Reaper's Crown

Ch. 151

Rowan let go of the arrow. "I wish I could understand why you chose to ascend. Did you do it to save yourself from this fate? Everywhere I go, this curse only seems to come back. In the form of everything in life that I once loved, and I still do." they looked up with a distant expression, as Ennyou struggled to create enough bones to cover himself from the fire.

The arrow permeated through their shoulder, before sticking out on the other side and creating a trail leading through the canyon. Quickly snapping, Rowan jumped to the side and lifted Ingo out of trouble, but not long before the entire structure that Ennyou created shook. The massive hand came crashing from above, swiping at the two.

Rowan leapt to the left, and Ingo flew to a bone on the right. Suddenly, though, instead of crashing right in the middle, it headed towards the Haran, slicing through the mountain bits at the sides and pushing him elsewhere.

"INGO!" Rowan yelled out, as smoke covered their view, and the moving bones suddenly stopped. They ran forward, making huge leaps across chunks of the white flesh, before seeing Ingo tumbling down somewhere further below. They didn't even have time to gasp for air or head downwards to help him, as the limb swooped right back in, pushing Rowan up above the structure and further away from Ennyou.

The other Tributal stopped entirely, as the extensions behind him stretched to where the canyon ended. Rowan stared at the sky for a bit, with an open, shocked mouth.

"My ears can hear..!" Rowan added, opening their eyes and looking at the others. "Seriously, though, why not me? Is Ambrosia a better Demonear? Did they outmatch my level this fast?"

Rowan tugged on the bow's string, teeth clenched in fury. Black flame seeped out from beneath their eyelid, with a red eye flashing towards Ennyou's face. The arrow zoomed through the air, as Ennyou raised his hand, with the shaft crashing to his left. However, whatever Rowan chanted was persistent. They dove down, the dark flame engulfing their hand, and with a snap, it came flying back, before being caught in the same, burnt palm.

Rowan launched it forward, but this time, much like in that tornado Ennyou earlier created, it spun around before Ennyou's gaze couldn't catch it.

The structure started crashing through the rocks at the sides and sliding towards the ground. With the airtime they created, Rowan safely landed on the mountainside, pushing their hand forward.

Then, the explosion came. Everything around Ennyou came to a crisp halt, and bits and pieces of rocks, ground and alike flew at Rowan, as they covered their face with their arms. Quickly breathing out, though, it flashed again, after a moment of darkness. A thin bone moved in like a Malikan snake, sliding around Rowan's body and pushing them towards Ennyou's face. Rowan gasped, trying to conjure up the handcuffs, but their hand almost snapped in two.

When all the smoke cleared, a smile forced itself on Ennyou's face, since half of it was already burnt, and the other ravaged in anger. A wound created by Rowan.

The Tributal breathed in, shaking. The pain didn't seem to matter, and everything slowed down, again.

Looking at his face, Rowan squinted their eyes.

"What about you, Rowan?" Ennyou pointed with his hand, closing one eye. "What would your flowers bring?" he asked.

"Nothing, still." they thought, shaking their head reluctantly. "Yours would scream of this strength. The way a human was always supposed to live. Chasing a dream, until the day the light stopped shining, and you were to give that torch to someone else. It's selfish of me. I wish I never had to steal the torch away from you because it was burning all along. I wish, though, it'd never stop gleaming now. Everywhere I go, this curse only seems to come back. To the people I still love."