Burn

From the perspective of Brandon Vanity.

I wasn't one to show off, but I was one to help a friend in need, and, if that meant showing off, so be it.

After arriving in Promethean Territory, it was apparent that trouble was brewing. There was a titanic shadowy giant towering above everything else, and he didn't seem friendly. I chose to investigate, and the Faircrest sisters joined me. But, once I got closer to the shadowy giant, I told the sisters to back off and to stay away, for their own good, and that I would rejoin them later.

I saw a woman and a man standing next to Chase, but Chase didn't seem himself--his eyes were jet black, and black veins radiated outward from his eye sockets. If it was Chase, something was awfully wrong with him. Then I saw a bunch of shadowy humanoid creatures appear from thin air--they charged at Scolopendra, Evelyn, Nicole, a super-sized lion, and the few remaining Promethean Guard. I wanted to help the Prometheans, and I helped the only way I knew how at the moment. I separated the aggressors from the defenders with a massive wall of flames.

The flames wouldn't hold long, I discovered, as the mental strain of keeping the flames high was mind-boggling and required every bit of focus that I could muster. As I struggled to keep the flames from dying, I shouted to Scolopendra and the others, "Prepare yourselves! I can barely hold the wall a moment longer!"

The Prometheans did not hesitate, they hastily steeled their nerves for combat. Scolopendra and Evelyn both summoned their animal deities: Scolopocryptops the giant centipede, and Benton the riddle-speaking fox. I had only seen Scolopocryptops in action before, and he was a mighty, fierce and unrelenting opponent. Benton, on the other hand, I have only seen him speak a complex riddle that neither Chase, nor I, could understand. I wondered what good Benton could do in a battle such as the one about to take place. Confuse the enemies?

The wall of flames I created soon died down as my focus dwindled. The demonic shadowy creatures were waiting on the other side, and they bolted forward as fast as they could. I already felt as if I could collapse and nap for a good twelve hours, but I had to do more.

I thought I could destroy an entire army and obliterate whole cities with the power contained with the Flame Orb when I first held it in the palm of my hand. Now, thinking back, that was stupid of me to have such high expectations. The truth is that the Flame Orb, to wield its power properly, required not only a ton of concentration, but more energy than I wielded. I couldn't just fall asleep, though. No, I had to find it within me to keep using the Flame Orb and not give up just because I didn't have the energy to keep going. I was willing to help Chase and the Prometheans at any cost.

I closed my eyes. I waited to be ripped to shreds by the claws of my dark, savage, beastly enemies. Instead, I heard the shrilling cry of wraiths. When I opened my eyes, I witnessed, to my astonishment, my body was no longer made of flesh--I consisted of blistering, bright yellow flames. My clothes had burnt to a literal crisp and nothing remained of them, and it seemed, in my current form, the Flame Orb was one with me. I felt wicked, but in a good way. I felt as if I had unlimited energy. So I decided to put all that energy to good use and scorch my enemies with dual streams of fire pouring out of the palms of my fiery hands. I felt unstoppable in my current form. Roast.

The flames streaming from out of my hands were so hot they vaporized the dark creatures that attempted to attack me, leaving only white ashes and scorch marks on the ground under which they had stood. The air around me seemed as if it was boiling away. The heat and flames that I generated dissuaded the other dark creatures from attacking me, but that didn't stop them from attacking the Prometheans.

I turned my attention to Benton who simply sat on the asphalt waiting to be attacked. He closed his eyes, and, just before being mauled by two of those dark shadowy creatures, he lifted up his front right paw. The two attackers floated up into the air, unable to control their bodies. Then Benton slammed his paw to the ground faster than I could blink an eye, and so did the attackers who smashed into the hard, rocky asphalt. The attackers dissolved into thin air almost immediately. That's one fox I won't be messing with.

As for Scolopocryptops, he was doing what he did best: devouring the enemies. He was literally eating the competition. The dark, shadowy creatures couldn't even scratch him. The giant twenty meter tall samurai-looking dude took notice of Scolopocryptops and his near-immunity to the shadowy creatures and, in response, he instantly rose to his feet and brandished his nodachi that suddenly flickered with black flames. The giant then dashed toward Scolopocryptops, ready to strike. The giant struck Scolopocryptops, but the giant centipede's exoskeleton was too thick and too tough even for the giant's blade to make a dent. The giant then grew angry, and he roared with extreme hatred that shook the ground beneath me.

Scolopendra held his own against half a dozen of the shadowy beasts, without a weapon. Instead of a weapon, he slung spells. He shouted, "Scolopendra infestatio!" and immediately thousands of foot-long centipedes emerged from thin air and swarmed the shadowy creatures that cornered him, completely covering them and devouring them. How did the centipedes eat those creatures when those creatures were without bodies and just pure energy?

Then I noticed Evelyn being attacked by three of the same shadowy creatures. Evelyn seemed a bit stunned by the shadowy creatures, like she didn't know what to make of them. I didn't doubt that anyone here, except for the enemies, knew, or had ever seen, these creatures. Were they spirits? What the hell were they?

"They're wraiths, from the Nether Realm," Benton informed me, as if he had read my mind. "Most everyone just calls them Shadows, some call them Wraiths. Wicked souls turn into Wraiths in the afterlife. They are defiled, cursed spirits. Wraiths cannot do, they only regenerate slowly in the Nether. The only sure way to stop the cycle is to purify their soul."

"Cool," I replied in a sarcastic tone . "Help Evelyn!"

"You don't have to tell me twice."

Evelyn was slow to churn out spells. She had already been slashed a few times before she actually responded. "Pustula!" Evelyn shouted, pointing her hands away toward two Shadows that suddenly erupted with huge blisters that exploded acid-like ectoplasm. Evelyn was quick to step away to avoid being harmed, but I was near one of the Shadows whose skin boiled like hot water. Fortunately, the ectoplasm didn't phase me in my current form and it just vaporized mere centimeters from me.

"What kind of spell was that?" I asked Evelyn, a bit perturbed.

"Pustula. It causes its victims to blister uncontrollably and explode. One of my more devastating spells that I designed myself."

"She's real crafty with spells," Benton commented. "She's created more spells than any other witch I know."

From the corner of my eye came Chase and his blackened eyes. His face seemed lifeless and unaffected by the chaos around him. He was joined by the witch and the necromancer.

"How convenient it is for you to be here. Isn't your name Brandon?" Chase spoke, but I knew it wasn't him judging by the tone of his voice. "I'm Khaal. You seem to know your way around the Flame Orb you have in your possession. Sadly, no single Promethean orb is enough to match my power." Khaal lifted his right hand toward me and raised two fingers. "Irritum facere."

Just then I felt a pulse of energy surge through my body. The flames rising from my body died as the Flame Orb magically squeezed itself from out of my abdomen, leaving no trace of a wound. I caught the orb just in time, or else it may have shattered on the asphalt. I was perplexed. The Flame Orb had ceased to glow and refused to give me its power. What now?

"You can have the relic," Khaal said to me. "The relic serves me no purpose. But, meddle in our affairs again, and I'll have you strung by your feet from the tallest charred tree in Tartarus with your bowels hanging out."

This mysterious Khaal, who spoke for Chase, sent chills down my spine. He seemed eerily ancient, and he exuded the most sinister, dark aura. Not to mention his deep black eyes seemed to peer down into the very depths of my soul. He seemed as if he had no soul.

"It would be best for you to leave, immediately, while you still can," Khaal went on. "Find a woman and settle down. Have a family. Create a home. I would hate to keep you away from your true destiny."

"You talk a lot for an ancient… whatever the fuck you are."

Khaal smirked, as if he was amused. "Come now. No need for foul language."

I was going to reply with 'go fuck yourself,' but I found the words wouldn't come out of my mouth. I tried again. And again. But what I wanted to say became impossible for me to say.

I had to ask the ancient being, "What gives? What sort of magic is this?"

Khaal nearly began to laugh uncontrollably, but he stopped himself at a chuckle. "Oh, my. You are quite hilarious. Don't you realize? I'm a warlock. I could tell you to chop your hand off and, though you clearly wouldn't want that to happen, your body would disagree with you. Not many people can withstand my charms. You are no different."

There were a bunch of vulgar curses that I wanted to yell at the top of my lungs, but I held my tongue. I knew I couldn't offend Khaal even if I wanted to. But maybe I could hurt his ego.

"Jeez, what's a warlock like you doing here? Don't you have someplace better to be? Don't you have better things to do than having a skirmish with a vampire and a bunch of wizards and witches? You must not be too smart. My friend, Chase, the guy you're possessing, yeah, he's gonna expel you from his body, and then whatever your plans are, they're gonna be ruined. Chase is headstrong. You may have managed to infiltrate his mind, but he's gonna kick you to the curb once he regains control. I know he knows what's going on. And he won't allow this chaos to play on. Neither will I, nor my friend, Jeriah."

It was as if Jeriah had read my thoughts. When I spoke his name, Jeriah arrived along with Atropine and a monstrous giant grizzly bear three times the size of any normal grizzly bear. This grizzly bear was all muscle, and he had more scars than I could count.

The grizzly bear roared at Khaal, as if saying, 'Hey, motherfucker! I'm going to eat you!'

Something was different about Jeriah, though. He seemed exceptionally more terrifying just by the seriousness of his gaze that he held. He was also holding what appeared to be a Promethean orb in his right hand, and in his left hand.

"Come out, Gordanus and Fenrir," Jeriah said coolly.

From twin black portals came the two animal deities that Jeriah summoned. Was Jeriah controlling both of them?

Fernrir growled and brandished his canines, his eyes like red hot coals. He was larger than Ursa, the grizzly bear deity--much larger. Ursa's entire body could fit into the jaws of Fenrir. Fenrir's fur was shaggy, like Ursa's, and his claws were black, round and jagged, coming to a sharp, hook-like point.

"I smell Shadows," Fenrir said in a deep, dark tone. "Good. I haven't eaten in almost a century."

Gordanus, well, he was just a really humongous millipede with a black and reddish orange segmented cylindrical body. He could probably wrap himself around a school bus and crush it if he wanted to.

"I can help eradicate these pests, as well," Gordanus humbly replied.

Ursa joined Gordanus and Fenrir, and together they made a trio of animal deities, a fearsome team to behold. Although Gordanus didn't seem all that fearsome, he was very big, and very powerful. Together, I imagined, they would prove a considerable obstacle to the giant deity battling Scolopocryptops.

Khaal's expression turned to disgust. What will he do now? I wondered.

"Narcissus," Khaal addressed the silver-haired dude with amethyst-colored eyes. " Crush the opposition by any means necessary. You know what I mean."

"Whatever you say, Khaal," Narcissus replied. "Janice, help me with the vermin. I'll take the Grandmaster and his blond sidekick."

Janice simply nodded with a malicious grin. The duo hastily prepared themselves for battle.

Things were about to get very nasty, I surmised.