Legacy by Christopher Pastrana (best reads txt) 📕

Klaas had managed to draw his own sword, but couldn't get it high enough to stop the descent of Reinhardt’s own blade. Blood sprayed everywhere as the blade connected with flesh and split Klaas in two. Organs fell to the ground and his now red stained sword fell from his hands, shattered. Pain flooded Reinhardt's body, and he toppled to his knees. 

     Finally having enough time to react, the six masters put as much ground between themselves and Reinhardt as they could. He hadn't intended on fighting them but refused to turn down a good chance to end the masters as well. Picking his sword back up off the ground he fought the burning pain trying to hold him down. Catching sight of Master Joer creating a long sharp spear of ice, Reinhardt cut the attack in half. Having seen Astreaus create his attacks from his own energy Reinhardt couldn't be surprised by that trick.

     “Don’t let him get close to you!” The fire master yelled, not aware of the Dragon’s Tail. With the exception of Zephyrus, none of them had seen it in a fight. Realizing that they didn't know the full extent of his equipment the young wind master tried to warn them but couldn't before Reinhardt was moving again.  With deadly accuracy the tip of the Dragon’s tail shot through a poorly aimed ball of fire, and struck Briver in the throat. 

     Blood shot from his mouth as Reinhardt launched himself towards the wounded master. When he was close enough he grabbed the blade of the Dragon's Tail and ripped it free, causing more blood to spit free. As large as the man was he could do nothing but fall to the ground and gasp for air. Not waiting to see if it would kill him, Reinhardt moved on to his next target.

      “No!” Master Yesenia screamed. Keeping her from the wounded Briver, Reinhardt kept himself between them. Doing everything she could to break his defense, the woman created walls of water and crashed them down onto the death master. Using his sword to push the attacks safely out of the way was easy. Without realizing he had done it, Briccio had taught him a dangerous defense against wind and water. Yesenia was beginning to become frantic and started launching attacks in quick succession.

     A condensed blade of wind flew towards Reinhardt in an attempt to separate him from the water master. Almost as if he wouldn't allow someone else to interfere in saving her, Master Conners released a bolt of lightning atReinhardt. Master Conners looked proud of himself until he felt his lightning traveling away from its intended target. Even though he couldn't control the power of a master they couldn't change nature.  

     In the midst of the chaos the cable of the Dragon’s Tail had been wrapped around the neck of the water master. A smile creaped across Reinhardt's face as the lighting struck her, she screamed wildly. Conners was horrified by what he had done. In an earlier conversation Roas had informed Reinhardt about Conners’ love for the beautiful Yesenia. He was happy to exploit their love triangle.

      “You masters believe that because you have power you can’t be beaten! Even if you kill me I will have torn your lives apart!” Ignoring the pain crushing his heart, Reinhardt began closing the distance between him and Zephyrus. Simply dodging the wind that came at him, he quickly closed enough ground to strike. Panic filled the masters’ eyes as he watched. Reinhardt released the lock on the Dragon’s Tail and lifted his arm, twisting his body for the inertia he needed for the shot. Just before releasing the blade Reinhardt’s arm fell to his side, stiff and unusable. “Damn it! I only need a little more time!” A large stone block slammed into his ribs, cracking them and sending him flying. 

The damage to his body was finally taking its toll. Without the use of his arm the      Dragon’s Tail was just a piece of metal. Getting himself up off the ground he barely blocked another slab of rock that was flying towards him. Catching sight of the fire and water masters again he realized that their injuries had been healed. Playing the fight in his mind he figured it was most likely the earth master who had accomplished that little feat.

     “Healing? That’s a neat little trick. I have a trick for you too.” Reinhardt didn't have much left in him now; his arm was proof of that. The first time he had done this it was enough to slay that dragon this time the attack would probably take what was left of his power. Reinhardt was determined to leave a mark in their minds, something they would never be able to forget. Drawing everything he had left into his sword; the powers within him flowed like a river. A strange black glow covered his blade as death wound through the small tunnels of the sword.

      A strange muteness fell over the area. Sound stopped and the sun’s light dimmed. None of the master could understand what was happening, but they all felt it. As the the energy within the blade rushed out, terror struck their faces.  A wall of stone rose from the ground, trying to hold back the wave of darkness cascading towards them. 

     The unstoppable darkness ate through the defense without slowing. Zephyrus pushed the earth master out of the way of the blast using his own power, and barely managed to dodge it himself. Even though she had been healed, the water master was frozen in panic. Master Conners pushed her out of the way but couldn't avoid the entire blast. His leg disappeared, vanishing within the darkness.

     Having reached his limit Reinhardt fell to his knees. He couldn't move anymore, but a smile still crossed his lips. “Death finds all. You can’t stop it. If it’s not me, than it will be someone else. I was given this power to end the war and put you all in your graves.” A sobering silence fell over everyone. Knowing the truth to what he said they couldn't argue.

     Heaving in pain, his tattoos were beginning to turn gray. The surrounding skin  was tearing as dark red blood dripped onto the ground. Laughing almost hysterically Reinhardt could only watch as Master Joer surrounded his entire body in ice, encasing him in a frozen prison. 

     “Make sure he doesn't come back.” Motioning to the temple, Zephyrus began gathering the winds and forced the ball of ice into the air. As it crashed through the wall and into the monument, the Earth master collapsed the structure, burying it under a few million tons of stone.

     “Can you heal his leg?” Zephyrus asked the Ental master. 

     “I can close the wound but I cannot make a leg. If his leg hadn’t been completely destroyed I might have been able to reattach it but there is too much damage now.” Moving over the wounded man, he placed his hands on the open wound. Drawing in power from the ground around him he began stopping the bleeding and eventually closed the wound all together.

     “What do we do now? Klaas is dead but we can still go through with our plan.” Nobody was surprised to hear Joer make the suggestion. Under different circumstances the amounts of money they would make would easily be worth the trouble, but Klaas no longer had control over them.

     “That power… Twilight...” Unable to speak the water master started crying. Her mind had been broken duringthe fight; her will to lead a nation for the sake of money was most likely gone as well. 

     “If one death elementalist could be created, than others could be as well. Any one of us would have died if we had fought him alone, and on top of that he looked to be half in the grave already. I will have no part in this anymore, not if this can be the outcome.” A few of the others nodded in agreement. Dust was still settling onto the ruins of the temple as the sun continued to rise. Jusbar agreed with Zephyrus, but the others looked resiliant to continue. Conners and Yesenia were all but useless now but at least four masters could stop the plan, and hopefully the war. The influence of Klaas' obediance had been stronger than Zephyrus thought. Now free of his hold he couldn't see why he had ever wanted a never ending war.

     Looking up at the fallen temple the wind master thought. They had trapped him in ice, and he was already about to die, but they needed to make sure he would never have the chance of escape. Deciding on a plan he turned back to the master.

     “We need to build that temple again. We will surround that man with a prison and hide his exsistance from the world. I will post guards here to ensure nobody releases him.” Joer said.

     “I agree. He should already be dead but we need to be careful. No elementalists can go near this place.”Zephyrus added, agreeing with the ice master.

     “What shall we call this place?” Briver asked having taken a seat against a rock nearby. The large man didn't look very interested in the whole ordeal but at least he was beginning to agree.

     “Temple of Six. It's easy, short and shouldn't bring too much attention.” Everybody nodded their acceptance of the plan and they all looked at the ruins. If the Death Master again roamed the planet nobody would be safe.

     Silence rested inside the darkness as a lifeless body lay trapped within a tomb of ice. Within his final resting place the soul of a lonely warrior clung to the hope that someday something would release him. It had been over one hundred years since the elementalist alliance had gathered to trap him within this cold world. With only one way into or out of the immense cavern temple he knew it would be a long time before somebody would be able to find him.
“Kill them”

      His mind said to him softly. It had been a long time since he had heard any kind of noise, and now even his thoughts sounded like people speaking. Over time the burning pain that had plagued him subsided into a memory, his body having finally become strong enough too withstand the power of the darkness running through him. Now only a strange rage fueled him, giving Reinhardt the strength he needed to keep his soul within his body, refusing to let the ice kill him.

    “They'll never change.”

    Unable to move he had only his thoughts to entertain him, and over time the only thing found himself thinking about was the battle that had led to his capture here. Replaying the events of his final battle in his mind he plotted every step, every instance that he could have done something different. No matter how he tried to change the battle, nothing could have been