A Dark Encounter

[Chase Caldera]

Chase walked out of the sewers where he had been training all day and into the night. He looked around to confirm his location and then started walking through the slums towards the rich section of the city where his house lay. Chase found it annoying that he had to go through the slums to get back but recently he had felt as if someone was watching him so he had started to vary his routine. Chances were it was all his imagination but it wouldn't hurt to be careful, after all he did have many enemies.

Chase now switched between three different entrances to enter the sewer. Not so much because he was worried of getting attacked than because he didn't want anyone to know about the hidden room he trained in. He felt confident that the protections and illusions would keep the room undiscovered or if it was discovered kill whoever found it but if Chase kept vanishing in the same section of the sewers then whoever was watching him would know something was up.

Still Chase knew that he was probably overreacting. Even if anyone somehow managed to find the room the magical books inside wouldn't interest anyone but the mage guild. Still Chase wanted to keep the books to himself not wanting to share his power.

Chase took a shortcut and entered an alley in order to get to his house and food quicker. He could see well enough so he wasn't worried about getting attacked. Even if he was attacked he knew he would easily be able to beat any gang that was stupid enough to try to mug him.

[The Dark Knight]

The Dark Knight had been following this boy for several days. He always kept out of sight but the boy was beginning to get suspicious. Now the Knight wanted to know what the hell he was doing in the sewers for so long, everyday. The boy was obviously hiding something as he used several entrances to get in and out. But nothing got past the Knight.

He was walking along the rooftops, just out of sight, dressed in his black armor, watching the boy. Now was his time to strike, he had entered a narrow alleyway. He ran to the end of the alleyway and jumped off the building, landing in a crouched position in front of the boy. As he stood up he waved a hand creating an invisible wall at the other end of the alley, leaving no room for escape.

He looked the boy over for a moment. "So, what are you doing in my sewers so often?"

[Chase Caldera]

Chase thought he heard something above him and was just glancing up when a dark figure landed in front of him. Chase leaped back from the figure as the man waved his hand a Chase could feel the barrier being put up against the alley entrance behind him. The level of the barrier surprised him. After all putting up a barrier of that level that fast wasn't easy. Whoever the man was he was at least at the level of a full mage. Still Chase wasn't that worried. After all Chase was a mage in two types of magic and learning another. Even though he was tired from training all day he could still escape by either flying or teleporting if the worst came to the worst. Not that it would come to that. Chase felt confident he could win any confrontation.

Raising his eybrows at the man's statement Chase said "Your sewers? I was under the impression that the sewers were the property of the king. Last I checked you weren't king. However I have heard rumours of a man who supposedly rules the slums. I believe his name is the Dark Knight. But I doubt he has any business with me." Chase hoped his guess about the man's identity was correct. He had wanted to meet the Dark Knight and see if all the rumours about his power were true. Still he wasn't going to tell the man what he was doing in the sewers. Not unless he got something out of it as well.

[The Dark Knight]

The Knight snickered and scowled. "I have business with a Mage's Guild member who is walking around the slums, disappearing into the sewers for unknown reasons. Now I expect you to tell me who you are and what the hell it is you're doing here." He said, his voice like rolling thunder. He took a step towards Chase and held an open right hand out, and snapped it shut when his claymore appeared in his hand. Simple magic like this was usually good for intimidation, but he wasn't sure that it would work on a mage.

[Chase Caldera]

Chase listened to the Knights words with a raised eyebrow. He had not only admitted to being the most wanted man in Camelot but he was also attempting to use cheap parlour tricks to show off. To think Chase had wanted to meet the man. He replied to the Knight's threats by saying "I am Chase Caldera" The Dark Knight would recognize the last name as one of the wealthiest in the world. "Nice trick by the way very impressive but sorry I still don't want to tell you what I am doing." Chase knew his words would probably infuriate the knight but he didn't care. After all he spoke the truth.

However not to be outdone Chase chanted, "Alu gurtha ehta" The condensation in the cracks of the street gathered together and formed into a trident in Chase's hand. However Chase had also ensured that the trident would be paralysing. One scratch was all that would be necessary to make the knight fall.

[The Dark Knight]

"Caldera? So you're the guild's problem child?" He said with a smirk. He had heard about Chase's dark side, and his infuriating ways. He actually had wanted to meet this boy. He had potential.

When he watched the trident form in Chase's hand he smirked and raised his eyebrows. "Oh, so you want to play?" He quickly extended his hand and a ball of energy blasted forth, enough force with it to crack ribs if it connected, and most likely enough to break Chase's concentration enough that the weapon he had conjured would dissipate.

[Chase Caldera]

Chase couldn't believe how fast the man could cast spells. He reacted as fast as he could bringing the trident between him and the bolt. The bolt slammed into the trident and it was all Chase could do to keep from being pushed back. He felt the trident starting to break apart from the force, "Tulunka" He murmured and the trident steadied itself.

"So you want to fight me?" Chase said "Well don't start regretting it once I beat you." With that he threw the trident at the man and whispered "Trafnidiaeth" the second before the knight would be able to block the trident it would be teleported to hit him from behind.

[The Dark Knight]

The Knight growled and took a running step towards the trident, preparing to bat it aside with his claymore. His eyes widened when it disappeared. The boy was good, he had to give him that.

He had no idea where the trident might reappear but he had but one second to do something. He used the momentum of his swinging blade to pull himself downwards and to the left. He pulled his legs in and rolled forward, just as the trident reappeared and went rocketing over his head, right towards Chase. He used his momentum to continue rolling until he was able to leap to his feet and watched the Trident approach it's mark.

[Chase Caldera]

Chase realized his mistake a second before the trident came hurtling towards him. "Tela" He whispered releasing the magic that held the trident together. Instead of getting speared by the trident he was merely hit by some water. Luckily the poison only worked if it got into the bloodstream so Chase didn't even have to worry about that.

Chase prepared his next attack. After all he was already tired from the days training so he would have to finish this battle fast. He considered using one of his spells where he combined elemental and darkness but decided against it. Those spells drained huge amounts of energy and Chase didn't want to reveal them until it was absolutely necessary.

Instead Chase chanted "Taurn aran sul arrna alu en' gurtha" He felt the toll the spell took on his magic as a wind started to build in the alley. It turned into a whirlwind that stood between Chase and the Dark Knight. The alley was small enough that the whirlwind prevented a man as large as the knight to pass through. Simultaneously water began seeping around the knights feet. The whirlwind started speeding up heading towards the Dark Knight as the water struck at the man from below. It was one of Chase's favourite tactics and he had found it incredibly effective against opponents. Chase wondered how the man would cope at the double attack.

[The Dark Knight]

The Knight stood ready for whatever spell would be thrown at him next, but he wasn't quite prepared for the whirlwind that formed in the small space. He felt the force of the wind tugging at him and took a step back. He heard the splash from the puddle and looked down. Damn...

He felt the water rush at him and he was thrown upwards and fell onto his back. He growled and shook his head to clear the stars that had just formed in his vision. He stood up and decided to retaliate with an elemental attack of his own. He put both his hands up and flames shot forth, into the whirlwind, causing it to turn into a spinning towering inferno. He quickly produced a strong wind that sent the flaming tower straight for Chase.

[Chase Caldera]

Chase was surprised at the man's toughness. His opponent had managed to survive relatively unscathed by his attack. Chase prepared himself for the counterattack. The knight manipulated Chase's whirlwind into a fiery inferno which turned on Chase.

Chase considered attempting to steal back control of the whirlwind but decided against it. It would turn into a test of strength. Which Chase thought he could win, after all elemental was his first and still his strongest magic, however such an attempt would probably leave him exhausted since the Dark Knight had probably been resting all day while Chase had been exhausting his energy training.

Finally he decided to teleport to behind the man to escape the flaming tornado. Not only would he escape the attack but the whirlwind would probably destroy the barrier the knight had put across the alley's entrance.

"Trafnidiaeth I mi" He whispered and teleported a couple of feet behind the knight. From there he decided to caste one of his strongest spells. "Sarff dwr asidig o fwriad demonic ddinistrio fy ngelyn!" Chase felt a sudden drop in his magic as the water in the alley gathered together in front of Chase to form a giant serpent. Then the second part of the spell took effect. In a way the spell poisoned the serpent however poison was an understatement. Anything the serpent touched melted away leaving nothing left but sludge.

Chase sent the serpent at the Dark Knight wondering how the man would respond to this new attack. Hopefully the man would be finished because Chase didn't have much energy left.

[The Dark Knight]

The Knight looked almost scared. Almost. He quickly yelled an arcane word, "Yusefrid!" And held his hands in front of him. A shield of dark energy formed in front of him and the serpent collided with it, and bounced back. It tried a couple more times, loud, deep noises coming off of the magical shield each time.

The Knight quickly let go of his shield and ran behind the serpent and threw an uppercut style punch towards Chase's jaw, if it connected he hoped it would break his concentration enough to cause the watery behemoth to disappear.

[Chase Caldera]

Chase was stunned! The Knight had blocked his attack. Never before had someone managed to stop his serpent. What type of shield had the Knight used? It was obviously incredibly powerful. He relaxed however as he felt it starting to give, a couple more strikes and the shield would be history.

Chase's relaxation proved to be his downfall as the Knight left the safety of his shield and punched him in the jaw. Chase flew backwards seeing stars in his vision. Quickly he muttered "De" and flew up into the air to escape any follow up attacks the Knight might have. Once the stars in his vision cleared up he taunted, "What will you do now? Good luck trying to hit me." Chase had decided that he didn't want to risk his remaining stamina on an all out attack against the Knight. He would see what the Knight would send against him and then either escape or launch a counter-attack.

[The Dark Knight]

The boy was good, and he knew a wide variety of magic. He would be a valuable asset to the Brotherhood. The Knight decided that first he would have to show Chase the power of dark magic, and what it could do when used by a powerful mage.

He held both his hands, palms up over his head and started a brief chant. Soon all of the shadows in the alleyway grew and the area became darker, and the shadows began to converge into an orb over his hands. After a moment he was holding a ball of dark energy the side of a horse. The threw his hands forward sending the orb straight for Chase. If it connected with him, it would definitely knock him out of the air, if it missed, it would likely knock a hold in the wall behind Chase.

[Chase Caldera]

Chase watched curiously as the Knight began chanting and summoning all of the shadows towards him. He could tell that whatever was coming was going to be big. He summoned more magic and prepared to make a quick escape if necessary. When the attack did come though Chase was slightly disappointed. It was merely a shadowball. Chase had seen them used several times in the past.

Luckily for Chase he had already prepared to avoid the attack as it hurtled towards him. Chase shot upwards to avoid spell and watched as it demolished the wall behind him. He had to admit he was surprised at the amount of damage the spell had caused. He wasn't even sure if it had actually been a shadowball. He had never seen a shadowball cause that much damage.

"Lanta gon ndu" Chase murmured. A strong wind would push the rubble from the wall down onto the Knight. Chase wondered how the man would react to the indirect attack. He soared slightly higher to get out of the alley way. Now he would have more room to manueave and avoid any counterattacks the Knight made