I am the pretender.

I tore through the forest of evergreen pine trees that had been dyed charcoal black by the starless sky.Panic ripped through my system like a virus that had been spread into my bloodstream by the relentless pounding of my heart.Heat seeped from the trees and a wave of smoke towered behind me,grabbing out to me as it planned to drag me into its hellish clutches. I pumped my arms,willing my legs to rush forward in a sudden burst of speed right before the flames engulfed the ground where i had been only moments before;racing  through the forest I looked back to see the fire fast on my heels. Winding through the maze of trunks and branches,leaping over rocks and logs, i managed to  break into a clearing at the heart of the forest, I skidded to a stop, the dirt flying carelessly in different directions as I whirled around and faced the inferno;my eyes darting about calculating how much time i had to finish this before my power ran out. It was a chilling night and soft mist hovered over the ground littered with decaying autumn leaves;their once brilliant colors now dulled by age and frost.Desperately my eyes shot to the vast expanse of dark overhead and caught a glimpse of the luminious crescant moon hanging there,but to my horror it had begun to,inch by inch,to disappear.

 "Damn! Im running out of time!"

Cursing to myself I stretched my fingers to the sky,drawing in the moon's energy;heat suddenly penetrating the cool air,causing the mist to dissipate. Flames raged into the clearing and encircled me ,like a group of ravenous wolves stalking towards a prey and blazed with fury; the intense heat causing me to break out in a sweat. My thoughts screamed in my head as the air began to ripple before my eyes. I drew in a deep breath and focused my energy to my palms,moisture that had collected underground rising to the surface and floated around me,a glimmering halo of diamond droplets. The fire began closing in around me and with a rush of adrenaline it shot towards me just as I released all of my energy. Barriers of ice rocketed out of the ground around me,the sudden impact forcing the flames upward,lighting everything an orange-red as the color and heat consumed the upper branches of the forest. The fire hissed and cackled a manical laughter as it ate away at my barriers,lashing out punches of heat that left them cracked and worn. I struggled to keep them up as i felt my energy draining from my body,taking gasps of air i searched the darkness for the moon seeing it shrink more and more into the dark abyss.

"No..."

I twisted back to face the inferno,my arms shaking violently from the effort of holding up the ice shield;a stab of dizziness crossed my vision making my head whirl and my breath came in short gasps as I willed myself to stay strong.Unexpectantly the fires parted like the waves of the sea in the story of Moses. My mouth gaped as a single strike of blue lightning traveled through the path the fire had created and burned through my shield. Seeing it I jerked to attention and tried to create a wall around myself but it was too late. It ripped through the air and tore into my flesh,digging itself into my stomach. A fountain of blood gushed forth,my screams of agony echoeing in the isolation, as i lurched forward,the remnants of my ice mountains shattered around me.For a brief moment,everything was silent and through my half-closed eye lids i saw the pearls of ice and blood waltz with one another before falling to the soil and dismissingly vanishing underneath the surface once again.The fire leaped upon me instantly,engulfing my body that refused to respond to the signals that my brain sent,i then realized that the lightning had paralyzed me. As the fire ate away at my clothes i peered up at the sky through the swirls of dancing flames and watched the last sliver of moon disappear into the dark.

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He raised his hand to the raving fire , which immediately dispersed before him as he stepped into the clearing. The scarred,blackened trees stooped with shame and seemed to tremble as he approached; a cool breeze following him,scattering the ashes. He strode over to his fallen victim and squatted down to examine her face. She had straight,jet black hair which flowed down her neck and shoulders like a dark river. He lightly trailed the backs  of his fingers against her chilled cheek,brushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear.He stared at her face for a bit more,studying her features before heaving a sigh and rising to his feet.