Solaris stared at the enraged Ember, his eyes locked onto the hyena demon.
"IM GONNA KILL YOU!!!"
Ember's voice echoed in the chamber as he dashed at the demons. His target was specifically the hyena.
As he charged the demon, two wings sprouted from his back; they were shiny black and looked like those of a bat, or maybe a dragon.
Both wings quickly became engulfed in fire. His arm extended out, a beam of pure fire sprouted from his fingers, a blade of fire.
Yet before Ember reached the hyena, its head disappeared.
In its place, there was a large beak biting on the neck.
Solaris's eyes widened even further. Saying he was shocked was an understatement.
As he watched Ember rapidly approaching the two demons, his body a flame, he saw the flames flicker for a split second, as the beaked demon seemed to disappear, then reappear below the flying ember, its fist striking Ember's gut, his body shot into the high ceiling almost instantly, leaving Solaris alone with the newly ascended prince of demons already upon him.
With no time left to think, Solaris moved his arms quickly, hardening them as they formed a block. He felt a thud as the large fist slammed into him.
Solaris felt that most, if not all, of his nova had been returned during his slumber, and as such, he was ready.
Wasting no time, he quickly started to heat his body; the overall boost of the heat was going to be completely necessary to even have a chance of defending against this creature.
As Solaris focused on the heat, another fist struck him, this time sending him flying back. Flying through the air, Solaris moved the shards to his feet and stopped his momentum enough so that he did not slam into the wall.
Yet he still touched it, having no time to waste, he pushed off the wall with his feet and shot forward. The demons watched before once again disappearing and appearing next to Solaris, its fist already striking.
Solaris narrowly blocked the first attack, yet the second was already in motion.
With a flash of pain, Solaris was sent high up, and before he reached the ceiling, the demon was already upon him, its fists interlocked into a ball. It swung down, striking Solaris with a devastating chest slam, sending him to the ground.
With another blinding flash of pain also came a blinding flash of light. Ember had shot the fire blade at the demon, creating an indescribably hot lance of fire. The demon moved back, dodging the attack, before charging Ember.
Solaris slammed into the ground, his bones barely holding, yet his lungs were momentarily devoid of air; the first, second, and third impacts had all knocked the wind out of him, and now he found himself staggering to breathe.
Can't....Stop...Now....I've.....Gotta...Win....
No matter how hard he was hurt, Solaris would never consider defeat an option. If he couldn't fight anymore, then someone else could get hurt instead of him. If he couldn't fight, then someone he loved could die, if he couldn't fight, then he hoped that the being would; he had no choice but to keep fighting.
Even if his body had to be a vessel for the other being, then he'd allow it as long as he won, no matter what.
Solaris felt as some air entered his lungs, as soon as it did, he willed the shards to raise him from his place on the ground, sliding a few under his back, the shards sliced him as they slid against the stone and his back, his face grimacing in pain as they did.
Standing on his feet, Solaris focused for a mere moment before a heat began emanating from his fist, then his forearms.
He'd long known the perks and costs of his extramicy. Harden could make his body much heavier without the use of heat, making it impossible to fight, and heat was impossible to use without Harden protecting his body.
However, he could use a much cooler heat that gave him a significant boost to his overall speed and thinking capabilities, yet didn't offer any offensive capabilities.
Meaning he had to restrict the damaging Heat to only the parts he hardened, it had taken a while, a few burns before he'd gotten the hang of it, yet now he was at least good at it, yet far, far from mastering it.
As he felt the heat emanate from his arms, he began to feel much more energetic and ready to fight, turning his head in a quick jerk, he took off flying at high speeds towards the demon.
Solaris called forth all of the shards; he made them form their defensive mesh, ready to protect him from the first strike. The room was almost impossibly dark and seemed to be getting darker as the moments passed. Before Embers's fire lit up the room, it was almost like a flashlight, and soon it may be a candle.
Growing ever closer to the demon and embers clash, he saw that the demon had once again changed, its once elongated neck was now gone, and its hunched back had followed, the wings that had before looked like a bat now resembled a bird or even an angel.
The most prominent change was the head; the scalp now had white hair, and the eyes now looked so much more human. The most jarring difference was the lack of a beak; the creature that Solaris had called a bird now looked like a perfect human, albeit with a massive frame, seemingly carved of stone, with two massive wings and dark crimson skin.
As Solaris watched, he witnessed the demon extend his arm and grab hold of the air, or rather the darkness surrounding them, and then it pulled, ripping a black scythe from the darkness.
Solaris grew closer and closer, Ember lined up another blast of fire, and the demons moved.
Within a split second, Solaris was grabbed, and Ember felt a shot of blinding pain pierce his side. The scythe was embedded in his burning body. Looking at his student, Ember put away the spitting pain and dashed over to the demon.
The prince held Solaris by the throat and then spoke.
"The Eclipse, what a joke."