SWNOVELS Chapter 25: Round Two
I charge close to Diana, still fighting through several adults. I become surrounded by a few of them. I charge orbs at the tips of my tails and fire them outwards, hitting several and knocking them back.
I gather up a ball of dragon ice at the tip of my right fist and shove it into the man in front of me. The blast easily passes through him and everyone behind him.
Several soldiers stagger back as some of their limbs are now completely frozen. I leap at them, slashing at their arms and legs, shattering them completely. They fall to the ground, agonizing in pain.
Fenris soon arrives and drags the ones still wriggling on the ground into a shadow, presumably killing them. He then reemerges, creating another small blizzard which knocks several more away and freezing the others. Once more he charges into them, biting and tossing several away with his tails.
“Let not your heart be burdened by taking their lives, little Aria,” I hear him say. “I shall carry it for you, as it will pass through me like water.”
I nod. This isn’t the first time I’ve been in combat, so seeing blood and hearing people cry out in pain isn’t new to me. I was more focused on dealing with Diana. She is their leader, and if I take her out, then the rest might fall away.
I turn to face her, who is already baring a devious grin. I hold up my kodachi and leap at her, slashing my sword towards the girl. To my surprise, she is able to block my attacks with her felfire-infused hands. I reel back and envelope my sword in foxfire and dragon flame in the attempt to counter her.
I spin and use my tails to distract as I once more slash at her, while at the same time tapping my tails into the ground, sending a small portion of magic into it. I deliver several strikes towards her, only to yet again block each one. I look on in surprise.
Just how much training did Selene give in order to reach my level in less than a year? I had spent the past two years in hard training to reach this point, and she’s countering me as if it’s nothing. I also fought her to a standstill back in July, so she really has gotten a lot better since then.
She starts retaliating by throwing balls of green fire at me. I dodge several with a couple hitting me. I fall to the ground, but quickly get back up. I charge at her once more, ducking under her arms and grab for the back of her head. I bring her face down to my knee, hearing her nose break.
She staggers back for a moment as blood drips from it. She smirks, wiping it away before pushing on it, resetting it with a loud snap. She looks to me, “You’re different than the last time we fought, little girl.”
I hold up my sword to her, “Last time I was already pretty beaten up and not at my best.”
She smirks, and then charges at me, swinging her flame-infused hands at me. I parry her attacks and land several of my own, with one squarely in her stomach.
She coughs for a moment, holding it, trying to regain her breath. After a couple moments she does. Growling, the girl then fires several more green fireballs at me. Again I dodge and weave through them only have a couple strike me while I bat the others away with my tails.
I get in close once more and slash at her with my sword, to yet again be parried. I increase my speed, spinning and twirling through the air. For every slash I make with my sword, I whirl around; landing kicks to her face and side. A few of my sword strikes also finally hit home as I slice into her arm and nicking her side.
She growls, shrugging off the pain. She then grins looking at me and waving her finger, “Naughty children who attack their parents should be punished.”
I glare at her, “You are not my mother, Diana.”
I look around, feeling as though something else is missing. “Say, where’s Orobas? Shouldn’t he be here with you? I mean, I have Fenris fighting by my side, shouldn’t you have your bonded as well?”
She glowers at me, “I don’t need him all of the time. While he is my anchor, I am more than enough for you, you little brat.”
I tilt my head, okay…I know Mom told me that if Diana’s anchor is destroyed then she’ll be free of him, but he’s also a counter to me. Did my last fight with her spook her and Regulus to the point where they are keeping him back in order to make sure that I don’t destroy him? Because as it stands right now, I don’t exactly know how to do that.
I grunt, pushing the thoughts from my mind.
My ears then flick back as I hear the sounds of more people coming up from behind me. I leap backwards in between them, pivoting on a heel as I spin, wrapping the nearest few and engulfing them in foxfire.
While still in the spin, I bring my kodachi around and slash at them. As they fall, I slam my foot onto the ground, summoning forth roots to bind them.
I turn to face Diana once more and leap at her, slashing at the girl. She dodges the first strike, only to swing around and catch my blade, but then lets go of it.
I pull back in surprise, and study her for a moment. Has she been toying with me this whole time? I quickly run through the fight, analyzing each move and countermove we each made against one another. I look up at her, seeing a smile run across her face. Something is up with her.
I leap back in and slash down at her. Diana then brings up her flame-infused hand and punches at the blade, breaking it in a burst of felfire. My eyes grow wide as I watch as the broken piece flies in front of my face and lands on the ground. The combined flames peter out around the piece and the sword still in my hand.
She grins deviously at me. I quickly recover from my shock as I then draw my dragon sword and envelope it in ice. It feels very awkward as I slash at her with the sword in my left hand, but I soon get over it. While attacking her, I again tap my tail against the ground, sending magic into it.
She still is able to block my strikes with her hands, but the ice is able to cleave through her flames, causing some to peter out. Diana knocks away another strike but I counter by again coming in close and jabbing her stomach with my pummel, delivering a freezing pulse to her body. She staggers back, coughing and grasping for air.
She looks up at me, hair hovering over her face as she scowls. Her lips then curl into a smile as she stands up. I study her once more, looking for an angle of attack. I slap a tail onto the ground and lunge at her, again swinging my sword at her.
The ice covering the blade once more cleaves through her flames, but is being slowed down by them as they erupt around it. The blade then breaks upon contact with her hand as the flames are able to burn away the ice.
I leap back several paces and stare at my weapons. My heart shudders in horror and disbelief. In my right hand I hold the broken kodachi, and in my left, the sword that Silvi had used her own fang to create. My grip tightens around them. Both were gifts and I treasured each of them greatly. But now…they lie broken. I felt as though a piece of me had broken along with my swords.
“Are you planning to throw away your broken weapons as easily as you threw away your real family after we died?” mocks Diana.
I look up at her, summoning long pieces of cloth from my bag and wrap them around the pieces lying on the ground. I pull them back and sheath my weapons, slipping them and the broken shards into my bag. Even if broken, I won’t let anyone have anything of me.
“My real family is fighting alongside me,” I tell her, “and not trying to kill me. I am no longer yours Diana. My birth family is gone and I have a new one.” I pull back another step and flare my tails, summoning kitsune-bi at the tips of my tails and whirling ice around my hands.
Fenris soon arrives beside me, having several more of Diana’s soldiers wrapped in his tails. A chilled breeze blows behind me as I glance back, seeing several more frozen in place. He stares at the girl. “You will never have my little girl,” he growls.
The girl huffs, “Stupid wolf, she is not your girl.”
She then smirks as more people emerge from behind her. I look at them, dozens more at the ready and fresh for combat. “I have more than you do, little girl,” she says. “Your punishment for everything is long overdue.”
I scan the new faces of those in front of me. I had already spent quite a bit of magic just reaching Diana and then fighting her. To be honest, I think it’s a miracle that I was ever able to reach her in the first place. I could feel my body aching. This isn’t a battle I can win. I had enough trouble just facing the first batch.
I glance over at Fenris, “We need to fall back to the others.”
He nods as a spell explodes behind us, showering us with dirt. I look back up the new group and fling my tails, launching the kitsune-bi at them, hitting several in the face. They stagger for a moment until they step onto where I had tapped my tails. A small ball of light soon begins to glow and then explode under their feet. The group is blown apart with the others ignoring their fallen comrades and continues to pursue me.
Diana throws off dirt and debris from her, “You’re not getting away you brat.”
I look at her and hold out my hand, snapping my fingers. The place where I had struck her earlier begins to glow. A ball of light appears and explodes, sending her careening into the oncoming crowd. I snap my fingers once more as dozens upon dozens of kitsune-bi emerge from the ground and converge upon them, striking all within the small area I had been setting up this entire time.
Fenris and I both then summon the moisture from the air and form them into mini blizzards, hurling them those not caught in my trap, freezing them in place as we turn and head back towards our party. As we run, I hear the sounds of more of my magical landmines begin to go off. Even still, more continue to pour in from the trees.