‘You are the last person in the whole world I want running loose right now.’
“I can save Alyssa! Hurry, she’s going to die!”
‘I can’t trust you, I can’t let you out again, there’s no way.’
Kitten appeared in front of Triska, having a frustrated expression as she yanked on her hair and waved back towards Alyssa and Ember.
“Let me out now, Triska! I won’t be crippled by my master’s magic, he doesn’t love me, remember? Nobody else is going to get to her in time!”
Triska wearily glanced over to Daniel being held at bay by the witch’s fireballs and flying sword. He kept trying to push on with his assault, however he could only move side to side, never forward as the witch was throwing everything she could at him to keep him from getting to Alyssa.
“She’s dying! If you want Alyssa to live then you need to trust me!”
Triska shut her eyes and struggled to get up, her body shaking and falling against the boulder as Daniel’s magic sent wave after wave of pleasure through her.
‘If he loses touch with my aura… he may not be able to fight Ember off anymore.’
“He won’t have to. I’ll kill that bitch myself. Alyssa can hate me for all time for killing her daughter if she wants to, but at least she’ll be alive!”
Triska quickly looked to Alyssa then to Ember, then to Daniel as he knocked away the witch’s blade yet again before blocking more of her fiery attacks.
“She’s dying and my master can’t get to her! Now, Triska!”
“Fine!” Triska shouted, with Specca and Doku looking to her as she rolled onto her front against the boulder. “Whatever it takes, just save her!”
“Triska?” Doku nervously asked. “Um, who are you speaking to? Or… do I already know the answer?”
“Oh no,” Specca breathed out as she shook on the ground, wearily watching Triska who clenched her hands and teeth with a frustrated glare in her eye. “Not her… not now…”
Triska dropped all her resistance to Kitten’s presence in her mind, focusing on the outcome of Alyssa being rescued from her evil daughter more than what Kitten might do to her family once she was freed again. Her mind rapidly blurred, the overwhelming pleasure spiking through her body suddenly being numbed as she felt herself dropping back into her consciousness with something rushing past her.
“She’s coming,” Doku worried as wings started to rip through the back of Triska’s shirt. A demonic tail poked through the girl’s pants while her wings stretched out above her.
Kroanette, Squeak, and Clover took notice of Kitten’s wings emerging along with a loud yell from the girl, all of them watching in awe as the demon slowly stood up with her tail whipping sharply behind her.
“Oh fuck,” Clover groaned. “Now which psychopathic bitch are we going to die by?”
“She’s releasing Kitten,” Kroanette panted while struggling to sit upright. “Is this… really a better option?”
Kitten clenched her fists and glared over towards Ember, eyes glowing softly while the wound in her shoulder began to quickly heal. The flesh and burned tissue rapidly closed up with a cerulean flame licking across it briefly, the demon paying no mind to the injury that she hardly felt at all as she focused intently on Ember.
“Doku,” she spoke glancing to the nervous harpy. “Get out there and heal Alyssa. I’ll deal with Ember.”
“What?” Doku squeaked. She slumped back against the boulder and shook her head quickly. “I don’t think I should go out there right now, it’s much too dangerous.”
Kitten formed her glowing blade in hand, the curved edge giving off a sharp crimson glow before she pointed the weapon towards Doku’s face.
“I’m not asking, I’m telling. Get out there and heal my master’s property, or else I’m roasting you over a fire tonight for him to feast on!”
“Seriously, what the hell?” Specca cried out as her hands went down between her legs. “Are you on our side or not?”
“Daniel!” Kroanette exclaimed in shock. Doku and Kitten looked over to see Daniel stumbling to the side as he appeared to get dizzy briefly before falling to his knee, his shield flickering brightly before shattering as another of Ember’s fireballs struck it with great force.
“Master!” Kitten cried out, eyes staring with surprise as Daniel seemed to struggle with standing before he blocked another swing of Ember’s dark blade, the fierce clash knocking him back along the ground before a fireball exploded in front of him. He was thrown further into a roll while explosions of fire erupted rapidly behind him, each one blowing up where he was as he tumbled backwards along the charred dirt.
“Dammit,” Daniel grunted before digging his feet into the ground, regaining his footing as he focused his mind again. He quickly dashed to the side to avoid another fireball while feeling his magic being shaken suddenly and harder to hold onto.
‘What’s going on? What just happened to me?’
“Master, watch out!” Kitten shouted, with Daniel looking to her with surprise before seeing Ember’s blade spinning towards him. He quickly blocked it then parried the sword as it struck at him again and again. Fire streaked all around him before a shot hit him in the side, blasting the boy away with a yell and trailing smoke.
“Hahaha!” Ember laughed as she smiled wickedly at Daniel. “Time for you to burn, you little weakling!”
She looked down to Alyssa and snarled through her teeth as she pressed down on the witch’s throat, choking Alyssa who struggled to draw in a breath as she weakly held onto the girl’s boot. Ember chuckled before noticing something out of the corner of her eye, her focus quickly shifting to Kitten who was flying towards her low to the ground with her glowing sword held out.
“Nobody harms my master!” Kitten yelled as she closed in to strike.
Ember gasped then jumped back, flames erupting around her as Alyssa gasped for air. Kitten flew over and swiped her blade at Ember, slicing through the flames that blew away to reveal the witch was gone.
“Dammit!” Triska cursed in her head. “She keeps running away!”
‘She can’t run from me,’ Kitten coldly said as her eyes glowed sharply for a moment. She saw wisps of translucent lights and colors floating about, her sight picking up magical vapors from the ether along with a trail of orange light that led away from her to the left.
Without a word she quickly took off in the direction she saw the orange glow leading to, watching with a sharp glare as a burst of auburn and crimson light flared up ahead where Ember appeared from. The witch touched down on the ground from her teleport before gasping in surprise as Kitten was already closing in.
“How?” Ember cried out before she vanished into her flames again, just avoiding Kitten’s blade as the cambion struck through the pillar of fire with a vicious slash.
“You can see her!” Triska exclaimed.
‘I can see her magic. She can’t hide that from me.’
Kitten yelled and furiously swiped her sword towards where the orange trail of glowing light led, sending out an arc of purple and black energy that sliced through the ground all the way towards where Ember reappeared with a burst of flames. The witch screamed as she quickly jumped aside, the magical attack racing by and slashing through her fire and smoke before striking into the ground and exploding violently.
“You can’t run from me, Ember!” Kitten shouted before flying towards the witch again.
“Where did you come from?” Ember cried out before vanishing to avoid another of the cambion’s swings. Kitten swooped by with her attack then banked hard to the side, flying low to the ground and racing towards where Ember reappeared again.
“Stop it!” Ember ordered as she erected a casting circle before herself. It glowed with bright crimson rings and emblems for a mere moment before Kitten slashed through it with her blade, shattering the spell instantly with a sharp flash.
“Get away from me!” Ember shrieked before vanishing into her flames once more.
“Doku
, you’d better be healing Alyssa!” Kitten called out as she took off after the witch again.
Doku squeaked then nodded before quickly running out from behind the boulder towards Alyssa. She hopped and whined the entire way as the ground was hot to her bare feet, the harpy reaching the wounded witch and jumping lightly about a few more times before she found a relatively cool spot of dirt to stand on.
“Alyssa, you’re going to be okay,” Doku assured as she knelt down and held her wings over the witch. “My reserves are still low, but I’ll do what I can to help you. Just please hold on.”
“Ember,” Alyssa coughed out as her eyes wearily gazed up at the sky.
Doku focused her magic the best she could, a strained gasp escaping her lips as she felt a painful spike in her chest before pushing through and channeling all the power she could to heal Alyssa’s wounds.
Daniel slowly got to his feet holding his side, his vest and shirt burned and seared off from the hit he took while his glowing sword crackled in his grip. Looking up he saw Ember’s blade spiraling towards him again. He swung his sword and knocked it back, then again, and then once more as the dark weapon kept coming around at him. With one more swing he parried the flying sword before it raced away suddenly. He watched the blade soar through the air before Ember appeared near it, the witch emerging from her flames with Kitten gearing back with her sword to strike her.
“You accursed pest!” Ember shouted as she levitated her sword around to block Kitten’s swing, the two swords clashing and sparking wildly as the cambion pressed against it. She hovered above the ground with her wings, eyes glaring at Ember with rage as she tried to overpower the witch’s sword which kept her at bay.
“You harmed my master,” Kitten snarled through her teeth. “You’re fucking dead!”
“And whose fault was that?” Triska snapped in her mind. “You cut my share of power he was using when you took over our body. He got hurt because of you.”
‘I’m trying to save all of you from this bitch; a little gratitude would be appreciated here!’
Kitten roared as she swung her blade to the side, throwing Ember’s away before swinging at the witch herself. Ember jumped away and unsnapped her bracelet with one hand, swinging her arm in front of herself as she landed on her feet with her metal charms flying into the air.
“Burn!” Ember yelled, holding her hand out towards Kitten with fire flowing up from the ground around her into her palm before launching out in flaming streaks.
Kitten blocked two of the shots with her wing held in front of her, shrugging off the hits as she swung her blade to the side and knocked Ember’s away with a loud clang. She then lunged forward and struck towards the witch, her blade striking a metal charm and halting against the burnt charm.
“You can’t hide behind your tricks!” Kitten shouted, eyes glaring at the witch while glowing deeply. She held her free hand down towards the ground, a bright flash erupting beneath her feet before a large purple and red casting ring appeared under her and Ember. The witch looked down to the spell with surprise then back to the cambion as electrical arcs crackled around the girl’s hand.
“You’re not the only one skilled with magic,” Kitten snarled before she lifted her hand up and snapped her fingers.
The casting ring flashed with a deep glow before exploding outward in a dome, engulfing Kitten who shined with a cerulean light as it passed over her body. Her hair flowed freely behind her, wings arched back and held steady, breasts bouncing just enough to be noticed, and her magic searing away all the metal charms with loud snaps. Ember screamed and lunged back, her ponytail being burned off at the end as it was caught in the explosion, before tumbling away and landing down on her face.
Daniel watched with awe as the blast from Kitten’s magic struck hard while she remained perfectly fine in the epicenter. Ember screamed as she crawled away and back onto her feet, focusing fire all along her body towards her hand as she turned around and launched blazing volleys at the demon, each shot being slashed away by Kitten’s glowing sword or blocked harmlessly by her wings. Kitten knocked away Ember’s flying blade as it came around again then blocked another fireball thrown at her before flying towards the witch, swooping low to the ground as she closed in on her fiery adversary.
“I’m so going to kill you for this!” Ember cursed before vanishing into her flames again.
Kitten swung just where the witch was then came to a quick halt on the ground as she turned around to see Ember appearing near where her blade was. The witch grabbed the handle and held her weapon up high, the sword letting off a swirling torrent of fire that quickly surrounded her as she growled furiously at the cambion.
“Burn in hell!” Ember roared as she swung the blade down, striking it into the ground and casting out a monstrous wave of scorching flames and charred rubble from the impact. Kitten eyed the wave of molten rock and fire barreling towards her with a growl then shot into the air, her feet just missing the wave as it passed under her and crashed down into the ground with a loud roar.
“Where do you think I came from? Heaven?” Kitten mocked before swinging her blade around fiercely at Ember, throwing out multiple searing arcs of magical energy that rained down towards the witch.
Daniel saw Ember vanish again to avoid the barrage before appearing further away and throwing her fiery spears into air from another crimson casting circle she formed. He glanced to his blade that flickered and crackled in his hand then shook his head as he felt a wave of fatigue washing over him.
“I’m going to drop if I keep this up,” he grunted before turning towards Alyssa and Doku. “Dammit, I need more practice with this.”
With a reluctant huff he let go of the stars he saw in his mind from those he loved, the feeling of their auras suddenly being severed as his magical armaments faded away with a glowing haze. Daniel glanced over to see Kitten diving down and slashing at Ember with her sword, striking through the witch’s casting ring with a bright flash before the wicked girl pulled her disappearing act again. Kitten yelled in anger and knocked Ember’s flying blade away with a sharp clash of her own before flying off to the side towards where Ember would appear next.
“They appear to be evenly matched,” Daniel realized. “Just how strong is Ember anyway? If she’s able to fight against a demon like this she must have a great deal of magical power.”
Pushing that troublesome thought aside he quickly ran over towards Alyssa and Doku, the harpy struggling to use her magic to heal the witch as she felt a painful sensation rolling through her chest and head.
“Alyssa!” Daniel called out as he ran over to them. “Are you alright? Speak to me!”
“Daniel,” Alyssa breathed out with closed eyes.
“She’s… still alive,” Doku strained out as her wings trembled over the witch.
“Doku? What’s wrong with you?” Daniel asked as he saw the harpy wavering and flinching in pain.
“My reserves… are very low. This is quite painful… but don’t worry, I’ll… save her for you.”
“Doku,” Daniel softly said. “You’re pushing yourself so hard for us.”
“I can do this, I can do this, please let me… I can do this, Daniel,” Doku promised while trying to force a smile.
“Daniel!” Specca called out. Daniel watched as the nixie stumbled in her run towards them, her eyes going from him down to Alyssa before she gasped in horror as she saw the wounded witch lying in her own blood.
“Alyssa!” she cried out as she got closer. Quickly dropping to her knees next to Alyssa she held her hands over her mouth to stifle a horrified scream at seeing just how injured her co-mate really was.
“She’s going… to be fine,” Doku softly assured with a flinch. “I won’t… let her die.”
“Alyssa,” Specca whimpered, gently taking hold of the witch’s hand with hers.
A loud explosion echoed out, catching their attention and showing Kitten finishing her swing that caused a powerful blast of purple and black li
ght to slice out in front of her. Small wisps of flames and smoke were parted around the large magical slash while Ember’s sword spiraled around it and struck at Kitten once again. The cambion knocked the blade away with her own before flying up into the air, avoiding a barrage of flaming streaks that speared towards her from Ember’s new location in the field.
“I don’t understand,” Specca said shaking her head. “How can Ember be powerful enough to fend off a demon with her magic? I know Kitten isn’t a full-fledged demon, but still, how can Ember match her like this?”
Daniel watched Ember carefully, seeing her flowing orange hair ruffling in the hazy wind while her eyes were glaring up at Kitten. She kept a magical circle erected in front of her hand, the glowing crimson ring throwing out volleys of flames towards the airborne demon while it was drawing fire from Ember’s body.
“She’s just like Alyssa,” he realized as he knelt down beside his witch. “The more she’s in contact with fire the stronger her magic gets. Her own power is revitalizing itself faster than it can empty her reserves.”
“What do you mean?” Doku asked. “I thought fire was a witch’s natural enemy.”
“Not for these witches,” Daniel said, gently taking hold of Alyssa’s other hand. She lightly gripped his as her head slowly rocked to the side, a shaky groan escaping her lips as her leg twitched slightly.
“Ember’s magic will only get stronger the more she’s in contact with fire,” Specca worried. “The longer this fight goes on for, the more powerful she’ll become.”
“That sounds bad,” Doku nervously replied. “What will we do then?”
“Daniel!” Kroanette called out. She galloped off-balance towards them while behind her Squeak and the butterfly sisters were stumbling after. Clover was held in Squeak’s arms while Pip was still hanging onto the elf’s tunic, the girls watching as a bright eruption of towering flames raced across the field behind them and exploded violently before Kitten soared right through and slashed her way across the flames.
“They’re going to kill us all!” Falla cried out as she and her sister held hands and screamed while racing towards their friends.
Chronicles of Eden - Act VII Page 55
