For a moment, Reihekiu seemed to hover above the flaming, screaming Specter, suspended on nothing but air and determination. Her face showed no rage, fear, or blood lust. In fact, she looked far calmer than I could have felt, even if I tried. Her eyes moved from us, trusting that Kishi and I had obeyed her orders, and returned to the smoldering shadow beast below.

The Specter seemed to begin to regain his senses just as the half elf began her decent, and it turned its oddly shaped body her way and roared in anger. There was no serenity about this wanna be Land God, not at all. It pulled back one still smoldering arm, balling a substance-less fist, and taking aim at Reihekiu.

In the span of time it took to blink, the thought that it made no sense for the Specter to punch Reihekiu crossed my mind. If we couldn't hit him, than how could he hit us? Then my brain caught up, and I remembered that I was in a world of magic where sense was what you made of it, and that it would be just our luck that he could hit while being unable to be hit in return.

I took a breath to yell out a useless warning. But before I could even think what it was I wanted to shout, my eyes widened in shock. Because it was right then that I realized that this was no normal sword. Along the blade danced zig zagging blue light, the crackling even sounding over the snarls of the Specter.

As Reihekiu brought the blade down in one swift, twisting, arc, I saw that this particular blade had been enchanted with the power of lightning. Maybe the Specter noticed this too, because he went from a punching motion to a more guarded stance, his fist opening to shield itself from the coming blade.

The second the sizzling sword made contact with the still smoking black mist there was a massive booming noise. I squeezed my eyes shut against the blinding white light, the fork of lightning burnt into me retina probably for the foreseeable future. the sound so loud that the ground shook.

As the Specter screamed, time seemed to catch up, and I was slammed into something hard. Having hit it enough times recently, I knew I had collided with Lagdon, and blindly used his arm to right myself. I heard Kishi slide along the dirt, followed by a growl and the sound of snapping wood. I assumed that she had wasted no time setting herself upon the still advancing minions. Just because time seemed to have stopped for a moment did not mean that we were not still surrounded by enemies.

"Are you alright?" Growled Lagdon. I looked up and saw that he was still staring at where Reihekiu and the Specter were still cloaked in a fading light.

"Fine." I said, attempting to get my tangled hair out of my face and regaining my feet. "I didn't realize her sword was magic." Though I did know it seemed to have appeared like it.

"Indeed..."

I took a second to be sure my hobgoblin wasn't badly hurt. And he did not seem to be... But i did notice that he no longer held his club. A worried glance around showed that it lay in shattered pieces around us. Clearly the super hard flesh of the giants finally broke it.

"How'd you tear its arm off...?" I asked, in a bit of a daze, seeing the still form of the armless minion near by.

"Difficultly." He said, very unhelpfully, making me sighed and roll my eyes.

I was going to retort, but as always, my lack of wit was interrupted. Reihekiu shouted out and my attentions went back to her and the enemy, where it should have been to begin with. Lagdon shuffled me to the side just as the woman came flying our way. Like he did this as a side job, Lagdon caught Reihekiu out of the air, not even stumbling when she collided with his body. Freaking goblin strength...

"That was unpleasant..." Groaned the elf, rubbing her ribs as Lagdon set her to her feet. "What the heck are you made of? Diamond?" She asked, eyeing the hobgoblin's grey biceps in annoyance.

Lagdon did not bother to respond.

"It still lives..." Kishi growled, appearing back at our side and spitting out a hunk of bark.

I glanced around Lagdon and saw that the fox had put up a wall of fire, preventing the advance of the wooden minions. The larger ones seemed to have stopped, swaying from side to side for a second. Then they began to march again. Damn it.

I returned my gaze to the elf and Specter, the light having begun to fade. Relief flashed over me when I saw Reihekiu getting up off the ground, her hair no longer up, and clearly she was favoring her right leg... but she was alive and that was what mattered. But just as fast as my mood had lifted, it sank to the soles of my feet. I watched as the shadow that was the Specter rose up from the rotted earth as well, seemingly un hurt, but its eyes now blazed with purple light. He was pissed.

"Gnat!" It spat, and a formless jet of darkness shot out from its form, flasing past us, striking the woman, and sending her flying back toward the rest of us.

"Reihekiu!" I gasped, bending down and pulling her bruised body back toward me. I smoothed her hair out of her face and saw that her eyes were still open, but blood trickled from the corner of her mouth and down from one of her nostrils. "Oh no..."

The elf coughed. "You need to worry about yourself, Little Goddess..." She wheezed, exhausted some effort in pulling herself into a sitting position, one of her hands still tightly gripping her blade. "He is strong, and I am done. I am afraid I can be no help now..."

I felt the panic rise in me, but along it began to grow something else. It was red hot and relatively unfamiliar to me, this rage. I used to think that, despite all my troubles and disadvantages in my last life, I rarely grew angry. But since coming to this world, since gaining things that meant something to me, people I could not bare to lose, I had experienced it more and more. It seemed like the more I gained, the more people wanted to take them from me.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"Kishi, please protect Reihekiu." I said, my voice much calmer than the boiling rage within suggested. "Lagdon, finish off the minions."

The hobgoblin narrowed his eyes on me, still aware of the Specter, who appeared to be in some kind of pain, allowing us but a moment of peace. "And how am I supposed to help you, if I am doing that?" He rumbled.

I shook my head. "You can't touch him." I said, pulling the elf toward the fox and setting her next to Kishi's feet. The fox bowed her head and licked the woman's brow. "But I can hit him Mistress... why not use me?"

"Thank you Kishi," I said with a small smile, reaching out and patting her rather massive head between the equally large ears. "But someone needs to keep an eye on Reihekiu while Lagdon manages the rest. I would not be able to bare it if she died fighting my fight."

Fists clenched and scowl firmly in place, Lagdon spoke, his own rage much more evident than my own. "It is my duty to protect you, Lady Enna. Not the other way around! I will-"

"You," I said, in a quiet yet assertive voice, cutting off a man at least three times my size. "Will, do as you are told." I looked up at his stricken and conflicted face, and softened my own features. "I am the land god, and it is my job to rout any pretenders to my office. I can not hide behind your vast and impressive shadow all the time Lagdon... Sometimes, like now, there will be battles that a god must face on her own."

Not allowing for him to try and convince me farther, I turned my back on my friends, wishing desperately that I could have them with me, but knowing that it was not possible right now. Even if they were able, how could I ask them to face a being that had the strength of a god. Even more than when I faced the goregek, I needed to fully embrace my role, and with my own hands, protect what I held most dear.

I walked forward with more confidence than I felt, while Lagdon cursed behind me. But he did not follow. He was too obedient of a soldier to disobey a direct order like that. And of all the beings in this strange world, monsters understood what it meant to be able to rely on ones own power, and to fight one's own battles. Coming under my influence may have mellowed out my monsters a bit, but they were still monsters.

"Another fly for me to swat..." Rumbled the Specter as I came within several feet of him. Curiously, he had still not moved, and his odd body seemed to tremble as well. Perhaps Reihekiu had delt considerably more damage than I had thought? I would not pin my hopes on that, however.

"This is between you and I. Come, lets finish this." Great, now I was spouting cliche lines... at least the beings of this world didn't know it was cringe worthy.

"Foolish mortal... what is it that you think you can do to me?" Croaked the entity, his voice full of malice, sure. But I heard pain there too. "I will consume you and take my rightful place as a god!"

The last word was spat at me as a roar, and in a flash- as if it's evident pain had been a ruse- the Specter rushed forward, abandoning its humanoid shape all together now. I screamed two iifree spells at it, and he did not even try to doge, taking the brunt of the flame but pushing through it all the same. I realized that it knew that it was weak, and it also did not know my full capabilities and it hoped to get this job done, now.

I was about to jump away, firing another flame at the same time, but the Specter spread itself out wide. It was like a blanket of black mist, and that blanket was too wide to get around, and too high to jump over.

In my panic, or maybe my desperation, I felt a jolt in my consciousness. Like a string breaking, and a surge of energy sprang forth. I shot directly at the monster. ducking down and scaping my exposed knees as I reached out and took hold of the disembodied arm laying in the filth at the Specter's... feet?

Whatever, it didn't matter the term. Because, right at that second, I simultaneously lifted an appendage that weighed twice my own body weight, while simultaneously sheathing it in reddish flames. With out muttering a spell, much less the chant that most spell casters needed. Panting, I slung the arm at the Specter. I ran behind the soaring black arm, at a speed I had never used before, and drew my small dagger.

As the arm made contact with the Specter it erupted in dark red flaming meat chunks, scattering all through the shadow, burning holes in its flesh. The the thought of Reihekiu's spelled blade in mind, I extended my thoughts to my dagger, and imagined it also wreathed in flames. Like it was second nature, the blade ignited just as I leapt into the air, knees pulled up tight. I slashed through the shadowy substance and roared in satisfaction as my blade cut through.

I landed in the muck on the other side of the Specter and did not stop to wonder how I could suddenly Lift great loads, use magic with out spells, or run and jump like a damn ninja. there was no time, and I had no clue how long these impossible powers would last.

The Specter was howling once again, and I noticed out of the corner of my eye that the minions turned from the wildly aggressive Lagdon, to instead rush our way.

"I don't think so!" I heard Lagdon snarl, and he jumped after the minions in such a wild fashion I could only call it berserk. I watched as he grabbed hold of one of the very few remaining giant minions, digging his heels into the dirt and forcing it to a stop. With a great roar of his own, he yanked and I saw the arm rip away from the minion.

I saw nothing more, as had my own troubles to attend to. I'd leave the minions in Lagdon's capable, and now some what feral, hands. My attention focused back on the Specter, who was in the process of reforming his rather tattered and dispersed form.

I was not entirely sure how one killed a being made of mist and the leftover life force of an ancient dragon, but clearly magical attacks at least delt it damage. And If I could damage it, then I could kill it.

I knew a few other basic spells besides iifree, but it was my best. Besides, fire and heat seemed to be an element it was susceptible to. So, I again lit my rather miniscule blade and charged, my limbs still fueled by that mysterious power. It felt a lot like when I pulled on the others, borrowing from the power I had directed to them in the first place. But I had always had to consciously reach for that power. Given the dire situation, it had been my plan to do so, but it was a little worrying if I could do it without a conscious thought...

I stored that worry away for another time.

Leaping back into the air in an attempt to reach portions of the still wide spread Specter that had not been burnt though yet, I allowed the fire to lick along my blade.

But this time the Specter reacted faster, and clearly he was not willing to let the same trick affect him again. Swiftly, he drew his essence back into its self, then, like a black jet, he shot the entirety of it my way. I dug my blade into its mist flesh but it did not have the same effect as before. On top of that, it managed to grip me tightly and hold me up a good eight feet off the ground.

First my little hundred-twenty pound self can lift two-hundred pound arms and the next a creature made of a gas can hold solid matter off the ground! I guess I should just stop expecting natural law to be in effect in this new life of mine.

I was about to snarl out some profanities, if only to make myself feel a little better as I struggled against the Specter's unnatural grip, when an even more worrisome attack commenced. Suddenly I was engulfed in dark mist, distorting my view of the night time battle field. I could hear Lagdon's continued battle cries, but they were muffled as if I were submerged in water. And then I felt the assault on my mind.

It was like the Specter was attempting to invade my very soul. How the hell was I supposed to combat this?