Elements 2

He brought his right index finger to bear just above the wrist, at a
point where the artery was. Both finger and nail were gracefully in keeping
with their owner.

Just what sort of trick he’d employed was unclear, but merely running the finger across
the white flesh left a thick vermilion line, and bright blood gushed from the
wound, pouring down on the lumpy black earth like a warm waterfall.
With evening so far off, this was a weird piece of work to see on a
sunny little trail through the woods.

After making sure his lifeblood had sufficiently soaked the clods of
earth, D wiped the same finger across the gash. The bleeding stopped, and
there wasn’t even a trace of the wound.
Not surprisingly, his complexion was a bit paler, but it was disturbing to
see how deftly he put the fingertip dripping with his own blood in his
mouth, taking that little bit of sustenance. Did he plan on using these
arcane materials against a physics-based phenomenon like this sealed dimension?

“Taking from life to give life, eh?” the left hand fairly moaned. “A
miserable bit of business to be sure. But really, it’s scary how coolly you
can do it. Guess it should come as no surprise, since you’re . . . ”
“Enough.”

With that one word from D—his look pale, cold, and unearthly, changed
by the single drop of blood he had tasted—the voice was silenced.
Taking two branches from the pile of kindling and holding one in each
hand, D put the end of one against the side of the other and rubbed them
together vigorously. He didn’t appear to put much strength into it, but both
branches burst into flame, and, when they were tossed back onto the mound
of dead wood, heavy black smoke and fierce flames instantly sprung
skyward.

Earth, water, fire, wind—all four elements had been assembled.
“Now it’s your turn,” he said.
His left hand reached for the flames. Then into the flames.
The wind howled, and, perhaps guessing something, even the horse
whinnied.

There. The blazing pillar of flame became a thin line that was sucked,
like smoke, into D’s palm!
“That makes fire and wind, right? Earth and water are next,” he
muttered in a beautiful voice, as his pale skin regained a luster that could
rightly be termed bewitching.

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