//------------------------------//
// 128. Slash and Burn 
// Story: Rebirth of the Damned 
// by Borsuq 
//------------------------------//

The laughter with which the centaur erupted almost deafened Storm. He pressed his hooves to his ears, wondering how could this… this Provato, a demigod, be completely unfazed by it. He - Storm assumed such by the depth of the timberwolf’s voice - just stood there, his glowing amber eyes unnervingly continuing to stare at Lord Tirek calmy. Behind those eyes, however, Storm could sense a wild, primal fury raging within him.
Which was why when Provato’s head turned towards him, the pegasus held his breath.
Much to his shock - and relief - the timberwolf demigod’s gaze softened a touch. “Hide, child of the skies,” he said in his rumbling voice, hearable over the thunderous laughter of Tirek. “This battle will be too dangerous for you to stay close.”
Feeling overwhelmed by this voice and gaze, Storm barely could find in himself enough strength to nod. The sensation lessened when Provato turned back to Tirek, letting the pegasus regain enough control over his body to hide behind one of the great trees.
To be honest, Storm’s first instinct was to run away. It was clear that the place he had found himself in was soon to become a battlefield for forces beyond reckoning. The Princesses and maybe Sir Lightbringer could stay safely and even participate, but not him. However, despite that, Storm stayed. He was a paladin, and his duty to Equestria demanded that he would bear witness to what was about to transpire.
As he positioned himself safely behind the tree, staying out of sight but letting him see what was happening, the centaur laughter had cased. “You claim to be a demigod, mutt?” he sneered. “Don’t make me laugh.”
“A bit too late for that one,” Storm commented in his thoughts.
“I have faced the demigods of this land in the past,” Lord Tirek continued. “They oozed with power. Compared to them, you are but a pup!”
Provato seemed unfazed by the insult. He tilted his head as he regarded the centaur. “I know you had,” the timberwolf said calmly. “I heard about you from my elders. You are that mortal who got into his head that he could become a demigod himself by leeching off the power of the Ancients. Your arrogance had nearly costed you your life.”
Tirek’s nose wrinkled and exhaled steam through his nostrils. But Provato wasn’t done.
“Then you thought you could make yourself stronger by stealing the magic of ponies living in the far north,” he continued, beginning to walk around the centaur. Tirek’s head moved after him, not letting him out of his sight. “I heard their legends once they came to live here. They've banished you into Tartarus, and yet it looks like you still haven’t learned from your mistakes.”
Storm had no illusions by that point. Provato was openly mocking Tirek. It wasn’t really shocking; the demigod had told Tirek that he was trespassing. Whatever it was exactly the centaur was trespassing on, by doing so he clearly made an enemy in a probably territorial being.
Lord Tirek however, one who also didn’t like being offended, though in his case the offense was one’s words, not one’s actions. Having been mocked, he soon gave his as well.
“Seems you like to hear old stories,” he bellowed, narrowing his eyes. “I do too. I would just love to hear how you, a supposed demigod, managed to stay sane, while all the others, even the great Everfree, had become corrupted by this darkness. This darkness, which shrouded this entire forest.” Provato stopped his prowl around Tirek to stare at him with his amber gaze. “Their minds are nothing more than those of animals, unable to use their vast powers. Not that I’m complaining,” he added, sneering once more. “If it wasn’t for Everfree’s condition I wouldn’t have been able, in my weakened state, to drain her magic out of her.”
Even from where he stood, Storm could tell that the mood of Provato had changed. “I, too, have fallen into the darkness that has engulfed this forest as well,” he said in a somber tone. “For more than a thousand years, I prowled through this land as a mere animal. My pack hunted down anyone who stepped into the forest. It took two very unique ponies to break the darkness’ hold on my mind and allow me to heal over time.”
Provato’s voice hardened. “Now you seek to bring their kind harm, have trespassed upon this ancient grove, and leached off the powers of my mother,” he snarled, setting his forepaws further apart, “and dare to think you may leave unpunished?!”
If Tirek felt threatened at all by the demigod’s battle-stance, Storm could not see it. He merely snarled, his face still locked in a jeer. He lifted his arms to the side of his head and said, “Here’s me, playing the world’s smallest violin,” while rubbing his hand.
Storm felt as if his eyes were about to fall out of their sockets. He stared at the centaur, wondering how he could just offend a demigod like that… then he recalled that a minute ago Tirek had absorbed the magic from a goddess (who was apparently Provato’s mother).
The growl that came from the timberwolf’s jaws hinted that he remembered that event as well.
“If you are quite finished, demigod,” Tirek continued to mock, “I have more magic to steal from the Ancients before I will conquer those ponies’ pathetic little country. Get out of my sight and I may yet allow you to live someday as my pet.”
Instead of replying, Provato’s jaws parted. A sphere of swirling gold-amber energy, same as his eyes, began to form in his mouth.
Lord Tirek wasn’t sitting idle. His horns glowed, a red ball formed in between them. WIth a growl, he fired a magic beam at Provato.
The sphere shot from the demigod’s mouth, colliding with the beam half way.
Storm felt his body being pushed away by the force of the deafening explosion that followed, despite being far away from it and behind a tree. The tree itself also shook, and for a heartbeat he feared that his protection might get blown out of the ground.
Praying to the Light to heal his perforated ear drums, Storm wondered if coming into the Everfree Forest was an even worse idea that he had anticipated.





Lord Tirek staggered backwards. A moment ago, he was gloating. He had the full right to it, for he had done the impossible: absorbed the magic from probably the oldest being of this world and arguably the most powerful one. True, that feat would have been impossible if Everfree hadn’t been corrupted by some strange powers during his imprisonment in Tartarus among the souls of the damned. This darkness that both he and her mutt had spoken of had turned the Eternal Spirit of Nature into a little more than an animal. Had she been her old self, Tirek would have never dared approach her.
But he had, had stolen her magic from her, rejuvenating him from his long stay in Tartarus in a matter of seconds and becoming more powerful than ever before…only to find himself be evenly matched by some pup.
Lord Tirek growled in annoyance as he shielded his face from the explosion with his arms. As much as he hated to admit it, this Provato was speaking truth; he was really a demigod. Few beings other than them could match him in power now.
“I must be careful,” he thought, peering through the dust stirred by the clash of their powers. “Everfree wasn’t nearly at her full power when I stole her magic. Her son might prove to be difficult-”
He stopped his inner monologue as a shape was registered by his eyes. They grew wide in shock as from within the cover of dust a wolf-like creature lunged at him, its fangs bare. Provato was much smaller than Tirek, but his jaw was still perfectly sized enough to rip out his throat.
Regaining his composure, Lord Tirek grabbed him with his magic. For a moment, the wooden wolf stayed, suspended in the air and surrounded by the red aura of Tirek’s magic, before the centaur smashed him against the ground. He reared up, intending to crash the being before him with his hooves.
As he came down upon him, Provato stood up. Tirek’s front hooves stomped against his spine, with force great enough to shake the ground around them and cause several fractures in it… but the demigod was unfazed.
Provato looked up at him, his eyes narrow. Before Tirek could react, vines shot from the ground around him once more, except this time they were much thicker and covered with thorns. He roared in pain as he felt them draw his blood once the vines entangled him. But pain wasn’t the only thing he felt. Dizziness overtook him, and Tirek suddenly felt weaker, as if he was sick...
“Poison,” he realized through the fog that began clouding his mind. “Those plants are poisonous…”
He looked down at his opponent with fury that he dared to use such an attack against him, but Provato was no longer under his hooves. The wolf demigod had stepped away, and once again his maw had parted, as energy began forming in it.
Fueled by anger, Tirek burned the poison away from his body and tore through the vines, just in time to bash the demigod with his horned head.
Provato staggered, stunned, as the sphere of nature’s energy dispersed from his maw. Tirek, using the time to completely free himself, grabbed the wolf-like being and lifted it into the air.
“I’m going to break your neck for that,” he snarled as one of his arms grabbed Provato’s head from the opposite side, “and then I will take your magic as weaarrghh!”
His last word became a hiss of pain as the wolf he had in his hold bristled its fur. Except instead of hair, thorns rose straight from his body, piercing Tirek’s flesh. The pain caused by this made Tirek ease his hold of Provato, allowing the wooden wolf enough of freedom to lunge its fangs into his hand.
The centaur howled, feeling the monstrous jaws clench around his hand like an iron vise. He could feel the bone breaking underneath. Being in an incredible pain, despite the possible consequences, Lord Tirek unloaded a powerful magical blast at the point-blank range.





Storm once again had to cover his ears as a flash warned him about an explosion. This time, though, the force of it hadn’t shaken him as badly, as the two powerful being that fought each other had absorbed most of the blast.
When he looked at the battlefield, he saw Provato and Tirek, standing at some distance from one another. Both appeared to be wounded after the explosion; the centaur bore many wounds, both gashed and burns, and appeared to have a broken arm; the demigod’s chest was raising heavily, and liquids (Storm wasn’t sure whether it was blood or sap) dropped down from it. However, green lights began to swirl around Provato almost the instant Storm had laid eyes on him. The injury that would take him long prayers to heal with the Light began to disappear quickly.
“I am the son of the Forest and the Wind,” Provato stated calmly, belying the viciousness he had displayed mere seconds ago. He had healed his injuries, while Tirek continued to bleed and hold his wounded arm. “You cannot defeat me.”
As if to support his claim, the wind began to blow between the trees, gaining in strength; the clouds in the skies above swirled, growing bigger, and a lightning flashed briefly. Something brushed against Storm; he could swear that the tree he used as a cover had moved.
He could not understand why Tirek hadn’t surrendered by then. It was clear to him that Provato was the stronger of the two, despite the centaur having stolen the magic of the goddess. And yet, despite suffering great damage in such a short amount of time, he was smirking.
“Maybe you are the son of the Forest,” Tirek sneered, and began chuckling, “but have you forgotten? I have her power!”
Storm’s eyes grew wider in confusion as Tirek rose on his hind legs once more, and a glowing red orb appeared between his horns. However, those weren’t the reasons for his surprise.
What caused it was Provato, suddenly snapping and yelling: “Don’t!”
The centaur’s forehooves slammed against the ground. The orb between his horns had dispersed, its energy spreading through Tirek’s body into his legs. From there the magic spread across the ground around him, empowered by the force of his stomp. Storm Clash watched as the red glow passed underneath him, dreading what it may cause…
The tree behind which he had hidden shook.





Provato watched, with fury he had never felt before, at the perversion that took place before him.
The ancients, creatures old beyond even his comprehension, the first protectors of life on Equestria after his mother, had slept peacefully in this grove for uncount millennia. Due to that and to how close they were to the Heart of the Forest, they remained mostly untouched by the corruption that had befallen everything else that lived in the forest.
“But this arrogant mortal has changed it,” Provato mused angrily as he watched several of them pull their roots out of the ground and rise.
Only his mother’s power could awaken them, only her call. But this centaur used the magic he stole to not only stir them from their slumber, but also, due to his own evil heart, increased the corruption in them. Now those ancients that woke up weren’t the guardians of life in which shadowed Provato and his siblings had played when they were cubs. They were now a dark, perverted version of themselves, serving the the beck and call of the one that woke them and whose heart was as dark as theirs.
Provato took some solace in the fact that not all ancients had awakened. Only a pawful answered Tirek’s call. Either the centaur wasn’t as good in controlling his mother’s power as Provato had feared, or he absorbed less than he anticipated. He had known, of course, that Tirek hadn’t stolen all of Everfree’s magic or even majority of it; no mortal would be able to withstand that much power. Either way, this was rather optimistic.
At least, when compared with what Provato was about to do.
If “Lord” Tirek had thought that he would hesitate when facing the ancients, he was sorely mistaken. Provato’s heart wept in anguish over what he was about to do, but he had no choice. It was his duty as the last guardian of the forest to protect it and to stop Tirek…
Whatever the cost.
A pony, or any other mortal, would probably face an even greater dilemma than Provato in this situation. However, the timberwolf demigod knew very well that in nature nothing really ever dies. In case of creatures such as him or the ancients, that saying had a lot more meaning. Still, though, destroying their physical form was painful for Provato.
As the ancients began surging towards him, the demigod howled into the sky. The clouds above answered, sanding several lightnings down at the beings that were meant to be so much more than mindless beasts. The lightning’s burned their barks, setting a few of them aflame, yet still they marched. Narrowing his eyes, Provato stomped the ground and howled again, summoning a vortex of wind that slowed them down. With a brief touch of his mind to the un-awakened ancients and simple trees, the demigod pleaded them to drop some of their leaves. With a little coaxing to remind them what they are meant to be, the slightly corrupted beings answered. Their leaves dropped, some of them big, some of them small, and all were now carried by the wind. With heavy heart, Provato directed the powerful gust to send the leaves at the attacking ancients and the coward hiding behind them, using their sharp edges to cut them all.
All while they were bombarded by the force of a hurricane, lightning shooting down on them constantly, without a moment of respite. The ancients, though mindless, were still living being, and gave voice to their pain. Provato grinded his teeth as their wails assaulted his ears.
It was over mercifully quickly. The wind and the skies had calmed down, letting the demigod to see the charred remains of the once noble beings. He spared a second to mourn them, before he let out a furious growl and began searching for Tirek.
The centaur stood not far away. A magical shield was wrapped around him, though now that the danger of the storm had ended, it began dispersing.
“You will die for that,” he told the mortal, baring his fangs at him.
The centaur, despite his situation and many wounds, was still smirking. The sight of that alerted Provato. He quickly overcame his desire to rip him to shreds and observed him carefully. His good arm was behind his back, and there was a red orb between his horns, thought Provato could not sense it being concentrated anywhere near him. “What is he-”
“Oh, I doubt that,” Tirek said, interrupting his thoughts. “You are much more powerful that I thought. You are a true demigod, I will give you that. I cannot defeat you.”
Provato narrowed his eyes. He had a sinking feeling that Tirek had another dirty trick in store for him.
“So,” the centaur continued, grinning, “how about a trade.”
The centaur pulled out his arm from behind his back. Inside his hand was the pegasus who had braved this forest, trapped in a tight magic bubble.
“Your magic for his life.”
Provato glared at the smirking centaur with disgust, and then concentrated at pegasus. With his size, Tirek could crush him with his hand alone, not to mention what he could do with magic. The pegasus seemed to understand that as well. Even though his prison was too tight for him to move, Provato knew that he channeled mysterious powers, exactly like the pony who had healed him months ago. The fact that he wasn’t trying to use them now to free himself and was shaking his head could only mean that he had already tried to and failed.
Provato grinded his teeth. He should leave him to his fate. Everybody has to die at some point, even eternals such as him. Why should he care what happens to this pony? True, he would save him if he could, but letting Lord Tirek absorb his magic would lead to horrific events. The pegasus warrior understood this, and that was why he was looking at him with eyes pleading him not to do it, despite the obvious fear on his face.
“Why should I give me magic away to him to save some mortal?” Provato mused angrily. “I harmed many ponies and others when my mind had been reduced to that of a feral beast; what’s one more to meet his death ahead of his time because of me? Just because he wields the same powers as the one who had healed me? Just because he also has wings like the one that opened my mind? Or… like my father…”
Provato growled in defeat. Another demigod might have sacrificed this pony for the greater good, but he simply couldn’t.
“Release him,” he said, dropping his ears. “I will give you my magic.”
“And hope that you will choke on it.”
The centaur's grin grew wider as the sphere between his horns flickered. The prison of the pegasus had dispersed. Before he could take any action, however, Tirek threw him away almost nonchalantly, his attention on Provato. The pegasus was bashed against one of the trees, and fell down stunned.
Tirek opened his mouth and took a deep breath. Provato, who had lowered the mental barriers around himself, immediately felt him sucking his magic away. It was a painful feeling, as if the he was being eaten alive. He grew weaker rapidly and fell to the ground.
The leaves on his mane, now yellow instead of green, began falling out…





Storm quickly shook of the dizzyness.
He wanted to scream in frustration for how easily he had gotten captured. As the trees began uprooting themselves and Provato countered them with lightning and wind, Storm had suddenly felt some force grabbing him and pulling him away, almost right into the middle of the battle. The next thing he knew he was looking at Tirek from behind a tight glowing sphere-like prison. He tried several time to free himself using the Light, but he wasn’t able to use it as a means to attack as easily as Sir Lightbringer could. He would need to channel it through a weapon if the attack were to be effective, but in such tight space he could not reach either of them, even the dagger.
When he heard Tirek’s offer, he immediately tried to signal Provato not to do it. He didn’t want to die, of course, but he immediately thought of what this centaur would be able to do if he absorbed more magic. Especially from somepony who had been kicking his flank. Even the Princesses would be unable to stand against such a threat. As much as he wished there was another way, Storm understood that the fate of Equestria was more important than him.
But then Provato had agreed.
With his head cleared, Storm Clash looked around. The two stood more or less where they were the last time he saw them. Provato was laying on the ground seemingly unconscious, while Tirek stood over him, sucking in the demigod’s magic (on colors of gold and green) into his mouth, just like he had done earlier with his mother. The timberwolf was visibly affected by it; the bark that made his pelt had many cracks on it, the leaves and flowers on his mane were drying out and falling out. If this would continue, he would die.
Despite knowing that this would mostly likely cost him his life, Storm charged at Tirek, praying to the Light swiftly as he thrust his forehooves forward. White light shot forward and struck the centaur square in the back. His attack hadn’t harmed him seriously, though judging by the roar Tirek had uttered, it must’ve been surprisingly painful. However, it had succeeded in stopping him from absorbing the magic from Provato. Turning his attention towards him, Tirek left the demigod be for now.
Storm briefly registered that the centaur was now much bigger, and that his wounds had all mended, before he uttered a war cry and lunged at him with Spring Binder in hoof.
He didn’t even come close to reaching him before he was stopped in mid-air by his magic.
“I was going to let you flee, insect,” Tirek rumbled, lowering his powerful head to meet Storm’s eyes one the same level. “But you seem to posses some powerful magic…”
Storm gasped as the centaur lifted his head and opened his mouth, beginning to suck his magic away. It was a terrible sensation; as if the air from his lungs was being taken away, along with his blood and life.
“Light… please…” he pleaded, feeling his strength rapidly diminish, “give me the strength… to bear through this…”
He could feel the Light’s power surge through him, and for a second, the paladin felt hope in his heart. That hope quickly disappeared as the power given him by the Light had too been absorbed by the centaur. Storm prayed quickly for more, hoping he would be able to free himself somehow and buy some more time for Provato to recover-
“GGGAAHH!!!”
As the deafening roar cut through the evening air, Storm found himself no longer being held by Tirek’s magic. He flapped his wings to stay in the air and looked at the centaur in confusion. The mighty being held his throat, as if he had tried to swallow something and it was stuck in there.
Tirek turned to him with fury on his face. “What did you do to me?!”
Storm - who was beyond confused - wasn’t given the time to answer. Lord Tirek’s right arm shot towards him, with a clear intention of grabbing him and probably crushing. Storm swiftly moved out of the way, but as the hand reached the spot where he was a second ago, something happened.
It began to turn into dust.
The paladin looked wide eyed as the mighty centaur’s arm began to dissolve right before him. And it wasn’t just the arm. There was a hole in his stomach, and one of his legs was missing about a hoof.
Storm tried to comprehend this as he once again looked at the pained face of Tirek… and then he understood.
They've banished you into Tartarus, and yet it looks like you still haven’t learned from your mistakes.
Though Storm had never heard of such a legend, he could quite easily figure out what this meant.
“You’ve been banished into Tartarus,” he told the centaur as he opened himself to the Light. His body shone with a golden radiance, signaling the Light’s approval. “For thousands of years you’ve stayed there, among the souls of the damned, where you belong.” Storm Clash’s eyes narrowed. “The force that you had tried to absorb is the Holy Light; a force of such purity and grace that it burns evil away! A being such as you cannot withstand its glow, and now it runs through your veins! This is over, Lord Tirek! The Light will tear you apart!”
The centaur was staring at him, though he was in clear pain by both the mere sight of Light and of his upcoming death. Storm could see the fear in his eyes as he slowly came to realize that his fate was inevitable. He reared his head and roared in defiance; if he would later learn that nopony had heard those noises in Ponyville despite the great distance, Storm would think them all deaf.
But Tirek wasn’t finished. His horns shone once again, with a gigantic sphere appearing above them. “Then I am taking this damned forest with me!” he growled as he concentrates on what looked like a cataclysmic spell.
Storm cursed under his breath and charged at the centaur’s head. He channeled the power of the Holy Light into one swing, hoping that it would be enough to disrupt the spell. With the strength greater than the paladin could ever remember he ever mustered, Storm Clash swung Spring Binder at one of Tirek’s horns.
The sword bit into the curved horn, going deeper and deeper, until he came out on the opposite side, cutting it off.
Lord Tirek howled in pain, and his remaining arm began reaching out to the pitiful stump he had left from his right horn, while the rest of it slowly fell to the ground. The sphere, however… without the second horn to let Tirek channel and shape magic, become unstable and started fluctuating.
Storm, guessing what was about to happen, prayed to the Light for protection for himself and Provato as he quickly flew away from it. A golden shield enveloped him while he ran; barely noticing that more of Tirek had already been turned to dust.
The sphere exploded.
The paladin felt a tremendous force hit him and threw him as if he was a toy… and then he felt nothing.