The Sun & Moon

6

Iridessa walked alone around the perimeter of the city. She, Gilgamesh, and Kingo were on patrol tonight. At one time, the patrol had only required one Eternal. Now that Babylon had grown so much, it took three of them working simultaneously just to cover the whole border. As she walked, she formed a small ball of light in her hand. She let it dance and glide over her palm and fingers. It was a comfort tool that she'd developed recently after watching Sprite's illusions. Seeing her power do something to delight rather than to harm made her more relaxed.

Snap!

Her head turned sharply to one side. She frowned seeing nothing. Not even the shadows seemed to move. Sensing that she was not alone despite this, she turned and continued walking as if she hadn't heard anything. The soft sound of sand shifting filled her ears as she continued on. She took a few more steps then whirled around, throwing her hands up and creating a bright light. A thick tail came flying out of the dark knocking her into the wall.

Grunting when she hit the ground, Iridessa threw two small balls of light into the air to see by. A Deviant that had the shape of a serpent but with legs and large fangs stalked toward her. She formed a sword out of light, swiping at it when it got close. It dodged the sword and the tail swung out at her again. She jumped just in time to avoid it. The Deviant vanished into the shadows again.

Iridessa dissipated the sword and instead formed more balls of soft light. She didn't want to wake the humans as this would surely send them into a chaotic fright which would only complicate the whole matter. The orbs floated above the villagers' homes. She hurried to find the Deviant. A small flicker made her turn in time to see its tail vanish behind a house.

WIth a flick of her hand, all the lights went out. She ran over and knelt near the front of the house. The Deviant slowly emerged around the corner, its large head poking out first. Its massive fang glided right passed her head. She flattened herself on the ground as it stepped out more. At the last second, she rolled forward so that she was under it and pressed both hands to its chest. The creature had only a second to screech before it was ablaze. She got out from under it just as it toppled to one side.

Unfortunately, it had been closer to the house than she'd thought. As soon as it brushed up against it, the dry fronds that made up the roof of the house caught fire. She gasped as the fire quickly spread. She made sure the Deviant was dead before rushing inside.

"Get up! Wake up!" she shouted rousing the family.

A woman screamed seeing her and the husband jolted upright in bed.

"It's okay, sshhh..." Iridessa said quickly holding up a ball of light so they could see her face.

They relaxed but right then flaming fronds began to fall. The couple sprung out of bed fearfully.

"Go!" she ordered them and moved to the other room in the house.

The room was already on fire. She coughed as she tried to see through the smoke. It took her a minute to spot the three children tucked together against the wall. A wall of flames stood between them. Taking a deep breath, she held out her hands and concentrated. Slowly the flames began to die down. She had no idea that her eyes and body had begun to glow as she drew the flames into herself. Finally a path was cleared for the kids.

"Go! Go now!" she ordered nodding toward the door.

The oldest grabbed the hands of the younger ones and quickly pulled them out of the room. Iridessa followed behind them removing any fire that got in their path until they were outside. By the time they got out, many of the nearby villagers had been awoken by the fire and were helping to put it out. Iridessa dropped to her knees coughing.