Frosted Ranger: Time's Illusion

Chapter 24: Time's Illusion Part 2

Melina and Elisia walk into a room with skulls lining the walls, candles lit inside the jaws. A single table with chairs and blood all over it. Whatever this room was, it was giving off quite a freaky vibe.

"My mother's prayer to the death chambers?" Melina tries to joke as she passes through. Elisia shrugs and keeps her mouth shut, not really knowing how to respond to a room like this or a joke from Melina in a time like this. Both seem really out of place.

They pass through the skull candle room and into a dim lit throne room. The single black chair facing the entrance as if the chair was expecting an audience.

No windows to shine light into the room. Just a few torches ablaze along the walls. Melina and Elisia step into the room and the door slams shut behind them.

"This is it, where is she?" Elisia asks. They walk up to the throne and look behind it. No sign of Melissa was to be found. The Dark Queen lies unfindable.

"I have no..." Melina stops talking a slow clap interrupts her sentence. Elisia and Melina both look to see Melissa standing at the only doorway out of here. Her black armor radiating some kind of dark aura around her. "So my only child has come to die?" She takes a step forward while still clapping with a grin across her face. "And she brings a friend with her to afterlife."

"I killed Daximus, i'm not in a peaceful mood. Let's cut the frost and get right to it." Melina raises her sword and Melina gives a small laugh.

"Carsin's sword. Shame it won't work in your hands." Melina holds out a hand and raises her palm upwards. A small black flame ignites within it. "Whose getting hit first?" She asks and quickly fires the black ball of fire at Elisia instantly. Elisia steps aside from it and it explodes in a large sphere of black fire behind Elisia and Melina. "Just a small taste of what's to come."

Dropping from the ceiling, a giant metal guardian stands tall with a mace and shield in hand. It dashes toward Elisia.

Elisia and the guardian take their fight to the other side of the room. Melina speaks a few words under her breath a beam of white fire rains down on Melissa.

Melissa steps out of the beam and scowls off the pain. "That was my favorite spell." Melissa draws her sword. "Now lets put that sword to use."

Melina and Melissa clash swords against each other. One blade radiating a dark and black aura, while the other radiated a bright and golden aura. A battle of good vs evil.

Every collision of the swords would send sparks into the air. One after another. Melina brings her sword down once more and Melissa dodges out of the way and palms a ball of black fire again.

Melina holds her swing back and Melissa tosses the flaming black sphere at Melina. She turns her back and feels the burning black flames erupting on her skin. Adding to the burning feeling that had already been there from the moment she awakened in the fortress.

"What?" Melissa calls out while Melina drops to a knee from the burning pain. "What's on your back?" She calls out.

Melina just takes a deep breath while she could. "No idea..." Melina gets back up at looks at Elisia dodging blows from the giant metal guardian and landing her own strikes against its legs. The occasional Eldritch Blast landing a hit. That's what Elisia calls her blue magical electric ball that explodes against its target.

Melissa looks at her daughter and shakes her head. "No! I can't!" She grabs her head in pain. "I've done everything. This... I can't do... I can't!" Melissa's eyes turn black and she charges back into the fight.

Melina raises her sword in defense and bounces the blade off her own. Melissa brings the sword back around and as the blade would have pierced into Melina, the weird burning feeling on Melina's back fades away.

A bright light erupts around Melina and sends Melissa back a few feet. The guardian shuts down and collapses as Elisia severs its head and she covers her eyes from the light.

The light fades away and Melina is standing there in shiny silver armor trimmed with gold outlines and the symbol of Kyladir marked on the chest. The symbol being an arrow with a thread spiraling the arrow.

Melina's eyes glow a white color and she looks to her mother whose face is full of fear. "May your soul be redeemed in the afterlife." Melina says and holds a hand out in a fist as yellow light glows around the fist.

Melissa steps back and forms a dark shield in front of her. Hiding her body behind it. Melina unleashes the Sunbeam, the same ray of burning light that nearly killed Elisia.

The beam bursts through Melissa's shield and engulfs around Melissa. Melting away the armor and black aura. Melissa stands tall through the strong burning spell. She looks into the eyes of Melina and sees nothing but an armored spirit. Was it even Melina standing there?

The beam fades away and Melina's eyes return to normal as the armor disappears and returns to the charred armor. Melina transforms the sword into a bow and aims it at Melissa weakly.  "That was new.."

"Don't start... what.... you can't finish..." Melissa lowers to her knees and hangs her head down in shame at the ground. Her armor completely roasted. "Watch out for..." Melina fires the arrow into Melissa and it pierces into Melissa's chest. Pouring blood out through her back and onto her legs. "Mal... Mal...." she coughs and chokes and Melina looks away.

Like earlier, the ringing in her head came back as Melissa collapses over with blood in her lungs. Still breathing and alive, but not much longer.

The ringing grew louder and louder and Melina looks to Elisia standing there applauding. "Now what?" She asks.

Melina drops Radiant Snow as a bow and grabs at her pulsing head. "Something is making my head pound with pain."

She closes her eyes and she sees two people she's never seen before. "Ray, Kit..." Melina says.

"Who?" Elisia asks. Elisia puts her swords away and hugs Melina. "What's happening?"

Melina begins to tear up. "I have a brother and sister... they're twins..." the ground began to shake and some stone began to fall apart.

In front of the confused girls, the golden image of Carsin comes to life. "Melina, you did it, but something else also happened. Something changed in the past. I lived." Carsin's image flickers wildly." You might not remember, but the world could change drastically."

"What?" Melina tries to process the words as Elisia backs out of the hug and looks at Carsin's image slowly fade. "You mean..."

"Someone changed our fates. Time is..." his image fades and Melina blacks out suddenly like everything just seemed to fade away from existence.