Blood bursted from Āpala's chest, and poured down his face.
"Āp-pala's?"
I shook. A bright shield was on my side in an instant. Sparks flying over my head, the wood on the small house catching on fire.
"Heo, lock in. Delusion is attacking us!"
I whipped around pulling Stella closer to me and hopping back.
"Why the hell did you do that!" I screamed.
"Why'd you think? Because Kenna was more important to him than me! I was perfect for him!" Her voice distorted and glitched.
"I DON'T CARE WHETHER HE CHOOSE YOU OR NOT!"
I jumped and plunged my sword with a reckless amount of magic. I blew the entire front side of the house out. The house collapsed on top of us.
I blacked out. I don't know how much time went by. The dark purple brick curled around me, Āpala and Stella. The magical fire catching the brick now. I pull Āpala out with Stella. She tried applying pressure but we couldn't on the golf ball sized hole close to his heart.
My knuckles turned white. Erika leaned arrogantly on one leg.
"I kept them alive. Just thought I'd let you know so you die knowing I could have kept Kenna alive."
I took a step, my sword was shattered from the amount of fire magic. At least it isn't melted. I can fix that. I felt a pull on my left side. Stella's shield appeared and pushed me to the side before exploding.
Delusion's hands were stretched out and clenched. She released them, the air around us felt lighter. She grew farther away from me. Her hands closed down again. I almost fell off balance. The world grew nearer to everything and a gust of wind cut at us.
"First horn."
A sharp rectangular horn grew from Erika's head. Her arm glitched and released a punch.
"Spacial manipulation."
The same pull I felt again, near my head. I ducked. A loud pop resounded. The space was ripped. Delusion took a stance and threw it towards our way. Her feet glitching quickly, the attack was more rapid. She was throwing them out and aiming, it's easier to dodge that way.
"Last night, you broke out of it. Broke out of my kenosee."
I sprinted towards her, grabbing another chunk of magic. I envisioned a dark purple hint. Gravity magic swelled and pushed her down. I pulled the spell back into me and launched fire at her. It landed on her ribs and shot her back. I pulled the spell back to me. The initial amount was less. I didn't want to lose my magic, why was that?
I launched myself towards her and continued my barrage of attacks. She countered. She snapped her fingers shooting quicker attacks to the ones before. I just had to move when she did it.
I kept stepping into her space as she went backwards. The sun setting in front of us while the house burned down.
She snapped, dodged a fist, surprised me and grabbed my arm, glitching her fist and punching me in the nose. She stepped back, glitched her entire body before launching a devastating punch. A bright flaming shield blocked it with a metallic sound.
"Don't you dare try it!" Stella screamed.
I pulled the magic from the shield. A giant flaming hand appeared before blasting Delusion backwards. Her feet skid across the field of hay. A headache poured onto me. I overworked my brain this time.
My feet wavered and I fell. Delusion walked closer to me. Shields popped up. She glitched the area around them, and they shattered.
"Entirely useless. I'll execute the Queen after this also." She shrugged.
"Why?" I muttered.
"Because FUCK that damned Kenna." She looked down at me. "First horn. Distortion manipulation." She slammed her glitching hand down.
"First horn. Distortion Manipulation."
The glitching stopped after the familiar voice talked. Delusion looked up confused before her face was crushed from a lagging fist. A woman slightly taller than me, with dark brown middle parted hair with one extra strand in the middle, bright green eyes, weird eyelashes, a loose turtle neck with baggy open pants that had another layer of black pants underneath, and with a cape that whipped around her walked down Delusion.
"Herika!"
"Give me a minute."
She hurled a punch at Delusion. I saw the same sharp horn protruding from her hair also.
"Another failed priest!" Delusion yelled.
"Shut up, I'm no failure."
They traded punches. Only Herika's punches lagged behind arm.
I ran over to Āpala, forgetting the beaming head ache as I stumbled. He laid there, nearly no life left in him, if only I could heal.
"Āpala!"
"Don't-"
He coughed blood up. Stella shrieked and tears ran down her face.
"Here." He unclipped a couple of loops from his hair and handed it to me. "Melt that damn ice and be the victor today." He coughed more blood, his eyes dulling.
A spark, no, a star was snuffed out in the world. A joyous man embodying Fayhain culture, not through his celebrations, but through how he lived with a smile. An unfortunate end to someone who was comprised of love from birth. He shrouded his kids in love, giving them a cheerful life. But, even in death…
"Oh." His last breath came and went. "I love Kenna."
He smiled, tears hit his face from both me and Stella. A piece of me and Stella from the last few days died alongside the lover, Āpala.
…
Herika's point of view
"Unforgivable." Heo cried, Heo never cried.
Heo appeared behind the failed priestess and threw a punch at her head. She ducked it revealing Heo's full body. She had clips in her hair, and blood spewing from her newly pierced ears that hung black earrings, two on each side.
Her hand went down after the punch, grabbing the priestess's hair. I punched her defenseless face, my hand ripping glitch from her body. Her hair distorted and Heo lost her grip.
Her body is completely glitch. That's what I'm competing with as a priestess. Heo's hand followed up on the priestess as she dodged to the side, fire coiled around it and enhancement runes lined Heo's left arm.
A wave of fire blasted the entire left side of the priestess even though the punch was dodged. She spun and glitched, the fire dispersing. Heo didn't relent. Her movements were for a brief second flawlessly precise as she threw follow-up punch after punch. The failed priestess retreating with each step, barely dodging if at all.
"Wow! Hahaha!" The failed priestess started to laugh, her burnt side moving slower. "Āpala was the goal. YET! I can't even kill those weaker than him?" Her single horn sharpened, another appeared on the other side of her face, and she stretched her hands out, one clenched, the other facing out straight. "Second horn. Time manipulation."
I felt the glitch inherit the spell. The world would soon crawl than stop. My face spread fear, yet, nothing happened. The priestess just left herself defenseless in front of the two hunting it.
"Idiot!" Heo clocked her across the face, fire blasting at an even higher volume. "Burn and keep burning!"
Tears streamed down her face, before evaporating and mixing with the kicked up dirt and dust. She kept shaking her head, squinting her eyes. Throwing away what plagued her.
More flames poured onto the priest and she stumbled backwards falling on her back. Heo's horns pointed and then fell sharply into her own skull, blood started to come out of her head. Heo walked as if her animation was lagged out besides her legs, yet her flames glowed brighter like they were commanded.
The priest pushed hard back but her form began to harden and solidify in reality. Heo stomped on her leg. It shattered, ash filling the air with a strange putrid smell.
"Event horizon." Heo prayed.
Heo stomped her other leg and the hardness spiraled up the failed priestess' body and she shattered. Only after the ash flew away then glitched away did I realize that Heo's pants were on fire. Burned all the way up to her knees and chard in multiple places. Her hands also melted badly.