“Who said I agreed?” The brother of the pair said, with a wave of his hand a chunk of the surrounding mad cat’s charge forward, quickly cutting off Ellies path. “I have you all surrounded. You ran from my power. You try to negotiate with me. I have no reason to follow your ploy.”
Bad, maybe I can argue with him about it at least, “But wouldn’t you want-”
“Your willingness hardly matters,” The sister says, “the weak are doomed to serve the strong.”
Any way to escape? No, all I see are more trees, and there is no way we can outrun them while also dealing with two people who I know nothing about. Think.
“So...Avery, step forward, and nobody will die. Simple as that.” The brother says, ignoring Ellie as she starts growling at him.
I really don’t want to do that.
Ah! Shock and awe always worked in the movies, and isn’t that what this pair is already doing? Maybe I can shock them back.
I point my right hand forward, my index and middle finger spread out in a v shape as I gather mana for two air needles, condensing as much into them as my arm could allow. “Air needle.”
Bang!
Five mad cats exploded to either side of a very surprised Ellie, while most survived the indirect hit, at least three weren't moving and the others were struggling on the ground. A lot more powerful than I expected. Before the cat Verse twins could react, I points my arms in a T pose, gathering as many needles as I could around both before I said, “Needle Gun.” Ten more were down, not dead, but struggling from all the holes I put in them. A drop in the ocean of mad cats, but I made a point of showing off just how little that sprey of spells affected me.
I stretched out, ignoring how Lore and Ellie were staring at me as I said, “I’d say it does matter, you might be able to kill us, but not before we ruin most of that ‘power’ of yours.”
I hope that sounded confident and powerful. Given how shocked the pair were, I’ll take that as a yes, offering them my nicest smile as I wait for their reaction. Please be reasonable and reconsider, rather than just swarm them at me.
“...Brother?” The female of the pair finally said, her shock leaving her unsure how to respond.
“No reason to hide our names anymore then. The dead should at least know who killed them.” He finally growled out. “My name is Randall, and my sisters name is Tilda. Avery, since you are so eager to prove your power, I shall deal with you myself.” He shifted forms before my eyes, the effeminate human before me became a eight foot tall humanoid monster, a feline werewolf that reminded me of a cat breed called Lykoi. The closest thing to a wolf that I knew of within the cat’s branch of the animal kingdom.
At least I got the one on one thing working. But I am pretty sure I am still a glass cannon. Front line combat is a no.
“You will have to get through me first.” Ellie carved away the few surviving mad cats that were not caught by my explosions, stepping into Randall’s way. The casual slaughter of his troops lead to a very lion like roar from both of the twins.
“I do not care who dies first!” Randall yells before he pounces at Ellie. Easily able to read his movements, Ellie steps out of the way, swiping her heavy wolf hand down on his neck. Slamming the man into the ground so hard that massive chunks of the forest floors many leaves are swept clean, and a imprint of his feline face is carved into the dirt.
“Randall, maybe we should-” The sister of the two, Tilda, tries to speak before her brother yells for her to be quiet, forcing himself back up before rolling away from Ellie’s reach.
“I am the predator of the earth,” Randell starts saying, in such a way that I could actually feel the mana around him shift to his words. “A destroyer of the sky, in my rage is hunger, so I call upon a victim to feed.”
Is that how normal mages use spells?
Light flows around him, gathering above his head into the shape of a great bird, a slight howl of the wind followed as the shape grew more solid. A well defined face with powerful yellow and black eyes, strong legs as thick as my arms, and wings that spread out far enough to pick up one of the mad cats surrounding us. A massive creature that resembled an oversized Martial Eagle. Something I only remembered because of a paper I wrote years ago. I don’t remember much about these things, but I doubt my vague memories of an earth bird would quite match up to what he’s seems to be summoning. Randell was a summoner, not a mage like myself, Curse, or Quill.
I didn’t pay attention to the lore enough to know the difference and what they could do.
“With a hand our mother shapes the wind, with a cup she holds the sea, from within she contains the fire. May the mother dragon of earth carve a shield to shape the wind and hold the seas. May mother dragon allow the fires to bathe me in their power.” Ellie? Is that a mage thing or a summoner? I can’t figure it out, I can feel the mana infuse her, her brown fur turning a deep crimson, browns, greens, and whites crossing over her fur like veins. Even if the lines are gaudy, Ellie looks amazing, like she had turned from a powerful werewolf to a divine beast.
“How?” I finally mutter.
“A Verse summoner? Stone was lying about how much Ellie’s worth.” Lore muttered, staring at the two preparing themselves for battle.
“How are they summoning?” I ask again, clarifying myself.
“I don’t know magic, I just know their both summoning.” Lore weakly shrugged. “What was the next part of your plan by the way dear?”
“If we help Ellie, that girl over there,Tilda might join in and bring the arm with her. So we’re going to wait only jumping in when something bad happens.” I say, way more confident in my slapped together plan then I put on. I like to imagine I sound absolutely sure of myself. I trust Ellie to win this fight. With one less handler, we might be able to get out of here. Look for a opening when that girl is distracted away from us; a spot to get both of them at once. “If you see a opening for us to get both of them down, take it. I trust you way more then I trust me.”
“I- fine dear.” Lore muttered, clearly unsure of herself. I would too if an inexperienced sixteen year old was handing out ideas, and you could only accept them. Well maybe she has a better idea, but I think my idea’s pretty good.
While me and Lore were focused on how surprising it was that Ellie was a summoner, the fight between her and and the cat Verse named Randall had already begun. Fire jumped from Ellies’ joints as she rocketed forward into Randall, roaring as she swings her clawed fist at him. He’s too slow to block it, but his summoned bird quickly pulls him back out of harm's way. Rather than jumping again, Ellie points at him, a stone hand forming, firing itself with a explosive sound.
Why didn’t she use this powerful before? It looks way more convenient than my magic.
As the stone fist is fired, Ellie jumps in the air, fire jumping off her fur as she’s propelled high into the trees. Randall roars, lifted out of the way of the stone hand, and into the trees as well. The thick leaves block my vision, but I can faintly make out fire, faintly hear the muted thump of stone crashing into something, hear the cracking of tree branches. They were only in the tree for seconds before the whole area suddenly disappeared in a ball of fire. Ellie and Randall blasted away from each other fast enough to knock down several trees in their way.
Randall stumbles a bit before the bird behind him steadies him, but Ellie flipped a few times before sliding against the forest floor, leaving a long gash in the ground and a lot of blood.
“Ellie!” I yell out, noticing just how torn up she is. I start gathering mana, and compressing air around me, prepared just in case an opening shows up.
“I am fine, milady.” She said; complete confidence. She started sprinting forward to the stumbling Randall, roaring as waves of fire jumped at him. The Verse cat man easily slipped around, slashing at Ellie’s face before he was choke slammed into the ground.
He shoved her off, but just before he could get back up, a blast of water cuts its way through his gut. His bird summon jumping in front of him, blocking the second blast of water as Ellie jumps back on him roaring in his face.
“Randall!” The Verse Tilda screams, shifting into her own Lykoi-like, werewolf form as she starts running.
“Hit her now Mist!” Lore yelled. I quickly aim the half formed spell at Tilda, my arm screaming under the sheer weight of that single needle.
“Air Needle!” I yell, hoping the dramatic flair will help the spell, even a little.
Bang!
Tilda screams out in agony, a horrifying noise that slowly weakens, into a soft moan before it stops.
The kick back from that spell sent me flying. My arm numb from the pain but from the scream I heard, I think I hit. I really don’t want to see what I hit, but when Lore runs over, offering to pull me up, I let her. When I look over at the crater I made, what little lunch I have in me spills all over the forest floor.
Ellie had...finished her fight, worse for wear, but healing so fast that I could hardly tell how much of the blood on her was actually hers. I could see the bodies, but I didn’t want to process them; Randall was staring up into the sky in his human form, his throat torn. While Tilda was a gory mess, something blocked most of the damage from my attack. Like a cone of some energy had protected her at the last second, but that didn’t protect her from Ellie. Deep slash marks peppered her arms and legs, with a gaping hole formed in her chest; Right where her heart was.
I had just graduated from killing monsters to killing people, all on the same day. I felt myself gag, like I was going to puke again, but there was nothing left in me. I looked over at Ellie, again, she had turned back into her human form, her cold, indifferent eyes chilling me.
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Authors Notes: Why does this story keep making me hurt Kitties?! :C
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