MEDIA:

Sharks Don't Sleep by Dean Valentine.

Personally, I'd say this is Erin's theme.

* * *

The bandits all came rushing forward at once, weapons raised, each and every one of them determined to deal the first blow. Using this to her advantage, Erin thrust the nose of her staff ahead and closed her eyes, channelling all of her focus into casting the desired spell.

'Glacier Dam!'

The ground acknowledged her words with a mere rumble seconds before the earth itself split open, making way for the massive sheet of white which punched out from below. It rose up, reaching towards the sky to form a towering wall between her and the bandits. Erin heard the muffled clangings of steel cutting against ice, followed by insensitive cursing from the men on the other side.

'Bitch! Where did she go?'

'What the hell is this?

'Boss! My sword's stuck!'

Erin twirled the staff between her fingers. 'Tsk. That's what you bastards get for trying to take me on using petty weapons!' She looked over her shoulder at Casius, who was staring up at the frozen wall, a look of awe etched across his face. 'I recommend you take a few steps back,' she muttered. 'This could get nasty.'

'If you require my assistance-'

'No!' Erin's voice struck much harsher than intended. The magus closed her eyes, offering the best apologetic smile she could muster. 'No, thank you. Look, it's nothing personal, okay? I just don't want you spouting any of your angelic nonsense in front of these guys, so just stay back and observe if you must. But do not intervene, no matter what.'

Casius stirred. 'But, I-'

'No matter what...'

The angel's brows knitted together in a look of obvious frustration, an expression which made even Erin hesitate upon her decision. The fact that he wanted to help was admirable, but it wasn't something she was prepared to risk. He must have realised the point she was making, because he nodded and backed away, leaving her to fend for herself. Thankful for his retreat, she looked back at the frozen wall standing before her.

The last thing I need right now is for him to start going on about Mortals and what else have you. Taking a deep breath, Erin thrust out her hand.

The wall succumbed to the power of the lone gesture. It was as if a great, invisible sledgehammer had been thrown straight at the frozen barrier, causing its dense form to burst, shattering into a collection of broken ice particles which then collapsed, showering the bandits on the other side.

Erin couldn't resist a grin when the four men crouched low and raised their hands above their heads in an attempt to shield themselves from the ice rain. Their weapons slipped through their fingers, clattering uselessly to the floor and giving the magus a chance to brandish her own.

'I suggest you surrender.' she said, angling the nose of her staff so that it was pointed straight at them. 'You're all now without a weapon, so unless you want to be blown to smithereens you'll follow my orders and get down on the-'

The rest of her sentence was cut off by the ear-piercing bang which erupted out of the blue, taking her by surprise, causing her to unwillingly flinch. At the same time, something shot past her face, emitting a warm breeze which tickled against her ear. Erin's brows furrowed and she spared a glance over her shoulder.

Was that a...?

When she dared looked back, she saw that the bandit leader had produced a pistol, which was now aimed at her. A trail of smoke rose from within the barrel and man drew back the hammer, preparing a second shot.

That was just a warning, Erin realised. But how had he managed to unveil the weapon so quickly? No, that wasn't important right now.

'I don't think so,' the man proclaimed. His voice was relaxed and unnaturally soft, though Erin noticed his eyes narrowing and suspected that he was grinning from behind his face mask. 'Now, this is what you're going to do. First, you're going to set the thing in your hand down on the floor and step away from it. Then you're going to get whatever valuable goods you have on your person and place them on the floor in front of you.' Cold, artful eyes wandered, examining her from head to toe. 'You do that and I might still make an exception for your life. Understood?'

But Erin didn't respond. She couldn't. Rage consumed her from within, causing her entire body to shake and tremble. Beneath the folds of her hood, which concealed a major portion of her face from view, she was seething. Her features twisted in a way that was almost demonic, though she was thankful for the fact that her enemies couldn't see her reaction.

He dares pull a pistol on me, she thought. On me! That self-absorbed, cowardly bastard...

'Ohh, hurry up and make a decision will you?' said bastard muttered, his bitter tone hinting at his growing impatience. 'Honestly, we could have robbed three other souls in the time it's taken to do this job.'

He'll pay for degrading me.

As the leader's three cronies laughed in agreement - though their amusement was so clearly feigned - she straightened up and tightened the hold on her staff. The shaking soon subsided and Erin, having already made her decision, took a deep, cleansing breath.

'No.'

The bandits' laughter instantly ceased and four pairs of eyes, each housing a mixture of shock and contempt, landed on her cloaked form. They each stared as though she had just grown a tail or two.

The leader then lowered the pistol. 'I'm sorry.' He raised a single brow in question. '"No"?'

'No,' she repeated. 'I refuse.'

Having heard her response, the leader shrugged and raised the pistol so that it was level with her head. 'Fine,' he grunted, his index finger poised against the trigger. 'Just remember that you were given a choice...'

Wait for it.

'...and you chose wrong.'

Wait for it...

'Goodbye, Cryptess.'

Wait...

Another bang erupted as the bandit leader pulled against the trigger, forcing the hammer forward, and another puff of smoke exploded from beneath the barrel, announcing the second bullet's launch.

Now!

'Contego!'

With a simple thrust of her hand, Erin was able to summon forth a luminous emerald barrier. The glowing obstruction materialised in front of her and stretched outwards, encompassing her entire form like a large dome. A mere second later, the bullet made contact, creating a series of ripples which caused the shield to tremble, but which also left Erin in one piece.

The bandit leader's eyes widened when he saw that the magus was still standing. 'What?' he exclaimed, pulling back the pistol hammer. 'Shoot at her, you fools! Don't just stand there! Shoot!'

Erin's lips curled up in a vicious grin when the other bandits complied to their leader's demands. They each reached behind their backs, producing pistols that were almost identical to the one in their superior's hand and taking aim. A single rain of bullets proved to be useless against the woman on the other side, who stood by and watched as the projectiles were engulfed, one by one, by the sheet of green.

A brief respite occurred whilst the men took a moment to reload their weapons. 'Idiots,' she muttered. 'Simple bullets won't work against Conte-'

It appeared as though she had spoken too soon. Before she could finish her sentence, one of the bandits raised his pistol and fired. Behind the fluctuating field of green, Erin saw the puff of smoke push out from inside the barrel and heard the bang erupt as the bullet came hurling towards the shield. However, instead of being absorbed like the others, this particular bullet slammed right into the barrier, causing it to crack.

Erin's eyes widened when she noticed the black, circular bullet lodged within the screen of the shield. 'Oh, mother of flying fat-'

Without any warning, the shield's glowing form gave way and exploded, forcing Erin to duck down in a desperate bid to avoid the second rain of bullets which came hurtling mercilessly at her. With the shield no longer protecting her, Erin realised that she was vulnerable to the wrath of the bandits' power.

Unless...

Thrusting out her hand in the direction the masked enemies, Erin called out, 'Hand of Ignis!'

In response to her summons, a blood-coloured sphere materialised against the palm of her hand, casting forth a crimson glow strong enough to stop the enemy in their tracks. She watched whilst the bandits halted their attacks, their eyes widening at the sight of the strange, glowing object in her hand.

The bandit leader raised a hand to his face. 'What in great Satan's name is-'

The rest of his sentence was cut off by the wave of fire which gushed out from beneath the surface of solidified orb, punching forward like a giant fist homing in on the face of its enemy. Before any of the bandits could think to retreat, the burning monstrosity fell over them, dousing them in a series of fresh flames which instantly began to devour them.

Erin listened in, a dark expression etched across her face, as the bandits began to scream, cursing, begging and even pleading with God for the pain to stop. Their high-pitched, effeminate cries were like blessed music to her ears, filling her with a sense of satisfaction.

Good, she thought. It serves them right. Selfish bastards, the lot of them.

While she could not actually see the bandits' reaction due to the intensity of the fire, which seemed to hover, obstructing her view of them like a great flaming wall, she tried to imagine them writhing whilst they fought to eradicate the inferno around them.

A few moments passed before she finally decided to end it. 'Alright,' she muttered. 'I think that's enough pain for one day.'

The blaze, as if acknowledging her words, collapsed and diminished to disclose the three scorched bodies lying on the floor. For a moment Erin wondered if the bandits were dead, but then the injured men each gave a low, strangled groan, announcing that they were very much alive. Shocked, but alive.

The magus started towards them, sporting a broad grin laced with complete apathy. She crouched down before one of the bandits, whose face mask and hood had fallen to disclose his blackened, bloodied face, and reached out, giving him a short pat on the head.

'Don't worry,' she said, ruffling his unkempt hair. 'The flames I shot at you weren't fatal. Regardless of what you may think, I'm not keen on killing others. Even scum like you deserve a chance to redeem yourselves, don't you think? Now then, you three should just give...'

The realisation that the numbers weren't quite right soon sunk in, prompting her to trail off and recount the amount bodies sprawled out across the floor.

'Hang on a second.' Her brows furrowed from behind the hood of her cloak. 'There were four of you guys. So then, where's the other-'

'Looking for someone?'

Erin stood up and whipped her head round. There, standing several yards behind her, was the bandit leader, whose unscathed form caused her eyes to widen. How on earth had he managed to escape the attack without gaining so much as a scratch?

Then, as if having read her mind, the man held up his hand, offering a mock wave. Erin looked and saw that he was wearing a small, silver ring. Its undecorated form held no crystal or any kind of engraving, but Erin could have sworn she had seen it before.

'Dragifir,' the leader explained. 'It once belonged to the famous wizard Ballethorne and was created using the wizard's own blood combined with the blood of dragons, making it insusceptible to the power of spirituas.'

The magus shook her head, her eyes wide with disbelief. 'Then how the hell do you have it?' she demanded.

'My superior lent it to me in case I happened to stumble upon any magicians looking to get back what I stole.'

Erin's gaze narrowed. 'And what exactly did you steal? You know, other than the taxpayer's money.'

The bandit leader chuckled and reached down for one of the swords he and his cronies had dropped earlier. His fingers curled around the hilt and he picked it up, holding it so that the blade was level with her. 'Now that's none of your concern,' he said. 'I've already said too much as it is, but I'm not all that worried.'

'Oh? And why is that?'

'Because you're going to die.'

Before Erin could open her mouth to respond, the bandit leader began to approach, walking with a series of slow, determined steps, raising the sword above his head. She thought of making a surprise attack, though she knew deep down that it was useless. Being a member of the Maelstras family, she had learned about Ballethorne and the powerful magic gear the wizard had created during his time.

Dragifir was probably one of his most prized creations. A ring capable of blocking the power of spirituas: the primal energy source that all magicians emitted into their attacks.

Whoever possessed it could become indestructible to a magician's wrath if they so pleased.

However...

As the leader closed in on her, Erin thrust out her hand and watched as a collection of emerald coloured projectiles shot out from beneath her palm. They each punched forward, producing a high pitched whistle which died out the second they slammed into their opponent's chest.

These attacks were not spells, but curses known as Kraide's Arrows. Curses were magical attacks that could be passed down and inherited from a magician's ancestors. In this case, the attack originated from Kraide Maelstras, another one of Erin's ancestors who had managed to get into the history books.

If a magician was capable of perfecting the summons of a curse they had inherited, it would cost them nothing to activate it. No spirituas. Ultimately, Dragifir would be useless against curses.

But, of course, that was just a theory.

A theory which proved to be incorrect.

Instead of disabling the bandit leader as Erin had hoped, the arrows held no effect. She swore under her breath and looked round at the other three bandits before moving away. She hurried back on the balls of her feet, doing everything in her power to put as much distance between her and the leader as possible.

But it was useless.

The leader rushed forward without any warning. His weapon was but a mere glare, a plunging line of silver set on slicing her face in half. In a desperate bid to save herself, Erin gripped the staff with both hands and raised it up, using its long shaft as a shield. The two weapons collided with a deafening clang, forcing Erin to channel all of her remaining strength into keeping the bandit leader's blade at bay.

Her arms screamed and the metal exterior of the staff groaned in the struggle against the wrath of polished steel, but Erin gritted her teeth and fought to endure it. The bandit leader, as if sensing she was struggling, lashed out with his foot, catching her off guard. Erin quickly stumbled back in an attempt to avoid being kicked in the stomach, though doing so caused her to trip.

Her foot caught against the folds of her cloak, and the entire world spun as she fell. A startled scream escaped her moments before she twisted round, smashing face-first into the ground, which did very little to soften the impact.

Suddenly the bandit leader was over her, eclipsing the sun with his own vast shadow. He brought his foot down on Erin's staff, forcing it against the dirt, and raised his own weapon.

'Your head will guarantee me a large profit.' The man sneered. 'A large profit, indeed.'

Erin closed her eyes and looked away, unable to endure the thought of staring into the eyes of the same man who was about to murder her.

'So long, Cryptess.'

Her entire body trembled as fear consumed her from within, but still she waited, bracing herself for the impending pain, counting down the last seconds of her life.

One...two...three...four...

Before she could reach five, however, her ears picked up on the sound of steel clashing against steel, causing her to flinch once again. A mixture of shock and confusion flooded through her mind when no sort of pain followed, prompting her to open her eyes.

But what she saw only proceeded to shock and confuse her even more.

A second person had appeared before her, using their own body as a shield. Erin couldn't suppress a startled gasp when she caught sight of the outstretched wings protruding from their back and looked round to find a mud coloured trench coat and a matching fedora sitting behind her.

But the owner was no longer wearing them.

'You spawn of the Devil,' a familiar voice snarled. 'How dare you attempt to harm her! Those who dare to defy the rules and laws of the Divine Empire shall pay!'

Erin's eyes widened when she picked up the strange viciousness laced within a tone that was all too familiar. It belonged to someone she knew. A man. A man in possession of something she was sure no other person in this world held.

That man was...

'Casius?'

* * * *

Huh? Casius? Are you sure? Well, what do you know...

It seems our winged friend has another side. A more vicious side. Any thoughts on what our dear Casius might be capable of as a fighter?

FACT:

The pistol described in this chapter is known as a Flintlock pistol. It's an old fashioned weapon, the kind you're likely to see in the Pirates of the Caribbean films.

Just a little clarification for any readers who were confused or perhaps baffled by the particular pistol I was describing.

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