Set Alight

Chapter 31

Ashton

Walker realizes what I'm doing when I get about three in. Lucky for me, so do Jack and Ellie. What had begun as an attack to get in was now trying to play keep in. The ones closer to Walker are more powerful, so I jump from prong to prong, destroying glass bubbles as I go.

Walker's now enraged. Ellie is sent flying by an ectoblast and slams into a prong a ways away. As she reenters the fight, she sends ectoblasts into any exposed prongs. They shatter like the rest and the items fall away, shimmering out of existence.

Jack brushes Ellie's shoulder as she whips past him, and I see the exchange of energy. I grin. Then, in the distance, really close to Walker, I see a ring. Not just any ring...

I make my way towards it, continuing to smash.

I reach the prong. The Ring of Rage... I pull back my elbow.

Suddenly a blast to the stomach sends me flying, and much like Ellie, I slam against a prong. My back radiates pain and I push forward with my legs, still disoriented.

"Ashton!" shouts Jack, sending an ectoblast in Walker's direction. I wave him off and crack the glass beside me. I can't be hurt this soon in the game. Walker's started to pick up on our strategy (as ill-formed as it might be) and my fists are starting to ache from continuing to slam them into glass domes. Plus there are a million of them.

Jack and Ellie renew their efforts to keep Walker from me as I make my way back to the Ring of Rage. I slam my fist into the glass. Pain shoots up my arm and the glass holds firm. Next, I kick it. Now my foot is burning, but the glass still isn't broken.

I dodge an ectoblast my friends weren't able to intercept. Then I remember... My glove has ectoblasts in it.

I'm an idiot.

I picture all the ghosts I've ever known charging ectoblasts in my mind, and the glove obeys, surprisingly enough. The weight of the ectoplasm startles me, and I lean towards it just as it reaches its zenith and leaps away from my glove.

It smashes into Walker's chair through his defenses.

"Nice shot!" cries Ellie.

"Yeah!" I call back. "That was definitely intentional. Yup."

Jack spares a second to send me a smirk as I charge another one. This time, I compensate and send it right into the dome.

This time, it cracks. I charge one more and the entire thing dissolves.

The ring falls, cutting off the power, but it stays in front of me. Not questioning it, I grab it and shove it in my pocket, not willing to waste time on figuring out why it's still here. Walker's shield shimmers and dims.

Through this distraction, Ellie swoops in and sends an ectoplasm fueled punch right into the right dome of his chair. The thing cracks, and Walker's hand jerks away, before his eyes glow and shoot, sending her spiraling away.

He's greatly weakened, but still going strong. I glance around, looking for another powerful object. Then I spot the Infa-map.

Renewed, I launch from one prong to another, not even bothering with smashing them. I need this one broken.

Walker, at this point, is much more distracted and I can reach the map. This dome takes three well-placed ectoblasts to even crack. This could take a while.

I use three more and a powerful kick to break the dome, but I only create a hole. I stick my hand inside, intent on grabbing the roll.

The ectoplasm it was generating immediately stops going up the prong and instead surges into me, sending my whole body into spasms. I cry out as electricity sparks in my blood and delivering fire to every surface I possess, inside and out.