I come to you with strange fire,
I make an offering of love, the incense of my soil is burned by the fire in my blood.
I come with a softer answer to the questions that lie in your path.
I want to harbor you from the anger, find a refuge from the wrath
-Lyrics 'Strange Fire' performed by the Indigo Girls
Elements of Great Design Part 56
A dark smirk tugged the corner of Anna's mouth as she appraised the seemingly endless wave of soldiers charging for the Alliance. Without looking at either side to see her brothers or the black wolf arched in readiness for the attack to come, she praised, "Thank you for saving some action for me, boys."
"Wouldn't have dreamed of taking all the fun from you, sis," Duo smirked in kind. Heero snickered in agreement, though the known truth was that the Fire Keeper was needed to keep the scales tipped a little more evenly in this fight.
Not about to hold her audience in wait of her first strike, the thief simply raised her right hand before her face, extended its pointer finger at the sky and curled several times towards her in a beckoning motion. At that, the lava flanking either side of the bridge that the monsters were about to storm rose up in tall plumes to collapse and flood the way, pulling in the first lines of the hoard that had been compromised to file their troops at only eight bodies across through the narrow stretch.
Claiming hundreds of screaming beasts, the lava curled and ran fast towards the brave warriors at the start of the walkway. "Trowa," Chang addressed calmly while keeping her focus on the tall stream that was rushing towards her at her call.
His wide, emerald eyes blinking in fright at the threatening river that was nearing, Barton quickly broke from his stupor and picked up on what the archer was suggesting. Gripping his hand on the pouch at his hip that carried the Air Stone, his irises glowed at his tap into its power. Extending his opened palms forward, he sent a frozen surge of air that cooled the lava within seconds to make it a wider berth of land for them to travel.
Anna lowered herself into a low crouch, eyes set on her oncoming challengers as she yelled over their bellowing, "I'll thin them out as best I can before they reach you! Just catch up as quick as you can in case I need backup further down the path!" Not waiting for the others to respond, she became a blazing ball of fire and disappeared in a shot down the stretch. Everything in her way was instantly incinerated or knocked into the flanks of volcanoes.
Letting out a low whistle through his teeth, Quatre watched her fade from sight while muttering in awe, "Dear Creator, I cannot wait to see what she can do with her weapon when she gets her hands on it." Many of the demons that managed to hold on had opted to take on the remaining members of the Alliance rather than follow after the orb that had taken them on to race for the Elemental Stone.
There was just enough time for Heero to assess what that movement meant. "Something is waiting for her," the Fighter breathed in panicked realization. And whatever that something was, the entire army that had been sent after them was confident that the thief would not be able to fend it off on her own. Spinning to face the rest of his team, he shouted, "We need to hurry this up and get to to Anna! She's heading into a trap!"
Four pairs of enlarged eyes snapped around to meet his gaze. The first to look back to the last place where his lover had vanished, Wufei assessed the situation and came to the same conclusion through his own experience in battle training as a young Monk. Soon finding that Yuy was right in his fears, the black wolf bared his fangs with a deep rumble of a growl that became a ferocious roar when he leapt up to rip out the neck of the first ogre that reached the warriors.
"Damn it," Duo hissed under his breath, swinging his scythe around himself to slice the semi-ring of attackers that fell upon him. "We're going to have to move a hell of a lot faster than we have been if we're going to be of any help to her. I hope she can hold off long enough."
Urged on by their concerns for the Fire Keeper, the travelers banded their powers and strengths together to the best of their abilities to push on into the fray while battling the treacherous terrain at the same time.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Amidst her run along the stretch leading to her Elemental Stone, Anna cast off a rain of burning arrows from her bow to bring Abaddon's minions down by whatever numbers she could manage to make the struggle easier on her brothers. Crossing over ten miles of the narrow bridge, she encountered its end to find a wide and round ring of granite that was wrapped by evenly spaced, jagged rises of rock at its edges.
Stationed in the exact center of that ring's base was the Elemental Stone perched atop its clawed pillar above a small pool of lava. The glow of the Elder that had given their life splayed across the great 'fang' of earth that stretched for the skies across from the entrance.
These sights were briefly taken in by the thief when an opposing burst of fire moving at the same break-neck pace that she was slammed against her with such force that she was knocked from her feet and sent crashing back into one of the granite teeth. So fast came the blow that there was little chance for her to make more than a startled and pained cry at the unexpected delivery.
Sprawled out on the ground, Chang shook her head to clear it as she groaned and began to push herself up. Subconsciously, she reached a hand up to press it against the long gash along her cheek that wept blood. Just above her head, a booted hoof came down hard to steam at its contact against the rock beneath it.
Hearing the deep rumble of a chuckle that vibrated her whole body, Anna peered up to take in the demon standing over her. A fall of red hair that moved and licked up like fire fell down the back of the long-muzzled monster that also bore two great horns that curled back the same as a mountain goat's. Tongues of flame that were also meant to serve as hair highlighted the elbows and behind the legs of the smirking being draped in only a simply kilt.
Blood red irises bore down from a sea of black around them as the greeting came with amusement, "Welcome, Fire Keeper. I am Ifrit. And I am almost sorry to cut this little meeting between us short." Narrowly escaping the incredible hand of razor-sharp claws that was hurled down in the next instant, Anna watched in surprise as it tore through the surface of the stone that she had just been lying against.
Shooting around to another edge of the ring, the thief glared heatedly on her opponent. "So, Mariemaia sent fire to fight fire," she mused, the hint of a smirk returning to her face. "This should be interesting to see who is the better between us." Rather than take on Ifrit, she moved for her weapon first, hoping to reach it before her equally distant host.
In that first attempt, the two balls of fire met with another deafening crash that sent Chang reeling back and rolling along the ground in her human form. Wheezing, she propped herself up on her hands and bent legs to cough up a mouthful of blood that she spat away.
A hand wrapping around her aching chest following the shot from the horns that hit her first, she winced at her snickering challenger. Though she staggered back to her feet, she managed to pull herself together quickly. Back taut and head lifting, she sneered, "I can keep this up for days if I must. Eventually, I'll get past you."
"Well, then you are foolish in believing that I have forgotten about your loved ones that came here with you," Ifrit grinned through fanged teeth. Raising his right hand, a great wall of fire carved out with bits of black and ghostly white shades shot up behind him.
Gasping sharply, the Fire Keeper froze at the violent course of the wave sent off to roll down the bridge. While the hellfire did not harm Abaddon's soldiers, there was no question that it would wipe out the remainder of the Alliance that was unbeknownst of the grave danger heading for them. A curse snapped under her breath, Anna crouched down and sprang onward as fast as she could bring her fireball self to go.
Already half-way along the course, the warriors continued pressing on with what they had assumed was a rescue mission to protect the redhead when they were in fact the ones in harm's way.
Quatre materialized from his evaporated state to kill a Behemoth when he appeared atop its back to bring his blades into its hide. At the low, keening sound that filled the air, he froze and slid from the carcass beneath him to stare down the remaining expanse of land that they needed to cross yet. "What is that?" he asked, a deep frown marring his sweat-dampened face.
The answer came in the form of a dark surge that aimed to consume the unprepared Keepers.
Nearly dropping their weapons in awe and horror at the sight, the team did not realize that their only chance of rescue had arrived with only seconds to spare until Anna appeared ahead of them. Turning herself to face the hellfire, she held her hands out to create a shield of flame that rose as tall and stretched as wide as the wave. At the initial impact, she growled fiercely in her effort to keep the danger back while it pushed her planted feet back for a few yards.
After a long standoff, the dark flames broke at last and the thief fought to catch her breath at the lowering of her wall. Emerging through the ranks of his men, Ifrit laughed wildly. "I can keep this up for days, girl! Eventually, you will have to make a decision between protecting your friends or moving for the Fire Stone!!" And he had the advantage in both their surroundings and their numbers to see that his words rung true...
Wufei and Anna knew it as their enlarged eyes met.
Still Mariemaia's forces rushed in, easily breaking through the line of defense that Chang had created with her shield. "I have to save my energy as much as possible!" she shrieked in desperation back to her brothers. "All we can do is make what ground we can while I hold off his attacks!"
Heero and the others knew that she was not about to leave them without her protection. But it was clear that it would not be long before even the Fire Keeper would struggle to keep up against a barrage of hits like the last. Already, thick beads of perspiration were running down her exposed skin.
Cobalt eyes narrowing, the Fighter called to the rest of his team, "Trowa and Quatre, use your powers the best you can to give us some leeway! We are not going to have a lot of time to work with before we absolutely much reach Anna's weapon! It will be of no use to her if she is spent from looking after the rest of us!"
The last word had left his lips when the next shock of hellfire roared for them. Once again, Anna brought up an impenetrable shield of flame that matched and outlasted the wave even as her loved ones fought the monsters that had gotten through to take them on in hand-to-hand combat. Amidst the confusion, Ifrit bolted forward to strike Anna square in the chest with his horns. Crying out, the redhead somersaulted back a twenty feet before coming to a stop.
Beside himself for only a moment, the black wolf hunched down as he snarled viciously at the tall monster. The thief yelled when she materialized at the same time that she wrapped herself around the thick waist of her opponent to have them both fly into the lava where they continued their personal fight. "He's mine, Wufei!" Anna snapped at her husband when she had the opportunity to chastise him between fists and claws flying.
Leaving his wife to the whims of such a foe did not settle well with the Monk, but he knew better than to stand in her way. Decided in his choice to trust her, he went back to join their brothers in removing what remained of the dark army.
The first chance he had, Trowa soared high into the air to place himself above the center of the bridge that the Alliance still needed to pass. With a sharp blow of air from his lungs, he created a wide tornado, thanks to his increased strength, and literally wiped away a large gap in Abaddon's reinforcements.
"Keep punching through, Quatre! We can't give them any time to regroup!" the Air Keeper shouted to his lover as he swooped down for a brief second to land beside his partner.
Nodding to himself, the veiled gifted closed his eyes in deep concentration to bring thick storm clouds overhead. To the clap of thunder, they opened up to release sheets of blinding rain down onto the already frantic troops. Using the already chilled air, Winner was able to turn thousands of droplets into large balls of hail that pummeled the demons including those orbs of flame that had come to life.
Mile-long stretches of walls of water poured into the lava to bring up burning steam which Barton directed with gusts of wind to penetrate the thick armor of the demons. Howling and screeching in agony, those touched by the mist threw off their gear to reveal their melting skin and scales.
Everything that the hail touched not only brought the targets down, but froze them in place until they melted away along with the ice under the heat.
Kicked and punched back on more than one occasion, Anna had just enough time to return to the bridge in time to hold off the next hellfire blast that Ifrit aimed at the Alliance when he saw the clearing that was presented to them. "Keep moving!" Heero hollered to his comrades when they paused to watch the close deflection. For each step they took, their sister shadowed them to be certain that she was close enough to shield them.
Sweating beneath his armor, Yuy forced away the fatigue that came with the seemingly endless raising and falling of his sword that either met flesh to bite through or metal to hold back. Pushed on by the intensity that Anna fought with to keep her family safe, he was not going to allow himself to demonstrate any less in getting her to the Fire Stone.
When they could, Duo and Quatre were able to shoot off rounds of their dark and light magic to try and trip Ifrit up enough for the redhead to overtake him. However, the demon was far too perceptive and fast in dodging those blasts that came in many shapes. Not discouraged, the Mages were able to at least see that their wearying protector had a few seconds to breathe and collect her bearings.
Moving slowly but surely, the warriors finally managed to come in view of the end of the stretch where the ring of rock was waiting. "Almost there!" Maxwell cheered in encouragement to the others just before lacing a black rope around a pack of ogres' necks to snap them, their bodies dropping in their mid-run.
One of Ifrit's thick horns cut diagonally down Anna's back, piercing through her purple corset to reveal the deep gash that it left in its wake. Her head falling back, the redhead screamed in agony. Collapsing onto a bed of lava, the glared up at the monster that had reeled back to try to pierce her clean through. Just managing to free an arrow from her quiver, she pulled it back on her bow string and sent a it off with seconds to spare.
Avoiding the flaming arrow by inches, the demon snarled and reassessed his next move at a safer distance. Fast and strong as he was, the Fire Keeper was still able to inflict a number of injuries that his exposed torso and appendages displayed. He would never admit it, but his little opponent was a bigger challenge than he had ever expected her to be.
Using her bow as a prop to help her back onto her feet, Anna panted heavily and taunted, "That... the best... you got? You're going... to have to... do better... than that." She took advantage of the moment that her foe took for himself to nook the next arrow in place so that it could be away as soon as she knew the path that it needed to take for a swift round off.
That deadly smirk spread its way around Ifrit's muzzle. "Perhaps a change in pace, then," was all that he hinted at before becoming a glowing ball once again, only to soar for the bridge as opposed to right for the Keeper as he had done every time up to then.
Blue eyes widening with a sharp gasp, Chang watched in fright the course that he had taken... and followed the clear trajectory that showed he was making right for a certain Fighter without a gift to defend himself. That said soldier was too engaged in his own corner of the fight to be aware of was racing for him.
It was too late for an arrow to be able to inflict him, the only option flashing through Anna's mind and causing her to drop her bow and burn her way to intercept the darker orb of flame.
On the stretch of rock, Yuy had his back turned to what was heading right for him as he stepped through another gremlin that had attempted to cut his face in a bold jolt. No sooner had he begun to step into the ring that housed the Fire Stone than he heard Duo's cried, "Heero! Behind you!"
Twisting around to catch a flash of brilliance in the corner of his eye, the Fighter immediately knew that whatever it was he would never be able to stop it as fast as it was moving. In that very same heartbeat, he also heard a prolonged scream that rose in volume and familiarity in its approach. Both entities were bearing down on him, their proximity too close to tell which would reach him first.
"Heero!" Anna's voice came though when he felt himself being knocked to the ground while the darker fire ball shot over them with a hair's width to spare. Their bodies crashing violently against the rock, Yuy and Chang's wind was knocked out of their lungs when the rest of their team followed them into the ring with a wave of monsters on their heels.
Now that the Alliance had reached their destination, those armored soldiers were wild in abandon to kill them at whatever cost. Reaching the end of their reserved strength, the Keepers and Death pushed themselves as hard as they could regardless of how sluggish their movements had become.
Only a foot away from Anna as she lifted her trembling body onto all fours, Heero heard her hissing between her sharp intakes of air. Taking in the scene of her husband and their family faltering, her cut hands dug into the shifting dirt beneath her as she growled, "This... ends... now!"
That was when Ifrit materialized overhead once more. And it was the Fire Keeper that let out a battle cry that filled every ear around as she charged up to knock the stunned demon from the sky and into the pit of lava along with her.
Wufei released his fangs from the artery of the Behemoth that he had brought down to let out of fearful howl after witnessing his wife sink beneath the hot, flowing surface. Running to the ledge of the ring, he met Yuy there to stare out to the running 'river' where the shifting magma rose and fell at great heights to reveal where the fight was being fought the hardest.
Occasionally, the bursts were closer to the ring and others it was miles away and at every corner of the circumference.
Concerned as they were for the thief, the Fighter and the Monk had to hurry and resume the struggle that they were engaged in while the ground under them trembled from time to time.
At no point did there ever seem to be a break for the warriors, their limbs aching with every inch that they moved. slicing through hides took more and more effort. And finally, even with the their Elemental Stones, Trowa and Quatre were about to collapse from how exhausted they were. "I... don't think... I have anything... left," Winner half-moaned, half-whimpered to his lover when they were forced to press back-to-back.
Leaning against his partner, Barton shook his head and panted as well, "I don't... either, love."
Huddled close in the circle that they had been forced into, Heero, Duo and Wufei were eyeing the wall of monsters that was closing in on them. "Not good," Duo managed, his dark clothes stuck to his drenched body like a second skin. "Really not good." Unable to voice his agreement, Yuy could only swallow roughly and nod. What bit of strength he had left he used to raise his large blade in defiance.
In the pool of lava in the middle of the ring, a bloodied and shaking hand shot up to grip the crystal pedestal beneath the Fire Stone. Pulling down hard on the base, it brought the weapon closer inch-by-inch. Then, something began to drag Anna down but her slipping fingers held tightly at the last bit of an anchor that it could grip and yanked the stand further.
Finally, the second damaged hand shot from the cauldron to reach up with a long stretch. It fell once, then a second time to just miss its target as the otherwise invisible redhead dealt with Ifrit.
And with one last muster of power, her hand slammed hard against the Elemental Stone.
Upon contact, a screeching Phoenix of flame rose up. Its wings extended and body arched, the blindingly brilliant bird extended over a mile tall as it was wide. Piercing eyes of gold narrowed on the army that had so nearly won the day. Craning its head back with another echoing cry, it swooped down to consume the demons with its fire. Unlike the slow burn that their counterparts had endured during the battle, the remaining hoard was left as nothing more than smoldering piles in seconds of being touched while running back and yelling were removed just as quickly.
Most already on their knees from the fight, the Alliance watched the whole thing unfold, wide-eyed and pale in the wake of the display.
His back straightening rigidly, Heero spun around to see that the Elemental Stone and its pillar were gone... along with the hands that were gripping them moments ago. Regardless of his winded state, he still was able to run for the pool of lava as he shouted, "Anna!" Sliding to a halt along with the rest of the team, he fell back a couple paces when a series of bubbles exploded, the last revealing the archer.
In one hand, she carried the shrunken states of her gem and its pillar... the other dragged the lifeless body of Ifrit. Falling back along the stone, the enlarged eyes of the demon stared up into nothingness. A gaping hole in his chest of the same size and roundness of the stone's stand bled dark fluid.
Miraculously staying upright on her wobbly legs, Anna caught her breath as she glared at the still creature. "Couldn beat 'im wit fire, so had ta make do," she slurred tiredly. She sighed deeply in relief when her black wolf ran up to her side. Reaching down with her free hand, she buried her blood-dampened fingers in the fur at the scruff of his neck in an affectionate squeeze.
From the furthest 'tooth' flanking the ring, the Elder's remains floated free in brilliant miniature bulbs of light that swirled around the thief and rose to disappear high into the heavens. Shoulders slumping, the Fire Keeper breathed, "Thank you, friend..."
At the last of her reserves, that was the final act Anna could perform while her entire body went limp and she fell into the deep black abyss of unconsciousness when Heero raced in to catch her.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The world returned well after dark hours later. And the ground pillowing her head was a soft bed of black fur.
Blinking her deep blue eyes open, Anna sat up just enough to appraise the grinning face of her husband in his wolf form. "Hey," she grinned softly in greeting, giggling at the series of licks that her cheek received in response.
Slowly gazing around her, the thief found her brothers gathered around as the starry sky over them shifted.
Floating. They were on some sort of vessel that was carrying them south over the lava.
Ice... something of Quatre's work, Chang realized when she peered down at the clear and cold surface beneath her.
But how they were moving and where they were heading did not matter nearly as much as the proud, grateful smiles on the faces of her dear ones that she had fought so fiercely to protect. Ifrit had not counted on the one thing she had in her that was more powerful than her gift could ever be... her love for her family and the fact that she would easily sacrifice herself for any of them,
Each of her brothers leaned in to each kiss her other cheek. Winking with a reassuring grin when he pulled back last, Duo insisted, "You get your rest, sister."
Yuy nodded firmly, smiling, "We have this watch and however many more you need."
Content and safe, Anna gave a tired smile and burrowed her head against Wufei's side. Drifting off once again, she all the warmth that she needed from the affections shown by the people around. Without the need to call on her gift for that comfort, she lowered her guard and had her first restful sleep in a very long time.
TBC...
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