“I do believe a third party has involved itself – one that sought to take advantage of the numbers that were on this nd.”

  “Can I distract this thing? Pull on its memories?”

  “It is much too vicious for that; it’s only concern is destruction. It wants us gone.”

  “I have to do something. Vukosava is in danger.”

  “She has to be. If she didn’t warrant it’s attention, it’s focus, then it would’ve started on your friends. The man that died beneath that metal contraption, that’s the pce to go. But the path there is full of horrors.”

  “When has that stopped us?”

  Amber looks at the others. “Meet up with the others, I’m going to put myself on the board.”

  -

  It’s just her luck that one of her friends is carrying the soul and power of a painter. Harley hates the fact that she cannot help in a meaningful way – all she can do is pray that Amber succeeds. Then pounce on the fming man – aka, the firebrand.

  Amber is starting to levitate off the ground. “I’d advise you don’t draw its attention.”

  There they go again, Charles and Amber speaking together in perfect harmony.

  “What if you get hurt? What if something bad happens – I won’t accept that.” Harley isn’t happy about this at all.

  “We do apologise for this daring act, but we have no other choice.”

  In an instant, a tapestry unfurls around Amber, with intricate patterns, the dunes of the desert, the bark of luscious trees, the stony mountains and hills, the tricking streams – the naturalistic patterns of the world and all its natural wonders. The canvases stretch outwards from her back, six long wings filling to the brim with artistic and graceful human eyes that glow brightly – bearing a kaleidoscope of color from blue, hazel, brown, grey and green. It’s like gazing upon a seraphim.

  “You must remain low to the ground.”

  Beforehand Amber could only swim through the air, when they were diving away from the Lady of Mist. Now, she soars into the air – the six wings propelling her forwards.

  “It’s hard to believe that we have a friend who can fly.” Nathen remarks, seeing Amber disappear into the fog of the night.

  “This situation is so fucked, but I guess we got no other option. If that thing can set everything on fire, do you think Amber’s paint bending or whatever the fuck it is can actually stop it?”

  “That’s not the goal, it’s to distract it, to have to go back to where Neil died. It needs a body to host. We’re using the same strategy as before.” Nathen replies with an irritating level of calm.

  “I hope it works – I’m not losing another friend to these fucking things.” Harley is taking Amber at her word; she’s remaining low to the ground. The two of them are making their way back to the rollercoaster where Neil met his end.

  -

  She didn’t think this far ahead, but she can’t do anything about it now. Amber reflects as she ascends. Charles is guiding her every step of the way.

  “Do you see the ndscape around us?”

  “What are we trying to do, Charles?”

  “Distract the elemental, that is the most we can do. Currently, it is chasing after Vukosava.”

  “Very well.” Amber didn’t have time to waste contempting or thinking properly about what she’s doing. The best solution is to remain firmly on autopilot and not get caught up in the madness. Vukosava is weaving and dodging through the rides and attractions with impossible speed, it’s almost frightening.

  “I can hear the question within your mind; I shall answer to the best of my limited knowledge.” Charles Derhert speaks kindly. “She has been cursed - or perhaps blessed with a hereditary condition. Her movements suggest something that is strong and agile, something that can see with perfect crity when the moon casts its light upon the world.”

  “Vics is a werewolf?” Amber gasps, the revetion almost causing her to fall out of the sky and spt on the ground like a rotten apple. “Is that you’re saying to me?”

  “Indeed, I am. I could sense a faintness of it – but now with the passage of time it becomes clear. She bears there mark – a mark that has been passed down through her family. You must pce your trust in her and pce it deeply in your heart.” Charles steadies her physically and mentally.

  “If I can help her, that’s what I’ll do.” Amber flies down towards the fleeing Vukosava and the raging elemental. It seems that Vukosava is causing plenty of frustration to the Burned One.

  -

  The Burned One is no joke, he bzes a path through the grounds, everything is an inconvenience that stops him from killing her. Vukosava didn’t need an expnation from the others on the pn, it’s getting to Neil’s resting pce that is proving difficult. The elemental is perfectly aware of her pn and isn’t going to risk flying closer to its demise.

  “Do you think I’m a fool?”

  Vukosava didn’t bother to reply, so far the only thing that’s keeping her alive at the moment is her supernatural senses and maneuverability. If she didn’t have that – she’s a pile of ash. She runs beneath the Camity rollercoaster, weaving through it’s metal frame and supports, like it’s a monkey bar course. The elemental burns through it all, the steel columns and plinths start to melt and pop, the entire structure is starting to crumble and the metal screams under the pressure as more and more of its supports bend and melt like candles. Beginning to twist as runnels of molten metal ran down their sides. Despite her constitution and never having a single cigarette in her short life, she is struggling to breathe. It’s as if a volcano is falling around her. It will have its nd, one way or another. It won’t stop; it will leave a ruin that will consume them.

  It fires a bst of fire at her; she spins around on one of the supports like a gymnast, flying through the air. She can feel the heat working its way down, she nds on the ground, half-rolling and half-tripping back onto her feet. She ducks down quickly, finding a metal spike still glowing, the pain is intense and she screams in pain. Vukosava’s skin is burning away, yet the pain is ongoing. Her nerve endings should be gone by now; she shouldn’t feel a thing. Before she can give this more thought, she lobs the spike directly at the elemental with lightening speed, nailing it directly in the chest. It falls backwards, the spike going right through its body, it’s fmes not hot enough to melt the thing instantly.

  If it was mad before, this is real rage. It flies towards her like a comet, a shooting star.

  Vukosava can see it thundering towards her, it’s hands reaching out to bst her with fire.

  “Well, shit.”

  She manages to just evade the fire, feeling it singe her shirt. If this keeps up, she’ll be a roast for a nice family dinner. Vukosava can see the fming figure staring off into the distance.

  “You don’t have to do this.”

  “If something is yours, would you allow others to pervert it?”

  “Is this what she told you – that you should wipe the ste clean and start over?”

  “It is renewal, where everything is made clean again. Without the humiliation of your kind.”

  “Whatever wrongs we did, this won’t solve any of it. We’re not the only ones who deal with this sort of thing.” Vukosava replies honestly. “Even if you send us off – they’ll be more trouble heading your way.”

  The Burned One seems to consider this, raising a fming hand to stroke its chin. A surprisingly human thing to do for an elemental. “So be it. The dy promised that my kin would also be freed in full – when I succeed in killing you.”

  Great. Vukosava thought, getting behind one of the steel columns. It cannot be bargained with.

  There’s no feasible way that she can bunch the damn thing, the steel spike did a number on it because it still lingers in a physical body. This mysterious dy didn’t want it to roam free unless it could do the job of eliminating the threat.

  “You’re going to be disappointed.” Vukosava could see Amber flying down to give aid.

  She’s always been so selfless, but this is dangerous. The dy of mist still had a sembnce of humanity within it – something to target and manipute against it. This is different. This thing is a force of nature.

  “Am I? I think not.”

  It flies away from Vukosava and rockets straight towards her friend.

  -

  “It’s flying towards us now, what’s the pn?” Amber can see the venom, the rage in the fming thing’s face. It’s going to turn her to cinders unless she does something fast.

  “You have taken in the ndscape around us, the way that nature moves to its own accord?” Charles asks.

  “That’s a big surface area; I barely survived doing a little demonstration before.”

  “You have the means to do it again, but this time, you have gained a stronger constitution.”

  “I hope you’re right, Charles. Let’s do this.” Amber didn’t have time for fear or contemption; there is nothing but her artful soul reaching out to the canvas. She can give the Burned One a trail to follow, back to times before human occupation. Before the nd went through a cycle that didn’t respect the forces that y there for eons.

  She can feel the contours of the air as it wraps around her. As it rings in her ears.

  This is a contest; can the future replicate the past or will the past punish the future? Amber remembers her time in school, watching the football teams rushing at each other, the way they didn’t back down – charging headlong into each other. She can feel the heat growing closer, the bzing eyes that signify rebirth through fire.

  Amber is flying towards it, her six wings building momentum. There’s a lot of ways that this can end. A fming body ends up impaling on the rollercoaster, a fiery comet that causes an explosion in the food stands, bound in chains from the old Ferris wheel, so many vicious ends, but there’s one way out of this. It needs to nd a hit, and fire is strong, it can burn anything, that’s if it can reach her.

  At the st second, Amber stops, her wings reaching as far back as they can go. With a snap, she channels the wind sending it towards the Burned One.

  “You want this nd to return to the ways of the ancestors. You were one of them – you gave this nd nourishment.” Amber is having her emotion bleed over from her long reaching canvases. This is a nd of harshness and beauty, one that bances precariously between the fires of the morning and the coldness of the night. It’s a cocoon in time that she’s giving to the Burned One. A glimpse into the past. “This pce was your home; you cherished every moment you shared with it. With your fellow spirits – I can return you to that time. There’s only one way this can be done.”

  Amber can feel her power slowing down to a trickle, this is different from before, she’s adding new sensations to the piece. The scent of flowers and there pollen, birds flying through the cocoon – singing and dancing to one another. Some many little emotions fill the space.

  It’s an artwork that perfectly captures everything from the nd. A 3D, no, a 4D expressionist piece.

  “All you have to do is follow me.”

  For a moment, it looks as if the Burned One is finding a form of peace. Suddenly, the cocoon burns away.

  “Your trickery will not work on me. You were pnning to drive me back into the ground.”

  “Do you think -.” Amber starts, before the Burned One raises his hand.

  Charles Derhert takes over for a moment, tucking in their six wings, spiraling through the air as a torrent of fme screams and ignites the air. It’s a game of cat and mouse; their tomfoolery didn’t sway it in any way. At most this buys them some time.

  “That didn’t work.” Amber cries loudly. Though this isn’t a verbal cry of panic, she’s seeing. Currently, she dwells within her own mind.