Chapter 159

As soon as his family was in the house, Calajhan caught the end of the key and snapped it. Its top half got dislodged in the keyhole whereas the other half rattled on the floor.

When he looked at Wernh'An, he was not there. The portal, now dimmed, was still there but without the traces of the man who had come through it. Nortze froze, watched around only to find nobody.

Trying to lift his foot, he realized his feet had been stuck on the floor. When he looked down he found his feet inside a block of ice. He attempted to pull his foot out but the ice was behaving like rock.

Nortze felt a stinging blow on his head from behind. As he touched the impact spot on back of his head, he noticed blood. Nortze wriggled for his sword with the block keeping him in his place.

He was inches away from its hilt till Wernh'An kicked it away.

Wernh'An's staff glowed, creating an eardrum shattering hum across the archway. The sound was so loud that their hair floated in air. Wernh'An slammed his staff infront of Nortze, creating an air-blast which sent him ricocheting on the walls and ceiling.

When he thudded on the wall, Wernh'An came near to him by tapping the end of staff on the floor.

Now, Nortze could not even see his sword. Nortze slowly came over to him by tapping his staff end on the floor with every step. While he came there, Nortze tightened his fist. The moment he saw Wernh'An, he released it.

A red wave flew towards Wernh'An which whirlpooled inside the globe on Wernh'An's staff. The sphere glowed and released all the energy upon Nortze.

Nortze felt a like the castle had collapsed upon him and the castle was adding up more weight. Nortze crouched up, only to fall down again. At least, he could breathe.

Nortze's sword passed through his back and hit the floor. Nortze could see his own blood running down the edges of the sword. Still, he was not dead.

Even Wernh'An looked surprised. He went to Nortze and pulled the sword up, inflicting more agony on Old Calajhan. He rammed the sword down again but Nortze rolled and the sword hit on the floor.

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Nortze forced his legs out of the block and threw another charge at Wernh'An. Again the staff sucked on the wave he had thrown but before it could get in completely, Nortze threw another wave at him.

The second one hit Wernh'An and knocked him down. The staff also fell upon him then it released all the combined energy on its master.

The air blast was big. Big enough to send Wernh'An flying again.

Nortze heard his daughter scream from inside the house. He ignored it once but couldn’t keep doing it as the horrified screams continued. Nortze panicked and placed his ear on the door.

There was a sound resembling to a werewolf. Nortze shivered when he heard something hard fall. Then his wife's squeak came, not to come again.

"Gisella." Nortze bellowed, "Rikilda."

But only Rikilda's agonized voice passed through the door. Nortze looked around him to see Wernh'An with a grin.

"Bad choice, Calajhan." Wernh'An walked towards him, "Wutke sneaked in your house."

Nortze tried to turn the broken key dislodged in the keyhole but his fingers could not reach there. He sweated, hearing the screams of his daughter.

Wernh'An hit him with a wave on the back. The impact blurred his sight and rattled his bones. While Nortze held his bleeding nose, Wernh'An tip-toed between him and the door. Wernh'An tried to move his body but his joints seemed locked.

Wernh'An's staff glowed again. This time, it hurt him while the staff emitted the energy. Nortze could tell it could be the last force his body could take.

The brightness increased, illuminating the whole archway. Closing his eyes, Nortze thought of something.

"Ikagnohorei." Nortze smiled with blood oozing out of his mouth.

"What?" Wernh'An looked down.

"IKAGNOHOREI."

The door behind Wernh'An slammed open. When Wernh'An turned back to see what had happened, Nortze collected himself and turned the staff at Wernh'An's direction.

The staff vibrated.