Heir to the Empire

30. Embrace Death - Loldirr

The pain was unbearable.

Despite all her efforts to the contrary, Loldirr screamed as the flames started to lick at her feet. With every attempt to struggle free from her bonds she was pulled in tighter, she could not think, she could not focus, all that remained was agony.

The feeling of the skin peeling from the soles of her feet was excruciating, the tears from her eyes seemed to dry before they reached her cheek, yet she perspired to add to the overwhelming discomfort she was already feeling.

The crowd roared with every one of her screams. From the battlements, Nimue and the Emperor smiled schematically, however, she didn't feel anger towards them, she didn't feel pity or hatred, just pain.

Everlasting pain.

She tried to wriggle free one more time just for the bonds to tighten further, the only saving grace was her hands were numb, allowing her to briefly focus on the lack of pain in that part of her body, but as she looked around at the flames embracing her, she knew her time had come.

In the game for the throne, she had lost, even before it had truly started.

If only Loldirr could feel pity right now, instead all she felt was the pain.

As it felt that her feet no longer had skin, and her nightgown had set itself ablaze, she closed her eyes in the hope she would not feel any longer.

And then, she didn't.

In the darkness around her, something felt like it was calling her, drawing her in. Loldirr felt compelled to answer the call, to embrace it and all it entailed. Yet she could not move.

Instinctively, she forced the call to answer to her, instead of her embracing it, Loldirr felt like she could devour it, to draw from its power, to make her whole and true.

Now the call had a purpose. With each passing moment, it was being absorbed by Loldirr, her skin felt it seep into her, her muscles ached for its presence, her bones rumbled in satisfaction with each passing moment.

If this is death, then she truly wanted to embrace it.

Opening her eyes, the darkness disappeared, yet the feeling was still there.

The flames were all around her, lapping away at her like a hungry animal, yet she did not feel the pain from it, instead, she felt it's ecstasy, it's satisfaction, it's power.

For the first time since she was strapped to the pole, she could think straight. The cheering crowd were now confused by her lack of screams, they wondered if she was truly dead or if she had passed out from the pain.

Loldirr was not dead, though, for the first time in her life she was very much alive.

Staring at the flame, Loldirr could feel it, could see it's chaos, manipulate its mayhem. The longer she stared at that chaos the more she moulded it with her mind, as it meld, the patterns started to emerge in front of her.

Thinking it was a dream, she tried to move her hands, but they were still tightly bound. With a quick thought, the focused flame ripped through it like paper.

This was not a dream or some walk to the afterlife, this was really happening, Erdudvyl had been right all along.

Loldirr was the Elemental Sorceress.

The crowd started to murmur as they could see the silhouette behind the flames rubbing the blood flow back into her hands. Never before had they encountered an execution like this, and Loldirr would ensure that they would never forget.

Before, Loldirr could not focus, now she could think with complete clarity. Where there was pain, now there was anger; before there was agony, now there is fury.