Chapter 10

The Fyre Chronicles: The Parody


Complaint about spelling count = 10

The weeks after Tehvirusses death left everyone in a state of shock. By the end of the first day, delegations had been sent out to meet with the other sects of the Tempest to ask if they’d been involved. By the end of the second, people walked the halls of Byta in pairs and guards had been posted at major junctions. By the end of the third, teams of six were sweeping the entirety of Byta in an effort to find the killer. For the most part the Admin spent their time locked away issuing orders and conferring to themselves. Rumours about what had happened sprung up at every turn, many were mere fanatics but some were uncomfortably close to the truth. But all had in common the way Tehviruss had died, having his Fyre completely expunged. In the confusion nobody seemed to notice that Chimerea had changed dramatically, seldom speaking and avoiding public areas. Sometimes I felt that he was tailing me for some perplexing reason. This morning I was to go with Grimlock as well as Qbix, Xthakila and Edot in order to mend some plumbing. As mundane as it sounded, Defnop552 insisted that I now had to work my share for Byta’s upkeep. And so with the sun yet to rise and Qbix hauling our equipment in a suit case with a odd heart decal on it, we set off dutifully to what promised to be an extremely dull day. Slowly we wound our way through the maze of copper pipes and oppressive fog. Edot was in the lead was picking a safe path through the scalding pipes when he called out “Found one!” we shuffled to the side to allow Qbix through, we didn’t wait for the hulking Grimlock to pass but instead we scurried ahead so as to avoid being pushed onto the burning pipes. Grimlock was in a foul mood, due to his prodigious size he was stumbling into the pipes constantly and had spent the entire trip muttering or shouting a phenomenal quantity of inventive curses. We made our way forth, squinting against the cloak fog and steam, Edot was standing near a ruptured pipe that was hissing a large quantity of the steam in the air, leaving a large amount of water puddled on the floor. Not having even begun work and already soaked, we moved past Edot to give Grimlock the space he needed. Donning the thick leather gloves he grabbed the sides of the hissing pipe and pushed them together. Slowly the resistance if the copper gave way to Grimlocks bulk. Edot flicked his finger in an effort to ignite the Fyre, after a few attempts he succeed and pointed his finger at the split before sending a bright stream of Fyre across the small distance to weld the hole shut. Instantly the fog was expelled for the area, giving us short reprieve before flooding back in. We continued to move along in search for more leaks. As we walked I suddenly stopped, causeing several people to run into the back of me in a chorus of irritated mutterings. Ignoring their complaints I asked “Something’s rattling up that way I said pointing to a small maintenance passage. With an exasperated sigh Qbix pushed me up in the direction I’d gestured, “You lot keep moving along. I’ll go with Sherlock here and see what’s happening” With a deep breath of exhausted patience he gave me another push to send me down the passage. I was in the lead and was getting decidedly uncomfortable about the odd rattling coming from further on. The sound grew louder and I started to squint through the fog to try and make out what was the cause of the noise. Through the gloom a shadow slowly materialized, I suddenly noticed that what I was seeing way a dishevelled man with his hands and feet bound in chains the clinked as he walked. Each wrist was swollen and had dried blood around the edges of the manacles. “Hey! What are you doing down here? Who are you?” At the sound of my voice his head jerked up, slowly a smile spread across his face. “Ahh, so mortal have you come to take me from this place…hmm?” I looked confusedly at him “Er…what do you mean by ‘mortal’” he chuckled slightly and shook his head. “How do you not know of me? I am Sangheili God…Lord of Fyre” I frowned and turned back at Qbix, he was as pale as snow. He whispered quietly to me “We need to leave NOW. This guy is a mental, not by the Fyres doing but by his own. We locked him up because he thinks he is the ruler of Fyre and so believes he holds dominance over us. He seeks to make us slaves and by killing us off one by one he will find the foretold Chosen One when he is bested. In doing so he wanted to bring about a new war.” I was about to ask why when Qbix launched a Fyreball at Sangheili God and puled me down another tunnel. Behind us Sangheili God howled in rage and gave chase. As we ran through the cramped tunnel bumping into the walls as we sprinted away. Constant bursts of heat were the only indication needed to prove that Sangheili God was trying to kill us. I began to wonder why he hadn’t already hit us when a blot from the large pipe along side us shot out of its place and hit the opposite wall with deadly force. Through the whipping wind I heard Qbix’s voice bellow out “Use double shields quickly!” as soon I the shields had been conjured a storm of blots exploded from their housing and thundered against the opposing wall. One of the missiles hurtled through my outer “monitor” shield, causing the second to flare up and catch the projectile before it hit me, each explosion was deafening and released a blast of steaming water. The confined corridor became a symphony of ear shattering explosions. “His heating the water in the pipes to make them explode!” as if to punctuate my point, a wide spar of pipe hurtled down the tunnel and glanced of Qbix’s shields. Although it didn’t physical harm him, the force of the blow was ample to throw him in a dizzying spiral. His shield flared and under the withering barrage began to crackle under the strain. We continued our headlong sprint. The water was climbing above our shins and breathing was becoming more difficult. At the sound of a noticeably louder bang I threw myself forward, catching Qbix and pulled him to the ground as a large object whistled overhead. The chase and the near continues use of shields had completely exhausted Qbix. A direct hit from another solid object would collapse his shields and then he’d be at the mercy of the raving lunatic behind us. He’d be too worn out to keep running. Another cloud of hot water burst for a joint to our right and swept us off our feet. Flicking strands of burning hair from my eyes I turned to look down the tunnel. “Stay here.” I said, “I’m going to end this” Qbix gasped “ Don’t, he can rechannel your Fyre. It’s suicide!” but I’d already left him. I was in no danger from other explosion as the area behind us had been decimated. Through the gloom I spotted Sangheili God. I was tempted to ask him why he was trying to kill us but that sort of thing only worked in dumb clichéd movies. I promptly launched a Fyreball at him but the steam in the air choked the Fyre and it petered out before it reached its target. This time I compensated and hurled a larger and more powerful ball but found it screaming back at me. Caught unawares I was thrown back a few meters, when I looked up I saw him standing over me, grinning madly. “How many must I kill before I find him? How many must die before I find the Chosen?” he rasped. I only stared mutely back, he shrugged “Oh well, guess I will just need to keep looking” he said smiling rasing his hand over his head, Fyre slowly growing over his palm, a glint off the executioners blade. In my life there were times when I wish I had acted but failed to and so regretted it, this time I didn’t miss a beat. Swiftly I raised my fist at him and pumped my power into it, liquid light shot out and consumed everything in its way. Over the roar of the water and the howl of my concentrated Fyre, Sangheili God final words sounded but a whisper…”Found you!”
In the aftermath of my assault work crews would come to repair the damage would find a perfectly circular hole that had burned through the lower levels of Byta, spanned the chasm and continued for some few hundred meters through the earth on the far side before eventually stopping. Sangheili God was blamed for Tehvirusses death and in a wild attempt to kill Qbix and me accidentally carbonised himself while burning the hole. I didn’t offer to tell anybody what really happened, not even Qbix. Everyone congratulated us on our slim escape, but Sangheili God’s final words haunted me. After all that had happened I could understand Ian’s fears of a Chosen…as the prophesy foretold, ‘The coming of a Chosen heralds war”
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Original post: http://www.fyreball.com/d/AIDE3_