Erika sat up, glancing briefly at the flag she then looked down at her palms, her scarred, blistered palms.

She knew these powers came from her Draconic bloodline, but she had no idea how to control them, less so how they worked.

Why didn’t father talk to me about this?...Why didn’t he try to instruct me? Even with magic…he simply refused.

Huffing in defeat, Erika pulled herself up from the ground.

There’s no point pondering over it is there? Here I am now, and my mind needs to stay in the now, not what ifs.

She told herself, starting to glance over the cage she found herself in.

“Surrender, all your comrades have fallen, only you remain and as you are you stand no chance.” Spoke Thorn’s voice from all around her.

Why offer me to surrender? Can’t they just come in here and finish it?..

Erika pondered, her gaze resting upon the closed entrance.

Then moving to the flag…

Then her own feet, and it hit her.

They’re afraid of me escaping with the flag! They think I can keep that speed to a constant!

She realized the trainees were playing it safe, time was on their side after all and the longer they kept her within the more chances of them winning. Yet…why ask to surrender? Why not just wait?

They’re in a hurry as well…Maybe they were given terms we do not know…Dammit, Kei said she’ll answer questions regarding the rules and no one asked!

Another realization, and as her mind wandered, Erika began pondering over her next step.

I cannot win, there’s no question to that but…

A bittersweet smirk grew over her, if she couldn’t win, then she had nothing left but lose.

“A cornered beast is to be feared, for if not, unbeknownst to the assailant that beast might just be…” Erika repeated to herself the words of her mother, “A monster.” She chuckled to herself.

“What?” Thorn asked, hearing her mumble to herself.

“You want me to surrender, correct?” Erika then asked, grasping the flag and pulling it out of its resting place.

“Uhh, yeah, that’d be great.” Thorn offered.

She began approaching the blocked up wall, gripping the flag firmly in her left as she came to stand before it.

“Then what are your terms?” Erika then asked.

“Huh what?...Shit, she wants to know what our terms are…” She heard Thorn speak from all around her, and whisper when not right outside the blockade.

“Hell if I know! Just to surrender!” Seiki replied.

“Ah-Ahem, we just want you to surrender, what bloody terms you talkin about?” Thorn reiterated.

“We’re both on a timer,” Erika placed her bet, “And at a standstill, if you want me to surrender then you must have some terms for me to agree to? Or do you not even have a plan from here onward?”

“Ah…Plan yes, yes of course we-The fuck is the plan if she doesn’t!?-Yeah, yeah you don’t need to know. Uhm, terms terms…shit what terms do we give her?” Thorn fumbled about.

“I don’t know!” Seiki groaned.

“This is diplomacy 101, we musn’t offer anything regarding the occasion we must win at. Think outside the box, outside this fight.” Del suggested.

“Yeah, you’re of great help big guy.” Thorn groaned.

“If you don’t have any terms, I might have a few ideas.” Erika added.

“Oh, uhm, sure why not? Shoot.” Thorn spoke back, followed by a “Ow!” as Del smacked the back of his head, “What was that for!”

“You just gave her control over the negotiations, idiot.” Del grumbled.

“Alright big guy, how about you do this then!?” Thorn snarled back.

“I…” Del fumbled for words.

“You don’t know either…do you?” Seiki sighed.

As they bickered, Erika placed her free palm over the roots before her.

All three of them then going dead silent, as each sensed a surge in energy.

“What? What are you doing!? Oi!” Thorn exclaimed.

“Don’t be foolish, you cannot beat all three of us!” Del called out.

“No, I cannot.” Erika agreed, as her golden eyes dazzled with the rush of mana, soaring through her body and rushing into her right arm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3NGq5ft1eY

“Not alone she can’t!” A voice then called out from the left, the three of them turning to see Lizbeth stumbling around the walls to face them, beaten and bruised she held on tightly to her make-shift axe.

Stomping her foot down and raising some dirt, her fierce eyes settled upon them as her form bulked up and grew, Lyncantrophy taking over yet…this time she went further.

Growing twice her usual size, Lizbeth went fully animalistic, a dark red coated fox standing ten feet high on all fours with a belly of light grey. The beast that was Lizbeth growled ferociously.

“Shit, she can do that?” Seiki panicked.

“And they’re not alone.” Gray called out from up above, a ball of vines in one hand and an opened gooey leaf in the other as a spray of honey came raining down upon them. Dropping the leaf off, he then grasped the now shuddering sphere. A wicked grin taking his expression over, “Hah…Hahahaha!” He laughed, “This is crazy, but I fucking love it.”

Tearing the sphere open, blue lights burst out into a downpour of small fuzzy insects sizzling with electricity.

Hearing their voices, Erika felt something fill her…akin to comradery, something within pushed her not to let their final stands down.

As she pushed herself further and further too, reaching the very limit of mana her body could handle, she focused it all in her palm.

Before suddenly letting it surge outward.

Bright blue tendrils flowed through the vines then walls of stone and dirt ground, like a shockwave they rushed outward encompassing everything before her and blinding the trainees with light and surprise.

Not sure what to say or how, Erika just began to wildly chant, pouring her will into words.

“Wise and ancient element I beseech thee! Burn bright, brighter than my heart…Burn warm, hotter than the sun! Heed my call and burn it all!” As she spoke the fluorescent blue tendrils of mana sparked, a wave of red taking it all over before suddenly flames flickered out.

Out of the roots, out of the walls, everything the mana infused burned, even the ground.

Sending forth a bellow of incandescent flame, pushing all three trainees back and searing their bodies as they came out of their state of shock. The Silver Gliders surrounded them then and there, each one lighting up brighter as they came close, one by one flares of silver light flashed before suddenly a charge of electricity surged out of one and into the other…then into the next and the next.

Like chain lightning, the final bug hit exploded with electricity, sending a shocking surge pouring into their bodies.

And as smoke and dust covered her, Erika took her exit, dashing out with flag in hand she ran.

Meeting a large beast through the smoke, she met Lizbeth’s eyes, a moment slowed down to the point each understood one another with merely the glance.

Eyes that burned with purpose, eyes that shouted…Run.

And seeing those eyes so rekindled with hope, aimed at her, Erika glanced up as the smoke cleared.

Watching Gray leap off the wall, as his hands solely morphed, each grasped arrows off his quiver and sent them raining down at top speed into the trainees below.

The rest of his body morphed then, growing thinner unlike the rest, a netting of fur also grew out about his arms and legs allowing his fall to lessen and making him glide.

That’s when Erika realized, he wasn’t a wolf at all, not even canine in the least.

And as his eyes also briefly met hers, they screamed the same as Lizbeth’s.

Smiling to herself, Erika gripped the flag even tighter.

If you look at me that way…I can’t lose now can I?

She told herself, steeling her tired and bruised body as she came around to face the long trek back.

Lizbeth clashed with Del, beast on beast they held onto one another as Gray barraged arrows down upon Seiki and Thorn, the latter deflecting all he could with his pole-arm as Seiki turned her sights on Erika.

“No you don’t.” She hissed, her form morphing too as her legs grew longer and stronger, Seiki suddenly dashed forth at top speed.

Feeling a breeze blow past her hair, Erika turned to find Seiki now having come to a stop behind her. Fangs bared, the leopard turned to pounce.

It’s now or never, now or never again!

Erika faced forth, searching deep inside for that feeling.

She left everything else behind, the sounds of clashing bodies, the sensation of danger behind her, the weariness and pain. Erika pushed it all out.

One thing mattered, in that momentary pause, finding her centre.

As a brief image snuck into her mind, an image of doubt, that she couldn’t do it.

The image of her spear, stuck into the tree bark and having missed its mark made of string.

She failed before, she could fail again now. That thought tried to overcome her, but she pushed that aside too.

Feeling a hand grasp locks of her hair, Erika also felt a sensation of burning light up within her.

Her centre, she had found it.

And as she crouched down and picked up Liz’s dropped axe, Erika glanced back at Seiki’s panicked expression before placing the sharpened stone to her hair.

Releasing herself of Seiki’s hold and a full lock of hair, Erika dropped the axe and ran.

Feeling the wind blast into and past her, Erika ran faster than ever before once more.

Flickers of flame bursting alive all around her as she ran, each step a blazing leap forward, Erika felt as if she had grown wings that lightened her step and let her momentarily fly.

Ahead she saw it approach, her goal.

Merely a few more leaps away now…as she landed sure-footed, something burst out of the bushed to her right, clashing into her and tackling her to the ground.

Feeling her power suddenly leave her body and mind, Erika groaned from exhaustion and pain as she opened her eyes.

Above her stood Drun Snowtail, holding her down. Completely unscathed nor tired, he smirked bitterly, “Sorry.” He said.

“Ah! Nice one…” Seiki grumbled, catching up to them completely out of breath, “What under the blood moon are you!?”

Erika felt not a drop of energy within her left, slumping down into the grass she even let go of the flag laying beside her. “Hah…W-Why?” She asked Drun, her weary eyes full of disappointment and a tinge of something else meeting his.

“Miss Kei told me this morning that I’ll be assigned as the Traitor, it was my job to hinder you all, the trainees knew so they captured me and took me aside to give me the task of standing guard here…” Drun explained as he stood off her, noticing that tinge of something else dissipate with his explanation.

It had been anger, now quenched Erika simply closed her eyes and let her body relax.

“So…anyone going to tell me how the fuck she did that and what the fuck is growing out of her ass?” Seiki then asked, catching her breath as she straightened herself.

Both now staring down at Erika, as she wearily glanced down at her legs too where…

A golden draconic tail slithered about.

Oh that’s definitely new.