Wave of Fires

Chapter Five

The Peak of a Mountain, Day 144 A.F

When faced with a furious witch, my first thought was that maybe I was too quick to forgive Matthew. The Fool had quite the knack for guiding us into terrible situations. If I survived, I'd need a pretty good explanation for this one. Despite the roaring fire, blurring and concealing Lady Lotus's features, chills coursed through me. In part, I was grateful for the flames. If Lady Lotus was visible, all her horrific majesty pinpointed on me, I surely would lose any level of composure I'd maintained. Her glowing glyphs whirled green, intermingling with the glaring orange of fire.

Stomach flipping, roiling, I backed into the tree. The black wood met my back, hard and unyielding. While the thrum of life flickered beneath my finger tips, it was so subtle, hardly vital. There was no pull of recognition, of respect in the bark. The plants had forsaken me when faced with the glory of their far more powerful mistress.

My claws remained buried in my fingers, deadened and useless. Utterly powerless. There was no hope for fighting, and even at my full strength it would have been hopeless. I sent a mental plea to Matthew, but I could hardly formulate the thought before a thorny vine snaked around my ankle.

I kicked wildly, desperate to free myself. I slashed at the foliage with my human fingernails, only succeeding in ripping up my sensitive skin. The plants completely ignored me, slithering higher, around my waist.

And then I was floating, yanked into the air. I squirmed against the green vice, but like a snake, every move made the vines constrict. So tight, I could hardly scream as I was wrenched upside down. My arms pinned, hair dangling in my face, I was aware how truly pathetic I was, especially when compared to what the Empress was truly capable of. Compared to Lady Lotus, I was little but a glorified gardener sporting a few measly tricks.

Somehow, I noticed that my hair remained its typical light brown. Not red as it always was when I was angry or threatened. Though I had always loathed that similarity between the witch and I it served only as more proof. I could never be the Empress when faced with Lady Lotus's viciousness. I was only an imposter, a child playing dress up. I never wanted to be the Empress, never wanted to give in too deeply to my powers, but without them I was shown just how helpless I truly was. So completely powerless.

All air was forced from my lungs as my back crashed into the tree trunk behind me. It was no wood I'd ever felt, the bark more like rock than anything living. The vines shifted, allowing me air to breath, to scream, as they encompassed the trunk as well, suspending me, upside down against the wood.

And scream I did. All thought of at least appearing in control, powerful, dissipated, and all I could do was scream. Vaguely, I wondered how my dying would affect the Game. If I could be killed in a vision, would Lady Lotus somehow claim my Icon? Or whichever of my allies was closest to my physical body. While I loathed to think of Death earning it, I sickened at the thought of one of my friends waking up to find my Icon on their hand, no way of knowing what had happened.

I expected Lady Lotus to laugh, revel in my agony, but instead she screamed. Screamed in a voice raw with smoke and fury, with pain I'd never imagine she was capable of. Wind raged, powerful enough to batter the fire, possessing to dance in a macabre jig like the witch's wild, bloody hair. But the wind was far too weak to drown out her wails, so tortured, it was as if her claws raked across my cheeks, her cries reverberating through my being as if they were my own.

The vines tightened with each of the witch's screams, so tight my own cries died away. Breathing was hard enough that screaming wasn't worth the air expense.

Her wicked thorn crown glinted, reflecting the angry red glow. With every howl Lady Lotus issued, the deadly barbs grew longer, more vicious. Like daggers. A complete circle around her head, unbroken and vengeful.