Burning from Heaven

Two griffons descended from the dark, early morning sky, trampling on a squad of guards sitting confounded at the Bellfry harbor.

They were told to wait, yes. But Flare, impatient as she was, wanted Lias’ head now. And in truth, she didn’t trust Marina and Flare to rescue Lias by their lonesome. Not a distrust of their integrity—but rather, a distrust of their strength. Lias hadn’t earned the title of Commander for no reason. She knew he was no armchair commander or sickly librarian. He was a soldier, first and foremost.

Just out of sight and behind jutting cliffs, the surviving Legrassi ships stood by in ambush, waiting for any getaway plans Lias had in store.

On Flare’s new griffon was herself and Fianna, while Warren and one other dwarven pirate rode the other.

Flare flew up to the nearest watchtower. With an axe larger than her and a mighty blow, she cleaved their searchlights before the guards could react. Fianna jumped into the watchtower’s top and incapacitated the soldiers with precise elbow strikes to their vitals. She curbed the desire to kill them, as she knew Anemone would weep for them after all was said and done. In one swift motion, she returned aboard the griffon.

Taking one defense down after another, the two-griffon strikeforce crippled the Federacy army’s response before they could begin.

Though Flare’s mind focused on one thing.

The streets below—in search of Lias.

Marina had predicted he would see the burning chaos and run for the hills like the cowardly betrayer he was.

She flew low, tracing the ground aboard her griffon, using her dwarven-born ability to see well in the dark to her advantage.

Only soldiers running to defend and civilians being hidden for their safety. She wasn’t interested in those civilians, no—but those soldiers could be a pain if left alone.

Seeing the Sapia soldiers aim crossbows, Flare signaled Fianna behind her. “Hey, they’re—”

“Leave it to me.”

Fianna leapt to the ground with practiced ease. In a flash of steel, her knives severed the crossbows’ bow strings. The soldiers, realizing their weapons had been damaged, drew their blades, but—

Too slow.

The elven aide dug her knee on a soldier’s soft abdomen, through the weakness in their armor, knocking him out.

The other soldiers approached, but she rushed at them with the man’s unconscious body as a shield.

She bowled into a soldier with the heavy body, shoving him off-balance. Leaping on the body’s shoulders, she vaulted into the air and dove shoulder-first into another’s face. With him as a springboard, she knocked one soldier after another like she were a mighty frog.

“Not bad. For a leaf-lover.” Flare’s blood boiled, her natural competitiveness with elves surging electricity in her fingertips.

With her griffon, she lunged at approaching soldiers, clotheslining them with her griffon’s wing on one side, and the broad of her axe on the other.

She turned to Fianna with a smolder. “One squad for you, and one for me!”

Fianna flinched. “This isn’t a competition, you rock-hugging lummox,” she snapped back. “You want the Commander’s head, I want the princess back. Let’s move forward with that in mind, shall we?”

“You wanna join Haruki and Marina, then? I’ll handle things here.”

The aide held a stare. She flourished then flung her knife past Flare, striking a barely-conscious soldier with an aimed crossbow.

“I shall momentarily put my faith in the Minister and the otherworlder.” She retrieved the knife and sheathed it. “I am certain Her Royal Highness would mourn your passing if I left you to die.”

Flare guffawed. “As if I’d die here!”

As soon as her laughter died down, a faint gust of wind drew her attention. When she turned, she saw glints of light running away from them, and toward the furthest side of the harbor.

Running, likely already aware of their presence, was Lias. A squad of soldiers circled him, running in near-perfect synchronicity.

“Lias!” Flare’s gut burned fire. The thought of cutting his head surpassed the burning questions of “Why is he here?” and “What happened to Haruki and Marina?”

Slung over his shoulder was Anemone, seemingly unconscious.

“Her Royal Highness!” exclaimed Fianna.

They rushed at Lias’ squad, griffon at full-speed.

But halfway through their approach, a ferocious gale blew them and their mount back. They were sent flying back, forcibly dismounted from their griffon.

“W-What in the Five Hells was that?” Flare lurched back up, the fall exacerbating she pretended were not there since the last battle.

Seeing her struggle, Fianna raised the dwarf back to her feet. “I saw it. It seems like some sort of crystal did it.”

“The nullifiers?” Flare grunted, pain shooting at her limbs. “They can catch and release mana?”

“I am not familiar with your and the Sapias’ technologies, but,” she studied Flare’s wounds. “You’re too injured right now. You should pull back.”

“Nonsense.” She called the griffon over and rode on its back again. “Can’t you see? Both of the things we want are there.”

“True,” said Fianna. “But t’would be best if we followed them from a safe distance, then strike when they’re vulnerable.”

“And when would that be?”

“A man cannot run from an island on foot,” Fianna said. “Come. Let us see what happened to the others, first.”

####

Marina and Haruki had spent around an hour navigating the city’s complexities, finding alternate routes to evade patrols along the way. They took long—way too long.

If he remembered correctly, Marina intended to corner Lias during a ritual he had planned for Anemone. Knowing they likely couldn’t take him down there, she had told Flare to scour the area in search of him, and if she could, take his head.

But what if the ritual had already completed? What if they took too long and Anemone might’ve been dead—and Lias somewhere else?

She knew not what the ritual entailed; What if Lias had become sort kind of physical god already?

Turning the corner next corner, the sight of a newly birthed blaze met their gaze. Up the hill was the temple, its church-like structure being engulfed by a fiery mass creeping from outside to in.

Marina’s stepped forward, her mouth agape. “What’s… going on?”

“Fire…?” Adrenaline suddenly pumping into his body, he ran up the hill and toward the fiery temple faster than he thought his legs could ever go. When he finally stood at the front entrance of the temple, he began shouting, “Anemone! Anemone, where are you?”

Marina caught up, short of breath. “What in the Divine happened here?”

Haruki approached the entrance, which still had not burned completely, but embers had already started to gnaw at the fallen wooden door. The searing heat from within blazed further than the fires appeared, but Haruki’s nerves had all but numbed it. “Anemone!” He turned to Marina. “Do something!”

“R-Right!”

A stream of water flew out of a water canister on Marina’s waist and formed a glob of liquid above her hand. Then dew, sweat, and moisture from around her collected into the orb. With a mighty two-handed shove, a blast of water shot out of the orb and towards the entrance, extinguishing what little embers were starting to eat the doorway.

Yet, the fire and heat remained.

“I can’t! I don’t have enough water!” She yelped.

“It’s enough!” Haruki ran in, handkerchief tied around his nose and mouth.

“Haruki! It’s too dangerous!”

“Anemone!” He continued to call out. None answered but the crackling of falling wood and dry stone popping and cracking as fire crept between the gaps.

Then, his gaze caught the sight of blood flowing from behind one of the pews and into the center aisle.

He hurried towards it, still shouting Anemone’s name. He followed the blood to its source. A woman. Conscious, but barely. Groaning in pain. An arrow—a crossbow bolt, it looked more like, was stuck into the side of her gut. Blood was gushing from it, but the presence of the bolt stymied its flow.

Beside her, fallen on its side, was a wheelchair. He studied her from head-to-toe, checking if it wasn’t Anemone mangled by beatings or the fire. The woman resembled her, but not quite.

He wondered who she was, but the sight of a familiar, slash-like scar on her chest told him everything he needed to know.

“Ako!”

The woman opened her eyes halfway. “H-Haruki?”

Acting quickly, he slung Ako on his back and hurried back toward the entrance. Smoke began to cloud his vision, the heat dizzying him to a near tumble. Then, meters away from the exit, wooden supports from the ceiling crashed in front of him, blocking the way.

“Shit!” He cursed. Exits. There has to be more than one. “Ako, where are the exits?”

“I’m sorry.” She whispered out. “This is my fault. If I hadn’t thought to outsmart Lias—”

“Where. Are. The exits?”

“I don’t know…”

“Shit! Shit! Shit!” Haruki scurried around the church, but burning rubble blocked all apparent exits. “Marina!” he called out. “Help us! I have your mother here!”

“M-Mama?” she yelled from the outside, voice drowned out by the fire.

Haruki started to cough. No good—his handkerchief could only slow the choking, not stop it. Is this how I die? For real this time?

“Stand back!” a boisterous voice cried out from beyond the rubble.

A monstrous force shoved the rubble forward, while also cutting it in half. Flare emerged from the outside, alongside Fianna. They ran at Haruki and guided him out, helping to carry the wounded Ako.

As soon as they could, they distanced themselves from the burning wreck of the temple.

Haruki breathed deep the night air, its cold clearing his lungs of burning poison. Why would this place be burning, and why was Lias and Anemone not here like Marina said they would? Were they deceived? Outsmarted?

They set Ako down beside a tree. She was breathing heavily, her body suffering from the wound and toxic smoke alike.

“Mama!” Marina, staring into her mother’s arrow wound, grabbed her water canteen and opened it, but grimaced when she found no water inside. “By the Divines! I don’t have enough water to heal her!”

“Weren’t you doing that water thing when we were flying? Can’t you just… produce more water or something?”

“Only because there was moisture in the air. There isn’t enough here.” Marina shook her head, whispering countless no’s to herself. “I used some from my canteen to supplement our flight already. I can’t…”

Haruki turned to Flare. “Flare. Thanks for the save. But what are you doing here? I thought you weren’t supposed to come in before we chased Lias out.”

“Quit your bellyaching. Thank my impulsive, impatient nature for saving your butt there. You would’ve been charred deen if it weren’t for me!”

He thought about what on earth a “deen” could be. Probably an animal. But that wasn’t important right now. He glanced at the arrow wound, and stopped himself from taking the arrow out.

Seeing Marina in a panic, Fianna kneeled between her and Ako. “Minister. Allow me.” She hovered her hand over the bolt, and with one clean motion, yanked it out of Ako’s gut.

The barely conscious Ako shot awake and screamed in agony.

“W-What on Eas are you doing!” Marina shouted.

A pocket of wind formed into the wound, sealing it shut with an airtight flow. “This will only hold it temporarily,” Fianna said. “Is there any body of water nearby you can use your magic on?”

Marina stood up, legs shaky. “T-There’s…” She shuddered. “The city square! There’s a fountain I can use there.”

“Good. Take us there.”

Fianna shot Flare a glance of urgency. “Carry the woman. Hurry.”

Flare carried the wounded Ako on her back, careful to not accidentally nudge the air pocket swirling on the wound—or anywhere near the wound.

Going down the hill, they looked upon the darkness of the city, but found something else more eye-catching.

Clouds. Low clouds, touching the mountains and hills embracing Bellfry City. The same clouds rolled down the slopes like a flash flood, covering the streets in a picturesque fog.

But from what Marina and Flare had told him about low-hanging clouds—

—This didn’t bode well.

Something was coming.