Stacks of papers teetered dangerously on either side of Orsi’s ink-smudged desk, half-graded exams mingling with a half-eaten biscuit that had been abandoned sometime yesterday. The air smelled faintly of chalk dust and tea long gone cold. Orsi slumped in his chair, chin resting in one hand, robe bunched beneath him like a wrinkled bnket. His lecture notes were still on the podium across the room, untouched since he trudged back in after css. “‘The Historical Shift of Restoration, Post-Demon War,’” he muttered to himself. “Sounds thrilling, doesn’t it?” He sighed, pulling at the sleeve of his tunic. This might be the driest day so far during his tenure at the Academy.
Just as Orsi gnced outside the window, he noticed something was off. The sky had dimmed. The sun had been out a moment ago, but now dark clouds boiled overhead. A low rumble rolled across the air like a distant roar.
And then, there was a loud boom.
The bst rocked the walls, rattling gss and sending a book tumbling from the top shelf behind him. Orsi shot up, his chair screeching backward. He stumbled to the window and threw it open. The hot wind quickly rushed into his office. Across the Academy courtyard, a thick column of smoke curled upward from the direction of the Commonpce, a popur gathering square for students and townsfolk alike. Cracked stone, scattered debris, and fmes dotted the edges.
“W-What?” He grabbed his outer robe from a hook, yanking it over his shoulders with practiced speed, and ran out his office. Down the hall, a few professors had peeked out of their rooms. One of them, Professor Tanya, stared at him with wide eyes.
“Something just exploded near the square—!” she shouted.
“I saw,” Orsi called, already halfway down the corridor. “Keep the students inside. Lock down the halls if you have to! Just keep them safe!”
And with that, he vanished down the stairwell.
***
“Professor Orsi, citizens have been evacuated and the perimeter is sealed off” reported a guard in silver armor.
Orsi nodded towards the guard before turning away to the rubble. “Thank you”
The Commonpce was chaos. Market stalls y in splinters, the cobbled pza cracked and scorched. Smoke hissed from broken nterns, and civilians screamed in the distance as academy guards scrambled to cordon off the area. The smell of burnt wood filled Orsi’s nose as he skidded to a halt near the pza’s edge, heart thundering in his chest.
Then he saw him. Standing amidst the wreckage like a statue torn from a storm: a shirtless man with muscles corded like iron and skin smeared with dust. His bck pants clung to his legs like a second skin, with weathered boots. Purple lightning danced zily around his frame, humming through the air like a threat. His long, bck hair whipped in the breeze, and his beard shadowed a smirk that dripped with venom.
In each of his hands were gleaming, jagged twin axes. Fresh chips of stone clung to the edges. Orsi’s eyes widened, breath catching. There was no mistaking who this was. A rogue adventurer capable of toppling entire kingdoms by himself, driven by rage and revenge. “Dominic…” Orsi muttered, voice tightening.
He took a step forward as his own robes fluttered behind him like wind to sails. The sheer weight of Dominic’s aura pushed against his skin like heat from a forge, but Orsi stood firm. Of all people to reappear, it had to be him.
“If it isn’t the healer hero” Dominic sneered, rolling his neck with a loud crack. “You look as weak as usual..”
“Should I be surprised you escaped?” Orsi replied, voice steady. “Or just disappointed?”
Dominic’s smirk widened, teeth showing. “Surprised? No. You should be afraid.”
He took a step closer, the ground beneath his foot cracking under the pressure.
“You’ve lived a quiet little life, haven’t you? I’ve heard all about it. Lectures. Family dinners. Soft robes and safe halls.” His eyes narrowed. “But I remember you…behind the shield of your warriors. Always hiding. Always healing. Do you really think that’ll save you now?”
Orsi clenched his fists inside his sleeves, ready for confrontation. Years in prison hadn’t dulled Dominic, it had sharpened him into something worse. “I’m not the one who needs saving,” he said, low and calm. “You just decred war in the middle of my school.”
Dominic barked a ugh, axes twitching in his hands. “Then show me, Healer. Show me what happens when I carve open your peace.” Dominic charged. He was fast, brutal, all forward momentum and fury. His axes cleaved through air and stone alike, sparking on the ground as he bore down on Orsi with murder in his eyes.
Orsi didn’t try to block, he simply moved. His smaller frame slipped through the chaos like smoke. Each time Dominic’s bde came down, Orsi was already two steps ahead. The twin axes hissed past his side, nicking cloth, sometimes skin. Each graze burned, forcing him to cast a quick healing spell on himself even as he dodged again.
“Do you think dodging will help you? Do you expect to tire me?” Dominic bellowed, hurling an axe that lodged inches from Orsi’s shoulder into a broken fountain. He then ducked behind a fallen cart and spped an explosion trap on the axle.
“Buying time… just buying time,” he whispered to himself, heart hammering “Just need to contain him.”
Dominic was already in the air again. He nded with a crash, the shockwave knocking the cart over and sending Orsi tumbling. Before Orsi could recover, he felt a sharp pain on his chest.
Blood spattered from a cut across his ribs. It wasn’t deep, but long enough to force him to stop. Orsi hissed, pressing a hand to the wound. Green healing light fred for an instant.
“You’re slippery, I’ll give you that,” Dominic growled, hauling his axe back. “But how long can you keep running, little healer?” Orsi didn’t answer. He just darted backward again, realizing that he had won.
Just then, a wall of pure light erupted between them, Dominic skidding to a halt just before his axe hit it.
A bright white sword made out of light magic tore through the air, it’s silver heat trailing behind it like a comet. Dominic barely twisted in time, one axe catching the bde mid-spin with a parry that cracked the stones beneath his feet. Sparks burst outward, but the force still shoved him back.
He looked up, and his smile faltered.
Julianna descended like a divine judgment, her ptinum hair flowing in the wind, her silver-white armor gleaming along the curves. Her white angelic wings spread wide, beating once before folding behind her with a soft fwoosh. A glowing halo hovered just above her head, casting soft light across her sharp, focused elven features. She nded barefoot gracefully.
“Touch my husband again,” she said, voice smooth and violent at the same time, “and I’ll sever more than just your pride.”
Dominic’s eyes twitched. “Tch. Well if it isn’t the Elf Queen herself. You always show up when I have a taste of freedom, don’t you? What is this, our fourth time meeting?”
“Papa!” Sylvia’s voice cut through the noise, sharp and worried. She nded in a crouch next to him. Her white top clung to her frame, and the wind ruffled her ptinum hair. She shot Dominic a death gre before giving Orsi a quick check.. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine,” Orsi wheezed, clutching his ribs as healing light flickered over his side. “Nothing serious.”
“Your robes are sliced open,” Evelyn said quietly, appearing at his other side with her white dress swirling around her ankles. The grimoire at her side opened on its own, pages fluttering as magical circles glowed faintly in the air around her.
Orsi looked between them with a smile.. “Don’t worry…I can manage.”
“Well, well… the whole damn family, huh?” he muttered, rotating one shoulder. “Healer, Queen, and the babies. You raise them strong, I’ll give you that.” He raised both axes again, pnting his feet as sparks swirled around him.
Julianna stepped forward, sword of light re-materializing in her hand. “This isn’t your prison anymore. You’re standing in our home.”
Sylvia cracked her knuckles, grinning. “I’ve always wanted to see what kind of guy they had to chain underground.”
“Then come on,” he growled. “Let’s see what legends look like when you cut into ‘em.”
