As Finn passed Julia, he watched her smash aside a block of stone in slow motion, and he rested a hand on her shoulder. “If this fails, I’m sorry,” he whispered in her ear. He saw her head begin to tilt, but he had already passed her.
Only that final flaming barrier remained, and Finn’s attention was fixed on those fires. That’s when he noticed Bilel’s eyes flick to the side, moving faster than they should. A thin coating of flame sprang up around his body, his smile widening slightly as those eerie eyes locked on Finn’s position.
He had anticipated Finn’s move and cast Haste on himself!
The demon’s palm shot forward, a barrage of icy projectiles forming in an instant. Finn’s own eyes widened, and he tried to twist to the side to take the blow along one arm. But it was too late – far, far too late.
Is this it? Finn thought. Is this how it all ends?
A flare of amber energy erupted in the corner of Finn’s vision, and he saw a blur of motion. At the same time, those icy projectiles launched forward, only to slam against something – or someone – who was now standing in front of Finn.
Abbad sunk to the ground with more than a dozen icy spears embedded in his chest, blood already beginning to pool around those wounds. Bilel’s eyes went wide in surprise and anger – a moment of hesitation.
In that instant, Abbad’s locked eyes with Finn. “Anything. Everything,” he saw the air mage mouth.
A renewed wave of fire crashed through Finn’s body – anger, rage, loss, and hurt. He knew those wounds were mortal. That Abbad wasn’t coming back from this. The former librarian likely had only seconds left.
Finn turned his glowing eyes on Bilel, his legs surging as he sprinted the last few feet toward that cage of flame. Yet he didn’t slow or falter. His crystalline hand lashed forward, grabbing at that energy and pulling just as he crossed the threshold. He felt the flames sear his skin and consume his body. The pain was excruciating, as though he were being burned alive.
And then he was through it – his Mana Absorption blunting the fires just enough to allow him to pass inside the cage relatively unscathed. Which is how he found himself standing face to face with the demon, coils of smoke curling away from his skin. Without hesitation, Finn reached out and grasped that staff with his right hand and his fingers wrapped around the metal.
He knew it couldn’t drain his mana anymore – not with the Forging protecting him.
But this time, he gave it his energy freely.
Finn’s fire flowed up and out of that arm and soaked into the staff. The flames coiled around the weapon, and the heartstone flared brightly.
“What are you doing?” Bilel growled, only inches away.
Finn didn’t have time to respond. The staff accepted his offering, and flames erupted around the pair, obscuring the tower from sight. Finn felt himself falling backward, yet his fingers stayed curled around that metallic shaft, and his energy continued to flow.
Please, let me be right about this, he thought.
And then there was only darkness.
***
Finn’s eyes snapped open.
He was standing in a dark void, only a single bright spot of light illuminating that darkness. Before him rested the staff. The golden shaft was gleaming and the heartstone embedded along the top of the weapon pulsed with a vibrant light.
And across from that staff was a familiar face.
Bilel stood inside the void with him. The demon looked confused, glancing around their dark prison with those eerie rainbow-colored eyes. “What is this?” he demanded.
“Ask the staff,” Finn replied, waving at the weapon.
“Ask the…” Bilel echoed. “Are you mad? It’s just steel and stone. A tool like any other – to be used and directed.”
“In part, but not entirely,” a new voice echoed through the darkness, speaking with a tone that reminded Finn of the crackle and snap of flame… the explosion of a volcano… the formation of stars. It was power and fire incarnate.
Flames wrapped around the staff, surging and pushing back at the darkness while rising into that abyss in a blaze of power. And those flames gradually began to condense, forming a torso… arms, legs, hands, and fingers. A blazing head crowned in flame with glowing orange eyes that soon turned to survey Finn and Bilel.
It seemed Finn was going to get an opportunity to meet Nar Aljahim’s mate.
“My name is Khalas,” the fire elemental intoned, looking between the pair. “Why has my slumber been woken?”
Finn bowed his head. “I have met your mate, Nar Aljahim. He sends his regards.”
Khalas’ eyes flashed – possibly in surprise. “Nar Aljahim,” she echoed. “It has been an age since I have heard that name. Many hundreds of your years.”
Her gaze refocused. “Yet you have not answered my question. Why have I been summoned?”
“I wish to claim control of the staff,” Finn declared.
“Interesting choice of words. In fact, he wishes to steal the staff from me,” Bilel interjected, stepping forward and eyes flashing angrily.
A surge of flame erupted from Khalas’ body, pushing them both back and away from the staff. “You cannot steal the flame,” the elemental intoned. “It cannot be owned. It is a primal thing… a force of nature. It can only be directed and channeled.” Her eyes drifted between them. “And it is my will alone that commands the staff.”
“I don’t understand. What is this trickery?” Bilel growled, glaring at Finn.
It was his turn to smirk at the demon. “You don’t even know what it is you were trying to create? The staff was formed by the Seer using a heartstone – the crystalline soul of an ancient fire elemental.”
Bilel’s eyes widened as he looked back at the elemental, then he managed to master his expression, a cunning gleam in his eye. The fight wasn’t over. The battlefield had simply changed – and the demon had just realized a new game was in play.
“You both wish to lay claim to the staff?” Khalas asked. The pair nodded. “Then state your case. Why do you deserve to hold my heartstone?”
Bilel stepped forward. “The gods killed my family – imprisoned me and tortured me. They have corrupted this land and its people, draining the power of humans without their knowledge and playing games with our lives for their own benefit. With your power, I would rid this world of the gods entirely – cleanse it with the flame and let the races live in peace.”
Finn let out an amused sort.
“What? You do not believe his claims?” Khalas asked, those flaming eyes whirling toward Finn.
“That was a pretty story, but a man’s actions speak louder than his words. This man – this demon – is guided only by revenge. And that revenge comes at any cost. He has killed hundreds of those same people he supposedly wishes to protect. Harmed, hurt, and enslaved thousands more. He claims that his quest is to rid the world of the gods and free man and beast alike, but he does this only out of self-interest. To heal his body with the staff and to gain control of this world for himself.”
Bilel let out a low growl and stepped forward, but the flames of Khalas’ body pushed him back. “And why do you seek my heartstone then?” she demanded.
Finn met her gaze evenly. “I wish to use its power to resurrect my wife.” His eyes drifted to Bilel. “And to stop this demon from harming others.”
“So, you meet self-interest with more self-interest?” Bilel demanded with a bark of laughter. “The hypocrisy is so thick you can almost see it. And has your war against me not come with a cost? Your journey into the Abyss? Your time in the Mage Guild?
“How many have died in pursuit of your mission? Hundreds of novices? You unleashed a plague of fire ants upon the sands when you destroyed the Abyss – or did you think that came with no cost? You have destroyed Lahab in your single-minded pursuit of your own goals. Just how many men, women, and children have died for the sake of your crusade, hmm? Hundreds? Thousands?”
“Far less than the number of people you have u
sed, cut down, and enslaved,” Finn retorted, the fire in his veins flaring angrily.
“Just give it another century,” the demon shot back, his eyes swirling more rapidly.
The two men stared each other down, neither backing away.
“Hmm, the merits of your cases are both reasonable,” Khalas said, the fires of her body crackling in indecision. A pause as she mulled on this.
“We shall deal with this in the way of my kind then,” she declared finally.
“Which entails what exactly?” Bilel demanded.
Those flames crackled and snapped once more, although Finn recognized this as laughter from his conversation with Nar Aljahim. “The flame does not know compromise or constraint. It knows only strength. Just as a bonfire shall consume a small spark, making its fires its own, so too must you match your passions against one another – whoever blazes brightest shall be the victor.”
“And the loser?” Finn asked.
Those glowing orange eyes turned back to him. “They shall be consumed, their flames added to the heartstone. And so it shall be as it has always been.”
Finn swallowed hard. That sounded like a one-way trip to a final “game over” screen. After his last encounter with the staff – including the loss of his hand and the infection that had crippled his mana – it was safe to assume that if he failed here, his character would be destroyed. Or so badly crippled that he wouldn’t be able to continue his quest.
“So be it,” Bilel said bluntly.
Finn’s eyes snapped up to find the demon staring at him. Fires rippled along his skin, curling and coiling around his body and building in strength with each passing moment. As Finn looked on, that blaze grew and stretched, expanding within the void. And then the flames rippled forward, rolling toward him in a towering wave.
And Finn was waiting. He had done this before. Conquered his own passion. Claimed his fire as his own. He knew the depths of the blaze that rested in his heart and mind – the flames just waiting to be released…
And so he did.
His fire raged to life. That simmering ache in his veins had always felt like it was yearning to be set free. This time, he let it burn and spark and flare to life. The flames sprang up around him in an instant, pushing back at Bilel’s wall of fire. The two energies collided and mixed – two colossal walls of flames pushing at each other in a magical competition of raw strength of will.
Finn could feel his own flames buckling in the face of Bilel’s energy, the fires smashing into one another with abandon. “You think after a century, you can match my resolve?” Bilel demanded, his voice roaring over the flames, which grew brighter in Finn’s vision as they flared with power.
“I heard Abbad’s whispered words. Some mantra of the prophet, perhaps? That is the pledge of a child. You may intend to give up everything, but I have already paid my price many times over. I have lost everything and everyone I have ever cared about,” the demon roared, pain etched into each word.
His flames grew, stretching ever farther into the Abyss, and Finn felt his legs tremble. The demon’s energy was overpowering. He needed to push himself harder, he realized. Just like the last time, the flames didn’t just feed off his passion – they were his passion. He needed to give them his memories. His hopes. His dreams.
He needed to give them Rachael.
He didn’t respond to Bilel – only summoned the image of Rachael’s smiling face, just the way she had looked the last time he’d seen her alive. Her brown hair, coiling around her shoulders. Her dress, glimmering in the dim lights of that car. The taste of her lips as they had touched his for the last time.
His flames roared up to meet Bilel’s, but it wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough.
So, he gave them everything that came after. The way he’d felt after her loss. That moment sitting in the morgue, his hands grasping at the chill flesh of her fingers – as though he could somehow warm them. That moment when he had fully and finally realized she was gone. And his fire grew even more…
“You think that your dead wife equals a century of despair?” Bilel demanded. “You lost one person. I lost everyone. I have given everything to accomplish my mission.
“Even the child I raised from birth. Can you say the same?”
Finn winced, recalling the way those icy shards had embedded themselves in Abbad’s chest. The demon hadn’t even hesitated – despite the macabre sort of fondness he’d shown for the librarian. And had Finn been willing to make that same sacrifice? He shook his head. If it came down to it… would he even give up Julia?
In the face of his hesitation, Bilel’s fire grew, towering over Finn.
The demon seemed to sense his advantage, those flames pressing firmly against Finn’s energy, his fires buckling and snapping as though a stiff wind blew through the void. Could he really say that he was as committed as Bilel? Would he have been willing to go to the same lengths? Make the same sacrifices?
He wasn’t sure. And his fire responded to that doubt.
“You see? You can’t win this. You’re alone here. Without your friends, your allies, the desert trash, and the guild traitors… You are nothing but a single man. A man that has gone through all of this, for what? His own petty desires?”
At that statement, Finn’s brow furrowed. He could vaguely recall something that the Seer had once told him. That his flame burned brightly, but that he wasn’t alone – that he had others – that their combined flames could blaze greater than any single fire. And there was a kernel of truth to that. It was his daughter’s love and support that had given him this opportunity – had helped push him forward even when everything seemed so bleak. It was the sacrifice of his teammates that had brought them to this point. Their willingness to put everything on the line, to join Finn, even when they knew they might die.
Bilel might have been willing to sacrifice Abbad to obtain his goal.
But Abbad had been willing to give his life for Finn’s cause.
And with that realization came a familiar question.
“If you could do it again, would you choose love or ambition?”
He had thought she had been talking about Nar Aljahim’s offer back down in the Forge but had that truly been her intent? Or was there a larger lesson?
Had he really just done this for himself?
Or had he also been fighting for Julia? For Gracen? For the grandchildren that would never meet their grandmother? For that geeky kid he’d met in that first beginning courtyard? For the librarian that had lived his life a slave? For a people that had been brutalized and hunted among the sands? For guildsmen that had become nothing more than a commodity… indentured servants living at the mercy of a tyrant?
If he had it all to do over again, if he could go back in time to that moment when he had first started building that AI… he knew what he would do. He would have put the work aside. Given up the discovery. Spent time with his children. With his wife.
He would have chosen love.
That’s what Rachael would have wanted.
“I didn’t do this just for myself… and I didn’t do it alone,” Finn murmured.
Then, more strongly, “I didn’t do this just for my own ambition. I did this for my children. For the people you enslaved,” he roared, his fire growing now.
Finn took a step forward, and the flames around him blazed ever brighter, streaking up into the void. “I did this for the hundreds of mages you had strapped to that stone table, ripping away their magic and their lives. For the novices that you pitted against one another. For the guildsmen that you enslaved and turned into little more than commodities, to be bought and sold to the highest bidder.”
Another step forward and Bilel’s flames were beginning to tremble.
“For a people banished to the sands, living in persecution – hunted to the farthest corners of the desert to near-extinction. For the residents of your own city, who you cut down and corrupted. For those poor mages that you strung up in your palace, like hogs to the slaught
er – draining away their life and mana!”
As he ground out each word, Finn’s flames began to curl in on themselves, taking on a blueish hue and heat radiating away from him in waves now. He fed those flames his righteous anger and the pain he had witnessed with his own eyes – pain created at Bilel’s hands. His fires crushed at Bilel’s flames as he took another step forward.
He fed the flames everything he had left – every heart-wrenching moment he’d experienced in-game. Every fleeting instance of despair and victory. Every memory of Rachael. He didn’t – he couldn’t – know if he could reclaim those memories. But he didn’t care any longer. His wife would have done the same without a moment’s hesitation. She had always given so much of herself for everyone else…
“I did this for LOVE!” Finn cried, that word ripping from his throat and leaving a searing burn in its wake. Molten tears were streaming down his cheeks now, the metal in his eyes glowing a bright red.
And his flames responded – blue turning to a blinding white as the temperature rocketed upward. He could barely see now. Could barely feel anything over the blazing fire that flowed through his veins like molten lava.
“And I would do it a thousand times over!” Finn screamed.
He rushed forward now, and Bilel’s flames flickered. In that moment, in that brief instant, when his opponent’s flames waned, Finn reached out and grasped at the demon’s arm, his hand searing his flesh. A howl of pain erupted within the void, and Bilel’s fire collapsed completely as Finn’s flames ate into him.
Burning
Searing
Judging
CONSUMING
Finn took his power, draining the demon’s flames into himself even as Bilel howled his pain and despair into the abyss. Vibrant skin melted away to reveal pale, sickly flesh. Then went further, searing through muscle. The flames tore away at Bilel’s body until only ivory bone remained. And even then, Finn pressed further, his flames burning through that rigid material, blackening the bone until it charred and hissed and broke apart.
And then there was nothing left.
Awaken Online: Inferno (Tarot #3) Page 56