Ignite

by Andre Pisco

  "We have... We have... We have to get out of here fast. I can’t control. It's too hot inside of me. I need to release this. If you do... make them with you, they will burn." Alec said, dizzy, not seeing anything in front of him but flames snaking from side to side.

  "Glad you'll let me know," James said sarcastically, punching the wall with his fists protected by the light, "Do something!" He yelled, each punch hitting harder. Blood flowed through his fingers, and they were scorched.

  What was left of the clothes clung to the sweaty bodies? They had retreated and touched each other, the moisture changing their bodies, water dripping from their hair. Lucian threw ice stalagmites but was not strong enough to even cause a hole in the barrier. They were numb, numb with the rise in temperature and the fever that kept them from thinking until the end.

  "We're going to die here if we don’t find a solution," Neil said, kneeling, choking on the smoke, his mouth trying to compensate for what couldn’t breathe through his nose and body pulling out of his feet so his lungs could still resist.

  "What if we all attacked at the same time?" Max said, looking around, "There's no other way. Let's focus all attacks on one point. There." He added and pointed forward.

  The witch watched them, laughing, sometimes looking back and watching the battle unfold. She wrapped one of the strands of hair around her wrinkled, wrinkled skin and flung himself into the fights of others, knocking down dozens of soldiers at once. Eva's army was at an end. No matter how many they knocked down, there seemed to be always more to defeat and stronger and stronger. The armor was destroyed, made into pieces of metal in mere seconds. Some burned within them, screaming in pain and so many others were simply pierced from one end to the other. They fell round on the floor, their foreheads crashing to the ground and standing there. The ground received them willingly and the worms took advantage of the new food.

  "Well, we don’t have another solution," James said, taking a deep breath and finally coughing. Max patted him on the back until he calmed down, "We better do this now. Lucy, you can’t use that attack you used? "He said, his voice coming out thinner than usual.

  "Unfortunately not. I still don’t know how I did it. But that's not why I'm not going to contribute! "She said, her shiny green hands as well, her arms supported by trunks enveloping them, flowers blooming to the surface.

  "Are they all ready?" Max asked.

  Alec stepped back, giving space to his friends to try their luck. Self-control escaped through his fingers. Never before had his body reached such a serious point, on the verge of the temperature being higher than he could stand, so close to the inside of it that it burned. It was no longer sweat that ran down his body, it was water that his body evaporated. He tried to fight against the infamous destiny that he used, fighting to the end, but his future was in the hands of his friends.

  "You can do it," Alec said, the gargantuan burning at every word said.

  "It’s our time now!" James said, "Time to show what we really are worth!" He said, letting out a scream that overcame the walls of flames.

  Ghost whipped the wall with his metal wires, and Lucy imitated him with his trunks, using the energy of the forest to make them fat. More and thicker they crashed against the burning wall, burning and being replaced by other trunks in order to commit suicide by the princess. Lucian kept the previous attack, and the hope itself drove the attacks, stronger and stronger, the sharp point breaking the walls like glass.

  "We are succeeding. James, help! "Lucy said, her hands shaking.

  "What do they think they're doing boys?" The sorceress said, "They'll never leave. BURN! "He shouted. The temperature of the flames rose, the sparks hitting the ground inside the cage.

  "Don’t stop now. We can do it! "Max said, feeling useless, unable to help. She was at Alec's side, trying to heal him, but there was no use. He brought his hand to Alec's forehead. It burned with fever, her cheeks flushed and her lips thickening.

  James was still standing. Eyes closed and fists next to the body. I wanted to be the hero, the person who saves everyone even when the claws of death are already around the bodies. He drained all the energy in his body, concentrated it on his right wrist, and placed his left foot in front of his right. He took a deep breath. He ignored everything around him-the heat, the frightened voices, the attacks to be swallowed by the fire, some knocking on the wall, breaking a few inches, and the body-pounding pains, with no force on his legs to keep them a foot. Her fist glowing like never before and the lights expanding all over her arm.

  "Gold Fist!" He shouted with what was left of his hoarse voice. He rocked back as if about to throw a ball at super-sonic speed and fired with all the energy he had accumulated toward the exact spot on the wall that was in danger of breaking, such a glass with a risk in the middle, sensitive to any touch.

  "Don’t stop now!" Max shouted. He also asked Alec to take only a few more seconds.

  His fingers were pinned to the ground so that the fire slipping through them didn’t reach his friends. He shook his head, and some of his hair loosened, turning to fire, melting as they danced in the air until they finally landed on the floor.

  The young men didn’t stop trying to force their way out. The attacks continued. They rejected the pains in the joints of the hands, in the hinges of the arms and even the filaments in the ankles that seemed to detach. The flames faded. They could now see the ruined city, the broken roofs, the houses collapsing, and the soldiers on either side falling to the ground. James noticed Molly in the distance, fighting a man twice her size, both in height and body. She didn’t back down and showed no fear. On the contrary, he threw himself with claws and shamelessly, wounding him on his arms and legs and punching his body, holding them without pain, even if his HP dropped 20 points each time he was hit.

  "One last effort," Lucian said, raising his hand, clenching his fists until his bones cracked, and firing ice spurts against the wall. His eyes were even bluer than usual, with white specks similar to those of his spirit animal.

  Finally, the flames dissipated, and freedom welcomed them. A light breeze that caressed their faces, the love of nature contrasting with the violence in front of them.

  "I'm so sick of you young people. I just have to spare two of you, but the rest can burn in the hell of my flames.” She said, eyes bulging, laughing as if there was no tomorrow. More than that, she wanted there to be no one for 5 of the young. He bit his lower lip. He licked the blood, and let it run down the back of his throat.

  Contrary to what happened in Drexus, this time it was not just his attack that increased. All statuses have increased by more than 50 points. His face was rejuvenated and his muscles thickened. He grew younger, stronger, and even his hair had regained the red color of a time that should have stayed in the past, but it seemed to have arrived there. Young people couldn’t believe it. Unbelievers, with mouths open and biting the inside of their lips, had no idea how they would beat her. Alec was still breathing hard, panting, struggling for the temperature inside him to come down and he could help his friends.

  "Playtime is over," the wizard said. Her voice soft, youthful even in the way she walked. From the palm of both hands came dozens of flaming swords. They rose in the air, facing the young. They glowed in orange and reddish tones and turned toward them.

  Blackness seized the woman's eyes. Whatever she was now was no longer the person she had been before. The personality had been pushed into a safe in the confines of her being, and now she acted as the very darkness, not afraid to die or to kill. He ordered the swords to burn them alive, the flames to burn them so that she could rejoice in her weeping and despair. They started, raising dust all around, tearing through the air, the flames burning oxygen.

  The youngsters, already almost without strength, used what was left to them to deviate or to avoid being punched by them. Clothes were plucked, cut, burned, as were the bodies that were torn apart, and branded with iron to burn. None of them could stand upright. Max no longer had the ener
gy to heal anyone, and the medicine bottle pouch was far away. Eva was still a few feet away, unconscious and with a trace of saliva running down her chin. The rest of the soldiers were busy, fighting for their lives and those of the people. The group was confined to that space and depended only on themselves.

  James got up, one knee on the floor and the other arched and shaking, "No. We will not give up. Don’t even think that, old lady! We're not done yet!” He shouted, spitting grasshoppers to the ground, almost voiceless before finishing the sentence.

  "But don’t you ever shut up? I'm tired of hearing you, you annoying worm. Die! "The sorceress shouted. A sword similar to the previous ones, but larger, left the palm of her hand. She pointed it at James and dropped her hand, tossing the sword toward the boy's chest. It blazed the air ahead, leaving behind a trail of fire.

  Seconds seemed minutes to James. He watched the sword draw closer to him, fear rising in his throat, unable to speak, his insides tightening in his stomach as he saw life about to end, with nothing to do. They had told him that life passed before their eyes when death knocks at the door, but he closed them. He didn’t want to see the past when he knew he had no future.

  Nothing happened. Too quiet. No one said anything and he felt no pain. She opened her eyes and felt herself. There was no new mark or wound. Her lips folded, smiling for surviving. He looked around and was surprised by the look of his friends. No one shared his joy. On the contrary, tears streamed down their faces and their eyes flickered, refusing to believe what they saw in front of him. So did he. The image in front of him was automatically stuck in his memory to never leave. Neil, kneeling on the floor, the sword pierced across his chest, the flame burning his clothing and his skin around, disintegrating and falling from his body like putrid ash. Blood flowed down his mouth, dripping from his clothes and splitting into two threads as he passed by the sword. No one had a pragmatic reaction. They watched their friend flee in blood, their brains still processing what was happening. It took a few seconds for James to crawl across the floor and reach Neil.

  "You fucking idiot. What the fuck do you think you're doing?? What did you do? Idiot!" James screamed, his voice hoarse, holding his friend in his arms, struggling not to burst into tears.

  "Tell ..." Neil started but had to stop. He spat a ball of blood to the ground, and leaned forward, his body saying goodbye to life, "Tell my father... Tell him I hope I made him proud and thank all of them for me, James. Thank you.” Neil said, the black in his eyes fading.

  The witch looked at him and laughed at the sight of him dying. He jumped in the same spot, waving his arms up and down, celebrating his feat. Lucy ran to Neil and hugged him from the side. His weeping tormented everyone's head, every tear and every shoving upward making the situation even more real.

  "No, Neil. Please don’t. We've come too far to let you go. Don’t even think about it!" She was saying, her heart quivering, wanting to leap out of her mouth and cheeks aching with such force to stop crying," Please.”

  "I don’t have the strength anymore. Sorry to leave you like this. Maybe we'll see each other again.” Neil whispered. It was his last words before closing his eyes. His HP hit 0 and his heart stopped. His head fell to his left shoulder and his body rocked forward. James and Lucy grabbed him, both crying, bodies trembling, pain being their mate.

  Alec and Lucian got up and armed with rage both launched a joint attack. The fire swirled around the ice spear and drove at high speed against the sorceress. She laughed and stopped their attack with only one hand. A crack in the head that made their last effort evaporate, giving way to an even stronger laugh. It would not stop. Her voice came into their brains and from there she didn’t go out. Constant, annoying, like an unwanted passenger who disturbs the peace and never leaves.

  "It's just this? One is gone, let's go to the rest," she said, but before she could approach, something grabbed her feet, immobilizing them. She looked down. Trunks tightened around her ankle, trapping her, and growing, climbing up her body. She tried to pull his foot off the ground but he couldn’t. He tried to burn the logs, but it was useless.

  "It's over," Lucy said. She was still holding Neil, but something had changed. The air around her was electrified. Tears in the sky itself, inconstant shocks around her, and she wrinkled her nose, opening her eyes until her eyelids nearly turned completely.

  "Lucy, what are you doing?" Alec said, completely cheated, and only a small tear of cloth left.

  "They went too far. It's time to end this. That's enough," Lucy said, handing Neil's body into James's arms, and rising.

  The tears changed color. The transparent was now black that came down her face and her hair spread through the air, fluttering as if gravity were something of the past. Also, the eyes lost their light color and became a house of chaos. The thoughts of pain and revenge have unleashed a power never before revealed. Something that was beyond her control, something that came from her family tree and that she had never really reached; the breaking point when she no longer cared to lose control in return for the pleasurable satisfaction of seeing someone suffer. Neil could be dubbed a zero patient. The first to have such a big impact on her that the darkness came out to play, like a demon that after 19 years of life saw the chains that were holding it to fade and the doors behind which it was opening. Her stats skyrocketed, rising by the hundreds.

  "What is happening? What do you think you're doing as a child? "The sorceress asked, more and more distressed, watching the trunks seize her body. She had already lost his legs, his arms and up her neck.

  "Good-bye," Lucy said. She clenched his fist and turned it, and so did the logs.

  They clung to the witch's neck and squeezed it, stifling it, until she lost consciousness and her HP came down. Her body was laced until blood covered the brown.

  "Lucy, stop it. We can’t be like them!" Alec shouted. He got up to try to stop it, but also his feet were held by logs. She, or whatever dominated her, didn’t want to be interrupted.

  "Too late," she said, seeing the witch's neck snap. She didn’t blink or smile. There were no emotions in her face and she had stopped crying.

  The trunks returned to earth and the witch's body fell to the ground. Dead, returning to its original form. She lost her life and with it, the youth was gone. Lucy didn’t stop there. She raised his hands and whispered something imperceptible. In a few minutes, sharp logs pierced the heart of all Christopher's soldiers. They appeared from the ground without warning, and a hole was opened in their chests. It was all so fast that they didn’t have time to avoid it or even to try to stop it. She looked like her grandfather. The sleeping darkness had awakened. Alec wondered if she had been born that way, or if her parents had erased her memory after some experience of her grandfather. He didn’t know anything, and when he thought he knew he was wrong.

  As soon as the opposing army was wiped out, Lucy fell to the ground, unconscious, and lay there. The trunks returned to the earth, taking some of the bodies with them. A consolidation premium for the work done. They sucked on their nutrients, feeding their mortal bodies. The fight was over. Some soldiers lay on the ground and others embraced, celebrating the victory. Most removed the armor and looked at the approaching sun on the horizon. The day was still halfway through, but the damage done in the city would take months to arrange - dozens of houses to build, streets to be cleaned, and fear in people, available to be awakened to any strange noise in the middle of the night.

  "He ... he's gone" James said, still with Neil in his hands.

  No one smiled for surviving. There were no celebrations on the part of the group, not even a mere smile. Some of them had been there. The most honest part, grounded on earth, had said goodbye. Not being able to say goodbye to everyone, unable to show her father how far she had come, unable to kiss Lucy's sweet lips.

  Max clutched at Ghost, crying compulsively in the chest that beat for him. Not knowing how to make it all better, the boy, once rejected by everyone, cradled him in his arms without
saying a word. He was struggling, in his own way, to show that he was willing to show the emotions left to the boy with glasses before him. Lucian let his spirit animal leave. The wolf roared in the wind, this time the fruit of his displeasure at the world. He too understood and could feel the pain of seeing one of his forever with his eyes closed. Lucian caressed his hair, leaning against him, hiding the tears he was trying so hard not to fall. It hurt the whole area under his eyes so hard to not show how weak it was. James laid Neil's body on the floor and drew the sword from his chest. The flame had already faded, the fierce marks remaining in the boy's skin. Alec stood, staggering to Neil's body. She lay down next to him and closed her eyes. He kissed her forehead and whispered in her ear,

  "Your father will know what you have done for us. Promise. Everyone will hear of Neil, the ninja who laid down his life for his friends."

  Molly ran through the main square, now an open ground without parallel or adjacent streets, and didn’t stop until she reached Eve. She used what was left of her energy to give her enough strength to open her eyes and be able to stand.

  "What ... what happened here?" She asked, "Where's Christopher?" He added. There was fear in his voice, his eyes wandering around, seeing dozens of dead all of them with bifurcated chests.

  "It's a long story," Molly replied, "Rest. I think we have time for that now."

  Grant and Alice were within feet of them, kissing each other, hugging each other, joining the celebrations of the remaining soldiers. They raised Grant and threw it into the air, while they sang songs of victory, with choruses and harmonies that were in the head.

  Still, the group remained quiet. The temperature rose. The shadows of the armor scattered on the floor. There was still a world to save and secrets to be revealed, but the reaper had taken one of them with him. From that moment, everything would be for Neil. The courage that would keep them standing, the desire for revenge that would fortress them, the sadness that would open doors to Christopher's phrases. A premature end. A goodbye thrown to the winds without anyone catching it.