Heavens Forge: The flame demon meets another White Dragon

Kite Wilhelm

And while you are sitting indoors
waiting for the storm to pass
I will be outside dancing in the rain

❧

"Astrid..."
As soon as the ace's head hit her pillow some odd hour after midnight, she could not remember when exactly she had fallen asleep. Exhausted from another day of hard work it seemed as though only a millisecond after she closed her eyes, she was opening them again. But it was not to the usual feeling of being jolted away by her bodily alarm clock that she was so careful of maintaining. It was to a sweet, feminine voice. Which, in itself was the strangest part. When getting ready for bed, the slayer was very particular about taking out her hearing aids and placing them by her bedside table, as to not cause any problems over the night. So normally, being completely deaf without them, she would not be able to hear any sound. Granted, there were times when she forgot to take them out and ended up sleeping with them on... But if that was the case there was no way she would be waking up the a female voice. If anything, it would be her brother's voice, the only other person in her house.
"Open your eyes."
Crimson eyes fluttered open, met with the bright color of a pale blue sky. She winced back, the bright color blinding her for a few seconds, blinking to slowly get use to the transaction between complete blackness and vivid colors.
Where... Was she?
Turning her head to the side the slayer was surprised to see she was not in her own room. Well, of course she wasn't. The last time she checked her room didn't have a skylight or a glass roof. The best way to describe the world around her, was empty. Above her, blue sky. Below her, blue sky. Though flexing a single finger into the ground brought about another surprise. Instead of sky, the ground rippled, as though it was water. It wasn't wet. In fact, it was... Nothing. She could not feel anything from it, like her finger had just passed through air and nothing else. Despite looking like the sky, it rippled as though it were water. But it did not feel like water...
What was this?
Finally deciding to push herself up from her sprawled out position upon the non-existent ground the musician's gaze only grew wider as she was met face to face with a small glowing orb, hovering above her softly.
"Finally, you are awake." The orb hummed, the same tone of voice being used from when her eyes had been closed.
Astrid stared at the orb, stuck in a both a mode of confusion and awe.

"Erm..." After a few moments of staring, trying to take in everything, the musician finally let out a single noise of question. But before she could actually ask any questions, the orb seemed to have read her mind.

"I am sorry to interrupt your slumber, little dragon. But it is the only way i can reach you. I have come to you with a very urgent request. Will you hear me out?"
An urgent request. While she could not come to terms with whatever was happening, she was known to never turn down a request. Especially one that was seen as urgent. She saw no harm in at least hearing the spirit out. Pressing her lips together nervously the dragon slayer nodded.
After the nod of confirmation another smaller light molded and shifted its way out of the orb, floating down delicately towards Astrid. Lifting a hand to catch it the mage studied it carefully as the light disbanded and left with it, a single teleportation lacrima.
“Come to the Wakusei Portals, and everything will be explained…”

…

Everything would be explained?
The slayer thought back to her dream as she held the small lacrima within her the middle of her palm, tilting her hand from side to side to watch as the magical item moved with it.
After the orb’s demand, the dream had ended abruptly, and the ace was left to sit in a mist of both confusion and exhaustion when she awoke not long after, an ominous feeling gathering within her chest as soon as her eyes met with the teleportation lacrima on the side of her table. The same lacrima she had received in her dream.
It had taken a lot of convincing herself to actually go through with it. While the dream may have seemed a little strange, she could not shake the feeling it had been very important, and that not going to the portals would be a huge mistake she would end up regretting. So after some food and a bit of violin practice to clear her mind, she had used the lacrima to teleport herself to her destination.
At least… She thought this was the destination. But it seemed a little too… Barren. Granted, she had never been to the portals before. But she guessed she was expecting… Maybe something a little different.
Taking the one and only path there for a good couple of minutes the ace soon found herself near the temple-like structure within the rocky foundation. Stopping at the entrance she placed a hand on the edge of the entryway, carefully stepping inside one foot at a time.
Once inside her gaze instantly caught the colorful portals each placed near one another. It was almost hypnotizing… The way they pulsated in rhythm one after the other, like a song only they could hear was playing softly and they were taking turns dancing along with it.
She shuffled her shoes against the stony floor, inching her way into the temple a little more, her mouth gaped open in awe at the shining portals.
But her inching would soon come to a stop as the tip of her shoes managed to snag onto the jutted edge of a stone. Instantly losing her balance the violinist let out a small squeak of surprise before she fell to the cold floor face first, her impact echoing within the wide room of the building.

1,005/7,000 words ● @tag ● notes

Kite Wilhelm

And while you are sitting indoors
waiting for the storm to pass
I will be outside dancing in the rain

❧

At first after the fall, the slayer did not move, caught off guard with the lack of pain from the contact with the stone floor. But it wasn’t long until the stinging pain on her face and the rest of her body finally caught up with her. With the numbness finally fading and the pain settling in she hissed in pain, lifting her head up, crimson eyes shut tight, teeth clenched together, a shade of bright red covering where she had been hit.
Even though the manly voice to reach her ears was strange to her, she still took his offering hand to help herself up, whether she realized she was even doing so or not. Grabbing onto to his hand she managed to rise up slowly, legs wobbling as they tried to find their footing on the ground once more. Instinctively, to try and dull the remaining lingering pain upon her face Astrid’s hand took on a silver glow, bringing it up to her face to rest on her forehead. Once here the silver glow traveled around her frame, and the red mark would fade, along with any cuts, bruises, and pain littered around her body.
Letting out a sigh from her nose she finally reopened her eyes, feeling the pain  drain slowly from her being.
Red optics landed on Kite, pausing as he introduced himself to her. Oh, there was someone else here? The spirit didn’t mention there would be someone else going along with her… Slowly, it dawned on her that this guy had probably seen her fall… And was probably the reason she was able to get up… Yeah, now that she thought about it there was another hand or something helping her up, but she had been too out of it to realize at the time.
Embarrassed about letting someone see such a clumsy side of her the ace’s face flushed red once more, but this time, with a nervous blush.
“E-Excuse my clumsiness, Monsieur Kite. I did not look where i was stepping.” She stuttered out, giving the guild master a rather formal bow before standing back up straight.
“I am Astrid Foss, here to… To… Erm…” The slayer paused, lips pressed firmly together as a blank expression covered her face. Why was she here? The spirit in her dream had told her to come here because of something urgent. But other than that… She wasn’t sure exactly why she was here. Maybe that’s what this man was here for. The spirit did say everything would be explained once she got here… And he was the only one here.
That was what she thought until the same shining orb from her dream emerged from the portal and whizzed around the room, settling down in front of them for  a few moments before speeding up once more to settle on a greenish looking portal, spinning around the entrance way. Perhaps it wanted them to go through there? Not that Astrid would have much time to think about it, as Kite was quick to zoom off after it. The older man paused before the portal and turned back to her, asking her to assist him in helping people. The slayer could only stare at them both for a few heartbeats. Well, the orb was here. And it looked as though he was going to the same place she was. Maybe this was it? It was all rather confusion with such little to go on. She didn’t know where she was going or why… But the dragon slayer figured as long as this was a mission to help people, she would do it. Not like there were any other clues as to why she was summoned here. With a smile gracing her lips the mage nodded, taking the steps needed to pass through the portal right behind the demon slayer.

Fire and loud hollering, was what she could describe as what she was met with as soon as she exited the portal. Being a couple seconds later at arriving in the new world the violinist didn’t get the time to become acquainted with her surroundings as a huge ball of fire was hurtling towards her quickly. Instinctively, Astrid closed her eyes and flinched away, ready for the impact of the combined spells…
… But it never came.
Slowly opening her eyes they landed on the scene before her. Kite consumed the spell, and as a result, his blue aura suddenly flared up. The sudden increase in power could be felt by all, causing Astrid’s nerves to tingle and tense up. It weighed so heavily on her body… This wasn’t just any aura…
“A… Slayer?” The musician questioned softly, watching as he took out the two cloaked beings with such little effort.
“... Fire slayer…” Red eyes twinkled with amazement at the flames. It was unmistakable, that power. It easily matched her own, if not passed it greatly. This was indeed another slayer. What kind? She wasn’t sure. She was not knowledgeable about slayers, despite being one herself. It wasn’t like she was born with this power, after all. She had only gotten it a few months ago by some freak chance. She had tried to read up on them as much as possible, but there were never any solid facts, being such a rare and unique type of magic.
Turning her attention from the fight to the light floating by her side Astrid tensed up slightly at the sound of a chorus of growls sounding up near the two, deep and rumbling. She turned her gaze towards the sound, red eyes widening as it landed upon five gray wolves. Their coats, rugged and unkempt. Obviously emaciated since their ribs could very easily be seen. Dark amber eyes narrowed, baring their teeth, slobber loosely escaping between the gaps in their teeth. They each creeped toward her slowly, haunches rising and falling with their movement. They kept themselves low to the ground, snarling as they formed around her, circling the slayer to make sure she had no way to escape.
Wolves. It always had to be wolves. Astrid shuddered, remembering the time she had accidentally transformed into a rooster and had almost gotten killed by a wolf. She could feel his warm breath on her neck and hear his deep and cryptic voice even now…
Beginning to become nervous and unsettled by the animal’s intimidating formation, the slayer reacted.
“S-Stay away!” A scream tore through the young mage’s throat. A silver glow covered her hand before she punched it into the ground below. The ground cracked as a silver pulse was sent out into the air, smashing into four of the wolves and sending them backwards, causing them to let out small whimpers of pain. But one wolf managed to dodge it by jumping over the pulse, its jaws opened wide, aiming for the slayer to bite down on her. Seeing this, Astrid reacted quickly. The silver glow surrounding her fist became slightly brighter and bigger in size. Forcing all her effort into one punch she sent her fist forward, making contact with the wolf’s maw. The impact was strong enough to send a wave of power throughout the area. A cracking sound could be heard upon contact, the wolf’s jaw coming off slightly at the hinges. Falling down in front of the ace, the wolf collapsed onto its side, blood pooling around its mouth and dying the fur red. It whimpered, twitching its limbs in pain.
Seeing this, the other four wolves whimpered too, scrambling to their paws in a panic before running off into the wilderness, their tails tucked between their legs.
Astrid placed her hands onto her knees, breathing heavily, trying to catch her breath, crimson eyes wide as she stared at the suffering wolf, realizing what she had done now that the tension of the fight calmed.
“H-How did i…? When d-Did…? I-I d-Didn’t mean to…” The corners of the slayer’s eyes began to swell with tears, threatening to fall down her cheeks. She hadn’t meant to do such a thing to the poor wolf. It didn’t deserve the pain. She had just… Reacted. She had no idea what she was doing. She hated fighting in the first place… And to think she had caused a living being so much pain, almost knocking its jaw off. She wanted to help it, but she could not move, frightened of her own power. So instead, she found herself falling to her knees, hands covering her face to try and hold back her cries. What had she done?

She didn’t mean any of it.

2,240/7,000 words ● @tag ● notes

Kite Wilhelm

And while you are sitting indoors
waiting for the storm to pass
I will be outside dancing in the rain

❧

The girl, while naive, was no idiot. She knew exactly what had happened to the bleeding wolf, even with the man's muscular frame blocking her view from it. She heard Kite call the attack's name, and heard the impact of the fire spell, as well as felt its overwhelming warmth blow onto her skin. The beast was gone, put out of its misery.
Having only allowed the guild master to hug her as she continued the sob, as soon as Astrid heard the impact, she gave in to her emotions.
She pushed her head into the man's chest forcefully, closing her eyes tighter, in hopes of not catching even a glimpse of the fire's light behind her eyelids. If possible, she cried harder, teeth biting down on one another harshly while the stream of tears dripped down from her cheeks to the ground below them. She did so for a while, refusing to look up up, knowing the wolf not being there would just be even more of a confirmation that the animal had passed.
The slayer only stopped, when the older man moved away to stand up. Slowly, Astrid's cries became quieter, mere hiccups as she tried her best to push them back down into her chest.
Ashamed to show her red and tear-covered face the ace rubbed her eyes against an exposed arm, wiping them away roughly before allowing her head to rest upon it. She hated herself for crying so easily. She was supposed to be helping people in great need, but instead, she ended up crying over a little bit of spilled blood. She was an ace, a role model for her guild mates. One of the strongest mages in the guild. But she cried so easily... Why did Elyx ever choose someone like her to be in such an influential position?

Even so, she still couldn't get use to hurting such innocent creatures. Humans? She understood. Though while she didn't prefer to hurt them too much, they at least were self aware, they knew what they were doing, may it be good or bad. But animals? They were just doing what they thought they had to, in order to survive. It wasn't their fault. And she had caused an innocent creature so much pain... to the point where they had to ends its life...
"Will... I have t-to kill?" She stuttered out.
The girl finally removed the arm away from her face, looking up to Kite with shaking crimson eyes.
"I understand that sometimes, some things can only be solved by fighting... But i cannot end another creature's life so easily. I want to help these people in need... But, if it means killing to do so... I don't..."
She trailed off, sliding her gaze from Kite down to the ground in front of her.
She didn't know what to do. She loved helping people... But hated killing...
But what if there was ever a situation where she needed to kill in order to help?
The slayer's morals began to clash together within her mind, overwhelming her thoughts, to the point where she felt like she could cry again.

2,764/7,000 ● @tag ● notes

Kite Wilhelm

And while you are sitting indoors
waiting for the storm to pass
I will be outside dancing in the rain

❧

The slayer removed an arm from her face as the handkerchief was offered to her. Though a bit embarrassed that the man had witnessed her sobbing, she still took the kind offer nonetheless. She wiped the last remaining tears away, dabbing the cloth against the bottom of her eyes. "Merci" she thanked him, leaving the cloth clenched tightly in her grasp. A couple of seconds passed before the guild master offered her a hand to stand. She gladly accepted, pulling herself to her feet with his help.
She listened as Kite explained, gaze remaining on the ground below the two. He didn’t ask her to kill… Only to survive. Crimson eyes softened, feeling the man’s warmth upon her shoulder, strangely filling her with a newfound confidence. That was Golden Phoenix’s rule too. She remembered it clearly. ‘Only kill when one’s life is being threatened’. It was a simple rule, but meant so much. After all, what good would you be if you were dead? Helping people was the girl’s life goal. If she died to an enemy that wouldn’t listen to reason, she would die in vain. A meaningless death. The young slayer wouldn’t have such a thing. If she died, she would want it to have impact, make a difference to someone else. Not to be just another kill for some monster simply because she wouldn’t fight. But even so the rule still gave her room to not kill too. ‘Only when necessary’. Meaning, she could still leave her enemies alive if she could. And that, was the best she could wish for.
A smile grew upon Astrid’s lips. “I promise i’ll survive. I’ll do my best to make sure neither of us die too!” she proclaimed loudly, crimson optics staring up to Kite, filled with fiery determination. This man had helped her realize what it meant to be a mage, and with only a few words too. You don’t die for the ones you love… You live for them. At least, that’s what the silvernette got from his explanation. Up until now Astrid had been so ready to die for absolute justice. But justice wasn’t in death. It was in living. And if absolute justice meant dying a meaningless death, then maybe that wasn’t what she wanted.
Before much longer the little orb of light was once again floating above them, swirling around their heads before shooting off into what she could only guess was their next destination.
Ready to walk off, the slayer was caught off guard as Kite offered him the crook of his arm, offering to escort her the way. Astrid smiled softly, gladly accepting the friendly offer, though it ended up being a bit hard at first, since Astrid was just barely five feet tall. But, after much needed adjusting, the two were off, striding off towards the dense forest to see whatever may come next.

It had been silent at first as they walked. Astrid wasn’t that good of a conversation started, and her mind was full enveloped on making sure the two would get out this alive. That by the time Kite asked his question, she almost missed it, being too lost in her thoughts.
She looked back up to him, blinking once. “I use white dragon slayer magic” she admitted, maybe a little too bashfully. It was the first time she had never admitted to someone what type of magic she used since she got it, and to have such a rare magic, she wasn’t really fond of the attention it gave her, on top of her ace and rising star statuses.
“It’s a long story. Lets just say i got my hands on a lacrima somehow and now i have it. It’s nothing too special.” She smiled sheepishly.
“But i’m much more interested in your magic. You’re a slayer too, right? That’s how you were able to swallow those flames back there. What kind of slayer magic is that? I’ve never seen anything like that.” The fire held what seemed to be small traces of light intertwined with it. It was nothing like her magic, which only had a light element and that was it. His was much more peculiar and new, the ace couldn’t help but ask, hoping to gain more knowledge about the types of slayers in order to gain more knowledge of her own.
Then, the older man asked about her guild. Which, she would gladly answer.
“Mhm, Golden Phoenix” she proudly rose her hand, showing him the back where a single light blue phoenix mark was imprinted. “I’m even an ace. The Ace of Topaz. N-Not to brag or anything…” she stumbled upon her words, afraid she might be showing off a little too much. She didn’t want Kite thinking just because she had the title of ace that she was arrogant. It was quite the opposite actually. The young girl was quite honored to have Elyx bestow the title upon her. Ever since, she had used it as motivation to get stronger, in hopes of helping her guild out even more.

It wasn’t long while chitchatting, that they eventually reached their next destination. A small, out of place clearing within the woods. Upon entering it, the slayer’s senses were instantly off the charts. Her hair stood on end, skin breaking out into chilled goosebumps. There was an aura about this place. It was not friendly.
A circle of bright fire surrounded the two, closing them in, trapping them. The girl clung onto Kite’s arm, squeezing it tight as the five creatures appeared before them.
She looked to the clothed figures that reminded her so much of the Sun Cult she and her brother took down a while ago. But these ones seemed… Different. They were much darker than a couple of power hungary cultists. There was something much more sinister…
She then starred towards the strange glowing creatures. She wasn’t sure what they were exactly. They were human-like to say the least. Their figures were that of humans, but parts of their bodies were either made of stones or light. No matter what they were, they were menacing.
Having scanned her surroundings, Astrid released Kite’s arm, her worried expression narrowing, continuing to stare at the Atronachs. It looked like there was no end to this fighting. At least this time it was not wolves. The less human or animal like something was, the faster she could get over having to fight it. And while these were in fact human-like, they were at least distorted enough for her to know these were not beings of her normal world.
The dragon slayer clenched a fist, a silver glow pulsing off it. She smiled, red orbs narrowing. She knew what she had to do now. Survive. No more crying.
“Of course” she replied to Kite’s question, her voice filled with much more of a flare than before.
As if the light-made creatures knew, one began gathering the light within its body to shoot out a long line of golden light straight at the ace. Knowing this was her chance, Astrid stood her ground, waiting for the light beam to come within range. Once close enough, the girl leapt forward, catching the beam in her mouth, swallowing it whole. The Atronachs, while having no real reaction, starred as this happened.
Chewing the light down, Astrid gave them a big grin, wiping the bottom of her lips with a free hand. “It’s obvious you guys haven’t dealt with a slayer before… That was the biggest mistake you could make.” The extra light within her body powered the slayer up. She felt her magic energy grow larger and faster, adding to her magic strength like a sugar rush.
Within a couple of seconds, Astrid’s mouth started filling with a bright silver light, to the point where some of it was escaping through her clenched teeth.
“White Dragon’s Roar!!” With an echoing scream, a brilliant beam of light shot out of the woman’s mouth, crashing down onto the two Atronachs. The two monsters let out unnatural groans and whispy gasps, knocked and stumbling back. The rock’s mixed within their bodies began to break apart, crumbling down, clinging on to their last few bits of health.
It was a mighty roar, but just not enough.
Seeing this, Astrid clicked her tongue out of frustration. She was hoping she could end it in just one attack, but it seemed these enemies were tougher than the last batch.
Not allowing them any time to start remodeling themselves, the young slayer’s leg started to glow her silver light, pulsating brightly. In a blink of an eye, she rushed towards them at a breakneck speed, raising her leg in a kick once she got close enough to touch the two.
“White Dragon Roundkick!” she threw her leg across the two Atronachs’ chest in a kicking motion. The light-made creatures let out inhuman screams of pain before crumbling to the ground, the light from their bodies disappearing back into the world around her.
Astrid let out a small breath of exhaustion, looking down to the crumbled rocks, all that remained of the Atronachs. She had done it. She survived.
But she never knew surviving could be so… Draining…
The ace threw up her arms in the sky, standing upon her toes as she stretched, feeling the bones in her shoulders crack before relaxing her body.
She was going to need some tea after this mission to get her energy back.

4,364/7,000 ● @tag ● notes

Kite Wilhelm

And while you are sitting indoors
waiting for the storm to pass
I will be outside dancing in the rain

❧

As Kite finished up the fire mages, the dragon slayer's mind traced back to their conversation in the woods.
Her magic... Was special...
Astrid lifted a hand, watching as the silver aura once again consumed it. She studied the way it glowed and pulsated.
At the time, she hadn't really understood what he meant. In a world where magic was around every corner, how were there any 'special' magics? Sure, her magic was rare. But she wouldn't really say it was special. Surely there were much greater magics in the world than her own. But now that she thought about it, he wasn't saying just her magic is special. In their own ways, each individual magic was special. There were so many different kinds, all which had different functions and powers. So really, there was no 'normal' magic. If that was the case, then what did the demon slayer mean? Were there magics that were even more special than everything else? Ones that stood high above the rest?
Dragon slaying magic. Like the name would imply, it was a magic meant to kill dragons and other dragon-like creatures. It was created with the sole purpose to kill. Astrid could not see how such a magic would be special. If anything, it was a cursed power. She hadn't ask for it. It's not like she went up to an elder dragon herself and received it. She unknowingly accepted it into her body after the Black Rose guild master possessed her and proceeded to hurt her brother. For centuries that lacrima had been trapped inside her violin, never supposed to see the light of day. It was only ever supposed to be used to power her blessed instrument. But for some reason, it chose to leak its power into her in the dire need to stop the tanuki from killing her brother in return. Why? Or how? Astrid was still unsure. But she wished she understood any of it, any of it at all. It was all so confusing. Was it just her destiny to wield this cursed power...?
... She was getting distracted again...
The silver glow stopped, melting back into her arm. The violinist turned her head back to where Kite had been fighting, staring at the unconscious bodies laid out around him.
A demon slayer... That was a much better sounding magic than her own. The ace was truly enraptured by it. It was pure. So pure it radiated its pureness. It was still a killing magic, but killing demons was much less cruel than killing dragons, in her opinion. Demons were evil creatures, right? Well, she was sure there were probably some nice demons somewhere, but for centuries demons were more known to cause troubles for humanity. And unlike dragons, most actually knew what they were doing. The musician found that to be a much more special magic.

With a skip in her step the silvernette approached the man, a smile beaming from her face, not wanting to concern him with her troubling thoughts underneath by carrying on with her sullen expression. "That was amazing!" the girl breathed, laughter lacing her words, dropping her formal act from when they first met. After their conversation she was able to feel more comfortable around him. It was a natural thing for Astrid. Whenever she first meets someone she is sure to be as formal as can be, as to not make a fool of herself. Then over time, as she gets to know the person, her full personality surfaces without her knowing. Kite was no acceptation The guild master had managed to break down her formal wall with his wisdom and caring nature.
In other words, the dragon slayer now saw them as true friends, even in the short time they had known each other.
"They were like 'haha, take this!' And you were all like 'demon slayer magic!' And they were like 'aahhh nooo!!' And then your magic was all like 'cablow! Smash! Whoosh!'" The ace gave her interpretation of the battle excitedly with various noises and hand movements. Maybe the adrenaline from the battle was getting to her, or maybe she really was just this excited about someone else's powers. Despite how old she may be, Astrid still held a lot of childishness within her. This was just another look into some of the personality she tried so hard to lock away when in front of strangers.

5,102/7,000 ● @tag ● notes

Kite Wilhelm

And while you are sitting indoors
waiting for the storm to pass
I will be outside dancing in the rain

❧

The slayer winced back slightly upon Kite poking her on the nose, being reminded how Lucius would do the same thing, though a bit more roughly, whenever she did something wrong. Reminded of this negative memory she instinctively protected it by covering it with both hands, her big grin downgrading to a small frown. She knew it was supposed to be a friendly gesture, as it did not invoke physical pain. But the phantom pain of being messed with as a child by her brother and some of the other village children kicked in, leaving a sort of permanent mark on her mind whenever someone did the same thing. Though, anyone not knowing this would probably take her covered nose and slight regression in posture as just another childish movement. That is, if they weren't good at reading emotions even the person themselves wasn't aware of.
Still covering her nose protectively crimson eyes traveled to where the demon slayer was pointing to, where her fallen enemies now laid in a messy pile of rocks, commenting how she should be excited about her own fight just as much as she was about his. Once again, the dragon slayer could not quite grasp his ideology. All she did was fight two glowing rock things and win, they hadn't put up much of a fight either. They were just kinda floating about and sent out an attack whenever they felt like it. In all his fight was much more exciting. Though, she would admit when she swallowed that beam of light whole and unleashed a massive dragon roar she did maybe kinda get excited for a bit. So, maybe his words did make a little bit of sense... Maybe. But still, overall she'd still say Kite's fight was much more impressive.
Red eyes traveled off to the side to avoid the guild master's face, feeling her own face light up a bright red. She hadn't received this much praise for some time, and he even said it was great to see her smile. Astrid couldn't help but feel the slightest bit of fluster and bashfulness wash over her, hearing all these comments. To which, they were all gladly accepted despite the embarrassment covering her face. She was always a sucker for praise after all.

Upon hearing the guild master comment about her nose the ace's normal posture regained itself, the red washing from her face slowly as she looked back to him, question plastered over her expression. Her sense of smell. Ah, yes. Slayers were known for having heightened senses. Astrid hadn't really relied on them much up until this point, but she was willing to give it a try. With her deafness some of her senses had already been heightened before to make up for it. She was sure her slayer sense would be no different.
"I can try" she nodded, twirling around to face the other way. She closed her eyes and lifted her face towards the sky, giving the passing air a good sniff. Thankfully for them what they were looking for was something similar to her own power. Light. So even though the area still smelled of fire and ash from the fight, the ball's scent was not hard to find once she focused.
A familiar scent of ginger tea hit her nose, turning her head a little to the right. Though with it, returned the metallic scent of fresh blood too. Red eyes reopened, staring into the wilderness, gaining a bad feeling within her.
"It's that way" the silvernette turned to face Kite, her expression troublesome and filled with worry. "I can smell our friend... But, there is also blood." What did that mean? Was their little friend in danger? Did it run into their enemy alone? The bad feeling eventually consumed the slayer's body, and with it, an overwhelming instinct to protect kicked in.
Without waiting for the fire slayer's opinion the ace turned on her heels, and in a big burst of silver light, disappeared into the overgrowing vegetation to find the source of the smell.
Thanks to her big burst of speed, it hadn't taken long to come across what she guessed to be the source of the smell. A group of cloaked figures, the same kind they had seen scattered all over the place since they arrived here. Two of them sat on the ground, carving wooden sticks and chatting to each other, while one played around with its fire magic, twirling it around as it sat on the forest floor. To not draw attention to herself the slayer lowered her posture and crept over to a nearby tree, hiding behind its trunk, popping her head out ever so slightly to just about see what was going on.

"Hey, guys. Check out what i caught!" a deep voice joined the others from off the side, waddling over to join his group. The chubby figure held the bright light in his grasp, struggling as it tried to fight back against him. Watching from her cover Astrid's jaw fell open in surprise before clenching it shut a moment later, digging elongated claws into the bark as anger set in. The other cloaked figures let out gasps and chuckles, walking over to see what their friend had caught.
They had captured it. They had captured their ball of light companion. What was their deal?
Not understanding anything about their current situation red eyes glowed fiercely, watching as they poked and prodded the poor light with their sticks. With as much anger she was keeping in right now she was honestly about to revel herself and give those kids a beat down.

6,046/7,000 ● @tag ● enemies are 2 weak and 1 normal

Kite Wilhelm

And while you are sitting indoors
waiting for the storm to pass
I will be outside dancing in the rain

❧

A strong presence flared up beside her, the scent of freshly baked bread filling the air. She didn't even need to look at who it was to know it was Kite. Even a novice would be able to sense him. His anger was fueling his magic energy, causing it to flare up in powerful bursts that vibrated the air. The flames that licked off him was the equivalent of standing upon the edge of a volcano, even Astrid was having a hard time standing next to him like this, the intense heat beginning to singe her skin. No doubt anyone within a couple of miles would be able to sense him. And she knew why. He too was angry at the mages for capturing and poking at their friend, just like she was. And before she knew it, he went in for the attack. Astrid watched from her cover as he flew off into a burst of flames and easily sliced through the sticks, dealing with the blood and fire mages with his slashes. He was strong alright, but then again he was an A-rank wizard, a demon slayer, and a guild master. Of course he was strong. He needed to be strong.
The ace was once again enraptured by his skill, all past anger now melting off into awe. She watched the fighting with a bright smile and shining red eyes. She could feel the power of every hit made with his weapon, wincing back, knowing it had to hurt to be attacked like that. But well, this was their fault. They were the ones who angered a demon slayer.
Even his weapon technique managed to capture her attention, how skilled he was with it, watching every slash made. He was unstoppable.
But, thinking that was about to be a mistake. Just when she thought he had knocked the group out more magical senses suddenly popped out of nowhere all around.
"What??" the dragon slayer gasped, releasing her grasp from the tree trunk and standing up straight, feverishly turning in every direction to try and see where they were coming from. But it was too late. The silvernette turned back to see a dark wizard master, his apprentices, and two atronachs overwhelm Kite with their attacks. He fought back, managing to land a few hits, but was inevitably knocked into a tree when a master mage smashed a solidified blood hammer against him. Red eyes widened.
"Kite!" The girl yelled, as if that would do anything to save him. But it did not. All it did was blow her cover. The group of enemies turned from Kite to her.

Anger shot through the ace's body like a bullet, soon enough filling her whole. Wide eyes narrowed angrily and shone a burning crimson, teeth clenching together. First they mess with their light guide, and then they attack her friend? Huge mistake.
A silver aura flared up around her body, light licking off of her like hot flames. But this was not like her normal white dragon aura. There was something off about it. A gut wrenching aura consumed the area, intimidating and dark, able to make even the most fiercest of beats quiver in fear. It vibrated in the air.
The wizard master backed one step away from the girl, looking back to his apprentices who looked back to him, shaking in their boots. The atronachs simply watched a little bit away fromt he rest, seemingly unaffected as without a second thought, they both allowed their light to shine brighter and lunged forward towards the girl at the same time. Astrid simply stood there, her aura growing more dark by the second, unmoving. She stopped the faster one of the rock beasts in its path, catching its humanoid arm when it got too close to her. It tried to struggled away, releasing weak gasps and moans, but Astrid's grip was too strong.
"You're not going anywhere" a dark grin melted onto her lips.
Pushing all her strength into her arms Astrid swung with all her might, pulling the light atronach with her. With one swift movement she crashed it into the other as soon as it approached her, causing them to both fall into a broken pile of rocks and debris. She smacked her hands together to clean them, watching the cloud of dust blow away into the wind.
"Now..." the ace trailed off, her lips forming into an unamused straight line, giving the remaining enemies a heart-stopping glare. "Who else wants to play?"
Seeing the massive amount of power she let out the remaining apprentices ran for their lives and vanished into the trees, whimpering like cowards, leaving the dark wizard master alone.
Astrid stared at the tall, cloaked body that stood before her, cocking her head to the side.
"Only you then? Okay. White Dragon's Halo."
Rising her hands a magic circle formed just above the wizard master. A hollow disk of light fazed through its body, constricting its arms to its torso. It let out deep groans from its covered mouth as damage was dealt to it, being completely unable to move.
"White Dragon's Sphere."
From her hands five balls of silver light floated around her. After a moment of floating each one whirled into the dark mage. Since he was unable to move each one ran into him and he was easily blasted into a nearby tree, making painful contact into the trunk with his back. With the ring of light still around him all he could do was let out painful yells as he fell to the forest ground, unable to get up as the pain settled in, sorely bruise and battered.
This is what they got for causing pain to her friends.

7,004/7,000 ● @tag ● notes

Kite Wilhelm

And while you are sitting indoors
waiting for the storm to pass
I will be outside dancing in the rain

❧

Upon the Dark Transcendent's defeat the forest would grow silent for a moment, as if to rest and take a breath from witnessing the two slayer's impressive display of power. Even the air, which just moments ago had been filled with large vibrations of power, was now as calm as can be.
Astrid stared down darkly to the dark master wizard at her feet, who was still binded and struggled by the light ring surrounding his torso. She squatted down to his height daintily, her aura calming down and residing back into her body now that her opponent was dealt with. Hard crimson orbs stared like daggers into the wizard's soul. The wizard, however, refused to look back, most likely embarrassed to have been beaten so easily by a girl.
"You came to this place in hopes of enslaving the people of this planet and making them work for you against their will. Do you regret it, now that you're in this sorry state?" the ace asked simply. She wanted to see if she had managed to beat some sense into him. And if he was sorry, she would allow him off easy. But at her words, all the man did was let out a sickly laugh mixed with some coughs.

"No. Some day everything will belong to us." A single bright red eye poked out from the black abyss of his bloodied hood "including you." His eye would begin to shake and retract in size, as if crazed. "And how i can't wait to make you cry and beg at my feet like the little whore you a-" he was cut off by the ring crushing his rib cage, choking on his breaths, causing the man to pass out from the pain. Astrid stood back up, flicking a loose piece of hair to her back before crossing her arms over her chest.

"Whore am i? Sorry to disappoint but my grandpapa taught me better than that. I'll never beg at anyone's feet." The words meant nothing to the wizard before her, as he could not have heard them. But it was more like the slayer was telling these words to herself for reassurance. Reassurance that they had won. Which, they did thanks to Kite's last minute use of his secondary. The leader of this circle was now gone, and with it, so was this entire plan.
Overwhelmed with happiness Astrid instantly lost her cool and dark domineer for her usually cheerful attitude. She smiled brightly and ran over to the large crater formed in the ground to tackle hug the demon slayer roughly, wrapping her arms around his bruised and battered body warmly.
"We did it! We won!" the silvernette chirped happily, a giggled laced within her words.
Multicolored orbs began to emerge from the forest, and along with it, came the golden orb the two had fought to bravely to defend. They all danced around the air above the two slayers, like they were trying to thank them for their efforts.

word count ● @tag ● notes