A Choir of Flame

Illyandaril wasted no time in attempting to attack Count Draeven, but every punch, powerful though she was, wouldn’t punch through the magical barriers that Draeven would erect around him. Even with her axe, it was looking like getting through might be impossible. Focusing on the amulet hidden now within his chest, Draeven began to conjure flames around him. The screaming erupted once more, but Renji had enough of the terrible song. A scorpion tail erupted from his lower back, thrusting immediately towards Draeven’s chest. The fiery doom that awaited them was interrupted as Draeven had to dodge. Leaping with powerful digitigrade legs belonging to another creature he had absorbed, Renji closed the distance between himself and Draeven, his right hand raised like a claw. As his legs returned to normal, his right arm altered into that of the manticore’s claw as he brought it down, trying to gouge the amulet out of Draeven’s chest, but the barrier had come back just in time. “So, that’s why the amulet had an effect on you, Outworlder! How many souls have you taken!?”

The large pink wing-hand on Draeven’s left side struck Renji’s side with an open palm, throwing him back into the bookshelves that lined the right side of the study. “How dare you accuse me of harboring curses, while you do the very same thing!?” The Count’s words, shrill, hardly human, and dripping with utter contempt, were the final puzzle piece Renji needed to figure out what was going on. “So, it was you! Those screams I’ve been hearing, the source of your power—you’re the reason there were so many bodies on the road! Why!? How many have you absorbed!?!” Renji screamed in anger. He had no access to earth here, but he could at least conjure a water attack. Despite the needles of water flying true, however, they bounced off of Draeven’s shield.

The Count did not answer. Smiling wide, he just laughed as he created two spheres, one in either hand. Throwing the ball of flame at Renji, he shielded himself with his cloak, causing the fireball to disappear into a puff of aether. At that moment, he didn’t think about taking the time to absorb the aether. He grabbed a nearby book and threw it at the Count. The Count evaded, but this told Renji more than the Count would realize. Mariel threw one of her concealed knives at the monster in front of her, though the fleshy hands protected him. Illya tried to close the distance, but Draeven floated away, moving towards the entrance of the hall. Conjuring another ball of flame, he dropped it at his feet with one hand, and prepared the wind sphere. A gust of wind crashed down upon the ball of flame, and a stream of fire engulfed the room completely. It was only by Nemi’s quick shield that nobody was scorched, but an attack of such power left them all concerned. This level of power was not something they had anticipated to encounter while they were unarmed. Renji had thought about using his cloak, but he wasn’t sure if the cloak would protect him from such large attacks.

“He can only focus on one spell at a time! He can’t attack with his barrier up!!” Renji shouted, much to Draeven’s displeasure. Flying out the door, Renji, Illya, and Nemi gave chase. “I’ll get our weapons!” Mariel called, running in the opposing direction with great haste. Even when Renji transformed his legs, he had a difficult time catching up to Count Draeven. Nemi’s fireballs couldn’t land any meaningful hits, and whenever Illya got close to the Count, he erected his barrier. All the while, Draeven was quicker about his attacks, focusing on using more wind and fire-based attacks to try and harm the trio, but compared to his last attack, they felt no fear for the little firebolts or blades of wind.

In the grand hall of Veltetion Keep, Draeven was surrounded, but no closer to being brought low. He was incredibly careful with his barrier, only lowering it when he was absolutely sure he was free to continue his attack. Renji had tried using the manticore’s tail a few more times, but that barrier continued to get in his way. Nemi couldn’t stay stationary long enough to cast any of her bigger spells, forcing her to rely on quicker, less powerful spells, but even those were stopped by the barrier. Now that Draeven knew they were aware of his barrier’s trick, he tried to keep their windows of opportunity as slim as possible. He knew they were watching for when he tried to attack, but no matter what they did, they couldn’t get a single inch.

“Just what did he promise you!?” Illya shouted, frustrated that none of her strikes beyond the first managed to land. “What did the Dark Lord give you that would make you betray us!?”

Laughter erupted from the once-human writhing mass of the Count. “So you know? The Dark Lord is a fool. Halt your progress, and I’d get Aldelthorne, he said. He underestimated this city, he underestimated me!” Rising up towards the ceiling, he was truly out of reach of the other fighters now. “Dragons, wyverns, even grand island-backs. He must not have thought we could summon such creatures here, but we did! The amulet is filled with hundreds of souls, their power each being added to my own! You’d be a hypocrite to judge me for my power, Outworlder!”

The wing-arms on Draeven’s back rose above him, conjuring a great ball of fire, all the while winds howled, fanning the flames, causing a great heat to fill the room as he prepared for his attack. Shadows ceased to be with the overwhelming light that filled the great hall, the golden chandelier hanging beside the flying monster began to melt, and fell to the ground with the wet plop of molten gold. Illya knew that even with her strength she would not leap that high without overshooting him. She needed something to throw. Finding a suit of armor, she wasted no time in sprinting towards it while Renji continued to engage Draeven in conversation to keep his attention. “Hypocrite!? You steal their souls! I only take those who wish to come with me, nothing more!”

Suddenly, the screams returned, far louder now, the horrid screeching pierced Renji’s ears once more as Draeven’s rage could be felt from the heat of the fireball held aloft. “Blessed by that filthy goddess, are you!? This world has no use for monsters! In my world, beasts that do not bow and be shackled shall be spared no quarter! The very same shall be true of you!!”

Illya threw her blade. Barely, Draeven managed to avoid it, but he was not unharmed. Swift and silent, three arrows pierced his back as he dodged. Unseen, he had no way to evade them after avoiding Illya’s strike. Mariel was standing atop the stairs with Hestia, panting hard from how hard she had been running. “Here!!” Hestia threw everyone their weapons, though it alone did not aid their situation. Nemi, however, now that she had her staff, could finally do something about their flying adversary. Whipping the head of her staff forward, a vine latched around Draeven’s legs. Pulling down and away as hard as she could, taking every ounce of her strength to get the wounded Count to descend even a little. “Get him!!”

The distance was just enough. Renji and Illya leapt together, weapons held aloft. Renji had altered his legs to make the leap, and he matched pace with Illya, their training paying off with their unexpectedly synchronized movement. “No!” Draeven shouted, his barrier blocking their blades as they would have crossed his chest. Gritting their teeth, Illya and Renji pushed, but it wouldn’t give. However, Draeven had made the mistake of not stopping his own spell before putting up his barrier. The fireball erupted within his cage, and he screamed as a complete conflagration of his own making tore him to bits.

Renji and Illya landed before the flames were done. By the time the barrier had faded away, all that was left of Draeven were ashes, the rare scrap of his robes, and the amulet, falling to the ground with an unceremonious jingle. The countless voices now were no longer a howling chorus, but a collective weep as the creatures within lamented their fate and prayed for salvation. While Illya's heart sank with wonder at who else might betray them, and how deep the corruption flowed among her allies, Renji’s thoughts were on how to free the spirits within the amulet. Nemi said it would be possible to dispel the curse, but would doing so truly save the souls within? Swallowing his fear, Renji approached the amulet, and reached down to pick it up.