Into Fire

The display of might given to them was mind-boggling. She’d thrown a spell at them that locked the hydra down. No, she cast something several magnitudes greater, and yet… It was snuffed out like a candle. Was it the dampening of her magic, or were the demon lord’s forces just that strong?

She could hear a crackling sound slowly rising in volume as a glowing figure stepped through the mist. 

What emerged was a Demonfolk woman in a long dress that showed so much leg from the side. She wasn’t dressed for this weather in the slightest, but given the ring of flame that encircled her, she most likely didn’t need to be. The flames around her crackled and hissed at the snow, burning a trail under her feet as she walked. 

Her sultry voice echoed. “Well, well, we weren’t expecting that sort of greeting. Which one of you was that? I’d like to talk to you.” Despite the question, she locked eyes with Ariana. 

Ariana hopped down from her horse into thigh-high snow. She swept her hand forward, clearing a path to the woman.

The woman seemed intrigued. "Oh my, aren't you a curious one?" She demurely rested a hand on her chest. "You may call me Mallin, The Hearth Flame."

Ariana paused for a moment. Since the people of this world loved displays of strength so much, perhaps she should use that to avoid further confrontation. "My name is Ariana... the Witch of the Wood."

"Oh, goodness me! What an honor and privilege to duel the Witch of the Wood!"

"Duel? What duel?"

"Why, that little greeting, of course. How could I possibly resist accepting a duel request from a human that could do that? Turns out I was wrong about the human part, no big surprise there, but I got something so much better: The WItch of the Wood!"

"And if I refuse?"

"Then I burn everyone here to ash."

Ariana glared at her. "...I accept."

"Oooh, I like those eyes... There's only one other demon in the world with eyes like that."

Ariana's heart thumped. Her vigor and fervor were renewed. Those words, coming from someone under the demon lord's command, reaffirmed in her very soul that Alex was here.

This woman was in the way of their reunion and threatened to kill everyone here. 

Nothing spared. 

It was time to test a spell.

Mallin charged forward with flames behind her like a rocket, clotheslining Ariana. She had the wind knocked out of her as she was tossed backwards.

She could already feel herself fading from the damage. 

Was it over already?

No. 

Her adrenaline kicked in, and she tunnel-visioned on the enemy. She roared out and clawed her arms up, launching a forest of mesmer pines up like a row of spears at Millim. 

Millim dodged to the side and retaliated with a torrent of flames.

Ariana responded by throwing her arms to the side and felling all of the trees straight at Millim. The flames were diverted, but Millim managed to roll out of the way. 

Millim clawed down against the air and hammered flames upon Ariana from above. 

Ariana's arm swept up with a mound of snow in thrall to block, and a blast of steam. 

Millim launched forward again with a rocket-propelled knee strike. It struck true into Ariana's side. The pain wracked through her.

Where was her danger sense?!

She staggered and rolled to the side, already exhausted. She couldn't catch her breath. She couldn't land a hit. 

Perhaps she could try the last skill she hadn't used yet. 

Millim came rocketing in again with her leg poised to hammer straight down onto Ariana's head.

Ariana followed instinct and swiped her left arm to the side. 

"Reaping..."

There was a flash as a line was carved across reality. 

The leg struck hard against Ariana's shoulder; it should have knocked her out, but the pain was... less than expected. 

Despite the leg striking Ariana... the rest of Milim kept flying past her. Milim's leg dropped before Ariana... severed from her. 

Ariana felt a surge of vitality returning to her, and her wounds began to heal. 

Millim screamed out behind her. 'YOU WORTHLESS BITCH, I'LL KILL YOU, I'LL KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU!!"

Ariana looked back at the now handicapped flame witch, the stump where her leg once was staining the snow red. Millim breathed heavily before slamming a flaming hand down to cup against the massive wound. She flinched and screamed out as she seared the wound shut. 

Ariana was paralyzed. Horror. Fear. Awe. Terror. These were appropriate words to describe her state. Milim's breathing was extremely labored, and her eyes watered endlessly as she endured the pain of burning herself. Ariana had done this to her. 

Millim glared death daggers straight into Ariana's eyes. "THIS ISN'T OVER, NOT BY A MILE!!" 

Within a blink, Millim roared out a spout of flame. Ariana responded as quickly as she could by springing a mesmer pine up. Millim's flames gradually tore through the thing. 

Millim launched herself forward with another blast and swiped for Ariana with searing claws. Ariana fled. Millim pursued relentlessly as a trail of explosions behind her. Ariana was clipped in the back several times, and it burned horribly. 

She tried to throw up snow and trees behind her to block the assault, but Millim blasted through everything she put up. 

Eventually, one of the trees that Ariana sprouted caught Millim in the gut and launched her away. She tumbled in the snow. For a second, breathing hard, screaming in pain and anger, she settled there. Ariana was exhausted all over again from running and still trembling from realizing what she did to Millim. 

As they glared, someone in thick armor stepped over to Millim. They had a deep voice. "The duel is over, Millim. You lost."

She snarled at him. "Stay out of this, Jareth!"

The armored man, without another word, dug claws into what remained of Millim's thigh. She screamed out again. The man ripped downwards, and a new leg sprouted in place with a spray of blood. "Get up." Millim staggered to her feet, one of them still bloodied and barefoot. “You should have known better than to challenge the Witch of the Wood alone.”

Millim snarled at him, “She’s barely half the level of a piss-ant soldier!”

“And what does that say about you losing a duel to her?”

“I DID NOT LOSE!! YOU INTERFERED!!”

“She lopped your leg off with a flick of the wrist after throwing an avalanche at you and sprouting a forest on top of you. Only one of those actions was actual attack magic. She would have outpaced you and killed you.”

The woman scoffed. “I could have killed her at any time if I wanted to!”

“Then you are a fool and a coward.”

She screamed a cone of flame in his face. “HOW ABOUT YOU TAKE THAT ARMOR OFF AND TELL ME THAT TO MY FACE!?”

The man was unmoved. “She could have cut your head off.”

Ariana gritted her teeth. The man was right. She could have killed that woman. And if Millim’s threats to kill everyone were true, Ariana would be justified in defending them… but that resilience… that defiance… it shook Ariana. She wasn’t sure she would be able to muster the same, even to defend everyone. 

Or could she?

Yes… How could she have forgotten? 

Right… it was the pain. Like always, she tried to repress the pain. 

She was in constant pain for a week from the poison; it was her whole existence. 

But she remembered that at the beginning of that pain, she reached into something. It was some kind of magic that stretched into the sky. She hadn’t done anything like that since. 

The armored man stepped forward and drew his sword. “The duel is over.” There was a ringing sound, and his voice echoed. “Engage the attack.” 

On his command, the demon lord’s soldiers rode through the mist. 

They were outnumbered twenty to one.

Alvin barked orders out. “Ready yourselves: hedgehog formation! Sophie, Hayden, defensive actions! Ariana, show them why they call you the Witch of the Wood!”