Eternal Love [Druig]

Twenty-three

Ikaris looked at them then as if he expected them all to lay down their weapons and fall to their knees seeking forgiveness. But Ira's legs were iron and his first was steel as it found its mark on the man before him.

Ikaris flew back upon impact, falling several feet so there was a messy divot where his body had been forced through the ground. Ira stalked forward, fists clenched and every fiber of his body taut with energy. He saw the gold-blue tinge litter around his body like a cloak too afraid to touch skin and saw it pulse with every step he took forward.

"Ira. It's over." Ikaris warned through clenched teeth as he pushed himself up from the earth, hooking an arm on each side of the crack and pushing to help him up into the air where he hovered, looking down on Ira like he could never be enough.

Ira saw the gold replace Ikaris' eyes before he felt the heat of the beams shooting out of the man's eyes. He threw up his hands and fell down onto one knee as Ikaris' beams pushed him back. His hands seared with the heat but he would not waver and soon, that golden-blue glow that had been encompassing his body exploded outward and then back again, condensing into a shield-like mirror that reflected Ikaris' beams back to him. More mirrors joined in its wake and littered themselves in big stationary positions around him, moving at the speed of light when Ikaris' tried to aim elsewhere. The man gave out a strangled cry as the beams reflected back to him, hitting him dead in the chest with an amplified force and sending him once more backward.

Ira stood, hands still raised but mirrors slowly dropping, falling, and disappearing right before they could hit the earth and shatter like fragile glass. Though nothing about this was fragile. Nothing about this was weak or pitiful or sad and Ikaris was going to find out just how far he could go.

He took the first step this time, his walk turning into a sprint as he ran, feet kicking up dust behind him as he fast-approached Ikaris who was on his feet, coming to meet him. They met blows in the middle, a flurry of fists and gold, and the distant hum of increasing volume broke out. Ikaris threw Ira into the sky, hoisting him up by the neck in a murderous grip before letting him free fall into the abyss below.

Looking up as the feeling of weightlessness took over, Ira could make out Ikaris' figure coming fast towards him, eyes blazing gold as beams started towards him at an unimaginable speed. Ira raised his hands, pushing against the natural restraints of the wind, and spread his fingers, gold spreading between them like sturdy webs, coating his hands as the beams blurred bright as they neared.

Ira grit his teeth and clenched his jaw as he felt the impact. His fingers closed and his fists followed as he wrapped his hands around the beams, absorbing the energy from them and drawing Ikaris forward as he pulled, the beams now something raw and physical; Ikaris' own gift used against him. He threw one of the staffs of golden light upward as the ground approached and smiled slightly as Ikaris caught onto it. Ira pulled so they were pressed together and he wrapped his unoccupied hand around Ikaris' wrist.

"I hope you know," He said, closing his eyes as the wind grew hot with the promise of death. "I'm not afraid of death." He said. He was only afraid of living in a world without his love.

Ikaris began to struggle but Ira's grip was relentless as they fell. A gust of wind and a dizzying effect and Ira found himself safe on his feet, Makkari's grip soft yet firm against him as she helped steady him.

'Don't go leaving me now too,' she signed as Ira could stand on his own. He nodded at her, telling her that she had his word before the speedster was off again in the blink of an eye. Her brows were furrowed and her lips were drawn as she charged at Ikaris and brought the fight to her.

Ira started running forward after her, catching Sersi stalking away in his peripheral vision. The woman had a determined look in her eyes and the emotions she was radiating were enough to let Ira know what she planned to do.