Sword of Flames [Book I] - {#Wattys2017}

Chapter 27 - Rijitvrona

Chapter 27 - Rijitvrona

Berrithin stepped onto the next tile, and with each one, the girl moved farther away. I'm only a third of the way there, she noticed. Her hair had matted down from the sweat and moisture from the mist, keeping it damp. She felt disgusting, and her body, as she then saw, was similar to Berrithin's; they were both overly skinny from the lack of food that they had to eat. Using the skills he acquired over the years of experience in harsh conditions, he stepped on each tile with more ease than Levana. Alarmed with his burst of power, she kept going cautiously, the gap slowly closing between them.

"Die!" he screamed. But before the girl could correct that she technically couldn't die in Dagalda, he swung the sword at her. It almost reached her chest, but in time she dodged it by pushing her body the opposite way. Her feet stood on the edge of the tile, and before she could fall down, she jumped to the next one with minimal balance.

The man still pushed on. It was quite the race; every time Berrithin got closer, Levana would increase the gap, only for him to close it once again. The end was coming near and she persevered as much as her body allowed her to. I'm almost there, the girl reminded herself in order to stay sane in the midst of the villainous man from behind.

Once she reached the final tile, she jumped right onto the platform in safety. I made it! she thought to herself. But, Berrithin was just at her tail. She turned to the door and turned the knob to open it. However, the door did not give way. She turned it the other way and then jiggled it continuously, but the door was locked without any way of making it open. She stared back at the man in a hurry, who was stepping nearer. Her heart was full of horror; each inch closer he was, he was to her making her more terrified.

She lifted up her foot and began kicking the door at a slow pace that quickened as time went on. She could hear the bolts wobble with every kick, but she had only so much energy left; her strikes became weaker as time went on.

"You can not leave!" Berrithin roared, taking a breath with every single word. The smoke began to grow prominent as more of the bubbles between them began to pop, making the circumstances inconvenient. Levana could no longer see him but instead only his figure behind what looked like fallen clouds. Although that was true, his posture and voice gave away the impact of the terrible things he had seen in the Dagalda. Although she sympathized with him, she could not save him at that time; he was only going to persist until she felt the worst pain possible. As he came closer, she noticed that his eyes were bloodshot red and there was a slit across his neck that was stained with dry blood. Although surprised, she drew back and tried for the door again. I can't fight! she thought. How am I going to combat against him?

Berrithin yelled again and began screaming words in a different tongue. It was delicate and sounded like a snake's hiss, each syllable seeming to freely escape his mouth. It was not Abogat, nor any version of it, she knew; it was something she had never quite heard before.

"Rijitvrona!" he then shrieked repeatedly, the same odd word not failing to escape his mouth. "Rijitvrona!"

In horror of the unknown but menacing phrase, she looked around for a place to hide; however, there was no where to go. Each time he repeated that word his body movements became more violent, until his arms and legs tensed from the sound. It was as if he was possessed by some kind of devil, saying his wicked prayers in both awe and fear in the spite of insanity.

But as he took the next step, he was so consumed from the prayer his foot slipped off of the edge. His body flopped right into the eerie substance, its extreme heat plentiful and welcoming to its new companion. Levana watched the horrific sight with wild eyes as his skin burned, transforming his exterior into a flaky black. He bellowed in pain as he sunk into the lava, and soon enough his voice could be heard faintly in the pool below.