Chain Melody 7

Melody’s voice rose up in wordless song to mark the start of the battle and a gust of wind rushed out from around her. The tendrils of darkness that had spawned out of thin air around the harpy were cut away in an instant and Melody charged forward fearlessly.

“Eh, he, he, he, he. That’s right my precious little harpy, don’t hold back.”

“I don’t intend to!”

Closing the distance with the Hero, Melody began a dance of various kicks and feints to try to through Corvina off but was having little success. The speed difference between the two was enormous and Melody had no offensive edge. Desperate to try something to push the Hero, Melody added words to her song to entice the Builders and their song into bringing about the effect that she needed to gain an edge.

“♪~ The Builders sing and Bhrea sighs ~♪
♪~ The clouds part first and then the earth ~♪
♪~ All are split by the Sword of Wind ~♪”

Corvina had naught but more giggling for Melody as she easily danced around the blades of wind that shredded the hall the two maids fought in. Melody gritted her teeth seeing how useless such a direct attack was. Not giving up Melody tried a different set of lyrics, one that Corvina recognized.

“♪~ Oh breath of Brhea in mirthful dance ~♪ ~
♪~ Swirl and spin, twirl and turn~♪ ~
♪~ The Builders sing of the Devil’s Twist!~♪ ~”

“Now you’re just being awfully silly my precious little harpy. That verse had no effect the last time we fought yet you’re trying it again?”

Corvina could have resisted the verse any number of ways but instead chose to show Melody how fruitless it was as the whirlwind it called forth filled the hall. Though her black bustle dress, parasol, and hair were blown about fiercely Corvina held her ground easily by tethering herself with the shadow tendrils she had taken to using in battle. To Corvina’s surprise though her decision to resist the verse was exactly what Melody was hoping for.

Where Corvina stood to resist the verse Melody had sung, the harpy aimed to ride it. Spreading her wings out in front of her, Melody caught the twisting gust she summoned and with a powerful wing flap used it to instantly close the distance between her and Corvina. She did not choose to close in directly however and positioned herself in the air above the locked in place Corvina. Looking up at the harpy Corvina’s features twisted in outrage and she attempted to twist her parasol about to block Melody’s imminent attack. Melody was easily prepared for such and her wordless song was easily able to summon up a powerful enough wind to pull the parasol back and still leave Corvina exposed. Having no choice as Melody’s talons came down upon her Corvina released her tendrils and drew her hidden blade from within her parasol. In that instant Corvina realized what it meant to face a student of Swallow Martin as Melody instantly changed her attack and grabbed Corvina’s wrist. In the next instant Melody twisted herself and hurled Corvina through the window and into the courtyard. Corvina would not go easily however and a web of shadowy tendrils caught her and tethered itself to the window frame. Melody had no intention of giving Corvina the time to recover however and lunged after the Hero with her wordless song cutting away the shadow tendrils. With a crazed look on her face Corvina thrusted out at Melody who came at her like a spear but again her attack was effortlessly avoided and Melody scored a powerful kick into Corvina’s abdomen. The blow hurled the Hero deep into the throngs of people she controlled and Melody was finally forced to cease her pursuit, landing in the courtyard of the Company House and taking a battle stance.

“Would you look at that…”

“You’re telling me. She’s actually pushing that witch.”

“I didn’t think anyone without a Relic could fight a Hero.”

“Oh no…”

Melody gritted her teeth as she heard the voices of adventurers behind her spilling from the windows of the Company House. She did not even have to turn around to know that she had gained quite an audience and that seemed to play out in Corvina’s favor. To the horror of everyone present massive tendrils of darkness tore out of the crowds and uprooted the people who comprised them. Having no senses of their own to rely on while under Corvina’s power the crowds did nothing to defend themselves and were snatched up by the tendrils.

“I underestimated you my precious little harpy. It’s a good thing I had kept you so sedated all this time as a precaution, but now I’m going to have to play dirty with you. Eh, he, he, he, he!”

“Everyone, get inside! Now!”

Melody turned back and yelled at the gathered adventurers but her warning meant little. Two massive tendrils raced past the harpy and crashed into face of the Company House with devastating results. Melody did not linger on the scene knowing she would have to deal with Corvina herself if she was to stop any further destruction. Turning back around to face the crowds where she had unintentionally given Corvina the advantage, Melody rose her voice in verse.

“♪~ As Bhrea breaths the wind does blow ~♪
♪~ As she shouts the wind does roar ~♪
♪~ The Builders sing and the wind does rage ~♪

In response to Melody’s singing the wind began to not just roar but pull away anything that wasn’t bolted down around the harpy, most notably the crowds themselves. As Melody suspected the citizens were barely in any true danger as their removal from the ground revealed that they too had been tethered to the ground by Corvina’s tendrils. The separation of people and ground however revealed more than just the tendrils that held them fast against the raging winds, but also that the revealed tendrils were strong enough to resist the winds that Melody summoned. Further, amidst the crowds stood Corvina wrapped in a gown of her tendrils looking akin to some demonic sorceress. Despite the horror such a scene presented, Melody smiled and make a joke.

“Of course now you finally look like the monster you are~♪ But that’s just fine by me~♪ I’m an adventurer and killing monsters is my specialty~♪”

Copyright © 2018 Joshua D Tarwater