His eyes narrowed on the inky blackness festering within him.  It was worse than before, he could tell.  Whatever time had passed since he’d been able to take stock of his situation had been enough for the dark magic to take more of him over.  He could feel the weakness of his physical self, far off as it seemed, and he reached up to rub at his chest, just over his heart.  Just how close was he to death out there, in the real world?  A day?  Hours?  Minutes…?<br/><br/>A sudden rush of heat distracted him from those thoughts, his eyes widening as a ball of fire shot past and slammed into the dark magic.  Glancing back at the blackberry-scented man, he flashed a grin.  Fire was his thing, so it came as no surprise it would be one of his main attacks.  The heat from it was intense, though, and as more fire attacks filled the space between them and the dark, Riel couldn’t say it was an unpleasant sensation.  Still, he had to play his own part, and as soon as the consumer seemed to be more interested in the one doing damage to it, Riel made a sharp turn and swung the other way.<br/><br/>It wasn’t his first internal fight, and the last time something had crept inside of him and tried to do terrible things, it took everything he had to beat it down and kick it out.  This time was going to be different only in that he had assistance, which was good, because he knew he wouldn’t be able to do it alone.  Thankfully, he’d learned a few tricks from that last time, and he’d picked up new ones since then that he figured would come in handy.<br/><br/>Riel came to a stop and breathed a few old words from what he considered his home world and a glowing blue fog gathered around him in bright, gentle waves.  At the center of this magic it was white, and from those most luminous spots came a scattering of butterflies that seemed to be made of the very same energy.  A complete contrast to the other’s powers, which were hot, warm toned, and violent in the way that battle often was, Riel’s magic was calm, flowy.  The light permeated his weapon until it was blinding, but still he waited.  Getting close was for later, once they’d done enough damage to weaken the enemy so they could fight it closer.<br/><br/>The fire-elemental’s attacks were frying the damned darkness from one side, and on Riel’s side his own were making contact.  Innocuous as it might’ve looked, even beautiful, those butterflies almost seemed to melt when they touched the blackness, and the blinding light they emitted burned in its own way.