Dying Wish

[31] Death in a Graveyard

It was more than a fight. It was a battle. Beginning with this suffocating standoff. Glares locked. Alice in the perch. Batch on the ground. The blond made the first move. And what a subtle first move it was. The slightest flick of her sparking fingertips called down a flash of white.

KR-POW!

I scurried from the tree. Chunks and splinters crashed around the base, doused in orange light and crackling embers. My heart wasn't slamming like you might expect. No, it stopped. That's what the fear did.

It swiveled my eyes to find her— had Alice fallen?

The answer was no.

The flames started to dance. They whooshed over my head, into the night sky and swirled around Alice's diving body, like water swirls around a torpedo. That's how fast she was going. The light on her face showed the ferocity in her hazel eyes. All her fury and hatred headed for Batch. I had to do my very best to track their movements thereafter. Calling them "fast" would be an insult to them and the word.

Alice was bouncing about. Throwing her punches and kicks. But Batch would send her back. Her palms were open and laced with sparks. Every blow Alice suffered added more scuffs to her face and costume, as she tumbled through grass and dirt. Sometimes, Batch would grapple her by the wrist or ankles and fling her away. On those occasions, Alice would twirl through the air like an acrobat and land on the balls of her feet, eager to lunge again.

Batch had to be an acrobat, too. The flames Alice controlled kept her enemy in constant motion; they swooped down to defend their master. During one of Batch's flips, a sudden counterattack, a flash of white, made Alice gasp. That should've knocked Alice into the grass for sure. Instead, Batch flew off her feet.

Because the flash went horizontal. I looked at Alice. She was hunching and breathing heavy. Her palms were down to her thighs, like they weighed a million pounds. They were singed black and smoking. I couldn't believe it.

"Ss-she threw the lightning," I muttered. "Alice, you're incredible." I swelled with pride. Maybe, I thought, this was it. The turning point needed to break Batch and get us through this night alive. Alice felt it, too. The preciousness of the moment. She had to seize it. Now!

Alice's hand slashed across her body from right to left. As a result, a floating streak of fire raced toward Batch, who was still flat on her back. And she'd stay like this. The attack slammed down on Batch's body. BOOM! The fury of an explosion trembled the ground and engulfed her in this inferno of blinding orange light. The first of many. That's right. Alice was relentless. With a shriek in her throat, she hurled more of these attacks. More explosions.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

There would be one more. Different from all the others. Larger, too. How could it not be? Alice's scream was so shrill. Every vein in and above her neck bulged. All the flames left in her arsenal whooshed into the air. Twisted together, those flames took the shape of something. Something with the face of a monster.

Boulder-sized eyes. Giant jaws. Wings long and flapping in a hovered maneuver. I had to squint to keep out the wild waves of dirt washing over me. Everything was made of crackling hot fire. A creature missioned into this world with one purpose. The smaller inferno Batch suffered blew away. The timing was perfect. She could see for herself the monster ready to destroy her. Terror pinned her burned and blistered body to the ground.

The monster crashed at her feet. The neck craned toward her face. A billion degrees hot.
A massive sphere of hellfire spun on its tongue. But this was a creature of loyalty and obedience. All it needed was the signal to attack.

Alice stopped panting long enough to give that signal. She screeched.

So did this monster.

The light was blinding and the explosion flung chunks of tombstone everywhere. I ducked behind the tree, heard the bark rip away. Those were the longest seconds of my life. Then everything went as silent as, well, death.

That should've been it. The turning point I mentioned.

Indeed, it was. Just in the wrong direction.

KR-POW!

I gasped.

I peered my astonished face around the tree. "How?" I said. Never was there a more perfect word. What I saw was impossible for so many reasons.

Batch was on her feet. Skin free of soot. It glowed white and crackled with sparks. Sleek robes covered her. A perfect, blond ponytail flowed down her spine. There was one answer for this: the Conquest Coin.

A look was in Batch's eyes. A different look. A possessed look. Similar to the way Alice looked when this started. Devoid of joy. Filled with hatred. Venom seeped into Batch's voice. She said to Alice, "That coin is... MINE!"

"BRING IT, BITCH!" Alice shouted.

ANYONE ELSE SUPER HYPED? I KNOW I AM!!

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