Mahou Sensei Negima: Fabula ex Mundus Novus

Distractions

Fabius and Doris rode together on the back of apprentice's broom, hovering a kilometer above the city and picking up speed every second, far below them a great ape followed with a mane of golden hair and a hulking frame, in its hand the creature carried Sumiko, the other apprentice. They had been attacked, and with all the skill and knowledge they could muster, they retreated with their tails between their legs, demoralized, but surviving.

"The Confederate's house will be our refuge." Fabius said , he was focused on the character behind them, a female mage that had been pursuing them in large and gangly sylvan wings.

" We are 8 kilometers from his apartment, judging by our speed, we can be there i-" Doris paused mid-sentence when her ESP detected a spike in magical energy around them. 

Doris tilted her body and the broom responded, the air around her and Fabius exploding into a cloud of pollen and spores and completely engulfed them in the attack. A beautiful, bright crimson cloud of highly toxic poison filled their lungs, swirling inside them until they could suffocate and die. Fabius and Doris slunk over on the broom, protected by the safety charms that kept them from falling to their deaths.

A moment later they were back, upright and alert and Doris's artifact neutralized it. In the Noble's hands he held the jar, an ornate vase filled only with beautiful azure light, in its presence,  their opponent's spells meant nothing.

" -in approximately 5 minutes. " Doris said. She spoke a spell and fired a swarm of magical arrows, nothing more than suppressive fire to keep her attention and keep her at a distance. The woman's wings allowed her easily surpass the agility of a broom, lithe roots that grew a skin-like membrane over them that caught the wind easily, she was on them constantly. One moment she was close enough that she could touch them, the next she was far enough way to cast a debilitating spell that rained down on her opponents, only Doris's artifact to nullify the effects of her attack.

" Lilac Honeysuckle, Marigold Rose! Spiritus Florentes, flet veris ventis, Floris Vortentis! "

All around them a haze of  fine pink dust began forming, and when it caught itself on the breeze it spun into a twister of magical energy, swallowing the two of them into a vacuum of entrancing flower magic. Bombarded from all sides by gale-force winds and swirling rose petals, when the spell had receded Doris and Fabius were tossed several meters away, Doris struggled in vain to right their course, but unabated they crashed into the treeline a hundred feet below. 

" It is rude to leave a lady waiting, come Fabius, come with me. " The Dryad said. She had appeared next to them, her outstretched winds folding back into a dormant state in her shawl, as she resumed her someone pleasant demeanor. 

" If I were inclined to, I would slice my own neck open with a knife, but that is only a scant more plausible than going back to the New World. How much are those dullards paying for your services, no doubt I can match it.  " Fabius said, sliding his phone out of his sleeve and into the palm of his hand, searching for a Magic App while he distracted her.

" My cut is worth more than money honey. You'll need more than that to buy me. " The Dryad replied. 

Fabius noted the curious nature of her words, a plan forming in his head just moments before he opened his lips. " Then you're a slave yes? Mundus Vetus is no place for one your kind, and  your shawls would hide your collar, would they not? "  

" You're a very clever boy. A slave can't defy their master. There's no way to talk me out of it. " The Dryad said back to him. 

" I do not need to convince you of anything. I was just buying us time. " Fabius said, activating the Magic App he had been saving for the most opportune moment. From underneath the Dryad a sigil of magical power awakened, bright, harsh lines of mana coalesced underneath her and exploded in a cloud of purple smoke and embers.