The Wandering Mage (Sequel To The Last Mage)

Chapter 4

 Cedric's eyes flashed open and he threw himself out of bed just in time to avoid being skewered by a cutlass. Luckily he had slept with his sword right next to him and he drew it, turning to face his opponent. They were dressed in a long, blue leather button up coat, embroidered with a gold pattern, and held a cutlass in their right hand.

 Not bothering to say anything, the pirate ran forwards and slashed but Cedric ducked under the attack and brought his own sword up, tearing them apart from hip to shoulder. 'Damn they came early.' The boy thought as he rushed to the upper deck. 'When Messa said they'd be here tomorrow, I didn't think it would still be dark outside."

 He reached the top deck to see all of the chaos unfolding. People were scattered everywhere, either hiding, fighting or dead. Blood was splattered on the wooden planks of the ship, but was washed away instantly by the pouring rain that had arrived. It was absolute insanity that would make anyone want to jump overboard, but luckily the mage had been in situations much worse than this and could easily keep a cool head.

 He started off by hacking a pirates head off and stabbing another through their heart. This caught the attention of two more, who rushed over to avenge their fallen comrades. They charged forwards together but were shocked to death as Cedric, keeping up his cover, shouted out the words to harness electricity. The boy turned as yet another opponent tried to run him through and blocked their attack with the flat of his blade, easily pushing them back. He immediately rushed forwards to finish the job and stabbed them through the stomach. They gasped, eyes wide and blood dribbling from the corners of their mouth. As Cedric watched the life fade from their eyes, he felt something within him. Something that had been bugging him for oh so long. Something... called remorse. It was something that he'd been plagued by often, and after every life he'd taken. It made the boy want to cry and throw up at the same time. Even though he now fought to protect and defend, his past still haunted him and there was nothing he could do about it...

 A pain to his side snapped the king back to reality and out of his mild depression. Quickly turning around he kicked out and landed his foot in the gut of an enemy, which made them reel back. He then brought up his blade and, grimacing at the spray of blood, slit their throats with a quick flick of his wrist. That was six, counting the one in the cabin, but there were still plenty more to go. Looking to his left, Cedric spotted a pirate pulling on the dress of a woman who had been trying to hide. Not good. The boy ran over and and, throwing out another set of magic words, sent a blade of wind at them, cutting through their torso. The woman screamed in terror as the body was torn in half in front of her eyes, but as long as she was safe it didn't matter. Cedric looked around and saw that the crew and some passengers were fighting together as stated before, but they were losing badly. The pirates were just more skilled and larger in numbers.

  A pirate tried punching him in the face but he grabbed their fist, pulled them close and drove his sword through their jaw, the tip sprouting through their head soaked in blood. He wrenched it out with little effort and pointed at a group of four or five, sweeping them overboard with a miniature tornado. It was just too easy. He saw Messa to his left fighting off three attackers and, while her skill with a blade was nothing to scoff at, she was being overwhelmed. It was time to help her out.

 Messa ducked under a sword strike while blocking another, but she was kicked in the face and knocked onto her back. A pirate stood over her, blade held high and aimed for her heart. Then suddenly and without warning a silver sword appeared through his chest and they coughed up blood. The other two looked at each other as their partner fell to the deck in a slump. They all turned to see a cloaked figure holding an elegant looking sword. Then, they stopped looking. Probably because they were headless in a matter of seconds.

 Cedric sheathed his weapon and offered his hand to the captain, who took it gratefully. She nodded at him although she couldn't see his face.

 "Thank you for fighting with us. I didn't catch your name however." She told him.

 Cedric shook his head. "Not important. How much longer do you think we can hold out?"

 "Hmm. I'm not sure. Not much longer if I had to hazard a guess. Most of my crew is dead and the passengers are almost all in hiding. Realistically, it's just you and me now kid. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news."

 "Alright then, that's fine. How about we take care of the rest of them, shall we?"

 The two took off, with Cedric taking care of most of them. He hacked and slashed his way through the crowd of pirates, all of them falling to his blade. However Messa was holding her own as well with Cedric only needing to help her if she was overwhelmed. Finally, after a lot of bloodshed, they had finally taken care of all of the pirates. Cedric wiped the sweat from his brow and drew a raggedy breath as he sheathed his sword, walking over to Messa and patting her on the back. "Good work." He congratulated.

 "You aren't to bad yourself, boy." She grinned. "Just who are you anyway? Your skill with a sword is better than mine and I don't say that to just everyone. You succeeded where the rest of my men had failed, so forgive me if I'm just a tad bit curious."

 Before he could answer, a pirate who was still left alive weakly stood up and pulled a round black object from their coat. Cedric's eyes widened as he realized what it was. A bomb! The pirate sneered as they whispered Unda Flamas and lit the fuse. It quickly devoured the small cord and inched its way closer to the bomb itself.

 "Shit! Messa jump!" Cedric yelled and they ran to jump over the edge of the ship,but it exploded behind them and knocked the two unconscious.

 He was back in that cave, standing in front of the strange fire. That young man was also there, grinning at him.

 "What do I owe the pleasure, my king?" He spat.

 "I've come to stop you from taking anymore innocent lives." Cedric replied, quickly getting over the fact that he was back.

 "Really? And how do you exactly plan on doing that, hmm?"

 The mage went to speak, but found that he couldn't. He had no plan, save for figuring out who the person in front of him was. He'd rushed in with a few supplies, a rough location of where to go, and now he was just realizing how foolish that was.

 They must have knew this as all of a sudden they started laughing. "Cedric, you idiot." They continued to laugh and a moment later collected themselves, taking a shaky breath. "Oh fine then, I'll let you have your little adventure for now, but mark my words I'll make you watch as I slowly kill everyone you care about." Then, after seeing the angry look on Cedric's face said, "Oh, come on now Cedric, lighten up..."

 The world began to melt away again, and the former assassin fell to his knees.

 "... you always used to think my jokes were funny."

 Then everything went black.

 I hope you all enjoy the chapter, even if it is shorter than I had originally thought. Let me know who you think the mysterious person is, and also how you like the new cover. I'm trying to find one that really fits, and I may leave it or try to find another. Vote if you liked the chapter :)