Chapter 9A: Golden Eyes, Glowing Embers

Chapter Nine

I saw her smile when the snow transformed to rain; I saw her twirl on the beach like a human hurricane. Tiny drops of water descended from faint clouds and speckled our skin with a soothing touch. I watched her come alive in the falling rain like a parched plant after a drought, and she danced in the shallows with her clothes plastered to her skin. The ocean did a gentle dance of its own, pushing itself upward and then pulling itself back. She and the sea danced together in the rain which promised a petrichor if only we would stay to breathe in its aftertaste after it had passed. And just as old scars still scattered her skin, the distant glow of lava summoned a scarlet glow which devoured the sky. As long as we ignored the makeshift cemetery just beneath our feet, the scarlet shore summoned a perfect portrait of an idyllic world untainted by time.

The citizens of Bones City always saw this glow as a threat and kept their ships in port on days like this, but I saw the lava as a work of beauty. Volcanos were so strong that a single shudder sent people scattering in all directions. They were so powerful that they upended the ocean itself and forced everyone to get out of its way. And now as we sought to set sail from the city’s shore, the volcanos illuminated themselves to light our very path. But it was more than a glow or a show of support; it was a beacon. It was a way of welcoming its newest inhabitants. I could see that truth clearly in the way that the lava set fire to the rain and sent scarlet shimmers across every drop that fell upon us. Aeliana danced in the shallows beneath these tiny droplets of falling fire. She smiled as the rain soaked her scarred skin. She cast shadows through the fiery light as her feet splashed upon the sand.

“I don’t think I’m ready yet to leave this land, even if they fear what they don’t understand. If I have you I don’t care about anything else, so against any enemy I will defend myself. This is where we met for the very first time, and this is the beach where I first held your hand in mine. That means this city stands on hallowed ground, because this is the place where our souls became bound,” said Aeliana with the courage she found.

She clung to my side as shallow waves washed ashore. Every breaking wave sent a splash of foam and droplets into the air which glistened in the glow of distant lava. I could practically feel faraway islands calling out to us as we stood beneath the rain, but I could tell with one look that Aeliana would instead stand her ground despite the fear which spread like a plague through the people of Bones City. Despite our distinct distance from the lava, the shimmering sea sent swirling steam from its surface which climbed into the sky to combat the clouds and rain. But if Aeliana wanted to stay, then I resolved to enable that desire at all costs. She could claim anywhere in this world as hers, and I would give her that life even if it meant I had to destroy any device or difficulty that dared to defy her desire.

I turned my back on the distant islands and the lava which scoured the sky as it strived to summon us to its shores. But before I even took another step toward the city, she grabbed my hand tightly. I thought at first that she simply sought a subtle intimacy, but then I felt her heartbeat through her hand. I saw a shimmer on the surface of a dagger in her left hand. I could practically feel her violent instinct, so I turned my head to see the source of her shock.

At the boundary between the starlit sand and the city street stood a shadowed figure. Though the wide beach and the gentle rain concealed every detail with darkness and distance, I could still see the extent of her height. I could still see her curly hair dance in the wind behind her head. The streets were empty all around us, despite that I always avoided Ember Bay at this time of day because it was too active. I could sense an unsettling presence even from a distance that declared an inexplicable admonition. Perhaps this was the reason that the occasional passerby chose instead to avoid the quiet beach. I suddenly felt Aeliana separate her hand from mine, and then she drew her second dagger from its holster. It was then that I realized the shadowed figure had stepped onto the beach. Raindrops gently fell upon her skin and further concealed her features.

“I have seen this before; an Astrodeus is after us,” said Aeliana as if there were nothing left to discuss.

Without waiting or wasting another moment, Aeliana threw herself into motion and raced headlong toward the silhouette with her deadly daggers drawn and ready. I wailed out a word of worry, but Aeliana never even reached her target. The towering figure threw her left hand forward and unleashed a sphere of spiraling fire. It burned brighter than the distant lava and shrouded the stars in the stormy sky; every wave reflected the inferno, and every raindrop transformed into a suspended flicker of fiery light. The towering figure unleashed this fireball so swiftly that Aeliana could only defend by bracing her body and crossing her blades.

The fireball struck Aeliana with an explosive shockwave and a spiral of fire; she was blown backward and into the windblown waves with a heavy splash. She screamed aloud until the underwater engulfed her cry. The sea extinguished the smolders on her scarred skin, but I swung my sword forth from its sheath and stormed across the sand, barreling toward the towering figure despite that I had just seen the weapon she possessed. With a worthless whisper of woe and worry, I watched with eyes trained for the power I had seen only because Aeliana had the courage to attack first. Our assailant unleashed another fireball as soon as I stepped halfway from the water’s edge, but I threw myself aside in the moment she summoned spirals of fire in the form of a blazing sphere. She unleashed the fireball at a calamitous speed, but I had dodged the strike before she even launched it – a luxury afforded to me by Aeliana’s bravery.

The fireball struck the surface of the ocean in the background with a fiery shockwave which sent scarlet shimmers across the sand. As the rain transformed into a shower of fiery light, I charged the tall woman and swung my sword with all my strength. She deflected my attack with a spiked shield, and the collision sent shockwaves through my strong arms. As the rain devoured the fire in the distance, I saw an Array of Black Fire stained upon her shield. She then pushed forward, and I blocked her shield with a strike from my sword.

She said as she glared at me with her golden eyes, “That attack you just dodged was just a disguise. I never intended to strike you; I merely sought to confirm my suspicion that you are the person for whom I traversed half the continent. I awaited this day since the moment I was touched by the darkness and first set upon this path. It was whispered in the winds of fate that I must find you in this place. The driving darkness delivered to me the power to destroy anything that stood between us. The city and its walls cannot separate us; everyone else in this place is a purposeless pawn worth nothing more than the fuel sealed in their souls. That is why it was worthwhile to wipe them from this place. This quiet bay is the crossroads of a manifesting dream and a dying reality.”

(Note: There are 3 more parts to this chapter)