Sword Fight

As Tiara continues her assault, the figure becomes increasingly frantic, its shadowy form twisting and darting to avoid her strikes.

With each near miss, the tension in the air thickens, and I can feel the power radiating off Tiara, a vibrant force that draws all my attention.

"You think you can keep this up?"

The figure taunts, its voice dripping with sarcasm.

"You're nothing but an elf with a sword. You lack the true power to defeat me."

With a sudden feint, she changes her strategy.

Instead of continuing to swing for the figure, she twirls her sword in a dazzling display of agility, creating a whirlwind of movement that leaves the figure momentarily dazed.

In that split second, Tiara strikes again.

Her blade arcs in a graceful motion, cutting through the air toward the figure.

The edge of the sword connects with the figure's cloak, ripping through the darkness and causing it to momentarily flicker as if it were a mere illusion.

The figure snarls, its glowing eyes flickering in surprise and rage.

"You–!"

Before it can finish, Tiara thrusts her sword forward, catching the figure off guard.

It barely manages to dodge, but she follows through with a swift kick that sends it sprawling backward into the trees.

"Now you're the one who's predictable,"

Tiara says coolly, her breath is steady as she prepares for her next move.

The figure stands, brushing off the dirt and looking more furious than before.

"Damn you..."

It raises its hands, and dark energy begins to swirl around it, coalescing into a dark sword that gleams ominously.

"You want to dance?"

Tiara says, a fierce smile breaking across her face.

"Let's dance."

With that, she charges forward again, her sword raised high.

The figure meets her advance, the dark sword clashing against her steel in a violent burst of energy.

The sound of metal ringing against dark magic echoes through the forest as they engage in a fierce duel.

The figure swings its dark sword, attempting to strike Tiara, but she ducks and weaves with remarkable agility, her movements is fluid.

She counters with swift strikes, forcing the figure to retreat, its face twisted in frustration.

"What's wrong? Can't keep up?"

Tiara mocks it, while twisting her sword simultaneously.

"You're just a nuisance,"

The figure growls, swinging its dark sword wildly. But Tiara's agility allows her to dodge and weave, a dance of finesse and power that seems to infuriate the shadowy opponent even more.

"Then you should have chosen a better form to fight with,"

She replies, a hint of amusement in her voice.

The figure charges at her, its dark sword slashing through the air. But Tiara sidesteps with ease, using the figure's momentum against it.

She delivers a swift kick to its side, sending it crashing into a nearby tree.

The figure rises slowly, shadows flickering around it as it glares at her with glowing eyes.

"Damn it!"

In response, it unleashes a torrent of dark energy, sending a wave of shadowy tendrils crashing toward Tiara.

But she stands firm, her sword gleaming with the light she channels into it.

She slices through the tendrils with precision, dissipating them into wisps of darkness before they can even reach her.

"Is that all you've got?"

She challenges, advancing on the figure once more.

With a fierce thrust, Tiara lunges forward.

The sword slices through the air with deadly intent, and this time the figure can't evade her strike.

The blade catches the edge of its cloak, pulling the hood back.

As the fabric falls away, the shadows retreat momentarily, revealing the figure beneath it.

A man with a burn scar marring the left side of his face.

His eyes, once glowing with dark energy, now flashes with surprise. The scar stretches from his forehead, across his cheek, and into his eye, a twisted reminder of a past confrontation.

"You…"

Tiara breathes, momentarily caught off guard.

"Damn you, elf! You're ruining my plan!"

"Ruining your plan?"

Tiara tightens her grip on the sword.

"It's not my fault that you're incapable of fighting me."

The man snarls, his eyes burning with frustration as he takes a step back, trying to regain his composure.

"Incapable? My power far surpasses yours."

Tiara's gaze doesn't waver, her sword still held at tightly and ready.

"If your power is so great, then why do you keep losing every strikes?"

The man's expression darkens, but before he can reply, a sudden burst of magic flares behind them.

A gust of wind ripples through the forest, and a voice rings out.

"Tiara! Hold on!"

Tiara glances over her shoulder just as Ren and Charlotte appear, their magical aura glowing with intensity.

I stand up from the ground, wiping the dust off my clothes.

If Charlotte and Ren are here, then this fight is already over.

Charlotte glances at me, a sinister smile formed on her lips.

"Did I just see you lying on the ground? Battered and bruised?"

I roll my eyes at her. I swear this girl is... Ugh, why did she have to see me in that state?

"You know, some of us like to keep things interesting."

"Interesting? Is that what you call losing?"

She quips, crossing her arms, her eyes gleaming with amusement. Fire magic flickers around her hands, like lightning barely contained.

Ren steps forward, more serious as he surveys the situation.

"Tiara, what's going on here? Who is this guy?"

The scarred man glares at Ren, his posture tense, as though calculating his next move.

His dark sword still glimmers ominously in his hand, but the fatigue setting in.

Tiara's relentless strikes have clearly taken their toll.

Tiara keeps her blade steady, pointing it directly at the man.

"I don't know who he is, but he's the one responsible for the marked beasts."

Ren narrows his eyes, then turns his attention to the man.

"You should leave while you can. This doesn't have to get worse for you."

"Worse? You fools have no idea what's coming."

Charlotte, meanwhile, continues her banter with me, clearly unfazed by the tension.

"Honestly, Kira, how do you manage to get yourself into these situations? Were you trying to play hero again?"

"I was handling it perfectly fine until you showed up, besides, I was just warming him up for Tiara."

Charlotte smirks, shaking her head.

"Sure, let's go with that."

Ren, catching the end of our exchange, sighs.

"Focus, you two."

Tiara however, her gaze remains locked on the man.

"If you have any sense left, you'll tell us what you're planning. Or we'll force it out of you."

"I'm not telling you anything, elf."

The man hisses, clutching his dark sword, his scarred face contorted with anger.

Ren's aura is intensifying as he steps closer.

"Either talk, or we'll make you."

Meanwhile, Charlotte and I stand a little off to the side, completely ignoring the tension building in front of us.

Charlotte leans casually against a tree, fire magic still flickering around her fingers, a bemused expression on her face.

"You know, you could've avoided all of this if you didn't rush in like some hot-headed fool all the time."

I scoff at her words, crossing my arms.

"Says the one who thinks everything's solved with a fireball."

"It's worked so far. Maybe if you actually planned for once, you wouldn't need Ren and Tiara to bail you out all the time."

"I don't need bailing out. I was holding him off so Tiara could do her thing."

Charlotte laughs, a playful glint in her eyes.

"Right, right. Just admit it, Kira. You're better at skating on your little ice rink than fighting these guys head-on."

"Like you'd fare better. At least I didn't burn down half the forest the last time I tried to 'help.'"

She narrows her eyes. Her temper is clearly heating up as the tree she's leaning is getting caught on fire.

"That was one time, and it was a controlled burn. You never complained about it when it saved your sorry self."

"Yeah, I would've preferred the saving without the extra crispy forest."

Tiara shoots us both a sharp glance, her eyes narrowing in frustration.

"Could you two take this somewhere else? We're kind of in the middle of something important here."

"Tell that to Miss Tomato."

"Tomato?! You wanna get fried?!"

Before Charlotte could fully unleash her fiery temper, Ren, with a voice that cut through the rising heat, barked.

"Enough!"

Both Charlotte and I froze mid-retort, turning to face Ren, who stood between us with an expression so stern it could have stopped an army.

"This isn't the time for your childish bickering."

He looked from me to Charlotte, his eyes sharp.

"We're facing a serious threat, and you two are acting like we're in a tavern."

Charlotte crossed her arms, letting out an annoyed huff, though the flames around her hands dissipated.

"He started it."

I shot her a look but kept quiet, knowing Ren wasn't in the mood for excuses.

Ren's gaze shifted back to the scarred man, who watched us with annoyance.

"You have one last chance to tell us what drives you to control some beast and make them attack a peaceful village."

The man sneered, though his confidence wavered slightly under Ren's intense presence.

"I don't need to tell you anything."

Tiara took a step forward, her sword gleaming in the low light.

"Then we'll end this now. I'm getting tired of you."

Before Tiara could do anything, I grabbed her arms and hold her off.

"Damn you, Kira! Let me go!"

This woman really has a shorter temper than Charlotte over there.

"Tiara, don't! If you kill him right... Then we will not get anything out of him!"

"Shut up! He's been toying with us since the moment we met him!"

Why is this woman have to be so strong? Stopping her is harder than fighting that man.

Ren stepped between the man and Tiara, his face is dead serious right now.

Oh... I'm sure this is not going to end well.

"We will take you with us as a prisoner. Until you spoke anything, we will not put you in the Council's prison."

The scarred man scoffed, his eyes narrowing as he glanced between Ren and Tiara.

"I'd rather die than rot in some cell."

"Alright, let's get him back to the Arcane Brigade. We'll make him talk."

Charlotte says with a sinister smile.

"Right, we'll make him talk."

I slam my fist to my other palm. I'm sure I'm going to enjoy this.

"You three will head back first, I'm going to inform the village chief that they have nothing to worry about."

With that, Ren disappear into thin air.

Leaving the three of us with the scarred man, an uncomfortable silence settled over the forest.

Tiara shot me a frustrated glance, but her grip on her sword finally loosened.

Charlotte, still leaning against the now slightly charred tree, stretched her arms lazily, clearly not as tense as before.

"Looks like we get the fun part,"

Charlotte said with a grin, stepping forward.

The flames in her hands flickered to life again, though she kept them in check this time.

I gave the man a hard look. Despite all the threats and bravado, his breathing was shallow, and fatigue was setting in.

Tiara had clearly pushed him to his limit, and with Charlotte and me around, he had no chance of escape.

Tiara remained cold, but I could tell the fight had gotten under her skin.

She didn't usually get so heated, even with foes as dangerous as this guy. But something about his taunts seemed to have struck a nerve.

"You know,"

I began, walking up beside Tiara as we prepared to escort the man back to Caelumora.

"You handled that pretty well. I mean, with the whole 'not killing him' thing."

Tiara huffed, wiping her blade clean.

"Don't get used to it."

Charlotte smirked, falling in step next to us.

"I'm sure if he'd taunted her one more time, she'd have gone through with it."

"Maybe I should've,"

The man stayed quiet, though I could feel his eyes on us, simmering with barely concealed hatred.

As we started back toward Caelumora, I could feel the tension gradually shifting into something lighter, thanks to Charlotte's constant poking at me.

"So, Kira, how long do you think it'll take before you freeze something by accident again?"

"Please. The only accidents around here involve you setting everything on fire."

"Oh, like that one time in Caelumora's market?"

Tiara chimed in, her voice deadpan.

Now I'm getting teamed up by them, huh?

Charlotte's laughter rang out, echoing through the forest.

I shot back glance, but even I couldn't keep a straight face as I remembered the chaos that had followed.

The scarred man, still silent, finally spoke up, his voice hoarse but cutting through our banter.

"You think this is all just a joke, don't you? You really have no idea what's coming."

Tiara stopped, turning on him with a cold glare.

"We'll figure it out soon enough. But for now, you'll tell us everything."

He sneered, but his exhaustion was too apparent to muster much resistance.