Elona Bound: Part 8
----- Turbulence -----
"What is going on?" she asked Xavier. Issues aside, he was the captain.
"Trouble up ahead. Not exactly sure what yet, but we won't be able to get enough altitude to avoid the flames."
Demitra squinted off the ship's bow. "I have seen flames such as these before; the fires that burn there are from the god of war. Balthazar is attacking!"
She joined Ryo and Bella on the upper deck; they stared at the awaiting chaos on approach. Ember was the next to arrive, fully in her gear, looking almost excitedly at the flames and prospect of battle. Demitra could taste the woman's rage and enthusiasm, and accepted the empathy which would help fuel her own modivation. Whatever her reasons for these feelings, Ember was indeed an able-bodied fighter and it would prove counter-intuitive and foolhardy to attempt to subdue the woman or have her stay behind. To accept this role was Prymi's sister, who would stay behind to gather the party's belongings. Prymi, herself, came to stand behind the group and Demitra couldn't help but grin at the sight of the little Asura already mounted on a rather large springer.
Even in the face of this chaos, Prymi grinned at the Elonian. "Butterscotch is her name," she said, petting the large rabbit.
Prymi's demeanor cleared Demitra's head. She glanced to Ember to see if the effect was mutual. It was not. Ember grinned wildly, wickedly at the approaching pyramid of fire. In another circumstance, Demitra may have inquired, but she knew now wasn't the time for questions… Now was the time for action!
She gathered her strength and came to stand on an overlooking mound as the airship docked, followed by the group. Her emerald eyes reflected the fire as Demitra spoke. "I know this excursion was not planned upon, and my apologies for asking this of you, but…"
"Let's do this!" Ryo shouted leaping from the mound. Bella followed, as did Prymi and Ember. Demitra smiled proudly and followed.
Emerging from the flames and heat stepped the forged: Balthazar-influenced beings of fire and armor. Their metals fused to their person with unknown magical energies from the god, and their hatred spread like the wild fires they ignited.
Over the heat from the flames, Demitra could feel the rage. It was a surprise to her that the source of this, however, was her not from the monstrosities they faced, but from her companion, Ember. Again, the Elonian channeled the feelings, unleashing it on the minions of the fallen god. A quick glance showed Ember did the same. Demitra could almost see her hair on fire: the woman was a lit match.
Further ahead, Prymi and Butterscotch barreled through a line of enemies, making way for Ryo and Bella. They fought, both lashing at enemies in a juxtaposed beautiful dance among the devastation. Orabella let out a roar as she slashed her fiery sword into a group, while Ryo slammed another on the ground. The two worked in concert, clearing a path and pushing the enemies back into their own fires of the surrounding buildings.
The battle was fierce. Fire, smoke and ash filled the sky as the assaulters lay vanquished. The group each glanced around, both for stragglers and to survey each other's status. To Demitra's relief, everyone held their own.
That is, until the Herald of Balthazar appeared.
While Demitra had heard of this being, information was scarce. Any that faced the Herald rarely lived to tell of the deed. The being stood taller than a Norn, made a metallic pound with each footstep. It approached silhouetted against the fires burning ahead and peered at the group with burning desire for destruction.
"Why have you done this thing? What does this village possibly done to deserve this?" Demitra spat her words, drawing upon a past unknown to the others. Her voice grew angry, booming over the crackling fires. "Leave here; this place is under our protection!"
A guttural voice echoed through the air. "And just who are you? A small insignificant insect compared to the God of Fire and War! Your life is his; I claim it as another conscript for Balthazar's army. Join his army… or be crushed by it!" The Herald's hammer slammed into the ground, instantly creating a labyrinth of lava on the ground. From the two largest pools, claws emerged. Two large grotesque animals, surrounded by red and yellow shoulders and filled with hatred, clawed their way forth. As the smoke from the event dissipated, the Harold had vanished, Forged Warhounds in its place.
"Everyone, hold position here; don't let the hounds make their way to the survivors!" Demitra barely got the words out before one of the hounds leaped onto her. The magical flames seared her flesh. At once she blinked backward, leaving a mirror image of herself in place. The hound bit down into the phantasm, which suddenly exploded in a purple cloud of smoke.
The warhound flew back, meeting Ember. She grasped onto the warhound, igniting it with her own fires. "You like heat, huh?" she said wildly. "Then you'll love me!" In an instant, an explosion of metal flew from the creature, ashes in the place it had been.
Demitra nodded to the woman, glanced behind her to see Bella plunging her sword into the other beast's back. It wobbled for a moment, then fell to the ground with a thud. Now revealed on the other side of the creature, lay Ryo, surrounded by flames. Demitra hurried to his side, as did Bella.
"Just go," he called out. "I'll endure until the flames die."
"No! We're not leaving you!" Bella yelled, seeking a path through the fire.
No sooner than Demitra began desperately looking for water, than did Prymi appear - still on the back of her oversized bunny - carrying several buckets of water. "We wouldn't need this if we had an elementalist, you know," she lectured, then apologized for being late. "Butterscotch… She doesn't like fire."
While Demitra and Bella doused the flames around Ryo, the rest went about putting out any fires left from the nearby buildings. Ryo struggled to stand, either lightly wounded or exhausted from the ordeal. "Can you make the journey to Amnoon?" Demitra considered the man's demeanor.
"Aye. I can." The man's answer was simple, to the point. An admirable trait to the Elonian.
A distant stampede came the answer to the group's dilemma as Prymi's sister Khirra approached, mounts in tow. The animals came to an abrupt stop as they came to their riders. Bella helped Ryo aboard his griffon, while she mounted her own.
Ember found a mid-sized raptor, smoldering embers lining its back. She mounted the creature, which promptly caught fire. "This raptor… It's a flamelander! I've read about these!" She exclaimed reverently. Leaning forward, the woman put her arms around the beast's neck, her smiling face buried in the flames. "I love her!"
Prymi and Khirra both donned springers; they'd been mounted, awaiting the group's decision to go, when Khirra looked to Demitra. "I… I didn't see one for you… Miss Demitra," Khirra explained meekly.
Demitra simply smiled her full ruby lips, tapping her bracers together. In an instant, sand swirled around her intermixing with blue mist from the gauntlets. They coalesced under her as they lifted her from her stance, manifesting between the woman's legs as a crystalline mimic of Ember's raptor.
"Impressive," Prymi said, eyeing the display.
Demitra winked at the Asura, then looked at the line of mounted compatriots. They exceeded her expectations, and she felt humbled and proud to know them. "While I know this is not quite what we expected, I would like to say I appreciate everyone's call to action."
Orabella looked at Ryo. "At least we save the village, right?"
Ryo smiled with a reassuring nod. "So we did."
"Are we gonna have to face him?" she asked, now distantly worried.
"We might," he exhaled.
Bella stared at the smoke-filled sky. "You don't know how much I want to kill the bastard," she swore. "The last time I faced his magics, he almost made me kill Ryo."
Ember continued with her affections to the raptor. "You are just like drakes, huh? I wonder if mother liked you. It's why I'm here," she said after a pause.
Demitra didn't know if she meant Balthazar or her mother, but decided not to dwell on the topic. She felt the resolve in Ember, could feel Bella's anger and fear. Prymi's anxiousness and fear of the fire; Khirra's timidness and innocence. The group was eclectic at best, but for the first time in a long while, she believed they stood a chance against the overwhelming odds. She turned to address the group.
"We all wish to do things: take down the god, take down the crystal dragon, take down the god-king Joko… What I see here we all have in common is that we wish to do these acts of heroism to protect the world which we all hold dear. Know that you will not face these trials alone, for we shall be victorious; for we have each other! Come... let us ride; Amnoon awaits!"
To Be Continued...
