The Salom'Sileyu Trilogy 1: The Kult of Salom'Sileyu

Episode 3: Knowledge

Boom! Fire burst forth from wall, nearly consuming Rhaja's head as she led Ayela by the hand down the stairs. They ducked and nearly fell over as the world around them shook. Crashing signaled the collapse of another part of the house, and the screams from outside grew even louder.

"RHAJA!!!" Ayela shrieked.

"C'mon, Ayela! Let's go!" Rhaja answered, lifting her to her feet. As soon as they were down the stairs, though, the ceiling above them crumpled and started to fall. Ayela reached out with her hands and tapped into her reserves of divine logic, telekinetically holding them in place, and then threw her hands to the side. The rubble obeyed her psionic command, hurling themselves to another part of the burning home.

Another part of the ceiling collapsed before she could notice, and they leapt out of the way barely in time. A piece of wood caught a part of Ayela's nightgown, tearing the strap over her shoulder and cutting into her skin. She screamed in pain, but quickly got to her feet and tried to help Rhaja up.

The entrance was there, only a little farther ahead. Crying, she carried Rhaja over her shoulder and screamed with every pained movement. The cut was deeper than she realized, and there was more damage on other parts of her body. She couldn't see it, but she felt the warm blood trailing down her forehead.

"Just a little farther!" She yelled.

"I'm not going to make it!" Rhaja said. Ayela's heart sank, but she wasn't going to let it come true. Rhaja was injured, but Ayela wasn't going to let that be an excuse to give up.

"Wait here!" She said as she carefully set her down. Running as fast as she could, she headed outside and turned to see the eldritch god standing ominously over the town as the storm darkened. Flashes of royal blue lightning illuminated its form for the briefest second, giving Ayela a chance to see where she needed to direct her power.

She stomped her foot on the ground defiantly, and tapping into her pools of energy, she threw her hands out and tried to grapple it with a telekinetic tendril, but she didn't grip onto anything. It was as though it wasn't there.

Desperate, she stomped forward with her other foot and threw her hands out again, trying to throw a blast of psychic energy, but it was as though she were fighting a cloud itself, or that what she was attacking was no more than a shadow cast on a window. It had utterly no effect.

She spun around one time, and thrust her palm onto the ground, manipulating the planet itself and sending a ripple towards it that would explode once it was underneath. But, as if it knew her intentions, lightning flashed to reveal it holding its palm out at her, and the ripple came back towards her and burst forth under her feet, sending her back a few yards.

Then she heard the creaking and cracking sounds of wood getting ready to snap under immense weight. Her heart sank as she watched her home start to collapse with Rhaja still inside. She quickly got to her feet and limped, but when she saw she wasn't moving fast enough, she stomped her foot down and launched herself with a psionic push towards the front entrance.

"Ayela, no!" Rhaja yelled, limping over to her.

The roof was falling in on itself, and time suddenly began to move slowly. Ayela couldn't hear anything except for her girlfriend's muffled voice as she limped over. She was sure the roof was going to collapse on them, but when Rhaja reached her, she shoved her back and an explosion threw her out of the house.

Ayela sat up to see the house collapsed, and no Rhaja laying beside her, which meant only one thing...

Rhaja was crushed under their collapsed, burning house...