Chapter 10: The Girl Named Lira 2.
There is no threat as dangerous as a cornered lioness
Unknown
___
"Go, hide!" Her mother whispered into her ears.
The elven child took heed and run to hide under their bed.
"Where is she!" She heard the roar of an angry man, but she ignored it.
Slash.
Then the sound of a blade cutting the air.
"Ah!" She heard her mother's scream, and she knew it was the last, but she had no power, she could only curl up into a ball and cry.
"Search the entire house!"
Drawers were shifted, bowls thrown out.
Thud.
She turned her scrawny body to face the outside, the feet of one of the strangers had stopped there.
"Found you"
___
Lira rose from her bed, covered in sweat and tears dripping down her face.
She dressed up and went out.
She left the Erasure fort to the lake by it.
She took a breath, curled herself up into a ball and watched her face in it.
It wasn't her face she saw though; she saw glimpses of her past, her scrawny wretched body and the severed head of a mother who did everything to keep her alive.
"Can't sleep?" Eloise asked from the other side of the lake, half of her body submerged in it.
Lira looked up, a bit surprised.
"Why?" She swam towards Lira, looking into her eyes; she saw it, the terror, the disappointment, the hatred, the weakness.
"Nightmares."
Splash!
She pulled Lira in.
Lira's eyes widened in shock, but that wasn't the end of it, Eloise pulled her in for a hug.
Lira felt Eloise's bare body pressed against her, and in this moment, she didn't feel the discomfort of the wet clothes.
"Let it out." She tightened her grip around Lira.
Like flood gates had been opened, tears poured down Lira's face.
"I've been here before." Eloise whispered.
"I don't need to know the source of your weakness and fear, but I understand you." She loosened her grip, taking some distance then unbuttoning Lira's clothes.
"Let yourself free," She whispered. "don't restrain yourself with events of the past."
"Strengthen yourself."
___
The next morning.
The golden rays of sunshine had already pierced through the veil of darkness. Every single one in the Erasure fort had already risen.
Boom.
The sound of battle resounded from the training fields.
Ten lances hung in the air behind Eloise, still, waiting.
Lira moved first.
Three lances shot forward in quick succession. Eloise sidestepped the first, deflected the second with a single lance of her own, and let the third graze past her shoulder without flinching.
She responded with four.
Lira scattered, rolling low as two buried themselves into the ground where she stood. The other two clipped the air above her head.
She was already moving when she came up, two lances trailing behind her as she closed the distance.
Eloise didn't retreat.
She met the first lance head on, shattering it, then pivoted around the second and drove one of her own into the ground at Lira's feet, forcing her back.
Lira stumbled.
Eloise gave her no time.
Six lances fanned out in a wide arc, cutting off her angles. Lira raised two of her own to block, but the force drove her to one knee.
She held.
Eloise paused.
At the edge of the field, nobody spoke. Amy had stopped writing. Jake's arms were folded, but his eyes hadn't left the field once.
Lira pushed herself back up.
Eloise watched her, then let her remaining lances dissolve.
Aryan observed the battle from the height of the fort.
"You've improved." Eloise smiled as Lira got back on her feet.
"I'm still not strong enough." Lira frowned, then prepared herself for another duel, taking more pills and conjuring 5 lances to be by her side.
Eloise waved her hands then the lances dissipated into the air.
"I want you to talk to Adrian, bring him back to his senses." She said as she stood by the stunned Lira.
___
At the outskirts of a city.
Boom.
A spear of Longinus shot through the air impaling the arm of a magical beast.
Roar.
Amy, Jake and a few other eraser agents that had accompanied her had been asked to step aside.
Whistle.
Two more lances pierced the beast.
It was a wolf type beast, yet it wasn't able to outrun Lira.
Boom.
As limped to the side, trying to run back into the thick forest, Lira reached its side on a ball of light.
Puchi.
The beast's head rolled on the ground.
"Is that all?" Lira asked, pointing her lance to the mountain of corpses at the gate. The images of her slave life flashing in her eyes.
"Yeah." Amy nodded. "They weren't fully corrupted so nothing was else was harmed in the process."
- -
In the night
Splash!
Lira submerged herself in the lake, closing her eyes and reflecting on her day.
Eloise hugged her from the back, leaning her head on Lira's shoulder.
"I heard of your onslaught." She muttered.
"I'm still not strong enough." Lira replied, her face softening up.
"Relax a bit." Eloise distanced herself a bit, providing just enough space to massage Lira's shoulders.
"Honestly," Eloise started, her hands sliding down Lira's bare back, squeezing and massaging her tense muscles. "if you truly want power the solution has always been right in front of you… just sealed away behind a self-imposed barrier."
Lira paused in thought for a second.
"You mean Adrian?"
"Exactly." She patted Lira's back and rose from the lake, her green eyes glowing in the moonlight.