Day 232

[from The Ember Stone]

"Firstly, even if you do somehow take it from me - and you won't - it'd be Vaz'qui's, not yours," Erica began. "And secondly…" Clutching the Shard tightly in her hand, Erica assumed a combat stance. "-you're forgetting that the Ember Stone increases my power. Just this one Shard gives me enough power to fry you alive. So bring it on, bitch. I'm more than ready for you."

"We'll see about that!" said Viridia, and with a wave of her hand she sent the room's entire ceiling crashing down towards Erica. Erica was able to propel herself backwards with a jet of flame, retreating backwards into another corridor a split-second before the sandstone roof came crashing down. Although she was safe, she was now trapped in the darkened corridor, and though the darkness was no issue to her, the mountains of rubble between her and the exit most certainly was.

"Nicely dodged," Viridia remarked. "But now there's nowhere for you to go. I already took the liberty of sealing all the exits, so now you're trapped in here with me!"

"Maybe," said Erica. "Or could it be that you're trapped in here with me?"

"Your mind games won't work on me, Ember Guardian!" said Viridia. "I have the upper hand! It's just a matter of time before I squash you like a bug!"

Viridia fired a couple of pieces of rubble into the corridor at high speed, but Erica was able to dodge both easily. "Alright then," said Viridia. "How about a game of I Spike? I'll go first!" Viridia began blindly firing spikes of earth up from below, puncturing through the floor of the corridor and protruding up towards the ceiling, hoping to hit Erica and skewer her. [AUTHOR NOTE: This is the first and only time I will apologize for one of my puns… I am truly very sorry]

Each stalagmite missed Erica, some by only a few inches, but each one forced her to retreat a little further backwards down the corridor. Nonetheless, she remained as undaunted as ever. "Your puns are more deadly than your attacks!" she taunted.

Being so focused on dodging the spikes and dishing out witty ripostes, Erica did not pay attention to where she was going. Suddenly, as she took another step back, Erica felt her heel tug against another tripwire. From outside the corridor, Viridia heard a brief squeal, a flash of fire, and then the whistling of dozens of arrows being fired from the walls, punctuated by a thud. The Ember Guardian, surely, was dead. Nobody could have survived such a ferocious barrage.

With her opponent seemingly defeated, Viridia heaved a sigh. "How boring," she remarked. "Here I was hoping for some epic battle, and you go and get yourself killed by some ancient booby trap. Unless of course, you're still alive somehow… well, either way, I guess I'd better go check. Vaz'qui will want to see your dead body for himself." As Viridia was about to start shifting the rubble, she paused. "…why am I talking to a dead body?"

Erica was, in fact, not dead. She had been lucky: the lowest of the arrow traps had been about a foot off the ground, and so by shooting out a quick burst of fire, she had been able to fall backwards over the tripwire and land on the ground just in time to dodge the first wave of arrows. Hearing that Viridia had thought her dead, she had remained on the ground, eyes closed, listening with intent as the rubble blocking the corridor began to shift.

It was not long before the entrance was clear, and Viridia stepped into the corridor to see Erica's body for herself. The sight of the Ember Guardian lying on the dusty floor was enough to convince her. "So you really are dead," she remarked. "Darn it. I was hoping I'd get to kill you myself, but then again, I don't think Vaz'qui will care either way." She paused once more. "There I go again, talking to dead people… all this villainy must be getting to me. I need to see a shrink…"

Viridia made her way through the corridor towards Erica, still none the wiser about the Ember Guardian having survived. Indeed, she did not realize Erica was still alive until, as she knelt down to pick her up, the seemingly vanquished girl suddenly sprang up in a burst of fire. Viridia reeled back, howling as the searing flames licked at her skin."You tricked me!" she cried out.

"It'll take more than that to kill me," said Erica. "And by the way… you really do need to see a shrink." With that, Erica unleashed a blast of fire so powerful it knocked Viridia straight through the wall of the corridor and into an adjacent room.

Viridia struggled to her hands and knees, clearly wounded. "You're strong, Ember Guardian," she gasped. "I should have just finished you when I had the chance. But don't think this is over. My fellow Mistresses are still out there, and they will hunt you down. There's nowhere on this planet you can run to."

"Who said anything about running?" said Erica. "I'll fight them head-on, and beat them just like I've beaten you."

Viridia managed a feeble grin. "You haven't beaten me just yet," she said.

Suddenly, the ground around Viridia began to crack and splinter. The cracks headed sharply in Erica's direction, spreading across the walls and ceiling as well. "Not good, not good, not good-!" said Erica.

Propelling herself forwards on a jet of fire, Erica got out of the way just in time as an entire section of the temple collapsed, kicking up a large dust cloud. Fortunately, Erica had had the sense to propel herself back into the room she had found the Ember Shard in, and towards the exit, meaning she would not be trapped by the debris. The same could not be said for Viridia, though of course she could just use her earth powers to free herself, assuming she had survived. Given the day's events, Erica felt it was best to assume that she had, for the time being.

"Well, I guess that's one Ember Shard down," she remarked to herself. "Now to get the hell outta this temple." No longer caring for booby traps, Erica rushed back towards the exit with the Ember Shard clutched tightly in her hand.