Arlie turned to face the door leading into the bridge, her sword gripped in her hand, her posture loose and light. The door creaked, marines on either side stood ready for battle. It splintered and blew inward. Two pirates swept in to engage the marines in hand-to-hand, before a regal female figure followed, Sealord Ocari. She grinned, “Well this has been diverting. Now Princess Arlie was it? You’ll be coming with me.”
Fae interjected, “I had a feeling that was what you were after, but awfully arrogant of you to presume you have won.”
“But I have.” she replied, casting a spell Fae’s way. Fae side-stepped, only for the bolt to curve and hit her in the side. It erupted in a burst of light and sound. Arlie focused her mana into a shield, suddenly thankful for her aunt.
“And here I had heard you can’t use defensive magic,” she grinned, “Guess that was wrong. No matter, you are still coming with me. Now we can do this the easy way, or the hard way.”
Arlie glanced briefly at Fae and the others. Ocari’s spell had left her stunned but alive. It seemed to have a lesser effect on the two marines and pirates at the door. They’d only been stunned for a moment. She glared at Ocari, “Sorry but I’m not the type to surrender to scum.”
“Ah wonderful! I could use a good workout. Don’t disappoint me, darling.”
Arlie shifted into a familiar stance. Light on her feet and ready. She’d always preferred to rely on her magic, but Aunt Ria had pushed her to master the Contrey Style of sword-play. It had been a bit but she had a feeling today would give her a good feel for how far she had progressed. The style was best described as a dance of blades and lightning. Mana flowed into her blade, just as Ocari shot forward, drawing both her blades in the same motion. Ocari held them both in a reverse grip, and flicked them out to strike.
Arlie flowed out of the path of her attack, and countered. Steel met steel, lightning crackled and the two split. Both combatants circled each other. Arlie’s steps were sure, smooth like those of a dance. She flowed from one spot to the next. Ocari’s were of an entirely different nature, confident and predatory. Giving the impression of barely contained aggression ready to strike at any given moment.
Neither attacked for several seconds, then Ocari surged forward, mana wreathing her blades. Arlie’s feet moved with practiced ease, a step back, a twist to the side, then she ducked low. Letting the strike pass harmlessly through the air. Her blade swept outward, glancing off knee guards but not without leaving a mark. A furrow in the metal. The woman grunted, her leg twitching from the shock of the hit, a small charge of lightning rippling through her flesh. Stunned for a moment, her stance was left open. Arlie twirled, her feet barely landing on the deck as her blade flashed. The air sang and her blade met a glowing shield. Condensed mana and air, charged to block the attacks, but they were too thin. Ocari gasped as three new furrows appeared in her armor, but she was prepared for the secondary lightning effect, this time.
Both combatants broke apart, Ocari appeared much more on guard now. “Feisty one aren’t you and better versed with a sword than I was told. Here I thought you didn’t use it for anything more than decoration.”
“I must admit that I prefer to solve my problems with spells, but do tell who is the fool that’s after me? Even if they succeed they must realize my clan would notice.”
Ocari chuckled, “The fearsome Contreys?” She spat, “Overrated cowardly hags the lot of you.”
Arlie’s face darkened, “And pray tell what achievements your clan has? Till today I never even heard your name.”
Ocari gave her a look, “A flaw in your education. I’ll have to fix that.”
That was the only warning before she surged forward, this time faster, magic powering her movements, twisting the wind to lower resistance and to give her every step, every swing more power. Arlie danced with the blows, the added speed made no difference to her. She could see each swing so clearly it was almost as if they were moving through molasses. With an instinct she didn’t even know she had, her mana flowed to her muscles, lightning twitched inside her, the air cracked with her every step.
On the floor Fae groaned as the two of them twirled around her in a clash of singing blades and whistling wind. Her sword cut across horizontally, a back handed sweep of Ocari’s left blade met it, and she thrust forward with the right. Lightning rippled from her, the air glowed and the blade was pushed away from her to strike air. Arlie backstepped, twirled and came again from the left, her blade swung high. Ocari barely managed to block it with her blade, sparks flew as metal met metal.
The world slipped away, the pirates fighting in the background were extraneous. So were her friends on the deck, the crack of arrows striking armor or flesh, the smell of iron and blood filled the air. Her blade flashed again, lightning propelling it to strike faster. Something clicked, she changed her approach, she twirled her blade flashed faster again. Ocari’s left sword shattered this time the Skylord’s Wrath cleaved through the blade. Only a hasty shield prevented her sword from tearing into Ocari as well.
Down a sword the Sealord roared, and wind answered her call: several blades of air shot towards Arlie. Her feet bounced lightly over the deck, a half step here, a back step there, a light hop, then a shift to the side. A twirl, a shield to block Ocari’s real sword, then a riposte as she twirled away. Only to come back in from the left.
At that moment, Fae came in from the right, her own sword flashing. Blade met flesh, blood sprayed and the pirate retreated. A grimace on her face. She looked between the two of them, while blood ran down her arm from a gash across her shoulder. Still clutched in her left hand was her broken left blade, a clean cut across the end showed where Arlie’s blade had cut through it.
In that moment the world came rushing back to her, she blinked as she took in the blade. Did I do that?
Ocari kept an eye on both of them, rejoining her lieutenants by the door. Both of whom it seemed had managed to win their battles if barely. The two marines were still alive, but wounded and clearly out of the fight. “It seems I may have underestimated you, you are not the toothless child I expected to find,” she said, taking in her wound.
Arlie shifted her stance, but didn’t say anything. A second later she was shifting to the left. Several light and rapid steps followed as blades of wind, water and frost zipped past her. Ice collected on the floor. The two pirate lieutenants pulled a pair of repeater crossbows and opened fire. Her blade sang as it blocked two of them in quick succession, the others never fell upon her.
In the same moment Fae leapt into action. Her own blade flashed, wreathed in swirling winds and razor-sharp glass. Glass, wind and blade met blade as she engaged the pirate on the right. His blade met the first, a silent cry on his face as his hand was torn by the winds. Arlie noted that Fae had some magical training as well. A smile graced her lips as she weaved between spells, each tearing into the deck instead of her flesh. They had the advantage. Now she had to press it, but first she’d have to close the range.
She needed an opening. Her mind flashed to the moment she’d cleaved through Ocari’s left blade. Spell formula bloomed in her mind, every detail of what she had done by instinct. Could she do it more deliberately? From range perhaps? Lightning was a powerful element but she couldn’t use her more powerful attacks for fear of setting the ship on fire. Yet there was more to the element than just a stream of electricity. A new formula bloomed into her mind, structuring into a spell as she danced between enemy spells. “Ribbons of force, invisible but there. Bend to my will, attract and repel, tear and rend,” Almost without realizing it she began to chant, as she danced, spell circles bloomed around filling with complex lightning runes... advanced magic. Her mana pool began to drain rapidly, ether from around her flowing into the runes, bending to her will. “Lightning flows, transform by thy will rend and tear, attract and repel. I direct thee to rend”
Ocari’s barrage of spells intensified, worry clear in her face. Fae spared a look her way as if to say what the fuck are you doing? Arlie ignored that and Fae focused on her duel with the two wounded pirates, each blow tearing armor and wounding flesh. Blood flowed from hundreds of shallow cuts, but they ignored them since a moment's lapse would mean death. It would be coming anyway. “Rend my foes, break their spirit, tear their armor. Ribbons of Force, Invisible but there, I summon thee, bend to my will, attract and repel, tear and rend. Magnetic Storm!”
The last rune slipped into place, her mana pool dropped by nearly half, almost as if she’d chosen to cast Solar Burst. In her palm a sphere of roiling lightning and something had formed, with a mere thought she shot it forward. It slammed into a magic barrier erected by Ocari and... detonated. Arlie wasn’t sure, what followed was chaos. Metal bent, tore and broke apart. Fae leapt back, just before the pirates were torn apart, their armor now becoming their very thing that shredded them into goo. Ocari quickly shed her armor, magic force repelling the metal that blasted her. Her own swords bent and fractured into shards, flying one way then the next. Several times those shards tore through her flesh and bone. Only her magic kept her from being turned into goo like her two buddies.
Then as suddenly as the spell began, it came to an end. Leaving only mangled bits of metal falling to the floor, a lot of goo, and a mostly naked, somewhat wounded Ocari. Fae’s sword soon appeared at her throat. She growled, “Hands up pirate!”
Ocari surrendered.