it, viciously fighting the Hermessi around us, while the crew battled those who slipped past them. Those who could die among us were the primary targets, from what I could tell—Brendel wanted to make my morale plummet by killing my friends. Only, my friends kept surprising her, it seemed.
Normally, only a Reaper could use a scythe to cause damage to a Hermessi. Yet Amelia was slicing through them like nobody's business. Something had definitely changed in the fabric of things, and I wished I knew what.
Brendel threw a fiery arm out at me. I brought Thieron up to meet her. The flames touched Phyla and, by some weird twist, got sucked into it. My eyes widened from the shock, watching as part of Brendel's burning arm was literally eaten and absorbed by Phyla.
She cried out and managed to pull back, her limb quickly recovering. Fire was fire. It could not be cut or shortened, not in that form. But Thieron was still capable of doing things to Brendel, things I'd yet to fully understand.
"You've never had to deal with Thieron so up close before, huh?" I asked, confidence surging through me and lighting my soul on fire.
If her intention was to keep me busy, she was treading on thin ice, because all I had to do was get close enough to hit her, and it could very well be the end of her. Brendel probably didn't think I could kill her with it, since I wasn't Death, but I'd surprised her before. I had a feeling part of her worried I might pull something off after all. Maybe she would've died for the ritual, but I doubted she'd go willingly.
"You're but a mortal. I am forever," she spat.
I charged at her with all my strength, roaring as I raised Thieron over my head with both hands. "Nothing is forever!" I shouted and brought the blade down.
She vanished into thin air, and I stumbled forward, losing my footing. I nearly fell but managed to stay upright. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw fire coming at me, a mass of amber-and-orange destruction.
I dropped flat on my belly as the inferno raged above me. My skin burned and itched, sweat trickling down my face, as I rolled over several times to get as far away from it as possible. I couldn’t understand how this was happening, since I was a fire fae. I wasn’t supposed to be hurt by it! But the fire spread, shapeless and hungry and eager to get me. It was Brendel, outside her usual form and ready to burn me to a crisp. There had to be something about this power of hers that made her fire a danger even to someone like me.
"Taeral!" I heard Eira scream.
I brought Thieron up as the flames threatened to cover me like a blanket. The blade hissed with delight as it cut through the fire. Suddenly, everything cleared around me, and Brendel rebuilt herself a couple of yards away. Parts of her were having trouble holding on to her figure, like pieces of cake about to fall off.
"Go for it!" the Soul Crusher shouted at me. He kissed his scythe and tore another hole in the air, then stepped back. The Widow Maker growled as he tackled a column of white fire, a confused Air Hermessi, and pushed him into the interdimensional pocket. Soul chuckled as he placed a hand on the glowing hole, which was quickly reduced to a slit before vanishing.
Looking around, nobody seemed anywhere close to giving up. Varga had trouble standing, parts of him severely burned by a Fire Hermessi. Eva moved in front of him, whispering her Druid magic and likely hoping it might be enough. The pulverizer weapons were on the ground, empty and useless. They'd already gone through all the ammo.
Lumi was tired, her whole body glowing blue. Nethissis put all the energy she had left into a protective bubble, which she cast around her and Lumi. The Hermessi tried to breach it, kicking and pounding with their raw-energy limbs. It would crack, soon enough.
Seeley seemed to be dancing around the mountain peak, hopping from rock to rock and drawing symbols with his scythe. By the time he was done, four Hermessi were trapped and crushed to the ground by an invisible force, which Seeley manipulated with special hand movements. Everyone was whipping out the battle specials for this one.
Eira battled a Water Hermessi on surprisingly equal ground, but she, too, was beginning to tire.