Your first battle

I messed up in the last chapter and probably the one before that, so I'm switching to 2nd person, just because it's easier for me and I aim to continue this power fantasy for the foreseeable future. And while I have you here, I'm going to be updating this every day until the first boss fight, then at least once a week beyond that (hopefully). I eventually plan to involve most if not all of the Saintesses and Dark Ones (as I have dubbed them), so feel free to pitch suggestions and ideas in the comments! This is gonna be a huge undertaking, so I do appreciate comments and likes :)

Alright, enjoy the show!

The voice sounded nasally and annoying as it approached, zooming by not far above the trees. You pick yourself up, running after both the hornets and the siblings. (You still didn't know if they were related, though.) Your wings neatly folded themselves for a moment, allowing you to run without worry of them banging around tree trunks. You couldn't see Kara or Connor, but the hornets above provided direction. Thinking quickly, You remembered how your Sorcerer class provided basic spells, including bullets. You raise your hand, struggling to take a deep breath as you ran. A small ball of light appeared in your hand, and through willpower, you shoot it toward the hornets. You were expecting to miss at this range and with your inexperience, but the light shot straight and true, hitting one of them in the back and exploding in a small burst of light.

The hit hornet immediately falls out of sight as two of the remaining four turn to face where the bolt had come from. They continue to fly as they face you, not quite keeping pace with their allies. "What is that?" You barely overhear. "It doesn't matter. Kill it!" They both swarm to , thrusting with their lances as they do.

Stopping short, you raise your hand again, this time somehow conjuring another bolt and shooting it at one of them, causing another small burst of light as it shoots backward. Unfortunately, the second one reaches you quickly and stabs your stomach. To your surprise, it doesn't skewer you, but you can feel the metal deep inside. It hurts, and with that, something bubbles inside you. With one hand, you stop the lance from moving, and with the other, you fire point-blank into the hornet's face. It's absorbed in darkness for a second before you hear a *crack* and see it land against a tree, slumped over.

You take a deep breath, painful with the wound you have. You cautiously pull the lance from your gut, wincing in pain as you do. Blood covers your hands and clothes, now beginning to trickle down your leg. "I...I can heal, right?" You focus as you place both hands on your wound, dropping the lance as you do. A brief, but fleeting sense of calm washes over you, and you feel the wound begin to patch up before you suddenly remember: "Kara and Connor!"

Picking up the lance from the ground, you flap your wings, trying to push yourself into the air. After a few tries, your feet lift off the ground completely, and you quickly rise above the trees. You spot the remaining hornets some ways away, and they're carrying the siblings! Without second thought, you speed toward them as they make a wide U-turn, now coming toward you. Well, it's more accurate that they're heading toward where they came from, but you happen to be in the way.

You rise higher, not to avoid their gaze, but to ensure that your shots won't hit the hostages. You raise your hand, once more condensing the light around you into a bolt that you shoot toward them. You hope there's some kind of auto-hit for this spell, similar to how you had hit one by sheer chance before. Unfortunately, the hornet you were aiming for swerves out of the way, breaking formation with the other one. In a moment, they sweep past you, and you quickly try to swipe the second one with your lance, but deflect off their shield. That was lucky actually, since you might have hit Connor if you hadn't hit the shield.

You rise higher, slowing your momentum in order to be able to turn around quicker. The hornets have gained some ground, but your bolts seem to have good range, so you're not worried yet. You shoot a few more radiant bolts, but the hornets keep swerving out of the way. Giving up on magic, you decide to dive in like a falcon instead, holding your bloody lance close to your chest and pointing forward. You speed forward, gaining more and more speed until you pinpoint where the hornet is swerving to and steer yourself there. You lose a bit of speed, but it doesn't seem to matter as the hornet recoils against your strike, instinctually dropping Kara. With your remaining momentum, you swiftly take hold of her.

"Hold on!" You tell her, dropping the lance into the canopy and holding her tight to your chest.

"What are you doing?! Let me go!" She tries pushing herself away, throwing off your balance.

"If you want to save Connor, you'll shut up and hold on tight! I can't fight with you trying to skydive!" You hold her closer, and she seems to relent, now holding on tightly. This gives you more freedom to move, and you release one of your arms from Kara to reach forth, conjuring more radiant bolts to fire at the last hornet. It keeps serving but you eventually get a lock on its trajectory and finally hit it, causing it to drop the boy.

You dive again, before twisting yourself to catch Connor above you. The last hornet falls into the trees, leaving you coasting upside-down with two blonds holding onto you for dear life. You twist again. "I've got you. I've got you. Let's try this landing thing again, okay?" The words are to reassure yourself more than them, but they don't need to know that. You look around, spotting the familiar clearing nearby and turn to go there, not wanting to risk trying to land in a mess of trees. "Brace yourselves!" You glide down, skidding to a halt against the incline of the crater.

No longer feeling the rush of the air, Kara pushes herself away from you, falling to the ground before she stands back up. You notice that her stomach is covered in blood, and as you glance down, you realize it's your own. You release Connor and kneel, clutching your wound. That's...a lot of blood. You fall to your side and roll onto your back, breathing heavily as your wing bends awkwardly beneath you.