Born of Flames

Chapter 29 ~ Remaining Bonds

Noxbane deposited them back in the tunnels, but the airless hissing of corpses was closing in on them. Morana didn't stop to check on Arlon and Neeri. She dropped Noxbane and plunged back in the tunnel towards the oncoming horde of bodies.

The ground trembled beneath her feet and a dark laugh rolled through her ears. Morana ignored the cold dread creeping up her spine and threw her hands up, magic surging around them. She blasted waves of raw power into the walls and roof of the tunnel and debris cascaded down.

Terror and anger continued fueling her power until chunks of stone rained onto the floor. The tunnel began to fill in and large boulders crushed corpses beneath them. Morana gritted her teeth as Rhidian's shadow-wreathed form appeared and pushed through the sea of limbs.

He paused in front of her, trapped behind her growing wall. "We will meet again soon, Lady Phoenix," Astaroth said through Rhidian's mouth. "After all, you still bear a piece of me that I intend to reclaim."

He flicked taloned fingers at her and Morana's breath hitched at the twinge of pain that shot through her heart. Rhidian grinned. "We were a part of each other, if only for a time. You left a scar in me, and I left one in you. All that remains to be seen is who is claimed in the end."

"I'm claiming your soul for Hel," Morana hissed. She fed one last burst of power into the tunnel walls and whirled, shielding her face with her arms as rocks and dirt crashed onto each other and sealed the dark Lord and his horde of corpses away.

For a moment, she could only stare through the darkness at the near invisible wall of rocks in silent anticipation, waiting to see if it would hold. But the wall remained standing and she could hear nothing from the other side.

Morana swayed on her feet as she turned once more. She could just make out the faint gleam of Neeri's garnet eyes. A blurred figure hovered near her.

Morana raised her hands and sparked flames to life, then let out a hiss at the burning that shot through her fingers. She tossed the balls of light into the air before they could fizzle out, then clutched her hands to her chest with another faint gasp.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Arlon and Neeri's worried voices overlapped.

Morana blew a shaking breath through her teeth and slowly unfurled her hands, holding them under the light. Her palms were covered in fresh, rigid burns. Her eyes widened and a memory of her dream flashed through her mind. Flames spreading across her body, reducing her to ashes.

"Mor?" Neeri grabbed her shoulder and glanced at her burned palms. "Gods, what happened?"

"I...I don't know," Morana stammered. "I acted so quickly, maybe I wasn't as careful as I should've been."

If Neeri noticed the lack of belief in her own words, she said nothing. Morana squeezed her eyes shut, dredging up her healing magic. A familiar warmth pooled beneath the tattoo on her sternum and her palms began to tingle. The burns were healed in a matter of seconds.

Morana looked up to see Arlon and Neeri both eyeing her worriedly. "We should keep moving. I don't believe they're going to just sit back there and do nothing," Morana said.

She brushed past them both, pausing only to scoop up Noxbane, and flicked a finger, beckoning for her magical light sources to follow. Arlon and Neeri remained behind her as they headed back through the tunnel, neither commenting when Morana clenched her fists at her sides.

•༻☽☾༺•

Tarion and Gaelen raced through the tunnel, following the stale traces of Morana and Neeri's scents as well as the markings they'd left on the walls. They had to be closing in on them, but the tunnel seemed to stretch on endlessly.