As Nia leapt among the mist lunging forward towards the white robed monster, he conjured more spikes of ice from the ground like tentacles. The ice grew with their sharp edges pointed towards the dragon girl. As she was headed towards those spikes of ice, her wings and tail repidly grew out of her back, and she dodged to the side of the ice, barely scraping by against her leather armor. As she was still mid-air, Nia breathed out a stream of fire in the direction of the monster. In response, the white robed monster created a wall of thin perfectly see-through ice from the ground that defended him from the oncoming blaze. The ice wall didn't even look damaged or even slightly melted. More thin walls of ice surrounded the white robed monster and they formed into a cylindrical shape around him. An impenetrable defense, however Nia was undeterred.
She landed gracefully on the ground with her wings and tail still in view for all to see. Her scales didn't show on her human skin as the illusive ring hid those, but she didn't need to hide the fact that she was a dragon. There were no villagers or townspeople that could see. And everybody there was already made aware that she was a dragon. There was no point in holding back, especially against what she faced in front of her. She took a small peak towards Belze and the silver merchant.
Belze continued running around grabbing and throwing rocks at the other bandits, while the silver merchant followed him and made sure that none of the bandits came near the boy. Most of the bandits tried to attack the silver merchant, anyways. However, the merchant tossed and pushed the other bandits with ease. It didn't look like he was using any magic or even trying very hard. Simply pushing them away like rag dolls. But it was certainly effective.
She smiled as she didn't need to worry about Belze and returned her focus towards the white robed monster as it shards of ice materialized out of the mist. He shot them one at a time at Nia as projectiles. She took her red blade and deflected the oncoming assault of ice. She dodged and weaved avoiding other shards as she continued to approach the magical being. For a moment, she heard some noise coming from underneath her, and without looking down, she flew up to the air. Spikes of ice grew out of the ground beneath her, but her instincts were too sharp and her body was just as fast to react.
From the spikes, tentacles made up of ice arose towards Nia while shards of ice continued to be shot from where the white robed monster stood. The monster just stood there calmly as he continued to harass the dragon girl. The clear walls of ice still encased him providing him a defense from Nia's fire. Her blood warmed among the chilly air as any sweat that poured from her body instantly turned to steam.
She continued to weave around the ice shards that continuously shot from the white robed monster's location and the icy tentacles beneath her that tried to grab a hold of her with no avail.
Nia breathed in as she flew higher still within the fog. She looked down and breathed a flaming stream at the tentacles. The heat enough to melt away some of the tentacles, but some were able to slip through their melted counterparts and continued towards Nia. She dodged to the side missing the remaining tentacles lowering her altitude as more ice shards flew by her.
She took her blade and burst through the air towards the monster deflecting ice shards to the sides that were in her general direction. The white robed monster didn't react in any way to the closely approaching dragon. Merely stood surrounded by thin walls as shards of ice materializing from the mist around him that fired when they were sharp enough. Fog continued to fall from his mouth as he breathed normally. The icy tentacles squirmed and wriggled as they grew towards Nia from behind her.
One shard that was formed stayed motionless even though it looked to be fully formed, while others were rapidly being launched. It fidgeted trying to get a good shot, while Nia quickly came near the monster. She held her red blade ready to strike the ice wall. The ice looked thin enough that brute force might be able to break through it rather than her flames melting it. As she held her blade back ready to swing, the stationary shard of ice discharged with a faster speed than any of the other shards of ice. The shard hit the top of the red blade's hilt, barely scratching the top of Nia's hand. The force of the shard caused the sword to fall from her hands. The white robed monster grinned showing off his shark-like teeth thinking that the fight was over. Nia looked back at the falling sword with sudden worry in her eyes. Two large spikes of ice ground from the ground besides the white robed monster - one on the left, one on the right - as they pointed towards the young dragon. The white robed monster continued to smile as though he was destined to be victorious from the very beginning. As Nia's trajectory towards the monster was too fast to slow down, the monster was readying his two giant spikes of ice to pierce through the dragon's torso.
But in a sudden movement, Nia slightly lowered her body in the air and grabbed the blade's hilt with her tail. With her tail, she threw the blade back up to her hands while still moving forward.
The white robed monster's eyes widened up. His smile disappeared into a look of fear. He took one step back with his hands shaking. His breathing uneasy. Nia noticed the monster's terror and smiled.
She gripped her red blade tightly and prepared to swing while lunging down at the monster in a forty-five degree angle.
She swung her red sword in an arc across the ice wall. Clang!
Surprise overtook Nia. The two giant spikes of ice that were besides the monster formed around where she was about to hit the thin ice wall. Her blade only hit the two large spikes.
The white robed monster's hand shaking stopped. A droplet of sweat fell from his face. His breathing relaxed as his body calmed itself. He didn't smile, but he felt relief. His stood back in an upright position as Nia locked eyes with the monster. It was so close, she thought. The red blade stuck itself into the fortified ice made up of the two ice shards that shaped themselves into an X with the sword stuck in the middle. The two ice spikes started to crack, but the blade wouldn't budge. The tentacles behind her hastened and sharpened their ends into the shape of a blade.
Nia continued to try to take the sword out, but with no luck. As she did tried to pull it out from the same way she hit it in, the cracks from the ice started repairing themselves. The sides of the giant ice shards formed around the blade until the only thing she could do was pull it out. As she pulled, the red blade slowly moved forward rather than back. The tentacle closed in behind her, but she couldn't look back. She couldn't lose her red blade. If the white robed monster took the sword, she would have no way of breaking through his ice wall. And more importantly, she would never forgive herself if she lost it, she thought. It was her only reminder of her big sister Nera and there was no way she would let go of it. Nera's face was as clear as day to her as if it was right there. The one person who saved her.
Nia's eyes momentarily looked back at the white robed man and his smile. A hideous smile of a predator about to feast on a helpless meal. A smile that provoked Nia. Without any words, Nia could hear the white robed man say "I've won."
Nia's eyes turned green with rage unable to accept that. Her teeth began to sharpen which was unusual even in human form. In human form, their teeth would be that of a regular person, but her teeth began to transform into the shape of sharp dragon teeth. Small sparks flew on the blade as if it had hit iron. The white robed monster sniffed the air. He could smell some smoke coming off of the blade. As more sparks danced, he realized that the blade was enchanted with magic.
For Nia, it was better to be angry than afraid. Her mind blackened into that of an animal.
The ice wall behind him quickly shattered away as he jumped back. The icy tentacles behind Nia still moved on their own.
While pushing away a group of bandits, the silver merchant sensed the power coming from the red blade and looked in the direction of the fight.
Nia roared with the might of a dragon. The other bandits hearing the roar turned their heads towards the fight to see what was happening. Miranda continued watching from the sidelines. Belze stopped throwing rocks and turned his head towards Nia.
The red blade set itself ablaze with white fire. The ice instantly melted around it and she spun the blade in a circular motion.
In that moment, everybody was still, except for Nia. The bandits, the silver merchant, Belze, Miranda, and the white robed monster watched in awe towards the young dragon. Belze dropped all of the rocks that he was carrying. The silver merchant didn't have any reaction at all.
The x-shaped ice that held the blade and the thin ice wall melted instantly. The icy tentacles behind Nia were struck with enough force to blow away the surrounding fog from the entire town. The red blade's fire spread quickly among the tentacles as they burst from within until it reached the where the ground they grew from.
The entire town's mist was blown away and the sunlight shined over the town as drops of water fell from the sky as if it was rain. Water poured down above everybody. Belze dropped all of his rocks and the bandits dropped their weapons.
Nia's eyes closed and looked up as she felt the combination of warm rain and sunshine on her face. Her red blade's white fire extinguished itself. Her open mouth drank some of the falling water. Her sharp teeth reverted back to what it usually was. Her eyes opened and they were normal, again. No longer filled with green.
She looked back at the white robed monster as it's entire body started to shake and cower. She didn't smile, but instead glared at the monster with disgust in her eyes. This monster was just a stepping stone to getting to Nera. She couldn't be stopped here.
"That sword... that sword has so much untapped potential. It could even burn away the heavens or gods if used in the right hands," the white robed man said as his arms and knees shook. He thought that he needed to escape. His powers wasn't strong enough to hold back that white fire.
Nia took one step forward and the white robed man took one step back. Nia was sure that she was going to win. She took up her sword and as she did, she noticed the lack of fire from the blade. She shook that sword trying to conjure up the same fire that she was able to do before. She remembered creating the fire once at Kyte Village against that one dragonslayer, but back then she didn't really think about it. Now, she's done it again, but she had no idea how.
She shook the blade in confusion wondering what was wrong with the sword. She thought that maybe she needed to think about it really hard, and she closed her eyes to think about putting the sword on fire, she was unable to. She opened her eyes back up and scratched her head.
The white robed monster sniffed the air. There was no sign of any flames. He listened and smelled his surroundings and was able to tell that Nia didn't know how to conjure the fire. It must have been a stroke of luck that she's actually done it once, he thought. His legs and arms stopped shaking as he composed himself. Now, he was feeling lucky that the dragon in front of him was incompetent. He began to chuckle as he watched Nia trying to bring back the flames of her blade.
Belze watched his big sister struggling to create the same fire. The silver merchant noticed
But in a moment, his ears was able to catch something. The sound of a whip coming towards him. Nia stopped shaking her blade trying to conjure the fire as she noticed an unlikely ally. The white robed monster moved back with his arms up. The whip hit the rotting, ice cold skin off of the white robed monster's arm. He didn't need to smell the air. He only knew one person who used a whip among the ones there.
Miranda Levime. She wrapped her whip back around her arm with a grin. With the one hand the whip and the other in her mouth making a whistling sound. Wheet-whoo. Wheet-whoo. Wheet-whoo. Three consecutive whistles. With that, the other bandits who attacked Belze and the silver merchant suddenly shot up. They were so distracted by what they had just witnessed, that the whistling sounds woke them from their trance. They picked up their weapons and as Belze was about to grab a rock from the floor and throw it at one of them, the silver merchant stopped him.
"Well, boss - I mean, former boss - me and my boys are now going to resign from your little party. I hope this doesn't offend you. It's nothing personal," Miranda said with a devious smile.
The white robed mage replied, "I wasn't expecting loyalty from a bunch of bandits. Although, I would have hoped to have been betrayed later."
"Well, former boss, you ought to know that we follow the strongest. And you are clearly not the strongest. Shaking in your little bath robes against a teenage girl. Not really the ideal picture of strength. We'd rather follow our new teenage leader, Nia, here over a soggy old man."
"Huh?" Nia exclaimed as Miranda winked at her.
The other bandits started to surround the white robed monster. Nia watched as this unfolded.
The white robed monster shook his head. "That is unfortunate..."
Miranda smiled as she aimed her crossbow at the white robed monster.
"...for you."
Miranda dropped her crossbow and whip. Her hands began to fidget. Her body convulsed as she dropped to her back. Her screams of pain muffled as vomit and blood began to rise up from her throat. Her eyes turned red as blood began to tear out of her eye sockets.
Nia ran over to her in utter shock. "Miranda!" she yelled.
As Nia dropped to her knees as Miranda's body twitched. Something inside her body was moving around. One by one, weapons held by the bandits dropped. The other bandits began experiencing the same twisted thing.
Belze and the silver merchant watched from the sidelines.
"What's happening to them?" Belze asked.
The silver merchant didn't reply or make any reaction as he watched the group of bandits twist around on the floor.
The white robed monster breathed out mist that fell to the ground. The fog that was blown away started to consume the town once more.
As Nia sat close by, Miranda held Nia's hand tightly. She coughed out more blood and vomit. Her eyes continued to bleed. Something still moved around inside her body, but neither of them knew what.
"It hurts," Miranda said quietly. It was the only thing she was able to say.
Nia replied with a comforting tone, "It's okay. It's okay. It doesn't look bad."
Nia looked back at the silver merchant and yelled, "Please, save them! Save them with your magic!"
The silver merchant shook his head. He could not save them. His powers were limited in the physical realm. The bandits in front of him were already dead as they breathed the poison in for more time that he could reverse. And even if he could, he was only there to protect the boy. Nothing more.
Nia's helpless eyes looked back at the woman. Miranda's weak, cold hand held onto Nia's. Her vision blocked by tones of red.
Miranda muttered quietly and slowly with coughs in between, "I... only... wanted... friends."
At the end, her suffering stopped as life no longer took hold of her.
Miranda's crotch began to bleed. Something started to tear out of her armor and clothes. Nia could only watch in horror as a monster was ripping apart the woman's insides.
A small bloody webbed hand made up of fish scales and flash with claws of frozen blood. Nia stood up with her blade in hand. Something was coming out of Miranda's crotch area. Another hand came out.
In an instant, a creature jumped out from inside of the female bandit.
It was a small bloodied humanoid creature in a fetal position. It laid on the ground making a pitiful screech. It's face was that of a piranha. It's body was covered in fish scales. Its small hands had claws made up of icy red blood. It's fingers and toes were webbed together. It looked like it was staring directly at her with it's large eyes.
Nia pointed her red blade against it thinking it was some kind of monster. She has seen a lot of different monsters, but never one that came out of a human body like a parasite. Sweat began to pour out of her body as the mist started to surround the whole town, again. But in an the same amount of time that the creature ripped out of the woman, the hideous abomination stopped moving. It died shortly after being removed from its host.
Belze could only watch from a distance, but the each of the bandits convulsed spitting out blood from their eyes and mouth. Some from their ears, as well.
Nia kneeled besides Miranda and closed the woman's eyes. She looked upon the woman, but there was no time to mourn.
She got back up to her feet and looked directly at the white robed monster. It didn't move a single step, but its disgusting smile was seen all around the town. As she walked away from Miranda's lifeless body, Nia's determination to put down the white robed monster in front of her strengthened.