“You aspire to become Ratri’s Chosen?” Sarah’s voice echoed through the cavern, only she didn’t speak the words. It was unnaturally loud and distorted, and it hurt her throat to speak in such a manner.

“Test him,” Voritor ordered.

The huge soul gem flickered as Forin raised his staff and chanted. He pointed the tip of his staff at Sarah and moments later, a huge black bolt erupted from it and hurtled towards her. Agni raised Sarah’s arm and swatted the bolt aside, sending it crashing into the wall of the cavern. The impact was so great that it left a huge scar in the solid stone and sent stalactites crashing to the ground.

Sarah felt power surge in her right arm. Moments later, Agni raised her arm and aimed it at the dwarf. The power continued to collect in her arm until she felt the heat in her bones. She tried to cry out in pain but could make no sound.

A huge pillar of fire shot out of her right hand and struck the barrier which shimmered black. The huge soul gem was the first to shatter, and the barrier followed suit moments later. The blast caught the dwarf square in the chest, incinerating him instantly and scorching gouging a huge hole in the rock immediately behind him. Agni then focused its rage on the Drow.

Voritor licked his lips and drew his sword. “Come on then, let’s see what the God of Fire can do,” she heard the Drow breathe.

“It’s a trap!” Sarah screamed in her own mind, but the one in control was too consumed by rage to pay her any heed. She could feel her body burning up from the flames that engulfed her and knew she wouldn’t last long in this state.

She felt the power well up in her left arm, and the Drow darted towards her. Soon, the pain from the heat radiating off her arm was almost unbearable. The Drow dodged deftly as a bolt of fire flew from her right hand.

Sarah felt a sharp pain in her chest as Voritor’s rapier flashed. Agni swung her arm. The blow was quick, but the Drow was quicker. A parting slash struck her across her knuckles. Power gathered in her arm briefly and then a bolt of fire was loosed. Voritor dodged that comfortably as well and upon seeing an opening, stepped forward, aiming a slash at her head.

The other presence backed Sarah’s body away and created distance with the Drow in the blink of an eye. “The Sword of Findendor,” her distorted voice boomed, “So, that is what you are plotting.”

Voritor held the blade up before his face in an impudent salute. “It is also known by another name. God Slayer.”

“Insolence!” Sarah heard herself roar.

She felt power gather in both arms. In the corner of her eye, she saw the others watch in morbid fascination and unsure whether they should intervene. Agni paid them little heed and channelled fire from her hand.

Voritor dodged nimbly as he closed the distance. He then shuffled his feet and disappeared from Sarah’s view. The other presence whirled her around and then she saw him, in the air above her with the Sword of Findendor raised above his shoulder. It flashed, and Sarah’s arm raised as power coalesced into it, forming a fiery shield which blocked the blow that she was sure would have otherwise taken off her head.

The sword shimmered with dark energy and bit through the fiery shield and pierced her arm. Sarah heard herself cry out in rage. Then, there was a sharp pain and a sickening snapping sound from her arm as Agni swung it with enough strength to send the Drow flying toward the cavern’s wall.

Voritor used his feet to cushion his impact against the wall and was about to spring forward to attack again when Sarah’s left arm raised and fired another massive pillar of fire, which struck the Drow clean in the chest.

The fire did not burn the Drow. Instead, it pushed him into the cavern’s wall and pummelled his body into the rock. Sarah heard Voritor mutter something, and moments later, Steven, who had been content to watch until now darted towards the Drow with lightning speed. He reached the Voritor just as the ceiling above them collapsed, burying them both under tons of rock.

“The door is open!” Sarah heard Udoriol call out from behind her, “Everyone get out, the cavern is about to collapse!”

“Sarah, come on!” she heard John say. He was close, dangerously so.

Agni directed His fury on him as it whirled her around, and Sarah saw John looking up at her with fear in his eyes. It was then she realized that she had been floating in the air, lifted by the flames.

“Sarah,” he gasped, “come on, kick that guy out and come quickly, we haven’t much time.”

Sarah felt His rage surge and to her horror, Agni lifted her hand and pointed it at John, who was rooted to the spot.

“Run!” she wanted to shout as she wrestled for control, but she was too weak, or the other presence too strong, and she could not find an ounce of purchase to dislodge it.

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Things seemed to move in slow motion as power began to pool in her right arm. Sarah tried to avert her gaze, but the other presence would not permit it. As the pillar of blue fire was about to shoot out of her palm, she caught the glimpse of radiant wings in the corner of her eye. In a flash, Hicham was there with his shield raised. The pillar of fire crashed against a shimmering white barrier and the dark skinned youth glared at Sarah.

“Have you taken leave of your senses, Sarah?” he demanded.

“This vessel is mine now, Chosen of Treto,” Sarah heard herself roar, “If you wish to fight me, you must give yourself over to your master first.”

“I have no desire to deal with you, Agni,” Hicham said sharply, “I only wish to deal with your host.”

Sarah felt the other presence’s grip weaken. She felt a surge of fury from it as it whirled around to find Udoriol and five other White Cloaks channelling a spell.

“An exorcism?” Her throat screamed in agony as Agni roared. “You dare?”

Sarah felt power collect in both arms as the other presence prepared a spell.

“No” she cried, fearing that it would reduce everyone in the cavern to ash. To her surprise, she heard her own voice breakthrough.

“Sarah, I know you’re still in there,” Hicham shouted from behind her, “You have to fight it!”

“I’ve been trying!” Sarah gasped. She felt other presence weakened further and attempted to take over.

Agni turned her head around to find Hicham casting the exorcism spell as well while John watched them helplessly from next to him. Sarah felt her arms extend towards Hicham and Udoriol’s group.

“Fight it!” Hicham urged through gritted teeth, “I can’t cast the shield and the exorcism at the same time. We’re all betting our lives on you!”

Sarah focused all her efforts on moving her arms. At the last moment, she was able to move her arms up, diverting the twin pillars of fire to the ceiling, causing rocks to rain down.

“Hurry,” Hicham cried as they continued the exorcism, “You can do it!”

She could feel Agni’s grip weaken and Sarah made one last push to shove Him aside. Abruptly, Agni relinquished His grip, and Sarah’s body screamed in pain from the damage becoming the avatar had done. She collapsed in a heap, both mentally and physically exhausted.

“She has taken back control!” Udoriol gasped, “Take her quickly, the cavern is about to collapse!”

Sarah cracked open an eye and saw large rocks rain down around her. Then, strong arms bore her up. She looked up to see John carrying her and felt a pain in her heart when she saw the fear in his eyes.

“Hurry!” she heard someone cry, “The entire Citadel might come down on top of us!”

“At least we’ve stopped the enemy’s plans,” Udoriol panted, “there’s no way anyone could survive that.”

“I’m not so sure,” Hicham remarked ominously.

Sarah could take it no longer, and her consciousness faded.

Sarah found herself lying on the familiar stone floor. She looked up and saw the altar and the statue which looked back coldly.

“You have proven strangely resilient to my advances,” the voice observed. “I give you one last chance. Give yourself over willingly, or next time, I will deal with your anchor first.”

“Never!” Sarah spat. “And there will be no next time,”

The statue stared back silently, but she could feel it smirk. She knew that if Hicham hadn’t been present, she would have been lost forever and the last thing she saw would have been John being reduced to ash by her own hands.

Sarah gasped as she opened her eyes. She was lying in a bed under clean sheets. Sunlight streamed into the room from the window next to her. She could hear the singing of birds outside. She tried to lift her head, but her entire body screamed in pain as she attempted to move, forcing her to sink back into her soft, deep pillow.

She looked down and saw that the arm she had used to throw the Drow back was in a sling, and both her arms were wrapped in bandages. Her body ached, but she was alive. Other questions raced through her mind. Did the others make it out? Was the Citadel still standing? Had the barrier around the city disappeared?

“Sarah, you’re awake.” Relief washed over her as she heard John’s voice from a corner of the room.

Soon, he crept into view, and she was hurt to see a flash of fear in his eyes. Not that she could blame him.

“Yes,” she croaked. Her voice was hoarse, and it hurt for her to speak.

“Here, have some water,” John offered as he poured her a cup from a jug on the nightstand.

Even though he took every care to be gentle, Sarah’s body screamed in protest as he helped her up.

“Thank you,” Sarah said, not realizing how parched she was until John had poured the water. “How long was I out for?”

“Too long,” John said worriedly, “Almost a week and we need to move soon.”

“Why?” Sarah asked as she felt a surge of panic. Had they not been successful after all?

“Don’t worry, the city is safe and so are Udoriol and I,” John said as he looked out the window.

“And what about…” Sarah’s voice trailed off and she shuddered as she recalled Voritor. She also knew that none of them would have stood a chance against him had Agni not taken control and that fact sent a chill down her spine.

“The entire Citadel came crashing down,” John replied, “We barely made it out with our lives. I am fairly confident that he died down there, and if by some miracle, he didn’t; then he will be entombed forever.”

Sarah nodded, wanting to be comforted by his words, but she had the nagging feeling that everything had gone according to the Drow’s plan.

“Why do we need to move soon?” Sarah asked, deciding to put the issue aside. Worrying about it now would not be fruitful.

“We are in the Marquis’ estate,” John said, “And it is everything he and his men can do to keep the White Cloaks and Agni’s faithful at bay.”

Sarah raised an eyebrow. “The White Cloaks?”

“Are after Udoriol,” John answered, “They are very insistent that he answer for his crimes.”

“And what are his crimes?” Sarah asked as her curiosity got the better of her. She already knew what Agni’s faithful wanted.

John shrugged. “No one will say, especially not him.”

“And what about Grimald?” Sarah asked, suddenly remembering the dwarf.

“He just started walking yesterday,” John grinned, “And that was only with considerable help from Hicham.”

He then looked pointedly at Sarah. “He helped you a lot as well. They said you would have died without his intervention. He had to stabilize you as we fled.”

Sarah bit her lip. She knew she was lucky to be alive. They were all lucky to be alive.

“So, is he through with you?” John asked.

Sarah looked at him blankly.

“Agni,” John clarified, “Are you still His Chosen?”

Sarah muttered a prayer and held up her hand. It ached as an orb of fire appeared in it briefly. To both their disappointment, it was blue.

“It appears that I still am,” she sighed.