Glass or Diamond: Fairy's Wish

Episode 24: The Parasitic False Dragon

One last chance. One last valiant step upwards before whirling in a final slashing spin. One last hope to save her.

By divine providence, immense luck, or skill worthy of a legendary warrior, the result had no margin for error. Too many things could have gone wrong.

But they didn't.

Murtoa of Lakia is but a human warrior specializing in a craft, and until his final intervention, a dragon was laying waste to a city. Now, they are all falling from the sky.

He didn't knight himself. No feat of bravery led to his legend. And yet, he became who he is. Some call him a hero and pray to meet him.

But, he is just a human. He does his best, but is far from omnipotent. Many hands reaching out are snatched away long before he ever knows they existed.

All he can do, as a human warrior, is take the hands he can reach.

He pulls her by the wrist as the ground miles below rapidly approaches. Their fates are out of their hands now, but he can ensure she is saved if and when he is.

Mury isn't sure how he's survived this long, which is precisely why he rarely acknowledges it or analyzes it. If he breathes, he hunts. If his breath ceases, so be it. Until then, he has a job to do. And, this job is nearly complete.

The young girl is unconscious, bleeding from wounds to several of her joints, as well as the back of her neck. It's likely her breathing is shallow, if she's breathing at all. There's time, if she can be brought to a healer quickly. Unfortunately, said healers are on the ground, and he and she are falling from the sky.

Still though, Murtoa of Lakia is not concerned. It'll work out or it won't. Stressing over the fall will only cause him to go into shock and die. The girl is fortunate to already be unconscious.

Mury carefully sheathes the treasured family sword gifted to him in hopes of helping him specifically. He could say nothing else but how the blade has served him well. He hopes Kolaya finds the stories believable as much as pleasing.

His vision is restoring thanks to the frost relenting, but he's looking towards the sky. He doesn't need to know.

It'll either work out, or it won't.

***********************************

The energy around her is tense and fearful. Confusion and desperation are nearly palpable in the air. But, she feels nothing but confidence and pleasure. It's been so long since she felt like this. The warm rays of sun on her face, the wind in her hair. Even the smoke and fumes around her cannot dampen her mood now.

The dragon is all but defeated, and only ensuring Murtoa's survival is the priority. She has used almost all of her magical energy. Such a meager amount she can wield. However, she has an option no one else can exercise.

And it all started with a little meekness.

A slap yanks her out of her thoughts though, and the young fairy looks at Maerin, her senior whose wish has been expended. "WH-!? HOW DARE YOU!?"

"SNAP OUT OF IT!" barks the mature fairy. "Limited wish! You won't have to spend your wish. But..."

"Blood magic?" she replies. She pauses. She knows she needs to hesitate, but it does make sense. It's truly a win-win. "A-Agreed. But..."

"We're on it."

Maerin gestures at Tomoba the prince, Gyrryth the spellshot, and Coco the techromancer as the three dribble blood from their hands into a small bowl. In general, blood magic curses the source of the blood and binds them magically in varying ways to the caster using the blood. But, because it's basically the blood and not necessarily the source for most spells, spreading across multiple people actually has very few down sides. The most common curse, especially if blood magic isn't over-used, is pain-sharing. The three, or rather four including Maerin, whose hand is already sliced open given the blood dripping from her closed hand, will share Lykha's pain divided across their four souls, lessening it for each of them. It's often a favorite of cultists, giving them a lot of power without wiping out their followers with any one spell.