Alpha Instinct

The moment the guard's roar echoed behind" them—"AFTER THEM! "NOW!"—Mikaela and Kaleb reacted instantly. Mikaela dug her heels into her horse's flanks, urging it into a desperate gallop, Leonard's unconscious form held tightly against her. Kaleb spurred his own mount while simultaneously grabbing the reins of Leonard's riderless horse, struggling to keep both animals moving at speed.

"Royal Guard... the King's personal dogs," Mikaela thought, panic tightening its icy grip around her heart. "They recognized him. They know Leonard's wanted. If they catch us..." The thought of Leonard being dragged back to the capital, subjected to the King's cruel justice, was unbearable.

"Kaleb!" Mikaela shouted over the thunder of hoofbeats. "Our horses are exhausted! They won't make it back to Saito's cabin at this pace!"

Kaleb, surprisingly calm amidst the chaos, seemed to be calculating, his eyes darting around. "I know!" he yelled back. "Plan B! Head for the old trading post between Gothia and Besen! I have an idea!"

Behind them, the sounds of pursuit grew louder—angry shouts, the unmistakable drumming of multiple horses galloping hard. They were closing the distance. Mikaela risked a glance back but saw only the empty road curving behind them; the guards were still hidden by distance or terrain, but they were there, getting closer every second.

"Are you crazy?!" Mikaela yelled back at Kaleb. "That outpost is abandoned! What are we going to do there?!"

"I told you, I have a plan!" Kaleb boasted, though his voice was strained. "I am the great mage Kaleb, after all! You'll see!"

Just as he spoke, the first arrows whistled past them. Horsemen, clad in the silver-and-black of the Royal Guard, burst from the fields flanking the road, their faces grim and determined. Four of them are skilled riders pushing their mounts to their limit.

"Shit! They're fast!" Kaleb cursed. Another arrow zipped past Mikaela's head.

"Kaleb, do something!" Mikaela urged, ducking low over Leonard.

Kaleb twisted awkwardly in his saddle, letting go of Leonard's horse's reins to free his staff hand. "Hold on!" he yelled. He muttered a quick incantation, aiming backward without looking. A small fireball erupted near the lead guard's horse, startling the animal and causing it to rear, nearly unseating its rider.

Kaleb twisted awkwardly in his saddle, letting go of Leonard's horse's reins to free his staff hand. "Hold on!" he yelled. He muttered a quick incantation, aiming backward without looking.

A small fireball erupted near the lead guard's horse, startling the animal and causing it to rear, nearly unseating its rider.

Another guard fired, the arrow thudding harmlessly into the thick leather of Kaleb's saddlebag. Kaleb retaliated, pointing his staff low towards the ground behind them.

With another muttered word, a patch of the damp earth suddenly erupted in an intense, short-lived burst of searing flame, aimed directly in the path of the pursuing horses.

One mount shied violently, neighing in terror and forcing its rider to swerve, while the other guard cursed as he navigated around the unexpected wall of heat.

It was chaotic. Kaleb fired off small bursts of flame, his aim hampered by the speed and the awkward angle. One guard went down as his horse stumbled into a ditch after being spooked by a fireball.

Another cursed as he navigated around the unexpected wall of heat. But the remaining two were persistent, experienced soldiers, staying just out of Kaleb's effective range, loosing arrows whenever they had a clear shot.

Mikaela focused solely on riding, urging her tired horse onward, shielding Leonard's body with her own as much as possible, praying they reached the outpost before their luck, or Kaleb's mana, ran out.

The jarring rhythm of the galloping horse, the whistle of arrows, and Kaleb's frantic shouts slowly dragged Leonard back from the depths of unconsciousness. His body screamed in protest; every muscle ached, his energy reserves utterly depleted. He blinked several times, trying to make sense of the blurry, speeding landscape, the pounding hooves vibrating through his exhausted frame.

He recognized the faint, familiar scent of Mikaela's light perfume amidst the sweat and swamp air. "Mikaela...?" he rasped, his throat raw. "What... what happened?"

"Leo! You're awake!" Mikaela's voice was strained, breathless. "We're in trouble! The King's guards... they recognized you! They're right behind us!"

Leonard forced his eyes to focus, craning his neck despite the pain. He saw Kaleb twisting in his saddle, firing bursts of flame backward. He saw the glint of steel armor through the trees, the dark shapes of horses gaining on them. Arrows sliced through the air, dangerously close.

His gaze locked onto one of the pursuing guards, the one riding closest on their flank. Slowly, deliberately, Leonard raised a trembling hand and pointed his index finger directly at the soldier.

Kaleb, glancing back between spells, saw the gesture. "Pointing? Seriously, Leo?" he yelled incredulously. "Are you going to challenge him to a duel of 'pointy fingers' now? Maybe try to annoy him into falling off his horse?"

But Leonard wasn't joking. Tiny electric blue sparks began to crackle around his outstretched fingertip. His ELEV flickered weakly, then flared, a small, intensely bright ball of blue light condensing at the tip of his finger.

Mikaela gasped, her body stiffening beneath him. She felt the surge of Leonard's energy directly, a powerful thrum that made her hair stand on end and her own muscles tense involuntarily. "He's... he's consciously controlling it?" she thought, awestruck and terrified. "He's a monster... such overwhelming power..."

Leonard focused, ignoring the drain and ignoring the pain, channeling the raw energy. Then, he released it.

There was no incantation, just a sharp crack like a miniature thunderclap, a contained sonic boom. The pinpoint of blue light shot forward with a velocity that defied the eye, an almost invisible streak against the gloomy backdrop of the swamp.

The projectile traveled the distance instantly, striking the targeted guard squarely in the torso.

The result was catastrophic. There wasn't just an impact; there was an explosion. The guard's upper body simply disintegrated in a shower of red mist, gore, and shattered armor fragments. The force blew the lower half of his body clean off the saddle. The horse, itself caught in the blast radius, screamed, horribly maimed, before collapsing in a tangle of broken limbs.

Kaleb stared at the gruesome remains where the guard had been, then whipped his head around to stare at Leonard, his mouth hanging open. "Did he just... cast magic with his bare hands?" he thought, utterly shocked. "No staff? No wand? No catalyst at all? What the hell was that?!" The sheer impossibility of it rattled Kaleb more than the gore.

Leonard, too, looked down at his outstretched hand, flexing his fingers slowly, a dazed expression on his face. He hadn't consciously planned to do that. He had just... pointed, focused his intent, and the energy had erupted. He felt it, knew instinctively that he could do it, but the how remained a complete mystery.

Seeing the dazed look on Leonard's face, Mikaela spoke, her voice cutting through the lingering shock, heavy with meaning. "Do you believe us now, Leo?" she asked quietly, her amber eyes searching his. "When we told you what you might truly be? The weight of the world... it rests in hands like those."