3-37 Sky endeavour

EnroItzal

A man in a dark room was sitting in an armchair with an inclined backrest. The man was wearing a white wooden mask with no holes or any patterns on it. Above the masked man, was a large projection screen, produced by a magic crystal after shining a light through it. The image on the screen was moving constantly and the scenery kept changing as if it was a record of a memory through a person’s eyes. Currently, the screen depicted the bright skies and a blue Dragon flying in all its glory with two individuals hanging on the Dragon’s back.

“Oh dear… this is unexpected,” said a thin man in glasses and ragged robes beside the man in the inclined armchair. He was holding a bundle of papers in one hand and a pencil in the other. “To think a Dragon would appear out of nowhere.”

“It is still well within expectations, Mister Dusk,” the masked man said. “She has been nothing but unexpected in our observation so far. Unexpected occurrences are just what we expected.”

“I understand, Marduk, but this Dragon will only complicate things further. This bizarre Fox-kin you're so interested in is complicated enough as she already is. Her data is always tortuous. The presence of this Dragon will only make the data even more skewed. We won’t ever be able to accurately gauge her strength and power at this point. Not even our people with the High Appraisal or Analysis skills managed to get much information from her. This can only mean she is greatly favoured by a Divine or Divines.”

The masked man, Marduk, chuckled. “We are in no hurry, Mister Dusk. We can take our time collecting data.”

“But we can’t just waste our precious resources without getting any new information in return. We only have six Demonification Crystals left and it’ll take another year before we receive the next batch.”

“As I have said, Mister Dusk. We are in no hurry. We have waited for long and we have come this far. Our patience has been continuously rewarded. Haste will only make more waste. And she’s a Fae. She’ll probably outlive us all and our legacies.”

The thin man clicked his tongue. “I’m not concerned about our lifespans. I’m concerned about… the others. Give them a little bit of power and they all get drunk with it. I fear their recklessness would only be a matter of time before it exposes us. If that happens, all of our efforts and patience will be for nothing.”

“You need to learn to trust your men, Mister Dusk. Your distrustful nature might just be your downfall.”

“I trust you, Marduk, but not those fools,” Dusk said with a sigh and sat down on a stool. “I still remember the time when I asked some of them to procure something for me. They read the numbers upside down and didn’t realize their blunder until they brought the items before me.”

“I don’t mean those fools. I mean Varus and Rex. I trust them to handle those fools.”

“I don’t trust them either. They’re too… smart and powerful for their own good.”

“They can be as smart and powerful as they wish, so long they don’t become defiant.”

“I’m surprised they're not planning to take over already. Those two are probably the highest level individuals in this region. If those two went rogue, not even the whole army of Yorun Kingdom could stop them.”

“This is what you just don’t understand, Mister Dusk. Just because one has the capacity for leadership, doesn’t mean one will have the wish to lead. It’s the same for the other way. One who doesn’t have the capacity for leadership will still wish to lead. It’s fine if you don’t understand. You just need to do your job and trust me. Can you do that, Mister Dusk?”

Dusk stared at the screen. The depicted circumstances were becoming more and more unfavourable with every minute. “I don’t think I have a choice, Marduk. Like you said, we have come this far.”

“Well then, just sit back and enjoy the performance.” A streak of lightning flashed in the corner of the screen. “It seems the climax is approaching.”

****

The clouds split apart, making way for the colossal beast that was the Water Dragon, Olivia. Her wings grazed the wind and her tails brushed through the strong breeze. Her large frame cast a vast shadow unto the land. Animals and monsters dispersed and ran upon witnessing her silhouette with the bright sky as the backdrop.

“Slow down!!!” Lyra screamed as she struggled to hold on. She was shivering more than she was during winter. She was trying not to look down. Spikes protruded out of Olivia’s body from her spine, all the way from her head to the tip of her tail. Lyra was grabbing onto one of those spikes to prevent herself from falling off. She could only use one hand as her other hand was holding Erin’s robes.

“You ask for the impossible, Miss Lyra,” Olivia replied. Her mouth wasn’t moving but her voice seemingly came out from it. “If I am any slower, the Demon would be able to catch up.”

Right behind Olivia’s literal tail was the two-faced Demon that Velkan had grotesquely transformed into. During its fight with Erin, the Demon had somehow sprouted a pair of wings.

“How long are we going to be flying!?” Lyra shouted, with her eyes closed.

“Until mistress finds and retrieves her sword,” Siv answered. She wasn’t having as much difficulty as Lyra in regards to staying on Olivia. Her natural prowess as a Beast-kin helped a lot in her balancing. Moreover, this wasn’t her first time being in the air. She had been on airships while under the employment of Lord Hegan. The airships’ means of travel was to cross continents that were separated by the vast endless sea.

“I should have stayed on the ground and helped Erin find her sword!” Lyra continued shouting her regret. There had already been a few times that she almost fell off Olivia but Olivia’s excellent aerial manoeuvre kept her on.

“You and I have mistress’ scent on us,” Siv explained unhurriedly. “If you followed her, you would have undermined the plan.”

At present, they were luring the Demon away from Erin by using her robes that was permeated with her scent. Erin herself used one of Olivia’s potions to hide herself from the Demon as she went searching for her sword. Of course, she wasn’t naked but wearing a plain shirt and trousers. She had to cut a hole around the back of the trousers to make room for her tails.

Olivia could be faster than the Demon but any faster would throw Siv and Lyra off of her and she needed to be within the Demon’s range of smell to keep its attention on her.

“E...ryn….thea….!” the Demon screeched horrifyingly as it gave chase.

“Fucking disturbing!” Siv cursed as she bent over to cover her ears.

The Demon summoned clusters of dark arrows and launched them at Olivia. More specifically, towards the top of Olivia where it smelled Erin’s scent from. The arrows of darkness rode the winds Olivia left in her wake. The arrows did not fly straight. They flew wherever Olivia went.

“This is going to be slightly troublesome,” Olivia muttered. She didn’t need to turn her head around to tell she was being chased by an attack spell. “Hold on to your dear lives!”

“Wh—?”

The first word of Lyra’s question wasn’t even formed as Olivia stopped beating her wings and let gravity reclaim her. Lyra’s scream was left trailing through the abrupt descent. The arrows of darkness flew over her as she suddenly plunged down from the air. However, the arrows made a sharp turn around and chased after her.

“It’s coming right back at us,” Siv pointed out calmly. She was in the same difficult position as Lyra but she maintained her composure. “Lyra, can you shoot the arrows down?”

Lyra didn’t answer. She was cowering and all curled up while gripping the spike and Erin’s robes as tight as she could.

“No worries there, Lady Siv,” Olivia assured. She opened her jaws wide and blue lights began to gather in her mouth.

The arrows of darkness flew closer as they trailed after Olivia’s descent.

The mass of blue glow congregating in Olivia’s mouth shot out in a straight line. It was no light at all but water glowing with Olivia's magic. The stream of high-pressure water took down a few arrows but more were coming. The stream didn’t stop in a single shot but persisted as Olivia proceeded to fell all the arrows down with the continuous stream. After destroying all of the arrows, Olivia took flight again and soared back up into the clouds.

“Did I just hear you say ‘lady’ when you addressed Siv?” Lyra asked once Olivia regained altitude and horizontal balance.

“Yes, I did,” Olivia answered. “It’s the least respect that I have to show. Lady Siv is royalty after all.”

“She’s what?” Lyra glanced at Siv with stupefaction. “Y-you’re r-royalty?”

“My kind has no concept of royalty but I am the daughter of my tribe’s chieftain and my tribe is the ruling tribe of all other Beast-kin tribes in the west. In human’s culture, I can be considered a princess.”

“My word...” Lyra gasped but her stupor was knocked out of her when the Demon howled. She shook herself straight and looked to the Demon. “Why are you flying towards the Demon!?”

The Demon’s left arm grew large and morphed into a blade. It swung its gigantic arm-blade at the side of Olivia’s body. It drew a trailing teal glow in its wake across Olivia’s scales; she was left without a scratch.

Olivia flew past the dumbfounded Demon and not without smacking the Demon hard with the tip of her tail. The Demon went rolling in the air but it didn’t take long for it to get back its balance. It flew after Olivia with a roar of indignance.

“You’re unhurt?” Lyra blurted out.

“I am a Dragon,” Olivia answered Lyra’s disbelief.

“The stories are true...” Siv mused.

The Demon let out another roar and another wave of dark arrows at Olivia.

“Don’t you dare do that again! Please! I’ll fall this time!” Lyra screamed and pleaded.

“Fine,” Olivia retorted with rolled eyes. Her tail glowed the same teal as her scales. Snow began shedding off her tail like a mild winter storm. The arrows of darkness froze as they entered the freezing mist. However, half of the arrows flew past the midst unaffected.

Siv sighed and pulled Lyra into her arms. Lyra didn’t know why Siv suddenly embraced her but before she could ask, Olivia spun like a barrel as the arrows flew into range. Olivia destroyed the arrows with her wings as she spun.

Siv let go of Lyra once her balance returned. Lyra fell to her knees with a green face.

The Demon kept chasing but it could never reach Olivia. Whenever it came close, the Dragon always outmanoeuvred it. The Demon began to feel anger and frustration. In response, its vile power bestowed it with a slight transformation.

Siv frowned slightly at the sight. “Miss Olivia, the Demon seems to be faster and a tad bigger than before.”

“I know,” Olivia responded briefly. “I will once again entrust you to make sure Miss Lyra doesn’t fall off.” And she made a sudden hundred-eighty turn mid-flight. She flapped her wings hard and sent the winds flying towards the Demon in the form of blades.

The Demon was too slow to dodge and ended up getting shredded into pieces— but only for a moment. The Demon instantly pieced itself together as if some unseen thread was holding its body together.

Olivia clicked her tongue. “Figures,” she muttered.

“Miss Olivia, how long can you fly for?” Siv asked.

“A week, if the winds are fair.”

“In combat?”

“...That I do not know. I have rarely participated in fights. In the times that I have, it never dragged out for long. But I will hold out as long as Lady Erynthea needs me to be.”

Siv prayed in her heart for her mistress to be quick. “Is there nothing I can do?”

“Demons are dangerous, Lady Siv. Without the protection of the Spirits or any protection at all, you will succumb merely to its presence if you remain in proximity.”

“My mistress is out there working her blood and sweat off and I can’t do anything to help.”

“The opponent is a Demon. It’s impressive enough that you didn’t run at the sight of it.”

The Demon seemed irked at the fact it wasn’t being taken seriously as its expression contorted. It opened as wide as it could. Black smoke poured out of its mouth.

“Withering Breath!” Lyra shouted. She was treading the boundary line of consciousness but when she saw the black smoke in her unfocused vision, she was wide awake.

Carried by the winds, the black smoke drifted swiftly towards Olivia. She used the winds to disperse the smoke but the Demon used its own wings to push the smoke back at her.

“It’s learning,” Siv remarked.

Just then, a streak of lightning was shot out into the sky from a distance.

Olivia, Siv, and Lyra all saw that brief streak.

“Finally,” Lyra muttered in relief.

“That’s the signal,” Olivia said.

Siv nodded in acknowledgement and tossed Erin’s robes away.

The Demon ceased its Wither Breath when it saw Erin’s robes slowly drifting to the ground through the air. It could tell the scent came from the robes. Realizing it had been tricked, the Demon screeched like a storm. It was about to chase down Olivia out of rage when a bolt of lightning struck its back. The attack barely left a scratch on the Demon but it was enough to draw its attention. The Demon turned around and flew straight at its assailant, not knowing what was awaiting it at the source.