What!? she replied back.
"You're being blinded by your rage. Well, deafened, technically. Actually, since I'm communicating to you through your mind, techni-"
Agh, shut it! I have a right to be angry. She-
"Orn is still alive...probably" the ring simply stated. Ayesha almost interrupted him with an exclamation of confusion, but it continued. "He's not breathing, nor is his heart beating. However, I can still detect the Old Power being emitted from him. It's almost as though he's in a state of stasis."
Ayesha internally sighed in relief. Wait...how do you know about the Old Power...? Did you go through my memory without my permission!? No response came. Tch, whatever, I'll deal with that later.
In the meantime, Lari was patiently waiting for Ayesha to make a move. The latter was obviously furious, and it put Lari on edge. However, for a few seconds, Ayesha just stood there, seemingly confused. And for an instant, not even a microsecond, Lari slightly shifted her body to prepare to attack while Ayesha appeared to be preoccupied. At the end of that instant, she felt a huge blow to the jaw followed by a flurry of punches connecting with her torso and finally, a kick to the side of the head, sending her flying to the left several miles away. Lari, in response, could only muster up thinking a single word: fast.
Ayesha raced after her and quickly caught up to Lari before she could even realize it, throwing a punch. Ayesha gazed at her eyes, and Lari, perhaps instinctively, activated the very same ability that cost Orn to lose. Ayesha was paralyzed for a moment. Under normal circumstances, Lari would have immediately launched a counterattack. However, she hesitated. She was badly injured by that string of attacks, and several of her bones were broken. She could immediately heal her injuries, or counterattack. That hesitation almost cost her.
Ayesha's ring glowed and a large blue construct in the shape of a fist emerged. It launched itself at her and punched her into the ground, with a thunderous bam!, sending debris flying into the air. Ayesha looked down at the crater she created as the dust cleared. Lari was nowhere to be found.
"Phew, that was close," Lari's voice rang above Ayesha. Lari descended down in front of her, her injuries healed.
"...You can heal?" Ayesha asked her.
Lari hesitated and then smiled. "Why yes, I can. Why do you ask?"
Ayesha's eyes and ring glowed brighter. "Perfect..." she said with an almost animal-like inflection. "That means I can beat you as much as I like as long as I hold back a little." But... Ayesha thought to herself. I'm not sure how much longer I can go without my desire to kill her overwhelming me. So, hurry up, Orn.
Orn's eyes snapped open and quickly he sat up, looking around. He appeared to be in a void. Wherever he looked he saw pitch blackness in every direction. Where am I...? he thought to himself. He tried to recall what had just happened.
He remembered a seething pain in his abdomen and being thrown onto the ground, too weak to even move. Everything became fuzzy as he struggled to keep his eyes home. He grew cold. He became scared. He was confused. The Old Power should have been able to heal an injury of that magnitude. He felt as though his connection was being chewed away. He saw Lari's feet as she walked up to him, saying something that was mostly inaudible and only came across as muffled. Then his eyes forced themselves closed and he thought he'd died.
And yet, here he was. Wherever here was.
"You again...?" a voice rang out from the void. It felt as though it came from everywhere and yet nowhere - as though it wasn't attached to a tangible entity. It was a voice that Orn recognized. It was a voice he had only heard once when he broke one central rule among those who wielded the Old Power: to never go deeper than an certain established point.
"Who are you?" Orn asked. He gasped as his voice sounded different. Or, did it? He couldn't describe it but his voice felt... alien. As if it no longer belonged to him.
No response came for a few seconds. Then, the voice responded, "I have no name. I no longer have a form. The pronoun 'who' no longer applies to me."
"...You are sentient though, are you not? I don't think you need a physical body to receive a name." Orn stated. "Have you never considered a name?"
The voice hesitate and then answered. "Larry."
Orn made a face that was skeptical, confused, and intrigued at the same time. "Okay, then... Larry it is. Tell me, Larry, am I dead?"
Yet again, no response came for some time. "No. If you were, that would mean that I am also dead, I suppose. And I am not dead." Before Orn could say something in response, a red figure appeared about 50 meters in front of him. It appeared to be struggling to maintain this form...if it could be called that. It vaguely resembled a humanoid being, but it seemed to flicker in and out of existence. Sometimes it was just a limb, sometimes it was its entire "body."
"Your connection to the Old Power has been forcefully constricted," the form said. "It has not been completely severed. If it had been, you indeed would be dead right now. This did not particularly surprise Orn. Lari had obviously no intentions of downright killing him, only incapacitating him. And she succeeded.
"So then... what do I do? Just stay here in this void until Lari takes away the restriction?" Orn asked, frustrated with his helplessness.
"No..." Suddenly the sound of water moving could be heard. It sounded like a river. And the sound came from in front of Orn, though, he could see no source of water due to the pitch blackness. "Come," the voice beckoned, with an outstretched arm. Orn hesitated at first, but he stepped forward, slowly walking closer to the form. Eventually the solid ground gave way to a fluid liquid. He slowly began submerging.
Orn had heard a legend about the Old Power when he was younger. According to the legend, it was comparable to a raging river. It was a raging river of uncontrollable raw power. Dipping your feet into it? That's fine. Sitting on the shore and letting your legs dangle in the river? That's fine. However, walking into the river until your waist down is submerged? Nope. The Old Force would overtake you. It would break your balance and completely pull you downriver. You would be entirely at its mercy as it thrashes you around like you're a goldfish being viciously shaken around in a plastic bag. Orn now doubted this legend. It was a river, yes. But it was not wild, uncontrollable, or raging. And so, he continued. However, he had not consider the possibility that it was not a river at all.
Suddenly, a red spherical object formed in the sky. It illuminated the "water" Orn was submerged in, and his heart skipped a beat, dread sweeping over his entire body. This was no river. It was an ocean. He wanted to turn around and run back to the "shore." His body wouldn't listen to him, however. His legs continued pushing forward without his permission. He was submerged waist deep. Chest deep. Neck deep. And then, he was violently pulled forward. He turned around, trying to fight it, but to no avail. He was turned back around, and the figure appeared to be getting farther from him. Then, suddenly he stopped, and the figure was lumbering over him. It looked down upon him. And it smiled. As though it was an animal that had successfully captured its prey.
Then, Orn was pulled down into the depths of the ocean, suffocating.




