Golden Sun: The Sands of Time
(X)
Chapter 29: Heart of Fire
(X)
Disclaimer: I own nothing
(X)
Am I dead…?
Consciousness was slow in returning to the young mage. His eyes fluttered open, then instinctively screwed themselves shut again as they were flooded with a hellish red light.
After several more seconds, he opened his eyes cautiously. The crimson glow was no less diminished, but apparently his eyes had begun to adjust.
The next sensation he registered was the pervasive heat that surrounded and filled the entire area. Thick and cloying, it held the unpleasant sensation of seemingly draining his energy at an alarmingly fast rate.
Third, he realized that he was suspended in what appeared to be air. Waving his arms and kicking frantically didn't net him any sensations of movement, and he couldn't tell different by looking at his surroundings, as the steady red light was the only thing he could see.
Suddenly, a shudder rippled through his body, and heat increased in intensity. Ivan gasped for breath as he twitched, trying to escape the burning fire that came from everywhere and nowhere.
He felt strange... weaker, as time went on. Almost as if… almost as if his psynergy was being drained from his body.
Clutching his forehead, Ivan grimaced and concentrated. He needed to find a way out of… well, wherever he currently was.
Closing his eyes, he focused further, trying to expand his consciousness of the area – trying to see if there was anyone else in the vicinity.
The impact slammed into him like nothing he'd ever felt before. Pain – both physical and mental, beyond anything he'd ever known, blasted through every restraint, and he howled like a wounded beast, seeking relief somewhere, anywhere. Nothing had ever hurt as much. Not Cruel Ruin. Not Formina Sage. Nothing.
Just as suddenly, just as the edges of his consciousness were beginning to fray, just as he was about to succumb to the intense agony, the pain was shunted, dying off as quickly as it had first appeared.
Not willing to operate on the hope that such an incident wouldn't occur a second time, he refocused again, reaching out with his mind.
For a long time, he encountered nothing – nothing else that had a mind to read, to connect with. Was it because he was too weak? Or was he simply trapped somewhere, where his voice could no longer reach out to those he cared for?
Then, just as he was beginning to despair, his mind brushed the feathered edges of someone else's awareness.
"Sheba…" He whispered. "It's you…"
Focusing all the energy he could, he sent out a psychic message, calling to her.
Sheba…
He had no idea if she had heard her or not – he was weakening rapidly, his life force draining from his weakened frame.
Sheba… He pleaded desperately. Help me.
He was beginning to lose consciousness now, everything around him beginning to dim, to fade away into inky blackness. Before he succumbed to the dark, however, a final thought wormed it's way free.
It hurts… It hurts so… much…
(X)
Garet slashed frantically at the hide of the Dragon, tearing up swathes of the creatures scaly flesh. The behemoth roared in raged and pain as it tried frantically to shake the Mars Adept from it's back.
Meanwhile, Felix and Picard weaved an intricate and deadly dance through the legs of the dragon, slashing through muscle and sinew in an effort to bring the great beast down for good.
Jenna's fire spells were ineffective against the Dragon, and so she concentrated on healing, sending amber waves of curative Psynergy to the other members of the team.
Mia raised her staff, prepared to bring a hail of razor sharp icicles raining onto the Dragon's wounded leg, when-
"Hold it!"
Mia glanced up wearily. "Isaac?" The Venus Adept appeared completely exhausted, staggering as he walked. Beside him, Sheba kept pace, allowing him to lean on her for support.
Isaac took a deep breath. "Sheba has something to tell us."
(X)
Felix whirled, the tip of his blade clashing against the dragon's scales he leapt past the stabbing claws of the beast.
Before he could continue his assault, he was suddenly aware of the ground shifting, and he let out a yelp of stunned surprise as the sand rose up in the shape of a grasping hand.
Focusing, he let out a quick Quake spell that disrupted the sand, allowing him a reprieve to scramble to safety.
Taking deep, steady breaths, Felix let out a growl as he saw more of the sandy claws reaching out from the ground, forcing Picard to break off the attack as well. From above, Garet leaped to safety, just beyond the reached of the claws.
"What spell is this?" He muttered. "His psynergy… it's… different from ours. More… raw."
He was forced to leap away again as a bolt of jagged lightning lanced in his direction. The Dragon was obviously focusing more on defending itself against the adepts than attacking them now – no big surprise, considering its wounds. Felix's primary worry was that the Dragon's regenerative capabilities would kick in again – they did not have the energy to pull off another dual summon of Charon and Iris.
Felix swung his sword in a wide arc, slashing through a trio of the sandclaws as they reached up for him.
He was running out of time – and he didn't know how much of it he had left.
Very well then, drastic measures it was.
His eyes half closed, he raised both hands to the sky, feeling the ancient energies of the earth surge through him.
"Ragnarok." He whispered, barely loud enough for himself to hear.
The golden sword streaked down from the heavens, slamming deep into the right foreleg of the Dragon, piercing flesh and muscle and bone.
Above the rising scream of the beast, more and more of the shining swords materialized, raining down mercilessly on the giant flame monster. Dark blood spurted, stripes of flesh torn from the body fluttered down in black strips, muscles were cut to ribbons in a matter of seconds. The Dragon stumbled, another leg rendered all but useless as it's sinews were ripped apart.
Still the deadly hail of Psynergetical swords continued, flensing the Dragon alive, only abating when the exhausted, utterly drained caller of the blades slumped to the ground.
Felix blinked – shook his head. Everything was beginning to go hazy.
The Dragon still lived. His final act had failed.
Closing his eyes, he let out a sad chuckle. "The rest is up to you, guys. Don't let me down."
He felt his body impact with the ground, though he had not been aware that he was falling. Then, he knew no more.
(X)
Mia felt like she had been punched by a fist made of rock in the stomach. Nausea threatened to overwhelm her, and she had slump down onto a rock outcropping. Shooting a glance at the lumbering Dragon still raging behind her, she turned back to Sheba.
"No." That single word was everything that needed to be said. All the disbelief and anguish Mia felt was magnified as she turned to gaze at the Jupiter Adept.
Sheba's lips pursed, and for the first time, Mia realized that torn up as she herself was, her younger friend had to be feeling ten times worse. "It's not something I want to believe either, but…" Sheba shivered subconsciously. "I felt Ivan. In there. In the Dragon."
The young mage paused to recollect herself before continuing. "It's like… his Psynergy, his essence… His soul, it's being drained somehow. I don't know if it's Geldor doing this, but…"
Isaac ground his teeth. "If we kill the Dragon, what happens to Ivan?"
Sheba shrugged helplessly, and Mia thought she saw a glint of light in Sheba's eye – light reflecting off brimming tears. "I don't know. He might be freed. But he might… he might…"
The three of them were silent for a long moment. Then Isaac turned to look at the weakened monster. "We're bringing it down." He said softly. "We have to."
Sheba closed her eyes, steeled herself, and nodded.
(X)
Ice crystallized again and again around the feet of the Dragon, seemingly rooting it to the ground. As Picard panted for breath, the exertion necessary to cast such a massive spell catching up with him, the great beast struggled against its frozen bindings, trying to break free.
Closing his eyes, he tried to gather up a hidden reserve of strength he knew did not exist, before opening them again, and setting the Masamune into a battle-ready position.
A vaguely purple blur darted into his line of view, weaving and threading its way in between the legs of the Dragon. Blasts of lightning exploded seemingly at random, but always ending up searing into places where wounds already existed, causing a long screech of pain – or was it anger? – from the Dragon.
Before the Dragon could crouch down to deal with the irritating pest, it jumped smoothly up one haunch onto the Dragon's back, where it slowed down long enough for Picard to recognize the form of Sheba.
Isaac and Mia likewise appeared, directly in front of the Dragon, that was currently twisting it's neck to bite at the annoying Jupiter Adept. The Imilian raised her staff, and sharpened spears of ice surged at the eyes of the beast – forcing it to break off its attack and duck it's head to avoid damage.
Isaac signaled to Picard to follow him before leaping forward and plunging his sword deep into one of the beast's toes. A roar of pain was his reward, and the beast's attention was once more diverted.
"Distract it." Isaac grunted as he twisted the hilt of the Sol Blade, driving it further into the muscle. "Buy Sheba time."
Picard didn't understand what was going on, but he knew to follow an order when he heard it. With a nod, he raised Masamune and charged once more.
(X)
"Ground." Sheba whispered. "It's time."
The Djinni Isaac had loaned to her nodded, and flashed into golden energy. Suddenly, despite all the shaking the thrashing the gargantuan Dragon was doing, she stood firm on it's scaly hide, her feet rooted to the base of the thing's neck.
Crouching for that extra bit of safety, Sheba closed her eyes and focused, letting the consciousness of the Dragon spill into her own mind.
Frowning, she surged past it and pushed deeper. Ivan… Can you hear me?
(X)
...hear me? Ivan's eyes fluttered open, but remained hooded.
"Who?" He mumbled. He felt exhausted as he had never been. All he could feel in every corner of his body was pain. So much pain. All of that pain wanted to make him sink back into blessed sleep.
But it was slow in coming as another pulse of energy washed through him. Ivan! If you're listening, please answer!
"Sheba…" He gave a laugh that sounded more like a grunt. "You're here…"
Ivan! Are you there?
Belatedly, he realized that Sheba couldn't hear him. With a mental groan, he tapped into what little reserves of Psynergy he had left within him. I'm here. Even that simple message further sapped his strength, adding to the pounding headache he felt.
Geldor… He wasn't sure if what he did could be accurately conveyed as whispering, considering he was doing it with his mind, but it probably came close enough to the spirit of the term anyway. He absorbed me… drained me.
We know. Sheba's reply filtered back. Hold on, Ivan. We'll get you out of this mess. I promise.
(X)
Fireballs jetted out from Garet's outstretched arms, raining down intense heat upon the Dragon. The blasted thing was taking entirely too long to heal.
Hairline cracks began to appear along the edges of the ice crystals that clung to the Dragon's feet as it struggled. That was fine, Garet decided. They'd known it wasn't going to hold it down for long anyway.
More importantly, Sheba was still on the Dragon's back, eyes closed, face etched into a mask on intense concentration. Garet spared a glance to ascertain that she was still unharmed.
A clawed foot lashed out at him, sending him sprawling onto the hot sand and opening a gash across his chest.
Scrambling to his feet and folding an arm protectively over his wound, Garet silently cursed his own carelessness and rejoined the battle.
(X)
Jenna twirled her staff, letting streams of flame billow forth in a beautiful but deadly dance.
Ordinarily, her fire based spells would have been all but useless against the Dragon, but she had made the rather lucky discovery that aiming at areas already wounded served to severely aggravate the beast. Not to mention that their primary purpose was to buy Sheba time.
Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sheba straightening and offering a thumbs up to the rest of them.
Jenna nodded, checked her pace.
On the other side of the sandy bluff, she caught sight of Mia, and as one, they nodded to the other, throwing their hands to the sky.
(X)
In making one of his usual 'so crazy it just might work' plans, Isaac had quickly decided that another couple of strong blows might be just what was needed to put the behemoth down for good. Of course, strapped for resources as they were, he quickly boiled it down to another simultaneous summon.
Of course, they had neither the Djinn nor the strength to deal with Charon and Iris a second time. The strain would probably have killed the already exhausted summoners, something which Isaac deemed unacceptable.
Thus, the plan was somewhat scaled back, but even then it should have held enough punch to finish the job.
That was assuming both of the summoners held out long enough, of course. Mia let that thought flash through her mind as looked once more at Jenna. Her proficiency – or lack thereof – with summons was well known among their group – they tended to be weaker, and immensely draining for her.
Had they more time, Isaac probably would have substituted someone else – Felix probably, for the second half of their plan – but after that little trick with the swords, Felix would be in even worse shape than Jenna to do this.
No, there was no alternative. Mia simply had to trust her friend to succeed.
Closing her eyes, she began to whisper. "I call upon the great Titan of the northern wastes. He who coats the lands in the blinding frosts and the endless winter – the northern wind that cuts to the soul. Boreas, I summon thee."
(X)
"I call upon the engine of living fire – the burning star that streaks through the obsidian night. Let your immense rage fall upon our foes, and char them to ashes. Meteor!"
As Jenna recited the words of the summon, she was aware of her body screaming in protest as what little energy she had left was sapped to allow the summoning to take place. Finally, as she uttered the last, vital word of the incantation, she felt her knees give way.
Collapsing into a crouch, she took several deep, ragged breaths as she fought to stay conscious. A burning ache wrapped itself into her limbs, and she closed her eyes, wiping the sweat from her forehead.
(X)
Sheba, one hand resting on the forehead of the Dragon, smiled.
The mental connection with Ivan was strong. If, during the destruction of the Dragon, she felt that he would perish along with the beast, she merely had to reinforce the bond with Ivan to prevent him from slipping into death.
It was a good plan, after all. It had every chance of succeeding.
Except for one flaw that had escaped her notice - until now.
She was crouched atop the Dragon. When the force of the summons struck, they would not make any distinction between the great beast and the relatively tiny Jupiter Adept. She would receive the full force of both attacks.
The resigned look on her face was the only sign that she knew what was about to transpire. Raising her head, she caught sight of a crimson dot in the brilliantly blue sky. She smiled, knowing all too well that soon it would soon reveal itself as a meteor almost as large as the Dragon itself.
And from the horizon, a distant twinkle signaled the multitude of ice shards that blasted forth from Boreas. It would rain down upon them – enough to coat the entirety of Snarlgrin mountain itself in meter-thick casing of ice.
She glanced back down, catching sight of Isaac, a look of weary triumph on his face. He turned to face her – and the grin on his face froze as realization struck. Sheba dipped her head, still maintaining the mindlink with Ivan. Better not to face them now.
"Sheba! Get down from there!" He heard Isaac's frantic cry.
She closed her eyes. "I'm not abandoning Ivan." She said softly, so that only she herself could hear.
Then she shut out everything else from the outside world, and waited for the end.
(X)
Sheba… Ivan could feel waves of controlled panic roiling within her. What's going on?
Nothing. Don't worry. I'll take care of you.
What are you- He was cut off as agony exploded through him once again, causing him to lose the concentration necessary to keep up the conversation.
Almost instantly he felt a wave of soothing energy flow through him. Sheba. He thought dimly. But if she's using her energy to guard me, then what about hers-
That thought was left unfinished as the pain surged forth once more, the two separate powers vying for dominance over his body.
Then slowly, almost imperceptibly, the soothing energies sent from Sheba faded way into nothingness.
(X)
(X)
Thank you for reading. Please review.
