THE SKINS OF THE LORD
"No", I protested to Meera, but she would not give.
She was stubborn and insistent on helping me get through this, even if it meant hurting her.
"Arrggghhhhhh"
Meera's skin was torn away from the forces of magic pressing onto us, preventing our advance to the middle of the mainland. Slowly, even her flesh and organs disintegrated by the magic wind.
"No, Meera", I shouted to her to stop shielding the wind force for me.
What remained of Meera's body was her bones and soon even those would be destroyed by the force of the magic wind.
"Hell, Damnit", Ratatouille said to us as he suddenly appeared before Meera, shielding her and me from the magic wind.
Ratatouille's body was struggling against the wind and like Meera and me, his body would soon be depleted by the friction of the wind.
"If only I can turn into something that can resist the wind but no matter what I change into, the strength of my body remains the same", Ratatouille told me.
Suddenly, I thought about something.
"Can you transform into the shape of a spear with the tip pointing to the wind?" I asked Ratatouille.
"How will that help us? My body no matter in what shape is only just as tough", he told me.
"Your body may remain the same, but your shape will improve your aerodynamics. That will reduce the friction on your body", I told him.
So, Ratatouille transformed into a large, rounded spearhead that protected us. The magical wind flowed through Ratatouille, more smoothly now with improved aerodynamics.
"I can move faster in this shape", Ratatouille told us as we gained more distance toward the center.
However, soon even aerodynamics couldn't stop the forceful wind from killing us.
"My spear is deforming especially at the tip", Ratatouille told me worriedly.
"We must protect the tip of the spear, that is the only thing that maintains the aerodynamics", I said to him.
"What are going to do now? Can we put a shield on the tip of Ratatouille?" Meera asked me.
"Maybe that is exactly what we needed", I told them.
Suddenly, magical shields appeared at the tip of Ratatouille's spear shape, protecting the tip from deforming. I cast a magical shield to protect the tip of his spear form.
"Shields of Thornheart"
"This is working", Ratatouille told us but before he added, "but this will not last us reaching the center.
"We only have a few more shields", Meera told me.
"But I can only cast one shield at a time", I replied to her when I thought about something.
Soon, more shields were cast on the tip of Ratatouille's spearhead body, and we quickly pushed ahead.
"Where did the extra shields come from?" Ratatouille asked me.
"They are cast by my Malevolent Slaves", I told him to his surprise.
"Yes, that is it. Your Malevolent Slaves are becoming like you, your incarnates, they can use your abilities and cast your magic", Meera said to me.
Finally, the wind that pressed against us stopped.
"Hell, it is all over", Ratatouille said to us.
Meera hugged me tightly with tears flowing from her eyes.
"I thought I would never see you again", she said to me.
"You are not allowed to do this again. You must always protect yourself first", I told Meera about her foolish attempt to save me.
"But she did save you with her naked body. Otherwise, you would be dead by now", Ratatouille said to me.
Then I realized we were undressed. Our clothing was destroyed by the magic wind that scorched our bodies.
"Let me get you clothed", I told Meera.
"No, I prefer it this way. You are always surrounded by Cassandra and even Rinna, I never have a chance to be this close to you", Meera told me.
"Damn, usually I will ask you to get a room, but this place is a big damn room. Suit yourself", Ratatouille told us before he disappeared, going to look for treasures in the middle of the rocky mainland of this realm.
After a while, Ratatouille suddenly ran back to us.
"What is the matter?" I asked him.
"We better run", he told us as he was chased by some monsters.
"What the hell are these monsters?" I asked.
"This is so fortunate, we found it at last", Meera said to me.
"What did we find?" I asked her.
"We found your skin, the Dark Angel's skin", she told me to my surprise.
-----
Sinister beings materialized in our midst, their forms draped in a grotesque, blood-stained skin riddled with shattered veins.
To our astonishment and dread, these ghastly entities were hollow inside, devoid of a tangible body, sustained only by the enchanted veins encasing them.
Gradually, the creatures closed in around us, their numbers surpassing our ability to tally.
Following our earlier encounters with the mystical winds prior to our arrival here, our reserves of magic had been completely drained. We now found ourselves defenseless, with no remnants of power to oppose these skin monstrosities.
-----
"Hide inside my soul realm", I said to them.
"No, I will remain with you this time. If you perish, so will I. I will not hide", Meera told me stubbornly.
"If you are not hiding, at least tell us what we can do about these skin monsters?" Ratatouille asked Meera.
"These skin monsters are the manifestations of the Dark Angel's skin. If we subdue them then you will inherit the Dark Angel's indestructible skin", Meera told me.
"We are all exhausted, we have nothing left to deal with these bloody skins", I replied to her.
Soon, the skin monsters were closing in on us. With their bloodied hands, they were trying to claw us and rip us apart.
I have no more magic that I could use. All my reserves were almost depleted. There was only one last defense that I could call.
"Summon Malevolent"
My Malevolent Slaves surrounded us, forming a shield around us, protecting us.
"Cast your bloody shields", Ratatouille asked me.
"They can't because my magic is dry. They can only defend us physically, but I couldn't say for how long", I replied to him.