Kiga looked over his shoulder and made sure, just once; that the public were out of harms way. When the last person scurried down an alley, when the last door slammed shut, he turned his attention once more to Ely.
He couldn't do this with emotion. He didn't want to do this it at all. But there was something sensible that clawed it's way through the knot in his gut and told him he had to act in the interest of others here. That those books had to be destroyed at any cost now.
But nothing in him wanted to say those next words. Because they carried weight. It wasn't an empty gesture. And she was setting the pace in terms of force required.
"Because if you don't, then I will have to stop you."
Ely [M:164:1653:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=394&page=1#14814][b]A soul on fire...[/b][0:Snuffed][1:Flame On!]
Ely's breathe whistled out of her nose. She was having trouble finding any new air to replace it, too. That was a small matter, though, compared to the inferno riding her spine to her brain. Her hands were tracing patterns behind the lattice of the doorway; designs in the air she did not know and had never tried in all the time she had studied.
"Can you?"
Her voice was still curt, lacking emotion, and hollow; as if the core of her was slowly being consumed by the writhing flames. She could hear the books yelling at her to finish it, now, before he had a chance to attack.
Catgirl Extraordinaire
“Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.”
He didn't like that sound. Her voice. Because it was not hers. She was... defying him, or rather the thing inside her was and he had to suppress his fear that he might be too late. She was going to try to stop him, whether he tried to get to her OR the books.
He didn't want to fight Ely but it was very clear that everything else he had tried had been in vain. He wanted to say this was going to hurt him more than her and he believed that, he was convinced now that she was not here. This was just her body. But it was the same body that made him smile and laugh in his dreams and coming to terms with having to use force wasn't an easy task.
He remembered his training, which was an odd thing. It gave him the composure and will to do what he needed but these days, it wasn't a dull, blunt sensation. No, these days there was a dose of spite in those memories, something he no longer swallowed in the pit of his stomach.
He walked forward.
"You're making me do this. I want Ely back."
The first gesture was simple. Air swept forward toward the door and then blasted up in a jet of wind that should be strong enough to force out all but the hungriest of flames.
Ely [M:164:1653:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=394&page=1#14814][b]A soul on fire...[/b][0:Snuffed][1:Flame On!]
Ely's eyes widened for a flash. Kiga's blast of air hit her barrier and the flames stretched straight up for several feet before falling back down rather like a fiery spring. The lattice had swollen but it remained intact. It was now twice as thick as it had been before, too. A small smile went across Ely's lips that could not be called pleasant by anyone's imagination. The words spoken came from her mouth, too. But they carried nothing of Ely inside.
"Outstanding. Thank you."
The mage, the one banished to a set of books and now controlling the catgirl, knew more about magic than her and Kiga combined. In point of fact, he was well aware you could combine magic. He had eons of time to study the effects. He knew when the air mage's wind hit the barrier what would happen. The air would feed his fire. The flames were licking at the walls all around the building. Eventually, they would find a way in, the building would burn, the books would turn to ash, and he would be free.
The tiny thing huddling in the corner of Ely's mind saw a quick image in that same moment, too. There was a hill with a series of menhirs, she could hear Kiga's laughter, and watch while the fireballs spinning around her hand stretched and bent. Her hand came up toward him before she spun sharply around and headed deeper into the building.
Kiga was getting frustrated now, that didn't even sound like Ely anymore. Had the books possessed her? He didn't have time to speculate.
He hadn't blown the flames out. That being the case, he would simply have to force his way into the building. He could rush to the hole in the roof, drop down from where the tree was, but he needed to catch Ely's... well this person's attention. He needed them to stop whatever they were trying to accomplish.
Kiga shrieked as he leaped forward, an uncharacteristic look of determination, of passion on his face. He had tried to do this neatly and now, it seemed like his only option was brute force.
His arms crossed, weaved and then shot out as his whole body twisted and he spun with the scream of air around him, body stretched out and parallel with the ground, suddenly whirling forward with enough force to crash and drill his way through the wall.
Ely [M:164:1653:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=394&page=1#14814][b]A soul on fire...[/b][0:Snuffed][1:Flame On!]
Ely's feet were headed toward the books in the main hall. She gave no thought to the world outside. All of her attention was centered on the building flames. Her hands were already stretched out to coax the fire into larger bursts of heat.
The mage, who could no longer remember the beginning of the day only endless frustration, did everything he could to intensify Ely's power. It was driving him mad, too. He thought that infuriating the catgirl would provoke her to battle. She was such a fiery little thing below the surface. But, each time something occurred to stop her or calm her down. He only needed a single spark.
Kiga hit the wall with a blast of air so strong it turned the bricks to powder in an instant, blowing a body sized hole in the library. The wall was several inches thick, too. Still, he was through the stone and wood construction before Ely could turn around. Hell, the blast of wind had even thrown any dust and debris against the far wall.
Catgirl Extraordinaire
“Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.”
Kiga landed and didn't halt for a second. The next move happened well before he said anything. His feet landed, his upper body wound back and around like a whip and his arms both thrust forward, pressing the swirling corkscrew of wind onward toward Ely. There was no pause nor hesitation, he was outright attacking now.
"COME ON! LET'S SEE HOW TOUGH YOU REALLY ARE!"
Ely [M:164:1653:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=394&page=1#14814][b]A soul on fire...[/b][0:Snuffed][1:Flame On!]
Ely 's eyes were little specks of green rage when she spun to face Kiga. Everything was a jumble in her head currently, books and flames so tangled together she couldn't remember anything beyond them.
The wind buffeted her face and body. It tore bits of things from the wall. Ely slid along the floor and consequently deeper into the library, paper, parchment, and leather tossed off a dozen shelves around her. She hit a grouping of chairs closer to the books; left where Kiga had seen them earlier in the day.
Did that matter? There was a stranger in her house. An intruder. Her hand was flung out in a wide arc. Ely gathered up the flames from one wall, her other hand wrapped around the heavy chair, and pitched them along the floor to foul his footsteps.
The words were a challenge as he dropped and sprung, Kiga moving with unrivaled speed. The ninja was fleet of foot, but his manipulation of the air about him only amplified this trait and he was intent on using it now.
He hurtled high above the flames whipping along the floor and spun like a top in the air, both hands flinging his custom plasma stars toward Ely. His aim was off, quite deliberately in fact; but the brilliant blue hum of the shuriken tore from his hands toward her with savage speed.
There was no worry on his face now, just a determined, cold look. He'd run out of options and truly didn't want to do this, but it was time to test whatever was possessing his girlfriend's body.
He shifted direction in the air, something a normal human could not hope to do. A blast of wind worked to press him to the side, where he sprung off the wall and landed on un-scorched flooring.
"Picking on women? You're a weakling! TAKE ME ON!"
Ely [M:164:1653:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=394&page=1#14814][b]A soul on fire...[/b][0:Snuffed][1:Flame On!]
The mage watching from Ely's eyes flinched and ducked. The stars flew past missing her by inches. He needed her body. He needed Ely's fire magic to bring this building down around them and set him free. Before today it had not been possible to influence her. There were thousands of books in this building that she worked diligently to care for or uncover. The connection between them was tenuous at best.
Today, however, she had carried him around. She had listened to his voice several times. So much so that distance had not kept her from his influence. He was not going to let some bird-like human leaping about keep him from that goal.
Ely's head snapped up from between her shoulders and a new fireball exploded in mid-air raining a whole series of blinding sparks through the room.
"WEAK?"
Catgirl Extraordinaire
“Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.”
He was challenging whoever lurked in there now, flashing a determined sneer at them as he stayed on the move, hands tugging at the very air. He didn't cover his eyes but closed them tight, staying on the move, feeling the heat in the room and buying time. Kiga was not an easy target.
"Yes, YOU'RE WEAK! A COWARD!"
He didn't want to hurt Ely, but whatever it was that had a hold on her had not kept control. Not all day. That likely meant they were working hard to maintain it now. He was hoping that tiring them out would be his one chance to save her.
He bounced and rolled, then came up to a halt near the largest flames and yanked the winds in. A funnel formed in a hurry, a spinning dervish of air that swept about the flames in an ever-increasing pace, then slowly wound it's way up and out through the roof. The air sucked at everything inside the vortex, lifting debris and dust, but he would drag the flames right out the damn building if he could.
A hissing sound came out of Ely's mouth all but obscured by the swirl of wind that was gathered up by Kiga's hand. The flames were slowly losing cohesion and being torn apart. The mage saw it all in the flash of sparks falling from the fireball.
He could see the destruction of his work when the flames began to die. It was impossible to contemplate. He could not allow it, and he was tired he could barely keep his thoughts coherent. But, his voice; faint as it was whispered through Ely's brain.
Now, girl. Before it is too late.
The books were right there. Why hadn't she done it before? It made perfect sense. Burn them. That thought, however, was anathema to Ely's love of knowledge. It was enough to make her hesitate. It was enough to force a wild shriek of demand from the mage. Ely turned to face the books and all of her fingers were glowing.
Catgirl Extraordinaire
“Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.”
Kiga wasn't sure who was in control, but until he knew, he was intent on stopping the mage doing much else. The fact that they weren't attacking him was confusing too; would they really ignore him and the danger he presented?
Perhaps they knew better. That he didn't want to hurt her. Perhaps they were just going to shrug him off.
But whoever was in control had been quick to get back here. To set the damned place on fire. Ely wouldn't burn down her own house, or her books. He had to press them harder.
The wind whipped away and died off as it dragged the flames through the opening and Kiga was again on the move. Only quicker, harder to follow. There was not acrobat the likes of him, there was few people alive trained in such maneuvers. He dived, tucked and rolled, sprung and then, with one pause as his body whipped around...
... he closed the gap and still airborne, brought his leg around to try and kick Ely with savage force behind her knees. He turned still, body twisting once more and an instant wall of wind blasting at her, enough to send a cart reeling down a street. A long street.
Ely [M:164:1653:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=394&page=1#14814][b]A soul on fire...[/b][0:Snuffed][1:Flame On!]
Ely hit the ground with her hands flung out to either side. She managed, just barely, to keep the floor from colliding with her face. But she could not stop the momentum of her body which shoved her, face first, right into the center of the room.
Kiga had hit her.
She was astonished, stupefied even. The world froze while Ely tried to make sense of this new reality that included Kiga hurting her. The shards of thought, she had kept hidden from the mage, huddled together and grew stronger.
Ely's eyes snapped open to see the three books stacked together right in front of her eyes. She pulled a single hand back to her body.
If only he thought he could move them, just tear them from her reach. He'd tried it once already and they'd stuck, unmoved and unphazed by his efforts. And now they were right within her grasp. She seemed like she was there again, right when he'd damn well hit her too. But he didn't have time to worry about that.
"Ely..."
It took him only long enough to say her name before he broke into action and sprung, throwing himself onto the books and grabbing at them.
He'd tried taking her away from their influence and it hadn't worked. He had no idea what else to do, but something had to work.