SWNOVELS Chapter 14: Rematch
We soon find ourselves surrounded by even more people, who seem to materialize from the growing shadows. I look to them as my wolves crouch low, baring their fangs and snarling. My knights calmly watch them, hands at the ready over their gauntlets.
“Aria!” shouting Mistral, “you’re not going anywhere. We still have a score to settle with you and when we’re done, we will happily escort your broken body to Lord Cromwell.”
I groan, rolling my eyes. Shit, I guess my prediction really is coming true. Ugh, of all the times. “I already bested you both in single combat. You really have lost your pride and honor if you’re following that man along with Selene Nethune.”
All around me I hear the sounds of swords and other weapons being drawn and feeling the immense swelling the magic. I see the flaring of auras of those in front of me.
I turn back seeing Lana and Mistral bearing their weapons along with the rest of their forces. Mistral herself is sporting a new wand, seeing how I broke her last one. Lana grips her rapier, creating little circles near her feet.
I sigh, shaking my head, “I really don’t want to fight you. To be honest, I thought I earned some respect from either of you after our last fight.”
Lana grins darkly, “You’re getting one whether you want it or not.” Her face then contorts with anger, “We were humiliated by you in defeat, and we will never respect you.”
“Valshesh esvuk murnan Shyair tebeshish,” she adds, grinning once more. I hear Mistral chortling beside her.
I feel a nerve twitching in my temple at her remark, as both wolves growl at her. Even my knights look at her with surprise. Now that was a bitch move, Lana. Really low class of you.
Marron looks to me, “Okay, what did she say?”
“It’s another insult,” I tell her, “only crueler and really petty.” I glance up at my sister, “I’ll tell you later.” She nods.
I then look to everyone and nod. They smile and turn as they draw their weapons. I thumb the black ring over my necklace and summon my Han Kote and Astraea, feeling its belt latching around my waist. I grab hold of the hilt and draw it, feeling a swelling of magic explode around us as we all summon forth our own magic.
Lana and Mistral each become shocked to see Marron and I now possessing weapons that match my knights. They look to me as I grip my sword, its crystal heart shimmering brightly as I charge it with magic. Beside me I hear the sound of Marron’s darts clicking into existence.
I take a deep breath as I grip my sword, glaring at the pair.
Lana and Mistral soon shake free of their surprise and quickly summon forth their magic. I watch as it swirls and blows away all the dead brush at their feet. I glance up as the sky starts to slowly turn darker meaning the clouds are really rolling in. This is good for my wolves and me, but not for Marron and my knights.
“Attack!!!” yells Lana and Mistral.
We watch as all sides begin to close in. Weapons drawn with many casters in the back already summoning spells.
“Call it, Aria,” says Marron.
I nod, quickly transforming into a kitsune. All nine tails wave in the air as I draw Astraea. “Wolf with wolf, knights covering our flanks, Marron with me.”
All five nod, with the wolves howling, summoning forth shadowy tendrils, lashing out and grabbing several attackers and tossing them away. They then charge ahead, freezing and ensnaring their targets in ice and shadow. They circle around, ripping through the outer ranks of their numbers, tossing people into shadows while flinging them out of more.
My knights form together and begin systematically tearing through their ranks, turning and spinning, making sure no one gets behind the other.
Marron and I go into our own little dance, much like we did back in July. We hack and slash while leaping and diving around each other. Marron fires out her dagger tips, instantly piercing into numerous targets while I parry away both sword strikes and spells. I leap to a nearby tree and grab several with my tails and pull them towards me, driving my knees into their faces.
I summon forth orbs and launch them at anyone how gets close to me. Some try to dodge them in which I flick my hand, causing the orb to shatter into dozens of smaller ones. I then pull back my hand, summoning them to me, catching any and all with them, slamming hard into their bodies.
Marron dances around, directing her darts to strike into many more enemies while blasting them with magic bolts. Three of her darts fire out in all directions while two remain to act as shields. She easily weaves her hands through the air as if conducting a symphony, controlling each of the darts as if they were extensions of her own body.
Kitsune-bi soon appears at the tips of my tails, illuminating the forest in bluish, spectral light. I land on the ground and flip about flinging several at our attackers. Moving like a silver flash, one of Marron’s darts flies past my face and into a person behind me. I smile, charging foxfire into my sword and flip in the air, slamming it into the ground, sending blast wave outwards, catching many on fire and knocking several back.
My wolves soon charge into views, howling and creating mini blizzards that catch more and more of Lana and Mistrals forces. They both open shadows, ensnaring and flinging all they capture.
Fenris then creates a couple of shadowy clones of himself and sends into the fray, both confusing and thinning out their numbers. He and Athena work in tandem, as if on a hunt. They swerve and corral their targets while slipping in and out of trees. My ears pick up little huffs and barks, each wolf telling the other a change in plan.
I remember my hunts with the wolves in Dewloura, how they used this same technique on all manner of game. Now they use it combat.
My ears flick back as I listen to the sounds of my knights bashing and slicing through their opponents. I glimpse as spells collide with Kateryna’s shield as she then spins away, revealing Orga behind her, bringing down his massive sword into the shock and surprise of his targets.
These aren’t teenagers from covens or from the Court. These are soldiers much like the ones Diana brought with her during her attack. They’re highly trained and no doubt have seen combat at some point. But so have we.
Ice swirls around my sword and tails while my other hand summons another orb. I flip through the air behind Marron and she dodges under me and I fling my magic to another group, freezing and blasting them. While I flip through the air, I wave my hands in a circle, summoning long icicles. They hover around me as I bounce off another tree. I flip and spin, kicking each one into any target before me.
Sparks of metals and flares of spells fill the air, granting moments of light in the slowly darkening battlefield. I have to keep reminding myself that this is still mid-January and not mid-May. Even after a little over a week, that’s still something I have to accept.
Marron meanwhile sends out her fourth dart, still maintaining one for her shield and now uses her dagger for both defense and offense. She flicks her strands, sending out lightning and fire along them, shocking and engulfing all who have been pierced by her darts.
She charges magic into Mystletainn and slashes at someone. She then sends a massive blast magic from it, sending her attacker flying away and crashing into a tree.
Lana and Mistral finally charge at me with sword and spell as I bat away another attacker. I take both on at the same time, stepping, blocking, parrying, and blasting, all in the same fluid motion. I catch one of Lana’s strikes with my blade while summoning a shadow to ensnare a spell from Mistral. Another shadow then opens behind her, firing her own spell at her.
My breathing and demeanor are calm and steady, keeping a level mind during the fight. Simply due to more of my training with the knights and my recent battles. I shrug off another attack, wrapping a tail around the attacker and flip him, hurling him into an open shadow I created. He then quickly reappears some distance away, crashing into a group of his allies.
Both girls are shocked at my new abilities. Can’t say I blame them, I did spend four months watching Fenris train with Rhea. I even began training with them, learning shadow magic. I can’t shadowwalk yet or summon tendrils, but I can open shadows at the very least.
Lana and Mistral are also shocked to see how calm I am. This isn’t September where I wasn’t in the best state of mind. The more we fight, the more I come to see that they’re on par with the ancestors at their age, yet maybe a little slower. They’re still just as skilled and powerful as the first time I fought them, in fact having improved since then.
My thoughts do go back to when I fought Raisa and her cohorts, even using a few of the same moves as I flip through spell and blade. It’s just the difference in eras in how they were trained.
My wolves race through their numbers, further bringing them down. The clones disrupt and confuse our attackers while the wolves charge in and tear through and freeze them. They send more and more into shadows, ensnaring with tendrils, even piercing a few. Shadows appear all over, shielding and redirecting spells.
My knights maintain their line, never once giving ground. However, no matter how many we take down more appear, just like before. We know this will only in end in either attrition or we lose ground.
Marron finally makes it over to me as I’m still fighting the girls. We move in fluid sync, dodging and batting away spells and attacks. I kick and punch at Lana and Mistral, while Marron does the same, grabbing Mistral by the hair and driving her face into my sister’s knee. Heh, somehow Laevatain’s faces just seem to love being smashed in.
Lana continues to thrust and slash at me. I block and parry with my sword, catching a few strikes with my gauntlets. She’s clearly getting more and more frustrated as none of her attacks seem to get through. All the while, Marron’s darts are weaving their way through all of our enemies.
Marron then reels back Mystletainn, summoning all of her dagger tips to her. My ears flicks as I hear them click back into place while I draw the pair in close, grabbing Lana with my hand and Mistral with a tail, slamming the pair into each other.
Marron then nods to me. I smile in return, flipping in the air, flinging the pair away from us. Ice the swirls around my sword to where I slash it into the air, summoning hundreds of ice shards in the air.
“In a circle, now!!” I yell out.
My knights and wolves nod, racing towards Marron and I. They gather around us as I grab the multitude of magical strands and streak my blade across them, sending a spark of magic into them, causing them to explode. I then let go, snapping my fingers, this causes the hundreds of ice shards to also explode, blasting away everyone.