The Girl With The Green Hair

"Who in the hell is that?" 

She unhooded and revealed herself, and all seven of them looked at the green-haired girl in awe while the Molten Giant groaned in pain inflicted by that girl.

"That's her! That's the girl I saw! That's her!" Neilus announced it excitedly. 

He stood up, forgetting about the battle, his companions, the Giant, everything. His eyes were totally fixed on the magical girl, and as she got closer to them through the wind and dust, her features became clearly visible for Neil to collect. 

Her thin body was covered with a black hoodie layered on top of a black robe, she had chunky brown shoes; and even her eyes were green in color. She radiated an enigmatic aura as she got closer to them. But Neil was unshaken, drooling at her mystical beauty. 

"Haaaa…" He wanted to greet her, but she walked past him without batting an eye, and an irresistible scent of lilac that her skin emitted snuck into his nostrils. 

"My, my, woah." He exhaled with his eyes closed.

She passed by everyone else; they were all on the floor, injured, defeated, and powerless. The girl looked down on them and chuckled to herself. 

"Who are you?" Vegas asked her intriguingly, to which she gave no reply but instead a menacing glare. 

Vegas shut herself up. For the first time.

Yin looked at the girl without questioning anything. 

All four swordsmen were baffled at the sight of her.

But Neil kept staring at her; his heart pumped and his throat dried. 

…

The Molten Giant scratched the ground with its claws and stood back up, shaking and trembling from the impact of the attack. It was uncalled for and almost invisible. Just a green ray of light that struck like lighting and also made no sound. But the damage it dealt was vital. 

It had precisely carved a lazer-sharp hole through the Giant's kneecap when it lifted its leg with the idea of wanting to squish them like ants. And from the hole, disgustingly, an oily and thick red liquid leaked. It was bleeding.

The monster repeatedly growled in agony and reached for its Axe that lay on the ground.

Tara's stance was relaxed and casual, like that of an unbothered kid. She then snapped her fingers. As the thumb and the middle finger released friction, a green flaming orb popped up, and she gently blew on it. "Poof."

"ZING!" 

A trial of flaming green light spiraled out of the orb, hit the massive Axe, and pushed it far away from the Giant's reach. 

It was raging. The eyes of the Giant looked at her furiously. The holes in its ears and nose let out smoke. 

But the girl smiled. 

Then the Giant started running as fast as it could towards her.

The girl quickly changed her stance to a more appropriate type for the face-off.

"GRAAHW!" The Giant growled and neared her.

It joined both of its fists together, like it was going to pray, then aimed at her and hammered the joined fists into the ground, smashing through where she was standing.

The ground shook thunderously, pushing back the spectators.

"NOO!" Neil yelled as he scanned the area, looking for her.

The Giant grinned.

But she was nowhere to be on the ground anymore.

…

"Spear of Light." 

A glowing green rod with a long and sharp pointed head appeared in the sky.

"Poof." She kissed the air.

The rod plunged deep into the Molten Giant's chest. 

"GRAAAAAAHHWWWW!"

The agonized growl it emitted was harrowing to everyone, so they shut their ears tightly. 

The pierced green rod was pulsating inside its body, decreasing in speed with every flicker.

"BOOM!"

In a matter of seconds, the entirety of the Giant's body burst into a thousand chunks, raining its oily red blood everywhere in the area.

The red sands got even more reddened.

The Molten Giant was defeated.

Everyone's eyes watched the absolute obliteration, not being able to fathom what had just occurred.

They all looked at her floating in the sky in awe, just like how they saw Yin when he first levitated.

The girl slowly descended from the air, and Neil fell to his knees as if he were witnessing an angel come down to him. An angel with green hair and green eyes.

Her foot touched the ground, and she studied everyone's face in silence.

She was pleased with how all the three knights looked, though she still wondered how they ended up on the ground instead of bravely wielding their swords. 

She then turned to Vegas and smirked at her.

"What?!" Vegas shouted.

The girl gave no answer, as expected.

Her eyes switched to Neil.

He wore a wide glee on his shabby face, to which the girl rolled her eyes.

And then it was Yin's face she glared at.

"You say ya the God-man, and you found that shit challenging to defeat?" The girl finally spoke, her tone drenched in arrogance, but she had a voice sweet enough to mask it. 

"What? Gods don't fail then?" Vegas posed the question, annoyed.

"No one was talking to you, Kitty." Calm and composed, the girl infuriated Vegas.

"Call me Kitty once again, and your skull will have another hole." Vegas threatened as she gripped Juno.

"I applaud your bravery, Kitty." She mocked her.

Vegas bit her teeth, furious, just like a kitten.

"Thank you for saving us." It was Yin's voice that barricaded their back-and-forth argument. 

"I had to." She gave an unexpected answer.

"What do you mean by that?" Yin was puzzled, and so was everyone else.

"To save one of my kind." The girl pointed to Lars.

And everyone caught a glance at the green ring that was on her finger.

"You're a Mage. How is that possible? I thought I was the only living one." Lars said.

"So did I, boy, until our town got the news about your disappearance." The girl informed.

Lars looked at her without words to say.

'A little boy from the East has fled with the ring of the Elders. The ring that we all thought was a hoax, the ring that is said to be forgotten and forbidden' The girl quoted what she had heard in her town.

"I guess I'm not the only one anymore." Lars said it, looking down at the sand worriedly.

"If anything, there could be many more out there. West, North, South" The girl added.

"I guess… This is farewell then guys." Lars was starting to tear up.

Everyone was confused about Lar's reaction.

"You guys have found a stronger teammate than me. I'm of no use. I guess I better leave now." Lars got up and started walking away, rubbing away the tears that hadn't even run down yet. 

"Lars! Are you stupid?!" Yin raged.

The kid stopped and sobbed.

"Get back here, Lars! We are your home, remember?" 

"Yeah come 'ere kid." Vegas called out to him. 

They were all able to hear him sobbing; he couldn't hold it in himself for long.

Suddenly Lars turned around and sprinted towards Yin, every single one of his tears dropping on the sandy bed with every step he took. 

Lars jumped and wrapped his arms around Yin, hugging him tightly.

Yin was startled.

But he held him back tighter.

"I'm sorry, I was scared, I thought I'd end up in the middle of nowhere. I felt like I was of no use to you all. I'm…"

"Lars." Yin spoke into his ears, cutting him off from the pointless ranting.

"It's okay. We're all here. With you." He ended.

Lars sniffled and released himself from the embrace, his cheeks and eyes red.

"We are your home." Yin promised again.

Lars nodded and rubbed off his impending tears.

"Gosh, while you weaklings carry on with your crying and hugging, I'm off." The girl blurted.

She turned around and started marching towards the city of Wolkcaster. 

"Wait!" Yin called out.

"What are you up to?" He asked the girl.

"Huh? Why do you want to know?" She continued walking away.

"We're headed to Wolkcaster ourselves. You could tag along." He suggested.

She simply didn't bother to reply.

"Hey you! You want to go find other ring users, don't you? Why don't you come with us?" Lars suggested.

"We could use some help, and you will have company too." He added.

"Company with a bunch of crybabies? I'm good, thanks." She mocked.

…

"No!" Neilus stepped in.

"You're underestimating us! We're no crybabies! I know I'm certainly not! You would need help on this journey of yours, and we too would. And you wouldn't have come to save us if you didn't care about the fact that there was someone like you out there with one of those rings. It's only fair that you join us. Also, you are very pretty." Neil ended his monologue disastrously. 

The girl rolled her eyes.

Vegas, Colt, and the Knights smacked their foreheads in embarrassment. 

The girl stood still and sighed.

"Ugh. Well, hurry up then." She was finally convinced.

Everyone pulled themselves up and brushed away the dust on their dresses.

And the girl walked along with them, side by side. 

Now there were eight of them.

"You never told us your name." Yin asked.

"Tara..." She said.

After a brief pause, she finished.

"Tara Elykis."