Silence descended upon the field as Iris, and the man stood still, but nothing was happening. Iris tightened the grip on her bows, her mind racing as fast as her heart. She gazed at the empty space with blurred eyes before reality dawned upon him like a hammer.
The reality was such a cruel picture. Seconds passed for eternity for Iris to see the miracle. But the hands she extended were grasping nothing but empty air, hollow, just like her heart.
Spirit magic is another form of magic that utilizes the power of summoning the spirit, communicating with it, or even channelling spells to strengthen its effects. The magic itself was exclusive to Elves, for they were the closest to such existence.
Elves love to live in harmony with nature, where the spirit lives. It is already in their nature to communicate with spirits and become friends with them.
However, there is always an exceptional person who wields great capabilities and summons a great spirit, the king of the elemental itself.
Iris, who left her home country and decided to travel around the world, had such a small opportunity to deepen the aspect of her spirit magic. So, she could only try learning in her own way.
She could communicate with them, but it was shallow conversation. Even channelling her magic to enhance it was way beyond what she saw in her sister, who could summon a great spirit wind, Zephyros.
'Curse you, me! What should I do?'. She bit her lips and clenched her fist until it left a trail of blood flowing out.
After knowing her helplessness, Iris grits her teeth, and with a wave of her hand, she draws a magic blade from her mind, swinging it to cut the tentacles that clung to Jin's limbs, releasing him from the torment. But, the remaining end that clung to his limbs and her wrist still stubbornly stuck, draining out their life further.
Jin's body felt like a doll losing its strings; Iris caught the boy on her chest and kicked the ground to flee from the scene, something that would haunt her and hurt her pride as one of the noble descendants of Elves.
'Damn it!'. Iris stifled her curse and bit down her lips to clear out her fogging thoughts.
Looking at her situation—hands tied—she couldn't do anything; she could just rely on her stubbornness to survive. She swore to get her revenge later.
"Do you think I will let you go?!".
An ominous whisper resonated within the field as a black curtain cast its way toward her surroundings. It covered the entire field, blocking Iris's foot from proceeding further from her escape. She turned back and saw the man had cast his magic in a grandiose manner, followed by a massive magic circle above.
The magic circle shone ominously before it laid a layer of dark barrier that completely enveloped the destroyed field, where Jin and the wolf were decimated.
Iris, who had nowhere to go, knit her brows. She glared at her surroundings until she rested her eyes on the wounded boy. Reluctantly, Iris lay his body on the ground; her heart tightened, feeling the cold that sent shivers throughout her skin. 'I must finish this fast!'
Her hands were swift as they blurred, releasing arrows aimed at the man's head. It flew 'swoosh', cutting through the airflow, but it was instantly demolished with a flick of the man's tentacles.
'Tch!' Iris clicked her tongue. Her surroundings were desolate, and nothing could hide her body to launch an ambush, making this fight too heavy of a burden on her.
Even so, Iris's fighting spirit boils her blood and pumps adrenaline throughout her veins. It pushes her limit as she swiftly rushes forward, nocking several arrows between her fingers while casting magic.
"Iris? Are you planning to challenge me head-on?".
The air trembled as multiple winds of arrows and blades clashed with a black barrier that engulfed the man's body. Dust rose and covered the entire battlefield. Iris stitched her mouth shut, and her body glowed green, brimming with power that surged within. In a blink, her figure blurred like a wind.
"It's sad; I never thought you were this foolish, Iris".
The man sighed his face a mixture of grief and a grin. His tentacles jolted and caught the arrows that came from his blind spot.
No matter what she did, the tentacles could easily spot the arrow's trajectory by seizing it right before snapping it in two, further escalating her loss in battle.
"Haaa!". With a spirited shout that came behind. Iris's palm trembles, coated with sharpened and compressed wind, allowing her to cut through everything.
Out of desperation, she clashed head-on, swinging her hand diagonally, cutting one of the tentacles, but got caught off by the others as she was held and hung before the man. Soon, Iris lost her freedom as her limbs were restrained.
Iris tensed the muscles around her body and jerked around, but the pain in her wrist and the strength that slowly faded made her struggle seem futile, like a bug trapped in spider webs.
"I've been thinking, when I look at you closer, you have the characteristic of the elves that person was talking about, but your ears?". The man's tentacles brought her face closer, and he leaned forward with an ominous grin on his face.
As his lord said, the woman before him was beautiful beyond any mortal species. This characteristic was usually available for elves, but what he held captive right now was a human. His eyes glazed around, attempting to probe the deepest secret that woman hides.
"?!". Unconsciously, Iris' face hardened, and she clenched her left hand.
However, that subtle change in her expression prompted the man's eyes to shift to her left. The man's lips loosened, he smirked maliciously, and he forced his tentacle to breach her defence.
Wriggling before her, a mollusk creature slowly makes its way, caressing her skin, sending an electrifying repulsive jolt through her body. Iris's eyes snapped open when smaller yet slimier hands crawled on her palm, wetting it with sticky juice.
The man spoke with a nasty grin at seeing the woman's contorted expression and ragged breath. "Khihi, got it!".
"No?!".
Iris's appearance faded as soon as the ring slipped from her finger. Her once wavy green hair paled and turned golden silk. Her womanly appearance, which exuded a bit of adult charm, now regressed into her younger self, filled with a vibrant youth and tempered nature. Pointy ears revealed her race proof of the man's to stare in wide eyes before his face broke into a blushed grin.
"Khihi, what is this? You are hiding something beautiful under those mana skin. Ooh, I'm delighted, truly Iris, why aren't you showing this side to me, huh? Why…!?". His tone was higher at the end while licking his lips.
"*ptooey! Like hell I want to show my real face to someone like you, bastard!". Iris spat at the man's face.
Instead of being angered, the man blushed, his long tongue crawling on his cheeks, scooping her spit and bringing it to his lips to savour.
"Aah, this is blish. Such a long time, I have been dreaming of exchanging deep kisses with you and ravaging you, whoever I want!". The man's eyes rage in ecstasy, crimson cheeks while drool escaping his lips.
Iris swallowed her saliva and opened her mouth, trying to hold back her disgust. "...Hey, what is your purpose in doing all of this? You even poisoned me that day?".
The moment his thoughts and physical desire almost caught up to him. He stopped and exhaled, hearing her melodious voice that contained venom that intoxicated his brain.
Slowly turning around, facing Iris, he contemplated it for a second before an ominous smile escaped his lips, and his mouth loosened to reveal his plan. Besides, he was one step away from getting what he desired anyway.
"Your daughter".
"...Nina?!". Hearing the unexpected name being spoken, Iris' face frowned.
"Don't get mistaken, my love. For my purpose is you and you alone; as for your daughter. She was planning to be given to her excellency".
"..." Iris's face tightens, and she begins to watch the man before her with a cramped face. 'I can't believe that I once trusted this creep…'
"Now, Iris, let's celebrate the night and be together forever!" The man slowly leaned forward, his long tongue squirming like worms, trying to lick Iris's face. "We will embrace and lay bare our hearts to each other all night long, connected so deep that it would touch our wounds and then heal them, Khihihi…"
Dread crawling on her skin, Iris's body shivered, haunted by the strength that started to leave her body. She grits her teeth and tenses her body, but the tentacles on her limbs tightly wrap her as it slowly crawls forward.
Iris closed her eyes while muttering inside her heart. 'No, I don't want this, please help…!'.
The tongue keeps getting closer to take her first kiss, and tears start streaming down her cheeks. However, when the man's tongue was inches away from her lips, something happened.
It was instant; a gust of wind passed between them, and Iris' body floated, it slowly being pulled down by gravity as black blood spurted from the man's tongue.
"Gyaaaaahhh!". The man's screams echoed within the desolate field; his mouth kept spurting black blood, even being covered.
When Iris's eyes opened, she looked toward the man before tracing the magic that came from behind her, from Jin, whose left hand was lifted and pointed at her place. 'No way...!? '
Jin's help was brief and bred from pure instinct. Iris saw his hand go limp, exhaled in relief, and horror gripped her heart. She knew that Jin, in that condition, pushed himself to use magic; his life would probably be in grave danger. 'I must take him away first!'
However, before Iris could do anything, a shadow swiftly dashed forward. It passed her and stood before the motionless Jin. Killing intent was spilt all over his pores, flooding the entire field.
"You dare!".
The man lifted Jin's body by the neck and brought the boy up to his eye level. Never thought that the boy's instinct would kick in, hearing one of his comrades in danger of being deviled.
"You coward, release him!".
With a snap, the man slammed Jin's body to the ground, creating spider web cracks. His face was cold; hearing the cries of his woman and the rage that clouded his heart, the man turned into a madman.
*Thud! Thud! Thud!
Iris' mind went blank as she stared at the atrocities that happened before her eyes. She could hear a wrenching crack from the boy's bones shattered, blood spurting around like a fountain and worse, all Jin's limbs were being twisted in the wrong direction.
"No! Release him; you want me, right? Then, do whatever you want with me; please just release him; he is going to die?!".
*crack!
One of Jin's legs was broken, and it dangled without any bones, just like the tentacles behind the man's back.
Iris's heart was shattered whenever she heard and witnessed the man play with Jin's body. Fear grasped her body like a terror that turned her completely vacant, becoming nothing but a corpse.
"...help me? Please, help me?".
(XXXX XXXXX)
("I have come as your desire")
A soft whisper in ancient Elves language reverberated in her brain as calamity descended in the form of a storm.
Within the howling storm that split apart the black skies, a monstrous figure descended on the land, ripping apart the flimsy, thin barrier the man had created. A majestic wolf, its four limbs were brimming with strength and carried around a hurricane whenever it went.
Silver-shining fur that stood with crackling thunder resonated with every being within Iris. Its eyes burned with an emerald-golden glaze, ethereal yet divine. The wolf turned around and met gaze with Iris, who lay dumbfounded.
(XXXX XXXXX)
("My liege? I await your request!")
Iris' mind slowly pieces together the event that happened before her eyes, her trembling lips twitching before her raspy voice escapes her lips. "...Lend me your strength! Great strength, so I can protect what's important to me! Never lose them again!". Tears wet her cheeks; Iris said those words with eyes blazing with pure intent to protect Jin.
*Awooo!
When the wolf howled, the atmosphere screamed and landed itself crying for its might; its body dissolved into a green aura before it entered Iris and fused with her body.
Her body shone in emerald colour, and she felt herself on cloud nine. The overwhelmed power drove away her anxiety, grief and desperation to shreds.
The surging tide of power within her took shape into a majestic bow; it carried the crescent shape of the moon and shone in a silver frame and intricate design. Yet, it was divine, like a bow a Goddess Artemis once held.
"What's happening?".
The man turned his body and stared dumbfounded at the scene. He was stoned before suddenly his body bent in unnatural ways and blasted to far away places, still unaware of what was happening.
"Get away from, Jin!".
Iris stood graciously, holding the unconscious wrecked boy on her chest. Her golden hair, with a tweak of green mixed in, fluttered with the swirling wind around her; she tenderly traced the blood on Jin's lips before she turned to the man with frowned eyes.
Slowly putting Jin into the ground, with no arrow in hand. Iris tapped the ancient power as she pulled the string's back, and a green arrow was created from pure spirit wind power. She tightened the grip on her bows, breath steady, and saw that the man was back on his feet.
"Disappear, you creep! Zephyros Arrow!".
She released the arrow, which released a huge torrent of green light and flew in a straight line like a vortex. It swallowed the man's whole body and shredded him into tiny pieces before disappearing into the distance.
(XXXX XXXXX)
("Good job, my liege!")
What lay before her was a barren land of gouged earth, cast by the wild calamity that stretches into the horizon deep into the Dark Forest.