Battlefield

"Rose, look out!" Aurora shouted but the creature got to her too fast flinging her to the air with the force of a ball on a baseball bat.

Rose managed to summon her magic and create a portal before she could smash against a hill. But she couldn't control where she reappeared causing a portal to open in the sky and she is falling again, just downwards this time.

Aurora summoned her sword and stabbed the creature on its tail, pinning it to the ground. Without wasting a second, she ran past the creature and tapped on the ground. In an elegant upward hand movement, she created a slide from the blood-soaked ground. Some bodies rolled to the side but she caught them before they could roll away any further.

Rose saw the rising slice of land and flipped mid-way through her fall. Using her sword, she pierced it to the rising ground, her speed decreasing as she slid down cutting the slide in half as she continued to fall. The difficult part was holding on to the sword with the pressure from the winds going upwards. But she held on and reached the ground safely.

"Rose. How are you?" Aurora ran to her, the creature screaming and growling at her in pain and frustration, unable to move because of Aurora's sword.

"It's been a while since we fought together like this." Rose laughed, spitting the blood from her mouth. She leaned against the remainder of the slide, her legs sprawling around her while she gasped for breath. "That knocked the wind out of me."

"So you're making jokes now? Weren't you the most serious person to exist before? What happened in those years we didn't see each other?" Lillian laughed with her, holding her hand out for Rose to grab.

"Well, I met an oddball. She was powerful, immensely powerful but was so weird I couldn't make her out at all. I guess that was part of her charm." Rose leaned against the slide again as she said this, smiling a little.

"You'll have to tell me more about her one day.��

"I'll see."

Their conversation was cut short when a blood-curdling mixture of a scream and roar shook the entire place.

"Whoa."

Aurora caught Rose before she could fall to the ground and created a barrier to block out the sound. She breathed out soft golden particles that glitter like the sun onto Rose, to heal some of her wounds.

The creature pulled itself out of Aurora's sword, slicing the bottom of its tail in half. More inky black liquid spread as it charged at them.

"When was the last time we fought together?" Rose asked, looking at the creature as she hung on Aurora's shoulder. The golden particles sticking to her wounds, and falling off once they have healed, dispersing into nothing.

"A few hundred years ago, I believe. It wasn't too long ago though." Aurora narrowed her eyes at Rose and tapped the ground with her feet as blocks of dirt shot out, hitting the creature and throwing it to the other side, "Are you getting rusty or something?"

"Me? Rusty? Come on. I was able to take down the top student wasn't I?" Rose stood steady, nudging her across the shoulder. Some of the bigger patches of gold still sticking to her face and arms.

The wounds must be much more serious there. She needs to be looked at by a proper healer after all this.

"That look on your face is telling me that I need to sit back."

"If you know then you sh-"

"So you really think I will listen to you?" Rose smirked at her, pulling her sword off the slide.

"Typical. This is the reason we weren't allowed to be partners." Aurora joked, feeling a little light-headed.

"We always were the most reckless pair. I understand. Now, stand down. No matter how skilled you are, you can't attack, defend and heal all on your own." Rose walked out of the barrier like it was a curtain of air.

"Are you leaving the long-distance attacks to me? You know that's harder than a full-on attack." Aurora mused, removing the barrier and stopping the attacks.

Even the creature is finally sustaining some damage after being hit multiple times without rest. But it still has a one-track mind, so it began to charge at them the moment the attacks stopped.

"Shut up. I'm feeling a little irritated and I want to vent my anger out on something." Rose disappeared and began attacking the creature, trying to cut it in as many places as possible.

Every time her sword slashed against it, it sounded a little more human with the deep growl lessening down.

Why does it sound so human? Why? I've never seen that creature before, have they always existed? It's powerful but with no mind of its own so its just like an empty shell.

But then, it shouldn't feel pain if that's the case. There is more to this than we know.

Rose slash at its odd mixture of a human and animal eye and it went crazy, several more heads popped out and it regrew it's missing hands, surrounding Rose in a second.

"Rose!"

"Damn it!" Rose created a portal beneath her as they begin to breathe an icy fire burning a little bit of the skin on her arm, face and neck. Fortunately, the gold still stuck to her skin protected it in some parts.

She managed to escape and appeared before Aurora, smoke coming from the burnt parts of her body as her legs became unsteady again.

Aurora caught her and blew more gold onto her body, trying to heal them as fast as she could. Meanwhile, the creature, realizing its prey vanished came towards them again, faster than before.

Rose tried to stand up but her knees keep bucking and she fell to the ground again.

Aurora reformed her barrier as the creature reached them, cutting another one of its hands-off. The screams were defending at this point.

Her light-headedness getting worse, Aurora tried to steady herself. The barrier almost disappeared when it screamed, it felt like a long needle entered from their ear to their brain from both sides.

"Come on." Rose tried to stand again, this time with the use of her sword as a walking stick.

"It's your turn to stay down, Rose!" Aurora shouted when it smashed onto the barrier. Unlike Meraki and Kefi in snake form, this one isn't restraining itself from trying to break the barrier.

Aurora clenched her teeth as she reinforced the barrier with a snap of her fingers, blood flowed from her hands the instant she did that.

Ugh. It's still doing some damage to me. She thought, looking at the blood on the palm of her hands. She turned her attention back to it again.

Still not as strong as Miss was. She scoffed at it but it was still strong enough to weaken her barrier.

Guess there's no other choice.

She stretched out her right hand and summoned her sword. The golden handle started to be stained with blood, the eyes of the phoenix crest on the handle began to glow as it absorbed her blood.

"Aurora. Remove the barrier." Rose said, standing up. Her entire body was almost entirely covered with gold.

"Are you crazy?! You won't survive if I do that. Just rest and let me handle this." The blade of her sword slowly changed from silver to red.

"No. I finally understood it, Aurora. When I slashed at its eye, I understand!" She shouted, pulling her long her out of the braid.

"Understood what, Rose?" Aurora shouted back, losing her patience.

"They are still humans. Inside that creature are still humans, well, their soul anyway. When I cut its eye, I was covered with a deep, aching sadness. They need to be freed and we both know that only I can do that." Rose scrawled at her, determination in her eyes.

"You don't mean …" Aurora flinched when the barrier weakened again with another hit from the creature.

"Yes."

"But, if there are still conscious human souls, shouldn't we try to save them? Not use that." Aurora swallowed the dread that crept up her spine like an overgrown plant left to itself.

"Even if it is, there is no chance of saving them anymore. The only thing that can save them is if I did that. Come on Aurora, we don't have time." Rose walked to the edge of the barrier, about to step out.

"Wait! Take this." She handed rose her sword with the glowing red blade and eyes of the phoenix.

"Thanks." Rose took the blade and sliced her palm with her own one, turning that blade and the phoenix's eyes red as well.

Rose summoned all the magic she had left and placed them in the blades as she murmured something under her breath. Inscriptions appeared on the blades, written as thus,

"Qui facit praeparat creatura ad pacem aeternam, sic est tua, conversus tandem ad quietem et pacem."