Demon Battle

The Ryaions were closing in on the Princesses and their Partners. At least two dozen of them stood blocking the exit to the cave. Japolo was on all fours, growling, while the others stood in a fighting stance. Tiara gritted her teeth, it looked like it was going to be a hard battle. How could they conquer so many? If they were to get out of this alive, the young woman would have to unleash Ultima once more.

"Ok then," Tiara began, "Graham, Japolo, let's go. We use Ultima's power to fight them. There aren't half as many of these as there were Ryukami back in the Land of the Dead. Then, we can finish the mission." She began to concentrate, focusing on her Partners like she had done back then. Just before the transformation had occurred, Tiara had been sick with worry over Japolo, and wonder over whether she could find Graham at all. The young woman hoped it would be the key for bringing out the power of Ultima again.

But this time, something was different. Whether it was because the lifelines weren't being used to connect them, or the fact that the Land of the Dead had different wavelengths, Ultima didn't want to show herself to Tiara. Most likely, there was a secret that Sienna hadn't quite gotten around to teaching her yet.

"Looks like we're going to have to fight the usual way then. Leon, are you ready?" inquired Lena. Her Partner nodded, and she began to play her flute. Power transferred from Lena to Leon, as a helmet of energy formed around his head. A few seconds later, he began transforming into his demon form. Leon's hair grew longer and white, his muscles began bulging, and he developed claws. When the transformation was completed, Leon ran at the Mihan, slashing them. Lena looked, without her power it was all up to him.

Tiara commented, "Well, I can't let Lena and Leon have all the fun. If I can't use Ultima, I'll just call upon my other transformation. Powerful subjects, show me the source of your powers. Fulfill your contract with Tiara! Fulfill your duty! That is an order!" Surrounded by a whirlwind, Tiara transformed into her own demon form. She rose up into the air on her wing like hair, and ran at the Mihan Demons before her. Then, she struck out at one, and killed it. A Ryaion tried to jump for her, but it found itself strangled by Graham.

He looked to her, standing in a fighter's stance. "If we work together, we can win. Miss Tiara, allow me to go out in front, to block them from taking shots at you while you fight." He transformed his arm, and attacked the three that were heading for Tiara's back. While he was doing that, Japolo was off to one side putting up a stasis field around the combatants. It looked like this was going to be a long fight indeed.

Leon punched one into the cave wall, killing it on impact. Another tried to attack from the rear, but was caught in time and pummeled to the ground. At the same time, Lena was continuing to play her flute, using the little power she hadn't transferred to Leon in order to strengthen her defenses. Usually, that was unnecessary, but with so many enemies she had no choice. She smiled as Leon took another one down.

Finally, all of the Ryaions were dead. Leon sent Lena back her power, and fell to his knees. Never, even when battling with Tiara, had he been so exhausted. The Mihan were all they were told and more. On the other side of the cave, Tiara was helping Graham, who had taken a blow to his side. She'd killed the demon before he could strike again, and become more than just a bruise, but didn't want to take any more unnecessary chances against such a foe. These were no ordinary demons that the team was up against.

"Well, it looks like we're all ok," commented Tiara, "We should get going back towards Sienna's house. Then, we can have a nice dinner, and prepare for the final part of the ceremony." A wistful thought went through her head, this would be her last day as a normal human being. Come tomorrow, she would be an ageless sorceress living in a remote area of the hills in order to better prepare for the next Mihan attack.

Suddenly, a low growl was heard from the back of the cave. Then they saw something moving, as if it was waiting for this moment to come towards them. When it came into view, Tiara gasped. It was ten feet tall, and the shape of a dragon with pure black scales. Knife like spines went down its back, and the beast looked like it was really hungry. If what Sienna's guidebook said was true, then this creature was one of the Ryami, a superior race of the Mihan Demons. It would be as strong as a hundred of the Ryaions.

'It was probably waiting for us all to be exhausted. With us unable to fight back in full force, we will be easy prey. This looks like it'll be even tougher than that large group. Maybe now it'll be a good choice to fall back, find a spot to hide and strike when the time is right. Even leading it out into the open would do us some good,' mused Japolo. Hopefully, Tiara would listen to him, she was too stubborn at the worst times.

But before he could make his suggestion known, Graham ran forward and slashed at the beast with his claw. Being that this was one of the upper level demons, most of its body was invulnerable to attack, and the strike did little good. The only thing that happened was he was thrown backwards at the cave wall.

Tiara screamed, "Graham!!!!!!!!!!!!" Her rage began building, and she transformed once more. Flying at top speed, she struck the demon at the vulnerable spot under the jaw. It didn't kill the Ryami, but it did have the effect of making it mad. Both Tiara's hands and the Mihan Demon's claws met, and they began to grapple with one another. But surprisingly, Tiara wasn't being pushed back at all. If anything, she was the one with the advantage. Eventually, she broke free, sending the Ryami reeling, and killed it when the area under its jaw was speared with a diamond that was stuck in the wall of the cave where the impact occurred.

Graham got up, a little bit shaky due to the strength of the impact, and looked at Tiara. She had a disheveled appearance due to all of the fighting, but was none worse for the wear. "Miss Tiara, what in the world happened to you? If you need, I will carry you back to Sienna's. Then, he slumped to the floor on his knees, the pain from his shoulder wound beginning to get to him. Yet he gritted his teeth, and smiled.

"You are in no condition to do that," Tiara warned him, "Don't worry, I'm not hurt. We'll get you back to the cabin and into a nice warm bed. In the meantime, let me have a look at that shoulder, we should put bandages on it so we can keep it from bending too far and hurting you more." She smiled right back at him.

Japolo looked from his Princess to her first Partner. It looked as if they were getting closer by the day. Perhaps soon there would be some sort of stronger connection occurring. For now, there only objective was to bring back the Varica Stone to Sienna, so she could make the potion to finish the mission.

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Teefa's Last Word…

Ryami comes from Ryu (dragon), and Yami (darkness). Again, I just love Dragons. They're the most kawaii monsters…