Blood of the magi
Chapter 2: The Harrowing"Magic exists to rule man, and never rule over him," Knight Commander Greagoir began, advancing slowly on the young mage.
"Thus spoke the prophet Andraste, as she cast down the Tevinter Imperium,-…"
Layla rolled her tired eyes. Oh, please don't start a bloody sermon. She caught Cullen out of the corner of her eye. Maker, he looked terrible, pasty and shaky. He probably looked worse than her.
What in all of Thedas were they going to do to her?
She had heard a thousand and one rumours, of course.
Mages were terribly gossipy creatures, and she had every theory from:
"Apparently, the Templars all throw their swords at you and you have to deflect them with magic!"
To:
"Well, I heard, that if you fail, the senior enchanters turn you into a pig and eat you for dinner!"
She realised she hadn't listened to a word the lead templar had been saying. What if she had to repeat what he had said? What if their was a written exam? What if she WAS turned into a Pig?
Her rambling mind was dragged back into the present with a screech when she noticed that all the Templars were now glaring at her.
She smiled with confidence, confidence she certainly wasn't feeling. After all, becoming a Pig would just be… intolerable.
"You're magic is a gift…" Wow. She thought. Did Greagoir just say that?
"-But it is also you're curse…" Ah… there it is. She worried if he had gone a bit soft for a moment.
"-For demons of the dream realm - the Fade - are drawn to you. And seek to use you as a gateway into this world."
Hang on… she wondered suddenly as a blue glow caught her eye. Is that Lyrium in that container?
"This is why the Harrowing exists," Senior Enchanter Irving began. This was obviously well rehearsed, she reflected, still watching the sparkling Lyrium with curiosity.
"The ritual sends you into the Fade, and there you will face a demon, armed with only your will."
Layla looked up and stared at the man.
"You… want me to go into the fade… and have a wrestle with a Demon?" she asked, disbelieving.
Cullen was visibly grimacing now, but Irving's and Greagoir's faces were unreadable. Set in stone.
"And if you fail," The knight-Commander primly informed the unbelieving Mage. "It will turn you into an Abomination and the Templars will be forced to slay you."
No pigs then.
The bubbling potion of what was obviously Lyrium gave a menacing bubble, as if to reinforce the Templars point.
Greagoir saw that she was staring at, and moved her slightly closer.
"This is Lyrium: The very essence of magic and your gateway into the fade."
She was going to get chucked into the Fade. This was the worst night, ever.
She was surprised when Irving grabbed her by the shoulder and began whispering to her urgently.
"The Harrowing is a secret out of necessity, child. Every mage must go through this trial by fire. As we succeeded, so shall you.!"
"But I-" she began. Irving cut her off.
"Keep your wits about you and remember the Fade is a realm of dreams. The spirits may rule it, but your own will is real!"
She nodded weakly, her heart pounding. The Harrowing potion gave another menacing bubble, and a small haze Of Lyrium mist rose lazily into the air.
"The apprentice must go through this test alone, First Enchanter," The Knight Commander informed them coolly.
Layla span around her heel and glared at him with her emerald eyes.
"Alone? He's hardly giving me-"
"Alone," The intolerable man repeated, returning the glare.
Perhaps he wouldn't even wait for her to become an Abomination. Maybe he would cut her down the moment she was in the Fade…
"You are ready," Greagoir informed her.
There was nothing to be done. Layla took a step forward, feeling the eyes of Templar and Mage alike burning into her back.
The potion was a beautiful pale blue, sparks of magical energy bounced off and around the surface.
She squeezed her eyes shut and plunged her hand into the basin. The effect was not entirely unpleasant, she reflected. Then her Spirit was torn from her body, and the empty shell that had been Layla Amell collapsed to the floor with a stony thud.
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Layla's eyes fluttered open . She found herself in a tangle of limbs on the floor of a small clearing, everything seemed warped and twisted. She stood up, aching and swaying slightly.
"Ugh…" she muttered, with feeling. Her protesting voice echoed oddly, as if she was in the storage Cave back at the Circle, not a wide open space.
She took in the view.
Everything was oddly hazy, like looking at a scene through a murky window. The entire landscape seemed twisted and alive. Long tendrils of rock sprung from the earth at seemingly random intervals, she noticed a piece of Avvar stonework, standing tall and proud amidst the living landscape; a steep slope that opened out into a petrified forest of alien fauna.
She took several steps forward, her entire body just felt… wrong. As if her commands were on a one second delay, and her body was trying desperately to keep up.
Perhaps this was what being drunk was like. She didn't much care for it.
"Right then," she said over loudly. Perhaps she could lure the demon out. No point delaying the inevitable.
"Hello? Is there a Demon about? Epic battle for my soul? Anyone?"
No answer, but the entire landscape seemed to creak ominously.
She sighed theatrically.
"I'll just stay hear then, shall I? I mean, not like I have better things to be doing,"
Nothing.
She started walking down the steep slope, the bizarre vegetation, swaying and spindly, seemed to track her progress.
A glowing ball of light floated eerily in front of her, bobbing up and down and side to side.
"I don't suppose you're the Demon?" she asked politely.
The Wisp struck out with a bolt of light, and Layla gave a shriek of surprise and pain.
"Oh you little-" she threw out her hands, hitting the Wisp with a powerful arcane bolt of energy.
The Wisp popped like a balloon and floated slowly, almost serenely to the floor.
She continued on her path, meeting a few more Wisps, quickly dispatching them with two bolts of Magical lightening.
She wondered if she should just… walk around. Was the Demon even aware she was here? Did she have to hunt it down? She wished Irving had been slightly more explicit about what she had to do in this dump.
She walked for a few more minutes, meeting little in the way of resistance. The path climbed ominously then descended just as quickly, giving her the oddest sense of weightlessness.
But then, she reminded herself, she only weighed something because she believed she did. Her true body was lying on the hard stone floor of the Circle's Antechamber. Maker, what if the Templars were going through her stuff? That would just be-
"Someone else thrown to the wolves. As fresh and unprepared as ever."
Layla looked around, slightly startled. Who the hell was-
"It isn't right that they do this, the Templars. Not to you, me, anyone."
She looked down. It was a Rat. A rat was talking to her.
Joy.
"You're a talking rat," she informed him, wondering if the small mammal was aware of this.
The Rat gave a sour chuckle. "You think you're really here? In that body? You look like-"
"Yes, yes," she interrupted impatiently. "My will makes it so, etc. etc."
She crouched down, her green eyes full of curiosity, a kind smile spreading over her lips.
The Rat gave a theatrical sigh. "It's always the same. But it's not your fault. You're in the same boat I was, aren't you?"
The Rat began to glow, and warped into a far larger, more agreeable shape, slightly taller than Layla.
"Allow me to welcome you to the fade," The man said, in a theatrical fashion. "You can call me… well, Mouse."
"Mouse?" She replied, biting back a laugh. "I though you were a Rat, myself."
He glared at her, then smiled. "Mouse is slightly more respectful, don't you agree?"
"Oh quite," She replied. It didn't do to make enemies here. She may have found an Ally against the Demon. He could… bite him or… something.
"So… "Mouse" not your real name I take it?"
"No," he replied, his dull green eyes watching her carefully. "I don't remember anything from… before."
"I'm sorry," she said. "I mean it. No one deserves that kind of death."
He waved away her apology. "Do not waste time feeling sorry for me! The Templars kill you if you take to long, you see. They figure you failed, and they don't want something getting out."
Layla felt her worst fears chewing at the back of her mind.
"They'll just… kill me?"
"That's what they did to me, I think." The man added sadly. "I have no body to reclaim. And you don't have much time before you end up the same."
"This is ridiculous!" she protested. "I can't even find this damned Demon! It's not like the Templars gave me a map! And what in all of Thedas am I supposed to do when I find the creature anyway?"
"There is… something here," He informed her. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Well, her imaginary body could do "fear" pretty well at least.
"It's contained, just for an apprentice like you. You have to face the creature, a demon, and resist it… if you can."
"And then I can get out of here?" She asked, "Hope" now replacing "Fear" as her emotion of choice.
"Or your opponent will. If the Templars didn't manage to kill it."
"Anything can die. I doubt it's as simple as that,"
Mouse's face ascended into a crooked smile. Layla didn't like it.
"You would be a fool to just attack everything you see. What you face is powerful, cunning."
The fade seemed to shift with a loud creak to emphasise Mouse's point.
"There are others here, other spirits, they will tell you more, maybe help. If you can believe anything you see."
Layla nodded, rising to her feet. "Looks like I need to have a chat with some of these spirits."
Mouse took a meaningful step forward to follow her.
"I'll follow, if that's all right. My chance was long ago, but you… you may have a way out."
"Just be careful I don't step on you," she informed him as he transformed back into a rat with a flash of white.
So the bizarre party began it's way. The mage, breezing along, but with a spell ready to defend herself at a moments notice; And a rat, which bawled cheerfully after her like a loyal Mabari.
The path began to raise steadily, Layla was quickly becoming fatigued. If she survived this she would need to seriously consider some sort of exercise regime. She recalled with a rueful grin how the Mages were originally allowed to go outside the tower for a bit of fresh air and exercise, It had been going well, Until one of her fellow mages, a man named Anders had thrown caution to the winds and dived straight into the lake and swam to the other shore.
The mages weren't exactly encouraged to enjoy fresh air after that.
"A dangerous spirit is not far," Mouse informed her as they neared the summit.
"Dangerous?" Layla panted. "How can you tell?"
"I can sense it's hate," Mouse replied, his long tail swaying slowly from side to side. "Don't go near it unless you are ready to fight,"
Layla continued, quickening her step slightly., the steep path was finally levelling out, thank the Maker.
A strong smell of smoke hit her suddenly like a brick wall. It was like walking over a bonfire. She began to cough and dry retch, tears rolling down her cheeks with the effort of it.
"What-" She coughed again, which quickly evolved into another dry heave.
"That?" she finished feebly.
The pair found themselves in a ring of fire, she looked around, startled. The small bonfires were almost tribal in arrangement.
Waiting for a sacrifice.
"This is where the test will take place," Mouse told her, confirming her fears.
"I love what he's done with it," She replied tartly. "It's so very Tevinter Imperium,"
She stood for a moment, tense, every muscle contorted, every nerve tingling.
Nothing happened.
"Do I have to summon it? She wondered. "Is their some sort of summons? Incantation? Pass code?"
The mouse gave a dry chuckle.
"The creature can be anywhere, but it manifests here, in this ring of flame."
Layla nodded. "You said their were some friendly sprits about?"
"Close," Mouse reassured her.
The pair moved on from the flaming arena, and were attacked by more Wisp Wraiths. Layla threw several quick spells at them, her hands glistening with energy as the arcane bolts flew quickly and hit their intended targets.
"I remember reading of these creatures," Layla informed her rodent comrade. "A wisp is a demon that has lost it's power, usually because they were too stupid to mind their own business and think they can survive in the real world."
"They are mindless, powerless fools," Mouse agreed, scurrying after her. "They deserve their fate."
A few more wisp Wraiths. A few more arcane bolts from an impatient mage.
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"Ah haaa!" Layla suddenly announced. "Guess what I can see!"
A glowing man was visible close to their path. He was in Templar armour, which did little to dampen the mage's cheerful enthusiasm, and seemed to be protecting rack after rack of magical staves.
"Another spirit this way," Mouse commented, contempt in his voice. "He never seemed equal to his name, to me."
"To be fair," Layla replied, smiling her most winning smile at the knight. "You are a rodent."
Layla approached the glowing figure with sheer charisma as her weapon of choice.
"Hello!" she called. "Lovely day for it! Do you have days in the Fade? I forget. I mean, I don't forget, I was never sure in the first place and I-"
She caught the spirits glaring eyes.
"I'm babbling. Sorry."
"Another foolish mortal thrown into the flames and left to burn, I see."
"That's me," She replied brightly. "without the burning part, hopefully."
The spirit snorted. "your mages have devised a cowardly test. Better you were pitted against each other to prove your mettle with skill, than to be unarmed against a demon."
"I agree, but I didn't exactly have a choice in the matter."
The sprit nodded, his glowing armour glinting and glistening in the dull murky surroundings.
"Indeed. The choice, and the fault, lies with the Mages who sent you here. That you remain means you have not yet defeated your hunter-"
"I can't even find the damned creature." She responded, smiling through a scowl.
"He will find you," Mouse said darkly.
"And it will be a glorious battle!" The sprit agreed.
"Talking of battle…" Layla took a step forward, "I don't suppose I could borrow one of those rather lovely staves?"
"You wish one of my staves?" The sprit growled indignantly, as if she had just asked to borrow a kidney. "My purpose is to seek perfection! Creating the ultimate weapon for the pursuit of Valor!"
"That's who this spirit is," Mouse explained.
"It is as the tiny, four legged one says," Valor agreed. "I am Valor, a warrior spirit. I hone my weapons in search of-"
"Would one of these staffs kill the demon if I hit it hard enough?" Layla eagerly asked.
"Without a doubt!" Valor replied proudly. "A weapon is a single need for battle, and my will makes it so. Do you truly desire one of my weapons?"
Layla nodded like an eager puppy.
"If it's not too much trouble."
"Then I will give one to you… If you agree to duel me."
Mouse gave an audible groan. Layla stared up at the six foot armour plated mad man.
"Run that past me again."
"If I believe you capable of slaughtering the demon, I will stop the duel and give you the staff. If I find you unworthy, I will slay you."
Layla noticed her mouth was gaping, and clamped it closed, her mind spinning.
"It seems to me you just want to kill me yourself."
"Oh here we go…" mouse muttered.
"How DARE you accuse me! I am a sprit of Valor! A warrior! A-"
"An armed lunatic who challenges defenceless mortals to duels when he should be helping them defeat evil!" She shouted back, green eyes blazing.
"You are insolent!" Valor growled back. "But your will is unquestionably strong. …"
Valor turned on his heel and reached for one of the staves. It was a crooked, wizened thing, but seemed to glow with magical energy. Valor pressed it into Layla's hands, perhaps slightly more forcefully than was strictly necessary.
"You have proven to me that you have the tenacity and the strength to defeat this demon. Go prove yourself!"
Layla beamed at him and twirled the staff around in her fingers.
"This'll do nicely. My thanks, sprit of Valor."
Valor ignored them as they drifted off.
The two continued on their way, Layla savouring the increase in spell power that Valor's staff gave her. Mouse trotted by her side, his nose twitching and snuffling over the ground like a tracker hound.
The pathway had begun to climb steeply again, but Layla's pace quickened regardless.
Suddenly, a burst of light exploded directly in front of her, throwing the mage backwards several feet. She looked up, glaring at her opponent.
It was In the shape of a wolf, but obviously a sprit creature, judging by it's brilliantly white coat and glowing red eyes. It snarled at them, teeth bared. Mouse practically buried himself in her robes.
"Mouse!" she protested, giggling despite herself. " Ouch! that tickles!"
The Spirit wolf pounced at her, teeth bared. Layla brought up her staff and fired off an electrical bolt of lightening that struck the snarling wolf right in the face. It shrieked and collapsed to the floor in pain. Layla brought her staff down hard, and the wolf exploded in a plume of light.
Two more appeared, but proved little of worth against Layla's increased spell power.
"Mouse?" Layla muttered the moment the path was clear. "Mouse, for maker's sake, get out of my robe!"
Mouse pointed his nose out from under the fabric and peered about suspiciously. When his tiny black eyes caught her fierce green ones glaring at him, he slinked out from under her cloths.
"Sorry," he muttered. "I have spent so long hiding, it is a force of habit. A matter of survival."
Layla smirked, lowering her staff.
"Can't you transform into something with… I don't know… claws? And fire breath?"
The Rat shifted and strained in white light, and again, a man was standing where the creature had been,
"The mouse is the only form I have learnt," he explained, regretfully. "When I was trapped in the Fade, I became small, unnoticeable. A mouse. I know nothing of other forms."
Layla patted him on the shoulder. "perhaps someone hear could help you with that?"
A strange glint flickered behind Mouse's dull eyes.
"There is another spirit close by," he told her. "Not the one hunting you, but still…"
Layla nodded and rose her staff, advancing up the hill with grim purpose.
Huge tendrils of some bizarre plant life were twisting all about the passageway. It was almost like a shrine for it's occupant.
Layla and mouse stared human and rat eyes at the creature. It was like a bear, but yet… horribly wrong. Half it's bones seemed to be on the outside, with painful looking cavernous wounds situated all over its huge body. It was laying on the floor, looking rather comfortable.
Until it opened a single bloodshot eye.
"Hmm…" it muttered in a rather bizarre upper class accent. "So you are the mortal being hunted? And the small one… is he to be a snack for me?"
To Mouse's credit, he didn't dive back under Layla's robe, but transformed back into his human shape. And he was glaring at the creature with venom.
"I don't like this," he growled. "He's not going to help us. We should just go…"
Layla nudged him in the rib. "Relax. I won't let this… bear thing eat you."
She rose her staff to reinforce her point.
"No matter," The bear sniffed. "The demon will get you eventually, and perhaps there will even be… scrapes left."
Layla frowned. "You look like you've been put through the mauler," she pointed out.
"What the hell are you supposed to be?"
"It's a demon." Mouse answered. "Perhaps even more powerful than the one hunting you."
"Very likely," The demon responded, blinking slowly. "Now begone! Don't you have better things to be doing than bother Sloth-"
"Sloth?" Layla repeated. "You're a sloth Demon?"
With what looked like considerable effort, the Sloth Demon rose up on it's powerful muscular legs.
"I tire of you already!" sloth snarled. The he yawned. And collapsed to the floor.
"I don't suppose you could help us fight another demon?" Layla asked sweetly.
"You have a VERY nice staff," Sloth replied coolly. "Why would you need me? Go, use you're wooden stick. Be… Valorous."
Mouse however, seemed to have a different idea. His green eyes were glowing with greed.
"He looks… powerful." he muttered. "It may be possible that he could… teach you to be like him."
Sloth however, scoffed. "Like me? This mortal is far too… attached to learn to change."
Sloth turned his single open eye to Mouse instead.
"You… on the other hand, little one. Might be a better student. You left you're human form years ago…"
Mouse winced. "I don't think I would make a very good bear…"
Layla however, beamed at him.
"Don't be silly! How hard could it be? Think of it as being a very large, ANGRY rat. With claws."
"The loud one is correct," Sloth confirmed. "This form is rather… powerful. When I wish it to be."
"I shall try," Mouse nodded weakly. "I'll try to be a bear, if you'll teach me."
Sloth yawned.
"How wonderful for you. I however, have no interest in teaching you. Off you trot now."
Mouse shrugged his shoulders at Layla, who was looking enraged.
"I told you he wasn't going to help us."
"Are you always this annoying or are you making a special effort today?" Layla demanded, a small thunder cloud behind her eyes, and her staff now pointing at the demon's head.
Sloth gave Layla's staff a careful eye.
"Oh, very well. You wish to learn my form, whiskered one? Then I have a challenge for you-"
"Please be joking," Layla muttered.
"-Answer three riddles correctly, and I will teach you. Fail, and I will devour you both. Whiskers and all. The decision is yours, Mortal."
Layla and mouse shared a bemused look, but Layla smiled at the creature, lowering her staff.
"I accept you're challenge, you mangy bear demon thing, you."
"Truly?" Sloth's eye opened a fraction wider. "This get's more and more promising…"
"I know, doesn't it?" Layla grinned.
Then she threw a bolt of lightening at his face.
Sloth bellowed in rage and scrambled to his feet, bloodshot eyes screaming with hate.
"Foolish Mortal!" it snarled.
Layla chucked another bolt of lightening at him.
Mouse had transformed back into a Rat and had once again buried himself in her robe.
Sloth brandished a claw and swung deftly at the young mage with surprising agility.
"Time to feast!" Sloth growled happily, slicing another claw at the tiny human.
Layla ducked and sprang forward like a cat, throwing an Arcane bolt into Sloth's enamoured belly. He whimpered and stopped attacking, but his eyes were still blazing with red fire.
"Enough! You are a pest and not worth this exertion! I will teach the tiny one to become a bear, if only to get rid of you!"
Mouse poked his head out from under her robe.
"Is it over?" he asked weakly.
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"Well? How do I look?" Mouse asked, sounding bemused.
"You look like a great sodding bear, Mouse," Layla informed him happily, giving him a quick pat on the nuzzle.
"It feels… heavy." he said after a moment.
Sloth stared at him with vague resignation.
"Close enough," he decided.
"Go then, and defeat your precious demon… or whatever it was you were intending to do. I have grown weary of your mortal prattling."
Layla and Mouse scuttled back down the slope, Mouse seemed to be enjoying his new form, raising up on his muscular hind legs and bearing his teeth proudly.
Several more flashes of light bothered them on the return journey, revealing themselves as a pack of Sprit wolves. Between spell and Claw, they were quickly dispatched.
Layla gave Valor a quick wave as they ran past him, earning a steely glare in return.
Once again, Layla could smell the smoke winding up her nostrils. She was ready this time, and did not begin to choke.
The flames of the circle were blazing far higher than she remembered.
"Ok," she said quietly. "Are we ready for this? Tell me we're ready for this, Mouse."
The huge bear gave a nod.
"We are ready."
As if on cue, the numerous flame pits spluttered and blazed into new life as a powerful being manifested itself in the flame.
"And there is a spirit of Rage! Mouse announced, pawing the ground.
Layla stared at the creature. It seemed to be living flame itself, and as it turned to view them with it's tiny black eyes, she felt a wave of heat pass over her that caused her to flinch.
"And so it comes to me at last!" The Rage Demon spat, throwing it's molten arms wide.
"Hello!" Layla said brightly, clutching her staff tight.
"Soon I shall see the land of the living with YOUR eyes, creature! You shall be mine, body and soul!"
"How about "never?" Layla responded. "Is "never" good for you?"
"Amusing…" The demon growled. "Have you not told it of our… arrangement, mouse?"
Mouse was back in his human form, standing tall and defiant.
"We don't have an arrangement! Not anymore!"
The flames seemed to glow brighter and hotter.
"Aww…" The Rage demon replied. "And after all those wonderful MEALS we have shared? Now suddenly the little mouse has changed the rules?"
Mouse glared. "I'm not a mouse now! And soon I won't have to hide! Not from you, not from anyone!"
"Could we move this along?" Layla asked. The heat was starting to make her feel faint.
"Oh we shall!"
The Rage Demon lurched forward, spitting red hot balls of magma at his foes. Layla yelped and sidestepped, narrowly missing the powerful attack. Mouse transformed into his new bear form and charged forward with a bellowing raw, clawing at the demon with razor sharp claws. The Rage demon responded with more fire attacks, blasting our a wave of flame like a shockwave; sending the bear flying. Layla screamed as her robe caught fire, and she began desperately slapping the small flame with her hand to extinguish it.
Mouse clamoured to his four feet and continued his attack, striking the spirit with full force; the sprit, unable to withstand the bludgeoning, melted into the flame and appeared at the far end of the circle. Layla finally succeeded in extinguishing the flames and began to throw spell after spell at the hissing demon, each one slamming into the boiling flame like a cannonball. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the Rage demon spluttered and collapsed, its flaming body soaking into the earth.
And then it was gone, with nothing but a smouldering pile of ash to betray that it was ever there.
Layla approached the area where the demon had died and kicked the pile of ash with a foot.
"You did it!" Mouse said, overjoyed and now back in his human form. "You actually did it!"
Layla smiled sagely. "Was there ever any doubt?"
Mouse returned the smile. "When you came, I hoped that maybe you might be able to… but I never really thought any of you were worthy!"
Layla's smile faded a little. Her green eyes drawn back to the spluttering ashes.
"I'm not sure…" she muttered. "This was a little too easy…"
Mouse laughed, his dull eyes sparkling. "That is because YOU are a TRUE mage! One of the few!"
His expression descended into a sad frown,
"The others, they never had a chance. The Templars set them up to fail, like they tried with you."
Layla was still watching the ashes, frowning. This had been easy. Way too easy.
"I regret my part in it…" Mouse continued. "But you have shown me that there is hope. You can be so much more that you know…"
Layla turned her green eyes on Mouse as if she had never seen him before.
"And what," she began delicately, "Did you believe you could get from me?"
"You defeated a demon! You completed your test! With time, you will be a master enchanter with no equal!"
"Well, that's true enough," she responded, unsmiling.
Mouse took a step forward, dull eyes glinting with… something. Hunger? Hate? Desperation?
"And maybe there's hope in that for someone as small and as… forgotten as me."
Another step.
"If you want to help…"
Step.
"There may be a way for me to leave here, to get a foothold outside…"
Step.
"You just need to want to let me in…"
STEP.
Layla held her ground. And she smiled at him.
"You know, I'm starting to think that the other demon wasn't my test."
Mouse stared at her. Disbelieving. "What! What are you… of course it was! What else is there in this realm that could harm an apprentice of your potential?"
Layla held her ground, her face set in stone.
She raised her staff.
Mouse chuckled.
"You are a smart one."
"Don't I know it." She replied coolly.
Mouse continued to speak, but his voice was warping, becoming deep and demonic.
"Simple killing is a warrior's job. The real dangers of the fade are preconceptions, careless trust… Pride."Mouse exploded in a burst of light, a shining white that stretched and expanded until it was towering far over Layla's head. It was purplish is colour, armour plated and its many claws were like scythes.
It glared down at the tiny mage as the white energy steadily grew brighter and brighter.
"Keep your wits about you, Mage. True tests never end."--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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