Elementally Bound
----- Prologue: Perchance -----
A great ball of flame erupted from him, as streams of lava shot forth, pouring like a water through cracks of a dam. Balthazar, the god of fire and war, fell to his knees in defeat, with an earthshattering death wail.
Ember almost laughed as she reared her fire sword for the coup de grace. The final blow would mean the end of his forged, the end of his terror, the end of his campaign against the inhabitants of the world of Tyria.
He looked up at the woman and sneered. "You shall never replace me!" he spat.
Ember looked to her love, Demitra, the native Elonian who had been with her from the beginning. A nod from the woman showed she agreed with Ember's next action. "We shall see!" Ember screamed as she ran her sword through the god.
At once, energies from the god and from the dragons, which he consumed, exploded from the corpse. Ember giggled maniacally as she stepped into the column of power, and absorbed it.
Ember had become the goddess of fire and war. She walked through the desert wearing robes of flame, along with the appointed Elonian queen, Demitra, who wore brilliant flowing purple silks. Together, they quickly removed the maniac ruler, Palawa Joko and the crystal dragon, Kralkatoric. Citizens of Elona rejoiced at their new queen, and of their newest god.
"Demitra... We've been through so much together. I really can't even believe we've made it this far!" Ember said with a smile. For the first time in her life, she knew no suffering; with the threats gone and the world safe, she was beyond happy.
"I have always had faith in us, my love; but I do wonder… What will we do now? Our adventure is over, it would seem." Demitra spoke with a softly, with a thick-lipped smile. Since freeing Vabbians from him and defeating of Joko, the Elonian always seemed to be smiling.
Ember took in a deep breath, slowly lowered herself to a knee, and held up a small box. "Then, my dear Demitra Naja Nyimah, we start our next adventure..."
Demitra let out a gasp, her emerald eyes glazed over. "This… This is… Is this what you want? This will make you whole?"
"You make me whole. There's nothing else in this world that does. Be my wife," Ember said with bated breath.
Demitra knelt beside the woman, put her arms around her, and whispered in her ear. "Awaken."
Ember suddenly shot straight up from bed, jerking the blanket off. "Huh? I'm up!" she exclaimed in a half-asleep state. She rubbed her eyes, looking around the room. "Demitra, just had the most wonderful dream." She blinked back the sleep a bit longer, rubbed her eyes again and glanced around. "Demitra?" Ember asked concerned. But, she was alone, as she had been since Demitra's disappearance.
The search had lasted the better part of a year, and Ember had continued the hunt even after most had moved on. Ember refused to believe her lover would simply vanish without a trace; yet, there was no trace. Spies found no signs of Palawa Joko's involvement in an abduction, necromancers were unable to find her spirit, and those that could commune with heroes in the mists came back empty. After months of searching, to no avail, those employed and volunteered had given up on the quest to find the woman.
Ember stood, lit a candle with her finger and began to dress herself. The woman wore new scars upon her dark skin, each from a battle she'd fought, all in effort to find the whereabouts of her love. Without realizing it, Ember had made a name for herself as a skilled fighter and throughout the year had risen in rank.
Interrupting her quiet contemplation and ritualistic preparation as she donned her armor, the tent's flap flew open, a nervous subordinate barging into the woman's private affair. Ember turned to the man, still only half-dressed as flames danced in her hair. The man stood as a statue, shocked at the scene.
"Well? Are you going to stand there staring at my nakedness, or do you have something to report?" Ember barked as she continued getting dressed.
"Yes… I'm sorry, ma'am," the soldier averted his eyes. "It's just… Captain, we've received information from our scouts that both the Forged and Awakened are gathering in mass. We're not sure if they're going to fight or if they're going to bring the fight to us, but…"
"Gather everyone and meet in the war room. If Balthazar and Papaya Joke want a fight, then they'll get one!" Ember said, red eyes blazing with determination.
----------Later----------
Ember charged forth, along with her battalion of soldiers mounted on various raptors, into the already raging battle. Forged and Awakened fought on one end of the city, and Branded were involved on the other. The top of the highest building, the God Balthazar battled a smaller figure: the pact commander.
The small force charged forth, with Ember's flaming raptor and burning sword leading the way into the fray. They formed a spear formation, charging towards their objective of killing a god. A few soldiers were brought down. They fell and continued fighting, swinging sword and fist at Awakened and Forged. At the last possible moment, as they fell, they activated their magic and exploded into a ball of flames, taking as many as they could. Ember said a word of thanks but continued charging forth.
She remained focused on her target and knew her sword would run the god through, just like in her dream! Until… Ember felt the power in front of her wane. "No!" she roared. She was too close to fail now, too close to gaining the god's power, too close to using that power to find Demitra! She stood, leapt from Cinder's back, and with a burst of magic, launched herself at Balthazar…
Then he died.
She cleared the edge of the building just in time to watch him breathe his last breath. Power erupted in an explosion from the dying god, slammed into Ember mid-air pushing her backward. She fell from the rooftop in a fireball as the energies of the god melting her armor away. She was angry. She was defeated. But, worst of all, she had lost her only way to find Demitra.
To Be Continued...
