Chapter 38

Archer stood motionless for a moment, eyes completely focused on the odd creature looming before her. She tilted her head slightly as the guttural sounds it released practically scratched her ears. It was massive. She was actually surprised to find something almost as big as a dragon. With each step it took she could feel the vibrations in the earth. Each rage induced roar it let out pierced her ears painfully. A single swing of that thing's claw was strong enough to rip through three trees. Archer was hoping for something somewhat challenging and here it is right in front of her. She was rather surprised the creature hadn't attacked her yet. She had been standing before it for almost thirty seconds now. She expected it to lash out at her, with how it growled in anger and frustration. She would be frustrated too if she was in its place. She was hard to catch. Every deadly swing of this creature's claw was evaded. It hadn't even touched a single hair on Archer's head. She rather enjoyed running about as she did. The creature was fast on top of everything else and that too impressed her.

Another roar cut through the night sky as a monstrous arm raised into the air above her. Archer followed the movement, her posture remaining relaxed and unbothered. She remained where she was as that arm came swinging down on her. She could hear the whistling wind and practically feel the force that arm held. She didn't even flinch as she leaned back just slightly, sharp claws missing her by just an inch. She felt the air on her face. The force would be strong enough to at least send her tumbling back. Right before her very eyes those claws impacted the earth, an explosion of dirt and debree ending as the result.

Another explosion followed almost immediately after, drawing Archer's attention. She had looked over just in time to see Erza nimbly sliding between the legs of her own monstrous opponent. She was quick on her feet as she twisted her body in the opposite direction, sword already mid swing. It glowed brightly with the magic it had collected, ready to be fully released. With a complete arch a single red gleam cut through the air, carrying with it an impossibly destructive force that went straight through the the creature's body. Erza seemed surprised at this, watching with wide eyes as the damage spilt the monster right in half. She had never released the energy stored in the sword. Or at least not in a full attack. It was mostly released in smaller, less destructive bursts. She didn't expect the power behind the sword. Archer had told her it would return what it had absorbed with a vengeance, but she didn't let her know exactly how devastating that would be.

The creature was defeated with a single swing of her sword. Erza looked down at the sword, its glow fading to nothingness. Even after a full year with the sword she still had some things to learn about it.

"Ni-" Archer hardly got the first half of a word out before she had to duck a wild claw. She almost forgot about her own opponent. It seemed it was not very happy about being so casually ignored.

"Almost forgot about you" Archer mumbled once she made a distance. Her hands were placed in her pockets as she thought of ways to handle her situation. There were many things she could do at the moment. All were equally appealing to her.

The earth shook as the monster thundered towards her. She seriously wondered what the creature was. It was very rare for her not to know something. Even she was surprised by her lack of knowledge in this situation and of this creature. However, it wasn't something she dwelled on. She could always ask Demeter or any deity if the thought continued to plague her.

Again she stood motionless before the beast. It was rapidly approaching while she was still considering her options. She calculated fifteen seconds at most. When that time runs out she would be face to face with the creature set on ending her life. Within three of those seconds she went over her options. That left her with twelve. Her bow had formed in her hand within less than one second, her arrow formed soon after, its color a silver flame. She took aim, releasing a steady breath as she pulled the arrow back. Seven seconds remained. She hummed to herself as she released the arrow. It only took her five seconds to actually react, she noted. She could've waited longer. It would have been far more exciting had the creature come closer. Just inches away from. The thrill it would bring. The risk. She sighed. Too bad.

The creature was struck by an arrow in the head. It stood frozen for a few seconds before it suddenly combusted. The flames wrapped tightly around its bulky body, pulling an ear splitting screetch from the terrible creature.

Archer winced slightly. It was still too loud even after she dampened her senses before hand. Lesson learned she supposed.

"That was far easier than I hoped" she spoke as she watched the creature be riddled to nothing more than ashes. Her eyes followed as it got swept off by the wind. She had planned on doing something other than setting the thing on fire, but she decided against it at the last moment. Orange and red flames would've been more suited for what had just taken place. Maybe next time she'll properly utilize her silver fire.

"You don't say" Erza commented as she approached her partner. "Nothing is ever a challenge to you"

"That is true" Archer nodded. "That is why I long for a challenge. It has been a while since I've had a good fight"

"And what does a good fight mean in your case?" Erza wondered.

"My idea of a good fight is one where I actually have trouble standing back up to face my opponent. Where I'm actually battered and bruised and bleeding. Where I'm struggling to even breathe or draw on my magic" Archer admitted after a moment of thought. There was a silence between the two after the admittance. A silence that was soon broken by Silver, who had managed to stay comfortably hidden in Archer's jacket despite everything.

"That sounds mȧsȯċhɨstic" she said slowly, her speech having almost been interrupted by a yawn. She rubbed at her eyes sleepily before slowly pushing herself out of her hidding spot. It ended with her actually falling out of Archer's jacket, only to disappear just before hitting the dirt. She reappeared in the air near Erza, having sprouted her wings for once.

"It does, doesn't it?" Archer chuckled.

"Yes, and it's also something someone as battle hungry as you would say" Erza pointed out.

"I wouldn't consider myself battle hungry"

"I wouldn't either, but you tend to show it sometimes. It's very seldom, but it happens" Erza said to her as she remembered all the times Archer joined in on their reckless fights in the guild. It was something that scared the master to no end. He actually got a heart attack once.

"If you say so" Archer shrugged before looking off to the distance. The moon was high and bright in the sky, illuminating the night wonderfully. It was a night to enjoy. Alas she could not enjoy it for she had more monsters to slay. She heard the roars, and could hear them approaching. They were surely attracted by the screetching of the two already taken care of. Their employer had said that there could be over twenty of these creatures. Which meant her night would be rather entertaining. She wouldn't actually mind spending the entire night slaying monsters. It's not like she needed sleep in the first place.

It didn't mean she didn't enjoy it either. Sleep was wonderful, even though she didn't need it.

"The night is still young Scarlet and we've got many more monsters to slay" Archer said rather cheerfully. Something that had zero effect on Erza. She was already used to her personality and behavior.

Erza yawned as she started to follow Archer. She was tired. It had been a long while since she'd stayed up late into the night.It was starting to effect her. She would prefer completing the mission in the morning or afternoon, but these creatures only come out at night. During the day they just disappear, apparently.

As she walked she kept glancing at Silver just to make sure she was following. The exceed was hovering just near her head, eyes surprisingly bright and full of energy. She's almost always sleepy that it's odd seeing her bright eyed. Erza still could not understand how she could sleep most of her days away. She would sleep for over eight hours, wake up and still be in need of sleep. She was an interesting creature to say the least. She remained silent often times, only speaking when she feels the need to. She enjoys reading books apparently. She had always had one in her tiny arms. They would be too big for her body and all one could see were tiny furry hands and feet along with two fluffy ears. It was a sight Erza enjoyed a great deal.

Erza glanced back to her right, expecting to see Silver, but she was not there. She blinked, surprised before looking behind her. She wasn't there either. She turned back to inform Archer of the missing Silver, only to almost stumble over the little exceed.

"Why do you do this?" Erza sighed as she stared down at Silver who was walking in front of her. She always does this. She's very hard to notice. Her presence was almost non existent and Erza could never know where she was was she not in Archer's jacket. That is why she always kept an eye on her because if she went missing she wouldn't notice her absence. She would feel terrible about it, despite her not being the only one oblivious to the little exceed's presence. Silver knew this. Erza wasn't sure if she was doing it on purpose or if it's just something about her, but she took full advantage of it at times.

As expected Silver did not answer the question, nor did she increase her walking speed. Those tiny legs only got her so far. So Erza was left carefully walking behind her. She didn't want to walk past her in fear she'd lose sight of her again. Nor did she want to walk next to her because of said fear.

There was something about Silver Archer noted. Something that had her paying close attention to her surroundings now that Silver started to hinder Erza's pace. The exceed seems to naturally sense danger. She was the only one who noticed this for it wasn't very obvious. Whenever she senses danger of any kind she would do something like this. Whether it be abruptly appearing in front of someone or subtly leading them in another direction. She would never tell anyone of the danger she apparently sensed, but would make sure the person she wanted safe was either far away from the problem or somewhat managing to notice it in time.

Her walking in front of Erza slowed the redhead down, allowing Archer to head on ahead and figure out what exactly Silver was sensing before whatever danger she spotted could reach them.

However, Archer didn't even have the time to locate and identify the threat for it was right in front of her within a blink of an eye. Apparently she had not truly witnessed the true speed of these creatures before. Nor had she truly witnessed their strength. The force with which its claw descended upon her forced her multiple levels into the ground. The sound of her impact was deafening, pulling a wince from the sėnsɨtɨvė Archer. She was stunned more than anything. She lay in the crater she found herself in, eyes wide and staring up at the creature. It growled deeply, its jagged teeth on display as it slowly approached her.

That was unexpected.

Archer slowly sat up, dusting herself off as she did. She released a slow breath, eyes momentarily flickering to the monster approaching her. She wasn't worried just very surprised. There was zero need for worry. She could easily handle this creature as she did the last. Even if she couldn't, Erza was looking out for her. She expected nothing less when Erxa suddenly appeared above the beast's head, being carried by the silent Silver. Her sword was already in her grip as she descended upon her opponen, aiming for its neck. A quick clean slice was all she needed. And that is what she got as she skillfully twisted her body in midair, eyes filled with confidence as she brought her weapon down. This was nothing. She had spent a year training and sparing with a goddess. She could handle some monsters. There was no need for doubt, worry or fear.

An arch of blazing red signaled the completion of the attack. It was swift and deadly. The beast wasn't even aware of the attack even when a fine line appeared around its neck.

While Archer wasn't affected by the sight she didn't know how Erza would react.Well she didn't show any particular reaction to having cut a living creature in half earlier that night, but Archer knew adrenalin could bury a lot. If it wasn't the adrenalin the redhead could have forced herself not to react. Burying emotions isn't the best of choices to make. She glanced at her curiously, to find her eyes already on the decapitated head. She couldn't read the emotions in her eyes nor the expression on her face. She did note the way her hands shook slightly as she gripped the sword tighter in an effort to stop it.

That was worrying.

Archer almost scrambled out the crater she almost forgot she was in. Once out she almost tripped in her rush to get to Erza.

When she reached her she slowly pulled the sword from her grip, carefully sheathing it.

"Hey" she spoke gently, both hands coming up to her cheeks to redirect all focus on her. She only continued to speak once brown eyes found her own. She wasn't entirely sure how to go about the situation, but she knew she couldn't let Erza spiral. And she admitted that. She really couldn't pretend she knew what to do. She also couldn't tell Erza she was alright, because she clearly wasn't. She couldn't pretend she fully understood what she was feeling, for she had never actually went through this. She was never affected by such things and it couldn't bother her. She didn't know if that made her a terrible person or not. "I may not know how to fully handle this situation but I do know I cannot let you drown in whatever thoughts you're having right now. So I'm going to ask you to tell me exactly how it is you're feeling right now in hopes I can help in some way"

The only response she got was Erza practically tumbling into her arms. She was surprised for a moment, for some reason not expecting her to do what she always does when something bothered her. She said nothing for a long while. She didn't feel like talking about it.

"You don't want to talk about it?" Archer wondered after the long silence, arms finally wrapping protectively around her friend. She felt somewhat relieved that she hugged her. It was the one thing she was sure she could do to help.

"No"

"I feel like you should"

"Yeah, I know"

"But you're not going to"

"No"

"Do you feel a bit better at least?"

She received a hum in response,which was good she supposed. They couldn't remain as they were for long for they were in the middle of a highly dangerous forest, but Archer would keep Erza in her arms for as long as she could.

She sighed before resting her chin on Erza's head. She had spotted Silver approaching, smiling as the little exceed wiggled between their bodies in an effort to join their embrace.

"Do you want to return to the village? I'll handle the rest for tonight" Archer suggested after some thought.

"No, I'm staying with you" Erza mumbled, not liking the idea in the slightest. She would get over herself and finish her mission. This wouldn't be the last she would be put in such a situation.

"Alright. This is going to be a long night then"