E05 - Ch 23: Strong

The tackle sent them rolling into the field. And then Aelric was punching her with everything he had. Just as his fist connected with her cheek, some piece of himself deep in his mind told him it was wrong to attack this slim woman. It was a completely ridiculous thought. He had no idea where it had come from. She had summoned a demon that was on the verge of killing Feyna and Feyla.

Before that piece of himself could respond, all thoughts were momentarily knocked out of him as Syl replied with a punch of her own that hit him in the belly three times harder than the one he had thrown. The force of the blow sent him flying off her and crashing to the ground. He groaned with agony as he pushed himself up again.

"You damned fool!" Syl spat as he groaned in the dirt. "I was banishing that…"

Aelric saw that the Ascendant had looked up then, her face flashing with apprehension. Aelric whipped his head in the direction she was looking and saw the demon barreling toward them.

"Chidra!" Syl shouted, thrusting out her hand. The very air before her crackled with arcana as the demon reached her, the unseen force hurling the creature backward. It smashed into the remains of Feyna's house, obliterating what was left of the damaged structure in a shower of splintered wood and debris.

Still sprawled on the ground, his stomach feeling like a giant had stepped on it, Aelric stared at the Ascendant in utter confusion. Why would she attack her own summoned demon? It made no sense.

Feyna and Feyla's screams filled the air as they ran towards him, their voices filled with terror. Behind them, the demon was already pushing itself free of the rubble, its form rising from the wreckage of the ruined cabin.

"Tell your friends to calm themselves!" Syl shouted at him. "The demon feeds on fear, do you understand? And don't interrupt me again, you incessant footbrain, or it's you that I'll banish to the demonsphere!"

Tendrils of bright condensed arcana began swirling around her hands as she reached up, pushing her magic high into the sky above. But before she could complete her spell, a dark shape hurtled past Aelric's peripheral vision and slammed into the Ascendant.

The impact sent her arcane tendrils spiraling wildly off course, the magic striking the field randomly in minor explosions. The demon had its black claws wrapped around Syl, one vicious nail slashing at her face. A loud crack split the air, followed by another as the creature released her, its claw tearing free in a splash of crimson, leaving her shoulder a bloody ruin.

Feyna and Feyla arrived beside Aelric, panting and wide-eyed. The older sister knelt down beside him, worry etched across her face. "Aelric, are you alright?"

He nodded dumbly, his attention still fixed on the demon and Syl as they fought, the demon rushing her each time before she could complete a powerful spell that would surely end it. "I'm fine," he managed to say, though his voice was strained. "Syl... she's fighting it."

Feyna looked up, watching Syl land spell after spell with her one good hand. They were quick spells, short and burst-like, each one pushing the demon further backward.

"She's so strong," Feyna said with awe in her voice.

Feyla clung to Feyna, her small frame shaking. "Who is she? Is she going to save us?"

Before Aelric could respond, a flash of light burst from the bushes. Syl's voice echoed through the night, shouting an incantation. The demon roared in pain as it was hurled back again.

This time when it rose, seemingly aware it could not win against the Ascendant, the demon turned its head in Aelric's direction again.

"Oh no," Aelric said, realizing its intentions. "The demon feeds on fear. We can't give it any more. We, we—"

The demon had begun charging in their direction, four shadowed limbs, dark as night, kicking up dirt as it galloped toward them.

Aelric watched the charging mosnter feeling completely frozen. What could he do? He had no arcana, no fire. How could he stop that monstrosity? His mind raced, grasping for any solution but he could find none.

"Let's run!" Feyla called to Aelric and her sister, her small voice trembling.

Aelric shook his head. It was too fast. He knew the demon would catch them before they could make it a two dozen steps.

Without thinking, he moved to block the demon with his own body, determined to shield Feyna and Feyla from harm. It was all he could do. But as he moved forward, Feyna's voice rang out, sharp and commanding.

"Get out of the way, Aelric!" She pushed him to the side with surprising strength and he stumbled and fell on his bottom, looking up, stunned by the force of her words and the look in her eyes.

She stood before him, legs wide and firmly rooted, her red hair wild and covered in sawdust. He saw that her gaze was on Syl in the distance, the Ascendant was casting that swirling spell again, sending tendrils of condensed arcana high into the sky above.

Then Feyna's eyes shifted to the demon, still distant, but closing in, charging at them with all its speed.

"We have to make a stand," she said firmly.

But how? Aelric wondered, and then he realized she was talking to her sister.

"No fear," she said, still holding Feyla's little hand. "Help me."

Feyla's lip quivered, a sob escaping her throat, but she stepped forward, wiping away the tears forming at the corner of her eyes, and set her gaze upon the incoming monster.

"Now," Feyna whispered as the demon neared.

The two sisters dropped their palms to the dirt ground at the same moment, shouting the same incantation. "Plow Earth!"

The top layer of the ground rolled, two spells pushing it as one with great force. The churning top layer struck the demon square in the chest, breaking its momentum momentarily. But then it was up again, shaking off the dirt from its body and roared with a cry that echoed through the air. The spell had done nothing to harm the creature. Something teared upward on the demon’s face, and Aelric realized it was smiling.

He heard Feyla whimper, and he did not fault her for he could not keep the fear from his own heart either.

The demon lunged toward them, leaping into the sky with terrifying speed and agility, just as a commanding voice called something in the distance, the words lost in the chaos.

Light twirled from the sky, moving faster than swooping hawks, swirling together in magnificent lines of light, hissing with energy as they conjoined into a sleek blinding bolt that crashed down upon the demon in an earth-shattering strike.

Air became a wall that hit the three Earthborn like a battering ram, sending them sprawling backward, tumbling across the dirt.

His whole body ached, and he could hear nothing beyond the ringing of his ears. Coughing, the wind knocked out of him, he turned to the girls, checking to see if they were alright.

Feyna looked dazed, her eyes unfocused and hair pulled back by the blast. Feyla was crying again, tears streaming down her face, but both were not hurt, much to his relief.

Before them was an enormous pit where the demon had been struck. Aelric found its center point hissing, and there he saw the demon’s body begining to shrink, evaporating into a black smoke that curled and twisted into the air.

"I shall not forget this," it roared, its voice filled with rage and promise of retribution.

Syl was standing across from Aelric at the edge of the pit, clutching her torn shoulder and looking down at the demon with the cold eyes of a killer.

"Neither shall I," she said, her voice as sharp as a blade.

Then the demon was gone, the black smoke lost to the wind.

Syl's gaze snapped to Aelric, her frown deepening as she regarded him with a mixture of annoyance and contempt that made him feel small and insignificant. A sense of unease welled within him. The demon was dead, but there was no way he could fight her, and yet somehow he sensed that she no longer had any intent to kill him anymore.

He opened his mouth to speak, to ask Syl why she had summoned the demon and then killed it? Could demons be killed? This demon sounded as if it intended to come back again.

But before he could utter a word, the Ascendant vanished in a blaze of arcana, leaving nothing but a faint shimmer in the air where she had once stood.

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