He heard them move a few steps back, and he knew that they had their weapons in hand and were ready for a fight in case it came to that.
Dorian grasped the beating heart and pushed it back inside the creature. His own heartbeat picked up as he readied his knife, waiting for the roll of it back to life.
Its hand twitched.
Dorian shoved the knife in its throat.
The Infi seized upwards, body jerking—
Navy flames poured from Dorian's arm and onto the creature's flesh.
It wailed.
It wailed in a pitch so shattering, Dorian fell backward. Arms grabbed him, and he was pulled away.
The Infi writhed, the knife in its neck keeping it from darting to its feet, but it could feel the pain. Its yellow eyes blazed open, and Reverie grabbed Dorian's hand.
For a moment, the three couldn't turn away. They watched as its skin boiled and melted beneath the fire. Until it began to rip into gashes and burn like parchment. The wails softened, and Dorian realized he had stopped breathing.
A skeleton remained, but Dorian knew even with that skeleton that it could come back. And his heart picked up pace again.
"We have a problem," Dorian realized.
"What now?"
"Even if it disintegrates, it can still come back from it." His gaze locked with Corbin’s, and Corbin's chest visibly caved.
"No."
And he knew Corbin was thinking about using Amaris as well. To turn the water to his mother’s poisoned waters to destroy the remnants.
"You have another idea?"
“How do you plan on making sure all the ash from those you burn tomorrow gets taken care of? That plan is just as flawed as the others. You can’t guarantee it will work, and we cannot chance her getting free of her prison,” Corbin argued.
Dorian pushed his hands to his eyes, wracking his brain for any solution that didn't involve using Amaris to do something stupid.
"Perhaps your fire will take care of the ash too. It is not normal fire,” Reverie said. "Before we decide anything drastic, let’s wait to see if just this works first."
Her words calmed him, and their hands on his shoulder and arm helped him remember to breathe. "One thing at a time," he sighed. He reached up to Reverie’s fingers on his shoulder and pulled her hand to his lips before giving Corbin’s a squeeze.
The fire flickered, and he knew it was struggling to get rid of the bones. Dorian pushed back to his knees and crouched before what was left. His hand flamed again, and he reached out for the skull. Shudder sweeping over him, vision vibrating. He pulled his entire form once more to blaze it.
The fire burned so hot, the wall began to sweat and blacken.
Dorian didn't let his form dwindle as he stood and went for the other Infi, intent on only squashing the heart in his hand to see if it worked as well.
Black blood poured over his fingers as it broke in his palm, and as the ashes collected in his hand, he blazed his fire hotter, feeling his own insides start to burn, and he knew he was pushing his limits.
But a raging determination had settled inside him, one he held on to as he held onto his life and the lives of the two in the room with him.
The heart disintegrated in his hand.
For an hour, Dorian blazed his heat hotter and hotter onto the Infi bones. To the point that his fire turned a dark purple, and he nearly passed out. He grabbed himself before he could collapse and pushed back, almost falling into Reverie and Corbin's arms as the form died on him.
For however long they sat together, they lost track. Corbin retrieved the blankets and wrapped them up in them as Dorian could hardly move. He was forced to drink and eat, but he couldn't look away from the bodies.
"If this is what burning one is doing to you, I am scared to think what tomorrow brings," Reverie said, pushing his hair off his forehead.
