Abyss's Embrace

Chapter 9: The Jester

„Would you perhaps like to travel with us? You seem nice and we could use someone to heal our wounds after a battle, Pyke is actually still wounded" Jaxith said while pointing to the wound on his brothers leg. Alora healed Pykes wound, it looked almost like the wound magically patched itself. „Can the two of us discuss this for a moment please?" Alora asked. „Sure, take all the time you need" Jaxith replied. The two went away from the group, to a distance where they could not be heard. „Alora, why didn't you just deny them, it has always just been the two of us, why do you want that to change now?" Nerezza asked with pleading eyes. „Neri, I do not particularly want that to change, but those people need our help. Did you even see how messed up Jaxith was?" Alora replied to her girlfriend. "I did, but why is it our problem if he gets himself in trouble, I only need you, we don't need a group with us." Nerezza countered. "But they need us, Nerezza, I promise I will still take care of you the way I always have, you are not going to lose me." Alora reassured the girl with the coat that almost looked like the sunset. "Do you promise me that, Alora?" Nerezza asked, her voice beginning to shake. "Of course, Neri, I will always take care of you." Alora said in a soft-spoken voice. They hugged, gave each other a kiss and then went back to the group. "We will accompany you for now." Alora exclaimed, "that's wonderful news" Jaxith said with a huge smile.

They continued further down the spiral of the abyss, the flame of hate against that thing that killed his mother was still burning strong deep within Jaxiths soul. Suddenly, something that looked like a portal opened about ten meters in front of them. A creature that looked almost like a jester stepped out. It was wearing mostly red clothes with silver and red jewelry and was about two meters tall. It was also wearing a mask and had fire red hair, almost like an inferno. But something was off about it, it had some weird sort of horns on its head. This was no human, or if it was, it had to have been massively warped by the abyss. "Princess Ignis of the silver castle, I have come for your head." The jester spoke. "Now do you dare to face me alone or do you need your companions to help you?" It continued. Jaxith, with his new found confidence, immediately fired a shard of ice at the jester. It created a portal for the shard to fly into before it could even reach him. "Pathetic, you worms will not be bothering me anymore." The jester exclaimed. It opened a portal for each member of the group except for Ignis. Claws, resembling those of dragons, pulled everyone into their separate portals. It was now only Ignis and the mysterious Jester left. "So, who sent you to come after me? My parents? I doubt they would ever care enough." Ignis scoffed at the jester. "Your parents put a huge bounty on your head, they want you dead." It said with a slight hint of joy in its voice. "Not surprised about it." Ignis answered in a low voice while pointing a finger gun at the jester. "Well then, lets see if you can beat me" Ignis said in a confident tone, "BANG" she fired her finger gun that shot out a bullet of electricity at the jester, it stretched out its hand, forming a tiny portal for the bullet to fly into. "Impeccable speed, but sadly not enough." The jester said in a malicious voice as he created a fireball in his hand. He threw it at Ignis, it flew at an amazing speed but Ignis dodged out of the way, she was so fast, it almost seemed like she teleported. "Oh trust me, we are just getting started" Ignis said while giving the jester a huge grin. She approached the jester up front, her motions turning into a blur because of her speed. The jester stretched out its hand, reading an attack to burn Ignis to a crisp. Just before the flames of the attack were about to hit her, Ignis dodged to the right and kept going towards the jester until, in mere seconds, she stood right beside him. "Still think I am too slow, pathetic clown?" Ignis said with a sinister glare, before the jester could react, she held one hand next to its head, and sent a lightning bold straight at him, the force of which sent the jester flying into the nearest stone wall. Ignis went to walk away, thinking she'd won with ease, but then, she heard laughing behind her. She turned around to saw the jester coming out of the same wall that she had just sent him flying into. "You are fast, but you lack in strength. However, since you want to get serious, so be it." The jester said while sprouting two huge dragon wings from its back. It took off into the air and started bombarding Ignis with fireballs. "You can't run forever; you will get tired eventually!" The jester yelled out. "It is right, I can't keep doing this forever, I will tire out faster than it will, keeping up this speed is already exhausting enough and now it is flying as well, how am I supposed to win this fight" Ignis though to herself. After a few more minutes of simply dodging the jesters fireballs, Ignis was starting to tire out. "I have to finish this soon, otherwise I won't have any strength left to kill it" Ignis thought, getting more and more desperate as the fight went on. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head. "This is absolutely crazy, but its my only chance of actually finishing this" she thought to herself. She used the last of her strength to increase her speed even further, beyond perception. She used her speed to run up the wall that the jester was flying next to, as soon as she reached the height that the jester was on, she jumped from the wall while creating a lightning bolt in her hand. When shes perfectly positioned over the jester, she rammed the lightning bolt through the back of its head, using it almost like a spear. The jesters dragon wings retracted and he fell to the ground together with Ignis, both of them crashed to the ground. The grass around the area was either completely burned up from the jesters inferno or was painted red by its blood. Ignis managed to get up despite being in pain, she walked over to the crater the jester left behind from their crash to the ground but all that was left in that crater was the jesters mask.