Celeste, like Flora, did not have it easy. But she could hold on due to the difference in skill.
Flora was still a beginner in combat, but Celeste was one of the Luminarii— the strongest soldiers of the Avians. And backed by her gifted bloodline, there may be a single handful of Avians who are stronger than her. Her father was one. And anyone else, if any, was not there in Clarus.
She also uses a glaive like Flora, but their weapons had their own differences. There were no runes on Celeste's blade, nor did it glow with iridescent light. But it was shaped like a raging flame with the blade on one side and the flames on the other.
There was a gemstone with a scarlet hue on the guard collar— a catalyst. Flora was not yet trained enough to get one. Since a reusable catalyst was extremely rare and hard to craft and keep stable— only the trained Luminariis and the regent himself carries it around.
The gemstone glowed and a red aura burned like flames on the blade. Celeste was flying, and so was her enemy. She (the vampire), had wings made of black mist and a figure that looked like a grim reaper behind her, though it never attacked.
The vampire had introduced herself as Esthia, and another vampire who seemed to be superior in power was fighting Solis, her father, just a little away from her.
The orange hue of the evening sky was not favorable towards either the Avians or the Vampires. There was no ample light for the Avians, nor was there enough darkness for the Vampires— the fight was as fair as it could get.
Celeste spun her glaive, the scarlet flames licking the air in curls as she faced Esthia. The vampire hovered, her black mist wings throbbing with an eerie vibe that one always got from crazy horror movies. The grim reaper figure behind Esthia loomed ominously, but its inactivity was giving enough anxiety for Celeste to meet a therapist right after the fight..
"Nice blade," Esthia quipped, her voice smooth as cotton dipped in poison. "But flames can't burn the dead."
Celeste's lips curved into a smirk. "Good thing I'm not aiming to burn—just to carve a path through you. And for your information, these are not flames— nothing much, but... don't misunderstand."
Without warning, Esthia darted forward, probably because Celeste said too much, her speed was like a shadow streaking under the flicker of a candle. Celeste barely had time to block as Esthia's clawed hands scraped against the glaive's guard. The clang of metal against metal nails that definitely broke the nail trimmer reverberated like a church bell struck too hard.
Celeste pushed her glaive forward, forcing Esthia back. Flames erupted in a controlled arc, forcing the vampire to retreat midair with an agile flip.
"Not bad," Esthia admitted. "But you're slower than a snail in a marathon."
"What the heck does that mean?" Celeste demanded, but then remembered her enemy said whatever she wanted and not actual facts.
She sighed, launching herself forward with a downward slash. Esthia twisted, her form became a blur of dark mist, dodging the blow. Celeste adjusted, swinging the glaive horizontally. This time, flames erupted along its edge like a wildfire breaking through dry wood.
Esthia blocked the strike with her misty wings, yeah they were not just mists (who knew), but the fiery aura cut through and scorched the edges. She screamed like a child getting wounded for the first time, and it was not even her body, her ghostly wings reforming almost instantly.
"Oh, they do burn huh?" Celeste quipped.
The grim reaper figure behind Esthia twitched but remained inert. Celeste noticed and made a mental note to stay alert.
"You're holding back," Celeste said, her voice steady despite the strain of the battle. "What's the matter? Afraid of a fair fight?"
Esthia grinned, her fangs gleaming. "Fair fights are for fools and heroes. Guess which one I'm not?"
"The heroes... Duh! It is just that obvious."
She raised her hand, and the mist around her condensed into a scythe. It wasn't a real weapon but felt no less deadly as she swung it with practiced precision. Celeste parried the first strike, the clash sending sparks flying. The second strike came faster, the blade of mist scraping dangerously close to her shoulder.
"You fight like a drunk chicken," Celeste taunted, twisting midair to dodge the next swing. "Flailing all over and hoping something hits."
Esthia snarled, her attacks becoming more erratic but no less lethal. Celeste spun her glaive, using the momentum to deflect the misty blade and counter with a fiery thrust. Flames danced as the glaive's point grazed Esthia's arm, eliciting a sharp hiss.
"Enough games," Esthia growled, her wings expanding as she dove straight at Celeste, the scythe aimed for her throat.
Celeste shifted, narrowly avoiding the strike. She twisted her glaive in a wide arc, the flames roaring louder. This time, the fiery edge caught Esthia's scythe, disintegrating part of the misty weapon. Celeste pressed her advantage, striking again and again, each blow forcing the vampire back.
"You're persistent," Esthia admitted, dodging another slash. "But persistence won't save you."
She snapped her fingers, and the grim reaper figure finally moved. It lunged forward, its massive, shadowy arms reaching for Celeste. She barrel-rolled in the air, the massive claws missing her by inches.
"Didn't your pet get the memo?" Celeste called out, twirling her glaive. "The fight's between us."
Esthia smirked. "Then try not to lose your head."
The shadow lunged again, but this time Celeste was ready. She swung her glaive in a wide arc, the fiery aura expanding into a crescent-shaped wave. The attack tore through the shadow's torso, splitting it in two. The grim reaper dissipated momentarily before reforming behind Esthia.
"Cheap tricks won't work on me," Celeste said, adjusting her grip. Her wings flared, and she shot upward, gaining distance. With a burst of energy, she dived down, glaive poised for a decisive strike.
Esthia raised her scythe to block, but Celeste twisted at the last second, spinning to land a flaming kick to Esthia's side. The vampire reeled, her misty wings faltering. Celeste followed up with a rapid series of strikes, each one driving Esthia closer to the ground.
Finally, Celeste slammed the butt of her glaive into Esthia's chest, sending her crashing into the rocky terrain below. The impact created a small crater, dust and debris swirling around the fallen vampire.
Hovering above, Celeste leveled her glaive at Esthia, the flames still roaring. "Stay down, or I'll turn you into ashes."
Esthia coughed blood as she got up. But contrary to her state, a sly grin formed on her lips as she wiped them. "Bold of you to assume I'll give up that easily."
She retaliated, her eyes were now completely dark. Her scythe cleaved through the air and met Celeste's glaive. The scythe got parried and countered with a barrage of stabs and slashes. Scarlet flame ate away at the scythe as it met the glaive's blade every time. But it grew back quickly.
Celeste's glaive slashed through the air, the blade trailing scarlet embers as it clashed against Esthia's dark scythe. Sparks erupted like fireflies in the night every time both clashed, the embers swallowed up the mist like lighting up a dark room with their light.
Esthia's right wing grew as the grim reaper behind her became the right wing. It held out its arm and a dark scythe with a large blade materialized from the mist, the shadowy hooded figure slashed the new scythe at Celeste.
She tried to block it, and did just in time— parrying the scythe and rotating herself to counterattack, at least that was her plan. But as was about to parry after letting the blade touch and her blade burned the other scythe from Esthia— the grim reaper's scythe handle disappeared.
It was dispersed, the blade— however, did not. It slashed through her chest and upper abdomen. The cut was deep and the pain that erupted was nothing to gawk at. She spat a mouthful of blood, which was burned before it fell.
Black mist appeared on the cut and started to devour her flesh through the wound, and she quickly made a retreat and screamed her lungs out due to the sheer pain. She could somehow feel her every cell that was being devoured.
"Not so mighty are you now?" Esthia asked, but her voice had echoes that repeated what she said but in a shrieking voice. "Stay down, or I'll turn you into nothing but mist."
Celeste had her head down while screaming, she placed her hand on her wound. Her screams and painful cries stopped as her wound started to burn. She looked at her opponent. "Bold of you to assume I could be defeated with just this." Her bronze eyes gleamed as if the sun started to shine again. Although it was evening.
"Let's see how much more you can take," Esthia spoke, her voice neither arrogant nor mocking. Just an echo of countless voices that aced their exams in the "How to shriek while you speak" course.