Fire and the Divine

Ferra and Ironthorne travelled for hours until they reached a familiar forest. One that she and her mother had passed through when they were sent to Ílith Dun. Bad memories and emotions quelled up inside of her, though she did not have much time to remember. Roots shot out of nowhere, enveloped the dragons gigantic body and ripped them out of the air. Following the hard crashlanding the brave warrior witnessed that Ironthorne had been severely wounded, blood spilling out of his maw.

The ambusher did not yet show themselves and Ferra was expecting another attack any second. After a moment creatures made of flowers and vines appeared before her, some resembling animals while others were inspired by creatures such as orcs and elves. Ferra instinctively drew her sword and prepared for battle and not long after, the creatures jumped at her from all sides. The first who got close to her was simply sliced in half by her Alloy Sword. Bits and pieces of the other attackers were soon scattered across her blade and the woodland floor. When a rather large enemy appeared, Ferra felt overwhelmed by the reach of her opponent. She dodged as many attacks as she could before one inevitably struck and sent her flying through a tree, tearing it apart. A drop of quicksilver mixed with blood ran out of her nose and down her face. Anger grew while she marched with determination against the colossal figure. As the plant-made troll charged, Ferra used the rune of darkness to disappear and reappear behind him. This ultimately led to her gouging the sword into the neck of the creature tearing its head from the overgrown shoulders.

This whole ordeal made her exhausted, but the battle was not finished yet. Soon a slender figure, reminding her of that day all those years ago, took shape through the thicket of the forest and suddenly stood across from her. Her hair was green and long like the vines that made up all those creatures but a moment ago. "Well, well. I see that you are quite the fighter, are you not sweet child?" The woman asked through her rose colored lips. "Who are you?" Ferra asked while still catching her breath. The strange woman did not respond and vanished into mist and leaves. "I am, who I am. Some people call me the fairy of pollen, some call me the whisperer of trees. Others refer in my name as reclaimer of nature nowadays. However, most know myself under the name of Floria, Goddess of Plants." she explained, her voice surrounding our protagonist.

A giant root shot towards Ferra, who barely managed to dodge it before getting grabbed by another one. "Be aware that you will die by my hand, escape is not an option." Floria declared as the root gradually crushed her bones. In this moment of sheer panic and impending doom the rune of darkness once again activated on her sword and a black void consumed her. She was gone, even sending the Goddess of Plants into a state of panic. "This witch truly did betray us, how did you gain the rune of darkness you misbegotten halfblood!" Floria yelled as the trees started moaning and cracking through her rage. Ferra materialized behind her and attacked the goddess who blocked the assault with one of her sturdy roots. A clash insued, tearing trees and bushes from the ground while sap scattered in every direction.

Floria tried defending herself, but Ferra's flurry of metal and darkness soon overwhelmed the arrogant goddess. With one more rush she managed to cut her ambusher into the side before getting knocked back by a dome of flowers. Everything around them started to tremble and the Goddess of Plants was suddenly enveloped in an orb of green glowing energy. "What is this now.." Ferra asked herself before a bright glow eminated from the strange form. Soon it vanished and before her stood the full power of Floria, now equipped with her hardwood claws and petal wings. She did not waste a second and instantly struck Ferra who barely managed to avoid the barrage. "Oh my, you are so well versed in the art of fighting. And yet, you are not good enough to survive this, child." She mocked and readied her next offensive. Charge after charge was blocked but Ferra's concentration slowly started to fade away. This opening led to the claws of Floria crashing through her shoulder and tearing a chunk of flesh out of the brave warrior. Ferra stumbled back in pain gripping her wound, though she did not have much time since the next attack was already close. The Goddess of Plants grabbed her with both her bewildered talon fanged hands and smashed her against the next tree. The quicksilver and blood mixture was dripping out of her wounds forming a pool below on the ground. "Do you now see, you pathetic worm? The kingdoms of this world now belong to us and after we have smothered the last flame of resistance, nothing will stand in our way. You mark the beginning of the end halfblood." Floria declared in a triumphant tone.

Her chances of survival were low, yet her luck persisted once more as a flaming arrow of rescue suddenly whistled through the air. It penetrated deep into the bare leg of the self assured goddess and soon she started to burn. Ferra slipped her grasp and watched the strong goddess whimpering at the pain that the flames inflicted on her. "ENOUGH!" she wailed and charged once again. Our hero evaded the struggling assault of the goddess, even managing to cut off her hands in the process. The treesap that was flowing out of the wounds fed the flames even more and forced her to retreat into the wind. The trees spoke in her voice again "I will tear you to shreds for this. My roots will feast on your blood sacrifice..."

Ferra looked in disbelief of what had happened. The only thing that was left of the goddess were her severed hands. She picked one of them up and carved a new rune into the alloy sword, granting her a part of Florias power. Treesap started filling up her wounds healing the damage that has been done. Meanwhile she looked out for her saviour, but could only see a shadow before passing out thanks to the pain.

Half a day went by before she woke up again. Her body hurt like never before yet her wounds have miraculously vanished. After a quick look around she was assured that the area is safe and ran over to Ironthorne. Heavy breathing could be heard from afar which made Ferra panic and worry about her friends well being. As she saw the state he was in she dropped to her knees, slamming her fist into the ground with frustration. "Calm down young one, I will not die that easily..." the dragon muttered followed by a bloody cough. "I can tell that she broke your ribs, your breathing is off. And that's not even the worst of it." she said as she cluched the side of the dragon while her tears trickled down his scales. She sulked holding onto him, feeling as if she failed her dear friend and protector until a *clink* noise came from behind her.

She could feel the crossbow being pointed right at her neck. Sweat started forming on her face, knowing that if she made one false movement her tale would end prematurely. "Drop the sword and slowly turn around." The mysterious voice said in a threatening manner. She complied and saw a man dressed in torn shaggy robes, a sword on the back and the crossbow still pointed at her. "Tell me where you got that sword trespasser!" He ordered in a stern voice. "I crafted this weapon myself, what does it matter to you?" Ferra replied while being a bit surprised by the topic of the question. "It matters to me because it is the only blade that managed to injure that witch Floria!" He shouted. "The only other thing that's effective is fire, as you saw earlier lass." She realized that it was him earlier who shot the goddess. They started to talk about what had happened and Ferra explained her powers to the woodland man named Skerke who in turn informed her about the local situation. "She killed everyone in the forest. Hunters, woodcutters, druids and most important to me, my family. Nobody knows why she did it, just destroyed our houses and spilled our blood for nothing." Ferra was horrified to hear this, she couldn't believe that the once beloved Goddess of Plants caused so much harm. "How do you suggest we deal with her Skerke?" to which he only replied "We burn her down with no chance to run away again." And so they set out wandering deep into the woodlands filled with Florias root monsters.

Meanwhile in the ruins of a small town..

"I refuse to believe that this girl managed to defeat you Floria, you need to be stronger than this because next time I will not come to your rescue again." A mysterious woman with azure hair commanded. "Yes sister, I will be better next time, I promise.. Procellia" The Goddess of Plants answered in a subdued voice. As soon as the other goddess disappeared, Floria broke down with hate, sadness and fear finally unleashed. Her wounds regenerated as she marched towards the largest tree in the forest. She put her new hands against its bark and slowly started to absorb the life force of the surrounding flora. All colors soon faded and what was left were barren trees that looked like bones, curled up in grotesque ways, pointed towards the mist filled sky. Floria's corruption started spreading and reached our heroes within minutes.

Ferra and Skerke both observe their environment turning gray. "You can see this aswell, right lass?" he asked with confusion written all over his face. "Yes, whatever she is doing we need to hurry. Otherwise this entire forest dies." she stated and so they rushed in the direction where sickness came from. On their way they saw twisted versions of Florias brutes, which coughed a sickly green hue similar to spores. After defeating those that stood in the way they soon reached an enourmous bark, towering hundreds of meters into the air. The tired man dropped to his knees and started muttering "What did she do to our home... even our holy tree, it's gone." Ferra looked down on him before putting her hand on his shoulder. "Stay here and take your time, I'll take care of her." anger took a hold of Ferra and she started to walk towards a big opening in the ginormous structure. "Wait, please take this at least." Skerke said while holding his crossbow. "The arrows are soaked in oil and covered with phosphorus so they ignite themselves while getting shot. Admittedly I'm too weak and old to actively fight her, but in this way I'm still with you." She accepted the gift and continued on inside.

There she sat, the Goddess of Plants, on a throne made of withered roots staring into the ground as if it held the secret to this world. "You made a mistake coming here..." The husk of the former goddess spoke quietly. Ferra stepped closer and pointed her sword towards Floria signaling the beginning of the fight. "Did you enjoy being healed by my powers? Because you will get used to it after this." she spoke from her throne while slowly getting up. "I will not kill you here, instead I shall keep you alive until nature reclaims your powers. You will be flayed over and over and over again until I grow sick of your squealing. Lastly will be your death which sees you as the main source of nutrients for this very ecosystem." the deranged figure uttered. Her claws grew larger this time and the wings immediately sprouted to a size that would put young dragons to shame.

"Big words coming from a monster that hides herself behind the title of goddess, yet kills the people that worshipped her!" Ferra countered after which her enemy instantaneously shot towards her. Using the shadow rune she disappeared into a dark mist that spread throughout the inside of the hall. Floria could not see the hero, but managed to catch her mid air by grabbing her throat. She could not breathe and the Goddess of Plants did not even bother to look towards her. "The sooner you lose consciousness the more you will suffer." she stated before turning her head to finally look straight into the eyes of our hero. Slowly but surely everything started fading to black before a familiar *clink* eminated from Ferras hand. The bolt aimed directly for Florias chest this time and within a second it started to bury itself deep into her flesh. Because of the short distance the fire started to develop relatively late, however this proved to be an advantage since the burst of flames now happened inside of her adversary.

Floria quickly dropped Ferra and started shrieking in pain, the fire spreading throughout her chest. Even the sap running through her veins started burning up and soon the goddess incinerated as a whole. With desperate swings she tried to attack Ferra once again, but the unbearable pain was too much. Soon she turned to ash, leaving behind nothing more than her glowing pulsating heart. Skerke watched the battle from afar and quickly rushed towards our hero. "How can I ever thank you..." He cheered while shedding tears. She only knew the man for less than a day, but was very well aware that this was the first time he smiled in a long time. His smile was wide but short lived.

Without hesitation he pushed Ferra to the side before having half of his ribcage torn out. The Goddess of Plants was very much alive and had finally murdered Skerke, the last inhabitant of the forest. Blood gushed out of the gigantic wound and with one last effort he looked at the shocked silver haired girl before slumping over. Memories within her came back from all those years ago in Ílith Dun when her friends and protectors where slaughtered by the Goddess of Ice. "You made a mistake not destroying my heart when you had the chance to. Maybe I should burn you aswell so you know how it feels." Floria declared standing over Skerkes corpse.

Tears of quicksilver flowed down the face of our hero. She clenched her fist around the Alloy Blade and jumped towards Floria with immense power. Her adversary had no other option but to block the attack, however it was not enough. Ferra kept on pushing until she sent Floria flying through the giant walls of the tree. The rage she unleashed was beyond anything the Goddess of Plants had ever seen, each attack being more powerful than the last one. She tried to push back against the assault but Ferra gave her no opening using both the runes on her sword aswell as her own powers to finally defeat Floria. She shrouded the area in a dark nebula, extended a long whip made of vines enveloped in steel and tore through the goddesses chest. It gripped the heart from within and with a quick pull Ferra ripped it out of Florias body.

With the heart now in her hands the goddess begged for her life, but she did not listen. Ferras fingers slowly started to tighten and in a moment the heart was crushed. The light in Florias eyes started to fade and soon became gray. When our hero slowly calmed herself she could hear the last words "Free at last" eminating from the withering carcass.

Ferra looked at her hands seeing the remains of the heart. She was horrified and confused how it came this far. Was she truly the victor even though she lost control of herself? And what about her friends sacrifice because she let her guard down. All this led to a loud scream filled with agony and remorse. The wind around her began to whisper and asked "Is this what you wanted?" She looked up and saw the woman with azure hair. "From here on out your battle will not become easier, Floria was the weakest one of us after all." the figure stated before vanishing into thin air.

Writers note: At this point thank you so much for reading. Writing this took me quite some time and to be honest I was not entirely sure if I would even release chapter 2 with all the time that has passed since the first. Regardless I hope it was somewhat interesting and I plan on continuing this series more consistently from now on. If there are any questions feel free to comment down below and thank you once again for checking it out. As always, I wish you all a nice day whenever you reading this🍉