Chapter 72: The Last Flame (862 BC)
862 BC, Mount Etna
(Medusa POV)
Typhon just raised his hand and a part of the wall melted. Inside was a magnificent creature that I have never seen before. It was almost as large as a mountain; it was majestic, and waves of pure power thrummed from it. But was roaring in pain, with some kind of spikes impaling it to the ground. There were chains of lava that bound it and there were runes glowing on it. I didn’t get a good look, but there was a dimensional binding array there somewhere.
“I used him. Morrigan, let me introduce you to Shou-Lao, the last elder dragon in this realm.”
I gasp in horror, “What have you done?”
He grinned sinisterly at me, “I found him when he was sleeping in the mountain. He’s still young for his race. I was very lucky and was able to bind it.”
This made a sick sort of sense. The elder dragons were one of the most powerful being on this planet. The lived during the age of Gods and Demons. They were more than even creatures; they were fire made flesh. Their flames burned hotter than the sun and they were so large that they were dozens of times bigger than mountains. They were far smarter and wiser than any mortal and lived for hundreds of thousands of years. But it was more than that, they had their own brand of magic, and it was far more powerful and extraordinary than any mortal could ever imagine. They were especially skilled in dimensional magic, and it was rumored that one of them was the one to teach Agamotto how to banish the elder gods and demons to their own dimensions.
They were never seen after the banishment of the gods, and everyone assumed that they either left using their dimensional magic or were also affected by Agamotto’s spell
These were creatures so wonderous and magnificent that no one would even hope to meet. For Typhon to manage to imprison and weaponize their magic would be inconceivable. It makes sense that what he captures was essentially a sleeping child, and it made it that much horrible for him to do so.
It made sense now why he used dimensional binding arrays, the dragon, even if it is young, could instinctively escape to another dimension, should it have the chance.
I sneered at the lava elemental, “And you captured him, used its magic for your sick experiments. You truly are a monster, Typhon.”
“You should not judge me so readily, Morrigan, you are responsible for far more sinister events.”
I raise my eyebrow, “And how so?”
“I saw you there, in the middle. When Atlantis fell, you were in the center of it. You destroyed our home, Morrigan.”
“I saved our home. I fought death itself, ready to give my life to save whatever survived our Doom. Do not misunderstand, Typhon, I saved your life that day. We were all supposed to die. Something I am starting to regret, considering your actions.”
He looked at me angrily, “It didn’t stop the island from sinking, did it?”
“Atlantis is more than just an Island. It was the people who made it what it was.”
“Then join me,” he pleaded, “You saved what remained of our people, why not go the extra step and rebuild it. We can make a new Atlantis, a better one, just imagine.”
“You can hide behind pretty words all you like but it doesn’t change what you’ve done, what you’re planning on doing. I can let it go on, Typhon.”
“It seems that we’re at an impasse, then.”
I prepare myself to fight, “It seems we are.”
In barely a few moments, Typhon stomps on the ground, a great fissure appeared in the middle of the hall with molten rock getting out of it. Meanwhile, I summon a stone, transmutate it to become a perfect sphere of quartz and with a touch, carving appears on it, making a pattern.
I sense some sort of danger in front of me, to find a veritable wave of lava attacking me. I couldn’t dodge because Hestia was right behind me. Instead, I summon a giant blade of shadows and make it slice the wave into two, leaving a small gap to fit myself and Hestia, the wave going around us.
I reply by summoning giant chains of shadows leaping at him. My opponent didn’t even try to dodge, and the chains went straight through him. Deep down, I knew that he wasn’t defeated; he wanted to be hit by that attack. I was proven correctly when he just automatically reformed after he was supposed to be impaled.
At my surprised look, he boasted, “When I said I merged with my element, I wasn’t exaggerating. I am the lava, and you can’t kill stone, Morrigan.”
I answer by summoning very powerful bolt of lightning to see if it could hurt him somehow and throwing it at him but inches before it hit him, it disappeared into nothing. I couldn’t believe my eyes; the man had transmuted a bolt of lightning.
This was getting ridiculous; the man was almost untouchable, and he has a severe advantage because we’re in a volcano and I am a disadvantage since I couldn’t use any celestial runes fighting it because of the dragon’s presence. The dimensional energy originating from it could make any of my runes have unpredictable events. I had to find a way out of this fast.
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Perhaps, if I could cool him down, I could somehow restrain him. I conjure a large body of water and throw it at him, the water doesn’t even reach him before it evaporates into steam.
“Seriously, Morrigan. Water against Lava? I am severely disappointed in you. As Atlan’s legacy, you are very underwhelming,” he taunted.
Alright, if he wants me to get serious, I have no problem obliging to his request. I telepathically send a message to Hestia, ‘shield me, I’m doing something big.’ And she proceeded to conjure a shield just in time to stop a spear of lava from reaching us.
I summon my staff, a gift from Death itself and wave it at him. I can feel the intoxicating power that the staff gives me and for the first time since I got it, I had a legitimate reason to use it. In front of me, the ground started to freeze, going towards my opponent.
The spell’s idea was simple, it absorbs the heat from everything in front, which is the definition of making things colder. It wasn’t an elemental spell so he couldn’t transmutate it somehow. In practice, the spell consumes magic for the heat to be absorbed. The more heat absorbed, the more magic it costs me and with the environment being a volcano, I was nearing magical exhaustion with every second I held the spell. It was shot in the dark and it was working.
The cold started to spread towards Typhon and the moment it touched him, he stiffened and became sluggish, he tried to counter the spell, probably using alchemy but that wouldn’t work. This spell was especially pure cold, he could only try to counter it by bringing more heat and wait until I’m too exhausted to maintain the spell.
Thankfully, he didn’t figure it out in time, and in a few second, the man was covered in frost, the glowing orange veins all over his body was extinguished. He turned into stone.
Finally, I release the spell, it was too much even for me. I was lightheaded and my sight was spotty. I was gasping in exhaustion and Hestia ran towards me to make sure that I’m okay. I whisper to her, “Not me, Hestia. Restrain him, quickly.”
Her eyes widen but before she could actually restrain him, the frozen figure exploded in a wave of heat, sending myself and Hestia flying into the wall. The previously defeated enemy broke into laughter, “I certainly didn’t expect that. It’s almost a shame that I’ll have to kill you.”
I look at Hestia next to me, to prepare to fight once more, but she had hit her head and was unconscious. I enervate her magically, but the spell takes some time to work. I put the rune stone I made in her pocket and stand up towards my opponent with a plan in mind.
The lava elemental looked at me with a bloodthirsty smile, “That was your ace in the hole, you should have made sure that I was dead. You’re too exhausted to continue now, we both know it. This is the last time I’m offering you this, join me. We could rebuild our home; how could you be against that?”
I answer him, my face sneering, “I will never join a man like you.”
He looked solemn, “so be it.”
He summons all the lava around the room and turn it into a giant fist that strikes at me, I conjure a shield of energy to protect myself. The impact resulted in a deafening bang, and while the shield held, cracks started to show on its surface.
I conjure an iron spear and banish it towards him, unsurprisingly, he let it hit him, expecting it to melt when it touches his body, he didn’t expect the subtle runes I used to create a concussive blast on impact, sending him back a few feet. I had an opening, but I couldn’t exploit it because I was too exhausted to do anything. The freezing spell had cost me a large part of my magic, any advantage I could have, I can’t take advantage of.
In response, the lava elemental leaps towards me, with a flaming sword of lava in his hand. I respond with a swing of Death’s staff to stop him. It was a struggle of strength and as a woman, I was outmatched, and I knew it. I was faster though, so I redirect his sword and try to hit him but he was able to dodge it.
We kept trading blows until he tricked me into another battle of strength. However, he tried to grab my staff, his hand hot, probably trying to melt it. But that wasn’t any old staff, and Death’s gifts are hard to destroy and do not approve of anyone else wielding them. The staff shocks my former alchemy teacher and I use this distraction to hit him with the butt of my staff and sending him flying with a telekinetic push.
He righted himself in the air and landed on his feet.
“You’re going to lose, Typhon.” I exclaim at him.
“How is it that you hope to do that? You are barely standing up. You know that you can’t defeat me, I am invincible. You can’t kill lava, Morrigan.”
“Yeah, but you forgot something very important, something that will be your downfall…”
He sneered at me, “And what would that be?”
I answer smirking, “I didn’t come here alone.”
Suddenly, the ground began to shake, and stone started to fall from the ceiling.
He looked at me angrily, “What have you done.”
“You were so focused on me that you forgot that Hestia was there. She used my distraction to get to the Dragon cave and free it.”
“How? No one could have broken my enchantments that quickly…”
“And that was your second mistake, you used runes. I had a glimpse of the array you used when you showed us the dragon. I entered my mindscape then and used my mastery over my mind to examine the array in detail and devise another array to counter yours. I then wrote it on a stone and gave it to her when you got out of the freezing spell. Hestia only had to activate the array when she reached the dragon’s lair. The dragon should have escaped by now, you don’t have a magical battery for you to use anymore, and the mountain is collapsing. You lose, Typhon.”
He looked angrily at me, “You might have stopped my plans, but I can always just wipe the Olympians myself. After I’m done with you, I’m going to hunt down that Olympian pet of your and kill her slowly and painfully. After that I’m going to burn your little village to the ground.”
I look at him and answer solemnly, “No, you’re not.” I move my hands and the necklace I wore opened up to reveal a glowing orange stone, it was the soul stone, Death’s second gift. Suddenly, Typhon who was halfway through attacking me, stopped moving. I used the stone to freeze his soul.
“How?” he rasped at me.
“Your body might be invulnerable, but your soul is just as mortal as everybody else. I’m sorry it came to this, I really am. I was always scared of using this; the power is too great, and I was scared it would corrupt me. But this is the only way. I can’t allow you to continue with your atrocities. I will mourn my teacher and my mentor but not the monster you became. May you have peace in death that you never had in life. Goodbye, Prometheus.”
I then release his soul from his body. His body melts into lava and all that was left of him is a small pile of lava. I then remember that Hestia should be in the epicenter of the earthquake. I scan for her mind, and I find her quickly. I then traveled through shadows to get her; the dragon being gone; I could teleport without issue. I grab her and teleport out.
We arrive at the outer edge of the forest, right next to the heard of centaurs and satyrs. Moments later, the volcano erupted violently in an enormous explosion of magma and ash that swept us off our feet.
The centaur leader, Chiron, looked upon the sight in awe, “You really did it, you defeated father.”
I nod, too tired to answer.
It was Hestia that spoke next, “What about the creatures in the forest?”
“The survivors will probably end up killing themselves. I only have hope for the next generation. Without Typhon, they will grow and learn as they’re meant to. We will only see in time.”
We returned home, tired but victorious. It was a bittersweet one, for I had to kill one of the few survivors of my home.