Melting Point

The other night, we attacked what we believed to be one of Nolla Row's hideouts. We fund Camazotz waiting for us. We had a fight, and he got away. What's more, I was forced to draw upon my powers over reality. I'll need to think of a counter strategy for our next encounter with him.

As we were leaving the base, I felt something briefly. I picked up the brainwaves of someone connected to Nolla Row, if only for a moment.

“Go on back to the hideout,” I told Kord. “I'm gonna do a bit of patrolling before turning in. If I find anything, I'll contact you.”

“Okay,” he replied.

I had no intention of contacting him. He was getting better with his powers, but he was still too reckless. I was going to inestigate what I had picked up on my own.

Sure enough, I found one of Nolla's minions.

“It's Balor, right?” I asked.

“Yes,” said the man. He was at least thirty, with fiery red hair and yellow eyes.

“You allowed me to find you on purpose,” I said. “I'm guessing you wanna prove yourself, right?”

“You're just as smart as they say,” he replied.

“I haven't even begun to display my brilliance,” I said to him.

“Hate to break it to you, but your smarts won't help you in a fight against me,” he said.

“We'll see about that,” I said, gripping my glaive.

I charged at him. A sword made of fire appeared in his hand, just as I expected. Our blades clashed, and he forced me back with his brute strength. He extended his sword and swung it at me. I stepped back a couple feet and avoided his slash.

“2.5 meters, approximately,” I said. “So that's the range of your power.”

“You know about my power!?” he demanded.

“I had a few guesses as to what it was,” I said. “They Balor is commonly depicted as a demon wielding flaming weapons, so I figured your power would involve pyrokinesis, likely with limited reach and the potential to produce pyrokinetic constructs. And it looks like I was right.”

“You may understand how my power works, but that doesn't mean you can fight against it!” he said.

He raised his sword, and brought it down with all his strength. I raised my glaive with both hands and blocked his attack with the pole. I then sliced his chest quickly before taking a step back. He cried out in pain.

“How!?” he demanded. “My sword should have been able to burn through that wooden pole of yours effortlessly!”

“This pole isn't made of wood,” I told him. “It's just painted to look that way.”

“Then what the hell is it?” he demanded.

“Tungsten,” I said. “It has a melting point of 3140 Celsius, higher than any other known metal. It was built to handle fires.

“It may be able to handle my flames, but your body can't!” he exclaimed.

His body was surrounded by a vortex of flames. He stood in the center, laughing.

“Your weapon isn't long enough to reach through these flames!” he said. “You can't hurt me without hurting yourself.

“You don't seem to understand how weapons work, do you?” I asked.

“What?” he demanded.

“Glaives are very similar to spears,” I informed him. “You know what spears are made for, right?”

Before he could answer, I switched my grip on the pole and lifted it over my shoulder, taking stance. His eyes widened in fear as he realized what I was doing.

“They're made for throwing!” I shouted, hurling the lance.

It pierced through the flames and stabbed into his chest. The flames died down as his body hit the ground. I approached him. He was still breathing heavily. I grabbed the pole of my glaive and twisted it. He cried out in pain.

“Y-you had a weapon designed especially to defeat me?” he asked.

“Don't flatter yourself,” I said. “This weapon wasn't designed to kill you.”

I ripped the glaive from his chest and gripped it in both hands.

“I was made for HELLFIRE!!!” I exclaimed, as I sliced off his pathetic head.

As his head came off, I noticed something dangling from his ear. A crystal earring. It didn't take me long to figure out what it was.

I understand now. I know how Nolla Row's been disrupting my powers. I also have some understanding of her power now. The question is, how does she know my weakness? I suppose someone with an understanding of how brainwaves are affected by eldritch energy might have been able to figure it out, but they'd have to have an IQ nearly as high as mine to piece it together.

Just who is Nolla Row...?