We regarded her gravely, trying to decipher her intentions. She gave nothing away, apart from the infuriating smirk she wore on her face.
My hair burst into flames in readiness to fight. Noting my silent signal, the others followed suit, Ana covered in an armor of plants, Durin summoned her vines as well, while Rylan pulled out his dual daggers, their sharp edges glinting in the light that streamed through the tavern windows.
"I see this is how you wanna play?" She smiled, her eyes glinting with mischief, getting into a battle stance, "Let's play."
I launched a fireball at her, followed closely by a roundhouse kick. A blur in my vision stunned me, surprised to find my kick now aimed at Durin's head. I righted myself mid air, spinning to land on the floor instead with a skid.
I looked back towards Nova but she wasn't there. My puppis constricted in shock as she reappeared infront of m, a wicked punch aimed at my abdomen. I met it with my forearms, our eyes locked in a staredown.
She was pulled away the next
Durin launched her vines at her, stabbing in all directions. After fending them off for a bit, Nova seemed a bit frustrated, then she waited for a perfect chance, and teleported Durin's vine attack to her, catching her in her own trap.
Anastasia and Rylan attacked in tandem, with Ana drawing aggro with her twisting vines, and Rylan playing backup, teleporting constantly with his daggers slashing. They kept her busy enough for me and Durin to rejoin the fight, cornering her with our attacks.
Having had enough of us, she vanished into thin hair, leaving us perplexed. "Scared?" I taunted while cautiously scanning the surroundings, as did everyone.
"Me?" Her voice boomed, sending all of us into hyper mode. "Not in the slightest."
Portals of varying sizes opened around us, sending gales into the now empty tavern. Bottles tumbled down the counters, hitting the ground in an explosion of glass. Their contents ran all over the floor, meeting in a vicious red blood-like river.
There was no point fighting someone we couldn't even see, so I called out, "What do you want?"
The winds around us wound to a crescendo, before slowly ebbing, revealing the extent of the damage the tavern had taken. Glass mugs and furniture embedded in the walls, more of them alongside bottles on the floor, chairs tumbled all over the room, it looked like the aftermath of a huge bar fight. I looked around at everyone, noting that we were all unscratched, which is near impossible without considerable effort, looking at our surroundings.
"You don't want to hurt us," I deduced.
She finally stepped out of the shadows. Right a chair, she straddled it, facing us. "Of course, not. You're my new besties, no?" She replied.
"What do you want?" Ana asked, her tone stern.
Faking a shocked face, she replied, "I should be asking that," An electric blue orb returned to her hand, where she bounced it casually. "After all, you've spent so much time looking for me." She concluded with a devious smile.
Realization finally dawned on all of us. "The space orb?" Rylan ventured.
Nova cocked a eyebrow. "No, a juggling ball." She answered, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Of course, it's the space orb, dummies."
I furrowed my brows in mild indignation. "Well, you could have started with that."
"I literally walked in holding it in plain sight," she answered with an exasperated look.
The tavern was filled with an air of awkward silence as we grappled with the results of our oversight.
Trying to breach the uncomfortable situation, Ana cleared her throat, her han reaching for her ear which was red with embarrassment.
"So...uhm...why isn't your orb in your back?"
Nova relaxed in her chair, kicking up her legs upon each other to rest on empty space. "I can manipulate the space around it, placing it anywhere I want."
"That's cool," I joined in.
Nova replied with a curt nod. I pressed on, extending a handshake. "I'm Lexx, bearer of the Power orb."
"Anastasia, bearer of the Nature orb."
"Durin, guardian of the Nature orb."
"And Rylan, trainer of the bearers?" Rylan ended.
We all took a look at him before bursting into rib cracking laughter.
"Laugh all you want," he pouted. "At least I don't have an ancient rock in my back."
After a bit, we all stopped to regard Nova once again, this time with curious gazes. Rylan leaped over the bar's counter to grab a bottle of punch among the remaining drinks, alongside a couple glasses.
After he poured everyone a drink, we all found seats of our own. "So," Ana started after a small sip. "How did you encounter your orb, Nova?"
Nova raised her glass to her eye level, watching the punch swirling around. "Nothing fun, was just minding my own damn business when it hit me like a ton of bricks, literally."
"I know, right?" Ana exclaimed.
"Yeah," Nova set down her glass. "But now that that's over with, I have some questions of my own."
"Shoot," I agreed.
"What are the orbs and what do they want with us?"