A translucent wing of green flame wrapped around my body as the enormous weight of the snake crushed down on me. Bones shattered, muscles tore, and organs ruptured, the excruciating pain overwhelmed everything, but there was hope in the darkness.

For every injury, a feather of the translucent wing shattered. Bright green flames erupted from the broken feathers, rushing towards the injury. The fire healed my torn and tattered body nearly as fast as it was injured. One feather after another shattered as more and more flames flowed through me.

I am the Immortal Calamity. So long as my flames exist, so do I, but such power did not come without a price. Every feather sacrificed, permanently reduced the flames in my body. All the training since my rebirth was burned away in a single instant.

Feather after feather shattered as the massive weight of the snake crushed my healing body in a constant cycle of injuries, fire, healing, and injuries again. Finally, when only three small feathers remained, the snake reared up.

I coughed up blood, unable to move. Everything hurt, especially my head. It would hurt even more when the shock wore off, but the pain was worth it.

I forced a weak smile as I looked up at the giant Demonkin. It screeched loudly as it slammed its body into a crumbled building. Once, twice, three times, the snake slammed its head into the ground with enough force to shake the earth. Its body twisted wildly, crushing many of its babies in a desperate attempt to get rid of the pain.

I did let not myself get squashed for nothing. I left behind a present for the snake, a bright green fire roaring furiously inside the Demonkin’s body. My flames might be small, but size meant nothing to an attack on the soul.

There was a flash of lightning as my mom appeared at my side. “Thank the realms you are alive!” she shouted. Her arms wrapped around me, hugging me ferociously.

“Too tight… can’t… breathe,” I said in an attempt to hide the pain caused by the even the slightest movement.

My mom did not seem to hear me as she continued to hug me tightly. “I thought we lost you! Never, ever do something like that again!”

My dad reached the crater, left behind by the snake’s impact. “Is she…”

“I am… ok,” I said softly, too weak to raise my voice.

My dad let out a sigh of relief, before his tone turned harsh. “What were you thinking? Why did you rush towards Charly like that?”

“Created an opening… We need to… get to the castle,” I lied before coughing hoarsely. The truth was I had not been thinking at all. I saw Charly in trouble, and I instinctually rushed to help. I could have run away, and made it safely out of range on the snake’s attack. Mom would have gotten Charly away, and everything would be fine. Yet for some reason I acted like a fool and dashed in front of him instead. As if there was anything I could do to protect him from a creature of that size. Centuries of combat experience and I still acted like a rookie, and now I have to pay for it. Pain was only the start.

I rested my throbbing head against my mom’s shoulder as she gently picked me up.

“Everyone, to the castle while it is distracted!” my father shouted.

My mom carried me as we rushed out of the crater left behind after my near brush with death. I heard Orias shouting commands as he and the soldiers sprinted after us. I could hear the smaller snakes hissing angrily. They chased after the fleeing soldiers as we ran with all our might.

The thrashing Demonkin slammed its head into the ground again, crushing more of its children in a blind rampage. Rivers of blood dripped from its head. The colossal snake had done more damage to itself in these few seconds than our entire force had after throwing everything at it.

As we ran, I felt the snake’s eyes lock onto me. I shuddered as I saw its blood-soaked face. The red eyes glaring at me with pure rage. The Demonkin screeched to the sky with a tone of fury and anguish, before rearing up to strike.

We reached the massive doors to the castle, already busted open from when the Demonkin invaded. We rushed inside just in time as the Demonkin struck again. The stone walls exploded as the massive head slammed into the side of the castle.

One soldier, tailing the pack, got caught in the attack. He was buried in falling rubble, crushed by brick and stone. His screams rang out behind us, cut short as his life came to an end. There was nothing we could do for him now.

Dashing into the castle, we found ourselves in a giant hall, dimly lit by a few busted windows. Orias clutched his broken arm as he addressed the breathless soldiers. “Everyone, stay together. We will work our way towards the dungeons. That monster should not be able to get us if we are underground.”

A few of the soldiers gave affirmative answers, but before we could regroup, the wall behind us exploded in a shower of stone. The massive head of the snake burst into the hall with its mouth open wide. Red mist poured out as the creature released another deafening screech.

The snake’s eyes were still locked onto me as it slithered through the busted wall. It forced its massive body into the castle as it tried to reach me. The grand hall was large, but nowhere near large enough for the colossal snake.

Orias’s eye lit up as he watched to snake try coil into the room. “Everyone, Attack now! Aim for the eyes.”

Dozens of glyphs fired simultaneously as the soldiers fired everything they had at the snake. It hissed in pain as it tried to rear up, but its head collided with the ceiling. A shower of rubble to rain down around us, forcing the snake back down to the ground.

Presented with such an easy shot, Charly fired his crossbow. His bracer glowed with a fiery light as the bolt sunk deep into the snake’s right eye. The deafening explosion nearly collapsed the castle on our head. When the smoke cleared, all that remained of the eye was a gouged out hole pouring streams of blood.

The snake writhed in pain and tried to retreat out of the castle when a flash of lightning appeared next to its left eye. My mother pulled out her blade before stabbing the eye again. Another flash, and she was away just in time as seven giant blades of ice shot by my dad pierced the eye.

Completely blinded, the snake started to convulse wildly. It slammed its head into the walls and roof again and again. Brick started to crumble as the castle began to fall apart.

“Everyone out now!” Orias shouted, pointing to a hallway that had not crumbled yet.

Unable to move fast enough, I had to be carried again. However, when my father reached down to grab me, he did not do so gently like my mom had before. Instead, he threw me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes as we sprinted towards the hall.

I about to complain, but watching as thousands of stones collapsed to the floor where I had been standing, I swallowed my words. I did not want to get crushed twice in one day.

We sprinted through the hall as brick and stone fell around us. One soldier collapsed to the ground when a large chunk of rubble fell on him, but Orias was there to free the him. Easily chucking the giant stone aside, he picked up the fallen soldier with his one good arm and carried him as they ran.

Behind us, I could hear the snake continue to thrash about wildly. Every time it hit another wall, more of the castle collapsed.

The hallway around us was crumbling. We ran with all our might. Another soldier fell, but once again Orias was there to free them from the rubble. Despite carrying two armored soldiers, he managed to keep up with us, always keeping an eye out for his soldiers. A few times he even purposely took hits from large chunks of rubble so that the soldiers around him would not.

We burst through a door into an open courtyard just in time. The hallway behind us collapsed as the castle continued to fall. Everyone stopped to catch their breath as they watched the stones crumble, kicking up a cloud of dust into the air.

Incapable of seeing where we went, the snake was unable to chase after us. It continued to thrash around in the rubble of the once proud castle trying to find where we had gone. The entire place had collapsed now, but still the snake did not rest as it slammed into the stonework over and over again.

It was only when everyone realized we were not being chased and calmed down that they noticed Orias. His protection glyphs were gone. They faded sometime during the fight. He was breathing in the blood mist.

A few soldiers quickly used their glyphs as they clamored in panic. Orias getting infected was the worst possible outcome. He was the leader of this expedition, and the strongest fighter. Without him the soldiers did not know how they would complete the mission. A few of the soldiers even suggested turning back and getting him treated before coming back with more men.

“Silence!” Orias shouted, as he laid the two soldiers he rescued on the ground. “Just because I am infected does not give you all excuses to forget discipline. From what I have heard it can take days or weeks to fully succumb to the effects of the mist. The mission comes first. We will worry about my problem once we are done here. Now, everyone, sound off,”

He grimaced as the soldiers collected themselves and began shouting their status. After they finished, Orias slammed his fist into a nearby stone. It cracked under the force of his blow as he spoke with a somber voice. “Twenty- three dead…”

Everyone grew quiet. The number was a dark and dismal message to everyone here. It had been less than a week since we entered the mist. There was no telling what else we would find out there. My family had been lucky so far, but for how long would it last?

My dad placed me down and I collapsed to the dirt holding my head. It was throbbing with a horrible headache. In the distance I could still hear the Demonkin raging. I still felt my fire burning it from the inside, but I did not know if I had enough energy to kill it.

I was already running on reserves. My entire body felt like it could fall apart at any moment. My flames had kept me alive, but it did nothing for the pain and exhaustion.

My vision blurred as my body screamed for sleep, but I could not give in to that, not yet. I grit my teeth and forced myself to focus.

Nearby, one of the soldiers asked Orias a question. “What are we going to do about that thing sir? It is still alive even after everything we threw at it.”

“Nothing,” Orias replied, “Our mission is not to kill Demonkin. Our mission is to rescue the missing soldiers and any civilians we find. The beast is blinded. Without its vision it will be of little threat to us. Our goal now is to free the people trapped here and escort them out of the city.”

One of the soldiers shouted in protest, “How do we know the monstrosity will not attack based on sound or smell? Not to mention there have to be hundreds of thousands of snakes out there. How do we get civilians past all that?”

“I will think of something. Worst case, we burn our way through.”

“Captain, I don’t-“

Orias roared at the protesting soldier, “Be quiet! I am not leaving those people to die. If you do not like it, feel free to leave. Good luck getting out of the mist by yourself.”

The soldier grew quiet before giving a half-hearted salute. He turned away, cursing under his breath when he thought Orias could not hear him.

Orias continued, “If nobody else has any stupid complaints, rest up. We will take the next three hours to compose ourselves and come up with a plan. If anyone has any practical ideas, come see me.”

My mother turned to my dad and spoke, “what do you think?”

My father sighed. “He is right. As much as I want to run away, we cannot abandon those people. There were children in there. We have to save them.”

My mom nodded and turned towards me. “Are you ok Wren?”

“Just… tired,” I replied, doing my best to hide the pain I felt with every heartbeat.

“Then sleep. You have three hours.”

“Not yet,” I said with a clenched jaw, “Not yet.”

Despite my words, I closed my eyes. I was determined not to fall asleep, but I could not manage it for much longer. Using my life saving skill to stop from being crushed just took too much out of me.

Through sheer force of will I managed to hold on. Each minute felt like torture but if I let up now the flames inside the giant Demonkin would flicker out. It needed concentration to maintain it. If I could just hold out for a few more hours…

I was not sure how much time had passed when I heard the voice of a woman echoed in my head.

I have done all I can. I do not know how long I will be asleep this time. Days? Weeks? I leave the rest to you. I know you can handle it Wren.