Beauty & Beast

We had just made our way into the Suite and after searching about fifty doors, we finally found the Princess. She was lying on her bed, probably daydreaming about something gold, when we barged in.

And there it was—the Shield we’d been searching for this entire time—hanging on the wall like some fancy decoration.

That was about ten minutes ago.

Right now, we were running for our lives.

ZZZOOM!

A stone bench turned to ash in seconds.

“Fuck! This bitch won’t let up!” Lira yelled, vaulting over a broken chair as fire exploded across the room.

“Liiiira,” Eliorynna sang sweetly, her voice like a lullaby from hell. “Come out now. I promise to make it quick.”

I thought princesses were supposed to be nice.

Eliorynna was anything but.

Her fire ability were unlike anything I had seen. Each blast came straight from her eyes, concentrated into searing beams of destruction, displacing the air causing shockwaves. The rune patterns glowing in her irises shifted and locked like puzzle pieces, reconfiguring with every attack.

Grafting.

Another way of inscripting runes to one’s body but one option I definitely did not consider. The thought of having a body part replaced into your own is terrifying enough but doing it as you feel ever nerve scream as the runes fuse to you? Hell no. I preferred something like the Aemari spring.

“Can’t you just do your scream thing?” I asked ducking under a half-melted doorway.

“No, Ash!” Lira snapped throwing the half-door toward Eliorynna who incinerated it.

“Do you see her? She’s burning things with her eyes!”

“Wait.....” Eliorynna’s voice cut through the smoke. “You’re Ash?”

Oh no.

“Keiji-dear talks so much about you,” she purred, cutting up a piece of her dress.

This was my chance to talk things through. Maybe reason with her before one of us got turned to ash.

Lira shot me a look. “You’re insane if you think you can talk to this woman.”

I stepped forward ignoring her. “Yeah, it’s me Ash. Nice to meet you….”

“Nice to meet you too….”

ZZZZZOOOOM!

“…Now die!” Eliorynna shrieked.

Twin beams ripped through the air, so hot my skin blistered from just being near them. Lira shoved me sideways just in time, the beam went past us, blowing apart the wall ahead.

Guess talking is out.

“You know, Ash,” Eliorynna bent cutting a piece of her dress. “I hate people like you who use others to get your way, then stabbing them in the back. Do you know how much Keiji-dear has sacrificed? You should all die for what you’ve done. And that goes double for you, Lira.”

“I told you,” Lira groaned. “Talking with this psycho is impossible. We need to knock her out and grab the Shield.”

I knew she was right and the fact she said knock out instead of kill meant she was thinking clearly. Still, I didn’t want to hurt someone who was important to Keiji. There had to be another solution I just wasn’t seeing.

“So, how long?” I called out.

Eliorynna paused mid-step, her eyes narrowing. “What are you going on about?”

“You and Keiji. How long have you been together?” I asked, peeking at her from behind cover.

Her head tilted slightly. “Why do you want to know?”

“Uh… you know, just trying to have a conversation.”

Eliorynna stopped, her head tilting just slightly. The golden glow in her eyes dimmed.

“Oh?” she said softly, almost amused. “You want to talk?”

“Yeah.” I said, crouching behind cover. “You and I have something in common: we both care about Keiji. So we don't need to fight, we're not here for you. Let us take the shiled ad we'll leave."

“I’m not stupid,” she said, stopping. “Of course I know what you’re after. So tell me, Ash. Why I should let you walk out of here with what you came for? Because if you think you can sweet-talk me, you're grossly mistaken.”

“That’s not what I think at all,” I said quickly.

Lira pinched my arm softly, it nearly made me yelp. “What are you doing? We want her to switch to our side!”

“Give me a second,” I whispered back moving out of the corner, staring Eliorynna in the eyes.

“Keiji and I talked yesterday and I’ll admit it got a bit heated but I could see he was fighting for something. Whatever he’s planning, I know his heart’s in the right place… but the Church cannot be trusted. Rovers and dungeons have increased. We can’t prove it, but we know the Church is behind it. If we’re going to survive, if Keiji is going to survive…we need answers. And the thing we need to get them is hanging on your wall.”

“Keiji-dear doesn’t need you to survive,” she said softly, and this time it sounded like she was trying to convince herself as much as me.

“Maybe not,” I admitted. “But we need him. and if you let us die here, Keiji is going to hate you for the rest of his life. Is that what you really want?”

That was a dirty trick but I didn’t have a choice.

That last part must have hit something deep because she froze completely, the glow in her eyes flickering. For one brief second she looked like she was considering it.

“You think you know what’s best for him? You don’t know anything!”

Both her eyes flared at once, the air compressing into a visible vortex, then the fire came roaring back.

“Duck!” Lira screamed, yanking me down just as the air above us turned white-hot. The ceiling blackened raining chunks of stone.

Dammit. I almost had her.

The blast left my ears ringing. Smoke from the burning walls started filling up. We rushed for the door, slamming it shut behind us and bolted into the stairwell it before door got blasted, flames spreading wildly.

The guards we’d knocked out earlier started to stir. I barely had time to react before Lira shoved me forward so hard I hit one square in the chest and sent us both crashing into the wall.

“Get the shield!” she barked, spinning toward the stairs. “I’ll distract her.”

SCRAAAAAAH!

The rune on her neck glowed as, her scream tearing the air apart. The force blasted down the stairwell just as Eliorynna appeared in the doorway, scattering burning debris and snuffing out the flames for a split second. Through the smoke, I saw Eliorynna’s blazing silhouette with eyes burning red.

Lira was already on the next flight of stairs when the attack came.

ZZZOOOM!

The beam ripped through the first steps. Lira twisted midair, kicked off the rail and used the momentum to practically float upward. In that state of weightlessness, she condensed the air into a bow and arrow the struck the floor near Eliorynna.

SCRAAHBOOOOM!

The blast was deafening, a wall of compressed air knocking even me sideways. It didn’t hurt Eliorynna, but it staggered her just enough.

“Go!” Lira shouted, not even looking back.

I sprinted through the smoke and into the ruined suite. The Princess’ room was somehow still standing, the shield on the wall.

Every second counted — Lira was out there trading her life for time.

I jumped onto the bed, ripping the shield from its hooks. The weight of it nearly knocked me backward but I manage to land on the floor with it in my arms.

Perfect. Not only was it what we came for, but because it had once belonged to a Hero, I could resonate with it.

This was it. Our miracle..

I gripped the shield tighter, breathing hard.

“Alright,” I muttered, pressing my palm against the metal. “Come on. Resonate.”

Nothing.

Not even a spark.

“No. No no no ….” I pressed harder, focusing until my vision blurred. “Come on, come on work!”

Outside I could hear Lira’s scream followed by Eliorynna’s blast.

“DAMMIT!” I roared, slamming the shield against the floor hard enough to rattle my teeth.

My hands were shaking. We’d risked everything and the shield didn’t work but I had one option left. I tore the Mourner’s pack from my shoulder and opened it. It had been a while since I last did this, but now was as good a time as any to try again.

I placed my arm inside, digging though its contents. My fingers scraped against vials, bones until they touched cold steel. My heart stuttered.

I pulled it free.

“Hang on, Lira,” I growled under my breath, gripping the weapon so hard my knuckles hurt.