Executioner's Ax [https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczPFlF35kRYCZBEM0zC1zPelOPOQPWV0Bor6WbWl1Az3_t5LZcuRgSJ5EpjhsgEaKhSVUbtoYBrgg-s3ihN70FIGGvQmRq-RTBXspTxK-Dp6iXLM6wtVH1J-ZqtvmJDRT5aA0_Zo42_OuPWtcpViDdzv=w639-h958-s-no-gm?authuser=0]
Dazien almost growled as Vas re-entered the room carrying the Lightning rod again. He had seen that device before the man had used it on Everin. It was normally used on animals to train them. To break them.
He worried that the sadist was back to punish Uriel more. His partner had only regained consciousness a couple of hours earlier and still couldn’t see properly out of his left eye. Even Crystal Caste Fortitude was impressive when compared to Mundane standards for natural regeneration. However, it would still take time to recover from that kind of brutality without the assistance of a Healer.
“Now, my lovelies,” the cultist began as he stopped in front of Saiya’s cage, “We were interrupted last time, but I’ve been given specific orders to select one red shirt to prepare for dinner tonight,” Vas leaned down slightly to whisper conspiratorially, “But I always did get scolded for playing with my food.”
“You’re an animal,” Rayna spat at him.
Their captor gave a feral grin, “Keep fighting, girlie. It will make it all the more delectable.”
“No!” Saiya and Dazien called out as the pugilist lunged forward to punch the man, only to get stopped midway by a shock from the magical rod.
Rayna collapsed in a slightly smoldering heap, singed from the Emerald Caste magic. The sadist gave a cruel grin as he bent down to get a better view of Saiya, “No tears yet, love? I guess I better up the pain then.”
“No! Please!” Saiya tried to beg, but another shock pulling a scream from her sister was what finally made her tears fall, “Please stop!”
“Leave them alone!” Dazien bellowed, his anger overcoming his patience to wait for Phoenix to return. He was meant to protect his team. He was meant to defend those around him. Yet he kept failing. He wouldn’t fail this time.
Vas paused briefly, confusion crossing his face, before he finally turned his attention to Dazien and asked, “What was that?”
“I said leave them alone,” he repeated, glaring daggers at the man.
“No, not that. I heard that. What was that power I sensed? You shouldn’t be able to use a power…” Vas moved closer to Dazien’s cage this time, and he continued glaring defiantly, simply glad he had managed to distract the man from torturing the twins.
“I didn’t use any power.”
“No? There was something there, though… I might have actually listened to you if you were Emerald,” the cinderen’s solid red eyes roamed over him as though searching for the answer.
Dazien pursed his lips, realizing what had happened but not wanting to reveal any information to the cruel man. Keeping him occupied with questions was more valuable at the moment. Instead he wondered if he could push this particular ability a bit further since it didn’t seem silenced in the same way as his other ones were.
Focusing his mind on the Familiar merged within him and transfiguring his voice, he tried to give another command and warning, “Let us go, or you will die.”
Fear and confusion crossed the man’s face again, and he began to reach for his pocket before halting and shaking his head, almost yelling at him, “Now what in the frozen Abyss of the Primordials was that?! I’m gonna put you down now, boy, if you don’t answer me on what bloody power you’re using while silenced!”
Dazien was about to shout back with another attempt at a command when alarms started blaring, and he heard his mother’s voice announce, “Warning! Ruby Caste intruders have been detected! Please evacuate via the nearest emergency tunnel. Warning—”
The disembodied voice continued to repeat the message as Vas cursed, and Dazien couldn’t help the grin spreading across his face as he taunted, “Looks like reinforcements have arrived, and you’re too late to avoid that death I promised.”
He was repaid for his words with pain as the Lighting rod was jabbed into his gut, and he found himself convulsing on the ground. It appeared like the cultist had finally gone completely mad as the rod was repeatedly pulled back and slammed into him again. He idly wondered if the cannibal truly intended to kill him and eat him as a final meal.
“Stop it! You’re gonna kill him!” Uriel shouted, trying to push the Emerald Caster away only to get shocked himself in turn.
“You arrogant upstarts think you have any power here?!” Vas shouted at them, “You will bow and break before the might of the Scarlet Banquet!”
“The Maniac’s zealots will fall tonight,” Dazien spat out, blood dripping on the floor from him biting his tongue too hard from the electrocution. “We will rout out every insane cannibal on the tundra before dawn’s light.”
As the rod struck Dazien again, the door slammed open, and a blur too quick for his eyes to follow made Vas disappear from in front of his cage. The loud crack of stone from the other side of the room made him turn to see a Royal Knight holding the man by the throat against the wall, their Ruby Caste aura flooding the room with the promise of fiery death.
Relief flooded Dazien at the sight of Veldrix Thevaris, though upon closer inspection, the knight looked different than last he saw them. They wore matte black armor, and they were covered in flames. Their hair had literally become fire as it trailed behind them, and the knight glanced around the room for only a moment, but it was enough for Dazien to see their eyes looked more like a cinderen’s; however, instead of just the irises, the entire eye appeared as molten lava.
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“Where is he?” Veldrix asked in a deadly calm voice.
“W-who?” Vas struggled to ask with the knight in the process of crushing his vocal cords.
“Avatar Everin Starlark. Where. Is. He?” the Pyre Executioner clarified, enunciating each word clearly.
“T-ten floors d-down. Harvest r-room. P-please—”
The cultist’s words were cut off and transformed into a scream as the man seemed to internally combust, flames shooting out from various points within his body before completely consuming him in a pillar of fire.
Dazien was worried about the key to their cages melting in the man’s pocket, but he realized that worry was completely pointless as the flames around Veldrix’s hand simply melted the locks as they went down the row to rip open the cage doors.
The knight paused in front of him and helped him exit the cage as he groaned from the pain but was careful to make sure not to catch his antlers again. Veldrix helped keep him upright as they said gently, “I’m sorry about your mother, Dazien. I collected her remains, though, and will join you later to help put her to rest properly.”
He swallowed the wave of grief that threatened to drown him at the reminder and concern Veldrix was showing for him and managed to say, “Thank you. Please go save Everin. I’ll do my best to help lead the others to safety if you’ve already cleared the way.”
The knight’s reply was interrupted as Phoenix appeared in the destroyed doorway and gave an obvious sigh of relief as she saw them all, “Oh good, we made it in time.”
Veldrix nodded at her then moved as Uriel took their place in helping Dazien stand. Then the knight said, “All of you should retreat to the street,” followed by a gesture to the Silencer around Dazien’s neck, “We can get those unlocked later, but there are still cultists in the building trying to escape. Our first goal is to get all of you and the other victims out of here.”
“We can do that,” Phoenix surprised him by saying. Dazien had been sure the reckless Wayfarer would have argued for them to help fight. She glanced over at the body of the cultist, which was halfway reduced to ash as it still smoldered in a very dead heap. “I’m not sure if the keys to the other cages are somewhere out there…”
“I can open them on my way down to the next floor now that this one is cleared of enemies. Take the victims on this floor upstairs and wait for the rescue team to arrive before coming back down for others.”
“Rescue team?” Phoenix asked, “How will they know where to find us? You said we wouldn’t need any of the guards.”
Veldrix gave a pointed look to her chest and said, “Most of them were part of your clergy. They can find you once you leave the building.”
The Saint grimaced at the reminder and emphasis but surprised him yet again by simply nodding and taking Saiya’s hand to lead them out of the room.
The Pyre Executioner moved in a streak of flames as they half-destroyed the cages on that floor before heading to the next. Their team went to work as best they could to help the Silenced Casters and half-starved Mundanes who were all dressed in gray tunics awaiting transfer to the DOD.
Phoenix paused at one of the cages in particular, and he heard her exclaim, “Rayk?!”
“Phoenix? Oh, I’m so glad to see you! Are you alright? I heard some of the cultists talking about the attack on the city, but it didn’t make a lot of sense. Do you know if my mum’s okay?”
Dazien found himself smiling as he watched his sister hug the young cinderen man after helping him out of the cage he had been in. It was good to see her act a bit more relaxed with people she wasn’t particularly close to.
“She’s fine last I saw,” Phoenix replied with a grin, “She’ll be so happy to see you! Everyone thought you and the others died.”
“That’s what they told us to convince us that nobody would come looking,” Rayk returned her smile as he added, “But here you are. Saving us like the Adventurer that I knew you were.”
She blushed at the compliment, and it was a bit of a relief for Dazien to see that the shy Wayfarer hadn’t completely changed from this latest trauma. It gave him hope that he would grow and be alright eventually, too.
----------------------------------------
Veldrix was entirely focused on their goal. Kill the cultists. Free anyone in a cage. Save Everin.
They knew they were on borrowed time at the moment. An Obsidian ascension was very different from the rest, requiring each Aspect in turn to go through an Evolution and that was solely dependent upon gaining an Epiphany for that particular one. The lack of Epiphanies had been what held back Veldrix for the last couple of centuries, trapped at the peak of Ruby.
But now their Fire Aspect had evolved and cultivated the Fortitude it was bound to.
When they had resolved to burn this Sanctuary down, to cleanse it in fire, to rip through any obstacle like a wild inferno to save their friend, and to release every cultist’s soul by throwing them on the pyre built from their transgressions, the Epiphany had struck and unlocked a piece of their soul. Veldrix had become Fire.
Flames licked their skin and became their hair and eyes. They knew they could control the transfiguration, but right now, they let it burn. As soon as they stopped, Veldrix knew that they would need to rest for roughly a week and a half —the same as when they hit Ruby— since this was their first Obsidian Evolution.
That meant finding Everin as quickly as possible. Trusting in the young Adventurers to listen and escape, the knight moved downward, clearing floor after floor of cultists, opening every cage, and searching every room.
Then Veldrix found him.
The playful voxen with rainbow colors to match his unique and curious nature.
He was thankfully still alive by the presence of his aura but was hanging from the ceiling by his wrists, wearing only a green tunic, covered in blood, and missing his lovely tails.
The sight of the broken man cracked their heart anew. They knew what future might await for a tailless voxen, and they weren’t sure even Everin’s love for life would be enough to withstand that hardship.
With a decisive swing of their [Blade of Execution], the large flaming ax cleanly melted through the chains holding their friend, and they carefully lowered him to the ground before they tried to awaken him, “Avatar Starlark?”
They gave a gentle shake and called out again a bit louder, “Everin?”
A black and white eye blinked and looked up at them. “Vel?” a hoarse voice replied, then to their astonishment, Everin smiled, “Couldn’t stay away? Are you going to spank me for standing you up and not showing for dinner?”
They snorted a laugh, “Did they drug you with something too?”
“I wish,” he replied, then groaned as he tried to move.
“Don’t. You’re badly hurt, and… they took your tails.”
Everin surprised them by giving a bark of laughter and saying, “I am the Avatar of Rebel. Nobody can take my tails without my permission. Not even a group of insane cannibals. They’ll regenerate in a couple of hours just like I told them… repeatedly.”
Veldrix laughed and hugged their friend, “That’s my little Rebel Fox.”