The Fall of the Society

Chapter 63: Burning Resolve

Rose wrapped her hands around the now bloody spike of ice that was protruding from her abdomen and began melting the ice until she could break it, allowing her to remove the object. She crumpled to her knees and coughed, blood spraying the ice in front of her. Placing her hand against the cold and bloody surface she pushed herself back to her feet. Her teeth were grinding together as she fought off the cold and pain that was flowing through her. She needed a way to access her full abilities more readily. This was definitely something she needed to work on she thought to herself while looking around her ice prison.

She looked down at her suit, which was a combination of blue and red, a mix of her emotions and pain that she was feeling. Suddenly something clicked inside of her, flashing back to the previous time she had fought this man. A purple aura started to form around her eyes as her suit changed to match. Her skin shined as a swirling purple flame danced upon her, wrapping her in its warm embrace. The pain left her, and she no longer felt cold. Watching the flames move about calmed her mind and heart, she felt at peace. At that moment, she knew she was capable of doing whatever she wanted, winning any battle she would be forced into.

Another attack shot in from her right, but she did not have to react. The swirling purple condensed where the blow hit, deflecting it completely. Several more spikes made of ice shot inward toward her but had no more luck than the previous attack, shattering instantly. Rose was amazed at her new aura, it was beautiful. It appeared to be a mist of flame until something foreign touched it and it would condense into that spot and push outward. She swung her hand in front of her and the ice before her melted instantly.

There was a low drone, which she could not make out at first, noticing that her flaming aura was creating a sound barrier around her. Apparently, the man she was fighting was attempting to talk to her, but she could not make out anything he was currently saying. A smile crossed her face as she the thought of how frustrated he must be right now flooded her mind. Heat was radiating outward from her, melting even more of the ice, turning the water into steam as it dripped on and pooled around her feet.

Tired of being inside of a block of ice and noticing that the amount of oxygen in the space was quickly being used up by her aura, she pushed her aura outward. A flash of purple shot across the chamber, shattering the ice upward and outward before incinerating it prior to it landing. The force of the attack was so strong that it forced all the newly formed steam to rush upward and into the air ducts that allowed fresh air to be brought into the room. Her opponent barely had time to put a shield up before the attack had hit and driven him forcefully into the wall behind him. Rose raised her right arm in front of her and a long fire tendril came off each of her fingers, forming a long blazing whip. She swiped her arm in front of her and the tendrils whipped across the open room and slammed into the wall where he had been just a moment prior, causing deep crevices to form in the now badly singed concrete.

His lips where barely visible through the shimmering blue armor he was creating around himself, but she still could not hear what he was saying, her ears full of the rush of the fire surrounding her. He was clearly not happy about the lack of attention she was paying him, which made her smile even more broadly. The feeling of bliss was intoxicating as the flames warmed her nicely yet singing the ground around her feet. His frustration pouring out of him, he began throwing bolt after bolt of ice toward her, but she easily swatted them out of the air with her tendrils. He began pushing waves of ice back toward her, but they cracked and shattered as they got closer to her, before melting and rushing upward in jets of steam.

She was deeply impressed by his drive and determination, but he was going to have to do a lot more if he had any chance of making progress in their conflict. His movements where very fluid and he clearly knew what to do in a fight, but his powers where not up to par to compete with her. A massive form began to take shape on either side of him, towering forms of ice. Their forms continued to evolve as they began taking on the outlines of odd shaped humanoids. A realization of what he was doing washed across her, he was creating golems. They were becoming massive, spires of ice jutting off of them in every direction. She found his decision to take this route odd, he had no success in getting to her thus far, but his new strategy offered no solution to that. Finally finishing them, they had sprung into motion, roaring as they came forward. She could not hear the sound they were making but she could feel the soundwaves reverberating off the walls and in the shaking floor.

The tendrils from her fingers withdrew into her and she burst forward in a flash of purple, slamming her fist into the chest of the golem on her left. Her purple aura created a shockwave, which blasted a massive hole in the creation's chest. The shockwave continued outward and shattered what remained of the golem into a heap of ice rubble where it had been standing a moment before. She stared at her hands in amazement, hardly able to believe the amount of damage she had done with one strike. Wondering what else she could do she held her hands in front of her, facing inward, and began focusing all her might into her palms. A bright purple sphere began to form in between her hands. The second golem seemed to have lost track of her when she had attack but found her when the light from her sphere cast everything into a bright hue. Everything around the room seemed to glow as the light from her attack cascaded on them. The golem took a step toward her and instantly began to melt, causing the man to force more power into his creation to stop its degradation.

She looked over at the man and could see the worry and fear etched upon his face, and could see his lips moving, likely calling out taunts or insults as she easily put down his creations. As he focused on pushing even more energy into the golem, Rose let loose her attack, which shot from between her hands like a missile. It impacted the center of the golem's massive chest, where it buried itself beneath the surface, causing the golem to glow brightly. Suddenly an immense explosion blasted outward, shards of ice flying dangerously in every direction. Her opponent was blasted upward into the ceiling, knocking him unconscious, and he fell haphazardly to the ground with a dull and wet thud. Her attack had been so bright that she was having a hard time focusing her vision, circles of light floating in and out of her sight.

Finally able to see properly she watched her downed opponent as he began to stir. Letting her aura dissipate she could hear him grunting and moaning in pain. "Stay down and once we are done with Scion, I will heal you," she yelled to him across the chamber. "You do not have to die here!"

He raised his head, glaring at her as blood flowed across his face from a cut on the top of his head. Painfully, he pushed himself into a kneeling position and reached inside of his shirt, producing a long metal cylinder. "I still have one trick up my sleeve!" he shouted manically. "Part of me hoped it would not come to this, but I think I always knew I would have to do this in order to beat you!"

Rose frowned, why did people always have to act like losing was not an option. She was willing to let him live if he just stopped fighting, yet he wanted to continue in order to prove something to someone. "I would truly prefer not to kill you," Rose said loudly as the man fumbled with the metal cylinder he was holding.

"That is fine," he gasped loudly, struggling to hold his broken body upright. "I would prefer to kill you, so I would be more than happy to oblige your desire!" A twisted smile spread across his bloody face; pain mixed with mania radiating from him. Pressing a button on the side of the tube caused a large and long needle to shoot out the end of the cylinder. He held it out in front of him, and before Rose could react, he jammed it as hard as he could into his own chest.