The Midnight Flare

Not as Weak as you Think

Siphelia dashes forward, sword trailing behind her. Demi takes a deep breath and stands still. Siphelia jumps forward, bringing down her sword.

"What is she doing?" The king whispers behind me.

Demi brings the dagger up just in time to block the sword. She kicks Siphelia's hand so that the sword is knocked away. Demi sends an uppercut right into her jaw. Siphelia goes flying backwards, slamming into the ground. She grunts as she pushes herself up, then charges forward.

"Hmm. I'm surprised that didn't break her jaw," I say, twirling an ice dagger in my hand. Everyone looks at me with faces of shock. "What? You thought she was weak? Man, y'all are too quick to assume things."

Siphelia tries punching Demi, but she ducks down and goes through Siphelia's legs. Siphelia looks behind her just as she gets a kick to the face. And another. And another. And about five more than that. Then, Demi crouches down, puts one hand on the ground, pulls her legs off the ground and to her chest, then kicks forward with both feet, landing them right in the middle of Siphelia's chest. Siphelia goes flying across the room and crashes into the wall behind her. She lands face first on the ground. Demi bows to us, puts her dagger away, and starts walking towards us. And then, a fireball flies in front of her face, barely missing her. We all look towards Siphelia, who has engulfed herself in flames. She throws another two fireballs, which Demi dodges easily. Siphelia dashes forward, sword in hand, and punches with her other hand. It actually hits Demi, right in the gut, and she flies back. She stands up and brushes it off.

"Oh, so you managed to do something," She says as she pulls her dagger back out. "Let's see if you can do anything else." I smile as she ducks underneath another fire ball.

"Y'know, she's pretty good at taking hits physically," I say. "I don't know about mentally though."

Demi dashes forward and starts jabbing at Siphelia. Siphelia starts dodging, but poorly. Demi crouches and spins around, her leg outstretched. It knocks Siphelia off of her feet. Then, Demi raises a platform of ice under Siphelia. As Siphelia gets up, she looks down below her in fear. The platform is a couple stories high.

Damn, this place has a pretty high roof. Demi cuts straight through the platform, which causes it to start cracking. Then, it shatters, sending Siphelia skyrocketing to the floor. She tries to steady herself as she falls by pushing fire towards the ground, but Demi jumps up just before she would get about five feet above the ground, and slams her leg into Siphelia's back. Siphelia hits the floor, and Demi lands on her feet and one hand, then stands and bows again.

"Now yield," Demi says as she picks up Siphelia's sword and points it at her head.

"I... yield." Siphelia attempts to get up, but can only manage to get herself onto her back. Demi holds out her hand to Siphelia. She takes it and is pulled up by Demi.

"Damn," Chris says. "My younger sister is a badass."

Just then, the door opens and the queen walks in, followed by Memphis and Cecilia. They all look around in shock. They all walk over to us.

Cecilia looks instantly at Demi. "What the hell? Why'd you change from the dress?"

That's when I noticed Demi's outfit change. She's got a pair of dark blue jeans, a teal t-shirt, and some black combat boots. Damn. Didn't know she could be that much of a badass. And it looks like she has good taste in clothes too.

Demi shrugs. "I'm not really gonna fight good at all if I'm in a dress that's trying to strangle the life outta me, now am i?"

I try to hold back a laugh as Cecilia starts to pout and stomp her feet. "But it looked good on you!" She says, almost squealing.

"Honestly, I think she rocks that outfit," I say to Cecilia. I can see Demi blush.

"You shut up! If anything, she's trying to mimic you!"

Oh shit, she's kinda right. I look back at Demi, who currently is holding up Siphelia. Demi laughs nervously. Siphelia just groans.

"And who's the almost dead chick? She almost looks worse than when you three walked in!"

"That's because she just beat almost to death by Demi," Chris says to Cecilia. "By the way, do you guys think Siphelia proved herself?" The king and Blake nod. "Not you! The other two." Me and Demi both look at each other and nod.

"Honestly, she still did put up a decent fight," Demi says. "Though she did tend to just charge into the fight. Kinda reckless if ya ask me. Otherwise, I'd say she still proved herself."

"Well, guess that settles that," The king says. "You're free to roam around, we should have an extra room or two. If not, well, we might have to arrange... Something." He leans close to me and whispers in my ear. "Keep an eye on her. She could still be untrustworthy."

"Will do," I whisper back.

"Now, how do we take care of this one?" Chris asks, pointing at Blake.

"I have an idea," The queen says. We all look towards her. "First off, can someone get that young lady patched up? Second, someone get me the best royal guardsmen we have. If Blake here can knock him out, he will be considered worthy to stay here, though I'm sure most of us already see him as somewhat trustworthy."

Cecilia rushes over to Siphelia and whistles. The horse from before walks into the room. Cecilia grabs Siphelia and puts her on the horse. She then gets on the horse and they all dash away. Demi walks over to us and stops right next to me.

"How'd I do?" She asks, whispering.

"You were a badass," I whisper back. She starts to blush. I smile at her. She tries covering her face with her hands.

After a couple minutes, a soldier in full armor walks in. He seems to be fairly athletic. He walks to the queen, takes off his helmet, and kneels. They have some kind of conversation, which ends in the soldier walking towards the center of the room. The queen waves Blake over and whispers something in his ear. He nods and joins the soldier.

"Now, on my mark, you will both try to knock the other out. Ready yourselves." Blake looks at me. I nod and make a sword of ice, then toss it to him. He catches it and mouths Thank you. I nod. He turns back to the soldier, who has put his helmet back on. His entire suit of armor is an icy blue, with a deep blue outline. He draws his blade, which appears to be made of steel, and points it at Blake. Blake does the same.

"If you're both ready, then let's get this over with. Begin!"