Slumbering Protector I

Kies couldn't count how many enemies there were due to how scattered they were but there were way more of them than the elves, and it was certainly not looking good for the Sylv operators.

The assailants had their backs turned to Kies and he took this opportunity while still in the air to attack them. He had to get rid of as many of them as he could with this surprise attack to take pressure off of the elves.

Kies called out his sword and held it above him like a javelin. He then launched with all of his strength and with the aid of the winds, the sword flew into a cluster of five enemies who looked to be planning something. They all turned around when they heard the sound of the sword flying at them but it was already too late for them to react at this point.

One of the assailants raised their arms to try to stop the sword but flew right past them and hit the ground right underneath them, releasing a shockwave that blew all five of them into the air. Kies quickly finished the defenseless enemies off by sending the winds to cut them down. Their limp bodies fell back onto the ground just as he landed.

The sword flew back to Kies' hand and he immediately charged at the closest enemy who still had their arms up from blocking the strong winds from his sword. Before they even knew Kies was on top of them, he cut them down in one clean stroke of his sword.

"Gah!" The enemy crumpled to the ground but not without a fight. With their dying breath, the enemy released a ball of dark magic before their head hit the soil. Kies retreated into the air the instant the saw that and thankfully, he was just out of range when the magic exploded, taking the entirety of a tree with it.

Dark magic... Demons. The enemy were demons, and not weak ones either. This group was far more powerful than the ones he countered at the previous village. Wait, if it was the demons then-

Kies heard a loud wing flap behind him. He twisted his body around and raised his sword. At that exact moment, something collided against his blade and the impact pushed him spiraling in the opposite direction.

Kies readjusted his posture to hit the ground with his feet and bounced away. Not a second later, something slammed into the place he jumped away from, kicking a cloud of dust into the air.

Kies saw past the dust and saw the magic veins of the person who attacked him. The veins were heavily concentrated in their upper body, especially in the arms, and while this was the first time Kies had seen these veins, he knew who it was.

She might have looked different to him since he couldn't see her face, and he looked different to her since his form had changed, but both of them recognized each other.

"Ammine!" Kies shouted.

"Hmph! I was thinking I knew you!" The two collided again but this time, Kies used the force of the winds in his swing and pushed Ammine away from him.

The other demons butted in and didn't let Kies follow up with his attack and he was forced to defend himself from their attacks. Magic rained down on him but with his quick footwork, he managed to dodge all of them before returning fire.

Kies' winds took down one of the demons who mistakingly tried to block the attack instead of avoiding it, not realizing the difference in their magic power. The winds tore through the demon's magic barrier and thick skin and they went down with a growl.

The other demons made the right judgment call and veered away from Kies' attacks, but they were careless about their surroundings and did not realize that the elves had reorganized themselves while they had been dealing with him. A barrage of arrows surprised a few of the demons and they went down as well.

Ammine saw how fast the fight was turning against them and quickly ordered the demons to, "Retreat and regroup!" At her command, the demons all flew away and regrouped themselves at their leader's position.

The demons took the ground behind a row of trees to take cover from the arrows and magic. Kies retreated to the elves, knowing that it was too reckless to charge in alone, even for him. Ammine was not an opponent he could take down just with his overwhelming magic powers alone.

Nyana stood up from her cover and pointed her dagger at the enemy. "Speak demons, are you the ones behind the poisoning?" Her voice was firm and pressing. She wasn't asking them a question, She was demanding an answer from them.

The demons ignored her question and after a brief moment, spread out again. They took points around the elves, trapping them behind their cover. There was no way to leave their position without getting hit by the demons.

"Hm... They're good, I'll give them that," Nyana mumbled. She quickly judged their current position as disadvantageous and commanded the elves to clear a way out. "We're moving away here. Idril, cover us."

Idril conjured a massive wall of ice on either side, securing a narrow pathway away from the center of the village and into the forest where they would have more cover to fight the demons. The elves moved as fast as they could but the enemy already anticipated something like this and flew above the walls to bombard the elves with magic.

Idril created a ceiling over them as well to block the attacks. The ice shattered under the intense barrage of magic but it provided them with just enough time to get into the forest.

Upon exiting the open area, Nyana commanded the elves to, "Take the parameters." The elves split up and formed a defensive line against the demons and began fortifying their defense as well as returning fire. Poisonous vines crept up the bark of the tree and wrapped the branches. The leaves on the branches thickened and protected protection from the demons' attacks.

The demons, realizing that trying to advance anymore was suicidal, retreated to their cover. Ammine covered the demons as they regrouped and the battle came to a standstill once again.

The two sides faced off against each other. Nyana continued to try to pry information from the demons' lips but it was a futile effort. The demons ignored everything that was thrown their way.

Kies looked to his side over at the other tree where the master and disciple pair were. Idril was setting up ice spikes underneath them. Her disciple was also helping her and creating ice spikes underneath the trees. It glossed over Kies mind during the heat of the battle but was it possible for elves to use such magic?

It was not a bad idea though. This would force the demons to have to fight in the air which would be disadvantageous for them, especially with him here to shoot them down with his wind magic.

"Selphie, how are you faring?" Idril asked her disciple after she finished setting up the ice traps.

"I feel okay..." Selphie sounded like she was out of breath and her voice was a little shaky, but she kept her composure in front of her mentor.

"This is your first real fight, no? You're doing quite good," her mentor complimented her students.

"T-thanks."

"I'm also surprised that you can remain this calm when facing demons. You told me that they burned down your home. If you feel like you can't handle it anymore, just tell me-"

"-I'm fine..." Selphie said in a loud whisper. She was holding back anger in her voice Her mentor looked at her with a little unease. "Really."

"If you say so."

Kies felt a surge in magic in front of them and shifted his attention back to the demons to see what they were up to. A shadow loomed over him and he gazed up to see hundreds of fireballs floating above them.

Since when did they do this? It only had been a few seconds so how did they conjure up this many fireballs!? Kies waved up his hand and tried to put out as many fireballs as he could with his winds. The winds slammed into the fireballs but they remained in the air. He couldn't take out even a single one with his magic.

Everyone moved away as the fireballs rained down upon them and blew the trees into pieces. Luckily, it seemed that everyone managed to make it out alive with no problems. However, the forest was now on fire and the fire was spreading fast.

"Those demons! How dare they!" Nyana was flaring with anger after that attack and she was just about to confront the demons again when the ground started shaking intensely.

"What's going on!?" one of the elves asked.

Idril muttered an elven curse and bit her lip. "Looks like that attack woke up something dangerous..."

---

Grammar errors, story errors, other errors, and advice, email flightless05@gmail.com

Thanks!