Lukas, Ylva, and Sorcha : The Tower-
That insufferable creature! She didn’t even bother to grace his ears with her voice. She didn’t waste a breath replying to him, but she did accept his challenge. In four days, she’d end his miserable existence – barring she could make it…and well, things didn’t happen. Her…condition hadn’t acted up in a while, and Norns willing it would stay that way.
While Ylva was observing the dra- tower from her tree branch, she saw that there was some sort of argument happening on top of it. And soon the situation quickly spiraled out of control. More individuals were getting involved with the argument and soon they appeared to be fighting. A massive fire tornado was summoned forth, it actually looked really cool. But the action died down almost just as fast as the argument had heated up.
A boy who seemed to be some sort of demon-kin leapt off of the building with a large amount of force. This one was definitely a tough one. However, a few seconds later there was a loud roar could be heard. The source of this roar was the mighty dragon and the roar was a challenge. In one week there would possibly be a fight, a proper one. Ylva was already excited to see the Dragon fight against whoever it had just issued its challenge. But she quickly forgot about this when she heard the name of the dragon. Sorcha Ó Maoilriain, that name had a familiar ring to it but it sounded kind of Irish and Ylva never really learned about Irish dragons. Atleast, not knowingly.
Anyway, it seemed like the dragon was not in the best of moods and almost everyone vacated the premises. Ylva decided that this was probably the smartest course of action for her to undertake as well because she definitely did not want to risk invoking a dragon’s wrath… Plus it was getting time to head to classes. So she leapt off of the tree branch she had been standing on for all this time and tried to remember what class she was supposed to head to.
The classes were not ‘serious’ lessons yet, as these were just the introductory classes. Ylva quickly picked up on the names of the teachers and tried to be a productive student, trying to answer every question that the teacher asked. Overall Ylva would say that her time in the classes was a success. However, she did not get much time to socialise with other students as of yet. Come to think of it, she had actually not talked to anyone as of yet. Maybe it was time to work on that.
At first Ylva wanted to go to the dining hall and see if there were some other people in there which she recognized from her classes, but later decided against it and just set out to explore the campus. And after almost an hour of traversing the campus, Ylva came to the conclusion that it was not just pretty, but also had a lot of practicality build into it. And she wasn't talking about the perspective of an academic point of view.
By the time the sun was setting she reached the tower again and Ylva wondered what kind of magnificent creatures besides the dragon would live here. The tower seemed to be build quite sturdy, yet its age was showing in the form of cracks and missing bricks. The tower was however surrounded by building materials so it seemed like the academy was planning to renovate the place. Several windows were lit, including the one on the top floor. If Ylva were to guess as to where the dragon would sleep, she’d guess straight at the top. Not just for practicality, but also because dragons tend to be picky and usually want the best.
Ylva could see that the top window had been opened. To her this could either mean that the dragon was away or that she was just airing her room. She was thinking about climbing up there and say hi to the dragon, but who would be so foolish as to see an open window as an invitation?
After the fiasco at the tower today, Sorcha was feeling much more…welcoming to people visiting her. She was still rather angry about the Oni, his recent appearance, that Drael fellow, and that teacher she didn’t know the name of, but nothing she could do about it at the moment. They all left when she had commanded them too, and Arthur and the nameless teacher wouldn’t receive her wrath. If that Drael fellow so much as looked at her again though, he would be met with a furious bolt of lightning from the heavens.
The cretin may speak kind compliments and sugar coat his words, but he was simply a lecher that wanted nothing more than to bed her likely. She had seen his type quite often, and she had never once done anything with them. There was no way she would in the first place. She didn’t feel the need for such things anyways. Over the course of her life, she had only done such things with a grand total of five people, and all were greater men and women than that Drael people could ever hope to be.
The dragon huffed, her tail hitting the ground in annoyance. Livia had already been by to see her about causing a ruckus, though it wasn’t a huge deal to either of them. Her treasure horde was depleted by the smallest fraction possible, but she was fine with that. She owed Livia a great deal, after all, and she didn’t mind using some of her trinkets to help fund Livia’s little Academy.
After all, she didn’t have much of anywhere else to go, and Livia was…well…helping her, in a number of ways.
The dragon sighed, walking over to her window and unlocking it, taking notice of the rose on the window. It was likely left there by that Drael fellow earlier. The dragon simply picked it up, and crushed the flower in her hands. She wanted nothing from him.
A cool evening breeze flowed in, and Sorcha looked around her room. A large, circular place with rich decoration. The king sized bed was situated opposite of the room from the window, and the wooden floor was covered with a thick, white carpet. The walls were stone, but it would have been difficult to tell from the paneling covering them. The wooden paneling was thin, but definitely of refined taste. They were a red color, with golden accents decorating the center and edges of them.
Several paintings decorated the wall. They were very old, and likely magically preserved as immaculate as they seemed. Probably worth a pretty penny, should a thief be as bold as to attempt stealing one.
A door on one side of the room led to a rather large bath, which was amply big enough for the dragon to completely soak in.
The dragon, fully dressed in her armor once again, laid her glaive on its proper resting place and walked over to a table, where a meal had apparently been prepared. A rather…large amount of food was donning the medium sized table. A large steak, a whole large pizza, a various few other bits of junk food, and a few bottles of wine as well.
She grabbed a slice of the pizza, and wondered if she should go out tonight. She wasn’t particularly tired, and that whole thing with that cretin earlier still had her a little on edge.
As Lukas approached the tower, he was undaunted by its rather prominent size of four to five stories from what he discerned; a gargantuan beast that he was going to easily scale. It would be simple to knock on the door like a regular person, but where was the logic behind that? At most, he would probably be told to bugger off by the inhabitants... so he did what any other magician with telekinesis would do.
"Alright, lets make this count..." Stuffing one of the spicy sushi wraps he made earlier into his mouth, Lukas set his right foot onto the building, and then his left.
Lukas slowly trudged up the tower, swords, satchel, and unchanged clothes on him. Lukas did say he would return to the dorms later in the eve, but he never displayed the reasoning for why. Meria was the only one who probably knew the truth for his late night rove and he was honestly unsure if leaving them with a lech was the most intelligent of decisions.
"I mean, the only thing I know about the dude is that he has an endless amount of euros on that card and the facet that he loves getting laid just as much as the next dude in that dorm."His feet moved in rhythm as he chewed, each bite mimicked each step took and could be compared to a beating heart. Swallowing the savory delight, he rotated his head to look back at the ground. He was fairly certain that he could see his dorm from here... in fact, there was also that gorgeous tree house in the garden.
"Someone must of gotten lucky if they were roomed up there; the breeze must be refreshing," he uttered to himself, smirking jubilantly. Lukas felt some of his blood sloshing around, but eh, it didn't matter, the journey was almost over.
Whether he got his ass kicked or not in the next few seconds would probably define how his night ended, so there's that. Cheers in hopes that this peculiar meet up goes well, eheh...
Ylva was just about to get on with her scouting mission when she noticed some movement on the tower. And what she saw amazed her. Some idiot carrying swords was climbing up the tower walls… and he was heading straight to the open window.
Does that guy have a death wish or something? is the first she could think of when seeing him. Death could come so easily to him. He would surely break every bone in his body if he fell down. And besides that, is he really that stupid as to try and get into the den of a dragon? Especially the den of a dragon who already had a shitty day? If nothing else, he’d surely ruin the beautiful creature’s day even more.
Dragons are fiercely territorial. If that guy didn't watch out then he might soon find out that the wrath of a dragon is not something to be messing with. And the more he climbed, the more he risked deadly injuries. Someone had to get him away from there before he would kill himself. And judging by the lack of anyone with enough interest surrounding her, Ylva figured that it was up to her to stop him.
Ylva quickly made her way to the towerwall and after a few seconds of calculating the fastest probable path she started to scale the structure. She had been climbing mountains since she was very young, so this would probably be a cakewalk compared to the massive Norwegian mountain ranges.
Ylva ascended the tall building rather quickly. It of course helped that there were these neat foot-shaped dents in the wall, though she wondered as to what the practical purpose was of this. Sometimes when it was not clear if she could manage to hold on to something she would use her Ice magic to freeze her hand against the object and use it as a firm grip with which to ascend further. When she looked up Ylva saw that the guy was practically next to the window. This only caused her to pull herself up even faster, but she was already fearing for the worst.
A couple of more minutes went on by before Lukas was three meters away from the open window... huh, it was almost as if it was inviting him in. Of course, he wasn't one to zerg rush in like a complete moron due to the implications(dragon, might tear him to shreds, the works)... so, like any polite, neighborly person, he would do what any curious person would do when wishing to inquire about their neighbors.
They knock on some of the window or give a holler to notify said person of their presence. Foolproof plan, 100% swell; nothing could go wrong here, save the fact that his blood sloshing around all over the place if he just stood there for an elongated amount of time. Losing consciousness at five story's isn't fun, and he wasn't exactly going to be the next crimson Leonardo da Vinci splattered on the cement below. Plus, it would probably suck for the janitor who would have to clean up the ichor and intestines.
"Alright, the final stretch... lets do this," Lukas murmured into the wind, taking his words away as he approached. Traversing up the remaining few meters, venturing closer, and closer, until finally he was within hands reach. Suddenly, he shoved himself off the stone bricks, did a flip, and was soon floating near the window. Of course, gravity was attempting to make him their bitch at this point. Nah, simple physics wouldn't stand in his path as he stood off to the side, rapping on the sill to express his appearance.
"Yello hello? Is the lovely Lady Sorcha Ó Maoilriain, Harbinger of the Heavens home?" Lukas situated himself on the side of the wall, leaning, or well,
looked as if he was leaning on bricks, staring at the empirical twilight and the harboring presence of the moon above, stoically waiting for some reply from the war-maiden inside.
Who…who could possibly be bothering her now?! If it was that Drael idiot, she’d smite him. She had given the fool enough warnings, and she wouldn’t be giving him another chance. She considered herself merciful, but she wouldn’t be treated with such disrespect. She had told the cretin to leave, so she had expected him to leave. The fool must have a death sentence if he came back here a third time.
That asinine compliment seemed like something the fool would utter from his lips. Maybe she should rip out that tongue of his…not that it would do much good. Meredith could probably fix that…meh. At least it’d make her feel better.
So, the dragon walked over to the window, glaive in hand. She was going to show this Drael fellow when she said leave, she meant
leave. No words would be spoken, a bolt of lightning would be her only form of communication.
She approached the window, expecting to find the idiot there, but was pleasantly surprised to find someone else entirely. She leaned out the window, resting her arms on the windowsill as leaned the glaive against the wall. A student, from the looks of him. Great. Wonderful. In all her years here, she had never interacted with the students as much as she had today. As soon as she relented and let Livia use the base of
her tower as quarters for the students, stuff like this happened.
Gah.
Well, she couldn’t blame to students for something they had zero control over.
More importantly….
“Well. You’re not who I was expecting.” She replied with a relieved sounding sigh.
“But you are a welcome guest, unlike those other fools who intruded on my tower today.” She seemed entirely unimpressed with his antics for the moment. At least this boy seemed to have some common decency and manners. Such as knocking. Judging from his demeanor as well, he wasn’t going to cause her trouble. She hoped he wouldn’t, anyways. She was already annoyed as it was, so it wouldn’t be good for his health if he did.
“Do you need something, human?” She asked.
“Or do you intend to waste energy and float there, plying me with flattery until gravity works as intended?”Lukas tilted his head to the side, neutral and unrefined for the time being as he gawked at the dragon lady for a few seconds before leaning forward. Detaching his hands from his back, Lukas a glint of mischief was displayed through a simple smirk as he was locked, loaded, and ready to fire (or be lit on fire).
"If gravity started working as intended, I would feel a major attraction to an illustrious and stark dragon. Her name? Lady Sorcha Ó Maoilriain.~" Propelling himself off the side of the vandalized tower, Lukas almost looked to begin his descent... before floating momentarily and landing on the gaseous air.
"Aside from my genuine compliments..." Lukas rotated his form as a whole, positioning himself towards the window.
"If you don't mind, what I desire is just a chat with you." Walking on thin air, his movements were a combination of jagged to polished as he traversed a singular meter to the window.
"Because for five years, I've always pondered on the reason for this towers existence.""Then on one of those years, I caught a glimpse of someone or something near the top of the tower... ok, yeah," Lukas stop abruptly, stretching his arms upwards before continuing on.
"I'm sure you would love to hear my reasoning," he spoke, sarcastically emphasizing the love,
"but lets just skip to the chase. I'm up here because I was curious about you; never before did you reveal yourself to the public, until some moron thought it would be a good idea to prod you with a figurative spear."Lukas sneered, lowering his head as it moved back and forth like a pendulum.
"Guy sealed his death warrant if you ask me." Lukas shrugged, his visage hardening upon mention of the mystery student. He then paused for a moment before going on, not even noticing the other lady down below, scaling the side of the tower through the holes he averted walking on.
"Anyways, that's my reasoning for clambering up the side of your tower - curiosity in learning a bit about you through chatting, because that is definitely the most intelligent thing a guy could do, especially after someone destroyed your home; pretty sure that guy could use a class to refine his manners."Lukas shared some of his condolences for the destruction of her house, but that's all he could actually do right now, save display his eagerness for meeting Sorcha. Reaching into his satchel, he opened up the bag that contained his spicy sushi rolls. Holding his hand out, he offered the dragon two of his sushi as an act of kindness.
"Here, you want some sushi? I was going to share these with my roommates, but I can always create a couple of these baby's later." Lukas urged her to take one as he nodded his head every few seconds.
As Lukas stood there, he marked that he probably shouldn't falter for too long in the air. Concerned, he stared at the entrance to her domain, before deciding to speak up.
"Er, mind if I come in," he quizzed, becoming somewhat disgruntled that he was still standing out in the open at an uncomfortable height.
Sorcha simply gave the boy a stare. It was impossible to tell if she was thinking of smiting him then and there, or simply wondering how much of an idiot the human was. However, soon enough a rather loud laugh erupted from her, probably much to the relief of the human. The dragon leaned on the windowsill, trying to catch her breath and stop her little outburst, but failing rather miserably.
After quickly traversing another couple of meters Ylva was getting close to the window, and by extent, the suicidal idiot. The climb was not as taxing as one would imagine, largely because Ylva managed to cheat with her ice magic. But when she was within a few meters Ylva realised that she had come too late. The boy had just knocked on the window and had started to address the dragon and he didn't even do that in the respectful manner that was befitting of a creature of such legend!
Soon after he knocked a silhouette appeared and a voice rang, the dragon’s voice. It demanded that the boy stated his business and the boy proceeded to do just that. His goal? To have a chat. Just a chat, that was where he had risked his life for. But… He did appear to be flying, so falling down probably wouldnt have killed him. And then he started offering the dragon some sushi, really? What was going on in his mi-
Ylva’s train of thought was interrupted by the dragon’s sudden and loud laugh. It caught her so much off guard that one of her feet slipped off of a brick and she almost fell.
”Jævla!” is what she cried out… a bit too loud. Once she recovered she immediately covered her mouth with one hand before looking up and putting up a forced smile.
Sorcha’s laugh was immediately stopped by another voice, other than the boy standing in front of her. The dragon was immediately put on alert for anyone watching them. She grabbed her glaive again. Was it merely another curious onlooker from earlier today, or someone else? Not that it mattered. The momentary good mood she had been put in by this human, was completely destroyed in another instant.
She left her home, completely ignoring the boys’ presence for the moment. With a frown, she scanned the roof around the tower and the tower itself.
“I take it you didn’t bring friends?” Sorcha growled, though she didn’t wait for an answer, however. A few feet below Lukas, she spotted the source of the voice. Another human who had intruded on her tower. Another curious onlooker? One was humorous. Two was annoying.
“You there!” She said, pointing her Glaive right at Ylva.
“State your name and business. If it is simply to sate your foolish curiosity, then I suggest you leave before I smite thee. I will not be entertaining curious onlookers like this fool.”Lukas was taken back by the sudden burst of laughter emanating from Sorcha, as he wasn't certain that it was going to be that elementary to acquire her acquaintance, let alone get her to explode laughing. Lukas' head nudged back a bit, slightly dazed by the woman's heartiness.
"Well, if anything, I made her day, that's for sure," his shoulders that were hunched back after that resonating laugh, drooping down in immaculate relief. If anything, he could be a (horrid) comedian for the woman. His scrunched face began returning to normal as well; a soft glow of enthusiasm filling it as well.
In an instant, a foreign feminine voice rang out from beneath him, catching Lukas unprepared for the sudden acquaintance of another. Looking down, he observed that a colorless bunch of hair below with a plastered smile on a similarly aged lady's face. Curiosity crossed his face, an eyebrow raised and a smidgen of doubt on his lips signified that he didn't trust her at all, as much as he liked beautiful women such as her.
"I didn't invite any guests... and I honestly am just as curious to who she is," Lukas thought to himself, pausing momentarily as he raised his right hand to his lips, completely obscuring his mouth for the moment. Squinting his eyes, he scanned over her face, mainly her smile. It seemed... fake to him, probably nervous that she interrupted the whole situation. Whatever it was, it basically screamed "I'm sooo damn screwed..."
There was a tinge of pity for the girl and he felt the need to think fast, lest she is chopped in half by... a very nice glaive. Lukas noted that the materials were unlike anything he had seen before and appeared to be more beautiful than his steel swords. Anyways, ask her about the materials later, first figure out the identity of who this chick with snow white hair and cerulean eyes. Not speaking up in fear of possibly making life much more difficult for the lady, instead gave an awkward wave with his free hands. Lukas' arms heralding the sushi dropped, the two spicy wraps coming down as well.
Maybe he could reattempt to make the offer later when Sorcha wasn't so piqued?
Well, things could have gotten a lot smoother than this, but at least she wasn't instantly killed for trespassing. The dragon was rightfully furious, just the thing that Ylva had wanted to avoid, and demanded to know who she was. Luckily the boy above her didn't complicate matters further and spoke honestly about not knowing her. Even if her life depended on it, Ylva would not resort to lies like that! But now she had other things to worry about, like that dragon which is about to skewer her.
Ylva spoke out in a clear and calm voice.
”My name is Ylva Edlehjerte of clan Harkon.” She did not look directly at the dragon’s eyes, as this would come across as either an attempt at intimidation or viewing herself as an equal, something dragons are not really fond off. After finishing her first sentence a small ice platform grew out of the tower which allowed Ylva to stand and face the dragon, still avoiding direct eye contact.
”And I come here not out of malice, creature of legend, but I merely came here to try and avoid the demise of the other interloper as I feared for his safety.”She spoke the truth, this had indeed been her intention as to why she climbed up here. The fact that Ylva wanted to see the dragon up close, well, she thought that wasn't really relevant now. But at the moment she had nothing to make the dragon trust her beside her word. And the dragon didnt really look like it would take Ylva’s word for the truth. So there was only one other thing she could offer…
”If you do not trust my word, then you may smite me down here and now. I have no reason as to fear the afterlife because I will go there with a clear concious.” She knelt on the ice platform, bowing her head and awaiting the dragon’s judgement. A smile formed on her face.
”Besides, there are worse ways to die then by a creature of legend.”Ylva Edlehjerte of clan Harkon? That was a name from what today she was sure was called Scandinavia. That…it had been awhile since she had met anyone from her old domain. Sorcha turned her glaive away from the girl. Her attitude was something she had yet to see in anyone in sometime in this modern age. The dragon was definitely pleased with the girls’ behavior. She was certainly under the ‘brave’ category and not the ‘foolish’ one like this man was. Sorcha could definitely say she at least respected that.
“Raise your head, Ylva Edlehjerte of Clan Harkon.” Sorcha replied as she looked down at Ylva from where she was hovering.
“Your words seem honest and you are indeed brave for walking into the den of a dragon to protect a fool who doesn’t know what he is getting into. You shall not be sent to Valhalla by my hand this evening.” With that said, she turned back to Lukas.
“Perhaps you could learn a thing or two from this girl, human.” She said to him, before addressing Ylva.
“Ylva, You have my permission to enter my home. You are free to enter – I was about to have dinner, but I wouldn’t mind some company.” She turned her head to Lukas, almost as an afterthought.
“You amused me, human. You may enter as well, but know your place. If you plan to continue your foolish behavior, then I do hope you can continue to entertain. I may even care for your name, then.”With that said, she returned to her abode, laying her glaive against the wall once again. She took a seat at the end of a table, in a rather grand chair.
As Lukas stood there, hovering in midair, he could only stood there befuddled by the woman and her actions, procuring a new name to label the lady as.
"Lady Ylva Edlehjerte of a clan known as Harkon... name is European in origin and reminds me of vikings... Harkon is the name of the antagonist in Skyrim's dlc, Dawnguard..." Alright, so formulating an identity for this girl was something he could do as he knew little to nothing about her... so guessing her birthplace was one way he could get inside her head for now...
...
or not.
The girl stated herself to be attending to this location out of sheer heroism of making sure an "interloper" didn't meet his demise at the hands of Sorcha. Ugh, interloper? Well, he may of been traversing up her tower, but he knew what the consequences were if he failed to impress. Either way it looked as if she was prepared to lay her life on the line. Heroic, but Lukas could only frown, feeling it was a bit unnecessary since her life was now at risk.
"As sweet as it was for you to clamber up the side of this tower, you've just endangered yourself!" Lukas really did look a lot more down than he should of, feeling a twinge of guilt for causing Ylva to come after him so he could return with no risk. For a moment, his processes were slow, dulled a bit... before she struck out, causing the young man to spring back to life with shock and awe across his face, afraid of what was to come.
She made herself an offering if Sorcha didn't buy into what she meant. Lukas was paying attention, albeit slowly to her, and came to the conclusion that she wasn't lying. That petty facade of a smile was gone, only a clear, crisp truth remained. This was no time for inaction, as he was already over the limit, and began his descent at an adjacent angle... before stopping abruptly.
In that previous moment, he was rigid, calculating, ready to possibly shield her and attempt to dissuade Sorcha... however, from the looks of it, Ylva disarmed the whole situation. A huff of relief escaped his mouth as he returned to his prior position. Lukas slightly minded the dragons hurdled insults, but he wasn't bothered to the point of departing from the tower... though he did want to have a word with Ylva. Eventually after leaving him as an after thought, Lukas decided it was his turn for now.
"Well, this uneventful eve ended up better than expected," he spoke gleefully with a tinge of disappointment somewhere there too. The teen then flipped himself over, now upside down to the girl. He looked as if he was leaning on an imaginary wall, his foot on the nonexistent bricks themselves.
"Miss Ylva, you gave me quite a scare, offering up your life like that... honestly, that wouldn't bode well with me, not at all..."Shrugging with both of his hands in the air, he gave a playful smirk as he began standing up straight once again.
"At least neither of us ended up charred... though, to be honest if she did try anything..." Lukas paused closing his eyes as he imagined his death with counterfactual thinking. Pondering upon his scorched body as the twilight lit up like the fourth of July.
"I would of made sure I went first, and made your efforts in vain... sorry, but I just wouldn't want a lovely lady of your caliber to die just to safeguard me; that ain't my style, it never will be."Moving up to the window after the way he gravely spoke, he situated himself on the wall as he looked at the heavens, a solemn smile was stroked across his face.
"Best you go in first, after all, tonight I'm the third wheel and you, Lady Ylva are Lady Sorcha's guest..." Closing his eyes for a mere moment, he relocated his arms to the back of his head, before tilting it downwards and opening one of his eyes.
"Besides, there are other days anyways, and generally speaking, today isn't my day... also." A small spicy sushi wrap was seen floating towards Ylva, steadily making it downwards before it was evenly a foot away from her face.
"Here, take one of em; I was going to share some with Lady Sorcha later, but you kinda threw a wrench there... eh, I can always deliver a wrap or two later I suppose."Ylva kept her head lowered while the dragon was talking to her, but internally she could dance of her happiness. Not only did she not get toasted, which was reasonably helpful, but she also got complimented and even invited inside the dragon’s residence! Ylva let out a sigh of relief and rose up as the dragon went back into its chamber.
It was at this point that the boy who had been spectating this all along came down. He started to talk to Ylva about how he would not have accepted her giving her life for him. It was good to know that he had his heart in the right place. Yet he seemed disappointed by something. Ylva couldn't really figure out why exactly he would be. After all, didnt everyone end up unscaved and were they not both invited inside? But when he offered his sushi wrap and explained what he had hoped to do it made Ylva feel sad for him. Also kind of mad as he apparently went out and risked his life just so he could share some food, but that’s in the past now, no need to get upset about that.
Ylva did not know how to respond to this, she did not have any experience with these kind of problems. So she just did the thing that she thought was logical.
”Why don’t you come along anyway? You were invited after all.” she said with a genuine smile as she looked at him and took the sushi roll, bowing her head in thanks.
”I think only a few ever had that honor, so cheer up and come on!” With that she turned around and started to quickly ascend on the building, the ice platform dissolving in a few seconds after she left it.
When she finally reached the window Ylva grabbed the ledge and pulled herself inside with one smooth move and landed on her feet inside the gorgeously decorated room. While others might have been standing here gawking at the exquisite pieces of art, it did not interest her all that much. She was far more fascinated by the creature which had seated itself near a dining table filled with all sorts of junk food.
Ylva tried to hide her excitement of being this close to the creature of legend, but she was just radiating it. Before she walked closer to the dining table Ylva first bowed her head down as a sign of respect to the Dragon.
“Thank you dragon for this generous invitation.” A smirk formed on her face as she lifted her head up, still avoiding the eye contact.
”I’ve got to say, this is not the outcome that I had expected.”“No, Ylva?” The dragon replied from her seat.
“Expecting me to smite you? Earlier in the day I likely would have.” She replied with a sigh.
“Foolish idiots, fighting on my tower. Now the headmistress seems intent on letting that fool that challenged me do what he wants in it.” She frowned, though there was no malice behind her voice.
“It can’t be helped really, I owe the headmistress a lot. I shall smite that fool in four days anyways and remove his presence from it. He may make whatever changes he wishes, he shall be simply improving my domain with his own hands.” She laughed at that, the thought amusing her greatly.
“But I will not bore you with talk such as that. I am more interested in you, Ylva of house Harkon.” She replied, a small smile forming on her lips as she leaned forwards on her table.
“It has been awhile since I’ve met anyone from…they call it Scandinavia these days? I haven’t been there since…the second crusades? I am curious as to how the land of great warriors such as the mighty Beowulf is fairing. From your demeanor, they still carry that tradition.” As she finished speaking she addressed the other human.
“If the Fool will not enter my domain, at least he shall make a lovely Picasso when gravity works as intended.” Her voice carried no malice in it, in fact it seemed rather playful.
Ylva was surprised that the dragon asked her about her homeland. Of all the questions the dragon could have asked, this was one of the least expected. The fact that the dragon mentioned Beowulf was equally surprising and it piqued a curiosity within Ylva. However, before she could ask her own questions Ylva would first have to answer dragon’s question.
A gentle smile formed on her lips as she replied to the dragon’s question.
“Well, it is no longer the land that it used to be. However, the citizens of the Scandinavian countries are some of the wealthiest and healthiest in the world. So I guess there are worse faiths.” She ended her sentence with a nonchalant shrug.
”There was a certain period in time where one of the countries took on half of Europe on its own and nearly won, but after that Scandinavia didn't really have a lot of war ambitions anymore.””I know that it’s not a lot, but to be fair, I am not a great storyteller. I let my actions speak for me.” as she finished her sentence she put her hands in her pockets and her smile turned into a smirk.
”However, if I may be so bold, I have a question of my own. Ylva looked up to the dragon.
”Involving you and Beowulf.” As Lukas lied there, he lent an ear to Lady Sorchas den as Ylva entered the unforeseen domain. He beamed at the girl as she quietly headed in. Of course, there was silence for the first couple of seconds that allowed him to contemplate on his further opinions over Ylva.
"Ylva, there's a difference between an invite and offer; I was given the offer, you the invite," Lukas murmured as his eyes traveling down from the sable above to the land below. Studying the landscape, he found the rest of the garden to be quite... engrossing as he traced his eyes over the maze.
"And of course, you are absolutely right on very few garnering the privilege of speaking to an opulent dragon," Lukas uttered, his words mute to the rushing wind. The conversation went on with both of them, and he had to say he was a bit jealous of the lady. At most, he felt nothing could really be offered, save for some food he delivered. It felt like an intrusion to him, complete and utter disrespect if he entered voluntarily.
"Whelp, I think I should take my leave for now, they're enjoying themselves... besides, I can always find the time to speak with her on another day." Lukas pushed himself up once more, staring at the earthen below. It felt really trippy, but it would probably take him a couple of minutes to reach ground level. Before he could even take the first step, the dragon called out to him, saying that he might make a nice Picasso if he were to plunge...
Swerving his head to the window, his rather morose smile faded, the more negative implications vanishing. He seemed to feel a little bit better as he let out a huff of fresh air, put on a confident smirk before returning the woman's beckon.
"I dunno, I would fancy making a better Leonardo since his paintings revolved around landscapes and portraits..."He then "jumped" into the luxurious dragons home, using the momentum he had to make himself perform a front flip before nailing the landing. His left leg extended back, his right crouching, and above all his arms spread out like the wings on a bald eagle. Magnificent... If he was too hammy, Lukas was impartially certain that he might get added to the "Things I (Lady Sorcha) want to devour," list, and not in
that way either, dang pervs.
"But, I have no intention of creating a scene down there, whether it be a portrait of gore or a landscape of death..." Lukas moved out of his exaggerated pose, brushing what ever imaginary dust managed to get onto him. While he did take notice of the room, his interest was keenly on Lady Sorcha and somewhat on Ylva... but mainly on the alluring dragon.
"Because I'm not that type of fool; I say I would fit the bill of being referenced to The Fool, zahl null... after all, The Fool takes risks, but he takes them with vindication and no fear."Walking forward at a slow rate, he noted the major amounts of junk food on the table, ranging from chips to pizza. Lukas was rather... surprised that she indulged in items such as these, expecting her to eat more glamorous things besides the steak. Tilting his head, he pulled out an extra spicy sushi wrap and flicked it into the air. As it flew, it suddenly stopped, pulled by an invisible force. Showing signs of respect to the Radiant King, Lukas bowed down before returning to the former position.
"Whether it's undulated foolishness or unrepressed bravery, that's left up to us to decide," he said, widely smiling at the dragon, expressing nothing but warmth for the lady.
"Anyways, enough of my chattering, I came here to acquire more knowledge about the mythical being that inhabits this tower... and, er, here, you want some sushi wraps Lady Sorcha, Harbinger of the Heavens," he inquired as the two pieces slowly hovered towards Sorcha.
“Beowulf?” Sorcha mused as Lukas entered her home, ignoring the ‘sushi roll’ for the moment as she addressed Ylva.
“That is a tale I do not recite often, but ask what you will. Tis a rather long tale, that is more of an ending than a beginning. A tale that starts further west, in Britannia.” She frowned, looking at the sushi roll floating before her, giving it a suspicious look.
“I shall answer any question you have about it, but I am not in the mood for storytelling.”With that, she turned her head towards Lukas.
Sorcha simply looked at the fool who stepped into her domain. He had…actually…thrown a ‘sushi’ roll at her. She had no idea what that even was, but one does not simply just throw something at a dragon, using magic or no. Sorcha fixed him with a rather unamused stare, plucking the floating object from the air.
“If that was an attempt at assassination, then it was a rather poor one.” She replied.
“This is…food, you say? I have yet to eat such a thing. ‘Sushi’, you call it?” Sorcha eyed the thing curiously, before turning to Lukas.
“You certainly have a…unique way of presenting food to on such as I.” She said.
“I find myself rather amused, so I will at least give it a chance.” Wasn’t like poison or something like that was going to be a problem for her anyways. So she popped the thing into her mouth, immediately greeted with a rather pleasant flavor, trying, and rather poorly trying to hide her excitement.
“These are…indeed acceptable.” She replied, plucking the other one out of the air, and swiftly eating it as well.
“At any rate. You said you were curious about me, human? Then be curious. Ask questions, and I might actually be impressed.”Er, throw? Lukas didn't exactly try to toss them at the dragon, rather, extended his invisible hand towards the Lady in offering the wraps. He could only chuckle nervously as he eyed the lady, who appeared to be staring at him with disapproval. The teen felt as if he might of screwed up for a moment, before she exclaimed over tasting his sushi after commenting over the failed "assassination" attempt.
"Maybe next time I'll walk over and present them to her like a normal person..."Lukas scanned the dragon attentively, looking for signs that she enjoyed the wraps, and did a poor job of concealing his own delight as he saw what was etched on the woman's face. He had the Cheshire Cats smile as the woman swiftly devoured the second one in an instant. His hand formed a fist, his right arm jutting back as Lady Sorcha acknowledged him once more. Nodding, he tilted his head, responding euphorically to the approval of the majestic dragon.
"I'm glad! I actually wouldn't mind sharing a couple more if you like.~"As he commented playfully before straightening up his visage as the woman requested that he display his questions. There were myriads upon myriads of items he wished to interview the illustrious lady over, ranging from her journeys that caused her to emerge in this realm or the various styles and impressive techniques she refined over each passing century... intrigued as he was, Lukas knew this time would be fleeting and eventually he would have to depart for his dorms.
Tapping his lip for a moment, he stared at the food as if unbeknownst to every living being, these slices of pizza, these crispy chips heralded the true meaning and lifeblood of this place. After his pause, he stood upright, fashioning himself almost like a militant - back erect, face cold as it was bold, and a slight grin.
"Lady Sorcha, if we could have the honor, could you display some of the various techniques and abilities you have honed over the years? After all, a stalwart dragon who has bested the mightiest of warriors and overcome many challenges will likely have the wisdom of a thousand campaigns... and such knowledge would assist us in our own growth; it would be unwise for me to squander this significant opportunity of being a dwarf on the shoulder of a giant."Bowing downwards, he spoke of one last thing before staying quiet.
"Whether I am granted the honor or none, being in your presence and being praised for my culinary creation is just as grand, regardless." Receding to his previous position, that stoic glance was replace with the glints of curiosity and wonder in his crimson eyes; the similar grin still unwavering as he awaited her judgement.
The dragon gave Ylva permission to ask her question, but judging by its response Ylva already had her answer. This truly was a legendary dragon, though in a much smaller package then she at first thought it to be. With her smirk still plastered on her face Ylva made a small chuckle.
”On second thought, I don’t think I need to ask the question anymore as you’ve already given an answer to it.” Suddenly the floating guy made a comment as he entered inside. Something about that he’d make a better Da Vinci painting than Picasso if he were to fall down. This comment made Ylva frown. What kind of savage would say that Da Vinci’s beautiful portraits could be compared to a splatter on the ground. Picasso on the other hand, well just look at his Guernica painting and you could make that assumption. Well, not everyone knew the intricacies of art so it wasn't that surprising.
He entered with what seemed like over exaggeration, especially that pose he did at the end. He then went on to some sort of monologue about foolishness and to be honest, it got kind of monotonous. That is, until he suddenly tossed a sushi wrap over to the dragon. At first the dragon seemed frustrated by him, but luckily for him it enjoyed the sushi rolls.
Ylva still had her hands in her pockets as she made room for the other guy but had to restrain herself from both laughing and cursing at him. Did he really think that this legendary dragon would just show it's combat prowess because someone asked nicely? Well, to be honest, dragons do like to show how superiour they are. And Ylva would be lying if she said that she wasn't interested in seeing the dragon's martial skills. That being said, there was something about the way this guy asked his question. A bit too much praise, even for a dragon.
But now that there were questions being asked, maybe it was time to sate her little itch which had piqued her interest earlier and put her theory to the test.
”Ooh, I do have one question actually.” Ylva started grinning as she looked up at the ceiling, seemingly in deep thought.
”What brings the legendary Vandrende Uvær to a magical academy like this?”Sorcha listened to both quietly. The way he offered to make more of these things made her a little agitated. She definitely didn’t mind people willing to make her food. In fact, she had never once made her own meals, unless she was…well, snacking on cattle and other things back in ye olden times.
He then proceeded to ask about her abilities. Hmph. She wasn’t in the mood for doing the entertaining. She was the one supposed to be receiving entertainment. Perhaps though, she could turn this into entertainment. A small smile formed on her lips. Indeed, she would play with him, just a little.
First though, she would answer Ylva. She was a bit surprised to hear her call her by name in such an older tongue. Not to mention, she had discerned her identity quite well. She would ask the woman about it later. It was rare for someone to recognize her. In fact, no one recognized who she really was in this day and age. A talk for later, however. For now, she was going to have entertainment with the fool.
“That is also a rather long story. One that you could say spans most of my life since I clashed with the one called Beowulf.” She frowned. This story was not one that she liked reciting. In fact, simply thinking about it made the dragon angry. Her tone of voice made it quite clear as well.
“Ask later, if you wish, I am in no mood to repeat that tale.” She sharply replied.
“But to answer your question. The headmistress is helping me find someone. Someone I would very much like to have impaled at the end of my glaive.” Sorcha’s voice took a turn towards a low growl as she spoke.
“A damnable, traitorous creature that thinks itself mightier than a dragon.” She realized she was possibly becoming a bit too angry for the moment, and immediately took a moment to recollect her composure.
“I would…look for it myself.” She continued.
“But…certain…conditions prevent me from doing so.” She was, of course speaking of the curse the phoenix placed on her, but she wasn’t going to elaborate on that just yet. If she continued talking about this subject, she might very well smite both of them for no reason at all. Honestly, if it wasn’t for the Headmistress and her rather unique abilities when it came to dealing with soul related things, she probably would have died years ago.
Instead, she turned to Lukas.
“You…wish to see my abilities, then?” She mused, eyeing him carefully. Well…it certainly couldn’t hurt. This boy was curious about what a dragon was capable of. That’s why he was up here after all. She might as well…humor him.
“I am feeling generous. I do believe I shall reward your curiosity with a demonstration.”She stood, gesturing for Lukas to walk to the other side of the room. There was a clear space in the floor of the tower, where they could have a friendly little…duel, if he wanted too. She walked over to where her Glaive was laying, before turning back to Lukas.
“I was trained personally by King Arthur. He taught me to wield both sword and spear.” She held her glaive in one hand, facing Lukas.
“Try to make this entertaining for me, hmm?~” The dragon then took a few quick steps towards Lukas, the sharp end of her glaive aimed right for his head.
It seemed she had no intention of holding back, either.
As the woman spun her reason to the duo, Lukas couldn't help but ponder over the rationale of Sorcha, seeing as she went from being a relaxed dragon, to a flared up, angry being who wanted to cleave a bitch. He raised his hand to his mouth, pondering on what the creature performed to incur Sorcha's wrath. Lukas felt the rage emanating from her voice, the woman's body shaped in response to the vexation that tormented her. Lukas kept his head down, closing his eyes, thinking, dreaming, and praying for the dragon.
"Once a dragon is enraged, their hatred for said person will never be quenched... their eyes will glow with undiluted grudges... nothing will get in their way." Lukas hoped that maybe she could find peace in the near future.
Lukas pulled his head up to face the Radiant King once again, his frown dissipated, replaced by nothing more than an unmovable wall. Again, he was piqued to the precedents set out by her, chaining her down firmly in place. The teen could only wonder if Headmistress Livia performed a feat that bound Lady Sorcha to Montagne.
After her monologue, she turned towards Lukas, who now displayed a lax smile as she plotted something so inconceivable, that he honestly did not expect. That lax smile quickly was flip-sided as the woman retrieved her glaive, and pressed her fingers to the other side of the room. Lukas honestly felt in his gut that this whole spiel was probably going to end with him with an inch of his life and barely conscious to boot.
"Well, at least I can use this time to gauge my own skills as well, though," Lukas unequiped his satchel, yanking it up and gently placing it by the table. With a huff and the snap of his fingers, his for swords slowly floated out of their sheathes, dancing in the air as Lukas grabbed a hold of one of the blades.
"I understand that this is going to end with me probably recovering after receiving myriads of bruises... but I'm not going to back down. Even with the very odds wagered against me, I won't falter."Upon reaching the wall, Lukas pivoted around facing his opponent as he gripped the hilt with both of his hands, his might all being set into his steel sword. He could only smile as his heart began pounding harder and harder, his eyes a blazing crimson as he stared the dragon down. In a fit of excitement, he decided to gamble a bit, even if this was a dangerous game.
"Alright, how about a bet then, Lady Sorcha," his voice was cool and unwavering, but his torso to head to legs below told another story.
"If you best me, which I'm certain you will, I'll do anything you want for any twenty-four hours... but, if the gods grace me with some form of luck and by a stroke of miracle I win, then it's the reverse... however." He paused, standing there staring the woman down as he prepared his final statement.
"Even once you do win, could you respect the times I have for classes? Headmistress Livia doesn't like freeloaders after all and I am not one to avert procuring knowledge and wisdom..." Lukas bowed his head, letting a soft breath of fresh air escape from his lungs.
It's time to fight.
Lukas saw the magnificent lady rush forward, at as quick as he could, put his swords up as a shield to safeguard himself. He did anticipate the facet that she would probably not be at all slowed down by flimsy barricade and focused his mind on doing his best to keep the glaive and her armor firmly in place. As she rushed forward, the woman smashed through his blades, knocking them to the sides like a bowling ball to the pins. For one, he was not going to find himself on the receiving end of the executioners axe and rolled to the side, completely evading the hit that was supposed to hew him in half.
Lukas understood that there was no dodging this next hit and instead had his blades recover from the blow. Aiming at her back, two of the blades shot forward, with the latter preparing a sweeping strike. As Lukas attempted to raise his blade to block the next blow, he was by all means slower than the dragon... and before he knew it...
Oh, he wanted a deal, did he? Well, that was fine. She would accept the terms, then. He would be hers for twenty four hours after their little duel. But first, though...
The dragon didn’t miss a step. As soon as Lukas dodged, she twirled her glaive, slamming the other end of it, right into Lukas’ sternum, likely cracking it. He would probably be thankful she wasn’t actually using her entire strength. As soon as it impacted, she leapt to the side using thrust from her wings to avoid the blades aimed at her back. In fact, unless he stopped them they were probably going to injure their wielder.
... his body was met with the receiving end of her glaive, too slow to moderately nullify any chance of receiving damage. Of course, that was to be expected when a novice boxer goes up against Mayweather or some analogy like that. His reactions - sedated, the pain - his chest really friggin' hurt! Clenching his teeth, he grunted in discomfort, squeezing his eyelids shut for mere seconds before opening them up, noticing the dragon flow to the side. Staring down his blades, he decide this little charade wasn't going to work for now...
and made his two blades swiftly ricochet in different directions adjacent to him, the sweeping strike imminently stopping, before spinning and shooting off at Sorcha once again. Tossing his held sword upward, his own invisible hand caught the blade, and began wielding it exceptionally. He wasn't to be held back by amounts of weight. While he understood his speed wouldn't measure up to hers, it would at least keep him from being a tinge slower and made him somewhat lighter on his feet.
The dual swords looked as if they bounced off the side of the walls, as if they were super bouncey balls. One rebounded to the ceiling at a gradual angle, while one went off the carpet at a similar angle, constantly moving around. Their target the same as always - Sorcha; though, from the way they were moving, they seemed erratic and wildly inaccurate... but never did they really near Ylva. Lukas was certain to miss the spot, even if they were relatively in the same vicinity. Using what energy he could, he began putting as much distance as he could between Sorcha, jumping back and not bothering to rush right into her like some moron.
Trying to distract her with random attacks? Was that his plan? Well. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good either. A mediocre skill for a mediocre fool. She was honestly a little disappointed. She avoided the swords expertly, dancing upon the air with feats of almost impossible acrobatics, wings tucked close to her body to avoid them being injured. Or having a wing extend outwards, making more drag to slow her down to just barely avoid one of the blows. Truly, she probably didn’t need too, but she couldn’t resist showing off just a little.
It was indeed, even a good effort on the boys’ part, she admitted. But he was slow. In this human form of hers, speed was her greatest weapon. Not brute strength, even if she was stronger than the average human.
But this was getting tiresome. He wasn’t showing her anything fun or interesting at all. So, she was going to end it.
“Do try to avoid this if you can, my little fool.” She suddenly commented as she danced between Lukas’ blades.
Suddenly, she stopped moving, planting her feet firmly on the ground. The next set of events would be too fast for most human eyes to follow.
Electricity danced upon her body and glaive.
An instant later, there was a flash of brilliant white light.
The next, a clap of something that sounded like thunder as Lukas was pinned to the opposite wall, a few feet from the floor with the haft of Sorcha’s Glaive pressed firmly into his throat.
“How’s that for a demonstration, Human?" Truthfully, she probably over did it just a bit. A little bit of showing off like that could have been a serious problem for her. She was already breathing a bit heavily from the exertion of even moving a few feet with that move. Of course, it wasn’t something that was going to easily be noticeable by just anyone.
Pinned, unable to move, his own consciousness was fading at a swift rate just as the fleeting white light. Most of every thing was in doubles or triples to him. Thoughts were rattled, trembling, jumbled, unable to do anything with that little amount of strength he displayed. He was frowning, struggling, holding on with dear life. Lukas even with that blow, his mind wasn't disrupted at all. Even though this was the end, he wasn't determined to fade as easily as he did before. With what control he had over his blades, all four rushed towards the wall, his last resort began.
Lukas made them all come at different angles, one attack from above coming for her head left, another aimed at the side of her torso, a third targeting explicitly the tail from the right, and the final blade shooting at the location of her spine. He put as much force as he could into these strikes, though, he had an idea of what to perform next... something akin to a yo-yo, unless she decided to knock him out at this highlight.
“You really should stop. It will make your life easier.” Sorcha said with a somewhat amused smile.
Still conscious enough to attack her after getting slammed like that? Well. That was impressive, she had to admit. Still, it wasn’t enough to even harm her in any way. The dragon merely smiled. She released Lukas from her glaive, letting him drop to the floor, following suit herself. Once her feet met the floor, she crouched and leapt backwards, keeping her wings tucked close to her body. The one aimed for her tail, flew just under her. The one aimed for her torso missed completely, with the one aimed for her head impaling itself in the floor.
The dragon twisted her body, using her wings to aide in her acrobatics. She landed on the floor, facing Lukas once again. She wouldn’t use her lightning again, but there wasn’t much he could do. It took the dragon mere seconds to accomplish this, and the moment she landed again she was already back to where Lukas was.
She aimed the end of her glaive right at Lukas’ chest, before turning it upwards and slamming it right into his chin. It wasn’t a powerful strike, not at all. It was intended to mostly knock the fool out at this point.
"Honestly, this was not the outcome I expected for this night... Was hoping to talk and chat for a bit, but nope, instead I'm going to lose a battle against a majestic, and head turning dragon... well, at least I get to spend one whole day with her in the future..."Falling to the floor, Lukas made sure to completely halt the blades before even one was close to impaling themselves.
"Making life easier will do nothing to improve me," he uttered, standing up straight as his blades began to violently spin, kicking up the air... before falling to the floor, clanging and banging, signifying the end of the fight as his jaw was wracked with a ton of pain as he slowly began drowning in darkness.
Eh, there were worse ways to go, besides garnering a concussion. Lukas knew what the entirety of next week was going to be once he woke up - leg day.
“Well, that is that then.” Sorcha sighed, a small flourish of her glaive signaling she was done as well.
“I was honestly expecting a bit more from a fool who would walk into a dragons den out of curiosity.” Sorcha simply shook her head, decided that it wasn’t worth speaking of at the moment.
For now, she left Lukas where he had fallen. Once Ylva left, she would make sure her new…toy, was comfortable. He would probably be fine, barring possibly a minor concussion, but it was nothing a little rest wouldn’t cure.
“So, Ylva of Clan Harkon.” She said, turning to the woman.
“Perhaps you would put up better entertainment than this fool?” The dragon asked.
“I admit, I am a bit curious about you. You know who I am very well it seems.” The dragon kicked one of Lukas’s swords out of her floor, over to the unconscious boy.
“Perhaps If you entertain me, I’ll answer more of your questions.”It surprised Ylva that the dragon would agree to the ridiculous request made by the boy, but she just shrugged and leaned at a wall to observe whatever was going to transpire. The fact that this guy also made a wager and basically sold himself as a slave for the next 24 hours was even more ridiculous, as he surely wasn't thinking that he’d win, did he?
The fight was over rather quickly and the boy, as expected, didn't stand a chance. But Ylva did not pay a lot of attention to him after he got hit the first time as it was already clear at this stage that he was out. Quite a lot of determination in him though. Instead, she focussed almost completely on the dragon’s movements, even using her sonar ability as to get a complete as possible picture of what it was doing. After the dragon used its lightning ability Ylva also noticed that the dragon’s breathing had changed to a more winded state. That was very interesting indeed.
The fight didnt take long after that even though the boy would try to fight on even till the bitter end. Admirable for sure, but giving up earlier would have probably saved him a lot of pain. Then again, Ylva did learn a thing or two because he stuck around for so long. Now however, he was out cold.
Then the dragon, after first making a comment about not being impressed with the boy, faced Ylva and… seemed to challenge her. For a moment she visibly hesitated because of the suddenness of it. She quickly recovered however and looked just in front of the dragon’s feet with a grin on her face.
”Me? Entertain a dragon?” She said in a playful, yet dark tone as she got her hands out of her pockets and seemed to remove something from her eyes.
Ylva looked up at her target, for the first time looking it in its eyes, her own near-golden eyes practically glowing. Her tone had shifted to a much colder one.
”Well then,” she said as ice shaped claws started to grow along her fingers
“I guess I’ll have to do my best for this one.”“Well, you certainly changed demeanor quite quickly.” Sorcha smirked, her own eyes catching Ylva’s. There was no fear in this girl at all it seemed, unlike the fool. Heh, maybe this would be entertaining.
“And yes, please do. I rarely get a chance to spar with anyone these days.” Yes, there was definitely something this Ylva girl was hiding, judging from that darker tone her voice took.
“So let us battle, Ylva of Clan Harkon.” Without another word, the dragon approached much more slowly than she did with Lukas. Instead of playing around with Ylva, It seemed she was taking this fight a bit more seriously. Whether she just wanted to finish this quickly, or she legitimately thought Ylva was the better fighter was more difficult to tell, but it seemed she wasn’t going to go easy.
Suddenly, Sorcha leaped forwards, swinging the glaive in a horizontal fashion at Ylva with one hand.
As anticipated, the target would make the first attack, and it would do so with its gleave which gave a considerable reach advantage. Just like in the other fight. Using her lightning magic which was coursing through her veins thanks to her catalyst, Ylva amplified her muscles to increase their reaction time, narrowly dodging the edge of the glaive.
As the glaive passed her, Ylva used her amplified reaction time to grab the glaive just below the blade. She knew she had no chance of overpowering the target so she opted to use this as a means to close the distance, pulling herself closer and raising her knee in the process. A sharp piece of ice formed on said knee in order to both be able to penetrate the target’s scales as well as protect her own kneecap from impacting the armour.
Well, that was a bit surprising. Much better moves than the Fool had indeed. Maybe she could actually enjoy this! She was at a bit of a disadvantage, however. Her lightning abilities would likely have zero effect on this girl. Which meant, she would have to rely purely on her physical abilities, and amplify them the same way the girl was doing. Such a thing would normally be easy for her, but considering her already slightly winded state, that might be troublesome. But well, at the moment she had other options.
Despite her being mildly impressed, she didn’t seem at all concerned with the attack. With the dragons’ free hand, she grabbed Ylva’s leg, just below the knee – mimicking her previous action.
With a swift turn, Sorcha pulled the girls leg, intending to throw her to the ground and put her on the floor.
While the likelihood of the target spotting Ylva’s attack beforehand was rather low, it did react in an almost perfect counter. She couldn't do anything about the firm grip with which it had grabbed her. Instead she formed an ice shell on her back which would absorb most of the impact, leaving small cracks in the floor. She still felt the impact but it was nothing that would hamper her combat abilities too much. However, in these microseconds Ylva had to release the glaive or else risk getting her shoulder dislocated.
Ylva had to think quickly about how to act now. She was basically pinned to the ground and that glaive was probably going for her head real soon. Something she’d much rather avoid. Luckily for her, she had her counter ready.
First Ylva “detonated” the piece of ice on her knee which fragmented into several sharp shards which flew in the direction of the target. As an immediate follow-up she blew a cloud of ice crystals in the target’s facial area, hoping that the cloud would at least obstruct her vision and possibly temporarily blind it. As a final measure she rushed upwards with her claws, one was aimed at the arm which pinned her, while the other was aimed at the target’s most vital organ, it’s heart. The reasoning being that the target would only be able to defend one of these two, thus forcing it to either release Ylva or gain a possibly fatal injury.
The first thing Sorcha did, was quickly wrap her wing around the front half of her body, creating a makeshift shield around her face to prevent being blinded, and from the fragments of ice. However, she couldn’t keep her grip on Ylva without risking injury, and her wings could not easily withstand an attack from an attack with those claws. So she decided to do the smart thing.
Mimicking her first attack, the dragon made a horizontal slash with her Glaive, but instead of leaping forwards, she instead leapt backwards.
Ylva knew that she was lucky with managing to get out of the target’s grip. However, she saw the glaive coming in just a little too late. She had expected the target to stay close where it’s raw strength would have been an advantage. A pity that this wasn't the case as she knew that she wouldn't be able to completely evade this attack. At the last second Ylva tried to raise an ice barrier between herself and the blade of the glaive, but it was too little, too late.
The glaive, slowed by the barrier, cut over her upper right arm. While this was only a scratch, in Ylva’s eyes this signified her loss. Her opponent had more experience than her and was the first one to deliver damage. All Ylva could do now is prolong the fight as much as possible and probably injure her target before either fainting due to fatigue or by her death. None of those were things she wanted to happen.
As the dragon put some distance between itself and Ylva, the latter rose to her feet and she too took a few steps back. Her iceclaws dissolved as she had a broad smile lastered on her face.
”Well, guess I lost.” she said as she pointed at the cut.
”You drew first blood which means that my chances of beating you are very slim indeed. If we were to continue our fight, chances are that I might end up fataly wounded and you great Vandrende Uvær could maybe be injured before your big fight, which is something I do not want to happen.” Ylva said in a much more friendly voice then she did before.
”And thus I offer my submission to you, if you would accept it ofcourse.”Sorcha gazed at Ylva. She was disappointed the girl decided that she wished to stop, but if that was her choice, then that was her choice. It was the sensible thing to do after all, and she was quite right about her being injured in her duel with that creature. So, Sorcha decided to grant Ylvas request. She had been entertained quite well by both the Fool and Ylva. So she was in more than a mood to allow her to submit.
“You are a great warrior, Ylva of Clan Harkon. Your movements were well trained, fluid, and well timed.” Sorcha lowered her glaive.
“I accept your submission.”Ylva gave a respectful nod to the dragon when it accepted her offer of submission.
“Thank you for accepting my offer.” she said with a smirk. She knew that it could have ended a lot messier if the dragon decided to continue on fighting. Instead, Ylva was just relieved that she didn't have to go to the nurse to get her bones reattached.
Ylva looked over to the pile of broken bones that was left of the “Fool” as the dragon called him. That name did seem to be fitting for him, maybe she’d use it as well… But he did seem in a rather bad shape and the day was running short.
Ylva pulled her lenses out of her pocket and covered her irises with them before addressing the dragon and putting her hands in her pockets.
”Thank you for inviting me over to your chambers Vandrende Uvær. I very much appreciate it.” She walked over to the window and turned around to face the dragon.
”I hope we can have more intensive sparring matches at a later date when you do not have a score to settle with someone else.” she said, still with that same smirk on her face.
”However, I must take my leave now… Plus I think that it might be a good idea to check that guy’s pulse if you still want him to be of any use.” Ylva nodded over at the Fool’s wrecked body as she leapt on the window frame's edge.
”I hope to see you around again Vandrende Uvær.Maybe we can then discuss enjoy that food for which you invited me.” And with that Ylva dropped herself out of the window, creating a small slide underneath her feet to safely make her way down. After touching the ground she went on her way to the dining hall, because man was she starving.
“Indeed Ylva. We shall be seeing quite a bit of each other I think…” Sorcha mused as the other girl left. But for now, she better check on Lukas. The dragon returned her glaive to its proper resting spot, and walked over to the unconscious Lukas. Well, he wasn’t dead judging from the pulse, so he’d be fine then. Without much effort, she picked up Lukas and placed him on her bed. Next, she picked up his swords and laid them next to her glaive. It was then she remembered, she had yet to eat. Ugh, she hoped her steak hadn’t gotten cold. Meh, she’d eat it regardless.
So she proceeded to finish her rather impressive meal, before locking the window to her room, and turning in for the night herself. Lukas would have quite the experience tomorrow, heh~
