Her chest hurt. She couldn't breathe. Her eyes barely moved and stayed open. Keyla gripped the stool she was sitting on with all her might. She wasn't preparing an attack. She was simply too scared to do anything else. The hooded man in front of her, the Necromancer, just smiled. Why wouldn't he? She was an ant compared to him. Maybe that's why she didn't do anything when he extended his arm to latch his hand on to her neck. Why would she fight back? It wouldn't do any good. But it all changed once he touched her. She felt strange. She had forgotten basic facts due to her fears.
Keyla suddenly bonded with the Necromancer, like she does with other's when borrowing their powers. However, this time it felt different. This time, the powerful feeling she'd get when bonding with another simply hurt her. Her insides ached. She started to get dizzy. The Necromancer was unaware of all of this happening. All he saw was a scared little woman, too afraid to move and fight for her life. Her eyes fluttered endlessly. He wanted to end her but he sensed something too now. Her fragile neck was no longer fragile under his grip. The muscles in her neck fought back. The soft skin was as hard as a rock now.
"What is this!?" The Necromancer screamed. "What are you doing!?" He took a few steps back in horror.
Keyla felt like a God. She felt light and agile. Her senses were heightened but before she could get used to his borrowed powers, she had to focus on dodging an incoming fist from the Necromancer. Keyla quickly dashed to the side. The Necromancer destroyed the cell bars she was leaning on. Keyla rushed back and punched his ribcage as hard as she could. He took the hit but shrugged it off, spinning around and aiming a low kick at her feet, sweeping her off the ground. He followed through with a stomp as she hit the ground, hitting her chest. As he held her underneath his foot, he aimed his open hands and torched her with a combination of fire and thunder. Keyla tried to endure the pain but it was too much, she had to stop it. With one punch to the side of his leg that kept her down, the Necromancer flew sideways in midair. She quickly kicked up, hitting his back, and sent him shooting across the room.
Keyla got up to her feet but her head was still buzzing with all the knowledge of his powers. There was too much to bond with.
"You are a mimic?" he spat. "I hate your kind." He quickly shot a ball of fire that knocked her off her feet. "Fortunately, I know very well how to defeat your kind." Keyla was too overwhelmed with his powers. Her own powers had become her downfall. While trying to get on her feet, a force suddenly pushed her up, hitting the ceiling, and back down fast. All the air in her lungs left her. She started to cough and fight for air, already becoming weak and herself again.
"There was another mimic before you, a week ago or so, who tried to bond with me. He too couldn't handle it. He was going crazy. Destroyed a small town because he couldn't control all the powers that I had, and I was weaker back then. I'm much stronger now. Three times as strong." The Necromancer walked beside Keyla and knelt down. "However, he wasn't a good mimic as you are." He ran his fingers through her hair. "You seem to be a lot stronger." His fingers suddenly grabbed hold of her hair and with a swift spinning motion, lifted her off the ground and slammed her against the closest cell bars. Keyla crashed through and was stopped by the stone wall on the other side.
Maha felt the tremors coming from below the fort. The Necromancer was fighting someone from her team but she didn't have a clue who it was. No one could have been strong enough to stand against him. Unless... Maha's heart almost stopped.
"Keyla..." She gasped. Dust exited the walls as the tremors continued. Maha quickly went to the hole in the ground which the Necromancer had created with his stomp. She stood at the edge and looked down. It went down two floors and ended somewhere with stone flooring. There were sparks of light coming from the direction right below her. If Keyla was really fighting the Necromancer on her own, she had to be there and help. Without thinking about her own safety, Maha jumped down two floors, the first time she had ever done so. She felt the air rushing past her and stopped as she landed but her legs buckled beneath her and she came crashing down into a sitting position.
While in pain, she immediately saw her beloved, holding off the Necromancer. Keyla had been pushed to a corner and had conjured up a forcefield around her. She had one of her hands placed firmly against her forehead as if she were in pain, her teeth visibly clenching. Maha tried to stand up but a pain in her spine stopped her immediately. She immediately lay her hands on her chest and began to heal her body.
"Keyla! Hold him off!" She shouted. "I'm coming!" The pain was almost gone and just as she began to get up to her feet, a small force began to push her backwards. She tried to hold on to something as the force started to gain speed until her back met the wall and all air was pushed out of her lungs.
Keyla saw Maha crash at the other side of the room. The Necromancer didn't even turn to look at her when he sent the force that launched Maha away from them. He had only lifted his idle arm and pointed it towards her general direction. Keyla's shield was weakening since she had only briefly touched the Necromancer again. Cracks started to appear in the white bubble that was protecting her. The Necromancer turned up the voltage on his web-like lightning, surrounding Keyla, sucking the energy out of her. The shield suddenly disappeared, Keyla tried to make a run for it in super-speed but the lightning suddenly surrounded her and began to electrocute her.
Screams woke Maha up.
"No no no!" Her heart was racing. Everyone had already died. She couldn't lose Keyla. Maha force-pushed herself against the wall, sending herself to the other end, sliding across on her knees. Fists clenched, she powered up a great deal of force, pulling back her arm as if she were physically going to punch the man standing next to her loved one. Coming up behind and fast, she unleashed the force-punch. The force pushed off the cowl of the Necromancer but he stood unscathed and undisturbed. Keyla was still being electrocuted as he began to walk towards Maha who was still on her knees and bleeding.
"You aren't defending just a fellow soldier, are you?" He asked with a slight smile on his face. He raised a fist surrounded by a visible electric aura and clenched it, continuing Keyla's torment at an increased level. He waved the fist in front of Maha, her eyes fixed on her partner. "Are you lovers, I wonder? LOOK AT ME WHEN I SPEAK TO YOU!" He thundered. Maha began to cry. She couldn't breathe. She had never seen Keyla in so much pain before. Her eyes were almost red from the pain.
"Let her go! Let her go! Let her go!" She begged.
"Do something about it!" He taunted her. "Stop me, you bitch!"
"Torment me instead!" Maha screamed, almost clawing at the man who immediately kicked her back. She rolled back but suddenly floated into the air and was pressed hard against the wall. Keyla's body came past the Necromancer and crashed right next to her.
"Look into her eyes, if you dare!" He roared. "These are your last moments." Keyla was burning at this stage and still screaming in agony. The entire fort was drowning in her pain. "You have sinned in front of the Holy Father. Your actions under the false pretence of a Demigod are of the heaviest transgressions against the law of God! But to also commit sin and lay with the same sex... I sentence you to DIE! May God show you mercy!"
The Necromancer expanded the cage of lightning that surrounded Keyla over Maha. The two were forced together as the web-like rods of lightning shrank and increased in damage. Both of them were screaming now. Maha had never felt such pain. Her head felt like it was going to explode. Her eyes were sensitive and her body was achingly numb. Parts of her body she had never felt before were fully sensitive and in pain. She could smell their bodies burning and her insides were boiling.
And then, all too suddenly, they hit the floor. The electric blue that was surrounding them had vanished. Keyla's body sprawled on the ground. Maha was on her knees and hands but rolled to her side when her arms couldn't hold her up. Had the Necromancer given them mercy? With what little energy she had, Maha looked up at the man who was still there but no longer alive. Maha would have cried if she could but her body was at the edge of death. There was something protruding out of the man's chest. She tried to focus and understand what it was. Her vision was upside-down. She gasped when she finally realised what she was looking at. A hand, covered in blood, was holding a heart in its grasp. It slowly squeezed it, blood dripping heavily, and then vanished back into the man's chest.
Maha thought it was Arcadeus, finally come to rescue them, but an unfamiliar face greeted them as the Necromancer's body was tossed aside like trash. A tall handsome man with blond hair in a dark trench coat, wearing a smart suit underneath, stood in front of her with a straight face. He had the most focused look she had ever seen on a person. He looked at his left hand, admiring the blood it was covered in, and with a swift flick of the wrist, he was rid of it leaving behind a clean hand.
She waited for him to say something. He almost didn't acknowledge her presence. Instead, he waited for the Necromancer's God Particles to rise from his body. Maha's eyes shot wide open. This unknown man couldn't be allowed to simply take all of the Necromancer's powers.
"You..." she mumbled. Talking pained her but it didn't matter because the man didn't bother giving her attention. The handsome man extended out his arm and a stream of white light connected him and the Necromancer, several spheres of particles transferring visibly into his palm. There were tens and hundreds of God Particles per second leaving the body and suddenly stopped. There was no more.
The man inhaled, his chest expanding from the air inside him, and slowly exhaled with his eyes closed. Maha quickly looked at Keyla, her body wasn't moving and couldn't tell if she was breathing. She looked back at the man but her eyes felt drowsy, almost forcing her to sleep. Her head rested on the cold floor. She could feel the man moving towards them, towards Keyla. Her eyes were closed at this point. She couldn't see what the man was doing but a bright light shined and immediately knew the man was collecting Keyla's God Particle too.
Her lips wanted to move, to tremble and show sorrow. Her face wanted to react to the greatest loss of her life but then she found peace. Maybe I'll die too, she thought, so she smiled thinking all of this would be over soon. Just a few more seconds and maybe she'll wake up someplace with Keyla in her arms. A single tear formed and made its way over the bridge of her nose and dripped on the ground. Maha almost smiled at the thought of being happy forever with the love of her life.
The man started to move again. Was it her turn now? Yes, she thought as his hand rested against her neck.
"Hmm. Good." He stated blankly. "Maha Azim." He then whispered, sending a disgusting chill down her spine. She suddenly wanted to cry. Her muscles ached, she wanted to hide. She never wanted to hear her name again. She didn't want him touching her. She wanted to get away. Maha finally started to moan, not yet being able to cry with the state her lungs were in.
Her eyes suddenly shot wide open and she was ready to attack but this time a familiar face was in front of her. General Arcadeus Mara held her down with several others surrounding them.
"It's ok! It's ok!" He assured her. "You're safe!" She looked for the blond man but he had disappeared. Was it a dream? "It's ok. We're going to get you help."
Two Demigods carried Maha away on a stretcher. Everyone was surveying the area, trying to understand what had happened before they could interrogate her. There was a lot of talking on her way out but she overheard things she didn't want to hear before she left the dungeon. Everyone is dead. Even the Necromancer. She's the only one alive. Images of Keyla attacked her thoughts. Her insides hurt once more. Her head was in pain. Her lungs almost didn't allow it but she had to do something. Her soul was in agony. She would never be able to kiss her love again. The memories were too much and then she finally managed to bring out her voice. A cry of pain. A soul shattered into pieces.
No one talked for the past few minutes because the fort echoed with screams of loss.
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