Darkening pits could only widen, sloshing against muddied containers. Tulips parting; pallid pink splitting to reveal the sight of shriveled stamens. Lost to the scorching heat of fabricated deserts of endless light. Fiery tumult and glory. Paling flesh, milky as the moon shimmered with sweat, as hands turned in study. The imprint of a hilt welded into the skin. Eyes searching the red; the deepening outline as the sound of metal clattered against cindered wood. It fell on deaf ears, eyes too caught up in the way the skin seemed to furl, to crawl away from itself. If only there wasn't the cackle, the sickening flash of vibrant oranges and white, a rise in heat that caused sweat to swell, then perhaps she would not have known. Would not have heard the gentle crackle of the fire as it swirled forth, spitting sparks as it came. "What the petch woman? You'll kill us all!" Aello screamed as she ran out of the fireball's path, leaving Kaledon wide open. Seeing this now, as if for the first time, lips could only hang, as a single word sprang in silence. NO! Unbidden. In that instant when her heart stopped, Aello became certain that all was lost. Time was no longer hers. And yet, there was a thunderous creak. The splitting of shards. Splintering beams that gave way beneath them, closest to the window. A gaping maw which sucked Kaledon through, into the darkness beyond. Into oblivion. The shadows seemed to lick at his bound form rather hungrily as bindings began to curl. Strings unfurling slowly as his chair smashed into a level, crunching beneath him. But this Aello could not see, her eyes fixated on the woman. The crazed monster with hair that matched the elements she abused.
Smoke billowed around them, sliding around Aello's neck. An ethereal bracelet which seemed to come and go. To be seen, and then unseen, but felt more than any other choker. Her hands groped blindly through the air, searching for a weapon. For something to cling onto. But all she could feel was heat; and dense air. Emptiness. She felt naked, as the remnants of fire swirled around them, and then the spire screeched. Rubble falling from the ceiling atop each of their heads. Shards scraping their skin, leasing warm blood, matted with sweat and grime. She could feel her hair growing damp with the sweat, then dry with the heat. Could feel it clinging to her skin as she took a step forward, only to have the floorboard snap, and fall away from her feet. Frightened, Aello took a tentative step back, as the woman leased a sweep of wind to clear the air. It was enough to rattle anyone's bones, and the rest of the building. What little support remained, as everything fell to ash, leaving them to tumble onto the floor below, where Kaledon waited. Groaning, bloodied, and in pain.
Aello, who had fallen heavily on her back, struggled to pull her head off her wooden bed. Her back ached; lightning strikes of pain coursing through every fiber of her body. Her veins feeling as though they were pulsing as her heart, willing her brain to let them all explode, to be free of the weight they bore. There is something seriously wrong with that woman, the aurist thought, as she forced herself to sit up, knowing that her opponent was likely doing the same, for this wasn't over yet. Her bones creaked much as the boards had as she winced in pain. Her pearly white teeth sinking into her bottom lip, to help ward away the stinging sensations. Any color that remained fled them instantly, just as the last of the smoke had gone out the window. The girl could see the reimancer now, lying on her back. Her dagger more than likely having swirled through the air, to fall between her fingers. Its point resting in a wooden sheath. She seemed to be stirring lazily. Her body rocking as her heavy lids struggled to flutter open. This must be my only chance, gifted to me by the lady of time, Aello thought, as she fought to get to her feet, her aching legs shaking beneath her, as the woman's hands made their way to her head. Running strands of red through her skin.
The aurist grit her teeth as she lurched forward, and all but fell on top of the woman. At any other time, she may have enjoyed being on top, even if the building's foundation were falling all around. Buffeting them as they tried to wrest control from one another. Dominance. But she didn't have time to think like that. To mind the incessant thunderous beat of her own heart, as her knees slid down the woman's form. Resting atop the rippling fabric of their intwined, charred dresses. By then the woman's hands had fallen away, her eyes had opened, and each remained dead locked on the other. Fire and brimstone seemed to collide as Aello slid her hands up the woman's body towards her neck. Her fingers winding around, thumbs pressing on a windpipe. The woman gasped as her hands began to flail, reaching for Aello's own neck. Her fingers pressing too. Beneath them, Aello could feel an intense heat rising as the ground lurched. Wooden frames falling away, releasing them into the air. There they grappled, legs kicking at each other as fiercely as their battered bodies would allow. Their bodies spun through the air. The currents catching for a few moments, until they landed; hard.
Each of them sprawled on their sides; their fingers fighting to maintain grips. Their hands crawling along sweating flesh; jerking as veins pulsed violently underneath. As each throat fought to catch more of the air. Ears prickling to the sounds of groans, strange cries from the outdoors, tumbling sections of the buildings. Their bones creaking beneath the endless weight of pain. The sharp stinging of bees that plagued their sides. Finish her off! Aello's mind screamed as her fingers slid against skin slick with beads of clear moisture. Finish her now! it hollered as her leg slid over the girl's waist, toe pointing in hopes it could roll around her lithe body. Nudge her enough to flip her over, and allow Aello access to the top once more. But she was too weak; she couldn't do it. Only hold on, keep pushing her fingers against the place where a man's Adam's apple would be as a strange, cold, tingling sensation trickled into her skin, from the woman's fingertips.
She's going to kill you, if you're not careful, her brain whispered, as she forced her fingers a little more deeply into flesh, as she fought for another breath of air. The woman's eyes growing wide as Aello grit her teeth and kept on fighting with all she had, as thought it could make a difference anymore. As far as she was concerned, she was lost. If only, if only, she hadn't come, or had chosen another day, perhaps things would not have happened this way. But they did happen, and there was nothing she could do, but push harder. To keep going for what felt like an eternity without air. Suspended in space as every limb went from their beating drums; to being numb, as though she had just been tossed into a vat of ice. Lost in a tangle of limbs with another woman she couldn't take into her arms, but had to release from her mortal bounds. She hated it, but she had to do it, there was no time. Only the ability to press on.
So she did, and finally, the woman's fingers fell away. She must have given too much, Aello thought, as her fingers trailed down the soft curve of the woman's neck, settling beside each of them. Her chest rising and falling rapidly as she struggled to make up for all the air she had lost; all that time. As the building continued to crumble, she could only stare up at the ceiling blindly. Her lids heavy. She had saved him, the servant of time's keeper. But at what cost? The walls where spreading. Falling. Everything was a blurred line, blanched. As though there were no color. No vibrancy, no life. It was just before her eyes closed from this strange occurrence, that she thought she could hear soft voices; footsteps against the stone stairs outside the room; leading into higher portions of the spire.
Everything had gone black. So very cold.
OOCUm... hope this is appropriate. I think I got everything. =S |
by Aello on July 6th, 2012, 5:53 pm 
