Elona Bound: Part 12
----- The Calling -----
The sun threatened the first restful night sleep Demitra had experienced in quite some time. The Elonian's tan skin was bronze from the rays gracing her exposed body. Emerald eyes grumpily squinted at the brightness, choosing the dark retreat of her eyelids, and a smile came across the woman's lips, remembering the previous night. She reached to the other side of the bed, expecting to meet her lover's body. When her hands grasped only sheets, she only slightly opened her eyes. They were still warm.
Ember stood in the morning light, busily buckling and latching her armor. Yet, attempting a stealthy escape while in a hurry made each movement louder than she wanted, and a few curses made their way out at the annoyance.
Demitra stirred in bed at the disturbance of silence, mumbling something from a dream. "Em… ily…" she unconsciously uttered.
The name sent shivers into the white-haired woman. She stiffened, inadvertently scowled. "Don't call me that," she snapped, foregoing the attempt to be quiet. Her voice was hard, annoyed, harsher than she'd meant to sound.
Demitra stirred again, rolled over, opened her eyes, and beamed a smile to Ember. "Ahai, there, you…" her tone was light and airy.
Ember realized immediately the woman had been speaking in her sleep. A small puff of smoke came from her head. She looked over her shoulder and gave a tight-lipped smile. "Hey," she said sheepishly, hoping the woman hadn't registered the outburst.
Demitra yawned, stretched, blinked a few times before coming to the realization Ember was already dressed and preparing to leave. "Everything… okay?"
"I…" Ember hesitated, then exhaled. "I need to go. It's… It's complicated."
"Then… Uncomplicate it." Ember made no response, no movement. Demitra sat up in bed, reached out and grasped onto Ember's gloved hand. "Just tell me," she implored a worried expression.
Ember was transfixed on the woman's eyes: those emeralds conveying such passion, such concern; one could lose themselves to them. "I… There has been this voice. It's been calling me. It is…" A scowl interrupted the speech as she forced the rest out. "I'm getting to it. I need to get rid of it."
"We, Ember… We shall go, together."
"I don't want you to get… hurt." The last word squeaked out.
Demitra raised and eyebrow at Ember, jerked her arm, spinning the woman around to pull her close. "Ember, I have been alone for a long while. I can, indeed, take care of myself. This, I have shown you! But if you think I am not to be by your side, you are most mistaken."
Ember frowned, attempted to pull away. "I… I just worry I'll become something dangerous," the woman closed her eyes, whispering, "again."
"The past is just that: 'the past,'" Demitra explained softly.
Empathically, Demitra could feel her friend's worry; the confliction, the anger: so many emotions bundled into this marvelous red-eyed, white-haired woman. She leaned forward, planting her plump lips on the woman's. Ember comically squeaked as she surprisingly received Demitra, but her resistance instantly melted. The world grew quiet as the two women embraced, sealing that moment in time. Eventually they separated, yet neither let go, both staring back into the other's eyes.
"Fine. Just, make sure you're right," Ember conceded.
"I know things have been difficult for us both, but I feel as though together…" Demitra smiled warmly. "Maybe things will not be with such difficulties?"
Ember nodded a few times, blushingly. "Y- Yeah," she stuttered.
Satisfied, Demitra rose from bed, allowing the sheets to fall behind her as she glided, completely nude, to her gear. Her movements were calculated: swaying her hips purposely. A glance over her shoulder ensured the effect was as predicted; the Elonian didn't have to be an empath: Ember's hair had magically burst into fire. Demitra giggled and continued methodically sensuously putting on her attire. More than once, she glanced back to see if her audience was still attentive, and while Ember knew this process was counterproductive, she was captivated by the mesmer.
After a fashion, Demitra returned in full battle wear, save a final detail. She smiled at Ember as she placed an emerald jewel in her navel. Thought lost in the cabin prior to their departure, Demitra was overjoyed when presented with it. Ember had told the woman to close her eyes and traced the jewel from the woman's lower half to upper half before surprising her with it. This jewel meant the world to Demitra and she hoped her excitement for its return was conveyed the previous night.
"Ready?" Ember accidently shrieked. Her voice was shrill and she was a shade of red. She turned from the sight, attempting to regain composure. "Time… Time to go! It's… I think it's south." Ember walked toward Cinder, placed the harness on and battle gear, and mounted her flamelander raptor. The animal excitedly growled and Ember lovingly scratched behind the animal's horns.
Demitra approached tapping her bracers, which swirled blue and golden sands from them, coalescing into a crystalline raptor.
"That's a neat trick," Ember mused.
Looking at her gauntlets, Demitra considered. "I suppose it is, isn't it? I shall have to explore this further. Perhaps after our adventure?" she reckoned.
Slowly the two began trotting down the ramp which led to the temple. Ember looked at the beast closer when they rode parallel. The scales on the mounts surface looked as though it was in a constant state of flux, like the rivers of sand she'd experienced here in the deserts. "So this isn't a raptor then?"
Demitra winked. "Do not say such things, you'll offend it!"
Ember blinked. "Okay," she said singsongingly. "So then… the gloves; where'd you get them?"
"They were a gift, actually, from my mentor, who vanished after he had awarded me with these."
"Who was your mentor?" Ember's curiosity was piqued.
Demitra simply smiled. "A Djinn," she said nonchalantly.
Ember pulled back on Cinder causing an abrupt stop. "A Djinn? Your mentor was one of those four armed floaty guys? I thought they were just legends and tales!"
The Elonian paused her raptor to face the inquisitive woman. A charming smile came to her face at Ember's shock. "Legends like Elder Dragons? Tales like that of the Six Gods? Is it such surprise to you that these beings exist?"
Ember huffed, clicked her tongue at Cinder, trotting ahead. Demitra could feel her embarrassment, felt ashamed at herself as well. An apology and a few quiet sand dunes later, Ember suddenly chuckled. "Did he have… like a lantern you had to rub to call him?"
For an empath, Demitra failed to see the humor, her answer thoughtful. "Most are free like you and I. Some are, indeed bound to objects, from my understanding."
"It was a joke, Demitra!"
"Oh," she blushed. Uncomfortable, she downed her head, staring at her azure sparling fingertips, finally raising an eyebrow. "Bound to objects…" she mumbled, considering.
Demitra's epiphany was inturrupted as they came to a large contingent of metal and fire beings, spiked constructs raised from the ground. It was the Forged: Balthazar's personal minions created for the soul purpose of death and destruction. She hated these beings, could feel Ember's own, but moreover, a longing for expedience dominated the white-haired woman's thoughts.
"I don't have time for this," she said, pensively. "As much as I would like some payback for last time…"
"We can run through," Demitra offered. "Perhaps they will not have time to notice. Can your flamelander leap through these minions?"
Ember and Cinder looked at Demitra simultaneously. "Can your… non-raptor?"
Demitra raised an eyebrow, took off into the valley.
Cinder growled softly. "Yeah, I like her too." Ember exclaimed. She clicked her tongue and charged through the monsters.
The desert began to cool as the sun slowly began its descent. The narrow valley came to a small oasis which cooled the breeze. Both Demitra and Ember paused for a moment to enjoy the scene. Palms swayed in the wind and the reflection of the high mountain cliffs made their imposing presence manageable. At the far end of the valley, a small door seemed to shimmer into view. Demitra glanced back to Ember, noted her resolve and the two ventured to the entrance.
"I think this is it," Ember considered, hopping off her mount, leading it to the large door in the side of the cliff.
Demitra dismounted as well, the sands from disintegration returning to the gauntlets. "How… How can you tell?" She examined the oddly placed door.
Ember scowled. "I can tell cause this damned voice is loud!" She reached out, channeled her magic and let out a concussive blast, throwing the door inward.
From the entranceway, a long hall lay before them, complete with burning torches; yet, Demitra noted, dilapidated walls and spiderwebs were the décor. Grass had sprouted from cracks in the floor and in a few sections, the floor was completely missing. This place had been abandoned long ago.
"This place is a tomb, dusted and decrepit, so why are the braziers lit?" Demitra's words fell flat; Ember was already walking down the hall.
The women came to stand in the middle of a large circular room. Four doors lined the walls, some spaces apart, encircling any that entered. Two seemed to hum with a magical energy a small plaque on each slightly illuminated.
"Ember?" Demitra nervously asked. The woman's red eyes hadn't blinked since they entered the structure.
"I'm… I'm okay," she shook her head a moment, then honed in on the far left door. "That one," she said, drawing her sword as she approached.
Demitra called, "Ember! Wait!"
She paused a moment, looking over her shoulder. "What? This is it! This is the one!"
"Okay, just… Don't… Don't just attempt to blast this one down. Look! There's an inscription; what does it say?"
Ember approached more closely and read. "It says, 'Outcast by mortal, chosen by flame. Inside you shall, find all you desire." She rolled her eyes and groaned.
Demitra came to stand beside her. "All you desire," she pondered. "Does it say nothing of a lock; of an enchantment?"
Ember hefted the sword, the flames from her grip engulfing the blade. "One key, coming up!"
"Ember wai…" Demitra's words were too late. Ember swung her sword into the door. Her sword immediately exploded, shattered, sent shards flying. Having armor herself, Ember was protected from the blast, Demitra however, was not. One shard flew past Demitra's arm, slicing her flesh.
A loud string of curses came from Ember, before she came to realize the Elonian was injured. "You okay?" she asked, still irritated.
"I'm… I'm okay," she said meekly, clutching her injury, blood streaming down.
Ember surveyed the woman. What a brave face she was trying to exude, but it wouldn't be good for her companion to bleed out due to pride. "No, you're not… Let me see."
Demitra held out her arm as a child would do to a mother. She reluctantly removed her hand and blood free flowed down her arm.
"Oh no!" Ember exclaimed, quickly ripping a piece of fabric from her armor. A quick turnicid was fabricated and the blood flow stopped. "That should hold, for a while. But… I mean, now what?" she said, looking back to the door.
As if mocking them, the doors slowly creaked open.
Demitra put her arm around the woman, who helped her to stand. She grinned at Ember, hugged her with their embrace. "This will hold; come let's see what's behind your magic door, shall we? All you desire?"
Ember nodded and the pair stepped inside the room. Inside was a small pedestal, with a sword perpetually on fire. Beside it, a small lamp and a pile of ash. The walls were decorated with images depicting a white-haired girl throughout various stages of her life.
Demitra's emeralds grew wide taking it all in. "Is this…" She pointed to a white-haired childlike figure on the wall.
"That could be anyone," Ember grumbled as she approached the pedestal. She paid no more attention to the tapestries and paintings, instead examining the objects in the center.
"If… If you say so," Demitra frowned, obviously knowing better. She knew she'd get nothing more from Ember on the matter, decided to look on her own. The first showed a white-haired infant being thrown into a large fire, another showing that same child with a drake. Another tapestry showed Ember at the front of a classroom, perhaps in the roll of a teacher? Demitra grinned as she viewed these. However, she paused at one dimly-lit painting, the image difficult to discern, yet the horror was conveyed: a white-haired being of destruction breathing fire into frightened people; behind her, a dragon of fire guiding her.
Suddenly, Demitra's bracers began to vibrate on their own. She dropped her torch, spun on her heel to see Ember grasping onto the lamp. An explosion sent Ember to the ground with a thud.
"Finally!" a voice boomed. Above the pedestal levitated a large frustrated Djinn. His skin was grey surrounded with an aura of deep red. He had two arms, opposed to the usual four she was accustomed to, but the Elonian immediately recognized the energy. He looked to the Demitra, tilted his head. "Wrong room…" he hissed, then instantly flew at Ember, entering into her body.
"Ember!" Demitra screamed, rushing to her friend's side. "Ember, are you alright? What did it do to you?"
A guttural groan came from Ember, followed by a bout of coughing. Demitra helped prop her up, when suddenly she began to vomit viscous pitch tar and onyx stone.
Demitra stepped back, shocked, worried and bewildered. "E- Em… ber?"
Ember gagged and choked, spewing forth vile filth, which began to move on its own. Like a wet sheet draped over, the putrid rock arose, flowing, dripping, vileness. It tightened, solidifying into a winged beast of a giant dark destroyer harpy.
"Ember, your expertise would be appreciated… Now please!" Demitra shifted her weight, readying for battle.
Ember coughed, weakly threw fire at the being. It did nothing, bouncing off the creature. "J- Just k- kill it!" Ember coughed out.
Without hesitation, a barrage of energy bolts blasted from Demitra's scepter; beside her, replicated version of herself also sending a flurry of energy projectiles at the creature. The dark harpy writhed in pain, swiped it's boned wings through Demitra, instantly shattering the illusion. Three more were already on the being, running up and exploding as quickly as the real Elonian could manifest them. A concussive blast shot through all the clones from the real mesmer, breaking their mirrors, adding to the power of the fuchsia energy blast, which struck the creature. Demitra funneled as much power as she could into the attack and the electricity brightened the room with the final destructive wave. The creature fought the wave, attempting to gain ground and strike the now only target, but it was a futile attempt. In a plume of fire, the beast was no more, its last wailing, screeching echo resonating in the empty structure.
Swiftly, Demitra was at Ember's side, pulling the woman up. "Ember? What was that? How… Are you alright?"
"I… I'm alive… Guess she wasn't gone," Ember mumbled. Ash fell like snow from the woman's hair.
"She? She wasn't gone?"
Ember grinned. "I… My birth; I was… possessed by the fire dragon." She laughed weakly, in spite of herself.
Demitra watched as Ember's hair dimmed, slowly starting to grow dark. "Ember, your hair…"
"Is it on fire again? S- Sorry about that."
"No… it's… It's miraculously dark!" she exclaimed.
"Oh?" Ember asked, patting her head. "How's it look?"
"It's gorgeous!" Demitra complimented with a warm smile.
Ember made her way to the pedestal after gaining her footing, retrieving the sword of fire. "Guess this is a reward, huh?"
Demitra giggled, then suddenly spun around, facing the entrance. "Who's there?"
"What's going on?" Ember came to her side, newly acquired weapon at the ready.
"Did you hear that?" Demitra asked.
Ember listened intently. Nothing other than the wind from the distant entranceway was heard. "I just hear you."
"DEMITRA NAJA NYMIAH!"
"Yes?" Demitra called out, wandering into the central room of doors. "Where are you? Where is that coming from?" she asked. "Me? How do you know my name?"
Ember followed her friend to the room, trying to grip the situation. "Wrong room…" she hypothesized aloud. "He said wrong room."
Demitra turned to look inquisitively at Ember. "The Djinn did say that, didn't he? Was… Was he speaking to me?" Demitra screamed, grasped onto her head as the voice boomed within.
"COME!"
She winced as the pain subsided. "Is this what you hear, Ember? Is this how it feels to have a voice commanding you?"
"Heard…" Ember corrected, then revealed her solution by pointing to the next door. "Maybe you are supposed to be here, too."
Demitra raised an eyebrow. "Me? What am I? I am just…" She rubbed her temples at another booming command. "Okay! Okay!" she yelled. "Fine!"
She approached the dilapidated door. This door seemed to have been in even more neglected decay, long forgotten, almost supported by the spiderwebs which decorated it. "There's an inscription on this one too, but it is very badly faded."
Ember looked at her new sword. "Need a light?" she said with a cheeky grin.
Demitra nodded and Ember lifted the sword like a torch. The inscription was barely legible, most worn by age.
Enter: Abandoned… something something… Alone;
With imbued sand… something… atone;
In your darkest… something… shall it be shone."
"Not the best poetry," Ember joked.
But Demitra's face was pale. She slowly turned to Ember. "Is… Is this me? How could they know… What of consequence am I?"
Ember shrugged. "There's only one way to find out. Try opening it."
Demitra reached to push the door, but it quickly disintegrated, falling as a pile of sand. She coughed from the desturbed dirt. Ember also coughed, covered her face. "Well, that's neat. At least it didn't break your weapon."
The two ventured into the room. Inside was another mural of images decorating the wall, most of them too damaged to ascertain. One wall clearly showed a village burning, with a little girl being spirited away. Another showed a woman standing in the palm of an enormous being. The pose seemed eerily familiar to Demitra.
Ember looked it over. "I know I'm not the brightest candle, but even I know that's you."
Demitra stared for a moment longer, then gasped. "No… Not me. That's… That's someone from my past. Her name was Valandra, and… that being that's holding her: that's Joko." Her tone was ominous and disheartened, and she turned away from it with disgust.
"Oh… I'm so sorry." Ember apologized, a frown on her face.
"It's alright; the past is just that, remember?"
Coming to the center of the room, Demitra examined the pedistal and a small chest that sat upon it. She reached for the chest, hesitated a moment, feeling the vibration of her bracers again. "Be ready for anything, Ember. We saw what happened to your lamp!"
Ember readied her weapons.
Demitra continued, carefully and nervously unlatching the chest, slowly pulling back the lid. She frowned. Nothing happened at all. A look inside was equally disappointing: A small pile of sand was all it contained. "Is this… Is this some kind of joke?"
"Maybe this wasn't for you. Maybe another door?" Ember tried.
Still grasping onto the chest, she gestured to the few murals that exist. "No! This… This is me! My family on fire; my lover taken by the scourge… This… all of this reminder, for what? A pile of sand? Desert sands?" Frustrated, she threw the chest against the wall, causing it to rupture. The sand from the chest seeped out, then suddenly moved on its own, flowing around Demitra. She was lifted off the ground, levitating at the sand's whim.
Ember yelped. "Demitra!" She attempted a step forward but the sands and wind forced her back. "Fight it, Demitra!" She yelled, futilely flailing her weapon at the sands.
The Elonian gasped for air, sands entering her from every orifice. It filled her mouth, her lungs, found its way into the wound on her arm. The sands flowed into her bracers, which expelled blue smoke and crystalline sparkles into the dust storm surrounding the woman. "Em… brrr," she tried to utter, her sounds became inaudable as she gasped for one last breath. Demitra collapsed lifelessly onto the floor.
The grip was off, Ember charged forward. "Come on now," she said, as she slid over to the woman, sitting her up. Unresponsive, Demitra jerked around limply; her face cold and pale. "Get up!" Ember panicked. The woman was not breathing! She attempted resuscitation, discovered Demitra's mouth completely filled with sand. She rolled the woman on her side and started rigorously slapping her back. A bit of sand came from Demitra's mouth, but it wasn't enough.
Her eyes rolled back.
"Demitra! Wake up, dammit!" Ember screamed as she picked her up, bent her over attempting to heave the rest of the sandss from the woman's lungs. A tear rolled down Ember's panicked cheek. "Please?" she said in desperation. She placed a hand on Demitra's back, tried to use more magic than she should to blast as much sand as she could out. "I hope this doesn't make things worse!" she said as she let forth a powerful magical blast directly to the woman's back.
A ton of sand spewed forth from Demitra's mouth. She coughed, vomited, gagged, but the color returned to her and her eyes sparkled back to life. Ember was beyond ecstatic, she scooped up the woman, held her close and kissed her. Demitra's expression was elation and smiles in between coughing fits.
"You try dying on me again, and I'll revive you again and again and again! As many times as it takes… You're not leaving me like that, Demitra!"
"Wasn't… Wasn't my attention," she feebly joked. "What… What do you think that," she paused to cough out more sand, "was all about?"
Ember mumbled, "I don't know; maybe you pissed off a spirit?"
Demitra sat up, removed her bracers, staring at her bare hands. "No. I don't think that was it. There's… Something… Something's different."
"Okay, well, as long as you're okay," Ember said, taking one of Demitra's hands. She stared at the tingly sensation - the same one she'd experienced upon Demitra's touch with the bracers on. She blinked. "You feel funny."
"I feel… I feel different."
Ember cocked her head to the side. "Different good?"
Demitra rubbed the back of her neck considering, then also noted the same tingling sensation. "I don't know if 'good' is the correct verbiage; I definitely feel very odd."
Much more coughing and a few more jokes had both women rising to their feet, however weakly. Slowly making their way to the exit, they passed a final wall decoration neither had noticed before. This was a tapestry, ripped and old, worn by time. A faded picture was protected under a fold in the fabric. Demitra pulled back the flap to reveal a scene of two woman facing each other in battle. One woman is impaling the other, their faces lost to time and too obscure to recognize. "This… This is not the past."
"Hope I'm not the impalee…" Ember barked.
"I hope not either," Demitra said, growing faint from the previous ordeal. She lost her balance, held onto the tapestry, ripping it from the wall. With a thud she hit the ground. Ember was instantly over to prop her up. However, looking up from the ground, towering over her, was an engraving of Joko. Demitra glowered at the statue. With Ember's help she stood, approached it, then with a scream borne from a child's nightmares, she struck the statue with her bare fists.
Suddenly the statue cracked, a bright fuchsia light pouring from inside. In the next instant, the statue disintegrated into a pile of sand.
Demitra took a step away, staring at her fists, confused. For a split second, a shimmer appeared around Demitra, but as quickly as an eyeblink, it was gone.
She sighed. "Yeah… Okay. Let's… Let's leave this accursed place."
Ember nodded. "Should we get a healer? I really… I don't know how to help you."
Demitra smiled an unapologetically loving smile. "Oh you help more than you know."
The two made their way to the entrance, upon exiting, the door vanished. Neither decided to comment on the event, both exhausted from the entire ordeal. Without thinking, Demitra tapped her bare wrists together, out of habit. As it always did, her celestial mount manifested… this time without her bracers…
To Be Continued...
