Hellfury

Chapter 12: Auri

Auri should have known. From the moment he found her things hadn't made sense. She'd been so desperate to get off the fucking continent she'd ignored the signs completely. Of course he had been sent for her head. The soldiers he'd bribed days before had come back to check on him.
   'You want me to help you kill them? Why?' she asked and cradled her still limp arm.
   'If you don't, we die.' he said simply and drew his sword. 'Can you fight?'

Auri chuckled darkly. To tell him she knew was a bad idea. She needed the leverage. The moment he found out he'd kill her. It didn't matter that he'd somehow decided to free her and help her. He still needed her head. The order came from the Emperor, and as the dutiful Commander he was, he'd deliver.
   'Now, Auri. Please, you have to-'

Auri thought of the Nilfgaardian soldiers that had followed her from Sodden Hill. Had he sent them?
She thought of the soldiers, who had taken bets amongst themselves about who could make her beg for death first. She thought of him. The commander with the feathered helmet, standing on top of the hill watching the carnage. She'd seen him turn his horse and flee. She was glad he got caught. She hoped it had hurt.

Fine. If he wanted fury, he'd get fury.

The flames came before she could stop them. She didn't even have to focus before the flames crackled in her palms. She opened herself up to it, the grief, despair and the anger. He'd get what was coming to him, when she got off this fucking field. She'd make him feel it. Oh, he'd feel it. As for now-
   'Don't let them flee!' Auri yelled over the roaring fire, she watched Cahir raise his sword and head for the first soldier, utterly oblivious. Auri steeled herself and sent a stream of flickering fire toward the rest of the soldiers, making them more erratic and desperately scrambling to get away from the inferno. It took less than a minute for one of them to turn to ash, his gray remains scattered on the winds and the others stopped dead in their tracks.

Auri let the flame in her hand die and grabbed for her sword. She'd have to use her left hand, she'd be better off with the fire. Her throat was raw, her entire body ached and if she let the fire take root again she'd end up like the still smoking soldier. The anger fueled her, she let it. She saw the toothless soldier grin beneath his helmet and she snarled.

The plains were not as muddy as she'd feared. She moved through the singed grass with ease and made her way across the fields, the trees casting long shadows in the flickering fire that quickly spread all around her.

   'Did my screams live up to your expectations, soldier?' she roared when she found him standing before her panting like a wild animal. The flames licked at his heels.
   'You'll be dead come morn, that's all that matters, little girl.' he wheezed through ash-coated coughs.
   'You'll be dead before that, tell your fucking Emperor he won't get me alive.' Auri snarled and raised her sword.

When his sword hit hers she realized she had underestimated him. He was so much larger than her she struggled to stay on her feet when he pushed the sword toward her upper body. She had nothing left to do but to whirl out of the way as he retreated to strike her. A ball of fire hit his legs and he moved away from her fast enough that the fire died out before it did any damage. Auri cursed. She could feel the warmth dwindling as the blood loss began to affect her. She had to get him to the ground before he came at her again. She cast a quick glance to her side to see Cahir flurry around a disgruntled soldier. With one swipe of his blade the soldier's head hit the muddy ground and the squelch sent the two others into a rage.
   'He even helped you. How sweet, he won't be able to save you again.' Said the toothless man and spat at her feet. Auri flicked her wrist again and the flickering flame struggled to breathe. She was no longer angry, she was just tired. Her knees grew weaker with every step and her shoulder ached.

She lifted her sword just fast enough to parry one of his continuous advances and she was driven further back with every strike. Auri growled, dropped her sword and forced the fire to obey. It flickered up in both her palms and she threw herself at the soldier, the shock of it momentarily froze him. Auri placed her burning hands on his face, covering his black eyes. The fire burnt his eyeballs clean out of his head, his screams of pain and rage dropped him to his knees. Auri kept her grip on his head as the smell of burning flesh and hair forced its way up her nose and to the back of her throat. His skin blackened beneath her touch and she only let go when the screaming stopped. Her knees hit the mud.