Astoria Pendridge

Thirteen

An eagle flew over the forest, the mark of a lightning bolt on its back as it stalked after a wolf visible below the canopy of leaves. The beast ran, its figure barreling between trees while Astoria chased after its back. She could see what Tig could. She could hear what he could. And, in a way, she could also feel what he could. She was sure it wasn't a one-way stream. To a degree, Tig could also feel as she did.

Her daggers were wielded tightly in her hands and, this time, she had no need to spend minutes to hours tracking down her prey. She had grasped its general direction from its paw prints, its smell, and then sent Tig after its form.

'Tig, cut it off with a bolt,' She thought as she jumped from one tree to another with less effort than before, quaking its branch. 'Before it notices you.'

There was no need for any deeper instructions as Tig understood her thoughts and her intentions. He flapped, gaining ahead of the wolf, and then turned before curling his wings into himself and diving from the sky. A few feet above the ground, just as the wolf reached to cross under him, he flapped his wings as his beak opened.

A screech rang and a bolt of lightning struck the wolf in mid-run. It roared in a yelp of pain, its body convulsing and its figure tumbling over itself before slamming into a tree, the air wiping out of its lungs. It moved to regain itself and Astoria leaped from a tree, her figure barreling towards it.

It roared and leapt at her, fangs opening to bite. The two crashed into one another, its teeth biting into her upper body and finding themselves unable to advance as her two blades plunged into its back, digging into its muscles as she twisted them.

As they rolled upon the floor, Astoria yanked her weapons from its back and pierced them into its mouth. The beast roared in pain and snapped its jaws open, allowing her free. She tore away from it, taking her daggers with her as she rolled, then jumped, backflipping into a standing position in front of the creature.

Astoria grinned, watching the wolf stagger to a stand before her while Tig flapped down, landing on the branch of a tree behind her. This time, she wasn't fighting an injured wolf, and she had already brought it down to this state in merely a few seconds.

'I guess that's the drastic difference between having a class and not having one,' She thought as its bite mark, which couldn't pierce further than her skin, healed.

Though she had a feeling she was now stronger than the beast, strong enough to tear into it, she didn't kill it immediately. After all, they were here to test her full strength, not a part of it. They already knew what her body was capable of but, though she instinctively knew her art, she hadn't yet seen it in action.

She ran forward. Pendridge had stated that her abilities would come naturally to her, and they did. Mana burned into Astoria's right dagger as she slashed, releasing the full blow of her Warrior's Art.

"<Sever>"

A beam of what seemed like a trail of light blinked through the air, then disappeared. The wolf growled and moved forward to attack her. The beam reappeared at its forefront, slicing through its head and sputtering blood.

Astoria watched, smiling as the beast fell down, dead before it could figure out what had occurred. She tossed her two daggers, caught them, and sheathed them.

"Good job, Tig," She said, turning to her shoulder.

He landed, screeching lowly as he rubbed his head against her cheek and she patted him. Then she pointed at the corpse of the wolf whose head had been split in two.

"Eat up."

Tig screeched once more than flapped, pouncing on the carcass.

"You have quite a nuisance of an art," Pendridge's voice came behind her as the wind blew. "I'm unsure if even I could avoid it. . .though that is only when speaking of my slowest speed."