Over the Void

Chapter 9: Round Two

Morning came, and Esther woke up early, stretching like a kitten. She peered around, noting that Royal was still asleep. Quietly, she prepared a small breakfast for herself, and left some mushrooms for Royal to eat when he finally woke up. Deeming her work adequate, she went outside to practice. But the sun was rising, and it was beautiful. Red and orange filling the clouded sky. Esther sat and watched it for a while instead.

Meanwhile, Royal had woken up. He smelled the mushrooms, and ate fervently, feeling much better. To be honest, Royal only stayed down all day because Eldrie scared him, not because he was sore. But today, he was free to do as he wished. He went outside to see Esther staring at the sky, tears in her eyes.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked, alarmed. Esther started for a moment turning to face him.

"It's so beautiful..." Esther said dreamily. "It's the first time I've gotten to see the sun rise..."

"Yeah, sunrises are amazing. All the colors make everything look great." Royal nodded. "Everyone should get to watch a sunrise, at least once."

Esther smiled. "That would be nice..."

They sat in silence for a bit, before being suddenly interupted.

"If you're done spacing out at the sky, we have business to finish."

It was Eldrie, deadpanning as always. She had slipped up behind the pair again, and was hovering impatiently. "Come on now, let's not waste time." She flew off deftly.

Esther looked saddened for a moment. Royal put his hand on her shoulder. "Hey, don't worry. We help Eldrie today, and then we get to see all the sunrises we want. I promise."

Esther nodded, and lit a Fireball. "Ok, I'm ready. Please be careful this time..."

Royal gave her a thumbs up. "Of course."

It didn't take them long to return to the pond. There was no new enemies around it, save for some tiny gremlin creatures that seemed harmless. Eldrie was directly above the lake, hovering and watching all movement below her.

As soon as Royal and Esther arrived, she made her move, tangling as many of the gremlins as she could with sharp brambles. This got the two monsters' attention, and they looked for the attackers. Instead, their assailants got there first. Royal bashed the closest target with his sheild to knock it off balance. The irritated monster turned to face him and punch him. He didn't block, but the punch was weak, and glanced off. Esther didn't waste time, using her Focused Light Beam while the monster had its back to her. This one seemed feeble, and the beam punched through rapidly, defeating the monster.

"That feels too easy..." Royal muttered.

"That's because the last one you fought was built to endure harm, rather than deal it. But watch yourself." Eldrie scolded, like Royal was supposed to know this.

Royal, biting back a retort, was met with a blast of magic that pushed him back. Eldrie healed him swiftly. "Now, let's go over this again. Stop dying." She said, irate.

Royal tuned her out, trying to get the last target into a position for Esther to fire. But Esther had bigger problems at the moment. The gremlins were angry, and some were pursuing her. Frantically, she cast spells at them,but there were over a dozen, spread out so that her Fireball couldn't hit them all.

She called for help in her panic. Assistance came from Eldrie and Royal at the same time. Several gremlins found themselves shared again, and Royal slashed at others. While hardy, the gremlins were small, and Royal was easily able to send them reeling, so that Esther could finish them off one by one. But then, Royal noticed how infrequent Esther's attacks were becoming. She was tired.