First Blood

Astrid watched Evian groan in pain and try his hardest not to succumb and fall to his knees and then she watched as he closed his eyes, took a shaky breath, and seized control of the flames that were wracking his insides with existence-ending sunders.

In a second she knew what he planned to do and she, who had been about to take a break and admit she had punished him enough, grinned with excitement.

'Still putting up a fight,' she thought, 'Good!'

Her urge to compete rose even higher as she increased the intensity of the purification being done by the miniature temple in front of her but then, the hairs on her body stood on end.

A chill began to creep over…

It moved slowly and yet weirdly traveled faster than light. It was instantaneous and by the time she was slammed by the deathly hold, the eyes of the Golden Child widened as she croaked,

"Impossible!"