Witch Doctors Inc: SEASON ONE (Completed!)

Part 2.13

This is bad. My outburst must have cracked a hole in Onyx's energy-masking spell. Now my cover's blown. And it's way, way too soon.

"Of course," Scion whispers. "Of course! But how did you mask your own energy? It doesn't matter."

His energy spikes.

I throw up a shield of ice, but his flames slam into it with too much force. It shatters, sending shards flying. I start to throw up another shield, but pain stabs into my shoulder. I stumble back. There's a shard of ice embedded in my arm.

"So it's true," Scion laughs. "You're not very strong."

I gasp, clutching my shoulder. I don't know any healing powers yet.

Flames erupt around me. A fine cold mist swirls around my body, pushing back at the flames. They roar higher, forming columns of fire.

Prison bars.

I fall to my knees. Maya's nightgown is wet with blood. I try to whip up another ice mist, but I can't manage it. The heat from the fire is wearing me down.

If I could encase myself in ice...but I can't manage that either.

Scion chuckles. "No dying just yet, Phaedrean. I have a job for you."

A black orb appears in Scion's leathery hand. It pulses with a dark light.

An overwhelming nausea bears down on me. There is so much heat in that orb, hotter and angrier than the flames keeping me hostage.

Scion cringes. The orb drifts away from him. The being inside shudders. Black tentacles slither against the insides of the ice.

"Break the seal," Scion barks.

I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to break the seal. Scion can kill me, but I won't release that thing.

"Why?" I croak. "So you can show your people how mighty you are? Scion, the great warrior, wielder of the orb..." My laughter comes out dry and cracked. "It won't change what you are. You're a coward."

"A Phaedrean calling me a coward," he scoffs. "You who hide behind words and tricks. Where is your world now, Phaedrean? Where are your gleaming towers? Where is the great city of Prometheus?" He laughs indulgently. "And yet we, the stupid lumbering Ariadni, are still here. We have endured. We are strong."

I laugh. The heat sticks in my throat. "You have never been strong, Scion. You thought killing Lazarus would make you a hero. You expected to go home in glory. But they still turned their faces from you, didn't they? You, the coward who killed with tricks and lies. You didn't kill your enemy in battle. You poisoned him. After all that, they still turned their faces from you."

Scion is still. "Who are you? We have met before. Your energy, I know it...but it is different somehow."

An idea worms its way into my mind. It's not enough, but...

Scion cringes again, and steps away from the orb. "It does not matter. I will find the truth soon enough. Now break the seal, or I will destroy your energy like I did his."

Yes, he can destroy me for good. Not just my body, but my soul. There will never be another reincarnation. I will be no more.

The heat from the orb weighs down on me again. I choke on the smoke from the flames.

Scions edges back.

And it finally dawns on me.

Just as the orb is repelling me, it's drawing Scion towards it.

I force myself to sit up. "How do you expect me to unseal it like this?" I jerk my head towards the columns of flame.

He must see that I'm too weak to fight him. I can barely move.

He nods and the flames vanish.

I feel ten times lighter. I'm still too weak to fend off any attacks, but it's enough for what I need to do.

I reach for the orb with my energy. The outside is cold, but there's a dark, hot energy inside it. I draw a bit of heat into the casing of the orb. A small crack appears.

I breathe in, steadying my energy. Another crack appears.

"Faster," Scion snarls.

"I am too weak," I tell him."I must go slowly."

Scion grunts, but he seems to buy it.

A small square of ice breaks off the orb. Behind it is undulating darkness.

Two more squares break off.

The darkness swells outwards, but halts, throbbing. The hole isn't big enough.

A few more pieces break off. A tentacle pushes through the opening. It probes the air and waits.

The demon is a being of great energy, Onyx had said. It cannot squeeze through a small opening in the seal. You, however, could get in and out easily.

A few more pieces and the hole is big enough. Throbbing tentacles reach for Scion. He evades them easily, and they recede into the orb. But they wait, their tips pointed at him.

"I didn't think I would see you again, Scion," I say. "You have grown, but you are still the same. I thought of you as a son, did you know that? I still think of you so. And I forgive you, my dear boy. I forgave you even as you killed me."

Scion has frozen. "Who are you?"

A tentacle slithers toward him.

I chuckle. "Always searching for answers. It's what I liked about you." My chuckle deepens. "It's good to see you, Scion. It's me...Lazarus."

Scion's head whips back. His mouth moves but no words come out. His eyes are lost, torn. For a split moment he is the boy with the injured smile again.

And in that moment I strike.

I push at Scion with all my might. He hurtles towards the orb. A tentacle wraps around his waist.

"No," he gasps.

I push harder.

The orb throbs. It pulls Scion closer. There's a blizzard at his back now. Snow batters his mist. The orb is sucking him in.

He reaches for me.

"No," he croaks. "Lazarus..."

I give one last heave.

He disappears into the orb with a dry slurp.

I quickly draw heat away from the casing again. The hole frosts over. I pour more strength into the seal until it holds.

Then I collapse to the floor.

The orb throbs angrily.

Maybe I should use the power. It's my only chance. Maybe this is my fate.

Scion's mist swirls inside the orb, interspersed with the pulsing darkness of the demon.

I hesitate.

Sweat drenches my palms.

I reach for the orb.

With one last push, I hurl it into the heavens.

*