“And today I hunt my prey.”

(«^») Iris Exurrana

8E/438Y/12M/34D 18:38 AM

I dragged Aurora outside with me, “Where are we going it's too late for this!”

“I haven't had my fill of fun yet. We're having a night out.”

“You already hoard books, does your greed extend to entertainment as well?!”

“My greed extends to everything. Especially you.” I gave her a wink, and she blushed a little and shut up. I didn't trust her not to give away our plan so I decided to keep her in the dark.

Although my plan was actually pretty simple.

(«^») ???

Part of me felt wrong for doing this. But I trusted Tael. She told me this was something we absolutely had to do. I tried arguing about it when she asked for help with the job, but I ended up going anyway. There was a tight feeling in my chest as we followed Iris, Aurora, and Azrael. I had my sister walking next to me just in case something went wrong. Tael walked in front of me.

The Iris’ group was laughing, unbeknownst to us.

Or so I thought.

Something felt off. It was dark, but there were lights lining the streets. The bright white they usually gave off turned into a deep purple. Then Iris slowly turned her head, and shot a wink in our direction with a sly grin.

All of a sudden Iris changed position, now fully turned and facing us without even moving.

“Kuh!” I gasped as pain filled my body. In front of me Tael was screaming in pain. To my side my sister was kneeling. In an instant Iris had filled our bodies with swords made of darkness. Nine each. Purple lightning wrapped around the blades.

“Welcome!” Iris walked towards us, taking a bow. “Welcome to Darkest Before! I'll be your host for tonight!” Iris spoke with a manic grin. Her left eye glowed with purple energy, trailing off to the side of her head.

“Argh! You bitch! Ah! How?! How the fuck?!” Tael screamed her words in agony.

“Another gift of mine. Chronstorri.”

“Cheater!”

“Tael, we've met on a few occasions. You should know very well by now that cheating is my job and hobby.”

“Two can play at that game…” Tael took out a small vial and made a gesture with it. All of a sudden our surroundings went monochrome. She then pulled out another vial, and spoke a chant. The vial filled her body with golden energy, and she then used it on me. “Get up. This won't last long, and I can only use this one once.”

“Of course.”

Color filled our surroundings, and Iris gave us a pleased look, “I see… Tael this only ends one of two ways. Either you give in to me, or I give in to you. There's no escape from this extra-dimensional space either.

“Forcing my hand… clever girl.” Tael then snapped her fingers, and seven streaks of red arced from her hand towards Iris.

(«^») Iris Exurrana

I pulled out my sword in reverse grip with my left hand in an arc, following through all the way to my right shoulder deflecting the first streak. I then switched my grip and swung left, deflecting the second two, but the last four hit all at once, lighting me aflame, but it didn't hurt as much as I thought it would. “Aurora, Azrael, handle the mage. I'll handle the twins.”

I ran up to the purple haired girl, barely realizing she was the dealer from earlier. She pulled out a segmented sword and got into stance.

I switched my grip, and jumped pushing all my weight into a single strike at one of the twins. The second twin then, spun and kicked me to the side. “Gah!” I gasped as all the air left my body.

In unison they both plunged their swords into me. The first one I parried to the side, but the second went through my shoulder. I grabbed the blade then channeled my magic into it, pulsing dark lightning into the twin’s body, and pulling the sword out of me. Using Darkest Before I thrust several blades at their feet forcing them to back up. Slowly I forced myself back into a standing position, and held my blade out to my opponents. “You're good.”

“As are you.”

“But not good enough.”

“Tch. We'll see about that.” The first twin swung at me across my chest. I activated Alexandria Ayana, forming a large, dished, purple flower at my fingertips, completely blocking the attack. The second twin flicked her blade turning it into a chain whip, and arced the tip around the shield. The shield then covered my entire body in purple light, protecting me.

The two twins stepped back a little, afraid.

I activated Chronostorri again, and ran nine swords through each of them, pinning them to the ground.

The spell ended and they both screamed. The one I'd been focusing on was clearly running on Lunar Aura. The second one seemed one hit away. From the same fate. The swords dissipated, and they both got to their feet. I circled around them for a moment. “Do you really think this'll end well after all this? I've abused every ounce of my magic to make sure I have the best advantage possible. This blade,” I held out my sword, “is forged with a portion of myself. It's fully enchanted too. I can stop time, create shields that are nigh impossible to break, I can attack you from anywhere within this space, and you can't escape it. My blade makes me stronger the closer to death I am. It can make time differentials powerful enough to nullify any attack. And if I'm on my last stand it'll allow me to create blows so powerful they project darkness and lightning that'll incinerate you in seconds. I am Iris Exurrana, the Charmer of Storms, and Breaker of Gods. You are not good enough.”

The truth was was that I was getting close to my limit. The only thing that saved me was Alexandria Ayana which was powerful enough to completely nullify their attacks. But if those last two attacks had hit I would've been done for. In truth I only outpaced them because I abused my magic in such a way. If I hadn't, they would've killed me easily.

(«^») Azrael Exurrana

As soon as Iris ran off to the twins I calmly walked over to Tael.

I slowly circled around her and spoke in my usual tone, “I guess it's come down to ganging up on a poor little witch. Admittedly, you're very powerful. Usually I'd never do this, but it's only fair. And that's what honor is about.” I took my umbrella and swung straight for her neck. Tael grabbed my hand and spun my body around her, driving her knee into my gut. Quickly, I took my umbrella in my other hand, then pulled her knee out from under her with the crook. She lost her grip on me, and I smashed my umbrella into her face forcing her into the ground. Suddenly, I felt a large burst of energy, and I looked behind me to see Aurora finishing casting a spell.

Tael grabbed my umbrella and pulled me down to the ground, then pinned me. Seven red streaks arced from her shoulders, and I braced myself. Aurora then lunged at Tael, violently stabbing her three times in the chest, throwing her magic off mark, and throwing Tael off of me.

All of a sudden, nine purple swords appeared inside of Tael. I looked to where Iris was, standing in front of the defeated twins. She made a small gesture while holding a pocket watch, obviously casting a spell. This time Tael shot a prismatic streak at Iris. It hit her then nothing happened. I yelled out to Iris “Anti-magic!”

Iris, now furious, ran towards us. Tael pushed Aurora off of her. She gained some distance and pulled out a vial, casting a spell from it. Immediately I recognized the magic. I laughed, “That won't work, Tael.”

“What the fuck?” She threw the vial at the ground, “Why, what did you do?”

My eyes flashed dark gray, “I didn't do anything.” I said as I looked away, dodging the question.

“You have a corrosion gift don't you…”

I sighed.

“Corrosion effects are illegal!”

“I might be honorable, but I never said I cared for the law. Besides isn't time magic illegal as well?”

Tael, frustrated, put her hands up, “You win. I can't do this…”

Iris walked over to her then tied her hands together, grinning. “It's a shame you value your life. I would've enjoyed killing you, but for now you're more valuable to us alive.” She looked at Aurora and I, “Let's go.”