Recovery-Sequel to Burn and America(Captain America FanFic) [DISCONTINUED]

Chapter 2

She ran down the dark hallway, sword raised, torches blazing along the hall, illuminating her beautiful face.

Sweat poured down her face, and her breathing came in spastic, short pants as sharp pain coursed through her body from her right side.

Almost there, She thought.

One last trial, and I can go home.

She had passed her seven previous trials with ease, cutting down her enemies with her sword like a hot knife through soft butter.

The first trial had been a fire demon, its black skin and red eyes and its barely human facial features and body structure giving it an insane, feral appearance. She had incinirated the demon within seconds, not even drawing her sword.

The second trial was a room filled with water. A few stepping stones were placed sporadically, as if to give her a way across. As if those stones would help her get across.

Two fire demons sat in the middle, teeth bared and their black, soot colored bodies covered in cuts oozing with blood and pus.

She had incinerated them, their charred bodies falling into the water, dissolving their bodies. She flew across.

The third trial was a little different. She had to fight and kill three demons without a light source in the room. With nuch effort, she lit a bonfire in the middle and slayed the three demons; green, scaly animals that crawled on all fours and looked like a helpless human in need of an exorcism.

She was glad to put them out of their misery.

The fourth and fifth trials were similar. She fought alien like monsters, their bodies blue and wielding giant weapons made of ice. These two trials posed the most difficulty so far. In the fifth trial, when she had been fighting five of these towering, icy monsters, one of the ice swords had sliced her across the side, not deep, just a surface wound, actually, but it still hurt.

The ice was cold and agonizing against her skin, her fiery existance not enjoying the cold sensation in the least.

The sixth trial wasn't a fight. It was listening to the dying screams of everyone she ever cared about. Screams of agony and pain, her friends, all of them, cursing her name and screaming in pain, blaming her for the pain they were being put through.

This trial wasn't a fight. She just had to sit there and listen to their screams, until the sounds were ingrained in her mind, forever trapped in her brain.

The seventh trial was disturbing. There was a little girl, maybe four or five, covered head to toe in blood, her honey blond hair drenched in the sticky red substance. A tall creature, maybe seven feet tall, with skin the color of the night and armor to match, had cornered the little girl in the corner of the room, which resembled a throne room. The little girl was whimpering, holding her blue dagger out in a feeble attempt to defend herself.

It sickened the young fire maiden to think that this little girl would be slautered by this creature, who's skin was dark enough to blend into the night.

The monsters complexion was burned into the fire maiden's mind, and she vowed, if she ever saw another, she would kill it.

She had run forward, and killed the creature with one quick slice to the neck. The head came off and rolled grotesquely across the room.

The little girl, her body covered with blood, reeking of the foul substance, sat in the corner, sobbing uncontrollably, whispering words the fire maiden were not familiar with.

The scene changed, and she was in her eigth trial. This one, she was in a room filled with those dark skinned creatures, and destroying them weren't as hard as they should have been.

Once she had slain them all, they rose up, limbs askew and moaning with a voice so sorrowful and pitiful, the fiery woman's heart broke as she quickly immobolized them, severing their legs and arms from their bodies.

But the dark creatures still moved. They were immortal, unkillable. The best she could do was immobolize them. With a heavy and sorrowful heart, she had left them, moaning for her to end their pain, and ran down the opened hallway where she was now.

She sprinted through the rocky arch, and emerged into a rocky cavern resembling a familiar cave from her past.

She shivered as she gripped her sword nervously, fear, dread, and adrenaline coursed through her body, setting her on edge, sharpening her senses and reflexes.

"None of them have made it this far before." A strong, elegant voice said from within the darkness of the cave.

"Come inside, and all will be revealed." The voice, definitely female, said soothingly. Her words sent the woman on edge, but she stepped inside bravely, head held high, an air of power exuding from her petite frame.

"I'm not afraid to." She said bravely, her sword twirling between her hands.

"No?" The voice asked, a hint of amusement in her voice.

Suddenly, a large bonfire burst into flames in the center of the room. At a closer glance, the woman realized it wasn't a bonfire.

It was an obsidian throne, with golden furnishings. Flames licking the throne itself, and the air surrounding the throne for a five foot radius was on fire.

A woman sat in the middle of the fire, a smile on her face. Her hair was shiny and black, a brilliant luster as it fell in a straight curtain down her back.

Her eyes were so dark brown, that they looked almost black, matching her hair. Her lips were dark red, and her skin was fair. She held a golden staff in her hand, a pair of golden wings topping the end and a glass like orb of swirling red flames were inside.

She stood, wearing a red flowing dress showing off her shoulders and collarbone. She smiled as she emerged from the fire.

"The only way you can have my power is to fight me."

The woman stiffened at the name. "I don't want your power." She replied evenly, leveling her sword and shifting her stance slightly.

"I just want to go home." The elegant spirit before her smiled softly. "I am sorry Landra-Dottir," She replied. "But the only way to leave the Hall of Fire is to fight and replace me." She said evenly.

She nodded. "I understand." She replied.

The fiery goddess nodded, and the red dress melted away, transforming into red metalic armor, the golden staff by her side growing into a full staff with a bladed end, the golden wings disappearing and the red stone shrunk into a simple furnishing in the center of the golden blade.

"You understand the consequences of this duel, yes?" She asked again.

The woman nodded, her green eyes sparkling in excitement for the first time in a while.

"I have to be quick though. I've got a date."