Turning Tail [Reader x Doldia Girls]

Part Two - 11 | Kill Me Slowly

. . .

She's faster than before.

In a flurry, Linia rips through the moonlight. So fast that you see nothing but the sparkling lunar glare in her place. Like she has vanished, only still air remains where she once stood, and you quickly summon a hot ring of fire around your torso to keep her at bay — wherever she is.

This method of self defense proves useless. Linia appears again but you cannot see her in her entirety, for she has launched herself into the air above you. You gasp, your flames illuminating the toe of her boot as it materializes before your very eyes, threatening to strike you head-on.

Shit! Too fast!

Your mana flow wavers, your body now running on a dwindling supply of energy. Despite the heavy weight pressing on your lungs and the weakness in your arms as your stamina quickly depletes, you manage to cast a spell quick enough as to prevent Linia's foot from nailing you in the face.

A rocky jagged spike protrudes from the soil, rising so high and so fast that it comes only inches from impaling the girl's exposed calf. Lucky for her and equally as unfortunate for you, the beast-girl is so nimble that it breaks nary a single bead of sweat from her brow for her to twirl in mid-air, seamlessly avoiding your magic. She spins, her tail pirouetting alongside her as she stamps her shin clean into the back of your head.

Thud.

You're given no time to react, and much less time to recover with how low your mana count is. Although you've barely moved, you still feel every ounce of breath and stamina being sucked from your body, your legs now struggling to stay upright and the nerves on the back of your head screaming for mercy.

When you try to turn and face the girl to block a follow-up attack, you find yourself sorely mistaken for thinking you can save your own skin. With little resistance, your knee pops and sends you to the ground, giving Linia ample time to come at you with her knee extended. Being hit would mean a mouth dripping blood and a few teeth gone. You aren't ready to be beaten by her, as you had been every time before now — your spirit now steeled and resilient.

With a gasp, you cast another spell off of your minuscule amount of mana. A faint blast of fire erupts before you, blowing Linia out of the air.

She goes sliding hard into the dirt, her lips pressed on cold soil and grass. Normally, this would mean an open opportunity to subdue her. However you are wiped. You can hardly move and your arms ache and a warm rush of drowsiness crawls deep through you, even as your mind is set intently on this brawl. The best you can do is stand there, pant like a sweaty dog, chide yourself for not being able to heal your pain and exhaustion.

Linia carefully gets to her feet and bends over to dust her knees off. Black ashes spawned from your blast of flame had amassed on her skin, but the girl wipes it all away with ease. Swiping a hand over her leg makes her suck her teeth when she hits a spot where a burn mark lies, peeling through a thin layer of skin.