Falling Into A New Life

My eyes scoured the new landscape after I stepped into my pentagram. Her side was more or less flat ground, with white fluffy clouds in the air. Mine was a frozen tundra littered with burning trees. I brought a spell to mind, and waited for the bell to ring. When I finally heard it toll, I cast as fast as possible. Instead of holding all the required runes in my head, I spoke a word made to represent them, and simply directed where I wanted it to go. The spell was just a bigger version of my first ice spell, made to freeze the ground beneath her feet.

"Frost!" I watched as she completed her spell, and seemed to blur to the side, before crashing to the ground and tumbling a good distance. I was shocked at how fast she could move, but got over it just as quickly. I grabbed the fire from one of the trees and whipped it at her, setting her fur ablaze. With a cry of pain she took of again, putting the fire out with her speed. I saw the direction she was running toward and turned the moisture in the air to ice, impaling her, or so I thought. I watched in confusion as she dissipated like mist, before I was sent flying to the side. I felt my broken ribs heal themselves as I stood back up. Looking back to where I used to be. I saw Alderra grinning at me.

"I'm sorry did that hurt? You should really be more careful."

I tried hitting her with a fire whip again, but like before she wasn't really there. I heard her laughter all around me as I took to the sky. At first it was shaky, but I quickly evened out. Looking down I was surprised to just see her sitting on the ground, with a look of concentration. My fur stood on end as I heard static from above me. Looking up I saw a black cloud brimming with lightning. With little time to react, I evaporated the cloud, dispelling the lightning much to her frustration.

At this point I had burned a good twenty percent of my mana, while I had no Idea how Alderra was doing. I then heard much more static than before. To my horror, there was now twenty lightning filled clouds that dwarfed the one from before. There was no way I could evaporate that many and still have enough mana to fight. With a shout of panic I dove to the ground and pulled the ice all around me into a globe, using the tactic from that hairless cat. I also melted tiny spots of ice below its walls to try and redirect the lightning. While most of the lightning spread out through the tundra, enough hit to leave me smoking, and my globe severely damaged. Through the cracks that had formed I could hear the static building up again.

I grit my teeth in pain while rebuilding and strengthening my globe, but It used up almost all of my ice mana. I only had enough for a weaker globe or one more attack. I couldn't believe how much mana she could use. I guess she wasn't lying about how strong she was. I started to wonder why the lightning hadn't hit yet before I felt how much she had gathered, even through the ice. I tried to think of a way to save myself.

(Dammit! I need to attack her but she keeps using illusions. How can I find her if I can't see or hear where she is? Maybe I don't have to? I can feel when the ice gets warmer or colder, and she has to be pretty warm!)

With the confidence that thought gave me, I felt for all the places the ice was getting warmer. My mind was immediately drawn to all the fires, but I filtered them out one by one. Just as the static reached a crescendo I felt where she was. Calling up the last of my ice and fire mana, I ripped up spikes of ice that turned red, and pulled all the nearby fire into that one spot. I had just enough time to smile before the lightning stuck.

When I came to, I was in the most pain I had ever felt. I was badly burned, no mana, and my ears were ringing horribly. I tried to open my eyes, but they were open. My eyes had burnt away from the lightning. When they finally regenerated, I saw Alderra struggling to pull herself off the spikes, but before the lightning stuck I had made them barbed. When I was healed enough to move I slowly made my way to her. The crowd waited silently, with bated breath. Waiting to see what would happen.

When I had almost crossed the distance to her, she finally managed to rip herself off the spikes. Once I felt the static start building again, something within me snapped. My rage built and built as I rushed at her. Even through all that had happened to me, I had remained kind and optimistic.I had put aside what she was and gave her a chance. She had dared to betray me? If that's how this world wants it than fine. I'll show it what a real demon is like.

She barely had the time to look surprised before my jaws closed around her throat. With a sharp pull I snapped her neck and threw her to the ground. I didn't wait for her neck to set itself again as I ripped into her. The small amount of electricity she had gathered struck me, burning through my wing. I didn't even glance at it, I was to busy. I ripped of her limbs one by one, pulled out her intestines and then shoved them down her throat. But I wasn't done, oh no I wasn't done. I ripped off her tails and then shoved them into her belly, before pulling apart her ribs and grabbing her heart. I twisted it slowly until it finally was let free with a sickening squelch. The whole time I stared into her eyes, watching her suffer as she couldn't even scream or breath. I slowly held her heart in front of her and devoured it bite by bite. The whole time she tried to use her magic, but she couldn't concentrate through all the pain. I smiled with sadistic glee as she turned to ash, before I roared triumphantly. I basked in the adoration of the crowd before I made my way back through the window. As it closed I felt my heart stop before I blacked out.

(Ahh my head... what happened?) I was in my room lying on my bed. I wasn't even under the covers, with half of me falling off.

It was like someone just haphazardly threw me on it and said 'Ehh good enough'. As I walked to the bathroom I slowly remembered everything that had happened, followed by throwing up in the toilet. Since I had only eaten one thing since I got here... you can probably guess what came back up. Needless to say it made things worse.

(Oh god what have I done? What I did to her body... I can't believe it. I really am a demon. You know what it's fine, it's fine. She was a demon, she deserved what she got. I just... I just killed a demon. I killed a very evil demon that was trying to kill me. That doesn't make me a monster, just a monster slayer. It doesn't matter what monster slayers do to monsters right? Isn't that how it always is in those kinds of books? No one cares what happens to a monster, I didn't do anything wrong.) For the better part of an hour, I repeated that phrase over and over in my head.

After I more or less recovered from my mental breakdown, I decided to start writing about everything that had happened. I took out the rune guide again, so I could learn how to stop people from reading it. I was about to start reading, but I was shocked when I felt my mana. Both my pools were over ten times bigger than before. The realization of what that meant was staggering. I shouldn't have won. She had so many chances to kill me, yet she took her time and drew out the fight. She decided to play around with me and I only got off one surprise attack. Even then, if I hadn't barbed my ice spikes she just would have walked it off. If she hadn't been so arrogant and confident... I would be dead. She would have finished me off as quickly as possible and I'd be dead.

I just sat there dumbly for a while, before there was a knock at my door. When I opened it, I was very surprised to see emperor Frost Phoenix himself standing before me. He just chuckled when I awkwardly bowed.

"Quite the impressive battle you had Shade." (He saw that?)

"T-Thank you, I'm glad you think so."

"Well, on to business. Because of your increase in strength and capability in your fight, it was decided you'd be moved up a year in schooling. This is your new schedule and on the back is a map. Classes start in two days and I expect you to be ready. You've been impressive so far but let me make this clear. No matter how many fights you win, you will never be stronger than me. As long as you remain as respectful as you have been, then you can do whatever you want. That doesn't mean some other demon won't take you down for it though. Only the strong are allowed to survive in this world and the rest sustain them." He turned around and nonchalantly walked away before shouting one last thing, "And don't worry, that was just the talk we give all second years. I'm sure you'll do fine."

I didn't find it very comforting. I silently closed my door before going back to bed. I just laid there for hours, not a single thought in my head. Eventually I fell asleep, and escaped the never ending nightmare. Even if it was only for a little while.