How does one look at failure? This, like many things, takes many factors into account. Their past, their present mental state, and how they view themselves as a person. Yet, after failure, most people tend to look at it, at face value. That they had failed. Plain, and simple.
Izaneus, and Louise. Were no different.
They sat silently, in shock, a mixture of emotions beginning to overcome them.
Before Louise looked up in horror, "Tabitha."
She spoke, a worried expression on her face, and she began running forward, toward the forest, pulling the earth around her to the plate Izaneus had used to surf across the ground as she did so.
A hand reached around her, creating that same surface. As she looked, she discovered her familiar, holding a solemn expression, worried, distraught, upset, and… something else she couldn't quite grasp.
She would need to study this magic harder, from now on. She knew this. She told herself this, yet the failure just earlier served to sap any kind of motivation she had.
"How did this happen?" She asked Izaneus sullenly. Who did not respond, instead choosing to speed up, that they might still save that rider, and perhaps their mount.
Entering the forest. They soon neared the crash site, and the surfing method became too unreliable in the tree-filled terrain. They became aware of how close they were due to the large indentation of something very large skidding through the ground, leaving a trail of ground earth and destroyed trees in its wake.
A soft, yet raspy. Breath of the draconic beast soon could be audible to the two mages as the blue, fierce looking dragon, came into sight. It's rider unconscious just a few feet away from it. A small trickle of blood pouring from somewhere down their head. Ah, her, head.
The dragon, with little strength remaining, reached towards her master, and began to slowly move forward, before catching the two wizards staring.
It made a movement to look tough, before recognizing Louise, through memory of the familiar summoning ritual. It relaxed to some degree, and motioned for the two to take care of its rider.
Izaneus stood painfully still, before nodding, and moving to heal Tabitha, whom Louise joined soon after.
Heal the girl, aid the dragon, get back.
The first task didn't require much effort, as the Dragon Sylphid shielded her from much of the force of the crash, and with hardly any delay, the bleeding ceased due to a small healing incantation, and she just lay unconscious, soon to awaken.
The second task now…
Izaneus stepped closer to Sylphid, a giant wound in the middle of it's left wing made it impossible to fly, and very difficult to heal. Nevertheless, they would try.
"Louise, I'm going to need your help here, okay?" Iza asked, concern escaping through his voice, and finding its way to Louise's heart. How did things end like this?
She stepped forth, completely unaware of what it was she was supposed to do, she had no clue how to heal, or even begin to conjure the effect, and as the impossibility of the act began to dawn on her, a hand clasped her shoulder tightly. Causing her to look directly in the subtle luminescent Azure of his eyes
"Just follow my lead, and be careful."
She could do naught but nod as he slowly brought her hands to the injured being, and began to form the spell in mind.
Watching his movements, and doing her best to sense the way he directed the sources of magic. A golden light, with small, green hues began to emanate from their combined grasp, and finally. The spell was thrust forth unto Sylphid, who whined in pain...
Until it was suddenly soothed, and as the two concentrated, they found the giant hole, which caused the beast such great pain, slowly, very slowly, begin to shrink, until it was hardly a problem for the beast.
It still had other problems, and was more than lucky none of the trees it'd crashed into impaled it in any capacity, as that would be an entirely different matter. Which no one had the energy for anymore.
Izaneus leaned against the beast for support, panting heavily, due to the sheer amount of power required to heal such a massive wound. He sorely needed to practice more, and deepen his natural reserve of magic.
By the looks of it, he wasn't the only one, as Louise was having a hard time staying awake.
Right now, they needed to get back to the academy, get Tabitha and Sylphid in bed, and figure out what the hell had happened.
Not long after that… Event. Did they make it back, thanks to a still mildly wounded Sylphid, to a worried Siesta, and a bustling school campus, with everyone rushing around to make sense of what had just happened.
Students and teachers alike.
Siesta eventually had to run to fetch a couple of servants and a infirmary nurse for Tabitha, who by this point had become fairly conscious, but had been told by Izaneus that she should still be checked out, in case there was some underlying problem he hadn't been able to treat with his spell.
She seemed hesitant, refuting that she felt fine, but still decided to go along with it. Which left Izaneus and Louise to go find what had happened, and why.
The first step? A visit to the headmaster of course.
Hello everyone! Sorry for the delay, and I hope this chapter piques your interest for my later ones, but while I enjoyed writing this one, my life is still hectic and abound with many more tribulations that continue to affect me.
I hope to be back in full swing soon, but until then, uploads may be a tad bit more sparse than usual, though I'll still try to stay on track!
Alrighty everyone, goodnight, and until next time!