Reia- A Novella (COMPLETE)

Chapter 18

All three elevator occupants all avoided eye contact, remaining silent for the rest of the ride. Morai was so preoccupied that he noticed neither the growing brightness of the fighting upstairs, nor the loudening noises of the clash. In fact, barely had time to prepare himself at all before the doors opened into the atrium.

Even Hazira and Marfa flinched- and they couldn't see what was going on. Morai, however, watched agape as two massive figures clashed hand-to-hand in the hall. One was a burning crimson-purple, with sparks rolling off its hands and body. It had two eyes blacker than coal and more menacing than the mouths of twin caves. The other figure was pale orange, which faded into eyes of pure electric yellow. The second figure appeared to be losing, but only slightly- every so often it would flicker, only to come back brighter. Both figures were fighting fiercely, either by throwing bolts of bright energy at each other, or conjuring glowing weapons from thin air.

"They're in here," Marfa gasped. "I... I can see them every so often." He traced his fingers through the space in front of him, as if toying with a spiderweb. "They're... flickering."

"Shh," Hazira said quietly. But it hardly mattered- the two brawling were very preoccupied.

"Wait, I have an idea," Morai told them both. "If you can find their versions of my knife- their physical anchors- you could damage them and maybe bring their strength down."

"What are we looking for?" Hazira asked.

"Something they would have been holding when Morai was reading the word string," Marfa suggested. "So nothing of massive size. Who are they, Morai? That'll help us."

"I... I can't tell," Morai squinted at the fighters. "They don't look like themselves."

They look like I did, actually, when I... talked... to Hazira, Morai thought to himself. The solid color without any detail- just a shadow... The idea sent a shudder of fear through him.

"Well, okay. Let's go," Marfa said to Hazira. "Morai, stay here and keep watch. We can at least start trashing the offices and see if anything comes up!" They ran off through the atrium, narrowly missing the feet of the battling giants. Not that it mattered, Morai reminded himself, having flinched. They were fighting in a different plane of existence, after all.

Meanwhile, the fight was escalating. Now Morai could hear shouting mixed with the occasional crash or thud. It sounded like... Ehkta? And...

"You're a TRAITOR!" the orange figure shouted. Morai winced- it was Goiya.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Ehkta shouted back. She waved her hand in an arc, sending black tongues of fire at Goiya, who caught the flames in his hand with a feral snarl. A knife appeared at Ehkta's fingertips. She grasped it and swung up fast, trying to slice at Goiya. But Goiya stepped back too quickly- then, with his foe off-balance and unawares, he pushed her backwards with both hands, sending her smashing into the wall of the atrium.

"Goiya!" Morai shouted suddenly, against his better judgment. Both Goiya and Ehkta looked suddenly over at Morai, who found himself significantly less afraid than he ought to have been. "Stop this!" he shouted.

"Who invited this rat?" Goiya demanded, gesturing at Morai. "And why are you... here?" Goiya trailed off, realization dawning on his horrible face. Ehkta, still leaning up against the wall, didn't seem to grasp what was happening.

"I'm here to end this," Morai replied, ignoring Goiya's shock and Ehkta's confusion. "Listen, both of you. This needs to stop, now."

Goiya paused. "Why do you say that, Mr. Paira?" he asked, in that same condescending voice that Morai had grown to hate. Goiya began to walk towards Morai, who felt braver than he'd ever been before.