Or'do flared the Cinder, its heat shining out from his breast like a torch held to ward off the night. Steam drifted between his lips as its warmth filled him, then poured from his body, wreathing him in tongues of fire that lavished him with affection and his foes with merciless torment. Whips of molten glass, they slashed and writhed from his outstretched hand, biting deep with flaming teeth. Before him stooped a Farron Follower, its gaunt features twisted in agony, its pale eyes wide and gleaming like almonds of glass set within its pallid visage. Pivoting on his leading foot, Or'do drove a fist of iron against the monster's stomach, setting its dark cloak aflame, and charring its cuirass of riveted leather, the tempered hide weeping tendrils of steam that reached for his hand with supplicant fingers as his foe sagged, and collapsed sidelong. His heel crunched against its brow, smashing its head like an overripe gourd dropped from great height, yet even now he did not slow, ducking beneath a hurled javelin, springing forth upon his trailing foot and spraying a ragged fan of blood in his wake.
Ahead, three Followers crouched, two clasping rugged blades, framing the javelin's owner between them; before they had yet registered the loss of their comrade, Or'do was already moving, lunging with body held low and fist raised high, a crescent sabre of ash mingled with flame trailing behind. His right hook tore the leftmost from its stupor, parting head from shoulders amid the shrill scream of shattering bone, flinging its body aside as if it weighed no more than a child's plaything. Pivoting, he let instinct guide him beneath a desperate slash from the Follower's comrade, striding inside its reach and closing iron fingers of its face, flesh bubbling against his molten palm.Slowly, like a hunter's trap retracting its rusted teeth, he withdrew his fingers, letting the Hollow collapse to the earth like an abandoned marionette.
Fear carved itself across the last Follower's pale face turning its eyes into pools of cold flame, its blood into shards of ice that froze it from within. Or'do lunged before it had time nor desire to recover, slamming his lowered shoulder into its chest crushing it against the canyon wall, painting stone in somber scarlet as its life exploded outward, erupting from its open mouth, spraying from its ruined back. Slowly, it slid to the earth where it lay motionless, its undead heart silenced once more.
"This place isn't on the-" Noraan stopped short as he crested the hill behind Or'do, taking in the ruined Followers. "-Maps."
"Surprised?" Or'do brushed an ironclad hand across his shoulder, sending beads of dark blood glittering like black tears to the beaten snow at his feet. His merry eyes turned dark and cold. "I cannot blame you. My ferocity frightens me a times."
"You must think me a fool, for I still covet that power." Noraan folded his map, dismissing it into an orb of light which vanished into his palm.
"Then you are as ensorcelled as I. Great strength however, travels in the company of greater frailty. I find myself reflexively flaring the Cinder, letting its power guide me more than instinct, more than prowess. I rely on it far too much. yet it is to me as alcohol is to the drunkard: no matter how deeply I wish to defy it, I am yet its slave. It commands me more than I can hope to command it."
"Just as the Flame commands us." Noraan noted.
"Greed begets sorrow, Noraan." Or'do met his gaze evenly, yet there was a clawing hollowness in those eyes. "Greed begets only sorrow."
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