Enmity of Atlas

Leo’s body erupted with searing, scorching fire, as much as he could possibly bear and even further beyond. The fire spiraled around Trenton and Leo’s forms, twisting upwards into a massive stationary tornado, binding them together in a final dance of death. However, Trenton, even as his flesh evaporated off of his body, felt no pain. The rage still burned through his body, holding him within a state of semi-consciousness, barely teetering on the edge of losing himself. And in this moment, as Trenton fought against unknowable forces, suddenly regretting his decision to let his anger run free, he noticed something he didn’t before, something he never thought he’d be able to see. Trenton was healing. Just as fast as his skin melted off, new skin was layering back on top, seeping out of his muscles to keep himself and his body fully alive.

Leo, however, screamed in unbearable agony. The fire tore through his body: 1st degree, 2nd degree, 3rd degree burns and beyond, his skin turning to a blackened char. And unlike Trenton, Leo would never heal. He would die here, burning himself to death to kill Trenton, to stop him from succumbing to the inevitable, and it would mean absolutely nothing.

“MORE!” Leo cried to himself, fire filling his mouth, burrowing down into his organs, scorching him from within and without. The fire redoubled in size, the heat somehow reaching an even greater peak, Trenton’s regeneration now slowly losing out to Leo’s fire.

Even the ground below them couldn’t handle the intensity of Leo’s fire, melting from sheer adjacency to Leo’s magic. They fell through the many floors of the building, Leo’s melted flesh binding him to Trenton. Then, when there was no more of the palace to melt, when they were standing upon naught but stone and earth, they continued still downwards, the very ground beneath them evaporating away, allowing them further and further into the earth’s deepest crevices.

Somehow, somewhere within Trenton’s mind, as they fell further down, something clicked, a feeling of his own breaking through to the surface–pride. Leo wasn’t simply sacrificing himself for the sake of saving everyone else, something already more noble and heroic than anything either of them had ever done. Leo was summoning wells of magic he shouldn’t have even had access to, burning through the very essence of his being to kill Trenton. He was sacrificing his soul, and suffering the entire burden of the pain all the while, pushing through to the bitter end. So in this very moment, Trenton came back to himself, his desire to not let it end like this pressing every other feeling into oblivion.

“Sleep,” Trenton commanded, following instinct and intuition rather than reason.

At once, as if struck by a mighty blow, Leo’s eyes folded, what remained of them anyway, the fire ceasing its incessant torrent, and Leo’s broken body crumpling to the ground. Trenton, as if coming down from a high, was nearly passing out himself, the exertion from regenerating himself clearly taking a toll on his body. But if he passed out now, Leo would die. He needed immediate attention. He needed to be taken to Kiva. He needed…he needed…

***

Oh shit, that could not be good. Trenton’s sudden manic daze and burst of magic was one thing, but a random kid suddenly showing up from the sidelines screaming about how “I can’t let you” while glowing unreasonably bright? That was bad news. Sensing the impending doom, Karfice leapt to his feet, grabbing Garrote and sending out a thin veil of ice across the floor to reach Millie. He would try to get Blithe as well, but he was way too far away. There was no way that he could with how little time he had. Oh well. He wished Blithe the best, he really did, but it seemed it was out of his hands…hand.

Karfice’s magic surged below Millie, haphazardly flinging her bloodied body back towards them just in time. As Leo began to light ablaze, Karfice dropped Garrote, caught Millie, and summoned a protective barrier of ice constantly expanding in every direction to ensure that they remained insulated from the heat. And honestly, it worked perfectly. Everything went according to plan. It was a little steamy, admittedly, but it was alright, much better than burning to death. And the building was still holding together, so that was a plus…well, until it stopped holding together, of course.

The floor began to melt away, the whole building collapsing in on itself. Somehow, the random kid’s fire was growing even hotter the longer the spell went on. It was starting to even melt faster than Karfice could produce ice, disregarding the fact that they were also going to fall through the ground in a couple seconds. Oh wait, didn’t he see the wire boy use graviturgy a little bit ago? He was pretty sure he did. He wasn't really paying too close attention, but it was better than nothing.

“Wires, do you use graviturgy?” Karfice yelled.

“Yeah, why?” Wires responded.

“Do that.”

“Right now?”

“Right now.”

“Yeah, okay. No problem.”

Wires raised his hand into the air, as much into the air as he could, and like magic, using magic, they were flying, their little ball of ice hovering just barely off of the ground. At least one problem was solved, now to address the other. Other than the intensity of the heat, the lack of moisture in the air made it difficult to summon more ice, which meant that if he expected to keep them safe, he’d need to expand his reach. Karfice threw his magic wildly in every direction, pulling the ambient moisture from anywhere he could find it. But as he felt around, he couldn’t find enough to sustain his spell, the few traces of water he did find quickly evaporating due to the fire. He wouldn’t be able to keep them cool if the kid’s spell lasted much longer.

Then, suddenly, looking in a direction he hadn't thought to initially, Karfice actually managed to find a wealth of moisture. Hell, it was practically an entire wall of water sitting just on the other side of the fire. And as Karfice looked up to see what it actually was, peering around the massive spiral of fire in front of them, it turned out to be an entire wall of water sitting just on the other side of the fire. Huh. Solid guess…liquid guess…watery guess…yeah, that sounded about right.

Karfice pulled the moisture from the water around the fire, salvaging whatever he could with his magic, coalescing it around himself and forming an even denser barrier of ice. It was tentative, but he was managing enough to keep them alive, barely alive. And it turned out that he didn’t need to hold the spell that much longer anyway. Just a couple seconds after Karfice stabilized his magic, as quickly as it had appeared, the fire ceased, the building around them practically ruins.

“Can I put us down now? I’ve already used a lot of magic, and I really don’t want to overwork myself again,” Wires said, the veins in his forehead visible.

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Karfice replied, Millie weeping in his admittedly cold arms.

Wires set them gently down on the ground far below, their salamander opposition landing just across from them. It seemed that while Karfice had seen to their little group, Kaverus had seen to the salamanders, namely just Blithe and the emperor, the tall man that’d been fighting Kaverus notably nowhere in sight. Karfice let go of the icy barrier, keeping a thin veil of ice over the steaming ground to ensure their feet stayed only toasty, not toasted.

“Get off me you damned fool! The fire is gone!” The fat emperor shouted from across the way, pushing a badly burned Kaverus off of himself, Kaverus’s skin color no longer perfectly white–racist.

“Apologies your holiness,” Kaverus coughed, “but the boy is gone. The threat is nullified. All that remains is those two,” Kaverus nodded towards Karfice and Wires. Karfice peered down at the massive hole in the ground where Trenton and the red haired kid had disappeared. They were absolutely dead by now. They weren't nearly strong enough to survive a point blank attack like that. Damn shame. He had really liked Trenton, too.

“What of the other one?”

“Yusadel?” Kaverus said, grinning as much as a salamander could. From his deep pocket, Kaverus pulled out the corpse Karfice could only assume was Yusadel. It was the man they had been running with earlier almost definitely, but Karfice never did get his name. Wires, however, looked mortified, his face whiter than a fresh snow bank. “We’ll burn him in the square immediately, show everyone that no act goes unpunished. But first, to clean out the trash,” Kaverus turned towards them, hundreds of salamanders suddenly spilling out into the clearing to surround them.

All around them the world was abuzz with life, humans and guards running all around like chickens with their heads cut off, no one seeming to have any idea what to do or what was happening, the salamanders approaching ever closer. And to top it all off, Kaverus started towards them, pushing his way through the mass of salamanders to kill them personally. Well, it certainly wasn’t opportune, they’d lost Trenton and Yusadel, they’d have to abandon Blithe, and they were surrounded by who knows how many enemies, but at least they had Millie. That would have to do.

“I think it’s about time we make our exit,” Karfice said, eyeing the many sharp objects pointed their way.

“Do you have a plan?” Wires asked.

“No, but I do have an idea.”

“That’ll do.”

It wasn’t going to be a graceful escape, but it would be an escape. The plain salamander soldiers weren’t skilled enough, and Kaverus wasn’t fit enough, to stop them, so it would reasonably work. Karfice focused his mind, summoning wells of magic within himself to release in one sudden burst, his idea seeming more and more absurd by the second. But just as he was readying himself to cast, Karfice’s blood ran cold, even colder than it usually did…y’know, what with the ice and all. Something was approaching…shit.

***

Trenton stepped out of the deep hole carrying Leo’s charred form, Trenton’s body covered once again with green and brown floral tattoos, his eyes glowing a dim gold. It seemed that things had been reduced to chaos while he was gone, hundreds of humans and salamanders all around them. But now, all eyes turned to him, no one daring to move, Trenton’s–probably Trenton’s–presence holding them in place with an unyielding grip. Across the way, Trenton saw the emperor and Kaverus, Yusadel’s corpse brandished high into the air. Trenton wanted to rage, to let loose all the furry he’d carefully stowed back within his body, but he didn’t. He had worked too hard to get himself back under control to let himself loose now. Trenton calmly walked over to Karfice, Garrote, and Millie, gently handing Leo to Garrote.

“Take him from here. I will see to the rest,” Trenton said, his voice unusually calm.

“Is…is he alive?” Garrote asked, his eyes wide.

“...for now,” Trenton focused back on the emperor as Karfice and Garrote scrambled away, taking the two wounded children and Blithe with them. “Kraijsh, was it?”

The emperor fell backwards at Trenton’s piercing gaze, attempting to scramble backwards, but running up against a wall, the very pillar Trenton had summoned a minute prior, “Y-y-you d-dare to address m-me so…so…so,” he tried, his voice dying in his throat as Trenton approached.

“Good, then listen well, for these words may be the last you hear. Neither god nor angel can save now your wretched soul. You have stepped far, far beyond your rights, calling yourself an emperor while you cower within a city you’ve the least right to control. You may thank every lucky star in the sky that Arnis has granted you mercy thus far,” Trenton said, stopping before the cowering emperor and towering over his shivering form, “because I will not. There is no force in existence that can save you from me,” Trenton knelt low, picking up a sharp piece of stone to brand the emperor. Slowly, relishing in the king's squirming, Trenton carved a large X atop the salamander’s head, a scar that wouldn’t soon heal. When he was done, he stood, admiring his handy work from above. “But of course, I would not deny the fine citizens you’ve long tortured the opportunity to kill you themselves. They’ve more than earned the right to your blood. When I return in 2 years time, should I find you still alive, I will kill you. But until then,” Trenton leaned in close to the emperor’s ear, whispering his final words, “enjoy your life on the run. I know I will”