[Stryx] Facing the Wraith: Chapter 1

Cr-AAH!

The Wraith shrieks in anger at the small chiro and his rider, the two menaces that stand before her. Too much have they meddled, too much have they ruined. It is time for retribution. They may have bested her emissaries but they will not best her.

Kasiya chitters nervously, but his fur is ruffled, his posture defensive. He is scared, but he will not stand down. He will defend his rider, and he will defend this city of his friends. He hisses, adding in a screech of his own, but it is nothing compared to the Wraith’s anger as she howls right back.

Amerys is not so certain. This stryx is larger than any he’s seen, larger even than The Sunblessed’s mighty sheltering form… But even they were brought low, driven to madness. Perhaps the Wraith’s madness would not make her that much more formidable, her size not so much more of an issue. But they could not fight alone, not the two of them. The Sunblessed was taken down by several dozen guards -- the Wraith could certainly not be felled by one lone chiro and his rider.

But they had to try something.

Pulling back on the cloth around Kasiya’s neck, he growls, “Come on, she wants us, we’ll make her work for it. Pull her away from the city.”

Kasiya chitters angrily, casting a glance to Geiger and Kali. But the Wraith is tired of stalking, and she lunges forward. Kasiya ducks beneath her snapping beak, dodging to the side and away, jumping into the sky and grasping the air clumsily with his wings. The Wraith snarls as her prey lifts into the air, whirling and whipping her tail through the air to catch Kasiya and knock him to the ground. She makes solid contact, and the chiro is sent flying, but before he can make contact with a building or the ground, he manages to right himself, wobbling as he continues to gain altitude.

She howls, her anger echoing through the night sky. Darkness swims across her feathers, making even the starry canvas above seem light. She climbs on top of a building, her beak dripping with corruption, the sickly red a mirror of the eerie runes encircling her limbs. And above them all shines a blood moon, tinging the entire city in an ominous crimson light.

Kasiya pauses, trying to find the shortest way out of the city. The Wraith follows close behind, climbing atop whatever buildings she can to try and reach her prey, her gaze calculating his angle, his goal. She huffs angrily, turning to the city, the runes around her neck glowing with magic. Seeing this, the bat tucks his wings and dives at the corrupted stryx, slamming into her shoulder with all the force he can muster, tearing at her feathers with his claws and teeth in a desperate attempt to regain her attention. Amerys tries to guide him away, but the bat will not be deterred. He growls, like a stryx possessed, biting at her shoulder until she finally turns back to him, magic still glowing around her form. With that, Amerys manages to pry Kasiya away from the larger stryx, but it’s too late. The rings of runes glow brightly, as does the corruption dripping from her mouth.

Kasiya drops, but the burst of magic cuts past him, clipping his wing and sending him down to the streets. He crashes into the cobblestones, sending Amerys tumbling from his back. For a moment, neither of them move. But then the rider stirs, Amerys lifting his head, struck with immediate and cold fear when the chiro does not follow suit. But finally, the tan head lifts, gaze immediately snapping to check on his friend. There’s a moment of relief shared between the two of them before the Wraith screeches triumphantly, looming over the road where they lay. Her runes start to glow again, and Amerys makes to get up, but finds instead that pain shoots through his leg. Kasiya pulls himself up -- sore and battered, but not broken -- and at first seems as if he’s going to face down the Wraith on his own.

But after a moment, he darts as quickly as he can toward Amerys, lifting into the air and grabbing his rider tight in his claws as he passes by. His flight falters, his one wing still injured from the initial blast, but he manages to get height, to angle toward the city walls, flying low. He’s desperate to keep the Wraith on his tail, keep her attention on him. And it seems to work. Though she still charges up her next blast of magic, she tracks him, following him as he tries to leave the city, to draw her destruction beyond the walls.

She is focused on finishing the job, on landing the final blow now that these pests are wounded. She follows them, this time, snaking over buildings -- stones and timbers crack under her weight. Screams are heard, injuries are had -- lives are likely lost. But less, hopefully, than would be lost if she was allowed to run rampant through the streets unchecked.

Just as she’s about to release her magic, Kasiya pauses, hovering. He waits for just the right moment, knowing now what to look for, when to dodge. And just at that moment, he drops Amerys and dives.

His companion panics for a moment -- his one and a half wings reflexively spreading to desperately slow his fall. The attempt is futile, but unnecessary regardless. Kasiya bumps Amerys to right his fall, then pulls up into a spiraling ascent -- the cloth usually used as makeshift reins has long since been lost in the fight, but Amerys digs his hands into the bat’s fur, pulling himself against Kasiya’s back as gravity fights their ascent. The Wraith’s magic goes wide at the dive -- and her attempt to correct her aim also misses with the sharp incline. Though only just barely -- Amerys would have been fried, were he still in Kasiya’s claws.

Kasiya hovers, then, as the Wraith finishes her climb over the walls. She pants, her form shaking with anger. They’re outside the walls now. It’s an even playing ground.