Heat wafts from the creature of flame and ash, that assails me even beyond the tower shield. Another ball of wind slams against the shield, and pushes my feet against the ground a few centimeters. The flaming monster rushes forward; bringing its overbearing heat closer and closer.

“Oh you Oak, who has stood since the Dawn, reach out your roots to strike.”

The Burl shifts; as the edge of it grows thinner. A great wooden tendril shoots out from the center of my shield; surrounding the green gem, and slams into the center of the flaming creature. It pushes it back so that the heat no longer licked at me, and then retracts. It would take another few minutes for javelins to reform in the quiver, and I didn’t want to throw my spear; I would be without a weapon, then. What could I do?

I could just kill the mage and book it out of here. A glance back to the prone, injured Lawrence chases that thought out of my head, unless...killing the mage would break the spell apart. No. I could not take that risk, either. If it weren’t so, I would have a time limit to both defeat this fire demon, and drag Lawrence out. I would have to leave the Rat mage for last. Would a spear work? I have to try.

I form the Burl into a round shield. It was my only chance; it was much easier to move with it than with the Burl in its Tower Form. The creature of living flame bolts forward again, and a column of wind and smoke spits forth from the Rat Apostle. It slams into my shield; a single tendril slip beneath and curls around the underside.

“Shit”

It rips the shield up. It felt as if I had just stuck my hand out of a moving jet. The creature of fire reaches out for me, and I step back. A wave of heat washes over me, and my skin blisters as if I had just taken a step past of bonfire. It motions toward me, and a jet of red flame shoots out toward me. I quickly lower my shield and brace myself. The force of the blast sends me sliding back a few steps until my back presses against the wall near the door that the Rat army had poured out of. The wall of Fog lay just beyond, but something caught my eye. Something that gave me a momentary pause. In the middle of it was a single slash, that parts it like a curtain.

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“What the...”

Another roaring gout of flame draws my attention back to the battle and away from my curiosity. I’ll search the Apostle once this is over. The Burl grows into a dome to block the tongues of flame from licking at my legs. Fortunately, the blood-soaked shield refuses to catch. Or perhaps that was just a characteristic of the Burl. There were still many mysteries it held.

The Rat Mage holds the sides of its head. It was at, or near its limit. Over the course of the battle, it must have tossed out nearly a hundred spells. I was worrying that it didn’t have a limit. I reform the Burl into a curved round shield. It raised its arm again and another blast assailed me; the flames wrap around the curve and scorches the ground around my feet. I push forward, it was as if I were walking through a river’s rapids.

Step by step, I move forward. It takes as much strength as I could muster to move an inch. When the geyser of flame lets up, I nearly fall forward because of the amount I had to lean into it just to move. The fire demon raises its arms over its head, and I’m granted a momentary reprieve that I take. I kick off the ground and spring forward with the tip of the spear pointed forward. I close the distance in a second; gritting my teeth in order to bear the pain of my flesh blistering just by nearing it.

The spear pierces through the body of flame, and at the same time, the creature lowered its arms. White light blinds me from above, and I raise my shield above my head as heat falls down on me.

A pillar of white fire falls from the arched ceiling. I will the Burl into a half dome so that the fires wouldn’t touch me. The force pushes me to my knees, and the stones around me crackle and burn and blacken. I push my other arm against the half-dome shield. Could the Burl burn? I didn’t know. I never really tried, but I suppose I would find out, wouldn’t I?

As the fire pillar lets up, I’m on the ground in front of the creature. My spear clatters to the ground next to me on the blackened stone — the bronze point melted, and the wooden shaft turned to charcoal. It was as if all the skin on my arms had been seared, and all the muscles in my body had torn.

The creature slams its fist down toward me. As it slams into the small of my back, I feel the flesh bubble and tear...ha, was this it? No. A bit of moisture in the air draws my attention, and my mind snaps into clarity. I push myself off the ground as the creature held its palm up to consume my body in another gout of flame. I leap forward and wrap my arms around its body. Beneath the layers of flame, was the solid body of the sacrificed Rat, covered in the burning ash.

I grit my teeth through the pain and pull the flaming Rat into a tackle right off the ledge and into the cool water of the canal. The water hisses and screams as it boils, and the creature thrashes around as the flames die out in white steam rising from its body. I push off of it to get out of the boiling water, and its still heated grasp. The cool water flowing by feels like a panacea as the ashy body of the creature breaks apart.