I stood in the aftermath of my battle, my breath rasping in the suffocating heat of the smouldering room. The monster I had fought, a twisted, grotesque amalgamation of flesh and fury, was reduced to nothing more than a pile of ash at my feet.
My flames had taken their toll not just on the beast, but on the room itself. The charred remains of furniture and the acrid scent of burned wood surrounded me.
My body ached, my bloodied arm throbbed with pain, and exhaustion tugged at every fibre of my being.
But I wasn't done. Not even close.
Nathaniel was here, he had to be. Aeliana's presence had drawn me into this den of horrors, and though she wasn't in this room, I could still feel faint echoes of her energy lingering in the air.
It was enough to keep me going, enough to push past the fatigue and pain.
I took a step forward, forcing myself to move. The floorboards groaned beneath my boots, the faint sound almost swallowed by the crackling embers still clinging to life in the corners of the room. My flames cast long shadows that twisted and danced, but I didn't let them distract me.
Every muscle in my body was tense, ready for whatever lay ahead. If Nathaniel had more abominations like the one I'd just faced, I would burn them all to ash.
The first door I encountered was half-hanging from its hinges, battered and warped by the heat of my flames. I pushed it open with the tip of my boot, my fingers twitching as I prepared to summon fire at the first sign of a threat.
The room beyond was small, dimly lit by a single, cracked lantern on the far wall. Papers and books were scattered across a desk, and shelves lined with jars of strange, murky liquids loomed on either side.
The air was thick with the sharp, chemical tang of whatever foul concoctions Nathaniel had been working on.
I moved cautiously, my eyes scanning every shadow, every surface. The jars on the shelves held things I didn't want to identify—organic shapes suspended in cloudy fluid, grotesque and unnatural.
The papers on the desk were covered in scrawled notes, diagrams of human and demonic anatomy that made my stomach turn. Nathaniel had been conducting experiments here, warping and twisting life itself. The thought made my skin crawl.
I rifled through the papers, looking for any sign of Aeliana. But there was nothing—no mention of her name, no clue as to her location.
My frustration mounted, my flames flickering at the edges of my hands as I shoved the notes aside. I had no time for this.
I turned back toward the hallway, my steps echoing in the oppressive silence. Each door I passed felt like a new challenge, a barrier between me and the answers I sought. I opened the next one with a swift kick, my flames lighting the way as I stepped inside.
This room was larger, its walls lined with iron cages. The stench of decay hit me like a wave, nearly making me gag. Some of the cages were empty, their bars bent and twisted as though whatever had been inside had broken free.
Others still held occupants—gaunt, hollow-eyed demons whose lifeless stares sent a chill down my spine. They had been drained, their energy and will stripped away, leaving behind little more than husks.
"Monstrous bastard," I muttered under my breath, my fists clenching as anger surged through me. Nathaniel's cruelty knew no bounds. I swore then that I wouldn't just stop him—I would make him pay for every life he had ruined.
I moved quickly, checking each cage for any sign of life, any trace of Aeliana. But she wasn't here. The demons left behind were too far gone to recognise me, their gazes unfocused and distant. There was nothing I could do for them now.
Leaving the room, I pressed on, my flames flaring brighter as my frustration grew. The next door was locked, but it didn't matter. A concentrated burst of fire melted the hinges, and I shoved it open with a growl.
Inside, the space was sparse just a single table with restraints bolted to its surface, and a wall covered in cruel-looking tools. Bloodstains marred the floor, and the air was heavy with the metallic tang of it.
My stomach turned as I realised this was some kind of torture chamber, a place where Nathaniel had carried out his twisted experiments.
My flames flared uncontrollably, licking at the walls as my rage reached its peak.
I wanted to burn this entire building to the ground, to destroy every trace of Nathaniel's depravity. But I couldn't, not yet. Not until I found him. Not until I found her.
I left the room, my pace quickening as I moved to the next door, and then the next. Each one held new horrors—rooms filled with grotesque machinery, others packed with vials of glowing liquids that pulsed with unnatural light.
But no matter how far I searched, I found no trace of Aeliana, and no sign of Nathaniel.
By the time I reached the final door, my frustration had turned into a cold, simmering fury. I kicked it open without hesitation, my flames lighting up the darkness within.
This room was larger than the others, its ceiling arched and its walls lined with shelves overflowing with books and strange artefacts. A desk sat in the centre, papers and maps spread across its surface.
I approached cautiously, my eyes scanning the room for any sign of movement. But it was empty, eerily still.
The faint energy I had been following had grown weaker, almost imperceptible, as though it was slipping away.
On the desk, I found a map of the region, marked with symbols and notes in Nathaniel's unmistakable handwriting.
It detailed the locations of his various hideouts, each one circled and annotated with plans. My heart sank as I realised what this meant.
He was gone.
I clenched my fists, the flames at my fingertips flaring in anger. The bastard had escaped, slipping through my fingers like smoke. He had known I was coming, and he'd left behind his twisted creations to slow me down.
But even as the frustration threatened to consume me, I took a deep breath, forcing myself to focus.
Nathaniel might have escaped for now, but I had a map, and I had his trail. I would find him.
And when I did, I would make him pay for everything he had done to Aeliana, to me, to the countless lives he had destroyed.
Turning away from the desk, I let the flames surrounding me burn hotter, their heat filling the room.
I would burn this place to the ground, leaving nothing behind but ash. This was only the beginning.
The suffocating weight of Nathaniel's vile experiments pressed down on me as I stood in the dimly lit room, his twisted trophies and tools surrounding me like a monument to his depravity.
My hands trembled, not from fear or exhaustion, but from the overwhelming fury that burned hotter than my flames.
He'd escaped. The thought alone was enough to set my teeth on edge. I had come here expecting a confrontation, expecting to face the man who had orchestrated this nightmare, but instead, all I found were echoes of his wickedness and the ghosts of those he had destroyed.
He was always one step ahead, slippery as a shadow, and it made my blood boil.
This place, this fortress of horrors, couldn't be allowed to stand. It was a wound on this realm, festering with his evil. If I couldn't take him down today, I would make sure he had nowhere to return to.
I stretched out my arms, letting my fire unfurl from my fingertips like molten rivers. The heat intensified, warming my skin and filling the room with a bright, angry light. Flames licked at the ceiling, their hungry tongues devouring the air.
The bookshelves lining the walls caught fire in an instant, the brittle pages and dry wood feeding the blaze.
Smoke billowed, curling around me like a shroud as I moved through the room. I unleashed my power without restraint, the flames surging and roaring as they consumed everything in their path.
The dark artefacts on the shelves exploded under the heat, sending shards of glass and bursts of strange energy into the air.
The desk was swallowed by the inferno, Nathaniel's notes and maps curling into ash.
The walls groaned under the pressure of the fire, the ancient stone cracking as the temperature rose.
The structure itself seemed to tremble, as though it too feared the wrath of my flames. I didn't care. Let it fall. Let it all burn.
I moved back into the hallway, my footsteps steady despite the chaos erupting around me. Each room I had searched became a target for my flames.
I didn't just want to destroy Nathaniel's work, I wanted to erase it, to leave nothing behind that could ever be used to harm another soul.
The cages in the larger room buckled under the heat, the iron glowing red before crumbling to the ground.
The lifeless demons left inside were given a final mercy, their broken bodies reduced to ash, their suffering ended at last. It wasn't enough it could never be enough but it was all I could do for them.
As I stood in the centre of the main hallway, the flames roared around me, their light casting eerie shadows against the smoke-filled walls.