Holding his breath to keep the water stable, Matsya slid along splintered wood to avoid the berserker chasing him. Her claws tearing the wind, slicing columns in two. Every breath he took slowed his pace, for he was unaccustomed to the fast paced motion of battle. Clapping his hands sent a boulder of water headlong toward Hau. Clipping her fingers bisected the sphere of undulating water faster than it could fall. Her scattered beams of invisible terror tore at Matsya’s back, leaving him panting with blood trickling down to his ankles. Tripping to his knees, he held up his hands with pleading eyes.
“Please…no more…I ca…can’t…keep going,” Matsya coughed.
“Then you shouldn’t have disturbed me,” Hau grinned.
“I promise…never again, I won’t talk to you…ever…again,” Matsya said. Fuzzy blackness cloaked his sight, he could barely tell what was in front of him anymore.
“Fine, I just wanted to rough you up for mentioning my brother. We can go shopping now, let me get dressed though,” Hau tugged at her gown. “These are my sleepwear.”
Insane…absolutely insane… Matsya passed out.
“Congratulations on your promotion, Lord Xertoz,” Ronald said.
“Quit staring at me, it’s creepy…” Xertoz snorted. Ronald was a peculiar man, unknown by many, said to be the guardian of the Flame Pillar. Ronald of Red, draped in red, fire patterned his eastern attire. Slick back hair with the temptation of greys interchanging with blacks. His eyes were two flickering flames in absent darkness surrounded by wrinkles that gave him a rocky look. Cracked lips with five lines tattooed down his chin, presumably down his neck, unsure for his neck was covered by a high collar. Gentle hands rolled over each finger, Ronald found pleasure in fiddling with his nails.
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“Apologies, I did not mean to disturb you…” Ronald’s voice sounded as if it were a hollow furnace used not too long ago.
“It was tough, so I don’t want to be praised for something that didn’t come easy.”
“I would think the opposite.”
“Most would… Perhaps that is why I’m seen as insufferable,” Xertoz said, taking his shades off, opening his eyes to the numbing lights abound. “Man…he didn’t need to give such an injury…”
“It shows your tenacity.”
“It shows my weakness,” Xertoz picked at the scabs running along his cheek down the right side of his mouth. “Talking is cumbersome… Anyway, you didn’t call me here just to praise me, did you?”
“Here is a file of someone who should have entered Purgatory. As the eyes to fire, I see all who pass through Limbo. However, this soul…well how do I put it…he broke the rules. Although you rule over Elysion, I fear that your new title will be taken as swiftly as it was handed.”
“You’re asking me to establish an apprentice? I was never one for that, I believe true strength will naturally be handed to those worthy. Some say it’s fifty-fifty, I say if you will be powerful, then destiny will have already set you on the path to achieving it.”
Ronald looked skeptical, his brows knitting with dismay. “I will not argue philosophy, rather that the boundary between the three realms has been shaken. You should know this well, and why I speak in fear of the lost one. This soul…most surely is one who is involved with the creation of Gehenna’s gate. I can sense he has begun to move, for whatever purpose, I am unsure. But you must thwart his plans. You are the number one Lord now, are you not?”
“Duty…trying to lean on my obligations… Ya-ya, I got it, I’ll clean up this mess,” Xertoz waved as his body vanished like a smacked television.
“Seven heavens, the one who sits above our ceiling, let this prayer reach him…protect him, ameen,” Ronald rubbed the beads of rejuvenating fire between his palms, allowing his molten tears burn his hands.
