Chapter 20 (J) - Inferno's Wrath

  The man and I stare at one another for a moment. I glance around at our surroundings. Numerous doors line the hall’s sides, but they seemingly all lead to individual rooms. I could flee to the hall behind me, back to the armory, but that hall is a dead end as well. There are other halls adjacent to this one, but they all lie a distance away, with the enemy standing between me and them. I’m well and truly cornered.

  “Well, Shade? Will you come with us, or no?”

  No, I won’t. I can’t. I can’t go back to that again. But I’m truly cornered this time. At least last time, I had the option of the cliff. And should this come down to a fight, this man’s incendiary power is perfect for fighting in a cramped environment like this. What can I do?

  The man slowly steps forward. “You seem apprehensive. I have no intention of harming you, if that’s what concerns you. I only wish to talk.” …Does he honestly believe I’d fall for such a blatant lie? Or is he toying with me, knowing full-well that I’m trapped?

  “...Hello?” The man stops approaching. From his posture, he appears somewhat confused. I’ve been perfectly still since the moment I noticed him. Could it be…?

  A grumbled remark confirms my suspicion. “...Is this another of those damn posters?” In the dim light provided by his flame, the man can’t see me clearly. An idea starts forming in my head as to how to get out of here alive. The man’s shoulders slump somewhat, and he approaches slowly. I suppose he hasn’t completely bought my mask as being a poster just yet. As he approaches, I ready myself. Everything rides on this one moment.

  Finally, the man gets close. Even through the mask, I can see his eyes go wide as he realizes I’m a living person, and not a mere poster. Before he has a chance to react further, I raise my sword and drive it toward face. The man stumbles back with a shout, slipping in a pool of blood, causing my strike to cleave the air above him as he falls with a splash. His head connects with a spent Daedalus firearm, dazing him. I seize my chance and sprint past him. I hurl myself into an adjacent hall as an enraged shout rings out, and a stream of flame pours down the hall we confronted one another in. The smell of burning flesh fills the air, no doubt from the corpses littering the floor.

  “GRRAGH! YOU’LL PAY FOR THAT!” the man roars. Without a second thought, I turn and run as fast as I can into the depths of the building, the sound of the man’s boots on the tiles not far behind.

  “Calypso! Problem!”

  “Huh? What’s going on?”

  “He’s here!”

  “The wyvern guy?!”

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  “Yeah! Barely got past him!”

  “What do we do?!”

  “Track where we are! Find some way out!”

  “How?!”

  “I don’t know! Just- figure it out! GAH!”

  A searing pain erupts across my leg as I round a random corner, and I stumble and fall to the ground. I can’t keep my voice subdued and let out a shout. The hall behind me is completely ablaze. The flame must’ve caught my leg at the last second, and burned through my own power’s protection in an instant.

  “THAT HURT, DIDN’T IT?! NOW GET BACK HERE OR I’LL IMMOLATE YOU WHERE YOU STAND!”

  I’ve… I’ve dealt with this before. Wincing, I force myself to put weight on my leg again, blinking tears of pain out of my eyes, and try to keep running as best I can.

  “Turn left up ahead!”

  I don’t have time to question her commands. I blindly obey, and sprint around the corner.

  “Right!” I turn right.

  “Left!” I go left again.

  “Go straight!” I duck around a corner as flame fills the hall, before running back out and continuing down the burning hallway, past the charred bodies and evaporated blood.

  “Up those stairs!” I climb the steps as fast as I can. All the while, the enraged man’s footsteps ring louder and louder in my ears. Normally, I’d be able to outrun this man, but the constant agony in my leg is slowing me down, despite my best efforts to ignore it.

  “In there! Just ahead!” I plow through the door ahead of me, slamming it shut just in time to contain yet more flame. The door is thick metal, and survives the inferno. Turning around, I realize the room is absolutely massive, at least several stories tall, and large enough to fit multiple full-size houses. Looking up, there seems to be a large hole in the ceiling, with the faint outline of trees and clouds visible in the distance. Frantically looking around, I notice the remains of several broken, twisted catwalks that once stretched across the room, still partially in place.

  There’s no time to worry about whether I have enough charge for this. Falling to my death would be preferable than whatever this man has in store. I activate my device, and leap up to the first catwalk, then the second, then the third. The man bursts through the door below, noticing me instantly.

  “GET BACK HERE!”

Without a moment’s hesitation, the man shoots a massive fireball towards us. I hurl myself away from it without thinking and, thankfully, manage to grab onto a piece of metal embedded in the wall that used to be part of the ceiling. It slices my palm, but that’s the least of my problems. Wincing, I push off from the wall, landing on a fourth catwalk, and from there, jump to the surface. An enraged scream fills the air as one final burst of flame engulfs the entire hole in the ceiling. With barely a moment’s hesitation, I turn and run into the safety of the trees once more.