Fantasy The Head of the Hydra [cl]

[Gemma Nye]

- an rp by Kwillz and Gemma Nye -​

Raya Steffard hated most things. People being pretty high at the top of her list. Having spent most her life having to work for everything she needed and wanted, she’s had to grow up quickly. She lives in a bustling, overpopulated city just barely scraping enough together to make ends meet. She hates her job, but it’s the only thing funding her journey to fulfill her basic human necessities.

She is employed in a sometimes less than savory or adult friendly line of work, but it pays the bills. Hardly. Over the years, she’s had many scrapes with the authorities due to temper issues following her accident. No serious damage or injuries were reported. At least not ones that couldn’t be mended quickly enough. She was cleared of most of the charges and remains in the eye of the authorities.

Raya keeps her magical abilities on the hush, but in a moment where she had no choice, she uses them to save a woman from falling into a sinkhole where the road has just given out. She would have died if Raya hadn’t saved her. Unfortunately, her actions made it impossible to just be a fly on the wall anymore and she was extracted that day from the site.

To make matters worse, she faced charges for unauthorized use of magic as well as possibly being punished for her previous offenses, though she hadn’t been at the time. She pretty much gets blackmailed into enlisting in the service, but with the promise that all offenses will be cleared upon completing her term. She takes the deal, obviously, as it’s either that or jail.

She is evaluated by the military and assessed the rank of a Special Ops Officer suited for clandestine or small group missions. Raya is paired with Blake Castillo, an already high ranking magician that’s assigned to the same Special Ops status as she is. They’ve heard the same as everyone about her, especially regarding her mysterious acquisition of magical abilities rather than being born with them as Blake had been.

But Raya does not disappoint and packs a huge punch, working just hard enough to earn her freedom and discharge to live her life away from everyone else like she always wanted. Blake begins wary of their partner but eventually comes to understand her better and learn her history. They deem quarreling over differences of opinion or general confusions isn’t what saves the world and Raya has more than proved she’s capable of handling the workload.

Can they get it together though before the biggest threat to humanity hits Earth and they find themselves in the race to save the planet?​

 

[Gemma Nye]

Blake Castillo.pdf

Raya Stéffard

 

[Gemma Nye]

She was mad. Wasn't she always? Her boot tapped on the floor of the hellicopter she'd been stuffed into a couple of hours ago. Raya wouldn't say at this very moment her psyche was suffering from nervousness, seeing that her very first day on the job was actually going to be a literal working day. Her arm's soreness had reduced considerably since the other week when she completed evaluation.

Every magician in the service was tagged since they had use of high tech and high damage weaponry. Such artillery wasn't available or usable by the general public. Raya always knew plenty of magicians that never enlisted living normal lives as she wish she was living right this very moment. But goodbye to all of that. She'd gone from one of the many non-magical and magical humans alike free from the service and unable to wield magic as a weapon. Magic, in itself, is weak in the human body and one is able to produce powerful spells, but at a heavy cost. It's like aerobic exercise, but there is only so much energy available and the act is strenuous on the body. The military found a way to weaponize---and control---magic. Upon being captured and evaluated, Raya was administered a device that enhanced her natural abilities and allowed her to wield military weapons.

Her fists flexed in the plated gloves she wore, the entirety of her outfit really kind of pissing her off, too. Raya was short of furious upon seeing that she didn't even get to wear what she wanted on these "secret missions". Like wouldn't a secret officer want to blend in? Raya felt it painfully just as obvious to stand in a crowd and shout that they're the bad guy as suited up in all black looking like they're there to shut the party down. But she dressed in the black cargo pants that nearly hugged her shapely legs and a like-colored tank top under a bulletproof vest. What's worst is she was forced to have the dyes stripped from her hair so that she could be photographed and cataloged one hundred percent naturally. Raya's chest length silver locks bounced with the turbulence of the helicopter as her ice blue eyes glimpsed around at the other occupants.

For the most part, she'd remained as anti-social as ever. The meetings with the base's psychologist was pure torture. Raya never talked to anyone if she didn't have to and the psychologist more than noted that fact. She'd even suggested to Raya that she really give thought into meaningful human interaction. It would "benefit the well-being" of her squad. What squad? All she had in her squad was Castillo. So far, no opinion of Castillo existed in Raya's mind and generally ignored the woman. They'd only been paired a couple of days, though they were evaluated for the elite force at the same time. Some of the testing was done in a group and Raya personally watched several of Castillo's trials as they were grouped by alphabet so she would always trail behind her partner. Raya cringed at the thought of having to work with anyone at all, and therefore didn't give Castillo much of a thought, either.

Raya's eyes caught a glimpse of movement near the cockpit and they darted up to see who was moving around. It was the sergeant coming from the front of the helicopter, carrying a few dossiers in his hands. The tall, blond and blue eyed man strode into the bird's large seating area, taking the one remaining out of five. One of his dark skinned arms gave a dossier directly to Raya and Castillo. Everyone had been wearing a set of headphones with a mic in it, so when Hopkins spoke, his voice wasn't completely drowned out by the chopper.

"We've got a Code Echo." That meant a leak of otherworldly filth, essentially. Raya was informed that in this case, miasma or monsters have been released from an opening in their worlds' dimensions. Most likely the doing of a dark magician seeking to point the hungry creatures toward the area small towns for them to be wiped out. The monsters will feed endlessly, so it is necessary they be halted as close to origin point as possible. "Stéffard. We'll need to come in with a bang. Intel says they're encroaching upon their first town. About two hundred of them in this swarm. Obviously the town's safety comes first, but knock them back. Castillo will be right behind you after first impact to back you up. They do not get past you. Everyone else will be deployed at the origin to seal the portal and bring up the back end." He grabbed a bag hanging on a hook off the side of the helicopter and tossed it to Castillo.

"You'll both be jumping, but you're the one that'll need it, Castillo. You two to places. Drop off is in two minutes." The sergeant left the other dossiers with the remaining officers and returned to the cockpit to get strapped in.

Raya closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. Boy, these people were lucky she had control over her abilities and utilized them freely even before getting caught up with them. But having them surely didn't hurt, either. She noticed mostly that her accuracy had improved just with the implementation of the device in her arm, but would of course require some practice to master. The thing did nothing for her in terms of improving her innate abilities. Raya could take off into the air or become anchored in a position as effortlessly as breathing before the major invasion of privacy.

Time was dwindling down now, so Raya unstrapped from the seat and looked over at Castillo. "The shock wave from my landing should take out several and slow the rest down so you can land. We'll hold the line and then advance on them. Either way, we don't have time," Raya pointed up as the once red light in the cabin turned green and the large hatch began to open into the night sky. "We'll reconvene. Radio me when you're secure and I'll come find you."

And with that, Raya got up and moved to the open door where she and Castillo would jump out of to prevent the advance of the attack. She stepped out and hurdled down toward the ground in a blink of an eye. The wind whipped through her silver hair and all it took was a simple conscious effort and her descent began to slow until she merely glided down like a feather. When she gained control of her movements, she tilted upright and surveyed the ground below as she hovered in midair. Below, she could see the dark mass trembling the earth as it inched toward the sleeping town.

Now wasn't the time for fear, though. Castillo would be right behind her, so Raya adhered to the plan and began to descend again, falling vertically toward the ground at a controlled rate. She timed it so that her landing would precede the horde and not only blast them back some, but create extra obstacle to slow whatever remained down. At least, that was her train of thought. Raya wanted to just slam down right in the middle, but the power behind that shock wave needed could danger the town since it was so close by. She would have to err on the safer side and provide a choke point.

When she breaches the treeline, Raya just freefalls now to the ground, hearing the monsters roars and hisses as they tore through the forest. Despite her stature, she lands perfectly on the forest floor, the sheer density of her impact fracturing the ground, sending fissures racing out through the terrain. As hoped, it obliterates some monsters that were in the vicinity of the blast, but the rocky landscape had buckled in many places and the route became much harder to maneuver.

Raya wasted no time, though. She could still hear plenty, though not nearly as many as before, of creepy sounds still on their way. All she could do was knuckle down and fend them off until Castillo landed for back up.

As much as Raya hated it, she and Castillo were going to have to work together to get through their first rodeo in this together.

 

[Kwillz]

Right now, Blake was just happy that she was finally able to be back on the field for once. For months, she was kept doing any kind of administration work around the unit's headquarters. Filing records both old and new, writing up more reports, and even just menial tasks like mail; all this and more were forced onto her by her superiors in the hopes that she might straighten out her crooked work ethic. But even being enlisted in the military can do so much for a person's discipline, and despite all the efforts, Blake was stubborn enough to keep her flippant attitudes. Still though, it seemed she behaved well enough to at last be put onto the elite task force. She was, however, also assigned to be partnered with Raya Stéffard, a woman who had already made a name for herself among the unit for reasons that should be obvious.

After they were officially paired up just a few days ago, Blake didn't really do anything with or about Stéffard since. Sure, they had been evaluated together, but Blake quickly caught on that this new "partner" of hers was not one for even the smallest talk. Blake could respect that though, mainly because it meant she could go about her own business as she pleased. What was she supposed to do? Throw some kind of welcome party? She would get her own testing done and be out right after, only staying briefly to watch in on Stéffard's testing once out of curiosity.

Because the two never truly interacted, most information about her partner made its way to Blake through either briefing or-- for the most part-- rumors. News of a new recruit who obtained her powers after birth spread like a wildfire among the other officers when it was first announced. Blake had only bothered to remember bits and bobs. If there had been any rumor or record on how Stéffard had gotten her powers, she never bothered to pay attention. That was none of her business; if she need to know, she would know eventually.

It was only natural for magicians to look down on non-mags at least a little bit, so after knowing about her partner, Blake was curious to see if she really could control her powers. For the moment that she stayed to watch her testing, it looked like she was surprisingly capable.

As they rode in the helicopter to be dropped off at their destination, Blake sat slouched back with her arms crossed in her seat, feeling more excited about being let out on a mission than any kind of nervousness or anxiety. She wore tactical gear similar to everyone else's with her hair tied up, and glanced over only occasionally to look at Stéffard, who was tapping her foot in an almost impatient way. When Sgt. Hopkins came back, she took the file that was given to her and flipped through it quickly but didn't bother even looking down on it. She knew enough what was going on: most likely more dark magicians opening a portal from another dimension and trying to let all hell loose.

She and Stéffard were charged with facing the front of the hoard while the rest flanked from behind. It looked like the two would finally be forced to work together.

After the orders were given, a parachute was abruptly thrown at her by Hopkins, but of course she reacted fast enough to catch it in time. Though she did shoot a glance at the sergeant, who looked back in return for the shortest moment before going back to the cockpit. Blake never really could see eye-to-eye with any of her superiors, Hopkins being among the top on that list. But now was not the time to argue. She was fully aware of the stampede below them making their towards the town below. She stood up, quickly strapping the parachute onto her back. She glanced again at Stéffard, almost silently jealous she didn't need a parachute. Blake had always been satisfied with her own powers and still was. It had so many different possible uses after all; but falling out of the sky safely was, unfortunately, not one of them... unless you're fine with hitting what was basically something sharper and more solid than rock, that is.

As the time for deployment neared, Blake waited there for Stéffard to go first, since the plan was to have her impact be the first blow against the stampede's attacks. She really was curious to see how her new partner's abilities worked on the field now, wondering if it would be similar to the stories she had heard around.

Blake was stretching her arms a bit when Stéffard addressed her to her surprise. So she knows how to talk to people after all... she couldn't help but muse to herself in her head. She listened to what she had to say over the headset and responded with a nod and a thumbs up. "Sounds like a plan to me. When I get down there, I can set up something to act as one final defense. I'll meet up with you after that."

As the door to the hatch opened the wind began to pick up as it entered the inside of the helicopter. Blake moved to the edge of the door right behind Stéffard, letting her jump first and watching her go shooting down towards the ground.

With one last little smirk, Blake jumped from the helicopter after her partner only moments later. She dove down head first for the first leg of the fall before positioning herself in the usual skydiver position. As she continued to free fall she heard the sound of a loud impact echo below her which indicated Stéffard had already landed and dealt her blow. Looking down, Blake saw the hole in the hoard of dark and other-worldly entities. It took out quite a decent number, but there were still plenty more to deal with.

Blake pulled on the cord of her bag and released the parachute, now falling more slowly as she steered towards the treeline between the town and the incoming attack of monsters. She didn't have to wait for the parachute to gently carry her to the ground. When she estimated that she was at a height she would be able to survive, she formed a crystal around her arm which pointed into a blade on the end of it. She slashed through the rope of the parachute and fell the very last of the way. The blade grew and curved into a hook with latched onto a branch as she fell before she let go and set her feet on he ground at last, letting the crystal blade retract and dissipate.

She quickly slipped out of the used parachute and threw it to the side. Now in between the town and the incoming hoards, she wasted no time in getting to work. With a sweeping motion of her hand, she summoned a large crystal wall that rumbled and came up from the ground parallel and along near the treeline. It stretched as far as she thought would be large enough with it curving in slightly on the end. This would act as a fence and buffer if anything would breach and come through, just to make sure nothing would reach the town.

Finished with her work here, she already began making her way in the direction of all the sound. Sprinting to meet up with Stéffard at the front lines, she put a hand to the headset and tried getting through. "Got the defenses in the back set up and making way to you now. I'm assuming if I follow all the noise I'll find you there?" she said, already seeing all the damaged done to the terrain around her and in the distance.

 

[Gemma Nye]

Raya had heard Castillo come in on the radio loud and clear. "Roger." She said simply in about as much enthusiasm as she ever said anything. She couldn't really help it. Currently, she was scaling through the trees, her limber form hopping from branch to branch with a natural buoyancy. Wasn't exactly her fault, but right now didn't really present much of an opportunity for a good, long chat between the two.

Raya could be sure Castillo would have done some observations for herself upon landing. There still remained a good mass of monsters that had survived the blast. Being only a magician by what was a good mix of bad luck, annoyance, and technicality, Raya didn't necessarily have much of a basis for these types of things. There's only so much information she can learn in just a handful of days since being enlisted. But she could use the details she had been given and use her best course of action for anything else. The mission was to eradicate the horde and protect the village. Raya would need to do whatever she could in order to ensure the mission's success.

A tinge of irritation prickled along her neck as she glances behind her to take a look at how the monsters were advancing. There had been a small slew of flying types when she dropped in that would have been out of her range. Those should be taken care of first, she mused to herself as she saw that the monsters stuck to the ground as their form of travel were being advanced by those that could fly. The general wave generated by her impact probably skewed their flying course and maybe even sent some of them down for a bit. But the ones that survived had taken to the air again and continued onward. She counted four with her own eyes, but that was in glances over her shoulder as she scaled through the fucking treetops. Her mind raced, trying to determine what would be her best plan of action. This mission occurred so abruptly that her equipment wasn't even ready yet. She was out here to fight off these monsters using an enhancer buried beneath the skin of her arm.

It would have to do.

Raya took a breath and glanced up again. She could breach the coverage of the treetops and take on one of the nasties flying above her, but only one at a time. With so many, she'd need help bringing them down. Honestly, she'd be better off with holding back the horde from the ground, but the flying monsters were a more weighted risk in Raya's mind.

Just as she considered her options, she saw what looked like a dragon, but uglier and not nearly as cool, pool with a light inside its oral cavity. It was preparing to strike from long range. Raya's ice blue eyes widened and knew that there the time for debating had passed. There was only time to do. The power seeped into her muscles and she felt herself suffusing with the immeasurably pleasant sensation again. Every step felt easier and increasingly sure and required less effort. Raya didn't exactly like to allow herself to succumb to the energy coursing through her, but she wasn't equipped and this gross looking dragon wanna-be was going to waste this town if she didn't. Raya wasn't strong enough to take down a flying monster with her own power.

She took one last moment to speak to Castillo. "Flying monsters closing in. I won't make it to you. We need to bring them down first. I'll do what I can, but you're the one with some reach.

She plants her foot on a sturdy branch and launches up into the air. From the dark green treetops soars Raya like a silver tipped bullet and her ascent throws all of the monsters off guard. The dragon looking thing, for a moment, becomes distracted from its attack. Raya could only hope Castillo got the message because she was already god knows how many feet up in the air, drawing a hunting knife from a compartment in her boot. She continued to rise up, but her body turns in midair, feet coming to flip over her head until she lands on the dragons back. A loud crack ensues as her boots make contact and the monster roars. The dent in its spine had injured it enough that its flight pattern faltered and it could barely withstand its own weight up in the air. It was beginning to descend.

But now, Raya, a puny human in comparison to these beasts, remained left exposed atop the monster's broken back. The others were furious now and turned their full attention to her. This would be great since they were now all distracted, but the groundlings were still making their way toward the town. She'd have to try and take out as many birds with one stone as possible.

The night sky was crisp and just a little cloudy, but Raya's silver hair whipped in the wind. Her eyes were intensely blue now. The glow from them illuminated the thin clouds that surrounded her. Raya would do what she hated best and allow her power to completely overtake her. In the years since gaining her abilities, Raya learned she had total control of herself, in or out of form, but remaining too long fully possessed by it had extremely negative effects on her. She was a very weak species to play host to such a power. As a human, she only met the organic being qualification. The cost of just having it leech off her constantly drained her personal life force. In exchange, she is provided with a much stronger and much more lasting vessel and she's undoubtedly stronger, now. Full possession right now seemed like the only way she and Castillo were going to get through this.

Her glowing blue eyes turned to a monster that had banked in toward her, coming in for a head-on attack. Raya smirked, fully suffused and ready to take it on. It dives into where she stood on the descending monster and she waits until just before it would tackle her off with its weight and shoulders it directly in the chest. Raya hears a good amount of bones cracking with the blow, the monster's sternum no match for Raya's immense density. It wouldn't be able to fly anymore with its main infrastructure so damaged. It squealed and tried to flap off, hardly holding up its own weight. Raya sprung off the injured dragon with much more speed than she'd displayed yet on the battlefield.

Her entire demeanor had changed. The thrill of the fight burned within her icy blue orbs. It felt good to be this powerful and to have so much potential at the fingertips. The heel of her boot connects to the monster's furry skull and it shoots down like a meteor toward the ground. It collides into some of the horde and squashes them flat under its large mass. That was one flying bastard down with one retreating back toward the portal. Raya would have to let that one go. There were two flying monsters left that flew on toward the town and now the horde that didn't get smushed under the rain of flying beast had advanced even further in the forest. She'd have to trust Castillo for a bit more because she needed to wipe more of the groundlings out before the two were overwhelmed by the horde right at the choke point.

Raya dropped back to the ground, prepared for a good old-fashioned brawl. Her ivory skin was so pale it nearly reflected the moonlight as her form descended right into the horde. She figured if she could fight some of them off and push them back some more, that would stall some time for her and Castillo to reconvene. By that point, Raya hoped, the two of them combined could take out what remained. She hurled herself into action the moment she felt her boots make contact with a monster atop its head and instantly collapse it like an accordion into the ground. Raya's expertise was in close combat and with her added power, she experienced increased speed and power behind her strikes.

She was like a pale and silver blur as she whipped through the monsters, laying waste to whatever she got her hands on. She didn't limit herself so her punches basically obliterated any smaller monster. The larger ones required a bit more attention that Raya couldn't exactly give at the moment. She tried once, but the monsters clung to her back, one managing to drag a claw across her right shoulder blade. The injury didn't hinder her ability to fight, though Raya knew full well that fighting with her bare hands with a town in such close proximity presented her with only so much fighting power by herself. A quick glance around her showed the extent of the devastation so far. She'd managed to take out the first wave that had continued on after conquering the crater she left. The others were a bit farther behind them. Her hands tore through the last standing monster, panting as it dropped to the ground. She didn't feel fatigue quite yet, only the fire of instinct burning.

Raya could afford to find Castillo now. Her blue eyes turned back in the direction of the town and scanned through the fence of crystals that Castillo must have put up. Raya was decently impressed. The groundlings would have a decent time getting their way through there. They'd have to sift through the pillars one by one or take the time to blast through them. Either way, it looked like it would generally suffice at biding them more time. Her next thoughts returned to the flying beasts whether or not Castillo had been able to stall them. Raya took to the air once again, glancing around in search of the monsters or Castillo, primed for her next attack.

"Castillo? I'm inbound. Do you copy?"

 

[Kwillz]

Blake continued her sprint through the trees, striding over any uneven or cracked earth left behind by the impact of Stéffard's landing. Within a few moments of running, she saw the incoming horde moving towards the town. It looked like she was going to have to brawl her way through before she could meet up with Stéffard.

She continued on a head-first route towards them, who noticed her quickly and began to pick up speed as a group of them bounded in her direction. She didn’t slow down either, however, and instead smirked to herself a little in excitement. Another mass of crystals formed around each of her arms to make a pair of extremely sharp blades. She leapt at the nearest monster in front of her and drove one blade through the bottom of the creature’s jaw and going upwards. The crystal grew and came out the top of its skull. Blake quickly pulled her arm back and let the large body fall limp as it bled a dark liquid.

The monsters around her realized what she had done and they all were now targeting her. They charged at her, letting out agonizing, otherworldly howls. A few pounced to tackle her from both sides, their clawed arms outstretched and jaws open exposing their large fangs and teeth. Quickly she reacted, summoning up more sharp crystalline pillars coming out the ground on both sides of her. The crystals appeared underneath the monsters and pierced through their bodies, coming out of the other sides of them just as she stabbed through the first. Once the monsters were neutralized, the crystals disappeared back underground, leaving only the lifeless corpses rotting away.

Soon the monsters began to focus her even more and a good cluster had started circling around her. The first one to attack her came from behind, but her reflexes, as what would have been evaluated in testing, were pretty much second to none. With a quick shift in her foot, a crystal sprung from the ground stopped the attacker mid-air with a swift blow through its chest. She did not bother turning around, hearing its growls being swiftly cut of were enough for her. The rest of the creatures around her immediately jumped in but this time, a large crystal ring sprung up from the ground in almost a split second, coming up in layers like one large wave as the sharp green rocks pierced through those in the horde. She held her ground like this as the last of the creatures in the current group tried coming at her, but all of them eventually met the same fate.

Despite these being blood-thirsty beasts from another world, Blake couldn’t help but enjoy herself as the adrenaline continued rushing through her body from the energy and heat of the battle. It had been way too long since she had seen action, and for this being the first taste of action she had seen after that while, it was not bad at all. There was still the sense of urgency, though; stopping the monsters before they could reach the town was still her number one priority.

She continued rushing on her path deeper into the forest. Yet another wave was before her now. Still running forward, she sent out a few crystals towards the horde as fast flying projectiles. These spears whipped through the air at high speed, their green crystalline color shining in the moonlight, before they pierced into the bodies of the enemy. Some were even shot at such a force that the crystal pushed some monsters back and the crystal embedded itself into the trees as the ragdoll bodies hung from them. The remainder of the ones she did not hit at long range were struck with another round of waves from the ground.

Blake slashed through monster after monster, looking around repeatedly for any sign of Stéffard. She couldn’t hear any real big impacts like before. For a moment she was worried that something had happened, that was until her radio activated again.

"Flying monsters closing in. I won't make it to you. We need to bring them down first. I'll do what I can, but you're the one with some reach." She heard Stéffard’s voice over her device just as she found herself a break in between fighting through all the monsters on the ground. Flying ones? Blake was about to respond when she looked and saw them, the large monstrosities that flew over the forest with the same goal as the ones on the ground: kill and destroy. She silently agreed with Stéffard and turned attention. Those definitely needed to be taken out first.

It seemed like it was going to be Blake’s job to do something about them; she was the one with the long range potential, after all. She summoned a large crystal in her hand that formed into the shape of giant javelin. She aimed it upwards at the first monster, but in that instant there was a silver streak that flew up through the sky, straight at it. It was Stéffard, who was flying up to take care of it.

Blake was about to speak up when she heard a loud crack come from above; it looked like Stéffard had that one taken care of the first fourth of their problem. So Blake went to aim at the second one before more growling came from behind her on the ground. She sighed. She wasn’t going to be able to get a good shot if she was going to have to fight the ones on the ground at the same time. Stéffard was still up in the sky anyway. The woman could fly and it seemed she had things under control for now, so Blake had time to clear out the ground level a little more before she would jump in.

With another rush of crystal waves she now found some rhythm, and any monster in her general vicinity were taken care of efficiently. She heard an impact, assuming that it was Stéffard who dropped back down. Looking up she had taken care of two in total, now there were only the other two left. Tag in then, I guess. Blake thought to herself as she focused back on what was in the sky. She pulled out another javelin and quickly measured the arc needed to hit the first flying monster. She released, shooting the crystal upward. It flew the air as a green streak in the night sky as it made its mark in the beast’s neck. The winged monstrosity let out a loud cry, but was cut off as a second crystal, this one even larger, came shooting into the side of its head. As its brain shut down, it stopped all movement mid-air and began plummeting in a downwards arc, landing with a loud impact in the distance.

There was now only one of the dragon-like creatures left in the sky, but it caught onto what was going on. Its head turned in her direction, as it was the direction the attacks that killed its comrade came from. It opened its mouth and from it released a blast of bright energy. Blake reacted, shooting a crystal that intercepted the blast in an explosion that sent bits of green rock scattering throughout. She shielded herself from any debris with her arm, but she realized she couldn't just shoot from the ground anymore. She would have to get somewhere it couldn't blast her.

She moved her position and summoned a large pillar right below feet that boosted her up into the air and set her flying on a course towards the dragon. Using hooks that extended from her arm she managed to land on the monster; the hooks helping her hang onto its back. The creature felt the continual piercing through its body and roared out, moving wildly as it tried to throw her off its back, but to no avail as she kept her grip. She climbed up all the way to its head and formed a hard layer of crystal all the around its large mouth, shutting it closed and stopping it from shooting anything more from its mouth. It tried letting out a cry, but only muffled noises escaped. Blake struggled to hold on as it panicked again, this time flying straight up as if that were its last resort. Before they were too high, though, Blake stabbed repeatedly into its skull and with one last moan, the beast stopped responding and ceased its flight upward.

Blake however, was still on it and its body was now plummeting straight towards the ground. Shit. Was all he could only think to herself. Suddenly Stéffard's voice came through the radio again and as Blake continued her fall down, she even saw her partner midair.

"Yeah yeah, I copy. By the way, you just might want to...look up, and move over slightly. Like, right now." She responded right before the dragon's body fell right past her partner in the air, close enough to feel the wind of the fall but just off target to hit her. Blake quickly abandoned ship right before they reach the tree tops. She leapt off caught herself on the branches of the trees with the crystal hooks that came out of her arms. She swung from tree to tree before finally stopping and standing up on the branch as looked up at Stéffard. She waited for the ground to stop shaking and the loud echo to dissipate after the impact of the dragon's fall before she addressed her partner casually.

"Good to see you're still alive. You think we've cleared out the area enough for us to rendezvous with the others at the portal?"

 

[Gemma Nye]

Castillo’s voice rang in Raya’s ear just soon enough for her to glance up to see the beast hurdling down toward the ground. She banked hard to the left, blown only slightly off course as its massive weight descending sent a gust of wind toward her. A quick scan of the ground below allowed Raya to spot her partner, descending until she landed beside Castillo.

Raya didn’t personally enjoy being like this. The part of her bonded with the entity recognized the pleasure from being surrounded with such energy. She took a few breaths to try and calm herself down. By this point, she did her best to remain a bit in the shadows of the foliage, her appearance a bit too striking to present herself fully to Castillo. It wasn’t something Raya could help. Suffusion affected her appearance and she didn’t desire to scare Castillo or anyone. If anything, all Raya wanted is a normal, low-key and quiet life. None of this, the enlisting and the fighting, were things she never wanted to do in a million years. But, unfortunately for her, she couldn’t just let that woman die that day and she was forced to expose herself.

She’d been hiding this secret for a very long time and suppressed a lot of the urges that came with it. They typically only arise when she’s not in control of her emotions but otherwise, Raya remains in complete control of herself. The nature of the power, though, creates a risk of permanent change if she remained suffused for too long.

Her veins throbbed with the strong beat of her heart. She couldn’t deny that the thrill of fighting greatly pleased her. No it didn’t. She shouldn’t admit that. Raya shook her head and turned her head so that her icy blue eyes could take in Castillo. She did her best to appear normal but the enhancer was indeed doing its job. She found it difficult to ebb the entity and assuage it into submission and it still dominated her physicality. Perhaps more than she’d ever experienced before. It was normal for the veins in her hands and forearms to darken beneath her pale skin, but the black weaving lines trailed all the way up her arms and chest and were crawling up her neck. This accounted for most of the reason she kept herself fairly shrouded from Castillo. A change of subject to keep Castillo from noticing her too much would probably be good.

She shook her head in response to Castillo’s question. “The fence thing will keep them at bay but unless they’re poisonous, they’ll just keep trying. There are still quite a few of them. Was I supposed to kill them all and obliterate this entire hillside?” Her brow was raised, but she relaxed her face quickly. This was probably the most words Raya had used combined since her psych evaluation. She talked enough with the shrink to last her for forty days and forty nights. Raya wouldn’t have been mad if after those sessions, she didn’t have to speak again for the rest of the year. “There aren’t that many but I’m severely underequipped for this mission and I am not going to be able to take them out with just hand to hand combat. I’ve got nothing helping me here.”

Luckily, Raya had actually managed to take out a good portion of the beasts that were now trampling through the forest. However, it was clear that without being equipped, she and Castillo would have to work together in order to take out the rest. Not that either of them weren’t capable, but to take them all on without backup would be suicidal. Raya could be sure Castillo was probably already primed for this mission, which irritated her to no end because she faced enough discrimination for being poor and now for being a magician with magic she wasn’t born with.

The flare in her temper registered in her body and her heartbeat quickened. Her veins seemed to flood with the warm sensation again that she’d been working to get to subside. She would have to keep even-tempered if she and Castillo, and the town, were to make it out alive. This presented its own issue though: Castillo and Raya hadn’t even trained together yet. Not that Raya was the best at evaluating a person’s combat potential, especially when it came to magic, but she had absolutely no concept as to what Castillo could and couldn’t do. This probably could be the first words they’ve exchanged since getting partnered.

The present danger didn’t allow the thought to linger in Raya’s mind too long. The monsters were knocking down trees and making a beeline for the town. She could even feel the ground trembling slightly beneath them. “What are you thinking? I vanguard and slash em and you cover me from afar? You want in on the action too?” Raya’s words came out very rushed, as they often did when she actually managed to utter more than a couple of words. Her blue eyes were glowing in the poorly moonlit coverage of the overhanging branches and the sparse bushes. Raya spent a good part of her life hiding who and what she truly was. There would be several problems if Castillo became too shocked to perform. Then she and her partner would both be sunk.

So, Raya kept her distance. She trusted no one, not even the military. Her abilities were a secret for a reason because all they did was flag someone magically prone and track them for the rest of their lives. Constantly pestering someone with an ability of use to enlist in the service to sacrifice their lives for the good of the people regardless of their own dreams and wishes. Sure, it could be for some. Raya did enjoy a good fight, but that was at her own volition. At this point, all she desired to do was serve her time and get the everloving fuck out and go off the grid. Not that would really happen for her considering she carried a marker in her arm they could find her at any time, if they wanted.

“Feel like now is as good a time as any to figure out how the other works.” But of course as soon as the words leave her mouth, an enormous black furred monster bursts its way through the trees, having smelled them out. It was like an overgrown wolf-bear but way uglier. It’s long and massive arm rears back, claws primed to take a chunk out of whatever they made contact with when it swung. Raya’s mind considered blocking the blow and crushing the bones in its arms, but she had no armor and the strike would probably shatter her forearm and leave it completely incapacitated. It’s growl filled the night air as it made its move. Raya was hardly quick enough, as she didn’t have any accelerated speed, but she could make herself lighter and a simple push off could allow her to bound away. Since it swung, Raya waited until it was just about complete with its swing and then struck, herself.

Its lowered defenses from having its arm extended and not protecting its own body allowed Raya a chance to have a go at it. She sprung and latched herself onto the monster’s back, clamping her hands around its throat. The beast was so immensely big that Raya’s hands didn’t really fit around it, merely just laid against the side of it. She didn’t back down though and applied crushing force to the beast, using her bare fingers to grapple at its windpipe and jugular and carotid. Of course, this meant its arms were free to thrash about and the monster did just that, it’s pinched off growls vibrating against the strain of her grip. It attempted to reach back and throw her off but it experienced difficulty in its panic to find her. Raya did her best to kick away its claws so she didn’t suffer another injury as she could still feel the previous one trickling blood.

“I mean, whenever you’re ready to help.” Raya’s voice was thick with sarcasm while also strained from struggling with the utterly gargantuan beast compared to her size.

The suffusion was spreading again and this time, Raya saw it travel from just in her hands and trail up her arms. The strain of grappling with all of these monsters put her out of what she could do naturally without resorting to tapping into the entity at all. She didn’t have time to worry about shielding herself from Castillo’s view and hoped the blackening veins crawling up her neck and threatening to creep up her jaw weren’t too obvious. Out of the corner of her eye, the monster’s arm was reached back from under its shoulder instead of atop it like it had been attempting to strike previously. Her boot makes contact with the arm and she huffs, extending her legs using all of her strength to keep its claws from reaching her. Raya grunted as she was now fully extended while hanging on to the thrashing beast like the worst piggy back or rodeo ride she’d ever have.

“Running out of limbs here.”