Wings & Horns

Chapter Four

"I didn't kill him, fool." Leo spat, control gone. This escalated quickly. He thought to himself. Oh well, I've needed a bit of work with my fighting anyways. Leo grinned darkly. He unfurled the large wings feathered like those of a raven's and took off. Mynth matched his speed, as they took to the sky, breaking through clouds. "Shall we call it a duel then, Mynth?" Mynth didn't reply, shooting a blade of cold ice-energy towards him, which he blocked easily, deflecting with his wings.

"You chose the wrong day to mess with me, Mynth1 I've had it to just about her-" Mynth appeared behind him, pushing him off balance. "Oh shut up, you wuss. Face me." Leo turned, a grim expression on his face.

"Fine."

He used his wings to propel him, picking up speed, as he practiced a blow. He focused all the energy, all the hate, and the anger, and the unfairness of the world that had been inflicted on him, on one target. Mynth.  His eyes felt tears at the speed, and he raised his hand out throwing out a lash of the energy, as it followed behind him like a cascade of darkness. Mynth looked somewhat alarmed, creating a shield of ice-energy, but Leo was in battle mode. He focused the plague of dark energy on Mynth, as it bore down on her from all sides. Mynth finally screeched, transforming fully. A white, whimsical horse, anger and thunder at its hooves reared, and shot towards him, charging. It brought a wave of ice, of cold to match Leo's power. "What? A little dark scare me? I am the dark!" Mynth mocked. "Get out of my head!" Leo said, shooting another beam of energy at it, but Mynth merely dodged. She slowly trotted towards him, from below. "I don't blame you though. She acted well, with that pretty face of hers. I'm sure she's fooling the one she's with now too." Leo threw an arm out, punching at the spirit, and missing. Mynth butted him from the side, encircling him in mocking laughter. "Still her weak little drone are we?" She murmured, a stab of ice coming towards him, escalating through the sky quickly. Leo pulled his wings back, pushing away, putting distance between him and the ice. He needed to get his cool back.

Calm down! He scolded himself, trying to trigger the dead cool that he'd made a habit of keeping. Leo felt it returning, slowly. She's using your fears against you. Your fears...against you. He thought to himself, before closing his eyes, with deadly calm. He sensed the impending horse, as it came close now. But his focus was his hands, as energy slowly built, and built, and built. A ball of mass destruction, in the palm of his hand. But he was only destroying one today. Leo opened his eyes, pure red, and shot it at Mynth without a second thought.

What followed was strange. The horse, in a pose to strike, its front hooves up, was struck in the chest, by what looked like a shard of obsidian. All around, it blackened, hardened, spread, until the horse became pure granite, and began to drop.

Leo followed after it, ducking his wings in a dive, pure momentum and adrenaline pushing him to bask in his victory. The figure was close now, but that didn't matter. He won. As the horse statue, what was left of Mynth, hit the ground with a deafening crack, Leo gracefully landed, his wings giving him leverage. He gazed as Mynth was returned to a humanoid state, battered and beaten. She coughed up blood, before looking up at him, with revulsion and . . . respect.

"What are you? I've never lost against a weak Fallen." She said through coughs. "I'm not just any Fallen." Leo replied, walking over and offering a hand up. Mynth eyed it suspiciously, before taking it, getting up. "Maybe I was wrong about you, lover boy. Maybe." She said, as she disintegrated, most likely back to where her power was strongest. Leo waited a moment, before leaning against the chapel wall, and breathing in deeply. The attack he's made had drained him of energy he didn't know he had. Leo slowly sank against the wall.

A clapping made him turn his head. "That was some show up there, Fallen. Mynth, well, braver and better creatures have fallen to her speak, yet . . . you got back in the game. Bravo."