Elementa Naturae - A Cold Day in Hell

Artura

October 26th 2012, 6:07am CEST

The air swirled around her as she flew up into the ashen clouds, a tornado of power, before crashing back to the earth and extinguishing the flames surrounding her. A nearby tree split into a thousand splinters, its charred trunk collapsing into a nearby fountain from the force of the shockwave. For a moment she felt fresh air, desperately gulping it into her lungs, before the ash and fire encaged her again. All she could smell was the smouldering smoke that filled her nostrils. All she could hear was the cracking and shaking of the earth beneath her. All she could see was the occasional shadowed figure, enclosed in the smog, as if using it for camouflage. However, Artura did not need to smell, hear or see. All she had to do was feel the air around her.

Sensing the currents, the waves of heat and cool, the ash rising and falling around her, she found it – the tiny dagger aimed straight for her heart. As it flew through the air, she raised her hand, forcing it to halt inches from her palm. Twisting her fingers, she rotated the dagger mid-air and shoved it back, sending a gale-force wind hurling along with it. She heard a gentle shriek as the dagger hit its mark and saw a black-clad warrior fold to the ground as the smoke cleared ahead. Stepping forward carefully, she felt a presence to her right and ducked, narrowly dodging the blade that almost sliced through her. Again, she outstretched her hand forcing the hot air and smoke around her into a funnel of power that knocked her assailant to the ground. Hastily stepping over the figure, she formed a fist that smacked into his face, causing his eyes to roll back and his body to go limp.

"You're a strong one, aren't you lady?"

Hearing the provocation through the rumbling around her, she twisted, facing her latest attacker. The smoke had cleared enough for her to faintly see the unshaven man standing before her. Clad in black from neck to toe, he smiled tauntingly. Artura remained silent, considering both the threat ahead of her, and the two other figures that had approached from behind. Staring down the more vocal of her attackers, she noticed a glimmer of orange burning in his eyes, a stark contrast to her own pale blue irises. He spoke again, raising his voice.

"You people don't understand, do you? You can barely face us as it is. Soon, He will rise, and you won't stand a chance. This world will burn."

Breathing deeply, Artura replied, feigning calm.

"Over my dead body."

The villain ahead of her smiled, outstretching his hand.

"Yes, that's what the last one said." With a flash, the air around his fingers ignited, an orb of flame forming in his palm. A quick glance backwards confirmed the same action in the other two. Drawing the pair of steel batons from her waist, she took another breath, spluttering in the ash. Raising them above her head, she threw them down and backwards, tilting in the air to hit the warriors behind her square in the jaws, knocking them out cold. Leaping forwards, she shoved towards her attacker without making contact, smashing him into a nearby column. As he stumbled from the ruins, she outstretched her hands, the batons returning to her grip. Thwacking the solid steel against his cheekbone, he crumpled to the ground, screeching in agony. Behind her, the pair rose from their unconsciousness as she bolted from the ancient plaza, leaping over piles of stone debris that had crumbled from the nearby structures.

She ran with a sense of sorrow, saddened that these buildings, which had barely survived these events before, were being destroyed once again. More and more ancient murals and statues fell each time the ground shook, further erasing the history of this ever-doomed city. Gaining speed, she continued to sprint, scarcely daring to check whether the figures hidden in the ash were ancient peoples frozen in time, or the shadows of a much more imminent threat. Hurtling down alley after alley, street after street, Artura jumped and pushed herself off a toppled statue, using her momentum and mythical ability to launch through the air. Rising above the smoke, she inhaled deeply, momentarily enjoying the clear air. She settled herself for a second, hundreds of metres in the air, and looked down with pity at the blackened remains of Pompeii. It seemed history really did repeat itself.