Chapter 63: Fox Girl Rescue

“Mira! Come on!” I yell and grab Mira by the hand.

“Wha- Sio!” she stumbles, but starts running along with me. We reach the edge of the village as Orla and Lark stop in front of the frog. But this view isn’t the best.

“Mira, I’m gonna pick you up for a second,” I say, and bend down to hoist Mira. I wrap an arm behind her knees and another behind her back, then jump into the air.

“SIO!” she protests, but we land on a nearby roof the next moment. I set her down, then sit over the edge of the roof with my feet dangling in the air.

“Better view,” I say with a smile and reach into storage.

Mira starts pacing back and forth on the roof behind me as Lark attacks the beast in the distance.

“Granny is strong, but she hasn’t fought in a long time..” Mira mutters to herself as I pull chips and salsa out.

“If it starts looking bad, I’ll go help. For now, we should snack and enjoy the show, Mira,” I say confidently, then pat the roof next to me.

“You’re eating?” Mira asks, her expression is somewhere between confused and annoyed, but she sits down next to me. I scoot to the side and place the plate of chips and bowl of salsa between us. I bring a large chip to my mouth and crunch.

“MMhmm.. that’s the stuff,” I moan and watch the frog regrow its front leg, “You should try it, Mira,” I add.

“How can you be eating?!” Mira cries, “Granny and Elder Lark are fighting to keep all of us safe!”

I can’t help but nod in agreement.

“You’re right, something isn’t right here,” I say, and reach into storage again, this time pulling out a bottle of cider and cups. I pour two glasses and place them between us, then take a sip of mine.

“Much better,” I add while watching Orla pour magic into her staff.

“Guh! There’s something wrong with you,” Mira shouts, then violently takes a cup of the cider to her mouth, “Oh, this is actually good.”

“Try the chips too, they’re better fresh, but they’re still pretty good,” I say while nodding.

In the distance, Orla creates a snowstorm that fills the air and obfuscates the frog.

“Snow magic.. if I make enough spell stones, then Father could start a year-round ski resort in the south..” I mumble while chewing on a chip. Mira turns to me while crunching furiously on one of her own.

“What’s a ski resort?” she asks, and I turn to meet her golden-eyed gaze.

“It’s a sort of entertainment, you cover a mountain in snow and slide down it on a slippery board. They’d have to be made of wood, and probably coated in animal fat for slipperiness, but I think it could work,” I answer, then take another swig of cider, but Mira stopped listening at some point to watch the Elders fight. Lark is in the air, manipulating the blizzard that Orla made, and Orla is shooting a stream of fire up towards him.

“Granny’s fire, and Elder Lark’s wind should be enough,” Mira mutters and grabs hold of the roof’s edge with both hands.

I feel bad that she’s on edge, but this is like having a TV, and I haven’t been able to sit back and watch a show in so long.

Lark slams the frog with wind-enhanced fire, then pounds it with shards of ice, but I don’t sense its magic dipping.

“It’s pretty durable,” I say between bites of chip, making Mira grimace.

“They’ll- WAH!” Mira shouts as a powerful wind blows. Six Terrans emitting loads of magic fly out of the village and towards the battle. My head turns and follows their flight.

“Who’re those guys?” I ask.

“They’re the strongest users of their elements in the- NO LARK!” Mira shouts and jumps to her feet. Lark flies backward from the frog and is caught by Orla, but the beast’s body is pulsing like it did when it regrew its leg. Numerous scales shoot from its body like bullets.

The Terrans arrive in time to protect the Elders, but several buckshot’s worth of scales are heading right for the village. I release my magic, splintering the roof beneath me, the snacks at my side, and sending Mira back down onto her butt. I push and condense my magic into a semicircle that blocks off the village just before impact.

KRSHKK KRSHKK THUNK KRSHKK

The scales bounce or shatter on contact with the barrier. I turn to check on Mira, but she looks conflicted.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, “The others made it in time to protect your Grandmother.”

Mira gulps and looks up at me.

“Your magic is violent..” Mira says and stands up, “It’d be nice if you went to help them fight..” she adds, making me sigh.

“I already said I would help if they needed it,” I reply, “they’d probably be upset if I stole their thunder, so let’s watch for now,” I continue, then sit back down.

The new Terrans include the fox girl I saw earlier today. I really want to see how she fights.

“Granny!” Mira yells, and I follow her eyes to just beyond the barrier. I make a hole in it for Orla and Lark to fly through. Orla sets Lark down next to me on the roof.

“Mira, dear, and Sio. We’re sorry we couldn’t finish the beast,” Orla says and hangs her head, but I give her a sweet smile.

“I really liked your magic,” I say and move some of my own over Lark. His shoulder is torn apart and smoking from one of the frog’s attacks. I weave my magic into the energy in the air and heal it from chipped bones up to the skin.

“HARG.. UKK,” Lark groans then sits up, “thank you, Sio.” His pajamas are in tatters, and I have to say, for an old guy, he’s jacked.

“No, thank you,” I reply, “that was fun to watch,” I add, then pull a bottle of cider from storage and hand it to Lark. “This is my special brew, you’ve earned it,” I say, then turn my head back towards the fighting. Fire and lightning are growing in the sky next to my favorite fox girl, while ice and stone attack the frog on the ground.

“Let us hope they have the strength which we’ve lost,” Lark says while clutching the bottle I gave him, and Orla nods.

“Are they the strongest fighters here?” I ask, genuinely curious.

“As a group, yes, but as individuals, we have forces further south that eclipse them,” Orla answers without taking her eyes off the battle. Fire and lightning grow to skyscraper size in the air above the frog. Ice and stone pin the beast on its back as a large wind arrow filled with a stream of water grows next to the fire and lightning. The ground fighters jump up to join the rest in the air and create spears of stone and ice.

“You guys are a lot better with magic than humans are..” I mumble, but something tugs on my sleeve.

“Are they stronger than you, Sio?” Mira asks, but I just smile in response.

Every element of magic sans light shoots down at the frog, and a deafening thunder echoes through the village. The creature is hidden in a cloud of dust, but its magic output hasn’t decreased, while some of the Terrans are losing their bright glows. They must’ve hit it with everything they had.

I stand up and turn to Orla.

“Orla, I think this is about to go bad. May I help?” I ask. Orla gives me a surprised look before opening her mouth.

“You don’t think that was enough?” she asks, and I shake my head. Orla grimaces and stares ahead at the clearing battlefield when the frog seems to explode. Its outer skin flies off and is replaced by black scales. Its tongue, along with a volley of corrosive spit shoot into the air at the floating Terrans.

“NO!”

“ACK!”

“UGH”

Mira, Orla, and Lark react viscerally, but I knew I liked that fox girl for a reason. She flies ahead of her group to incinerate the attack with a wall of fire.

“Let’s go, fox girl!” I shout and pump my fist, but my celebration is premature. The frog’s corrosive tongue breaks through her fire, wraps around her, and flings her into the sky.

“NO!” I shriek and fly up to catch her, shattering through my own barrier around the village. I slow down at the apex of her fall and cradle her in my arms. She’s even more beautiful up close. Her skin is tan, and her face is slightly freckled. Her lips match her red hair and fox features, but she’s trembling in pain with her eyes pinned shut. Her clothing is some sort of animal wrap, but it's torn open at her stomach, where it looks like a cannonball has hit her. I weave my magic into the air and start healing her. There’s damage to multiple organs and the inside of her spine.

I heal and watch the fight below. The frog’s head has turned into a vase with multiple jagged and dripping tongues coming out of it. The other Terrans destroy some, but new ones grow instantly, and they start falling to the ground. I continue healing and descend near them, putting up a barrier to stop the many tongues from finishing the injured Terrans. The blue-haired guy I saw earlier is still trying to bark orders, but everyone else looks rattled.

“Mind if I tag in?” I ask, “It was a pretty cool show, but then you guys started to get beat up..”

Blue hair turns to me and tilts his head.

“Hu-human?” he mumbles.

“Oh, right, you don’t see many humans,” I reply and crouch down, “I’m Mira’s friend, and it’s kinda my fault that froggy got the green gem, so how about I take it from here?” I ask and look down to check on the fox girl. Her wound is closed, so I direct some healing towards the man in front of me, then he jumps to his feet, and his face contorts to show disgust. I stand and meet his fervor.

“Why the fuck would Mir-” yea I’m not having this. I toss the fox girl at him, and he catches her.

“UGH wha!” he tries to protest, but I walk past and slip through my own barrier. I push more magic and expand the barrier, separating myself from the Terrans, then wrap it around behind the frog. It’s my own little thunder dome.

I let magic pour from my body until the ground at my feet starts to split. I condense several layers of it into a shell just over my skin and step forward.

“You know froggy, this is a pretty shitty thank you considering the meal I provided you with the other day,” I say while activating more magic. I walk toward it, and flames spill out from my feet to cover the ground, while crackles of electricity dance over my magic shell. Its tongues shoot out and slash at me, but purple lightning arcs from my shell to the frog’s tongues on contact.

“REEEEE!” it croaks gutturally, from somewhere inside its new head, and jumps back to the edge of my barrier. Its whole body is different. Its scales are black and covered in dark spikes, while its tongues are sharp and almost hooked.

I release magic until the entire area enclosed in the barrier glows enough to be seen from orbit. I breathe in, and it's thick like before, but the magic-laden air invigorates me. My vision sharpens, and I see the murder frog pressed against my barrier, trembling.

“I always thought foxes were the cutest animals, and what luck, in this world, there’s a cute girl with similar features,” I say and walk even closer, “but you almost killed her.”

The fire growing outward from my feet explodes to the edges of the barrier, and purple lightning starts arcing between the outer edges and the shell over my body.

“REEEEE! REEWEEEE!” the murder frog croaks, but I’ve heard enough of that noise for this second life.

I copy Lark’s technique and create a tornado inside the barrier. It swirls violently and drags the flames up from the ground, turning them blue, then pure white. The frog leaps around erratically, bouncing off every edge of the barrier as its scales melt into its skin and purple lightning shatters pieces of its body. It dives at me and slashes each of its tongues into me. But they burn off like a stick of butter being dropped onto a hot knife.

Beneath the shell, my clothes are smoking, and my skin is bubbling. The heat from this sort of spell is hotter when it’s trapped. I bear the pain and keep my eyes on the frog. It slashes at me until its tongues are short stumps. It falls limp just before me, and its body starts turning to ash. After a few seconds, all that’s left is a pile of ash under a bright green gem.

I blow open the top of my barrier and cease activating my lightning magic. White flames rise into the sky, turn blue, and finally dissipate far overhead as they turn orange. I reach my hand up and shoot water all around the space inside the barrier. The red ground makes a squelching sound on contact, then steam rises. I drop my shell and let the water cool my own body as well. I pull my black shirt off and weave healing magic all over to fix my skin, then reach forward and grab the green gem.

“Hard to believe you turned froggy into that disaster,” I mumble and turn around. I walk back toward the Terrans and drop the barrier separating us. But there are seven people there now.

“SIO!” Mira shouts and runs up to me. She pats my body down and runs her hand over the scar on my collarbone. I decided to keep it as a memento of my fight with a dragon.

“Hey Mira.. why are you massaging me?” I ask with raised eyebrows, but she frowns and slaps my chest.

“I thought you burnt yourself to a crisp! But nope! You’re fine and still the same jerk!” she shouts in my face.

“That’s fair..” I say and look down at the gem in my hand, “Do you want this?” I ask and hold it up in front of Mira. The Terrans behind her gasp, and Mira’s jaw bounces off the ground.

“What?” I ask while scanning everyone’s faces, but Lark and Orla fly down from overhead, where they must’ve been listening.

“Mira, dear, he wouldn’t understand our customs..” Orla says gently and places a hand on Mira’s shoulder. I turn to Orla and hold the gem out to her.

“I don’t understand, but you can have it if Mira doesn’t want it,” I offer, and Orla smiles sweetly.

“Apologies, Sio, but I am already married,” she replies.

“Mar- OH!” I shout and jam the gem into my pocket, “Ahem – sorry about that Mira..” I add as my face starts to feel hotter than it was in the fire.

“It-it’s fine,” Mira stutters, “but do you really feel alright?” she asks.

I swing my arms around, but nothing hurts; the only thing I feel is a bit of hunger.

“Nah, I’m fine, I could use some food though..” I answer, but blue hair steps forward aggressively.

“Elders! This human said he’s responsible for that monstrosity eating an otherworld gem!” he shouts. Orla and Lark turn to me curiously in response, and I nod.

“Yea that’s true, I let froggy eat some church guy who was using it,” I say with a shrug, “but how was I supposed to know it’d turn into a murder frog?” I ask, and blue hair fumes.

“TCH! That-”

“Enough, Mattias,” Orla says while raising her hand, “Mira, please prepare a meal for Sio at my house, you’ll both be staying with me.”

Mira leads me away and back towards the village, but I feel everyone’s gaze on my back. She bumps into me gently and smiles.

“You look nicer with short hair,” she says. I lift my hand and run it through my hair; sure enough, most of it is gone.

“Huh, it must’ve burned off..” I mutter.