she’d never thought to ask this before.

“I swore an oath, just like you. The only way I can help you accomplish our goal is for me to retain the king’s trust. My time has been limited with you because he has the ability to monitor where I am.”

That makes sense, Mika thought.

“Does that mean he knows where you are … I mean, where we are?”

Nik nodded. “It’s only a matter of time until he sends the other Bishops to come after us, so we need to get going immediately. By now there are already contracts being made for your capture.”

“Wait, already? Where are we, anyway?” Mika said, her eyes darting around, suddenly unnerved by the sense she was being watched.

“West. Far from the castle and the other Bishops. However, we aren’t safe by any means,” Nik explained, starting to evince a sense of urgency. He scanned the area around him as well, as if worrying they were being watched.

Mika could tell something had changed. This was still the Nik she knew, but now she was sure he was telling the truth—and not planning on leaving her any time soon, as he had in the past. She knew that if they stayed together long enough, she would learn everything she needed to learn from him. But the danger they were in now created a new sense of urgency about that.

“Can you at least tell me why you didn’t just tell me the truth, despite the king knowing your whereabouts? It’s obvious that you only visited me when he told you to check on me.”

“I didn’t want you to be fueled by hate,” Nik responded, looking deep into Mika’s eyes. “It will destroy who you are.”

“What could you possibly know about such a thing?”

“Hate destroyed who I was,” Nik said, straightforwardly. The words stunned her. They sounded as true as they were profound.

But before she could ask another question, Nik walked up to her, gathered her up in his arms, and threw her over his shoulder.

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?” she said, shocked.

“Like I said, we don’t have time, and you can’t do much sitting there. I’m going to have to carry you,” Nik responded, ignoring her protests.

“You didn’t have to carry me to get here, so why are you carrying me now? Isn’t your magic like teleportation or something?”

She had finally put the pieces together after repeatedly witnessing Nik disappearing and reappearing in a flash, and seemingly being teleported with him to another place. She might not know exactly what his strain was, but she certainly knew some of its capabilities.

“It’s more complicated than that,” Nik said, laughing. “But no, I can’t teleport you any further for two reasons. One, I don’t know what’s beyond this point, and two, I need to save my energy if I am going to carry you. Otherwise we are both not going anywhere.”

“You are really going to have to explain your magic to me more specifically if I am going to let you just carry me on your shoulder,” Mika pleaded, already uncomfortable about the way Nik was hoisting her.

“This isn’t really up for negotiation right now, seeing as you can’t move and are quite useless,” Nik said, transitioning Mika from his shoulder to a piggyback position.

Mika was about to complain some more, until she saw something in the sky, glinting brightly and headed their way.

“What is that?” Mika said, squinting to see it better.

Nik turned around and looked up.

“Already? That’s impossible,” he said under his breath.

As the bright object got closer, Mika realized that it wasn’t an object, but an animal: a massive bird covered in flames. The bird started to dive towards Nik and Mika, opening its beak as a pyre of flames erupted in their direction. Mika closed her eyes, feeling the intense heat about to incinerate them. When she opened them, she realized they had moved a safe distance from where the flames struck. Nik had used his magic to keep them from being turned into ash.

Mika watched as the bird soared upwards again and began to swoop around for another attack.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you’re okay,” Nik said calmly, watching the bird in the air.

Mika was awestruck. “What is that?” she said, not as calmly as Nik.

“Axel,” Nik said as the bird swept down and shot another barrage of flames towards them. Once again, Mika and Nik avoided the attack, but this time not so cleanly. Mika looked at the ground around her and saw some lingering flames in the grass.

She was beginning to understand Nik’s magic.

He didn’t just physically move their bodies to another location but was moving all the space around them. In Nik’s evasive technique, some of the flames around them were transported with them.

The bird that was Bishop Flame flapped its wings midair, about one hundred meters away from them, sharp eyes fixed on them, while Nik stared right back, confidently.

The bird dived straight into the ground below, exploding into flames. The explosion was so huge the flames should have engulfed Nik and Mika, but once again, Nik had managed to stop the flames just short of them.

In a moment, Bishop Flame emerged from the conflagration. “Do you really think I haven’t been watching you?” he yelled towards Nik.

“Axel, you don’t have to do this,” Nik said.

“Do you think he made me come do this? I’m here because I want to be,” Axel responded, walking closer with a nonchalant swagger.

“Mika is the rightful ruler of this kingdom. Our king is evil. How could you want this?” Nik replied.

“That girl on your back? Don’t make me laugh. She’s weak, and a Filth lover. How could someone like her ever lead the master race?” Axel said, stopping for a moment in disbelief at Nik’s radical words.

Mika was surprised to hear Nik say something as audacious as that. She didn’t feel she had done anything to prove her leadership capability to Nik. She knew he’d claimed to share her goals, but she hadn’t imagined he’d go to the extent of proudly proclaiming it.

“There are no master races, Axel. We all bleed red,” Nik said.

“We will see about that,” Axel said, his red eyes glowing. He raised his right hand and pointed his index finger towards Nik and Mika. With a small jerk of his hand, a thin flame projectile flew from it. But before any harm could come to them, they were instantly behind Axel. He turned slowly, shaking his head.

“Joker, why do you always want to play games? Let’s see if you are right about there not being a master race,” Axel said, annoyed.

Nik whispered back at Mika. “I’m going to drop you off right here and take care of him. Don’t worry about me.”

He went down on one knee and gently dropped Mika on the ground. She watched helplessly as he took a step forward to meet Axel head-on.

“Now we can settle this on even terms,” Nik said, coolly.

Axel laughed. “This won’t be even, I can assure you,” he responded. And with that, he went up in flames.

Mika watched from a safe distance as two of the nine most powerful mages in Seemos faced off. Mika worried for Nik. She didn’t know how his magic could prevail against fire. But she was trusting him with her life now, since she had no other choice. Given how much he was risking to back her, she could do no other than support him now.

Nik took a step forward, and a barrier took shape around him and Axel, leaving Mika on the outside.

This is the magic from Monsoon. Nik was the one who created it?

Mika was astonished. But it all made sense. Nik could manipulate space, which meant he could create a battleground in another space, even one so close.

From her front-row seat, Mika saw the fight as a blur. For a moment, Nik and Axel were both on the ground, then in the air, and then on the ground again. Axel used both hands to shoot fire bullets, which flew in ricocheting patterns, like bouncing balls in an enclosed room, though there were no actual walls. Nik was using his magic strain to alter their trajectory. Thousands of projectiles flew all around the battlefield.

The two fighters looked remarkably calm and collected, dodging the attacks as though they were able to project exactly where they were going. Mika knew that even one of the projectiles was enough to cause significant damage to either one of them. Even if the fire itself couldn’t hurt Axel, she figured the speed at which they were flying was enough to cause injury.

Axel’s technique assumed the projectiles would go in a singular direction. So the more he shot, the more of a serious threat they became. Mika noticed that Nik didn’t allow one to hit the barrier, which she assumed would have caused them to dissipate. The fight was an awesome display of fireworks, but even more so an awesome display of skill.

Suddenly, all of the projectiles changed course at once and flew at Axel simultaneously. Axel’s body lit up in an explosive blast in which all the fiery bullets disappeared. He stopped firing. Though he was fire incarnate, Axel ripped off his shirt, apparently suffering himself from the heat of battle.

During the temporary pause in the light show, Nik launched his own attack. He teleported a few steps towards Axel, over and over, each time in the blink of an eye. Making the most of his momentum, he pulled his right arm back and threw Axel a punch so powerful it created a wave of air that slammed loudly into the barrier. When the punch connected with Axel, the Bishop’s body dissipated into flames.

But Axel wasn’t finished. He had reformed himself about fifteen meters from Nik. He squatted low and reignited his entire body so that he became a walking pyre. Axel began releasing the flames from his body so they filled the space within the barrier. Mika gasped as she lost sight of Nik in the flames.

When the air cleared, Mika saw Axel looking around for Nik, just as she was. Nik reappeared out of nowhere, behind Axel. Mika was relieved to see he looked unscathed and was running at a full sprint. As he neared Axel, he jumped with both legs outstretched and landed a powerful kick on Axel’s flame-covered body. Nik instantly disappeared and then repeated the attack a dozen times in quick succession before Axel figured out how to counter the hits.

He pulled both his arms up and was engulfed by a massive pillar of flame that prompted Nik to back off.

Nik reappeared right in front of Mika, panting. Mika could see he was giving everything he had in this fight. It was a difficult match of magic strains. Nik had landed some hits, but Axel was extremely powerful. Neither was the kind to be trifled with.

“If I can’t hit you, then I know what I can hit,” Axel said, looking past Nik and straight at Mika, who was still sitting outside the barrier.

Suddenly, there was a change in the weather; the air around her became extremely humid and hot. Looking up, she saw drops of fire beginning to fall from the sky. Instead of a rainstorm, Axel had created a firestorm.

Mika had no way to protect herself since she was still restrained from movement and magic. Nik looked up and gave her a panicked look. As the fire drops began landing on the ground, Mika was clenching her whole body in fear of being burned. But strangely, she was unharmed. When she dared look up again, she saw there was a protective barrier around her; the flame droplets were simply rolling off it.

Mika looked toward Nik and saw that he had sacrificed his own barrier to create one for her. The droplets were falling on him now, searing his skin where they landed.

Nik made one last attempt to engage Axel, but the Bishop had caused his whole body to explode again, forcing Nik to retreat. Mika could see he was now in excruciating pain from the fire droplets, though still standing despite the pain.

Every blow he took hurt Mika to her depths. He was doing everything he could to protect her. But why? Why is he sacrificing his life for me? She couldn’t believe how much he was ready to suffer for her.

Axel shook his head as though he couldn’t believe it, either, and changed tack, focusing a stream of fire directly at Mika’s barrier. The fire blast was so powerful, Mika could see the barrier cracking. Nik teleported himself in front of Mika’s barrier to protect her from the attack.

“Why are you sacrificing so much to protect her?” Axel said, as he continued barraging Nik with a stream of fire.

Mika watched in horror as Nik’s brave resistance began to falter. Axel’s magic was so powerful that Nik could only do so much. He had given everything he had, but he knew he was defeated. He gave Mika one last smile as he answered Axel’s question.

“It’s because I love her,” he shouted, as he was swallowed by flames.

Mika screamed, and that scream sparked something deep within her, deeper and more powerful than all the magic she had ever learned to use. Not even the collar around Mika’s neck could suppress it. Normal magic came from the heart, but this spark came from the soul.

Mika hadn’t known that truth during her fight against Jazmine Ado, nor did she know it now. But in that moment, her eyes became just like Micah’s; they turned into the magnificent colors of the royal seal. In that moment, her soul had unlocked its true potential. In that moment, Mika had true power. In that moment, Mika could erase magic.