(Scars do not appear to be cause of death –shock ... - Bad Request

towards me, one after the other in a ceaseless barrage. I dodged and
weaved between the statues, and the bolts shattered against them. Stone
cracked and crumbled, raining pebbles onto the ground. I was reduced to
scuttling beneath the dust like a cranium rat. Adrenaline had fed some new
strength into my jellied limbs, but once that ran out...
Ignus' screams roared behind me, and soon my cries of agony joined them.
He wrapped my body in flames, tongues of fire raking my skin and filling my
face. Liquid heat flooded my mouth and nostrils and spilled into my lungs,
white-hot spears stabbed into my ears. The world went black as my eyeballs
burst in the heat. Vitreous humor spilled down my cheeks like greasy tears,
until all fluid boiled away and only a charred crust clung to my skin.
I was blind. I could barely breathe with lungs half-boiled from the inside. My
tongue was seared and shriveled, and I could barely speak. Ignus had left
some of my hearing intact, but only to taunt me as I crawled into what I
hoped was safety.
His cackling sounded like it was coming from behind a wall of water. I hoped
that I'd judged the distance correctly. By the sound of it he seemed to be
rolling through the air in glee, letting me cower, blinded and helpless.
"I SSSHALL BE AS FLAMESSS, AND ALL LIFE SSSHALL BE AS TORCHESSS!"
Ignus screeched.
It's said that the best-laid battle plans end the moment the first weapon is
drawn. Formations break down, maneuvers never come to fruit. A general's
greatness isn't his ability in preparation or strategy... it's how he can
improvise.
I hid in the lee of the statue, waves of fire passing me on either side with the
roaring of an ocean. The stone heated. Its edges must've been melting, but I
dug around in my pack for the jar that I'd saved from so long ago...
~~~~~
I sputtered, "Five hundred? That's ridiculous!"
He paused for a moment, considering. "That it is. Tell you what. Give me
three hundred, and the eye's yours."
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