DualMegami/CainanVersusMnemon

When the rain cleared, all that remained of the clashing armies were two standing figures. A rising black stain from the mix of smoke and steam split the grey sky, indicating where Cainan stood. He did not bother to wipe his brow, the water would evaporate in moments. One hundred paces from him stood his adversary, Mnemon herself. The Elder Fire Aspect gritted his teeth. This was the way he liked his politics. He began to stride across the battlefield, closing the distance between himself and the last standing obstacle to the throne. Each footstep resounded with a hiss as the flames pouring from his body transmuted mud to dust.
Mnemon smiled coyly. Keep coming, Cainan, I'll end you like I ended all the others who stood in my way. Essence surged into her palms and she began to weave a spell, arcane words floating from her lips. With just the right amount of timing, he would walk right into it...
Cainan's grip tightened around the Daiklave handle. He could almost feel it's blade plunging into her chest and the satisfying spray of blood followed by the rush of victory. He could taste it.
A dangerous grin played about the lips of the Empress' daughter. A little closer, Cainan...a little closer!
NOW! She relaxed her grip on the threads of Essence and a blade of light and willpower hissed through the air, zinging along a diamond-like chain. Cathak reacted in the nick of time, his daiklave winging up to intercept the flying attack, but the spell broke his defense and the Fireblooded general twisted his torso at a sharp angle. The attack sunk into the mud and vanished with an explosion of colored light. Mnemon cursed in Low Realm.
Tired of her petty tricks, Cainan burst into a full sprint, bull-rushing the sorceress. He swung the wicked blade of the Daiklave high, its razor-sharp edge exploding alight with flame and drove it downwards, anticipating the squelching satisfaction of Jade sinking into flesh. Mnemon was not so eager to have her arm removed and called upon the fortitude of the Earth Dragon, pouring its sheer might into her skin. The Fire Aspect's blow landed solidly but rather than blood spurting, bits of rock and tongues of flame scattered in all directions.
"The Imperial Throne will be mine!" He snarled into her ear, pressing his blazing daiklave deeper into her shoulder.
"When I am cold and dead!" She growled back, her fingers cruely digging into his exposed wrist. With a surprising show of strength, she forced the weapon away. Her other hand appeared suddenly in his peripheral vision, gleaming white with Earth Essence. His dodge was ill timed, and her knuckles grazed his chin--contact enough for the effect to take hold and he could feel the cold, numbing effect shooting down his neck and into his torso. What had the bitch done?
The consequences were not important right now. He cleared his mind, and focused everything on his next few moves. Mnemon was now poised for combat, her own slender Daiklave drawn and ready. She made a swift lunge for an open spot in his armor, but his skills with the blade proved to be superior and he knocked her weapon aside harmlessly. The Fire aspect twisted his wrist deftly and slashed at her throat, scattering a family heirloom to the ground and leaving an angry red trail in its wake.
Mnemon's hand shot to her throat and a trickle of white energy poured into the open wound, ceasing the bloodflow. She shot a wicked grin at her opponent and clasped on hand around the other and raised them high, then slammed them both into the congealing mud. A tidal wave of clay washed over Cainan, nearly knocking him off balance. He coughed to clear his breathing passages of dirt. Upon opening his eyes, the general realized that that trick bitch had created a wall around him, just high enough that he would have to waste Essence to get over it.
Mnemon's soiled hands fumbled with her Thurible. This was the wrong time of day for summoning, and there were no longer any mortals within immediate distance to satisfy the thirst of a Third Circle Demon. She swore under her breath; the First Circle of Sorcery would have to do. With two quick shakes, she banished the caked mud from her digits and began to skillfully shape reality to her desires.
Cainan clasped his chest as a spasm of pain gripped his heart and lungs. Fuck. He took a gasping breath and focused on his inner flame, on the Fire Dragon. Coiling his legs beneath him, he ordered the fiery Essence within to charge them and he leapt effortlessly from his stone cage. He was greeted by the bust of a towering blue Titan taking a deep breath. Cainan cursed loudly and turned the broad side of his daiklave defiantly to the onslaught of freezing air. Protective flames surrounded him from all sides, rendering the Fire Aspect unharmed. Mnemon cursed again, this time in High Realm. Sorcery was obviously not the solution. Cainan felt his chest tightening. Time was running out; Mnemon must die, and must die now. His stance shifted, and he cut a languid kata in the air. The Fire Aspect's fingers opened the series of mystic seals and he felt the rush of flame fill his belly and chest. Exhaling, he spat a huge gout of fire at his Earth-Aspected relative.
The sorceress screamed as the wave of Fire Essence washed over her, heating her jewelry to searing degrees and setting the ends of her sleeves and dress on fire. Through the pain, she managed to find focus. Earth Essence shooting down a smouldering arm, Mnemon commanded the lesser parts of the Dragon beneath Cainan to extend upwards, in an attempt to seize the Fire Aspect in a prison of mud and stone. The clumsy fingers of the Earth were no match for the leaping, flickering power of Fire and Cainan evaded the attack with graceful ease.
"It will take more than that to stop me!" He cried as he leapt into the air with an explosion of flame, dropping down onto his quarry like a bird of prey. Mnemon raised her fists above her head, and the gravel and dirt twisted itself into an arc of protection, but Cainan's fire-powered descent shattered the defense and his burning blow slammed into her face, driving her back a number of yards.
Mnemon howled with fury and pain. "I'LL KILL YOU, CAINAN, YOU IMPERTIENT CHILD! I WILL RIP YOUR HEART OUT AND FEED IT TO A BLOOD APE!" Her fingers curved and wicked claws of white Essence formed at the tips. She struck his midsection, the Earth-powered attack driving the breath from cainan's lungs. He gasped and nearly dropped his weapon, falling immediately to one knee.
A diabolical smile wormed its way across Mnemon's bloodied face. "THE THRONE IS MINE!" She raised an Essence-charged claw, ready to finish the Fire Aspect once and for all! "NEVER!!!" Cainan bellowed, channeling every last drop of Essence into a final attack. His anima roared and billowed into a massive dragon of flame and his daiklave flashed forward, smashing through Mnemon's stony skin, through bone, through veins and out the other side.
The Earth Aspect blinked for a moment at the gaping hole in her chest, staring at the bleak battlefield a fraction of a second before the blood cascaded in torrents from the wound, coating the ground with a sheet of glistening red. Internal organs spilled from the chasm collecting in a steaming pile.
Defiant to the last, Mnemon raised a shaking palm and fired a stalagmite at her opponent. The Fire Aspect turned to dodge, when his chest convulsed, and the jagged rock drove itself into the base of his neck and shattered upon impact. Willing the blood to cease its flow, Cainan collected the last scrap of his strength and delievered the killing blow to the base of Mnemon's skull. Blood trickled from her mouth, and she exhaled her last, her hateful gaze glazing over.
Cainan sunk to the ground, daiklave slipping from his fingers. His breaths were coming shorter now. Damn you, Mnemon, damn you. The Fire Aspect's eyes scanned the horizon, spotting the faint dot of his long-awaited reinforcements. He sighed, a trail of smoke pouring from his mouth, and slipped into blessed unconsciousness.