Soul Between Lives

The spies and agents that slipped in with the refugees and reported back to the land army had provided useful information this time. They were accurate in relating the basic tactics used by the elven leaders in defending their cities. Without this intelligence, Viram wouldn't have known to target the largest tree first. After he and his group had successfully set it on fire, the rest of the city lost its will to fight back and panic dominated their prey.

"Are there no worthy opponents here either?"

Viram had grown so strong over the years that it was difficult to satisfy his lust for battle by slaughtering weaklings. He usually just left the cleaning up to his weaker underlings while he headed straight for the best treasures. He wasn't only interested in the best spoils of war but the most valuable artifacts were often guarded by the strongest defenders.

Viram was flying around enjoying the hellish scenery as he breathed deeply, intoxicated by the many smells. He searched for organized groups moving through the panic-filled masses. These were usually the strongest people trying to get the most important objects and leaders out of danger. These would be his choicest of targets.

He had just found a promising looking group quickly making its way to the outskirts of the city when he felt it. A huge amount of power was being gathered near the giant tree that was still on fire. Which one should he choose? The treasure or the powerful opponent? He didn't have long to make his decision.

"Hell wall." Viram shot fire from his hand in a wide circle to entrap the fleeing group and turned to the center of the gathering power. He decided he would come back later for his new treasures after killing the strong opponent.

...

"It is almost enough now, I will put out the fires that burn you. Just a little bit more my life."

Leilatha soothed her city tree that was tied to her life and soul as she drew power from it. That it was burning and in so much pain, made her feel so helpless, so desperate, so... violated, which filled her with rage.

She watched on as her people and city burned, drawing ever more power into her spell. Only Perin was nearby to watch over her as she focused. He kept his distance so that his own energies wouldn't hamper or interfere in her work. There was also the possibility that he would be harmed by the release of so much energy at one time when the spell was finally cast into the world. He used his wooden recurve bow to shoot down any fire beasts that flew too close and repelled a number of groups that tried to force their way closer to his lady. The monsters had overlooked them before as Leilatha traveled to the trunk of the city tree via covered walkways.

[That looks like trouble. Please hurry my Lady.] Perin only dared to say this in his thoughts.

He drew his bow and infused more power into his arrows as Viram approached from the outlying sections of the city.

Each time Perin fired a seeking arrow at his target that was over half a mile away and closing rapidly, Viram wouldn't even dodge. He would just fire off a flare from his mouth to incinerate the projectile before it hit him.

"My Lady! I can't stop this one. Hurry!"

Viram was getting close. He was almost over the inner walls separating the great tree's exposed roots from the rest of the city. At his speed, it would only be a matter of moments before Viram was right on top of them. Perin shuddered as Viram's ghastly smile drew closer and closer.

"Elaia!"

Leilatha yelled out as a bright pillar of pure light ascended into the sky. Viram stopped and warily observed the situation around him for any changes. That was an awful lot of power quickly sent into the atmosphere and he could feel it percolating around him, tingling against his hardened skin and dampening his flames. He took to the ground as he heard wind shears passing close by above him.

"My Lady!"

Perin moved quickly to catch Leilatha before she hit the ground after her knees buckled.

"Perin... This is as much as I can do for our people." Tears seeped from Lielatha's eyes and dampened her elegant face. The sunlight across her face became dim.

The air above them exploded with violence, pressing everyone and everything down to the ground for miles around. Wind shears tore through the sky destroying the tallest buildings and cutting through the tallest trees as if they weren't there. Even branches of the great tree were getting shorn off and crashed to the ground crushing buildings and slower people.

"MY LADY! I WILL TAKE YOU TO SAFETY!"

Perin had to yell to feel that he'd been heard. He carried Leilatha in his arms as he sped away from the city tree following the quickest way from the area as the darkly bruised sky above them turned more turbulent. The sky opened up in a massive waterfall that crushed the weak onto the ground with massive force in its initial onslaught. Everywhere there was gushing water, flooding outwards from the city. Above their heads, there was sharp wind filled with cutting water.

Viram nearly lost sight of his quarry as he took shelter but he was following as Perin ran through the city. The rain wasn't enough to impede his flames, but he didn't want to expend the power needed to force his way through the maelstrom sky. There could always be another powerful mage lurking around the corners just waiting for Viram to expend his reserves.

"The fight looks gone from her, but perhaps her guardian will lead me to other prey." Viram reasoned with himself.

The deluge sapped the energy from his minions and forced them to the ground. The fires of the city were quickly smothered and quenched. Of the few powerful lava dragons, one had lost a wing to a violent wind shear and crashed into a building. Others had sensed the danger and chose to take cover. The barricades set up to trap the citizens within the city were washed away by a flood of water that also dragged away many families but brought others out of the city, half drowned and battered but relatively unscathed.

Perin could sense Viram chasing him. He knew from how ineffective his arrows were that he was no match for the fiend, so he had to focus on getting Leilatha to safety. He kept from slipping through sheer force of will. All his power was sent to stabilizing his footing and getting his legs to move even a thought's moment of time faster. At last, he saw a group of home guard rallying together up ahead. Among them were wind runner scouts.

"Home guard! Protect the Lady!" Perin was still a block away from them and Viram was hot on his heels.

"My lord Perin! Shield wall! Archers close off the flanks! Don't let the fiend pass." The commander of the group gave his orders upon seeing the ifrit chasing down his sovereign lords.

The wind runners raced forward and took Leilatha from Perin's arms and rushed them both back behind the shield wall as Viram came to a halt down the street half a block away. Individually, these soldiers would stand no chance against him. But when they combined their power and used teamwork they could buy time for the wind runners to get Leilatha away.

"Perin!"

Leilatha had regained enough power to open her eyes and saw Perin preparing to make a stand with the rest of the home guard as the wind runners made their plans of escape. She had felt it when Perin leaned down to kiss her before the wind runners took her from his arms. Her heart felt like a dagger was ripping through its soft tissues as his back got further away.

"UNLEASH HELL!" Perin commanded.

Power imbued arrows, javelins and spells fizzled against Viram's flame cloak. Viram had to smile to himself at the appropriateness of the words chosen by Perin.

"Very well, I shall... unleash hell for you." Viram said with sarcastic glee through the sinister smile that never left his face. "Hell forge."

Leilatha saw as the buildings around Viram melted. She watched as both shields and men burst into flames. The archers' hands and faces were incinerated almost instantly. Perin's sword melted in his hands as he attempted to charge forward to take the brunt of the attack. When he felt the end upon him, he turned to look for Leilatha one last time. Leilatha saw the love he had for her in his eyes before she was pulled into a distant alley. Her farsight was both a blessing and a curse.

"PERIN!!!"

Her emotions added additional charge to the storm raging across her city. The turbulent clouds that should have been higher in the sky descended and filled the streets now. Her city was engulfed by her grief.

But not even the rain could hide the sorrow of her tears.