Chapter 84: Escape
"Damn... that elf is really going band for band with my soul servant," Stephan thought, his eyes narrowing as the desert shook with each clash.
Death and Vaenya were a blur of motion, colliding again and again, every strike echoing like thunder across the dunes. Sand exploded beneath their feet, the shockwaves rolling outward in violent gusts that made Stephan shield his face.
What unsettled him most was that Vaenya’s blows weren’t passing through Death like Elunor’s had. Soul phasing, Death’s greatest edge, was useless here.
"I wonder..." Stephan’s jaw clenched as his gaze sharpened. "Is it because of that golden light in her hands?"
It wasn’t just her hands. The glow was alive in her veins, crawling across her body like liquid fire. Whenever she moved, whether a strike, a block, or even a pivot, the light flared, forming a shield around her limbs and turning every attack into a weapon of soul-burning force.
Death was answering in kind. Every motion of hers was reinforced by violet soul energy, the air trembling with the sheer density of it. Her punches carved shockwaves, her kicks cut through the storm itself, her aura wrapping her form in a mantle of spectral violence.
Golden light against violet flame.
Two forces not meant to meet, now locked in a duel that set the sky itself trembling.
Stephan’s heart pounded. His fists tightened on the hilt of his sword as he forced himself to keep watching. This wasn’t just strength.
"That elf..." he thought, his throat dry, "she’s no ordinary warrior. She has something, something like my Soulforge, maybe?."
Another crash of impact split the air as Death’s violet-imbued knee collided with Vaenya’s glowing forearm. Both fighters staggered back, only to surge forward again without hesitation, their movements faster than the eye could follow.
The ground was littered with craters, sand burned into glass wherever the golden light and violet fire struck.
Stephan’s pulse spiked. "If Vaenya can stand toe-to-toe with Death... then what the hell is she really?"
Death and Vaenya tore the air apart with every strike. The clash of their blows wasn’t just sound but an impact that rolled through the bones, a rhythm of destruction that made the sands shudder and leap.
Vaenya’s golden light burned brighter now, flowing like molten fire beneath her pale skin. It wasn’t armor, it wasn’t magic, it was alive, flaring every time she moved. Her strikes came clean and precise, honed by centuries of training. Each blow landed with a speed that split the air, leaving trails of golden sparks across the battlefield.
But Death matched her, step for step. Violet soul energy radiated from her body in jagged bursts, wrapping her fists, her legs, even her hair in a spectral storm. Her blows carved shockwaves in the sand, and where her strikes missed, they left craters of raw force. She was faster than the eye, her form phasing in and out of reality, every step echoing like a ghost in the wind.
When they collided, violet and gold exploded outward, blinding.
Stephan shielded his face against the shockwave, his cloak snapping violently in the storm. "They’re equals," he thought, almost in disbelief. "Death, the Revenant I forged from Asriel, I couldn’t match her the first time we clashed."
Death’s eyes burned with violet light as she launched forward, her speed tearing a violet streak across the battlefield. She drove a punch toward Vaenya’s chest, but the elf princess caught it bare-handed, golden aura flaring to meet the strike. For an instant, both froze, hand against fist, violet flame devouring golden light, neither overpowering the other. Then they detonated apart, the explosion of force throwing up a wall of dust.
Stephan’s heart thundered. His eyes flicked between them, his mind racing. "Elunor’s sand magic was useless against her phasing... but Vaenya...she’s different. That golden energy... it’s not just Ki. It feels older and divine."
Through the haze, the duelists blurred together again.
Vaenya’s knee rose high, wreathed in golden fire, crashing toward Death’s ribs. Death pivoted, blocking with her forearm, violet energy crackling. The impact sent a ripple through the ground, splitting stone beneath their feet. Death countered instantly, spinning low and sweeping her leg, violet aura flaring, but Vaenya vaulted into the air with effortless grace, twisting mid-spin, and came down with a downward heel-kick blazing gold.
Death raised both arms in an X-block, the blow crashed against her guard, violet and gold flaring so violently the air itself cracked like shattered glass.
Sand and stone whipped around them like a hurricane.
Stephan staggered back, barely keeping his footing. His sword arm twitched. "If I step in that storm, I’ll be crushed. They’re fighting at a level beyond me right now." His gaze locked on Vaenya. "But that golden aura... it’s unnatural. I need to understand it."
Another clash rang out, sharper, louder, as Death roared and drove Vaenya backward, fists a blur of violet strikes. Vaenya blocked each one with glowing arms, golden streaks marking every impact. She was smiling now, a dangerous, hungry smile.
"You’re strong," Vaenya said mid-fight, her voice steady despite the storm. She caught Death’s wrist, twisted, and launched a golden palm strike for her chest. "But not strong enough!"
Death let the strike hit. The golden energy pierced through her torso, yet her form shimmered, phasing for a heartbeat. In the next instant she solidified, her free hand whipping around in a violet haymaker that smashed into Vaenya’s jaw with enough force to shake the horizon.
Vaenya flew back, hitting the ground hard, but she flipped to her feet immediately, wiping golden blood from the corner of her mouth. Her smile widened.
"That explains it," Stephan whispered, realization dawning. "Vaenya’s golden light... it can negate phasing. That’s why she can touch Death. Without it, she’d be dead already."
The two fighters met again, neither hesitating. Their fists collided mid-air, violet and gold flaring brighter than the dawn, the sound of impact ringing like a bell across the desert.
Elunor watched from atop his horse, his grin fading. Even his arrogance couldn’t hide the truth: Vaenya was being pushed.
The ground beneath them was unrecognizable now, scorched, cratered, turned to glass where violet fire and golden light had burned too hot.
Stephan’s heart slammed against his ribs. He knew what was happening. They weren’t fighting to kill. Not yet. They were testing, probing, measuring each other’s depths. And if either one of them got serious...
"They’ll bring this whole desert down," he muttered.
Another explosion rocked the battlefield as Death and Vaenya slammed together again, golden and violet shockwaves blasting outward in equal fury. The air grew heavy, electric, alive with power.
Stephan assessed the battlefield with narrowed eyes. The clash between Death and Vaenya would not end quickly; neither was yielding, and both were too evenly matched. Their storm of violet and gold was impressive, but to Stephan, it was wasted time. Time he no longer had.
He needed to return to Magodilin as soon as possible, Yennefer and Anna Mary awaited him there, and he couldn’t navigate this desert without Olath. The gnome was his key.
Stephan’s gaze slid toward Elunor. The elf warrior was transfixed by the duel, his jaw clenched, his white hair whipping in the storm of power. Behind him, Olath sat bound on horseback, eyes wide, unable to move.
"Elunor’s too focused," Stephan thought coldly. "Perfect."
In an instant, he was gone from where he stood. Sand sprayed behind him as he shot forward with blinding speed. In less than a heartbeat, he materialized behind Elunor’s horse. His hand closed around Olath, yanking the gnome free like a shadow plucking a candle from the dark.
Elunor’s eyes widened. He turned, sword flashing, but it sliced only through empty air. Stephan was already gone, leaping back to safety with Olath slung across his shoulder.
"We can do this another day, elf," Stephan called out, his voice calm, almost mocking. "I’m afraid we should be on our way."
Elunor’s teeth ground audibly, fury flashing across his face.
Death’s head snapped toward Stephan as soon as she heard his voice. Without hesitation, she abandoned her clash with Vaenya and bolted across the battlefield. She appeared at his side in a blur, violet energy dissipating around her fists.
"Can you give us a ride out of here?" Stephan asked, his tone clipped but steady.
Death nodded once. Without another word, her form twisted, warped, expanded. In a flare of violet fire and shadow, she transformed back into the towering white dragon, her wings unfolding with an ear-splitting snap.
Vaenya realized too late.
"They’re running!" she roared, golden aura blazing around her like a second sun.
Elunor turned, rage and disbelief in his eyes. "They’re escaping!"
Stephan swung up onto Death’s back, securing Olath with one arm while gripping the dragon’s scales with the other. Death crouched low, her claws gouging trenches into the sand. With a mighty leap, she launched herself into the sky, her wings beating like thunder.
But Vaenya wasn’t done. Her fists ignited with golden brilliance, far brighter than anything she had summoned during her duel with Death. Power gathered, condensed, until her hands were consumed by a searing halo of light.
"I won’t let them get away!" she screamed.
The golden radiance condensed into a single, massive beam. With a thunderous crack, she hurled it upward, a lance of divine fury tearing across the sky toward the fleeing dragon.
"Incoming!!!" Stephan shouted, tightening his grip on Olath.
Death reacted instantly. With a snarl, she spun mid-air, twisting her colossal body. The beam ripped past, missing her left wing by inches, its heat searing the edges of her scales.
Stephan clung to her back with one arm, muscles straining as he kept Olath from slipping free with the other. The world tilted violently around him.
"Buckle up, my liege," Death’s voice rumbled from her draconic throat.
Then, with a single thunderous flap, she bolted higher into the heavens, leaving the golden fury of the elves fading beneath them.