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Everything that can go wrong proceeds to do so as Russo very unwillingly gears up for a rematch of sorts. A demon he had crossed paths with years ago has ferreted him out and she intends to make good on her threat to ruin him. His very best efforts to keep others from getting entangled in his problems fail spectacularly and with mixed feelings he acquiesces to their intents to assist him, seeing as how his problems have become theirs as well.
FIRST, PREVIOUS, NEXT
Icon is © Valiant
Chapter 27
“Uhhhh… Russo? Is something the matter?” Tyr leaned over and poked his muzzle under the table, baffled by the human’s odd behavior. Russo frantically shoved the fox’s face back. Trembling, the human motioned for him to remain in place.
“Keep eating, keep eating, keep eating! If she sees you looking under the table she’ll know something’s up.”
“She?”
“KEEP EATING!” Russo demanded of the fox in a panicked and pleading tone.
Hesitatingly, Tyr buried his spoon into his oatmeal and swirled it around, his eyes drifting down towards the mage huddled at his feet. “Maybe this socialization thing isn’t all it’s cracked up to be”, he thought to himself as he shoved a spoonful into his mouth and scrunched his eyes shut. With a sigh he dipped his spoon back into his bowl as he kicked his paws back and forth along the wooden floor, every so often hitting against some part of the mage. “So um…” Tyr began to speak up in between swallows, “she?”
“It’s a long story,” Russo replied embarrassed as he wrapped his arms around his legs. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, I thought I would have had more time to prepare,” he whined as he rocked back and forth.
“Could you try to give me a short version?” Tyr politely prodded as he nudged Russo with a paw.
“All you need to know is that years ago I went to Aurelianis for… reasons. Things happened, I tangled with a demon, barely escaped with my life and after years of laying low she has finally tracked me down and is going to fuck me up something fierce.”
Tyr turned towards the windows and let his gaze linger on the dark figure standing before one on the far right. “Uh huh…”
“I’m serious!” Russo hissed at the fox from under the table. He groaned as he bemoaned the lack of faith anyone had been investing in him as of late. “Any idea when Nadie will get back from her morning workout?”
“Master usually is done shortly before sun up. I’m sure she’ll be back within the hour.”
“An hour?!” Russo worriedly ran his hands through his hair as he tried to come up with some semblance of a plan. He could just teleport back to Tedrah right this instant… and leave the town of Yash to contend with a pissed off demon. Who would surely be infuriated were she to learn the mage she was hunting down had slipped through her fingers. Fuuuuuuuuuuucccccck and she might… Might? For fuck’s sake she’s a demon. She WILL take out her anger on the locals and cause all sorts of trouble for Nadie and Morgan and Tyr if she’s given even the slightest provocation to. Dammit dammit dammit… no. No, this was his problem, not something to be shrugged off and tossed aside onto somebody else. Besides, it wasn’t like running would do him any good this time. Russo grit his teeth as what could hesitatingly be called a semblance of a plan began to form in his head. “Hey uh, Tyridia?”
“Hmm?”
“If… if I could prove to you that I’ve had a run in with a demon before, would you be willing to give some credence to my claims?”
“I… guess?”
“Okay, sit tight… or something. For god’s sake whatever you do just don’t let her into the guild or approach her,” Russo hastily advised as he scrambled out from under the table and bolted towards the basement door. Tyr pulled his lips shut tight as he struggled to make sense of Russo’s behavior. Slamming the door shut behind him, Russo flew down the stairs towards Nadie’s office, only to come to a screeching halt as he sped by his guestroom.
“Wait. Am I seriously going to drag him into this? I mean that summon of his would sure be helpful if it cooperated but aaarrrggghhhh what am I thinking? I seriously doubt I could take her in a fight but it’s not like I should be getting other people involved!” He cradled his head with his hands as he paced back and forth. “Okay, okay, okay, screw hypotheticals, what can I actually do about this? I know she can pull off a magical drain, fire spells are the worst kind of magic I could cast on her, she can fly, and she has teeth and claws. Um um um she can probably cast fire and dark magic as well and that’s about it. What she knows about me is that… is that I’m some lucky human who managed to escape her once before,” The mage trailed off as a flicker of hope sprung to life within him. “She hasn’t the faintest idea of how I fight and I even have the element of surprise too. Maybe, maybe if I can hit her hard and fast before she even suspects something I at least have a shot of not immediately dying,” The trace of pessimism, oh hell let’s be honest, realism, that slipped into Russo’s assessment promptly snuffed out the hope that had begun to fire up within him. “I’m fucked,” he murmured to himself as his heart began pounding in his chest. He shook his head side to side as he trudged towards Nadie’s office. “Okay screw fighting her, maybe, okay yeah, maybe I could lead her away from the town and then just warp back to Tedrah. At least then I’d have a day or two come up with a plan, and hell, maybe I could find a way to put Dax to work. Having a freaking giant fighting alongside me couldn’t hurt either,” he rationalized to himself as his arms began shaking and the prospect of fleeing became more and more attractive by the second. “*Sigh* I’d prefer that Tyridia and the others know I’m not full of it though. Their opinions shouldn’t even matter since I know exactly what I’m dealing with here but…but… okay no, this is getting stupid. I’ll prove to that timid little bastard she’s a demon. MY FEARS ARE VALID DAMMIT,” The mage yelled out loud to no one in particular as he came to stand before Nadie’s door. He jiggled the door handle, only to find it locked.
“Screw it,” he tersely stated as magic seethed at his fingertips and he blasted the door handle apart. Forcing his way in, he proceeded to stomp on over to Nadie’s desk and fumbled with the drawers, his fingers skimming through the contents for what remained of Umbra’s horn. “There we go!” He exclaimed as he held the now fragmented remains of his souvenir from his last bout with that psychotic bitch. “Oh wow, a whole lot was used up in the creation of the gear huh?” A handful of greyish red chunks were all that remained of the demon’s horn. Russo channeled magical energy into the pieces and they took on the unmistakable purple and black glow of dark magic. “Good enough,” he mumbled as he pocketed the fragments and bolted out of the office. The mage slowed to a stop as he neared the door leading back into the main hall and gently eased it open. With his back to the doorframe he shuffled out the door, hugging close to the wall as he slid into the main hall. Dropping to his knees the mage crouched down and practically crawled back to the table Tyr was sitting at, the fox shaking his head the entire time.
“See these?” Russo grumbled as he shoved his proof in the fox’s face.
“It’s hard not to,” he replied as he pushed the human’s hand away. Magic began to coalesce and swirl around Russo’s fingers, slowly being drawn into the fragments. A weak purple aura surrounded them that steadily intensified.
“What the-“
“These are pieces of a demon horn. Demons deal with dark magic, makes sense that pieces of them would be reeking of it too. I’ve dealt with a demon before. If you recall, I may have mentioned that to you. During my encounter with aforementioned demon, I managed to knock off a horn of hers. This is what’s left of it after that Master of yours helped get me some gear crafted from it. The entire reason I even came here in the first place was because of that psychotic demon bitch that is currently standing right by the front fucking doors!” Russo hissed as he failed to hold in his pent up fear and anger and rose to his feet. “Right there! Right fucking there” he yelled as he pointed towards the window, any attempt at subterfuge having been tossed to the wind, snatched back out of midair and then throttled. “ Is the source of my oh holy shit no no no no no I want a do over way too much shit is going wrong today,” His expression aghast, Russo’s posture sank as he spied a second figure standing before the window. A white robed raccoon stood beside the Labrador, her hood tossed up but a none too pleased look in her eye clearly shone through the shadows cast upon her face.
Tyr turned to face the window and scratched his head in confusion, ceasing to comprehend what the hell Russo’s problem was. So Morgan was out front conversing with that stranger, big deal.
“Oh crap,” Russo blankly thought as his arms draped to his side. Drawing Umbra away with minimal harm done to the town or its inhabitants suddenly became an unattainable ideal. It wasn’t like he could just walk out there and distract Umbra. She’d tear right through Morgan to get to him if it would save her even half a second, and that raccoon could easily get caught in whatever crossfire that resulted from the demon gunning for him the first chance she got. “Dammit!” He mentally screamed as he shifted his feet uneasily. If only there was a way then to draw Morgan away from that hellbeast, at least one that wouldn’t arouse Umbra’s suspicion in the process. Arrrrrrrrgggggghhhhh he could maybe pester Tyridia into going out there and trying to draw Morgan inside with some half assed excuse… but dammit it all unless it was convincing Umbra would know something was up.
“Wait, so Master knows about this?” Tyridia interjected, shock present in his voice.
“Yes! I’ve been discussing the whole demon problem with her off and on over the past few days. Hell, first chance she got Nadie practically dragged me into her office at the crack of dawn. We talked tactics, I dropped off the horn with her, and now I am good and proper fucked since I have had no time to prepare for this!”
“So Master gave you the remainders back for safe keeping? That was thoughtful of her.”
“Holy shit why are you even focusing on that and no not really I just kind of walked into her office and took them back. Considering her door was blasted open I figured why not-“
“Wait wait wait someone broke into her office!?”
“God dammit there are more important things to focus on here! But yes I suppose you could say that her office was broken into,” Russo awkwardly acknowledged as he tried to steer the conversation back towards more pressing matters.
“S-something needs to be done about this right away! Whoever did this could still be lurking around, hold on a sec let me grab Morgan,” Tyr blurted out as practically jumped from his seat and bolted for the door.
“NO NO NO NO NO NO NO WERE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ANYTHING I SAID?! And… hold on. You know what, go do that,” Russo quietly tapered off as he backed up towards the basement door. Tyr’s shock and concern was legitimate. Gods permitting, it could be exactly what was needed to bring Morgan inside safely.
“Any reason why you’re giving the evil eye to everyone that enters the guild?” Morgan curtly inquired of the Labrador girl who was leaning against one of guild hall’s windows.
“None of your damn business,” The lab responded with a barely constrained snarl.
“I beg to differ. What business do you have here?” The raccoon asked as she narrowed her gaze. The lab began grinding her teeth, struggling valiantly to control the urge to claw the annoying little bitch’s face right off.
“I’m looking for someone,” She growled as her intense gaze settled on the stupid white mage who had the gall to stand before her.
“And what makes you think you’ll find them here?”
“All these questions of yours are starting to get pretty fucking annoying,” Umbra angrily stated as she approached the white mage, her bared teeth hovering inches from the raccoon’s face. Morgan stood her ground and pushed the encroaching muzzle to the side with the back of her hand.
“I think you should leave,” Morgan quietly muttered as she glared right back at the black lab. One of Umbra’s eyes began twitching in livid fury as an easily aroused murderous hatred utterly consumed her.
“You little-“ She snarled as she pulled her hand back and readied to unsheathe her claws.
“MORGAN!”
The fox’s cry shattered the overbearing atmosphere as the lab and raccoon turned to face the fur rushing towards them.
“Tyr? I’m a little busy at the moment, can it wait?”
“No, it can’t! Someone broke into Master’s office!”
“What!?”
“It must have happened not too long ago! Master didn’t mention anything or cause a scene this morning so it had to have happened after she left!” Tyr fidgeted worriedly as he looked to his best friend.
“Okay, okay, let’s see what we can find out,” She relented with a sigh. The white mage turned back to face at the lab as she followed the fox inside, and shot her a glare before disappearing inside the building. Snorting angrily, the lab turned up her nose and shot the white mage the middle finger. She resumed her sentry leaned back against a window, continuing to stare down everyone that had the poor misfortune to walk into her line of sight.
“So what can you tell me, Tyr?” Trotting behind the fox as they navigated through the tables in the guild hall, the duo drew a fair amount of attention to themselves as the building slowly came alive.
“Apparently Master’s door has been blown wide open if Russo is to be believed.”
“Russo?” Morgan stated incredulously, arching a brow as she followed Tyr down into the basement.
“Yeah, he’s how I learned there was something amiss in the first place.”
Furrowing her brows she hmmed loudly as they neared the crime scene. Their footsteps echoed loudly as they approached Nadie’s office, the scratching of the claws of their paws on the stone floor suddenly coming to an immediate halt.
Further up the hall, the door to a guestroom ever so gently cracked open and a certain human tip toed his way upstairs.
“Oh that’s not at all suspicious,” Morgan wryly commented as Tyr gawked at the large hole in the door where a lock and handle had once been. Timidly pushing the door open, Tyridia poked his head inside and found the office was more or less intact. A good number of the drawers in Nadie’s desk had been pulled open, but nothing else was out of the ordinary.
“I’ll go ahead and summon Xis, see if he can help us sniff out any clues,” Tyridia said half-heartedly as he began to gather magic in the palm of his furred hand. An instant later an indignant four tailed kitsune appeared before him, swishing his tails to and fro.
“It would be disingenuous of me to claim that I’m shocked to have been dragged out once more within such a short window of time. Allow me to conjecture as to what the probable cause may be. Incompetence, perhaps? Or maybe it’s sloth? Or possibly even-“ Xis’ prattling was self-interrupted as he begin to sniff at the air and cautiously approached the white mage. “Who have you been consorting with as of late Morgan?”
“That’s… not why you were summoned Xis. We were hoping you could provide any clues as to who broke into Nadie’s office,” She flinched back from the four-tailed kitsune as he circled around her. Even on all four paws his face was level with hers. At the rate he grew in size and power with each successive tail Tyr was able to summon him forth with, it wouldn’t be long before that ethereal know-it-all would be looming over the both of them.
“It was that human you burdened me with transporting the other day, his scent is fresh and scattered all over the place.”
“Well that didn’t turn out to be much of a mystery,” Morgan complained as she rolled her eyes. “Thanks Xi-“
“That petty crime is inconsequential as of now. Once more, WHO have you been frequenting with as of late?” Xis demanded as he shoved his pointed red and white maw in the raccoon’s face.
“Why do you ask Xis?” Tyridia prodded, worry present in his voice.
“You utterly reek of ill-will and malevolence,” He stated as his red concentric eyes focused on Morgan. The white mage could have sworn she saw the faintest traces of genuine concern in that ethereal expression of his.
“It’s not like I’ve been associating with anyone I usually haven’t… except for this Labrador girl I ran into in front of the guild this morning. She’s looking for someone and is a colossal bitch to boot.”
“STAY AWAY FROM HER. Neither of you are to approach her, much less converse with her. She has only the worst of intentions in store and I will not tolerate either of you getting caught up in them,” Xis’ tone made it abundantly clear that this was not a demand to be negotiated.
“Huh. Maybe Russo wasn’t lying when he was raving about how she was a demon,” Tyridia ashamedly confessed as he scratched at an ear.
“He said what now?” Morgan and Xis stated in unison.
“Well, Russo and I were eating breakfast just a tad earlier when he spotted that lab girl through the window. He absolutely freaked out and kept screaming at me that she was a demon while he was hiding under a table.”
“Given the circumstances I would be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Where is he now? From your description it sounds like he is acquainted with this stranger of ill tidings.”
“I… don’t know. He disappeared after I ran out to grab Morgan.”
Xis sniffed at the air once more as he padded out of the office. “Come, his scent still lingers. He’s skulking about somewhere…”
Gloved hands shoved deep into his pockets and crimson hood pulled down over his face, Russo leaned back against the adjoining walls in the corner nearest the basement door. To the various guild members who glanced at him, the mage was the very definition of cool and composed. Internally, the mage’s heart thumped furiously and his limbs were shaking. For minutes he had been trying to calm his buzzing mind just long enough to concoct the least suicidal plan possible.
“Okay, okay, there’s no one who can get caught in the way. Morgan and Tyr are safely tucked away from any crossfire and Umbra has been doing a good enough job scaring off anyone else who would dare to come close.” He took in a deep breath and exhaled uneasily. “I can do this…. I can do this. Blindside her with an ice spell and then run like holy hell. I-it’s not all bad I-I mean now I don’t have to slog through more research work,” Russo tried to force a nervous laugh but it effortlessly transitioned into a groan. “Hit and run,” Russo took in another deep breath, “just hit and run.” Clenching his fists tight he exhaled deeply and strode towards the front door. With every step he took ever increasing amounts of magical energies concentrated and condensed in his closed fists, an icy white aura surrounding his hands as frigid air poured out from between his fingers. Various guild members watched on curiously as the human picked up speed and dashed out the front door.
Back inside
“We know he was in his guest room not too long ago. Maybe he grabbed his stuff and then cut and run?” Tyridia remarked as he trailed behind Morgan up the stairs.
“I’d be willing to bet he’s long gone,” Morgan stated annoyed as she pushed open the basement door.
“If that is true, his cowardice ought to be a reliable indicator of just how powerful this alleged demon is.”
“Hmmm, I suppose it couldn’t hurt to ask around before we call off the search though. He damn well knows something about who that is and I’d like to know what…” The raccoon’s head swiveled back and forth as she hastily surveyed the main hall. Noticing that a fair deal of people had their gaze turned towards the front door and the windows, her eyes curiously drifted towards the source of their captivation. “What the-“
“SHOCK AND AWE, BITCH!” Russo screamed as he hurtled out the front door and turned to face Umbra. In the instant their eyes met, Russo thrust both arms forward, palms facing the demon. A torrent of icicles gushed forth from one hand while a massive chunk of ice flew forth from the other. The stream of icicles shattered against Umbra’s chest and stomach, a fair deal piercing an inch or two deep into her flesh. The chunk of ice cracked her in the face and sent her noggin flying back into the window, the glass cracking against the back of her head. He immediately prepared to teleport the instant his ambush caught her attention.
“YOU CONNIVING LITTLE SHIT!” She snarled as she shrugged off the damage effortlessly and a pair of demonic wings erupted forth from her back. What remained of her horns burst forth from atop her head and her eyes took on a yellow glow as she dug her claws into the wood paneling. Ripping a huge plank out from the side of the building, she sent it spiraling through the air towards the human. Nearly simultaneously she pushed off against the wall with her paws and rocketed towards him with a flap of her wings. She gnashed her teeth as she swiped at empty air, the human having disappeared in a flash of blue light. She roared angrily as she took to the skies, scouring the streets below for her prey.
Every person in the guild who had watched the spectacle unfold through the windows wore a slack jawed expression upon their face. The fact that every person there had walked right by the demon on their way in utterly horrified them. A hushed and panicked murmur quickly spread throughout the main hall.
“He was telling the truth…” Tyridia moaned as guilt began to nag away at him.
“Don’t be like that Tyr, at face value those were some outlandish claims he was throwing around. We’ll just have to hope there’ll be a chance to apologize to him and make things right.” The raccoon reassured him as she gently shook his shoulder. She bit her lips as she stared at the cracked and bloodied window. “Given how she shrugged off that surprise attack of his though, I don’t know if we’ll get the chance.”
“Do you… do you think we should help him?” Tyr meekly inquired as he looked back and forth between the raccoon and kitsune.
“The consequences of such an act would most likely be baleful. Out of the question.”
“Then what are we supposed to do if she tears him to pieces? There’s no guarantee she’ll up and leave after the fact. What if she lingers around here raising hell?” Morgan pressed the kitsune as he growled at her.
“Nadie is a capable fighter and guild master. It is reasonable to believe that she will be able to defeat, if not at the very least, drive back the demon.”
“Then what about Russo?” Tyr interjected.
“Nadie can assist him upon her return.”
“He could be dead by then! Any help Nadie has to offer won’t be of much use then! Under the Master’s leadership this guild has been dedicated to helping people. Russo is clearly in need of help right now, as is the entire town. The way I see it, we can lend him our support and flip the fight. Sooner or later that bitch could be our problem and I’d rather deal with her sooner rather than later, especially now when we’ll get the only assistance we could reasonably expect!” Morgan argued her case as she stared down the kitsune.
“Lest you forget your place, you are not my summoner,” Xis bluntly stated as he snorted contemptuously. A puff of hot air shot forth from his nostrils and assailed the raccoon’s facial fur.
“I’d prefer that we help out Russo, if at all possible. And as your summoner, your cooperation would be greatly appreciated,” the fox interjected with a rarely exercised tone of authority. Xis growled weakly as he looked to Tyridia.
“Very well. However, my cooperation is conditional upon your safety. Stay out of the ensuing fight and do not get involved. I’d rather not have to go through the motions of forming a contract with yet another summoner after all,” The kitsune consented with a begrudging hesitance. “That warning applies to you as well,” Xis decreed as he glared at the raccoon. Tyridia and Morgan nodded in understanding and the trio hastily departed from the guild.
“Dammit to hell, stand still!” Umbra screamed as she dive bombed into the ground for the sixyh time, her fist slamming into the dirt road and leaving a noticeable indent in the ground. Just having barely missed the mage as he teleported yet again, she roared as another volley of icicles slammed into her back. She whipped around and glowered at the human as a monstrous ball of flame burst to life in her hand. Umbra hurled it towards Russo, the icicles caught in its path immediately evaporated into a fine mist. The searing flame harmlessly passed through the air where Russo once stood, sailing effortlessly until it collided into the road, scorching the earth black and causing it to crack and fissure. Onlookers and residents flipped their shit at the sight and proceeded to empty the streets and retreat to their homes for safety.
“Are these ice spells even hurting her?!” Russo thought to himself woefully as he hauled ass in the opposite direction of the seemingly indestructible demon. Any hopes of actually emerging victorious from this confrontation had disappeared long ago. Right now it was a mental battle to maintain the belief that he could actually survive it.
“You can’t keep this up forever, fucker!” She snarled as she began to flap her wings and rise back into the sky. Jerking her head about in every which direction, the bastard was nowhere to be found. She methodically began to circle above, constantly scanning the nearby streets and alleyways for her target. He couldn’t have run off that far, that and the town itself was pitifully small. That damn guild building was the central feature and the remaining buildings were arranged around it in a hexagonal pattern, with large roads extending along the sides and out from the corners. The efficient foresight of the city planners made Umbra’s search all the easier unfortunately. “If those bee stings are the best you can muster up, then you may as well lay down and die for me! Cause this isn’t going to turn out any other way if that’s all your capable of!” She arrogantly smirked as she soared overhead.
“Shit,” Russo muttered under his breath as he haphazardly navigated a narrow alleyway. The frost on the ground crunched beneath his hurried footsteps, as were various weeds and tufts of grass that were trampled underfoot as Russo rushed by. A devilish grin spread wide across Umbra’s face as her floppy ears registered those faintest of noises and she dove towards the source. As Russo was about to leap forth from the alley’s shadows into the sunlit street, Umbra slammed into the ground before him with terrifying speeds. The earth beneath his feet rumbled from the impact as his legs began to falter. She growled in satisfaction as she rose from her knees and Russo’s composure peeled away under her otherworldly stare.
“Bleed for me, will ya? It’s been a while since I’ve gotten to feel the ecstasy of blood and marrow slipping through my fingers,” She stated lasciviously, her tongue draping out from the side of her mouth as claws extended from her fingertips. His body quaking and mind failing, Russo drew a blank as the demon’s eerie eyes struck him dumb with fear.
“It will be some time yet before you’ll get to satisfy those macabre fetishes of yours,” a vaguely familiar and haughty voice declared as a ring of four swirling purple flames cascaded into the demon. The flames engulfed Umbra, her entire form surrounded by a wispy purple inferno. Her yellow eyes glowed brightly through the flames as she turned to face the interloper, a jagged smile spreading across her visage.
“Oh you have got to be shitting me,” Russo muttered in a forlorn manner as the fight became hilariously lopsided against his favor. Umbra ran a hand down across her chest and stomach, the various nicks and cuts that Russo had struggled to inflict upon her healed and seared themselves shut near instantaneously.
“That little pick me up was much obliged, kit.” Umbra smirked as she turned her attention to the kitsune before her.
“That was not the desired effect…” Xis trailed off, his concentric eyes going wide.
“Ahhhh, now where were we…” Umbra eagerly turned her attention back to the human as she licked her lips. A massive chunk of ice greeted her instead, smashing directly into her face and sending her stumbling back out into the street. The fragments rebounding off of her quickly melted in the raging ambient heat given off by the demon. Her good mood abruptly cut short, she snarled as she flapped her wings, a pillar of purple flames rising off her body and surging down the alleyway. She swirled about in place and quickly about faced. A large ball of flame manifested in each of her palms and she hastily tossed them forth, intending to head off the human’s anticipated counterattack. The two came together in midair and swelled in size, pushing what was already a ridiculously powerful attack into the range of overkill. Russo watched on in horror, from a safe perch upon a rooftop, as what looked like a miniature sun collided with the corner of a building and exploded. Nearly a quarter of the building just up and disappeared, not even ash remained. From what he could see of the interior, the walls and floors had been scorched black. He shuddered as he looked at the roof and saw that some of the shingles had melted into the roof and had begun to drip down along the sides. Russo would rather not test out the veracity of the fire proof claims in the middle of a fight, that and there was no way his new cloak could possibly protect him from a raging hellfire like that.
“Oh God I hope there wasn’t anybody in there.” The mage let out a gasp as he hastily teleported from rooftop to rooftop, grateful that he had had the good sense to change up his tactics upon realizing he was becoming far too predictable. As he leaped from roof to roof, he spied a familiar kitsune turning tail and bounding down the street. Watching intently as the white and red four legged fox raced around a corner, Russo teleported down to ground level to cut him off. Yelping in surprise at the sudden appearance of the human, the kitsune bowled Russo over as he bounded into him.
“Are you the reason why that psychotic bitch is now a raging purple inferno?!” Russo screamed as he pulled himself off the ground and pointed an accusatory finger towards Xis. “For fuck’s sake she’s a fire demon! You just made an already horrendous problem infinitely worse!”
“Perhaps if you had not been so eager to flee you could have relayed that fairly significant fact to us before these complications arose!” Xis shot back, the blow to his ego still smarting.
“Us?” Brows raised in confusion, Russo stared dumbly at the kitsune.
“…Now may not be the ideal time to discuss semantics,” Xis bluntly stated as he gazed upward, Umbra’s fiery form hovering directly above. A lick of flame danced above the palm of her right hand, swirling about as it rapidly grew in size. “Enticing it may be to behold, let’s not linger to discover what she has in store,” Xis tersely stated as he flipped Russo onto his back with a flick of his muzzle and bounded down the street in a serpentine manner before weaving into an alleyway. A whip of flames lashed at the kitsune’s feet as he ducked into cover. Clenching her fist tight in frustration, Umbra growled as she partook in aerial pursuit of the duo.
“Where the hell are we going?” Russo asked in a defeated tone as he bounced upon Xis’ back.
“Given the way this confrontation is progressing, a drastic shift in strategy is necessitated, though I’d rather it not have come to this…” Xis sighed as he effortlessly navigated the narrow alleyways. Practically galloping now, the four legged fox flew out of the shadows and bounded towards the guild. “Morgan! Your cooperation would be… appreciated!”
“Morgan? How the hell can she help?”
“Given the circumstances, she is ideal for reversing our fortune,” the kitsune quizzically stated as Russo arched a brow. What fucking good would having a healer around if they couldn’t even hurt Umbra?
“That can’t be a good sign,” The raccoon muttered as she poked her head around a corner. She raised her eyebrows in shock as the kitsune came barreling towards her, Russo clinging to him for dear life. “I’m guessing things didn’t go exactly according to plan huh?” Skidding to a stop before the raccoon, the mage was flipped forward off Xis and onto the ground, landing at Morgan’s feet.
“I am willing to be more accommodating with your contributions to this fight given recent… developments,” Xis quietly mumbled as his tails swished back and forth.
“Developments like?” Tyr chimed in as he tiptoed up behind the raccoon.
“Making an already bad problem worse,” Russo grunted as he rose to his feet and glanced around worriedly for their foe.
“My fox fire had a, much to my chagrin, beneficial effect on the demon.”
“Ah,” Morgan and Tyr blurted in unison.
“Why the hell are you idiots even getting involved?! Did it ever occur to you that I didn’t want your help? That I didn’t want to recklessly put anyone else in danger? That for once I actually cared about the consequences of my actions following me around and was trying to minimize the damage done?!” Russo fumed as he gesticulated wildly.
“Bullshit. Did you ever consider the mess that would be left for us to clean up had you died? That she could potentially be our problem once she was through with you? We have just as big a potential stake in this as you do! You stupidly running off to deal with this on your own didn’t ameliorate the problem, you just exacerbated it!” Morgan instantly retorted. Her efforts to continue to poke holes in Russo’s logic were abruptly cut off as she eeped in surprise when Xis flipped her onto his back.
“We’ve idled here far too long as it is. She’ll be bound to make her presence known any moment. Tyridia, you are to remain hidden. Is that understood?”
Tyr nodded complacently as he clung to the shadows stretching out from the guild. Xis bounded back out into the streets, Morgan’s arms wrapped tightly around his neck as she jostled along for the ride. Russo desperately chased after them, panic driving every foot step forward as he eyed Umbra swooping down towards him.
“Russo!” Morgan called out as the trio attempted to lead the demon away from the guild. “Can you distract her for a bit? Long enough for her to keep stationary for at least a couple seconds I mean?”
“Like it’ll do any good you useless little bitch!” Umbra interrupted as she made a beeline for the white mage. She grunted angrily as another chunk of ice cracked her in the chin during her descent. “Human, you have a real talent for pissing me off!” She exclaimed in livid fury as she dove towards him and slammed into the ground. A wall of fire spread out from her upon impact.
“Well that was easy…” Russo mumbled as he teleported to and fro about the street, no real pattern to his appearances and disappearances as he maintained his distance from the inferno.
“Is this all you’re going to do?” Umbra raged as she clawed at the air. “Peg me with those magical pricks of yours and just spend the rest of the time running? That all you’re good for?! That doppelganger of yours promised me a fight!”
“My what?” A look of utter bamboozlement was plastered across the human’s face.
“Don’t play coy with me, asshole!” Umbra snarled as the flames surrounding her body intensified with her anger and she pointed a clawed finger at him.
“That’ll do Russo. Reverse!” Morgan cried out as grey burst of magic struck Umbra in the back. Perturbed, the demon craned her head back towards the raccoon as she scratched at her back.
Growling, her easily incited and distracted rage set its sights on the white mage who had the misfortune to be caught in her line of sight. “The hell did you do?” Umbra’s eyes darted back and forth between her shoulders as a shimmering almost mirror like goop began to spread across them and down towards her arms. Quickly overtaking her entire body, her once black fur began to radiate and reflect back the sun’s rays. Shaking, Umbra clenched her fists as she turned to face Morgan. “THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO ME!?” She screamed as she spread her wings. Her very presence had been chromatically inverted, her once ink black fur now a snow white in color.
“Reverse? Don’t see that spell too often. Hmmm… combine that with your typical white magic which is nothing but healing spells, the effects of which are completely reversed and… damn. That’s pretty devious, I’ll admit.” Russo remarked impressed as he squinted his eyes. “And in Umbra’s case when applied to fire magics, oh ho this just gets better and better.” Digging her paws deep into the ground, Umbra pushed off with one leg as she flew towards her target, just inches above the ground. Rapidly accelerating with every beat of her wings, her arms pulled back behind her, ready to carve herself a bloody mess.
“Let’s try this once more, shall we?” Positioned between Morgan and the incoming demon, Xis stood his ground, the tips of his four tails consumed by wispy purple flames. Swishing his tails forward in unison, the fox fire swirled through the air toward the demon.
“This again? You’re just adding fuel to fire, fool!” Eagerly reaching toward the oncoming flames Umbra shrieked in pain as they consumed her. Disgracefully plopping to the ground, she skidded along her face a good couple feet, screaming loudly as a barrage of fireballs hammered her in the back before she even came to a stop.
“I’m not above getting in a cheap hit,” Russo smirked as he kept his distance.
Shivering violently, Umbra pulled her muzzle out of the dirt and shook her head as a burning sensation tore away at her nerves. Her furry fingers and toes tingled painfully as she struggled to regain feeling in them. Wincing in pain, she howled as another batch of fox fire cascaded into her as did a beaming orb of light. The simple healing spell churned the demon’s stomach, a horrific corrosive feeling melted away at her innards as the light magic worked its goodness. “FUCK OFF!” She screeched as she flapped her wings, another wall of fire spreading around her and expanding outward. Nipping at Morgan’s robe with his teeth, Xis dragged the raccoon to safety. Russo teleported back a good distance and struggled to track her now snow white form flying through the sky.
Chasing after the demon, a flicker of hope within Russo’s heart was plucked from the ashes and carefully relit. “Holy crap is she honestly that easy to distract? If she weren’t obscenely powerful this would be borderline pathetic. And even taking that into account, with that Reverse spell this fight has turned into a joke. Damn, I should’ve asked for their help right away…”
“This is bullshit!” Umbra screamed to herself as she sailed amongst the breezes high above Yash. “That freak with that shit eating grin never said there’d be more than one nuisance to put up with! Russo is already bad enough, that cowardly bastard never stays put and is so damned unpredictable! And that white mage,” No discernible words arose out of Umbra’s mouth with regards to Morgan. A grinding of teeth and boiling of blood, were it possible to hear such a thing, constituted Umbra’s feelings towards her. “And then there’s that uppity little fox spirit. Smartass is probably keeping his summoner hidden, I haven’t seen hide nor hair of him. A summon is nothing without a summoner though… so I can take out two birds in one stone if I can sniff em’ out.” She methodically scanned the streets below, nothing of interest cropping up in her vision. “Dammit, think, they’d be around here somewhere. And… hold on now, where was it that he snatched that little bitch up from?” Umbra grumbled to herself as she drifted towards the guild and circled round it. A toothy grin spread along her face as she spotted a fox huddled up along a wall. “Bout time I got my kill on,” she cackled as she raised a hand high above her head and a diminutive fiery orb rapidly grew in size. She grimaced as the horrendous feeling of frost burn returned, her hand slowly going numb as the magic concentrating above it betrayed her intentions. “Ahhh it’ll be worth it. Even if that isn’t the right guy, it’ll be nice to up and ruin somebody’s day.” With a flick of her wrist the orb was sent blazing through the sky, straight towards Tyridia.
Looking towards the veritable meteor trailing through the sky, Xis’ mouth quivered as he began to trot towards its intended site of impact. “TYRIDIA!”
“Hot damn, first guess was my best one,” Umbra smirked with pride. “Well then that’ll be two down…” she flapped her wings as she hovered in place and turned her gaze towards Morgan and Russo, “and two to go.” Angling herself towards the ground, Umbra set her sights on the raccoon, swaying back in forth in the air as she drifted towards her.
“Oh fuck, this is what I get for being hopeful,” Russo morbidly thought as he slammed his feet into the ground, one after the other, and bolted towards the guild alongside Morgan.
“TYRIDIA! TYRIDIA, RUN!” The kitsune screamed as his arrogant and haughty composure crumbled away. Galloping towards the guild, his eyes were torn between the hellfire racing towards his summoner and the demon rocketing towards the raccoon.
“W-what? Why?” The orange fox inquired fearfully as he came rushing out of the shadows at the sound of his summon’s panicked voice. An intense crackling and heat answered the Tyridia’s question as his ears swiveled towards the source. Ears pressing down flat against his head as his arms draped to his sides, Tyr’s eyes went wide as he ascertained the cause of Xis’ fear. “Oh.”
“TYR!” Morgan cried out as tears welled up in her eyes as she came to a stop in the middle of the street. Russo ignored her as he forced one foot in front of the other. Her furred hands became surrounded by a white aura, magic seething from her fingertips. “YOU BITCH!” She screamed at the demon as she lashed out with a barrage of spells, streaks of white whizzing by Umbra as she nonchalantly dodged them.
“RUN YOU IGNORAMUS!” Xis pleaded as he came to a halt in the middle of the dirt street. He cringed at the realization he couldn’t possibly get Tyr out of danger in time. At best he could be with him as they both incinerated in the inferno. With a pained look on his face he turned his attention to back Umbra, the white demon lazily twirling to and fro in the air to avoid the spells Morgan was furiously lobbing at her. His teeth bared and his eyes consumed by a livid fury, Xis bounded towards Umbra with the hopes of intercepting her. At the very least he could try to save one of the mortals he had grown attached to. Circling around the raccoon, Xis leaped at the demon head on as Umbra glided along the ground.
Groaning as he watched the scene unfold in front of and behind him, Russo bit his lip as he readied to teleport. “Crrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaap, I guess now is as good a time as ever to test those fire proof claims. I’ll be dead soon enough anyway at the rate things are going.” In a flash of blue light he vanished and immediately reappeared before Tyridia. Tackling into him, Russo wrapped his arms around the fox tight and the both of them tumbled to the ground. Pulling his cloak tight around himself and the fox, Russo closed his eyes as an unbearable heat bore down upon them. “In the likely event this doesn’t work, please let me die instantaneously,” he muttered to whatever gods were listening as Umbra’s attack slammed into them.
“This just gets better and better, three for one!” Umbra beamed inwardly as she locked stares with Xis, having caught Russo’s suicidal act in the corner of her eye. “Any second now you’ll disappear and…” Umbra’s gloating was cut short as Xis sank his teeth into her right shoulder and clawed away furiously at her stomach with his front paws. Sinking to ground courtesy of the kitsune’s additional weight, her now white fur was stained red as Xis mindlessly tore open her stomach. “Why the hell didn’t you disappear?! You shouldn’t be able to linger around if your summoner’s dead!” Sinking her claws into the kitsune’s sides, she painfully forced fire into her fingertips and cooked him from the inside out. The ethereal fox vanished in a poof of wispy purple flames, having departed back to the realm of spirits. She buckled to her knees and screamed in pain as Morgan unloaded into her with healing spell after healing spell, the prior effects of the Reverse spell now rendering them quite deadly. The raccoon’s grief-stricken assault refused to let up as Umbra writhed about on the ground in pain, blood spilling forth from her stomach and pooling beneath her. After she had exhausted her energy and magic, Morgan stood before her vanquished foe, her body trembling and her breathing strained and heavy. Umbra groaned weakly as her fingers twitched, her fur slowly reverting back to its original black color.
“Well. Shit. Way to singlehandedly carry the day there, Morgan,” Russo candidly stated as he looked on at the scene with genuine shock and awe. Jesus, he hardly contributed anything to this fight.
“Yeah, there’s a reason why Morgan is usually the de facto leader of our little trio. She is arguably the strongest out of all of us to be honest,” Tyr chimed in.
“T-tyr?” She mouthed in shock as she gazed upon the two men. Russo’s face was burnt red and just about every strand of fur on Tyr’s face was singed. The two were sweating profusely and looked absolutely horrid. “You’re alive?”
“Thanks for noticing,” Russo grumbled. “We’re fine just uh… a little worse for wear.”
“But how?”
Russo flapped his crimson cloak about. “This little beauty right here is fire proof. Doesn’t do jack squat for protecting you from roasting in ambient heat or anything of the sort, but, it does a fine job keeping fire and flames from eating away at your flesh.”
“I… I…” Morgan stuttered on her words before she let out a sigh, wiping away any lingering tears from her eyes as she did so. She leaned forward and embraced Tyr in a heartfelt hug, the act catching the fox by surprise. He yipped in surprise, and in pain, but very shyly and slowly returned the gesture as he gingerly wrapped his arms around her back and held her close.
“Uhhh…. so, are we just going to ignore the battered and bleeding demon while you two have your tender moment?” Russo mumbled confusedly as he turned to look back at Umbra. Letting his gaze focus on the urban scenery, he winced as he saw pillars of smoke dotting his vision here and there, surely rising from what were the remnants of once proud homes and places of business. “Oh this is gonna be fun to try and explain away,” he moaned as a cool breeze blew through the air, the burnt skin on his face stinging something fierce at the slightest touch.
FIRST, PREVIOUS, NEXT
FIRST, PREVIOUS, NEXT
Icon is © Valiant
Chapter 27
“Uhhhh… Russo? Is something the matter?” Tyr leaned over and poked his muzzle under the table, baffled by the human’s odd behavior. Russo frantically shoved the fox’s face back. Trembling, the human motioned for him to remain in place.
“Keep eating, keep eating, keep eating! If she sees you looking under the table she’ll know something’s up.”
“She?”
“KEEP EATING!” Russo demanded of the fox in a panicked and pleading tone.
Hesitatingly, Tyr buried his spoon into his oatmeal and swirled it around, his eyes drifting down towards the mage huddled at his feet. “Maybe this socialization thing isn’t all it’s cracked up to be”, he thought to himself as he shoved a spoonful into his mouth and scrunched his eyes shut. With a sigh he dipped his spoon back into his bowl as he kicked his paws back and forth along the wooden floor, every so often hitting against some part of the mage. “So um…” Tyr began to speak up in between swallows, “she?”
“It’s a long story,” Russo replied embarrassed as he wrapped his arms around his legs. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, I thought I would have had more time to prepare,” he whined as he rocked back and forth.
“Could you try to give me a short version?” Tyr politely prodded as he nudged Russo with a paw.
“All you need to know is that years ago I went to Aurelianis for… reasons. Things happened, I tangled with a demon, barely escaped with my life and after years of laying low she has finally tracked me down and is going to fuck me up something fierce.”
Tyr turned towards the windows and let his gaze linger on the dark figure standing before one on the far right. “Uh huh…”
“I’m serious!” Russo hissed at the fox from under the table. He groaned as he bemoaned the lack of faith anyone had been investing in him as of late. “Any idea when Nadie will get back from her morning workout?”
“Master usually is done shortly before sun up. I’m sure she’ll be back within the hour.”
“An hour?!” Russo worriedly ran his hands through his hair as he tried to come up with some semblance of a plan. He could just teleport back to Tedrah right this instant… and leave the town of Yash to contend with a pissed off demon. Who would surely be infuriated were she to learn the mage she was hunting down had slipped through her fingers. Fuuuuuuuuuuucccccck and she might… Might? For fuck’s sake she’s a demon. She WILL take out her anger on the locals and cause all sorts of trouble for Nadie and Morgan and Tyr if she’s given even the slightest provocation to. Dammit dammit dammit… no. No, this was his problem, not something to be shrugged off and tossed aside onto somebody else. Besides, it wasn’t like running would do him any good this time. Russo grit his teeth as what could hesitatingly be called a semblance of a plan began to form in his head. “Hey uh, Tyridia?”
“Hmm?”
“If… if I could prove to you that I’ve had a run in with a demon before, would you be willing to give some credence to my claims?”
“I… guess?”
“Okay, sit tight… or something. For god’s sake whatever you do just don’t let her into the guild or approach her,” Russo hastily advised as he scrambled out from under the table and bolted towards the basement door. Tyr pulled his lips shut tight as he struggled to make sense of Russo’s behavior. Slamming the door shut behind him, Russo flew down the stairs towards Nadie’s office, only to come to a screeching halt as he sped by his guestroom.
“Wait. Am I seriously going to drag him into this? I mean that summon of his would sure be helpful if it cooperated but aaarrrggghhhh what am I thinking? I seriously doubt I could take her in a fight but it’s not like I should be getting other people involved!” He cradled his head with his hands as he paced back and forth. “Okay, okay, okay, screw hypotheticals, what can I actually do about this? I know she can pull off a magical drain, fire spells are the worst kind of magic I could cast on her, she can fly, and she has teeth and claws. Um um um she can probably cast fire and dark magic as well and that’s about it. What she knows about me is that… is that I’m some lucky human who managed to escape her once before,” The mage trailed off as a flicker of hope sprung to life within him. “She hasn’t the faintest idea of how I fight and I even have the element of surprise too. Maybe, maybe if I can hit her hard and fast before she even suspects something I at least have a shot of not immediately dying,” The trace of pessimism, oh hell let’s be honest, realism, that slipped into Russo’s assessment promptly snuffed out the hope that had begun to fire up within him. “I’m fucked,” he murmured to himself as his heart began pounding in his chest. He shook his head side to side as he trudged towards Nadie’s office. “Okay screw fighting her, maybe, okay yeah, maybe I could lead her away from the town and then just warp back to Tedrah. At least then I’d have a day or two come up with a plan, and hell, maybe I could find a way to put Dax to work. Having a freaking giant fighting alongside me couldn’t hurt either,” he rationalized to himself as his arms began shaking and the prospect of fleeing became more and more attractive by the second. “*Sigh* I’d prefer that Tyridia and the others know I’m not full of it though. Their opinions shouldn’t even matter since I know exactly what I’m dealing with here but…but… okay no, this is getting stupid. I’ll prove to that timid little bastard she’s a demon. MY FEARS ARE VALID DAMMIT,” The mage yelled out loud to no one in particular as he came to stand before Nadie’s door. He jiggled the door handle, only to find it locked.
“Screw it,” he tersely stated as magic seethed at his fingertips and he blasted the door handle apart. Forcing his way in, he proceeded to stomp on over to Nadie’s desk and fumbled with the drawers, his fingers skimming through the contents for what remained of Umbra’s horn. “There we go!” He exclaimed as he held the now fragmented remains of his souvenir from his last bout with that psychotic bitch. “Oh wow, a whole lot was used up in the creation of the gear huh?” A handful of greyish red chunks were all that remained of the demon’s horn. Russo channeled magical energy into the pieces and they took on the unmistakable purple and black glow of dark magic. “Good enough,” he mumbled as he pocketed the fragments and bolted out of the office. The mage slowed to a stop as he neared the door leading back into the main hall and gently eased it open. With his back to the doorframe he shuffled out the door, hugging close to the wall as he slid into the main hall. Dropping to his knees the mage crouched down and practically crawled back to the table Tyr was sitting at, the fox shaking his head the entire time.
“See these?” Russo grumbled as he shoved his proof in the fox’s face.
“It’s hard not to,” he replied as he pushed the human’s hand away. Magic began to coalesce and swirl around Russo’s fingers, slowly being drawn into the fragments. A weak purple aura surrounded them that steadily intensified.
“What the-“
“These are pieces of a demon horn. Demons deal with dark magic, makes sense that pieces of them would be reeking of it too. I’ve dealt with a demon before. If you recall, I may have mentioned that to you. During my encounter with aforementioned demon, I managed to knock off a horn of hers. This is what’s left of it after that Master of yours helped get me some gear crafted from it. The entire reason I even came here in the first place was because of that psychotic demon bitch that is currently standing right by the front fucking doors!” Russo hissed as he failed to hold in his pent up fear and anger and rose to his feet. “Right there! Right fucking there” he yelled as he pointed towards the window, any attempt at subterfuge having been tossed to the wind, snatched back out of midair and then throttled. “ Is the source of my oh holy shit no no no no no I want a do over way too much shit is going wrong today,” His expression aghast, Russo’s posture sank as he spied a second figure standing before the window. A white robed raccoon stood beside the Labrador, her hood tossed up but a none too pleased look in her eye clearly shone through the shadows cast upon her face.
Tyr turned to face the window and scratched his head in confusion, ceasing to comprehend what the hell Russo’s problem was. So Morgan was out front conversing with that stranger, big deal.
“Oh crap,” Russo blankly thought as his arms draped to his side. Drawing Umbra away with minimal harm done to the town or its inhabitants suddenly became an unattainable ideal. It wasn’t like he could just walk out there and distract Umbra. She’d tear right through Morgan to get to him if it would save her even half a second, and that raccoon could easily get caught in whatever crossfire that resulted from the demon gunning for him the first chance she got. “Dammit!” He mentally screamed as he shifted his feet uneasily. If only there was a way then to draw Morgan away from that hellbeast, at least one that wouldn’t arouse Umbra’s suspicion in the process. Arrrrrrrrgggggghhhhh he could maybe pester Tyridia into going out there and trying to draw Morgan inside with some half assed excuse… but dammit it all unless it was convincing Umbra would know something was up.
“Wait, so Master knows about this?” Tyridia interjected, shock present in his voice.
“Yes! I’ve been discussing the whole demon problem with her off and on over the past few days. Hell, first chance she got Nadie practically dragged me into her office at the crack of dawn. We talked tactics, I dropped off the horn with her, and now I am good and proper fucked since I have had no time to prepare for this!”
“So Master gave you the remainders back for safe keeping? That was thoughtful of her.”
“Holy shit why are you even focusing on that and no not really I just kind of walked into her office and took them back. Considering her door was blasted open I figured why not-“
“Wait wait wait someone broke into her office!?”
“God dammit there are more important things to focus on here! But yes I suppose you could say that her office was broken into,” Russo awkwardly acknowledged as he tried to steer the conversation back towards more pressing matters.
“S-something needs to be done about this right away! Whoever did this could still be lurking around, hold on a sec let me grab Morgan,” Tyr blurted out as practically jumped from his seat and bolted for the door.
“NO NO NO NO NO NO NO WERE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ANYTHING I SAID?! And… hold on. You know what, go do that,” Russo quietly tapered off as he backed up towards the basement door. Tyr’s shock and concern was legitimate. Gods permitting, it could be exactly what was needed to bring Morgan inside safely.
“Any reason why you’re giving the evil eye to everyone that enters the guild?” Morgan curtly inquired of the Labrador girl who was leaning against one of guild hall’s windows.
“None of your damn business,” The lab responded with a barely constrained snarl.
“I beg to differ. What business do you have here?” The raccoon asked as she narrowed her gaze. The lab began grinding her teeth, struggling valiantly to control the urge to claw the annoying little bitch’s face right off.
“I’m looking for someone,” She growled as her intense gaze settled on the stupid white mage who had the gall to stand before her.
“And what makes you think you’ll find them here?”
“All these questions of yours are starting to get pretty fucking annoying,” Umbra angrily stated as she approached the white mage, her bared teeth hovering inches from the raccoon’s face. Morgan stood her ground and pushed the encroaching muzzle to the side with the back of her hand.
“I think you should leave,” Morgan quietly muttered as she glared right back at the black lab. One of Umbra’s eyes began twitching in livid fury as an easily aroused murderous hatred utterly consumed her.
“You little-“ She snarled as she pulled her hand back and readied to unsheathe her claws.
“MORGAN!”
The fox’s cry shattered the overbearing atmosphere as the lab and raccoon turned to face the fur rushing towards them.
“Tyr? I’m a little busy at the moment, can it wait?”
“No, it can’t! Someone broke into Master’s office!”
“What!?”
“It must have happened not too long ago! Master didn’t mention anything or cause a scene this morning so it had to have happened after she left!” Tyr fidgeted worriedly as he looked to his best friend.
“Okay, okay, let’s see what we can find out,” She relented with a sigh. The white mage turned back to face at the lab as she followed the fox inside, and shot her a glare before disappearing inside the building. Snorting angrily, the lab turned up her nose and shot the white mage the middle finger. She resumed her sentry leaned back against a window, continuing to stare down everyone that had the poor misfortune to walk into her line of sight.
“So what can you tell me, Tyr?” Trotting behind the fox as they navigated through the tables in the guild hall, the duo drew a fair amount of attention to themselves as the building slowly came alive.
“Apparently Master’s door has been blown wide open if Russo is to be believed.”
“Russo?” Morgan stated incredulously, arching a brow as she followed Tyr down into the basement.
“Yeah, he’s how I learned there was something amiss in the first place.”
Furrowing her brows she hmmed loudly as they neared the crime scene. Their footsteps echoed loudly as they approached Nadie’s office, the scratching of the claws of their paws on the stone floor suddenly coming to an immediate halt.
Further up the hall, the door to a guestroom ever so gently cracked open and a certain human tip toed his way upstairs.
“Oh that’s not at all suspicious,” Morgan wryly commented as Tyr gawked at the large hole in the door where a lock and handle had once been. Timidly pushing the door open, Tyridia poked his head inside and found the office was more or less intact. A good number of the drawers in Nadie’s desk had been pulled open, but nothing else was out of the ordinary.
“I’ll go ahead and summon Xis, see if he can help us sniff out any clues,” Tyridia said half-heartedly as he began to gather magic in the palm of his furred hand. An instant later an indignant four tailed kitsune appeared before him, swishing his tails to and fro.
“It would be disingenuous of me to claim that I’m shocked to have been dragged out once more within such a short window of time. Allow me to conjecture as to what the probable cause may be. Incompetence, perhaps? Or maybe it’s sloth? Or possibly even-“ Xis’ prattling was self-interrupted as he begin to sniff at the air and cautiously approached the white mage. “Who have you been consorting with as of late Morgan?”
“That’s… not why you were summoned Xis. We were hoping you could provide any clues as to who broke into Nadie’s office,” She flinched back from the four-tailed kitsune as he circled around her. Even on all four paws his face was level with hers. At the rate he grew in size and power with each successive tail Tyr was able to summon him forth with, it wouldn’t be long before that ethereal know-it-all would be looming over the both of them.
“It was that human you burdened me with transporting the other day, his scent is fresh and scattered all over the place.”
“Well that didn’t turn out to be much of a mystery,” Morgan complained as she rolled her eyes. “Thanks Xi-“
“That petty crime is inconsequential as of now. Once more, WHO have you been frequenting with as of late?” Xis demanded as he shoved his pointed red and white maw in the raccoon’s face.
“Why do you ask Xis?” Tyridia prodded, worry present in his voice.
“You utterly reek of ill-will and malevolence,” He stated as his red concentric eyes focused on Morgan. The white mage could have sworn she saw the faintest traces of genuine concern in that ethereal expression of his.
“It’s not like I’ve been associating with anyone I usually haven’t… except for this Labrador girl I ran into in front of the guild this morning. She’s looking for someone and is a colossal bitch to boot.”
“STAY AWAY FROM HER. Neither of you are to approach her, much less converse with her. She has only the worst of intentions in store and I will not tolerate either of you getting caught up in them,” Xis’ tone made it abundantly clear that this was not a demand to be negotiated.
“Huh. Maybe Russo wasn’t lying when he was raving about how she was a demon,” Tyridia ashamedly confessed as he scratched at an ear.
“He said what now?” Morgan and Xis stated in unison.
“Well, Russo and I were eating breakfast just a tad earlier when he spotted that lab girl through the window. He absolutely freaked out and kept screaming at me that she was a demon while he was hiding under a table.”
“Given the circumstances I would be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Where is he now? From your description it sounds like he is acquainted with this stranger of ill tidings.”
“I… don’t know. He disappeared after I ran out to grab Morgan.”
Xis sniffed at the air once more as he padded out of the office. “Come, his scent still lingers. He’s skulking about somewhere…”
Gloved hands shoved deep into his pockets and crimson hood pulled down over his face, Russo leaned back against the adjoining walls in the corner nearest the basement door. To the various guild members who glanced at him, the mage was the very definition of cool and composed. Internally, the mage’s heart thumped furiously and his limbs were shaking. For minutes he had been trying to calm his buzzing mind just long enough to concoct the least suicidal plan possible.
“Okay, okay, there’s no one who can get caught in the way. Morgan and Tyr are safely tucked away from any crossfire and Umbra has been doing a good enough job scaring off anyone else who would dare to come close.” He took in a deep breath and exhaled uneasily. “I can do this…. I can do this. Blindside her with an ice spell and then run like holy hell. I-it’s not all bad I-I mean now I don’t have to slog through more research work,” Russo tried to force a nervous laugh but it effortlessly transitioned into a groan. “Hit and run,” Russo took in another deep breath, “just hit and run.” Clenching his fists tight he exhaled deeply and strode towards the front door. With every step he took ever increasing amounts of magical energies concentrated and condensed in his closed fists, an icy white aura surrounding his hands as frigid air poured out from between his fingers. Various guild members watched on curiously as the human picked up speed and dashed out the front door.
Back inside
“We know he was in his guest room not too long ago. Maybe he grabbed his stuff and then cut and run?” Tyridia remarked as he trailed behind Morgan up the stairs.
“I’d be willing to bet he’s long gone,” Morgan stated annoyed as she pushed open the basement door.
“If that is true, his cowardice ought to be a reliable indicator of just how powerful this alleged demon is.”
“Hmmm, I suppose it couldn’t hurt to ask around before we call off the search though. He damn well knows something about who that is and I’d like to know what…” The raccoon’s head swiveled back and forth as she hastily surveyed the main hall. Noticing that a fair deal of people had their gaze turned towards the front door and the windows, her eyes curiously drifted towards the source of their captivation. “What the-“
“SHOCK AND AWE, BITCH!” Russo screamed as he hurtled out the front door and turned to face Umbra. In the instant their eyes met, Russo thrust both arms forward, palms facing the demon. A torrent of icicles gushed forth from one hand while a massive chunk of ice flew forth from the other. The stream of icicles shattered against Umbra’s chest and stomach, a fair deal piercing an inch or two deep into her flesh. The chunk of ice cracked her in the face and sent her noggin flying back into the window, the glass cracking against the back of her head. He immediately prepared to teleport the instant his ambush caught her attention.
“YOU CONNIVING LITTLE SHIT!” She snarled as she shrugged off the damage effortlessly and a pair of demonic wings erupted forth from her back. What remained of her horns burst forth from atop her head and her eyes took on a yellow glow as she dug her claws into the wood paneling. Ripping a huge plank out from the side of the building, she sent it spiraling through the air towards the human. Nearly simultaneously she pushed off against the wall with her paws and rocketed towards him with a flap of her wings. She gnashed her teeth as she swiped at empty air, the human having disappeared in a flash of blue light. She roared angrily as she took to the skies, scouring the streets below for her prey.
Every person in the guild who had watched the spectacle unfold through the windows wore a slack jawed expression upon their face. The fact that every person there had walked right by the demon on their way in utterly horrified them. A hushed and panicked murmur quickly spread throughout the main hall.
“He was telling the truth…” Tyridia moaned as guilt began to nag away at him.
“Don’t be like that Tyr, at face value those were some outlandish claims he was throwing around. We’ll just have to hope there’ll be a chance to apologize to him and make things right.” The raccoon reassured him as she gently shook his shoulder. She bit her lips as she stared at the cracked and bloodied window. “Given how she shrugged off that surprise attack of his though, I don’t know if we’ll get the chance.”
“Do you… do you think we should help him?” Tyr meekly inquired as he looked back and forth between the raccoon and kitsune.
“The consequences of such an act would most likely be baleful. Out of the question.”
“Then what are we supposed to do if she tears him to pieces? There’s no guarantee she’ll up and leave after the fact. What if she lingers around here raising hell?” Morgan pressed the kitsune as he growled at her.
“Nadie is a capable fighter and guild master. It is reasonable to believe that she will be able to defeat, if not at the very least, drive back the demon.”
“Then what about Russo?” Tyr interjected.
“Nadie can assist him upon her return.”
“He could be dead by then! Any help Nadie has to offer won’t be of much use then! Under the Master’s leadership this guild has been dedicated to helping people. Russo is clearly in need of help right now, as is the entire town. The way I see it, we can lend him our support and flip the fight. Sooner or later that bitch could be our problem and I’d rather deal with her sooner rather than later, especially now when we’ll get the only assistance we could reasonably expect!” Morgan argued her case as she stared down the kitsune.
“Lest you forget your place, you are not my summoner,” Xis bluntly stated as he snorted contemptuously. A puff of hot air shot forth from his nostrils and assailed the raccoon’s facial fur.
“I’d prefer that we help out Russo, if at all possible. And as your summoner, your cooperation would be greatly appreciated,” the fox interjected with a rarely exercised tone of authority. Xis growled weakly as he looked to Tyridia.
“Very well. However, my cooperation is conditional upon your safety. Stay out of the ensuing fight and do not get involved. I’d rather not have to go through the motions of forming a contract with yet another summoner after all,” The kitsune consented with a begrudging hesitance. “That warning applies to you as well,” Xis decreed as he glared at the raccoon. Tyridia and Morgan nodded in understanding and the trio hastily departed from the guild.
“Dammit to hell, stand still!” Umbra screamed as she dive bombed into the ground for the sixyh time, her fist slamming into the dirt road and leaving a noticeable indent in the ground. Just having barely missed the mage as he teleported yet again, she roared as another volley of icicles slammed into her back. She whipped around and glowered at the human as a monstrous ball of flame burst to life in her hand. Umbra hurled it towards Russo, the icicles caught in its path immediately evaporated into a fine mist. The searing flame harmlessly passed through the air where Russo once stood, sailing effortlessly until it collided into the road, scorching the earth black and causing it to crack and fissure. Onlookers and residents flipped their shit at the sight and proceeded to empty the streets and retreat to their homes for safety.
“Are these ice spells even hurting her?!” Russo thought to himself woefully as he hauled ass in the opposite direction of the seemingly indestructible demon. Any hopes of actually emerging victorious from this confrontation had disappeared long ago. Right now it was a mental battle to maintain the belief that he could actually survive it.
“You can’t keep this up forever, fucker!” She snarled as she began to flap her wings and rise back into the sky. Jerking her head about in every which direction, the bastard was nowhere to be found. She methodically began to circle above, constantly scanning the nearby streets and alleyways for her target. He couldn’t have run off that far, that and the town itself was pitifully small. That damn guild building was the central feature and the remaining buildings were arranged around it in a hexagonal pattern, with large roads extending along the sides and out from the corners. The efficient foresight of the city planners made Umbra’s search all the easier unfortunately. “If those bee stings are the best you can muster up, then you may as well lay down and die for me! Cause this isn’t going to turn out any other way if that’s all your capable of!” She arrogantly smirked as she soared overhead.
“Shit,” Russo muttered under his breath as he haphazardly navigated a narrow alleyway. The frost on the ground crunched beneath his hurried footsteps, as were various weeds and tufts of grass that were trampled underfoot as Russo rushed by. A devilish grin spread wide across Umbra’s face as her floppy ears registered those faintest of noises and she dove towards the source. As Russo was about to leap forth from the alley’s shadows into the sunlit street, Umbra slammed into the ground before him with terrifying speeds. The earth beneath his feet rumbled from the impact as his legs began to falter. She growled in satisfaction as she rose from her knees and Russo’s composure peeled away under her otherworldly stare.
“Bleed for me, will ya? It’s been a while since I’ve gotten to feel the ecstasy of blood and marrow slipping through my fingers,” She stated lasciviously, her tongue draping out from the side of her mouth as claws extended from her fingertips. His body quaking and mind failing, Russo drew a blank as the demon’s eerie eyes struck him dumb with fear.
“It will be some time yet before you’ll get to satisfy those macabre fetishes of yours,” a vaguely familiar and haughty voice declared as a ring of four swirling purple flames cascaded into the demon. The flames engulfed Umbra, her entire form surrounded by a wispy purple inferno. Her yellow eyes glowed brightly through the flames as she turned to face the interloper, a jagged smile spreading across her visage.
“Oh you have got to be shitting me,” Russo muttered in a forlorn manner as the fight became hilariously lopsided against his favor. Umbra ran a hand down across her chest and stomach, the various nicks and cuts that Russo had struggled to inflict upon her healed and seared themselves shut near instantaneously.
“That little pick me up was much obliged, kit.” Umbra smirked as she turned her attention to the kitsune before her.
“That was not the desired effect…” Xis trailed off, his concentric eyes going wide.
“Ahhhh, now where were we…” Umbra eagerly turned her attention back to the human as she licked her lips. A massive chunk of ice greeted her instead, smashing directly into her face and sending her stumbling back out into the street. The fragments rebounding off of her quickly melted in the raging ambient heat given off by the demon. Her good mood abruptly cut short, she snarled as she flapped her wings, a pillar of purple flames rising off her body and surging down the alleyway. She swirled about in place and quickly about faced. A large ball of flame manifested in each of her palms and she hastily tossed them forth, intending to head off the human’s anticipated counterattack. The two came together in midair and swelled in size, pushing what was already a ridiculously powerful attack into the range of overkill. Russo watched on in horror, from a safe perch upon a rooftop, as what looked like a miniature sun collided with the corner of a building and exploded. Nearly a quarter of the building just up and disappeared, not even ash remained. From what he could see of the interior, the walls and floors had been scorched black. He shuddered as he looked at the roof and saw that some of the shingles had melted into the roof and had begun to drip down along the sides. Russo would rather not test out the veracity of the fire proof claims in the middle of a fight, that and there was no way his new cloak could possibly protect him from a raging hellfire like that.
“Oh God I hope there wasn’t anybody in there.” The mage let out a gasp as he hastily teleported from rooftop to rooftop, grateful that he had had the good sense to change up his tactics upon realizing he was becoming far too predictable. As he leaped from roof to roof, he spied a familiar kitsune turning tail and bounding down the street. Watching intently as the white and red four legged fox raced around a corner, Russo teleported down to ground level to cut him off. Yelping in surprise at the sudden appearance of the human, the kitsune bowled Russo over as he bounded into him.
“Are you the reason why that psychotic bitch is now a raging purple inferno?!” Russo screamed as he pulled himself off the ground and pointed an accusatory finger towards Xis. “For fuck’s sake she’s a fire demon! You just made an already horrendous problem infinitely worse!”
“Perhaps if you had not been so eager to flee you could have relayed that fairly significant fact to us before these complications arose!” Xis shot back, the blow to his ego still smarting.
“Us?” Brows raised in confusion, Russo stared dumbly at the kitsune.
“…Now may not be the ideal time to discuss semantics,” Xis bluntly stated as he gazed upward, Umbra’s fiery form hovering directly above. A lick of flame danced above the palm of her right hand, swirling about as it rapidly grew in size. “Enticing it may be to behold, let’s not linger to discover what she has in store,” Xis tersely stated as he flipped Russo onto his back with a flick of his muzzle and bounded down the street in a serpentine manner before weaving into an alleyway. A whip of flames lashed at the kitsune’s feet as he ducked into cover. Clenching her fist tight in frustration, Umbra growled as she partook in aerial pursuit of the duo.
“Where the hell are we going?” Russo asked in a defeated tone as he bounced upon Xis’ back.
“Given the way this confrontation is progressing, a drastic shift in strategy is necessitated, though I’d rather it not have come to this…” Xis sighed as he effortlessly navigated the narrow alleyways. Practically galloping now, the four legged fox flew out of the shadows and bounded towards the guild. “Morgan! Your cooperation would be… appreciated!”
“Morgan? How the hell can she help?”
“Given the circumstances, she is ideal for reversing our fortune,” the kitsune quizzically stated as Russo arched a brow. What fucking good would having a healer around if they couldn’t even hurt Umbra?
“That can’t be a good sign,” The raccoon muttered as she poked her head around a corner. She raised her eyebrows in shock as the kitsune came barreling towards her, Russo clinging to him for dear life. “I’m guessing things didn’t go exactly according to plan huh?” Skidding to a stop before the raccoon, the mage was flipped forward off Xis and onto the ground, landing at Morgan’s feet.
“I am willing to be more accommodating with your contributions to this fight given recent… developments,” Xis quietly mumbled as his tails swished back and forth.
“Developments like?” Tyr chimed in as he tiptoed up behind the raccoon.
“Making an already bad problem worse,” Russo grunted as he rose to his feet and glanced around worriedly for their foe.
“My fox fire had a, much to my chagrin, beneficial effect on the demon.”
“Ah,” Morgan and Tyr blurted in unison.
“Why the hell are you idiots even getting involved?! Did it ever occur to you that I didn’t want your help? That I didn’t want to recklessly put anyone else in danger? That for once I actually cared about the consequences of my actions following me around and was trying to minimize the damage done?!” Russo fumed as he gesticulated wildly.
“Bullshit. Did you ever consider the mess that would be left for us to clean up had you died? That she could potentially be our problem once she was through with you? We have just as big a potential stake in this as you do! You stupidly running off to deal with this on your own didn’t ameliorate the problem, you just exacerbated it!” Morgan instantly retorted. Her efforts to continue to poke holes in Russo’s logic were abruptly cut off as she eeped in surprise when Xis flipped her onto his back.
“We’ve idled here far too long as it is. She’ll be bound to make her presence known any moment. Tyridia, you are to remain hidden. Is that understood?”
Tyr nodded complacently as he clung to the shadows stretching out from the guild. Xis bounded back out into the streets, Morgan’s arms wrapped tightly around his neck as she jostled along for the ride. Russo desperately chased after them, panic driving every foot step forward as he eyed Umbra swooping down towards him.
“Russo!” Morgan called out as the trio attempted to lead the demon away from the guild. “Can you distract her for a bit? Long enough for her to keep stationary for at least a couple seconds I mean?”
“Like it’ll do any good you useless little bitch!” Umbra interrupted as she made a beeline for the white mage. She grunted angrily as another chunk of ice cracked her in the chin during her descent. “Human, you have a real talent for pissing me off!” She exclaimed in livid fury as she dove towards him and slammed into the ground. A wall of fire spread out from her upon impact.
“Well that was easy…” Russo mumbled as he teleported to and fro about the street, no real pattern to his appearances and disappearances as he maintained his distance from the inferno.
“Is this all you’re going to do?” Umbra raged as she clawed at the air. “Peg me with those magical pricks of yours and just spend the rest of the time running? That all you’re good for?! That doppelganger of yours promised me a fight!”
“My what?” A look of utter bamboozlement was plastered across the human’s face.
“Don’t play coy with me, asshole!” Umbra snarled as the flames surrounding her body intensified with her anger and she pointed a clawed finger at him.
“That’ll do Russo. Reverse!” Morgan cried out as grey burst of magic struck Umbra in the back. Perturbed, the demon craned her head back towards the raccoon as she scratched at her back.
Growling, her easily incited and distracted rage set its sights on the white mage who had the misfortune to be caught in her line of sight. “The hell did you do?” Umbra’s eyes darted back and forth between her shoulders as a shimmering almost mirror like goop began to spread across them and down towards her arms. Quickly overtaking her entire body, her once black fur began to radiate and reflect back the sun’s rays. Shaking, Umbra clenched her fists as she turned to face Morgan. “THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO ME!?” She screamed as she spread her wings. Her very presence had been chromatically inverted, her once ink black fur now a snow white in color.
“Reverse? Don’t see that spell too often. Hmmm… combine that with your typical white magic which is nothing but healing spells, the effects of which are completely reversed and… damn. That’s pretty devious, I’ll admit.” Russo remarked impressed as he squinted his eyes. “And in Umbra’s case when applied to fire magics, oh ho this just gets better and better.” Digging her paws deep into the ground, Umbra pushed off with one leg as she flew towards her target, just inches above the ground. Rapidly accelerating with every beat of her wings, her arms pulled back behind her, ready to carve herself a bloody mess.
“Let’s try this once more, shall we?” Positioned between Morgan and the incoming demon, Xis stood his ground, the tips of his four tails consumed by wispy purple flames. Swishing his tails forward in unison, the fox fire swirled through the air toward the demon.
“This again? You’re just adding fuel to fire, fool!” Eagerly reaching toward the oncoming flames Umbra shrieked in pain as they consumed her. Disgracefully plopping to the ground, she skidded along her face a good couple feet, screaming loudly as a barrage of fireballs hammered her in the back before she even came to a stop.
“I’m not above getting in a cheap hit,” Russo smirked as he kept his distance.
Shivering violently, Umbra pulled her muzzle out of the dirt and shook her head as a burning sensation tore away at her nerves. Her furry fingers and toes tingled painfully as she struggled to regain feeling in them. Wincing in pain, she howled as another batch of fox fire cascaded into her as did a beaming orb of light. The simple healing spell churned the demon’s stomach, a horrific corrosive feeling melted away at her innards as the light magic worked its goodness. “FUCK OFF!” She screeched as she flapped her wings, another wall of fire spreading around her and expanding outward. Nipping at Morgan’s robe with his teeth, Xis dragged the raccoon to safety. Russo teleported back a good distance and struggled to track her now snow white form flying through the sky.
Chasing after the demon, a flicker of hope within Russo’s heart was plucked from the ashes and carefully relit. “Holy crap is she honestly that easy to distract? If she weren’t obscenely powerful this would be borderline pathetic. And even taking that into account, with that Reverse spell this fight has turned into a joke. Damn, I should’ve asked for their help right away…”
“This is bullshit!” Umbra screamed to herself as she sailed amongst the breezes high above Yash. “That freak with that shit eating grin never said there’d be more than one nuisance to put up with! Russo is already bad enough, that cowardly bastard never stays put and is so damned unpredictable! And that white mage,” No discernible words arose out of Umbra’s mouth with regards to Morgan. A grinding of teeth and boiling of blood, were it possible to hear such a thing, constituted Umbra’s feelings towards her. “And then there’s that uppity little fox spirit. Smartass is probably keeping his summoner hidden, I haven’t seen hide nor hair of him. A summon is nothing without a summoner though… so I can take out two birds in one stone if I can sniff em’ out.” She methodically scanned the streets below, nothing of interest cropping up in her vision. “Dammit, think, they’d be around here somewhere. And… hold on now, where was it that he snatched that little bitch up from?” Umbra grumbled to herself as she drifted towards the guild and circled round it. A toothy grin spread along her face as she spotted a fox huddled up along a wall. “Bout time I got my kill on,” she cackled as she raised a hand high above her head and a diminutive fiery orb rapidly grew in size. She grimaced as the horrendous feeling of frost burn returned, her hand slowly going numb as the magic concentrating above it betrayed her intentions. “Ahhh it’ll be worth it. Even if that isn’t the right guy, it’ll be nice to up and ruin somebody’s day.” With a flick of her wrist the orb was sent blazing through the sky, straight towards Tyridia.
Looking towards the veritable meteor trailing through the sky, Xis’ mouth quivered as he began to trot towards its intended site of impact. “TYRIDIA!”
“Hot damn, first guess was my best one,” Umbra smirked with pride. “Well then that’ll be two down…” she flapped her wings as she hovered in place and turned her gaze towards Morgan and Russo, “and two to go.” Angling herself towards the ground, Umbra set her sights on the raccoon, swaying back in forth in the air as she drifted towards her.
“Oh fuck, this is what I get for being hopeful,” Russo morbidly thought as he slammed his feet into the ground, one after the other, and bolted towards the guild alongside Morgan.
“TYRIDIA! TYRIDIA, RUN!” The kitsune screamed as his arrogant and haughty composure crumbled away. Galloping towards the guild, his eyes were torn between the hellfire racing towards his summoner and the demon rocketing towards the raccoon.
“W-what? Why?” The orange fox inquired fearfully as he came rushing out of the shadows at the sound of his summon’s panicked voice. An intense crackling and heat answered the Tyridia’s question as his ears swiveled towards the source. Ears pressing down flat against his head as his arms draped to his sides, Tyr’s eyes went wide as he ascertained the cause of Xis’ fear. “Oh.”
“TYR!” Morgan cried out as tears welled up in her eyes as she came to a stop in the middle of the street. Russo ignored her as he forced one foot in front of the other. Her furred hands became surrounded by a white aura, magic seething from her fingertips. “YOU BITCH!” She screamed at the demon as she lashed out with a barrage of spells, streaks of white whizzing by Umbra as she nonchalantly dodged them.
“RUN YOU IGNORAMUS!” Xis pleaded as he came to a halt in the middle of the dirt street. He cringed at the realization he couldn’t possibly get Tyr out of danger in time. At best he could be with him as they both incinerated in the inferno. With a pained look on his face he turned his attention to back Umbra, the white demon lazily twirling to and fro in the air to avoid the spells Morgan was furiously lobbing at her. His teeth bared and his eyes consumed by a livid fury, Xis bounded towards Umbra with the hopes of intercepting her. At the very least he could try to save one of the mortals he had grown attached to. Circling around the raccoon, Xis leaped at the demon head on as Umbra glided along the ground.
Groaning as he watched the scene unfold in front of and behind him, Russo bit his lip as he readied to teleport. “Crrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaap, I guess now is as good a time as ever to test those fire proof claims. I’ll be dead soon enough anyway at the rate things are going.” In a flash of blue light he vanished and immediately reappeared before Tyridia. Tackling into him, Russo wrapped his arms around the fox tight and the both of them tumbled to the ground. Pulling his cloak tight around himself and the fox, Russo closed his eyes as an unbearable heat bore down upon them. “In the likely event this doesn’t work, please let me die instantaneously,” he muttered to whatever gods were listening as Umbra’s attack slammed into them.
“This just gets better and better, three for one!” Umbra beamed inwardly as she locked stares with Xis, having caught Russo’s suicidal act in the corner of her eye. “Any second now you’ll disappear and…” Umbra’s gloating was cut short as Xis sank his teeth into her right shoulder and clawed away furiously at her stomach with his front paws. Sinking to ground courtesy of the kitsune’s additional weight, her now white fur was stained red as Xis mindlessly tore open her stomach. “Why the hell didn’t you disappear?! You shouldn’t be able to linger around if your summoner’s dead!” Sinking her claws into the kitsune’s sides, she painfully forced fire into her fingertips and cooked him from the inside out. The ethereal fox vanished in a poof of wispy purple flames, having departed back to the realm of spirits. She buckled to her knees and screamed in pain as Morgan unloaded into her with healing spell after healing spell, the prior effects of the Reverse spell now rendering them quite deadly. The raccoon’s grief-stricken assault refused to let up as Umbra writhed about on the ground in pain, blood spilling forth from her stomach and pooling beneath her. After she had exhausted her energy and magic, Morgan stood before her vanquished foe, her body trembling and her breathing strained and heavy. Umbra groaned weakly as her fingers twitched, her fur slowly reverting back to its original black color.
“Well. Shit. Way to singlehandedly carry the day there, Morgan,” Russo candidly stated as he looked on at the scene with genuine shock and awe. Jesus, he hardly contributed anything to this fight.
“Yeah, there’s a reason why Morgan is usually the de facto leader of our little trio. She is arguably the strongest out of all of us to be honest,” Tyr chimed in.
“T-tyr?” She mouthed in shock as she gazed upon the two men. Russo’s face was burnt red and just about every strand of fur on Tyr’s face was singed. The two were sweating profusely and looked absolutely horrid. “You’re alive?”
“Thanks for noticing,” Russo grumbled. “We’re fine just uh… a little worse for wear.”
“But how?”
Russo flapped his crimson cloak about. “This little beauty right here is fire proof. Doesn’t do jack squat for protecting you from roasting in ambient heat or anything of the sort, but, it does a fine job keeping fire and flames from eating away at your flesh.”
“I… I…” Morgan stuttered on her words before she let out a sigh, wiping away any lingering tears from her eyes as she did so. She leaned forward and embraced Tyr in a heartfelt hug, the act catching the fox by surprise. He yipped in surprise, and in pain, but very shyly and slowly returned the gesture as he gingerly wrapped his arms around her back and held her close.
“Uhhh…. so, are we just going to ignore the battered and bleeding demon while you two have your tender moment?” Russo mumbled confusedly as he turned to look back at Umbra. Letting his gaze focus on the urban scenery, he winced as he saw pillars of smoke dotting his vision here and there, surely rising from what were the remnants of once proud homes and places of business. “Oh this is gonna be fun to try and explain away,” he moaned as a cool breeze blew through the air, the burnt skin on his face stinging something fierce at the slightest touch.
FIRST, PREVIOUS, NEXT
Category Story / Fantasy
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 120 x 115px
File Size 38.3 kB
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