So… yeah.
I know the chapter is short, but I just tried to get SOMEthing out.
On a side note, before we get to reviews, I would like to take a second to thank all of the people who are following or reading this still, and for putting up with me. Thank you guys SO MUCH, if it weren't for all of you I would have stopped writing this long ago.
Now, quick reviews…
CommanderHawke667: I never said she was going to die! -.- I'm doing my best to answer questions without spoiling anything, YOU try it sometime. XD Not easy! And yeah, maybe I will have Cysero make a surprise appearance…. Nah. :P Everything else is already planned out.
This takes place… er… hard to explain, really. If you go to Artix, then see his quests, somewhere around the end are the quests dealing with Vayle. The whole Darkness Orb isn't going to be mentioned here (though it technically still does exist), because I really don't want to have to slip everything in and still end the plot where I want to. ^^" Hope that answers your questions.
MissFiyeraba: I'm glad you liked that chapter, and here's the update! :3
Kirei Ryuusei: Yeah, Magiya's really done it now. X3 And if you think Vayle got worked up in the last chapter… well, let's just say you're in for a surprise and leave it at that. X3
Writing at night… I tend to just hole up in my room. Same effect. XD But yes, you're completely correct. There are fewer distractions. And the moon does help, you're right. ^^
Here's the update! :)
And here we go.
My eyes darted from place to place around the Necromantress that was swiftly gathering a frightening amount of power. I didn't want to think about what she was going to do with it. In my head, I concluded that it wouldn't be good and left it at that. But even though multitasking was an easy feat for me, the things I was trying to do simultaneously were not. I was attempting to reach for the magic again, remember the words for a spell that would (not unlike a shield or a force field) protect me by lowering the potency of whatever spell it was that was thrown at me. It wouldn't protect me completely—I wasn't nearly that powerful yet, not even close—but it would, at least, lower the damage done to me. But since I was going up against a top-notch Necromantress, that was about all I could hope for.
She's arrogant.
Rightfully so. She had enough power to knock an entire village flat, and then some. Can I get her to overextend herself? To get her to show off, and take her or the jewel out when she's not expecting it?
No. She's too experienced to fall for that. Somebody's probably tried it on her before, I realized with slight irritation as I clenched my fingers on my staff, sliding my feet a bit to the right. Vayle's eyes had begun to glow slightly, and she was watching me in a predatory manner. It made chills run up and down my spine, and I drew in a shuddering breath.
She depends on that pink gem.
Well, that was obvious. Besides, to get to that thing, I was going to get past her. That was a hopeless attempt, to try at get at it. I had to defeat Vayle first.
Does she have any sympathies?
I didn't think so. Besides, she was already pissed at me for calling her a coward, I thought as I began to slowly funnel the magic through the depths of my mind. Going with that line of reasoning, what did I have to lose?
"Why are you a Necromantress anyway?" I said to her curtly, twisting up the magic in a particular way. How much control you had over the magic depended on how complex the pattern you had it in was, so a simple twist increased the amount I was able to do with it. In this fashion, I was able to maintain the wall that decreased an opponent's magic power as well as think of spells to use against Vayle.
"Why are you a Mage?" she retorted smoothly, eyes glinting. I didn't even attempt to keep my lip from curling.
We both knew, by unspoken consent, that there was an edge somewhere, and if we slipped over it, spells would be cast, curses would fly, and magic would charge the air. The anticipation of that moment was exciting and terrifying at the same time, and while it scared the hell out of me, I was also eager to meet the challenge.
"Did you have problems as a kid?" I shot at her, bloodlust rising. "Did your parents drop you on your head when you were little? Or did your brother or sister throw you against a wall, forgetting that cockroaches don't die?"
I could be wrong, because I thought she was a bitch in the first place, but I think that right then Vayle snapped.
"Don't…"
The power I could feel in the air spiked dangerously.
"…You…"
Her right hand lifted, pointed towards me, the fingers curled in like a claw.
"…Dare…"
A small violet orb appeared within her fingers as the pink jewel began to glow with a strange intensity, and small rays of light shone from between her nails. Her lips curled back in a feral snarl that would have made a demon shrink back, and the funky little black wings on her back opened, spreading wide.
"…Talk about my brother like that!"
Well… it looked like I'd found her weak spot, for one. For two… I was in some deep shit. The hand containing the orb of pure dark magic flicked once. The little ball whistled towards me at a great speed, faster than the eye could follow. But maybe it was due to Vayle's own pure fury that she missed, creating a small crater among the rubble behind me. Chunks of earth and pieces of already-destroyed rock flew by my head, some more than a foot in diameter. I could feel a fist-sized rock hit the lower part of my back, and then I was given no more time, because Vayle's arm was extended far above her head, fingers spread, and dark storm clouds began to circle above the destroyed cemetery.
That cracked pink jewel flared then, and from all around, strange creatures began to rise from the earth; things I had never even heard of before, much less seen. Some of them looked like they had been put together in a mad scientists' lab with a complete lack of care. There were bits and pieces of various monsters I had glimpsed before that seemed to be somehow glued onto other parts of different monsters. It was like something straight out of a nightmare.
…Whoops.
I told you it would be short. But anyway, your chapter, monsignors and mademoiselles.
Advice… uh… Er…
OOH!
Okay, ALWAYS keep a dictionary and/or thesaurus on the table next to you! Particularly the thesaurus. It may sound boring as watching grass grow or paint dry, but it's helpful! Seriously.
For instance, a website I have found enormously helpful (especially for vocabulary) is word hippo dot com. It is AMAZING. It helps you find synonyms, antonyms, opposites, definitions, pronunciation, rhymes, and translations! It is incredibly helpful, and I highly recommend it for writers of any level.
Anyway…
I hope you enjoyed it, and things are really going to go to hell in a handbasket next time.
