“You stand before me seeking eternal life. The sacrifice of flesh for the preservation of self that you experienced here. Do you still wish for it?”
“I do.”
“Why do you believe yourself worthy of it?”
“I rejected an empowering parasite in order to free my spirit. I parted with time and comfort both physical and mental to support my little sister. I tore off an entire hide from my body to bring a smile to the face of my beloved. All this I have done on behalf of Fiol’s Torch. Now I humbly request your aid in abandoning my mortal coil to Death’s jaws.”
“Granted.”
The salamander whipped its tail about to the fore and curled it around Eric. Four times it circled him until the tip lay at his chest height. This top broke off and fell at Eric’s feet.
“Take this with my blessing.”
Eric took the tip in his hands and it shrank to fit. “Thank you very much, Fire Salamander. May your fire burn brightly forever.”
“And may yours as well.”
Eric placed the third item in his final coat pocket. Following this, Fire Salamander lifted its belly to reveal the next door.
There was no further corridor beyond the Fire Salamander’s room. There was only another room and this room contained only one thing. Across the rough stone floor and through the fog of the volcanic mists was a copy of himself. Only the faint steam rising off him and the traces of fire elemental mana in his joints gave away the illusion.
Eric flourished his staff and it did likewise.
“So that’s where all my body parts went.”
The fire clone rushed forth with its own spear and the two began their deadly dance. They struck high and then swung low. Then they released one hand from their staff for a punch that the other side caught. They engaged each other with Evil Eye and then fired a compressed mana bolt from their mouth. The explosion pushed the two apart and concluded their dance.
“What is this about?” Eric asked.
“Annala,” the clone replied.
“Yes, I know that. I want immortality to be with her.”
“No, you don’t. You want to have sex with her.”
“That too, but the more important thing is simply standing by her side through the ages.”
“Sex and then eating, and then more sex and then more eating.”
The fire clone rushed forth, but Eric simply sidestepped away from it and brought his staff around to smack it in the back. In a tone of disgust, he said, “Really? Really, Fiol?! You already did this ‘physical desire thing’ the last time we met.”
Collapsing his staff, he formed grendel fists and caught the shaft of his double’s spear as it came in to thrust. Ripping it from his double’s hands with a twist, he reversed the blade and cut its head off. Then, changing his grip once more, he sliced it down the middle.
“I also did this mirror match thing when I mutated. This is boring. I hope this is the last test because you’re clearly out of ideas.”
The Eric clone burst into flames. These flames cleaved the chest back together and then reformed the head.
“I’m not the mere temptation you were presented with before,” the fire clone said. “Nor am I a simple duplicate. I represent the essential need of your humanity to eat and reproduce. My previous statement was not a reference to your monster mentality but a summation of your life. You will not be able to kill me for this reason.”
“As long as there is evil, huh?”
Eric grabbed its head and crushed it. Then he tore it apart, piece by piece, and threw them to the far corners of the room. All of them burst into flames until they were ashes, and then a new fire started at the exit. It died down to reveal the fire clone.
“You have demonstrated your ability to ignore these desires, but you have merely ignored them. You have not conquered them and until you do, you will remain human and thus you will remain mortal.”
The fire clone shifted into a grendel. Its scales shone red on its right arm and two legs. Fire blazed in its eyes as clearly as its human form and its breath was still reeking of brimstone. Its lips separated into a grin, although this was not in trickster-style amusement, but rather smug certainty.
“You will stay here until you die; either by my hand or that of senescence. For a lay mortal to overcome me is more difficult than forcing Order to lie.”
“Fascinating!”
The fire clone was at a loss for words. Instead of being dejected, hopeless, or frustrated, Eric was delighted. He even abandoned a fighting stance for a thinking gait.
“This must be why people like me and Kallen have never accomplished this rite. For a layman, eating and sex are indeed a fundamental and, in the case of the former, an inescapable fact of life. The religious folk, with their celibacy and asceticism, are much better prepared to overcome you. It is little wonder that monarchs rarely attempted this and no one outside them and the clergy has succeeded.” He applauded. “As a guardian of immortality, you are amazing!”
“...Thank you.”
“What if I were to make similar vows?”
“Unless you truly mean them, they won’t matter, and regardless of how earnest you may be at this moment, you can’t possibly truly mean them. As you say, you are a layman. You do not have the discipline to abstain indefinitely.”
“You’re right. I don’t.” Eric reached into his soul and pulled out his Soiléir. “BUT! I have something better.”
Otherworldly black light sparked to life inside the crystal. Grinning audaciously, he plunged it into his stomach and decomposed it. Without a shift in expression, he repeated the action in his groin. Both of them were now rotten beyond the ability of his diminished Seed of Chaos to heal, and thus useless for biological functions.
“I won’t be needing these anymore.”
The fire clone began dissolving, starting with his feet. “Very well, Eric Watley. You have demonstrated your commitment. If you do not escape your body, and quickly, you will die.” By the time it finished speaking, it was gone. The final door opened.
Beyond this door was a small room with a small altar. The air was heavy with mist from the volcano’s steam and it produced a unique scent. Eric made the Sign of Fire and entered with due reverence. At the altar, he produced the three gifts: a phoenix’s feather, a dragon’s tooth, and the tip of a salamander’s tail. These he placed upon the altar. Next, he took the Sacred Fire and cast it upon the three gifts. Finally, he placed his open palms together, bowed his head, and recited,
“Grand Elemental Sentience of Fire, please heed my prayer. I have been accepted by your four representatives: the avatar, the phoenix, the dragon, and the salamander. The four items on the altar are gifts to prove the truth of my words. I now ask for your help in cremating my mortality and re-forging my spirit so that my flame will truly burn brightly forever.”
The Sacred Fire burst forth with grand and mystic potency. Its heat washed over Eric and its light made him shield his eyes. Its flames reduced the three items to ashes and then it absorbed these ashes, changing its color. It was now a golden blaze.
It beckoned and Eric stepped straight into it. Within the flame’s embrace, he sat down, crossed his legs, placed his hands on his lap, took a deep breath, and then began meditating. The ash on his forehead flashed and settled into a steady pulse.
Chapter 14 Smash the Living Ruby!
At the entrance to the Rite of Fire Ascension Corridor, the Fire Sage ceased his chanting and dropped his sacred posture. A pleased look spread across his venerable face.
“It is done.”
“Then now’s my chance.”
Before the Fire Sage so much as shifted his feet, his body died. White, red, and orange flames consumed it and left ashes in their wake. Behind him was a reaper in the after position of a Reaper Cleave.
The sage’s three familiars only expressed a moment’s shock. Then they attacked. The dragon with its fire breath, the phoenix with its holy gust, and the salamander spirit with its sacred lig
ht. Gruffle tanked all three attacks.
“My turn again.”
With his right hand, he grabbed the dragon’s throat and aged it into a saggy lump of leather. With his left hand, he grabbed the phoenix and withered it into the last stage of its lifespan. Then he spat on the salamander and it thrashed in torment. None of them were dead, but they were also no longer capable of interfering. Satisfied, he turned to his next target.
Hefting his scythe over his shoulder, he reached out with the other hand. Pure white light streamed off the dead sage’s ashes and into his grasp. Such was the man’s nature that this amounted to several decades’ worth of kon despite his advanced age. Gruffle let out a maniacal laugh as he absorbed it all. Then he checked Omnia’s condition and laughed harder.
The priest had so thoroughly blocked his senses out of respect to the Fire Sage that he didn’t notice the reaper’s arrival. Gruffle nudged him with his scythe’s butt and he didn’t flinch.
“Here’s a message from Gunrai, Rainbow.” Gruffle chambered his scythe once more. “No gold for you!” Laughing at his own bad joke, he swung with amplified might.
Omnias’ right hand shot out and grabbed the blade between two fingers. Gruffle tried in vain to pull it from his grip. An ethereal black aura arose from Omnias and his eyes snapped open. The same light shined from his irises.
“Magnificent!” he whispered. “So this is the nature of the Abyss! It is extraordinary!”
His left hand arose in the form of a gun. A thin beam of white light connected his pointer finger and the reaper’s midsection. The priest clenched his left hand and released a pulse from the newly acquired life energy.
“Pilfering kon is effective at prolonging life, but inefficient. No wonder your corps are always short-handed.”
“Let go, meat bag!”
“As you wish.” Omnias removed his fingers and Gruffle tumbled backward from his own momentum. “I have what I want.”
Gruffle straightened up in a hopeless attempt to regain dignity. The serenity on the priest’s face and continuation of the deathly aura around him rankled. He struck again, but Omnias deflected with his staff. A third and fourth strike ended the same way, necrocratic power flashing at each glancing blow.
“Fossilized, copying, nut job...” Gruffle muttered. “I’m not supposed to kill you anyway...”
He floated away from the cleric and towards the Rite of Fire Ascension Corridor. Omnias watched and waited. A golden-brown glow filled the chamber and he smiled.
Gruffle shielded his eyes. Space bent within this light and it opened up in a tiger’s eye shape. A door within the door admitted entrance for a hooded figure and a golden-brown wolf. The former brandished her staff and the latter bared her fangs.
“This area is off-limits.”
Gruffle snarled. “I should have known you’d show up.”
“So this is the Priestess I’ve heard about!” Omnias exclaimed.
“Yes, yes, the mysterious and nameless priestess who appears out of nowhere to save innocent bystanders, smite evil doers, and make a bloody nuisance of herself.”
Ignoring him, Father Omnias made the sign of Arin’s Triangle and said, “Lady Chaos be with you, Priestess.”
Priestess returned the Sign and said, “And also with you, Father Omnias.”
“I would love to speak with you at length about your travels. I’m sure there’s much you could teach me about the Root of All Power.”
“I’m sure such a discussion would be enlightening for both of us, but lectures will have to wait until after I have disciplined a delinquent reaper.”
Gruffle laughed uproariously. “Oh, that’s rich! Who are you to talk about discipline?”
“The priestess who’s going to send you back to the Abyss, again.”
Omnias chuckled. “Is this what the Fire Sage and I look like to others?”
“Yes, it is,” Priestess said, “but I’ve never poured honey down Gruffle’s pants.”
“You were there?” Omnias asked.
“I’m the one who gave you the honey,” Priestess replied.
Perrault approached Omnias and sat down in front of him. He obligingly rubbed her behind her ears.
“That explains it,” he said. “No one knew where to find someone named ‘Priestess.’”
“She’s Annala Enaz!” Gruffle said.
Priestess leveled her staff and said, “Go away!” A chaotic aura flared around her, channeled into her staff, and then fired like a bullet.
Gruffle dodged it easily. She’d used that technique on him one hundred times. Then Omnias caught it and redirected it into Gruffle’s backside. A second of white-hot pain and his physical form disintegrated.
“Now may we talk?” Omnias asked.
Priestess put her staff away. “Yes, we may. Thank you for the assist.”
The two clerics sat down on either side of the door. Perrault lay down next to her mistress. She was always petted when her mistress spoke with sages, gods, and janitors.
“I was hoping to meet you,” Omnias said, “because no one else has ever had direct experience with Lady Chaos.”
“What about her previous avatars?” Priestess asked.
“They are different. They acted as her emissary in this world, acting on her behalf with her power. You became her very vessel, and not only did you survive, but you are still sane.”
Priestess reached a gloved hand past her hood to tug on her ear.
“I’m not that special...I have to wear all these adapters to keep it in check and I randomly teleport to other dimensions. I’m afraid I won’t be able to stay here long enough to protect Eric while he apotheosizes.” Perrault barked. “No, it’s terrible!”
“If you’d like, I could relieve you when that happens.”
“Really?!” Priestess’ voice was hopeful, but Perrault growled. “You certainly could handle reapers and spirits and...no, I couldn’t ask you to do that. It would be a 24/7 thing.”
Omnias shrugged. “I have nowhere else to be and I will be sticking around here anyway to watch my friend reincarnate.”
“The Fire Sage died?” Omnias pointed to the decrepit familiars and the ashes between them. “My condolences.”
“Gunrai will attempt to kidnap him while he is infantile and vulnerable, so I always protect him at these times.”
“You’ve done this forty-two times already?” Omnias nodded. “Wow, he’s lucky to have such a devoted friend.”
Omnias shrugged. “I understand your desire to protect someone precious. If you are unable to protect Eric, then I will do so in your stead.”
“Thank you very much. Is there anything I can do in return?”
“Now that you mention it, I would like a lock of your hair.”
“My...hair?” Priestess’ voice quivered.
“Grrrr! Bark!” Priestess rubbed Perrault back to a state of semi-calm.
“I wish to use it to further my understanding of my goddess,” Omnias said. “Such a token would bring me closer to her than I have ever been, or ever will be. In all my centuries of prayer and service, I’ve never been as fortunate as you have.”
Priestess stroked her hair nervously. She was about to remove her hood when Perrault barked again. The familiar grabbed her sleeve and pulled it away from her hood. Now that she had her mistress’ attention, she shook her head.
“You’re right...” she muttered. Perrault settled back down, satisfied. To Omnias, Priestess said, “I’m sorry, but I can’t do that. My hair is a potent catalyst and energy source. It could do awful things in the wrong hands. I can’t give it to you, not even for Eric’s safety.”
Omnias shook his hand in dismissal. “Do not worry about it. It was presumptuous of me to ask. I’m sure Tasio already has arrangements made anyway. Now on to lighter matters. What is it like to travel between worlds?”
Outside the volcano and inside the town next to it, Tiza wiped her brow. Somehow her official mission had shape-shifted from escort to construction. She was
getting paid the same and she alternated with the monster patrol, so she wasn’t upset about it. Her stomach grumbled and she checked the sun.
It wasn’t quite at its zenith. The fire folks offered her lunch in exchange for her help, but they would only serve it at noon exactly. Her scry read 11:55 A.M.
The sound of hoof beats attracted her attention. It made her smile and she turned to greet Nolien. Then she frowned because Cremia was riding sidesaddle on him. The cleric looked so prim and proper, it made her sick. Nolien stopped in front of her and Cremia dismounted.
“Miss Sprial, I bring good news.”
“You’re never riding Tenderfoot again?”
Cremia raised a hand to her mouth. “Oh, I’m sorry. Have I offended you?”
Nolien trotted to Tiza’s side and nibbled on her hair. She pushed at his muzzle while protesting. After thoroughly slobbering on Tiza’s head, he reared and returned to human form.
“I offered,” he said, “because I was on my way to see you anyway.”
“Really? How come?”
“I sensed that you have five open wounds on your back. I must treat them.”
Tiza frowned again, but this time in confusion. “No, I don’t. Yeah, I slipped and fell hard on something, but—”
Nolien grabbed her shoulder, turned her around, and lifted her shirt. Sure enough, there were five red areas where her skin was broken and more areas had yellow marks of bruising. Nolien spat on them and then watched as they closed up.
“Abyss take it!” Tiza said. “What are you doing?”
Nolien startled and dropped Tiza’s shirt. He was about to tuck it into her pants when he startled again and stopped. “Oops. I forgot that human thing called ‘modesty’ again.”
Tiza turned around, red-in-the-face. “You’re my healer, so it’s okay. Fire Princess, what’s the good news?”
For the first time, a look of distaste crossed Cremia’s face. It passed in a moment and she said, “I’m a priestess, not a princess.”
“She gives nicknames to everyone,” Nolien said. “Please humor her.”
“All the same, I would prefer Fire Priestess, or Fire Lady, or even Fire Girl.”
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