Beasts of Gold

Samira was most certainly right in saying that dealing with this creature in a more peaceful manner was probably not going to happen. However, it was still worth a shot to Leila. It was her duty as a mage to protect the people of this town from harm’s way and that meant getting rid of the dragon one way or another. Killing it, despite the creature’s power, was perhaps the most simple and easy solution to such problem. However, she also saw this as a chance, all the more so when she heard the green-haired girl’s words. A chance to show that sometimes, miracles could happen. Going against all the odds was always ill-advised and for a very good reason. But that was not quite the point right now. To put it simply, the Eden’s Caretaker wanted to deal with everything in her own way. She was sick of looking at some of the other legal mages that would go around slaughtering those they deemed dark or dangerous as if their lives meant nothing. She adored humans, but this was one of the greatest flaws they possessed and she despised. The free will to choose, in a sense. For as long as that will exist, they will always go against one another and try to rise to the top while absentmindedly destroying those beneath them. And she couldn’t blame them for it all, either. Which was why she wanted to show them that peace could exist, and even a horrid situation like this one could be resolved without killing.

And so she would take a good look at Samira and smile at her as cheerfully as she possibly could in the given situation. “I know. It truly may not be what comes to pass. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to at least try and give it my best shot, so that I don’t have any regrets later on, asking myself all the possible what ifs.” She had found herself pondering that many times in the past, over and over again. She would break herself over the idea that she could have done something a little bit better if only she had tried something or tried a little harder. It was easy to delve into a mindset like that. But extremely hard to get back out of it once it settled in. While the female always looked fondly to her past memories, she also tried to be better than back then. She did not wish to fall into that darkness one more time, though it was inevitable in the future. Everyone makes mistakes, herself included. She knew she would slip up eventually. And when that happens, she will deal with it the best she can, hopefully with the help of her friends. Right now was a time to make sure that such situation does not come to pass anytime soon! Because she decided to fight on even without her magic and spirits. She was not going to give up even in the face of this impossible danger.

Something that Samira saw and did not voice any complaints. So after landing in front of the grand Guild Hall and offering her a ride, Leila listened to what her partner had to say and would smile as she got a much different impression all of a sudden. Because she adored humans, she wanted to learn as much about them as she possibly could. And if there was something that she figured out about them after all this time, it was that they could evolve faster than any other being in this world. They were truly the ones with limitless potential and would follow others with ideals that they found compelling. Was that a good or bad thing? Well, right now it meant that they would indeed give it all a shot, try to end this without the unnecessary bloodshed. And that Leila could get behind no problem! Taking a moment to suddenly hop from her mount, she would suddenly take several steps toward her green-haired accomplice and stop just the right distance to not be breaking any personal space as she looked the other female right into the eyes. She would not be grinning now. Rather than that, her expression was one of a smile that said she was confident, yet serious at the same time. Despite the fact that she could chuckle and laugh right now with all of this going down, it did not mean she was underestimating their situation.

Quite the opposite, actually. With a nod to confirm the plan about catching the said spirit, Leila would suddenly extend her hand and firmly plant it on Samira’s shoulder. It might have been something the other mage did not expect and did not appreciate if she didn’t wish to get that close to someone she barely knew, but it was also a gesture that made their contact all the more personal and meaningful. At least to the Caretaker anyway, as she felt this was just the right thing to do at this current moment in time. “I know you have your worries. I have some as well. And I saw that spirit which you first summoned disappear. Always listen to your friends and take their words into consideration. But in the end, you should always follow your own heart and do what you feel is the right thing to do. I have found that to be the best thing to help me smile even in situations like this. And pardon me if this sounds like a boring and unnecessary lecture in the middle of a critical situation, but… smiling gives others hope, I believe. Those who are suffering and can only see dark might be inspired by it. Because smiling at them is like saying ‘everything will be okay’. I don’t know how to describe it any better, and this might not make any sense… but I believe we will get through this just fine. And I will have your back through this whole ordeal!”

Letting go, the female would hop onto the wolf’s back once more with a decisive motion. For some reason, she felt like she could not really be defeated right now. A dangerous way of thinking that could get her killed in no time. But it was slightly different right now. She had no idea why she felt the need to do what she just did with Samira, as the other girl clearly had her own conviction and her heart was in the right place, else she would not care about this strategy and would have her spirit continue with the slaughter. Perhaps it was just something that happened once again because of Leila’s adoration for humans and her desire to help them? It was certainly possible. Not only that, this was perhaps the first time she almost felt like a teacher, too. She never had any apprentices despite being a Guild Ace and a fairly known mage as a Rising Star, but that was somewhat beside the point right now. She was an immortal creature, but if she perished in this fight, then she would at least go happy. She did not remember anything of this green-haired girl, but she already knew that she was a good human being that deserved all the praise in this world. So now, she had to catch up to that! She had to show them all what she was capable of herself!

After she watched the summoning take place, as well as the celestial dress fusion afterward, she would give out a thumbs up to start the plan and have Melon take to the skies in a powerful motion, creating a small shockwave that damaged the floor beneath them as they took off. Much like her comrade, this due was assaulted by a number of drakes on the way as well. Though she did not have an effective way of dealing with them right away, so she just held tight onto her dear companion as the wolf started showcasing its flying abilities. Speeding up to avoid the dives and fireballs fired by the golden beasts and even ‘hopping’ off of some of them when they got too close. It was almost as if the wolf was playing. And there was a pretty good chance it actually was, considering it was still just a pup that only had the ability to grow this size. As long as they would not go down, it was fine how it saw this situation. All they had to do was get to the center of the town just like Samira. And while Leila felt rather nauseous and like throwing up afterward, they did it without too much trouble. At the end of the day, their relationship was still somewhat new as well, so it would take a bit more time before the girl would get fully used to the way this wolf moved in the air sometimes.

She was not about to betray a word given to someone, so her eyes rested firmly on the now winged mage as she started yet another summoning. It was impressive to watch, someone who was actually specialized in this kind of magic. Leila never truly relied on her spirits due to a fairly simple reason. She was subconsciously afraid of them. Now, most of them were basically her family. But there was a deep-running wound inside of her psyche that would just not go away that easily. When she first separated from Aurora, she gained a physical body that was actually like the one of a human. So until she grew much more powerful, she had a lineage that was present in Earthland. A lineage of the dark angel. It was a power that was passed down those who were somehow connected to a group of mages that managed to seal away a powerful fallen angel. In other words, it was a power that allowed Leila to summon such being. But the Angel was to be controlled forcefully and its mind restrained as much as possible in order to prevent it going berserk and killing the mage. So of course, there was once a moment where the Angel did nearly kill Leila before she even learned of her own immortality. It was a scarring moment, to say the least. Ever since then, she had a slight problem trusting her summons, even if they were closer to her than anyone else in the world.

But she shook that thought rather quickly, as she saw the green portal appearing. Tapping Melon on the back, they would quickly fly under it in an attempt to catch the spirit that fell out. Sure enough, they managed it just fine. Thought the moment this half man, half goat spirit hit Melon, they would lose a considerable amount of altitude. “Whoa, whoa! Let’s try to not break my companion’s back, yes?” She would just kinda toss her words at the spirit but did not mean them in a harmful, or any other way. Just a natural reaction that followed after the sad whimpers from the wolf. But at least the spirit was okay, so he didn’t have to be afraid of crashing into the ground. Something that would be surely a rather unpleasant experience even for a being like that. Looking back up, she would see Samira using the magic of one of her spirits to spread the petals all around the town and essentially deal with the ‘mob’ enemies that were in their way. “Clever~” Leila would commend this plan before the other girl moved over. All of them reunited and listening to what she had to say, the Caretaker smiled again. “Afraid that bringing out offensive spirits would not make that much difference anymore. It’s most likely they would not even pierce that thing’s scales. And if they somehow did, it would not be much more than just a scratch. As for a plan, I do-”

The silver-haired maiden quickly shut her mouth as her eyes widened. While the big dragon was a fair distance away from them still, it caught the two girls in its sight as individuals that were causing trouble for all the other drakes and wyverns. Opening its mouth, a sudden beam of golden flames shot out at a rather high speed, aimed right at the two of them. Almost instinctively, Leila would lean toward Samira and grab her hand, forcefully tugging her into an embrace as a black magical energy started surrounding them. Everything suddenly became pitch black and all that could be heard was a sound akin to a glass being hit, but not completely shattering. In only a few seconds, the world would start being visible again as the intense light from the beam faded away. What happened was Leila activating an ability of her armor, which encased them all in a protective bubble of shadow magic. It protected them from the attack, though the shield itself now had cracks all over. The shadowed surface also inverted the light created by the flames, engulfing them in complete darkness for those few seconds and preventing them from going blind just by looking at the attack. Rather awkwardly, Leila let go of Samira so that she would be sitting on her lap any longer than she had to. Looking behind them also revealed that the beam tore through the clouds and created a rather large explosion miles away, thankfully in the middle of the skies.

“Alright, time to not get directly hit by that, ever. Um… as I was saying, I might just have something! I don’t really know how, but… try to keep me alive?” And with that, she would reach for the mechanical blade that was on her back. But instead of pulling out the main blade, she just took out a much smaller survival knife. Tossing it in the dragon’s direction, she would suddenly disappear. At this point, she just hoped that Samira and Melon would be able to do something to maybe restrain the Golden Dragon for a bit, or limit its thrashing in any capacity. Because that knife had a warp link. Being tossed at the dragon and bouncing off its scales, it allowed Leila to teleport directly to its side and then hop up on its back. With its sheer size, it didn’t even notice. At least until the moment she started running forward and jumped on top of its head, suddenly slamming her palm on its scales. The white seal would form on her body again and start burning, but she just had to suffer through it if they ever wanted to succeed. “Listen to my words! There is no need for bloodshed! This anger inside of you, let go of it and be free! Be free of its grasp and find your inner peace!”

While the words themselves might not have sounded all too convincing, they basically meant nothing in the first place. A green ghastly aura was running around Leila’s hand as it was placed on the dragon, her teeth grinding against each other as her skin started becoming visibly burned from the primordial seal. She wasn’t even using a proper spell but something that was always a passive part of her. It showcased that trying to use proper magic would probably not end well for her in this current state. But as the ability worked its magic, a low humming sound could be heard as that same green aura started forming around the entirety of the dragon’s body. For few seconds, it indeed started to calm down. But then, just as she assumed, it started thrashing around and fly around in chaotic patterns. In a state like that, there was no way the girl could be still enough to continue calming it down. She required some help, any at all. “It will probably take a few attempts, but its working! I can remove its anger piece by piece! Just… gotta… stay still for a second!” Fighting to just keep her spot on the dragon’s head without falling off and splattering on the ground that was a rather fair distance below them, there was not much Leila herself could do from her position aside from actually trying to pacify the dragon. Something that would probably be much, much easier if she could use her magic as much as she wanted.

Word Count: 6,873 / 10,000   |   Tags: @Samira Nassar