Elementally Bound: Part 1
----- Collision -----
She huffed a small cloud of smoke. "Destiny," she muttered. Was it her destiny to try - and fail - to achieve the power needed to bring her lover back? Was it her destiny to alienate herself from others due to the uncontrollable fire within her? Was it her destiny to be alone?
A soft chilled breeze filled the cave, pulling Ember from her thoughts. Her drink stopped bubbling. She held it up, inspected it, then shrugged. She was too inebriated to put thought into the phenomenon.
Palms swayed as a woman passed them, gliding to the bar with purpose. She cast a sidelong glance at Ember, and after slipping a few coin to the barkeep, she turned to the woman.
Ember glanced up only momentarily at the woman's approach, her attention more concerned with a small amount of frost on her cup.
The woman cleared her throat and said something in Elonian.
"You're in Kryta. Speak some damn Krytan!" Ember scowled at the foreign language. The tongue had brought sorrow to the woman's heart after her time there, and now annoyance stemmed from even hearing the dialect.
The woman grinned from the corner of her mouth at the woman's forthrightness, then nodded. "Ahai, then."
Ember frowned. "Yeah… Hi. So what is it you want?"
The woman gestured regally around at the empty seats. "I was wondering if I could sit with you. Not many else to converse with."
"Uh… If you're buyin' then sure… I guess."
The woman nodded and sat down with a slight smile.
Ember raised an eyebrow. "Something amusin' to ya? You look like you're about to tell a joke."
"I was noticing your… appetite… is the word?"
"You try getting drunk when you burn it off," she said into the cup as she rose it to her lips.
The outpouring of small flames from various places in Ember's armor confirmed this. The woman inspected her. Ember, in turn, did the same. The woman was clad in red and purple attire, a tight-fitting top affixed with straps and a porous loosely held-together skirt. Her short hair was a deep dark red, her skin caramel, and her eyes were bright blue sapphires. While her hair hang over one side of her face, the woman's beauty was still prominent.
"By the way," she said, breaking their stare-down. "Name's Ember."
The woman sat her own beverage on the table, the mug frosty with a bit of mist from the humidity in the air. She tasted the name, found it to her liking. "Ember… Yes. Fitting, is it not?"
Ember nodded. "Guess so." She made the attempt not to sound too scornful. "What about you? Got a name?"
"I do," the woman said coyly as she took another sip. Ember's frustrated reaction to the answer made her smile. Game won, she conceded. "I am called Valandra Naja Thaljia."
Ember paused mid-gulp, glanced at the woman before lowering the glass. "You know… That name sounds familiar. You got a cousin in Amnoon? Or a sister? Maybe an aunt? I know I've heard your name somewhere…" She struggled to remember.
Valandra rose a suspicious eyebrow. "I… I do not," she said, a note of caution in her voice.
"Hmmm…" Ember tapped her head a few times. "Memory is a bit foggy. Demitra would remember who I'm thinking of," she said offhandedly.
Valandra's eyes grew wide. "Demi? How… How do you know of Demitra?"
Ember tilted her head. "You know her?"
"Yes… I… I did know her. No longer, however. Is she here?"
"She's," Ember's voice cracked, "She… went missing. We were in Elona, and one night she just… She vanished. No one could find traces of her. I just… I hope she's alright. Safe, you know?" She finished off her drink, and chuckled a bit. "I was even crazy enough to try to become a god… just to find her." She hadn't meant to confess this alcohol-induced truth.
"Oh. I see," she said, then honed in on the last statement. "A god, you say?" She took another sip of her frosty beverage.
"Well, I mean… I heard Kormir was a human…" Ember rubbed the back of her neck. "Who better to replace Balthazar than me?"
"And you believe yourself to be so powerful?"
Ember considered. "I mean, if I could have absorbed his power…"
Valandra returned her drink to the table, a bit more fog coming from the container. "Do you," she paused choosing her words carefully. "Do you believe that is something that you… should be able to do? Take one's power from them forcefully?"
Ember grinned. "Sure, if it's fire! I mean, if it's not, I'm not sure if I could. I have theories about other sources…" she abruptly stopped, an epiphany came to her. "Wait… You are Valandra!"
The woman tilted her head to one side. "Yes? I am," she said, puzzled.
"No, I mean… The Valandra! Does this mean," Ember leaned forward, "You escaped that Papaya Joke?"
Valandra looked shocked and taken aback. "How?!?" She blurted out, then attempted to calm herself for a moment. "What makes you ask such a question?"
Ember shrugged. "Demitra talked about you. Mostly in her sleep, but still."
"She… remembered me?" Valandra masked her surprise.
Ember turned up the empty glass, attempting to salvage any remnants. "Well, yeah. You never forget your first love."
Valandra was a statue, staring at her drink and she smoke draping down over it. "This… This wasn't expected," she murmured. After a few silent moments she securitized Ember. "You two were… close then?"
Ember nodded. "I love her," she exhaled. "Things would be much easier with her," she began, then trailed off.
"She… She wouldn't come back," Valandra frowned, a tinge of bitterness in her voice.
"Demitra tried to save you, ya know?" Ember fanned at the smoke on the table, perplexed.
Valandra sat up, raised an eyebrow. "And you believe this?"
"Well, yeah, I do," Ember said, attempting to focus in her inebriated state on the conversation at hand. "It was her biggest regret: to give you up to the dead guy."
A moment passed. Valandra's brow furrowed. "Give me up? No; I had to escape; return to my village. I had to! If I had not done so, everyone was to have been slaughtered!" A soft mist came from her mouth with each word.
"But you're free now, right? I mean… If you're free, why are you here?" Ember blinked at the mist, red eyes going wide.
A frosted exhale came from Valandra. "This wasn't supposed to go like this: our meeting. I did not know you were part of my past, Ember Drakenfist. I certainly didn't expect such things to be known by you. And Demitra's absence... It… It complicates things."
"Well, you know… meetings sometimes go like that. Wait…" Ember became ridged and stiff. "Complicates what?"
"Complicates the reason I came; but, I suppose it can be overlooked." Valandra took another sip of her drink, a cold mist now pouring over the edges of the cup and table.
Ember raised an eyebrow at the mist. "So I assume the reason you came was for me? A message perhaps?"
"A message for you? No… Not as such. You assume I came from Elona to Tyria simply to give you a message? No, I seek something else..."
"Well, how else would you know my family name? You obviously knew of me before this. Just… what kinda game are you playing?" Ember's head began to smoke.
Valandra grinned. "You are more astute than you let on, Ember Drakenfist."
"Or you aren't as subtle as you think," Ember retorted.
The woman stood, leaned on the table, and peered at the red-eyed Ember. Both women's guard was definitely up now. "Then you wish to dispense with the pleasantries?" A frosted sheen formed over the surface of the table, quickly extinguishing the candles upon it.
Flames arose from her armor as Ember began to radiate heat. "Demitra didn't mention you could do that!"
"Or maybe there's much more Demitra failed to explain to you; much more you simply believed from her."
Ember stood slowly, eyeing Valandra. "Care to tell me why you are here, ice queen?" she smirked.
Valandra stood upright, a smile on her face at name. A shimmer covered her being, purple distortions rippling over her form as she placed a small mirror on the table; the glimmer spell it created now dissipating. The woman's clothes faded away, replaced by armor of ice and shards. Her boots included spiral crystals of ice wrapping around themselves, meeting the covering she wore around her waist. A further extension of the woman's glacial bodice met the lower half, leaving exposed skin on either side. Her shoulders were ice sculptures of jaggedness, and from her back sprouted wing frames of translucent crystal shards. Her eyes sparkled blue, her body generating the same color aura around her person. Valandra's hair became that of silvery white.
The woman appeared celestial and majestic, and Ember may have been in awe had the situation been different. She stepped back from Valandra, her hand already on her weapons. Her red eyes widened as she looked upon the white-haired woman. Her vision was still a bit blurry from the alcohol and Ember needed to stall so she could burn off any intoxication. "Tell me! I at least have the right to know: Why are you here?"
Ember's head began to smoke, holes in her armor radiated heat. Valandra stared at the flames for a moment, then pointed to them. "That. That is why I am here. I want what you have inside you. You radiate heat. Even now I can feel our temperature rising, as you can feel my cold; have you never thought one may desire such power?"
"Pretty sure that's why I have it," she said as she cracked her neck. "This mean you aren't really free?"
Valandra laughed maniacally. "Free? Why would I want such a thing? The God-King Joko provides and I shall provide for Him by delivering your power! But, I extend the offer to you: Won't you come willingly to serve the great Joko? There is no higher honor."
Ember paused a moment, considering, then concluded and drew her sword of flame. "Why would I go from seeking god-hood, to serving a corpse?"
"The alternative is what? You would stay in Tyria, drinking your sadness away? I offer you a chance to be a part of His army; a force none could oppose! With our combined power, we would lay waste to enemies, in His name. Praise Joko!"
Ember cracked her knuckles and grinned. "Oh honey, I'm already a force nothing could oppose. I don't need you."
"Oh?" Valandra drew blades of ice, surrounded by the same azure mist as her person. "Is your flame not quenched by water? Smothered by ice? Blown by wind? You are so certain you are a force nothing could oppose?"
A laugh came from Ember. "Ice is melted by fire! Water evaporates!" She lunged forward, sending a fiery fist at her opponent.
Valandra spun backward vapor spraying forth from her position, leaving a trail of rainfall which steamed from Ember's hot fist. She grinned at her opponent's presumptions. "Then, if you shall not join our cause, I shall take your power; just as I have done with the other!" She yelled over the loudness of the steam.
Ember cackled as the few remaining patrons and the barkeep cleared out of the hollowed cave which made up the bar. "I'll make ya a deal: You beat me, and I'll see your boss. I beat you? I keep you here for a bit and you tell me what you're up to!" Spreading her arms wide, then bringing them together in a clap caused an explosive blast.
Valandra dug in, held her sword to her face, the force from the concussive blast forcing a defensive stance. When the energy had passed, she stood, her blades twirling in defiance. "If I beat you, I take what's inside you. I wished this to be different; a comrade, perhaps. But, I shall take your power too. Whether in life or death, you will serve God-King Joko!"
A rune drawn into the air sparked a cobalt frost-aura around her, and Valandra plunged forward, her ice blade crashing with that of Ember's flame sword. Steam and smoke filled the space between the combatants, neither could see the other's maniacal grins, but both seemed to relish the battle.
Valandra used the moment of steam induced blindness. Without hesitation, a glacial dagger found its way under the clash of swords and through the vapor. A wave of cold blasted forth, channeled through the blade. Ember winced, moved her burning fist quickly to meet the dagger and stop the assault. A boom resounded from the crash, shattering the blade. Valandra dropped the broken dagger, replacing it with her own icy grip upon Ember's fist, forcing an unfocused frigid blast upon it.
Ember cried out in a frustrated painful growl. Her fist flared, meeting the cold, spewing vents of steam from the clash. For the first time in her life, Ember dug into her reserves, called forth a jet of flames from her mouth. The fires enveloped her foe's head.
Valandra stammered backward, her shield taking much of the impact. Her face was charred, however. She quickly touched her lips, which became a blue and quickly washed a cleansing wave over her body. Whatever pain she felt was not evident, instead, she was filled with desire.
Attempting to convey confidence, Ember smirked. Her still-steaming hand, however, throbbed with pain. She tried to nonchalantly shake it off, resurge the heat.
Valandra noticed. "So the flame can be extinguished, it seems!"
Ember cracked her neck, spit out a tiny flame. "And you can melt," she retorted.
"Melting me hurts you. I am ice, I am water… and I am…" Winds suddenly encircled Valandra, began swirling around her. She stepped back and faded into a swirling vortex which promptly rushed at Ember. Benches and tables flew forth as the tornado roared into a shocked Ember.
"Wait… What!" she exclaimed as the storm consumed her, began pulling her. She tried to fight the wind, but there was nothing to fight, nothing to blast. Her sword flew from her hand, landed in the nearby stream. "No you don't!" Ember tried to push against the current, realizing the path would deposit her next to her blade.
Despite her efforts, the torrent pulled Ember into the water, slamming her down into it. Steam bellowed from the impact. In its smoke and haze, Valandra regained her form, stood over the woman. She quickly kicked the extinguished sword away from Ember's reach and knelt down on top of her.
Ember growled, grabbed Valandra. "I'm more than my magic!" She channeled all she had into her steaming fist which reignited and launched it into her assailant's shoulder. It shattered as Ember's fist dove into the woman's flesh. Suddenly a black inky tar covered Ember's fist, extinguishing the flame. "The… The hell?" A confused Ember stared up at the attacker. "What… What are you?"
Valandra leaned forward, driving the fist further into her body. She only winced slightly at the pain, brought her face close to Ember's. "I want what you have. It will serve Joko well." Her breath was beyond cold, it laid like a blanket over Ember's head with freezing temperatures.
Her red eyes rolled back in her head and Ember struggled to keep conscious. "It… won't… work anyway," she managed to utter as her flames dimmed.
"It already has," Valandra whispered seductively.
Ember fought the blackness until her defiant fist fell limply into the water. "I'll melt you… before… this is…" She managed to utter before she lost consciousness. For the first time in a long while, she had lost.
Valandra breathed a sigh of relief, visibly exhausted from the ordeal. She examined the blackness of her shoulder for a moment, but made no effort to repair the damage. Instead, she gently lifted her opponent's head, froze the water under it to create a mound of snow, and propped her head upon it. Finally, she softly kissed Ember's cheek.
"For what it's worth… I really did want us to fight side-by-side," she whispered.
To Be Continued...
