Chapter 83: False Dawn 7

Elania shifted uncomfortably in the defendant’s box, her fingers tapping nervously against the polished wood.

The Tower Council Chamber stretched out before her, the lack of spectators making it feel extremely empty. That emptiness was broken only by the guards and Yolani, who sat on the benches alone.

The room was silent until two Silvers marched to the main doors, closing them with a resounding clank that echoed through the chamber.

Elania’s gaze darted to the raised seats, where Arlois, Ember, Elysia, and Lyra took their places, their eyes fixed upon her.

Lyra’s voice cut through the stillness. “All members have been informed of the defendant’s actions, and she has admitted to the crimes.”

Elysia rose from her seat, wearing a grave expression. “The normal penalty for this crime is death or banishment.”

Elania’s fingers continued their restless tapping against the defendant’s booth. She doubted either of those outcomes were very likely.

“Since the evidence is so clear cut, we should vote immediately,” Lyra announced.

Arlois held up a hand. “Lyra, Lyra, please,” she said. “Would anyone like to present mitigating circumstances?”

Ember’s hand shot up, drawing a glare from Lyra.

“I would,” Ember declared. “Elania and her oracle have benefited the city innumerably. They have made gigantic improvements to the city’s defenses and infrastructure thanks to their efforts. Their healing potions have revolutionized the city’s healthcare, and the artifice work Yolani has done likely saved thousands or tens of thousands of lives during the recent battle.”

Arlois nodded, acknowledging Ember’s words. “Thank you, Ember. With those mitigating circumstances in mind, I believe a dispensation for the statute of law is in order.” She turned her gaze to Elysia.

Lyra shook her head rapidly, turning to look at Elysia herself.

Elysia sighed, her gaze meeting Elania’s. “While there is no prior precedent for dispensation of this statute, it would be remiss to harm or eject a fellow demi-divine who has benefited the city so much.”

Lyra hissed, her frustration evident. “Elania is taking our followers—my followers!”

Arlois fixed Lyra with a flat look. “You shouldn’t be reliant on half-connected people living on the fringes of society, anyway.” She turned to address the council. “I call a vote to give Elania dispensation and nullify the law for her.”

Elania let out a puff of breath she hadn’t known she had been holding.

Ember, Arlois, and Elysia all stood, their voices clear and resolute as they declared their decision to nullify the charges against her.

Lyra hissed in defiance. “I won’t do it,” she spat, her eyes narrowing. “I won’t vote to nullify, and I demand compensation.”

Arlois sighed, turning her gaze to Elania. “Lyra demands compensation. Are you willing to give her any?”

Elania blinked, disbelief etched on her face. “I don’t owe her anything,” she retorted firmly. “If she’s upset about the people who were literally starving and dying, she should have been more attentive to actually, you know, making sure they were fed and had shelter? She’d have been losing the followers anyway when they were to ‘go overboard,’ as she put it.”

Arlois laughed, slamming her gavel on the bench. “By a 3-1 vote, the charges against the defendant have been nullified.”

Lyra spread her wings. “I won’t be made a fool of!”

“Then stop doing foolish things,” Arlois countered sharply.

Undeterred, Lyra pointed at Elania, her eyes blazing. “I demand a trial by combat!”

Elysia stood up, her expression incredulous. “For what?”

“Because she annoys me!” Lyra exclaimed.

Elysia shook her head. “That’s not a valid reason!”

An angry puff escaped Elania as she stood. “I’ll fight her.”

There was a chorus of surprise from everyone.

“I’ll fight her!” Elania shouted.

Ember burst out laughing, her amusement echoing through the chamber.

Arlois facepalmed, her exasperation evident. “Fine. You will have a limited combat, but only limited, and overseen by the rest of us.”

Yolani rushed to Elania’s side. “What the hell are you doing?”

“I’m going to figure out why this bitch has been twisting our panties since we arrived,” Elania hissed.

Yolani groaned, her frustration palpable. “They… you are acting like a bunch of... of... children!”

Ember, standing atop her seat, roared. “We aren’t—we are a bunch of crazy bitches fueled by divinity!”

“Order!” Arlois shouted, pounding her gavel.

There was no wasting time. Less than an hour later, they all had moved to a remote, high-floating island.

Elania stared across the open space, the wind whipping through her hair as she faced Lyra.

Arlois stepped forward. “This fight will be a limited match, witnessed by three Towers and subject to the following rules.”

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She held up a finger. “First, both participants will have their [Power] normalized for fairness.”

Lyra scoffed, but Arlois continued, undeterred. “Second, there will be no usage of your [Domain] in the fight.”

Elania nodded, her eyes never leaving Lyra’s.

“Third,” Arlois said, “external weapons other than those on their person are not permitted.”

Lyra’s hand twitched towards her belt, but she remained still.

“Fourth, your oracles may not intervene in any way, spiritually or physically.”

Elania glanced at Yolani, who stood beside Ember, her face etched with worry.

“And finally,” Arlois concluded, “you will be wrapped in wards that will register damage but prevent harm, and you will be limited to the confines of the current island. If you leave the barrier or have your wards break, you will lose.”

Elania nodded firmly as Arlois looked between her and Lyra.

“Yes,” Elania said.

Lyra echoed her agreement, a feral grin spreading across her face.

Yolani approached Elania, her fingers moving to tighten one of the straps on her armor. She patted Elania’s back, a silent gesture of support.

As Elysia moved to stand beside Lyra, Ember joined Elania. “I’ll make the protective field now,” Ember said.

A shimmering blue sheen appeared over Elania’s skin and body, enveloping her. She glanced down at her hands, marveling at the strange sensation. How the heck did it work?

Arlois drew her sword, pointing it toward the sky. A translucent blue dome formed above them. The shimmering barrier grew, spreading across the ground until it covered every inch of the island, isolating the combatants from the rest of the world.

Yolani patted Elania’s back. “Go beat that harridan up.”

Elania smiled at her words, giving Yolani a confident thumbs up.

As Yolani and the others stepped back, exiting the dome, Elania turned her attention to her opponent.

Arlois’ voice rang out, announcing the last conditions of their fight: they would continue until one of them fell unconscious, surrendered, or had their ward broken.

Elania sized up Lyra, taking in her stance and the savage grin that stretched across her face.

Blue wisps of magic began to form around Lyra’s wings, a clear indication of the power she wielded.

Arlois held up her hand, a purple ball of energy forming in her palm. “On the sound of the boom, you may begin the fight,” Arlois announced.

Elania morphed her bracer into her revolver, loading it with a swift, practiced motion. She chose fire. Opposites canceled, and she felt reasonably confident in the rate and [Power] output of the weapon, even if they had been magically ‘normalized’ for the fight.

The purple orb in Arlois’ hand popped loudly, signaling the start of the battle.

Lyra moved first, darting forward on her wings and shooting blue lances at Elania.

Reacting quickly, Elania leaped into the air, flying along the dome’s edge. The blue lances tracked her movements but smashed into the dome, unable to turn fast enough to reach her.

Elania leveled the revolver at Lyra and pulled the trigger.

A giant gout of flame erupted from the barrel, filling an entire quarter of the dome where Lyra stood.

As the fire cleared, Lyra emerged from beneath her wings, leaving behind a protective dome of water and steam.

Lyra leaped after Elania, but Elania fired again. And again. Until her cylinder was empty.

The flames blotted out her view of the rest of the arena, but that meant there was nowhere to hide from it.

Before the blaze dissipated, Lyra flew out of the inferno, enraged. “Stop running away, bitch!” she shouted.

Elania morphed her revolver into a bracer and grabbed her sword from her back. The sight of the enormous golden blade caused Lyra to skid to a halt.

Reaching up into the air, Lyra summoned a large blue spear with a curved blade. Elania blinked, thinking it looked Asian... or Japanese? A naginata? Or something similar.

The momentary distraction of trying to identify the weapon was enough for Lyra to launch forward and attack again.

Elania swung her sword, blocking the first strike, but Lyra’s weapon proved faster and more maneuverable.

She held her sword up, using it more as a shield rather than an offensive tool while losing ground in the air.

Lyra swung wide, and Elania blocked the attack, only for the blue spear to wrap around like a whip and smack her in the back.

Elania hissed in pain. The ward apparently didn’t block that.

She swung with her wing, but Lyra caught the attack with her own. Their feathers sizzled with electricity as they became entangled, stuck together in a fierce clash of power.

Lyra’s spear shrank in size, allowing her to continue to jab despite the close proximity. Elania discarded her sword and grabbed the shaft.

Painful spikes stabbed her palm, but she ignored them and punched Lyra in the face so hard they both were sent hurtling toward the ground.

Elania flexed her wing to bring her in for another punch. Instead, she grabbed Lyra’s other wing so they were stuck to each other.

Lyra screamed and head-butted her in the nose.

That sent them spinning while still plummeting toward the ground, and Elania started punching her in the face, in the stomach, and everywhere she could.

Lyra punched back.

They were still beating each other when they hit the ground with a heavy thump and went bouncing. They rolled across the arena, neither of them giving up.

A minute passed. Then five. Time lost its meaning, their fists slamming into each other until the blue wards shattered, and they were smashing flesh that wouldn’t give or break.

There was shouting from someone else—not her or Lyra. The whirl of punches and screeching only stopped when a hand grabbed her by the back of her outfit and wrenched her away.

Elania blinked and saw Ember grabbing Lyra, too. Lyra turned and attacked Ember with a blue dagger. Ember jumped away behind a barrier of flame. Lyra shot at it with icicles.

Elania turned and saw Arlois looking at her with a stern expression.

Anger bubbled up in Elania. Arlois had hurt her, too. Arlois had violated her.

She swung. Arlois blocked it with a forearm.

That wasn’t enough to satisfy her, so Elania swung her wing only for Arlois to slap it away with her own.

Elania reached up and pulled a golden spear of energy out of the air and stabbed with it.

A purple disc shield appeared in front of the spear, and both energies crackled into motes of purple and golden light.

One wasn’t enough. Elania summoned a dozen spears. Arlois replied with the same number of purple discs.

Elania’s fist lashed out, but Arlois caught her wrist and flung her to the ground.

Fire filled her lungs as Elania lay on her stomach. Head turned to the side, she caught sight of Lyra unleashing a blizzard of ice and water at Ember, who had been joined by Elysia in blocking the attacks.

Before she could move, Arlois kicked her in the side, rolling her over and standing on her chest. Elania struggled to get up, but Arlois’ weight kept her pinned down.

Elania’s eyes scanned the arena for anything that could help. She spotted her sword lying on the ground. She reached out, and to her surprise, the blade flew into her hand.

That was a surprise for Arlois, too; her eyes widened at the sight.

With a mighty swing, Elania struck Arlois with more force than she thought possible, sending the other demi-divine flying off her.

Elania stood up, facing hundreds of summoned purple discs beginning to track inwards toward her. She summoned her own golden light spears to counter the discs, but it was a losing battle.

Stepping back further and further, Elania found herself back-to-back with Lyra, who was being overwhelmed by the combined might of Ember and Elysia. They shared shocked expressions before turning toward the fight.

Without really thinking about it, Elania combined her aura with Lyra’s to defend against the attacks coming from both directions.

Elania poured more [Power] into her light spears, attacking faster and faster at all three of the other Towers, while Lyra focused on protecting them with a swirling sphere of water and ice. Explosions rocked the island, sending gouts of flame, steam, and smoke in every direction.

The battle had reached a stalemate.

A gray basketball-like object thumped into the middle of the arena, drawing everyone’s attention.

It exploded, and all the [Power] in the area was nullified.

Their defenses snapped back into place immediately, but it was enough to shock them all out of the fight for a second. That was long enough for them to spot Yolani, who was waving at them with both arms.

“I have no idea what the fuck I just watched, but if the rulers of this city are going to play fight, they should do it responsibly!” Yolani shouted.

She stopped waving and pointed to an island below. The previous wisps of clouds had thinned out enough for all the citizens to witness the spectacle.

And they had attracted quite a crowd.