Chapter 238 Temptations From the Dead

As her skin heated up and combusted, Aella's entire body became that of fire. Jozef's brother merely laughed and dropped her, stepping back. She wasn't deterred by this, launching herself at him and wrapping her arms and legs around him.

"This puny fire of yours is nothing," he said, shaking his head and waving his hand at her. Because she was nothing but flame, his hand passed right through her, causing him to frown in sudden alarm.

Grinning, Aella turned up the heat, reminding herself of the heat of the volcano, and the color of her flames began to change, turning from yellows and reds to whites and blues. The demon stepped back again, as if trying to distance himself from her, but she was latched on tightly. His skin, which had started out as a dark red, began to darken even more.

"No," he muttered, trying to clap his hands against her, but again, they passed right through her, only hitting his quickly burning skin. With a gasp of pain, his skin started to crack and peel as the underlaying skin also burned. Falling to his knees, Aella turned up the heat even more, focusing on that intense blue heat that burned the hottest. Her fire element sighed in satisfaction as she used it to its max.

With a scream, he fell to the ground and rolled around, crushing his wings and imbedding dirt and debris into the wounds that were quickly worsening. She held on as he continued to roll, feeling the force of his organs starting to explode from the heat, and of the roiling boil of his blood. He soon stopped moving but she didn't let go. This demon had given her enough grief, so she was going to end him. There wasn't going to be another time with this guy. Blowing him up had sent him here, and as far as she knew, there wasn't another place for him to go to.

Once he was reduced to ash, she continued to pull him into a pile to continue burning, not stopping until she couldn't tell the difference between his ashes and the burnt ground.

"Aella?" called Alfred, from a distance.

She turned, seeing the world through a blue haze.

"I think he's dead, you can probably turn the heat down a bit."

She nodded, calming the fire and returning her body to normal.

"Who was that?" he asked, glancing at the burnt area she sat in the middle of. Parts of the ground were still glowing and molten from her heat.

"That was Jozef's brother," she said softly, glancing back at the altar. "He was using the souls of the dead you were killing to power this thing."

"I had a bad feeling when I was killing them, and then I saw you were gone and there seemed to be a massive fire over here, so I came to investigate. Is this another of the altars?" he asked, moving towards the thing carefully, tilting his head to investigate it.

"Yes, but we need to be careful. I don't know what triggers it." She stood up and reformed her clothes before joining him in studying the altar.

"It has runes here," he murmured thoughtfully, pointing to a line of ancient runes on the top.

"They say 'Harvest the Dead to Power the Living," said a voice off to their side.

They both turned and saw another demon poke his head over the rocks.

"Father?" asked Aella, stepping towards him before pausing. Could this be another trick of Jozef's brother?

"Yes, I avoided being corrupted by using my shadow abilities. Haven't you noticed they were weak?" he asked, with a smile.

Aella frowned. She knew that her shadow was much quieter than her other elements, but it never occurred to her that she didn't have all of it. The other elements weren't willing to be split like that.

"So, I didn't get all of the powers when you died?" she asked.

"No, because you took me to a dark place and then burned my body with fire. There was a shadow element involved in my final death, so I was able to take some of the powers with me, to keep me safe from the powers of evil here. Alfred would get the same options when he died, assuming the evil was still here at that time."

Aella glanced back at the altar. "So, all we have to do is destroy this thing?"

"Pretty much, but you have to be careful going back to the other realm. This place is technically the same realm as what you control, but it is a place only for the dead. Neither of the two of you are dead, so you might bring some death back with you."

"What does that mean?" asked Alfred with a frown.

"I would separate the two of you from others for at least a week, to allow the last traces of death to dissipate. If you get too close to someone who is alive before they are all gone, you might corrupt them and turn them into an undead, like a vampire or a ghoul," explained her dad.

"That's going to be tough," grumbled Alfred.

"Actually, Hero of Light, you might be able to cleanse the two of you, once you return to the other realm, by using your healing light."

"I don't use that for just anyone," said Alfred, narrowing his eyes at the demon.

"That's because it takes away from your own life," nodded her father. "But I have someone else here, who I think will agree it is worth it."

They watched as he turned and picked someone up, setting her on the boulder next to him.

Alfred gasped and half stumbled towards the little girl. Aella studied her carefully, still not sure if this was another trick or not. The girl was incredibly pale, as if she never saw the sun much, and her frame looked very frail. Had she been malnourished?

"Brother!" cried the girl happily, throwing her hands out wide and wrapping her arms around Alfred's head as he grabbed her up and cried into her chest, clutching her to him. Falling to his knees, he refused to let go of her, causing her to laugh.

"Brother, you can take me with you, if you are willing to expend the life force to share with me," said the girl. "Otherwise, I will wait here patiently until you die. Then we can play together! Mother and father are both here, and Aella's daddy has been keeping us all safe," blabbered the small girl cheerfully.

Aella let down a little more of her guard as she watched her father watch them with a small smile on his face.

"This is what it is to be a hero," said her father softly to her. "Making the hardest choices, that might cause you pain, but bring joy to others. Want to meet your mother?"

Aella gave a start and glanced behind him, as if the woman would be standing there, hiding.

"She's not here, we would have to go to where I have everyone safe. I couldn't save everyone, without drawing the attention of Jarred, Jozef's brother."

Aella turned back to the altar and frowned. "I need to destroy this first."

"Once it is destroyed, the evil that is controlling this side of the realm will dissipate and you will need to leave," cautioned her father. "You won't get a chance to meet your mother."

Turning to look at Alfred as he moved over to sit with the girl that must have been his sister, she shook her head.

"I would love to meet my mother, but it will have to wait until another time. I cannot allow the souls of those who have died to continue being corrupted for this evil thing."

He nodded in understanding, though she could tell he wasn't happy with her decision. Glancing over the runes again, she saw another line of them that were much smaller, that gave the magic its directions. Pulling out her shadow blade, that had been able to hurt the ghosts, she cut across the second line, breaking the runes.

There was an unholy screech that emanated from the altar, and it suddenly exploded. Blinking her eyes a couple of times, to clear her vision, Aella saw that the dark landscape around her was fading into a brighter one. Grass started to appear on the barren landscape and a gentle breeze drifted past her, saying hello. The various zombies that had made their way over the rocks, paused, falling to their knees and the corruption clinging to them drifted away.

"It's time to go," cheered the little girl, jumping to her feet and avoiding Alfred's clutching hands. "I'll see you later brother!"

"Goodbye again, my daughter," whispered her father as the realm grabbed the two of them and dragged them into the sky.

"You do not belong here," said the realm, opening a portal and shoving them through it.

"No!" cried Alfred, tears streaking down his face as the figure of his sister skipped across the ground.

Aella had just enough time to see the realm brightening and losing the pallor it had over it before the portal closed. They stood in deep snow, far to the north. Alfred fell to his knees, staring at his hands.

"I was holding her. I could have kept her," he whispered.

"I'm sorry for your loss," said Aella.

"I'm not," said a voice behind them.

Aella turned to see Stella all dressed up in a fancy and revealing gown.

"I'm supposed to have another week!" gasped Aella as she looked over at the three children in horror.

"Yes, well, time travels differently in the realm of the dead," shrugged Stella.