The barrier around Hagnr exploded, sending the black smoke in every direction all at once. I could finally see the form that stood before me. Hagnr's shape had shifted into something akin to A'grappa's. His snout grew longer with large fangs. His eyes were serpentine, yellowish-orange, and with pupils like slits. He no longer stood hunched, balanced by an even longer scaly red tail. Smoke billowed from his jaws and nostrils. His skin turned a crimson red and his fur turned the color of the abyss, blacker than black.
He slowly walked forward towards me. The sand shifted beneath his feet as he walked, turning it into little patches of glass. I could hear the sizzle and crack with each step.
"Asura's Arrow." I fired off several shots of my arrows made from my ability to reject all existence. None made their mark. Hagnr was able to detect and dodge each one with very little effort.
"Whisper's Wind, Sethyr's Sight, Rammel's Rejection, Hered's Flames, Argos' Scales, Yog's Ash. You have many abilities, lapdog, and yet control none." He laughed. It was a slow crescendo full of wicked delight. "You can't hope to beat me on power alone."
I didn't know how to respond to him. It seemed like he knew enough about me without me showcasing my abilities. I hadn't even used my strongest techniques yet.
The wind picked up, carrying sand with it, obscuring my vision. I could hear the sand pelt his skin as it became as soft as raindrops from the heat. "Red Dragon's Breath!"
Immediately, a plume of flames made its way through the sandstorm to me. I took a deep breath, filling my lungs as much as I could. "Black Dragon's Breath!" I countered his flames with black flames of my own. The explosion when they collided was deafening. However, I couldn't give up. If his flames reached me, that would be the end. I could tell how hot they were. How much more powerful he had become in this form. His flames began to overpower mine, ebbing closer to me. At the last possible moment, I jumped into the air and attempted a technique I had only seen Campbell do. I didn't know if I could pull it off. "Chthonic Axe." As I came down, the air around me rushed. I could feel the sand slide across me as I rocketed towards Hagnr.
Hagnr's flames immediately stopped. Without looking, he caught my leg and tossed me behind him with ease. He turned to face me as I caught myself on all fours. "You think I didn't know you would try something like that, lapdog."
"My name is Mara, not lapdog." I shot back at him, not really sure why his insults were getting to me. I knew that he was just trying to get me angry.
"Prove to me then that you deserve me calling you by your name." He laughed. He waved his hand out in front of himself, creating several small high-speed balls of flames.
I dodged what I could, deflecting the rest. These attacks weren't very powerful, just enough to keep me on my toes. He's been keeping me on the defensive ever since he changed forms. What is so different about this form than the last?
Power. Gilgahlad's voice echoed in my head. He can be more powerful in this form because he is in control of all that he is. You have yet to learn to acclimate to one ability.
Gilgahlad is right. Kaddyr remarked. You have many abilities, Mara. You are a Jill of all trades, master of none.
So, what you're saying is there is no way I can beat him as I am?
No. Lillith said bluntly. That isn't what they are saying.
I continued to dodge more of Hagnr's attacks as the voices in my head argued with my thoughts.
You need to train. There is no time left. But, in order for you to become fierce and strong, for you to contest those that would destroy everything, you need to hone yourself. She continued. Every battle you fight and overcome is training in itself. Remember the feeling of each of your abilities and focus on that.
I erected a barrier. And tried to focus. It was a jumbled mess inside of me. I could feel all the attacks hitting the barrier. I could feel the resistance. I focused even more.
Hagnr rushed me, punching through the barrier with ease, and grabbing me by the arm. He tossed me once more, howling in mirthful laughter. His fists pummeled me with precision.
My voice came calm. "Rejection."
Hagnr flew backward, skidding across the sand, leaving tracks of glass in his wake. His sneer grew wider. "Finally showing some effort?"
I ignored his words. I just continued to focus. I needed to feel the differences in all my abilities. I needed to know just how each one differed from the other, the cost of my stamina, the power it could project, and the limitations each one had. I also had to understand my own limits.
"Red Dragon Bullets." Hagnr's attack was fast and had a lot of power embedded in it.
Stamina at eighty-four percent. Stockpiling mana. Stamina restoration is to be completed in six minutes and seven seconds.
Mara? Kaddyr sounded worried. I would probably dodge or counter that. Taking that head-on will definitely hurt.
Mara? Lillith, too, sounded concerned. Are you listening?
I could hear the bullets of flames flying closer, cutting through all the wind.
Impact in three seconds. I continued to focus. Continued stockpiling of mana. Stamina at eighty-five percent. I tried to feel the right move. The correct ability and timing. If done too early or too late, the consequences were severe. Impact in two seconds. I circled through the different abilities I had been given by the various Minor Ones and Fractions that I had come across throughout my journey. The answer was evident. Impact in one second. "Parvatha."
The impact never came.
I opened my eyes to survey the results. Hagnr bounced around, putting out flames in his clothes. The sand around him was scorched. My barrier surrounded me, rotating with my body as its axis. Stamina at eighty-four percent. Stockpiling mana. Stamina restoration to be complete in six minutes and one second.
Hagnr laughed. "So, you can reflect my ability twice as fast as I send it to you." He scoffed loudly. "Don't think that means you have beaten me. I am far stronger than I was when I fought that gods forsaken emperor. Much stronger than you in fact." He finally managed to quiet the flames on his body. Other than being singed, he was barely affected. He definitely wasn't bluffing about his strength. I could tell that much. "To think you can do this much when you concentrate. Yet, you lack so much control."
"Who sent you after Abryi?" I inquired. It had been quite some time since Hagnr even considered Abryi and after having defeated him the first time, what irked me is why he would come seeking him now. There had to be a good reason behind why he decided to come now.
"Perhaps I will give you the answer," he egged, "if you can somehow best me in combat." He readied himself to attack again. His movements were more fluid and faster as he came at me.
I kept my barrier erect and continued to dodge each strike. It took effort to move in a way that he wouldn't notice my feints. When I finally saw an opening, I took it. Without saying anything I rejected my barrier itself against him, sending him flying backward through the air until he hit the sand hard, making channels as his body skidded across the surface.
As soon as Hagnr was on his feet, he let out flames from his mouth that were so thin and laser focused on me that it rushed towards me with precision and speed. "Razor fire."
I wasn't going to be able to dodge that in time or reflect it. If I even tried to reflect that attack, it would penetrate my barrier easily. I had to find a way to nullify the attack itself. I poured ash at the fire, coating it and choking the air from the attack as much and as fast as I could. There was definitely no way that I could withstand that attack. Even the invulnerability I had stolen from Campbell couldn't stand up to that.
The ash held the flames back for a little while. That is, until Hagnr blew harder, turning the orange-yellow flames into blue-white ones that were hotter and burned through the ash. It even got sharper more precise.
I tried something I hadn't thought about since I first came to after Lillith took my body over the first time. I had to concentrate quickly, focusing on the energy that was the blind man Campbell went after. His ability to phase through things may be the only thing in my arsenal that could contend with such a technique.
I let the flames make their strike.