Fire Child Part 35

“Sister, it’s good to see you after all this time,” said the Agrarian with a smirk.

  “I see you are still dabbling with the manipulation of artificial life,” said Persephone as she watched the moving orange and gold plant life.

  “Of course, I am the Agrarian after all.  You brought him I presume?”

  Persephone turned and six members of the Living Blade brought forward a rectangular black crystal case. 

The serpentine being watched the slight red glow pulsing at irregular intervals and smiled.  “His flames are somewhat hard to deal with.  Now the matter of my price.”

“I can pay any amount you desire.”

“Ah, but you see dear sister, I do not want souls.  I want some of your blood.”

  “The nectar of Eve is hardly worth that price,” said Persephone evenly.

  “True, but I think me abstaining from telling our beloved siblings that you’ve mixed our blood with that of a human, is more than an equal trade.  You didn’t dispel my surveillance hex nearly fast enough, dear sister.  I saw her, even if you hide her now, I already know what you have done.  Just imagine how they will react, Uvall will certainly try to crush you and all your servants.”

  “My son has already killed one of his bastard spawn, he has never understood the difference between quantity and quality.  He is only superior in terms of numbers, my military might far outweighs his,” sneered the ruby-haired golden being.

  “And what of Mephistopheles?  Does your military might outweighs his too?  Once our eldest brother hears of this, he will be most displeased.”

  Azain turned at the surprising silence of his mistress and for the first time saw fear on her face.  He found that it had an unnerving effect upon his own temperament so he quickly diverted his eyes.

  “All right, you’ve made your point.  Now give my son what he needs.”

  The Agrarian seemed content as he weaved the appropriate signs and spoke a few incantations, finalising his spell by shedding some of his blood upon the soil.  A bright orange flower bud, the size of a fist, emerged from the soil and grew six feet into the air.  The serpentine being gently tilted it to the side as he held a glass vial near it.  A luminescent emerald liquid flowed from the bud filling the vial before receding back into the earth.

  Persephone extended her hand and her brother replied by placing an empty vial in it. 

“Blood first.”

  “Very well,” said the cerise-eyed being before holding the vial to her wrist.  Skin parted as if cut, and a translucent liquid poured from the wound, filling the vial up before closing back up.  “Here.”

  The Agrarian took the vial of blood before handing over the nectar of Eve.  “This will help my work tremendously.  As a way of saying thank you, I’d recommend you return to your own realm as quickly as possible.  I might have sold the coordinates of your new home to a few more of our nephews and nieces.  Arcachne had just been the quickest to move.”

Fire Child Part 34

“Any survivors?” asked Michael, already knowing the answer.

  “No, they were all dead long before we arrived.  From what we could determine from the scans, it appears the building’s deterioration originated from the labs, then moved to the pens, probably freeing the durandals,” said the Tech Expert.

  “The cause?”

  “That’s where it gets a bit strange.  Several crucial support beams were melted and the labs and pens show extensive fire damage.”

  “An accident in the lab?” asked Michael, knowing he was being optimistic.

  “It’s unlikely.  The lab shouldn’t have had anything that could have caused flames to burn at the intensity needed to cause the damage we’ve found.”

  Michael sighed.  “Tell the men to get ready to move out.”

  “Um, we also found something else,” said Tech Expert clearly unnerved.

  “What?”

  “Are you familiar with the outpost livestock tunnels?”

  “No, history was never really my strong suit.”

“When the outposts were first founded, we had not yet developed our teleportation technology.  So our ancestors dug massive tunnels through which they could transport the durandals to the pens.”

  “Why have I never heard of these tunnels?  They’re a security hazard.”

  “Probably because our ancestors collapsed the tunnels when teleportation was invented.”

  “Well, that was a wonderful history lesson.  Care to get to the point?”

  “This outpost’s livestock tunnel has been burned open.”

  “What?”

  “I can’t explain it, rocks were literally turned to magma.  The heat needed to create molten rock . . . could it be that the rumours are true?”

  “And what rumours would that be?” asked Michael dryly.

  “About the signal from Earth, the warning that the Fire Child has returned.”

  “Don’t be an idiot.  The Fire Child is nothing but a myth.”

  “But this was not natural!” insisted the Tech Expert.

  “Magic is not natural!  Any number of demons could have pulled this off!  Let’s say, the Fire Child does exist.  How exactly did our ancestors, with their primitive tech, manage to steal him from Persephone of a Thousand Forms?  And why hasn’t she sought vengeance for it?  She is a Dannar, they are not known for their tolerance.  Dammit man, think for yourself!”

  “I . . . I’m sorry, sir.”

  “No, I’m sorry.  That was a bit harsh, but that damned rumour has been causing more trouble than you can possibly imagine.”

  “I think I understand.  I’ll go relay that order of yours now,” said the Tech Expert before rushing off.

  Michael sighed.  “The press is going to have a field day if they find out about this.  The Fire Child, they’re right, he is the end, the end of my social life.” 

Fire Child Part 33

Zendrius roared before charging straight at Persephone.  Alyza instinctively backed away, but the Dannar just crossed her arms and watched her son advance with clear amusement. 

Just when Alyza were about to voice her concern, Azain intercepted the enraged being in a blur of movement.  Zendrius lashed out, but the fallen angel dodged the blow with ease before delivering one of his own.  It sent the newly reborn child staggering backward before he charged again.  Azain sighed before sidestepping then grabbing Zendrius’ right arm, the fallen angel tapped into his opponent’s momentum and executed an excellent over shoulder throw.  The moment Zendrius struck the ground Azain unleashed an incantation and glowing emerald chains appeared out of thin air and bound the frenzied young Dannar to the soil.

  “Wow,” said Alyza truly astonished.

  “I hope you did not believe that Azain had fought you seriously during your training.  I chose him because he is the best at restraint; I feared that the others might kill you by accident,” said Persephone surprised at the girl’s remark.

  Azain noticed that the emerald chains began to crack underneath their victim’s strength and quickly weaved a few extra signs; increasing their strength tenfold.  “He is stronger than I thought, with the proper training he would be hard to deal with.”

“And that is exactly what he will get, but first we need to visit my brother.  He will not calm until he has had the nectar of Eve,” said Persephone, ignoring her son’s screams of frustration.

“He will be hard to move but –” said Azain when sanguine flames erupted from behind him.

The nearest members of the Living Blade responded instantly and within seconds Zendrius’ flames where contained with him in an azure energy bubble.

  That’s when Alyza noticed that despite her fears during the battle that they would be overwhelmed, she couldn’t see a single injured member of the Living Blade, much less a casualty.  There were only a few durandals who had been hurt, but their injuries were already mostly healed.  

  “We should hurry, the next threat to show itself might not be so easy to deal with,” said Azain as he regarded Arcachne’s steaming corpse.

  “Indeed, prepare my son for transport.  Come Alyza,” said Persephone as she half dragged the girl to the litter.

Michael watched as his subordinates searched the rumble of Outpost 31.  Central had despatched them after Duke Tolstoy failed to report in for two consecutive weeks.  He had prayed throughout their entire journey, that it was all just due to some technical malfunction in the outpost’s communication equipment and that they’ll find everyone safe and sound.  But he also knew that the Lord would often not grant the prayers of men of war; for most had a deep burning hatred in their hearts for their enemies, and as he stared on at the ruined outpost, he felt his chest aflame.  

Fire Child Part 32

Alyza felt her skin crawl as she regarded the freshly arrived monstrosity.  Its body looked like that of a tarantula but was scaled like a fish.  Three scorpion-like tails protruded from the top of its abdomen and hung forward towards what Alyza assumed was its face; which was not spider-like at all, instead having more a reptilian appearance.

  “I am Arcachne, daughter of –” was all the creature could get out before she was hit by a wave of sanguine flames.

  The flames scorched the ground beneath her, but by all appearances the arachnid seemed entirely unharmed.  Three more waves sped from the dust and smoke but with the same result.

  Arcachne laughed.  “I’ve heard of your flames, but since they are of magical origin they are about as harmful to me as the dust and smoke you hide in.”

  The durandal horde tensed as a whole at the insult, but Persephone announced in a clear authoritative voice, “I will kill any who interfere, this is between my son and the daughter of my brother.”

  Arcachne smirked at the declaration before uttering the appropriate verses.  Her body gained a slight shimmer and without another word she made a series of short hops into the cloud of dust and smoke.

  The spectators all peered at the obscured moving figures in the haze as they heard a series of loud crackles of energy.  The battle dragged on for what seemed like minutes when there was suddenly a deafening screech. 

Arcachne sped from the cloud, landing less than gracefully a few feet from Alyza.  Bright yellow liquid oozed from where two of her legs and one of her scorpion-like tails once were.  She panted audibly and Persephone smiled as all recognised the expression on her face, fear.

  The glowing silver eyes advanced towards its injured opponent and Alyza gasped as Zendrius stepped out from the cloud of dust and smoke.  He was only sixteen feet tall, but somehow he seemed to tower over everyone present.  Ghost white skin was pulled tautly over statuesque muscles, making his physique all the more impressive.  Millions of glowing sapphire streaks decorated his entire body, exploding into the sanguine flames that hung to his shoulders like hair.  Two enormous wings adorned his back, the feathers seemed pitch-black but light constantly reflected off them as he moved, giving the appearance that they were made from stars.

  Arcachne readied herself for retreat when Zendrius launched forward.  She tried to defend herself with her two remaining stingers but Zendrius caught one in each hand.  Without a word he unleashed a powerful kick to the arachnid’s face, the force of the blow ripped the remaining tails from the top of her abdomen as she rolled and bounced backwards.  Arcachne barely recovered when he was on top of her again, delivering a crushing blow from above.  Zendrius placed his foot on her head, pinning her to the ground.

  “Please, spare me and I’ll serve you for eterni-” pleaded Arcachne.  But before she could finish he pressed down, crushing everything beneath his foot.

  Alyza started forward when Persephone grabbed her arm and yanked her back.  “I would advise against that, dear.  My son is very dangerous at the moment.”

  As if to prove her observation Zendrius started to rip the corpse of his cousin apart, as if searching for something.

  “What is he doing?” asked Alyza horrified.

  “There was a reason he needed the nectar of Eve at hand; it was to temper his thirst,” said Persephone as her son found what he was looking for.

  Everyone watched in mute astonishment as souls flowed from the corpse down Zendrius’ throat, as if he was literally drinking them.  It was an amazing sight, until the flow stopped and he turned to his onlookers with the same thirst.