Chapter 12:Dancing Is What You Do

I place the bowl on the ground melting the snow around her, created a small cover with ice magic over her with the melted snow. I hum a children's lullaby in hopes of calming her stopping after noticing Attie trying to join by rubbing his gauntlets together creating a clear melody similar in sound to filled wine cups. In response, I glare at him as he, as a member of my peoples enemy, has absolutely no right to join one of our songs, hell if the human didn't have any use I would have vomited in shame and anger long ago.

I widen my wings and begin to gently flap them, creating a thin mana filter in front of me that will heat the air as it passes, warming the brat. Of course, I reinforce the ice cover, creating more ice with the snow and packing it into the cover, turning it from a crystal clear chunk with red and brown lights bouncing around to a thick hunk of pure white condensed ice. The brat seems to be unhappy with this as the lights reflecting off the previous ice cover attracted her attention, causing her to peek upwards.

I need to talk to Attie so it's best if I can distract her so I prepare to make an ice dome for her. First I activate my eyes, making it so I can see the flow of mana in her body and create a weakened pure mana arrow, sending it into her body destroying the blockage in her lungs, allowing her body to instinctually use the infinite mana provided by Draumr to heat itself, effectively making her immune to the cold. Humans can use their internal mana to strengthen themselves but the mana consumption is often several times higher than the body's natural production rate with a few exceptions, one of them being the brat as her body has another source of mana to rely on.

After confirming that the kid's body can keep itself warm I begin creating the dome I summon over twenty dense head-sized water balls, ignoring her unpleasant screams, and fly to the treetops, collecting leaves and bringing them back down mixing them with the water balls. After an even amount of leaves has been spread across the water balls I go ahead and expand them creating a large dome reaching halfway up the trees base.

"All is okay little girl. I assure you everything is fine I'm here to protect you. Balaban what are you doing!"

It seems that my sudden spells startled her further, sending her into a complete panic. She sits on the ground pushing as If to stand up but fails as her legs have gone weak, her eyes wide and her mouth wide open and annoyingly high-pitched scream spreads throughout the small dome

Attie slowly walks to the girl, taking advantage of his cute dog like face and fox like ears he tries to get closer to her but fails.

"I'm making something she'll like, now shut up and hold her down before she breaks her neck on a tree."

"...."

He doesn't listen instead choosing to continue to talk to the girl reassuring her that she's fine. I ignore the noise and continue creating several strands of water to hang on the roof freezing and condensing them so they can hold the mirrors I need to plant. Eventually I line the roof with swinging strands of condensed ice covered in palm thick mirrors.

For the final step I move to the roof and summon several balls of dense yellow light to shine through the ice layer, blanketing the area below me in the faint shadow of leaves, strands of white light poking and flowing through with several bright red dots glowing on the roof as the light passes through the leaves In the ice.

The girl continues to panic but with the combined might of Atties constant reassurance and my ice dome she begins to calm.

I continue to summon balls of light, filling the area around us with with beautiful colors blending and shining, the strands and mirrors loosely hanging on the roof drop and swing creating the illusion of dancing light.

I begin to admire my work but stop as Attie begins to sing. His voice is gruff and deep adding a certain level of mysticism to his so far lyricless song. It starts slow with his voice slightly weak, growing in strength ever second.

Suddenly he begins to dance. He bends his knees and does a slow twirl spreading his arms stepping forward and pushing against the lowest strands. His movements are slow and calm with special emphasis on footwork, it would be boring honestly as my voice is quite better than his but he's using my lights and strings to increase the potency. Where his steps light follows, wrapping around him, Where his arms bends small strings swing bending the light, making it seem as if its dancing with him, and where his feet step the soil tilts adding a crunching rythm to his slow song.

The brat looks at him still not completely calm, and once again hides her head in her legs, peeking up every now and then.

"Hey brat ignore the stupid Quali, let me show how a real demon does it."

I won't show her one of my peoples dances but I guess since she's no longer human she qualifies to see a magi dance. I collect the lights and spread my legs evenly, preparing by first forming several small multicolored light serpents with the lights, and by summoning a small ice fog to wrap around me.

The Quali continues to sing while I begin one of my favorite dances. It's a quick one so it can be tough to follow my movement but that's fine as this dance is meant to have one focused on the dancers magic.

I leap up slightly, the light snakes begin to twirl around me as the ice fog around me begins to expand. I move my foot out and land with my arms spread doing a forwards single leg upper and lower body twirl the snakes following my movements shining a light into the reflective mist, creating several streaks of weak light wherever they pass.

I step backwards and slide stretching my left arm and leaning to my side with my right arm only bent slightly. I figure I might as well punish the Quali for trying to steal the brat from me so I aim my fist at him. The fog and snakes move forward the fog bending and shrinking to expand the snakes tail, suddenly the lights change shape transforming into over a hundred small red fish, the mist growing denser and the lights growing brighter giving the feeling that these fish have made their way through the dark sea bottom and to the air, enjoying a great ride. I move forward following the mist staying directly in its center.

I arrive in front of the Quali and continue the dance whispering that he has been demoted from Attie and will instead only be called "The Quali" until he redeems himself. I spring up and spread my fingers and wings, the light flowing out and fill area around us, falling into the ground and rising once again, this time as big dragon fish. Their whiskers are long like their tails but other than that the lights look like ordinary fish.

I spin closing my open arms, the most following along. I lower my body still spinning and leap once again, clapping several times matching that damn Qualis song. The ice mist begins to separate and condense forming several small star shaped ice sculptures, each one floats around us in a circular pattern. I land and step forward, backwards, and to my side pushing and pulling with my arms. In response the circling light fish I made dash to to the ice stars.

As his song seems to be ending I should end this too. The light fish devour the ice stars, absorbing them before rising into the red spotted roof and balling the glowing ice star within them follow. Halfway to the top they explode, glisting ice and colorful lights fall from the roof, the strings and mirrors still swings adding another level to its beauty.

[Alright brat sorry about before I forgot that mind magic and stuff exist. Anyways come one you stupid human say that my dance is better than a stupid Qualis song.]

Suddenly I begin to violently vomit, I guess apologizing to an ex-Human is too much.

Once again the girl reads me, I let Draumrs mana do it's work showing my honesty as she's already seen me use it as well as crystalized it.

[Once again brat your human. A stupid, ugly, hornless, tailless, violent, abhorrent human.]

She doesn't react to my words but it seems that she has let her guard down, whether it was because she remembered something or simply because her heart remembered I don't know and frankly I don't care.

"Come here you stupid Quali, we need to talk and we need to talk now."

"...I refuse. If you wish we can discuss whatever you wish after the child has fallen asleep."

.....And this is why I always make sure to take away a few rights but nooo I just had to use too much of Draumr's mana so I got stuck with the most basic of basic partnership contract. He's not even going to die if he goes to far...only a cripple huff I should be able to eat his soul consequence free whenever I want but nooooo....damn it.

"Is that fine?"

"Huh? Um yeah sure but your not really helping yourself."

"That's fine, will you please assist me in taking care of her. You seem to have a better handle over her mind so you must have ways to calm her other than song and dance?"

"...Food but she still hasn't eatin"

I'm not sure normal food calms her, in fact I'm pretty sure any all soups scare her but that doesnt matter as my peoples cooking is the best in all the world.

"Thankyou."

He moves to the brat, leaving the person he's supposed to be protecting behind...I begrudgingly follow planning out our little talk.

"Damn you, you stupid Quali."