Deities of Deceit

Chapter Fifty-four

Hareti Jaja | Fifty-four
—
DEITIES OF DECEIT
—

The orange flames swirling around his palm raged, towering high enough to engulf a hut as it created a semi-circle around him. As if molding the flames, he swayed one palm over the other, elevating from the ice. I narrowed my eyes at him in anticipation of what his next offense would be, his flame continuously growing.

"Shit," I muttered with a growl in my throat when it became clear.

He slammed the fireball into the ice and it cracked. The crack followed a trail, traveling toward me at an atrocious speed, splitting my land of ice in two, barely giving me enough time to jump to one side. I was quick to recover but so was he in his next assault, this time throwing a fireball directly at me. I fell backward, scrambling back to my feet in the same breath.

More fireballs came, each one thinning the time I had to recover. From every angle, he was eminent and thorough, as if annoyed by my very existence. I hopped from side to side, escaping his assaults before breaking into a race that gave me enough time to retaliate.

Summoning water from the air as I ran, I began molding an ice ball. It was then the conclusion came to me. If I cannot beat him in the presence of light, I sure as hell will destroy him in the depths of darkness. Dodging another fireball assault, I leaped around and threw my ice ball at him. Landing my back on the ice from the force it took, I slid to the edge of the ice without anything to hold onto.

My ice ball destroyed the fireball already aiming for me, then slammed into his stomach, giving me enough time to regain my stand. I summoned water and prepared for another assault. For every fireball he sent my way, I returned an ice ball, until it went straight to his face, knocking him down from flight. The distance between us stretched as I intended it. We needed ample space for my plan to succeed.

He rose to his feet with a wobble, swaying from side to for a time before shaking off whatever pain my ice ball inflicted on him, and I flicked him over with two fingers, urging him forward, urging him to come for me. He obeyed, starting toward me with small weakened steps while summoning lightning. I nodded and started toward him with the same pace, my eyes cautiously watching his hands.

His steps quickened and the lightning he summoned grew.

My steps quickened and I strengthened the magic resting in my core.

He broke into a run, his lightning now a spider web of a thousand flaming streaks, attached to every curve of his body.

I broke into a run, willing my magic out of me, feeling it swell until it was incontainable.

He readied his fist for an assault and I readied mine in false offense.

Forty feet apart.

Thirty feet.

Twenty feet.

I opened my fist and willed my magic outward creating a portal between us, fully aware it'd be too late for him to stop, too late for him to slow down. From opposite sides, we crashed ten feet below the Atlantic Ocean and my soul came alive, every weakened muscle in my being strengthening, refortifying me, my magic enriching.

The water put out the fire, but the lightning, now out of control, tortured his body, sending only a soft vibration through me. Nimah lost his balance, a bird bamboozled by the weight of water, but I could see and think clearer than ever, move faster. The world underwater was at its purest in my presence.

For a minute, or two, we appeared to be stuck in a globe of water and lightning, and I floated and watched, taking in the sight of the struggling pale figure before me, waiting for the moment he'd stop fighting it and allow the water carry him to me. He was resilient. We needed to go deeper.