13 Flames of Turmoil

The emerald eyes of the queen of fiends were locked on Skyletra, as she slowly rose to her feet. The armed Templar were still drawing near, hardly noticing that she was taking a few steps backwards. "(If I don't retreat now, I'm dead...)" Nye thought.

"I wouldn't take another step, if I were you. You're going to make this harder than it needs to be, girl. Remain still, and we'll make your death quick, and painless." Skyletra instructed. "Surround her!" She ordered.

Nye was gritting her fangs, as the Templar quickly obeyed Skyletra's command. Her eyes trailed for some kind of opening, in a subtle panic.

"There's no escaping now, Amygdala. You're dead." Skyletra grinned.

The wind was picking up around them, with the Templar aiming their weapons at Nye. She took a breath, before roughly slamming her uninjured wing into a Templar behind her. This caught the man by surprise, as he fell off the roof.

"DETAIN HER!" Skyletra demanded.

This had her forces in a frenzy, and Nye took this opportunity to leap off the side of the building, to the ground below. Luckily the side she chose was on the opposite path of the city streets, closer to the lush woodlands, that lay outside the city walls of the harbor town. She jumped over the body of the man, that she knocked from the building, hurrying for the safety of the trees. The Templar were flooding after her, however as they pursued into the vast brush of the woods, there was no trace of Nye.

"SPREAD OUT! FIND HER, AND DON'T LET HER ESCAPE!! I WANT TO SEE HER DEAD! YOU HEAR ME!?" Skyletra snapped angrily.

"SER!" The Knights acknowledged, breaking off to cover more ground in the vast forest location.

"Milady Tactician." Sally called, catching up to her.

"What is it?" Skyletra sneered back to the centaur, and her leashed, that was close behind her.

"I was to inform thee, that Milady Spymaster has taken her leave to Belmont. She asked this noble steed to assist thou, if the fair lady Tactician hath need of mine lance." Sally reported, humbly.

This made Skyletra scoff. "Search for the female Amygdala. DO NOT let her escape. She could be allied with the Angel of Death, and we do not wish for her to inform him of our plans. Savvy!?" Skyletra retorted, in agitation.

"Aye, Milady." Sally nodded in understanding.

"Good." Skyletra turned off, proceeding to seek Nye out on her own.

Sally looked to her leashed, "Hither squire, we have a task at hand." She said, proceeding further into the woods.

"Yeah-yeah, I heard the lady." Hige groaned a bit.

Neither had noticed Nye peering from above them in the treetops. Her wings hung low, still bleeding from her wounds. She was gritting her teeth from the pain, as she took advantage of the situation. She had to tell him he was in danger, but with her injuries she would not be able to fly. "I need to find the nearest underground entrance, and locate Jack before the Templar do." She muttered, weakly, as she descended to the ground, landing on her feet.

Elsewhere, in the same woods. Solitaire and Miles were traveling by foot from the train wreckage, heading to the nearest city. However, neither knew where they were, or where they were heading.

"I think it's safe to assume that we're lost." Miles grumbled.

Solitaire was trailing a bit behind him, she seemed deep in thought. She remembered the other world, and the thought of being trapped here. "(...I'll never be able to go back.)" She thought to herself. Her eyes panned downward. "(Even if I could, I'm not human anymore... Maybe all those stories about the planet's spores weren't some old wives tale... Is that why I'm this way?..)"

"Hey! Are you listening to me?" Miles snapped, but turned back around, seeing her looking sad. "Solitaire? is something wrong?" His ears went back, as he furrowed his brows.

"Huh?" She looked over to him quickly. "What? No, just thinking is all." She tried to laugh, but it wasn't very convincing. "Were you saying something?"

"Just that we're lost." Miles shrugged.

"Oh." Solitaire replied, right as her eyes caught something strange in the distance. She vaguely noticed an unusual woman, flying off on a broomstick. "D-Did ya see that?" She pointed to the sky, over the treetops where she spotted the sight.

"See what?" Miles glanced over, tilting his head. His tail swished slightly. "You're loosing your mind out here, Sol. I don't see nothin'."

"It was a bleeding witch, how did you not see that?!" She exclaimed, growing frustrated.

"Maybe cause I'm looking for a way outta this forest." Miles rolled his eyes, as he resumed walking. "Wait, witch?!" He turned around fast, noticing Solitaire proceeding in the other direction. "HEY! What's gotten into you!? ARE YOU CRAZY! Witches are BAD news! HEY! SOL! GET BACK HERE!" Miles growled, running after her in concern.

In yet another section of the woods, Zyron was traveling on his own. The area he was in felt very dark and dreary, compared to the other portions of the forest. He crossed over a stream, pausing to get a drink from the water. After wiping his face, one of his ears quirked a bit, and he glanced over his shoulder. "Just when I thought I was away from the risk of being caught... Templar show up. For fuck's sake..." He groaned.

The Templar weren't too close to him yet, but being a dog , his sense of smell was much farther heightened; compared to that of an average human's awareness. They seemed to be venturing through the plant covered terrain, cutting away vines and branches that got in the way of their path. Zyron was luckily at a good distance from them, that he hadn't been noticed.

The dog continued deeper into the darker parts of the woods, the grass was becoming rather barren, with withered vines overgrowing near an upcoming rickety old hanging bridge. Zyron was seeming more on edge, as he began to cross. Below the rotting panels of the wooden bridge, was an empty pit of nothingness. It made him quiver uneasily, causing him to rush further ahead. It was even beginning to grow dark, with a brief view of the moons seen over head. Subtle eerie sounds made the canine leashed stammer, with his tail between his legs. Ahead of him, he could see many trees that were missing the leaves, but instead, nooses with skulls and bones of many skeletal forms; hung from the dying branches.

"Shit..." Miles muttered, shivering uneasily.

"What do we have here? Seems my lost little puppy finally came home." A sultry female voice spoke into his ear, her red lips nearly touching his fur.

His eyes widened fearfully, as the heartbeat in his chest was rapidly intensifying. Zyron scrambled backward, before falling to his rear in panic. His gaze had turned back, seeing the same female witch that Solitaire had spotted before. She was sitting side saddle on her floating broomstick, as she giggled. The broom itself looked make-shifted to be used as a weapon, with a chain at the front that held a human skull.

"Oh crap... J-Just keep back...." Zyron's heart was beating out of his chest, in fear. It was plain to see that she was more than likely the person responsible for the death around them.

The witch's wavy orange hair illuminated under the night sky, from the torch like flames that emerged from the top of her pigtails. Her glowing red eyes that focused on Zyron, held a beauty mark beneath the left one. He also noticed, covering her well endowed body, she wore a crimson colored dress, styled at the bottom with perfectly symmetrical pointed edges. She carried many accessories, with dark detail, as well as matching red boots. "Such a bad dog, running away from me."

Zyron was shaking, sweat frantically trailing down his face. This made the witch smirk, in an eerie fashion. She dismounted from her broom, holding it to her side, as she approached the fearful leashed. She crouched down, like a lady, before holding her out stretched fingers in front of his face. The long, pointed nails were only a short distance from touching his skin.

"By the flame that burneth bright, We call thy name into the night. Thee we invoke, by the moon-led sea, by the standing stone and the twisted tree. By moonlit meadow, on dusky hill, When the haunted wood is bushed and still. Come to the charm of the chanted prayer, As the moon bewitches the midnight air. In fiery flame by starlight pale, in shadowy host that rides the gale." The witch spoke an incantation, with a curling smirk.

Zyron's eyes became dull and tired, loosing all luster of sparkle. It was as if he was in a trance. The witch rose to her feet, using her index finger to call Zyron forward. Without a word, or thought, he stood to his feet. It only made the witch grin, as she sat back onto her broom, before she led him off deeper into the chilling woods.

Some time had passed, as Zyron returned to his senses. Weakly opening his eyes, he found himself in another section of the woods. He felt very disoriented, and in pain. His cloak was missing, and it appeared that his hands had been hammered into a tree, with a large spike through each palm. His feet were just barely touching the ground, but any slight movement, made a massive surge of pain course through his entire body. "FUCK!" He bared his fangs, in agony.

His eyes squinted, peering down to the cold air that beat against his chest. There he noticed his jacket had been undone, but something felt VERY wrong. His stomach was churning, and felt like he had some sort of fever. There also seemed to be incisions on his belly, and lower back that had been stitched up carelessly. He could feel his whole body trembling. He coughed, wincing as some blood dripped from his lips. "(What the fuck's happening to me!?.... Am... Am I going to die!?)" His thoughts were in complete disarray, as the fear rolled over him.

The sight of the hanging skulls around him didn't help his nerves either. However, at that moment, he heard that creepy laugh, one he recalled from his subconscious. "Hmhmhm." The witch had approached him, with a view of the back entrance of her hut behind her. She smirked, grabbing Zyron by his jaw.

He flinched, gritting his teeth. "Y-You... What are you fucking doing to me!?" He spat out, his voice cracking.

"That's no way to talk to your master, Zyron.... Perhaps I should have sewn your mouth shut, when I closed those incisions up." Her sharp eyes peered down to his chest, letting her hand leave his face to trail down it.

Zyron winced, as she dug her index finger into one of his wounds. Without hesitation, the hand rose to her face, and she licked his blood off her finger tips. Zyron's eyes grew panicked, squirming to get distance between them, but it was no use. Blood was now trailing from the infliction on him, that Witch's finger reopened.

"If you don't stop your barking, I may just decide to remove your tongue next." The witch stated, her eyes focused on him. "Then, if I did that, I wouldn't be able to hear you scream when I take the rest of you apart. Piece by piece." She snickered.

"Why... Are you doing this to me?..." Zyron grimaced, the harshness of his pain gripping tighter around him.

"Why? You're a leashed, no one gives a damn about you creatures. Haven't you heard though, your kind make excellent ingredients for potions, as well as delectable cuisines. Hmhmhm." Her lips curled, as she looked to him with her menacing gaze.

Zyron was perspiring heavier now. "FUCK, You're gonna... E-E-E-E-E-Eat me!?" He cried out, trembling immensely.

Before she could respond; there was a sudden sound of crunching leaves not far off from the hut, but still out of view. Perhaps it came from the other side.

"HELP-" Zyron pleaded, screaming as loud as he could, but was soon silenced. The witch had her hand in front of his face, her index was placed against his lips.

"Shhh.... I want to savor your screams, my pet. A bad dog needs to be punished, for disobeying his master." She said, her fingers stretching before his face. "Silver dust of the brightest moon, slumber now if not too soon. "

Zyron's eyes fell heavy, as his consciousness left him. The leashed quickly fell asleep, the witch's gaze then turned to the sound from before.

"It would seem I have guests, hmhmhm." She chuckled, her gaze aimed to the back door of her hut.

Approaching the front entrance of the hut, was Solitaire. Miles wasn't too far behind her. "SOLITAIRE! HEY! WILL YOU LISTEN TO ME!?" Miles shouted, getting in front of her path. She halted, looking to him. Miles's had a stern gaze upon his face, but clearly was concerned. "What's gotten into you!? You're pursuing a witch! Do you have the slightest idea what someone like that is capable of!? They virtually have no weaknesses, trust me!"

"Of course I do, I'm not daft!" Solitaire snapped back. "I'm well aware that the weakness of fire and water are a myth. I learned that from reading some of the books back in Wynorex's library. They use vocalization for magic, as well as need to be able to see their targets."

"Then why on Desdemuna are you even attempting to make contact!?" Miles retorted. "You know how impossible it is to counter that?!"

"I don't know, maybe so I can get my life back! If you hadn't noticed, I'm not exactly human anymore, and I'm bloody trapped here! You don't know shite about what that feels like!" She snapped back, sardonically, before she pushed passed him, proceeding to the door of the hut.

Miles stood there staring at her, completely dumbfounded. Did she really feel this way? He couldn't grasp it, after all Miles thought he had it pretty bad off himself.

Solitaire didn't seem hesitant, as she approached the hut's door, and proceeded to knock. Miles timidly made his way after her; as crazy as this was, he couldn't just let her go at this alone. She glanced to him, before turning up her nose. This made Miles' ears shoot back, with a grimace on his face.

There was a short pause, before the door creaked open. Standing there was the torch haired witch. "Greetings young ones. Is there something I can do for you?" She inquired with a soft grin, letting her eyes briefly glance to Miles.

Miles hid behind Solitaire, "(This is bad....)" He pondered uneasily.

"You're a witch, right?" Solitaire inquired.

"Indeed I am child." The witch placed on a more alluring gaze. "What is it you seek? A love potion perhaps? Visions of the future? Or maybe Fortune telling? No..." Her grin became much more sly. "You want to return home, but not as you are, rather.... as you were?"

Solitaire was stunned. "Blimey, you got that much from me?"

The witch placed her hand to Solitaire's shoulder, "If that is what you seek, please follow me inside... Solitaire Eclair."

Miles could only watch, as Solitaire violently followed the torch haired witch inside the hunt. He sucked it up, following them inside. Within, Solitaire was brought to a table, to be seated. "Well, you clearly know my name. Innit right that I should know yours too?"

"You may address me as madam Inferna Firebrand." The witch replied, talking a seat.

Miles begrudgingly sat to the floor, without seeing another seat present. He kept feeling those eyes peering at him, but Solitaire had to have a good reason to do this. He so hoped at least.

"So, how's this gonna work?" Solitaire asked, eagerly awaiting Inferna's reply.

"There's no return gate to the time in which you came, if you traveled again it won't be the same. Reversing the effects of the spores will not occur... you're better off forgetting the way things were." Inferna spoke, her eyes intensely making contact with Solitaire's.

"Forget...." Solitaire's eyes were becoming dull, as it Inferna was using a spell with her words. Miles caught wind of the pattern of speech, getting up fast to shield Solitaire's eyes with his hands.

"Sol. Why couldn't you listen to me? She's trying to use magic on you!" Miles gritted his teeth, peering up to see the witch's angered gaze.

Breaking the eye contact caused Inferna to become enraged, the flames of her hair growing more intense. "You shouldn't have interfered feline! NOW YOU BOTH SHALL BURN!!"

Floating spheres of fire began to emerge around the two, as Miles released his grasp on Solitaire's face. He was staring with uncertainty the fire magic that seemed to resemble Inferna's hair flames. He grabbed Solitaire's shoulders, but she seemed to be in a trance.

"Come on! Snap out of it! SOLITAIRE!" Miles shook her.

"H-Huh?" She slowly responded, she appeared very disoriented, but her eyes widened at the balls of fire surrounding them. The flame witch's hair was flaming wildly, and not just up to the roof. It was spiraling around, like it couldn't contain the energy of her magic. The flames had engulfed the room to the extreme that the front door was blocked. Miles was trying to find an exit route, seeing that Solitaire wasn't budging. He then noticed the back door. Without thinking, Miles took Solitaire's hand, rushing with her for the back door in a frenzy.

"Hurry! We gotta get out of here!!" Miles exclaimed.

"YOUR FATES HAVE BEEN SEALED!! YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE MY GRASP!" Inferna blared out, angrily, as she dove after them, her body levitating above the floor. It was like she was flying without the use of wings.

Miles and Solitaire burst out the back door, with the fire witch hot on their trail. The two of them were too busy running, that when they glanced back to see if Inferna was there, a loose root of a tree snagged Miles' foot. Without much warning, the feline and the morphious crashed to their knees. Inferna couldn't have been too far behind them, it was only a matter of time til she caught up. Quickly they scrambled to their feet, but Solitaire suddenly froze; her eyes locked ahead in panic.

Miles was trying to get her up. "We need to get out of here! Hurry before that witch catches up!" He urged her. Still she didn't move, and Miles finally caught notice of her expression. This caused the cat to glance behind him, to where Solitaire was staring. Then he spotted it too. Zyron, pinned to the tree, bleeding from his palms and open infliction on his abdomen.

"Bloody hell....I-It's Zyron... We-We can't just leave him there like that!" Solitaire insisted, rushing to the dog's side.

"Just hurry!" Miles called, peering back to see the glow beginning to emerge from the door. "Dammit!" He swore, before running after Solitaire on all fours.

She had already made it to the tree, trying to pry the spikes out of the unconscious leashed's palms. Miles reached her side, moving in to help get the spikes out. He wasn't too thrilled, but if it would get Solitaire move, he would deal with helping a dog. After a brief effort, they managed to yank the spikes out, but Zyron wasn't able to stand in the state he was in. He began to fall forward, and Solitaire was forced to catch him, before he hit the ground. The dog was too heavy for her to hold, making it so she was forced to let him lay in the dried grass. He was bleeding more now from his hands.

"I can't lift him, you need to help me Miles!" Solitaire pleaded.

"We're not going to get far with him like this. We should just run, while we have a chance!" Miles argued back.

"We can't just leave him here!" Solitaire snapped.

There was a sound of heels handing behind them, an uneasy feeling flooded over them, as the two turned slowly back to spot Inferna, leering down upon them.

"I told you, you're not getting away from me. So forget about stealing my living organ storage, those body parts are mine to harvest, and mine alone. With your cat there, that makes for another host too. Hand over my dog, and your cat, girl, then maybe I won't pick you apart like the others." Inferna stated, restraining her wild anger.

Miles was scared, but agitated. He placed his hand to the hilt of his sword, ready to strike. Inferna was drawing closer, but Solitaire positioned herself over the unconscious Zyron, holding her body above his. The blades of her body formed in various places, all angled aggressively at Inferna. Her eyes were forming tears of anger, but she did not falter.

"COME ANY CLOSER, AND I'M GONNA SHOW YOU WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE RIPPED APART!!" Solitaire screamed at the fire witch, with rage.

However, this only made Inferna laugh, as she gripped to Solitaire's poncho collar, bringing her face in real close. The spiraling balls of fire, burning as they danced passed the protruding blades of Solitaire.

Inferna was focused on Solitaire, unfazed by the threat. She was grinning, with her tongue visibly rubbing along her teeth. "Hmhmhm. Do you really think a few blades are going to stop me, little morphious? Hasn't it occurred to you that I can melt your entire body, or haven't you realized that your blood is made of metal alloys?" Her eyes peered over to Miles. "And you cat, sheath your sword. Neither one of you can do anything to stop me, and no one's going to come to your rescue. Pahahahahaahaaa!!" A wide sadistic grin crossed her red lips.

"Over here!""Turn this hut upside down, don't cease until we find that AMYGDALA!!""SER!" Voices were heard from not too far off.

Inferna's expression became very displeased. "You little vermin... led TEMPLAR to MY DOORSTEP!? Now I have to deal with the knights too!" She was burning up, her rage showing in her flames. "YOU TWO! Stay right there! If you're not HERE when I return... I will hunt you down, and turn your bodies INSIDE OUT!" She hissed, forming her broomstick before flying to her hut. As soon as the witch was out of sight, Solitaire turned to Miles.

"Talk about jammy timing... Miles, help me with him." Solitaire retracted her blades, moving to try and get Zyron up.

Miles begrudgingly helped her get Zyron to his feet, "Let's just get the heck outta here before she comes back."

There was the sound of combat, as well as people screaming from the other side of the hut; a brief view of flames were visible. Solitaire and Miles hurried with Zyron as fast as they could, coming up to an underpass, within the woods.

"All this trouble, and for what? I get you wanted to go home, but even that witch couldn't help you. That was reckless pursuing one in the first place." Miles objected. "Then we nearly died so you can save this dog."

"You're really gonna brass me off, talking like that. I took a risk, I know that. Lookit, if we didn't show up at her hut, HE might not be with us right now." Solitaire retorted.

"Like I care. He didn't want to be around us the first time you saved him. What makes you think he's going to stick around this time. Let alone, why should that matter to me?!" Miles growled, jealously.

Solitaire flared her teeth. "You're the bloody bastard who wanted to go after Nye in the first place! We were almost eaten by some crazed fiend, then I was nearly raped by those goons on the train!-"

"Okay-Okay, look. That fiend was my fault, but those guys on the train. THE WITCH." Miles looked to her seriously. "... It's all cause of this dog." He motioned with his head, to Zyron whom was between the two as they walked. "If it wasn't for him, we could have out ran that woman."

"Quit your bloody yakking, we're all to blame. He innit looking too well, and there's a lot of blood. Let's just try and find a place to hide or something, so we can at least mend his wounds... I'm not going back to the tunnels with that monster down there. It's too risky." Solitaire retorted back.

"Whatever. Not like we have much choice here. Just don't expect him to stick around." Miles scoffed.

They traveled further, and no sign of a pursuit of the witch. It was a bit of a relief, but the edge was still on. The forest felt like it wasn't ending, but Miles noticed a strange gap in one of the larger trees. They proceeded to investigate, discovering behind some vines that there was a hidden space within the trunk of the tree. It was empty, but the shelter would do.

They laid Zyron onto some leaves that Miles had gathered, while Solitaire tending to the wounds. Using herbs they found in the forest, as well as leaves, she fashioned makeshift bandages for his hands and stomach.

"First I thought your idea was crazy, but it actually worked. How did you know you could use plants like that, Sol?" Miles inquired, curiously.

"I used to go camping a lot with my brother. He taught me survival methods in case we ever got separated..." Solitaire replied, her tone melancholy.

"You miss him, don't you? Your brother I mean." Miles sat down, with some berries he gathered, to eat.

Solitaire nodded, "I don't know what to do without him... We've never been apart for this long before..." She continued to tend to Zyron, trying to cool his fever with a damp leaf.

Miles furrowed his brows, now understanding why she's been so set on returning home. She had people she missed, but maybe saving Zyron was helping her cope a bit. He would make due for the time being, hoping that when Zyron would bail on them, that it wouldn't effect her emotions too bad. They just needed to get back to Nye...

Little did they know she wasn't too far off from them. From her position, she gazed up at the night sky. The scene panned from the woods, to Filio city. It was dark, but Jack seemed to be venturing along it's streets. He appeared in better shape then the time before, but not all his wounds wouldn't have been healed so soon. There was many wanted signs out there for his arrest, but it was late at night, and no Templar around. He happened to be passing Mr. Zetto's pet shop, when he noticed the door slightly ajar. He peered down, noticing a hand laying on the ground from inside, it was preventing the door from closing.

Jack peered to it, gently nudging the door open. Inside however was a gruesome sight. There were several adolescent leashed butchered and left mangled on the floor. Blood stains were covering the walls and floors. Jack's blue eyes glanced downwards, seeing Mr. Zetto's body laying on the floor. His abdomen was sliced open, with his intestines pulled half way from the gash, and left around his neck in a way that you can tell he was strangled to death.

The angel of death's expression sharpened, as he went on the defensive; taking one of his knives into his left hand. Standing beneath one of the lampposts not too far off, was a shadowed male figure. The only visible detail to be seen was a twisted grin as he laughed, through the intense gaze between the two of them. "Well, well, well... Wasn't expecting to cross path's with you again, Jackyn. Heh heh heh..."