Skewered Meat

"C-Cole?"

As the fire dwindled to mere sparks, silence stretched out throughout Skyleaves Forest, enveloping Lyra in the dual embrace of darkness and the ethereal glow of moonlight filtering through the towering trees. 

The serene woods now held an air of foreboding uncertainty, lingering after the 'cosmic' spectacle that unfolded around Cole's body–Everything seemed unstable at that point. 

As if it wasn't real.

"..."

Lyra, with a reluctance that she seldom admitted even to herself, approached Cole's prone form.

His body lay sprawled on the forest floor, the remnants of the energy that had surrounded him were long gone and extinguished. The shining symbol on his forehead had vanished, leaving only the familiar sight of the boy she had come to know since the very beginning.

"..."

The silence pressed in on her, broken only by the faint rustle of leaves in the night breeze. 

Lyra reached down to turn Cole's face toward her, seeking reassurance in the familiarity of his features.

"... His face is normal, and so is his breathing…" Unconsciously reaching with her fingers towards Cole's forehead, where the symbol used to be, a sudden disturbance in the underbrush seized her attention.

Rustle– Fwoop!

A sharp whip through the air sliced just inches away from Lyra's face, the deadly precision of the attack sending a shiver down her spine. 

"Wh-What?" She quickly stood up, gazing in all directions. She squinted her eyes, trying to discern the source of the threat that had materialized from the shadows.

"Foolish human," a gruff voice echoed through the darkness. "You trespass where you are not welcome and dare cause such commotion?"

What emerged from the shadows was a…

"Blightbringer…?" 

'A monstrous human-like bird with feathers that is said to spread disease and pestilence upon its enemies.'

'Shit, how did I forget they are residents of Skyleaves!? They're rarely seen, but to approach me so boldly like this…'

Its grotesque form seemed to loom in the moonlit night, approaching slowly now compared to the speed it showcased just seconds ago.

She swiftly reached for the hilt of her blade, her reflexes built nicely from her constant fight for survival since the Celestial Eclipse.

The Blightbringer, sensing her readiness, let out a guttural croak, its beady eyes gleaming red with malevolence. 

Lyra, though composed, felt a surge of uncertainty. 

'Do I just run? Do I take it head-on?! Crap!'

The Blightbringer's breath carried decay, and she knew that an encounter with the creature could very well end her life if she wasn't careful. She braced herself, recognizing the weakness of the monstrous bird against purification spells and holy magic.

'But I can't use either. And weren't these things not supposed to talk? Could be a change that came upon with the Celestial Eclipse.'

Casting away her overthinking, Lyra prepared herself and took a step back, her blade at the ready. 

The Blightbringer, unnerved, advanced with a deliberate menace. The moonlight managed to make the grotesque sheen of its feathers visible to Lyra, who didn't know if she should only aim to protect herself, Cole, make a run, or protect the both of them.

"Kirryagh!"

With a screech, the Blightbringer closed the distance between the both of them, managing to get Lyra to the edge of her attention span as she only focused on holding her blade firm against the feather blade.

'Seeing a bird as tall as a human and using its feathers as blade…'

"Is really fucking disturbing!"

Ending her sentence out loud, she parried the feather blade away from her as she had already cast three icicles in the air behind the Blightbringer, who managed to evade easily as Lyra jumped back to make space between the two.

"Strong human… Ka-kraw!"

The Blightbringer's guttural croak reverberated through the old trees of Skyleaves Forest, signaling the arrival of more of its kind. 

'It seems he isn't as smart as it made itself to be in the beginning. Still, dealing with numerous of them will be quite difficult.'

As Lyra prepared to face the onslaught of numerous Blightbringers, their shapes quickly became visible as they whipped through the air, feathers dripping with malevolence, and the air around them heavy with the stench of decay.

'I can't let them get too close!' She thought as she looked at the skin of her hand, tinged red and burning already because of that close encounter earlier.

Lyra, standing alone in the tree clearing, gripped the hilt of her blade with determination. 

She tried not to hold her breath as the Blightbringers closed in, encircling her with their weird shapes. 

She knew that her usual strategy of using ice magic might prove futile against creatures born of pestilence and sickness. Even more so considering Holy Magic is their weak point– Well, Holy Magic as people called it was in fact just the use of light, but Lyra lacked such a capability.

She couldn't use light, fire, earth, wind, water, gravity, or any other sort, and… she was only able to use ice.

'And I'm sick and tired of this affinity!'

The first attempt at conjuring ice proved disastrous. 

The Blightbringers, unfazed by the icy tendrils that emerged from Lyra's outstretched hand, simply brushed them aside with resistance. The frozen projectiles melted into nothingness against the unnatural warmth exuded by the beaks of the monstrous birds.

"Tch."

Lyra's stoic expression faltered for a moment as she clicked her tongue, frustration flickering through her. The Blightbringers, sensing her momentary vulnerability, lunged forward with renewed aggression. Their talons and beaks gleamed with a sickly malice as they closed in on their prey.

"Think, Lyra, think," she muttered to herself, her mind racing to find a solution amidst the chaos. The Blightbringers, unbothered by her initial attempts, circled her once again with an eerie intelligence, their beady eyes fixated on their intended victim.

Drawing upon her experience as a high-ranked adventurer, Lyra redirected her focus.

Instead of directly attacking the Blightbringers with her ice magic, she began to weave a defensive barrier. Frost spread from her fingertips, forming a crystalline shield that shimmered under the filtered rays of the moon.

The Blightbringers, sensing a change in tactics, hesitated for a moment, croaking communicatively with each other.

The icy barrier, while not offensive in nature, held a distinct essence that seemed to repel their pestilential aura.

'I'll just make it stronger with my fragile mana, even if the acid is a bad match!'

'Its thickness doesn't let the breath penetrate through it.' 

Feeling confident about her magic for the first time in a while, Lyra, continued maintaining her composure and expanded the frosty shield to envelop both herself and the unconscious Cole.

As the Blightbringers lunged forward, their attacks met the impenetrable barrier of ice. The air crackled with the clash of opposing forces, the frigid sounds drowning out the grotesque croaks of the monstrous birds. 

Lyra, though outnumbered, stood well behind her frozen shield and in front of Cole's body, her blade at the ready.

The Blightbringers, frustrated by their inability to breach the icy defense, regrouped.

Darting her own eyes in her sockets, Lyra seized the opportunity to assess her surroundings. 

The moon cast an ethereal glow on the ancient trees, and the shadows seemed to dance with the rhythm of the unfolding battle.

Recognizing the vulnerability of their prey, the Blightbringers coordinated their assault. Lyra, attuned to the ebb and flow of the battle, adjusted her tactics. 

She began to shape her ice magic into detailed patterns, creating icy projections that mimicked her movements.

The Blightbringers, deceived by the illusionary ice constructs that affected their sight when the luminescent light was reflected off of them, lunged at the decoys, their talons slashing through empty air. 

'Now!'

In the momentary confusion, Lyra seized the initiative. With a swift and calculated strike, she shattered the icy barrier, releasing a burst of frost that momentarily blinded the Blightbringers.

Taking advantage of the disorientation, Lyra swiftly moved to a more defensible position, her blade gleaming with a silver light that defied the logic that any of the Blightbringers may have expected. 

"This approach and fight shall mark your own death." She voiced coldly for the first time so they heard her voice.

The Blightbringer leader, the one who could speak, asked out– "Where are you, coward–!"

Shplurr–

Not even ending his sentence, an icy lance as long as his full height drilled throughout his body, from scalp to toe.

"Kra-kraw?" 

The next moment, the numerous Blightbringers hurdled together also faced the same fate. 

"Thanks for staying like that and becoming some skewered meat, it was needed!" She smirked as a lance, similar to the former, flew sideways towards her targets, locking them all in next to each other towards their deaths.

Numerous screeches resounded throughout the forest, "But I'm not done yet, one of you has to be alive."

She voiced as she approached the least injured Blightbringer on her Lance Meat Stick.

Pulling it out of it, patching, and tying it up tightly.

"We must do some questioning and need your guidance through the barrier of the Blightbringer village."