Final Form: What Lies Within
Hey guys! I typed this up after watching the Elementalist Lux teaser. It's quite a bit shorter than my four-part fanfic, Katarina's Legacy. Hope you like it!
I’ve only just regained consciousness from the explosion, and my head is ringing, almost painfully. I reach for my staff, hoping it’s still in one piece. My dress is likely torn, and my collar dented. But there’s nothing I can do except stand and fight.
As soon as I am firmly gripping my staff, I scan the area, hoping I got all of them.
There’s still one left. Dang. I thought I’d gotten them all when I unleashed my inner light and threw all I had at the elementals.
And this one’s big too.
Out of all rotten luck…
But then I see the cloth. I reach out and feel my fingers close around the ripped, runed material, unwittingly clinging to a reminder of those I have been fighting for.
As I slowly climb to my feet, I sense the elemental prepare to charge me. Its massive body can barely stand on its four short legs, and I can sense the strength it contains. This elemental is an old one, possibly one of the first.
And it’s not going to wait all day for me to recharge.
I have to distract it while I gather my power again. But how?
And then I realize that the piece of cloth in my hand is the only remaining piece of them. The ones I love.
Fury roars through me, and I feel my power delve into the fierce emotion, searching for energy.
I can use this emotion for energy. But only if I become unrecognizable.
Do I want to?
My power chooses for me, melding with the emotion, and altering itself into a new, more powerful form. My white hair and blue eyes fade to red. My dress and collar alter themselves to match the flame that now burns within me. I can feel my land slowly turn to ashes, and that provides this new power with energy.
I’m not sure if I have enough power yet, so I tentatively charge a small fireball. Once it has reached a significant size, I hurl it at the creature.
Well, clearly I wasn’t paying attention. That’s a fire elemental. I should have been able to tell from its molten body, likely hardened by the explosion.
So, obviously the fireball did no damage whatsoever.
And, on top of that, it made the creature furious.
I start to regret my choice as I race for the nearby forest. The trees are thick there, and my massive foe won’t know the path through it – if it even can fit between the trees.
The elemental charges after me, and I hope I can make it to safety in time. But clearly I’m out of luck. And even as the first line of trees loom before me, I sense that one of the creature’s legs is going to whack me.
I manage to shield just in time, so the elemental’s leg doesn’t actually collide with me, but the force of the blow against my shield still sends me flying. Once I collide with another object, the shield shatters, and I hit (a tree, of all things) hard, falling to the ground.
The elemental pauses. It knows I’m weakened, and probably thinks it can kill me in one blow.
I won’t give it the satisfaction of taking me down. I refuse to die.
Not when I still can fight. Not when I still have one last trick up my sleeve.
I know that if I provide my power with the necessary materials to evolve once more, I can take out the creature. But in order to do so, I have to be willing to sacrifice everything.
Knowing I will regret this if I survive, I let myself be at peace. I imagine the emotion flowing through my veins, calming my sore and injured body.
The emotion reaches my power, which is coiled at the center of my being, the center of my soul. And there, I know what happens next will likely damn me forever.
But this time, I don’t give my power the choice. I choose for it.
I force the two opposing elements together. They refuse to merge, and instead corrupt each other until all that is left is a new, darker essence.
If I accept this version of my power, I will never be myself again.
But I have nothing – no one – left to give up.
And if this means I can win this last battle, I will surrender to the corruption.
I embrace the darkness, and sense my outfit, my body, my self, my soul forever change.
Dark purple overtakes the orange-red everywhere. My body slowly rises above the ground, the power within too strong for my feet to stay firmly on the ground. I blink, and now I gaze through violet irises.
The elemental senses my change, and it reacts in what I can only describe as fear.
Good. It should fear the dark, for the dark consumes all.
I raise my staff once more, and charge my most powerful spell. This is my last chance to win the battle, and I seize it.
The winner will not be determined by valor, or strength, or any of those petty, human values.
The victor will be whichever monster has the greater capacity for evil.
Yes, we are both monsters. The beast before me has always been such, and I now am one as well.
And I intend to be the one who walks away.
… drifting …
cannot let … win …
must … it …
… not …
I am still here.
Still fighting.
I will not let the darkness win.
I cannot let it claim my soul.
For there is always a light in the darkness, no matter how faint.
And soon, the dark will learn to fear the light.
Hope you liked this! See you on the Rift!
P.S. - This story was the inspiration for my next set of fanfiction, The Elementalist Tales. I've linked the main page here. Hope you like it! (Also, DO NOT read the epilogue after this unless you've already read Before - the crossover story - because then it'll be confusing.)
