Holy fire burns again the magic circle is all around it, burning like the innocence of love
All of the flattery that she was getting from Mashyuu was beginning to get rather sickening to her; it was nice and all, but he needed to know there was a limit. Being complimented that she was a smart lady and that he would listen to her did not please her in the least. The only reason why she knew certain things was because of her heritage and the fact her magic let her do such a thing. If it wasn't for her all-seeing eye, she doubted that Mashyuu would even pay attention to her words at all. In fact, she began to wonder what she would be like if she didn't have the ability to see into the future or learn things about others. Would be a "dumb blonde" type of woman or would she retain some of the intelligence that he knew her for? As curious as she was about that, Kanix didn't think she would ever be able to figure out what she was like without her Fourth Wall heritage.
Kanix glanced at the three remaining paths that they had to go down, staring at each one for a second before moving to the next. The first path she had looked to lay east of where they were standing and looked to be the most daunting of the three remaining. It had an entanglement of jungle fauna nearly blocking the pathway, but what intrigued her most were the souls floating around it. While it was dark and menacing looking, something drew her toward that trail, yet at the same time, she knew she couldn't go down it. Tearing her gaze away from the footpath that would lead down to the Soul Dragon, her eyes danced to the south. That passage looked to be more welcoming than the first one she had looked at, as well as less formidable, but still. . . she felt she couldn't go down that one either. Instead of concentrating on that one, she let her gaze fall upon the final of the three passageways: the westward.
This one had a mess of jungle vines coating along the ground, but otherwise, it was the safest they could go down. Something prickled at the back of her neck, however, as she dug her heels into the sides of her pet to urge him forward. Ancalagon shook his head and started warily walking forward, as if he could sense his master's discomfort from looking at the path. She urged him to go a little faster and he picked up the speed, passing by Mashyuu and snagging hold of his hand. Kanix would pull him up onto the back of Ancalagon, forgetting that he was a Dragon Slayer and likely didn't realize Ancalagon wasn't just a ride. . . Their journey down this pathway would now begin, where already, the White Tiger would be stalking them from the bushes. Its stalking resulting in the goosebumps that she felt crawling down her skin as they walked down the trail.
She leaned back against Mashyuu as they traveled down the long passage, only to occasionally look toward the bushes. They seemingly wavered on their own, even though no breeze had passed through the area since they had started down it. "Mashyuu, do you feel like something is following us?" the woman inquired, snuggling closer to him the more she thought about it. Moments later, the sound of lightning crackling sparked in the air and she pulled the jacket tighter around her bosom. The only issue with this jacket was because her breasts were so large, she couldn't even zip it up around her. Looking back to the bushes, she even thought she had seen glowering eyes from the cracks of the leaves. Not liking the thought of there being something following them around, the woman quickly broke the vision connection she had with her pet.
As they edged along the pathway, she could already tell that even Ancalagon was beginning to feel uneasy on this path. Birds screeched overhead, like the stone totem birds they had defeated at the beginning of the forest they entered. Except, nothing came charging down at them and while the passageway was an anxiety ridden place, they reached a large clearing. It was empty from what Kanix could tell, but at the edge of the clearing, she could sense an immense mount of magical power. Perhaps, it was just the island messing with her limited transcendence, but at the same time, she thought it doubtful. Something sounded close by, like metal grinding against metal, or gears trying to churn to get something large moving. It brushed along the leaves of the jungle-like undergrowth, until a large, mechanical paw stepped out of hiding.
A low growl emitted into the air, though it sounded robotic and inhumane, yet all the while a tad animistic in nature. Peeking through the bushes came a metallic nose, followed by an automation face, red optics more machine-driven than anything else. Out stepped a massive tiger, known as the White Tiger, standing at ten feet tall, twenty feet long, four feet wide. This tiger was not like any other tiger either of the mages knew of, for standing before them was a robotic beast. Its jaw unhinged and gears could be heard churning and grinding against each other, working to activate the voice operator. A soft white noise emitted into the air at first, then a crackling, and soon a deep voice was speaking to the two of them. "What brings you here to the western side of the island?" it inquired, voice rolling over the white noise behind it.
It twitched and moved as if the wiring it was made from has become old and worn down, like it was starting to glitch. A malfunction occurred in its system, causing the tiger to freeze up for a second and the red of its eyes die down. "System error. . . enemy detected. . . annihilation in progress. . ." the words spewed out of its mouth as it stood before them. "I cannot let you past, you have trespassed on the sacred land of the White Tiger, and now, you must pay for it." Metallic vine-like whips formed from its backside and launched toward the Thunderbird carrying the two mages. Kanix scrambled to her feet on Ancalagon's back and climbed up to the top of his head, tapping him lightly with her foot. "Ancalagon, Star Scream!" she ordered, forcing the bird to lower its head and start gathering a ball of lightning at its mouth.
When the orb was fully charged, a single blast of lightning shot toward the robotic tiger, though to the naked eye, it looked like a snake. The snake crashed into the shoulders of the opponent, and sparks of lightning coursed over the metallic body. Despite this, the whips managed to wrap around the legs of her pet and pull him down, dragging him toward the beast. Kanix tumbled off the head of her pet and thudded against the ground, groaning and pulling herself to her feet. She fell down into a crouching tiger stance and breathed in deeply, her hands pushing downward, palms open and facing the ground. With her left hand, she drew lightning from the air and pulled it into a semicircle, this was followed with the same action from her right hand. They were pulled together and the tips of her middle and forefingers were connected, the lightning crackling together.
Kanix let her right hand drop away and stretched her left hand outward, releasing the bolt of lightning at the tiger. This, too, crashed against the metallic beast and resulted in the eyes malfunctioning to the point it was unable to see them. Her gaze shifted toward Mashyuu's presence, hoping that he was okay, despite Ancalagon having been pulled down. "Metalbender!" she called to him, her lineage allowing for her to be able to recognize the single elemental aspect of their opponent. "Careful when attacking him; metal's a type of earth material, and since you couldn't eat the previous creature's earth, I doubt you can eat this." Perhaps he couldn't eat metal at all, she didn't know the extent at which earth slayers were able to eat earth. Whatever he decided to do though, she would be there to back him up, and with the enemy blinded now, they had an advantage.
@Mashyuu , 11,986 words total , notes |