Sky Warrior Ashelle

Sky Warrior Ashelle

Sky Warrior Ashelle ran desperately from branch to branch one hundred paces up in the ancient trees of the Forest of Shuffling Giants. Rain fell around her in periodic sheets, somehow penetrating the thick canopy of the leaves above to drench her and her Order's uniform seemingly to the bone.

Deftly, her feet barely touched each branch as she sprung confidently through the air to her next target, and then into the air again. She had trained for years with the Order to learn this skill: part strength, part meditation. The trick was to focus on what is before you, while feeling the world around you at the same time. Many failed in this lesson, but Ashelle excelled in it. It would be relaxing to her if only she weren't running for her life.

A tingle on the hairs of her neck caused her to instinctually duck, dodge and quickly strike in a wide sweeping motion around her with her gleaming blade. A demon, previously inches away from grabbing its prize of her electric blue braids of hair with its pustuled and clawed fingers now fell limply to the ground, clove in two and leaving a trail of dark smoke behind it.

Ashelle looked around with frightened eyes. She knew there were more, many more. More than she could ever handle alone. She was given orders by her Sensei to only observe the Dark Temple, but her impish curiosity couldn't keep her from that great blue stone embedded in the alter. So close she came to prying that beautiful piece up, just as a silent black hole appeared behind her, spilling cold and fear before it. A portal! Ashelle knew little of portals and how they worked, but she did know that nothing good would emerge from them.

She lept up, abandoning the beautiful stone, but saving her life in the process. As she bound towards the trees and began to jump up from branch to branch, over her shoulder she saw the horde emerge from the impossible tunnel, dozens of pitch black creatures, all of horrificly different appearances. The first ones through sniffed the air and caught the trail of Ashelle almost immediately. Though the scent of strawberries and spring thunderstorms the demons were on her trail immediately and Ashelle knew that they wouldn't stop chasing her until either her gory death or the demons had been sent back to their hell.

Ashelle could hear them in the trees behind her in the canopy above and on the forest floor. Like echoes from her past, she could hear her Sensei teaching her tactics again. "When outnumbered, you must find shelter and find a way to even the fight so that you are not swarmed!" Ashelle knew only a little of the area, but she remembered a barn she passed on the way to the temple. She had to make it there to have any kind of chance!

Ashelle knew she had an advantage in the trees, and she used it to outpace the slower demons. She grinned to herself that she was going to get out of this one just like she always had, by her wits and her prowess and with a whole lot of luck!

Her smile turned quickly sour though as she saw ahead there was a sizeable clearing before her. She was going to lose her height advantage!

A dark form glided down towards her on outstretched bat-like wings, it's mouth open to devour, the hiss of air running over its many venomed barbs the only thing to betray its attack. Ashelle deftly dodged to the side while removing the thing's head in a deadly upwards swing. The demon's corpse crashed into the tree beside her and then fell to the earth.

Ashelle lept to the ground and immediately sprinted as quickly as she could. In the trees, she was quicker than her persuers. Here on the ground, the demons were faster. She could hear the demons surrounding her in the tall grass.

"Find the high-ground!" she heard in her head, her Sensei's wise teachings coming back to her.

Scanning the field frantically, she saw a boulder in the center of the field. It was the only high ground to be had, and she would take it! As she approached it at speed, two pitch black demons crawled to the top of it before her, one reaching out towards her with its spiked tentacle! She swiped her blade, removing the twisting limb and then buried her blessed steel in its throat, and with a twist the head flew into the air! The second demon distractedly watched the head rise up just as Ashelle used the diversion to cleave it's head downwards in half. She kicked the black steaming corpse off the rock, and she quickly looked around to her foes.

Rain obscured her vision, and she wiped her eyes violently with her left hand, her right hand nervously twirling her blade beside her. Her eyes came into focus. She saw the demons now. It must have been dozens of them in the very least! All of them looking up to her in the early moon light, yellow hateful eyes emerging from grass in every direction. Twisted and t or t u r e d forms writhing in the grass and gnashing their teeth, looking for a kill.

She knew this was the time. This was the moment to use the power she had been trained in, was born into and what gave her the title of "Sky Warrior"! She knew that she only had one chance at this, as she would be sapped of her Chi until she could rest.

Off in the distance, she saw a window lit with a lantern. It was the barn on the other side of the clearing! She crouched into her battle stance, waiting for the hoards to come. The demons sensed danger from this y o u n g Sky Warrior woman as they crept towards her. Carefully, so carefully they approached her with the accursed gleaming blade that had cut down a number of their bretherin. They would have her now though, if they attacked at once, she could not defend against them! They flicked their tongues about their faces and excitedly began to growl as they pictured the exquisite flavor of this girls flesh between their gnarly teeth.

They closed in on Ashelle, and she closed her eyes. Again, she heard her Sensei, "Open your mind to your element. Feel the power of nature around you, open your soul to it and give it your Chi. Let nature return your power a thousand fold and cleanse the abominations of this world from it surface!"

As black talons and spiked tendrils excitedly climbed the rock all around her and as the first brave creatures reached out to take their pieces of her, Ashelle lept upwards into the air! Her body suspended a few feet off the rock, her eyes flashed open and blue bolts of power crackled all over her body. Her blue braids unfurled themselves and her long hair began swirling in the air. The rain quickly began vaporizing as it touched her skin, and the effect slowly began to radiate into a sphere of cracking energy all around her. Steam from the rain obscured the image of the demon's target, and they hesitated for but a moment.

Their fear was rewarded by a great clap of an explosion as bolts of lightning fired off in all directions, chaining between the demons and sending the creatures into quivering and bubbling piles of unnatural, evil flesh. Those on the outside edge of the horde saw what was coming and attempted to run, but the lighting found them as well and one by one destroyed their bodies and turned them to sludge.

Ashelle dropped back to the rock, regaining her breath, her long blue hair soaking down around her face and body as the rain again returned to her skin. She looked around slowly. The demons were dead, and she was safe!

She blinked her eyes, and wiped the loose wet strands of blue hair from her face. The steaming piles of black sludge around her no longer a danger, she took a moment to smile for herself. This was her first time she had ever used this rite in true combat, and she was filled with joy from it! "How proud Sensei will be of me!" she thought to herself. She hopped a little in joy and clapped her hands in happiness.

The sound of distant branches breaking let her know that she couldn't rest on her laurels. More demons were coming, and she needed to get to the barn!

She took off at a sprint, and then she felt it. The lightning strike had sapped her of strength, her lifeforce, her Chi! She needed to rest. She ran, breathing harder than she had for years, running until she got to the door of the barn, and then went in, barring the door behind her.

She looked around, the barn was dimly lit by a few lanterns. The barn was empty of people and animals, though there were several horse stalls against the walls that looked recently used. Stacked bales of hay, farm tools and scrap wood were all that she could see inside.

Ashelle was soaked through, but she didn't have time for drying her uniform. She needed to form a defense!

Then she heard it, the sounds of demons outside the great barn door. Slathering, growling, they could smell her and they wanted her flesh! The scratched and pulled at the door, its mighty wood beams shaking under the attack. She could tell that they were going to break their way in, and it sounded like too many to deal with at once. She had to make due with what she had. She jumped up to the second level of the barn and moved bails of hay around her into a makeshift defensive wall. She would try to fight them one at a time if she could!

The doors shook and violently strained against the runners. She drew her blade again, maybe for the last time if she couldn't hold them off. Some that she knew in the academy would be whimpering in hiding right now. Ashelle, with a tear in her eye braced herself in a defensive stance, waiting for the final battle. "If you must m e e t your end, m e e t it so that those that remember you can sing of your deeds!" Her Sensei's voice echoed in her mind. She would not give up this day!

That's when she heard it, the sound of a slashing blade, and not hers! The sound of demons hissing in death replaced the noises of the door being torn down. Slice, strike, crush... and then silence. Who was this that would be out in all of this weather and demons and who could kill that which she was overwhelmed by? If it was a foe, she didn't' think she stood a chance against it! She stood steely, shaking with anticipation to finding out who was there. If she couldn't kill it, she would at least give it the fight of it's life!

Over at the door she entered earlier, a blade entered the gap between the frame, then lifted the bar keeping the door secure. The door was pushed open, and in the rain and the moonlight stood a large figure, filling the doorframe. Cloaked in silhouette, the man took a step into the dim lamplight. It was then that Ashelle could see him, he was tall, shaven of head with a great beard that fell upon his powerful chest. He wore the white robes of a master of the Order. He looked around with his piercing blue eyes and saw her immediately. "Ashelle! You are all right! Thank the Elders!" It was her Sensei, her mentor and her friend. He had come for her.

Ashelle, now crying tears of joy, sheathed her sword and jumped down and ran to her Sensei. She wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face in his chest and ignoring the cold wet robes he wore. His strong but gentle arms held her firmly and she felt safe again like she hadn't in ages.

"How did you find me?" she asked as she turned her head to look up to him.

"I could sense the hellgate had opened, and then I went to the only place around the temple that you could try to defend yourself from. You are a smart y o u n g woman after all, I knew you'd come here!" He smiled and said with a voice filled with a gentle pride. Now, we need to barricade ourselves here until morning. The gate should close by then and we can fight our way out against the demons that remain. In the night, they are too deadly and we wouldn't stand a chance."

Ashelle stepped back, sobering to their current status. "Can we ward the doors to help keep them at bay at least?" Sensei nodded, "Yes, that's an excellent idea. You've been studying your wards and hexes haven't you?" "Yes Sensei!" she nodded and said enthusiastically. "I achieved top marks!"

Sensei reached into a pouch around his waist and withdrew a small bag of sticky red clay. He pinched some between his fingers before handing it to Ashelle. "You get to the entrances, and I'll try to make some barricades!"

Ashelle quickly went to work, chanting and drawing arcane symbols on the inside of the doors. Sensei spent his time gathering farm tools, wood and hay bales into a maze of barriers and fallback positions.

After some time, Sensei called Ashelle over to review the defense plan. "The demons will be slowed by the wards, but they can break them down. They will likely break through here or here," pointing to the two weakest doors,"and they'll be channeled through to this kill zone first, and then to this one as they overrun it. I have laid some traps, but they will move quickly. We need to make sure they stay out in this area" he gestured behind them, "as our final fallback is into this stall lined with iron bars. If I fall, go back to the stall and ward yourself in until morning. It's your best chance."

Ashelle absorbed his words, then looked up to him worriedly with big, tearful eyes. "If you fall? Sensei, what do you mean? We're going to make it out of here together! We always do!"

Sensei paused and looked down kindly to her. "We've been through a lot together my little bunny. You have studied for the Order with me until you became a brave and talented warrior, and earned your title as Sky Warrior. I am no longer the y o u n g man I once was. Our foe today is great, and has the advantage of numbers against us. I will do all I can to help you get through this night Ashelle, but it's very likely that I won't make it with you. With your elemental gift tapped for now and my Earth Warrior abilities being useful against only one large foe, we will have to rely on our blades and our wits. I fear it won't be enough." He paused, "And I have sensed that tonight will bring a great shift... I don't know what it is, but I have to prepare myself for the worst."

"It WILL Sensei. It will be enough! Please don't say these things, they aren't true!" Fuming, Ashelle stomped off to double check her wards, her face determined and angry. Furious she turned around to her Sensei. "A great shift could mean anything! It doesn't mean..." Ashelle couldn't say the words. "It could mean anything!". She turned back to her wards. The Sensei frowned and looked back to review his work.

An hour slowly passed, with mostly silence hovering between them. The shifting sounds of the rain storm ebbing and flowing through the night being the only thing to occupy their ears. Ashelle patrolled the barn, aged lantern in her hand, looking for signs of the demons. Sensei sat quietly in the center of the barn, kneeling and meditating in the soft light.

Ashelle looked frustrated as she peeked out of a crack between the boards of the wall. "Where are they Sensei? Why aren't they attacking? Do they fear us? Shouldn't we attempt our escape?"

Sensei opened his eyes at the sound of her voice. "I believe they gather their numbers for one large push. I can sense a large gathering just to the south of us, but they are indeed surrounding us. Leaving now would be disastrous in the dark."

Ashelle sat down on the hay across from Sensei, her hair and clothes now dry. She gathered her long blue hair and pulled it back into a loose ponytail, tying it off with a bit of leather cording she cut from her garments. Her hands absent-mindedly begin to straighten the delicate blue wool of her warrior's uniform. A smile came across her face as she began to recall earlier events.

"Sensei, you should have seen me, I destroyed so many of them when I channeled the lightning in that field. You would have been so happy with me!" Ashelle looked up to him with a sad smile. "I was so strong! I brought down the power of nature and sent those demons back to hell!" She paused for a moment, "If I could do that again tonight, I could kill the entire hoard! If we could lure them all into the barn I could save us! I could save us Sensei... " Ashelle trailed off to a saddened silence, with rain against the barn punctuating the moment.

Sensei spoke in his low deep voice, "This is why you have to survive until the daylight Ashelle, so you can meditate in the daylight and get your Chi back to save yourself." Sensei looked at her proudly. "And you forget, I could see you earlier when you destroyed all of those demons. In my mind I could sense your power as I travelled towards you. I saw you s n u f f out that great gathering of evil in one fell stroke and it gave me great joy!"

Sensei continued with pride in his voice, "You have become more of a warrior than I could ever had hoped Ashelle, your power as a y o u n g woman is unrivalled! I am deeply honored to have been able to walk with you on the path to become such a glorious warrior of the Order!" He smiled at her lovingly. "And you honor me with your skill and your bravery. You have a long future of glory before you,,," he trailed off for a moment and then snapped back. "As long as we can get you through tonight!"

Ashelle smiled, feeling the love and the praise of her mentor. " I will honor you and the Order tonight, and forever!" She stood up, her face turning to concerned scowl. "If only there was a way to build my Chi tonight." She clenched her fists in frustration. "Is there no way Sensei? How has the Order not figured out how to get around this?" Ashelle kicked a small stone across the floor in her exasperation.

Sensei began to speak, but quickly stopped himself. Ashelle perked up immediately. "What? Were you going to say something?"

Sensei spoke quietly. "There is a ritual, but the path if forbidden. It's best not to speak of it." He attempted to close his eyes into meditation again.

Ashelle jumped up. "Tell me Sensei! What is this ritual?"

Sensei opened his eyes again and looked at her worryingly. "It's not possible. It's something done only between warriors who share an... uncommon bond."

Ashelle looked very seriously at his evasive expression. "Tell me Sensei, what are you talking about?"

Sensei sighed, knowing that his favorite student would not relent until he told her about this ritual. Ashelle would spend her last breath pestering him for the secret!

Sensei began slowly." There are stories of a ritual, the Rite of Ardor. It is performed between two warriors who... " He trailed off.

Ashelle interrupted his delay. "Who WHAT Sensei?" Sensei looked up to her, slightly annoyed, "It is a ritual between two warriors who are also powerful lovers! Between them, in an act of coitus, they can transfer the elemental Chi from one warrior to the other. Like I said, it is forbidden! It is only something that only two warriors who know each other intimately can do and who share the bonds of love between them. There is no way..."

Ashelle moved directly in front of her Sensei, her face a mix of resolve and compassion. "But we do have love Sensei, I have loved you for years. My heart will always be bound to you..."

"No, Ashelle, not that kind of love. I speak of a love that only builds between two people when they come together as one. When each one dedicates their heart and soul to the other, only then is true love of this kind known. I have only known it once before, many years ago with a woman who was killed during the Dark Fae Insurrection." His eyes glisten with the memory. His continues, his voice shaking with repressed emotion, "Part of me died that day Ashelle, and I do not know if I can ever feel that again. I will not defile you as a broken man that way!" He closes his eyes and turns his face away from her.

Ashelle wipes tears from her eyes. "You're not a broken man! You are a loving, wonderful man! You are strong and brave and you've protected me all of my life. You've given me the tools to fight and the confidence to overcome evil!"

She moves closer to him and takes his bearded face into her hands. She whispers to him, "Now let me repay you and show you the love I've always had for you..."