On the underside of the island I was keeping Arshad busy. The surprise attack had taken down one of the deadies, while I kept Arshad busy here. It was wrong of me to let them deal with the other two deadies but there was not much I could do here without having Ethereal gates to evade attacks. Getting hit by a super human even once would have ended me in one go.
All I could do was use Cherry to stay out of his chained sickle's range and throw debris at him to make him tired. It was working because he started to get tired. I could notice his movements become slower. Unfortunately even I was getting tired of throwing stuff at him. Almost all the debris had formed spinning ringed orbits around the island. If I could rain it all down on the island at once it would definitely take Arshad down, or at least distract him enough to get closer.
I didn't have the power to control gravity, but I could control mass. Only I would have to close in on Arshad, which was risky.
I asked Cherry, "Is this the fastest we can move?"
Cherry replied, "Negative sir, we could use Agility mode but it would only last 30 seconds and then revert back to regular speed, since I am unable to gather as much phonic energy here."
"Thirty seconds is enough, I think I can do it," I replied.
"OK sir, switching into agility mode now," Cherry replied.
"No, not now, on my command," I said.
I took four large branches, then flew around him in circles throwing large pieces at him. When he was busy turning around and dodging the debris I swooped in close to him as close as I could. By the time he realised I was moving straight towards him it was a bit late.
Just as he flung his weapon at me I spoke, "Cherry, now."
The hexagonal sectioned plate that I was standing on split into two pieces from the middle and some sections folded one around my foot to make a translucent orange shoe. The wisps of steam that shot out of it now trailed out from behind. I shot forward with great speed, much faster than I had ever seen or experienced, even more so than when I travelled from the Moon to Earth with Lord Ishrafil.
I flew past the weapon with relative ease although it was a bit hard for me to manoeuvre as well. Everything appeared to be a blur so my responses were not fast enough to actually control this thing. As of now I just wanted to run away for a bit and for this, my skills would suffice. I dodged the sickle and darted behind Arshad and out of his sight.
I flew behind one large root sticking out of the land and hid behind it. Then I took out my core and touched the base of the island and spoke, "Anukaran."
Within an instant, another island was created just above mine. I repeated myself once again creating three islands there. That instantaneous rise in mass caused a huge change in the gravity. The debris floating around the island in rings broke apart and plummeted towards the islands. The rain of smaller specs of water, dirt and twigs changed into a downpour of large shrapnel. It began to rain down aggressively and hit the ground hard. The islands that I created disappeared moments later but it had already set a chain reaction in motion.
A few large pieces of wood struck Arshad hard and he fell to the floor. He was already tired because of the continuous dodging and attacking me. The barrage of debris happened on both the sides of the island and I was hoping that Paviraa and the others could improvise a way to get out of its path.
Initially Cherry's agility mode kept me safe but once it's energy resources had depleted, it reverted back to normal speed and even I was in danger. A few logs hit my arm but fortunately they were too small to hurt me. I snuck under another large root and hid from as much of the debris as I could.
Arshad had already fallen on the floor and he was getting hit again and again. Within minutes he was buried under the weight of all that fell down. I waited here nervously as the root that protected me was being pushed to its limits. I doubted if it could handle another couple minutes of this barrage.
I touched its surface and spoke, "Anukaran."
Another root formed just above this root and the structure held through this punishing ordeal. It must have been twenty minutes before the sky cleared and the torrent stopped. When the dust settled, I flew out on Cherry to the other side and found my friends huddled around one another surrounded by a circular pile of all that fell. Mary's luck must have protected her, and in turn protected the other two as well. I landed next to them and Cherry returned around my finger.
"So, what's up?" I asked casually.
"Whatever was up, came down a few minutes back," Omar joked.
He looked entirely beaten up. His sleeves were torn and his arms and legs were covered in blue bruises.
Paviraa said, "We are all exhausted. If it was just the fight, I would have been OK. But then this absurd rainfall of heavy things from the sky, that was so mentally exhausting."
"Don't tell me, I had nothing to do with it," I replied.
"I am happy that I could keep you guys out of harm's way," Mary said.
"You always do, Mary, you always keep us safe. Especially me, and I can't thank you enough," Omar said.
Paviraa nodded. I gave my hand to Omar and helped him up. This time he was in a better shape. No broken bones: Just intense fatigue.
"I guess it is over," I replied.
Not yet. If it was over, you would not be here. You would have been back on Earth.
I heard that familiar voice in my head.
A sudden bolt of purple lightening erupted from the centre of the tree. The lightening grew larger within seconds. The deafening thunder and sudden blast of wind that followed left us disoriented. The whole island shook violently. The tree began to rustle and abruptly began to grow backwards into the ground.
A blood curdling wail was heard from the tree and its trunk split apart into two. A grotesque figure covered in a translucent pink bag of tissue filled with blood emerged. A pair of hands tore through the pink layer and a person came out. It was an obese lady dripping with blood. She was draped in a robe of wood fibres with purple lightening coursing through it furiously as her chest heaved with anger.
She screamt, "You ruined everything! I collected souls for so long to give rise to the twins of devastation. Now I will have to start from scratch and re-do all my work. But first, I will make you suffer."
She bit her own wrist and blood began to drip from her wounds. It accumulated in her palms and took the shape of a riding crop with a decorative knot on top. She swung it horizontally and caused a blast of air, just by its motion.
"Dude, she seems strong. Let's make a break for it," Omar said.
"We can't. There is no way to escape unless we defeat her. Apparently she created this realm," I said.
"How are we going to defeat her when we are so worn out ourselves?" Omar asked.
"I have no idea. Paviraa, Mary, any ideas?" I asked looking at them.
Paviraa was throwing daggers at the lady; I could feel the anger she had inside as she looked at the woman. Mary held on to Paviraa's hands tightly holding her back.
"Umm, are you sure?" Mary asked Paviraa.
"I am. I can never forget that voice," Paviraa replied as she continued to glare at her without even blinking once. Silent tears streamed down her eyes.
"Paviraa, is everything OK?" I asked her.
She looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, "Agniya."
A bright flash surrounded all of us and we were blinded for a few seconds. When we opened our eyes, we found Paviraa running towards the woman with flames blasting under her feet to give her speed.
"You killed my father!" Paviraa screamed as she charged at the woman head on.
Her hands created intense white hot flames and she threw them at the woman. The woman was engulfed by the smoke. Paviraa dove into the smoke dauntlessly with flaming hands. Explosions, one after another erupted from where they were fighting. I ran towards Paviraa to help her but Omar stopped me midway.
"Dude, these explosions would kill you. Relax, we have Mary keeping Paviraa safe," he said.
I accepted his logic and waited back. This condition that I saw Paviraa in, was truly painful for me. Every tear that escaped her eyes had the salt of all the oceans in them and they burnt all the wounds inside me so intensely, so painfully. It took my entire resolve just to stop myself from rushing mindlessly into the fight. Even Omar was on his toes, waiting for a chance to jump in and help. We both inched closer while Mary maintained a safe distance.
The explosions stopped. When the smoke cleared we saw Paviraa face down in the mud while Nyx had pressed her knee into her back. She held onto both of Paviraa's hands behind her back. Omar changed into his crocodile form and got ready. I turned my stone core into a baton and stepped upon Cherry.
"I remember you now. You almost killed me when you were a little runt," Nyx told Paviraa.
"Let go of me," Paviraa answered back struggling.
"Such a pathetic shell of a man he was: weak, foolish, and worthless. He died to save you: when it was obvious that I would kill you immediately after. If he had let you die, he would have lived. Such is the thinking of fools. Good thing I tore his limbs apart. But you, you filthy little bitch. You escaped. Now you won't get that chance again," Nyx replied.
Paviraa got more furious with her words and struggled to get out of her grasp. Her tears marked the earth under her face as impuissance wore her will out. She put her sweat soaked brow against the ground and mud caked on her beautiful face. I couldn't hold myself back anymore.
Both Omar and I rushed towards her. Omar gnashed his teeth while I fastened my grip on my baton and flew on Cherry once again. Paviraa looked at us in horror, as if she had seen a ghost.
"Behind you!" she screamed with tears in her eyes.
We thought she was looking at us, but she was looking far behind us. We turned around as well. Mary was standing at a distance with her hands outstretched to aid Paviraa. Behind her was Arshad.
He plunged his powerful hands straight into her back and we heard her ribs shatter. His hands emerged out the front and in his hands he held her still beating heart. He began to laugh hysterically as the beating of her heart slowed down and Mary's glazed eyes stared a thousand yards away. He pulled his hands out of her torso leaving behind a hole in her chest. She fell to her knees and slouched down as blood gushed from her nose and chest. Arshad dropped the heart on his foot and stepped on it as he began walking towards us. It got crushed under his weight. He left a trail of blood behind as he walked towards us. Mary was dead.
Paviraa screamed loudly with a roaring scream. Omar was infuriated as well. He rushed towards Arshad. I heard Nyx laugh loudly looking at our reactions. None of us could think straight anymore. I looked towards Paviraa and there was an intense glow on her neck followed by a high pitch sound. The woman let go of Paviraa's hands and tried to get up but it was too late. With a sudden flash of light Paviraa's core exploded.
Everyone was thrown away. Omar and I were flung away and we crashed into the ground. When the light subsided and the dust settled I saw Omar laying on the ground. I saw Arshad rush towards me. He kicked me in my stomach and I fell back down. The insides of my mouth tasted like iron and all I could hear was a loud ringing in my ears. He lifted me up with both his hands and hurled me on the floor. I heard something snap near my shoulder.
Suddenly I noticed a distant glow. Arshad's eye widened as he saw it and instantly reached for me. He then pushed me back on the ground and rushed towards the glow. I tried to make sense of what was happening but I had no idea. I saw Arshad drag Nyx's half burnt body out of the dust and away from the glow.
The dust settled and I saw Paviraa standing there. Her body was burning hot. The drops of blood that oozed out of her injuries boiled and evaporated into a brownish red mist as she walked towards Nyx. The surrounding air rippled in the heat. Nyx was breathing heavily.
"Here lady Nyx, I retrieved it," Arshad spoke as he handed her the green glass ring.
During the tussle moments ago, he must have taken it away from me. Nyx took the ring in her hands and began to smile. A sinister purple glow emanated from the nose ring and it began crackling with sparks of purple electricity. Her burnt body began to grow back and her injuries healed. She stood up and looked at Paviraa in rage. Now she was powerful again. She healed herself and was as good as new. Abruptly the purple gleam stopped. Nyx looked at the nose ring in her hand in fear.
"I'm not strong enough," Nyx said.
She grabbed hold of Arshad by his shoulders and smiled. Arshad looked back at her with worry.
"You have served me well, now it is time for you to get the greatest honour. As a sacrifice for me to regain my strength," Nyx said.
Arshad's eyes widened, he struggled to set himself free but it was too late for him. His shoulders had fused with her palm and his body began to shrink into her hands. Arshad screamed in pain as his torso was pulled into her body. His body contorted and his screams stopped when his face got sucked into her body. Just his feet were left flailing and struggling, until he was no more. Lightening began to course throughout Nyx's body as she began to laugh.