Reverberations from dozens of glasses clinking onto the tables and into other glasses alike were the only sounds that filled the otherwise eerily dead silence, which moments before was filled with murmuring chatter and clacking pool balls. Eda and Luz slowly turned their heads towards the filled room, desperately hoping that the reason everyone went quiet was for something else besides them.
They were wrong.
A bolt of searing hot fire came bellowing out from the middle of the crowd and careened directly towards them.
"Get down!" Eda yelled, already on her way prone. Luz followed suit and fell to her stomach as the fireball passed overhead, singing a few of her hairs in the process. No time to fret with that right now.
Eda twisted and thrusted her staff forward from her grounded position, sending searing blue fire in front of her. The flames engulfed the floor and the tables, rising towards the bar patrons. A few threw up shields of varying color to deflect the heat while a couple slower ones ended up covered in fire, doing their best to stop, drop, and roll.
The screams of agony were a bit distracting, but Eda knew how to adequately block out a noise of that caliber. She gave her staff a quick squeeze, prompting Owlbert to spread his wings. Eda twisted the staff again and conjured a red spell circle with her palisman's wingtips. A powerful concussive burst erupted from atop her staff, throwing many of the witches there off balance and a few onto their glutes.
Eda pushed herself to her feet before anyone had the chance to recover, while Luz had just finally gotten her wits about her. It's not that Luz hadn't been in her fair share of fights. In fact, living with Eda had provided her with more confrontation than she would have ever imagined getting in a lifetime. But almost getting burnt to a crisp would throw anyone for a loop; exception: Eda.
While her mentor got proper footing, Luz took some initiative of her own. She pulled out one of her plant glyphs and gave it a tap before tossing it out like a professional ultimate frisbee player. It landed in front of a tall, dark, muscular man with a golden quiver and matching heart crop top. The vines erupted out from in front of him, pinning the man to the ceiling.
Eda gave a quick glance back to Luz who was getting herself upright. "Not bad, kid. You've really learned a thing or two from Willow."
Luz grinned at the complement. Ordinarily she would be hyperfocused on her next move, running the play by play countless times in her mind to optimize her chance at winning, but considering she was fighting alongside Eda for this battle instead of against her, she was able to relax just a little.
But they were still fighting for their lives, after all.
Eda turned her attention back to the room. A few ice shards were shot at her; she dodged those with a side step. A bolt of lightning crashed, originating from her side; she redirected that into another witch nearby, blasting them back. A few sharp knives were thrown, and were easily absorbed by the yellow shield she conjured, clanging to the ground after it dissipated. A beam of pink, shimmering energy whizzed towards her, and she absorbed it with her staff. Eda slammed the staff down, redirecting the burst of energy out into a crescent shaped wave which engulfed the floor of the bar, knocking all the others to the ground.
"That all you got?" Eda chided. They may have gotten the jump on her at first, but these half rate witches had nothing on the greatest witch who ever lived.
"Nyah!" A voice cried out from behind her.
Eda whipped around to see the face of the bartender who was right on top of her with a knife of his own, cocked up and careening towards her. She had absolutely no time to react. She was going to actually die in a bar. Fully sober. And not even a nice one!
The blade was closing the distance between them, mere centimeters away from the bridge of her nose, when a pillar of blue ice erupted from below the bartender, sending him up to and pinning him against the ceiling. And right next to the base of the ice sat a smug Luz.
Eda wasn't sure when she developed a sense of smugness around her, but it actually worked pretty well for Luz. Not as good as it worked for Eda, but you don't master that kind of confident aura overnight. Unless, of course, you were Eda.
"Thanks for the save, Luz. Now let's get out of-"
"Hey!" A strong voice called from the opposite side of the bar. "What did you do to our friends?" Some blonde haired witch with a weird little hair poof on the front of her head was standing at the opposite end of the bar with a cat demon biped beside her. They both looked equally pissed off, if the flexed fists and scowls were any indications.
The two newcomers must have just gotten here because anyone on the receiving end of Eda's spells was currently down for the count. A feat that was equal parts impressive and horrifying.
"Me? All I wanted to do was leave but your little friends here decided that it wasn't in my best interest." Eda nonspecifically gestured around the room.
The demon cat flexed her hands and barred her sharp teeth, a psychotic smile growing wider with each passing second. She muttered something inaudible to the witch before extending her upper and lower sets of claws. The witch nodded and manifested her staff; a gold shaft on which a sky blue unicorn palisman was perched. She twirled it and slammed it down on the ground, a few sparks dancing out of the end.
"Kid," Eda barred her staff in front of her, "I got a weird feeling these two won't be as easy as the rest of those losers."
"You get the witch and I'll have a cat fight?" Luz flipped her hood up, giving the sewn in polyester ears a small fick.
"We really need to get you something more terrifying than purple cat ears." Eda gestured to the ears. "But yeah. Take her out."
With their haphazard plan set, Luz whipped out one of her fire glyphs. She gave it a small tap with her thumb before crinkling it up in her fist. She planted her opposite foot behind her and thrusted her glyph containing palm towards the demon. A searing hot flash of white nearly blinded her before an eruption of flames expanded across the bar, straight towards her feline target.
The demon jumped up and away from the flames and grabbed onto a hanging light fixture. "A little slow on the execution there, kitten." She toyed, a mischievous grin plastered on her face. She bent her knees and bounded from her high position above Luz, claws drawn with the intent for blood.
Luz stepped to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack. But the demon was not done. She took another swipe at Luz's abdomen, which Luz dodged by shifting her glutes out. Another swipe came towards her head and she ducked underneath it, losing a few stray hairs in the process. "I could say the same to you- cat?" She finished lamely. Noted. Banter was something she would have to work on.
The demon cat jumped towards Luz but stopped short. She dropped down onto all fours and twisted her body into a low sweep, targeting Luz's legs. She finally made contact and Luz dropped sideways.
Luz attempted to extend her arm out to brace the fall but was not fast enough, and instead landed directly on her elbow. A sharp shooting pain tore up through her arm, and although she wanted to sit there and seethe in pain, tenderly nursing her elbow, she had more important matters to address.
The demon cat was hovering above Luz, and to her surprise was not doing anything. She simply stared down on her, a wicked smile cracked at the edge of her lips. "What's the matter?" The demon purred. "Can't handle the heat you dish out, human?" She cocked her head while her tail wrapped and unwrapped around her leg. In one quick movement there was an open clawed foot digging into Luz's abdomen. The demon above her applied more and more pressure as she bent down to meet face to face.
Luz's breath hitched as the claws dug deeper with each closing inch between their faces. Whatever this demon was, it was much stronger than what she was used to training with. The cat's face was close enough for Luz to smell her alcohol ridden breath. She had to force herself not to look away; there was no way she would succumb to this demon's intimidation efforts. That meniachal smile was in full bore now, and Luz could not help but to hope Eda was having an easier time than she was.
Unfortunately for Eda, her opponent was well trained in magic. The blonde witch had to have been no more than thirty, which was still pushing it, and she was holding her own, much to Eda's dismay.
"Alright you two bit Emperor's Coven reject, I'll give you one last chance to surrender before I knock your head clean off!" Eda called out.
"No chance! You hurt my friends, and I'm not going to stop until you pay for what you've done!" The witch bellowed back, her arm outstretched, staff in hand. It reminded Eda of those Azura books Luz always pines over.
Eda rolled her eyes. "Oh great. Another noble witch." She muttered.
Eda twirled her staff and thrusted it through the magic circle which had manifested from it. A bolt of hot yellow lightning ripped across the bar and made contact with the blonde witch. Or, more accurately, made contact with her staff which absorbed the bolt.
The blonde witch twirled her staff above her head, eliciting a bright beam of fluorescing rainbow colors which fully engulfed her. When she emerged moments later, she no longer looked like an average young woman. She was about two feet taller with flowing golden hair and dressed in a tight white full body suit with gold trim, complete with a gold tiara sprouting short wings on the side.
"I think my hair turned even greyer waiting for that light show to finish." Eda said sarcastically, the faintest hint of a smirk on the edge of her lips.
The blonde's face twisted into a scowl, pointing her staff towards Eda. "You say that like your hair wasn't gray already."
Eda pinched the bridge of her nose and heaved a sigh. "Yeah, blondie. The whole joke was about me having a gray skull. Sheesh, I can't believe I have to banter with a brick wall."
"I'm not here to banter. I'm here to save my friends!" The blonde witch thrusted her staff forward, her palisman's horn lighting up with a crystal blue glow. It immediately shot off a crackling blue stream of light which hurdled towards Eda.
Eda twirled her finger in front of her, summoning a small yellow bowl of energy in front of her. The bowl absorbed the other witch's spell and encapsulated it by sealing itself over once the beam stopped. Eda grabbed the spell ball, now a swirling mixture of yellow and blue, and cocked her arm. She took a long step forward, pushing off slightly with her other foot, and pitched the orb back to the blonde witch.
She swatted the incoming projectile off to the side where it came into contact with the bar. It rifled straight through the old wood and down into the floor below, leaving only a trail of perfectly circular char behind it.
Eda did not miss a beat as she lunged towards her opponent, shielded in a cloak of sizzling yellow energy. She was right on top of the blonde and took a swing at her with Owlbert. The blonde witch ducked and took a swing back, to witch Eda propped up her staff and blocked. Sparks of baby blue and golden yellow flew between the two as each pushed harder to beat out the other.
Eda could feel herself weakening; her muscles were starting to burn and she could feel beads of sweat forming above her brow. Either this witch was no joke, or she was terribly out of practice. Through a simple set of mental gymnastics she came to the conclusion that this witch was highly trained in combat, and she herself was only being fairly tested in this fight. Not to mention this witch was ripped. Eda had to make a mental note of those biceps for later.
After a few moments locked in battle, the blonde witch shifted her staff, making Eda's quickly slide down and off of it. Blondie lowered her own staff, leaned back slightly, and brought her foot up, powerfully extending it and landing a firm kick square onto Eda's chest.
Eda felt the air in her lungs escape in a hurry as she was propelled backwards and towards the ground, landing with a heavy thud. As she made contact, her hand opened involuntarily, and her staff bounced out, skidding across the wooden floorboards. Eda hastily attempted to prop herself up on her elbow, but her blurred vision and the incessant ringing in her ears made such a simple action difficult. Through her visual fog she could see her opponent walking towards her. Eda knew that if she didn't do something fast, she would be lucky at best to get another bootfull. And if she was very unlucky, well, she wouldn't be seeing much more of this blonde harbinger of death.
It took a lot in her current state, but Eda was able to muster a small spell circle with the twirl of her index finger. The spell shot off a small yellow bolt of energy which careened towards the blonde witch and ricocheted off her glabella.
"Ah!" The ripped witch seethed in pain, closing her eyes tight and rubbing the spot between her eyes. "What the hell was that?"
It was just the opening Eda needed to collect herself. She pushed herself up just enough to stumble forward towards her staff, still dizzy from her rough landing. Eda dropped down to her knee and grabbed her staff. She planted it firmly on the floor and righted herself, still swaying despite her firm grasp on her staff.
"That, you half-breed goliath, is a little spell I use to fend off my ex's." Eda cracked a small, cocky smile. "Now do like each and every one of them had all done before you: beg for me."
Eda tossed her staff a foot in the air and caught it like a javelin. With as powerful a heave as she could muster, Eda launched it directly at the blonde, who had just finished rubbing between her eyes. Owlbert cracked his wings open and gave a few powerful flaps as he compensated for the throw, then accelerated on his crash course with the witch's head.
The blonde's glowing blue eyes widened in a panic at the sight of the incoming staff. She bent her head to the side, narrowly avoiding the full impact, but was still left with a slice on her cheek from Owlbert's wing. She seethed in pain but made sure to keep her attention on Eda.
It wasn't her finest work, but for a dizzy toss, Eda would call it breathtakingly adequate. Too bad adequate wasn't enough to take down whatever magically enhanced form this witch was currently using. It must be one hell of a power booster too because Owlbert doesn't miss just anyone.
Eda drew a small blue spell circle aside her temple, sending a wave of the same hue cascading down her body. Healing spells were always one of her favorite types, considering how much she always ended up hurting herself when she was younger and far less concerned with the finesse of fighting. She had gotten very good at them and could even heal bones in a matter of minutes, so a little dizzy spell was a walk in the park compared to that.
Eda cracked her neck and pushed herself upright, facing her opponent. "You know," she grinned. "I have a little tip for you so you don't lose the next fight you're in."
The blonde scoffed at her remark. "And what makes you think you'll be walking out of here in anything less than a stretcher, let alone beating me?"
"Because!" Eda answered, her voice bolstering confidence. "I'm always one step a-head!" A moment passed before Eda blinked. And another moment.
The blonde witch cocked an eyebrow, clearly lost and probably under the impression that Eda was just hiding her senile thoughts very well before this last exchange.
"Every time I try this it never pans out." Eda muttered. She cleared her throat and spoke louder. "I'm always one step a-head!" She thrusted her slightly flexed hand forward.
This time Eda's banter lined up perfectly with Owlbert landing a heavy blow to the back of the blonde's head, knocking her down face first onto the floor. She landed with a thud, her staff popping out of her grasp and clattering to the ground.
Owlbert flew back and landed gracefully into Eda's cupped hand. "Had enough?" She taunted.
Icy blue eyes flared up from below her, engulfed in rage and determination. Two things that Eda has seen in every set of eyes she left behind her. It was honestly like a signal to her. When anyone looked at her like that, the real fight was only mere moments away. So she had to hurry up and end this before it really picked up. With what she had to deal with already, this was not a fighting day by any means. It was time to wrap this little dance up.
"Agh!" Luz bit out as the claws of the cat demon sunk deeper into her abdomen.
This was getting out of hand. This demon looked so slender, much unlike her witch companion, but she packed a serious punch. Luz had to get her off now, before she could wreak further havoc on her digestive tract. Luz not-so-subtly reached into her hoodie, attempting to grab any glyph she could get her hand on.
Unfortunately for her, the demon saw this, and quickly grabbed her wrist, pinning it down next to her head. "What? You think you can just reach in there and easily pull out some kind of weapon like before? I don't think so." She purred in Luz's ear. Uncomfortably close for Luz's taste.
"If you don't let me go, you're going to wish you never came into this- fairly stereotyped, bar." Luz looked around for anything she could grab quickly to distract this woman from keeping her hands away from the glyphs in her pocket.
"Oh yeah? And what're you going to do? You try to move at all, and I do this!" The demon dug her claws into Luz's pinned wrist, eliciting a yelp from her. "Yeah, that's what I thought. You got any more bright ideas? I'd love to crush those too." Her tail whipped back and forth as she played with Luz.
Luz looked up into her heterochromatic blue and yellow eyes then back down to the floor. Luz could see bits of a glyph paper tucked under her back near the pouch of her hoodie. It must have fell when the demon restrained her hand. If she could just manage to distract the demon for a second, she could reach down and activate whatever glyph it was. It would be a complete surprise as to what spell would manifest, but it would be much better than being pinned here. And playing it by ear was something she could certainly do with her years of training on the subject. All she needed now was the perfect distraction to-
A loud thud came from over where Eda was, and was surprising enough to draw the demon's attention away from Luz. As much as she wanted to look over and check to see if her mentor was okay, Luz knew this would be her one chance to get out of her entrapment and actually help Eda. Assuming she could help herself first.
Luz reached down to her side and started frantically tapping around where the glyph was. The noise drew the demon's attention back to her, straight to her hand. The demon went to snatch Luz's hand, but before she was able to grab it, Luz tapped on the glyph.
It crumpled up and sprang to life, manifesting an orb of light which gracefully floated into the air. It hovered around eye level of the demon, grabbing her full attention with wide, shimmering eyes, entranced by its coalescing rainbow hues.
Luz saw her opening and took it. With her free hand she threw all her might into a forceful right hook at the demon's jaw. And man did it hurt. Nobody talks enough about how painful punching is for the person taking the shots. Maybe a set of brass knuckles or something would have helped her out. Next time, maybe.
It wasn't the strongest punch in the world, but it was enough to send her opponent fumbling backwards, landing ass down on the floor. The demon rubbed the point of impact and adjusted her jaw back and forth. She still seemed dazed about what had happened to her, but quickly recovered and shot her a- an impressed smirk?
The demon spoke, "For a scrawny little kid, that wasn't half bad. I've taken much worse from the lovely, stupid blonde over there, but I have to say, that was pretty good." The smile on her face shifted, she was ready for a challenge now.
A challenge that Luz was not ready to accept. She needed to get out of here ASAP. She had enough bars and crazy cat demon's for one afternoon- or lifetime. Yeah. Never again sounded perfect.
"Well- thanks? I guess?" Luz was still unsure of how to answer back but that seemed a good enough acknowledgement as any.
"Of course." The demon flicked her wrist. "Too bad it'll be the last complement you ever get!" She crouched down onto all fours and pounced at Luz, her claws fully extended and arm back ready to slice right through her flesh.
Luz's mind went blank. It was like a pristine pastel, waiting ever so patiently for the artist of her mind to grace its devoid surface with inspired images of explosive passion. The only problem which persisted, however, was the distinct lack of conscious creative muse. Luz was scared for her life. She had no glyphs, no working staff, no magic bile sac to conjure up defensive spells all on her own. Her one true weakness here on the Boiling Isles, her humanity in of itself, would be her greatest downfall.
Her conscious mind remained clear of thought, but beneath the surface, a plan was already in motion. Luz had no idea what was happening until she was already going. And even then, it was like watching a movie unfold before her eyes. She threw out another punch and once again made contact with the demon's face. But this time, instead of a just a small tumble back, the cat demon's face erupted into a volley of miniature explosions, propelling her backwards and tumbling through a couple of tables. She attempted to lift her claws, struggling weakly to raise her arm, but quickly went limp.
Luz slumped back, her chest tight from which she could only assume was a high amount of adrenaline circulating through her body right now. She clutched her hoodie, continually staring at the unconscious demon body before her. She almost died. Like, died, died. And as an added surprise, Luz had no idea how she managed to take that demon out like that. She looked down to her empty, cut, and swollen hand, giving it a few flexes for good measure.
Luz was about to take her ring off in case her fingers began to swell even more and cut off circulation before a thought clicked in her mind. Eda's still fighting.
Luz heard a Viking like cry erupt from across the bar. She whipped her head over towards the source of the sound and saw the blonde witch covered in a hue of flickering light blue energy. She was currently down on one knee, shoving herself upright with staff in hand.
Oh no. Luz's heart sank. There was only one time before when she had seen something similar happen. A few years ago, she and Eda had been out on a quest, looking for a few of the more rare ingredients for Eda's homemade potions. They had accidentally stumbled into the nest of one of the Isle's more reclusive and territorial demons; a special breed which is infamously known for its resistance to magic.
Eda and Luz had put up a formidable fight against the giant beast, but near the end it had them cornered to where they could clearly see their reflections in its massive canines. Luz had thought it was over for them, seeing as no discipline of magic was working on the demon.
But just like an angel coming to pluck her from the pit of infinite darkness surrounding her, a golden light erupted from next to Luz, basking and blinding her. Within moments she heard the crying shriek of the demon before them. By the time the angelic light had subsided, the fight was over, and Eda stood atop the lifeless beast, a champion in her own right.
And up until this point, Luz had never seen another witch cloak themselves in such a powerful energy. But now, that blonde witch was doused in the same intimidating aura. And Eda was on the receiving end of it.
The blonde witch gritted her teeth and tilted forward a few degrees. She remained in a ready stance for just a moment before disappearing instantaneously from sight.
Luz could hardly register her movements; she panicked and hastily focused on Eda, who currently had her staff up and blocking her opponent's baseball bat-like swing.
Eda was propelled backwards, skidding and tumbling across the hardwood floor. Eda's hand began to glow yellow before she plunged it through the floorboards, kicking up splintering wood in a jagged line as she slowed herself to a stop.
Eda gritted her teeth. She did not have the magic in her right now to pull that off, a bad side effect of her ever developing curse. And the last thing she expected from today was to find another witch who was strong enough to actually pull that spell off. She wiped a streak of blood from her arm, rubbing it between her fingers. This fight was going to be tougher than she had expected.
This was definitely the longest fight scene I've written, so let me know what you think! Hope you all enjoyed the latest chapter.
-G
Mr. Spinner: I can't wait to get to that part. I've been looking forward to it for a while.
UltimateAvengers: Well... They're not the brightest light spells around...
TheFranninator: Glad you like the chapter! I'm excited to show that ring off.