Leena was happy the day seemed to be going better than the day before and the old team was back together… well, plus one! She looked over at Terra, happily talking with Nina while Arlin helped Coby scout.
Arlin was surprisingly taking this more seriously and getting tips from Coby on what to watch for and how to track. Technically, Coby had a powerful skill that made most tracking obsolete with his wind skill, but Coby stressed the dangers of only using your blessing.
He reminded us not once but twice that he encountered beasts able to hide their presence, and one of those times almost killed us in a surprise attack…
A drawn-out breath escaped my lips. Drawing Nina's attention, she ran up, grabbing me, assuring me all was well and promoting Terra to do the same. It was hard to stay upset with today's events when loved…
About a mile from town, Coby guided us deeper into the forest. He sensed an odd beast in that area, and when he guided his sight in the wind, he saw what looked like a wood humanoid-like beast. When they were close to the area, Coby felt he could solo it easily, and all of them there were overkill but a great chance to train Leena in a safe environment.
She was worried, as she never helped directly in a fight, always passively with healing. As she tried to mentally prepare herself, she drew her sword, such an amazing piece of steel. She pushed the light into the blade, and it absorbed it as if welcoming the light home. It was a faint glow but easily seen by all. she focused on her shield, and that wasn't as simple or as easy…
It was blessed with earth and a powerful blessing at that. When she tried pulling the mana in the earth to see how it worked, it became stiff in her arm, and she could not move, scaring her and making her think she was paralysed. Terra laughed when it happened, assuring her to just calm down and release the earth mana, and she would be free to move, and just as she said it released its hold on her. Terra also told her to just push against the earth mana to make a pulse effect. She tried and did feel a push effect but had nothing to really use it against to tell if it worked…
She wanted to practise more but rammed into Arlin's back, surprising her. He looked back, annoyed, but saw it was her and shifted moods to concern. “You ok?”
“Sorry, we’re here... “he said belatedly. Nodding, she said,
“Yeah, wasn't watching, sorry.” Looking around, it was a little scary to her how everything looked the same; she would definitely get lost…
"Where was the monster?" She said Coby looked in a specific direction, and she focused that way, but all she saw were trees. She was about to say so when she finally saw it, amazing her.
It was a tree in a sense of looks on the bark, but now that she was looking, it was very obvious it was not just a tree… It was only five feet tall, so it seemed like a new tree, but it was wider, and its arms were odd. There were four? Held up like branches but no leaves, and it looked at her… Coby spoke from the side.
“It's not very strong; any of us could solo it…”
“But this is to test Len.“
“So no helping…” Coby said, staring at everyone, Nina just looked bored, and Terra was happy, teasing Arlin while he tried to avoid her touch by moving forward, while the beast just watched her, still not moving… she wasn't sure if this was going to be too easy.
She was less than two feet away, and it still did not move, freaking her out a bit, so she turned around. “Um… is this fair?“ Coby wanted to warn her, but it happened too fast. A blow struck her on her back and the side of her head, followed by two strikes to her legs. Everything went black for a second, but as she fell, she turned and swung, desperate to fight, and she watched it dance back.
She pulled her gift and healed the pain as quick as it came, but she was embarrassed. How stupid could you be, walking to a monster and turning your back… she heard Coby shouting, “IT'S HER FIGHT; STAY BACK!” she knew they were rushing to help, so she shouted too.
“I’M FINE…” she got up, not looking back, mad at the mockery of pitying this beast.
Now she saw a smugness on its face, an open mockery, letting her know she chose to underestimate it, and it wasn't just going to lie down and die... it shot a vine at her face, and she blocked it easily with the shield, and three more vines slammed into her legs, causing her to buckle. Even as she used her gift to heal, she tried to use the shield to stop from falling and got two more vines in the face, knocking her back, and lost her sword…
The light kept her lucid even with the hits she had taken, and the beast seemed to keep watching impassively, knowing she wasn't a threat. A shadow vine and rock shot towards the monster, surprising both her and the beast. It narrowly avoided them both and seemed to panic for the first time as Coby yelled once more for them to stop. she had to learn...
She burned with shame as she rushed and grabbed her sword. Even now, as she thrust in rage, it dodged her effortlessly, and a stone wall formed behind the beast, and it slammed into it unaware anything was there, and panic entered its eyes as she drew the light into the blade and slammed it into its chest….
The light left its eyes, and it fell with the pulling of the blade from its chest. Tears were in her eyes from shame, more than any pain. she did not want to face them but felt Nina hold her as Terra walked up, kicking the corpse. “Meen lit-al bugger,” she said as she heard a drawn-out sigh she knew could only be Coby....
“This was going to happen… she was new to battle. “
“But she needs to learn how to solo fight…”
“She wants to be on the front line. This is what they face…”
“She doesn't have any gifts…”
“Nur du I,” Terra interjected, defending Leena.
“True, but you're going to be the surprise hitter, not front-line tanking…”
“Nina tanked for us before and can easily now…”
“But Len wants to be the offensive tank and help…”
"That means she must learn to dodge and hit, or else she'll get hit."
She understood what he was going for, and she agreed. She literally turned her back on the beast after walking up to it face… she was treating this like a game, and she was the hero of a story… Arlin walked in front of her with a reassuring smile, “You did good.”
“I bled a lot, broken and alone, facing these things.“
“So don’t feel bad; you did not just win on the first try.“
She smiled at that, knowing everyone was there for her. “Is this beast worth anything?“ She asked, hoping to change topics. Coby looked and gave a half-shrug.
“Depends on the element of its wood from the beast.”
“But maybe some bows and spear shafts – not an amazing find, but it has value.” Terra threw it on her shoulder.
“Light enough; I gut it.” Coby scouted and smiled.
"We got lucky. Seems there is a wind wolf nearby, too." She sighed, not really looking forward to another fight so soon, but it would be good to prepare her mindset.
“You ok?“Nina, still holding her, asked
“Yeah,“ she replied with determination.
“Coby is right...”
“Trial by fire, their blood will forge me. I want this….”
"Ok,“ Nina said in a low voice, not wanting her sister to lose herself to this new life, and she understood that she didn't want to be a mindless hunter of beasts, but she made a better fighter to defend.
As they got closer, Coby had a serious face. “I assumed too much,” he started saying, “Nina, please build a ring around her for the next fight.”
“About 150 feet wide, maybe 160. The beast needs room to move but not run away. Just leave holes so we can see inside." Nina wasn't happy being used like a tool nor able to interfere to help her sister, but she wanted to help her more than start a fight...
When they got close, the wind wolf surprised her, as it just looked like a normal wolf. Maybe a big wolf with a slight tint to its fur? It smelt them when they got close, and it had death in its eyes, surprising her. It wasn't afraid; it was outnumbered five to one ?!
Nina pulled a wall with a hole blocking Leena's retreat. She saw sadness in Nina's eyes, feeling that separation, so she smiled in assurance. Coby broke the moment. “Watch the beast, not us…”
She turned to see why. It was still far away… But in seconds it was ten feet away, jumping and lunging for her face. she pulled up her shield and was slammed back into the wall, knocking the breath from her chest. she did not activate the shield earth blessing….
she coughed a little blood, slightly moving from the wall, as the wolf could not get a perch from the leap but turned mid-air and slammed her once more into the wall as it used her as a launching board. Everything went black for a second as she felt the light healing fractures, causing her a bit of anger. This day was an endless series of events pissing her off…
“U CUN DU IT “from Terra cheering her on.
“YEAH“, Nina joined in.
“YOU GOT THIS”, Arlin too… And even though Coby said nothing, she knew he believed in her or would not let her fight alone. Not once but twice she underestimated the beasts they fought… she breathed out slowly; she already bled for this beast; now it will bleed for her…
It ran the edge of the rock ring, trying to build speed and turn to rush her once more to repeat what worked once, self-assured it would work twice… As it leapt, she knew what to expect this time and pulled the earth while holding the shield up, and the beast slammed into an unmovable object, causing the wolf to yelp. It wasn't expecting a wall but something to give under its weight…
As it landed, she let go of the earth but a little too slowly as she thrust her sword near the beast, and it rushed with the wind, damn it! She thought… As it watched her, they both learnt their tactics needed to change, and this next strike would prove who would shift this battle…
Once more it rushed and jumped early, surprising her. It seemed she overestimated the beast's intelligence and reinforced the earth in her shield, making her solid.
Yet once more, the beast proved her folly and lacking foresight as it used the wind to pull its body down midair before she could even think to react. A pain bit into her leg as the wolf tried to tear her flesh.
It seems the reinforcement from Earth helped her a little, but it still made her bleed when she released the earth to try to strike at the beast, as she could not move; otherwise, it jerked her down while holding her lower leg, frustrating her that every action she took was met with denial and pain. she thrust her blade, hoping to strike the beast, but it leapt back with indifference…
If she were not blessed with light, her actions could easily cost her her life many times over, yet pain can be a wonderful teacher, and she would learn long before she let it kill her, and as the wolf raced the edge, building speed, she would not let it learn from its folly…
It was rushing again, and before it could leap or whatever new tactic it would mock her with, she pointed her sword forward, knowing the beast would watch the blade, and she flared her light within the blade, making a flash while keeping her eyes closed and covered with the shield. she heard a yelp and rushed as she released the light.
The distance they both closed was almost too much; they were less than a foot from each other. she shifted her shield to brace herself and thrust her sword at the beast from the side as best she could. Momentum carried the beast into her blade as it pierced itself in the chest, rushing her, burying the sword as it also slammed into her, knocking her back and down, dragging her across the ground slightly. she could feel the blood pour from the wound in the beast, soaking her as it gasped one last breath.
It was heavy; she could not move it, it was almost too hard to breathe, and she started to panic, but focused and pulsed with the shield earth magic, and it threw the corpse of her, easing her breath. It surprised her how far it flew; despite its weight, the pulse was indeed strong. “YOU DID IT, SISTER! A voice from Nina shouted near her, almost hurting her ears, as Nina grabbed her neck while she barely raised up.
Arlin and Coby checked the beast, and Terra studied it nearby, grinning with pride. “U dud gud. I’m prud” she extended a hand, helping raise her up. she was indeed soaked with blood, and her leather pants had a shred on one side of her leg. The gift healed her easily, so it just showed smooth flesh. she feared what the pain and look would be otherwise….
“We should call it a day. Two bodies are something to work with,“ Coby stated casually. “We can do this more with time and as a team. This was just training for now, for Leena to help her get an understanding of what to face with no help.”
“So it was pointless?” Arlin snapped.
surprising everyone, “No…” Coby retorted, “I told you she needs to be our front-line fighter and must be able to stand alone…”
“You do know if we want her to be the vanguard, she needs to be the best.”
“We cannot follow her lead if she can’t lead,” Coby said calmly.
“Yet if she is where a team is, it is irrelevant; I will always be there to support her…” Arlin retorted with venom. “She's not even trying to solo this stuff. She wants to help fight.”
“Your methods are cruel and indifferent, like my mother's. And it did not make me better; it made me suffer… nothing more…” Arlin finished staring at Coby while he stared passively back.
She wanted to say something but wasn't sure what. Terra stepped between them, “Ur buth rught. “She was stern and fierce, looking ready for battle.
“Nubudy wins alune and we ned a teem effurt…” Coby sighed, not wanting to fight or even lead; he just wanted them to know how things could go… she finally found her voice.
“Thank you both, and I feel it helped.”
“Maybe it wasn't the best way, but I don’t want to spend years training. So the pain and blood I face now is less; I won’t have to learn from later in whatever we face.”
“It's been a long day for all of us. I would like to do this again,“ she said a bit saddened; the happy victory was already lost… “Ok? As a team, and I’ll do better.” There were too many of them with their view on what was right, and everyone was trying to compromise; they did not have to face enough battles to really test them… They just needed time.
Terra looked at the body. “thus is gud can wurk with thus “Well, at least part of her debt was getting paid, so it was a start… Nobody apologised or took back their views, but nobody was full of hate either. It was just an ending to a bad day; hopefully tomorrow would have more light…
A more restful night helped with a new day, starting better for Leena and her new team. It took time, but they gathered supplies to have a picnic vs the tavern today.
Arlin was refusing to let her fight alone this time, and Nina shared his view; Terra also said she was bored, geared up and standing around, so Coby relented. They could practise more as a team since the goal was just to test Leena's mental state to see if she can stand alone and if she can lead us on the front line…
she did not like feeling tested and doubted, but she knew if she wanted them to trust her with their lives, she had to be better than them in every way…
An exaggerated sigh made her giggle in joy. Nina was bored and kept making noises to make anything happen. Arlin was pursued by Terra, who refused to accept she could not catch his eye, and Coby, who was always serious, was guiding them even now…
“Are we there yet?“ Nina said for the fourth time, looking around the sea of trees.
“It doesn't work like that,“ Coby calmly replied, still just looking forward. I interjected to keep a bit of calm.
“Nina, be nice. He's guiding us and helping. If there's something to hunt, he will find it.” Nina's tail swished while she kept her arm behind her head with her eyes closed... I was wondering if she was tempting the gods to trip her by being too casual when she surprised me and others by what she said next…
She stopped moving, opening her eyes and looking to the left. “What about over there? I sense a few,” she said while pointing beyond the trees. Coby had an annoyed face but humoured her with his wind sense and was shocked he felt something.
“How did you do that? You never track ?!” Coby asked, still shocked, causing Terra to stop trying to grab Arlin and him to stop avoiding her, as both were surprised the carefree foxkin was doing anything themselves; even I, who love her dearly, was wondering what happened…
Nina let out a real exasperated sigh and said, “I told you I have a rare gift level four earth… and I hate it… But if I try, I can do a lot with it.”
“The earth is all around us. I just felt it like water looking for ripples and paid attention to how our ripples felt and looked for others with the same type, and over there" – she pointed in the same direction – "are four ripples like our steps."
“Sure, it could be humans, but…” she hesitated, looking unsure. “It did not feel like that.” I put my hand on her to reassure her. She had a sudden smile at being loved, while Terra turned somber and let out a bitter laugh.
“Tis funny huw the guds test us, “Terra said mockingly.
“Theuy bleuss thuse with a guft others wunt “
“Wull thut lufe “for a big girl dress for war in enchanted mail and two hammers that could smash heads, creating an image she was ready for any battle… It was an odd contrast to see her face about to weep. I looked to Arlin to see if he would give her support; annoyingly, he was indifferent to her plight, so I hugged her instead…
“You got us even if you don’t have the gift you want.“ Pulling back, I placed my hand, the best I could, on her shoulder in more comfort.
“Ur sweit thunk U “she patted my hand on the shoulder, which was amusing more than comforting to me as we both looked to Coby to decide how this should play out…
“He started for a bit longer and nodded, “We came to hunt, so we hunt,” as they set off to the unknown new threat… The distance was surprisingly long, making me wonder how Nina sensed this far away…. True, they could be moving away, increasing the distance, but somehow it did not feel like that.
When they finally reached the beast, they were near an edge of a glade, and there were four big wolves in an open area sniffing the ground and surrounding area. Their fur was tinted a reddish black, so they seemed to be a fire/shadow mix? She wasn't sure. A voice broke her thoughts.
“I thought you said humans or ripple like us?” Arlin accused Nina. “Those are nothing like humans…”
Nina's ears went flat, and she scoffed, looking away and even flipping her tail up at him in defiance.
“I said I felt I did not say was…”
“I never track stupid. How do I know what ripples look like from different types…”
“You're stupid,“ Arlin retorted, and before it could devolve more,
I spoke, “Enough, both of you…”
“A team, remember? Nina and Coby got us here. Our job is to fight. It does not matter what we hunt.“
They looked ashamed, and it wasn't her goal to shame them... Terra tried to comfort Arlin, and he just pulled away, not even looking, and I wanted to comment to break the tension before any more brooding when Coby interjected, “They saw us and know we’re here.“
“Lost the element of surprise,“ he said, readying his bow, annoyed. I wanted time to plan, but trial by fire it seemed, and this would push us… So I rushed and saw four wolves going from carefully watching the unknown in the distance to annoyed anger at a threat rushing them as they returned the favour, rushing back…
She heard Terra whooping, getting excited, rushing to join her, and to her surprise, not just catching up but about to pass her?!
She tried to focus on the wolves and felt more than saw an arrow fly by her; the wolves sensed it too, dodging even Coby's ability to shift the arrow mid-shot...
A surprisingly agile set of beasts for not being wind blessed; it seems the fire that burns within them increases their ability to move in bursts. Perhaps that was what Terra was doing to increase her speed…
Nina shocked her, and Terra shot past them both using stone to help her shoot forward and forced a wolf to the side from the pack; the other three did not care and kept rushing Terra and her; they were nearly on top of them.
One jump, and she braced herself with the earth; it slammed into a wall, and the angle it hit was poor, as it stunned itself on the impact, giving her time to focus on the second that rushed from the side.
She thrust her blade, but it used its burst of speed to pull away but was wrapped in shadow vines before it got far, giving her a free strike, which she used to pierce its chest easily as she turned to strike the still recovering one, but it seemed Coby shot it when they were not looking, leaving the two left…
Terra was dancing with her wolf, trying to hit it, and Nina was suffering the same fate as it was dodging her stone fist, and she attempted to block it with earth. Arlin helped grab the beast with a shadow for Terra, but the beast was not weak; it ripped the shadows off it and ran, surprising them. The other wolf saw and followed…
“Uh…” Arlin said, watching them go as both Terra and Nina curse a storm, knowing their kills got away… she sighed. The adrenaline wearing off despite everything that had happened in a very short time, she was happy it went so smoothly.
“That's not good," Coby said, watching them go.
“Yeah,“ Arlin agreed.
“Tull me abut it,“ Terra said, annoyed. I wasn't sure why it was bad they ran. And thought this was a good thing…
“We won through, so why is this outcome bad?“
“I did not win anything,“ Nina said, still mad, and made a giant rock and kicked it like a ball into a distant tree, cracking it and making it fall, shatter and break, falling to the ground… “Oops. Sorry," she felt bad destroying a tree that did nothing…
“Maybe we should rest a bit and recover.” I tried smoothing this over; all the moving around had to be catching up to us all. Everyone felt different about it. Arlin was more annoyed the beasts got away and did not want rest. Coby too, but Terra and Nina felt happy to share a moment of rest and talking.
“U cun juin me ar-men” she tried to entice him, but he still looked annoyed. Coby was the one carrying their pack supplies; set it down.
"You girls rest; I'd rather bring back the wolf to process…"
“There are two corpses; you can’t carry both,“ Arlin said, annoyed, “and there are still beasts wandering as a threat.”
“Well, you can help me while the girls rest, and we can come right back.”
“Why do I have to go?“ He wasn't happy with this turn of events. “
“Well, if you want to stay, I won’t stop you. It takes me longer, but I’m sure Terra will be happy with that – more time with you.” Coby tried to hedge a bet he wouldn't like that, and he struck gold as he did a 180 in how he felt watching Terra fix her hair, smiling.
“You're right, so the sooner we go, the sooner we’re back.“ He looked at her seriously. “Stay safe, ok? I don’t like leaving unknown outcomes.” she smiled and could not help but laugh a little.
“Thank you.“ He got flustered at that, and she could feel Terra getting jealous; she was getting Arlin's attention easily when she was working for it.
As the boys left, I wanted to assure her he was just a friend. I knew a little longer, so he was nicer to me. Give it time; he would show her the same love and respect. But waited till we settled and ate a bit while resting in the grove. It was a bit surreal since the battle just took place; it's hard to believe death could be so close in a peaceful place…
“I dun lik it “ Terra's voice broke her from the silence. “U dun even lik hum and he's a puppy over U ." She wasn't sure what she was implying. Even Nina looked confused.
“Coby? He’s ok like a brother, not my type,” Nina said, only half-listening and not bothering to look to see that Terra very much was watching her, and she knew she meant Arlin… Why did she think that, though? Arlin was to how to say…odd? He had mood swings, which were a turnoff, and she wasn't even looking for love either way?
“He is a friend, nothing more,“ she said calmly in reply.
“I agree he should show you more respect or at least let you down gently.” Nina looked up, confused.
“ Terra? Likes Coby?!” She was surprised and now wanted to be part of the gossip, tail wagging, wanting to know what she missed.
“Nu arleen.” Nina burst out laughing hearing that, causing Terra to glare and me to blush.
“Nina... That's rude. Respect other feelings.”
“But it’s Arlin!” she was holding back more laughs as Terra interjected.
“Su I luk hum and he luks hur.” she pointed at me as if I started a war for a man she fought for long before I showed up… Yet I was here first and don’t want him.
“Let's give him time to get to know you like he knows me. Where are friends, right?” she tried soothing her, and Terra grimaced as if eating lemons and relented, “Aye, just loneey and he wus cluse…I suppose I wunted tu much tu soun…” I reach over to comfort her. Nina stopped laughing.
“I understand.“
“I want my brother's time while he's chasing someone else's tail…” It seemed everyone wanted something but her, which made her feel awkward just being happy with nothing…
“Odd?” she said.
“Wut ?” Terra saw my face, looked, and now knew what caused me to say that. Even Nina looked, then gasped, “Nu by the guds,“ Terra said in awe.
All three were entranced from the open glade near where they sat; a boulder shimmered into view and then turned solid – more than a boulder… We could stack terra twice and not reach the top… and the width was hard to see around; it was a smooth grey, unnaturally so, like it was a sitting egg about to hatch… They could not move, trapped in a mix of awe and wonder. And it shifted and awoke…
How does a rock wake up? The absurdity I thought I would never know, yet watching it shift as if yawning to life for the first time, a new breath, and the boulder morphing into a slightly different shape. A lizard?! But covered in rock… and huge!
Terra laughed with joy, “NUW THA A FUGHT!” Yet she did not share that feeling; this was too much, and only three of them they should run… But as if sensing their existence, it turned to face them, giant cylindrical rock arms slow to move with a tiny head compared to its massive form, and it did not wait as it launched a large rock right at them…
More on instinct than knowledge, I rushed forward and reinforced the shield as the rock shattered on my block, scattering around us even as a stone wall. The hit pushed me slightly back as it looked like it was tucking its head to do it again…
“JERK!” Nina shouted, and she returned the favour. “DON’T TOUCH MY SISTER!” A massive rock formed from nothing and flew to the beast. It shifted its legs to block the hit. I tried closing the distance and stabbing the pillar leg with a reinforced light blade thrust and slash, though it was able to shear the stone easily; it cut no flesh. The blade was not long enough….
It raises and slams its foot down, tumbling us all. I noticed Terra trying to close the distance with me. She recovered first, smashing into it wherever she could, but faced the same fate. I did not damage…
It was about to smash its leg again when Nina used her earth to hold it back, fighting it with the stone magic they both had. It saw her and tried to launch a smaller rock to stop her. Luckily, I was close and not just idle and was ready for such an attack, one more shattering the stone… But we could not hurt it.
“BOOUST MA UP WITH THA STUNE NEEENA” – Terra wanted to be thrown with stone?! Why was that stupid? she thought, but Nina did not hesitate and released the beast and shot Terra with a stone upward like a launch pad toward it. She could not get a good perch and was about to fall off its side from the thrashing, but Nina shifted back to controlling it with Earth's blessing…
The beast was distracted by the object landing on it, so it relented some control, allowing Terra to be led sliding forward toward it. Head, it started crawling backward, forcing us to chase and Terra to try to hold on as the ground rumbled with its movement. It finally tired of trying to dislodge her and opted to crush her instead by pressing its arms inward.
Nina, once more, stop it, but she was struggling; the sheer amount of short bursts of magic use was catching up with her trying to control this beast…
I tried rushing forward, swinging, hoping to hit the beast in the head, yet it was just out of reach on the ground where she stood as it stood on its pillar legs, and hitting the legs did nothing…. I felt lost, unable to help, as Terra was finally in control, laughing with joy, “I GUT U KNUW” and smashed its head like drums in a rhythm. At first, the beast just seemed stunned, lost to the rhythm, then flames shot out of its eye from the repeated slams from Terra using her flame gift to enchant her hammers and force the flame in its head, and it hit the ground with a loud THUMP BOOM, shaking everything, while she kept beating its head. I had to pull back as the flames were now near me and hot…
Breathing hard, I felt relieved it was over as Terra kept laughing with joy. I turned to thank Nina for her hard work and froze in panic… No… the wolves came back, and the last thing I saw was the joy on Nina's face as one wolf leapt for her neck and the other rushed for her leg…. And she went down as they tore at her flesh…
****
She was sad thinking about her brother with Teva and her brother not even missing her… “Odd.“ She heard the voice but did not think much about it, so she looked, wondering.
“Wut?” Even Terra was wondering, “Nu by the guds.“ She wasn't sure what got her so excited till she saw the massive stone and could feel the beast within it stunning her silent… she could feel it within the stone... the birth of a monster. It was very rare and dangerous. Why was it growing here !?
As it slowly took form, she heard a shout almost hurting her ears, annoying her: “NUW THA A FUGHT!” As she tried to focus, she sensed the earth shifting beyond the beast. Odd? Why….
Before she could think beyond that, her sister rushed forward, startling her as a giant rock launched at them and shattered on her shield. It even pushed her sister back a bit! “JERK!” Nina shouted, “DON’T TOUCH MY SISTER!” she was furious; she was the master of stone, not this dumb beast, and it used her magic blessing to hurt her family … So she returns the favour, forming a large rock and hurling it at the beast as it crashes harmlessly on it. stone form that rock made her a little dizzy from mana rush, but she was fine to fight…
She finally could focus and already saw Terra and Len trying to fight the beast as it slammed a massive foot down, shaking them all, annoying her. It was beating them easily! And the stupid beast was about to do it again with more foot slamming! She reached out, seizing the beast's rock body and slowing it, but the magic in its body fought her for control, but she wasn't weak as she fought back with a stronger will… she saw the beast look at her – really look at her – and knew she was the only threat and spat a rock while she was stuck trying to hold it. Her sister once more surprised her with her speed, stopping the rock…
“BOOUST MA UP WITH THA STUNE NEEENA!” Stop yelling, she thought, as it still hurt her ears… But she liked the idea of throwing her loudmouth friend, so she did just that with a boost. Watching her fly toward the beast, she couldn't help but get excited watching her fly in the air. she saw Terra was still going to fall from the beast's smooth form and would have regardless of her controlling the beast's movement, but when she threw Terra, she felt earth magic within the armour she wore and pulled Terra and the beast, allowing her to slide down to its head. She felt Terra increase her weight with the earth magic on its neck, lodging herself there.
It was not happy and tried getting away and forced us to chase. It was wearing me down; the burst chasing and mana drain were getting to be too much, but I wasn't done yet. As I watched Len trying to fight the massive beast, renewing her pride and will to fight, she forced the beast still.
“I GUT U KNUW” terra joy endless – she was annoying her still… As she watched, Terra smashed the hammer into the beast's head with glowing hammers as she tried to keep it from throwing her. Even if she weighed more, she was not safe… she closed her eyes to focus; the endless vibrating was making her dizzy and messing with her senses, but the beast fell moments later, and she felt nothing but pride and Len turn to her for the victory.
Time seemed to slow as she watched the face of the loved one shift to fear, and even as she couldn’t understand, she knew this was death.
It was the same look she knew she had as she watched what she thought was her brother's death, and now it came for her.
on instinct more than any thought. she pulled the stone as she felt the beast slam into her neck.
she was slow pulling the earth as the teeth sank into her flesh and another rip into her leg disorienting she kept trying to push the stone to stop the teeth from ripping deeper into her neck but was lacking focus as she was being pulled in different directions while slammed onto the ground. In a last desperate act of self-perseverance, she just willed herself a stone and prayed it would be enough as everything went black…
****
The blood on the muzzle is a clarity I could never forget as time slowed, watching Nina hit the ground so close yet so far, just mere feet away.
The growling, barking, and fighting to be the first to feast on her so close; they ignored her in favour of trying to get better bites into her sister's flesh.
As she rushed, slamming the blade into the first skull, she wasn't sure if it yelped or died too soon in shock.
She slammed the shield into the other and pulsed as it shattered all its bones into fragments as it flew off her sister.
She was in shock, unsure what to think, only desperate to heal as she poured everything she had into healing so many cuts and tears. Mending was happening in seconds in a morbidly fascinating way…
It was beautiful to see death so assuredly be washed away just by this gift, such power…. Yet so close it would have been meaningless if they were able to strike any longer…
She was unconscious, so I held her crying even as Terra came up, conflicted between wanting to show support and hurt the dead beast, so she kicked both corpses in futile rage, knowing she could not help her while they both cried, knowing how close a victory once more almost ended in tragedy…
Nina awoke groggy, thirsty, and confused, which made Leena laugh with tears. She was ok; even Terra was happy her new friends were ok, and the petty fight over a boy was now meaningless knowing they could lose a friend. Coby's words stuck with her – true what it meant to lead, to stand in front, not to mindlessly strike a beast but to always be ready to save…. She would be better... no… she will. Never again … will she let it go this far.
“We did it!” Nina's excited, happy voice was an odd contrast to her bloody and torn clothes, but she was full of life, and that made her happy…
They would wait for the boys to get back to really let the event sink in, but for now they survive the hunts; next time will be the dungeons…14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2zSnMg5DGN
