Child of Red and Blue

Chapter Two

Sir frowned at the three story building crumbling before him. Given the size, the humans owning it had to be quite wealthy. Too bad the being made entirely of fire about twenty feet from it was reducing all they had to ash.

The humans with their sirens and yelling were forced two hundred yards from the sun in human form by the energy blasting off it. The being had energy so corrosive it manifested as flames that burned not only the body, but the soul.

And here Sir was, glaring at the damn being. Heat passed through Sir's skin to grate his soul, causing his face to pinch. In retaliation, the soul within him shot pain into his body. Before Sir could suppress it, the pain lessened.

“Why must you always allow yourself to suffer?” A feminine voice called from his left.

“We have bigger things to worry about than my self-destructive tendencies,” Sir called, only sparing a glance to Ivory to hide her presence from the humans.

The orange flames made her pure white skin glow. The green gems embedded in her forehead shimmered in either fear or excitement. Her red eyes provided no hints of either emotion. Her nose still lifted upward at the end, but her hair had been cut to her lower back instead of flowing out like a cape.

They both looked at the being. Oranges, reds, and yellows swirled and danced in the form of a human female. Piercing white light shown from where human eyes rested. Flames flickering from the being licked at the walls, danced through the hole above her head, and cast the entire building in smoke. The being was beautiful, and vacant. There was no mind to obliterate; no one to control the soul which stood exposed.

Sir studied the vehicles scattered around them. Given how they lay, and how the trees around them were bent away from the fiery being, they must have been parked in a semi circle. Sir's eyes lingered on a boxy van. Before the fire had charred it's chipping paint, the thing was riddled with rust. A door on the driver side was open, but no charred body was in sight.

“No one knows how this started,” Sir said, glancing at the red and blue lights in the distance. “More relevant, no one knows what that being is.”

Ivory glanced at the humans in disgust at their ignorance. “Does this being have a mind?”

“None that I can find.”

“Then it is not a vessel.”

Sir looked at her, almost shocked she didn’t berate him for not finding something. Maybe thousands of years did change a person. It sure did the first time. Ivory caught him looking then narrowed her eyes in a silent scold.

Nope, there she is.

“With energy that intense, we can’t touch her,” Sir said, trying to regain some professionalism.

As if to prove him wrong, Ivory waved her hand nonchalantly at the being. A red spell carved itself over the fiery being’s head, then was burnt to nonexistence. Narrowing her eyes in irritation, Ivory cast her spell once more. It reappeared thicker, brighter, and yet, was burnt just as quickly.

Ivory’s chest swelled and she muttered, “atenuhan,” under her breath. The spell carved into the earth around the home, ripping up dirt, irrigation piping, and roots. Sir sighed at the spray of water that evaporated into mist. And still, the burning being in the middle of a burning forest did nothing.

“Like I said,” Sir continued, masking Ivory’s irritated sigh, “we cannot touch her. The Ankora’s energy—”

“This being is not the Ankora,” Ivory countered. “Without a mind, it is just a soul.”

“The Ankora’s energy points to the Ankora’s soul,” Sir called. He opened his mouth to ask her why she always had to argue with him, but decided against it. “We need to find a way to extinguish it.”

Ivory’s pupils blazed white and for the first time she frowned. “There is a second soul. It’s small, nearly still. A dull color.”

“Human?” Sir pushed his own vision to the spiritual world. It cut out the flames of the being, through the energy, to show him the pure essence. The image didn’t look much different than the tangible world in terms of the color of the being.

But, he caught a glimpse of a dull, lavender color between the swirls of the other soul. Buried deep within the first soul, but not quite fighting to get out. Instead of burning away, like everything else in the presence of the chaotic, fiery soul, it remained still as if at peace.

“Impossible,” Sir muttered. He returned his view to the tangible world and looked to Ivory. “The body is possessed, but the Ankora’s mind isn’t present.”

Why would the Ankora lend its soul to a being that couldn’t act? Perhaps it was a distraction?

“We need to kill her,” Sir finally said. “Without a mind, this soul is viable to possession.”

“A second time?” Ivory mocked.

Sir glared at her, but knew it was a dumb idea. Rather than admit he had no idea what was going to happen or why this was happening, he raised his hand. The power that had been pouring out of him like steam from a shower solidified into a black mist. It stampeded for the soul, piercing through the heat and initial layer of energy. Then it spread out, challenging the flames for space.

The burning being seemed unaware of the threat closing in around her. It was difficult to tell if the soul was even paying them any attention.

A deep sadness filled Sir as he funneled more of his power around the being, blocking her view from him. He wasn’t sure if it was an emotion that stemmed from him, but he buried it with the thoughts of what that soul could do to the universe. What it had done.

Ivory crossed her arms and allowed her power to float from her in a stream of greens. It wove between Sir’s blacks and coated his cocoon in a green sheen. “One hand on your soul,” Ivory said as Sir felt her energy slip around his soul.

Urgency raised in Sir, an impulse much like the need to pull your hand from an open flame, but Sir didn’t feel in danger, nor was he in any more pain than usual. It wasn’t excitement, or anticipation. It was as if someone were screaming in his head orders to cease under the threat of death, or that if he continued the world would crumble under his feet.

If only.

The power around the exposed soul clenched. A high pitched whine grated against their ears, making the humans scream and fall to their knees. The being’s flames wiggled through Ivory and Sir’s power. Black eroded. Green was stretched thin. The lava being with the bright holes of light appeared once more, unharmed and uninterested.

“Bury her,” Ivory suggested.

“My power won’t hold enough to move her.”

“Move the planet.”

“Why not just shift the entire solar system?” Sir asked, battling his annoyance and the increased pain pulsing through his body. “She’s only fixed to one spot right? Let’s just wait her out until she burns a hole through space. With dense enough energy, she could have it done in a few centuries.”

Ivory glared at Sir for his sarcasm. She might have countered with sly personal attacks he’d only realize decades later if not for sudden drop in her brows and part in her mouth. She turned to Sir with white pupils. For a moment, Sir was scared. It took a lot to move Ivory to such vulnerability.

Then, as if realizing she'd revealed herself, Ivory's expression hardened. “Watch the being.”

“And where are you going that is more pressing?”

Her red eyes cut him and Sir found himself angry.

“This is the end of everything,” Sir barked. “Never has a vessel been so advanced. We can't do anything against this.”

“Then don't.” With that, Ivory disappeared.

Sir braced for the pain, but it had reverted to a dull, full body ache. Sighing in relief, Sir moved himself fifty yards back. He submerged his presence below that of the humans and waited. Soon, the Majnorum will notice and this being will no longer be his problem.