Omega's Rebirth-Chapter 779: Inferno in Inferno ()

~Fort Inferno

A tremor rocked the earth, it shook the vast expanse of land that was Fort inferno, reaching as far as the infernal castle. It began subtly, the only visible indication was the vibration of the table in the war council room, but it was enough to silence the ongoing discussions. Neveah frowned slightly, retrieving her hands that were placed on the table where she had been examining the city map.

"Is that...what I think it is?" she asked slowly, right before another vibration hit, stronger than the first and definitely more noticeable.

"The volcano is stirring again." Lord Kiroff said, his tone resigned. "This time, it may be more than just a warning."

Neveah exchanged a look with Xenon. This was a threat that had been looming on the horizon since that night the volcano had been activated by magic. It was apparent they could not avoid an eruption, but Neveah had hoped the Fae would be dealt with first... perhaps she had hoped for too much.

Fort Inferno had made the necessary preparations for the inevitable, as far as 100miles from the previous endpoint of the last eruption had been evacuated. The only thing they could make certain of was the safety of the people.

Properties and homes however, would have to be given up. It was not the result anyone hoped for, but that was already the best case scenario.

The worst being that the lava flow would spread beyond the predicted endpoint and still get to the human settlement.

"How much damage can we look forward to?" Neveah asked. "And how long do you suppose the eruption would last?"

"The last eruption left Inferno as a den of fire for half a year. The lava flow was one thing..." Lord Kiroff trailed off. "The noxious fumes were another. We lost a significant percentage of the human population to respiratory diseases. There were not nearly enough healers on hand to prevent the effects of poisoned air."

"In property damage, the coffers were emptied out. Commerce and trade crashed completely, all trade routes were closed off...it took two decades to fully restore Fort Inferno to a state of financial independence." He finished, his gaze distant.

"I see." Neveah murmured, more to herself than to Lord Kiroff. Taking a seat, she heaved a sigh. "So the evacuation is hardly a measure...yet it is the best we can do."

"I had hoped to never have to order my people to leave their homes again. But nature is a force we cannot overcome." Lord Kiroff said with a nod. "Let’s just hope the outer perimeter holds."

"If only this was due to natural causes." Neveah stated, her brows narrowed in rage.

"The Fae has been too quiet." Xenon muttered. "The volcano most likely plays a part in whatever they have planned next." He asserted.

"I wouldn’t be surprised." Neveah said in agreement. "But we are ready."

"I want eyes on that volcano. The moment there’s a change... the second, I want to know it." Neveah made clear.

_______________

It had only been an hour. But it had been a long one.

Another vibration struck, rocking the council room. It was violent this time. The chandeliers swayed, scrolls toppled off the table, and a sharp crack split the marble floor beneath their feet.

Neveah glanced over at Lord Kiroff whose eyes were glossed over for a brief moment, communicating with his kin who monitored the volcano for signs of the eruption, and when his eyes met hers, he nodded.

"It’s time," Neveah said, already turning toward the balcony doors.

Xenon fell into step and the moment they were out on the landing platform, his shift into dragon form was fluid, almost instinctive. Wings unfurled as his transformation overtook him in seconds. Onyx black scales gleamed in the sunlight.

Neveah mounted with the ease of experts and they took to the skies.

The moment they soared above the castle spires, the truth hit them, harsh and unrelenting.

The volcano was already erupting.

A crimson plume burst from its summit, thick and churning, like the sky itself was hemorrhaging fire. Molten lava surged down its sides in monstrous waves, fast and merciless. The land buckled beneath the force of it, entire hills melted into sludge.

This wasn’t natural.

The fire wasn’t just hot, it was alive. Moving with purpose. Directed. The air hummed with ancient resonance.

Neveah felt it in her bones.

"There’s something there... fuelling it Arcane...dark magic, I can’t tell. But it’s something." she said, her voice echoing through their bond. "This is Keila’s work, or her sorcerer."

Xenon didn’t argue. "Retaliation. For their fallen. We anticipated this."

"But whatever they did. The lava is coming in fast...too fast."

Neveah’s eyes were narrowed and calculating. The lava moved in an unnatural wave. The end point of their evacuation was the outer perimeter, and at this rate, it would be swallowed up completely.

"Sound the high bell," she commanded through the wind. "Evacuate the outer and middle perimeter beyond the inner perimeter, now!"

The city bells tolled, low and haunting.

Xenon dove lower, wings slicing the ash-laden air. The villages in the outer perimeter were already in chaos at the sound of the bell, people scrambling to load carts, children screaming.

This was not at all what she had envisioned. This was not the plan. She had researched as far back as every eruption before this...they had been ready.

Or at least they thought so.

Lord Kiroff veered off to relay the order, roaring loud enough to shake the skies. The sound was met with echoes of dragon roars from below.

"We can’t get too close to the volcano." Xenon thought to Neveah.

But Neveah didn’t ask him to stop. Couldn’t. Not when the lava’s path was sure to surge past the line they had calculated as safe. It would tear through farmlands, swallow fences, reduce stone watchposts to molten ruin.

But above all, it would wipe out settlements unhindered.

This was not an eruption.

It was an assault.

And their walls would not hold.

Xenon landed hard near the outer perimeter they had created. A line of makeshift barriers that certainly would not stand. The soldiers and panicked civilians turned at once, their faces streaked with soot and terror. When they saw her, some paused, only for a heartbeat, but it was enough.

She raised her voice over the rising winds. "Move to the southern pass! There are portals waiting! Leave your belongings! Save your lives!" Her voice cracked with command. "The dragons will hold the fire back as long as we can! Just run!"

The southern pass, it was just beyond the outer perimeter. There, a line of mages awaited. A contingency plan Neveah had hoped they would not need. The portals were the fastest way across the city, to the inner perimeter, the safest point she had gathered from the maps. And if they got to it, they would be far enough that the lava would not reach... she hoped.

"But the pass was sealed..." one woman began.

Neveah turned to a nearby dragon guard. "Break it. Now!"

Without hesitation, the dragon shot off.

"Go!" Neveah ordered. "Now!"

Screams and the pounding of feet filled the air.

Then she felt it again.

It wasn’t just the building heat, it was power.

Raw, undiluted, Arcane fury, flowing beneath the ground like a second river. Feeding the volcano. Fueling it. Whatever Keila had done down there, it wasn’t just directing the fire. It was awakening something.

And if it kept rising...

The inferno would reach beyond Inferno itself.

Neveah’s heart pounded as she clutched Xenon’s scale. She could tell he knew what was coming even before she proposed it

"I have to stop it," she said, breathless.

"Veah..."

"You know I have to."

He growled lowly, clearly hesitant.

"They’ll need time...time they won’t have if it keeps coming at that pace." Neveah insisted.

Xenon took to the skies again, this time shooting straight toward the volcano’s peak. The wind fought them, ash stung her skin, but she pushed through it. She could sense Xenon’s difficulty, navigating through the skies with hot rocks flying everywhere was almost impossible, but they couldn’t afford to falter.

Not now.

They arrived at the edge of the barren landscape, the same one they had sought out Menarx. Xenon landed there, amber orbs watching the roaring caldera. Lava frothed at it, still pouring out.

"Stay on." Xenon stopped Neveah before she could dismount. It was clear if the lava met them, they would not have time to do anything but fly off.

It was moving fast, too fast for words. It would not be long before it got to the end of the barren landscape and then into Inferno.

The outer perimeter was still a good distance away, but if the lava was not slowed here. They would not be able to evacuate it in time.

"This is my fault... I miscalculated the force of the volcano..." Neveah murmured.

Neveah inhaled, reaching within her to the magic churning in the depths. What she intended to do, she was not certain. A barrier? A canyon? What exactly could stop this fiery death from hitting inferno with such force?

"I don’t know if this will work," she murmured, "but I have to try."

’You have to give me everything...’ Demevirld’s voice echoed in Neveah’s mind, his presence coiling restlessly.

’And I will do the same.’

"So be it." Neveah agreed.

Her power surged.

Wind, flame, light. It tore through her veins, wild and untamed. She had never tried to command nature itself, or known she could, but she wasn’t commanding it now.

She was wrestling it.

Magic rose from her core, a golden wave colliding with the fiery lava. The force of magic ripping through her was so intense, she screamed. Pain pulsed through her and her muscles spasmed, her veins expanding to accommodate it.

The lava hissed as it collided with a potent magic wave, it coiled back.

For a heartbeat, it listened.

Then it roared back, tenfold stronger.