Mischievous Imps [Job/Solo]

Nessa and Sebastian arrived at the Mysterious Canyon around mid-morning. Together they had taken another job. This one in particular was another means of getting some extra jewels, as well as learning to work together better. They knew if they could get their fighting abilities in sync they would make for a good team. The job details had explained that what seemed like a horde of imps had taken over a trading route, making it difficult for local traders to get their goods through. Therefore it was their job to clear them away. Nessa had never encountered an imp before, but upon asking her father abut them. He hadn't looked very enthusiastic. The word he had used to describe them was tricky. Apparently they were agile creatures, small but vicious. It wasn't bound to be one or two of them either, but a lot. The starlight maiden and little grey exceed made their way towards the location of the nest. As they climbed the rocky path that led toward the entrance of the cave, Nessa could hear various scuttling noises in the trees, the imps were around and ready to attack. It was just as they entered the clearing for the cave, creatures burst forward through the trees, rushing forward to attack them.

There were four imps after them, two were plain and what she expected, the other two seemed a little thinner but more feral. had it not been for their sharp teeth and unbelievably long claws. Nessa would've considered them cute, but these creatures albeit small looked like they could tear you apart. Nessa quickly summoned her Starlight Sword, swinging it in had, she sent the first imp, a feral one flying back. Another imp reached her, she sliced down at her with her sword, ending it's attack. Sebastian leapt forward, taking the other one head on. Leaving the one feral and a normal ones to Nessa. The flew at her together, she swung her sword across, the one that got his before managed to duck this time. But the other connected with the sword, landing to the ground, Nessa drove the sword into it. Sebastian was scrabbling with the smaller one, scratching and biting, his bite marks, little frost marks in the imps flesh. Weakening it. The last feral one can flying at her once, more, feinting with her sword. She raised her leg and sent it flying into a nearby tree with a kick, before slicing across it's chest. Nessa turned to check Sebastian, who had somehow been toppled by the imp and as fighting away it's claws. Nessa ran over, booting the imp off of him. She delivered a final slice, ending it.

"I nearly had him you know." Sebastian said, Nessa sighed, she hadn't been so sure of that. She couldn't let him fight it out but it would mean allowing him to get hurt which was pointless.

"I know, I just figured we should move on, there's bound to be a lot more coming our way. Let's move closer to the cave." She told him, making there way over to it as they stepped onto the rocky ledge in front of it. There was more screeching and scuffling, she adjusted her stance ready for the next attack. As expected, imps darted out of the dark cave, flying at them. Nessa took a swing at a brown one, knocking it aside with her blade. There was six this time, one thin one, three normal and two what appeared to be baby imps. The babies were quick, one latched onto her leg, climbing up her before digging it's claw into her thigh. She let out a pained yelled, before swatting it away. She lifted her sword, but it was so small, she wasn't sure she could do it. It was then that Sebastian darted in front of her, grabbing the infant imp by the neck. He threw it back and forth, snapping it's neck and allowing it to fall limp.

"Geez, you're too soft. I'll handle the small ones", Nessa nodded, and began to swing away at the other imps. Taking them down one by one, as Sebastian made quick work of the other baby. They could hear more imps making their way out of the cave.

Just as they had finished off that cluster of Imps, more had come rushing out of the cave. Another small one, one normal, two feral and a different imp. Unlike the others this one was calmer, and more dangerous looking. Sebastian took on the smallest one, knowing it was difficult for Nessa. Nessa sword had running out of capacity and faded,  she knew she would not be able to use it for much longer.

She ran forward and swung it at the closest , the sword cutting into it's neck, pulling it back she went for another. The feral imp batted at the sword with it's claw, jumping up it slashed at Nessa. Scratching her shoulder, it grabbed her, going for another swipe but this time at her throat. Then was suddenly fur at her shoulder, and Sebastian took on the creature. Tumbling with it to the ground.

"I've got this one, Take out the others, watch out for the black one." He yelled at her, before turning and leaping onto the feral imp. Nessa looked back to the oncoming imps, there were three left. As a normal green one leapt forward, she brought the sword down on it. Leaving only two, she peeked over her shoulder. Sebastian was holding his own, she had to trust him on this one.

Nessa sword dissipated, no longer had to hold it's form. She shifted her technique, to Starlight offering, her feet and hands glowing with Starlight magic. It wouldn't be as easy to fend them off as Starlight sword but it would Starlight spear wasn't idea for this kind of fight, and her other options weren't ideal. The weaker of the two imps jumped at her, she reacted quickly, knocking it back with her fist.

"Nessa look out!" She heard Sebastian shout and turned quickly, she narrowly missed the ball of fire that was flying towards her head. Dodging it by an inch. What the... She thought, then as she glanced in the direction the ball of fire had come from she realised it was the black imp. It was snarling at her, displeased with it's miss. She scowled, this is what Sebastian meant. She run at the imp, throwing out a kick, the dark Imp leapt dodging the kick. She steadied herself, running to catch only. Only to have the other imp, jump on her back. She reached back, pulling it off before it could dig it's claws in. She raised her arm and threw the imp, it's body hitting the outer wall of the cave hard and it's body crumbling.

Sebastian had finished off the other imp and stepped to Nessa's side, he was tired, as was she. It wasn't that imp was overly strong, It's just that there were so many of them. Although when they had said horde, somehow she expected more than this. There had only been around fifteen so far, was that it. She was unsure.

Nessa and Sebastian proceeded to circle the Imp. It's eyes on both of them as they manoeuvred around it. Finally, it leapt, going to Sebastian. This gave Nessa the change. She jumped on it, pinning it down and proceeding to beat it with her spell repeatedly. Until the imp finally stopped moving. She kneeled over it panting, trying to catch her breathe. Sebastian watched her, glancing around.

"Is that it?" He asked, but she shook her head in disbelief.

"Somehow, I don't think so." She slowly got to her feet, her breathing slowing to a normal pace. She turned to the cave, they still hadn't investigated the inside of the cave yet. Nodding at Sebastian, she made her way over to it, maintain Starlight offering. It was useful as both a weapon and a light in these circumstances. However in a cave she had less exposure to the stars, she would be weaker in there.

As they stepped deeper into the caves, she could hear snarls, screeches and rustling. There were definitely more imps ahead, a lot of them. This was what she had suspected, some of the imps were bound to hang back to defend their lair. The noise grew louder and louder until it became intense. the light showed them the way but not more than a few paces infront of them. But still, it was better than nothig in this dark damp cave. She could feel her magic energy weaning, aching to be under an open sky. Caves provided large quantities of rock that stood in the way of her maintaining her connect. The deeper the gave the less her connection. She had a plan in mind however, she would use a spell known for attacking multiple enemies at once, her most powerful spell. She just had to make sure none of the imps got behind her or it wouldn't work. If they did she wouldn't be able to protect Sebastian, he would have to fight it off himself. As they turned a corner, the game to a large part of the cave. The nest. The light lit up the room, revealing the snarling faces of several imps, ready to attack. Nessa immediately began charging the magical energy within. 

The imps seemed to be sizing them up, they were well aware that their fellow imps had gone out to deal with the intruders. The fact that they had gotten past them was enough for them to be cautious. The sniffed the air, snarling, as though trying to get a sense of Nessa and Sebastian's strength.

"Quick Sebastian, get behind me!" She ordered, as the Imps began to creep forward, preparing themselves to leap. Sebastian didn't hesitate, he darted behind her, watching through the gap of her legs. Nessa pulled at the magic further, getting it ready. It was harder to do because of where they were but it was there. Bubbling inside her, floating to her through the entrance of the cave. Although weaker, the store inside her growing. Enough so that she would be able to deliver the final blow. A means of taking them all out, at once.

"Nessa, they're getting closer." Sebastian said nervously, she ignored him, continuing to pull her magic forward. Although it was only the space of a few seconds passing by, it felts like minutes. The imps were creeping forward, there was so many, at least fifteen. Maybe more hidden away. She couldn't quite tell.

The magic was growing, pooling together, growing inside of her. An impending force waiting for be released. She could see the imps getting closer, any second and they would swarm them. If Nessa didn't release the spell soon, it would be too late. The imps would get on top of them and it would probably be too late for the to escape. They could swat away one or two Imps, but with as many as was making their way towards them, there would be no chance of escape. Those imps would claw them to nothing in moments, it was life or death now.

"NESSA!" Sebastian yelled behind her in terror, the imps leapt up, and with a loud cry of her own she pushed the magic outwards. Releasing Starlight Pulse, light grew from her palms flowing outwards. The spell spread out in a pulse of magic, the wave of light ramming into the Imps that were mid-flight. They flew back with the wave, rolling backwards over each other, toppling back through the cave with intense force. The imps screeched with pain, and as the magic worked the imps was pushed further and further back from Nessa and Sebastian. Now at a much safer distance than they had ben moments ago.

Sebastian seemed to calm down a great deal once he saw Nessa's attack, seeing the imps move further and further away from him was a great relief. Nessa felt bad for allowing it to come so close, she would have to make it up to him later. She had no choice, she had to let her magic charge or it wouldn't have been this effective. To take on this many at once, the only other choice was Starlight Shower, but it wouldn't work in a cave, nor was it as powerful.

The way Starlight Pulse affected those whom it attack meant that the beings closest to it, retained more damage than those further away. Nessa maintained the magic, allowing it to pulsate. It needed to ripple outwards to do more damage to the creature's further back. Fortunately due to the depth of the cave, the spell was able to flow forward and bounce against the back ways. Forces the imps against the rock, leaving them no choice but to endure the onslaught on the spell. Along the walls of the cave, there were holes embedded in. The magic seeped inside, hurting whatever was inside. Screeches could be heard from them, and more imps appeared trying to get away from the spell.

Nessa watched as more Imps rolled out of the hole sin the walls, trying to free themselves from the effect of the spell. But to no avail, despite the spell being weaker in caves, it was still strong enough to produce an immense amount of pain. The shape of the cave had provided the perfect trap for the imps. The only exit block by Nessa and Sebastian. however they couldn't get closer an enemy got to Nessa whilst casting the spell the more damaging it's effects. The imps were being crush before they could even crawl within a metre of her. The Imps grew still, one by one they collapsed, crushed and burned by the power of her star magic. Nessa allowed the magic continue it's course, she eyed the cave, there was no longer any movement. All creatures were still. The magic faded to a halt, the starlight slowly disappeared from the air. Enveloping them in darkness, Nessa took a moment to breath before summoning Starlight glow, a ball of light appeared in front of them. Lighting up the cave once more. The moved forward, stepping over the bodies of the imps. They inspected the nest, waiting. Nothing moved, nothing stirred. Appeared from Sebastian and Nessa everything had been extinguished.

Nessa and Sebastian stood there in silence. Nessa's eyes laid on the bodies of the imps, and the severity of what she'd done hit her. She brought up her hands, staring at them in shcok. When did I get so good... at killing. The thought came to her slowly, like drops of poison, infiltrating her mind, she felt her body tremble. Tears threatened to formulate in her eyes. Why have I done? She thought, she had taken all these creatures lives. Was that fair? Was it fair to kill them just for a job? The worst part was something inside her drove her, drove her to kill, but what was it. She had never felt such cold determination and yet here was standing amidst the beings she had fallen.

"Nessa..." Sebastians voice came softly, slowly pulling her back out of that dark train of thought. "Nessa let's go outside." he nudged her legs, nodding she lifted her feet. Her body felt drained, both physically and emotionally. The made there way out of the cave, and back into the light. It was still daylight outside. Nessa had forgotten that being inside such a dark space. She looked over the bodies of the imps that lay at the entrance, gulping down the urge to cry. She didn't want Sebastian to see her like that, not after what she'd just put him through. The two of them made their way away from the cave, moving away from the dead imps. She couldn't help but get haunted by a strain of thoughts, her mother wouldn't have done that, she knew that much. Was she really as akin to her as she thought, or did she possess a much darker and more tainted spirit. Maybe she wasn't like her mother at all, maybe.


END