More Than A God (IV)

XVI

Eli snapped back to reality. He was frozen, he couldn't move. His breathing came to an abrupt stop, and he couldn't believe that everything he saw had actually happened.

"Wha... No..." Eli said as he dropped his sword. "I didn't... No. NO! THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN!"

Mara grabbed his leg while she was still on the ground and pulled it, making him fall. She got up as she laughed menacingly, quickly picking up his sword and trying to hurt him.

"Eli! Run away! You can't fight right now!" Iris screamed. She got out from the shelter and tried to distract Mara, but she got punched in the face by her and pushed away with a kick. Mara quickly turned around and got a clean cut in Eli's arm, making him scream in pain.

"You really want to save this world after knowing why you're here? You can still change your mind, Eli. I'm always open to helping..." Mara said as she kept laughing.

"No... NO! STOP IT! STOP IT NOW!" Eli screamed.

His breathing started to intensify, and he closed his eyes in fear. He started to scream even more, and the light in his chest started to glow a bright orange color. He could feel the brightness through his eye lids and didn't think about what is was in much depth, but Iris freaked out as she noticed this.

"NO! GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Iris screamed as she punched Mara. She made her drop the sword, which she quickly picked up and tried to stab in her chest. As she swung it, Mara quickly teleported behind her and kicked her so she would fall. Iris got up as fast as she could, but when she turned around it was too late.

"THIS IS IT, ELI! I'VE WON!" Mara screamed. She opened her hand and placed it in front of Eli's glowing chest, and the light started to fade away. Eli was crying from the pain, feeling like his life was getting snatched away. Until suddenly, after one last scream, it happened.

Mara was holding an orange orb in her hand. She looked at it like a work of art, and started smiling uncontrollably. Iris couldn't believe what she was seeing, and she ran to check on Eli.

"No... NO! WHY DID YOU DO IT!?" Iris screamed. Eli's skin was completely gray, and his entire outfit had lost his color. His eyes were losing color too, having a greyish tone of blue.

"You should know it by now. You worked for me after all..." Mara said. "Finally, this will give me power that I need to break this world to pieces... I won! I WON!!!"

Mara couldn't stop laughing because of the joy she felt deep inside. She was losing her sanity, and Iris picked Eli up to try and run away. Eli couldn't even speak, but she could see the despair in his eyes. After running for a bit, Iris felt something grab her from behind.

"Where do you think you're going?" Mara said as she grinned. She punched her right in the face, dropping Eli. Mara pushed Iris out of the way and got her knife ready to stab her nemesis.

"Good night, Eli..." Mara said as she lowered her hand. But before the knife could pierce his chest, Mara felt a force trying to pull her back. She turned around, only to see Penny grabbing her arm.

"I WON'T LET YOU KILL HIM!" Penny screamed. She pulled her back and punched her chin, then kicked her to the ground. She knew that the only way for this to go well was by making her stay away from Eli, and she committed to it with her life.

"Penny! Catch this!" Iris yelled as she threw the sword at her. She quickly grabbed it and tried to hurt Mara with it, but she was too fast. She kept swinging, and she started to get tired. "Iris! I need some help here!" Penny screamed. She quickly ran and punched Mara, the two doing their best to try and take her down here and now.

"You won't beat me! It's too late! YOU WILL ALL DIE!" Mara screamed. Her eyes turned completely black, and her speed and strength were unmatchable. The others could hear that whatever was going on out there was not going to solve itself if they just stood there, so they all ran out of the shelter to try and fight Mara.

Emily jumped at Mara to try and punch her, but got punched in the stomach and thrown back to where she jumped from. Luna tried to sneak through all the chaos to bring her down, but a simple blast of darkness was enough to knock her out. Nathan ran as fast as he could to get a cut on the arm that held the orb, but he was the one that got a wound instead, making him run away. Oliver used all his dark powers to try and stop her from moving, but all his power was used against him, getting him stuck in his own tarr. Skye channeled all her power in the strongest purifying touch she had ever done, but it wasn't enough to take Mara down. She got punched right in the face, falling to the floor like everyone else.

Mara just looked around with the biggest grin on her face yet. Smitten by the view, seeing everyone in pain and trying to escape what felt like an inevitable death. But then she saw it at the distance. Eli, slowing crawling and trying to get away. She chuckled and flew right at him, grabbing him by the neck and making him float.

"You're about to witness something beautiful..." Mara whispered to his ear. He aggressively threw him back to the ground, and then placed the orb next to the light in her chest. The orb and her light shined with the force of a thousand suns, making her body absorb the essence that was held inside the orb. Eli, not being able to move and struggling to keep his eyes open, felt like this was the end of his story. The light vanished, leaving the most powerful looking girl in front of his very eyes. Mara looked at him, her eyes glowing a bright orange just like Eli's eyes used to do. She snapped her fingers, creating a giant black flame that she could grab with no effort.

"At least you'll have a warm, cozy death..." Mara said. "I'll see you in afterlife, Eli. Or... wait! This is afterlife! Only Lumi and Foscor know where you'd go, but they're dead too! HAHAHAHAHA!"

The more she laughed, the more the flame grew in size. Eli could feel the heat, but he didn't recover any energy from it. He closed his eyes, terrified of what was about to happen to him. He started to shake, waiting for his unescapable demise. But time passed, and nothing seemed to happen. Almost as it time had been frozen by something, or someone.