PATH OF ASCENSION
by Ulquiorra9000
Chapter 36
Warily, Jaina started to circle her opponent, spear held at the ready. The glowing tip hummed and vibrated when it was pointed at Rafael, and Jaina could feel the weapon's eagerness to strike down Erebos' champion. Well, what better time to test out Heliod's favor?
Here goes. Taking a deep breath, Jaina tensed, then sprang.
Jaina let out a thrilled whoop, shocked by how fast she could move. In a blur, she found herself positioned right before Rafael, and she saw a flicker of surprise across the lich's face. Elated, Jaina raised her spear and sent it crashing down on her foe like a club.
Just as quickly, Rafael raised his arms and caught the spear with both hands. His teeth ground together in strain as he fought to keep Jaina's spear at bay, and his black claws sputtered as they gripped the weapon.
Jaina wrenched her spear aside and, before Rafael could react, let loose a series of rapid rapid jabs and slashes at her opponent. The magical spear felt almost weightless in her hands, and with ease, she could fill the air with a blinding volley of strikes. I could never do this with my swords!
Snarling, Rafael weaved his hands through the air and countered each of Jaina's blows as they came. Blasts of white and black mana blinded Jaina every time her spear clashed with Rafael's claws, but she didn't let that deter her. For the first time, she could match his enormous strength!
"Raaaah!" Jaina knocked aside Rafael's black claws and thrust the spear at him as hard as she could. Rafael leaped to the side to evade it, but he was an instant too slow. The spear's blinding point sliced into Rafael's right shoulder, and even though the wound was shallow, dark blood seeped from it.
"Not bad," Rafael wheezed as he clapped a bony hand to his wound. His empty eye sockets glared at Jaina with hatred. "I see that you're a fighter after all! But I won't let you touch me again."
With a flash of blue mana, Rafael vanished. Jaina whirled around and brought up her spear, prepared for him to re-appear before her. But she was wrong; Rafael teleported a stone's throw away and slashed his claws through the air.
To Jaina's shock, Rafael's claws detached from his fingers and flashed through the air like darts. Alarmed, Jaina whirled her spear through the air and knocked aside most of the claws, but one of them got past her guard. She cried out when the claw shattered a plate ofher favor and pierced her ribs. She faltered, her favor racing to seal the wound.
Rafael teleported again, this time appearing right before Jaina. His bare fists hammered her favor from head to toe, and deep cracks spread across the Nyx-born armor at an alarming rate. Grinning, Rafael snapped out a roundhouse kick that launched Jaina painfully through the air. She crashed into a house with a blast of shattered brick and wood.
Get up! Jaina staggered to her feet, and in her rage, pointed her spear at Rafael and poured all her passion into the weapon.
To Jaina's delight, a white-hot beam of mana issued from the spear's tip, headed right for Rafael. The lich sprang to the side and watched the beam strike a house instead. At the touch, the house was incinerated into smoking shards, and only a blackened foundation remained.
"That was a close one," Rafael mocked Jaina. "Heliod's favor is full of surprises. I - whoa!"
Again Jaina fired her beam, and this time, she caught the lich right in the stomach. She made a wolfish grin as the mana drilled into Rafael's black armor, and dark smoke poured from the point of contact. Any second now, the beam would break through Rafael's defenses and destroy him!
However, Rafael braced himself against the beam and coated his skeletal hands with strong blue mana. With a howl, he seized the beam and flooded it with his mana. Before Jaina's very eyes, Rafael's magic diffused the beam and reduced it to harmless vapor. Freed from the beam's pressure, Rafael teleported out of sight.
He can use countermagic, just like Alexis! Unfortunately, Alexis was dead, and Jaina would have to deal with Rafael's magic alone.
Alone, but not forgotten. Jaina's memory flashed back to Madam Apolla's mansion, where she had first received Heliod's favor. Back then, she had abandoned her own fate and prayed for the power to defend everyone from Madam Apolla's ritual spell. Then, following Alexander's and Madam Apolla's escape, Jaina had fallen to self-doubt and shame, and cursed Heliod for not helping her better.
How foolish she had been. Now, she knew that faith in Heliod was key. She had to win!
Rafael appeared before Jaina, and once again, black claws hummed on his fingers. Wordlessly, the lich unleashed a barrage of claw strikes, and Jaina retreated back to the street, her spear whirling like a baton to block Rafael's blows. Seeing an opening in Rafael's defenses, Jaina stabbed her spear at his hip and landed another glancing blow, shearing off a chunk of his black mana armor.
"You wench!" Rafael seized Jaina's neck with his claws right hand and tossed her aside like a doll, then launched his right hand's claws at her like arrows.
Thinking fast, Jaina landed in a crouch and vaporized the incoming claws with another beam of white mana. In that time, however, Rafael had teleported again, and Jaina was too slow to marshal a defense. Rafael's clawed left hand slashed deep into Jaina's favor, then a kick to the ribs sent her tumbling across the street, stunned.
He's still too strong! I can't keep up with his teleports! Jaina felt a thrill of horror as she clamored to her feet, her body feeling heavier. Her favor had definitely dimmed, and deep gouges and scrapes in its ethereal surface proved how much damage it had taken. How much longer would it hold out?
No more time to think. Rafael charged, regrowing his right hand's claws as he went. With a cry, he swung his claws down at Jaina, aiming to take her head off.
Not so fast. Jaina held her spear horizontally and let the shaft take the brunt of Rafael's strike. Her arms trembled and her favor screamed in protest, but still, she refused to yield to Rafael's strength. She glared back at his deathly face, human to lich, daring him to land another blow.
"You're still weak." Rafael's black claws gripped Jaina's spear and squeezed, and cracks quickly spread across the weapon's surface. Any second now, Rafael would split the spear in half.
Defiantly, Jaina matched Rafael's tactics and lashed out a surprise kick. Rafael's other hand blocked the blow, but it was enough to break Jaina free of Rafael's attack. She leaped back, covering a dozen feet with each bound. Rafael could fight from afar, but not as well as Jaina could. She could still fire mana beams, and another option came to her a second later.
Rafael charged again, but this time, Jaina drew back her spear and hurled it. In response, the lich teleported in a puff of blue mana, and the spear pierced a house instead, wedged halfway into the wall.
With another flash of mana, Rafael appeared before Jaina and brought his claws down for a deadly strike. Without her spear to block the attack, Jaina leaped back again and extended her hand toward her spear, praying for its power.
"Gaaaaah!" Rafael howled when the spear broke free of the wall and flew back through the air, magnetized to Jaina's hand. The weapon's sharp point tore right through his mana plating, and the leftover energy cut into Rafael's own flesh. The lich stumbled back, bleeding more dark blood.
Wow, that was amazing! Jaina seized her spear and twirled it, marveling at its newest surprise. As Rafael bled, his dark aura faded somewhat and allowed the sun to shine more brightly. With the darkness lifting, Jaina felt more of Heliod's power flood into her favor, and her conviction soared.
Her power renewed, Jaina pounced on Rafael, her heart racing in her chest. If she could strike him when he was vulnerable like this, she could finish it! Meletis, and all of Theros, would be free! She brought down her radiant spear on Rafael, and she felt it carve right into him. Black mana bled everywhere and Jaina distinctly heard Rafael shout in agony...
*o*o*o*o*
That little wench!
Somehow, that Meletis girl had found the strength to injure him, Rafael Adelbert Metternicht! He had not consorted with dark powers and allied with the death god Erebos just to be slain by this child. As he felt Heliod's blinding power carve into him, Rafael's mind flashed back to his earlier days...
As a child, Rafael had always been bullied. Growing up in a poor neighborhood in the port city Havengul, he had been a mild-mannered boy who always seemed to attract trouble. Other boys in the school playground had mocked his withdrawn, studious manner, and he'd coldly mock their stupidity, weary of their persistence. He found other people to be so tiresome and useless. More days than not, he'd go home with fresh scrapes or bruises, and his mother couldn't find a way to help her poor boy stand up for himself.
So he found one on his own.
As a young adult, weary of his insignificant existence, Rafael had resolved to find power and knowledge wherever he could find it. Far from Avacyn's and the other angels' prying eyes, he had found the Skirsdag cult, men and women who consorted with the demons of this plane. In exchange for blood and servitude, the best cultists could ascend to become something more.
One night, after years of studying forbidden secrets and bringing back bodies of inquisitive Cathars and priests, Rafael was ready. The great demon Mazdrael, lord of ambition and undeath, had gifted Rafael with power so wicked, so monstrous, it even alienated his peers. But he didn't care. He had become something better... a being that transcended death and all weakness!
Not long after his dark ascension, the archangel Avacyn mysteriously vanished, and Rafael and his minions terrorized the helpless populace with impunity. But it didn't last... with a flash of blinding light, Avacyn had somehow re-appeared, banishing the darkness and bringing the dawn. Only hours later, one of Avacyn's archangel lieutenants had corrnered Rafael and driven her blade into him.
Only seconds away from oblivion, Rafael had suddenly felt another power stir inside him. A spark flared to life, and the next thing he knew, the lich was lying on his back in a sunlit grassland, far from home. Strange creatures glided in the air overhead, and a band of olive-skinned humans armed with spears and crested helmets had found him. Unwilling to do battle so soon after his trauma, Rafael had fled into the shadows of this strange new world.
And after regaining his strength, Rafael learned of the cult known as the Shadow League, and sought to make their power his own...
*o*o*o*o*
"No!"
Jaina grunted as a sudden wave of dark, heavy mana threw her aside and onto her back. Her spear clattered to the street and rolled away, useless. Groaning, Jaina sat up and stared in horror as Rafael drew himself to his full height.
"I can't..." Rafael wheezed. He clutched his ravaged chest with a hand. "I can't let myself lose to you, child! I've come too far... I've gained too much power..." He took a deep breath. "I didn't come all this way to die!"
With a surge of renewed mana, Rafael extended his hands and his claws grew even longer and sharper, positively screaming with concentrated energy. The lich took a few heavy steps forward, then pounced.
Alarmed, Jaina scrambled to the side and jumped out of the way just in time. Rafael's super-charged claws tore into the street with a blast that shuddered the entire neighborhood. Chunks of brick flew everywhere and a cloud of smoke filled the air, hiding Jaina's view of her opponent.
He's got a strong will to live. That's the power of selfish ambition, Jaina grimly realized. Fighting for others gave her strength, but self-preservation was a strong force, especially when tainted by dark mana like Rafael's. Urgently, she hurried over to her spear, picked it up, and stood at the ready.
Rafael made the first move. The lich, howling in rage and indignation, charged from the smoke cloud and swung his claws with desperate energy. Jaina gripped her spear with all her remaining strength, baring her teeth as she wove her weapon in a complex defensive pattern. Her arms burned and she felt her favor weakening with each blow, her glowing armor warping and twisting.
Rafael's assault had considerable power behind it, but his attacks left no room for defense and Jaina saw an opening appear for just a second. She knocked aside Rafael's left hand and countered with a fierce thrust, and her shining spear tip cut right into the lich's ribs. Dark blood flowed.
"Die!" Rafael seized Jaina's head and drove his knee into her gut, shattering the enchanted armor and crushing Jaina's flesh. Jaina shrieked in agony as she felt Rafael's knee splinter her lower ribs, and she could do nothing as the lich tore her spear from her hands. A second later, a fierce kick sent Jaina sprawling onto her back yet again.
My spear! Jaina sprang to her feet and winced at the pain, but she was too slow. Before her very eyes, Rafael gripped the spear in both hands and, with considerable effort, snapped it in half. The two halves shattered when they hit the street, the pieces fading to nothing.
Rafael laughed and slowly advanced on Jaina. "Now Heliod has abandoned you! Clearly, his strength wasn't enough. He must not have that much faith in you after all."
No... that can't be right! Terror gripped Jaina's heart as she backed away from Rafael, unwilling to get close. Her throat felt tight and there was a ringing in her ears. It was impossible. Heliod wouldn't abandon her now, not when she needed him most! Had she failed him? Was she not the sun champion after all?
Rafael leaped and swung his claws again. Left without her spear, Jaina could only duck and weave to evade Rafael's attacks, but she knew that she wouldn't last long this way. Desperate, she threw a counter-punch right at Rafael's face, but the lich caught her fist bare-handed and wrenched it aside. He stunned Jaina with a blow to the temple, then tackled Jaina to the war-torn street. His heavy body pressed down on her like a boulder.
With his left hand, Rafael closed his fingers around Jaina's throat and locked her in place. Then he raised his right hand, claws splayed out for the killing blow. "I'm going to enjoy this," Rafael leered. His ice-cold breath washed over Jaina's face, stinking of death. "Death isn't so bad, you know. It's respite from the world's burdens. Let Erebos take you away." He tensed his bony right arm, and brought the claws down.
Jaina squeezed her eyes shut, unwilling to face what was happening. Heliod, I'm sorry. I didn't have enough strength. Please, forgive me. People of Meletis, please forgive me.
A sudden light forced its way through Jaina's eyelids and she snapped her eyes open. A fuzzy rod of mana hovered between her and Rafael, and when the lich brought his claws down, the rod held his hand at bay with no visible effort. Snarling in frustration, Rafael raised his hand and slashed again, but the mana rod refused to yield.
The spear! With a rush of hope, Jaina reached out and gripped the mana rod, her head light from Rafael's suffocating hold on her. At her touch, the fuzzy rod coalesced into the spear, fully repaired and deadly sharp. She held it tightly, savoring the feeling.
A surge of pure white mana threw Rafael into the air, freeing Jaina from his deathly grip. The lich came crashing down in a confused heap, and before he recovered himself, Jaina leaped to her feet with her spear held at the ready.
"Get the hell out of my city, lich." Jaina aimed her spear at her opponent and channeled the last of her favor's mana into it. A blinding mana beam pierced Rafael squarely in his chest, vaporizing his mana armor and punching through his body. The leftover energy flooded out his back, and the lich let out a deathly shriek unlike anything Jaina had ever heard.
With a cry, Jaina sprang and thrust her spear at Rafael's skull-like head. The lich's unearthly howl nearly deafened her, and up close, she could hear a chorus of a thousand dead voices in Rafael's cry. Just how manya souls had Rafael absorbed into his body, both here and on Innistrad? Well, they were about to find release.
Rafael's body seized up, then exploded with a surge of black and blue mana. Sizzling scraps of flesh, leather armor, and mana scattered everywhere like confetti, settling everywhere on the street. Jaina fell to her knees and gasped for breath, shocked at what she had just managed to do. He's gone! I'm saved! Meletis is saved! I...
Jaina's vision dimmed and her head felt light. Her spear slipped out of her hands and she settled on her side, too weary to stay upright any longer. Her cracked ribs and torn flesh sent waves of pain through her with every beat of her heart, but she was alive. Any minute now, medical mages would search the city for any survivors, military or civilian, and they'd find her.
Before she passed out, Jaina wondered if Rafael's home plane of Innistrad had any heroes like her. With creatures like Rafael out there, she sure hoped so.