“Again!” Amethyst yelled.
“You are slowing down, old woman,” Mira sprinted towards her.
“And you aren’t taking this seriously!” She grunted as she tried to hook her hatchet around Mira’s ankle.
Mira twirled around the attack and planted her spear into the ground. She used her momentum to swing around and kick Amethyst from her feet. The orc slammed her fist into the ground in aggravation.
“Why do you refuse to strike me?” The orc growled.
“When you can land a hit, I’ll think about it,” Mira grasped the woman’s forearm and lifted her back up, “I think that’s enough for tonight. Thesson and the others are nearly asleep.”
“You aggravate me,” She huffed.
“Says the woman that tries to attack me constantly,” She eyed Amethyst cautiously, “Do you truly want to fight?”
“Yes,” She nodded, “I’m tired of you holding back. I can take it.”
Mira closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She felt the magic seep into her veins and travel through her. She gripped at her chest as her heart pounded in a painful, spiking rhythm. She winced as the pain softened into a dull memory. Mira pulled the mask from her bag and ran her fingers gently over the surface.
“We don’t need that,” Encante snarled, “Do you not trust me?”
“Of course not,” Mira ran her fingers through her hair as she placed it on her face.
The pain of her muscles tearing to stretch or bones cracking to extend felt minimal compared to the blissful strength that surged through her. Her blood was the fire that fueled the transformation. As the wraith stood to its full height, the bellowing black smoke blurred the lower half of its legs and feet. A flick of her hair turned the auburn curls into a sleek, straight silver the color of the moon. The darkness behind the mask blinked into an eerie lilac light that haunted those that peered into it. Her skin paled to the sickly lilac of the wraith. A black fabric swirled around its unnaturally long limbs until it tightened against the skin. Dark leather armor formed over its torso and legs as a glaive appeared in its hands. The demonic reaper erected itself with a sickening snap and stared down at the orc.
“Daunting,” Amethyst felt the denseness of mana in the air, “Truly a sight to behold. To think that the little lady can become a creature this magnificent.”
“She has not trained with me in quite some time,” The wraith swung its blade lazily, “It is still painful to use this form.”
“How so?”
“Her blood is focused on healing,” It tilted its head abnormally horizontal as it examined her, “She has yet to master our magic in her skin.”
“Why?”
It straightened its head, “We do not know.”
“Well,” Amethyst grinned eagerly, “Let’s fight.”
The wraith bowed elegantly and stepped back from the orc, “On your lead.”
Amethyst cracked her knuckles and pulled her second hatchet into her off hand. She felt the chill from the dark mist dance around her feet as she moved. The orc stepped lightly through the miasma coming off the wraith and moved in closer to attack. She pushed her strength to fight as she would any other opponent. The wraith disappeared before her blade struck and reappeared in the mist behind her. She felt its blade slice into her back. She winced at the sting and turned to collide with it again. It ducked under the hatchet and its spear bit into her calf.
Amethyst cursed and picked up her movement. She slowed with age, but her battle energy pushed her forward. She growled as she tried to strike the wraith again. With each speeding step, the beast seemed uninterested and unamused at her reactions. She focused on the thunder of her feet, the static in her clothes, and the fizzle of mana in the night air.
Amethyst felt the hairs on her skin stand on edge, just as they always did before she cast her spell. The wraith defensively blocked each of her strikes and crackling echoes rang from the clifftop. Sparks from the blades colliding fueled her to move faster. The wraith moved so effortlessly through the mist. If she could cast a light source to evaporate it –
As if she spoke the thought aloud, the mist hardened around her feet. She fought against it like stomping through mud to attack the wraith. She bit her lip as it bent to avoid another colliding blade.
“You aren’t fighting me,” Amethyst growled.
“I do not need to.”
The wraith raised a free hand and clutched it quickly. Amethyst felt the mist around her freeze. It immobilized her limbs. She cursed and flicked a finger out to cast her built up spell. As the dense electrical spark blasted from her fingertip, the wraiths blade deflected it into the ground nearby. She sent another as the wraith approached. It extended its blade to touch her throat threateningly.
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“You have lost,” It chuckled inhumanly, “Did this satisfy your constant need to see her powers?”
“These aren’t her powers,” Amethyst exaggeratedly frowned as the miasma around her softened and dissipated to free her, “If she cannot control your power, then she is merely a puppet of your doing.”
“She is a Vessel,” The wraith titled its head curiously.
“The only way you can truly protect her is to make her your Chosen.”
It growled and turned to dismiss the thought, “Only Calosa will ever be my Chosen.”
“Great Protector,” Amethyst knelt to show her fealty, “I do not mean to disrespect, but if young Mira doesn’t learn to control you… you know what will happen. Think about it. I can guide her. I can guide you both.”
“She isn’t ready.”
She felt the shadowy mist flow back towards the dark figure. As she looked up, the mask pulled away and Mira’s face appeared. The silver hair curled and colored in a wave. The form shrunk quickly back into the woman’s frame. Mira fell to her knees and clutched her chest. She rasped grotesquely as the idyllic strength drained from her body. The agony threatened to rip her in half as she wheezed.
“How long has it been since you could shift without pain?”
“Before the battle,” She slowed her breathing and the pain shifted to a dull throb, “It is taking less time to pass, but I am vulnerable between forms.”
Amethyst gripped Mira’s wrist and pulled her to her feet, “Then we have somewhere to start.”
She waited for her body to numb the pain and stood, “I’m going to hunt.”
“There’s nothing around here to kill,” Amethyst looked around.
Mira pointed to the small plateau above them, “There’s a lake up there with fish. Sometimes bears.”
Amethyst nodded and watched as Mira stretched. The young woman held her arms above her head and took in deep breaths. Once she felt all the vertebrae in her spine stretch and pop, she looked to Amethyst.
“You want to see what I can do, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Then, keep up.”
Mira’s foot dug into the ground and with a thunderous clap, she launched herself forward. She sprinted at full speed with the orc laughing as she chased after. She felt the magic enhance her muscles with each step. The intoxicating feeling urged her to pull more.
Mira focused the strength into her legs until she reached the base of the small cliff. She jumped up, then grasped onto a rock. She scaled the wall and moved the power from her legs to her arms and back with each step, lunge, and grasp. She crawled up the side of the cliff like a spider up a tree. Once she reached the top, she dissipated the energy and waited for Amethyst to join her.
“Goddess, I remember your mother being quick,” She huffed as she got to the top, “But how do you do that?”
“I feel the magic flow through my body,” Mira crouched then pointed to a bear, “Then, I command it.”
The orc nodded and whispered, “So, show me what you got, then.”
“In what way?” Mira raised an eyebrow.
“Take it down without holding back.”
Mira nodded and stood. She took a deep breath to blend with the shadows in the night. She urged them to blur her against them as she hunted her large prey. The brown bear roared angrily as it swatted at fish in the pond.
“It can smell you,” Encante whispered in her mind, “Remain downwind.”
She waited for the breeze against her skin and followed its path. The leaves of the skinny trees around her rustled and she deftly avoided crunching any that fell to the ground. When she got towards the bear, she reached her hand out and the spear formed as she grasped around the shaft.
The long, black spear was taller than she was, with the blade the length of a sword. She favored this for the reach it gave her with larger opponents. That, and she could shrink the shaft to have a normal blade if she needed.
Mira knelt and watched the bear sniff the air. She whistled to get its attention. As the bear stood on its hind legs, she launched the spear towards it. The wet thwonk as the blade pierced the beasts chest told her to dismiss the blade and move forward. The bear fell to the ground, roared in angry and sprinted towards her. She recalled the spear to her hands and blocked its paw as it swiped downward at her. Her feet dug into the ground as the beast pushed against her weapon. The blade swept against the thrashing paws.
Mira ducked underneath an attack and turned the spear to follow her arm as she thrust upwards. It cut between the ribs of the beast. With one last swipe, its claws dug into her arm as her blade collided with its heart.
“It’s safe,” Mira called and wiped the blood from her face.
“That wasn’t what I expected,” Amethyst scratched her head, “You let it hit you?”
“I had to thrust my blade into the heart to make sure it was a clean kill,” The spear morphed into a dagger as she cut open the hide of the bear, “My original aim was off. It had more fat in preparation for hibernation than I thought it would.”
She blinked, “You accounted for that?”
“I calculate how I use my energy to plan for any change in battle,” Mira shrugged, “Enough of that. I’m hungry. Are you?”
The orc grinned, “Starving.”
Mira grabbed a few twigs in a pile. She siphoned heat into her left hand then snapped towards the makeshift fire pit. As she skinned and dressed the bear, Amethyst looked at the pond.
“Why did you kill it like that?”
“There are other predators around here,” Mira shrugged, “They drink from this pond and fish here. Now that they know we are here, they will wait until we are gone.”
“You are very wise for the few years you’ve lived,” Amethyst nodded, “Are you ready to enter Berkshire tomorrow?”
She stabbed a chunk of bear meat and held it above the fire. Mira pondered the question. Berkshire was the beginning of the end to her enthrallment. Amethyst studied the look of exhaustion on the woman’s face as her amber eyes stared into the flames between them.
“I am interested to see how much of the duchy has been rebuilt.”
“Do you feel guilty for everyone that died that night?”
Mira frowned, “Amethyst, you tell me to control my emotions then ask this. Why?”
“It may stir something up in you tomorrow,” She shrugged, “I haven’t seen anything like the others described when you sleep. I’m waiting to see you lose control.”
“I have been exhausting myself or not sleeping,” Mira shrugged casually.
“Is that why you wanted to train tonight?”
“Yes,” She bit into the meat and chewed, “That, and I am hungry.”
“Why don’t you sleep now?” She t motioned to the open space around them, “I am pledged to you. Nobody else would get hurt.”
She narrowed her eyes, “And what if I cannot calm myself?”
“Then I will fight you until one of us falls,” She leaned towards the necklace, “Kick her out of the wraith form and I will end her there, yeah?”
Mira took a deep breath and sighed as Encante’s laugh echoed in her mind, “Fine.”