Mira wanted to let herself be swallowed by the warm sparkles that folded against her. They were the only thing that gave her a way through the pain. She wanted the numbness and the ease that came with the nothingness that called for her.
If she feel anymore, then she would be okay. Nothing hurt when she didn’t feel.
Mira reached out to the sparkling light as it surrounded her with these thoughts. The screams of agony turned to carnal roars as her body convulsed. The dark fog erupted and suffocated the coliseum as it thickened the air.
Jonen leapt from the top wall and ran through the black mist. He had to help her. Guards ran towards the bubbling black foam that encapsulated her. Large black wings erupted from the slowly gurgling space.
“Goddess, no!” Amethyst yelled as she slowed to a stop, “We’re too late!”
Jonen stopped running when he realized what she meant. The creature that stood before them was no longer Mira. It wasn’t the wraith. He never thought he would see something that terrified him more than that.
The monster was thrice the size of any orc with its humanoid body. The large black scales and spikes on its shoulders formed an impenetrable armor against a torso that collapsed into smooth scales along the abdomen. The slinky black tail swatted at the warriors that approached it as if they were flies. Misty wings broke from its spine and batted as the until it lifted itself from the ground. Bright, buggy eyes stared down at them as the shards of white bones bit out at anyone that approached it. It roared and black smoke blew onto the ground around it.
Skymara yelled, “We have to stop it!”
“Where’s Mira?” Jonen looked at the monster, “We have to save her!”
“Get your shield up, fool!” Em yelled and threw one at him, “We don’t have time for this!”
The beast reached over and grabbed Amethyst by the leg. She shot lightening into its torso. The bolt harmlessly bounced off the thick scales. The monster responded with a crunch to the leg between its teeth and ripped her body from its mouth. The mighty roar shook the walls around them as it tossed the stunned orc to the ground. It swatted at the next person that poked at it with a blade. Skymara ran to throw a bottled concoction and it crushed her arms between its talons. She screamed as it threw her like a rag doll into the marble wall across the field. Spells splashed as harmlessly as swords against the beast. It ripped one in half in protest of a boulder flung at it.
Jonen looked around frantically for Mira but couldn’t find her. A swipe of the talon-hand knocked him back. He crawled from the crumbling wall. A breath of dark miasma spewed across the coliseum and chaotic screams followed. He rushed towards the beast again and stabbed at its back. The blade bounced off the thick scales without as much as a dent. Its swung an arm around and launched him into the seating again.
Jonen coughed up the dust and blood from his lungs to see Tiero patching up a nasty cut on Ravenna. They both looked to him, and she pointed towards the arena. Prophetess Talia walked fearlessly to the large beast without reservation.
“You’ve lost control of her,” The girl said, “I knew it would happen.”
It swiped at the girl with a low growl. Talia held up a hand and the talon stopped before it touched her as if mesmerized. Swords clashed against the scaly beast as it titled its head curiously. Talia looked into its eyes and saw Encante’s stone. It hissed and more miasmic breath left its sneering mouth. The warriors froze as the black mist swallowed them. Jonen felt the familiar strength and terror of the wraith’s own fog.
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“You both should have listened to me. If you want to save her, you have to take this shard,” She placed a hand on the beasts snout, “Once you do, it will begin. If you don’t, then she can’t ever be saved. You will lose. We will all lose.”
Talia pulled the bandages from her face and the golden light blinded those around her. The draconic beast sneered and breathed black fire at the army that attacked it. Its tail collided against the wall and crumbled half of the arena. It launched itself towards the young goddess.
Jonen gasped in horror as it closed its mouth around the prophetess’s neck and snapped it shut. Blood sprayed outwards as her tiny body exploded into pink and gold mist. The onslaught of warriors stopped as the beast bellowed a final time. A light within the beast glowed tumbled beneath its dark, misty scales. It launched itself upwards into the sky. The bellowing smoke blocked the sun from reaching the arena. The horrifying roar rumbled the walls around them. The golden light burned until the beast erupted into starlight.
Em grabbed Jonen’s shoulder as he searched for Mira, “We need to run!”
“I can’t leave her behind!” He yelled.
“You don’t get it? That thing is Mira!” They pointed upwards, “She’s gone. We have to get ready for it’s next strike. It’s still evolving.”
The beautiful nothingness was ripped away from Mira. She tumbled through the dark waters of her dreams again. The fire ripped apart everything. Mira felt herself sucked back into the pain and torment around her. She sobbed as more voices screamed at her. The void around filled her with agony. Words of horror and sadness echoed into her soul. The only comfort Mira had was that she no longer existed.
“Make it stop,” Mira whimpered to the voices in her head, “I can’t do it anymore. Just make it stop.”
“You can’t stop it,” A golden figure with a womanly voice walked up to her in her nightmare, “You must go back.”
“I don’t want to. Just let me go.”
“You know I can’t do that,” The figure stood, “Just as much as you can’t stop yourself from breathing. Just as much as you can’t stop hurting others.”
“But you can,” She hissed, “My body is gone. I felt myself ripped to shreds. You can just take what’s left and be done with it! Let it be that way.”
“Would you risk Alcante getting everything?”
“Why can’t you do it? You’ve done it once.”
“I do not have a physical form. I cannot bind myself with the Guardians again,” The woman sighed, “Not even I am strong enough anymore.”
Mira felt the figure walk towards her. It felt as if a blanket slowly smothered her, but in a comforting way. As the angelic being wrapped her arms around Mira, she breathed in the life sent back into her. A serenity warmth spread throughout her.
“I cannot take away the pain in your heart… But I can offer the shard of myself to help heal your broken body,” The goddess placed a hand against her, “Let me gift you a form again.”
The angelic energy raced through her, and she felt her body form. Her muscles webbed against growing, dense bones. The blissful energy sang against her as she took in the first breath for what felt like an eternity.
“I will give you back what you have known. What you see as yours.”
The deep purple and blue scars wove into her pale skin as it formed over the muscles. Her body from before her fight with Isaan reformed in all its battle-seen beauty.
“Perhaps one day, when all of my shards are gone, I may be able heal your sorrows as well,” She placed her hand against Mira’s back, “Until then, I will do what I can to help.”
Mira placed her head on the woman’s shoulder. The warmth from the embrace soothed her to her core. Her newly formed body trembled in the goddess’s arms. Tears ran down her face until she openly wailed. The golden woman squeezed her closer.
“Why me?” Mira cried, “I don’t want this!”
“I thought the same thing. In the end, it is never up to us,” The angelic woman brushed her hair, “My shard is running out of strength. She wasn’t strong enough to do much more than this. But, the next part of your healing will not be painless.”
Mira snapped like elastic band back into her own body. She couldn’t hear Encante’s voice over her own screaming. Her supernova soul felt as if something weaved into it. Each word brought her closer to him until she felt as if they were one. In an outward blast of power, her body threatened to rip itself apart again.
Everything snapped back to reality with one, small sentence as a pair of arms enveloped her.
“Miradash, beloved daughter, I bind my soul to you.”