The Daemonness looked at Tristan, slightly confused, and giggled a little.
"Oh, but where's the fun in that? This is the first human I've ever seen! I'm not letting him go that easily, even if his dancing's boring," she pouted, looking at the redhead and smiling enthusiastically.
"You don't dance with a sword pointed at your partner's throat!" Aldraniri protested, which seemed to genuinely surprise his assailant.
"But I had heard saying you were going to dance was part of what mortals call the smacking chat they exchange before they start trying to attack each other! Isn't that what we're doing?" she asked, her grip faltering for a moment on the black magic sword pointed at Aldraniri. The redhead suppressed a snarl of frustration, feeling anger and rage welling up in his soul. He didn't have time for this! The evildoers were getting away, and his path was blocked by this hell-spawn ditz! The boy felt his blood begin to boil as the Daemonness continued prattling on to Tristan as well, "And I can't let you two scurry off! I have orders to kill or detain any intruders! Or something like that...eh, it was harsh stuff, and I don't want to get in trouble again and get stuck scrubbing the Toilets of Darkness for a month again-"
"LISOETTE! Stop playing with your food, idiot," a smooth, oily voice hissed, as another Daemonne was now standing in the tunnel the Daemoness had charged out of, looking quite different. It was obviously male, with slicked back hair the colour of a moonless light pulled into a ponytail, flawless skin that was unnervingly pale, snake-like red eyes, dressed like a nobleman going for a nightime walk in his forest. "Honestly, you're an embarrassment to the race. Kill the feeble human boy already and knock out the Elemental!" He continued to bark, frightening the Daemoness, which confused Aldraniri. Of course, his confusion at the Daemoness apparently being bad at her job quickly gave way to panic about the execution order Lisoette's boss had given.
"I'm sorry," the Daemoness whispered to Aldraniri, before swinging wide at the redhead. Her aim was off, barely making contact with his skin and missing any vital areas. However, it was sufficient to cause some bleeding across a good swath of his chest. It was an odd sensation for Aldraniri, really. He had never sustained any major wounds in his life, the sort that mangled up the skin and caused the blood to rain upon the earth. Come to think of it, Aldraniri struggled to think of any time he had received a cut. The sight of his blood was an alien one, initially because of how novel a sensation it was, before he noticed something else about the ichor soaking into his white shirt.
His blood was blue.
The Daemonne didn't seem to notice this snarling in frustration and cursing at the Daemoness as he moved his right hand back, his black cape fluttering slightly. "If you want something done right you do it yourself," he hissed, as the gloved hand began charging up dark magic. "Now, die."
Time seemed to slow down to a trickle once again for Aldraniri as the beam of dark energy began to launch from the Daemonne's outstretched palm. He suddenly had the same flashback as when the corrupted thing in the castle attacked him, though things began to change rapidly. The Deirboare became even more monstrous, growing a beautiful, terrifying face and rearing up on hind legs, turning into a gigantic demon. It leered down at the little boy in the flowers, raising a leg up and bringing it crushing down on him.
ARISE. The sky trembled as the voice shouted through Aldraniri's dream, and the flowers all began changing to red roses.
Aldraniri's tiny arms raised themselves above his head, and his hands held up the giant monster's foot, struggling against the inconceivable burden. Awaken, my scion. Deny your birthright no more, and burn this evil before you! RISE, SON OF ALSVIDSTER!
And suddenly Aldraniri felt like a tiny boy no more. He threw off the monster's foot, knocking it over and standing back up straight, growing taller and taller until he towered above the giant. Wings of flame sprouted from his back and a halo of fire crowned his head, almost like the depictions of Pryastar he had seen in Haventown's cathedral and the shrine Master Jarnsmon kept. Aldraniri looked down upon his foe and grinned as he felt indescribable power coursing through his veins. The monster roared only once, before Aldraniri plucked the very Sun from the sky itself and brought it crashing down on his enemy. His vision ended in a brilliant deluge of flame, suddenly bringing him back to reality.
Aldraniri felt as if all his passion and anger and fear were pooling up in his left hand, causing it to suddenly flare up with a fever. He felt as if he were on the verge of being crushed underfoot, when the deep, fiery voice from his vision spoke once more. ROAR.
The redhead took a single step forward, planting his foot firmly on the ground as his perception of time began to return to normal, and jabbed his left fist forward. For a split moment Aldraniri felt nothing but utter calmness, before he felt a spark catching in every fibre of his being. And then came forth one of the most glorious sights he had ever seen: fire from his hand. The jet of flame blossomed instantaneously, filling up the entire tunnel and pushing back the darkness, blasting the Daemonne in the searing glory of Pryastar. The Daemoness that had been fighting Aldraniri dispelled her sword, nervously backing away from Aldraniri.
"Please don't hurt me! I'm sorry I turned your shirt blue!" she squeaked, before running down the tunnel in the direction Aldraniri had seen the Watchtower people go. Aldraniri watched her flee, breathing a little heavily and pressing his right hand to his chest.
"Should we go after her, do you think?" the Fire Elemental asked Tristan.
