Betty found herself alone in the forest.
This was...disconcerting. Yes, that was a good word. She could work with that word, she would use that word going forward. This was disconcerting.
Not just because one of her newest friends had just disappeared. That was disconcerting in and of itself. And she was worried...well, disconcerted, she'd committed to the word she might as well really commit...about what could have happened or be happening to her new friend. And it was equally disconcerting that looking around she could find no trace of where Goldie had gone, which meant she had no way of telling where any attack on hermight come from. But if she was being honest, and Betty was usually honest, people even told her sometimes she was toohonest although she didn't really understand that, she was most disconcerted because she suddenly found herself alone in a great big dark scary forest with an evil sorceress in it someplace.
That was quite definitely disconcerting.
“Ah,” she said out loud. “But wait. I am not alone. I am a summoner. A summoner, by definition, can never be alone.”
So she sat down on the forest floor. This might have seemed unwise, but Betty reasoned that if she couldn't tell the direction an attack was coming from anyway she might as well be comfortable. She focused, concentrated, and with a rush of magic power from her stomach she was no longer alone in the big dark scary forest, and therefore slightly less disconcerted.
“Hello,” she said to the cat and duck who had appeared before her. “We are all agreed that the one attacking us is the elf sorceress?”
“I can sense her,” Quakfina agreed. “She feels...weaker. Maybe she was weakened in the explosion? Or more likely, she's sent a duplicate after you.”
“Her being less powerful increases our chances of victory. Can either of you tell what direction the elf is attacking from?”
Midnight shook his head.
“No,” Quakfina said. “Sensory magic is neither of our specialties, and both shadow and forest magic excel at stealth. Now, please don't take this the wrong way dear, but if you were a little better trained you might be able to grant competing powers to Midnight, since he can access the powers of any of the Five Elements found in eastern philosophy. Fire would be particularly helpful here. It sheds light to banish shadow, and forest magic calls on the wood element, which fire consumes.”
“I am not offended. I am a novice sorceress, and Midnight is a very powerful familiar.”
“Mrow!”Midnight said proudly.
“But even if I cannot yet bring out his full potential he canaccess fire magic. He did it before.”
“Only a little,” Quakfina said. “Your focus has mostly been in water. For the last battle you fought it was the element you needed. I doubt he could summon the power to pierce her veils. Maybe if you could find a way to tie to the fire element, but I believe fire will be the most difficult for you.”
“Why would that be?” Betty asked.
“Fire is the element of passion. Rage. Intense emotion.”
“Ah. That is somewhat disappointing.”
“Yes I think you've just proved my point,” Quakfina sighed.
“Then we will have to do what we can with water,” Betty said. “I have a plan. I have been working on it for a while, as a matter of fact.”
“You have? Oh! I can feel it now! That's...hey, that might work!”
“But it does require me to be attacked. Why has she not attacked me yet?”
“I do not know,” Quakfina said. “We should be able to sense her in the moment before she attacks. Not to sound immodest, but I am an extremelypowerful magical being. I'll be quite the asset once you can handle my full power.”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“Then she must be goaded.” Betty stood and cupped her hands around her mouth.
“Hello out there, you ridiculous pointy eared excuse for a two dollar prostitute, would you...”
“Look out!”
Betty rolled to the side as a vine slammed into the ground where she'd been standing. As she stood Sylvanandra, or at leas this split version of her, stepped out of the trees, eyes glaring.
“Two dollars!?” The elf sorceress screamed.
“Forgive me, I did not mean to imply you overcharged. Perhaps if I could look at your price sheet, I could aim my insults at the penny options.”
Sylvanandra let out an inarticulate scream of rage and called upon her magic. At which point the ground under Betty's feet shifted...
And nothing else.
“What the hell?” Sylvanandra hissed. “My forest magic isn't working? We're in a forest!!!”
“I take it you have never attempted to keep a houseplant,” Betty said. “I will not deny this requires a great deal of magic to maintain, but even with my powerful spells limited to water there is a simple counter for your forest magic.”
“What counter!?” Sylvanandra insisted. “Ice maybe, but you don't have the control for that! What could you possibly be....”
Betty punched her in the face.
Betty's body was not particularly enhanced, and while she'd been doing some training lately she'd never been the most athletic. The impact of the punch was more mental than physical. Before the fight began the evil elf would have been sure, sure,that getting punched in the face by this woman would have been impossible. If she'd even considered it at all. Because it was ridiculous.
“Dammit!” she stumbled back, clutching her mouth. “I cut my lip on a tooth! Ahh, that sucks!”
“Much like you for...I would guess a nickel?”
“Oh no!” Sylvanandra said. “You're not going to get me all confused and unfocused again. I knewyou were gonna be annoying to fight. Your power makes more sense now that I know you're a summoner...hey, where did your cat go?”
Midnight raced through the forest, flames flickering from his body. He had been given a mission by his summoner, who he had come to deeply love. Not that he'd ever tell herthat. He was a cat after all. Alright so a Five Elements Cat wasn't exactly a cat, he was still basically a cat. And that meant deeply loving someone to the core of you and never, ever, actually admitting it. Oh look, you happen to be in the same room as me? Again? Oh very well, you can scratch my head. If you must.Now let me blink at you slowly, don't get all clingy or whatever it doesn't mean anything.
Now, his mission was...there!
He had found the woven cocoon of vines and shadow where Goldie was being held prisoner. That had been his mission. Find Goldie, if she was alive, and free her. With a yowl he clawed open the cocoon. It took longer than he'd like. He understood it was important to protect everyone in the clowder, but Betty was his person.He had to go back and help her!
As the cocoon finallyburst open and Goldie stumbled out into the forest, sucking in big gulps of air, his only thought was getting back to Betty.
“Where's Betty!?” Goldie asked frantically, and Midnight decided this human might be pretty nice too. Not that he'd ever tell her that.
Betty had Sylvanandra on the ground, straddling her waist and punching her in the face. She just wished it was doing more damage. The elf seemed more inconvenienced by the whole thing than hurt.
“Get off me!” Sylvanandra shouted, grabbing Betty by the neck and hurling her off. And that word was chosen carefully, hurling.She threw Betty across the clearing until the slammed into the base of a tree.
“Ow,” Betty said, picking herself up.
“I get what you're doing now! Oh, that's obnoxious. That's reallyobnoxious! I've never seen anyone try that before! You're drowningmy spells! Normally forest magic feeds of water magic, but you're pouring so much water magic into the ground my plants drown in it before they can grow and hurt you! Damn, that's...that's actually pretty impressive! I'm impressed! Do you know how often I'm impressed? Because it's not often. But!You made a mistake.”
“And what was that?” Betty said.
“You assumed I could only attack with the forest magic.”
Sylvanandra curled her fingers into claws, and blades of shadow erupted from their tips. She charged at Betty, claws extended.
“Betty!” Quakfina shouted, her body starting to glow. Betty held up her hands to block...which worked a lot better than she thought, because there was suddenly a sword in them. It was made of a silvery blue metal, beautifully sculpted in the shape of an outstretched wing, complete with feathers so intricate they almost looked real. The hilt was a pair of closed wings, and the pommel was the head of a duck.
A very familiar duck.
“Ow!” Sylvanandra stumbled back, blood seeping from cuts in the palms of her hands. “Dammit, that hurt!”
“Oh well done Betty!” Quakfina said, the bill on the pommel of the sword moving like a regular beak. “You've accessed another level of my power! Not many of my summoners ever mastered the Divine Wing Blade!”
“It is very impressive, but there is one issue with this form. I do not have the slightest idea how to use a sword.”
“Dammit I don't care why fancy weapons you've come out with!” Sylvanandra hissed, shadow whipping around her body like a cloak. Blades of shadow exploded out from her, and while Betty blocked the first few clumsily with the blade there were just too many of them and they slashed into her, deep cuts in her side and legs, and Betty fell bleeding to the floor.
“Now die!” The elf shrieked, lunging at Betty with her shadow claws raised.