Chapter 9 Not quite expected…

Chapter 9

 

 

Not quite expected…

 

 

Gerad ducked back down as Claire threw another fireball at the boulder he hid behind. She screamed as another arrow pierced her side. It disintegrated like the other twelve had. Claire threw a fireball at Aerica who ducked back behind her boulder. Claire shrieked from the pain in her back caused by Sheik’s daggers. Sheik pulled his daggers out of her back and ducked as she swung for his head; he back flipped and somersaulted back to his cover dodging fireballs Claire threw at him.

Meria whacked Claire across the face with her staff; Claire spun from the force of the blow but managed to stay conscious.  Claire backhanded Meria and followed up with a right hook to the side of her face. Meria fell; Claire tried to gather the energy to burn her with another fireball but was interrupted by an unexpected blow from the right. Slamming against the wall Claire slowly crumpled to the floor. When she regained her feet she looked to see what had hit her and managed to duck under the blow of the silver hammer that G-Link held.

The hammer slammed into the wall behind Claire and showered her with rocks. Claire rolled away from G-Link who turned to face her. Claire threw a fireball at him. G-Link hit the fireball with his hammer and deflected it into another wall.

Claire glared at him, “Fire sage.” A sliver of fire extended from her hand and took on the shape of a sword.

G-Link said nothing. Claire charged in and swung for his head. G-Link swung with his hammer but Claire dodged it and hit him. G-Link stumbled back from the blow a little singed but kept his guard up as Claire retreated back out of his reach.

“And who are you supposed to be?” G-Link asked blocking another fireball Claire threw at him.

Claire laughed, “Don’t tell me they didn’t teach you about me. I’m Claire the fire elemental that terrorized the mountain some five hundred years ago, your ancestor managed to defeat me and trapped me in the mountain till little miss twinkle over there let me out.”

Claire snarled pointing at Selene, a stream of fire shot out from Claire’s outstretched finger heading for her.

Selene jumped out of the way doing a sideways roll to get back to her feet. Claire shot another stream of fire at her, but Selene was overbalanced and couldn’t dodge. The stream got closer and Selene knew she was going to fry. She covered her head with her hands waiting for the pain; when it didn’t come she looked up.

The fire acted as if it had hit a wall. Selene looked around her and spotted G-Link. His eyes glowed red and he had a red glow around him like the ones Selene, Sheik, and Aerica had had when they used their powers.

Selene scrambled away from the wall of fire and G-Link moved his hands in a weird dance. The fire followed his movements and recoiled and shifted to his side. Claire glared at him. She shot another stream of fire but G-Link just moved his hands and the second fire joined the first making it bigger. She shot another one to the same conclusions.

“Stop that!” Claire said stomping her foot.

She tried to throw a fireball but only managed a small one that sputtered out before it got to G-Link. G-Link raised his eyebrow then sighed. He swung his left arm across his body and the ball of fire he had ‘collected’ swirled and shifted following his movement. The gigantic fireball flew straight towards Claire.

Her eyes widened as the massive fireball came closer. Selene ducked behind the boulder she and Gerad shared as they heard Claire’s scream of rage. The fireball exploded. The resulting shockwave blew them all ten feet back.

Selene crept back up to peek over the edge of the boulder they had hid behind. Everything was black and smoldering. G-Link’s power glow faded and his eyes returned to their normal dark brown. He walked slowly to where Claire lay on the ground holding her burnt arms to her chest. She glared at him as he stopped and looked down at her. She smirked at him as he saw the small stalagmite sticking through her chest.

“How do you stand these bodies? They’re so fragile?” Claire said conversationally as she put her hands on the floor under herself and lifted.

She came off of the stalagmite leaving black blood behind. She crab walked sideways till she was clear of the stalagmite and let herself drop to the floor. She grunted in pain as the impact jarred her beaten and burnt body. G-Link said nothing as he watched her struggle to her feet.

“That’s not your real body is it?” G-Link asked her calmly.

She glanced at him, “No, this is the body of the sorceress who tried to tame me some thousands of years ago. She was too weak to control me so I took over her and have been having fun ever since.”

“Uh-huh. And I’m the tooth fairy.” Sheik muttered to Meria where they crouched behind a boulder. Meria grunted in agreement.

“For someone so old you sure know how to keep in shape.” Aerica said.

Claire glared in the direction her voice had come from. She smiled as she answered, “It all has to do with what you know.”

Claire tipped sideways but caught herself; blood continued to flow from her wounds. “But I don’t think this body is going to survive much longer, not that it matters to me.” Claire said with a smirk as she fell sideways onto the floor.

Selene slowly crept to her ready to spring back if she got back up. When Claire only looked at her as she approached she relaxed a little. Selene inspected her wounds careful not to touch the burns. Claire watched her silently.

“G-Link I could probably heal her; it’s up to you.” Selene said standing up.

“Don’t let her die!” a voice cut in before G-Link could respond. Claire grimaced, “That old fart is still alive?” she tried to lift her head to see the newcomer but gave up from the pain it caused her.

The rest of the group came out from their hiding places as a very old Goron escorted by two younger ones waddled into the circle of destruction.

G-Link knelt down when the old Goron approached him. The old one patted his head then moved to Claire. She tried to cross her arms and pout but couldn’t due to the pain. She settled for another glare.

“Claire.” The old one said nodding his head in greeting.

“Shalto.” Claire sneered.

Shalto chuckled, “I see you still haven’t lost your charm; or lack thereof.” Claire smirked at this. Shalto turned to Selene, “You had said you could heal her?”

 Selene nodded her head, “I can give it a try.”

“If you do not succeed the fire element known as Fosrow will be free once again to terrorize this mountain.”

“Fire element?” Gerad asked coming to stand next to Selene.

“Yes.” Shalto said looking back at Claire. Gerad waited for an answer but none was forthcoming.

“What is a Fire element?” Aerica asked, she stood next to Calhan, his robe had seen better days. Meko rested on her shoulder, his right wing was a tad singed around the edge from helping Aerica in the fight.

Calhan turned to her, “Think of it as a fire that is alive. It can make itself form into any shape it wants. They’re also very, almost super intelligent.”

Claire smiled at them, “Yeah, I wouldn’t suggest you take me on in Pagra.”

Selene knelt down next to Claire, who watched her. Selene closed her eyes and her power glow enveloped her. Selene opened her eyes and stretched out her hands to Claire’s chest where the stalagmite had pierced her.

Selene’s face became strained but the wounds were not healing. Finally she gave up; the glow left her and she collapsed sideways.

Claire laughed, “Looks like you lose this time old fart. No one can heal me now and there’s nothing you can do to stop me from being free.”

Shalto’s silence made the rest of them uneasy.

The group watched in silence as Claire breathed in each ragged breath slowly slowing down, the time between each one getting longer and longer. Finally Claire inhaled one last time then exhaled and died with that smirk on her face.

The group waited not quite sure for what. Claire’s body began to glow deep orange. Her mouth opened and a snake of fire slithered out. Shalto watched it go, the group didn’t know what to do about it but step out of the way as it made its way to the entrance to Goron City.

When Fosrow disappeared around the corner Shalto let out the breath he had been holding and the rest followed. G-Link looked at Shalto, “Now what?”

“You all weakened it quite a lot it will be a few years before it will be ready to fight again. I suggest in that time you hone your skills young sages you will need them.” With that warning he turned and shuffled off.

Selene looked down at the body of Claire and saw a pile of dust that blew away with the slight breeze.