Oceans Call

Chapter 26: Crimson

I was trembling. My eyes were plastered to the destruction I had caused. Bodies floated around the water, people I'd either killed or commanded to fight to the death.

"Leaving so soon?" A voice hissed behind me.

I spun around, pure fury coursing through me. "Aaronarra," I spat. My regret evaporated in an instant. 

He'd changed. His once cerulean glow had changed to red, his skin black. His eyes were also red, gleaming at me tauntingly. All I wanted to do in that moment was strangle the creature. He was so evil he'd been physically changed, just like a Shadow. 

I felt a stab of pity. What happened to him? He was so good... But I wouldn't give the monster the pleasure of seeing any of my emotion. His eyes glowed brighter and I felt the ocean shift. "What did you just do?" I asked, lifting my arms in the water, preparing to strike at a moment's notice.

He smiled, exposing his now obsidian teeth. "I merged the worlds. The ocean is like land for the humans and land is like the ocean for you. I've changed reality, defied its laws."

The ocean seemed to groan and the earth shook. "No. This is not right. What you've done will be the death of everything. I can feel it."

He cackled. "You're imagining things, girl. What I've done is fix your miserable existence. But don't worry... soon you won't exist at all."

I roared and unsheathed my sword, charging the beast. He only laughed and knocked me back with his telekinesis. How am I supposed to defeat something that can foresee my every move? I thought, grinding my teeth. It was like Amara all over again. 

I drew up the ocean but Aaronarra knocked me through the water with this tail. "Not so fast, girl. No water bending today."

"Charge!" Eriladar shouted, pumping his fist in the water.

Aaronarra's face lit malevolently. 

"No! This is what he wants!" I said, throwing my arm back to halt the Guard mid stride. 

But it was too late. Aaronarra slay the Undine army by the fifties. Some of the soldiers returned to the main group and ushered them towards Feales, seeking anywhere but there.

I felt alone and abandoned. This is what I wanted! Now at least they're safe. But... I'm not. I shook away the selfish thought. "Retreat!" I yelled at the remaining soldiers. I slashed at Aaronarra with my sword. The last of the soldiers obeyed.

"This battle is between you and me," I spat. Creature of hell.

He laughed at my thought. More and more subs entered the battle, including tanks and missiles.

They're not holding anything back. So neither will I.

I needed a way to beat Aaronarra. I tried emptying my mind but it was nearly impossible to fight without thinking about my actions first.

I won't let you beat me, I told him silently. Then an idea came to me. If I can't empty my mind, then maybe I can overwhelm him with my thoughts.

Aaronarra tried to pull his conscious out of mine, but I managed to hold him in place.

Leaving so soon? I repeated his words from earlier.

Panic rose in his mind and I let myself laugh. What happened to that confidence, Aaronarra?

He jabbed at my mind with daggers, and I screamed in surprise. I forced myself to relive each horrible moment I'd endured, making sure Aaronarra watched. As if the memories weren't torment enough already. I had to hurt myself in order to hurt him though. And it was working. I inflicted each emotion I'd felt in the heat of those moments on his conscious: my fury and despair at Connor and my mother's death, my shock and hate at Aaronarra's betrayal, my fear, my guilt and regret and shame... Everything. 

Aaronarra shrieked and I released him. A missile launched through the water towards me. I took every emotion I'd just relived and let it fuel me.

The passion and intense love I'd felt when Connor kissed me. The fury and deep sorrow at his loss. The abandonment and loneliness I'd felt when I watched my people leave me. How out of place I'd always felt among them. The loss of my parents and the fact that everyone had given up looking for me, given up hope, even my friends. My birth mother's lack of involvement in my life. The anger I'd felt towards Erildar when I'd discovered that he'd stolen my memories. Aaronarra, the one who'd brought me here, the one I'd trusted, the one who'd betrayed me. I snatched at every shred of anger, love, passion, sadness, fear, betrayal, and emptiness and morphed them into something powerful. Something unbeatable.

And then I used it to lift the very ocean from the earth and drive it all on one being. On the one who'd taken one of the few people I'd had left to love... 

I screamed at the intense emotion, the pain, though I couldn't register it in the moment. All I could think of were the emotion and the refreshing strength of lifting the ocean off its resting place and using it destroy.

And it was dangerous. Dangerously invigorating power.

The submarines were driven on land and crushed from the impact. Aaronarra was driven towards the cliff and smashed against its face. The ocean rocked back and forth violently. Smoky clouds gathered across the entire sky and lightning brightened the earth. Thunder rolled across the planet, so powerful I could feel the ground shake from its tremors.

Aaronara was winded, but not dead. And I was not yet satisfied. I took a bit of the ocean's power and used it to propel the escaping Undines farther away. 

I floated slowly to Aaronarra, savoring the power coursing through me. He lifted his head as I approached. And his eyes... His eyes were filled with pure, concentrated fear. I loved it.

I was a part of the ocean. Not just mentally, I had actually faded into the water, used it to mend myself into it so that it concealed me. 

"Where are you?" He asked, deep voice shaking. He turned his red eyes along the ocean in a panic.

I laughed and revealed myself. I didn't say anything as I lifted a hand and let the water pour through it, blasting him back several feet. His body was limp, too weak to even fight against the surge of power I possessed.

I took my time reaching him and unsheathed my sword, twirling it around expertly. "You underestimated me. But don't worry," I looked down at him and raised my sword. "You will never make that mistake again."

With one swoop of my sword, the sea howler Aaronarra was no more. 

A/N

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