In all of Alana's solitary life, she never thought that the people who were her supposed parents hated her. She had never known their love, they always left her be in her room to train or read. They were relentless in their pursuit of her skills and abilities. They knew she was gifted, having mastered all the elements that a human could bend at a young age. But that wasn't enough for them. They pushed her harder than any of the other children in her martial arts classes. Her teachers felt sorry for her, but they did nothing to save her. They were cowards, just like the rest of the people in her small village.
With the memories coming back, Alana felt a surge of hatred that a young girl should not have. She was broken and lost in this strange world of skeletons and ghost like creatures. She had escaped here once she found a portal, but now she was regretting her decision. She pulled her knees up to her chest and started to cry in silence. She made no sound, merely stared blankly at the ash at her feet and let the tears slide down her cheeks. She was helpless and hopeless to save herself. She stirred from her state of reflection and listened to her surroundings. Some thing was coming her way and she was sure that it wasn't going to be very nice.
The bush that she was hiding in was ripped from the ground and sent her sprawling on the ash covered soil. She gasped and looked up at the undead monster and quickly scrambled to her feet. She took a defensive stance and held her fists close to her chest. She was relying on Maui Tai to save her and it usually went well. She ducked the first swipe of its giant axe and placed a chi blocking punch to its left thigh. The creature stumbled and tried to hit her again. She dodged the cut aimed for her feet by leaping into the air and grabbing onto its shoulder to hit a crucial pressure point. Her thumb dug into the pressure point as she flipped her body over its head. Its red eyes locked on her as it started to feel the effects of the skills that she exploited. Its body stiffened and it fell to the ground motionless and fear radiated off it in great waves. She took and defensive stance above it and prepared for the death blow. She fisted her right hand and summoned her eerie blue fire and blasted the monster's head with enough of it to melt the flesh off the bone. Once she knew that it was dead, she stepped back and turned to leave the corpse and search for another place to hide. As she was walking away, a bright white light flashed in front of her and a portal was opened and something massive came out. She instantly leapt back and took an aggressive stance. She was ready for whatever attack this thing was going to dish out. But an attack never came. She remained in her stance and waited for something to happen.
"Human, you have been humbly summoned to the Crucible and given an invitation to fight for rewards and treasures untold. Will you accept this offer?" came a deep voice that resembled a roaring waterfall.
"Why should I? I do not know you or the creature that sent the invitation," she snapped, her eyes secretly finding openings in armor and metal plates.
"It is not a threat to you or anyone that you love. The Master is a respectable fallen angel and humbly seeks your presence," said the creature covered in armor and metal plating, not allowing any chance of identifying what it was.
Alana paused for a second and thought it over.
"What happens if I fail to win a fight?" she asked, her ocean blue eyes turning a dark sapphire.
"You will not perish and your wounds, if you have received any, will be healed instantly and you will be allowed to leave," said the creature.
"If I go with you, I have several conditions that I wish to speak about with your master," she growled, standing up straight and eyeing the creature.
"Agreed. Come Human, my Master awaits your arrival," said the creature, stepping off to the side of the portal and bowing in respect as she walked past him.
Alana entered the portal and instantly knew that this was a very bad idea.
The Horseman named Death growled to himself as he received an invitation to the Crucible. He had heard of its sick and twisted games that the Master played on the creatures that entered. He never once considered entering in the fighting, until he felt a presence that he thought he would never feel ever again. A human soul was inside, but it was stronger than any human soul he had ever felt. He decided then and there that the human was what he wanted and entered the Crucible with an evil smirk hidden behind his skeletal mask.
Death was greeted by several of the armed and armored fallen angels that served the Master and he growled at them in warning. They remained at a safe distance and led him to their Master who was watching a brutal and bloody match between two demons. The Master burst out laughing and slammed his great axe handle into the already worn down crater and pounded a fist on the arms of his stone throne. He looked up and caught sight of Death and let out a cry of joy.
"Death! I didn't think that you would make it!" he exclaimed, leaping to his feet and greeting Death with a hard clap on the back.
Death allowed him to live, for now. He glared up at the Master and shrugged off his armored hand.
"Why exactly would a black market fighter send an invitation to a Horseman of the Apocalypse?" Death growled, his feral and decidedly primal voice sending shivers down the spines of the serving fallen angels.
"Because I have what you want. A human, but no ordinary human. She is capable of destroying this entire game if she got angry enough, which she is at the moment. Which is why I summoned you to either kill her or defeat her in a fight. She has bested even me, Horseman. Do not underestimate her abilities," the Master said angrily.
"She?" Death snarled, he didn't like the sound of that.
To him women were temperamental and very hard to decipher. He couldn't even read his own sister's actions accurately. Women were dangerous in his eyes and he wanted nothing to do with them.
"She is the last human, and a powerful one at that. I still wonder why the Creator made such strong headed beings," the Master grumbled, stepping away from Death.
"Where is she?" Death snarled, his hands coming to rest on Harvester's hilts at his hips.
"Chained in the cells below. We had to or she would have destroyed the entire place," the Master said sadly.
Death then realized just how much of the Crucible was being repaired. The damage that had been done was devastating and not even he could dish out that much damage to the ancient stones.
"How did a mere human do all this damage?" he asked, coming to stand at the edge of the outcropping to examine as much of the cells as he could. There was only one being occupied and a hatred that bested even his own was wafting up toward the Master.
"She has rather strange abilities that would make even your brother War pause and think about going up against her. It is hard to put into words, but she seems to paralyze you with mere taps and stabs with her fingers. It is frightening to watch and yet beautiful at the same time," the Master stated wearily, she can also control the earth itself. It is very strange and I never want to be on the bad end of it."
Death watched as a blue light came from the only occupied cell and an angry cry rang across the Crucible, making the fighting demons pause for a mere second. He looked over at the Master once more and growled angrily.
"I wish to meet her. Now," Death growled, his hands fisting around Harvester's hilts.
"Now is not the time, Horseman. Trust me, you do not want to tangle with that one," the Master said, his posture slumping.
"I need to meet her, now," Death snarled, taking a threatening step towards him.
"Very well, Horseman. My servants will show you the way. Just don't make her any more upset than she already is, or it'll be both our heads," the Master sighed, waving Death and several of his servants away.
Death smiled behind his mask and let the fallen angels lead him to the one thing that he needed.
Alana screamed in rage and pulled harder at the iron cuffs that held her to the rough stone wall. Her back was ripped into ribbons from the stone and her wrists and ankles were raw from the harsh metal. Her clothes were in tatters and barely covering her in the right places. She was pissed and let everyone who could hear her know it. She wanted to kill that bastard for locking her up when he promised her that she could leave. The more she thought on it, the more she found ways to kill him slowly and mercilessly. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't hear a group of fallen angels approach the cell bars to laugh at her. She stomped on the ground and a great pillar sent them all flying into the far wall to slide to the floor in a crumpled heap. She snorted at them and pushed the earth back into the ground so that no one would know that she could still earth bend. She watched in silence as another group of fallen angels approached, but there was something else with them. The creature was built like a human male, except for the massive size that was at least three times bigger than her. He was tall with light grey skin and raven colored hair that came down to his massively wide shoulders. His torso was ripped with muscle upon muscle and she shivered from the power that he was radiating. She looked at his face and saw only a skull shaped mask that had no mouth. The glowing gold eyes that stared back at her were harsh and calculated, never betraying any emotion. She growled and pulled on the chains even harder. She knew that she was going to sever her own wrists if she didn't stop, but at least she would be free. One of the fallen angels unlocked the cell door and opened it for the strange male to enter with an arrogant stride. She already didn't like him and she showed it by glaring at him with all the hatred she could muster, which was quite a bit.
The humanoid bent at the waist so that they were eye level and stared intently into her eyes. He was close enough that she got a good idea. Before he could pull away she head-butted him, hard. She watched him stumble backwards, his bony fingered hands clutching his head. She smirked at her own resourcefulness and pulled on the chains again. Suddenly, one of his bony hands grabbed onto her throat and lifted her above the ground. She kicked out at him, but the chains holding her captive wouldn't let her land a single hit. She had one last thing to get him to let go. She opened her mouth and let out a great flow of blue fire onto him. He yelped and let her go, dropping her instantly. She gasped for air and came back to her feet.
"Leave me alone! You asked for it by getting too close!" she shouted, taking a defensive stance.
"Human, how is it that you are able to control fire?" the humanoid asked, flicking a burning ember off his left shoulder.
"None of your damn business!" she snarled, pulling on the chains again.
His gold eyes looked at the chains and she saw anger spark in them. She paused and waited to see what he would do next.
"Release her," he growled, not taking his eyes off her bleeding wrists and ankles.
"I cannot do that, it is not my place to take orders from a Horseman," one of the fallen angels growled back, closing the door and locking it before the humanoid could reach it.
Alana watched as the humanoid pulled out twin scythes and started to attack the barred door. She heard his angry snarls and roars, but the door would not budge. Alana sighed in defeat and slumped to the ground, her energy nearly spent. The humanoid stopped attacking the door and spun to glare at her.
"Don't blame me. I wasn't the one who walked into this cell willingly, you did," she snapped, glaring right back at him.
"You are the most infuriating human I've ever met," he snarled, putting his scythes back in their holders on his hips.
"The same goes to you, bub. I never asked to be trapped here for years," she snapped, getting back on her feet, but she did so shakily.
The humanoid watched as she stood defiantly and proudly, yet there was this weakness to her. She was suffering and it knew.
"You should be resting, not fighting me. I am actually here to set you free. You are the last human and I am in need of you," the humanoid growled, coming over to her.
"Well, I can't exactly rest with these chains on. In case if you haven't noticed, they are not exactly the most comfortable things in the world," she snarled, shaking the chains so that they rattled loudly.
She flinched when the humanoid broke the chains on her arms and legs with one effortless sweep of a scythe. She looked up at him and glared. She would not rest while this thing was in the cell with her. It would probably kill her in her sleep. She shoved him away from her and pulled a giant and thick wall between them. She heard him try to break his way through the wall, but it was no use, her will power was stronger than his blows. She slumped to the ground and collapsed from exhaustion, starvation, and dehydration. She was going to die in this cell, but at least her parents weren't beating her into awareness so that she could train even more.
Death was still pounding on the solid wall of rock that the human woman had place between them. She wasn't going to get away from him so easily. He was at it for hours and when he finally did break through, he found the human passed out and barely breathing. She was far too weak to survive any attack on her. She had obviously not eaten in weeks and he didn't even want to know who long it had been since she had had fresh water. He already knew that it was far too long that she had suffered. Death gently picked her up and was stunned to receive a solid hit to the head with her elbow. His vision blurred alarmingly and he dropped her on the ground. His limbs wouldn't respond to his mind's commands and he watched as he hit the ground and his vision went black.
Alana accidently struck the humanoid in the head with a Muay Thai self-defense elbow block and watched as he hit the ground unconscious. She bit her bottom lip and looked around the cell, pausing to listen to the guards that were making their rounds. She knew that if they saw him like this they would come in and try to kill her. She had to get him to wake up, but there was a slight chance that he would. She crawled over to him and gently shook his wide shoulders, watching as his eyelids twitched only slightly. She growled in frustration and really shook him until his eyes actually cracked open. She waved her hand in front of his face and watched as he flinched and then grabbed her raw wrist. She hissed in pain and wrenched her hand from his grip and froze when one of the guards stopped to look into the cell. She growled and grabbed the humanoid by his left arm and hauled him behind her.
"Let me take care of this," she whispered to him, glancing over her shoulder as the fallen angel guard threw open the door and stormed inside with six others to take her down.
She took in a deep breath and released it as the first guard advanced. She dodged his every strike and was ready for the hits to start. She blocked a punch with her right elbow and kicked upward, knocking the guards jaw out of socket and fracturing his skull. She took a defensive stance in Muay Thai and waited patiently for the next attack. It came with a much faster style of martial arts, but it was not fast enough. Alana formed claws with her hands and hit every pressure point that was free from the armor and watched as the guard fell to the ground paralyzed. The others she took down by using their energy and turning it against them. She hit and blocked with her feet, knees, hands, and elbows. She was a true master of Muay Thai and the humanoid watched in awe as she took down seven fallen angels of the highest training with ease. When all were down and not getting back up, she stood straight and looked back at the humanoid.
"You coming?" she asked angrily.
The humanoid stumbled over to her and she held him up while she led them through the maze of halls and chambers that was the dungeon. She took down eight more guards and even some demons that were being escorted back to their cells. The humanoid said nothing as it watched her do what she did best, and it wasn't very pretty. But the best part was the fact that she wasn't bending the elements to get away, she was using the enemy against them. But she was losing massive amounts of energy that she didn't have just by taking on multiple opponents at once. Sure she was fast, even to a demon's eye, but she was slowing enough to leave openings that she couldn't afford.
Death was awed at her ability to take down multiple opponents in a short amount of time and at how gracefully she moved. But he did see that she was slowing down dramatically. Which meant that she was going to get hurt fairly soon. He had to step in before she got herself killed. Death grabbed her and spun her behind him and summoned his ghouls to take down everyone in their path and then grab her and carry her on his back so that he could still reach is weapons if necessary. She openhanded smacked the back of his head, but didn't try to get off or get away. He knew that she was too tired to do anything but sit there and watch. Death growled and found a hidden portal in the wall. He set her down and forced the portal to open and was shocked when she shoved him in and tumbled after him. Once on the other side, he shut the portal just as she hit the ground with a loud grunt. He looked down at her and his eyes softened at the sight of her trying to push herself up, but falling back to the ground to moan in pain and exhaustion. He snarled in anger and she tried to get up again, only to fall on her face and give up altogether. He knelt down next to her and was about to touch her shoulder when her foot lashed out and hit him square in the chest with enough force to knock him onto his butt. He growled and tried again, but this time a pillar of earth rammed into his stomach.
"Stay away from me," she growled, her body going limp on the ground.
"Let me help you. At least let me bandage your wounds," he said, getting onto his knees.
She looked over at him and growled, but forced herself into a sitting position so that she could glare at him.
"Fine. But once you're done, I'm gone," she snapped, watching him warily as he pulled a bandage from a small pouch on his belt.