Fighting Fire with Fire

Rowan was on her hands and knees, trying to get to her feet. She had looked up, however, in time to see Kane killed, and now found herself unable to continue to rise.

He had done it… he had actually killed Kane. Tears began to crawl down her face; since she was undead, though, they were more ectoplasmic than watery, and left yellow-green streaks.

Talon is dead. She thought to herself, grabbing a fistful of dirt. It was a thought with double meaning to her, as she felt the intense, raging desire to send him after Kane. But the fact that Talon, a man she had known since attending Ravenwood so many years ago, had killed someone meant that Talon was already dead, as far as she was concerned. The man holding that knife was not Talon any longer.

Closing her eyes and gripping Terminus tightly, she rose with the stiff slowness of a corpse fresh out of the grave. When she opened her eyes again, Talon was standing outside the ring of fire that surrounded her.

"What is wrong with you?" Rowan snapped, anger clear in her voice. "My Talon would never kill someone intentionally."

"Ah, but I'm not your Talon anymore, am I?" The pyromancer walked calmly through the ring of fire, the flames parting at his presence. "I'm my own man now. I'm done worrying about other people, their feelings or safety. My only concern now, is myself."

"How very Kane-esque of you," Rowan snarled, and Talon's entire body blazed at the suggestion.

"I am nothing like him! I am better than him!" He roared.

"That's what you think," Rowan roared back, "but he didn't lock you away and leave you powerless. If you're so much better, why don't you let me out of here. We'll see just how good you really are," she sneered. Talon smirked, backing away from her prison and into the fire ring.

"You really think you'll get out with your mind games, Rowan?" He asked over the flames. "I put you in there for a reason. I want to watch you suffer, as I destroy everything dear to you. I'm going to destroy your heart, like you destroyed mine."

Rowan narrowed her eyes, her anger at his behavior welling up to uncontrollable proportions. He killed Kane just to torment her! That was completely unacceptable and Rowan was going to do everything in her power to make sure he paid dearly for his transgressions. Letting go of her rage, she once again went into a furious flurry of spell-flinging, trying to break free of her trap.

He cackled, a sound that actually sounded more like a banshee's laughter than anything living. He stopped, though, when the ring of flames suddenly disappeared.

"-way…" Alia finished her sentence from Falmea's living room at the entrance to Talon's sanctuary, stunned that they were now standing before Talon's entry wall of flames. Apparently, Falmea already knew where Talon's home was.

She also had no trouble getting through the entrance, flicking her hand nonchalantly. The wall moved away like a curtain, and she strolled through like it was a day at the park.

She surveyed the area, her flame-do hair swaying as she moved. Talon was standing by a ring of fire, which surrounded a girl Falmea recognized as Rowan Skulldreamer, the Death School teaching assistant. His other friends were sprawled around the sanctuary, slowly burning. They stood several yards away from Talon and Rowan, neither of which had noticed them yet.

"By Bartleby," Alia murmured, looking at the destruction and the state of her friends and sister. Falmea shook her head.

"Just like his father," she muttered, which got a surprised look out of Alia. She tried to ask but Falmea didn't answer. Waving her wand towards Talon's three victims, small orange sparkles trailed behind it before being cast out over the battlefield. Wherever they touched the flames nearby died. "It is safe to heal them now."

"I'm gonna need help healing them, though…" Alia proclaimed softly, unsure just how she was going to manage to get all three of them back to at least stable health. It would take a good few sprites before anyone would be able to move without pain, especially with that lingering magical fire. But what could she do?

There are the unicorns from Unicorn Way, they might help, she thought. But then, she'd never actually seen a unicorn in Unicorn Way, and had no idea where to start looking. Then she remembered Talon's first home, a cottage on a small wooded isle. She remembered him talking long ago about having a unicorn living in his grove. "I'm going to go to his wooded cottage. There's a unicorn that lives there, and she might be able to help."

"Good idea," Falmea replied. "Hurry, as soon there will be a lot of fire around here."

"Got it," Alia replied as Falmea turned towards Talon and Rowan, waving her wand. Alia disappeared in a crackle of thunder and the ring of fire ceased to burn, ending Talon's wicked laugh.

He looked at the ring, confused for a moment, before looking around and finding Falmea standing amongst the ashes, wand pointed at the young wizard.

"I'm sure I taught you better than this, Talon," Professor Falmea chided him, as Talon extended his hand and his draconic staff flew to him. He held it in both hands, pointing the crown at his professor.

"Hello, Aunt Falmea," Talon chuckled. "Come to see how much better I've gotten?"

"This ends here, child."

Alia stepped past the charred Spiral Door of Talon's wooded cottage, gazing at the destruction she saw. There were burnt stumps where beautiful trees once stood, every inch of grass was scorched, and the bridge that crossed the stream bisecting the property was destroyed. The cottage itself was in shambles, the stone foundation all that remained intact. There were some sections of the stone wall that remained standing, but they were blackened and their stability questionable.

Luckily for Alia, the unicorn she sought did not inhabit the ruined cottage. Rather, there was a small grove upon a hill where a ring of trees once surrounded a circle of cobblestones. Now, of course, the trees were all burned to the ground, large logs of charcoal haphazardly laying everywhere.

Amongst the ashes and charcoal remains was the majestic creature. Its soft, almost luminescent white body stood out in stark contrast to the environment, along with the sky blue mane and tail that rustled in the gentle breeze. The unicorn was moving between the trees with a slow, depressed posture, occasionally lowering its head to tap its horn on the ground. The horn would glow for a moment, before a small sprout would rise up from the ashes and bloom into a small, hardy wildflower.

Alia moved towards the hill slowly, depressed by the sight. The unicorn looked so sad at the death of its forest, and was trying to speed up the recovery process with the magic of Life. It was touching, and Alia felt sorry for the creature. To be betrayed in such a way by a wizard you had lived with must have hurt the unicorn deeply.

He is not himself. I do not blame him. The words were spoken by a soft and gentle voice in Alia's mind. She stopped at the base of the hill, looking at the unicorn. It raised its head and looked back at her.

"We need your help, Pure One," Alia stated, addressing the unicorn with the most respectful title she could think of, remembering from her classes that one should always treat a unicorn with respect. "My friends need healing, and I am not powerful enough in the ways of Life to heal them all." She bowed to the unicorn, looking at her boots instead of at the graceful creature.

She could hear the soft clop of hooves as the unicorn made its way through the remains of the grove, coming down to her. I will help you, the unicorn told her within her mind, nuzzling her to get her to stand. Take me to the injured so we can begin.

When Alia and her unicorn companion returned to the battlefield, it was once more littered with flames. The battle of pyromancers was well under way, with each combatant flinging bolts of fire at the other. It looked like a table tennis match; if you set the balls on fire.

Alia glanced over to Rowan to check on her, but found her sister contained in a dark dome of shadowy magic. She could hear Rowan's rages from outside, and those cries of anger were about all that escaped the barrier. But at least she was safe.

The same could not be said for the others, however, as they were caught in the crossfire between the pyromancers. At any moment, one of them could be hit by an errant fireball. She looked to Professor Falmea, who noticed her return and took quick note of the situation.

Until now, Alia had been wondering how Falmea was fighting Talon in a dress so tight that it barely gave her legs room to move. The bright orange tails of the professor's dress no longer just looked like fire; they were on fire. Falmea –seeming to Alia to be unusually uncaring about her dress being enflamed- gracefully floated to one side, seeming to glide above the ground on a cloud of flames to come to rest at Talon's front door, redirecting his blasts.

Alia and the unicorn took their opportunity to rush to the fallen, the unicorn leaving a trail of grass and flowers in its wake. The creature was gathering its magical energies around itself in preparation to heal the fallen, and the magic rippled out of the unicorn to sprout new plant life from underneath the layers of ash.

Alia wanted to heal Kane first, but she knew the better idea was to get Miguel in top condition before anyone else. Miguel also had a healing spell, so having him back in order was essential. As the unicorn stooped its majestic head to touch Kane's body with its horn, Alia moved to Miguel and began the sprite summoning spell.

Talon knew Falmea's plan when she moved to his front door. She was trying to redirect the battle away from his previous victims. But he didn't care about them anymore; Falmea was the only thing on his mind now.

"You are still as amateur as the day you entered school," Professor Falmea taunted him in her consistently smooth, sultry voice. "Have you learned nothing?"

"I'll show you amateur!" Talon began another Fire spell, flames dancing around him as the symbol formed. When it burst into action, a great twister of fire plummeted down from Talon's burning tree, rushing at the pyromancer. He raised his staff with both hands and then spun in place, and the twister followed his staff. When he came full circle, he thrust the staff towards Falmea.

The blazing tornado obeyed his command, shooting forward towards the professor. It suddenly reared back when it neared her, sprouting great fiery wings and revealing the phoenix within.

Dalia seemed unimpressed, her own Fire symbol forming as the phoenix reared back to drench her in its oppressively blazing breath. While the great bird roared out its fire, Falmea calmly watched as the red orb of her Fire shielding spell flared to life. It was a powerful shield, diverting the path of flames away from her and leaving her completely untouched.

Alia watched as the unicorn touched Miguel with its horn, bathing the sorcerer in bright white light. Her sprite was busy working a slow healing, but the unicorn's rush of life was just what was needed to jumpstart Miguel again. The unicorn moved on to Tasha as Miguel blinked and sat upright.

"Lo que está sucediendo?" Miguel asked in his native tongue, leaving Alia blinking for a moment as well. Miguel blinked some more before noticing it was Alia kneeling beside him. "Sorry… um… what's happening?"

"Professor Falmea is duking it out right now with Talon, and I'm trying to get you lot healed up before it gets way to hot for anyone except them to handle," Alia explained quickly. "I have Talon's unicorn friend helping me, and I've got a sprite working on you. But I need your help getting Tasha and Kane healed up good. You get Tasha, I'll get Kane." She didn't explain any further, and didn't need to as the night sky lit up from Talon's phoenix spell behind Miguel. He got up quickly, rushing over to Tasha just as the unicorn completed its work.

"Have you forgotten everything I taught you?" Falmea asked a stunned Talon. He had anticipated she would shield herself, but Falmea didn't even look like she broke a sweat from the heat! "It is not the strength of one's emotions, but the strength of one's discipline over their emotions, that determine the better pyromancer," she reiterated, as she burned a Fire symbol in the air with her wand.

"One without control of their emotions is a pyromaniac, not a pyromancer," she continued, the Fire symbol completed. "And they are always the weaker." Falmea's entire body became fire, and she raised her hands above her head, shooting a plume of fire into the air above her. The flames grew as wide as a cloud, before form could be made out within them. The flames solidified into dark red draconic wings, the head, neck and body following a moment later.

Falmea lowered her hands as the flames subsided, leaving a giant Fire Dragon behind. The great beast flapped its wings, creating a harsh gust of wind that caused nearby fires to leap with renewed life. Landing before Talon, it quickly opened its maw, wasting no time in bathing him in the flames that lay waiting in it's gullet.

Talon had not prepared himself to face an opponent proficient in pyromancy when he had planned this evening. As a result, he wasn't as quick as he should have been in getting a Fire shield active, and though he managed to prevent the first wave of fire from harming him with the shield, it wasn't holding up for long.

And the dragon stopped only briefly, inhaling to prepare for the second wave of its assault, belching white hot flames once more. Talon just wasn't able to manage another shield in such a short time, and took the super-heated blast head-on.

This is not the way, the unicorn's voice softly echoed in Alia's mind as Talon fell to his knees, covered in flames. She watched him fall, seeing the pain on his face. A part of her raged at the boy, feeling a satisfactory vengeance in his suffering. But another part of her -the part that allied with the unicorn- pitied him, feeling a pang in her heart as he collapsed to the ground.

"Have you had enough, Talon Skullflame?" Falmea asked calmly, watching him burn with a remorseless gaze.

"No…" Talon wheezed, getting back to his knees. He propped his staff up, using it to slowly pull his enflamed form off the ground. "No… I am more powerful than you… all of you… better than all of you… must prove… prove greatness…" a Fire symbol began to form before him, his arms too weak to etch it well. The spell symbol turned to ash, falling to the ground. Talon cried out in agony as the flames of the Fire Dragon pulsed with renewed strength.

What do you mean? Alia thought back to the unicorn, as Talon once again failed to cast a spell. The dragon's flames were still eating into him, and he grimaced with each muscle he moved.

In this state, he will keep fighting until he is dead, the unicorn explained, sadness clear in the mental projection. His rage must be calmed if he is to surrender.

And how could we do that? Alia asked. Sure, the unicorn's suggestion sounded reasonable enough, but how were they going to calm a raging pyromancer? Wait a second! She was sure she recalled a spell for that sort of thing, but she had long ago relegated it to the 'useless spells' section of her brain. Snapping her fingers, a white block of light formed before her, roughly the size of a tome. It became an actual tome a moment later; one Alia quickly began to flip through, looking for the spell.

"Ah ha!" She proclaimed, finding the calming spell in her spell book. But I've never actually used it. What if I screw it up? She wondered, and unintentionally transferred this worry to the unicorn. The harmonious voice answered her immediately.

We will all help you, by joining you in the Calming Song, the unicorn told her, lifting its head to neigh. The noise roused a group of smaller unicorns from their hiding places. They were Talon's heard of pet unicorns, a smaller breed than the one from his wooded cottage, and they had all hidden behind charcoal logs to escape his fiery wrath. Now that the unicorn had called them out with a purpose they emerged, five small unicorns coming together to sing.

Alia could hear all their voices inside her mind, as they all poured their Life magic into her to strengthen her spell. Glancing one final time at her spell book to double check, she snapped her fingers again. The book disappeared, replaced by Alia slowly etching a shimmering Life symbol.

As she drew the magical rune, she began to hum a soft, lullaby like tune. The closer she came to completion, the more she raised her voice, until she was no longer humming but singing, loud and true. The Life symbol chimed and burst, filling the air all over the sanctuary with shimmering and flashing green light that projected her soft song all around them.

For what now seemed like forever to Talon, he had felt only anger and jealousy. It had been a heavy, searing flame within him that refused to be ignored and consumed his every thought. Until he heard that sweet, melodious voice fill his mind, Talon had forgotten how light-weight joy and love were by comparison. Now that voice filled the spaces of his mind, beating back the rage with forceful magic and replacing it with calmness he had not felt in some time.

It was like he had been viewing the world through fogged lenses, and only now had he cleaned them. He clearly saw the infernal tree that had once been his nature-raised sanctuary, the ashen earth that had once held a forest. He saw all of it, and knew he had caused it, that he had destroyed his own home in his anger. Tears welled up in his eyes, caused not by pain but by remorse.

"What have I done…" he murmured, before his knees gave out and he fell, barely staying upright with both hands on his staff.

Alia stopped singing when Talon fell, startled by his collapse. Go to him, we will maintain the Song on his heart, the unicorn told her, and Alia complied by rushing to Talon's side.

"Talon, are you alright?" She asked, kneeling beside him. Talon merely looked up at her, then looked at the ground again, one shaking, burn-scarred hand grasping a fistful of ash.

"What have I done…" he repeated, eyes glistening as he looked upon the fruits of his rage.

"Talon?" Alia tried to get his attention again, but she was getting the distinct feeling from his behavior that the battle was over. She had succeeded in calming the beast, and the hellfire of a night was done.

The idea of peace in the sanctuary was shattered, however, when an explosive crack broke the silence. Rowan's barrier prison had been a dome of smog; now it was the center of a growing cloud of blackness. A pillar of condensed smog shot out of the center of the cloud, disappearing into the night sky.

A minute later the jet of smoke came crashing down in the middle of Talon's front lawn, radiating outward in rolling clouds. A dark figure wreathed in shadows rose up, eyes glowing bright emerald.