27.3ᴘᴀᴛʀᴇᴏɴ.ᴄᴏᴍ/sᴛʀᴀᴛᴏᴛʜʀᴀx

She grit her teeth. "I do not think he is lying."

Cairn turned back to him with a snarl. "You'll regret that."

The Spider-goblin began to make seals with her hands and violet fire sparked between her fingers, then a large three foot wide violet fireball bloomed above her glowing spider abdomen and hovered in place.

Rain felt a shiver go up his spine seeing the fire. Magic fire. Rain hated magic fire. He almost lunged at the Spider-goblin but was barely able to control himself. He could feel the memories of his death crawling up his back, slithering around his neck. His breathing accelerated.

"Burn him up Lazia," said Cairn, unbuckling a pair of hatchets from his belt. They were really broad bladed axes but they appeared as hatchets in his meaty hands.

"Wiser words you have never spoken," said Lazia as she flung her hands forward. A dozen fist sized fireballs sprung from her fingers and zipped through the air. Rain threw himself out the way as they phut phut phut shot one by one into the grass sending sprays of dirt into the air. The fireballs didn't stop and Rain had to scramble out of the way as the stream chased him.

Cairn bellowed and charged toward him with hatchets raised. Rain dove and angled himself so that the Minotaur was between himself and the Spider and blocking her aim. Then he raced toward him. He dove down below the angle of the hatchets and his teeth shot toward the Minotaurs shin aiming to maim him. The Minotaur saw this however and fell forward snatching his leg up into the air and away from the slicing teeth. He rolled when he hit the ground and smoothly leapt to his feet facing Rain who was once again being bombarded, only for a moment however as Rain lunged toward Cairn once more. This time Cairn did not have momentum and he crossed his hatchets to block the hurtling wolf. Rain thrust his paws forward intending to rip the hatchets from the Minotaur's grip, his paws wrapped around the shafts just below the blades and he twisted back torquing into the ground and heaving his weight into them. The Minotaur's hooves slid across the grass but then he stabilised and heaved backwards pulling Rain off his feet to his surprise. Cairn roared and flung him to the ground where a hatchet whipped down to take Rain in the chest. Rain rolled to the side just avoiding it and reached for the Minotaur's hooves to drag them into range of his teeth but the Minotaur predicting this danced away giving the Spider-goblin line of sight.

Fire rained down as Lazia unleashed and Rain's vision was filled with violet. He scrambled out of the way but one of the fist-sized fireballs landed on his lower leg in the same spot that Myra had hit him in his previous life. He howled in pain and rolled across the grass desperately trying to slap the fire out. At last the fire died, but not in his mind, he could still see it, Myra's fire. He looked at the Spider-goblin and he saw Myra. It was happening again. No. Not like this. His heart rate spiked and his lips raised in a savage snarl that shifted into a deep bone shaking roar that sent the grass around him trembling and the air rippling.

He moved.

Feet cratered the earth as he exploded forward, yellow eyes locked on to the Spider-goblin who was backing away fearfully.

"Cairn! Stop him! Stop him!"

She spun her hands, frantically spitting out fireballs as she formed a fiery net. Cairn rushed forward, his hooves stomping the grass flat, but he was too slow and Rain outpaced him, dashing straight into the oncoming fireballs, shifting and slipping around them ever onward.

The Spider-goblin suddenly threw up her hands and a massive spectacular net of fire bloomed in front of her forming a wall between her and Rain. Unfortunately for her the net formed slightly above the ground. She hurried to manipulate it downward but Rain threw himself down and slid underneath, his momentum carrying him through. He scrambled to his feet and turned on the spider who was skittishly backing away.

"C-Cairn!!

Rain dived under the spider as she moved her hands back to throw more fire and he disappeared from her line of sight. She yelped and scuttled back, lifting her body high to try to avoid the wolf.

CRACK-SNAP!

She looked to her side wide-eyed and trembling as one of her legs fell to the ground having been bitten from her body.

"Burn! Burn damn you!"

She raised her hands into the air and the huge fire ball floating above her abdomen exploded, washing over her in a wave of violet fire. Solar flares of violet licked off her body as she was engulfed, lashing between her legs and boiling the air. The air sizzled but the Spider-goblin was unharmed, she swung her head about, desperately looking to see if she had hit Rain as the last of the violet fire wisped away.

CRACK-SNAP!

She screamed as another of her legs fell to the ground.