Assassin's Silver:
chapter 5
by YamiHikari
Disclaimer- A) I don't own Demon Diary or its characters and B) if you steal any original characters, there WILL be HELL to pay. Trust me, there will.
YamiHikari's Note- I was listening to that new song out by... um... Seether? Anyway, it had Amy Lee in it, and the title's "Broken", but I LOVE IT! I want The Punisher soundtrack now, cause I think it's on there. But anyway, um... what the heck was I gonna say!?!? Ah well. Oh yes, on a note of randomness: Suggestions are welcomed in with open arms. Whether they will be used is unknown, but they will be appreciated. It means you're taking SOME sort of interest in my writing! Eheh... ;;
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"Couldn't we just use magic or something? I mean, are the coats'n stuff REALLY necessary?" Chris asked the umpteenth time that they encountered the stuck vase while navigating the hallways.
There was an accusatory pause, in which the three trailing behind the elf stopped dead as she did. Then,
"Mab, no. At least half the fun is getting bogged down by your ridiculously bulky clothes and stumbling around in circles when one of your either too large or too small boots comes off and you have to go get it without getting frostbite," was his dry reply from Aysel as she turned. "Now why didn't I think of that? Don't answer."
The cleric's mouth snapped shut. Some things were better left unsaid, in certain times more than others.
"If you get to the garden, I'll meet you there. If not... I suppose I'll have to assume that there's a killer Ming out on the loose."
"Someone named Ming? A friend of yours?" Raenef was clearly confused.
"No. It's a type of vase."
"Chris, you knew that?"
"Shut up, it's not like I'm stupid."
"Or so he says," quipped Erutis.
"Shut up!"
"Good Mab, you lot..."
"When we get outside, can we go to the pond?"
"That THING out in the woods is not a flimsy little pond, Rae. Rather, it's a gargantuan puddle known as a LAKE. A LAKE. Ponds are teeny."
"Tiny."
"I said 'shut up'!"
"You probably say 'potahto' too."
"No, I say 'potato' like a normal person, whereas YOU probably say something STUPID like 'tomahto'."
"NOOO!! MR.TOMATO!!" Raenef burst into tears. The nightmare still preyed upon his mind.
"Now look at what you did, you made him cry. Good going, Chris." Erutis pulled the wailing demon lord into a hug. "There there. The tomahto's gonna be all right."
"HA! I was RIGHT! You DO say 'tomahto'!"
"I meant 'tomato'!"
Aysel was calmly prying out the still struggling vase. It was rather unhappy after having been stuck there for nearly two days. A couple statues had made fun of it, and its feelings were rather hurt, not to mention its sides. Carrying over to the still arguing group, she stuck it on Chris's head.
"And I hope it eats you, because that'll give us all some peace for once."
His yells were muffled and the vase was bewildered. NOW what the heck had happened to it?! This was just NOT its day... AGAIN!
Raenef looked rather concerned, tears dried. "Will it really eat him? ...And, Eru?"
"Yeah?"
"Can you let go of me? Please?
"Oh, oops." The sword master released him.
Aysel shook her head. "But don't tell him that."
"WHAT?! WHAT?!? TELL ME WHAT!?! ... THIS THING'S GOT RABIES, DOESN'T IT!?! WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN TO ME!?!? WHY!?!? OWW!!"
The vase now had a splitting... vaseache, having no head in which it could contract a headache. It needed some aspirin badly. In a frenzied attempt to dislodge the pottery from his head, Chris had tripped over his own feet and would have cracked said head on the floor if not for the protective layer of fired clay. It would have been true to say that it had hurt the vase more than it had hurt the cleric.
"Aww... my head..."
By some strange law not known to any scientist in the world, the vase had somehow managed to entirely disappear from his aching head and reappear on the floor a couple inches away from his unruly black hair. The only explanation that can be given at this time is found below[1].
"I must say that I'm honestly surprised that the castle hasn't been blown up or had some other fate similar to that befall it with you all around." The elven member of their party ran a hand through her long silver hair. "Listen, I'll just meet you in the garden, like I said beforehand, and then we can go out. Oh, and watch out for that "Queen of Hearts" or some other such nonsense in the halls. She's starting to get vicious."
With that last bit of optimistic advice, Aysel simply spoke the word "go" and flickered out.
Raenef bent down and poked the dazed cleric in the head. "Neh, Chris? Are you okay? Because we're leaving soon, and then you might get your head chopped off when we're gone since no one'll be here to save you from the queen person."
The demon lord had to pull his own back quickly in order to save it from a collision as Chris abruptly sat up and began dusting himself off. He finished quickly, as the marble floor was relatively clean, and sprang to his feet. As soon as the boots had made contact with the floor, he raced off.
"BETCHA I CAN GET THERE FIRST!"
"But I can just-"
"YEAH RIGHT, MORON!" Erutis sped past Raenef before the blond could finish his sentence. "EAT MY DUST!"
Green eyes blinked, and then Raenef shrugged. "Go."
He teleported.
-----
As the two humans arrived in the garden, gasping, Aysel turned to face them. "Took you long enough."
Raenef waved, then yanked his hand back to his side as what looked to be a minute spark drifted past him. They stared, dumbfounded. Chris's blue gaze settled on a rune drawn in the dirt and he finally regained his breath.
"What the?"
"Summoning rune for sprites. The contract is paid in blood." One slender hand was lifted and a drop of the red liquid ran down her finger and slowed as it navigated her palm. The elf brought the hand to her mouth and licked it off.
"It's never a large amount though," she added.
"I summoned that one," Raenef said smugly and pointed. Then he yelped as his finger was scorched.
"Oh, that was smart," Chris commented scornfully.
"... shut up."
"Catch." Aysel made the motion of throwing one of the miniscule sprites at him. A breeze made the fiery being flare up and grow brighter.
The cleric threw himself flat on the floor as the light passed over his head. It flowed to a halt, then bobbed around his head, shrinking as the breeze faded. Silvery eyes rolled as Chris cautiously got to his feet and tried to avoid the petite reddish glow now hovering about his oh-so- important person.
"It's yours, unless you want to actually go back in and look for those coats so we can laugh at you trudging through the snow and looking like a yeti. It shouldn't hurt you unless, as Raenef has so kindly demonstrated, poke them or come into contact with them, either deliberately or accidentally. But if they do such a thing of their own free will for no good reason, tell me and I'll know why." The last words were directed at the other three, and they suddenly felt a certain amount of pity for the sprite that would be careless enough to do such a thing.
Apparently the fire spirits felt it too, as they kept just the right amount of distance between their wards and themselves as the group began the trek through the forest.
------
Though he watched them go, Eclipse didn't really see the four figures as they trudged off into the trees and disappeared from view. Turning his gaze back to the papers in front of him, the demon soon found his thoughts wandering again.
He couldn't quite dredge up the right memory from the past years of his long - by mortal's standards - life, and it irritated him. Even that one brief vision just a couple days past had gaps in it: the girl's features, the name of the other whom he had commanded, and what he himself had looked like at that time.
These somehow shifted into entirely too human thoughts, and he wrenched his mind away from recollection and back to the task in front of him. Finally realizing what he had seen before his mind had drifted to other topics, he sent a sprite of his own chasing after the group.
Not that there was any real danger. After all, the elven woman had been proven to be a high-level spell caster. The all-too-human thoughts returned after that, and Eclipse did his best to cast them aside and return to his work.
He failed miserably.
-----
"You're sure this is safe?" Chris called as he used his staff to probe at the ice again. He pitched forward as a snowball baffed him on the back of the head.
"If it's not, we can all die together," Erutis informed him as she dragged him towards the opposite shore where Raenef and Aysel waited.
He groaned in response. "Wonderful..."
Erutis suddenly yelped and ducked. This action, provoked by Raenef's unexpected shout of "Snowball fight!" and the first volley, caused her to slip and send Chris skittering across the ice.
She impacted with a "thud!". "OWW! I swear, it's always the butt! WHY!?!"
"Because it's too heaavyyy!" the sliding cleric called back as he flailed his way across the ice. The second volley make two bulleyes on his person, then he too slipped.
"NOT FAIR! WE WEREN'T PREPARED!"
Aysel was laughing as she helped Raenef drag him to the other side of the lake and bury his head in the snow. "First prisoner of war! You're next, red[2]," she yelled to the sword master stumbling towards them.
"Oh yeah, well... take this! Go, little fire sprite thingiemabobber!" she ordered, brandishing a finger. "Attack[3]!"
A heat wave rushed across the icy surface and melted most of the snow around Chris, resulting in him becoming soaked.
"NOOO!! THIS IS DRY-CLEAN ONLY[4]!"
All actions ceased as the three still on the ice turned to stare at the P.O.W. He shrugged. "What? It says so on the tag. Wanna se-"
"NO!" The emphatic reply was shouted by all of the others, who had realized before the sentence was completely out of his mouth that if they saw the tag on his clothes, it might have to mean that a) he would no longer be in them and b) they would no longer be on him and c) the results could be disastrous if there was no change of clothes at the castle.
While they made their protest, Chris whipped the object behind his back at Erutis as payback for the first snowball. It splatted onto her white tunic and she screeched.
"CHRIS!! MUDBALLS ARE SO AGAINST THE RULES!!" She began racing towards him.
"Uh-oh..." Raenef mumbled, then slid out of the way. In order to prevent his feet from becoming frost-bitten, his sprite wafted down to them and warmed them. It didn't notice or care that the ice was melting rapidly now.
The others did the same, though neither Chris nor Erutis noticed as the former was too busy trying to escape the latter's rubbing his face in the mud.
There was a crack, which was lost in the pair's battle cries. The Demon Lord began attempting to placate the pair. Another, sharper crack sounded, and he glanced down, green eyes wide.
The ice began to give way under his weight. Aysel suddenly darted forward, grabbed his arm and shouted "GO!", sending him to safer ground. The brief moment of both their weight on the weakened ice completely shattered it, and the water surged upwards. The fire sprite was torn apart by the water sprites, so different from the last encounter. Miniscule teeth were bared, and they dragged the elf under and sped underneath the protective surface of the ice and through the dark water.
Raenef started forwards, intent on a possible rescue attempt, then froze as the water turned once again to ice, thicker than it had been before.
-----
'Damascus[5],' Aysel commanded silently, then plunged the small blade that appeared in her hand into the surface of the ice above her. It skidded away and fell from her hand, the light of its length disappearing in the murky water. She tried to reach for the rapidly fading glow, but cursed as she realized that she couldn't see. The Damascus had taken the last of her mezraez.
-----
Staring at the bluish surface of the new ice, Raenef began to call for Eclipse. He stopped as the words that Aysel had spat at Eclipse came to his mind again. "... WEAKER than he would be... found his own path in life... dependant..."
His eyes narrowed. He'd do this on his own. Erutis and Chris were hammering at the ice as his mouth snapped shut and he stepped resolutely forward.
"Hey, yell for Eclipse or something! We can't do this on our own!"
"Get out of my way."
They stopped, then turned to stare at Raenef. He gazed back down at them, chin tilted haughtily, emerald eyes as cool and impenetrable as the frozen lake before them.
"I said, we can't do this on ou-"Erutis started.
"Get out of my way," Raenef commanded again. They gaped at him a few seconds more, then slowly moved aside.
One hand stretched out. Darkness swarmed from his palm and grew into an orb, crackling slightly with miniature bolts of lightning.
"Dark Arrow."
The sphere flew from his hand and sheared through the surface of the ice. He stepped forwards, then cried out in shock as a swell of freezing cold water blasted up through the hole and slammed him into the trunk of a nearby pine. Blood began to trickle from a graze in the Demon Lord's side, and the side of a branch was painted with it.
He dropped as the water retreated, again closing the hole with ice.
-----
A blow to the ice was always stopped by one in the mass of sprites. She was holding her breath for as long as she could, but they were trying to swarm inside her lungs and drown her, make her stay there for eternity. She hadn't thought something like this would happen.
-----
Eclipse abruptly shoved the chair he was sitting in back as the sprite returned and showed him the events that had just occurred.
"GO!"
-----
"Dark Arrow! Dark Arrow! Dark Arrow, damn you!" Raenef was screaming the words now and the ice kept shattering and reforming, shattering and reforming.
"Quit it, Rae!" Erutis was hanging onto one of his arms, trying to restrain him.
Chris was gripping the other, heels dug into the soft earth. "Call Eclipse! Don't try to do this on your own, babo!"
"Not necessary. Master Raenef, stop. You'll waste your mezraez."
Raenef halted, then turned his head aside. "I wanted to do it on my own... find my own way..."
"Hold still." The light in Chris's hand glowed briefly, then settled into the wound on Raenef's side. New flesh grew over and there was no trace left of the injury.
Erutis released Raenef's arm, then watched Eclipse go off across the lake. "We can't do anything, now can we?" she said quietly.
-----
Aysel winced at the damage inflicted by the little sprites claws and teeth. She twisted her head aside as one tried to enter her lungs through her mouth. The movement was not as quick as she would have liked it to be. The cold was wearing her down. She'd give in soon.
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[1]- I suppose you could call it some form of a law of anime. Stupid things happen, and there IS NO EXPLANATION! Thus, the explanation is that there is none. ;;
[2]- This is a little joke that me'n a friend have concerning Tenkuu no Escaflowne (Visions of Escaflowne or Heavenly Escaflowne. I really have no clue). Anyway, when Van's all berserk and destroying Zaibach guymelefs, he turns towards Dilandau after the rest have been smashed and disintegrated. My friend is usually like, "YOU'RE NEXT, RED!" as a little joke, since Dilandau's guymelef is red. Just felt like popping that in there.
[3]- POKEMOOON! I mean, that format of saying, "go, attack!" just reminds me SO MUCH of Pokemon, or as my principle insists on saying, "Poke-e-man". Hehe...
[4]- Randomness... don't ask... even I don't know...
[5]- Taken from Battle Angel Alita/Gunm, since when Alita plays Motorball and most of the time after that, she has a weapon called the Damascus blade. It's actually much larger than a dagger, and she uses different forms of it. I just decided to throw that in as a spell name, and it's approppiate, no? Okay, and the reason why Aysel did not use the spell format for the elements (i.e. Tyrfli'ng, diamond 9) is because she was using pure mezraez and shaping it into what she wanted it to be. Explanations below.
YamiHikari's Note- oooh, I guess it could be considered a cliffhanger... anyway, MCAS IS OVER! MCAS IS OVER! YESSSS!! Now I seriously need sleep, as I stupidly stayed up late on ALL the MCAS days... and went in a sleep- deprived child... still, I think I did okay... I hope... waaaah.... Oh, and below is a more detailed explanation of the magic in the Demon Diary.
Alright! Here's my own explanation of the magic in the world of Demon Diary, a.k.a Mahwan Ilgi. Of course, most of it is in the back of the fourth volume, but I'm going much more in-depth and spent entirely time on it.... --;; another disclaimer! I do not own this. There. Now that that's over with...
There are 6 main types of magic: Spirit/Sprite, Restorative, Divine, Elemental, Rune, and Pure. Pure can then be divided into two other categories: Dark and Light. (Hey, it matches my penname!)
Spirits or sprites are summoned by the use of Rune magic, but the commanding of the spirits themselves are what is really classified as Spirit magic. There are many types of spirits, and they can exist either on their own plane or in the plane in which our beloved characters move about and basically interact with each other, as shown in the freaky lake. As said in the fourth volume, the contract drawn up by the summoner can only be dissolved if the summoner calls it off, the sprite dies, the summoner dies, or the contract is fulfilled.
Restorative magic is used by all three races: Demon, Human, and Elf. However demons can only use Restorative magic on themselves. The more minor types of Restorative magic require nothing but some form of energy, mezraez or otherwise, from the user, but the more powerful type (which can bring back those on the brink of death) is termed "Sacrifice magic" because it steals some of the lifespan of the user.
Divine magic uses the power of the gods to strike down mostly demons. There are a few Divine magic spells that can affect other life-forms, but not that many. As said in the 4th volume, few clerics can use both Divine and Restorative. I'm assuming that since elves are like the demons' counterparts that they can pretty much use both.
Elemental magic is the use of already existing elements to form some sort of attack, defense, or what-have-you (i.e. Lighter Copy). There are different levels, from 1-9, and the spells require either an exceedingly good memory or creativity that knows no bounds, and is thus a type of magic that requires concentration, discipline(used in the actual CONTROL of the elements) and strength, as elements may have a mind of their own and act contrary to the user's wishes. The reason that Aysel did not use "Pure" magic (look below) to create Tyrfli'ng is because she used the mezraez to first create a light, then used that element that was already present to form the sword. For a hopefully better explanation, then contact me either on AIM as TheDragonsGirl90 or by e-mail on TheDragonsGirl90aol.com.
The different spells formats are as follows:
Attack- Crescent
Defend-Circle
What-Have-You- Diamond
After the shape, the level of the spell is also required.
Rune magic is tied in with nearly all of the other magicks, since you can use runes for pretty much anything: from summoning to attacking to healing to teleporting to.... (and the list goes on and on). Of course, the more complicated the rune, the more powerful the spell. Runes can be drawn on the ground, in the air(by just tracing with a finger or using magic to make the outline), or on paper with ink (Lighter Copy). It's also a handy way to have spells at the ready, but you have to have the mezraez required to use it.
Pure magic is the usage of either demonic or elven power. Obviously demons and elves can use this, no problem (DUUUUH!). The use of demonic power is classified as "Dark" whereas elven power is "Light" (another no-brainer). It is simply the use of the mezraez to form what you want from the mezraez, i.e. the Dark Arrow and the Damascus. The crazy rules about needing an incantation on someone else's realm only applies to the highest-ranking individuals: Demon Lords and High Elves (Menefer. Look back at the prologue.) Their underlings can simply shout/yell/call/intone/shrill/sing/recite/mumble/think/whisper/murmur/scream /howl/mutter/groan/growl/hiss/moan/say/mouth/etc.etc. the spell name wherever and whenever unless they do not have enough mezraez. Then they're in trouble if they really need that spell to stay alive. Yeah. Really BIG trouble...
Phew... Finally finished that. If there're any loopholes in this, then please tell me. I'll do my best to patch it up and make it better, okie? Okie. Ja!
chapter 5
by YamiHikari
Disclaimer- A) I don't own Demon Diary or its characters and B) if you steal any original characters, there WILL be HELL to pay. Trust me, there will.
YamiHikari's Note- I was listening to that new song out by... um... Seether? Anyway, it had Amy Lee in it, and the title's "Broken", but I LOVE IT! I want The Punisher soundtrack now, cause I think it's on there. But anyway, um... what the heck was I gonna say!?!? Ah well. Oh yes, on a note of randomness: Suggestions are welcomed in with open arms. Whether they will be used is unknown, but they will be appreciated. It means you're taking SOME sort of interest in my writing! Eheh... ;;
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"Couldn't we just use magic or something? I mean, are the coats'n stuff REALLY necessary?" Chris asked the umpteenth time that they encountered the stuck vase while navigating the hallways.
There was an accusatory pause, in which the three trailing behind the elf stopped dead as she did. Then,
"Mab, no. At least half the fun is getting bogged down by your ridiculously bulky clothes and stumbling around in circles when one of your either too large or too small boots comes off and you have to go get it without getting frostbite," was his dry reply from Aysel as she turned. "Now why didn't I think of that? Don't answer."
The cleric's mouth snapped shut. Some things were better left unsaid, in certain times more than others.
"If you get to the garden, I'll meet you there. If not... I suppose I'll have to assume that there's a killer Ming out on the loose."
"Someone named Ming? A friend of yours?" Raenef was clearly confused.
"No. It's a type of vase."
"Chris, you knew that?"
"Shut up, it's not like I'm stupid."
"Or so he says," quipped Erutis.
"Shut up!"
"Good Mab, you lot..."
"When we get outside, can we go to the pond?"
"That THING out in the woods is not a flimsy little pond, Rae. Rather, it's a gargantuan puddle known as a LAKE. A LAKE. Ponds are teeny."
"Tiny."
"I said 'shut up'!"
"You probably say 'potahto' too."
"No, I say 'potato' like a normal person, whereas YOU probably say something STUPID like 'tomahto'."
"NOOO!! MR.TOMATO!!" Raenef burst into tears. The nightmare still preyed upon his mind.
"Now look at what you did, you made him cry. Good going, Chris." Erutis pulled the wailing demon lord into a hug. "There there. The tomahto's gonna be all right."
"HA! I was RIGHT! You DO say 'tomahto'!"
"I meant 'tomato'!"
Aysel was calmly prying out the still struggling vase. It was rather unhappy after having been stuck there for nearly two days. A couple statues had made fun of it, and its feelings were rather hurt, not to mention its sides. Carrying over to the still arguing group, she stuck it on Chris's head.
"And I hope it eats you, because that'll give us all some peace for once."
His yells were muffled and the vase was bewildered. NOW what the heck had happened to it?! This was just NOT its day... AGAIN!
Raenef looked rather concerned, tears dried. "Will it really eat him? ...And, Eru?"
"Yeah?"
"Can you let go of me? Please?
"Oh, oops." The sword master released him.
Aysel shook her head. "But don't tell him that."
"WHAT?! WHAT?!? TELL ME WHAT!?! ... THIS THING'S GOT RABIES, DOESN'T IT!?! WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN TO ME!?!? WHY!?!? OWW!!"
The vase now had a splitting... vaseache, having no head in which it could contract a headache. It needed some aspirin badly. In a frenzied attempt to dislodge the pottery from his head, Chris had tripped over his own feet and would have cracked said head on the floor if not for the protective layer of fired clay. It would have been true to say that it had hurt the vase more than it had hurt the cleric.
"Aww... my head..."
By some strange law not known to any scientist in the world, the vase had somehow managed to entirely disappear from his aching head and reappear on the floor a couple inches away from his unruly black hair. The only explanation that can be given at this time is found below[1].
"I must say that I'm honestly surprised that the castle hasn't been blown up or had some other fate similar to that befall it with you all around." The elven member of their party ran a hand through her long silver hair. "Listen, I'll just meet you in the garden, like I said beforehand, and then we can go out. Oh, and watch out for that "Queen of Hearts" or some other such nonsense in the halls. She's starting to get vicious."
With that last bit of optimistic advice, Aysel simply spoke the word "go" and flickered out.
Raenef bent down and poked the dazed cleric in the head. "Neh, Chris? Are you okay? Because we're leaving soon, and then you might get your head chopped off when we're gone since no one'll be here to save you from the queen person."
The demon lord had to pull his own back quickly in order to save it from a collision as Chris abruptly sat up and began dusting himself off. He finished quickly, as the marble floor was relatively clean, and sprang to his feet. As soon as the boots had made contact with the floor, he raced off.
"BETCHA I CAN GET THERE FIRST!"
"But I can just-"
"YEAH RIGHT, MORON!" Erutis sped past Raenef before the blond could finish his sentence. "EAT MY DUST!"
Green eyes blinked, and then Raenef shrugged. "Go."
He teleported.
-----
As the two humans arrived in the garden, gasping, Aysel turned to face them. "Took you long enough."
Raenef waved, then yanked his hand back to his side as what looked to be a minute spark drifted past him. They stared, dumbfounded. Chris's blue gaze settled on a rune drawn in the dirt and he finally regained his breath.
"What the?"
"Summoning rune for sprites. The contract is paid in blood." One slender hand was lifted and a drop of the red liquid ran down her finger and slowed as it navigated her palm. The elf brought the hand to her mouth and licked it off.
"It's never a large amount though," she added.
"I summoned that one," Raenef said smugly and pointed. Then he yelped as his finger was scorched.
"Oh, that was smart," Chris commented scornfully.
"... shut up."
"Catch." Aysel made the motion of throwing one of the miniscule sprites at him. A breeze made the fiery being flare up and grow brighter.
The cleric threw himself flat on the floor as the light passed over his head. It flowed to a halt, then bobbed around his head, shrinking as the breeze faded. Silvery eyes rolled as Chris cautiously got to his feet and tried to avoid the petite reddish glow now hovering about his oh-so- important person.
"It's yours, unless you want to actually go back in and look for those coats so we can laugh at you trudging through the snow and looking like a yeti. It shouldn't hurt you unless, as Raenef has so kindly demonstrated, poke them or come into contact with them, either deliberately or accidentally. But if they do such a thing of their own free will for no good reason, tell me and I'll know why." The last words were directed at the other three, and they suddenly felt a certain amount of pity for the sprite that would be careless enough to do such a thing.
Apparently the fire spirits felt it too, as they kept just the right amount of distance between their wards and themselves as the group began the trek through the forest.
------
Though he watched them go, Eclipse didn't really see the four figures as they trudged off into the trees and disappeared from view. Turning his gaze back to the papers in front of him, the demon soon found his thoughts wandering again.
He couldn't quite dredge up the right memory from the past years of his long - by mortal's standards - life, and it irritated him. Even that one brief vision just a couple days past had gaps in it: the girl's features, the name of the other whom he had commanded, and what he himself had looked like at that time.
These somehow shifted into entirely too human thoughts, and he wrenched his mind away from recollection and back to the task in front of him. Finally realizing what he had seen before his mind had drifted to other topics, he sent a sprite of his own chasing after the group.
Not that there was any real danger. After all, the elven woman had been proven to be a high-level spell caster. The all-too-human thoughts returned after that, and Eclipse did his best to cast them aside and return to his work.
He failed miserably.
-----
"You're sure this is safe?" Chris called as he used his staff to probe at the ice again. He pitched forward as a snowball baffed him on the back of the head.
"If it's not, we can all die together," Erutis informed him as she dragged him towards the opposite shore where Raenef and Aysel waited.
He groaned in response. "Wonderful..."
Erutis suddenly yelped and ducked. This action, provoked by Raenef's unexpected shout of "Snowball fight!" and the first volley, caused her to slip and send Chris skittering across the ice.
She impacted with a "thud!". "OWW! I swear, it's always the butt! WHY!?!"
"Because it's too heaavyyy!" the sliding cleric called back as he flailed his way across the ice. The second volley make two bulleyes on his person, then he too slipped.
"NOT FAIR! WE WEREN'T PREPARED!"
Aysel was laughing as she helped Raenef drag him to the other side of the lake and bury his head in the snow. "First prisoner of war! You're next, red[2]," she yelled to the sword master stumbling towards them.
"Oh yeah, well... take this! Go, little fire sprite thingiemabobber!" she ordered, brandishing a finger. "Attack[3]!"
A heat wave rushed across the icy surface and melted most of the snow around Chris, resulting in him becoming soaked.
"NOOO!! THIS IS DRY-CLEAN ONLY[4]!"
All actions ceased as the three still on the ice turned to stare at the P.O.W. He shrugged. "What? It says so on the tag. Wanna se-"
"NO!" The emphatic reply was shouted by all of the others, who had realized before the sentence was completely out of his mouth that if they saw the tag on his clothes, it might have to mean that a) he would no longer be in them and b) they would no longer be on him and c) the results could be disastrous if there was no change of clothes at the castle.
While they made their protest, Chris whipped the object behind his back at Erutis as payback for the first snowball. It splatted onto her white tunic and she screeched.
"CHRIS!! MUDBALLS ARE SO AGAINST THE RULES!!" She began racing towards him.
"Uh-oh..." Raenef mumbled, then slid out of the way. In order to prevent his feet from becoming frost-bitten, his sprite wafted down to them and warmed them. It didn't notice or care that the ice was melting rapidly now.
The others did the same, though neither Chris nor Erutis noticed as the former was too busy trying to escape the latter's rubbing his face in the mud.
There was a crack, which was lost in the pair's battle cries. The Demon Lord began attempting to placate the pair. Another, sharper crack sounded, and he glanced down, green eyes wide.
The ice began to give way under his weight. Aysel suddenly darted forward, grabbed his arm and shouted "GO!", sending him to safer ground. The brief moment of both their weight on the weakened ice completely shattered it, and the water surged upwards. The fire sprite was torn apart by the water sprites, so different from the last encounter. Miniscule teeth were bared, and they dragged the elf under and sped underneath the protective surface of the ice and through the dark water.
Raenef started forwards, intent on a possible rescue attempt, then froze as the water turned once again to ice, thicker than it had been before.
-----
'Damascus[5],' Aysel commanded silently, then plunged the small blade that appeared in her hand into the surface of the ice above her. It skidded away and fell from her hand, the light of its length disappearing in the murky water. She tried to reach for the rapidly fading glow, but cursed as she realized that she couldn't see. The Damascus had taken the last of her mezraez.
-----
Staring at the bluish surface of the new ice, Raenef began to call for Eclipse. He stopped as the words that Aysel had spat at Eclipse came to his mind again. "... WEAKER than he would be... found his own path in life... dependant..."
His eyes narrowed. He'd do this on his own. Erutis and Chris were hammering at the ice as his mouth snapped shut and he stepped resolutely forward.
"Hey, yell for Eclipse or something! We can't do this on our own!"
"Get out of my way."
They stopped, then turned to stare at Raenef. He gazed back down at them, chin tilted haughtily, emerald eyes as cool and impenetrable as the frozen lake before them.
"I said, we can't do this on ou-"Erutis started.
"Get out of my way," Raenef commanded again. They gaped at him a few seconds more, then slowly moved aside.
One hand stretched out. Darkness swarmed from his palm and grew into an orb, crackling slightly with miniature bolts of lightning.
"Dark Arrow."
The sphere flew from his hand and sheared through the surface of the ice. He stepped forwards, then cried out in shock as a swell of freezing cold water blasted up through the hole and slammed him into the trunk of a nearby pine. Blood began to trickle from a graze in the Demon Lord's side, and the side of a branch was painted with it.
He dropped as the water retreated, again closing the hole with ice.
-----
A blow to the ice was always stopped by one in the mass of sprites. She was holding her breath for as long as she could, but they were trying to swarm inside her lungs and drown her, make her stay there for eternity. She hadn't thought something like this would happen.
-----
Eclipse abruptly shoved the chair he was sitting in back as the sprite returned and showed him the events that had just occurred.
"GO!"
-----
"Dark Arrow! Dark Arrow! Dark Arrow, damn you!" Raenef was screaming the words now and the ice kept shattering and reforming, shattering and reforming.
"Quit it, Rae!" Erutis was hanging onto one of his arms, trying to restrain him.
Chris was gripping the other, heels dug into the soft earth. "Call Eclipse! Don't try to do this on your own, babo!"
"Not necessary. Master Raenef, stop. You'll waste your mezraez."
Raenef halted, then turned his head aside. "I wanted to do it on my own... find my own way..."
"Hold still." The light in Chris's hand glowed briefly, then settled into the wound on Raenef's side. New flesh grew over and there was no trace left of the injury.
Erutis released Raenef's arm, then watched Eclipse go off across the lake. "We can't do anything, now can we?" she said quietly.
-----
Aysel winced at the damage inflicted by the little sprites claws and teeth. She twisted her head aside as one tried to enter her lungs through her mouth. The movement was not as quick as she would have liked it to be. The cold was wearing her down. She'd give in soon.
- - - - - - - - - -
[1]- I suppose you could call it some form of a law of anime. Stupid things happen, and there IS NO EXPLANATION! Thus, the explanation is that there is none. ;;
[2]- This is a little joke that me'n a friend have concerning Tenkuu no Escaflowne (Visions of Escaflowne or Heavenly Escaflowne. I really have no clue). Anyway, when Van's all berserk and destroying Zaibach guymelefs, he turns towards Dilandau after the rest have been smashed and disintegrated. My friend is usually like, "YOU'RE NEXT, RED!" as a little joke, since Dilandau's guymelef is red. Just felt like popping that in there.
[3]- POKEMOOON! I mean, that format of saying, "go, attack!" just reminds me SO MUCH of Pokemon, or as my principle insists on saying, "Poke-e-man". Hehe...
[4]- Randomness... don't ask... even I don't know...
[5]- Taken from Battle Angel Alita/Gunm, since when Alita plays Motorball and most of the time after that, she has a weapon called the Damascus blade. It's actually much larger than a dagger, and she uses different forms of it. I just decided to throw that in as a spell name, and it's approppiate, no? Okay, and the reason why Aysel did not use the spell format for the elements (i.e. Tyrfli'ng, diamond 9) is because she was using pure mezraez and shaping it into what she wanted it to be. Explanations below.
YamiHikari's Note- oooh, I guess it could be considered a cliffhanger... anyway, MCAS IS OVER! MCAS IS OVER! YESSSS!! Now I seriously need sleep, as I stupidly stayed up late on ALL the MCAS days... and went in a sleep- deprived child... still, I think I did okay... I hope... waaaah.... Oh, and below is a more detailed explanation of the magic in the Demon Diary.
Alright! Here's my own explanation of the magic in the world of Demon Diary, a.k.a Mahwan Ilgi. Of course, most of it is in the back of the fourth volume, but I'm going much more in-depth and spent entirely time on it.... --;; another disclaimer! I do not own this. There. Now that that's over with...
There are 6 main types of magic: Spirit/Sprite, Restorative, Divine, Elemental, Rune, and Pure. Pure can then be divided into two other categories: Dark and Light. (Hey, it matches my penname!)
Spirits or sprites are summoned by the use of Rune magic, but the commanding of the spirits themselves are what is really classified as Spirit magic. There are many types of spirits, and they can exist either on their own plane or in the plane in which our beloved characters move about and basically interact with each other, as shown in the freaky lake. As said in the fourth volume, the contract drawn up by the summoner can only be dissolved if the summoner calls it off, the sprite dies, the summoner dies, or the contract is fulfilled.
Restorative magic is used by all three races: Demon, Human, and Elf. However demons can only use Restorative magic on themselves. The more minor types of Restorative magic require nothing but some form of energy, mezraez or otherwise, from the user, but the more powerful type (which can bring back those on the brink of death) is termed "Sacrifice magic" because it steals some of the lifespan of the user.
Divine magic uses the power of the gods to strike down mostly demons. There are a few Divine magic spells that can affect other life-forms, but not that many. As said in the 4th volume, few clerics can use both Divine and Restorative. I'm assuming that since elves are like the demons' counterparts that they can pretty much use both.
Elemental magic is the use of already existing elements to form some sort of attack, defense, or what-have-you (i.e. Lighter Copy). There are different levels, from 1-9, and the spells require either an exceedingly good memory or creativity that knows no bounds, and is thus a type of magic that requires concentration, discipline(used in the actual CONTROL of the elements) and strength, as elements may have a mind of their own and act contrary to the user's wishes. The reason that Aysel did not use "Pure" magic (look below) to create Tyrfli'ng is because she used the mezraez to first create a light, then used that element that was already present to form the sword. For a hopefully better explanation, then contact me either on AIM as TheDragonsGirl90 or by e-mail on TheDragonsGirl90aol.com.
The different spells formats are as follows:
Attack- Crescent
Defend-Circle
What-Have-You- Diamond
After the shape, the level of the spell is also required.
Rune magic is tied in with nearly all of the other magicks, since you can use runes for pretty much anything: from summoning to attacking to healing to teleporting to.... (and the list goes on and on). Of course, the more complicated the rune, the more powerful the spell. Runes can be drawn on the ground, in the air(by just tracing with a finger or using magic to make the outline), or on paper with ink (Lighter Copy). It's also a handy way to have spells at the ready, but you have to have the mezraez required to use it.
Pure magic is the usage of either demonic or elven power. Obviously demons and elves can use this, no problem (DUUUUH!). The use of demonic power is classified as "Dark" whereas elven power is "Light" (another no-brainer). It is simply the use of the mezraez to form what you want from the mezraez, i.e. the Dark Arrow and the Damascus. The crazy rules about needing an incantation on someone else's realm only applies to the highest-ranking individuals: Demon Lords and High Elves (Menefer. Look back at the prologue.) Their underlings can simply shout/yell/call/intone/shrill/sing/recite/mumble/think/whisper/murmur/scream /howl/mutter/groan/growl/hiss/moan/say/mouth/etc.etc. the spell name wherever and whenever unless they do not have enough mezraez. Then they're in trouble if they really need that spell to stay alive. Yeah. Really BIG trouble...
Phew... Finally finished that. If there're any loopholes in this, then please tell me. I'll do my best to patch it up and make it better, okie? Okie. Ja!