Inassea Chronicles: The Blighted Flame

by P. A. Peña

  Virgil’s gaze fell to the ground. “You’re right.” He took a deep breath. “I left you behind because I didn’t want to drag you down with me. If I’m right about this, then that means the task forces are chasing a ghost. Once the Alliance finds out what I’ve done, I’ll be lucky if all I’m facing is expulsion. It’s always been your dream to be a Crusader like your parents. I didn’t want you to be punished for my actions. This is my fight, and if anybody should suffer for it, it should be me.”

  Aurelia reached over, placing her hand on Virgil’s cheek. Gently, she raised his head up. They locked gazes. Her tears had finally ceased. “I appreciate the thought, but this isn’t just your fight anymore.”

  Virgil looked over to Logan.

  “It’s true,” Logan agreed. “And besides. How are they going to kick out the Crusaders who put an end to Nobody?”

  All Virgil could do was smile. Words simply couldn’t express the warmth he felt surging through his heart. The trio of friends pressed onward, traveling deeper into Ozryn’s jungles. As they moved, they formulated their plan on how they would attempt to subdue their targets.

  After an hour or so, they came to a halt.

  “What is it?” Aurelia asked Virgil. “Do you sense Olivia again?”

  “No,” he answered. “But there are a handful of people nearby. Based on their positions, and the last place I sensed Olivia’s aura, I’m guessing their hideout is close by.”

  “That sounds like a fair assessment,” Logan said, flexing his muscles. “All right. I’ll try to make this quick.”

  Virgil gave Logan the coordinates of the guards. Logan nodded and summoned O’Drakka’s Fists. “I’ll send a text once I’ve cleared them out. If you don’t hear from me in ten minutes, come on in, guns blazing.”

  Logan darted off, leaving Virgil and Aurelia alone. Virgil walked over to a nearby tree and leaned against it as he sat down. He took in a deep breath, and exhaled even more deeply.

  “How are you feeling?” Aurelia asked as she sat down next to him.

  “Ignorant. Foolish. Stupid.” Virgil flexed his knuckles, but his movements, were stiff and rigid. “Most of all, I’m angry. I’m trying hard not to lose it again, but I don’t know if I can keep it all in.”

  “That’s understandable. Olivia fooled us all. Hell, I pushed you to go out with her. I’d love to just hit the bitch in the face one good time.”

  “It’s more than that, Aurelia. I’ve never told this to anyone, but when I get angry, like really really angry, I lose focus. It gets harder and harder to control my fire, and well, I can’t even protect myself.” Virgil tensed up, hanging his head low as he frowned. “It’s pathetic, really. A pyromancer burned by his own flame.”

  Aurelia wrapped her arm around Virgil and rested her head on his shoulder. “Don’t do that. You’re an amazing sorcerer. This may be an issue now, but I’m sure you’ll overcome it one day. And I’ll be right here by your side cheering you on when you do.”

  Virgil began to tear up. “That’s why I’m scared. With the battle we’re about to get in to I don’t think I can keep it all together.” He looked down at his trembling hands. “Even now, I feel like I’m going to explode. I don’t care if I hurt myself. I could burn down to the bone, but if I hurt you—”

  “You won’t,” Aurelia said. Her words were simple. Definitive.

  “H-how do you know that?” Virgil said choking up.

  “Because I’m here with you.”

  Virgil sniffled. “Does that mean you’ll keep me from burning us all to the ground?” he asked.

  Aurelia shook her head. “It means I’ll be there to pull you out of the darkness.”

  Virgil couldn’t help but smile as he rested his head on Aurelia’s. “I know you’re tired of hearing this by now,” he said placing his hand over hers, “but thank you. You’ve been nothing short of an angel to me, and I promise I’ll never leave you behind again.”

  There was a brief moment of silence between the two of them. “I know this is a terrible time to say this,” Aurelia began, her tone shrouded in uncertainty, “but I’m afraid if I don’t say it now, it might never come out.”

  “What is it?” Virgil asked. Once again, Aurelia paused. Virgil turned to her. Gently he caressed her cheek, guiding her eyes to meet his. Her cheeks were flushed red, and it looked as if a thousand words were echoing through her mind. “What is it?” he asked again.

  “Do you think that we, I mean, Could you and I . . .”

  A loud vibration echoed in Aurelia’s pocket. She sat upright and pulled out her phone. Sure enough, it was Logan giving the all-clear.

  Aurelia stood up. “It’s time.”

  “Wait,” Virgil said as he stood up as well. “What were you going to say?”

  “It’s not important. Besides, there’s no time for it now.”

  Aurelia proceeded to walk away, but Virgil took hold of her hand. “We’ll make time for it. Right here. Right now. I don’t want you to ever feel like you’re not important in my life.”

  Aurelia smiled from ear to ear. “I’ll tell you what. When we make it through this, I promise we’ll lay everything out on the table.”

  Chapter 48

  Virgil and Aurelia emerged from the trees in front of Logan. Before they could speak, their attention was drawn to the structure behind him. It was huge, but it was more wide than tall. It was made of stone and metal and covered with ancient runes. It was easy to see that the building had been magically constructed.

  “Let’s go,” Virgil said. “It’s only a matter of time before they notice us.”

  Logan and Aurelia nodded, and the trio entered the building. There was only one room, and as they entered, the lights sprung on, revealing a demon as tall as a house. His skin was lime green, and he was draped in a tattered brown cloth. He was sleeping, but with the room now lit, he was beginning to wake up.

  “I’m sorry, mistress,” the demon said, wiping his eyes. “I couldn’t help but fall asleep. It’s been so boring, just sitting here. Do you think I could maybe come down below with you?” He was unarmed, but his sheer size alone would prove to be troublesome. “Wait,” the demon said blinking erratically. “You’re not Mistress Cecelia.”

  Virgil tensed up, burying the fury raging in his heart.

  The demon leaned in closer, his attention fixed on Virgil. “You!” he said, his tone growing deeper as he stood up. “I know you. Mistress told me. You killed Berraal!”

  Thoughts of his battle on at Akata Castle looped through Virgil’s mind. “You mean the demon who attacked us? I’m sorry, but he didn’t leave me much of a choice.”

  “He was my brother!” The demon swung his fist towards Virgil.

  With a flash of light, Aurelia summoned an enormous blade in the air and sliced the demon’s arm clean off. As quickly as the blade appeared, it was gone, and blood began pouring from the severed limb like a broken faucet. The demon opened his mouth to scream out in pain, but Aurelia summoned a metal box around his skull. It was airtight, completely muffling the demon’s wails into unintelligible grunts. He sat down, desperately trying to pull the box from off his head. With each passing moment, he grew weaker, fighting less and less, until finally, he lay still on the floor. Aurelia reduced the box to merely a muzzle, and bound the demon to the ground with shackles and chains.

  Virgil closed his eyes, scanning the structure. Now that he was within its walls, he could feel several auras present throughout the stronghold. Even so, all that mattered to Virgil was that Olivia was there, along with the Scarlet Mage and Cecelia.

  The group entered an elevator. The ride underground was lengthy as they descended deeper and deeper into the Earth. With each minute that passed, Virgil’s nerves became more and more unstable. His skin was growing tighter, and his body hotter. His mind continually shifted focus, bouncing like a pinball between killing Cecelia, capturing the Scarlet Mage, and confronting Olivia.

  After five minutes, the elevator stopped. Virgil looked over t
o Logan and held up two fingers. The doors slid open, revealing two men. One stood frozen in shock while the other summoned a wall of fire, trapping the trio in the elevator.

  Logan smirked as he reached through the flames, absorbing it into his gloves. He took hold of the men’s faces. “You should have gone for the kill.”

  Before they could respond, Logan knocked their heads together, crashing them into one another with incredible force. Both men lost consciousness, and Logan tossed them into the elevator. Aurelia incapacitated the men just like the demon, ensuring that they wouldn’t be able to send for help should they come to.

  Virgil peered down the hallway. “We’re close. They’re in a room, maybe a few corridors away. But they’re not alone. There are ten people in total. Perhaps they’re in a meeting or something.”

  “That’s unfortunate,” Logan said. “It would have been a lot better if they were separated.”

  “Are there other people here?” Aurelia asked.

  “Yeah. They’re scattered about.”

  “They’re likely posted up as guards,” Logan added. “Or maybe they are patrolling a set area.”

  “Can you navigate us around the guards?” Aurelia asked. “It would be best if we conserve our energy for the main objective.”

  “I don’t know,” Logan said. “We have the element of surprise at the moment. With Virgil’s ability to sense auras as well as he can, we could easily knock off all the stragglers. That would minimize surprises during the main battle. And let’s not forget we are entering a fight three against ten. It’d be best if that didn’t snowball further.”

  “Yeah, but—”

  A siren began blaring throughout the hallway, accompanied by flashing lights. “Well, that decides it then,” Virgil said. “I’ll hurry ahead.”

  He took to the air and darted off, leaving a trail of fire in his wake. His intense training over the last few months had vastly increased his flight speed. He rounded a corner and came across a guard. With a swift kick Virgil pinned the guard to the wall and a fiery cage trapped him. Virgil continued on, disposing of each combatant he came across with speed and efficiency.

  At his extreme speed, it didn’t take him long at all to reach his destination. He entered the room, and his heartbeat quickened. The massive room was mostly empty. Cecelia, the Scarlet Mage, and Olivia stood behind a stone altar. Seven demons were tied to floor with vines and roots. There were candles lit everywhere, and runes painted with blood scattered across the floors and walls. A skull sitting upon the altar emanated an ominous, foreboding presence that filled the room. It looked to be centuries old and clearly wasn’t human. It had horns curved into spirals, sharp fangs, and three eye sockets.

  Cecelia turned to Olivia with a sneer. “I thought you said he wouldn’t follow you!”

  “Obviously, I was mistaken,” Olivia replied. “I thought you said your diversion would throw them off.”

  Virgil looked at each of the individuals standing before him. He didn’t know who to focus on. Olivia, the woman who toyed with his heart. Cecelia, the woman who stole everything from him. Or the Scarlet Mage, the man with his aura signature. He took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to burn everything to ashes, and focused on the Scarlet Mage.

  The Scarlet Mage raised his hand, summoning a red void behind him. “Grab the remains and go,” he said.

  “Just kill the boy as you should have done before,” Cecelia snapped. “I’ve waited far too long for this.”

  “Then what difference does a little while longer make? Are you really so shortsighted that you’d risk everything now, when we are so close to realizing our dreams? I’m sure Virgil is only the first to make it here, and reinforcements will be descending down upon us at any moment.”

  Cecelia sighed before reaching over and tussling the Scarlet’s Mage’s hair. Virgil’s blood began to boil, and he wound his fists into balls. “You’re right,” she replied. “What would I do without my rock?”

  “You’d be dead,” the Scarlet Mage replied, his tone even and low.

  Cecelia laughed. “Of course.” She turned to Olivia. “I’ll trust you can clean up this mess.”

  No,” the Scarlet Mage said, “he’s my responsibility.”

  “You had your chance. Now come on before I—”

  “Nobody is going anywhere!” Virgil erupted, unable to remain silent any longer. His hands burst into flames, and he summoned a wall of fire, cutting off their escape route. “You all are going to answer for what you’ve done,” he said, smoke trailing off his body.

  With a flick of his wrist, the Scarlet Mage summoned a series of blades that sliced through Virgil’s fire, dispersing the flames. He turned to walk away. “For a second there, I thought you had made significant progress.” The Scarlet Mage scoffed. “Sadly, you’re still not good enough.”

  Cecelia collected the skull from the altar and started to leave with the Scarlet Mage. As futile as it was, Virgil tried to erect another barrier. Olivia fired off a barrage of wooden spikes towards him. He pulled back, easily dodging the strike, but put a considerable distance between himself and his fleeing targets.

  “You should really focus on not dying,” Olivia taunted.

  Cecelia and the Scarlet Mage left, leaving Olivia and Virgil alone. For a moment, the two of them stood staring each other down. There were a million words Virgil wanted to say, but he ultimately decided on just five. “Was any of it real?”

  “Was any of what real?” Olivia replied, her tone condescending.

  “Us. The time we spent together. The laughs we shared. When we looked into each other’s eyes. Did you really feel nothing for me?”

  Olivia let out a shrill laugh. “Of course not. I kept you close because you were our contingency plan. If we couldn’t get the Crystal Catalyst, we would settle for the Fang of Kayveon. It’s as simple as that.”

  Virgil’s shoulders tensed, and he ground his teeth. “I saved your life.”

  “You saved nothing. What you fell for was a magical double hosting a fragment of my soul. I was never truly on Akata Island.”

  Virgil paused as Olivia’s words sunk in. His body felt hot, and his breath was heavy. He tried to calm down, but his flames were growing rapidly.

  “How does it feel?” Olivia said. “How does it feel, knowing that it will be your failures that plunge the world into darkness?”

  Virgil snapped back into the moment. “Don’t celebrate just yet.”

  Olivia rolled her eyes. “And why not? Do you honestly think you have a chance of stopping us?” Virgil grinned, causing Olivia’s expression to sour. “You don’t get it, do you?” she continued. “We’ve already won. You and your friends have no chance of leaving here alive. We have everything we need to bring the Alliance down to its knees, and claim what is rightfully ours.”

  Virgil pointed towards Olivia. “You’re the one who doesn’t get it. Or have you not noticed the void still behind you?”

  Olivia turned, and her eyes grew wide at the sight of the red void. She spun back around, to find Logan and Aurelia entering the room.

  “Sorry we’re late,” Logan said.

  “Did we miss anything?” Aurelia asked.

  “Nothing much,” Virgil answered. “You guys remember the plan?”

  Logan cracked his knuckles. “Of course.”

  “You can count on us,” Aurelia added as she readied herself.

  Virgil nodded. “Watch out for the demons. I don’t think they’re willing participants in whatever was going on here.”

  “You’re insane if you think I’m going to—”

  Before Olivia could even finish her sentence, Aurelia dashed forward with blinding speed. She drove her fist into Olivia’s mouth, knocking her to the ground.

  Aurelia smiled. “Boy did that feel good.” She made her way to the void, and Virgil followed suit.

  Olivia reached out, encasing the void in a wooden cube. Logan walked over and placed his foot on Olivia’s back. She squirmed, crying out in pain
as he increased the pressure on her spine. The wooden cube crumbled, and Aurelia stepped through. Virgil approached the void, but stopped as he heard Logan scream. He turned around to find Logan stumbling backward, a wooden spike piercing his stomach.

  “Logan!” Virgil shouted, his fists tightening.

  “Don’t worry about me!” Logan replied, leaking blood onto the ground. “Continue the plan!”

  Virgil raised his palm to Olivia. “The plan didn’t include you taking a wooden spike in the gut!”

  “Damn it, Virgil! If you don’t leave now, this will have all been for nothing!”

  Olivia stood and took a deep breath. She exhaled, blanketing the seven bound demons in thick green mist. “Hear my call,” she said. “Fungal Subjugation.”

  The vines shackling the demons released. They stood up, their eyes turning a bright green. Moss coated their bodies, and they glared at Logan.

  “What are you waiting for!” Logan shouted.

  Virgil snapped to his senses, turning his back to Logan. “Please,” he said, his voice shaky. “Please make it through all right.”

  “You’re not going anywhere!” Olivia exclaimed as she raised her palm towards Virgil.

  Logan released a downpour of blue fire from his gloves, burning Olivia’s hand. Reluctantly, Virgil stepped through the void, leaving Logan to fend for himself.

  Chapter 49

  Virgil appeared in the desert sand a few feet away from Aurelia. The sun was beginning to set, turning the hot orange sand to a cooler, almost blue color. She had the Scarlet Mage bound in chains; however, Cecelia was nowhere to be found.

  “I’m sorry,” Aurelia said, careful not to take her eyes off the mage. “I couldn’t keep Cecelia from making an escape.”

  Virgil stepped ahead of her. “That’s all right. I’m much more concerned with him.” He paused for a moment, a single question burning through his mind as he looked at the Scarlet Mage. “It’s you. Isn’t it?”

  The Scarlet Mage didn’t respond. Virgil’s eyes began to well, his nose sniffling. “Of course, it’s you. I’d know your aura signature anywhere.”