Tatia's head whipped down so hard her neck hurt she broke into a smile, her breath coming out in a long sigh of relief.
"You're okay!" she exclaimed, "Thank god Gerry!"
Amitiel started to speak and suddenly chaos erupted. Tatia screamed as hands gripped her hair and wrenched, and she felt Amitiel's hands slip. She reached out, desperately holding to Rythert's outstretched fingers, clinging to thier fingertips as she tried to reach for them, but it was no use. The thing had her by the throat and it pulled her away as she screamed for them.
"RYTHERT! AMITIEL!" she yelled, watching as he was struck in the face. She tried to kick, tried to hit the being hold her but its grip tightened and she began to see stars. No, no she refused to let it do this.
"RYTHERT!" she shrieked again, watching them fall. Her hands stretched for them, seeing Gerry catch them and a fraction of relief hit her, but not enough. Amitiel, her friend, was still being attacked. Her eyes looked up in time to see the blade impale, sliding through him as she cried out again, "NO!"
Her elbow came up and caught his jaw, cracking it as she growled ferociously, enraged by this thing. Her eyes began to turn and something primal, something new snapped inside her, releasing it. But she would not be able to discover it. The golem turned and growled at her, squeezing her throat till she could no longer breath. Fear replaced anger and she gripped at his hands as they all watched, desperately trying to get air. She gagged and choked, but it did not loosen its grip. Darkness clouded her sight as it screamed and flew off, carrying her with it. She looked back, and the last thing she saw before unconsciousness clutched her was Amitiel, falling dead from the sky.
"REY!"
She woke with a start, jolting up. Looking around her she realized she was still in her room, having fainted on the floor. Rey...why had he woken her? Realization struck her and she jumped up. She had felt the fear, the pain emanating from outside. Something was wrong. Terribly wrong. Dizziness hit her as she got up but she ignored it. She had to help, she had to do something. Throwing her hand out in an arch at the door it clicked and flung open, letting her through.
"REY!" she yelled now, running down the hall. She could see the two men stuck inside, fearful for their children but trapped. Throwing her hands up the barriers she had created on the house reinforced, protecting them as she yelled, "I will get you your children!"
God, what was happening?
She ran outside, stopping short on the porch to see the mayhem outside, her mouth falling open. She spotted Rey and jumped to him first, bending over him, forgetting their was dried blood on her face from her nose bleeds.
"Rey...Rey wake up," she shook him awake, looking and spotting Gerry and the children. Her ears caught the sound of something whizzing close and she turned and spun, seeing a spear lit by some unearthly fire flying towards her. Without thinking her hands rose and the spear stopped in mid-air. Across the field a man stood, his face contorted in rage.
"You want a fight?!" she screamed at him, "HAVE ONE!"
The spear turned and raced back, flashing through the air as it hit the man. Looking at the other men she loud out a scream worthy of a war cry and they all were thrown back on their backs as an invisible force hit them hard. The spears within Elaya slowly pulled out and hovered in the air, aimed at the men. She turned back to Rey, ignoring her bleeding nose and picked him up, trying to drag him closer to the door and out of the way. The screams of the children caught her attention again and she growled seeing a man appearing from the trees, spells flying from his hands towards Gerry and the terrified children.
"I'm sorry love," she whispered, letting Rey down by the door, seeing he was waking, "Just don't move."
Turning she launched her own fireball spell with a simple thought in her mind, hitting his lightning strike aimed at them and devouring it. The mage turned and snarled at her and her eyes darkened as she laughed loudly, "That it?"
"You're dead girl!" one of the men who had been torturing Elaya laughed, and her head spun glaring at him. The spear hovering above him sliced down, spearing him in his stomach as the fire engulfed him and he screamed in agony, writhing on the ground. She turned back to the sorcerer with a snarl, smiling, "Oh let him try."
"Bring it bitch!" he snapped back, magic dancing on his fingers as he faced off with her. The children and Gerry were still trapped behind the well, between them, but she was doing this to protect them. Her eyes grew pure white as light magic danced on her own fingers and she raised them towards Gerry and the children. A purpilish bubble grew around them, encompassing them and protecting them from all harm, no bullet no spell able to pass it. Then her eyes flicked to the sorcerer and she threw the first punch, a dozen arrows made of pure energy forming and bolting through the air, striking him. Even as he was hit he threw his arms out and the ground around her shook and split, threaning to swallow her whole as pieces of the ground rose and struck her, cutting her skin and pommeling her body.
"You'll have to kill me!" she screamed, throwing her hands out and hitting him with a ball of light, knocking him off his feet as the rocks fell back. She took two steps forward and threw both her hands out, and a stream of light ignited from her, blasting him even harder, "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO I AM?!"
She took another step, throwing every spell she knew at him, blood pouring from her nose and ears. Fire erupted underneath him, then the ground shook and split, next came a thousand arrows, striking him and the ground around him as he fended them off, having to change to defensive magic at her onslaught. Vines grew and trapped him, holding him down as the fire grew, turning green with poison. Her eyes went from white to black as her spells grew darker. His blood turned to black tar, suffocating him, making every movement feel like torture.
"I AM LAIRIA DELEVINE! MY FATHER WAS THE HIGH WARLOCK GRENOK, THE DARK! MY MOTHER WAS SAEVANNAH DELEVINE ARCHMAGE OF THE CIRCLE AND THE SINGLE STRONGEST LIGHT SORCERESS OF HER GENERATION! AND YOU DARE PICK A FIGHT WITH ME? YOU DARE STEP INTO MY PRESENCE AND ATTACK INNOCENT CHILDREN! I. WILL. END. YOU!"
The man recoiled even though his body was so bent and broken he could hardly move. His eyes filled with fear as she stepped up right next to him. Bullets were still flying and yet not a single one hit her. Nothing seemed to even get near her as she looked down at him with disdain.
"This was the best they sent," she sneered, "Pitiful."
Reaching down she grabbed his neck and twisted it, snapping it with her bare hands. Instantly her eyes returned to normal and her knees buckled but she forced herself to stand, looking back and seeing the barrier around the children and Gerry fade, "No."
She stumbled forward towards them and fell to her knees beside Gerry, gasping as she realized just how far she went. Too far. She clutched her chest, feeling her heart restricting, her voice hoarse, "I have...to help...Elaya...I have to...get you...out of here...all...of you..."
"Look."
All the children had started to point and slowly Lairia rose her eyes to the last sight she thought she'd ever see.
Seraphina.
"My turn."
There was no lurch in her step, no sign of pain or exhaustion. The Phoenix walked out as if she had simply been waiting for the fight, her chin high, her eyes dark with rage. She had seen all Lairia had given to the fight, but as the barrier had fallen for the children and Gerry, so had the spears, and the men were scrambling up. Not just that but other men were pooling into the yard, with guns or swords, ready to kill everything and everyone. And Elaya. Her Elaya was in the middle of it all, held up by a stake in absolute agony.
"No more!" she screamed, reaching Elaya and touching her body. She could feel the hellfire, and she knew what this meant. But she knew she wouldn't let her lover die. A circle of flame grew around them, flaring when anyone neared. It incinerated all that flew through it, keeping the two within safe. She knew she had only minutes before her walls were too weak to defend but that was all Sera needed. Her nails dug into Elaya's shoulders and she sucked it in. Every last inch of it, all of the hellfire, pulling it into her own body as she screamed and snarled with the effort, all until Elaya felt no pain. Then she tore the stake out, picking up Elaya in her arms. The circle fell and the men swarmed, but none came close. Fire branched out from all sides of her, whipping and attacking those nearest, burning their weapons and knocking them down. And Sera turned, walking towards the well. It was the closest to her, and she was unsure she'd make it to the house. As she got closer she set Elaya down, not with the group there, but as close as she dared with how hot she burned. And she burned hot, the air crackling and spitting around her.
"Protect her for me," Sera ordered, looking Gerry and Lairia dead in the eyes, "Goodbye."
Turn. Step...step...each step she calculated, holding off the men with her flames. It hurt. All of it hurt. Her body was dying, and she had known it for days. But she had held on. For Elaya. For the group.
But I can't...I can't let them die for me. It's my turn. My sacrifice.
"Take her down!" they screamed, rushing at her. Bullets hit her, but they barely hurt. Swords stabbed and she felt little now. She had accepted it. It was coming. She let them closer, swarming her until no one could see her within the group of men all trying to deal the final blow and end the leader of the group, the true one standing in their way.
"She's going to sacrifice herself!" Lairia realized, screaming over the noise, "She'll kill us all!"
Seraphina smiled and turned, accepting it. She had accepted it the second she had seen her lover in such pain, pain she now felt. But it would all be gone. She just had to...let go.
A break in the crowd let her see them for a single last time as her body began to heat like never before. Lairia was rising, looking like death herself as she reached out to stop Gerry, who was running...to who? Elaya? Sera? Her eyes turned to Elaya, and a tear streaked down her face. She should never had let it go this far. She had been selfish to wait for this.
"I love you," she whispered, her eyes closing and accepted it, letting go. Skin faded to heat, and heat faded to light, her body surpassing anything felt on this earth as she became white hot. Those closest were incinerated instantly, and the rest had no time to run, no time to hide.
With a shudder she exploded, and the world shook for a second time that day.
Her body ceased to exist, as did all else around her. All their foes turned to ash, and then even their ash was burnt to nothingness. Anything near her exploded in white light, the barn, the trees, all but the house that Lairia had protected. Reynault remained safe within the doorway of the house, but the children, Gerry, Lairia, and Elaya were not. At the last second Lairia had thrown her hands out, creating a giant barrier, protecting everyone around the well...but Gerry. She had felt him pass the barrier as it came down and she screamed for him, knowing the explosion would kill him without pause. But she could not get to him even as she pushed herself forward, the light blinding and searing her eyes. When it did finally fade she tried to look again but her eyes burned. Collapsing next to the children, she felt death's cold fingers gripping her heart,darkness blanketing her mind . She had gone too far this time and there was no stopping the consequences of her actions. Whispering a prayer for herself she fell unconscious, her heart barely beating.
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