You know, given everything that's happened to me recently, this feels pretty appropriate.
"Don't just stand there, get her!"
The goon squad responds to Travis' orders, and I have to roll to the side to avoid being cut in two by the guy he has with him. Now that I take a good look at him, he doesn't look like the typical guard. No bargain bin plate armor. No cheap longsword. No silly vision obscuring helmet. Instead he's dressed in a beige coat with a metal chestplate. His sword looks exceptionally well made also, with gold lining the blade's edge. If I have to take a guess, I'd say him and the other chick are hired mercenaries. They're dressed pretty similarly after all.
"So much for stealth. You're such a clutz, Lina!" Naga berates, bounding down the stairs.
"Huh?! How is this my fault!" I shout, dodging another swipe of the merc's sword.
"Freeze bullet!" Naga enchants, putting a wall of ice between me and my opponent. We share a look, turn around, and book it down the hallway. I don't doubt we can beat these schmucks with ease, but just cause I can win a fight doesn't mean I should start one.
We make it a good ways down the hall, but my head snaps backward when I hear the unmistakable sound of sizzling ice. A second later, the merc with the sword burst through the ice wall, his blade burning with a holy light.
So the merc has some kind of magic sword? Great.
As if that weren't enough, a pair of dogs quickly join him, darting down the hall on either side. Except they aren't just dogs; they've got wings on their backs. Freaking chimera's?! Pick a lane and stick to it, buddy!
Glancing further back, however, I notice the lady merc with her hands extended, a paint purple light emanating from her palms. So she's the one behind the chimera's, and the other merc is a warrior with a magical sword. That's not the kind of duo I'm eager to get into a scrap with, especially with the swordsman closing in on us-!
"Naga, break!" I bark, slamming my shoulder against the nearest door. Much to my embarrassment, it doesn't cave under my assault, and I'm left with a sore shoulder and nothing to show for it.
"Oohohohoho! You're so puny you couldn't even run down a kitten, Lina!" Naga taunts.
"Naga!"
"Bomb de wind!" she enchants, and literally blows open the door. The two of us tumble inside, just barely avoiding a blazing slash from our pursuer.
The room we barrelled into looks to be some kind of study, what with the numerous bookshelves, pots of ink and parchment, and the large desk in the center. I swiftly whirl around on my enemies and shout "Flare arrow!"
The spell hurls toward them, and at such a close range there's no way for them to dodge. I can only guess the merc thinks the same thing, since he doesn't even bother. Instead, he slices through about a dozen flaming arrows with some artful swings of his sword. The chimera's aren't nearly as skilled, however, and go down in a ball of flames.
Before I can celebrate even that minor victory, the Lady merc and Travis step up behind the swordsman. "Give it up! Whatever plans you might've had have slipped through your fingers, and no one can deny your crimes. You'd do well to hand over the pendant and turn yourselves in," Travis intones, standing with his chest puffed.
"I'd really rather you didn't," the lady merc interjects casually. "Killing Lina Inverse is quite the accomplishment, so please keep resisting."
I groan at her words, "Look Naga, you can add a new member to your fanclub."
"I'm not a fan, I'm your rival!" Naga snaps, offended.
"Enough!" Travis shouts. "Will you surrender or not?"
Naga and I share a quick look before giving him our answer.
""Fireball!""
We launched the same spell at the three of them simultaneously. Now, trust me when I say one Lina Inverse brand fireball is something one wants to avoid. Two of them, even if the second is supplied by a hack like Naga, results in everyone frantically diving for cover. Upon igniting near the entrance, the flames are quick to spread across the study. They dissipate almost as quickly, a benefit of my and Naga's keen magic control. Setting fire to a noble's manor is pretty hard to walk back, after all. With our enemies in disarray, however, Naga and I have a chance to escape!
"Levitation!" I chant, before leaving the ground. Naga and I float to the top of the nearest bookshelf before releasing the spell. From there, he hop across the tops of the shelves toward a window. It's not an especially big one, but I know we can leap through it so long and we keep ourselves parallel with the ground.
We close in on the window, and Naga is the first to leap for freedom. The moment before she can make impact, however, a pale blue beam flies over my shoulder, and strikes the window. In the blink of an eye, the glass pane turns into solid stone, and Naga smacks into it with a painful "Umph!"
As my erstwhile companion falls to the floor in a daze, I turn toward the twin mercs and the prince. The Lady merc summoned another duo of chimera's while Naga and made our mad dash. This time, it's a pair of large red eyes with wings attached. "Yuck! You've got no eye for aesthetics, lady!"
"Hi kettle, my name's pot. Did you know you're black?"
"What's that supposed to mean-Ah!" I cry in alarm and leap to the side, just barely avoiding another of those pale blue beams, shot from the eye of the wing-eye chimera. A quick glance reveals the spot I just stood having turned to stone. Damn, that's a nasty little spell…
The chimera's launch another attack on me a second later, and I avoid their onslaught of beams with some artful acrobatics. Down on the ground, I spot Naga dragging herself to her feet with some muttered curses. Unfortunately, she's not alone. The swordsman merc stands over her with his sword at the ready, and he doesn't hesitate to bring it down on her.
Naga yelps in surprise and leaps back, but can't avoid taking a cut on her forearm. She point's a hand at him in retaliation, "Freeze bull-" but the merc doesn't give her the chance to finish, ramming his boot into her gut. She crashes onto her back, but roles with the blow. The merc is unrelenting in his assault, however. He chases down Naga, scoring shallow cuts all across her body and not giving her the chance to fight back. Dammit, she's getting slaughtered out there!
"What the hell, Naga?! Is that sword just for show!" I cry in indignation, barely dodging another stone searing beam.
"Shut up!" she snaps, and I feel my body tense in response. No quips? No snappy remarks or grandstanding? Naga's in real trouble down there. I've gotta deal with these chimera bastards quickly!
Thinking quickly, I draw my sword from its sheath. The next time one of the wing-eye chimera's fires a beam at me, I move my blade in front of me, pointing the flat toward the attack. Luckily, my guess works in my favor, and the blade of my sword reflects the beam back towards its user. The wing-eye chimera is instantly turned to stone by its own attack. Before the second one can retaliate, I leap forward and bisect it with my sword. Then, I draw a throwing dagger from my cape. "Shadow snap!" I shout, and let the dagger fly.
It hits the floor right between the swordsman mercs legs, pinning his shadow and trapping him in place. The merc grunts in surprise while Naga scrambles away, having finally gotten some breathing room. I drop to ground level myself and approach the injured Naga. Throwing one arm over my shoulder, I whisper, "C'mon, we're getting out of here."
Naga simply nods, too worn out to bother with her usual snark. With the window a bust, the only way out is to blow open the wall. I start chanting a spell to make it happen, but that's when the lady merc surprises me.
"Lighting!" She enchants, and baths the whole room in blinding white light. Son of a bitch! On top of summoning, she knows some basic black magic as well, which means-!
"Heaven slicer!"
Having been broken free from my shadow snap spell, and swordsman moves quickly. His blade burns with the same holy light from earlier and he swings it at the two of us. In response, a crescent shaped beam of pure light races toward us, and I swiftly throw my hands up to form a barrier. It stops the attack for a few seconds, but ultimately I'm thrown off my feet and sent crashing into a nearby bookshelf.
The nearly fifteen foot tall shelf comes crashing down on top of the two of us, and we find ourselves buried under the weight of the wood. I can already feel bruises forming across my limbs and back, and if that weren't enough I think I sprained my leg. The urgency of our situation has gone up by a few degrees, to say the least.
I'm starting to worry surrender is our only chance at getting out of this, but that's when Naga comes to my aid. "Water nebula!" she shouts, and slams her hand against the ground. Instantly, a huge jet of water springs to life from nothing. It throws the bookshelf off us in an instant, and climbs higher until it nearly touches the ceiling. Then, it flows outward, crashing upon the mercs and Travis like a great wave, and sending them scattering along the floor.
Not one to let a moment like this go to waste, I turn to the nearest wall and let loose the spell I'd been charging. "Dill brand!"
With a heavy crash, a boat-sized hole appears in the wall, and lets in the gleaming moonlight. Thankfully, I don't need to say anything for Naga to start moving. Darting much more clumsily than just twenty minutes earlier, Naga and I leap through the hole in the wall.
And instantly start to freefall.
"Raywing!" the two of us cast at the same moment, avoiding a somewhat gruesome death. Unfortunately, by this time the numerous guards have been alerted to our presence, and the two of us have to fly away from the manor while frantically dodging a hail of arrows and spears.
"Listen here and listen well, Lina Inverse!" I hear the voice of Travis calling after us. "No matter where you hide, we will find you! And I'll stop at nothing to ensure you return my mothers pendant!"
As Naga and I crest the edge of the Eudora manor bruised, beaten, and bloodied, I can only really come to one conclusion in response to his words.
Boy, don't I know it?!