#spellspear

Armored Lady Monday

a spellsword! (technically spellspear, but hey, dont sweat the details) this character in particular is a private guard, part of an elite group of freelance bodyguards!

i had the need to draw a very angry face, so i hope you like it!

Mingxia thought she would have stopped being so surprised by now.  She was an adventurer, for crying out loud, she’d done so many things that defied explanation, and had seen so many weird things that honestly a flying pig would have been about par for course.

And yet here she was, wondering how in Oschon’s name she wound up here, in a makeshift arena in the Western Highlands, fighting against dragoon after spear-fighter in a tournament.

Oh right, that was because someone with what she thought had to have been a giant spearhaft up their back had happened on her training with Foulques.  More specifically they discovered that she was trying to meld magic and spearcraft together.  The only way she could get out of a trial on charges of heresy was to prove that her spearcraft was as effective as the time-tested tradition passed from dragoon to dragoon.  Which, of course meant that she had to undergo combat testing.  Hence her current predicament.

She’d fought through about five dragoons and spear wielders, only barely winning the last match.  They then decided to set her a greater challenge- take down a particularly violent Aevis that was seen lurking near the camp.  Something they claimed would be fitting for a younger spearwoman, at Foulques’ firm insistence.  She was sure that if he had not stepped in, they would have had her fight one of the greater dragons- it didn’t seem that they would listen to her until she had proven herself, anyroad.

They sent another with her- likely to ensure that if she failed the beast would not come to menace the rest of them.  Foulques shadowed them, hugging the blue-toned shadows to observe.  Nobody said anything to each other- though the confident sneer her colleague gave her said only that he thought pigs would fly before they accepted her as one of their own.  

The Aevis spotted them before they spotted it.  It screeched, rising into the air and dive bombing them, attempting to strike them with Electric Velitation as its greeting.  The other dragoon simply leapt out of the way, while Mingxia ran as fast as she could to escape the strike zone and engage the beast.  The other dragoon attacked from above while Mingxia rained a flurry of strikes at its legs and belly, tumbling and rolling to avoid its claws.

The pearlescent shimmer of her Aethershroud began to build as she fought, parrying claws while she stabbed at it.  The Aevis must have thought her more annoying than the dragoon attacking its other side, despite how much stronger her colleague appeared to be, since it kept its attention on her.

After a while, it paused, rearing its head back and drawing a deep breath, preparing to unleash its Strident Scream at them.  That would surely be painful, given how much larger the Aevis was, and Mingxia was already injured from her previous bout.  

She took a breath and stood, spinning her spear around so the point with the focus crystal was toward the ground.  “Pyrogenesis!  Phoenix Cloak- RISE!” She suddenly shot up from where she was standing in a burst of flame as her Aethershroud ignited into reds and oranges.  She delivered an uppercut to the Aevis just as it was opening its jaws to scream.  Safe in the sky, the scream did minimal damage to her.  Spinning her spear around so it was pointed down, but in front of her this time, she sent another jet of flame tailward and dove, the air around her whistling in a way that resembled an eagle’s cry.

“Phoenix...DIVE!” She struck the Aevis in the back with explosive force.  It roared in pain, screeching again as the other dragoon came down on its neck.  It made one last effort, swinging in a vain attempt to dislodge them before laying down and trying to flatten them.  Mingxia quickly withdrew her spear and Jumped back.  She swung the weapon, sending a line of fire tearing into the Aevis’ side, and followed up with a three-strike Firebrand combination, the flaming aether dissipating soon after the last strike was delivered.

The Aevis lay still.  She stared at her colleague.

    “Will this do?” she asked, emotionless in her exhaustion.

    “Tch.  You at least can get the job done,” he replied.

    They didn’t bother her anymore, after that.  Actually, when she returned to the camp with proof of the Aevis’ death, most of them were at least polite to her, and some were even friendly.