Playing with Fire [COMPLETED]

42 ~ trust your instincts

The place we find ourselves in is an ancient cathedral. The pews are full of creatures I've never seen before, so far from anything remotely familiar that I don't even know how to describe them. Wither draws her sword, and I draw my daggers. But then, my gaze lands on the altar.

Laying sprawled out on top of the black altar, his wings bound behind his back and he is on his stomach, is Ruin. He remains still as I feel a twinge of pain from him. Concordia's possessed body stands over him, a knife in her hand. Behind Pain, is an unconscious Death and a glaring Rogue.

All-Maker stands in the rafters above us where the choir would be if this cathedral was still functional. They sneer down at me and Wither. The look on their face is that of pure evil.

"So glad you could come," they say.

"Let them go, and we will leave you alone," says Wither.

The beings in the pews, and Pain and Rogue, turn to look at us. Wither raises her sword, glaring at them.  Her body is rigid, her wings unfurled slightly.

All-Maker spreads their wings, and leaps from the rafters, gliding down and landing before the altar. They smirk at us, drawing a sword of their own. "Well, I guess I should entertain the guests now, eh?"

They lash out, slicing their sword at me and Wither. I dodge out of their reach, and as I do, Wither slams her sword into their sword. I run around, going to the altar, but then, the creatures in the pews leap up, whirling on me. I slash at one that gets too close, my blade nicking them in the stomach. I jump back, spreading my wings and running toward the altar again. I try to summon my fire, but it won't come.

Oh, right. The Forgemaster said they wouldn't work here.

I take a deep breath and concentrate, locking my attention on my power and the feeling of the blades in my hands. I lash out at the nearest being that reaches for me, and the next thing I know, I'm at the altar.

I face Ruin, but he's still out of it. Whatever they'd done to him seems to have affected our link, too. I start toward him, and am only a few feet away, when Pain lashes out with her sword. She strikes, hitting me in the arm. I jump back, twirling, and I slash her arms, then her chest. I am a whirlwind, and I slash and slash.

Pain brings her sword down hard, slicing into my leg. I cry out, and that is when my power surges in my veins. I unleash it, a golden firestorm that engulfs Pain almost instantly. She screams, her agony filling the sound. I relish in it.

Reaching Rogue, I burn through the bindings holding her in place.  "Get Death." She nods, and moves to help her sister.

Turning, I face the altar once more, and I run to stand before it, bringing my burning hands to the ropes that hold Ruin down. His eyes flutter open as I burn away the last of the ropes, and he looks up at me.

"Elorha?"

"I've got you," I whisper, helping him up.

He leans heavily on my shoulder, his weight pulling me down. I turn my head, seeing Wither cutting through the army of creatures All-Maker brought to the cathedral.

I see All-Maker themselves standing atop a dais. Their eyes land on me and Ruin, and suddenly, he goes rigid. I look to him, confused. "What's wrong?"

"Get back," he says. "All-Maker.... has control of me."

He shoves me back away from him, and his body convulses as he sinks to his knees.

"Elorha, run!" he screams.

And his power explodes out of him then. Flickering shadows engulf the cathedral, and I curl my fire around myself like a force field. I curl up on the floor, and the shadows pulsate over and around my bubble of rose gold flame.

The energy shoots through the cathedral, and it burns the beings that stood and fought, as well as those that were dead. I watch, my eyes aglow with my own fire, as Ruin's dark power sweeps through the building. Killing everything it touches.

He stands in the center, arms upraised, his head tossed back as a silent scream forms. Ruin is being forced to do this. He will not stop, I realize, until something makes him stop. But then I see them. All-Maker, flying up above him, their wings carrying them to the hole in the roof of this cathedral.

"No," I whisper. "I can't let them escape."

So, wrapping my fire around myself, I bend my knees, going low to the ground. Then, I launch myself into the air, flying straight at All-Maker. I tackle them midair, and their screams of pure agony rip through the roar of my flames and Ruin's screams and shadows.

All-Maker stabs me in the chest and twists the blade. I grin at them, and their eyes widen in horror.

"I hope you're ready," I say. "Because now, death becomes you."

And, trusting in my power and my weapons gifted to me, I drive all three forces into All-Maker's heart. I watch as they scream, blood pouring from their wound, and their mouth. They scream, so loud that I fear I might go deaf.

Then, their body just .... fades away into glittering ash.

I collapse to the cathedral floor, my blood mixing with the blood of others and the ashes. I gasp, looking down at the blade still sticking out of me, about an inch down from my heart. My wings sag around me, and I cough up blood onto the few pristine tiles left.

Ruin is calling my name. He reaches me, and I look up at him.  He is also wounded, but I.... I can only feel the pain in my chest, not his pain.

"You did it, Elorha," he says.  "You... how did you kill All-Maker?"

I shake my head. "I just ... followed my ... instincts."

Darkness consumes me, followed by numbness, then cold.