David Bishop and the Mystic of Creation T.C. Crawford (icecream ebook reader txt) 📖

the last night they shared together as lovers. He mustered all the courage he had and each time he painfully pushed them away, out of his mind, out of his heart.

He did the same for the images of Rex and Orin, of their time together in Ravenfell, the battles they had fought together, and the laughs they had shared, slowly letting them fade from his heart and mind, until all that was left was his mission and purpose – defeat the Defiant One, save the world of the living, become the final Mystic of Creation.

Finally, as he pushed away the final thoughts of his friends, no...his family...he felt a sense of freedom that filled his body and mind. It was as if he were weightless. His thoughts cleared, and his heart raced. His body surged with a power unlike anything he had ever felt before.

He opened his eyes, and he could see and feel everything around him as if he were intimately connected to every living thing. The grass, the fields, the birds flying high in the sky, the people fighting for their lives. He could feel their fear, their sense of uncertainty as they struggled with a foe far greater than they. It was time to ease their fears, it was time to finish this.

David could see his skin glowing intensely with the same light as the orb. His skin no longer it’s normal hue, but bright and luminous, like the orb had always been. Something about him had changed, he could tell, but for now, he didn’t have the time to inspect it.

Feeling renewed by this sudden surge of energy, David rushed into the sky, flying faster than a streaking bolt of lightning, before crashing into the unsuspecting Mystic who had just obliterated a group of warriors in the field far below with his powerful blasts of energy.

***

Erin looked up from the fighting to see a streak fly overhead and crash into the Defiant One, sending a shockwave through the air and knocking down those demons and men unfortunate enough to have been beneath him.

A smile stretched across her face as she realized what it must mean. David finally did it. He had accessed the full might of his powers. She was filled with pride for her David. At the same time, a gut-wrenching pain went reeling in her chest, breaking her heart with the realization of what it meant. He had let her go; he had let them all go.

She knew David had done what he had to do and knew that it took great courage and sacrifice for him to do it, but that realization did nothing for the pain that was now ripping out her heart. For the moment, she would have to push it away, just as David did. They had a battle to win.

She rushed back into her attack with renewed energy, knowing David now had the power to finish this once and for all.

***

David clashed time and time again with the Defiant One, keeping him on his heels as they fought for control of the world below.

His powers were incredible, but he still seemed evenly matched with the Defiant One, despite having now possessed the combined might of all six Mystics of Creation. He assumed it only made sense, after all, they were a balance to each other. David was now the light, the Defiant One was the darkness. David possessed the power to create, whereas his counterpart had the power to destroy.

Their struggle to overcome one another continued for what felt an eternity, each side landing powerful blows and taking incredible hits, until finally David had had enough. His righteous rage had been building to extreme limits that he could no longer contain.

His people below were dying, and they were depending on him to get the job done. He had to finish this now, or risk losing even more lives to the endless horde of demons below.

He gathered all of his strength and rage and released a flurry of attacks on his opponent, who was unprepared for the sudden onslaught. The Defiant One held up his hands in defense, trying to block the blows, but David was moving too quick and landed a series of strikes that sent the Mystic of Destruction flying through the air and landing hard into the ground below.

David pursued his opponent relentlessly, never giving him a moment to breathe, a moment to think, a moment to react.

Finally, in a desperate moment of righteous rage, David threw out his hands and released a blast of energy so bright it blinded the forces below, causing them all to break from their fighting and look up in wonder at the show of force above.

A great beam of white light shot out from his hands, soaring through the air towards his target in a brilliant twisting beam of Mystic energy.

Inside the light, David could see the spirits of the last Mystics, circling around each other like dancers, rushing through the air towards their doomed brother.

In suspended time, David could see the Defiant One’s eyes open in shock as the incoming projectile neared ever closer, helpless to stop the attack.

It struck him with such force it blasted a hole through his chest, leaving a great gaping cavity where his green, glowing flesh used to be, sizzling with smoke rising slowly from the wound.

He looked down at his fatal wound then back up at David, an expression of horror on his face as he fell backward to the ground with a thud.

David, knowing he had not a moment to spare, quickly summoned the energy needed to reopen the rift fully between the world of the living and the dead and cast the spell of banishment.

As he forced the rift apart, holding it open, a great spiraling vortex of dark energy began to escape from the fissures around Eldergate, pulling in the demons that were still pouring out from the cracks. The vortex slowly began increasing in size and strength, eager to feast