Breaking Ground

Roots protruded from the ground, holding both of us hostage. I was dangling by the feet, turned upside down by the magical tree. It wrapped tightly around my legs and my arms, keeping me trapped like a cocoon.

Aggie was held in a similar manner. He was turned sideways, his head dangling free on one end. The rest of his body was bound up tightly, even more roots securing him. I guess the tree figured he was the more dangerous one.

I glared over at Aggie. “Okay, so what do we do with this? We can’t just keep hanging out!”

Aggie snarled, “I don’t know! We just gotta find a way to get free! I think considering our enemy, this one might be more yer thing.”

It was my turn to roll my eyes. Well, if that’s what Aggie really wanted me to do, I could oblige. I didn’t need my hands free to use my magic (not that Aggie did either). And he was right; if we needed something to burn, I was the gal to do it!

The blood was rushing to my head. I was starting to feel lightheaded. I closed my eyes and let the fire grow inside of me. This stupid tree thought it could do whatever it wanted. Like hell! I was going to burn this whole place down! Fire beat plants any day.

I let my magic slip over me, coating my arms and legs with it. I brought it to life, burning away the roots that were holding me. As I fell, I shot a ball of fire towards Aggie. I watched it burn away as I tumbled down. I barely managed to turn myself sideways. I landed on the ground hard on my shoulder. Damn, that hurt!

Unlike me, Aggie landed gracefully. He snatched me up by the arm and dragged me to my feet. He gave me a shove to avoid another set of roots that shot out from the ground beneath us. I stumbled backwards but managed to maintain my footing.

Aggie snatched at the roots, trying to catch them with his bare hands. They slid through his fingers, but he brought up his magic to use to keep tighten his grip. He managed to hold onto one of them. He pulled it upward, trying to yank it free from the ground. He sent another surge of magic towards it and finally tore it free with a loud snap. I brought my fire to life at that moment, burning the offending root. He dropped it right before my flames reached his hands. It burnt into ashes.

“How the hell are we supposed to fight this thing? Its roots have got to be endless! I can’t keep burning them forever. I don’t want to pass out again!” I whined.

The roots that moved towards us weren’t blackened with the magic like the other possessed creatures had been. They looked like ordinary tree roots, earthy and damp from the ground they sprang from. Brown and green in color, the only unusual thing about them: the twisting movement as they reached for us.

I risked a glance up at the tree on the top of the hill. We were barely halfway up and it was already trying to push us back. From this distance, I couldn’t even see any darkening on the tree itself. I did however catch the glimmer of the telltale blue tendrils snaking across the stump. It definitely had his magic; I felt the cold energy curling around the hill and increasing as it snatched at us and wove its roots beneath the hillside.

The tree didn’t give me anytime to speculate. The roots shot back out of the ground. I burned the ones that tried to reach me. Aggie deftly dodged their attacks. He managed to catch three of them with his magic and he tied them together. He threw the knotted roots into my vision. I used as little of my magic as possible to burn them up.

My magic might be effective against this wooden monstrosity, but there was a limit as to what I could do. My stamina would wear out long before the roots depleted, especially trying to take them on one at a time. Ideally, I would burn them enmasse, but I couldn’t do that with them hiding underground.

The inkling of a plan started to form in my mind. It was another one that was way out there, and I had no clue if Aggie was even capable of doing what I’d need him to do. This wild plan counted on him to get it started. I hoped he didn’t laugh me away.

I pivoted towards Aggie and jumped sideways to close the distance. I bumped into his shoulder and quickly slid so we were back to back.

“What are doing, Mage? We can cuddle after we beat this tree. Its bark is worse than its bite! Hah! I can say silly things like that too!” Aggie was laughing even as he was trying to tame another root.

I ignored his bad pun. “I have a crazy plan, but I’m going to need your help. Can you do a lot of destruction really fast?”

“Do a pot and kettle insult each other? Of course I can. Demon magic is synonymous with destruction!”

His attempts at puns and idioms were annoying, but I kept myself from physically lashing out at him. Instead, I leaned closer against him. “I need to get at these damned roots. Can you tear up the hillside and expose them? Basically just tear a chunk out of the ground.”

Aggie wiped his thumb across his nose. “I’ve recovered about half of my magic, I should have enough power for some wanton destruction. Get me an opening and I’m good to go.”

Aggie said nothing about how long it would take him to perform such a feat, but I surmised it would take a bit of time. I needed to save energy, so I’d have to be careful with how much I wasted on these root attacks. We wouldn’t be able to do anything if we got tied up again.

Well, this was the only plan I had. The roots weren’t particularly sturdy, but I wasn’t strong enough to pull their rubbery ends apart. But lucky for me, fire wasn’t the only thing I had on me. I quickly reached towards my belt and slipped the dagger free. Something so sharp should make quick work of the roots. After all, it slit through my throat quite easily before it brought me here.

Aggie gave me a quick nod. He started building his magic. He slowly dropped to a crouch, his back bent over so his fingers were almost brushing the ground. He looked like a rabid wild animal as he curled his lips back, revealing sharp fangs. His eyes glowed red. His hair and jacket floated around him from his building magic. Demons really could be terrifying.

I didn’t have time to stare; we were already under attack by more roots. With my dagger in one hand, I slashed at the nearest roots. I’m sure my grip wasn’t correct as I wielded it, but I just needed it to slice and dice. I kept my other hand at ready for small bursts of fire magic as needed to burn them back away.

I kept my movements to a minimum, also careful not to strain myself with slashing. With Aggie basically crouched beneath me, I just danced around him, keeping a small circle clear around us. The tree must have felt the Demon Lord’s building magic because its attacks grew in intensity.

Multiple roots launched out at us, coming from different directions. I cursed under my breath. Tsk, so much for saving my magic. I had no choice but to sheath the dagger and rely entirely on my flames. I gathered it carefully in my hands, breaking it off in small bits to fight back. The severe concentration I was doing was almost more tiring than releasing bigger chunks of magic. I knew in the long run that wasn’t true, but the mental fatigue was real. Maybe I should have tried to pay more attention in school.

Probably wasn’t the best time to do it, but I tried experimenting with my magic a bit. I dragged it through my fingers, imagining my flames as little more than fiery tendrils. I flung it out as a whip, catching a line of roots around us and bringing them down in flames. I felt lightheaded after the movement, so I opted to leave the fire whip out of the equation for now.

During my training with Aggie, he pressed upon me that all magic was malleable. Even though mine took the form of flames, it wasn’t simply fire. Magic was a form of energy. Any visual manifestation of it depended directly on the user. In my case, fire made perfect sense because of the rage burning deep within me. I couldn’t describe Aggie’s magic as easily, but still its vague form somehow suited him.

The fact that his magic didn’t constrain to a solid visible form also said a lot about the caster. Aggie was an enigma. I knew better than to press him, but it made for a really unbalanced relationship. Not that I told him everything about myself, but my anger was painfully obvious. With him, he was all smiles, but it was little more than a facade. His real feelings were kept locked behind that goofy mask. His magic gave away more than he wanted to, but it was just a peek into what lurked beneath.

With that in mind, I tried to weave my magic without focusing on the shape. I wanted it quick and reliable, burning up the roots in rapid succession. I didn’t know if a visual manifestation took more energy or not, but it did take more time. I focused my power on the roots rather than my magic. My magic answered me quickly, though not as speedy as I hoped, and the roots burst into flames. Bit by bit I kept fighting them back, preventing them from disrupting Aggie as he gathered his energy. The air smelled of singed bark. Scorch marks surrounded us, circling around us in a dark ring. Still, the roots kept coming.

I felt the ground shudder beneath me. With all of the magic in the air, I couldn’t tell if Aggie or the tree caused the tremor. The ground shuddered again and this time my feet sank a few inches into the ground. It staggered me, but I kept my stance and stayed upright. I made a mental note to work on my balance after all of this was over. Next time, I wouldn’t let them stagger me at all.

I shot my magic out around me, catching the roots that broke through the newly formed cracks in the earth. Flame danced about us in an arch, red and orange hues painted over us as the roots burned. I wanted to paint the entirety of the hill in my vibrant flames.

I was starting to feel giddy. I felt mad with power as I swung my magic into the oncoming roots. They rose up like a wave, trying to pour over us. I burnt them away, laughing as the fire took over my vision. Everything was burning. Everything was burning!

The surge of power beneath me caught my attention just in time. Aggie shot upward, catching me as he bounded up. He shot his magic downward at the same time, using it to boost us up even higher. His magic collided with his stolen energy beneath us.

The ground exploded beneath us a moment later. Chunks of dirt and rock flew at us. The hill shattered and broke apart. Roots got caught up in it, being torn apart and thrown about with clumps of earth. Aggie kept us up above it all.

As more of the roots became exposed, I readied up my own magic. I brought it up quickly, gathering up as much of it as I could in the few seconds I had. I didn’t know how long Aggie could keep us above the hill, nor did I know when the tree would ready another attack. While this attack had to be much bigger than my other ones, I also had to react fast. Easy enough…right?

The flames gathered in my hands, a large ball of red and orange circling together. I quickly expanded it, getting it as large as I could hold in between my two hands. I sent it spiraling downward, aiming it at the now exposed roots within the shattered earth.

The hill below us lit up. Root after root caught aflame, and it spread to the others near them. The flames ate away at the earth, expanding Aggie’s hole even larger. Dirt slipped free, shriveling up from the intense heat that was hitting it. In all happened in a span of a few seconds, but my eyes were locked on it as it all unfolded.

Aggie landed up higher on the hill, finding a stable part on the opposite side of the large gaping crevice. As the smoke and flames cleared, I got a better look at the damage. It looked like we had gouged out a chunk of the hill itself…I suppose we had. One side collapsed completely beneath the damage. The tree stood tall at the top, but we had managed to close some distance between us.

Aggie gentle set me down. I didn’t feel as lightheaded as expected. I was sweating though, and I brushed some hair from my face. I wasn’t panting yet at least, which was good. My stamina was gradually improving from all the training. It was off to a good start.

Aggie turned towards the tree. I followed his gaze. We still had some distance to go, but at least it seemed possible now. I don’t think we would be able to do such a grand attack again, but hopefully, we didn’t need to. Now at least, I could get a better look at the tree.

There were spots of darkness on the tree, despite my earlier observation. The leaves were spotted black, and the ones closest to the trunk formed a solid line of darkness. The magic tendrils twirled around the bark of the trunk, illuminating patches of black that tarnished the brown surface. Aggie’s magic was corrupting it, but it was moving much slower than the other creatures. Even a tree that was once along a demonic leyline couldn’t handle his power. It was sort of terrifying to think about.

The wind blew past and rustled the leaves. The tree groaned in the wind. It was almost as if the branches were moving. Aggie suddenly grabbed my arm and swung me behind him. I felt the magic flare to life a second later.

Aggie swung his arm up to put up a shield. The leaves flew from the tree, creating sharp projectiles. They bounced off the shield, but I could see dark spots float in the air where they hit. The ones that flew around us sliced through the ground, leaving deep, long gashes around us. If we got hit with one of those, it might cut right through us.

“Guess it’s time for round two.” Aggie glared at the tree.

“Just great. Maybe this time, you can think of a plan.”