The Other Half Lives

The Fall Of Her

BOOM!

"Give up! While you still have life left in your bodies!" a shrill voice warned, ringing through the temple.

She looked at her companions as pieces of the ceiling fell to the ground, kicking up dust. The men were tall, lanky Diralt, who, despite their own frightful appearances, looked all too close to pissing their pants at the sight of the temple guardian. Made of stone, with the head of a monster, and the body of a goddess, she could see why the men were so frightened, even when she herself was not.

"Both of you! Get out of here!" she yelled as the guardian blasted at them. The blast tore between them, briefly dividing her and her men with a wall of fire. The fire she could brave, as she was the fucking goddess of fire, but the speed at which it was moving? Forget it. It would tear through her human shell before she could even attempt to say Shit.

"We can't leave you!" one Diral, Evrin, yelled, his dark red eyes filled with fear, as the flames receded. The blast had either incinerated or melted everything in its path, only a few inches away from them, and they could still its heat.

She rolled her eyes. Did they really think this was the time for heroics?

At the moment, she was not ready to deal with them, and told them as much, but they both insisted on staying with her.

She growled menacingly at them, power surging, her eyes glowing blood-red. "Go!"

The order rang sharply in the air, bending the men to her will, and causing them to flee as fast as they could, not once looking back as they left.

Once they were gone, she turned back to the guardian. The stone being's face had changed into that of a beautiful woman's, and was looking at her intently. "So the mortal heart is still there, I see." it said thoughtfully. "I would've thought you'd have corrupted her by now."

Said mortal heart took over instantly, briefly yelling, "Please help-!" before she pushed herself back to the forefront of their shared consciousness, growling menacingly as she did so.

She turned away from the guardian, still growling, and grabbed at one of the three weapons that hung at her back, a blade of steel, molten rock and fire.

"Leave while you still can." it said. "Sebastienne."

The air stilled, as the name hung in the air. Her blade's flames licked as she stared at the guardian, in slight confusion. How exactly did the stone creature know the name she'd told no-one?

Suddenly smiling as the answer came to her, Sebastienne burst into flames, burming down into nothing as the tongues of fire lapped at her.

The stone guardian stood waiting for the next attack. Silence reigned in the temple as it stood, but it remained patient and alert.

Then, the fiery blade tapped at its back, its heat biting into the guardian like butter. "Do you really think this is the time for informalities?"

The guardian whirled around, claws making for the woman behind her. Sebastienne stepped back, dodging the attack, then moved forward with a swing of her own. It cut into the guardian, causing it to bleed dust, but did not hinder it any.

The guardian shot fire again at the woman, who sidestepped it, quickly moving to parry the guardian's next attack. They moved like that for a while, claws and blade meeting, strike for strike, swing for swing.

"You know that no matter what damage you inflict on me, I will not fall. Give up, while I'm still feeling merciful."

Sebastienne chuckled, blocking the guardian's swipe. "You say that as if I was," Grunt, parry. "Born yesterday." she said. Suddenly, she added, "Only a truly powerful priestess could animate such a thing as you." And could know what has not been said, she added silently.