RAVEN FYRE

Chapter 18

Raven could see the fire, see through it, feel it. She was herself and, at the same time, the raging flames that consumed the now helpless creatures along with the very air itself. For a moment, they were all drowned in a sea of blue fire. Some of the Needlers kept charging through it but, like everything else, they soon succumbed to the awesome heat.

Raven was mesmerized by her unprecedented display of power. The fire didn't consume her like it did the monsters. She felt it only as a strong wind wafting up around her body. The flames pouring from her being covered her hands and arms. Her long, silky, black hair was now a bright orange. It appeared to be almost ethereal as her output increased.

A familiar sound pierced through the corridors of her mind which was filled with only energy and rage. It was a voice. WarFairy!

"Raaaaaae! Raven! Stop! You have to stop!"

A small zap of lightning struck her back. Raven felt like she was a red-hot piece of coal being tossed into an ice-water bucket. Her flames were extinguished. The skin on her body felt colder and tighter than ever before. She tumbled to the ground in pain. Her emotions clashed like molten lava pouring into a freezing ocean, on the way down, with a feeling that was indescribable. The power that the flames filled her with was pure bliss. Letting it go was one of the hardest things she'd ever done.

"Shit!" WarFairy set Ell against the wall and rushed to grab Raven. "How did you do that? Why?!" She asked pulling Raven off the ground. Her eyes grew wider when she saw her up close. "How? It didn't burn you?"

"No, but it fuckin' hurt like hell." Raven's vision darkened in the blink of an eye. She could only feel the light tapping of her feet hitting the floor as she stumbled forward with her arm around WarFairy. Her own skin felt like warm rubber that had been tossed into a freezer.

Still, all her problems and worries were blown away by the singular, bittersweet emotion of feeling so powerful and yet so powerless at the same time. As her mind fought to hold on to any physical sensation, Raven found herself only able to think of that moment she ignited.

"C'mon Raven. You better keep those eyes open."

She thought of the person who granted her such abilities. Her astonishment at how Mike could wield such power, even with the Ark, weighed on her mind like a ton of bricks. It suffocated thoughts and smothered her consciousness.

"Fuck! There's more of them coming!"

WarFairy's voice began echoing away from her. Raven could hear the faint sound of her grunting and pulling on something. She knew it had to be the sound of her dragging Ell into the room as the one sound that did ring louder than all the others, was her thigh spike scraping along the floor like a large, sharp piece of glass on concrete.

"Shut already! C'mon, close damn you!"

The loud bang of the blast doors shutting rang her head but it wasn't doing much to keep her from slipping away. Although faint, Ell could be heard coughing and choking out blood from her throat. As other feelings slipped away from her, Raven heard WarFairy rushing over and digging her hands into her pockets, but she couldn't open her eyes.

"Shit! Don't you dare die in me know Ell. Just hang on."

White flooded her vision. The light soon retreated revealing a clear and crisp blue sky. There was a sharp nip in the air. When Raven looked around she saw nothing but a sea of snow all around her. She was standing at the foot of a snow covered mountain.

WarFairy's voice came to her as if she were speaking softly at the end if a long tunnel. "Don't fall asleep. You could end up in a comma. Wake up, Raven!"