It was a carnival in every sense of the word.
The booming explosions and dazzling flashes enlivened the charred black monotony. The flurry of motions and zig-zagging of figures through dusty clouds challenged the sharpest of perceptions. Even the lofty moon, eager to claim witness to these bouts of prowess, caught but a teasing glimpse of the unearthly acrobats when they happened to burst into airy flights.
All the while, the silent silhouettes of the jagged land paid patient homage to the star performers who, despite the lack of a more enthusiastic audience, seemed to fully relish their roles.
"What's wrong big boy? Don't you want to come get me?"
Drunken with adrenaline, Sol had made savage, but compromised attacks. The excitement that flushed his body with raw power had also overridden the better judgment of his synapses. Inches wider than his usual strikes, Sol unleashed vengeance that cleaved the earth and tore through the air but failed to sever even a strand of hair from the elusive musician. His failure lied not in his will, but in his inability to recognize that, to the devilish woman, inches meant miles.
"Die!"
Holding his Fireseal in his trade-mark backhanded way, Sol jumped clean across seven yards of earth and threw his weight behind the blazing steel as he leaned heavily forward into a landing. The combined thrust of Sol's jump and his upper body rotation sent the great sword streaking through a crimson arc. Like a meteor, the blade buried itself into the earth. The eruption that ensued was a chaos of magnificence. Dust and debris surged high into the sky and escorted a 10-meter blaze as it carved indiscriminately through the hardened soil, incinerating rock and crust alike in its ravenous passage.
Like a dragon's tongue the flame raged across the plains, coursing its personal path of destruction and licking the dense airs. The queen of the skies, however, was long out of reach. Sol's unconventional gun flame had caught her by surprise, but she was more than able to evade with her superior agility. Vaulting to the side as Sol leaped to attach, I-no had floated out of harm's way by the time he landed. Knowing that Sol would bury his sword, I-no had found an opportunity to launch a counter as Sol leaned against the ground, his back arced and his head turned down.
The flash of green plasma was but a small spark compared to the rolling geyser Sol had unleashed. However, in the transience of its existence, the strange energy had fully served its capacity of launching I-no rapidly off its charged surface, and, by the time it dissipated like a rippled in a pond, I-no was well into her hurtling dive-bomb attack.
Stretching her harms overhead in the perfect extension of a streamlined curve, I-no had tucked her guitar tightly to her body and minimized her rotational inertia. In the span of split seconds, the master of air assault had transformed her figure into a blurry streak of insane velocity. The distance between I-no and Sol shortened dangerously quickly as the former accelerated the speed of her flight in exponential magnitude with every passing moment.
Beneath his mass of long locks, Sol smiled.
He had not struck in complete blind rage; rather, when Sol sank his blade, he had a plan to unearth it—with a mean surprise.
While I-no dodged his blast and rallied to launch her own, Sol had not changed his position above the ground. Underneath the surface, however, the half-prone figure has been relentlessly channeling energy into his blade, knowing that the charred crust would hide his intention well, smothering the orange glow underneath layers of black earth.
Trusting his gear enhancements, Sol had not looked up to betray an obvious attempt to gauge distance; rather, he listened intently as the murmur of the stagnant air grew to a shriek of unruly turbulence. Silently, as he calculated I-no's approach, Sol concentrated his strength to complete the charge to its last element, feeling, all the while, the anticipation and anxiety that precipitate every ambush.
"Sizzle…"
Although no smoke escaped the dense soil, Sol heard the tender whisper of fire. The blade had finally reached the verge of incinerating its earthly guise.
Good.
Sol waited.
It wasn't long before I-no crossed the trigger, the invisible line beyond which any hope of unscathed recovery was doomed. I-no had irrevocably wagered on her attack, and Sol was ready to show his hand.
Like a flame flickering to life amid vast amounts of fuel, the buried blade's glow swelled to blatant glory in the blink of an eye. As fire erupted around his arm, Sol snapped his head up to lock in I-no's position. Just as he had guessed, I-no's twister was moments away and had no intention of turning back. It was time to kick in the final gear.
Pushing with all three of his limbs, Sol made full use of his half-prone, grounded position. His low profile had allowed him to pack more acceleration than a regular crouch and saved him the time of bending down. Within milliseconds, Sol had launched his attack.
"Volcanic VIPER!"
Freed at last from the suffocating earth and savagely engulfing the sweet night air, Sol's fire doubled its intensity and roared to meet I-no's shrieking twister.
"BOOM"
For the longest time since the guns of war had ceased their screams, a mighty shock wave reverberated its passage off the faces of distant cliffs. Dust and debris rose a mile into the sky and continued to drift for miles more. In an obscure corner of the plains, where the combatants flexed their might, a shallow crater two hundred yards across marred the once homogenous terrain of rock and soil.
Some twenty feet from the bottom, Sol stood solidly still, his right fist upon his hips and his left holding Fireseal by his side. The impact of the encounter had barely affected his recovery. However, it did not seem that he was unhurt.
Damn bitch.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, Sol had guessed it all along. The nagging suspicion that I-no would never throw herself at any danger she had not insured to weather had always been lingering in his thoughts. Sol just simply refused to listen.
As he rolled his eyes to survey the fresh cuts along his arm and hands, Sol had little difficulty recognizing the culprit.
Damn strings.
Sneaky as usual, I-no had taken the liberty of wounding coils of guitar string around her upper body as she rotated into her attack. As thin as fishing lines and spinning at mach speed, the wires formed a shield of blades and turned I-no into practically a diamond drill. As Sol's blade met I-no's attack, the woman had loosened her hold upon the wires, allowing them to fragment before Sol's sword and fly off like deadly shrapnel.
Thankfully, most of these were rendered harmless as they vaporized in Sol's intense plasma. The surviving few, flying further away from the center of the fireball, skimmed briefly through Sol's flesh. Even now, those wounds were closing rapidly as Sol's gear enhanced biobodies tended to the cuts.
"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Look at the mess you made."
Sitting on her floating guitar, her legs dangling in mid air, I-no didn't seem a bit concerned about her own state. Despite the barrier of guitar strings, Sol's liquid flames had found enough of an opening during the explosion to briefly sear through I-no's vest, cleanly severing an inch of leather off her right shoulder strap. The piece, normally hanging low to shamelessly expose I-no's cleavage, was now pivoting on the left strap while the right one dropped to precipitously low altitudes.
Sol didn't find I-no's taunting actions the least big suggestive. He knew better. Brushing aside her remark, Sol made his intent known.
"Did you take her?"
Instantly, I-no burst into a shrill laugh.
"Hahahahaha."
"You men are all the same. Here you are trying to undress a vulnerable girl, and already, you are thinking about another."
Sol did not blink.
"Answer me."
I-no slowly rolled her eyes as she purposefully brought her left leg over her right.
"You really are as dense as you look."
"…"
"Just can't let go, can you?"
"…"
"You've seen everything and still you refuse to believe."
"…"
"I suppose I can't blame you; you always were a pathetic piece of trash."
I-no's taunts troubled Sol not in the slightest. The witch was born with a foul mouth, and, from his experiences in the past, he has grown used to it. Sooner or later, he knew, she would get to the truth.
"Save Him the trouble and crawl back to your hole. He knows her even better than you do now, and soon her talents will be His."
Sol's eyes narrowed.
"Tell me…where"
I-no gazed at the motionless figure out of the corner of her eye. For the span of a few seconds, silence fell upon the pair.
"Hmm…"
I-no leaned forward, as if intending to make sure that her next statement can be clearly heard.
However, at the very last moment, as she opened her mouth, I-no changed her mind. Holding her gaze steady, she resumed her cross-legged position.
"I was going to kill you…"
"…"
"But now I think I'd rather enjoy watching you suffer…"
Knowing that Sol was at her mercy, I-no had no intention of giving him what he wanted and turned her attention instead to her ruined vest.
"You know, He tells me she's just like you…Isn't that sweet?"
Absent-mindedly, I-no twisted the broken strap between her fingers.
Sol tightened his grip on Fireseal.
"Tell me…where she is."
"Ooooh, or else what?"
"…"
She had him where she wanted him.
"You are as useless as you've always been. Why don't you do us all a favor and die?"
Sol's silence was as telling as it was unsatisfying. I-no had half expected such a reaction, and now she wondered if there had ever been a more boring man.
"I guess I'd be lying if I said I'd love to stay and chat…but I suppose I'll let you know this much before I leave."
I-no wondered if she saw his ears twitch.
"She won't remember a thing about you…I'll make sure of it."
Sol felt a surge of anger filling his chest.
No…
Sol didn't need long to straighten his thoughts. It was useless to pursue I-no; the witch was already rapidly shrinking into the distance.
Useless…
As much as he hates to admit it, Sol knew that I-no was right. The danger was very real, and time is never on his side.
But then again…
Sol had noticed it before, the unusual scent I-no carried. He had tried to trace the familiarity of the smell to its rightful source, but the intensity of battle allowed him no opportunity for wondering thoughts. He was, however, quick enough to snatch the severed leather strap as I-no was recovering from the climactic exchange.
As dense as I look…
Sol lifted his right hand to his face and gingerly unclenched his fist just enough to fit his nose between his fingers and his palm.
The strong smell of burnt leather filled his nostrils as he breathed deep from his hand.
No good…
Sol expected the burnt smell, but had hoped that something was spared.
Try again…
Emptying his lungs, Sol closed his eyes and held the piece closer to his nose as he breathed.
Having released the bulk of its vapor, the smell of seared cloth was less intense than before, and Sol could detect finer details.
My…blood…
Sweat…
…
There was a most elusive flavor, the faintest of hints that wafted wildly against Sol's senses. It drifted in and out of detection as Sol drew in more and more of the cloth and teased Sol to capture its unmistakable yet unpredictable presence.
Practically breathing through the cloth, Sol tried one more time. Knotting his brows in tense concentration, Sol focused his mind to react faultlessly to even the slightest element of distinction.
…
…
…There!
Like the lightening cutting through the drape of darkness, Sol's reflexes snapped in recognition. The ancient memory was indeed long buried in his mind, but he had not forgotten.
I see…
The tempest of emotions refused to be calmed by the mental dictation Sol had tried to impose. Anxiety, angst, hope, joy, and elements of humanly imaginable passion filled his mind.
Almost uncontrollably, Sol took his first step.
For once in three weeks, Sol knew his destination; all that's left for him to do is to find that forsaken place.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: It's been a year since I updated, and, judging from the shabby quality of the last chapter, you can tell I'm still getting used to the swing of things. Please try to help me out. I think I have a good idea of where this is going to go, and, hopefully, for my faithful readers, I will continue to post better and better stories.
