The Mother of Monsters

To think Azrael Unabi would have to bow her head to anyone but her Lady. To fathom that she would ever have to beg for something, anything. And yet, that begging and pleading was for her lady and so it was worth it in the end. If groveling before Paraklytus was the only way to prove her convictions then she was fine with that. He had demanded something in exchange, of course. She had asked her father for the Aspect of the Azar and he had not refused her. It had given her newfound strength as a paragon of her species. Paraklytus had come through as well, not flinching at her request after he had ensured that she would deliver on her payment.

“Like the wind, swift-footed,” Azrael breathed, mist escaping from her lips as the mana coursed through her body. She drew upon the first of her new aspects, [Azar Resistances] [Might of the Azar], her body becoming cloaked in a veil of magic that would protect her while her body grew stronger, her muscles increasing in density, elasticity, and strength. She moved forward faster, drawing closer to her first obstacle. Behemoth was a dear ally, the great beast had fought at her side numerous times and she’d grown to understand it’s simple mind. Now here she was facing it down in a way their foes had before. She wondered if it had always been so big.

From her left and right the false Teyvas made from her Manikins darted in to pin her within Behemoth’s reach. They lunged with their weapons as Azrael kicked off the ground, carried by the wind. She spun in the air, raising her sword over her head. The pink glow grew more intense until the light around it began to warp and bend, the swirling light losing its color and becoming transparent. She grit her teeth as the power of her second new aspect roared to life, [The Aspect of The Void] possessed anti-magic qualities, it also had the unique power of being able to banish summoned monsters. It was the perfect weapon against someone like Teyva. She drove the blade into Behemoth’s shoulder and finished her casting of [Banishing Strike].

Behemoth let out a roar of pain followed by a grunt of confusion as he began to break down, his body erupting into glowing particles that rose through the air around Azrael. She came in for a landing and spun, the passive ability of [The Aspect of the Witness], [Circle of Eyes], alerting her to the danger coming from behind. She lashed out, swinging her sword in an arc and catching two of the Manikins in the chest while the other two retreated to a safe distance. The two struck by her blade flickered and burst into mana, coursing through the air and traveling back to the point of origin. Azrael stood in place, turning her eyes on Teyva as the power of the void coursed through her veins, she pointed her weapon in Teyva’s direction. “I warned you to take this seriously!” She said to a surprised-looking Teyva.

Teyva held her hands up, clearly feeling the Mana return to her body. It was the one drawback of [Banishing Strike], mana cannot be destroyed, and dismissing a creature in such a forceful way returns the Mana to the caster. Even so, with sufficient speed and correct use of the ability it nullified a summoner’s effectiveness. Teyva looked from her hands to Azrael and her expression turned to that wild, almost sinister look that she’d come to acknowledge as Teyva’s true face. Even behind the veil she knew. Azrael didn’t hate that face, far from it, she admired it, the raw power that was at her lady’s fingertips and the eagerness to test herself. She would grow powerful, perhaps even more powerful than her father. Azrael would be right there beside her as she rose, but first she needed to prove it to herself.

“Sorry for the delay, Az! Here I come!” Teyva shouted, her right arm splitting into two chains and lashing at the ground. They burst from the earth at the very point Azrael had been standing an instant before. She darted forward again, closing the Distance with Teyva as her mockeries lunged in from all directions. Behind Teyva, the Death Elemental threw its arm forward with incomprehensible speed, reaching to snatch Azrael off the ground. Azrael ducked, spinning her weapon once and releasing the second ability of the void [Anti-Magic Field]. A pink light exploded off of her skin that quickly turned transparent, rippling across the Elemental’s arm and the Mockeries. The elemental howled and pulled it’s arm back while several dozen mockeries fell to the earth, stunned.

Azrael didn’t have time to stop, she kept moving, the chains leaping from every direction. A flash of something strange ripped across her mind and she clenched her teeth, powering through as a vision of a labyrinth formed in her mind’s eye. She willed it away, crushing the mind trap with every ounce of mental power she could muster before diving to the left as the spiked chains ripped through the ground behind her, intending to crush her spine. She spun, swinging her weapon at one of the chains and casting [Banishing Strike], Anti-magic ripped through the chain and it recoiled, retreating into the ground and back to Teyva’s shoulder. She glanced in Teyva’s direction and saw her holding her free hand out, magic forming around her fingertips as she prepared another ability. She recognized the magic circle that was forming.

“Oh no you don’t!” Azrael shouted, tossing her throwing knife and casting [Banishing Strike] again, “Rip, terrible wind, lash and fly my friend!” The pink glowing knife hurtled through the air, accelerated by the wind blade and slammed into Teyva’s hand. Teyva let out a gasp as the summoning failed. She looked up at Azrael wide-eyed as Azrael closed the distance, diving beneath Nephral’s sudden attack from above. The large cat baring ice-covered claws and fangs at her. Teyva shifted her arm to a sword and caught Azrael’s strike, stepping backwards as the two got face to face.

Teyva let out a laugh of delight, pushing down against Azrael’s enhanced strength. Azrael winced, she’d almost forgotten about the other half of Teyva’s titan aspect. Her strength was unreal! “That’s what I’m talking about! Come on Azrael! This is amazing! Show me more!” Azrael grinned and leaped upwards, avoiding the wall that Teyva put behind her to block a more basic escape attempt. Teyva looked up at her, “You can see behind you now?”

“I wonder about that!” Azrael shouted back, avoiding the question as she went after the Death Elemental.

Teyva shouted something in another language beneath her and a powerful burst of wind erupted from her direction. Azrael felt herself get hurled further into the sky, as she spinned, she looked down at Teyva who was holding her aloft. “Using the wind against me?” Azrael laughed. “Thanks for the lift!” She shouted and reached into the air to her left. When she pulled her hand out of the rippling void she was holding Elat’s bow and wearing his gauntlet. She drew an arrow of mana back, empowering it with [Banishing Strike] and sent shot after shot down on Teyva and her summons heads.

Azrael felt her skin grow colder but ignored it, Teyva hadn’t managed to land any death-magic spells on her yet so she figured it was just the wind, her movements, and the death elemental’s presence that were cooling the air around her. She met Teyva’s gaze, her sister’s arm immediately changing to those metallic hands and pointing up in Azrael’s direction. Azrael’s senses screamed at her to turn around, she spun in the air, “Step upon the wind, oh traveler!” She shouted, kicking off a solid mass of air just as Behemoth came howling out of a magic circle formed in the space behind her. The massive creature lunged at her wrapping its arms around her body as she tried to gain distance.

“Shit!” She cursed, feeling the heavy creature pull her with it back down to earth with the unforgiving force of gravity. She had to move! Had to go somewhere else! Had to leap! Flee! She closed her eyes and felt for any opening she could find, letting her new senses carry her to safety. If she could just move like water, slick like ink! She stumbled onto her feet and froze, confused, and turned to see herself standing in the growing shadow of Behemoth’s falling form. She dove to the left and righted herself, catching her breath. What just happened? Teyva on the other hand looked equally confused. The confusion faded as excitement and adrenaline took back over, Behemoth landing on his feet with a terrible roar.

“What am I watching?” Niko murmured.

“My humiliation,” Conrad grunted, “She went easy on me.”

“You gave her aspects as well?” Thrake asked Paraklytus, the King had set himself up with the Akurai to watch the fight unfold.

“I did, but neither of them possessed such a strange ability,” Paraklytus murmured, he looked up at Thrake and chuckled, “I did not do it for free, mind you, I exacted a payment out of her.”

“What did you demand of my daughter, lich?” Thrake asked in a low voice.

“Her firstborn with Elat will be my pupil and learn the ways of Labyrinthian Magic,” Paraklytus said proudly, “Not a bad deal.”

“Hardly sounds like a sacrifice,” Thrake said, “I hear you are a good teacher.”

“Not good enough to create what we are seeing,” Paraklytus admitted, “What is happening?”

Thrake shook his head, “You don’t recognize it? Come now.”

A blast of sound drew their attention back to the fight. Teyva had created a whip of water that was thrashing across the arena, trying to catch Azrael who seemed to be moving even faster than ever. Her body had grown dark, as if the light around her was starting to fade. In contrast, Teyva’s body was glowing brighter, her eyes even taking on a luminous quality. She held her hands high and four manikins darted out of magic circles above her head, charging at Azrael with weapons already raised. Beside them, Niko chewed on his thumbnail while the crowd around them sat in utter silence.

“It can happen at any time,” Thrake said thoughtfully, “That moment, that instant in a life, where the forces of our world put you in just the right place, where the right pressure is applied, where your heart is open to any possibility, when you feel like the very cosmos is in your grasp,” He breathed, “You’ve felt it too, haven’t you? That moment where everything changed for you?”

The Archlich looked to Thrake and then back at the battlefield and began to chuckle. Batel, next to him, looked his way with a frown. “Lord Paraklytus?”

Parakltyus rose to his feet, “I’m seeing it with my own eyes! Unbelievable! Incredible! Magnificent!” He raised his hands high, “Ahh your daughters are amazing, King Thrake!”

Azrael had to move faster, even faster, distance, the physical property of space had become nothing more than a hindrance. She needed to get past Teyva’s defenses, she needed to prove that she could be anywhere for her, any time, any place, like a shadow. Azrael’s eyes widened, “Yes, like a shadow!” She blurted, mist roiling from her lips as the world passed her by in snapshots rather than in a single consistent movement. She felt herself bathed in cold, her body chilled to the bone. She felt herself drawn to the right and glanced that way, spotting Behemoth raising his arms to strike her again. Between his legs, in the pool of darkness, she saw Teyva’s back. She turned, darting toward the great creature and charging another [Banishing Strike]. She slid across the ground, striking it’s leg and slipping into the pool.

“Got you,” Azrael breathed, swinging her weapon toward Teyva’s back. Teyva’s chains erupted from the ground at the same time. Azrael’s blade scoring a slash across her sister’s back while the bladed chains ripped across her skin. Azrael gasped, stepping backward and feeling herself fall back into that cold darkness. When she resurfaced she was in the faint shadow created by the ring of stands around the arena. She couldn’t even hear the crowd anymore, only the sounds of her heart thrumming in her chest. Teyva turned immediately, her body glowing brightly as she threw her hand out and began peppering the area in her direction with bolts of pale light. She was joined by her Mockeries who began to glow as well, each of them releasing their own tiny bolt of pale white light. A storm of power hurtling in her direction.

Azrael couldn’t help herself, she smiled.