For a long moment, all Isiah could do was stare as the flames rushed toward him. In the back of his mind, fragments of his life flashed for less than a millisecond, but long enough for him to notice. Running around the Sanctum of Ishin as a child, going to his lessons with the Mother, meeting Rina, Nerin, Emrick and everything else with the Beast that was Promised.

Then without properly thinking about it, he dropped Rina's hand and stepped towards the coming flames. Somewhere behind him, she yelled his name, but he didn't turn back. The flames were of Ishin's creation, just like his stone, just like him. He could control them too if he concentrated hard enough.

As his vision was engulfed by orange flames, he flicked his arm up, the heat tingling on his skin. Then it was gone and he was left to stand in the middle of the street, his arm in the air and Ishin glaring down at him from outside the walls. The fireball shot into the sky and disappeared through the clouds, illuminating the sky for a split second before it was gone.

"Isiah!" Rina yelled again, but he couldn't look away from the God ahead of him. To think that it was a being he had once worshipped, had once devoted his entire life to, it shocked him. He couldn't understand why he had to fight him, why one of his Gods was trying to kill him, but he had to keep living. He had to stop him with Teremtys's stone and save the realm, even if it meant going against his Gods.

But he'd damned them before, gone against Askarune's wishes for him to be violent. It was the same thing, he could do it. But finally coming face to face with Ishin, he wasn't so sure. Ishin was far bigger, far more powerful and far more ready to kill than he was. Anything he tried would get him killed, but he couldn't just leave the realm to burn under Harudan's rule. He had to do what he was born to do, but he would always do it his way.

Rina's hand fell into his and she pulled him down the street. "How did you do that?" she gasped as they turned down another street, the faint sound of the ocean reaching his ears over the terrifying sounds of battle.

"I don't know," he replied, looking over his shoulder at Ishin, who was still staring at him with an expression he was too far away to read.

He had no idea how he'd done it, but it was the only thing that had made sense in the moment. They were the same flames so surely he would be able to control them too. There hadn't even been a second where he'd doubted himself; it was either try it or die, there'd been no other option.

But it meant he could control all of the flames around Liman and hopefully save more people. He couldn't see the flames on the other side of the wall, even though he knew they were there so he wasn't sure if he could do anything about them.

As he and Rina ran, with her leading the way, he pulled at the flames around the town. He drew them up, threw them into the sky and allowed them to fade away into the clouds. He had no idea where he was going, getting rid of the fires was far more important.

He stumbled when a roar echoed around the small city, angry and desperate. Rina pulled him back up but her movements had slowed, both of them staring at the creature that had screamed. Ishin, who had once been still, had his face tilted towards the sky and his hands pressed against the wall, which crumbled under his weight. The figure on his shoulder stood, an ant in comparison to him, but just as intimidating.

Ishin stepped over the wall as if it were nothing but a rock underfoot and a lump formed in Isiah's throat. "Rina, go!" he yelled and ducked around the corner of a building. Her hand was still in his, tight and sweating and her laboured breaths filled his ears. The beach wasn't far, but Ishin was faster.

There was a second thud as the God's other leg came over the wall, but then there was silence. Despite his curiosity, Isiah didn't stop running. Even as the air around him began to glow a dull orange, he and Rina continued to run towards the beach. They didn't stop until he looked up and saw the clouds had turned into fire.

It expanded across all of Liman and the ocean beyond it, bathing everything in a bright orange glow. Isiah froze as it bore down, his limbs aching as if he hadn't used them in a long time. There was no way he could stop the whole city from burning under Ishin's rage; he would barely be able to save himself and Rina. Ishin's power was so much stronger than he ever could have imagined and it was terrifying.

As if the God had read his mind, the sky froze like him, like everyone else in the streets around them. It still blazed brightly but didn't move any closer to them, sitting like an ocean above them. In the distance, Ishin tilted his head towards the figure on his shoulder and nodded. Harudan was controlling him. Somehow, a meer Ishini King had control over one of his Gods.

Then the flames above him swirled and Rina made a noise in the back of her throat, something between a whimper and a gasp. "Run," he said to her, dropping her hand and pushing her away. "Get to the beach, I'll catch up."

"Isiah!" she hissed and tried to step towards him as if she didn't see the flames swirling into a funnel above them.

He pushed her again and she stumbled into the frozen form of another soldier, gaping at him with a look he'd rather not see again. "I'll catch up! I promise!" he said and to make his point clear, ran down one of the side streets. The swirling flames followed him and he knew that Rina would be safe.

Before he had a proper chance to prepare, they were upon him and for the first time since he had obtained the stone in the Sanctum of Ishin, his skin burned. His arms shielded his face as he willed the tornado of flames away from him. It spun and spun, faster than he had ever seen before until it blocked him off from the rest of Liman. For a long while, his entire world was the funnel of fire that closed in on him and made his skin blister in seconds.

With a cry, he shot his arms out wide. The powers of both his stones flowed around him, mingling with the flames. He pulled on them and in the same way he took his own flames and stored them in his stone, he pulled on Ishin's flames. There was so much and as it shot towards him, his hands blistered and burned. The pain made him scream, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes, but he didn't dare stop.

The flames roared in his ears as they drew closer, slowly but surely disappearing into the stone. Somewhere in the distance, Ishin roared again and he readied himself for another barrage of flames, but nothing came. Then, all at once, the fire was out and he was left to stand in the middle of the empty and cold street. The houses around him had been destroyed, let as nothing but charred wood and rubble. Scattered among them were the bodies of soldiers and citizens.

It made him sick to his stomach, but he had no time to stall. He needed to move before Ishin attacked him again. Buildings still stood nearby, the perfect cover for him. He ran towards them, jumping over the top of the smouldering rubble with an agility he didn't know he had and dived through the open door of a house. There was no one inside and took the small chance to catch his breath.

Hopefully, Rina had been able to make it far enough away before the flames had reached him. He would find her on the beach by a boat and they would escape together. All he had to do was wait for the right time to leave so that he didn't get caught by Ishin again.

It was better to climb through a window that faced the stronghold than walk out the door where the God could see him. There were still soldiers from both armies in the street when he climbed out, but they all seemed distracted, fighting without much enthusiasm and keeping one eye on Ishin the entire time.

As fast as he could, Isiah ran down the winding streets of Liman, ignoring the stench of blood and smoke and the many corpses that littered the path. With every intersection, he checked for Ishin, who scoured the town for him from the walls. Sometimes people tried to attack him, Askari who didn't know that he was on their side, but all he did was run. He couldn't waste time trying to explain to them or defend himself, not when he needed to get to Teremtys.

He turned a corner and the beach filled his vision. Too exhausted and in pain to let out a cheer, he sped up. His hands ached and stung with every movement and there were blisters on his arms and face. When he reached Rina, he would have to get her to heal him. Until then, he had to endure it.

He thought he would be able to until sharp pain bloomed in his stomach and he stumbled along the cobblestones. With a groan, he pulled out one of the stones to get a better look at what had hurt him and let out a hysterical laugh. The shaft of an arrow jutted from his stomach, blood dripping from under the thin armour he wore.

He collapsed against the wall of a nearby building, his burnt arms barely enough to hold him up and gripped the shaft of the arrow. As he pulled, his mind flashed back to the one other time he'd seen someone get hit in the stomach. It had been Emrick, back in Askarune's Sanctum and he hadn't pulled the knife out. Emrick knew so much more than him, so maybe it was best to keep the arrow in.

There wasn't time to think as he grew dizzy and his vision swam. He had to keep moving as long as he could. Emrick had been able to, so surely he could too. He needed to get to Rina as fast as possible so she could heal him; he wasn't going to die there. He couldn't.

Vishera needed him and if he died, then Harudan would win. He couldn't die, not after he'd done so much, come so close to getting the final stone and becoming the Beast that was Promised. And he definitely couldn't die from an arrow to the stomach, not when he'd just fended off a tornado of flames from a God. But he was anyway. The blood stained his hands and dripped onto the cobblestones as he stumbled down towards the beach. He was so close, but so far.

Tears streamed down his face as he searched for the archer who had struck him, but his vision was far too blurry for him to see anything beyond what was directly ahead of him. He was dying, but it shouldn't have been possible. He was the Beast that was Promised, he needed to live so he could save the realm.

But the pain was far too great and after only a few moments of stumbling towards the snow-covered beach, he collapsed in the middle of an intersection. With his face against the stones, he watched Ishin slaughter the Askari army with unbridled rage. There was nothing he could do; not even the strength stone was enough to keep him going, despite how much he wanted to move.

Feet thudded against the stones as soldiers ran past him on their way to capture the stronghold, walking over him as if he was already dead. So much effort, wasted in a second from the arrow of an invisible man. He wanted to sob, wanted to scream, but when he opened his mouth, nothing came out. He was a terrible Beast, a failure of a person and he would die alone. Rina would never know what happened to him, neither would Emrick. And he'd been worried about losing Emrick when he should have worried about dying himself.

He'd trusted too much that Rina and Emrick would save him from anything and the one time he'd been able to look after himself, he'd gotten shot. If only he was given a chance to see Emrick again before he passed, then he could at least die with a smile on his face, satisfied that he'd been able to feel cared for by another person.

Ishin let out a shocked cry above him and turned to face something Isiah couldn't quite see. Everything was blurred, making Ishin a blob of orange and blue and whatever had surprised him a giant mass of black like the night. Did people hallucinate before they died? He had no idea, but it was safe to assume that it was what he was doing.

Ishin was fighting a giant while screams rose from the streets and beyond the wall, but Isiah was too tired to make sense of it. Darkness appeared at the edge of his vision and he sighed. It would be soon, his death, but at least he would be calm afterwards. An oblivion where he wouldn't have to recognise his mistakes, wouldn't have to see the chaos his death would bring.

As he lay there, strange hallucinations appeared over the walls as Ishin attacked whatever it was behind him. His arm appeared to go through it, but Isiah was sure it was his eyes playing tricks on him. The God roared and turned away, but the creature was still there. Isiah groaned and rolled onto his back to stare at the clouds. If he was going to go, he could at least look at something nice.

A man with glowing blue eyes walked past him, but Isiah didn't react. His mind was playing tricks on him, fighting to stay alive in a strange way, but there was nothing he could do. His limbs could barely move and the darkness was starting to overtake him. There wasn't much time left.

"Isiah?" a voice said from above him as the man with glowing blue eyes walked past him again. "Isiah!" It was a familiar voice, but it sounded far away and he couldn't place it.

The man with glowing eyes dropped to his side and lifted him up, saying things that were far too muffled for him to understand. For a moment, his vision cleared and finally, a sob tore its way from his throat. Emrick. Emrick was there with him while he died. A figment of his imagination, but it was better than nothing. He cared for him so much and if they had been given more time, he was sure he would have been able to say he loved him.

The Emrick his imagination gave him was panicking. "Isiah, no, please no," he gasped and tears leaked from the glow of his eyes. "Where's Rina? Where is she? You can't die on me now, not when I finally caught up with you! Please, where's Rina?"

It was all he could do to reach up and place a hand against his cheek, thinking that he wouldn't feel anything, but it was solid, soft and wet from the blood he smeared on it and he let out a gasp. Was it real? Was Emrick really there with him, watching him die? That wasn't fair. It wasn't fair.

"The... Beach," he forced out, tears streaming down his face. It wasn't fair. They couldn't be reunited while he died. They should have gotten more time together. He pressed harder against Emrick's cheek, running a thumb across it, then his arm felt too heavy. It dropped and with it, went his consciousness.