Callie's Heroes

PART III - LET THEM FIGHT

Pixyl looked shocked for a moment as her sword rebounded off the Fiend’s skin. This wasn’t right. They should have passed right through it like water. She’d fought Fiends dozens of times in the Pits and these small ones were practically harmless before her Ethereal Blades.

Her normal blades…

These blades were green!

Fiend and Pixie looked at each other surprised, but the Fiend was the first to get its wits together. It reached for the tiny Fae, and without thinking, Pixyl’s Dodge ability executed, and she rolled to the left, leaving the monster finding only air. Again Pixyl looked at her green swords, realizing the game had to change. She couldn’t kill it with these useless blades. But she could at least keep the Demon busy until someone arrived!

The Fiend turned to face her and crouched, and Pixyl jabbed it in the face, sending it staggering backwards, in surprise more than anything. Pixyl again lashed out, smacking the training blade into the Fiend’s side like a thick stick. It did no damage, but it did hurt. She spun, dropping to a knee and jabbing both blades upwards into the creature’s belly, causing the Fiend to grunt and reach for her. She rolled again, rising back to her feet, her wing suddenly throbbing in residual agony. The beast lowered its head and charged. Pixyl yelped, dodged again, willing her mind to forget the pain as she twice more smacked the Fiend on its head. Again the green blades of uselessness bouncing off like the Demon was made of rubber.

Both stepped back, squaring off against each other, just getting their bearings. “Come on!” the Pixie hissed in a battle rage, and the Fiend took the bait. He ran for her and Pixyl pushed off the ground with her flight telekinetics just enough to jump over the charging beast, despite him being over twice her height. She landed, spun, and flashed a savage grin. Spying a small rock, she called on her Minor Telekinesis and flung it at the Fiend. Instinctively, the Demon raised a hand to block the harmless stone, and Pixyl used the distraction to once again jab both swords into its belly. They didn’t go through anything, but that much Pixie power at the end of a blunt tip hurt like hell.

Trainer Olin had heard the screams and saw a few recruits running from the training fields. He didn’t have to know what happened to know that it had to be something bad. He looked, saw a clear path through panicked people, and executed his own Dash ability, running at unbelievable speed towards the danger, a magenta mist dispersing behind him. He arrived in the blink of a moment, seeing the Elf Prince staggering to his feet and a throng of people standing in a large circle. He heard the crash of an Ethereal Blade and feared the worst.

“What happened?” Olin demanded as he got to Vanis. For the first time, he saw what everyone else saw. There was a Demon, a small Fiend, and then a flash of blue color. Olin’s eyes grew wide as comprehension began to come to him..

Vanis panted. “Someone summoned…without a circle.”

“Is that...” Olin gasped, his words finally catching up with his brain. In the middle of the makeshift combat ring was a grinning Pixyl fighting a Demon at least twice her size. With green swords!

“Those swords will be useless!” Olin snapped out to nobody.

Callie ran up, the rest of her housemates right behind her, and burst through the line of onlookers to see Pixyl dueling with a monster of some kind. Her friend didn’t seem hurt, but she couldn’t see how her friend wasn’t moments from death. The Fiend stood twice her size and was just savage, the claws seeming to be as large as Pixyl’s face. Pixyl again dodged an attempt to rip her throat out, smacking at the claws of the Fiend for its attempt. It pulled its arm back and shook his hand, trying to get the sting off it.

“Don’t like that, do ya?” Pixyl snarled with a mocking grin. No stutter. No uncertainty.

The Fiend roared and charged, determination in its eyes. With a flash, Pixyl’s left sword vanished, replaced with a buckler made of green Ethereal mists. The monster’s attack glanced off the shield, allowing Pixyl to get another stab into its belly, sending the monster off balance yet again. The Pixie lashed out with her foot, initially hoping to trip the Fiend, but had to settle for a kick to its knee. The creature howled in pain and backed off.

Olin had finally taken stock of the action, and was about to step into the ring and end this before someone got hurt. But before he could move, a hand fell on his shoulder and a low voice said “Just wait.” He turned to see the Master Trainer standing next to him, having just arrived and keenly watching the fight. “Let them fight,” Thorn said quietly.

“Are you sure?” Olin asked, astounded.

“End it when she starts to falter.”

“Understood,” Olin said with a nod, and then circled the impromptu ring to take a position where he would be able to enter the fight in a moment.

“What are you doing?” Vanis snapped at Thorn.

“Training,” Thorn responded, not taking his eyes off the fight.

Pixyl sidestepped the Fiend again. She needed to conserve her energy. Pit fights never lasted this long with her normal swords unless she wanted them to, but with these useless things the fight was dragging. She buckler-blocked another swipe, the claws leaving sparks against the magical barrier. Stabbing again, she drove the Fiend back two more steps as the green blade pummeled it. She wasn’t quite winded yet, but could feel the first hints of it coming. Where were the people in charge?

Another charge by the Demon, and once again Pixyl sidestepped, smacking it on the back of its head yet again. That just made it more mad, if that was even possible. She ditched the shield and brought her second blade back into being, jabbing the Fiend with both sword ends simultaneously in the chest and its face. The monster roared and banged its chest in defiance, giving the Pixie a fraction of a moment to look around. Pixyl saw Vanis, now back on his feet but wavering, standing next to some officer that was just watching her. Why wasn’t he helping? Then she saw Olin. His lion-headed body was ready to literally pounce, but he also was doing nothing.

Before she could give it more thought, Pixyl barely dodged a series of four claw strikes as the Fiend executed a flurry of fast attacks. She flight-jumped backwards to get distance, her wings spreading out on instinct to control her fall. She screamed in pain, before focusing that pain back towards her enemy in a series of fast return swings. The Demon backed off to reposition, angry and red-eyed. It roared out again in defiant anger and started to circle, all its focus still on the blue-haired Pixie.

Pixyl risked a look at Olin, seeing he was still in a ready position and doing nothing. Then she got it. This was a test. Not a planned test, but had become one nonetheless. Olin was ready to step in when she failed. Well, not this Pixie! She was in charge here. This was her show! She needed a plan.

Olin stood by, ready to intervene at a moment's notice, but so far, the Pixie surprisingly had everything under control. At least a dozen of her strikes would have incapacitated or killed the Fiend, save for wearing the suppressor bands. He watched as she side-stepped another swipe, smacking the back of the monster’s legs in a deft response. He stayed ready, waiting for the slimmest sign she was losing control of the fight, but so far, there had been no need to step in. In fact, the Demon hadn’t even laid a claw on the little Pixie yet.

Pixyl had come up with a five-step plan, and it was a really bad one. It would require perfect timing and a whole lot of luck to pull off, but it was all she could quickly think of to end this without calling for Olin. The problem was the suppressor bands. With them on, none of her deadly powers could finish this, and they were under the sleeves of her shirt, unreachable. The Demon was circling like a starving wolf now and Pixyl grinned back in a savage display of Pixie fury. “Come on, take the bait!” she hissed. The Fiend finally roared defiantly and charged.

Pixyl dropped her left sword in exchange for the green Ethereal Shield again. The Demon raced towards her, intent on bowling her over; only to be stopped cold by a smash to the face with her shield. The Fiend staggered back, in shock more than anything and roared again.

Turning her right shoulder towards the beast, Pixyl gave the Fiend an obvious opening and saw its hand go up for another swipe. The dagger-like claws could tear her apart and she had to judge the distance perfectly. Too far away it wouldn’t work, too close, she could bleed out in moments. Pixyl hoped there was a healer here because she was going to need them soon. The Fiend’s deadly claws raked down her right arm. The instant pain was excruciating, and out of the corner of her eye she saw a sudden splash of red and felt the tearing of muscle and sinew. But finally, there was that momentary tug that she needed to feel, before the pressure ceased.

Now for the next part. She pulled away, using her flight telekinetics to execute a backflip, dropping her into the perfect position for the next step in this ridiculous plan. She’d never cast this next spell before and all she could hope was that it worked. Dropping her Ethereal Shield, she extended her left hand while her mind formed the word …

FLASHBANG!

There was an explosion of light and sound directed outward from Pixyl’s outstretched hand and the Demon reached for its ears, staggering back and wobbling chaotically. Behind it, several watching recruits fell to the ground, hugging their own ears, while others staggered, rubbing their eyes. Thankfully, Pixyl was unaffected by the spell’s effects. With a moment to work, Pixyl used her left hand to reach through the ripped hole in her right sleeve, digging for the suppression band. It was hot and sticky and everything was slick with blood, and she was having problems finding it. The Demon began to collect itself, shaking its head to clear it. Time was running out! There! A band of leather! She grasped it as hard as she could and pulled. The suppressor had been cut by the Demon’s claws and came out effortlessly, spraying a cascade of Fae blood across the field as she threw it to the ground.

Her sword stopped being green…

Pixyl grinned, shouted her own feral scream, and charged. The Demon almost had his wits about it and it was going to be close, too close. The monster saw the Pixie charging and started to reach for her, so Pixyl dropped to the ground. Momentum carried her forward as she slid between the Fiend’s legs, her tiny frame barely fitting through. She stopped, spun around and drove the spike of energy straight through the Demon’s back. Time froze a moment as the Fiend looked down to the pillar of light emerging from its abdomen. But all it had was that moment, as Pixyl ran the blade up the monster’s body and out the top of its head.

Pixyl faced away from the Demon, who did not yet realize it was dead, breathing heavily. She looked up and saw the crowd of stunned onlookers. She saw a hesitant smile forming on Olin’s furry face. She saw Callie, still holding her sensitive Gnome ears in pain and staring at her. Callie had a cascade of emotions in those eyes; terror, worry, shock, wonder, panic, relief, amazement. But all Pixyl could really see was that those eyes were just so beautiful.

Pixyl blinked and cleared her mind as behind the tiny Bladeweaver the Fiend slumped to its knees, still upright, still struggling to accept the fact it was already dead. With a savage scream, Pixyl leapt into the air, spinning, her sword of light neatly cleaving through the Demon’s neck. She landed on one knee facing the circle of recruits, her wings spread wide and seeming to pulse with an adrenaline-fueled excitement, her deadly blade outstretched and crackling with anger. Behind her, the severed head fell to the ground with a thump and rolled, coming to rest staring into the horrified face of the Warlock Dunilawal.